# Tell me your dogs diet if you have NO ITCHING!



## stealle (Nov 12, 2012)

I had a female golden that had terrible itching. It affected mostly her belly and ears. She was often on antibiotics. Bathed her with various types of shampoo/conditioner. Tried Baggs ACV in the diet and rinsed her with it after bathing. Tried various fish oils and coconut oil. Tried every type of diets over the years including 100% raw diet. Hours and hours of research. I gave everything a good long try. The only thing that helped her for the last two years of her life (she lived to 12yrs) was Apoquel. I currently have a 10 yr old male golden. Same thing. Only he doesn’t have it on his belly. It’s ears and face mostly. He has been on Apoquel since about 7 years old. It provides good relief. The breeder said she never had skin issues with the parents. Yes, we started on her diet. Fromm. 

I’ve had over 20 years experience with these two goldens. Everything and every diet change was given 6 months to a year or more to hopefully cure the itching. Allergy tests came up empty handed. Skin scrapings and labs all good. We live in a clean home. Keep our dogs inside all the time except to potty and exercise. We have also tried changing up to holistic all natural cleaners in the house. Our current house that we moved into 4 years ago has all hardwood floors. We dust mop or vacuum daily. We keep a tidy home! 

I have a new female golden! She is 9 weeks old. Im hoping to avoid another dog on Apoquel! 

Here’s the question. If you have a Golden that is over 4-5 years old and NEVER have skin issues… What are you feeding them? To make things easy, I would prefer dry dog food but the goal is to avoid medication. But I tried 100% raw balanced diet for years which is probably the most difficult. So I’ll try anything!!!


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## DblTrblGolden2 (Aug 22, 2018)

Purina Pro Plan Sport 30/20 Salmon works well for my current two.

My older golden, that I lost last week, did have environmental allergies and was allergic to chicken. I fed him Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Skin and Stomach Lamb & Oat. I swear by Cytopoint Injections. I've never done Apoquel, neither of my vets recommended it. 

The key to keeping a Goldens skin healthy for me seems to be keeping them dry. Mine swim regularly, but I rinse them and blow them dry. I never leave them wet.


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## Jasmyne (Dec 28, 2021)

You really have done it all! I’m sorry they both suffered so much with itching. 
so hard to know but clearly it doesn’t seem diet related more environmental. What about the yard? Grass pollen dirt etc I know my neighbours dog suffers allergies from the type of grass. I am always concerned with the strata landscape people and what they may spray on the grass etc.

My golden is just 6 months but my Boston she will be 13 this month and they are both raw fed with vitamins and mineral plus omega and other supplements. We have never suffered continuous itching.


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## cwag (Apr 25, 2017)

Rukie is turning 5 in May and never seems itchy. He eats Purina Pro Plan Chicken and Rice. I no longer think IAMS is too great but my last girl ate that, lived to 12.5 and never had skin issues.


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## ArkansasGold (Dec 7, 2017)

I'm sure this isn't what you want to hear, but your previous dogs' issues were probably largely genetic. A lot of people like to blame food and/or environment, but I could probably feed one of my dogs Ole Roy and he wouldn't itch.

But to answer your original question, I feed my two Annamaet. One is on the Extra formula, the other is on the Medium/Large Breed Adult formula. Neither is itchy and they don't require special baths or shots.

Anecdotally, I think consistent use of probiotics helps with a lot of things. I have also heard that people much prefer Cytopoint to Apoquel these days for itchy dogs.


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## pawsnpaca (Nov 11, 2014)

I'm afraid I think that this is just luck of the draw and what one dog might eat with no issues (or even thrive on) might still send another dog into a scratching frenzy (or, the itching has nothing to do with the food). FWIW I've owned 5 Goldens (6 if you count the one I had as a kid) and have never had one with skin issues or itching beyond what I'd expect in a FHA home in the winter or the occasional hotspot. The dog I had as a kid ate mostly grocery store food and eventually I think IAMS or Eukanuba. My first dog as an adult was fed Pro Plan, but eventually moved through a variety of (mostly "boutique") brands in her lifetime. The last four have been mostly fed a commercial raw product, supplemented with a rotating list of high-quality kibbles (different manufacturers, different proteins, with grain, without grain, etc.). And as I say, NONE have had problematic skin issues...


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Cleaning supplies, air fresheners, mildew, etc... these are things to consider based on your earlier girlie's itchy spots. It sounds like she was itchy in all the spots she came in contact with something. Could even be something she came in contact with when pottying.

Boy with the itchy ears and neck - how thick is the fur around his ears and neck? That could be chronic ear infections because ears are super dark, warm, and moist....

It's easy for people to give you a list of kibbles to consider for your pup, but it may be the itchies are caused by something else. Especially as these conditions were worse when they were seniors. This includes thyroid dysfunction.


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## Hildae (Aug 15, 2012)

Purina Pro Plan Sport 30/20


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## Goldie_lover (Jan 3, 2021)

My Golden has zero itching. We feed him a cooked diet with Dr Harvey's Canine health base mix and home cooked meat. He is allergic to chicken, so the meats are turkey, duck, lamb, pork and fish. Toppings include eggs, turmeric oil, green lipped mussel powder, mushroom powder etc. Our pup barely sheds and we only brush him once a week.


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## stealle (Nov 12, 2012)

Thank you all so much for the helpful responses! Please keep them coming!!!

A little more info. Both dogs were from different breeders in different states. Each dog lived in a different house with different yards. The itching and allergies for both dogs were not senior onset. The onset was about 1.5 years for the female and 4 years for the male. Hence my original post asking for responses from people with dogs over 4-5 years old. I spent years trying different diets, supplements, probiotics, shampoo, avoiding chemicals on the lawn, household cleaners, different laundry detergents, before resorting to Apoquel in more senior years. Which for the more part was/is successful. I do appreciate the Cytopoint suggestion. It was suggested to us years ago for my second golden. I was annoyed by the vet that I would not be allowed to give the injections at home. I am a health care provider (for people). Injections at home would be something I’d be very comfortable with. But, I may revisit this for my 10yr old. He was many benign fatty tumors from the apoquel. Fortunately these small tumors do not bother him. I’ve always been concerned that one day they might not be benign.

I have mostly resolved long ago that the itching is from something environmental that I have little control over and was not allergy tested for. Or, genetics. Which I have no control over other than asking the breeder if the parents have allergies or itching problems and making sure the parents were tested for Ichthyoses (which actually doesn’t cause itching). I did ask those things for my second and third golden.

So, I have no control over the genetics of my dog (especially now that I own them). I have very limited control of environment (I’ve really tried to change the things I can control). But, I do have 99% control of diet! It’s hard to control what the dog might sniff and gobble up in the yard. So on the very small chance the issue could be diet I like to feed my new pup what you kind folks have had the most success.

Again, please keep the responses coming!


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## LéChasse17 (Aug 9, 2020)

I feed Bobby Purina Pro Plan Sport 30/20, and bathe her once too twice a month with Mane and Tail.
She did have allergies when she was younger, found out she was allergic to some essential oils we were using (only golden out of 4 to have this problem), once we stopped using them her allergies went away. She is 4 now btw.
Have you tried a salmon oil supplement? 
I can't imagine how frustrating this must be, and sinceraly hope this dosn't happen to your new pup.


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## SRW (Dec 21, 2018)

Hildae said:


> Purina Pro Plan Sport 30/20


Works for my pups too.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

stealle said:


> So, I have no control over the genetics of my dog (especially now that I own them). I have very limited control of environment (I’ve really tried to change the things I can control). But, I do have 99% control of diet! It’s hard to control what the dog might sniff and gobble up in the yard. So on the very small chance the issue could be diet I like to feed my new pup what you kind folks have had the most success.


There are two or three or more things that you can absolutely control -

1. Your dog's overall health - make sure the dogs do not become overweight or fat. Boys should be kept under 76-80 pounds. Girlies should be kept under 75 pounds - and more than that depending on their size. Fat dogs are more prone to thyroid issues, fatty tumors, and other skin and coat problems. Get your dogs checked for thyroid disease as well - and keep their numbers where they should be with the pills.

2. Don't buy kibble online or from feed stores. Buy only enough kibble that you will use within a month. Keep the kibble in the bag it came from + keep it somewhere cool and protected from bugs, rodents, and heat. Don't keep the kibble in a garbage can in your unheated garage in other words.

3. You can take Purina Pro Plan's formula's for their sensitive skin and stomach kibble as proof of the following, but whatever kibble you choose for your dog, avoid kibble with corn.

4. Invest in a forced air dog dryer. And bathe your dog every 1-2 months to keep the skin and coat healthy. Every time your bathe your dog, make sure the dog is completely dry to the skin before you are done. Dogs with spay coat or senior coats have coats that dry on the outside first and the cottony fluff close to the skin stays damp and grows bacteria.

5. Have your dog breeder teach you how to keep the ears practically groomed. This includes thinning out around the ruff and bib so the coat is more breathable for the dog and less prone to develop yeast. This does NOT mean cutting the dogs coat all 1" or whatever ala the ridiculous "puppy cut". Most dogs that I've met who have that stupid cut also have seborrhea problems.

6. Wherever the dog sleeps, make sure you wash those beddings as needed. Because they will grow mildew if a wet dog sleeps or rests there. Most of us are not grabbing the towels or dryers to thoroughly dry the coat (generally just the outer coat if the dogs been out in the rain) before the dog flops down on his bed or favorite sleeping spot.

7-ish. This is your air fresheners, hand soaps, dog shampoos, water quality (ie get your water checked), floor cleaners, and laundry detergents.

^ Personally speaking I had to problem solve an issue with our water recently because it was getting too hard/rusty. Turns out that my dad was doing something extra besides changing filters and using a particular kind of water softener salt. He was also putting iron out in the water softener tank.  I just took care of that for the first time in almost 2 years since my dad passed away and yikes - such a huge difference for our water!!!!!! The dogs were fine, but for me it was making my head itchy - and orangey from the iron. 

Other thing is we have always avoided brands like Tide for detergent because my dad was extremely allergic to it. We've always used arm and hammer. 

^^^^ These are things that I basically attribute to reducing skin/coat problems with my dogs, if not taking genetics into account. Genetics are extremely important - we all know that. But based on you having two completely unrelated dogs develop the same skin problems, there may be something else afoot. 

Reasons why I feed X vs Y kibble has never been about itchy skin or not. It's been about the shine of the dog's coat, their healthy weight, their healthy guts. Have not ever had dogs with true skin allergies.


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## Obieobie (Jul 4, 2021)

My poor guy had chronic skin infections and itching until I switched to Purina pro plan sensitive skin and stomach salmon and rice. I also bought a chlorhexidine spray for itchy dogs and sprayed any area I saw him scratching immediately. Fingers crossed so far this seems to have done the trick and I’ve seen no itching in months. However, it’s also winter and my vet warned lots of Goldens she treats are allergic to weeds that go crazy in the warmer months.


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## DevWind (Nov 7, 2016)

I have found that Tractor Supply’s 4 Health Thrive has been working well with mine.


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## nanytik2 (10 mo ago)

Products like Stronghold work against fleas and sarcoptic mites, but usually you need to do more than one treatment, and I find that this does not work on demodex mites. 

If there is a fungal or bacterial infection causing it, or a secondary infection due to itching and scratching, then it requires antifungal treatment and antibiotics. 

Some foods can also cause allergies resulting in every itch so it might be worth paying attention to his diet, foods like corn and wheat are known allergens and some dogs are affected by grains or cereals as they can stimulate such By the way, like overgrowth of yeast.


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