What Is A Good Dog Food For Allergies?
If you believe your dog has allergies, based on symptoms like itchy skin, ear infections, and digestive problems, then you may want to consider switching to a hypoallergenic dog food to help control the allergies. Dogs can have allergies to just about anything, but one of the top categories is their dog food. Some believe that this is because we are feeding our dogs the same food, day in and day out. And lots of the dog food out there, in which the pet owners are not aware of, are very low quality foods using lots of by-products, grains, and artificial ingredients. So what is a good dog food?
That being said, a healthy dog food is one that has high quality ingredients and no artificial ingredients, like flavorings, colorings, and preservatives. But if your dog has dog food allergies, you need to take it a step further. You also need a limited ingredient diet. If you can get all of that plus the use of new ingredients that your dog has never had before, then you have a real winner on your hands. But is there such a dog food that has any of these traits? Yes, they are called hypoallergenic dog foods.
Good hypoallergenic dog foods contain no artificial ingredients, use limited ingredients, and use higher quality, whole ingredients (not by-products). The best hypoallergenic dog food will also use novel ingredients. By feeding this kind of dog food, your dog will not only be eating healthier and creating a stronger more resilient immune system, but the chances of them eating the offending ingredient is greatly reduced. This, of course, will reduce the allergy symptoms.
The problem most people have with feeding a hypoallergenic dog food is that they expect to see results instantaneously. But what they don’t understand is that with dog food allergies, it takes a while to build up in their system before you ever see the allergy symptoms. The reverse is true when they are no longer eating the allergic ingredient – it takes a while for it to completely leave the system. Hypoallergenic dog food needs to be fed for at least 12 weeks before any type of conclusion is made. If after 12 weeks on the dog food, your dog is still exhibiting allergy symptoms, then food may not be the culprit and you need to start looking elsewhere.