Allergies are one of the most common problems we see in dogs, especially in certain breeds, such as French or English bulldogs, Westies, and Labradors, as well as Golden Retrievers.
Additionally, in our region, we notice that they are very exaggerated due to the lack of “fresh air”, consistent AC usage, and a dusty/humid environment.
There are two main types:
- Food allergies (10–15% of cases) – often to chicken, beef, dairy, or, less likely, wheat.
- Environmental allergies – The vast majority of the cases!!!! The suspects here are all things like pollen, dust mites, mold, or grass. These may be seasonal or year-round. They can start as seasonal and, as the condition progresses, end up being year-round.
There are cases with a combination of the two above.
In other countries, flea allergy is quite common. Still, we will not include this here, as our region is not hospitable to fleas. Phew!
What Symptoms Do Allergic Dogs Show?
Both types usually cause:
- Itchy skin (pruritus)
- Ear infections (sometimes this is the only sign!)
- Paw licking, especially between the toes… paw licking means the paw is itchy. So that’s itch as well. The huge clue here is that the white, typically fur of the paws turns brown(ish). That’s what saliva does to white fur.
- Secondary lesions: flaky skin, oily skin, loss of hair(alopecia/ hypotrichosis), over-shedding, all kinds of skin rashes, irritations, skin redness, crusts, skin thickness, skin hyperpigmentation and many more.
Food allergies can also cause digestive problems like diarrhea, vomiting, or soft stools, and symptoms are present all year long.
However, since bulldogs are high on the allergy list, they often vomit due to their anatomical problems, which twists the plot even more..
Comparison Table
| Feature | Food Allergies | Environmental Allergies (Atopic Dermatitis) |
| Age of onset | Any age (even in older dogs) | Typically 6 months to 3 years |
| Seasonality | Year-round | Often seasonal at first, may become constant |
| Main symptom | Intense itching | Itching, especially paws, face, ears |
| Ear infections | Common, often both ears | Common, often recurrent |
| Gastrointestinal signs | Diarrhea, vomiting, flatulence | Rare |
| Affected areas | Face, ears, paws, perianal area | Paws, armpits, groin, face, eyes |
| Response to steroids | May not improve | Usually improves |
| Common allergens | Chicken, beef, dairy, wheat | Pollen, dust mites, mold, grass |
How Do We Diagnose Allergies?
Food allergies:
We perform a strict elimination diet trial using a novel or hydrolyzed protein diet for at least 8 weeks. Then we reintroduce the old diet to check for symptoms.
Blood allergy tests are not reliable for food allergies.
What is a strict elimination diet? Giving one type of food EXCLUSIVELY AND NOTHING ELSE. Giving snacks or treats or the cat’s food just confuses us and brings us back to zero.
Environmental allergies:
It’s essentially an exclusion diagnosis, meaning we must rule out all other potential causes to arrive at this conclusion. Hence, all the skin tests and ear swabs you will see us performing.
It’s important to mention that what happens when your dog’s skin is allergic is that the skin barrier suffers and becomes sensitive to factors it wouldn’t react to, like the normal flora of the skin (hello cocci and yeasts), hence all the secondary infection that we need to treat, before addressing the allergy itself.
We can perform a blood test or an intradermal skin test to identify allergens. These help guide long-term treatments, such as immunotherapy/desensitization (ASIT).
Treatment Options
For food allergies:
Your dog will need to stay on the prescribed diet for life to remain symptom-free. We may ask you to try various diets until we find the One that works better for your dog.
For environmental allergies:
- Apoquel – a daily oral tablet that controls itch and inflammation.
- Cytopoint – a monthly injection that targets the itch at its source (ideal for dogs who can’t take tablets).
- Steroids – these can do wonders but are not ideal in the long term due to their side effects.
- Allergy vaccines (immunotherapy): customized based on allergy tests.
Allergic dogs also benefit from:
Omega 3 & 6 supplements, regular baths with special shampoos, antiseptic sprays, and ear cleaners to manage flare-ups, creams, foams, ointments, and anything we can do to straighten that poor, broken skin barrier.
Dealing with complicating infections is a must. The worst-case scenario is the need for oral antibiotics to treat nasty infections. Still, the gold standard is indeed to avoid them whenever possible.
Think Your Dog Might Have Allergies?
Don’t wait – the sooner we diagnose and deal with them, the better their quality of life will be.
And something to set your expectations: ALLEGIES ARE NOT TREATABLE. We can manage them, we can keep the itch away, but we can’t fix that forever. We will be yours,’ and your dog’s BFF and we need to catch up pretty regularly.
Message us to book a dermatologic consultation today!