Many dog owners wonder about their pets’ potential food allergies. They’re often surprised to find out that dogs can develop allergies to certain ingredients even in premium foods. Pet foods made with high-quality ingredients and limited fillers are everywhere, but your dog can still be allergic or intolerant to any number of these ingredients.
To help your dog, it is key to understand the difference between a food intolerance and a true food allergy. For most dogs, skin and gastrointestinal problems are not usually the result of a food allergy, but rather due to environmental factors like pollen or sensitivity to certain foods. But there are some dogs that are truly allergic to certain foods.
What is a Food Allergy?
A food allergy occurs when a dog’s immune system mistakenly identifies a particular food ingredient as harmful. Their body then creates defensive antibodies to fight the invading enemy (the food).
An allergy is an immunological reaction to a food component, usually to a protien. Symptoms commonly include itchy skin, ear infections, vomiting and diarrhea.
Dogs can become allergic to certain foods if they have the genetic predisposition to develop food allergies. Surprisingly, the most common allergens are not grains, but rather meats. Dogs are most commonly allergic to the following foods – from most to least common: beef, dairy, wheat, egg, chicken, lamb/mutton, soy, pork, rabbit, and fish. Rabbit and fish are by far less common than all the others.
The Most Common Food Allergies
Beef
Feeding a single food for years increases the potential for your dog to develop an intolerance or allergy to one or more ingredients. Beef is one of the most common ingredients in a lot of pet foods, which may be a reason it’s number one. I feed our three dogs a raw diet and we rotate meats every week. I do this partly to ensure we decrease the risk of developing a food allergy.
Dairy
Some dogs have problems digesting lactose. This is an intolerance, rather than an actual allergy. Lactose intolerance leads to gas, diarrhea or vomiting. What’s tricky is that so can a true dairy allergy, so it’s hard to know which a dog suffers from. One important distinction: a dairy allergy may manifest as skin itchiness or related symptoms, whereas lactose intolerance is always about digestion.
Wheat
There are many misconceptions regarding carbohydrate-containing foods for dogs, especially grains. It’s much more common for dogs to have allergies to meat than grains, for instance. However, some dogs do have an allergic reaction to wheat. Check with your vet or pet nutritionist about grains, as every animal should be treated as an individual.
Eggs
An egg allergy means that your dog’s immune system overreacts to the proteins present in the egg yolk. Fortunately, it’s relatively easy to avoid eggs. Just be sure to double-check food labels.
Chicken
The same rules apply here as they do for beef and lamb! Just because it’s plain old chicken doesn’t mean your dog can’t be allergic to this common protein.
Lamb
Many commercial dog foods were made with chicken or beef, so lamb was considered a good option for dogs that experienced allergies while eating a “regular” food. However, it’s also a possible cause of allergy. If your dog is allergic to lamb and rice, you could try venison and sweet potato.
Soy
Some studies have shown that eating soy can cause various health issues beyond allergy, including reproductive and growth problems, thyroid, and liver disease. Dr. Karen Becker, for Healthy Pets, is very concerned about soy. “The health risks associated with soy products far outweigh any potential benefit,” she writes.
Breeds Prone to Food Allergies
- Boxer
- Cocker Spaniel
- Collie
- Dachshund
- Dalmatian
- German Shepherd
- Lhasa Apso
- Miniature Schnauzer
- Retriever
- Shar-Pei
- Soft-Coated Wheaten Terrier
- Springer Spaniel
- West Highland White Terrier
How to Help Your Dog
If you’re concerned that your dog may have a potential food allergy, it is important to work closely with your veterinarian. Determining the casue of a food allergy often entails a long process of elimination and trial and error with several limmited ingredient dog foods. The number of ingredients your dog is exposed to is reduced to the shortest list possible. Gradually, ingredients are re-introduced to determine what’s causing the problem. It requires patience and persistence, but if you stick to it and follow your veterinarian’s guidlines, your dog will thank you for it.