Help With Staffy Puppy Diet & Allergy

[sas]

Colour is nothing to do with allergies.

That's not quite accurate. Mostly white coloured dogs of some breeds can have very challenging skin conditions such as White, Merle-a-quin and Harlequin Great Danes, Blues in the Great Dane breed also seem to have a number of challenges with their skin. Some colours are affected because they become on-trend and are bred by those who don't know or care enough by what they're doing and as you mentioned ethical breeding... But a defective skin barrier is what it is if Atopy is a problem and this is known to have a genetic component and that means Mum & Dad can be free of symptoms.

Sorry SAS I don't quite get what you're saying...

In my experience, the careful selection of breeding stock has far more influence on the skin health of the dog than the colour of the dog. We can argue the influence of trendy colours, over breeding and genetics until the cows come home but it has been my experience that if the pup isn't bred with care and attention to the health of the parents and their relations then it really doesn't matter what colour it is.

I have had a number of white Staffords over the years, they have had no skin conditions. I have seen white, brindle, red and blue pups from well bred litters, all with no skin issues. I have seen white, brindle, red and blue pups from poorly bred litters, some with skin conditions, some without.

It's been my observation over the years that two perfectly OK parents can produce horrible skin conditions, but you only have to dig a wee bit deeper to find close relations with horrible skin conditions. Which is where buying from someone who does the right thing is vastly more important than the actual colour of the dog.

Hi Sandra, I totally agree what with what you're saying. The prob the modern pet buyer has is that there isn't often such thing as 'lines' anymore, not in my breed anyway. The average dog is bred from a mish mash of different lines and so commonly a breeder doesn't know a dog 6 gens back well enough who seems to have been slightly reactive to 1 grass...

Now, because many breeds are have particular colours, I'll use my own breed as an example i.e. the Harlequin, the Harlequin is bred by Harlequin breeders, not by Fawn breeders, so if you take the above example and apply to Harlequins and add something like popular sire syndrome, small gene pool etc. you now have a colour that is largely affected by skin issues.

It takes a breeder of not only ethics but of knowledge and courage to cull a dog from their breeding program that has a slight reaction to a grass.

You sound like you're doing an outstanding job in your breed, sadly there are many that don't even come close to you.

[aussielover]

The specialist dermatologists I have spoken to said the HESKA blood allergy test tends to correlate quite well with skin testing and they thought it was fairly accurate. It was their recommendation if for some reason skin testing is not an option.

Have you actually done a food elimination trial? It's probably the best way to diagnose food allergy although in many cases dogs can have both food allergy and environmental allergy.

I second the recommendation fur referral to a Derm specialist.

[sas]

The specialist dermatologists I have spoken to said the HESKA blood allergy test tends to correlate quite well with skin testing and they thought it was fairly accurate. It was their recommendation if for some reason skin testing is not an option.

Have you actually done a food elimination trial? It's probably the best way to diagnose food allergy although in many cases dogs can have both food allergy and environmental allergy.

I second the recommendation fur referral to a Derm specialist.

Yes, skin testing....intra-dermal does not do food.

[karly101]

Due to this pups young age.. I recommend consulting a dermatologist. Dogs grow into their allergies so this could potentially get more severe and I was having similar issues with my pup at a young age. He started seeing the derm at 6 months and I hate to think how uncontrolled his skin would have been had I left it longer. He is atopic so he has a deformed skin barrier - he is allergic to grass but not allergic enough to vaccinate against them.

He also developed food allergies later to pork and beef - chicken has been safe for him. He does well on z/d as his main diet but the dermatologists prefer to do their own elimination diet it just ended up being what works well for him and me.

[Guest crazydoglady99]

Have you looked at Augustine Approved? Whether you choose to follow his feeding regime or not there is a LOT of excellent information on the site.

You will see he started the company after finally solving his own dogs diet/allergy problems.

Good luck!!

[Dave-o]

Staffies are one of the most allergy prone breeds, especially purebreds.

I'm surprised your vet suggested a diet of chicken and rice - two very common causes of allergies! Were they suggesting home cooked chicken and rice, or a dry food based on those ingredients?