Dogs with food allergies

It's thought that food allergies cause about 20% of the problems with itching and scratching in dogs. The most common dog food allergies (in order, starting with the most common) are: beef, dairy, chicken, lamb, fish, eggs, corn, wheat, and soya products.

The only way to find out which of these, if any, is causing your dog's allergic reaction is to use an 'elimination diet' in which you feed a special diet (consisting of protein and carbohydrate that your dog has never come into contact with before - and absolutely nothing else) for 12 weeks.

If the allergy symptoms disappear, your dog may have a food allergy. Then you can try introducing different foods back into the diet one at a time, to see which causes a reaction.

Once you have identified the cause of your dog's food allergy, you can avoid it. But be aware that dog food allergies often develop as a result of prolonged exposure to an ingredient, so rotate your dog's diet to include different foods.

Note: True dog food allergies are different to food intolerances, which cause diarrhoea and vomiting. Food intolerance is when a dog finds a particular food difficult to digest (similar to people getting an upset stomach after eating something that disagrees with them).