Itching and loss of fur in GD puppy

[D Edmundson]

My 17 week old goldendoodle has recently started scratching a lot and to the point that some of the hair on his right front leg has thinned way out. I took him to the vet yesterday for a bordetella booster and they have instructed me to put him on a diet of cottage cheese, rice and turkey. Then they want me to gradually add a limited ingredient food.They want me to do the bland diet first because he has always had a very sensitive stomach.

This morning he is scratching even more and wiping his nose with his paws. This is all new behavior for him.He has no signs of parasites of even redness of the skin where he is scratching. I am beside myself because I don't know how to help him. My other goldendoodle is fine and not showing any issues so again I don't think it is fleas or anything like that (not that I have seen any anyway). 

This has all occured on the last week. The only things that have happened are 1) he had shots last Sunday as well as this Sunday and 2) he had to have a partial bath because he got dirty outside one morning at 5 am.

Has anyone else gone through this with a doodle puppy this young? Would you suspect food allergies? I am also very unsure of which limited ingredient food to try and the vet made no recommendations. Thanks  for any thoughts you can offer.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It is virtually impossible for a 4 month old puppy to have a food allergy. It's actually virtually impossible for a 4 mo old puppy to have any kind of allergy, but food allergies are the least likely. The reason for this is that allergies are a disease of the immune system. An allergy develops when some type of organic molecule gets into the bloodstream via ingestion or inhalation, and the immune system misidentifies it as a foreign/undesirable substance and launches an attack against it. It does that by develop an antibody to the particular molecule, which is almost always a protein molecule: dust mites, pollen, mold, and in rare cases, food. (This is the way vaccines work, too.) The antibody is formed first and the  allergic response (itching) will typically happen on a subsequent exposure. The vast majority of allergy symtpoms in dogs start showing up between 2 and 3 years of age. With food allergies, which occur in only 1% of all dogs, it typically takes several months or more of continuous exposure to a particular protein in order for an allergy to develop. A 17 week old puppy has only been eating solid food of any kind for 13 weeks; that's really not enough time for an allergy to have developed. But it is within the realm of possibilities. 
Puppies are itchy in general. I'm not sure what a "partial bath" is, but if any type of cleanser, shampoo, conditioner, etc was put on him and not 100% thoroughly rinsed out, that could cause itching. The vaccines can also cause an immune reaction. Mites are a common cause of itching in puppies and they are not something that can be seen with the naked eye. Your vet should have done a skin scraping and examined it under the microscope to rule out mites of any kind. Fur loss is unusual, even in dogs who do have allergies. 
I would try giving him a full bath with a shampoo made for itchy skin; I like Douxo Calm, which can be ordered online, as you won't find it in stores. Oatmeal based pet shampoos (never use human shampoos) are also good. Rinse very thoroughly and do not use leave in conditioners. Dry him very thoroughly any time he gets wet.
Wash his bedding and if you recently turned on your furnace, change the filter. 

There's no harm in trying the vet's diet except for the fact that it may cause him to stop eating kibble at all, lol.
Our DK Food Group has lists of recommended food brands. Some good LID formulas are Wellness Simple Solutions (my favorite), and Zignature (any formula other than Zssentials.) 
You might also start looking around for a new vet. :)
Some good information about allergies in dogs, and how to keep them comfortable:
https://doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/some-basic-facts-about?groupU...
Some good information about food allergies in dogs:
https://doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/facts-about-food-allergies?gr...

[D Edmundson]

Thanks so much Karen!!!! I saw the Douxo Calm at the vet's office so will go by and grab some before they close today. Since it was 5 am when I bathed him, and I had to go to work, I would not swear that I rinsed him carefully, tbh. I guess his legs may have gotten ignored as I was most concerned to get his face rinsed. We will do a proper bath today. We also live very near the California Camp Fire and both dogs have been sneezing up a storm when they come in from outside.

I have read through the food group but am having the worst time with his food anyway. Bixby came to us on Diamond Puppy food. (My other GD eats the Wellness Puppy Core, no problems.)  However, Bixby reacted with soft stools (not diarrhea though) to the introduction of the Wellness puppy core even though I introduced it very slowly. The vet recommended Stella and Chewy's but that was no better. I just bought a sample bag of Acana Singles Beef and Pumpkin but will try the Wellness Simple Solutions instead. (My Zumi refuses to eat the Zignature kibble, haven't been able to find a flavor he will touch.)  I would obviously like Bixby to have firm stools sand since he has such a fuzzy bottom it can tend to be a mess otherwise which necessitates a doggie wipe. (I had the vet tech do a sanitary trim on him yesterday though.) I know you are the best resource for food recommendation so I thank you for and value your thoughts since Bixby seems to have a sensitive tummy. I would like a food that I can feed both of them since, try as I might, I cant keep them from raiding the other one's bowl when I turn my back.

If Bixby's itching doesn't get better quickly I will insist on the skin scraping for a mite check.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Regarding the soft stools, has Bixby ever tested positive for giardia and/or been treated with metronidazole (flagyl)? Even if he hasn't, I'd start him on a good probiotic like Proviable as soon as possible. That will help, especially with the food change.

Wellness Simple Solutions Salmon or Turkey have worked really real for just about everyone here whose dog has a sensitive stomach or food sensitivities. And most dogs seem to like it. 

[D Edmundson]

I had him tested when we brought him home and he was negative. I will get the Proviable. I found it on Amazon. We will also give the Wellness Simple Solutions a try. Thank you so much!

[Ginny Nightingale]

I once knew a mini-doodle with terribly itchy skin and the owners went thru all types of shampoos, foods, etc to help her--her condition got steadily worse--she was losing large patches of hair and combing would cause her to bleed. She had been shipped from the west coast from a breeder at one year of age to these owners here in NY and this condition was there when she arrived...but was something that apparently our vet here was unfamiliar with--they thought she had a fungus or food allergy and the treatment was all wrong...a specialist finally figured it out...she had dermodectic mange caused by mites. It cleared up so quickly once she was on the right treatment--but the poor thing had suffered for months. 

Definitely worth to follow Karen's advice and get a skin scraping--and maybe see a specialist--vets are too quick to think food allergies--oh and by the way, turkey is one of the food that most often causes allergies in dogs!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I have not found that to be the case. I know a lot of people think that because a number of dogs are allergic to chicken, that extends to turkey too, but turkey is completely unrelated to chicken as far as molecular structure, and it the protein molecules themselves that cause the allergic responses. Turkey is not real common in dog foods, or at least it didn;t used to be, lol, and a dog has to have been consuming the particular protein for a period of time in order to develop an allergy to it.