ITCHY DOODLE

[LarryL]

Happy Holidays everyone at DK!

So for some background oliver is a 1 year old tiny gooldendoodle who never had any issues w excessive itching.

About a month or two ago I made the mistake of buy 3 different varieties of orijen treats at the same time. (We bought tundra, wild boar, and bison)

We fed oliver orijen puppy and would sprinkle some orijen on it since we got him. Either original, or duck, or lamb.......it was fine and he never really itched himself too much

shortly after bringing in the new treats he started itching himself. I don't know if it's what I would call excessive, but he never really did that at all while younger. Since I couldn't really figure out which new orijen treat may have been giving him an aerobic reaction I stopped them all.

We also transitioned his food from orijen puppy to orijen adult.

A few weeks ago his fur was dirty and getting matted so I thought the itching might've been from that - because he kept itching even without the treats. We have since gotten him groomed and he had to be shaved down and he is still scratching him self like never before.

What should we do?
How do we figure out what's causing this?
Is there need for alarm?

Right now he's just eating the orijen adult w pumpkin added and no treats.
Could the adult vs the puppy formula be causing this?

My wife want to go to the vet, but since I think this is more an allergy/food issue I came here first

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Well, it may be allergies, but if so, it's probably not food allergies. It's probably environmental allergies, otherwise known as inhalant or seasonal allergies, which are 10 times more common in dogs than food allergies, despite what you see in forums on the internet. And the culprit may very well be dust mites, which are a very common allergen in dogs just as they are in humans. Late fall, when the furnaces get turned on, is a common time for dust mite allergies to rear their heads.

But the only way to know for sure is to consult a veterinary dermatology specialist. GP vets are not allergy specialists and most of them try to treat any type of allergy symptom with Rx food, Benadryl, or drugs, all bad ideas.

The adult Orijen formula has the same ingredients as the puppy formula, so it's definitely not that. And food allergies take at least 6 months (and more commonly more than a year) to develop, so it isn't any new treat you introduced, either. 

There are a few things you can do to help keep him comfortable, but allergies are an incurable disease of the immune system, so you can't cure them, only manage them. Start by changing your furnace filter. :)

Here's a link to some info about allergies in dogs with some tips on what you can do to keep them more comfortable: http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/healthandmedicalissues/forum/topi...

And here's some info on food allergies: http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup/forum/topics/facts-a...

[Abigail *George & Juno*]

You might remember that as it gets colder the air gets dryer as well, and dry skin can be itchy. Especially if Oliver was just shaved (and bathed and blow dryed) he might just have some itchy dry skin.

Our girls get a little more itchy about the time that my skin starts to get dried out in the winter. :)

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Definitely read Karen's link....it has some great information.  An easy place to start is with the Evening Primrose oil and Claritan (although I'd run that by the Vet at least with a phone call).

[LarryL]

Happy New Year and thanks for the reply.

His eyes having been getting crusties and tearing brown stuff the last weeek too...out of nowhere.

Is this common of allergies too?