Most holistic veterinary practitioners recommend switching any itchy dog to a complete and balanced home-prepared diet containing “real foods.” This will decrease the dog’s exposure to unnecessary or complex chemicals and give his body the opportunity to utilize the higher-quality nutrients present in fresh foods. Whether the diet is cooked or raw, the increased nutrient quality and availability of fresh whole foods will improve the health of any dog who currently receives even the best dry or canned foods.
“Feeding fresh, unprocessed, organic foods provides more of the building blocks for a healthy immune system,” says Dr. Lisa Pesch, a holistic veterinarian in Sebastopol CA. “Dogs who have allergies are more likely to be deficient in trace proteins and sugars (proteoglycans) that are used by the immune systems. Deficiencies in these nutrients will increase allergic response.”
For more information on diagnosing and treating allergies in your dog, purchase and download Whole Dog Journal‘s ebook, Canine Allergies.
I am trying to find the book about Canine Allergies so I can purchase. I received an email about it in April, but now the link gives me an error message. This article also mentions the book, but there are no links. Please direct me so that I can purchase the book.