Food Allergies & Elimination Diets: Finding What Your Dog Cannot Eat
Food allergies are among the most under-diagnosed conditions in dogs. If your dog has been dealing with recurring skin problems, ear infections, or stomach upsets that don’t respond to standard treatment, there’s a real chance that something in their bowl is triggering an immune response. The good news: identifying and managing a food allergy is entirely possible with a structured approach. What is a food allergy? A true food allergy is an immune-mediated reaction to a specific protein in food. The dog’s immune system mistakenly identifies a harmless food protein as a threat and mounts a response every time that ingredient is eaten. This is different from a food intolerance, which is a digestive sensitivity without immune involvement — though both can cause similar symptoms and both are managed through diet. ...