Hmmm. I think DFA is having a hiccup/glitch.
I posted to Leslie/OP last night and my post never appeared after a submit/edit-submit. Seeing this, when I tried to re-post (via copy & paste, using browser back button), I received an error message of the system recognizing a duplicate post being submitted.
As the post is still not showing, let’s see if inserting it here works:
Leslie,
Food allergies to barley and peas are not common allergens for dogs.
Aside from home prepared, where you select and control the ingredients, a few commercial diets that don’t include peas or barley are these:
Honest Kitchen — several, either with grain or without (e.g. Fish & Coconut)
California Natural LID — Lamb & Rice, Chicken & Rice
Pure Vita — Duck & Lentils, Venison & Lentils, Beef & Lentils
Canine Caviar — Special Needs, Chicken & Millet/Free Spirit, Lamb & Millet, Duck & Chickpea
But you should be aware that many OTC commercial diets lack adequate cross-contamination quality control, some brands of which have been documented in veterinary literature in testing (e.g. Natural Balance). Checking ingredient lists is not sufficient.
Before you rule out most diets based on these two ingredients, you might wish to have a look at a few links (scroll down to diagnosis) all from veterinary specialists:
What every pet owner should know about food allergies
http://veterinarymedicine.dvm360.com/diagnosing-food-allergies-dogs-and-cats-bring-your-case-trial
http://www.vin.com/apputil/project/defaultadv1.aspx?pId=17256&SAId=1&catid=93445&id=4951526
As Susan noted, it is critical to have an accurate diagnosis of food allergy. Most food allergy “tests” are known to be inaccurate and therefore do not meet the current standard of veterinary care.
It’s certainly possible to be allergic to any protein. But in dogs with food allergies (inhalant/environmental allergies being more common than food), the most common allergens are chicken, beef, dairy, egg, wheat, & soy — and now fish and lamb (which used to be alternatives), although less likely.
As a homemade diet can easily be formulated without either of these 2 ingredients, barley and peas, I would recommend you consider this.
