8-12 weeks should be just the very beginning of the food trial. Usually, you put your dog on the hydrolyzed protein diet for at least 10 weeks to get rid of all symptoms, then you start adding back one ingredient at a time for a period of time to see if the dog reacts to it or is OK with it. This way you can learn what it is that your dog is reacting to and find a commercial food that your dog is fine with. It can take months to do a complete elimination diet. I’ve been testing ingredients on my dog for 2 years now and just found another that he reacts to, but I have also found 20 foods that he does good on. I specifically tested ingredient that were in a food I wanted to move him to first, so I could get him off of his starting diet quickly.
