If the symptoms have been going on for more than 1 year/4 seasons and have not responded in a significant way to treatment by a veterinarian. Consider making an appointment with a dermatologist.
This subject comes at least once a week. People are reluctant to go to a specialist because they are concerned about the cost, and yet they end up spending much more going back and forth to the regular vet and trying all kinds of gobbledygook remedies.
Environmental allergies.
excerpt below from: http://www.2ndchance.info/Apoquel.htm
āFood Allergies are probably over-diagnosed in dogs (they account for, perhaps 5-10%). Hypoallergenic diets are occasionally, but not frequently, helpful in canine atopy cases but you should always give them a try. Food intolerances are more common ā but considerably more likely to result in digestive disturbances and diarrhea than in itching problemsā.
Mail-in hair and saliva tests do not test for allergies and tend to be inaccurate. Food sensitivities fluctuate. Food allergies are rare.
Also:http://skeptvet.com/Blog/?s=allergies
