[Susan W]

Kristen, I have a Golden who will be 12 in January. We went for about a year battling similar issues to yours – tho not as bad. She was itchy, itchy, ITCHY. The first thing I did that made a HUGE difference was that I made – the first TRUE step in the right direction – was that I switched to VeRUS dog food. When I contact them, I had a great conversation with their VP about the issues we were facing and how to tackle them. She (Krystle) recommended their Opticoat formula which uses a wild-caught fish, doesn’t have gluten, and has complex carbs so the blood sugar doesn’t go up & doesn’t feed the yeast. All of the VeRUS formulas use organic or free range meats. The Opticoat didn’t have a nasty smell – it smells like fresh-caught fish all the way to the bottom of the bag. They also have a nifty freeze-dried live probiotic. (Pretty sure I messed up the order there, but if you go to their website, you can read all about it.) VeRUS will send you free samples & Krystle will email you if you contact them.
Second thing I did was to dust my Golden with FOOD GRADE DE powder to kill the invisible little buggers that were part of her itching problem. I’m still on the first cupful of the DE powder & I’ve been using it for like 6 months. It’s cheap & works really fast.
Third was a product called DERMagic – shampoo, conditioner, lotion.
We now have a beautiful, perfect, non-itchy, non-stinky, non-yeasty Golden who acts HALF her age. She runs, she’s enthusiastic, and she smells really good. And she can’t wait to eat. She loves her food.
VeRUS easily falls into your price range. You can order it & get it delivered on schedule if you go to PetFLow.com. If you’re interested in the protein-to-fat-to-carb ratios, the VeRUS website has all the nutritional info you’ll need (but don’t forget about asking for the free samples).
BTW – VeRUS is only 4 Star here but they have never had a recall in almost 30 years. They are a small company out of the northeast (Maryland, I think). Small company, really nice & helpful people.