[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi Marcella –

Blood allergy tests are very inaccurate, they often give false positives for foods your dog isn’t really allergic to and false negatives for foods your dog really is allergic to. The only accurate way to determine what foods are causing issues is to perform an elimination diet. Personally, if a dog is exhibiting food intolerance issues I think it’s best to do an elimination diet so you know for certain what the triggers are and which foods to avoid. An elimination diet would involve feeding a food that contains a protein source and a carbohydrate source your dog has never eaten before for 4 – 6 weeks. You would then gradually start adding in new ingredients, one at a time, and closely monitor the reaction to each.

Here is some info:
-nytimes.com/2009/02/03/health/03well.html?_r=0

-healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2012/05/07/protein-diets-for-pets-allergy.aspx

-whole-dog-journal.com/issues/14_4/features/Dog-Food-Allergy_20239-1.html

-virtuavet.wordpress.com/2012/01/29/step-by-step-dog-food-allergy-elimination-diet/

-communityvet.net/2010/03/diy-elimination-diet-for-the-dog-an-cat/