I have two French bulldogs and have been around the world with research, vets, holistic, etc.
I finally had one of my dogs allergy tested via glacier peaks. Itās not the $$$ tests at the vet however itās very accurate as far as I have experienced.
Pet Intolerance Test
The results showed us that our dogs were allergic to nearly everything we were feeding them (chicken, salmon, etc)
That was step 1. Step 2 was finding a WHOLE FOOD diet not a processed one. Emma Lous Kitchen turkey recipe is a great example and they are very highly reviewed.
We either order Emma lous or cook for our two Frenchies. One is 12 years old and youād think heās 5. The main ingredients are turkey (from a butcher so there is not added sodium), alkaline vegetables such as broccoli, collard greens, carrots), apple and quinoa.
We also grind egg shells for their calcium. Itās very important dogs get a calcium supplement if home cooking. Half egg shell a day for one 25 lb dog.
Also a good probiotic is key.
We cook for two weeks at a time and freeze.
If you donāt have time to cook then I suggest Emma Lous Kitchen.
Most processed dog foods are so bad for our furry family members and especially for our sensitive Frenchies. Also many Frenchies canāt tolerate a raw diet, therefore a fresh/frozen whole food diet is hands down the best option.
If you want more info on my recipe Iām happy to share.
Regarding:
“Second, do this test for allergic triggers in food and environment”: (glacierpeakholistics)
/forums/search/glacier+peaks/
Glacier Peak Holistics Pet Wellness Life Scan Stress Test or How Much BS Can Fit on One Web Page?
Hair and Saliva Test for Allergies are Worthless Pseudoscience
Regarding:
“Look into the Zignature line of dry, limited ingredient kibble”.
Ask your vet, most vets are recommending feeding a grain-inclusive food at least till the results of the investigation are in.
Itās Not Just Grain-Free: An Update on Diet-Associated Dilated Cardiomyopathy
Hi Tammie-
I’m very sorry you spent money on this test. A group of veterinary dermatologists and even a regular member of this forum have sent the company negative control samples which all came back positive for allergens showing that Glacier Peaks is not an effective tool for diagnosing food allergies.
The best thing you can do is consult your vet on how to do a proper elimination trial and food challenge. This is the golden standard for determining food allergies. You have to be very strict while doing it though, which has proved difficult for a lot of people, but if you are able to do it it will help you properly determine if your dog truly has a food allergy.
I just did this test and the my dog is allergic or sensitivities to
beef
Lamb
Rabbit
Venison
Chicken/egg
Turkey
COd
Mackerel
Salmon
sweet & reg potato
peas
rice
All Grains
yeast
I’m having a hard time finding a food. They say I need to starve her of carbs cuz of the yeast. Every kibble I find has some sort of something that is on her bad list. He can have pork, bison, buffalo, llama, duck, emi, goose, ostrich, qual, anchovy, haddock, herring, Pollock, sardine, shark, tuna, trout and shellfish. I was going to home cook pork and veggies, but was reading you have to be careful and it has to be balanced. ANy suggestions? Thanks in advance!
Hi Donna,
Hair and saliva tests are completely unreliable so don’t bother basing a diet off of them. I sent in IV solution as “saliva” and cotton from the swab in the kit as “hair” to Glacier Peaks and my “dog” was reported to have numerous sensitivities. A couple vet dermatologists did testing with Immune IQ and found the tests unreliable.
http://news.vin(dot)com/vinnews.aspx?articleId=44539
That said if you want to look further into adverse food reactions as the cause of your dog’s problems talk to your vet about doing a proper elimination diet using a vet diet made for this purpose or a home made diet. You can find more information here. http://www.veterinarypartner(dot)com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=2499
Oops, please disregard my posting about Glacier Peaks Pet Wellness Scans. It’s a scam.
I agree with zcRiley about Glacier Peaks Holistics sensitivity tests at
Pet Intolerance Test Wholesale (6 pack)
They test for over 200 foods and environmental substances to which your pet could be sensitive. The test is $89 and easy to do requiring a small hair clipping and a mouth swab and all the collection materials are sent to you. For an extra $10 you can get the results the day after receiving your kit. Other on-line tests I’ve seen can be as much as $300 and test for fewer possible allergens. The test has helped me help my 5 month old lab/Rottweiler rescue/adoption fur-ever family member.
Hi Laura,
I truly hope that your vet didn’t recommend this test as it is not valid. The company has in my opinion been avoiding FDA crackdown by continually renaming and relaunching the “test” The most recent renaming and relaunching came right after I told Glacier Peaks that I ran a negative control sample. I purchased a test kit and sent in IV fluid as my saliva sample, as it is very near the composition of saliva, and instead of hair I sent in the cotton fibers from one of the swabs in the test kit. My “dog” tested positive for 63 food “sensitivities” 29 environmental “sensitivities” and 9 out of 12 positive concerns.
The company at that time was saying that the test was based in the field of quantum physics. I contacted 2 PhD quantum physicists and both said that what the company sent me was all “hokem” and that nothing in physics would explain what they were claiming.
Keep in mind that the company states that any item marked as a sensitivity may not have any adverse effect for your dog and that items that do not test as sensitive may cause a reaction. In other words the “test” is worthless.
If you want to purse food reaction as a cause for your dog’s problems take a good inventory of everything that has ever crossed your dog’ lips, then feed a diet that doesn’t contain any of those items . Use a therapeutic diet from your vet’s office formulated specifically for use in adverse food reactions and eliminate any other source of exposures which means no flavored medications, no chews, no poop eating, no scavenging etc. Hope you find resolution for your dogs problems.
It was funny, I have always thought my Golden was intolerant of fish. To make a long story short, it turns out that it was more a matter of timing. Each time he reacted, he was eating something that includes fish. I had been avoiding fish of any kind for him. I decided to do the Glacier Peaks Holistic alternative sensitivity assessment test and it said most fishes were OK. After a few weeks, I got brave, feed him a fish based food and he was fine. I couldn’t believe it. What I’ve determined is that he has environmental allergies (seasonal) and the supplements I mention have helped. His symptoms typically would present as an ear infection and itchiness. My Sam is young, he just turned three, so it took a couple of seasons for me to put together the timing of the onset of his “allergies.”
Ugh! I just typed a long response that disappeared. Let’s try it again.
I’ll second Aquariangt’s recommendation for The Honest Kitchen.
I’ll also make a suggestion for raw. Answers. Answers is a fermented raw product. Straight Answers is meat, organ, and bone only. It’s made complete and balanced by adding Answers goat milk. Detailed Answers is complete and balanced. In addition to meat, organ, and bone, it includes veggies, eggs, Montmorillonite, decaffeinated green tea, and anchovy, and sardine oils. I estimate your 55 pound adult dog would eat about 10 ounces per day of Detailed Answers. A two pound carton sells for about $14 where I live. You’d need about 9.5 cartons per month for a total of 300 ounces monthly, which would cost you about $135 per month. My dogs eat less Answers than they do other raw foods, although both have around 60 kcals per ounce. Fermented foods are more nourishing.
For the record, my dogs are currently eating Answers, but they eat a wide variety of foods including, kibble, can, fresh whole foods and raw.
Also, I believe allergy tests are fairly unreliable and the gold standard for determining food intolerances is a well constructed elimination diet. That said, I was shocked at my saliva and hair test results from Glacier Peaks. The test was only $85, which for me was affordable. I had always thought my dog was fish intolerant, but the GP test results said otherwise. I’m happy to report that my dog just polished of a bag of Acana Pacifica, a fish based food, with zero issues whatsoever.
I see that the Glacier Holistics posts a disclaimer for this “test”
“The information provided by this assessment is intended for educational and nutritional purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.”
Why run a test when the company that is offering it states it has no applicable purpose?
I thought about getting a few kits.. taking samples and sending them in to see it the results were repeatable but when asked about accuracy the company states “results vary”. This could mean they acknowledge that you won’t get the same results twice on the same sample.
Shawna, I understand how powerful personal experience is. Last year I woke one day with terrible knee pain. I hadn’t injured my knee and had no idea why. My husband wanted me to go to the Dr and I said if it wasn’t resolved in 6 months I’d go. Rest, ice, elevation, knee support brace resulted in a waxing and waning pattern but it was always there.
About 5 1/2 months in it flared terribly and I conceded I’d have to go to the Dr as I promised hubby I would. But … in pain and out of options I asked an acquaintance who practiced an alternative modality to treat me. He had offered many times before and I politely declined.
It was arranged for a evening treatment. The next am I woke and the pain was gone! Vanished! It has now been over 6 months and it never returned. Certainly would have made a believer out of me. I say would have because on the night of the scheduled treatment something came up and he couldn’t do it. I was never treated. The pain went away just as suddenly as it came on.
I always understood that testimonial was a weak form of evidence and that controlled blinded studies are needed, but boy oh boy did that experience ever drive that point home!
In regards to Glacier Peaks I see no mention of what is being measured, how it is measured or how the test was validated. Until the company is forthcoming with that information I couldn’t ever recommend it.
The store I work for sells the Glacier Peaks tests. We have had amazing success helping allergy afflicted dogs and cats using the results of these tests. IMHO, saliva test or not, they are more accurate than vet testing and a fraction of the cost.
The Glacier Peaks Sensitivity Assessment that Susan mentioned isn’t a traditional salvia test. It uses biofeedback energy from the DNA samples that you provide from both your dog’s saliva and hair.
I’ve done the test and was very surprised by my results. I believe my attempt at what I refer to as a modified elimination diet (only because it wasn’t a true and properly conducted elimination diet), weren’t reliable. Two friends who have conducted true elimination diets said their GP test results were spot on. And, as Susan mentioned, the test covers tons of foods and environmental triggers. I liked that it also have recommendations for supplementation.
Jennifer yes, my vet said he sees more white dogs with skin problems then brindle, black, tan dogs…. My next dog will not have a bit of white on him……
Have you ever thought of doing the Salvia & Hair testing thru “Glacier Peak Holistics” it cost $85 & they test for 100+ Environment triggers & 200+ food items, you may be surprised with what he’s sensitive too.. I know vets say you can get false positives with blood testing but everyone I know that has done the Glacier Peaks test were pretty happy with the results & it was pretty accurate with foods that people knew their dogs were sensitive too & cheaper then a Dermatologist & you may find out what is causing the itch….
http://www.glacierpeakholistics.com/More-Than-an-Allergy-Test_p_80.html
Hi Rachel, join this group on Face Book called “Dog Allergy International Group” https://www.facebook.com/groups/dogallergyinternationalgroup/
You will get all the help needed, look in the files Salvia/Skin Testing “Glacier Peak Holistic”
Debe Gywnn has joined the group, Debe is the CEO & Founder Glacier Peaks Holistic..
Hi all,
Thank you in advance for your help. I am out of my mind trying to find dog food that my dog is not allergic to. He is two years old and has always been itchy, some times worse than others. I have been feeding him Merrick Grain free Duck and sweet potato and he likes it..but only if I mix in moist food with it. So I bought several of the grain free varieties and he would finally eat. Well, the itchiness never went away full. I finally had him allergy tested by a test from Glacier Peaks Hollistics. It came back with a large list of items he is allergic to.
Lamb
Tuna
Trout
Cod
Asparagus
Beet
Potato
Spinach
Sweet Potato
Yam
Tomato
Turnip
Canola Oil
Sesame Oil
Pineapple
Rice Milk
Corn
Brown Rice
White Rice
Peanut
Sesame Seed
Lentil Bean
Nutra Sweet
Chicken Egg
I have been scouring dog food to find something that doesn’t include the above and cannot find anything. I am hoping to find someplace that I can try and return the food that he doesn’t like. He is extremely picky and will only eat the food if he likes it. He has gone over a day without eating and sticking his nose up. His stomach will be growling and he is obviously hungry, but won’t eat the food if he doesn’t like it.
Any help you can provide I would truly appreciate it!!!!
Thank you!!
