So I've been feeding Taste of the Wild Pacific Salmon for a few months now. Raisin was doing fine on it, but for the past couple of weeks, she has been having BAD gas. In the past, she would get gas with any special treat, like bully sticks or whatever, but never really with just normal meals. Certainly not like this. Poops are still normal though. I've been adding yogurt just for the past couple of days, with no change. I'm willing to try out the yogurt a little longer, but I'm wondering if I should just trying changing food as well.

What was the initial sign that made you think your grey might be sensitive/allergic to something in their food?

Shanti licked her feet raw. She was put on Prescriptives J/D for her arthritis. She started licking right away. I took her off the food after less than 2 weeks and she stopped. I don't know what ingredient caused it though.

I've always known that Lucky had an allergy to SOMETHING. He had the textbook tell-tale signs: itchy, bloody feet, hot spots, raggedy coat, yucky and flaky skin, awful poops, etc. His allergies lasted year round, although they certainly got worse during traditional allergy seasons (i.e. spring/summer). So, I had a feeling that he had enviro-allergies and a weak immune system, if not a food allergy itself. Our last visit to the derm. vet confirmed that he has an enviro-allergy.

I would give a food as long as the bag lasts. If I don't see drastic improvement at the end of the bag, I would switch. FWIW, I had to ultimately switch to homecooked. The simplicity of the diet really helped him.

My allergy dog got a blood test to see exactly what it was that made him lick his feet and itch until raw. The blood test was about $100, and was done, say, 10 years ago. It does NOT test for food allergies, but it does test for just about every thing else.

What were the results? My TeddyBear (pit bull mix) was allergic to many tree pollens that ended up in the grass he walked in (solution: rinse his feet off often, dogs absorb lots of stuff through their pads), dust mites (solution: air filters, clean bedding, and vacuum often), flea bites (solution: topical solutions that kill the flea BEFORE it bites). ant bites (solution: ???) and ..... yes..... HUMAN DANDER. My dog is allergic to me. OK, that is very rare, I admit. We ended up with a very specifically made anti-allergen shot I had to give him every two weeks for about two years. As a dog ages, their allergies usually lessen, environmental or food-wise.

Bad gas does not sound like an allergy to me, especially if it has taken a few weeks to develop. An allergy to food would be immediate. Kefir is also much better than yogurt to restore natural bacteria balance in the digestive tract than yogurt.

Change to a simpler ingredient recipe kibble if the gas is that bothersome. Simpler/less ingredients = easier on the digestive tract.

Whenever I feed Raven food or treats with wheat or wheat products in it, she projectile vomits.

Figuring this out took a few months. We tried Wysong Adult Maintenance. She loved it, but about a half hour after eating she would toss her cookies in spectacular fashion. We switched to Authority Lite and while she didn't do great on it there was no wheat and she was able to hold it down. Tried another food to see if her coat would improve--Nutro, I think--and it did contain wheat gluten. More barfing. Switched to Canidae. No more barfing. Eventually the light bulb came on. She only barfed when fed stuff with wheat or wheat gluten in the ingredients. Duh. No allergy testing was needed in her case, as it was pretty obvious what the problem was. Some more obscure allergies require testing. Your vet sends a blood sample to the testing lab and they run a complete profile on your dog. It isn't cheap, but it's helpful if you're unable to determine the offending allergen yourself.

In your case, it might be as simple as comparing what's in the Taste of the Wild you're feeding now to what you were feeding in the past, isolating the different ingredients and feeding her a new food that doesn't contain those ingredients since odds are it's one of those new introductions that is the culprit.

Allergy is totally different than something causing gas.

A dog could get gassy from, let's say, lamb, but that doesn't mean the dog is allergic to it. Just doesn't agree with the dog.

Typically, a dog with a food allergy starts with itchy feet and the itching progresses.

A dog with non-food allergies typically gets itchy in the "arm pits" or ears first.

Adding yogurt may increase gas, because of the dairy in yogurt, dog's don't have the enzymes to fully digest all dairy components.

Try just acidophilus tablets (found in most stores, refrigerate after opening)

If you think it is allergies, try going to a minimal ingredient kibble and start the elimination process. Most people start with lamb - something minimal if any grain and move on from there.

Itchy feet. Looked like foot fungus or a skin infection. Mostly on one foot, so we didn't think of allergies. Tried numerous things to clear it up. Accidentally changed foods. Itching got better. New food was lower fat, dog got a little dandruff. Started fish oil caps. Instant itching. Stopped fish oil caps. Itching stopped. Bingo!

It took 3-4 months for Flame to adjust to the food I was using. He had terrible gas but he did adjust. He never has much gas now. It took him longer than it did any of my other hounds. Even my new foster is not having bad gas and his poops are firm. Yay! for foster dogs with firm poop and no gas.