lablover4ever, allergies are diagnosed both in dogs AND humans by what is known as an "elimination diet" as Meghane above suggested. An elimination diet consists of feeding only a bare minimum of ingredients for a specified period of time, then slowly adding in other ingredients to find out where the reaction to the ingredient occurs. The ONLY commercial food that I know of designed for this specific purpose is "California Natural" by NaturaPet. It is expensive. Quite honestly, I fed it to my epileptic dog for 3 years watching his seizure triggers for any signs and his allergies. He has both problems. We discovered what his allergies were -- and his seizure triggers -- by using this method, and then were able to switch him to a less expensive food. If this may be the case for you, then I'd suggest that food. The problem with many commercial foods is you can't trust the big bag label. While they may say they are "lamb and rice", if you read the fine print, they also contain corn, rosemary, and many other ingredients. The first 5 ingredients are the most copious in a food. Look for pure ingredients. If it is lamb and rice for example, then that is ALL it should contain. Add in other ingredients after that, and see if sensitivities re-occur. Bear in mind, it takes about 8 weeks for sensitivities to ingredients to manifest. So make any changes sloooooooowly. A good rule of thumb is, "the devil is in the details". It's also in the fine print on the ingredient label, not the big label on the front of the bag.

Coconut oil ...hhhuuummmm, I have never heard of that. I am a firm believer in "why take a drug if a food can do the same thing". My Akita has allergies too, she used to dig blody holes in her face and chew raw patches on her tummy and under her legs. She cant tolerate steroids at all they make her crazy and anxious. I started her on my Mangosteen juice mainly for her joint pain but it seems to have really helped her allergies too (it sure helped mine). She is still itching a lot but no where near as badly. I will look into the Coconut oil and see if that helps her even more. Thanks for the tip! Lisa

I always like just some Lawry's seasoned salt sprinkled over chicken or roasts, but I can't say for sure if it has sugar in it. How about some Mrs. Dash or something like that with lots of different seasonings in it. I've also heard that eating yogurt is supposed to help if you have a yeast infection, but get the sugarfree kind if you can't have sugar.

Apple Crisp - (I was wondering if cooked apples would be ok for her as some of the other things are ok if they are cooked) Heat oven to 400F. Butter a 9"x9" glass pan Combine the following ingredients and mix well 4 lbs green apples (about 7) or other chosen fruit 1/2 cup sugar 2 T cornstarch 3/4 tsp cinnamon Put the above mixture into the 9"x9" pan Crumb mixture - 1 cup quinoa flakes 6 T rice flour 2T cornstarch 3/4 cup brown sugar 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/2 cup butter (slightly room temperature) 3/4 cup pecans (but you could use cashews or brazil nuts) Mix the first 5 ingredients and then cut in the butter until coarse crumbs form. Add in chosen chopped nuts. Sprinkle crumb mixture ontop of the fruit mixture. Bake 50-55 minutes. That will depend on how deep the crisp is and the chosen fruit. Lola - this is something that I have had to experiment with as I converted it from a regular crisp so you might have to do the same. Cornstarch does not contain the corn protein which is what causes the allergy so she should be ok with that. DS1 girlfriend is allergic to corn but is ok with corn starch. Any questions feel free to ask.