Just reading that I realize how stupid it seems and what the obvious answer is, but maybe I just needed to say it all..

Not stupid.

I have a male that needs the Urinary Tract health dry food. I have another male plus an indoor female. All three eat the Purina UT because at $100.99 for a 16lb. bag, I'm not spending $$ on a separate dry food for the other two. The vet said it was fine to do so.

Yes it's definitely a money thing but also she really likes what she's currently on.

I also had a dog with allergies-- I fed both dogs the same food. I landed on Snake River ... I think it was salmon and potato but not 100% sure. It was more expensive than the non-specialty foods but it was high quality, convenient and delivered right to my door.

Beau had allergies to grains and chicken-- when he was recovering from illness (pancreatitis, for example), I was able to give him homemade ground beef and rice. For that reason alone, it may be helpful to try to narrow down your dog's allergies. Hopefully he doesn't get sick but when he does, you won't want to return him right back to kibble.

Pretty sure it's chicken, although it could also be beef. for several months. I made a homemade farmer's dog -ish of porkloin, rice, sweet potatoes, peas and vitamins. But now we are doing a sensitive skin and stomach kibble with a pork loin topper. He's healthy and happy although he still has managed to sneak my other dogs leftovers occasionally and that's setting us back.

However, if I were to switch her out to the same kibble, we wouldn't have that issue.

It takes 6 to 8 weeks for the skin to turn over and to not see the pink anymore.

The vet said 95% of all allergies are chicken and beef. He gets no grain.

Do you have crates? Can you feed each dog in their crate? Mine eat in crates because they are raw fed. Or feed the dog with the food causing the allergy in the laundry room with the door closed?

Would a salmon based food that is not a specialty diet be a way to feed them both the same food without the special diet price tag? You may need to do some testing to find out, but that would be something I would consider. I would also suggest talking to your vet before leaving one or both on a grain free diet long term. My vet advises against grain free diets as a general rule based on her experience and studies that show cardio problems associated with grain free diets. Right now, I understand you are trying to isolate potential allergens, but you may not want to remain grain free long term. I had do the elimination/isolation with a cat -- went through all the proteins (bison, duck, kangaroo -- did not enjoy that), then veggies - turned out to be soy oil in a particular brand.

I'm not finding any Snake River dog food except a particular wet food made by Blue Buffalo.

Lascatx, how did you find the allergen?

Well.. I told you the wrong name. It was Flint River .. but they shut down 6+ yr ago!

I guess it is past time for me to adopt another dog, huh?

Regarding chicken allergies.

My Molly who is raw-fed would get terrible ear infections / itchy skin when she was fed non-organic chicken. But if she eats organic chicken from Whole Foods, she is completely fine.

I'm thinking it is something in the feed or processing of the non-organic chickens that causes many dogs to have issues. It is very noticeable with Molly, she was fed a piece of cooked chicken (boneless breast) by a kind waitress at a restaurant recently but because it was not organic, her ears bothered her the next day.

Could also be the problem for some of the dogs having the issues with the kibble-chicken since I doubt they are using Whole Foods Organic chicken in those products.

I would feed them both the same or at least give the other dog a food that isn't chicken or beef. See how that goes.

My dog is extremely allergic to rice. It took ages to figure that one out but I finally did. So, she pretty much has to have a grain free because most better quality foods that are grain inclusive are rice based. I recently discovered that Barley is a problem also, tried a treat that had barley as the main grain, after a couple of days of getting like two of the treats each day, she began digging at her ears.

I hear lots of stories of dog allergies being a regular at the dog park. A funny one was their dog can only eat Gravy Train and nothing else they tried worked. Hey, whatever it takes!

I think he's done well on the blue buffalo skin and stomach that is salmon and sweet potato. It does contain brown rice about four down. After oatmeal. No wheat no corn. No poultry anything. So he gets that and a sweet potato topping and a pork loin topping. He was really clearing up and almost totally cleared up when he started eating the leftovers from my other dog and now it's back so it'll take another 6 weeks. But I'm aware that he was going after it while I was getting the leash ready for the walk. He would circle back to the kitchen and that's when he found out that my other dog would leave a couple pieces! Her dog food will not be something he can ever eat, but I can easily keep it away from him. She can eat anything.

If in 2 months he is completely cleared up. I'm going to say it's the chicken or the beef. And then we can work on maybe adding beef back.