Did it Work?

As I mentioned in my previous post I decided to switch Sawyer over to Taste of the Wild (reluctantly). I don't ever like to switch a dog's food unless absolutely necessary, but I was getting desperate to get to the root of his itching. I slowly weaned him off the Eukanuba. Now, if you have never switched a dog's food, the idea is to do it gradually in order to eliminate upset stomach and all of the other fabulous happenings that occur when you switch.

Sawyer seemed to enjoy the new food- even prefer it over the Eukanuba. Once he had been switched over completely, I did start to notice a change in his coat- annnnd his weight (but more on that little big situation later). I also noticed that his ears were less waxy than usual. Unfortunately, the itching remained. Now, this whole switch occurred in January. So he has been on this new food for about three months now.

Around mid-February, the itching got worse- way worse. He was rubbing his body on all of my furniture (you people out there who have dog allergies know what I'm talking about?), and stopping every ten seconds on our walks to scratch. He was miserable. I upped his Zyrtec usage to twice a day to no avail. Then, I made the connection. Obviously, my animal does not suffer from a grain allergy- more like seasonal allergies. To be more specific- pollen. Now, I'm no medical professional, even though I work for a surgeon- I handle his PR and marketing. For people. Much different than animals. However, it doesn't take rocket science to make the connection between all of the pollen on the ground and the "extreme allergy counts" I've been reading about to Sawyer's allergies.

I switched him back over to Claritin twice a day, because it worked better than Zyrtec, and purchased some hypoallergenic wipes to clean his coat and paws after our walks outside. I'll do a separate post on that later to share some of the brands I've tried and what seems to be working- or not. I'm also keeping him on Taste of the Wild, because I feel as if it provides better nutrition than some of the other products out there (but more on that later also). So while I've found a way to control his allergies, it remains on ongoing project. Any of you out there who have dogs that suffer from allergies? I'd be interested to know what you are trying. Send me an email, or leave a comment- I'd love to hear from you!