Dog paw licking & allergies: What food should my Rottweiler eat?

Switching his food will only help if this is a case of food allergy, but this is only one possibility among many other causes of allergies. changing his food without knowing if he has food allergy and to what ingredient exactly is a very long shot, but you can try an hypoallergenic diet if you want and see if it helps.

Dietary sensitivities often do cause itchy feet and/or ears and a 8 week food trial on a hydrolyzed diet such as royal canin hypoallergenic (dry and wet) or hills z/d would investigate this - these must be fed exclusively with no treats or flavored tablets and only water to drink for the 8 weeks in order to evaluate

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Unfortunately, Nikki's itching is more likely to be related to environmental allergies than food allergies. Environmental allergies are usually to things like grass, pollen, trees, etc - all the same stuff humans are allergic to. And these allergies can appear at any age. If benedryl helps, it is considered quite safe to use long term for most dogs (talk with your vet first). If you are trying to avoid medicaitons and side effects, talk with your vet about the cytopoint injection. It is not a medication or drug- it is actually just a protein that blocks the itch receptor and is considered very safe. It lasts 1-2 months in most dogs. If it works for Nikki, it also shows that her allergies are environmental in nature (that shot does not work well for food allergies). There are also many great sprays, mousses, and foot soaks that may help - talk to your vet about these options. Getting back to the food situation, if you have any concerns about the safety of the food, I definitely recommend switching. Though I will say I have several patients on Core Wellness doing fantastic as far as I can tell. For allergic dogs, I do like to avoid the common allergens which are chicken, pork, and beef (it's almost never grains). So sticking with fish or a more "novel" protein like lamb, kangaroo, or rabbit may help. hope this helps and best wishes to you and Nikki!

This does indeed look like an allergy - blood tests and an 8 week diet trial on a hydrolyzed diet such as royal canin anallergenic are the best way to determine exactly what may be triggering her symptoms - foods, dust mites and pollens are all common factors

It appears that Roxie either has a cut on her paw pad or has licked her paw raw. It is possible she is licking her paw secondary to trauma, allergies or even infection. I would recommend taking her to a vet to determine the cause and appropriate treatment. If the paw if infected she might need antibiotics. I would recommend placing her in a cone around her neck to help prevent the licking. You can try an over the counter anti histamine to help with the itchy but that will not resolve an infection.

This is probably caused by an allergic reaction. first of all make sure you de-flea Rowen regularly every month with a high quality spot on (ex. Advantage) as fleas are by far the most common reason for these reactions. If the fleas are not the problem, it could be an allergic reaction to food or an environmental factor. this is more complicated to treat and will sometimes require medications such as Steroids, anti histamines or Apoquel in order to stop the allergy.

I would try hills z/d ultra or royal canin anallergenic (an even more restricted version). Ensure also she is not receiving any additional treats, flavored tablets, bones, table scraps or raiding any garbage bins. She may also require prescription medication to resolve the current flare up. A home prepared diet may be an option but would have to be formulated with the help of an expert nutritionalist and can only comprise of novel ingredients (foods she has never eaten before such as kangaroo/venison/sweet potato etc - these are very difficult to supplement sufficiently and are very expensive to maintain in the long term)