Home-Cooked Hypoallergenic Diets for Dogs

Dogs can develop allergies owing to various factors, including food. Allergic reactions in dogs are generally manifested in the skin --- a food-sensitive dog experiences extremely itchy skin that turns red and sore as a result of excessive scratching and licking. Your dog may be allergic to different foods such as grain, protein and dairy. It could also develop sensitivity to preservatives, colorings and additives from commercial dog foods. Relieve your dog's food allergies by combining food elimination with a home-cooked hypoallergenic diet.

Food-Elimination Trial

A food-elimination trial process can determine the food that is causing your dog's allergy. Replace existing commercial foods as well as grain, vegetable and meat with new sources of homemade protein and carbohydrates. Do not revert back to feeding the old diet, and refrain from offering edible chew toys such as rawhide, bones or commercial treats. If you desire to feed treats, ensure that they are prepared from the same food source as the elimination diet. If your dog does not experience an allergic reaction after six weeks on the elimination diet, let this food form part of its new, hypoallergenic diet.

Home-Cooked Food

Create an effective home-cooked diet that blends hypoallergenic protein and carbohydrate sources with vitamins and minerals. Get creative in home cooking --- combine unusual sources of carbohydrate that you haven't fed your dog before, such as sweet potatoes or oats, with new protein. For instance, mix one part lamb, rabbit or venison with two parts of rice, potatoes or sweet potatoes. Quite often, your dog may be allergic to the carbohydrates in the food. If the dog experiences sensitivities, withdraw the food and replace it with different foods until the offending food allergies are identified.

Hypoallergenic Recipes

Once you have confirmed your dog's food allergies, eliminate them completely from its diet and rotate the hypoallergenic food that you feed it every two weeks. Prepare nutritious and tasty hypoallergenic food by building on simple recipes. Make a turkey casserole by steaming a pound of turkey meat and combining it with one cooked chopped potato, carrot and a few broccoli florets. Add half a tsp. of bonemeal powder, cool and serve. Replace the turkey with another meat, or add rice and different vegetables every two weeks, to ensure that your dog receives a balanced hypoallergenic diet.

Raw Food

Some dogs experience allergy relief when fed a raw food diet. This diet entails feeding the dog raw meat, bones and organs of a variety of animals such as chicken, lamb, duck, rabbit, lamb, pig and cow. However, raw foods carry the risk of bacterial contamination. Consult your vet before feeding raw food to ensure that your dog benefits from a nutritionally balanced diet.