Buying dog foods may seem a simple task, but it might not be so when buying food for an allergic dog. Does your dog lick its paws, or does it have constipation, runny stool or a gassy stomach? Or does it scratch its body, but you can't find any flea on its fur? Food allergies could be the cause! If your dog suffers food allergies, you could use friendlier diets that hopefully won't trigger them. If what your dog eats causes gastrointestinal problems, itchiness or skin conditions, it's time to switch to a special diet. Which foods should you buy for your allergic pooch? Read on!

Vet's Hypoallergenic Diet

Dogs with food allergies should eat specially formulated foods to alleviate allergy symptoms. Before the vet prescribes a hypoallergenic diet, they analyse the pet's allergy symptoms to avoid diets that would cause severe flare-ups. Hydrolysed protein is among the clinically tested ingredients in hypoallergenic foods. A diet with small protein molecules shouldn't cause allergic reactions in dogs. Besides being symptom-free, a hypoallergenic diet has a reduced risk of causing allergic reactions and enhances digestion.

New Protein Food

Introduce your dog to proteins it hasn't eaten before to identify which one won't trigger allergic reactions. If the new protein meal doesn't cause flare-ups, it should be the next regular diet for your pooch. The main proteins in most regular pet foods that cause allergies include fish, lamb, turkey, beef and chicken. However, the proteins in most novel protein diets are exotic, and they include duck, herring, cod, venison, rabbit, bison, buffalo and kangaroo. Take your pet for an elimination diet test to identify allergy-causing proteins. If the results show that the previous proteins were the culprit, switch to a new protein diet.

Reduced-Ingredients Diet

If your dog is allergic, don't buy pet food with many ingredients because they could trigger food sensitivity and allergic reactions in your dog's body. Whether you choose to buy a homemade, commercial or store-bought diet, it shouldn't have more than one type of carb or protein. Pet diets with limited ingredients have fewer allergy risks. Although the ingredient list of the pooch food should be downsized, it should be well balanced and nutritionally complete.

Most foods for allergic dogs have hypoallergenic carbs like carrots and lentils. They also contain omega fatty acids, antioxidants and probiotics to boost the immune system of your pooch. However, diets for allergic pets don't contain hormones, antibiotics, soy, gluten, wheat or corn because they cause instant flare-ups.

Talk to your vet today about what pet food you should be feeding your pet.