Sad but true - dog allergies are common occurrences. While it may seem upsetting that such allergies are common in all breeds of dogs, the good news is that most are easily treatable. Dog food allergies are more common than most people realize, and true allergies generally produce skin irritations and problems rather than digestive upsets.

The symptoms may not appear for several weeks or months even though a particular type of food is being eaten regularly.

Rather than a new food source being the cause of the allergies, it is more likely that it is the regular diet you have been feeding your dog that is the actual cause. In fact around 70% of dog food allergies are caused by a food that has been well tolerated for more than two years. A dog may not show any allergies when it eats a food for the first time with symptoms only showing after the second or third time.

Dogs can show an intolerance to some kinds of food but this should not be mistaken as an allergy. Having an allergic reaction to a specific food and being intolerant are different matters. There will be some form of skin itch or irritation from allergies. In comparison, food intolerance would cause diarrhea and stomach upsets instead.

Today, lamb and rice diets are becoming popular and some people mistakenly think that they are the answer to pet food allergies. This is at best a short detour because the dogs have only started on this new diet. The allergies merely have not yet been developed. It is likely that if this diet is fed continuously, the dogs could develop an allergy over a period of time.

As a means of solving the allergy problem, you need to give your dog a diet that does not include problem causing food items. The method is by the elimination process where you replace the dog food with a new diet and then adding the suspicious items one at a time, each time checking for reactions.

It is important to realize that you need to wait at least a month, probably more, before you can accurately determine whether or not a food is suitable. It takes that long for any remaining allergens from previous foods to leave your dogs system.

But even if you manage to find out the source of the allergies, it would be advisable to bring your dog for a medical exam by the vet as he would be able to conduct more in depth tests to find out any underlying health problems that your dog might have.