Hypoallergenic dog food may be the best gift you can give your dog. If your dog exhibits vomiting, diarrhea, skin problems such as itching, scratching or in some cases self-mutilation, it could be the result of inferior food. There are many dogs that have intolerance to grains and some have difficulty with some meats. Changing to a hypoallergenic dog food may solve all of these problems.

Some dogs are so sensitive to some foods that they can have chronic ear infections. The ear and skin irritations may be relieved by antibiotics or corticosteroids, but the problems return once the medication is discontinued. It may take some time for your vet to discover the cause. It is up to the owner to do some research on their own and present the possibility to the vet if the condition is not resolved.

If your dog manifests any of those symptoms and no relief is found through the medication, it would be a good idea to switch to a hypoallergenic dog food. These can be found at most pet stores and some of the larger grocery stores. Read the labels. Dog food labels contain a lot of ingredients that you may not be able to pronounce. These could be the things causing your dogs allergies. Natural dog foods that are hypoallergenic contain no ingredients that are unfamiliar to humans. It is advisable to feed dogs human grade foods.

Hypoallergenic dog food is based on a protein other than what your dog may be eating. Some have venison base, bison, kangaroo, fish, lamb or chicken. The carbohydrates that go into the better foods are vegetables and brown rice. There are some brands that produce a solely vegetarian, and use the protein rich vegetables as the protein base.