I've got a 2.5 year old chocolate lab that can't seem to shake his seasonal allergies. He's developing hot spots and losing hair from all the scratching and chewing he does. Doing everything from fish oils, allergy meds, yogurt, hot spot shampoo, but can't seem to find him any relief. Luckily, it only happens this time of year and not during hunting season. Would really like to avoid taking him to the vet if at all possible.

Any one have suggestions on how to get my buddy some relief?

You can usually give dogs OTC benadryl... but be sure it's the dye free/alcohol free version. It's usually 1mg/lb on the dosing. So a single 25mg pill would be enough for a 25 lb dog. If in doubt it's always best to call a vet. I have used the oils from ozoneoils.com with really good success as well.

Unfortunately I've got nothing. Might want to try oatmeal based shampoo. I gave up on the "home" based remedies for the most part and now I give my dog shots based on her allergy test done by the vet. I have a very expensive dog now. It doesn't alleviate all the scratching and chewing but its a lot better now. She was actually getting infected from the all the scratching so I might be the extreme case. I even thought about trying to rehome her up north before the shots. It was that bad. I still give her human allergy pills when it gets real bad and wash her with the oatmeal shampoo. The alternative was steroids and those lead to another set of problems. One other thing - if you are giving your buddy allergy pills make sure to switch brands as my vet told me they can become immune to one if given too often.

Appreciate the insight. I'm going to give this shampoo and meds about another week to see if it does anything. If not, then looks like I'll be in the vets office.

You sure it's not the food? Also bathing too often can cause dry skin.

We've put him on a gluten, grain, wheat free diet (that pains me to say.) about a year ago when he started to get these hot spots thinking that was the issue. This is the second year in a row that he has flared up the way he has in about the same time frame. I typically don't bath him a whole lot, let him do his thing when I'm throwing water marks for him. Other than that its about once every 2 weeks with the oatmeal shampoo.

That will help. Had 8 kabs before my current chocolate and all had the same issue. Found a holistic Vet and she told me that corn glueten meal and wheat are not good for dogs or cats. Causes exactly what you are experiencing in dogs. My lab has is now almost 8 and has never had either corn or wheat and has also never had hotspots or allergies. Mine lab is constantly in and out of the pool all the time. Kinda like Ball, Ball, Ball, Ball, swim, repeat. Hope you see improvement.

Sounds like seasonal allergies to me. They generally start showing up around 1.5-2 years of age. One of our labs has them excessively the other does to an extent, but not nearly as bad. The only way to really tell if it's a food allergy is with a diet trial. Usually last about 8 weeks. It consists of a single protein source and a single carb source (both something the dog has never been fed) - NO beef - it's a more common allergen than you think. I've heard of a lot of off the wall stuff like kangaroo used sometimes.

You might try a very good medicated shampoo. Try something WITHOUT oatmeal in it. Biggest thing is to lather him up good and then let it sit for 5-10 minutes before rinsing him. When our youngest lab gets really bad we might have to do it 3x a week for a week or two, but it helps tremendously. We also give Benadryl morning and evenings with feeding. Wife also uses some kind of fish-oil supplement. All those things combined seem to help.

We have a 2 1/2 year old Brittany that has bad allergies. The only solution that worked are bi monthly allergy shots, plus 2 pills he takes daily. Not the cheapest remedy but the only one that truly worked. The allergy test alone was around $700

One of the most common food allergies is chicken. Most people key in on the grain or corn and it's not the issue.