Do you find your pet dog constantly scratching and itching? Is he/she shedding a lot of fur or suffering from frequent ear infections? If so, you need to take your dog to a vet right away because he/she may be suffering from some kind of a food allergy. Knowing the symptoms and triggers for food allergies in dogs can ensure you get them help on time.

If you wish to be aware of the symptoms and triggers of food allergies in dogs, you have to first understand what a food allergy in dogs can be like and when these are likely to happen. Food allergies will typically occur whenever your dog’s immune system has misidentified a protein as an invader instead of a food item, and then it starts to produce an immune response to it. The result of such a response will either be skin infections, ear infections, diarrhea, vomiting, etc.

Food allergies in dogs are not the same as food intolerance, which means the symptoms and triggers differ. The latter is typically the result of faulty digestion like lactose intolerance. Food allergies are essentially the responses of the animal’s immune system. This protein that is identified as the invader usually comes from some food item that your dog has eaten. The truth is that most of the food that your pet dog eats is rich in proteins. The most severe type of allergy in dogs is the acute allergic reaction where dogs can go into what is called an anaphylactic shock when they have a sharp reaction to some specific allergen. This must be treated at once or it can become a life-threatening issue.

Symptoms of Food Allergies in Dogs
Symptoms of food allergies will typically depend on the causes for it. Usually, you will find these to be the common symptoms of food allergies:

• Chronic Ear Infections
  Having ear infections about two or three times in a year is a telltale sign that your pet suffers from a food allergy. You will notice stinky and yeasty ears with a brown buildup; the dog continues to shake its head and scratch the ears
• Red/bronze nail bed
  You can spot this easily in pets with white nails like the bulldogs, boxers, spaniels, etc. This is a typically sign of inflammatory immune response and the dog will keep licking or itching these.
• Bronzing Near the Lips
  This symptom is also most easily noticeable in breeds that have white coats. You will find their feet, lips, skin are inflamed and pink in color.
• Watery Eyes
  This is similar to humans suffering from hay fever who experience contact dermatitis, stuffy noses, and itching. This allergy will cause your dog to scratch his eyes frequently, have a goopy discharge, and clogged tear ducts.

Triggers of Food Allergies in Dogs
The numbers of dogs with food allergies are quite low, but there are specific ingredients that are usually responsible for these cases. The more commonly reported cases have been triggered by beef, chicken, dairy foods, and eggs. While these ingredients have always been included in foods for dogs, pet are surprisingly most allergic to proteins. Grains very rarely will cause food allergies in dogs. Only on very rare occasions will a pet become allergic to a particular grain or any plant-based food like potatoes and carrots. But it is usually animal proteins that trigger food allergies in dogs.