WE had an allergic dog that was a client of veterinary dermatology his entire life. I learned that most dogs that have food allergies are either allergic to beef, chicken or lamb as those are the most common ingredients in dog foods. That is why he recommended the venison, duck, or fish.
My dog was on Duck and Potato for years but as he got older he started having issues with it and after some tests with the internist, it was determined he had IBD. He was put on ZD for that. It is hydrolyzed chicken. when asked what that meant they said like "already chewed". He did well on that food. It is a diet for dogs with allergies, but some dogs will not eat it. It is pretty bland. It is not like chicken like you know it in dog foods. You could certainly try the fish and potatoe and see how he does. As I said, you want a single source protein. Those seem to be the best for allergic dogs. I learned a lot from my dogs dermatologist. I hope this works for you. It will be a lot less money then ZD for sure.

WE had an allergic dog that was a client of veterinary dermatology his entire life. I learned that most dogs that have food allergies are either allergic to beef, chicken or lamb as those are the most common ingredients in dog foods. That is why he recommended the venison, duck, or fish.
My dog was on Duck and Potato for years but as he got older he started having issues with it and after some tests with the internist, it was determined he had IBD. He was put on ZD for that. It is hydrolyzed chicken. when asked what that meant they said like "already chewed". He did well on that food. It is a diet for dogs with allergies, but some dogs will not eat it. It is pretty bland. It is not like chicken like you know it in dog foods. You could certainly try the fish and potatoe and see how he does. As I said, you want a single source protein. Those seem to be the best for allergic dogs. I learned a lot from my dogs dermatologist. I hope this works for you. It will be a lot less money then ZD for sure.

You know I did not realize zd had chicken in it. I just took it for granted the vet knew what the ingredients were and trusted her.

I know for a fact chicken was one of the ingredients he is allergic to,we feed him chicken because we have a border collie that loves chicken so we just bought one bag of food for the both of them.


It was the last visit when the vet suggested a food allergy and asked what we feed him,and we said chicken was main ingred. She said you know some dogs are allergic to chicken and sold us a bag of zd til we could find a suitable food for him.


I went to petco today and purchased NB fish and sweet potato. Petco is great,I returned two bags of dog food because they did not work for us and was refuned full purchase price no questions asked.

You know I did not realize zd had chicken in it. I just took it for granted the vet knew what the ingredients were and trusted her.

I know for a fact chicken was one of the ingredients he is allergic to,we feed him chicken because we have a border collie that loves chicken so we just bought one bag of food for the both of them.


It was the last visit when the vet suggested a food allergy and asked what we feed him,and we said chicken was main ingred. She said you know some dogs are allergic to chicken and sold us a bag of zd til we could find a suitable food for him.


I went to petco today and purchased NB fish and sweet potato. Petco is great,I returned two bags of dog food because they did not work for us and was refuned full purchase price no questions asked.

Billybob is 3 yeas old. He has always had an issue with his back,well not as a pup but sometime later. The area is not inflamed,it just looks like tiny round spots with hair missing and flakey.

The problem with the vet is it is an animal hospital and when you go you get a different vet everytime. We were told an array of things to do for these issues of the past couple of years.

We just recently were told about food allergies.The other doctors would just treat the symptom and say you know these dogs are prone to have these issues.

The reason we choose them as a vet. is we were told to go to a vet that was specifically for bulldogs and they happen to be in Princeton nj(about 5 miles or so from home)and with that address comes the expensive visits,but we always thought billybob was worth it.

As far as staph,goes would it be more of a rapid condition,I mean wouldn't it spread quicker. It just seems like it got worse when we changed food.

One more question,for the test trial of food we split 1 cup of zd and half cup of nb duck and potato twice a day.Could there be an interaction with both foods together?

Billybob is 3 yeas old. He has always had an issue with his back,well not as a pup but sometime later. The area is not inflamed,it just looks like tiny round spots with hair missing and flakey.

The problem with the vet is it is an animal hospital and when you go you get a different vet everytime. We were told an array of things to do for these issues of the past couple of years.

We just recently were told about food allergies.The other doctors would just treat the symptom and say you know these dogs are prone to have these issues.

The reason we choose them as a vet. is we were told to go to a vet that was specifically for bulldogs and they happen to be in Princeton nj(about 5 miles or so from home)and with that address comes the expensive visits,but we always thought billybob was worth it.

As far as staph,goes would it be more of a rapid condition,I mean wouldn't it spread quicker. It just seems like it got worse when we changed food.

One more question,for the test trial of food we split 1 cup of zd and half cup of nb duck and potato twice a day.Could there be an interaction with both foods together?

If I am not mistaken, zd is hydrolized chicken diet. My allergic dog did eat that but more so for IBD.
It is a single source protein, but mixing it with the NB you have now taken away the single source protein. You need to try one or the other. I know that the ZD is very expensive after having my dogs on it and you have to get it from your vets office. You could certainly try switching foods. There is a kangaroo and oat but again you have to get it from the vets office. It is less expensive then the ZD. NB makes a lot of allergy free diets, duck and potato and fish and potato and venison and potato. Perhaps you try one of those and see how your dog does.

If I am not mistaken, zd is hydrolized chicken diet. My allergic dog did eat that but more so for IBD.
It is a single source protein, but mixing it with the NB you have now taken away the single source protein. You need to try one or the other. I know that the ZD is very expensive after having my dogs on it and you have to get it from your vets office. You could certainly try switching foods. There is a kangaroo and oat but again you have to get it from the vets office. It is less expensive then the ZD. NB makes a lot of allergy free diets, duck and potato and fish and potato and venison and potato. Perhaps you try one of those and see how your dog does.

It's called California Natural- Herring.  You only feed 2 cups a day, so it seems to be cost effective to me.  I supplement their food with frozen green beans.  I add a tablespoon of yougurt in the am, thye green beans at night.  No other treats at all, they seem to love the green beans so I use them as treats too.  I also took yogurt with a 1/2 cup of chicken broth  mix in blender and then pour into ice cube trays.

It's called California Natural- Herring.  You only feed 2 cups a day, so it seems to be cost effective to me.  I supplement their food with frozen green beans.  I add a tablespoon of yougurt in the am, thye green beans at night.  No other treats at all, they seem to love the green beans so I use them as treats too.  I also took yogurt with a 1/2 cup of chicken broth  mix in blender and then pour into ice cube trays.

If the skin on his back continues to get worse, I would ask your vet to test for a staph infection. Dozer had all of the same symptoms as your boy, and we had done all of the things you have done. His paws and face improved, but he continued to have hair loss and very dry/raw skin only on his back. We had an appointment with an allergist, but before that we took him to a specialist for palate surgery. He took one look at Dozer and said it wasn't allergies. He did a skin scraping and diagnosed him with a chronic staph infection. Dozer has been on antibiotics for 2 1/2 weeks now and the change is amazing. We were able to take him off the NB food and found a grain free food that is a little less expensive. I know money is tight, but staph is something to keep in mind if you don't see an improvement with other treatments. Good luck...I know how challenging these skin issues can be.

If the skin on his back continues to get worse, I would ask your vet to test for a staph infection. Dozer had all of the same symptoms as your boy, and we had done all of the things you have done. His paws and face improved, but he continued to have hair loss and very dry/raw skin only on his back. We had an appointment with an allergist, but before that we took him to a specialist for palate surgery. He took one look at Dozer and said it wasn't allergies. He did a skin scraping and diagnosed him with a chronic staph infection. Dozer has been on antibiotics for 2 1/2 weeks now and the change is amazing. We were able to take him off the NB food and found a grain free food that is a little less expensive. I know money is tight, but staph is something to keep in mind if you don't see an improvement with other treatments. Good luck...I know how challenging these skin issues can be.

You can have allergy testing done and find out what he is allergic to and then try out food based upon that.

Or check the ingredients in the food he did well on and compare to what you were feeding before. Kind of like a process of elimination. Allergy testing is expensive so it might be worth you doing some investigating on your own first.

You can have allergy testing done and find out what he is allergic to and then try out food based upon that.

Or check the ingredients in the food he did well on and compare to what you were feeding before. Kind of like a process of elimination. Allergy testing is expensive so it might be worth you doing some investigating on your own first.

Like I was saying before,the natural balance duck and potato made a huge difference in all his problems except the hairloss on his back.

Do you think the dog food is fine and the hairloss is from something other than a food allergy. The hairloss is in tiny spots the size of a dime and are in a specific area on the top of his back. Since we when to the vet. it has gotten worse.

What is ringworm and what does it look like? I know what you probably are going to suggest next,go to the vet.

I went about 4 weeks ago (cost $500.00) and she was aware of all conditions and she said it was food and environmental allergies(mold,dust grass)so I would think since she observed his back,if she thought it was caused by something else she would have looked into other possible ailments.

Did I mention before I am out of work so going to the vet again would be difficult,but if I have no other alternatives I will have to take him.

Like I was saying before,the natural balance duck and potato made a huge difference in all his problems except the hairloss on his back.

Do you think the dog food is fine and the hairloss is from something other than a food allergy. The hairloss is in tiny spots the size of a dime and are in a specific area on the top of his back. Since we when to the vet. it has gotten worse.

What is ringworm and what does it look like? I know what you probably are going to suggest next,go to the vet.

I went about 4 weeks ago (cost $500.00) and she was aware of all conditions and she said it was food and environmental allergies(mold,dust grass)so I would think since she observed his back,if she thought it was caused by something else she would have looked into other possible ailments.

Did I mention before I am out of work so going to the vet again would be difficult,but if I have no other alternatives I will have to take him.

Evo has a good grain free kibble. Also I feed mine Natures Variety prepared raw and he loves it and does not have allergy problems.

Evo has a good grain free kibble. Also I feed mine Natures Variety prepared raw and he loves it and does not have allergy problems.

By the way good looking bullies. Your family look nice too.

By the way good looking bullies. Your family look nice too.

How would I go about feeding a raw balanced diet?

Have people had sucess here with raw diets for food allergies?

How would I go about feeding a raw balanced diet?

Have people had sucess here with raw diets for food allergies?

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The only med. he ever had was drops in his ears
for yeast infection.

The med is called baytril otic, I guess some kind of anti-biotic.

The only med. he ever had was drops in his ears
for yeast infection.

The med is called baytril otic, I guess some kind of anti-biotic.

If he is, you might want to read post a few days ago regarding Diet for Bulldogs with allergies.

If he is, you might want to read post a few days ago regarding Diet for Bulldogs with allergies.

You probably should get his back examined, it could be something else. If he's under 15 months old or so it could be demodex which could be diagnosed with a skin scraping. Z/D is not a very good food in my opinion. We have our guys on Taste of the WIld Pacific stream which is a no grain, salmon based food, but it's not cheap ($45 for 30 pounds). Have you been putting anything on the spots on his back? Maybe some gold bond powder would help. Maybe you could find another vet who isn't so outrageously expensive also. Some of the 'corporation' vets have set price schedules and like to do a lot of testing whereas smaller practices and ones that specialize in bulldogs will be a little more gentle on your wallet.

Kathy, Ollie and Chester

You probably should get his back examined, it could be something else. If he's under 15 months old or so it could be demodex which could be diagnosed with a skin scraping. Z/D is not a very good food in my opinion. We have our guys on Taste of the WIld Pacific stream which is a no grain, salmon based food, but it's not cheap ($45 for 30 pounds). Have you been putting anything on the spots on his back? Maybe some gold bond powder would help. Maybe you could find another vet who isn't so outrageously expensive also. Some of the 'corporation' vets have set price schedules and like to do a lot of testing whereas smaller practices and ones that specialize in bulldogs will be a little more gentle on your wallet.

Kathy, Ollie and Chester