breed with food allergies

[coco-bean]

just curious what does everyone think about breeding a dog that has food allergies?

[Giselle]

I've heard that food allergies appear to have a genetic link (i.e. Westies), but if the dog is an outstanding specimen with beautiful hips and eyes and a clean pedigree with outstanding work ethic...who cares if it's a little intolerant of chicken? In the long run, restricting your dog's access to a certain food is a small price against breeding non-allergic animals with the potential to pass on genetic diseases. That's my two cents.

[Vela]

I don't agree with it. It is very very often genetically passed down and can get worse with each generation becoming more intolerant and more immunocompromised. Things like colitis result from problem with that and that can be a nightmare for anyone who has a dog with that. As it gets passed down it also had a propensity for becoming worse and worse and you can end up with dogs who are intolerant to MANY things you might try to feed and then trying to find a food is a nightmare. Not to mention, what if some of those puppies end up in homes who don't have either the money to give proper food or care for that condition, or don't care enough and it gets hot spots and is in poor health because the owners don't want to pay money for more expensive or specialized food?

There are enough genetically sound dogs out that that don't have allergies, that personally I think its unnecessary and can lead to nightmares down the road for both dogs and owners.

[coco-bean]

Lets say two NON-food allergic dogs are bred, but the breeder wants to know if the pups have them anyways...is there a test that can be done? im assuming after a few weeks of birth..lets say 7 or 8 weeks old!

[sumbirdy]

My RB Buck had food allergies (he was allergic to chicken) but he sired pups who never had any. But I wouldn't risk it. (My parents bred him, I was like 8 at the time)

[coco-bean]

My RB Buck had food allergies (he was allergic to chicken) but he sired pups who never had any. But I wouldn't risk it. (My parents bred him, I was like 8 at the time)

well im glad yours all came out okay!

[pitc9]

My RB Buck had food allergies (he was allergic to chicken) but he sired pups who never had any. But I wouldn't risk it. (My parents bred him, I was like 8 at the time)

(The following are just questions meant to find the answers too, by NO means are the following questions meant to start any sort of tift here)

How do you know none of his puppies had allergies?
Is your family still in touch with every puppy they sold?

(I just want to point out things; I would want anyone to have found false hope in your experience with RB Buck and his pups)

[wolfsoul]

The way I look at it, every dog is allergic to something. How many people can say that they tried a dozen dog foods, and over a period of six months on each of them their dog was fine on every one? Every dog will have a food that just doesn't "sit right." It may be the ingredient, the chemicals put into the ingredient, where the ingredient came from, how the ingredients are put together, etc.
Why else do so many people change foods for? "My dog had large stools on this food," "my dog wasn't shiny on this one," "my dog smelled bad on this one," "my dog was gassy on this food," "my dog gained weight on this food," "my dog's's glands were always full when fed this food," "my dog's hair felt greasy on this one." All symptoms of allergies.
How many people can truly say that they have fed the same dog food to all of their dogs since they had dogs and every one of their dogs has been "perfect" on it? And since you haven't switched to something else, how can you really compare to truly KNOW that your dog is perfect on it? And if your dog is perfect on it, how do you know it wouldn't be on something else? See where I am getting? I have known so many people who thought their dogs did not have any allergies until they were forced to switch foods, and suddenly their dog was farting all of the time. I've known many people who thought their dog didn't have allergies until they switched foods and suddenly their dog was more vibrant, had a more gloosy coat, higher energy, and leaner muscle. Until you start looking at things from a more natural or holistic view, people often don't see that allergies are more than what they seem. "Intolerances" can be seen in many different ways, even behavioural ones.

And if you don't think your dog has an allergy to ANYthing, you are wrong. You may think the same about yourself, and you are wrong. Everyone's body is intolerant of something and we show it in ways that we don't believe are symptoms of an allergy. Especially in ouir dogs, we recognise it as a "dog thing" but rarely see it as an allergy. If you go to a naturopath, he will test you and tell you what your body does not react well to. My friend recently went in and found out she is allergic to pineapple, citrus fruits, tomatoes, and wheat -- all things she ate on a regular basis. Since she has cut all of these out of her diet she has more energy, has lost weight, and no longer gets canker sores. She didn't know she lacked some energy because she had nothing to compare it to -- she thought she was overweight due to eating fatty foods -- and she thought her canker sores were just something she got since she was a child. But it was all due to allergies to these foods.

There really is a big picture. I am in complete agreement with Dragondawg. While some 'types' of allergies can be seen as something deeper, such as an immune issue, the majority of allergies are mild and alot less serious than cancer and epilepsy. I would breed to a dog with a foodallergy before I bred to one whose close relatives had epilepsy -- and believe me, in my breed, finding a dog without epliepsy nearby is virtually impossible. I am lucky to have a dog with a pedigree that is incredibly healthy compared to the great majority of Belgians these days.

[dragondawg]

How many people can truly say that they have fed the same dog food to all of their dogs since they had dogs and every one of their dogs has been "perfect" on it?

You need to define perfect Wolfsoul. Not to stray too far from the thread subject... would I consider my little Barney's coat perfect? No, it has a little dander, probably left over from his puppy Demodex mange days almost 4 yrs ago. It doesn't seem to bother him, and his coat still shines. As I watched him this morning chasing like wild after a Bunny down my driveway (I had to step aside to keep the terrified Bunny from literally running into me with my little monster in pursuit), it isn't too difficult to figure out he is getting enough energy and vitality out of his diet. He has no identified health problems. Neither does his older sister. Not sure if that defines perfect, but it does define healthy. Both have been on the same brand of dog food all their lives, the same brand I fed my previous dog of 11 years.

My previous dog had allergies to something in the Fall environment. Probably leaf mold was a good candidate. Chewed on her paws a little. What I commonly read on forums (not just this one) are people talking about switching foods, and how it takes time to purge the previous food's toxicity from their bodies. They usually speak in terms of months. So if I had switched diets, and observed my dog's allergies had cleared up in 3 months, it might be easy to assume it was a food allergy. Of course that leaf mold has sort of also cleared up in that time period. Then next year the allergy returns, and yet another food try. Quickly one could jump into the domain of saying one's dog was allergic to many dog foods, or had a sensitive tummy. That's not to say there are dogs without true food allergies. But rather there is a higher incidence of us humans jumping to that conclusion. Also the more foods tried, the more likely it is a food allergy (not to mention digestive problems) will be encountered.

Back to the thread... It's my belief there are very few breeders if any that are addressing the problem of genetically linked cancer in our dogs. Goldens have a high incidence of Hemangiosarcoma, and Lymphoma. Labs have a high incidence of Lymphoma. My poor Daisy 1/2 of each of those two breeds was like a walking Lymphoma time bomb- that did go off at 10 yrs of age. Not even hybrid vigor could prevent it. If you want a definition of perfect health, she was it (leaf mold allergy not withstanding), up to the point of diagnosis. She lasted 1 yr and 3 days. The big C problem will get worse in future years. Maybe after we humans create a genetic disaster in our dogs via breeding practices, something will be done?

[bckrazy]

I definitely think there is no black & white here... it depends on the severity of the allergies.

I wouldn't breed a dog who was violently allergic to every meat source except venison, for instance. But, it's not a big deal if the dog gets an upset tummy when they eat lamb.

However, if I were breeding dogs, I would be hyper-critical about the health & conformation & worthiness of breeding my dogs; as any breeder should be! I think you have to honestly look at the dog's health as a whole.