Jake, my Golden Retriever, is now 9 1/2 year old, and has had allergy problems from about 7 months. He had allergy testing at about 9 months, then every few years or when we have moved. He is allergic to pretty much everything. We started with weekly shots which helped tremendously. A few years ago, we started a restricted diet (rabbit and potato) which helped. He still occaissionally needs to go on antibiotics for the skin infections he gets (dogs with allergies tend to get these skin infections and folliculitis) but the frequency is much reduced. I try to avoid having him on steroids, and have found that none of the antihistamines do much. If he is really, really ithcy, I give him amitryptilline until we get it back under control--has antihistamine (anti-iitch) and is sedating, so he doesn't scratch so much. In general, the problem is manageable but you need to be vigalent.

Your vet may do both skin testing and blood tests. I would definately reccomend seeing a veterinary dermatologist if you can.

Good luck.