Using a Limited Ingredient Diet with Your Dog.

I was visiting one of my stores today and the same issue came up that I'm seeing more and more. That's the use of a limit ingredient formula for a dog suffering from food sensitivities or allergies.

Today's conversation was about a 5 year old lab mix who had been vomiting frequently. This included both food and bile at various times. One or the other is an easier thing to narrow down the cause on, but a dog vomiting a combination is a bit harder to figure out

Several weeks ago she had switched to our Lamb & Rice formula. The Lamb & Rice I rep for is considered a "Limited Ingredient Diet" (LID) formula.

How does this compare to other Lamb & Rice formulas? Well simply turning over the bag and looking at labels can tell the whole story.

If your buying a Lamb & Rice formula because you're trying to avoid a certain protein like chicken, for example, many Lamb and rice formulas will also show the inclusion of poultry fat. So if your buying lamb and rice because your trying to avoid chicken, such a formula would not work and the label shows us that it's not a TRUE Lamb & Rice formula.

Choosing an "LID" Lamb & Rice formula ensures that you're getting a true Lamb & Rice formula. This means a single source protein and a single source carbohydrate. Limit Ingredient....get it?

Such was this case. The owner of this 5 year old Lab mix said that her dog continued to vomit while on other Lamb & Rice formulas but had stopped once she tried our LID Lamb & Rice formula.

That was the key and leads me to believe that she may be dealing with either a chicken sensitivity or a poultry sensitivity with her lab.

I would also put money on the idea that this dog had been on a chicken based diet for most of it's 5 years and the dogs system was saying "no more chicken...please no more chicken!!".

The vomiting was simply this dogs system rejecting chicken.

I hear a lot of talk about going grain-free and how grains can be allergens. While I agree with that, grains are not the only allergens out there. Just so you know.

This owner was very relieved to have found a formula that's working and her dog has not vomited for several weeks now.

Great!!! But hold on...

One thing I always mention to owners that find a LID formula working for them is not to claim victory too soon.

Why would I say that?

I cannot tell you how many times I've met a dog owner in a panic because Fido has stopped eating his food. No big emergency folks. More often then not, the dog has simply lost interest in their food. After all, the poor thing has been getting Lamb every day for weeks, months or maybe years on end. I would lose interest too.

That's why I warn people about painting themselves into the LID formula corner. Just because you've found a food that works, like an LID formula, keep working with your dog and slowly introducing things back into it's diet until you see the conditions return or other problems.

When you do this, you may be well on your way to finding the source allergen(s).

I feel bad for pet owners that find themselves wandering the food aisles trying to find a food they think their dog will like. They may find one, but if they've not done any feeding trials on their own to determine the allergen, they are going to....well, end up chasing their tail.

But Once you've gone to an LID formula and begun re-introducing food items until you see the previous conditions return, you will build your knowledge of what ingredients YOUR dog needs to avoid.

It may not be a nice thing to do to Fido and seeing previous conditions return might not sound like much fun, but at least this time you will be doing it in a controlled environment and by knowing things your dog needs to avoid will also allow you to offer your dog a broader, more interesting diet.

An LID formula can be a great tool but its not the end of the game. It's a starting point where you can begin learning more about your very special friend.