A Guide To Letting Your Dog Sitter Know About Your Dog’s Food Allergies
As an owner of a dog with food allergies, you’ll have likely spent a considerable amount of time and money to get to the root cause of your beloved pet’s problem. With New Yorkers working on average a 49 hour week, many pet owners have no choice but to leave their pooch in doggy daycare or with a pet sitter/dog walker. And, it’s easy to forget to mention your dog’s food allergies when you’re in a rush to get to work or starting on a last minute business trip without proper time to vet a boarding number. But, in order to keep your dog fit and healthy, it’s essential you stress the importance of feeding your dog the right food when you drop him off in the morning.
Eating Right
For people, eating the right food ensures a healthy mind and body and it’s the same for canines. With beef, chicken, wheat, and lamb all being common allergens to dogs, it’s essential you select a food that is gentle on your dog’s stomach, free from his confirmed allergens and which benefits his health. With the increase changes in commercial farming practices and ambiguity in ingredients it is no wonder that getting to the root cause of dog allergies can be a challenge. There is a large number of hypoallergenic dog foods on the market which may be the answer to your and your dog’s problems. Alternatively, feeding a homemade mix or ordering a farm to table dog meal weekly may be your preferred choice. Regardless of which choice you make, be sure to provide your dog carer with your pet’s food and clearly label it with his details to avoid any mix-ups which could cause your dog to have a flare-up.
Multiple Food Allergies
Your dog nanny will spend a considerable amount of time with your pet, so, it’s worth having regular conversations with them regarding how your pet is getting on. It’s common for hounds to have more than one food allergy and although you’ve found the source of one of his allergies it’s possible another one could present at any time. If your dog’s itchy skin, hair loss, heat spots and eye discharge cleared up following a food elimination diet previously, but reappear sometime later, then another allergy may have developed. Food allergies in dogs tend to appear when a dog has been subjected to the same foodstuff repeatedly. Therefore, it’s recommended you regularly switch the flavors and type of food you feed your dog during mealtimes in a bid to prevent a further allergy from rearing its head.
Investigating Your Dog’s Food Allergies
Should you need to carry out a food elimination trial with your dog, then it’s important your dog sitter and their team work with you to meet your pooch’s requirements. Many will know all about elimination diets, however, some won’t. So, provide them with plenty of details and make them aware that the new diet will be in place for a minimum of eight weeks and that it’s vital it’s adhered to strictly and that no treats or other unauthorized foodstuff are fed to your furry friend.
Many owners benefit from utilizing dog nannies and day care services and there’s no reason why hounds with food allergies can’t have a great time with them. Owners do, however, need to be vigilant, upfront and informative about their pet’s food allergies to ensure the best care is provided during their stay.
Have a Back up Food Listed
Should you have to go out of town for a last minute business trip or have a hard to purchase dog food that is available only by veterinary authorization, be sure to have a back-up set of foods or a way extra food on hand to make sure your pooch can get fed. We recommend Chewey.com for prescription and hard to find dog foods for the customer responsiveness! Be sure that your dog nanny is always informed of your latest vet(s) especially if a prescription food is what you feed your dog.
Stay Informed
There are multiple recalls for various pet foods and treats so one way to stay up to date with food recalls is to join an online community and monitor for posts. If you support a local pet store, be sure to stop by and keep an eye out when the cashier is ringing you up to make sure your dog’s food has not been recalled.
This article was submitted by Jane Wood.
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