Do Dogs Get Seasonal Allergies?
You bet they do. Just like their humans, they’re susceptible to skin, food and seasonal allergies and they respond similarly. Why is that?
Because allergy reactions are overreactions of our immune system. When our bodies encounter allergens, they see them as foreign invaders they need to throw histamine bombs at. That’s great except for one small issue. Sometimes our bodies find it way too easy to identify something as an ‘allergen’ that needs a response, and then? The immune system goes to town.
Why do our bodies react so sensitively? Because our guts aren’t in the best shape.
It’s the same for our dogs. Good dog gut health makes a difference.
Are Seasonal Allergies For Dogs Getting Worse?
According to Healthline, allergy season is getting longer and longer, and there’s more pollen in the air. In fact, not only is there more pollen, experts are calling it even more potent than it’s ever been. Why are allergy seasons getting worse and worse? Well, the general theory revolves around global warming and the fact that we’re warming up sooner, for longer and allowing more bloom time to just about anything that would put off pollen. In fact, a study recently showed that between 1990 and 2018, pollen ‘season’ increased by 20 days a year. That means that we (our furry friends included!) suffer almost a month more a year from the effects of seasonal pollen and allergies. That’s a lotta itchy and scratchy and sneezy time!
With climate change not necessarily fixing itself overnight, allergists and immunologists believe that climate-driven pollen trends are likely to make allergy reactions and asthma/respiratory conditions worse in the coming decades.
Decades is a long time for us to deal with the effects, but guess what? It’s a long time for our dogs to deal with allergies too. Good thing we can help them.
Why Seasonal Dog Allergies Are Important To Address
The most important reason you want to address seasonal dog allergies is of course for their health and comfort and quality of life. Dogs don’t like dealing with allergy symptoms or allergic reactions like itchy skin or chronic ear infections any more than you want them to. These symptoms can lead to more serious health issues if not properly addressed. Dogs might also suffer from runny eyes, sneezing, coughing, and even breathing difficulties in severe cases. Constant scratching or licking can lead to open wounds, increasing the risk of secondary bacterial or fungal infections. These infections can complicate the allergy problem and may require more intensive treatment. If left untreated, seasonal allergies can also lead to chronic skin conditions, such as atopic dermatitis, and can even affect a dog’s immune system, making them more susceptible to other diseases.
Seasonal allergies in dogs can significantly affect their quality of life. Dogs may become lethargic, depressed, or anxious due to the constant discomfort. They might also sleep poorly, which can affect their mood and overall health.
Addressing allergies early can prevent more serious health issues that could require expensive treatments, including emergency veterinary visits, prescription medications, or specialized diets. Many dog parents find the cost of allergy testing for dogs and dog allergy shots for desensitization often end up being far less expensive in the long run than those constant visits and treatments for hotspots and infections.
Managing Seasonal Dog Allergies
Managing seasonal allergies typically involves a combination of strategies to reduce exposure to allergens and to treat the symptoms. This can include:
- Environmental Control: Keeping the home environment clean by using air purifiers, regularly washing bedding, and minimizing outdoor activities during high pollen counts can help reduce exposure to allergens.
- Regular Bathing and Grooming: Bathing dogs with hypoallergenic or medicated shampoos can help remove allergens from their skin and coat, reducing irritation.
- Immunotherapy: In cases of severe allergies, immunotherapy (allergy shots) may be recommended to help desensitize the dog’s immune system to specific allergens.
- Medications: In extreme cases and depending on the severity of the allergies, veterinarians may prescribe antihistamines, corticosteroids, or other medications to control inflammation and alleviate symptoms. The goal, however, is to be preventative in holistic allergy care for dogs so you don’t ever have to get to those more drastic treatments.
- Dietary Supplements: Omega-3 fatty acids and other supplements that work on strengthening gut health can help improve skin health and reduce inflammation.
What’s The Gut Health Connection To Seasonal Allergies In Dogs?
Your dog’s gut (and ours) have microbiomes full of bacteria. The good bacteria have a sweet symbiotic relationship. We feed them, they help protect us and give us healthier body functions and overall better immunity. Research continues to show that healthy and diverse gut microbiomes in humans are related to fewer allergic conditions and the same can be said for dogs.
The problem is that if we don’t feed our dog’s good gut bacteria well, bad bacteria will take over. It happens in humans too, as less exposure to outdoors, more antibiotic more antibiotic consumption and poor diets in general lead to less feeding of the good bacteria and more introduction of the bad.
Dogs live more sedentary, indoor lives. They’re exposed to fewer microorganisms as we are. They are given courses of antibiotics more than they ever have been. They eat food that has been high-heat processed and offers little nutrient content that feeds their gut. All of this leads to unhealthy guts and an unhealthy gut lets undigested foods and proteins enter your dog’s bloodstream. In fact, research continues to support a ‘leaky gut’ and allergy connection.
So how do we help stop a leaky gut and reduce allergy symptoms in dogs? We work on good dog gut health!
How Can You Help With Good Dog Gut Health?
The sole goal in creating Bernie’s Perfect Poop was to focus on Bernie’s dog gut health. We knew that good dog gut health was important. We knew that a premium fiber would keep Bernie’s digestive system regular and allow him maximum nutrient absorption with every meal. We also knew that digestive enzymes would help ensure maximum digestion of his food. Too often, a dog won’t be able to fully digest foods and those basic, unbroken-down foods can break their gut lining barrier and enter their blood stream. This is when their immune system hits overdrive, thinking something foreign is invading their body, and they respond with a histamine response.
But perhaps one of the most important ways to build good dog gut health rests in being sure your dog has high-quality pre- and probiotics. Probiotics are the good, beneficial bacteria that you want to thrive in your dog’s gut. Prebiotics feed those good probiotics, so they’re important to supplement as well. Too often pet parents pay attention to the need to give dog probiotics, but prebiotics are as important to help them grow and create beneficial colonies.
We found that giving all those supplements separately was time-consuming and costly, and set out on a way to combine them all in a premium blend that our dogs loved. Once we did, we wanted to help other dogs deal with seasonal allergies too.
Why Are Dog Probiotics Helpful For Seasonal Allergies?
There’s much research out that shows probiotics are helpful for human allergies, and that’s because probiotics are key for the healthiest guts. The same can be said for our furry best friends.
And the research and evidence for the efficacy of dog probiotics keeps growing. In 2012, a study showed tremendous promise with regard to probiotics and canine dermatitis (which gives them the itchies).
A 2015 study showed that probiotics could SIGNIFICANTLY reduce dermatological responses suffered by dogs. And the research just continues to show how important dog probiotics are to establishing and maintaining healthy dog guts. When your dog’s gut is healthy and they have thriving colonies of probiotics and beneficial flora, there are fewer instances where foods or other allergens break their gut lining and enter their bloodstream to cause allergic havoc.
Why Is Bernie’s Perfect Poop Good For Seasonal Allergies?
When you give your dog Bernie’s Perfect Poop, you’re not just working on creating the perfect, easy-to-pick up poop. That’s just the end result of what Perfect Poop is doing internally. Internally, the premium Miscanthus grass fiber, the pre- and probiotics and digestive enzymes are helping build up dog guts of steel. That means their bodies aren’t overreacting to what they think are invaders in the form of allergens like grass, trees, pollen, foods and more.
Sometimes, as the bad bacteria are dying out and the good bacteria are taking over, your dog may seem as if they’re having an overabundance of allergic reaction, or reacting in general to the work being done by the fiber/probiotics/enzymes combo. The truth is that your dog’s gut is balancing, quite likely for the first time in a long time, and once that beneficial flora is the reigning bacteria in the gut? You’ll see differences in your dog.
Allergy seasons seem to be growing, not shortening. And it’s important that you keep your dog’s gut health ready to battle at any given moment. The easiest way to do that is to give them Bernie’s Perfect Poop every day.
While we always recommend Perfect Poop if your dog is having any kind of poop problems, it really is about helping your dog have the best gut health they can have. Good health starts in the gut, and Bernie’s Perfect Poop makes that happen while sending the sneezies and scratchies on their way.
