Deirdre (Atlanta, GA) on 04/05/2016:

For months, my two dogs were stopping constantly to scratch, their elbows and armpits usually. They had such terribly itchy skin, my golden would race out to the yard and plunk down on the grass and roll upside down to rub her itchy spine.

I tried all the home remedies suggested on Earth Clinic, including various brands of high end, grain-free, limited ingredient kibble, apple cider vinegar baths, Ted's mange cure (peroxide and borax). Once a week anti-itch baths helped, but what cured the issue was a 100% raw food diet. They started to scratch less within a day of the raw food diet, but it took two weeks to totally stop.

A friend who owns a pet sitting business in my area recommended I try a raw food diet for their scratching. She suggested rabbit and/or venison as they are the cleanest meats. I started off using Nature's Variety frozen raw patties, but it became way too expensive to feed two 70 pound dogs, especially rabbit, which is mostly imported from France.

We have a fantastic dog store near me called Whole Dog Market and I found another brand of frozen raw food called Blue Ridge Beef which is affordable. I consulted with the staff and they suggested a diet of rotating meats - ie, one day venison, another day rabbit with bone, another day beef with bone, etc. The dogs love this food and never have any stomach upsets. I add Dog Greens and a digestive supplement to their food as well as omega 3 fish oil and vitamin c.

If I run out of raw food and give them a small amount of grain-free kibble until I can make it to the grocery store, one of them starts to scratch again his elbows again within a few hours! That's severe food allergies for you. Thankfully, the scratching is mild and disappears after his next raw food meal.

Hope this helps.