It may not be entirely possible to prevent food allergies in dogs, due to the genetic propensity to develop an allergy. Adequate nutrition from safe food, however, takes care of your dog by promoting a healthy mucosal barrier. Once your dog has developed a food allergy, the diet plan has to be worked out with your vet. The diet could be a combination of commercially available hypoallergenic food and home-cooked food. The best foods are those that provide sufficient nutrition with limited ingredients and without inducing further allergy.

Points to consider while choosing the best food:

• Choose food that has limited sources of protein as it would be easier to identify the allergen and eliminate it. If you feed your dog a multi-protein food, and he/she develops an allergy, it becomes difficult to get food that does not have any of those proteins. For example, choose food with chicken alone rather than food that has chicken, tuna, lamb, and salmon.
• Starches or pure carbohydrates are very low in protein and they don’t usually cause allergies. They can be fed with a single protein, and it would be easier to identify the allergen if your dog is on an elimination diet. Check for food with such a combination. When you see symptoms of intolerance, try changing the diet to a different protein source with varied ingredients.
• Fresh food with no artificial fillers and ingredients is another safe option. Homemade food or food made in small batches where you know the contents and process from scratch is less contaminated and good for dogs with food allergy. Remember to grind or blend the protein source so that it is absorbed better.
• Adding probiotics, healthy fats, and omega 3 foods can reduce the possibility of getting further allergies. It can also improve the existing conditions if your dog has an allergy.

Five brands of limited ingredient or hypoallergenic dog food that are highly popular:

Wellness Simple Limited Ingredient Diet Turkey and Potato
With deboned turkey, turkey meals, peas and dried ground potato, this is a limited ingredient diet for adult dogs. Here the major protein source is derived from turkey and it is grain-free.

Canine Caviar Limited Ingredient Open Meadow Dog food
This food that can be fed to adult dogs and small or medium breed pups has dehydrated lamb and lamb fat as its protein source. Other ingredients are pearl millet, coconut, and alfalfa.

Canidae Grain-Free Pure Real Salmon and Sweet Potato
The protein source in this grain-free food is salmon, salmon meal, and menhaden fish meal. It also has sweet potatoes and peas. This high-quality meal is ideal for adult dogs.

Brothers Complete Advanced Allergy Lamb Meal and Egg
With lamb meal, dried whole eggs, turkey meal cassava root and peas, it is grain-free. This meal is suitable for adults and puppies.

Tuscan Natural Simply Pure Chicken Meal Dog Food
With only chicken meal and chicken fat as the animal protein, it also has brown rice and olive oil. This meal is best for all adult dogs and small or medium breed puppies.