Canine Atopic Dermatitis, or in laymen’s terms ‘allergies’, cause skin disease, itching and inflammation in our dogs.  It is considered an incurable inflammatory disease and affects up to 10% of dogs!  This is a shocking and sad statistic, I’m sure you would agree.  And, on top of this, dealing with allergies is an especially frustrating task for dog owners who only want the best for their poor dogs.

Study Findings

A study was conducted on this in Finland in 2009 where they studied 2,236 dogs who had Canine Atopic Dermatitis.  They found that there is a link between a dog’s diet, genetics and environment and the development of Canine Atopic Dermatitis.  So, while there is clearly a genetic link, it has also been proven that diet and environment are also key areas of impact for this disease.

In this study they looked at both prenatal and postnatal development of the immune system.  They wanted to establish potential risk factors besides the genetic factors.  What they found was that early diet and environmental both have significant impact on the development and ‘programming’ of the immune system.  This includes the ‘programming’ for a predisposition to allergies.

Contributing Factors

As mentioned above, there are a number of contributing factors which we need to take into account when looking at Canine Atopic Dermatitis.  Let’s run through a list of the most impactful:

Maternal health history

• Up to 65% of dogs where one or both parents have allergies develop allergies themselves as opposed to dogs with healthier parent who only develop allergies 11% of the time

Deworming

• Allergies were found to be lower in dogs whose mothers were dewormed during pregnancy. A worm infestation during pregnancy has been found to have lasting negative effects on the fetal immune system development as well as disease development later in life

Raw Diet

• Pups born to mothers who are fed a raw diet had lower risks of developing allergies than those on a processed, carbohydrate dense diet such as kibble. Natural, raw diets have a high variety of microbial populations in the gut which leads to a healthier immune system

Pup’s Diet

• As above, pups whose first diet is raw instead of processed are at lower risk of developing Canine Atopic Dermatitis because of the variety of microbes in the gut

Sunlight

• Exposure to sunlight is extremely valuable in the first 1-2mnths after a pup is born. 1 or 2 hours a day of direct sunlight showed a significantly lower risk of developing allergies

Dirt and Grass

• As with the sun exposure, being exposed to dirt and grass had similar effects as opposed to pups raised in an indoor environment whose risks of developing allergies where much higher

Skin/Coat Colour

• Dogs whose coat is more than 50% white were at a higher risk of developing allergies

Studies like these are so valuable, not only to help highlight the risks, but also to help us make more educated choices in the future.  We can make empowered decisions such as feeding a pregnant mother a raw diet, thereby helping her entire litter develop a strong immune system!    

For more on allergies and your dog have a read of our blog: Identifying and Managing Food Allergies in Dogs