^ yes, they have it inthe waiting area.

thats why they try and sell it you stick to what you want to feed.

Hills Prescription is not a high quality kibble. I have found, at least here in the states, that few vets are knowledgeable about nutrition. They get what little information they have from manufacturers of dog food. I've been told that salmonella poisoning is a danger (which it isn't in a dog on a raw diet), I've even been told by a vet who pushes a raw diet that they need carbohydrates because dogs have changed so much since the introduction of commercial foods- which isn't true. I'd suggest you change vets not because of the diet question, but because he isn't giving you any help with the problem you have.

As to the immediate problem, there could be something outside that is triggering this, such as fertilizer, weed control poison, or a plant. It could be something indoors, such as cleaning products. I hope you get the help you need soon.

I don't trust most vets when it comes to nutrition... Thankfully, when I mentioned to my vet that Jake is raw fed, she was ok about it and just suggested that I still feed a small amount of kibble to make sure he is getting everything he needs. I didn't take that advice though, and Jake has never looked better getting his all raw diet.

Stick with what works for Ludo. Its kept his tummy happy. If it was a food allergy causing his skin issues, it would have shown on the allergy test. I still think your dog has lymes or some other tick borne illness. Wish I could get a blood sample, we test in house for those things and I could tell you an answer in minutes. I understand they aren't as common in your part of the world but stranger things have happened.
Sorry Ludo is still having troubles!

I believe Clo suggested the elimination diet.

I personally had some itching issues when Louie started on raw. So I feed a different meat for a week and watch which meats made him react - nothing. But since he'd just moved onto it I was told it could be that he was going through a detox stage - now, no itching unless they have come back from a walk in the woods.

Other than that - mites and skin conditions.

Yup - 60% mark up on a bag of food around £50 a bag is a profitable sideline. Just be firm and persistent with the vet. Vets are like GPs for humans - they are not specialists on anything in particular and I wouldn't trust either to give me diet advice. My vet is absolutely fine with me feeding the TM raw food and didn't even bat an eyelid when I told him. Probably because every time he sees him he comments on how wonderful his coat and body condition is. My vet only stocks Burns food.

Hard as it is, you just have to be firm and insistent with the vet. If you feel you want them to run a test, they should do it for you even if it's only to set your mind at rest. Do not be bullied into buying food from them. If they push it, tell them you'll buy it online as it's cheaper than feed what you want. Allergy test wise, it depends what they tested him for. If they only tested him for things like pollen and house dust mites it won't necessarily show up a grain allergy or something similar.

Have you tried a kibble like Applaws that's 70% meat content and no grain? It's not cheap food, but it might keep everybody happy if Ludo does well on it.

Very good point as I have experienced similar at my old vets!!

Face/ears are common sites for flares of atopic dermatitis and your dog started getting symptoms about the right age. It’s usually caused by an allergen such as dust mites or a protein. Flares come and go which can make it difficult to pin the cause down.
A link to some up to date info to take to vet if not getting anywhere.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/1...10.00889.x/pdf

The diet is a seperate issue unless its the allergen but discuss with the vet based on the link.

Domestic dogs probably evolved to from proto dogs, who evolved to eat human scraps and waste. The food scraps would have been mainly cooked (because the humans then wouldn't waste anything, the way we do!)

any enzymes in grass are of no use to dogs-even if they could extract them from the grass. It seriously irritates me, the way some people chastise their dogs for for eating grass, though it's perfectly normal behaviour (for dogs that is!)