Just thinking out loud here. Are food sensitivities at all linked to what the dam is fed and what puppies are weaned on to? Since young puppies don't have food sensitivities, is it beneficial to subject them to multiple protein sources while young? or in utero? Are allergic dogs producing allergic dogs because they've built up antigens like the mother or what? I haven't googled this yet, but thought I'd start here. Anyone a vet nutritionist or know one? Or even a human immunologist?

My Vet is of the opinion that you should not swap around protein sources or use multiprotein foods. The more they might have been exposed to and allergic to cuts down your options if they are an allergic dog. Something like the original Canidae with 4 protein sources can be a nightmare for an allergic dog, you don't know which one of the four, if its a food allergy at all, and then have 10 weeks to rule some out. My Veterinary Dermatologist indicates that if there is a feather allergy, (chicken?) stay away from duck or turkey, if its hooved (beef?) stay away from lamb... that gets you down to fish, or rabbit... rapidly the choices disappear, better to land on a single protein food, so you have options in the future

my 2 cents

barb

OVERACTIVE immune system in mom is passed down to pups. Maybe from over supplementation (high doses of vit C etc.).

"My Veterinary Dermatologist indicates that if there is a feather allergy, (chicken?) stay away from duck or turkey, if its hooved (beef?) stay away from lamb..."

This statement is way to generalized and often incorrect. If a dog is allergic or sensitive to chicken he will probably do ok with duck, two different types of proteins.

I have read that it is beneficial to expose them to different protein sources while young pups. Of course, you wouldn't want to switch around so much that you're upsetting their digestive system, but possibly there is a happy medium.

I believe in a healthy, varied diet for myself as well as dogs. Here is a link about women, cancer, and a healthy varied diet: http://www.cancer.org/docroot/NWS/content/NWS_1_1x_Varied_Diet_Good_for_Women.asp

I don't know about swapping their food around when they are young, but many promote a varied diet for their dogs. And companies like Nature's Variety is actually created so that you can rotate between the protein sources and not have to go through the whole "changing" the food time period.

If a dog has a normal immune system it can eat the same food everyday for his entire life without any issues. Variety is the spice of life for humans and dogs enjoy a variety too, so a food change every few months is benefical. While "some authorities argue that constantly changing the protein sources can help avoid food allergies as the exposure is never long enough to allow them to develop", this has not been proven.

Prevent the defective immune systems in the first place. Do not over-vaccinate and cause an antigen overload. Do not supplement unless there is a problem, these supplements CAN cause harm. If your bitch has food INTOLERANCES, get them straight before breeding as these antibodies from mom can be passed thru her milk and cause the same intolerances in her pups.

Wysong also promotes rotation.

So what it boils down to is that we will have to agree to disagree. There are different opinions on this and one must do what one thinks is right.

This is pretty interesting stuff, but here's another angle. Think about this in terms of what the pediatricians are telling parents about introducing babies to solid food. The almost always start them on rice cereal, and never have I heard of them starting them on mixed cereal (you can probably guess what "brand" I'm familiar with here...

I have known a couple of cases where the single source has been something other than rice. But the reasoning is exactly the same as earlier parts of this thread. Once you have multiple sources it makes it impossible to isolate an allergy problem. Just a thought.

How do I, a grandpa, know about this? My better half runs a child care practice...