Is there any evidence/ research that shows that certain types of skin/ear allergies are hereditary? I know many prefer not to breed a lab with say ear infections occasionally, but I was wondering what research has been done. Also I was curious if anyone ever had a bitch with MILD allergies and bred to a stud with no known allergies and had positive results. TIA

My original line had mild ear problems. These were probably food allergy related because if we took them off of corn, the problems decreased significantly. Litter after litter, generation after generation, there were always pups with ear problems. I would seem to get lucky and the ones I kept did not have problems, but they always produced pups who did.

My second line never has had any ear problems.

In my mind, it has to be genetic to some extent.

My lines are also corn sensitive. No other allergies. It has, at least in my experence, been hereditary. No corn, no problems. Corn,ear gunk.

I would bet if one of us researched this, we would find that some allergies are clearly hereditary and others aren't. And to top it off, there is not way of telling the difference. It just always seems to be that way......

I would further conjecture that there are people who say.....since there is no way of telling the genetics, I will breed dogs with allergies anyway. And there are those on the other extreme that say.....since there is no way of telling the genetics, I will not breed anything with allergies.

Like so many other things, I have chosen the boring middle road. I would never breed a dog with bad allergies. If they are minor, and if she/he is very nice otherwise, I might breed carefully and see what I get. As always, allergies are one of many things to consider I guess.

I had a singleton "oops" pup whose parents both had mild allergies. A vet specialist had told me that allergies are the result of simple recessives, so I expected the worst and kept him myself. I guess the vet was wrong though, because he's never shown the slightest sign of any allergies at all. Not one.

Go figure...

Also, allergies don't normally show up until age three, and most of us breed after clearances at age two, so then what? Watch the pups from the first litter and if allergies show, I would seriously consider not breeding that bitch again.

I agree very much with the middle of the road approach. If it's something so simple as feeding food with no corn, then I don't think that's a major problem. I avoid certain foods myself.

I bred a female who is allergic to fleabites (flea saliva.) I have never had this before. I asked my vet his opinion on whether I should remove her from my breeding program. Usually quite conservative and cautious, he surprised when he said that this type of allergy crops up once in a blue moon, and just like a child with no family history can be allergic to peanuts, he would be very hesitant to tell me to remove an otherwise perfectly healthy bitch with a lot of great attributes from a health perspective, from my program, especially when fleas are environmental and fairly easy to control. I really related to this because my nephew is deathly allergic to peanuts and no one in our family or my brother's wife's family has ever had this. So I placed her in a foster home, where she is the only dog and is on Revolution. (I figured this way I know I'm not bringing fleas in from shows, visitors, etc, that would still bite her even though she's on Revolution and could still give her a reaction.) I am watching her for any other signs of allergies or sensitivities before making the decision to breed her. She's over 2 but I haven't done hips/elbows yet, only cerfs, and I am just waiting to see what I think.

Just like a recent post about a cataract, I believe this is one of those situations where a reputable breeder must know the bloodlines they're working with and take a cautious but sensible approach and do what they believe to be right and would carefully research what's behind any dog they're considering breeding or breeding to. In the end, we are all responsible for our breeding programs. I believe the vast majority of us go into any breeding with the best of intentions. Yes, from time to time we see a whole bunch of inhouse breeding using dogs with cataracts, skin problems, etc......... but luckily, we usually know who they are and once other breeders are aware of it, they avoid using those dogs in their own breeding programs. And luckily, we don't see that too often.

I believe that most people who take the time to educate themselves, via forums like this and other means, as well as to invest the costs of clearances, genetic tests, etc, are assets to our breed. Folks who just breed, (byb's usually) unfortunately will always be around.

I agree with not panicing over things like gunky ears that respond to a simple change in food, but would you ever breed a bitch that actually had inflamed, itchy red feet? The longer I'm around the more I see, unfortunately.

Well, now I am thinking that my one girl may be corn sensitive. I like pro plan, but for those who have corn sensitive Labradors, what foods are you having success with??

Yes, it could be the corn or wheat in your feed..Once I stopped feeding any kibble with corn or wheat...ears cleaned up

I had a 2 year old that scratched constantly. Back in those days vets gave cortizone shots.

One day when I had gotten it under control 2 years later with hi doses of vit. C my girl snagged an ear of corn off the corn stalks and I saw her eating it in the front yard. Within 24 hours - major flair up. Sure enough her food had corn in it so I had finally found the culprit.

Since then I never fed her food with corn. Until she developed KF (at age 14) and had to have a low phosphorous food. The only decent one I could find that also had 26% protein - had corn in it and she never had a flair up.

Tells me dogs can outgrow allergies just like humans.

But because of the above experience I never feed food with corn, (or soy, wheat, sorgum).

I am now feeding Natures Variety Instinct and my dogs do well on it. Only carb is tapioca.

I use Costco's Kirklnd food.