Sounds like she's on fab stuff so far

As you can get hold of turkey I would try to cut the chicken out, turkey seems a decent enough substitute. Plus if she keeps having flair ups without the chicken you can then think maybe the chicken had nothing to do with any of the flair ups.

My boy gets random skin issues, sometimes rashes in his ears the last time was on his groin. Took three weeks of antibiotics and two weeks of steroids along with a week of steroid cream to shift it The vets think its something foody, I don't tbh I think his digestion is a bit lame hence he's having sicky issues at the minute which I'm putting down to lamb bones.

I'm guessing as you didn't mention her poops are OK? I do think this is a really good indicator as to if they get on with a food or not. If she's still having issues off the chicken and you don't know why maybe try lessening the range of stuff she eats a little at a time to try and pinpoint it?

Have a fixed action plan in your head and don't forget about monitoring the treats she eats too. My golden was on nothing but his raw lamb/chicken/rabbit/ox with carrot only as treats for 9 weeks and still got a skin flair up (hence my not being convinced its foody, he has the same food now and more with no flair ups..!).

Its a minefield allergies, if we can find causes great but if not even managing it is fantastic

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Our gordon setter itches like mad too and the vet recommended that she have a 5ml of linseed oil in her dinner everyday. Went to Holland and Barrett and they didn't seem shocked that we were getting this for a dog lol, it was almost as if it is a common thing! So you could always try that...

That and this may sound really bizarre and it's just come to me as I get terrible eczema/hayfever etc. Could it be the washing powder you wash your clothes/her bedding in? I know I can only have fairy non-bio otherwise I itch like crazy. Just a thought, but if it can have such a major effect on humans, maybe it can with dogs too?

As for the raw food, do you buy it from a raw dog food supplier? (i.e raw2go, Dog food company etc) If you buy it from the supermarket, could it be an additive they put into the food? I know with human food, they inject all kinds of crap into it. Maybe buy chicken that has been fed on a free range/corn diet?

You could try supplementing her food with probiotic goats yoghurt? My boxer pup loves it.

Sorry this is all a bit mismatched, got a migraine coming on and my thoughts are not the most coherent!

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Thanks for all your help. just given maddie a cool bath, brisk rub and long brush which she seemed to love, reckon it must have been like getting someone else to scratch your back lol.
BUT to my horror found 3 fleas on her. the house has now been sprayed with indorex (caught the vet with seconds to spare.
I use frontline reg so not sure if these are just hitching a ride from a walk but guess they won't help the way she is feeling. have already asked on another thread but can i use bill-no-mates in addition to frontline as it is only a few days since i last frontlined her?.

Dunno about the flea treatment (do you have cats too? Mine don't get fleas now I have no more cats) but you need to spray every room lots, all bedding, soft furnishings, carpets, then close the door and windows and leave for as long as you ca. Thoroughly vacuum so you're lifting any eggs, to.

You seem very focussed on the problem being chicken. As has been said, cooked protein is used for allergy testing, raw is totally different. Of course, remove one thing at a time and see what happens. It's gonna take a bit of time to do elimination testing.

Raw is supposed to virtually eliminate skin issues, although another raw feeder stopped due to her dog reacting (different forum). I'd be looking at environmental factors more than nutrition.

You say she won't do raw fish? My older boy refused it totally until I started giving sprats, 2 at a time. He inhales them. Might be worth a try.

Good luck with everything. Let us know how it all goes.

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Transplanted Geordie
RIP Jake, my best dog. 10.8.10
RIP Boomerang, beautiful horse. 27.5.08

thanks for the hint about sprats, i have some sardines and something else small in the freezer, will give them a try sometime, she did eat a small amount of mackeral that b/friend caught.
no idea what environmental factors to look for, no changes that i can think of, unless sprays etc on any of the areas we walk, but these vary so much i can't see how to pinpoint anyone factor.
we do have a cat but no fleas on her (both reg treated though) i don't know if we have fleas in the house but taking no chances
think i'm going to cut out the chicken for a few weeks and see what happens, then play it by ear depending on the results.
one other thought i had was linked to what lexi said earlier about being worse at particular times of the seasons, if maddies main prob was grass/plants and just sensitive to chicken maybe the chicken just agrivates the plant allergy (does that make sense)

quick update.. think the "visitors" have been erradicated. maddie still chewing and itching her back like mad despite no chicken for several days but sticking with it for another couple of weeks or so, cause i know if she goes to the vet all they will say is "hills and steroids"
we are giving her piriton to ease the scratching and sudocrem to sooth (her face when she 1st chewed at the patch coated in sudocrem was a picture)

question at the mo is how long can she go with out having bone in her diet? she has refused to eat lamb/pork ribs even though rest of her diet is ok (whole lamb hearts are the current favourite)
would it benefit her to have some of the frozen cubes from PAH as they do contain bone? guess it could do no harm. they will only be for a few meals a week.

Rawtogo do minces with 10% bone in them if you're concerned, but I reckon she'll live without bone for a while!

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Transplanted Geordie
RIP Jake, my best dog. 10.8.10
RIP Boomerang, beautiful horse. 27.5.08

Just noticed this thread

Several things you could try - deffo get some hibiscrub in, available from Boots these days.

Dorwest Herbs do a Detox product, I would try that.

If you feel you need to cut out the chicken, do so, it wont harm in the short term. If you get the Detox product above, introduce chicken a few days after that course has finished.

Dorwest Herbs also do other lovely products you may want to try -

Skin & Coat - Dorwest

The best thing I have found for my dogs coats is an oil blend, it aint cheap, but it is fantastic, organic and properly blended, available from health food shops and holland and barrats, its called 'Udo's Choice'. One large bottle of that may well make all the difference also. Its around 20 quid now, for the large bottle, but I think its worth it, you only need a little splodge a day in the dogs meal, so it will last a while.

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Fere libenter hormines id quod volunt credunt

thanks for all your help and responses, its nice to know there are people out there happy to offer help and share their knowledge
am off to boots tom to try and get some hibiscrub, be handy to keep in i guess. have ordered the detox and some of the fengeek etc skin suppliment, guess anything is worth a go.

in june this year maddie suffered a type 3 disc injury and its been a long haul getting her walking again and still having no reallistic idea of what scale of recovery she will make. she has been through so much and is a very different dog, much more subdubed and unsure of life (v unlike the bouncy, mad super energetic little madam she was before)
to see her suffering like this on top of her problems is heartbreaking, esp when she can't move properly to get to all her itchy bits.
so again many thanks from both me and maddie x

update... raw going really well, contacted raw to go about trial pack but with no chicken and they are happy to do that so at least we can have some bone in maddie's meals.
she is almost a week into the dorwest tablets, she has completly stopped the mad back chewing that we have come to link with the allergies has just about stopped
Buuuuut (i knew it was too good to be true)
does anyone believe that chewing/gnawing of fur and body could simply become a habit?
maddie is now chewing patches of fur and skin off her legs (3 patches about an inch long on back and front legs) she doesn't seem to be itching them, no jumping round to do it etc. almost seems to be like a kid chewing fingernails (hope that makes sense)
hibiscrub bath tomorrow and keep putting sudocream on, am starting to think i have a neurotic dog.. help