Dogs, in general, suffer from various allergies, most of which stem from intolerance to the food they’re not supposed to be given. Contrary to popular misconception, food intolerance occurs when there is a problem digesting the food being ingested. In contrast, allergy occurs when the immune system misidentifies the food as harmful and initiates a response to fight the ingredient causing the reaction. From something as trivial as unusual itching to something as serious as chronic inflammation or diarrhea, allergies take up different forms in different breeds of dogs and environments.

Here’s a list of a few allergenic foods that can cause potentially extreme reactions and must be avoided altogether.

1. Dairy
Though milk is a staple filler food for dogs in households in general, dairy is known to bring about severe lactose intolerance or allergy in them when taken regularly. Lactose intolerance manifests itself in dogs as diarrhea, vomiting, inflammation, and other digestive disorders, whereas allergies cause itchiness, skin problems, and related symptoms. Since dairy products are generally rich in fat and natural sugars, even milk should be fed in high levels of dilution and moderation.

2. Wheat
Most dogs experience grain allergy when fed with grains like wheat, rye, barley, and a few varieties of beans. The common symptoms of grain and wheat allergy include itchy skin, hair loss, vomiting, sneezing, asthmatic symptoms, and even seizures in extreme cases. This occurs when their immune system produces antibodies for the protein present in wheat. In most cases, a common wheat allergy is diagnosed and then treated with an exclusion diet. This will involve feeding the dog just homemade food and nothing else for a short amount of time until it feels better and then continuing with its original diet (excluding the allergenic food, obviously).

3. Beef
Beef or meat allergies are commonly due to a strong defensive response to the high protein content in meat. Since protein molecules are relatively harder to be broken down into simpler amino acids and absorbed, the white blood cells misidentify the unprocessed protein molecules as intruders and start up a histamine reaction to eliminate them, thereby causing skin allergies on the outside. The procedure of cutaneous cytology individually examines the affected skin cells to diagnose the type of allergy or infection developed as a result. A standard elimination diet is then followed by replacing all the ingredients of the current food that has caused the reaction and then slowly adding them one by one to discern the presence of the allergenic food.

4. Soy
Soy allergies follow the same concept as meat allergies, except here, it’s the soy protein that acts as the intruder causing the reaction. According to some sources, this might develop severe itching (pruritus), inflammation (dermatitis), gassiness, diarrhea, and even brain damage in dogs. Soy is called out for being more dangerous to dogs than meat because dogs are carnivores, and any protein intake should be in the form of animal foods and not plant fillers like soy, which their body finds more difficult to break down. Replacement of soy with actual meat in their diet can bring down allergies and infections in most cases.