Hey everyone, Im new here, and a new Husky owner and totally in love with my lil baby girl Dakota, but being a newbie I have a question regarding allergies to food.
My Dakota is 6.5 weeks old and was on Iams, my boyfriend and I just today switched her to Buffalo Blue Puppy the no grain food (dry food) as we did some research and was told it was a great option for puppies. After only 1 feeding of the BB she is showing signs of allergies, such as shaking her head, itching, constantly moving (to a cold surface b/c she is hot I think), panting more than normal. She did have some swelling around her eyes earlier but that has since gone. I gave her some benadryl but she stills seems to be uncomfortable.

My question is what would you suggest we try for her next, b/c I was told BB was one of the better brands to avoid allergies????Money is not a problem, I just want my lil girl to be healthy and happy and comfortable.

And with whatever brand we switch to, should I mix it with the iams b/c she didn't seem to have any problems with it, or should we just go straight to a new brand???

Any suggestions of info would be soo much help, thanks

New Husky lover and baby girl Dakota !!

Food allergies are usually caused by protein source, not grains. I'd contact your vet, as food allergies at such a young age are relatively uncommon. It may be something unrelated to food that happened at the same time as the switch-over.

The BB puppy is chicken, right? Chicken is a common allergy, especially when processed into kibble. Try Acana, Taste of the Wild, Earthborn, or another all-life stages food in a fish or red meat based protein.


If you already have her completely off the Iams, I'd switch cold turkey. If not, mix it- 25/75, 50/50, 75/25, then 100% new food.



Rogue started having allergic reactions to chicken as a puppy. Koda's allergies surfaced around 7 months.

Yes the BB puppy is chicken, hopefully it is a allergy to that and not something else. Thank you for the quick response and suggestions I will def get her something new and find one that works for her.
Im keeping a close eye on her and will def take her in to the vet is she doesn't get better or more comfortable soon.

I dont really know much about allergies.. But how long have you had ur pup? To me it doesnt sound like allergies.. If the dog got a bath before it came home it could be itching cause of that.. And also if it grew up outside (idk if it did) than can be another reason.. I know my pup always liked to find cold sirfaces aswell.. And panting and heavy breathing is normal for a puppy my vet told me cause i was worries about that too.. But i could be wrong.. Im just saying maybe your worrying to much... Also if you csn you should try to slowly change her food... Goodluck and i hope your puppy is ok

Did you switch her to the BB cold turkey?

I would be hesitant to blame the food right away. And with the pup being so young I would transition her from the Iams slowly. Yeah Iams is not great but the week or two it takes to transition is not going to do her any harm.

First I would put her back on the Iams she's been eating and see if she's back to normal. If she does go back to normal, then I'd introduce a small amount of the BB kibble and see how she does. If she continues to do well then I'd continue to increase the ratio of BB while decreasing the ratio of Iams.

All the signs you mentioned could be something completely unrelated as has been mentioned. Not to mention she could have allergies to something other than food such as grass, pollen, detergent, the list could go on and on. At 6.5 weeks you can't have had her for very long so this transition time from her previous home may also be playing a role in her condition.

If it still looks like food is the culprit you could try a different BB formula. I personally would recommend Orijen, Acana, or Fromm as alternatives.

Thanks for all the suggestions, I am happy to report Dakota is doing much better, I gave her Iams for her next 2 meals and no reactions at all, acting like her normal puppy self We am slowly going to mix the new BB food and see how she reacts, We are waiting until tomorrow to start though.
Hope everyone has a great SuperBowl Sunday!!

My GSD had severe food allergies, one thing we figured out he was allergic to was Flaxseed.. its in almost everything! He was also allergic to other things we could never pinpoint. I came across raw diet and started feeding him that, and he improved a lot. I fed him Bravo at one point and though messy, it worked pretty well. He still had flare ups though.

The real miracle happened when my vet started trying out Hydrolyzed food and told me Ruger was a perfect candidate to prescribe it to. So, we gave it a run - I was not thrilled since it was Science Diet with corn and all that junk, - but it really worked! He was the healthiest he had been in years for his golden years, which was a great comfort.