Dog Allergies & Sense of Smell
Dogs, like humans, often suffer from allergies. Allergies can be very irritating to your dog, causing a lot of itching and chewing. Various things can cause your dog to experience these allergic symptoms, and pinpointing the cause is very important. Once you narrow down the cause of the allergy, you can work on eliminating it or treating it with proper medication. On the plus side, though, because dogs have such a strong sense of smell, they can be very useful in detecting allergens that can affect humans.
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Symptoms
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Symptoms can be presented as allergies of the skin that cause redness, excess itching, ear infections and even hair loss, according to dog-allergies.info.
Causes
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An article published in Good Dog! Magazine states that that a dog can be allergic to numerous things. It is rare for a dog to be allergic to food. However, they can be allergic to specific ingredients such as a protein source in the food, including grains and soy.
Other causes of allergies include mold in the house, especially if you live in a place where there is a lot of humidity. Dogs can also be allergic to other animals and humans. A dog may be allergic to the allergens that are given off by both humans and animals that are flakes of dead skin that stick to just about everything.
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Seasonal Allergies
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Seasonal allergies can be diagnosed with a "scratch" test done by a veterinarian. This scratch test is when the veterinarian injects various pollens underneath the skin to see if the skin reacts to a specific type of pollen that may be in the air. You can also track the daily pollen count--typically given on the daily television news weather segment--to find out which pollen is giving your dog the most problems.
Insects can also be the cause of seasonal allergies. Fleas come out in the summer and this is when you may notice an allergic reaction from your dog. Veterinarian-prescribed flea prevention can be the best treatment for insect allergies.
Treatment
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Treatment for allergies include steroidal medications, injections, antihistamines and air filtration products. There is no cure for dog allergies. However, being able to reduce the symptoms associated with the allergies will be beneficial to your dog.
Sense of Smell
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It is estimated that a dog can smell something a million times stronger than a human. The sense of smell is very important to dogs and they use their sense of smell more than they do their own eyes to see. They can use their sense of smell to locate things, sniff out narcotics, locate humans and, according to aces.edu, they can even sniff out certain diseases and tumors of the brain. And, according to Angel Service Dogs, they can also be trained to detect elements of an allergen in any form. This makes the allergy alert dog an invaluable member of a family that often deals with allergies. Some are called "peanut dogs," providing detection for individuals with specific food allergies, including peanuts and tree nuts.
Loss of Sense of Smell
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A dog can lose his sense of smell for a few different reasons. He may have inhaled a foreign body or gotten dirt in his nose while digging, which can cause ulcerations. Some dogs may experience loss of smell because of allergies or an illness.
Dr. Andrea Looney, DVM, recommends calling your veterinarian if you think your dog may have something stuck in his nose or may be ill. If your dog has an allergy, he may also present a runny nose.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit dog image by veronika from Fotolia.com
