Beanie’s itching has been better since we switched her to WafCol low allergy puppy food. Or more precisely, the redness and skin infections on her tummy have cleared up – the itching itself was never a big worry as it’s quite mild and doesn’t distress her. We were hopefull that after a few more weeks on WafCol the itching would dissapear completely.

But we got a phone call from the vet this afternoon with the results from the first round of blood tests. Beanie has tested positive for indoor allergies and possibly for tree pollen too. We now have to wait another 10 days or so for the next round of tests which will tell us precisely what she’s allergic to.

It’s a big worry as allergies are rare in puppies. And beanie was showing the very first signs at about three months old (very mild itching that the vet dismissed as ‘puppy dandruff’ at the time). From what I’ve read the typical pattern is for a dog to develop allergies at around 2 years and get worse each year after that. So it seems logical that if a puppy develops allergies very young it’s likely to be a serious problem later?

It seems likely that house dust mites are at least part of the problem. Our house is the cleanest it’s ever been. We’ve taken down all the curtains and plan to replace the carpets with laminate flooring (we’ll just wait for confirmation that she is allergic to house dust mites first though!). We’re going to keep her out of the bedroom and at night move her crate to just outside our bedroom door – hopefully that’s enough.

I’ve found some sources that say Allergies are a common problem in Beagles. If anyone has a Beagle with allergies – especially if it developed them as a young pup – please get in touch and let us know what’s worked for you.