We suspect that our 4 month old pup Charlie has a food allergy which has weakened his immune system causing superficial puppy pyoderma, according to our vet. We were feeding him Royal canin large breed puppy chicken formula food, by recommendation of our breeder. He was also having loose stools and more recently, runnier diarrhea, having to go 3-4 times in the night for a couple days a few days apart...He was also running a low fever, shaking his ears and chewing on his feet, but still being his happy self and eating/drinking just fine.

So we had to put him on puppy hypoallergenic food (medi-cal which you can only get from the vet and is horrendously expensive!) until his diarrhea clears and he's also on antibiotics and antihistamine for the pyoderma which is a bacterial infection. 2 days after the change he has been doing much better and his poops are now normal and solid.

Today we got grain free puppy food (brand "Now") with turkey, duck and salmon to try to see if that works better for him. It is not an inexpensive food and we are willing to spend a decent amount for decent food, however we don't have the time for preparing a raw food diet.

Does anyone have any suggestions on other food choices/ingredients for possibly allergic pups?

Poor pup! We feed Riley "Blue". Although he doesn't have any food allergies ( one of the few things he doesn't have )...... I do know people that have put their dogs on this food because of allergies. We had thought about RAW at one point also, but were advised against it due to Riley having a compromised immune system.

Please let me know what the outcome was for your pup. Our 13 mos old developed very similar symptoms. We have tried several vet only dog foods with poor results. next will be Royal Canine hypoallergenic. We know what you mean about expensive. I just want our guy to feel better, gain normal weight and get this behind him.

This is a great example of why the Bernese breed has the most natural rearing, raw feeding members of any other AKC breed in the U.S.

Their immune dysfunction, high allergy response, and bad reactions to vaccines have dictated that most experienced Berner owners feed a homemade diet - whether cooked or raw to avoid feeding processed food that does not digest well.

I would highly recommend you work with a nutrition consultant who will devise a balanced diet plan - or buy some plans readily available from Monica Segal that work for your boy. You will find that sourcing whole fresh foods that work will be less expensive than the money grab of prescribed processed foods that are "an all or nothing approach". Few works for most dogs.

Usually an elimination diet is how you start - feed one protein and one vegetable and see how he does. These should be novel - and not what was in his dog food previously. Add one food at a time until you have enough to feed him a balanced meal. Supplements should also be added one at a time to ensure no reactions or negative response.

Good luck!
Rachel