My 2.5 year old GSD has had various problems this year with being itchy.  Shortly after Christmas he was scratching a lot and the guard fur around his ears fell out as well as the fur on his ears thinning generally, the vet though it may be mange so we treated him but saw no improvement.  I wondered if it was a food allergy as he had gone off his food and we switched him from a holistic, gluten free diet to Salmon and Potato as well as using Bob Grass SkinCure.  We saw a rapid improvement and the itching stopped as well as the fur coming back, I concluded he was allergic to rice (worse with white) and left him on the diet.
The last few weeks he's started itching again although no fur loss.  He's on the same diet with no new treats or anything.  He's flea'd every other month with the same treatment and wormed every three months.
When he itches it's normally his side or head, on checking he's got no hotspots, patches, signs of fleas or anything.  When he scratches he doesn't yelp or anything!
Has anyone had anything similar or any suggestions as to what we could try and treat with?

Hi
Poor you and poor dog, both my GSD's have allergies, one has had it confirmed as HD mites the other, we just dont know.  We have tried/tested for everything many hundreds of pounds later.  If you can read my previous postings (not sure how) you can see what has been suggested and what we have tried.  Both my dogs are fed on the BARF diet which I am 100% sure has really helped them in their general health and wellbeing, this would be the first thing you could look into. Then allergy tests for inhouse/outhouse allergens.
Hope you get it sorted, I know all too well how this feels as you just want to help them.

Hi

I had similar trouble with my GSD. After a process of elimination I have found that he is sensitive to plug in air fresheners (they breathe them in) and also when I wash my floors I go over them again with plain hot water to make sure there is absolutely no residue of any cleaning product. I don't have carpets but it's a good idea not to use shake n vac etc.

My dog is also fed a raw diet so I assumed it wasn't caused by food and so far no more itching (it's been about a month)

Incidently my other dogs (different breeds) have never been a problem so maybe a GSD thing?

We also dumped the plug-in air fresheners, changed the cleaner to a 'natural' floor cleaner - hoover twice a day on the carpeted areas and never use shake n vac.  We wash their bedding in a natural washing powder on a boil wash too.  What a carry on! LOL
GSD's do seem to suffer with this sort of thing - bless them.

I think it's environmental as he has been fine all winter, flare up in Spring and then fine all Summer to then flare up now.  Nothing's changed in the house which is the odd thing - we haven't even put the heating on yet.

We've got him on Piriton at the moment which seems to be helping.

Evening Primrose oil is a natural anti - histamine too.

I'd try and avoid dry food if possible and it could be a storage mite allergy, if its only on his face. If he is on dry food, I'd wipe his face after he's eaten and thoroughly wash the bowl before his next meal.

Only way to tell for sure what he may be allergic is  to have a York test.  These are not cheap but they should be able to narrow it down, as to whether its and indoor out outdoor allergy. 

I changed my washing powder, not even thinking about it and 3 of my dogs were sensitive to it.  It made members of my family itch too so I went back to the original stuff and nobody has complained since