dry skin - Page 2

Sounds like you made a fast food switch, which many dogs won't tolerate.  I generally will take a week or two to do a food change with a dog that is sensitive to new foods, unless the dog has a true food intolerance (vomiting/diarrhea) where a fast change would be preferred. 

I've had a dog with allergies and another with severe food intolerances due to chronic SIBO.  Both are very difficult to deal with for different reasons, but I was able to resolve the food intolerance issue...my other dog still suffers to some degree from allergies.  

Personally, I don't like chicken for elimination diets.  First, it's found in too many commercial foods to be sure that you're actually doing an elimination diet...you'll find chicken or chicken fat in a lot of foods as secondary ingredients.  Second, the raw poultry that you buy at the grocery store is dipped in chlorine before its packaged to try to kill the bacteria so it remains "fresh" longer.  They then inject the meat with salt water to cover the taste of the chlorine that's absorbed.  The friendly flora in the gut makes up a huge portion of their immune system...so chlorine, that kills bacteria, is something that I try to avoid.

An elimination diet is very simply a single novel protein (something they haven't ever eaten before) and a novel carbohydrate.  You feed ONLY that food for a number of weeks/months, then add one new food at a time...once every week or two... until you develop a balanced diet.  If the dog starts itching with any new addition, stop feeding it and put it on a list of foods not to use in the future.  If your dog has been on chicken-based food, I would try something like venison, lamb, bison, or rabbit as a protein source.  (Try Hare-Today.com  if you can't find it locally.)  Feed it raw or cooked...your preference. Raw has more natural enzymes, so some people prefer that over cooked foods.  I would also steam some sweet potatoes (must be cooked to be digestible) for a carb source, since most dogs have had corn, wheat, rice, oats, barley, etc in their commercial dog food. I find that white potatoes tend to lead to yeast infections in my dogs due to the high starch content.  I tend to feed more protein and less carb than most diets call for, since I believe that is a more natural diet for dogs. 

Here's some links you might find helpful...

http://www.healthypetjournal.com/default.aspx?tabid=20623

http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/KnowledgeBase/knowledgebaseresults.aspx?SubjectID=13211&SubjectName=Allergies

http://dog-allergy-info.com/elimination-diet/

http://dogtorj.tripod.com/id37.html

http://communityvet.net/2010/03/diy-elimination-diet-for-the-dog-an-cat/

http://dogaware.com/articles/wdjhomemade1.html

Dr. Shawn Messonnier published a book..."The Allergy Solution for Dogs" that is pretty inexpensive and offers some good information.

I did the allergy blood testing on my older allergy girl...it was worth the $$$ to me to get a baseline of things that she was most reactive to.  We did get some false readings, but it was a place to start.  She does best on the Natural Balance LID foods...we alternate protein sources after each bag.  A product called Skin Balance was also helpful (even at relatively low doses), along with coconut oil.  She also feels better after an oatmeal/aloe shampoo (allow to stay on skin for 5 minutes) bath during pollen season.

Hope this helps...its hard watching them scratch all the time!