Allergies: Nature or Nurture? - Page 1

I'm genuinely curious on this and thought I might get some interesting opinions and ideas by posting this.  My situation is, I have a male with severe allergies, you've probably read my desperate posts on here before about him, had him allergy tested today and I anxiously await the results coming in 10 to 14 days..  My question is, one brother (littermate) was imported with my dog, it was said by the kennel who supposedly had my dog that the brother's skin was worse than my dogs skin (which I would have to see to believe since my dog was covered in fleas besides allergy sores and yeast infections).  At any rate, I noticed that several other people who have dogs from the same lines as my dog's mother (her littermates) also suffer from allergies.  Supposedly my dog started with ear infections when he was only months old.  I'd always leaned more towards allergies being an environmentally created problem, not a genetic problem....but noticing that nearly all offspring from my dog's mother and her two littermates have at least ear problems makes me question where I stand.  What do you guys think....your dog has terrible allergies, to the point that if the dog wasn't so driven and determined, it would affect his quality of life, you spend hours a day on his meals and keeping his skin clean so he doesn't break out, his brother and all offspring you can find from his mother's littermates have skin and/or ear problems.  Is it genetic or just coincidence?  Of course, there's no right or wrong answer, all opinion.  As a science nerd, I am just interested in what you guys think and what you contribute to my knowledge.  This has been an awful struggle with my dog and we were instantly inseparable, though his allergies had probably not been treated at all in at least 6 months while he was staying at a kennel, so I want to do everything I can to help him and I've learned a lot.  This is a question more of curiosity.  Before anyone asks, my dog will NOT be bred, I don't breed, and even if my dog was a Sch H3 OFA excellent, I wouldn't be able to shake the fear that maybe allergies are or can be genetic.  And people with "allergy dogs" or dogs with bad skin/ears, does your dog have siblings, parents, or littermates to parents who have allergies as well? 
Thanks in advance for your opinions,
Nichole

Allergies are definately genetic!  I work with a golden "breeder" and all of their  pups out of one sire have allergy problems.  4 months old and horrid ear infections, older dogs with the itchies and hot spots.  Poor things!

Good morning,I am surprized that there are so little responses.I have one of my boys with food allergies and it is not fun.I dont wish this on anyones dog.The thing that really bothers me is that the breeders who have been doing this a long time know what lines are producing what and still continue to breed these particular dogs.I have to be honest in saying that in my opinion they just dont give a dam.They only seem to care about how much money they will make.Its disgusting and should not be allowed.One of the so called governing bodies should step up and STOP these people from breeding and yes I do beleive that they know whos who in the breeding world.As I always say,some of these people have no business breeding these WONDERFULL GSD's.Maybe one day all of us will use the power of the internet for something good and try to eliminate all these crooked scam artists,the scum breeders who have there places FULL of dogs and puppies waiting to be sold.There must be a way to get rid of these bastards who breed all kinds of litters a year knowing dam well that  there dogs are producing problems and bad temperment.Im sure if everybody sincerly put there heads together,we could and should  get these scums gone from the breeding world.Sure it would be a hard task but look at  what the end results would be.Imagine if there were very little dogs affected by allergies,by EPI,by HD,by pannus etc,etc,etc.Maybe one day someone will clean it all up and get rid of the scum.Have a nice day and good luck with your dog Nichole.

Nichole,

I sent you a PM. Check your PM box.

I'm not really a doctor, but I play one on the internet.
Its definately genetic.
Not saying that a dog can't develope new allergies as they grow , becoming sensitized by environmental influences.
Still I feel that is genetic as well.
It sometimes can mean a lifetime of misery and can also be dangerous.
Ask any child with food allergies.  Or myself who was hospitolized as a child with poison Ivy.
The strange thing was I grew out of the severe reactions as an adult, the body changes.  
Now I have bad reactions to tick bites, and when I have tick bites I don't catch poison ivy, only oak, try explaining that one.
Thats my professional medical opinion.

ALL things, except for acute illness or injury, are, in the end, based on genetics. Allergies are genetic. One cannot have an allergy if the body does not already have certain genes which code for certain antigen/antibody responses. IF a dog truly has an allergy, rather than some infestation of parasites (including fleas), fungus or bacteria or a thyroid not functioning properly or a malabsorption problem, this stems from the immune system. Many people assume their dog has allergies when in fact, that is not the case.

Too many people write garbage here about "incompetent" immune systems or "weak" immune systems, when they don't understand what they are talking about.  The fact that an organism is demonstrating an allergy tells you that the immune system is doing what it is primed to do - respond to foreign antigens. Humans have allergies too. That does not mean their immune system is incompetent or weak. Rather, it means that they received genetic material that codes for certain types of responses when exposed to certain allergens. It is just how it does this and how vigorously it does this that creates a problem and then the immune response can also become a problem.

Before dogs are considered to have allergies, just like in humans, there are generally a host of other issues to rule out first.

Well said, hodie.
"Before dogs are considered to have allergies, just like in humans, there are generally a host of other issues to rule out first."  Amen!  That's the hard part, identifying and ruling out other issues and addressing them.

Well said Hodie.

Very well said Hodie.
I know I have been an ass to you in the past because I was panicking trying to help my dog and wasn't making the best of decision in my desperation to get him better.  I hope you will forgive and understand it was all in my focus to get this dog well. 
An update on my boy:
I have finally found the vet for him, a vet more specialized in allergies, because we have checked everything else that two vets can think of and everything either was fine from the beginning or has been treated and is fine now so when they got to a point where they didn't know what else to do, I collected his files and found someone new.  This has become a very, very expensive and time consuming process.  His thyroid is fine, CBC is fine, a whole list of things have checked out okay.  He did have parasites in the beginning, he no longer suffers from any of that.  Now we are down to just allergies.  Hopefully, when the test results come in 10-14 days from today, I will know what to do to get my boy completely well.  The vet said he looks awesome, that he only has one sore that even needs attention (I clean every sore twice a day), with the vitamins I have him on (which the vet requested I continue), he's shed a lot of the nasty stiff, course, just awful feeling coat and he's soft.  The vet said his weight is perfect and he's at 112 lbs.  Now I know why he's been killing me training, I only weigh 130, and this dog is pure muscle, very active boy who loves life and now that it's warming up down here in the South, he treasures his time swimminng in the clear water creek on my property and that actually seems to help his skin.  His ears have been clear since October or November.  The vet remarked several time on his healthy appearance, you can no longer tell by looking that my dog has any issue, you have to actually feel his back legs, back above his hips, and the top of his tail to know anything is going on,  We were the last patients and the vet said he was the healthiest looking dog he'd seen all day until feeling his sores.  So I honestly don't think his immune system is trashed.  When I first got him, no doubt his immune system was being stressed.  But now we have more of an allergy problem than an immune system problem.
Ironically, I have extremely bad allergies.  Moons, we could have some real fun in the woods...lol.  My immune system is amazing, the best ever in my life, I was always underweight and caught everything when I was younger...now I finally got to the right weight, eat healthy, and you cannot get me sick.  However, I just took an Allegra (prescription allergy pill) and will use my prescription nasal spray in a minute.  It's also odd I am the one to pose this question and I have a vested interest in both human and dogs....both of my parents have severe allergies and are usually on daily prescription allergy medicine to survive, so I do wonder if my parents weren't plagued by allergies if I'd have turned out the same. Hmm.
Thanks for giving me things to think about,
Nichole