Understanding Food Intolerances In Dogs

May 17

If you’ve ever looked at a list of “intolerant” foods for your dog and thought, Wait… spinach? Liver? Squash? Blueberries?? It’s confusing, frustrating, and can make feeding your dog feel like a huge challenge with lots of stress over what to put in the bowl.

As a holistic pet health coach, I see this all the time — dogs being labeled as sensitive to half the foods in their bowl, and pet parents being told to remove everything but one or two “safe” proteins. And yet… the symptoms don’t really go away.

That’s because food intolerance usually isn’t about the food. It’s about what’s going on underneath — in the gut, the immune system, and even the body’s energetic patterns.

What Is a Food Intolerance

Food intolerance in dogs is not the same as a true food allergy.

Allergies involve an immune system overreaction (IgE mediated), while intolerances are typically digestive, metabolic, or inflammatory responses that build up over time. The most common signs of food intolerance include:

Gas, burping, or loud stomach sounds
Chronic soft stools or mucus in stool
Ear gunk, paw licking, or skin redness
Reflux or excessive swallowing
Scooting, anal gland issues
Low energy, dull coat, or behavioral changes

These symptoms are often connected to gut inflammation, microbiome imbalance (dysbiosis), or a leaky gut—and the longer they go unchecked, the more food intolerances your dog may seem to “develop.”

How Food Intolerance Can Look Like an Allergy

Even though food intolerance doesn’t involve an immune response like a true allergy, it can still trigger inflammation — especially in the gut. And when the gut becomes inflamed, the rest of the body follows.

Common “allergy-like” symptoms that often show up with food intolerance include:

Itchy skin, especially around the ears, face, or belly
Red or inflamed paws — often leading to licking or chewing
Scooting or chronic anal gland issues
Ear gunk or recurrent infections
Hot spots, rashy skin, or yeast-smelling funk
Tear stains or red staining around the muzzle

These symptoms are signs of the body trying to offload inflammation and waste — and when the digestive system is under stress, the skin often becomes the “backup organ of elimination.” In TCVM, we often say the skin reflects the state of the gut.

So yes — what you may think is a seasonal or environmental allergy could actually be linked to:

Gut inflammation or leaky gut
Overexposure to one protein
Low-grade food sensitivities building over time
Poor detox capacity in the liver or lymph
Dysbiosis (imbalanced gut bacteria or yeast overgrowth)

Why Food Intolerance Testing Isn’t Always Helpful

Let’s talk testing. You’ve likely seen hair and saliva intolerance tests all over social media—claiming to tell you exactly what your dog can or can’t eat.

Here’s the catch:

These tests often reflect exposure, not reaction.
They are not measuring antibodies or inflammatory markers—so results can shift week to week.
Dogs often show “intolerance” to foods they’ve eaten most often, because the gut is inflamed—not because the food is inherently bad.

That’s why it’s common to see results like:

Chicken liver is reactive, but chicken breast is “safe”
Spinach, pumpkin, or blueberries show up as “intolerant”
Coconut oil and fermented foods are flagged—even when they were helping your dog

This doesn’t mean the food is harmful—it means your dog’s gut and immune system are reacting to everything because they’re inflamed, out of balance, or overstimulated.

They can be a good place to start and look at this moment in time. With that in mind I recommend the Glacier Peaks Testing.

Can Intolerances Be Healed?

Yes—many food intolerances can resolve over time.

But not by just removing the food. Healing involves:

Rebuilding the gut lining and calming inflammation
Detoxifying the liver and lymph to clear built-up waste
Rebalancing the microbiome with fermented foods and spore-based probiotics
Resetting the immune system through essential nutrients, enzymes, and anti-inflammatory support

When the gut is healthy and the immune system isn’t in “attack mode,” the body can often handle foods that used to be problematic.

This is also why a “clean” diet can still lead to reactions if you haven't addressed the underlying gut terrain. It’s also also why with gut healing, it’s possible to go back to foods that once seemed off-limits. The key is frequent rotation and short interval use. Stay out of the rut and vary everything!

How New Food Intolerances Develop

Your dog can absolutely become intolerant to foods they’ve eaten for years—especially when:

The same food is fed daily without rotation — so yes, that food you chose from your intolerance test as “safe”, and have been feeding for the last 2 years may now be an intolerant food too.
The gut is already leaky or inflamed
The food is energetically misaligned (from a TCVM perspective)
There’s an overload of Heat (inflammation), Dampness (yeast, mucus), or Stagnation (poor detox)

This is why I rarely recommend feeding the same protein long-term without breaks or variation. Even “clean” proteins like turkey or beef can lead to reactivity if the body doesn’t get a break or the energy of the food clashes with your dog’s constitution.

Why Some Dogs React to “Healthy” Foods

It’s easy to assume that vegetables, fruits, or organs are always safe—but when gut function is compromised, even nutrient-dense foods can backfire.

Here’s why:

Organs like liver and kidney are rich in copper, vitamin A, and detox cofactors. If your dog’s drainage pathways aren’t open, these nutrients can overwhelm an already sluggish liver.
Cruciferous or starchy veggies may ferment in the gut, worsening gas or yeast when microbiome balance is off.
Fruits like apples or bananas are naturally high in sugar or salicylates—fine in a healthy gut, but inflammatory when dysbiosis is present.
Spices like turmeric, ginger, or cinnamon are “hot” energetically and can worsen symptoms in dogs with excess Heat.

Even coconut oil, MCT oil, and fermented veggies—great tools for many dogs—can aggravate symptoms when yeast, histamine, or microbial overgrowth is active.

TCVM Food Energetics: The Key to Understanding Reactions

This is where TCVM principles become a game-changer.

In Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine, foods aren’t just protein/fat/carb—they have energetic properties:

Warming foods (chicken, lamb, venison) build Yang, but can worsen Heat signs like itching, panting, or red skin
Cooling foods (duck, pork, fish, spinach) calm inflammation but may be too Cold for dogs with weak digestion
Damp-producing foods (grains, dairy, banana, peanut butter) can worsen yeast, mucus, or ear issues
Neutral foods (turkey, beef, carrot) are often well tolerated and useful in balanced recipes

Two dogs can react completely differently to the same food because of their underlying pattern or imbalance. That’s why a one-size-fits-all diet rarely works long-term.

And this is how we can explain…

Why your dog might tolerate turkey but not chicken
Why liver might trigger loose stools while muscle meat doesn’t
Why one veggie blend creates gas, but another soothes digestion

It’s about more than ingredients. It’s about energetics, rotation, and overall balance.

So What’s the Right Way to Handle Food Intolerances?

Here’s what I recommend as a canine nutritionist trained in TCVM and holistic gut healing:

Ditch processed food and start with a whole, fresh diet
Reduce inflammatory load by removing synthetic vitamins, additives, and highly processed supplements
Rotate proteins and vegetables to avoid stagnation
Choose foods that match your dog’s TCVM constitution
Rebuild gut health with fermented foods, prebiotics, and spore-based probiotics
Open detox pathways with herbs, essential oils, and binders when needed
Use food energetics to calm Heat, resolve Damp, or support Qi as needed
Rely less on testing and more on symptoms, history, and energetics, and rotations.
Don’t get stuck in thinking a food will be off-limits forever. Heal the gut.

The full strategy takes time—and is different for every dog. But when you focus on restoring balance instead of restricting ingredients, the results can be life-changing.

Top 5 Things to Do If Your Dog Has Food Intolerances

Switch to a limited ingredient, fresh food diet for short-term relief. Then Rotate your food choices often.
Learn your dog’s TCVM pattern to align food choices with their energetics
Rebuild the gut lining using fermented foods, bone broth, and herbs
Focus on gut healing—not endless food elimination
Join the forum for full protocols, symptom checklists, and rotation strategies

Wrapping Up

Food intolerance doesn’t mean your dog is “broken.” It means their body is begging for support—digestively, energetically, and immunologically. And that’s where functional nutrition and TCVM shine. Instead of playing whack-a-mole with ingredients, we work to restore the internal balance that prevents these reactions in the first place.

I’m here to help you decode those test results, build a food plan that works, and shift the focus from restriction to resilience.

There are a variety of test options for gut health and foods. Visit https://welloiledk9.com/products/testibng-products

Want to go deeper with support for your dog through all life stages?
Reach out! I can help.

Visit My Affiliate Links for curated quality products mentioned above!
https://welloiledk9.com/products

Statements in this blog have not been evaluated by the FDA. Educational content only. Not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Please do your own additional research, consult your vet as needed.

food sensitivities

Dana Brigman