I recently went ahead and ordered the dog food allergy test from Glacier Peak Pet Wellness for my raw-fed Feist mix Wally.
That’s because I suspected that he does poorly on certain types of food sources, although he eats balanced, raw dog food! I was pretty sure that chicken was one culprit, but wasn’t exactly sure what else was bothering him.
I suspected chicken because he would start scratching at his skin whenever I added chicken to his raw meals.
That’s regardless of whether it was organic chicken or non-organic chicken. He seemed to be bothered by truly any cut of chicken regardless of where it was from and how it was raised, including chicken feet, breast, gizzards, hearts, and necks.
Why Is This Dog Food Allergy Test Controversial?
Before I dive into the good stuff, I want to say a few words about the controversial nature of this allergy test.
Traditional vets, including mine!, don’t believe in this type of test. They don’t believe in the results and consider it a waste of money. That’s what my own vet told me right to my face!
Then again, they also don’t believe in raw feeding, which is what I’ve been doing successfully since 2015. I even got my raw dog food nutrition specialist certification from Dogs Naturally Magazine!
The reason why I feel compelled to blog about this test is because it helped ME figure out what else Wally doesn’t do well with besides chicken. It was actually a huge help, so I only have good things to say about it!
Dog Food Allergy Test – What This Blog Post Is About
So in this blog post, I’m sharing my experience with the Glacier Peak Pet Wellness Allergy Scan. I’ll tell you:
- How much it cost
- Where I bought it
- What this scan covered
- How it worked
- The detailed results of Wally’s scan
- If it was worth it
Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored blog post as I purchased the Glacier Peak Pet Wellness Allergy Scan with my own money.
Some of the links in this blog post are Amazon associate links. This means that if you click on an affiliate link and buy certain items, I will receive a small commission to keep this blog going. The price is not affected by this and remains the same for you. Thank you for your support!
Dog Food Allergy Test: Where I Bought It & How Much It Cost Me
I purchased the Glacier Peak Pet Wellness Allergy Scan from Raw Feeding Miami. They’re an online raw dog food supplier where I buy many cuts of different raw dog food, including secreting organs and raw meaty bones that I need for Wally’s raw meal prep.
The scan usually costs $100, but I got it for $80 during Raw Feeding Miami’s Thanksgiving sale last year.
Update September 2020: Raw Feeding Miami no longer carries the test, but Dogs Naturally Magazine does. It costs $107.95.
What Does This Dog Allergy Test Cover And How Does It Work?
This wellness scan is a biofeedback test that identifies food and environmental stress triggers in pets.
The wellness scan kit includes the following:
- 3 organic cotton swabs for saliva samples
- A comb to collect a hair sample
- An information form to complete details about your dog
- A zippered bag to return the saliva and hair samples
- A return envelope
I used the cotton swabs as directed to collect samples of Wally’s saliva by rubbing them gently along his gums. However, the included comb turned out to be useless to collect hair from his short coat, so I simply brushed him with his regular rubber brush and collected the hair sample that way.
Glacier Peak analyzed the saliva and hair samples from Wally that I sent in via snail mail. I received the results via e-mail about two weeks later.
Dog Food Allergy Test: Wally’s Results
I was super excited when I received the email with Wally’s results. According to the wellness scan, Wally can’t have the following food items:
- Chicken/Egg
- Quail
- Pheasant
- Salmon
- Anchovies
- Sardines
- Pollock
- Shellfish (includes Green Lipped Mussels)
- Blueberries
- Apples
- Brussels sprouts
- Cauliflower
- Cucumber
- Green Pepper
- Lettuce
- Potato Pumpkin/Seed
- Squash
- Zucchini
- No grains whatsoever
- Honey
- Parsley
Changes I Implemented In Wally’s Raw Dog Food After The Wellness Scan
I was super bummed out by the fact that Wally can no longer have any chicken products, including eggs, although I already suspected as much.
It makes sense when you think about it though – he can’t have any grains whatsoever, and chicken are usually fed grains.
Duck eggs instead of chicken eggs
Thankfully I found out about duck eggs, which I now use to substitute chicken eggs. My local grocery store Harris Teeter carries them, but you can also find them at local farms and online platforms like Etsy.
I’m similarly bummed about quail and salmon being a no go as he’s had both on a regular basis, especially because my local grocery store Lidl has great deals on salmon.
Fish alternatives
That being said, from now on I’ll be rotating between thread herring, mackerel, and smelts for Wally’s whole fish sources. I can find them all in Raw Feeding Miami’s fish section.
Since he also does poorly on shellfish, he will no longer be able to eat green lipped mussels. Another major bummer. Raw Feeding Miami carries them and I bought them on a regular basis as they’re chock-full of glucosamine and chondroitin as well as in fatty acids.
They’re a wonderful natural anti-inflammatory that supports joint health, so if your dog does well on shellfish, by all means go ahead and feed them to him!! A 2 lb bag costs $12.50.
Single-ingredient treats only
Unfortunately, Wally can also no longer have any of Zukes training treats because they contain barley, a grain that Wally can’t have. I know that they’re not single-ingredient treats, but their size is so perfect for training purposes!
So for now, we’ll be sticking with single-or very limited ingredient treats for training purposes, such as Real Dog’s Single-Ingredient Treat Subscription Box and beef green tripe raw nibs from Only Natural Pet. A 2 pack order on Amazon costs around $30.
Bottom Line – Was The Glacier Peak Pet Wellness Allergy Scan Worth It?
Yes, this dog food allergy test was worth the money and time spent. The list of food and environmental sensitivities has been eye opening and truly helpful in finding out what bothers Wally. He’s so much more comfortable now that I know what not to feed him!
For now, I put both lists on my fridge as a visual reminder until I’ll have memorized everything he can and can’t have. For what it’s worth, he can still have varied, balanced raw meals that I put together for him myself.
Easy Raw Dog Food Recipe With Duck, Beef, And Turkey
Here’s a sample recipe I put together for him the other week following the 80/10/10 formula for raw dog food.
This means it consists of 80% raw muscle meat, 10% raw meaty bone, and 10% raw secreting organs (5% has to be liver, the other 5% has to be a different secreting organ like kidney or brains, etc.).
* Duck feet (from Raw Feeding Miami)
*Beef secreting organ mix Monstermash (from Raw Feeding Miami)
*Ground turkey (on sale from a local grocery store)
🐕 🆘 More Raw Dog Food Recipes For Dogs With Allergies: E-book Pre-Sale
I’m currently working on my new raw dog food recipe ebook, which focuses on recipes for dogs with food sensitivities and allergies like Wally! I put on my novel protein hat and whipped up special recipes for him and dogs like him!
The recipes don’t feature any of the foods he’s sensitive to, and they also don’t feature any turkey, beef, lamb, or pork! That’s because many dogs don’t do well with them either.
🗓 E-book Release date
My ebook will be available on November 15, 2020, but you can pre-order it as of now and get half off with discount 💰 code “K9s”, for just $4.99 instead of $9.99.
📌Bonus:Includes My Raw Dog Food Meal Planner!
Leave your comments or questions in the comment section below!
Join the K9sOverCoffee Community today! Get your free raw dog food recipe, excerpted from “20 Raw Meals for Dogs”!Related Reading:
Best single-ingredient dog treats
Can I feed my dog raw duck eggs?
What are the benefits of raw dog food?
How to make raw dog food at home
Promo codes for raw dog food: 15% off from RFM & Raw Paws Pet Food
Top 3 reasons for dog allergies, symptoms, and how to cure them
