No change yet? What it means

by Ben, co-founder

Six weeks is long enough to deserve a straight answer, so here it is.

If there's been some improvement

Even partial - fewer 2am scratching sessions, paws that get chewed less, calmer skin between flare-ups - then food is very likely part of your dog's story. Partial at week six often becomes obvious by week eight. See it through.

If there's been genuinely nothing

Skin specialists use week six as a checkpoint: if the itching hasn't improved at all by now, a food allergy becomes less likely. Not impossible - a small number of dogs are simply slower - but less likely.

Here's the bit that's easy to miss: that's a real answer, not a failure. Itchy skin has a short list of causes - food, pollens, dust mites, fleas. Run a clean eight-week trial with no change and you've properly crossed the first one off. That's further than most itchy-dog owners ever get, and it means your vet can look at the other causes without wondering about the bowl.

Why finish the eight weeks anyway

• Some dogs genuinely turn late. The studies show improvement still arriving between weeks six and eight.
• A complete trial is a clean result. Six and a half weeks with an asterisk isn't something a vet can lean on.
• The tummy and coat benefits stand on their own, whatever the itch decides to do.

So either way, the move is the same: hold the line to week eight, keep filming, and go into the last fortnight knowing the trial will hand you something useful whichever way it goes.