Hi.

I've suspected that my dog is allergic to chicken, which I responded by switching to a salmon-only protein food (Petcurean's Go! Natural Salmon and Oatmeal).
His scratching lessened noticeably and two weeks into his new food, he rarely scratches.

I understand that allergies develop through prolonged exposure, meaning one day he may also get allergic reactions to salmon if I insistently make him eat this food.

So my question is, is there a way to lessen a dog's allergic reaction to an allergen? Like if I expose him bit by bit to chicken, slowly reintroducing it, will it make his body less reactive to it?

It's a shame because most dogs LOVE chicken, both the actual meat and his previous chicken-based food (Go! Natural Chicken, Fruit and Vegetables).

I had a dog sensitive/allergic to rice, which isn't such a problem these days with more variety in food, but then it was all pretty much rice and few believed it could cause a problem... however she was so much better without it.  I think changing the basic protein may help prevent allergies building up - so feed eg salmon & lamb on a rota basis, after a while you could - briefly - try including chicken

I had a dog that was very allergic to chicken and beef. The specialist said to try her on turkey and rice as she had not eaten this before and this worked. She lived to 10 years and was fine on turkey for the rest of her life, so she never did build up a reaction to it.