Hi, I have heard from a friend recently that their GSD pup has been tested, and results show he is allergic to 16 different things including rye grass poor thing is now on steroids:-(. After reading various post here i am amazed how often allergies come up, I havent actualy kept dogs for that long myself (five years) and just wondered if it had always been this way.

It seems to be quite a new thing - we've had dogs in our family for as long as I can remember (nearly 50 years) and none of them had allergies. Mind you, apart from a relative who has hay fever, I only know one person with diagnosed allergies ...