I have a 2 1/2 year old labrador who has developed an very itchy coat.  Took him to the vets who checked for parasites and ruled this out, he gave me some Maleseb shampoo (anti-bacterial/anti-fungal) which I have used.  Harvey was ok for about a week but now seems even itchier than before.

When I took him to the vets the first time he did also mention that it could be an allergy to his food, I feed him Iams at present.

Could it be some kind of virus that is going around in doggy circles or is it food related?  Any ideas would be greatefully received.

It could be food related or environmental. The ony way to be SURE is to test for allergies, expensive in the short term but cheap in the long term. 

Thanks for your reply, I though allergy testing was a little hit and miss?

Well everyone I know who has had proper allergy testing done, including myself, have not found it to be hit or miss at all.

It has identifed the problem allergens and using this information, when they are removed, so is the problem.

Unfortunately with environmental allergens one cannot always remove them, immunise against them etc so it is just a case of minimising exposure and managing the issue.

Thanks for the information, it is something to seriously consider.

Might try a change in his food first, have done a bit of reading about various dog foods and their ingredients and to be honest some do not make for very good reading!

I've heard the James Wellbeloved and Burns particularly are quite good with no added preservatives and only using wholesome food, no beet pulp and animal derivitives or other unpronouncable additives.

Interesting that hyperallergenic James Wellbeloved is the only food that made my dogs come out in hot spots in over 20 years! :(

My older GSD gets hot spots sometimes but we get an anti bacterial powder that we dust on his skin when he gets bad and that seems to solve the problem.There has been a couple of times though when we have had to put a lamp shade dog coller on him to stop him nibbling at his fur. :)