During the summer of 2025, my Irish Setter Hope became extremely itchy. She was so itchy she began to lose fur on her back and hind legs. Of course we approach our veterinarian; her solution was Apoquel. Hope was on Apoquel for a total of 5 days. In just 5 days, the side effects of this medication became intolerable for both Hope and our family. She was lethargic and became aggressive toward some of our other dogs. So the research began. We changed some foods, stopped all medications and we thought we found the solution. Wrong.
Summer 2026 arrived, we moved to North Carolina and the itchiness bloomed again. This time it wasn’t just Hope. It was all of our dogs, especially Harper our ECGR. Harper developed a gigantic hot spot on the underside of her tail. It was awful. I felt so helpless and defeated. So back to the research bus I went. Through that research, I learned two major things. (1) Dogs can be allergic to flea bites. Therefore, flea and tick protection is a must. (2) Itchy skin can be due to a build up of yeast inside a dogs body. How do you know if yeast is the culprit? Are your dog’s ears waxy? Do their paws smell like corn chips? So what’s the solution?
Research and lots of reading led me to a company called Four Leaf Rover. They offer holistic, drug free solutions to health issues for dog’s. On their site, I found a protocol called Yeast Guard Plus. Being desperate to help Harper, we made the purchase. We administered the entire protocol and began to see the itchiness and hot spots begin to heal. We also began to offer her homemade food designed to reduce yeast. The recipe is as follows.
1 lb. Lean Ground Turkey, 1/2 lb. Chicken hearts or gizzards (chopped), 1 oz. beef liver (chopped), 2 eggs (no shells), 1/2 cup Kale (chopped), 1/2 cup Broccoli (chopped0, 2 TBSP bone meal, 2 TBSP Apple Cider Vinegar, 2 TBSP ground pumpkin seeds, 2 teaspoons Turmeric. Bring ingredient together raw or gently cooked. For exceptions, additions and dietary changes. This recipe can be found online with a simple Google reach. We offer this recipe as a topper to our Salmon based kibble.
The combination of the Yeast Guard Plus and the yeast reduction food has made an incredible difference in the itchiness of our dogs. No more hot spots for Harper, No more bald spots for Hope and general itchiness is under control for all of our dogs. I am not a veterinarian, but I am a dog lover. This post is designed to share our success and spread the word about products that work, for us. We hope it works for you too.
