Well, so much for my once a week posts. How about once a month, or two, or every once in a while?

Full disclosure:  I am not a veterinarian, scientist or a nutritionist.  Most of this blog is anecdotal based on 5 decades of breeding, showing, training and studying dogs.  Even though my ramblings are based on personal experience, I have frequently found my observations eventually proven true by scientific studies and corroborating evidence which I will try to provide along the way.  So, if your dog has ever experienced a hot spot, ear infection, full anal glands, lick granuloma, chewed furnishings, or pink hair, read on.

I started showing golden retrievers in Texas in the late 70s.  I always fed beef based food  (Wayne Puppy O’s at the time) and always looked for the highest protein so I could “grow coat” on my show dogs.  Back then Texas had a spring circuit and a fall circuit.  I was showing two brothers (Jerry and Bo) in the ‘80s and in my effort to put coat on them for the spring circuit (just when Texas is starting to heat up), I started feeding a chicken based food that had a higher protein and fat content then what I was currently feeding.  That spring both brothers got a lick granuloma on their right front leg—in the exact same spot.  They wouldn’t leave the lick spots alone so they both had to wear cones at all times except when they were in the ring being shown.  At the end of the circuit I switched back to the beef-based food and the lick spots went away until the following year’s spring circuit.

Apparently not being too bright, I repeated the year before.  Switched the two brothers back to a chicken based food so I could grow coat for the spring circuit; watched them get lick granulomas again—in the exact same legs, exact same spots; and put on cones to prevent further licking.

After my second episode I got a little smarter but still didn’t realize the impact of chicken not just on golden retrievers but many other breeds as well, and even, more recently, people.

It would still take me a few years to realize that Jerry and Bo weren’t unique among dogs.  I soon discovered that chicken sensitivities are frequently responsible for hot spots (moist dermatitis), ear infections (experienced that with an unrelated stud dog), continually full anal glands, pink stained hair on feet, muzzle and around the anus, chewed “pants,” lick granulomas and chewed “bracelets” around the forelegs.

The cure is relatively simple.  Don’t feed chicken to your dog.  Of course finding a food that doesn’t have any chicken in it at all can be very difficult to find but worth the search.  Over the years I have leaned towards salmon/sardine based foods (for myself too).

I have also been perplexed with what’s wrong with chicken.  Is it what we are feeding the chickens? Is it because they don’t get to free range and live in crowded buildings? Is it from  chicken cell line based vaccines?  Not only can it be all of the foregoing, there is even a more insidious reason factory farmed chicken is not good for any of us.

I won’t go into great detail in the answers but will instead send you to https://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/vaccination-allergies-link/ which is an excellent article explaining why your dog can have an allergic reaction to food proteins that are present in a vaccine and why the proteins are present in the vaccine in the first place.  It also happens to explain why I have had a sensitivity to eggs my entire life.  This is not an anti-vaccine blog—I’m a firm believer in vaccinations for people and dogs!  In fact I prefer to avoid eggs as opposed to avoiding vaccinations, just as I prefer for my dogs to avoid chicken as opposed to not vaccinating them.  Of course it helps that I’ve never really liked eggs (probably related to my body recognizing the inflammation they cause).  The above-referenced article also references other research that further support its conclusions.  Basically it’s one thing to eat the protein but once you start injecting it, your body reacts in an entirely different manner.

The second article from the Dogs Naturally Magazine, also by Dana Scott:  https://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/raw-chicken-dogs-stopped-feeding/ explains why, in my opinion, if you must feed your dogs chicken it needs to be free range and organically fed.  Basically she supports what I have long suspected—what we feed the chickens is part of the problem since, as she says, “If it’s true that you are what you eat, the diet that’s fed to chickens is essentially what you’re feeding your dog.  So, whatever the chicken eats, good or bad, is what your dog eats.  The chicken is just the middleman.  And the chicken’s diet is deplorable . . .”  She goes on to show a label from a typical chicken feed bag which includes “Dried Bakery Product.” She further discusses the imbalanced Omega-6:Omega-3 ratios, chicken fat, lack of sun/vitamin D, etc. She also offers suggestions for improving the above but ultimately suggests “#4: Skip The Chicken And Pork Altogether” and further, in her own words states: “This is the most expensive option and it’s the one I’ve chosen for my own dogs” (me too).

As you can imagine, the reasons dogs shouldn’t eat commercially raised factory farm chickens are the same reasons people shouldn’t be eating those same chickens. Consequently, I am ending this article with a quote from a MedPageToday article: “Not All Processed Foods Are Created Equal — Blaming them for America’s poor health is simplistic and distracting,” written by Neal D. Barnard, MD, July 20, 2025: “Among the most underappreciated facts is that biological processing — through an animal’s body — is as much an issue as mechanical processing. When corn is fed to chickens to create drumsticks and wings, salivary and pancreatic amylase performs the same function as factory amylase used to create high-fructose corn syrup. The animals’ digestive tracts sequester fiber as effectively as any mechanized operation, and their digestive and anabolic systems markedly alter the macro- and micronutrient content of the nutritional input. As the chicken’s metabolic processes convert corn’s macronutrients into chicken wings, they increase fat content from 14% to 55% of calories, add cholesterol, and remove fiber, which may account for the significant association of chicken consumption with diabetes.” 

Apparently chicken turns into ultra-processed fast food before it even gets to the fast food restaurants. And we haven’t even gotten into the glyphosate discussion–yet.