Benadryl for Labs?

The Benadryl doseage I have written down is 50-75 mg (or 1 mg per pound of body weight) 3 times a day. My vet's opinion, tho, is that it really isn't cost effective for a dog the size of a Lab. Oh, and an FYI- I read on another dog board that when it could take a couple of weeks before it really kicks in for seasonal allergies.

ETA-

TangerineFizz said:

I have a lab who is suffering from seasonal allergies badly this spring - she's getting benedryl twice a day everyday, sometimes a third dose is required, but I usually put some benedryl cream on her itchy spots too.

I feel so bad for her this year - it's the worst I've ever seen her. We've done a food switch too to see if that will help at all.

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I've used the cream and spray on itchy spots, too. They both seem to give Caleb some relief. Also, with season allergies, it helps some to rinse/wipe the coats off. A good old play session with the hose works wonders! Not only does it soothe the skin by cooling it, it also rinses the pollen off the coat.

Also, building up the skin by adding things like fish oil capsules might help (a good defense is a healthy skin). Besides the fish oil, I give Caleb vitamin B complex, and, for the past couple of weeks, about 1/2 cup of blueberries a day and vitamin C twice a day. I just realized yesterday he hasn't been chewing and scratching as much this past weekend.

I'm not a Vet but would love to hear from one here (but this has fixed my baby)...
I see many recommending 1mg Benedryl per pound weight which for the average Labrador would be roughly three (3) Diphenhydramine (25mg each) for a total of 75mg per dose when the package itself says not to exceed more than 50mg (2 tablets) for an adult human per dose and if a second dose is needed to wait 8 hours between. Obviously a human weighing far more than a dog by 2-4x times it just sounds like a very heavy dose to me but again, I'm not a vet and maybe their metabolism is different and require more however erring to the side of caution and not wanting to over dose my 80lb Lab, I gave her a half pill only (around 12.5mg) and not only did it work where she completely stopped chewing her paws but she also slept a long good portion of the day!

My only recommendation if you are new to this, you may want to start slow with half doses and work your way up depending on how bad off your dog is or better yet, ask your vet for their recommendation of your dogs specific level of ailment.

Okay so the much lower dose works for me and I'm staying there and only giving it to her "as needed" (when signs rear their ugly head and she starts chewing her paws or shaking her head a lot again). Shaking of the head? It's common allergies in labs cause Yeast infections in their ears (definitely the issue with my dog and she's not a swimmer nor are her ears rarely wet that would cause that but at least once a week, she gets the very foul yeast smell and constantly shaking her head/ears obviously in pain/irritation. After much research of OTC treatments, I found these two OTC medications for ear yeast and infection issues my top picks after trying many.
1. Dog and Cat Ear Infection Irradication and Flush (short term initial use)

2. Zymox Otic Ear Solution with 1% Hydrocortisone (long term use after the ear flush above)

These work great for my dog although expect if allergies come back, so can the infection so keep these things on hand. If you can't afford either, a simple apple cider vinegar and water spray in the ears (even better with a very little tea tree oil and/or eucalyptus oil) is very effective and cheap!

3. Finally the long term maintenance of dry skin itching, loss of excess hair, and again, yeast issues can be controlled with a daily regimine of vitamins added to your dogs food. After forking over hundreds of dollars in OTC homeopathic medications I found they all had these common ingredients so I just started buying these in human grade form which ironically is far less expensive and you get giant bottles of and just dose your dog chow with a capsule of each every day for a brilliant smooth fur coat, less shedding, and far less ear and skin irritation.

• Apple Cider Vinegar Capsules
• Salmon Oil for Dogs & Cats, Fish Oil Omega 3 EPA DHA
• Omega 3 Fish Oil 2500mg - Triple Strength High Omega-3 Fatty Acids - EPA 900mg + DHA
• Colostrum Capsules
• Vitamin B-Copmlex Propritary Organic Blend Vitamin B-12, B1 B2, B3, B5, B6 Folate, Inositol, Choline 60 Vegetarian Capsules
• Turmeric Curcumin Capsules, Qunol Turmeric 1000mg With Ultra High Absorption

Occasional Followup with anticeptic ear wipes

• Dog Ear Cleaner Wipes - Otic Cleanser for Dogs to Stop Ear Itching, and Infections with Aloe and Eucalyptus - 100
• Chlorhexidine Wipes for Dogs and Cats - Cat and Dog Hot Spot, Skin Allergy, Irritation Relief, Pet Acne and Itchy Skin Treatment - Ketoconazole

One final recommendation since labs have hip and joint problems as they grow

• Glucosamine with Chondroitin Turmeric MSM Boswellia
• Turmeric Curcumin Supplement with Ginger, Apple Cider Vinegar, Black Pepper

*I also have been feeding her Blue Buffalo Wild Salmon since she was a pup (7 years old now) and I've heard their brand was acquired by someone else and nutrients aren't as good as they once were so I now buy can's of Tuna in the store at $1 a can for the "light tuna" and she gets one every day blended in her chow along with carrots, blue berries, bananas, etc all of which she loves. I don't have to hide all the tablets listed above, I just drop right on her food and she chows it all down. I figure the "real meat", added protein and additional omegas have to be good and must taste better than all those years of just dry food alone.

Let's not forget, as much love as we are giving our dogs to help them out, this is all an unpleasant set of things to do regularly and to them, they don't know why you are doing it so finish off any treatment to the ears with a Scooby-Snack and some love to show them you mean well. Hope I've been helpful in sharing my personal success in battling this same issue. Michael Baker