Can I give my dog Benadryl for allergies?

It's something that you could try. I tend to tell most of my clients that I like Benadryl for those acute allergic reactions. You think about getting stung by a bee, or maybe you have a course of hives or something like that. I like Benadryl for those things, but we don't find that Benadryl tends to be as effective as some other things out there for long-term allergy management.

I do recommend Zyrtec to a lot of my patients, too. And that's something that owners can get inexpensively at the drug store or the pharmacy, which can help manage long-term allergies or maybe seasonal allergies. My dogs are on Zyrtec from March through October, but the best thing to do is get an appropriate dose for it from your veterinarian.

Benadryl is safe for pets. It is not uncommon for a pet parent to just get some over-the-counter Benadryl and try it on their pet. There is a very tiny subset of pets that have mild allergies, and Benadryl can help them, especially if they have some upper respiratory symptoms. When it comes to dermatologic or skin itchiness, Benadryl is often not going to help your pet at all. It's not going to really harm them, but it's unlikely to help them.

You can, but it seldom works. It is safe, but most pet parents see with their dogs is it makes them really drowsy. They're too drowsy to pick up their leg to scratch. You're probably not going to see them itching as much, but that's the one thing I don't like about it. It just makes them pretty drowsy, and in so many cases, it just doesn't work. In my experience in talking to hundreds of clients, maybe about one out of 10 clients see any benefit from Benadryl, and the same goes for Allegra, Claritin, and Zyrtec. I do have dosages available in one of my handouts if somebody can't do anything else or they can't get to us and they want to try something like that. The first thing I'm always going to recommend is to get them in the bathtub. Just give them some relief short term. Then, if you want to try the Benadryl, Allegra Claritin, or Zyrtec, you can. Keep your expectations low because they don't work well.

Antihistamines like Benadryl are not very successful in treating dog allergies. This is because histamine is already bound to the receptor, and there seem to be other components of allergies that do not respond consistently to antihistamines.

Yes, you certainly can. We usually recommend about one milligram per pound.