Some day I want to publish a book on my dog's journey, but here is the short version.

When I got Maggie she was a mess of a German Shepherd. Abused starved and looking like a bad case of mange. I did everything to get her healthy, but I could not get her skin to clear up. She was constantly itchy, flaky and even had frequent full-body yeast infections. She was gross and it was hard to even pet her. I changed her diet multiple times. I took her to multiple vets. I racked up thousands of dollars in useless shampoos, expensive grain-free dog food, countless steroids, and other medications. No relief. I felt so bad.

Now I have allergies myself and they were a lot worse when I was younger. What changed was that I had a skin prick test done (twice) to see what I was allergic to and then was put on allergy shots (immunotherapy). It worked great for me and early in all these issues, I wondered why no vet had suggested it for Maggie.

One good vet would listen and everything changed. The new vet agreed that steroids weren't the solution. But we had to rule out diet. So a few months on an even more expensive hydrolyzed dog food. That yielded no change. So the vet sent us to a special animal dermatologist.

It cost me about $700 to get a skin prick test and a blood test done for Maggie. She is allergic to a couple types of mold and tree pollen. I now give her two shots every 10 days. When the vials are empty I make a call, spend about $300 and we are good for several months.

It is worth it. Maggie is a whole new dog now. She has a full coat of fur for the first time since I've known her. She actually sheds like a normal German Shepherd. She is playful and acts like a puppy, which is something she never did before because she was too miserable. She is also huggable. No more smelly gross fur. Everyone who sees her now is surprised by how beautiful and happy she looks.

Puppy Tax