Overwhelmed with options
I mostly want to post this so I can get clarification on what my vet has already given me, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with my options so I want to be a little more confident that what I'm doing is correct, I know all of this will take lots of patience but I want to start it right
I did post this in a the dog food subreddit but it got taken down because this is probably more suited for here, I did add some information that I didn't use in the original post that will make this more thorough
I have a 4 year old poodle that since January of this year has started getting nail bed infections starting with the exact same foot, the first time he got it was much worse and spread to another foot but the second foot was much more minimal. He's now recently getting really itchy all over his hips and elbows.
We've been monitoring all of this with his vet which has been really helpful but now we're kind of at the trial and error stage, I was given so many options and I don't really know where to start.
I've already eliminated or switched over to everything being non scented from his shampoo to detergent, we have air purifiers the whole 9 yards. I've been doing his recommended chlorhexidine foot soaks while the foot is healing and now he's got an anti itch shampoo (douxo S3) from the vet he's getting every 2-4 weeks.
Now I did a TON of research within the last couple weeks about food allergies and have narrowed down to hydrolyzed food or a novel protein diet, but when I brought it up with my vet he seemed a little wishy washy about it but he still wrote a prescription for a hydrolyzed food in case I wanted go that route, but he really left if it up to me. I was also given a small supply of apoquel but it was described as a I could start and stop it for when he really needed it.
He's been on the same Stella and Chewy beef kibble with grain plus different forms of raw for years (which I am very recently learning raw may not be the best diet choice)
I don't know if this is some seasonal allergy issues but he will chew himself RAW and it's never been like this before. At this point my game plan is to start the hydrolyzed food and get rid of all treats, toppers, etc for 8-12 weeks. I want to have a fully blank slate so I can narrow down if this is from food or environmental reasons.
I am wondering if I should get some chlorhexidine wipes for his feet after he goes outside, I'm concerned the shampoo isn't enough since it's every 2-4 weeks but maybe I'm overreacting with that. I was told that the most important thing to do is to keep the feet dry so I'm also considering getting some powder like the one from the brand coat defense.
I know any type of switch will require patience to see if it's working or not but any advice or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.