My pug/chihuahua mix has developed serious red, itchy spots all over his body this Spring and I've given benadryl and visited two different vets who could only provide temporary relief in the form of a cream (steroid type) and a antihistamine. Suffice it to say, it has not helped and so I made an appt. with Dr. Newton at this clinic in the hope that she can nail down what is causing his allergic reaction and offer a solution. My first visit went really well, Dr. Newton is very friendly and showed a lot of care towards my little guy. She talked to me for about an hour and explained the options, the temporary fixes or doing an allergy test which entails putting him under a light anesthesia and running through a bunch of shots to see how he reacts. It's basically what a person with mega allergies goes through. I didn't want to go the prednazone route due to the bad effects on the body and so we are set to undergo the allergy testing this coming Monday. It's pricey, $1k + and may possibly require lifetime maintenance of giving him drops daily of a solution to get his immune system to react less to the allergens. If she can alleviate and even remove his suffering, it will be well worth it. I'll be back with an update. ******* Update: May 16, 2014 - My little bud was tested and he's allergic to the typical culprits - including ragweed and some bushes. He did really well after being put under and is now taking immunotherapy under the tongue which basically means I give him a drop of a liquid mix of all the allergens he is allergic to. This will hopefully help his body better tolerate the stuff so he doesn't get so itchy he scratches himself raw. Dr. Newton and her staff were just great at explaining the results and the process. I know that this will take time to have a lasting effect on my fur kid but I'm really glad I decided to come to a pet dermatologist. When I look back, I was dropping $100 here and there at different vets and was getting no where since they weren't specialists in skin care/treatment. It was soooo frustrating. I would definitely recommend Dr. Newton plus she has really great assistants :)