Dog food advice pls

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We have a neutered cocker spaniel who is five.
She's never had pups and since being neutered her weight has crept up. Even though she's walked daily (she's a greedy bugger and will sit under the table and wait for the kids to 'accidently' drop food on the floor.

Anyway, she's been on a mix of kibble and meat for the last few years and her skin has been getting worse over time.
It's dry and itchy. She'll itch so much (when we're not in) that sometimes she makes herself bleed.
Now I know some of this may be behavioural. She may be stressed when we she's left alone(max 3/4 hours) and it's not that severe all the time. She's de fleas monthly. Has had steroid injections/tablets/creams, anti fungal shampoos from vet, antibiotics....

However, along with new toys and chews I want to put her on a better diet. I've been looking around and was thinking of getting her :
Fishmongers finest kibble (sensitive and hypoallergenic)
Step up to naturals meat (light and sensitive)
Sprats and olive oil to add to her meals.

Then peanut butter to put in a Kong?

I wanted to avoid chicken/wheat as it's drying. We tried raw food a few years ago and she would rather starve.

Do lovely dog lovers on here think these choices will help her skin?
Any advice would be lovely.

I use Millieswolfheart for my cocker. There are lots of different types to choose from and they don't have any chicken in them and they score high on the allaboutdogfood.co.uk website.

When you tried her on raw food what were you giving her? There's so much variety.

If she isn't eating raw then perhaps cook it? The nearest best thing. I'm sure she'll scoff that.

I can imagine your dogs itchy dry skin is down to diet.

If she really will not eat raw then I highly recommend cooking. Add coconut oil. Small amount of liver will help with her coat and skin too.

We have a springer, was like a lat before spaying then turned into a greedy greedy food monster!!! She also suffered with skin problems, particularly on her paws which she would chew and wed have to treat etc.
She is fed pets at home wainwright grain free food and has had no problems since. Strict measuring of food and adjusting if I know shes had a 'snack' from other sources!! This has worked really well for the last few years x

We've had several dogs over the years with beef allergy/intolerance and one who couldn't tolerate any meat apart from pork. So perhaps try a meat free diet for a while if your dog likes fish.?

She loves fish which is why I though maybe the fish kibble, meat and sprats.
The raw food was the portions you buy frozen (can't remember the name) but they're rectangle. That just festered in the bowl.
I also tried raw meat from the butchers-pet mince, offal etc-she point blank refused.

I did cook it for a while with veg and lentils but I think I was getting the portions wrong which is why she started getting tubby. And I was worried she wasn't getting all the vitamins and minerals she needed.

If she will eat the fish kibble I would try that first. I cook various types of fish too and give with rice and vegetables.

Your dog certainly won't be getting minerals and vitamins from kibble and commercial food I'm afraid.

If your dog ate the raw food from the butchers I would 100% recommend doing that again but just be careful with portions. They're only meant to eat about 3% of their body weight once they're adults. If she looks overweight then take some away.

Rice does nothing to dogs except fill them up. A lot of dogs are actually allergic to rice and grains, and a lot of kibble is full of it.

But if you want to help rid your dogs allergies the best thing you can do is get her off kibble

Of course your dog will get vitamins and minerals from a good quality kibble. We feed Millie's wolf heart countryside mixed salmon mix. He gets occasional scraps (raw mince before we cook ours, roast chicken scraps etc) and natural chews.

Get her onto a good quality grain free kibble, start feeding her slightly less than the minimum quantity for her size. Stop all accidental food being dropped from the table as it all adds up.

I also have a dog that's prone to putting on weight and is generally a bit itchy, plus she's a bit sickly on some foods. I've tried various kibbles etc over the years, plus tried raw for several weeks, but she wasn't physically eating enough and lost 2.5kg in 8 weeks! She also doesn't like kibble on it's own so I have to add some wet food.

We now seem to have got the balance right touch wood! and she has two meals a day of half Autarky kibble and half forthglade wet food, plus a squirt of salmon oil and a Yumove supplement. 2-3 times a week, I replace the wet food with tinned sardines. Treats wise she has dried tripe, dried sprats and raw bones from the butcher.

I've had to fiddle about with the quantities but she's now the right weight and is looking healthy.

There's no such thing as good kibble

Even the most expensive kibble that contains high quality ingredients with no preservatives or additives etc it still all goes through the same process as the cheap kibble.

This process ultimately nullifies much of the nutritional value these quality ingredients would have contributed.

The kibble is left with proteins that have been denatured, enzymes that are rendered inactive, and any natural, beneficial microflora (good bacteria) are no longer viable.

I'm another for Millies Woolfheart. Call them and explain problem. Ended months of issues for us.