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Our lab has pretty bad allergies too. Here are the things that work for us.
-Using Natural Balance Food
-Wiping his paws with Earth Bath pet wipes after he comes in
-Washing his paws with Malaseb wash once a week (we started off washing them three times a week)
-let him hang out on the patio so he gets plenty of vitamin d. Unlike humans who absorb vitamin d through their skin, dogs synthesize it on their fur and have to like it up.
Hope this helps!
It could just be a habit. We had a dane that licked his paws almost incessently from the day we got him. Didn't hurt a thing, just got annoying in the middle of the night sometimes. We tried switching his food, wiping his paws, even spraying them with bitter apple spray and even cayenne pepper. Literally nothing worked and he did it up until the day we had to put him down (he had highly aggressive cancer).
[Edit] I reread the symptoms and except for the excessive paw licking it sounds like what my chinese crested does. It took me forever to figure out why he did it, but now I'm fairly certain that it has to do with the fur on his muzzle. After he eats/drinks he scratches at it a lot and rubs around on the carpet because the hairs get tangled and pull a bit when they dry and it bugs/hurts him.
I don't know if you have already found a solution, but my mom has to give our dog benadryl. He didn't like the real brand (maybe because it was pink) and she switched to a white generic brand pill and he takes it fine. It really helps with his skin.
She also gives him some type of fish oil and garlic on all of his food and that is supposed to help.
I agree with @caszos about the benadryl. Just make sure you call your vet to see the proper dose to give your dog. And good job on switching to Natural Balance L.I.D. Both of my dogs are on this. It's great food. I hope your baby feels better soon.
Poor Pup!
Our pup has allergies to...pretty much the earth. 
No Joke. We ran a allergy test on her and she's allergic to pollen, dust mites, something that exists on grass. And those are only the items that came back with the highest scores. There's also a whole host of other things that she's allergic to! So usually in the change of season her allergies are really bad. All this also equals dry skin for her which also makes her itch.
Some of the things we do for her:
We have a humidifier, give her benadryl when her itching is really bad, fish oil pills, omega 3 fatty acid pills for dogs, bathe her with oatmeal shampoo. One other thing we tried in the beginning that really did not help her but maybe can help yours is our vet suggesting freezing her dry food. Because of the dry food often there are dust mites on it so freezing it will kill them. So often we will keep 2 servings in the freezer then in the morning take down her dinner and put it in the fridge. At night take down her breakfast to put in the fridge.
I do honestly think at this point because of 3 years of itching due to allergy problems and her demodex mange when she was younger it's just become a habit to her more than anything. Oh well, at least our short haired pup has the softest hair out of all the dogs we know! Hehe.
GL!
Ugh. Welcome to the joys of having an allergic dog. Our pit is allergic to anything with fins or feathers, beets, soy, dust mites, a handful of plants, etc. The worst part is that he has very thin skin and would actually scratch himself to the point of bleeding. Once there is a break in his skin (the very first line of defense for the immune system) he gets a really bad flare up and starts scratching even more.
It's expensive but I would recommend getting a blood test done. Ours was $220 and listed out nearly a dozen things he's allergic to (and rated them) but the best part was the list of commercial dog food that he would be ok with. (For us, Natural Balance venison and sweet potato.) If we hadn't had him tested I don't think we EVER would have figured out he's allergic to peanut butter and the vicious cycle would have gone on forever.
One caution about Benedryl: It does help, or at least appear to. My vet says she wonders if it just makes them too sleepy to bother itching or licking and she also cautioned that it can be VERY drying. Sure enough, after a few weeks on it his eyes got really dry and gunked up HORRIBLY to try and fix themselves. As much as I don't typically love steroids, they do a much better job for Bones.
Good luck with yours!
I actually just took him to the vet again on Monday because he licked his paws until they bled, and the vet recommended a low dose of Benadryl twice a day. We started that on Monday, and I can't really tell if it's helping or not. We're also using a spray steriod because he licked the ointment one right off, and apparently doesnt like the taste of the spray. I am definitely going to get a blood test for him at some point to find out exactly what he's allergic to, but it will probably have to wait until the summer when I have some more disposable income.
When we had our Shi-tzu, he had severe allergies and licked and knawed on his paws incessantly. We ended up feeding him Iams lamb and rice and that helped immensely.
@caitlanc
Have you noticed a significant difference in your Pit's itching after the switch in food?
We have not done the blood test yet but have done the skin test (I believe that was it) that gave us pretty much the same results, allergens plus rating them, except it did not give recommended food brands.
We have tried switching her food many times before as well and for her at least unfortunately it did not make much of a difference. And we'll do it a couple months at a time to make sure we gave her system enough time to actually absorb it all.
It has been pretty significant in that he's not scratching his head into a bloody mess any more. :-) Right before we broke down and got the blood test it was so bad that he had a cone AND a t-shirt on. Now that he's not consuming things he's allergic to he's MUCH better, still ticklish and scratches a lot, but not to the point of hurting himself. I think his continued itchiness is due to environmental allergies but there's not a whole lot we can do about that. I was hoping that the new house would help (baseboard heat instead of forced air) would help but it's hard to say whether it's the house or if he's reacting to the antibiotics since both have been in effect for 10 days.
Oh, and I forgot we just switched him to Canidae Lamb & Rice since I wasn't totally happy with the Venison & Sweet Potato. Canidae's a trickier one though. My old dog (he who would get fat if he got a heaping scoop instead of a level scoop of most foods) did really poorly on it but other dogs (like Bones) seem to do really well.
What food ingredients is your dog allergic to? And have you seen www.dogfoodanalysis.com? I really like the way it lays everything out.
Oh! And I've never heard of freezing their food before. We might have to try that! We did the oatmeal bath too but he was in such bad shape then I don't think it did a whole lot (like taking Tylenol when you really need a vicoden.)
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I recently got a mini poodle, and he's been licking his front paws incessantly, sneezes a lot, and rubs around on the carpet a lot. I brought him to the vet, and she thought that it might be an allergy to grass or a pollen outside, so she recommended washing his paws when he comes in from walks. She then said if that doesn't work, then we'll have to switch his diet. After 2 weeks of washing his paws every time he went out, he didn't get better at all. I've now switched him to a hypoallergenic diet. I bought Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diet dog food, which has no wheat, soy, corn, or beef. For dry food, he is eating the fish and sweet potato formula. For wet food, he's eating either the venison and sweet potato, duck and sweet potato, or chicken and sweet potato. I've made sure to switch his treats as well. I'm also adding Omega-3 supplements to his food once a day. It's been about 2 weeks on the food, and he's still licking his paws and everything. I think it might be getting a little better, but I could also be imagining it (wishful thinking?). The vet did say that it could take 4 weeks before noticing a difference, but I was just wondering if anyone else has a dog with allergies and what you did to help. I just feel so bad for the poor little guy. Any recommendations? Is there something else I could do to help him?