really need to hear what elimination diet brands actually worked for your itchy chronic-paw-chewing dog, our vet handed us a 15-brand list and i feel paralyzed

some background, our yellow lab Murphy is 3.5 years old and has been chewing his front paws raw on and off for about a year. he gets ear infections every 6 to 8 weeks no matter what we do, weve done two rounds of oclacitinib, weve done apoquel, weve tried two different fish based limited ingredient kibbles from the pet store, none of it has held. we finally went back to the vet for a real workup instead of just pulling the cone out again and they want to do a strict 8 week elimination trial to figure out if its food, environmental, or both.

heres the thing, they handed me a printed list of basically 15 brands they consider "appropriate" for an elimination trial and i am completely paralyzed by it. theres prescription hydrolyzed protein options (z/d, royal canin HP, purina HA), theres novel protein limited ingredient (kangaroo, venison, rabbit), theres freeze dried raw options at like $14 a pound, theres a home cooking recommendation using a balanceit recipe and a vet nutritionist consult. the monthly cost range across these is wild, from like 90 bucks to over 350 a month for a 75lb dog.

what im actually looking for is honest experiences, not the marketing copy. which approach actually worked for your allergy dog? did you go with the prescription hydrolyzed (the vet kind of leaned that way, my husband is suspicious of the brand for unrelated reasons) or did a novel protein work? did home cooking actually hold up at month 6 or did your dog get sick of it and refuse to eat? did your dog even tolerate the transition or did you switch brands three times trying to find one he would eat? feeling really overwhelmed and would love to hear what real people did instead of the brochure version