Homing a dog when partner has an allergy

vixarooni

Thanks for the replies, it really helps getting another perspective. Maybe we can try and find out what it is he is allergic to before we take the next step, which is something i hadn't thought of.

He does want a dog but i think a large part of that is because he knows i've been around dogs all of my life and he knows how much i miss them! Obviously his main concern is how the allergy would affect his day to day life, and i wouldn't want to get a dog if there was any chance we would have to return it.

Person_one

vixarooni wrote: »

Thanks for the replies, it really helps getting another perspective. Maybe we can try and find out what it is he is allergic to before we take the next step, which is something i hadn't thought of.

He does want a dog but i think a large part of that is because he knows i've been around dogs all of my life and he knows how much i miss them! Obviously his main concern is how the allergy would affect his day to day life, and i wouldn't want to get a dog if there was any chance we would have to return it.

Try to spend some time around some of the non shedding breeds to see if he has a reaction, breeders might be willing to let you visit, or you could contact breed rescues.

krlyr

Person_one wrote: »

There are many many breeds that are suitable for allergy sufferers. There's no need at all to take a chance on a cross or risk your partner's Wellbeing. I'm badly allergic to dogs but have had them all my life, several different breeds.

Poodle
Bichon frise
Schnauzer
Wheaten terrier
Airedale terrier
Tibetan terrier
Puli
Komondor
Portuguese Water Dog
Lhasa apso
Maltese
Shih tzu
Lots of the wire haired terriers


Although I've never understood why some people are weird about poodles, they're great dogs, come in three sizes and the daft haircut is completely optional!

Oh, and all but one of my hypoallergenic dogs have been rescued, it just means you have to be willing to look for longer and maybe further afield.

Great post. Remember Cockapoodles, Labradoodles etc. aren't breeds - they are crossbreeds. Many are "F1" which is the technical term for a Poodle crossed with another breed. In the development of the existing breeds, crosses would be bred further and further down the line to selectively breed for certain traits - so if you were creating the Labradoodle as an established breed (and hopefully picking a much nicer name for it to be dubbed!), you would breed a Labrador with a Poodle, another Lab with a Poodle, but then you would start working down the generations. May not those two dogs together, but you might breed one of them to a purebred Poodle to get the Poodle coat a bit more likely to occur, and the other with a Labrador that had an exceptional temperament or good health - then maybe breed two of those puppies together. You'd go to F2, F3, F4, etc. until eventually your litters "bred true", i.e. you had many of these non-shedding dogs of a standard height, weight and temperament - and their puppies inherited those characteristics. You find the odd 'thrown' gene, like the occasional Rottweiler is born with a flash of white on its chest, or the odd long-coated puppy in a breed that is generally short-coated the nature of recessive genes means traits like this can pass down unnoticed and pop up when the right mix of genes occurs, but generally the aim of producing a new breed is to have fairly standard qualities that do not vary hugely. As said, lotsof the Labradoodles etc. available at present are F1 and F2 and you will have a huge variance even within a litter, sono guarantee that the puppy will get the hypoallergenic type coat of a Poodle.

Also don't assume he'll be OK with low-shedding breed and have problems with others. I have a friend with a dog allergy who actually is worse around Shih Tzus and was absolutely fine with my GSDs (who are a heavy shedding breed). A good rescue or a good breeder will happily allow you to visit so he can be exposed to various dogs and see how he reacts.

There are anti-allergy products on the market too - I used to work in petshops that sold Petal Cleanse and many customers came back and raved about how well it had worked. PAH do their own allergy wipes too. These work by breaking down the dander on the fur, which is what most dog allergies are actually to.

Slinky

Petal Cleanse worked really well on our cat for my husband's allergy. Over time I kept forgetting to regularly clean the cat with the PC, and eventually husband became immune, probably under a year.

Person_one

Slinky wrote: »

Petal Cleanse worked really well on our cat for my husband's allergy. Over time I kept forgetting to regularly clean the cat with the PC, and eventually husband became immune, probably under a year.

I'm glad it worked for you, but I take it you had the cat before the husband?

It would be very irresponsible to take an animal on just hoping that this would happen. The OP has the chance to make a sensible informed decision and plan ahead so that the chances of having to rehome the dog or of her OH suffering (allergies get worse just as often as they get better) are minimised.

vixarooni

and that is what i am doing person one!

Person_one

vixarooni wrote: »

and that is what i am doing person one!

Brilliant! Very glad to hear it.

I've never understood why some people deliberately get animals they or other family members are allergic to, it honestly baffles me. Maybe they are too invested in the dog's appearance and think poodles are the only option, or maybe they think if it gets too bad they can always rehome the dog, I genuinely don't know.

I get to live with my two wonderful furballs with no allergy symptoms, no medications, no excessive cleaning/bathing routines and no sword of damocles hanging over me that one day I might have to give them up, its fantastic! Oh, and I never have dog hairs to deal with.

Which breeds are you thinking of? If you were in the North West I could possibly introduce you to three off my list.

alleycat`

It might not be the fur he is allergic to.
My DS is actually allergic to dog saliva.

If a dog licks him he comes out in hives, if he strokes a dog he has no reaction at all.

This is the main reason we no longer have a dog.
We didn't get rid of Murphy he died of old age, before anyone asks, but it was whilst we were looking for a new rescue dog that this issue became apparent.

Faith177

Similar situation with me & my OH.

When he first moved in I had 3 cats and he was allergic to the long haired one. He was prescribed antihistamines. After about 6 months he had to hardly to take them. Now nearly 4 years later we have 7 cats and 2 dogs lol

Hope it works out for you

vixarooni

I am in the north west person one!

My boyfriend doesn't seem to get any problem with my...guinea pigs. My hesitation is because that could be a really silly thing to say!!
I think it is the hair more than the saliva, he found it hard to breathe at night the last time he lived with a dog, which was a Chihuahua cross breed with something really random.