Advice on dog breeds for allergic people?

[Zan_of_Texas]

My neighbor loves dogs, but is quite allergic to them. He plays with my dog, then has to go immediately wash his hands. He and his wife went to visit with a poodle and her litter, and when they licked his hands, the hands turned into red welts. He was actually more allergic to poodles than to my lab.

Anyone who is dog-allergic have any advice?

They would love a dog. Should they try different poodles, different breeds, or give up?

[Not_Giving_Up]

1. I've heard chihuahua is an excellent breed for folks with

asthma. They annoy me though, yip! They always seem to be big dogs trapped in a little dogs body...mean little things!

[iamjoy]

3. I've Heard That Too

that chihuahuas are good for people with allergies.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

2. bichon frissee

[Merlot]

4. Short hair, lots of baths,

and an organic, home made diet.

Most people are allergic to the dandruff in the fur which can be controlled by diet. But the red welts on his hand may mean he's allergic to something other than the dander.

Maybe try allergy testing (it's expensive) to understand just what he is allergic to.

[candy]

15. Could you share your organic,homemade diet with me?

My dog is 13 and not doing too well lately and I'd love to try something else.

Thanks.

[Merlot]

26. Sorry! my recipe is for cats, not dogs

They require more protein and fat than dogs. You might try upgrading whatever food you're currently giving him. There are some good foods on the market like Natural Life, Dick Van Pattens recipes, Natures Way. PetCo carries some of them.

Or look for good recipies in natural animal books. Dr. Pitcarin's book is good. Make any changes slowly due to his age and not doing so well.

Good Luck!

[candy]

30. Thanks for your suggestions and "woof" from my pal !!! n/t

[Lorien]

35. Try Wellness, Artemis, Karma, or

Google B.A.R.F ; biologically appropriate raw food recipes for pets.
For prepared foods, visit www.pookiesbowwowbakery.com for a good list of holistic brands with human grade ingredients (crucial to improving the health of your pet). I switched from "premium" brands like Science diet and Nutro to holistic brands, and saw a HUGE improvement in the health of my aging cat. His mood is also greatly improved; it's well worth the investment.

[Lorien]

34. Hair length has nothing to do with allergic reactions

it's a protein in the saliva of the animal which causes an allergic reaction in most people. Frequent baths could help, because the protein only becomes a problem when it dries on the animal, then flakes off and becomes airborne.

[Leilani]

5. I'm also allergic

The Bichon family is supposed to be good for allergy sufferers.

Bichons, Maltese, Havanese, Coton de Toulour, etc.

Your friend must be VERY allergic; I read poodles are also good dogs for people with allergies.

[BurtWorm]

6. Forget dogs!

He should get a naked mole rat!

[BrklynLiberal]

11. There is a breed of cats that have no hair. They are supposed to be

very affectionate since they crave the closeness of their people for their warmth. They feel like warm suede to the touch. Some people don't like their appearance.



Sphynx

[BurtWorm]

13. Those are two of the prettiest, most adorable looking Sphynxes

I've ever seen! :loveya:

[rexcat]

23. I prefer the Cornish Rex cat...

short hair, they only have the undercoat because of double recessive mutation and there is something different about their dander. My wife is extremely allergic to cats except Cornish Rex. They are a little strange looking but great personalities (very friendly, outgoing, love to sit in your lap or rest on your shoulder but they do talk a lot). They come in a variety of colors. They can be expensive and hard to find (could be a major problem). Our rex is 15 years old and still going srtong.

http://www.descornex.com/Contents.htm

[BurtWorm]

24. Strange looking, yes, but cute!

What a sweetie!

[flvegan]

7. Usually the dander, not the hair/fur

that folks are allergic to. Especially apparant considering the poodle was worse than the lab to their allergies.

They have the option of using meds for their allergies (they likely have others as well). I'm not big on meds and scripts, but that's probably their option.

[BurtWorm]

9. I read that it's something in cat's saliva that causes reactions.

The reason hair and dander can seem to cause it is that cats are constantly licking themselves and, consequently, their hair and dander are covered with the stuff. I don't know what about dogs causes the reactions.

[Lorien]

33. CORRECT! Ding, ding, ding!

it's a protein in the animal's saliva that dries, flakes off and causes allergies. There is a breed of cat, the Siberian Forest Cat (similar to a Maine Coon) which has a mutation in it's genes which causes it to not produce this protein; thus the breed, though very furry, is hypoallergenic (try Google for more information). Hairless breeds of dogs or cats will cause the same allergic reactions as most furry breeds. Try a search on "hypoallergenic dog breeds" to see if any have developed the same mutation.

[fortyfeetunder]

8. Labradoodles

The cross between a Labrador Retriever and a standard poodle yielded a dog with non-shedding fur, and (pardon the pun) Lab-grade intelligence. The original intent for the crossbreed was for a disabled person with allergies who needed canine assistance.

The going price for a Labradoodle puppy was about $2K.

[flvegan]

20. Oh, no. Please don't promote crossbreeds like this.

Canine assistance, fine. Boutique pet, not fine.

[sbj405]

31. Thanks for posting this. I feel the same way.

I can't believe all the new combos that people are intentionally breeding.

[fortyfeetunder]

41. Need vs greed

I can understand the original attempt for cross breeding Labs with poodles. Someone needed a smart dog for canine companionship/service but they weren't allergic to.

What I don't understand is the greed associated with turning this potential service animal into a boutique pet. When the novelty wears off, I'll gamble on finding one at the local humane society.

[fortyfeetunder]

39. When it comes to greed and avarice

people will do anything to make a buck.

[bettyellen]

37. two thousand dollars, when so many sweet doggies are put to

death every day.......
i don't know how people can do that.

[BrklynLiberal]

10. There is also something sold in pet shops called ALLERPET.

It is something that is rubbed, and then brushed into the pet's coat once or twice a week. It cuts down on the dander, and therefore the allergic reaction. They sell it for cats and for dogs.

[Phillycat]

12. Bichon Frise. They are hypoallergenic.

[ThorsHammer]

14. Basenjis are good too

[amazona]

16. sorry, they should give it up, tell him to see a doctor

If you persist in exposing yourself to your allergen, you will always be medication dependent, and in time there is a risk of developing asthma and eventually heart disease.

I got away from animal dander, and my allergies hardly trouble me any more.

My brother insists on keeping the cat, and he has indeed developed asthma, and I suppose that it is inevitable that he is at a higher risk for heart disease, like other asthma victims.

Tell your neighbor to talk frankly with his allergist about his plans for acquiring a pet. I was able to get a battery of tests and learned that I could safely keep birds.

I would love to have a dog but I have a responsibility to the people around me to take care of my own health first.

On Edit -- in case you were wondering, MY animal dander allergy was severe, and my brother's animal dander allergy was, originally, mild. So it isn't a case of I got better, and he got worse, because he was always in worse health. Quite the opposite. I got better because I was motivated to do something about the problem.

[noonwitch]

17. Poodles and cockapoos

My brother had serious allergies, but never had any problems with poodles. He has a big dog that sheds now, but that dog sleeps in a cage and isn't allowed in the master bedroom.

Cocker Spaniels and cockapoos never bothered him, either. Cockers don't have a long life span, from the ones I've seen. My grandma's died at 8, our neighbor's died at about the same age. Our poodle, on the other hand, lived to be 16.

[outraged2]

18. wheaten terriers

They are great dogs - Irish sheep dogs - not too big and not too small. I'll find a photo.

photos:

[Scout]

28. that's the breed I had heard of for allergic people. Second that!

[achtung_circus]

19. Maltese

nice, friendly dogs, hypoallergenic, good with children.

[Zan_of_Texas]

22. I'll send him all these ideas.

I had heard about the cat allergy business being from their saliva too.

By the way, I have found only a few decent dog foods, once I started looking at the ingredients and studying them. I had hoped my dog would stop licking, but he still licks his paws. I think he has some OCD! Other than that though, he's incredibly healthy and handsome.

Here's some of the dog food advice I found, after two full days of internet research, in case anyone is interested.


--Don't assume that a dog food with a "big name" is good for your dog, check the ingredients! Some of the "big names" are charging you plenty for poor quality food.

--Look on the label for the first five listed ingredients

--Ideally the top 2 or 3 of these ingredients should be a meat source (after all, dogs ARE carnivores)

--Single-source meats like lamb, duck, chicken meal, turkey meal are good

--generic meat products (poultry meal, meat meal) are not good

--Single source by-products (chicken by-products) are bad; generic by-products (poultry by-products) are worse. - stay away from by-products altogether if you want a healthy dog.

Make sure any grains listed are familiar nutritious words to you, like barley, whole wheat, or brown rice - if you see unfamiliar words like soy bean mill run, brewer's rice, corn gluten meal, wheat mill run or wheat midlings, these are all terms used to convince the uneducated that they are using healthy products, but really are terms for "what's left over" after all the nutritious parts of the grain have been stripped - another accurate term for wheat mill run is "floor sweepings".

Stay away from ground corn as a major ingredient, it can be a cause of allergies, and is a cheap filler.

Avoid chemical preservatives, sweeteners, artificial colors, propylene glycol, etc.

Baked dog food is better - the companies that "extrude" their food actually have to "add" flavor to the very outside of the food, or dogs wouldn' eat it. .......... Hmmm- if they don't add flavor, the dog wouldn't be interested in eating it.....what does that tell you about the food quality?

Try it out on your dog for a few months. If your dog begins to scratch himself, have ear infections, bites his skin (hot spots), has problems with loose bowels or throwing up, this isn't the dog food you want. But if some of these were problems before, and they clear up - then you're getting closer to the right food for your dog. A nutritious food will give your dog more energy, a good-looking healthy coat, no breath problems, and a better temperament.

In the long run, the best foods aren't really more expensive. Because good nutritious foods are better digested and utilized by the digestive system, you don't have to feed as much to your dog per day. And a bonus - when the food is digested and absorbed better by the body, the poops are smaller and more compact - less to pick up! And I haven't even mentioned the lifelong savings at the vet because of having a healthier dog.


Summary of various advice-givers on the web (who looked credible):

YES lamb meal
Yes grains
YES eggs
YES baked
YES Amaranth,
YES mesquite bean meal,
NO by-products (could be feathers, feet, whatever -- NOT meat)
No ground corn in the top category,
NO brewer's rice
no wheat bran,
NO soybean mill run,
NO peanut hulls,
NO propylene glycol,
NO corn syrup, sucrose and ammoniated glycyrrhizin,
NO generic names like animal fat/poultry fat,
NO poultry byproduct meal,
NO corn gluten meal,
NO poultry digest.
NO beef tallow - diff to digest, Dried beet pulp is a filler.

Three of the five major pet food companies in the United States are subsidiaries of major multinational companies: Nestle, Alpo, Fancy Feast, Friskies, Mighty Dog, and Ralston Purina (products such as Dog Chow, ProPlan, and Purina One), Heinz (9 Lives, Amore, Gravy Train, Kibbles-n-Bits, Nature's Recipe), Colgate-Palmolive (Hill's Science Diet Pet Food). Other leading companies include Procter & Gamble (Eukanuba and Iams), Mars (Kal Kan, Mealtime, Pedigree, Sheba, Waltham's), and Nutro.

They make bigger profits by having a direct pipeline from their human-quality food to the pet-food -- stuff that doesn't make the grade for human food goes into the pet food.

Dogs and cats can almost completely absorb carbohydrates from some grains, such as white rice. Up to 20% of the nutritional value of other grains can escape digestion. The availability of nutrients for wheat, beans, and oats is poor. The nutrients in potatoes and corn are far less available than those in rice. Some ingredients, such as peanut hulls, are used for filler or fiber, and have no significant nutritional value.

Synthetic preservatives include butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), propyl gallate, propylene glycol (also used as a less-toxic version of automotive antifreeze), and ethoxyquin. For these antioxidants, there is little information documenting their toxicity, safety, interactions, or chronic use in pet foods that may be eaten every day for the life of the animal.
While some pet food critics and veterinarians believe that ethoxyquin is a major cause of disease, skin problems, and infertility in dogs, others claim it is the safest, strongest, most stable preservative available for pet food.

[u4ic]

21. Here's a list:

http://members.aol.com/AHTerrier/allergyb.html

[Weezy]

25. Semi Hypo-Allergenic Dogs

I have 2 Miniature Schnauzers & no one seems to have any allergic reactions to them. They have fur as opposed to hair, & they don't shed much. Good Luck

[Ilsa]

27. He should be tested for allergies.

He needs to know what can cause such serious inflammation and to determine if he needs to carry an epi-pen.

I took shots for allergies for two years, and they helped protect my immune system for about ten years. My cat allergies have gotten pretty bad again, though.

[LeftCoast]

29. Well, I have a hairless dog

His name is Seal (cuz he looks like one when he plays at the beach). As you can see, he does have a little bit of hair, but not much. He's about as hypoallergenic a dog as you're going to get.



The breed is known as Xolo Itz Quintle, pronounced Show-low Eeetz Keently. They're also known as Mexican Hairless.

Here are a few of my favorite links:

http://www.xolo.com/kennel_frames.html
http://www.xoloitzcuintles.com/index.html

They're really great dogs, though they do look a bit odd. :)

[madison2000]

32. Rhodesian Ridgeback is a very nice breed which works well for people

with allergies - but they are very big dogs.

[bettyellen]

36. ask them to check out the Purina Breed Advisor /Pet Finder

...... it has a quiz on all sorts of qualities that you would prefer a dog to have and then makes recommendations with photos and more detailed info.


http://www.purinaone.com/dogcare_breed_selector.asp


Best of all, you can immediately search shelters/ dog rescue places to adopt one in your area. They also have breed selector for cats, and shelter search for all sorts of animals. I love this thing!

Based on the hypo allergenic issue alone, they recommend in this order:
basenji
bedlington terrier
bichon frisee
irish water spaniel
italian greyhound
kerry blue terrier

[pantouflard]

38. There is no such thing as a "hypo-allergenic" dog.

I know everyone says there is, but it's a myth. The allergens come from SKIN (actually dead skin flakes) not FUR or HAIR.

There are dogs which do not shed, such as poodles and some terriers. But this has no bearing on allergies.


The most important things for allergic people who have pets:

1) frequent baths (for the pet!) with an unscented shampoo

2) good moisturizer after bath to keep skin from drying out

3) one of the products made for de-naturing the dander (check out allergycontrolproducts.com)

[wellstone dem]

40. Maybe they could take my dog

who is allergic to everything. They'd be a good match.