Dogs For Allergic People

[sparkymick]

could you possibly recommend a small/medium sive dog for my girlfriend. she thinks she wants two to keep each other amused, but i am not so sure. they must not moult or give people allergies. thank you.

[boxtops]

No, I won't - it sounds as if she's buying a dog as an ornament, if she has no idea what sort of dog she wants. Animal shelters are a good place to start. All dogs bring a certain amount of dirt and untidiness with them!

[RATTER15]

There are no guarantees that any dog will not create an allergic response with people that are allergic to dogs, however some dogs are less likely to create a problem than others.

http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/allergy.htm

like Boxy says, you really need to research the breed before deciding, if you dont get a breed that suits your life style it could end up being a very unhappy or destructive or even a biting dog.

[riptide]

Please do not get a dog if you are going to be out all day, it will be very unhappy and become destructive. Anyway animal rescues will not let you have one if you are going to be away from the home all day. I could recommend some dogs because I have had them, but as boxtops says it sounds as though you want it to keep you amused now and then.

[ladybirder]

"thinks she wants two to keep each other amused".

So neither of you will have time or the inclination to amuse them? Please do not get any dogs. This is a disaster waiting to happen.

[Robinia]

Where does the OP say his girlfried wants dogs as toys or that they're out all day or that they won't go to rescue centre? She said two dogs to keep each other amused.

That said sparkymick make sure you & your girlfiend think it out carefully, as well as time and attention there's a long term financial commitment especially as the dogs get older.

[Robinia]

*oops, sorry girlfriend, not girlfiend, haha

[pixie373]

Poodles are non-moulting and, i think bichon frise? Be careful with crosses, as they may still moult. It would be better for your girlfriend to find out which dogs do and don't affect her first. From experience, i would get the dogs one at a time, train them and see how it goes. Two puppies together are like twins and what one doesn't think of, the other will. They are also more likely to become attached to each other, than to you.

[Khandro]

Not sure what boxy is on about, he says she wants two to keep each other - the dogs- amused (company) - surely a good idea?
A good bread for people with dog-allergies are miniature poodles, (standing about one foot high when grown) as they do not shed hair and are of good temperament. There are also the smaller 'toy' size.

[riptide]

If you get puppies, remember you need to be there in the daytime, as they need to be fed 3/4 times a day to start with and also, of course, toilet trained

[sparkymick]

this will not be the first time that she has had a dog. Barnie ( yorkie ) died a couple of years ago. The idea that dogs should never be left alone is a bit silly - i have had a few dogs and sometimes that is what has to happen, other wise how many people could own dogs ? I am trying to find a dog that will not affect people with a dog allergy, such as a yorkie or a poodle type. one thing i cant remember how long the early puppy stage lasts ? if you know what i mean

[boxtops]

Glad she has had a dog before, sparky, and yes, I would not expect always to be around if I had a dog.

Khandro, yes, I did read the OP - but it read as if she hadn't had a dog before, and didn't know what to get. Two pets aren't necessarily company for each other - my cats barely tolerate each other on a good day - but litter partners should be OK.

[woofgang]

Who do you meet who has allergies? If you just want a dog that won't affect anyone's allergies then don't bother because the animal doesn't exist. If its a specific person or people you are thinking about then the only way to be sure is for them to meet the individual dog. All dogs moult, like all people. Its just that some moult less than others because a) the hair grows longer before it falls out and b) when it does fall out, it becomes tangled in the hairs which are still growing and stays on the body. In most cases anyway, its not the actual hair that people are allergic to but the "dander" which is composed of dead skin cells and so on.

[woofgang]

boxy my litter sibs get on, but i know of quite a few cases where litter sibs have fought so much and so seriously that the owner couldn't keep both. You also have to be careful raising litter sibs as they can be so wrapped up with each other that they are not so interested in bonding with their humans and therefore obeying their humans!

[FredPuli43]

Litter sisters here fight over nothing at all, but they love one another enough that it is forgotten in seconds and they are all lovey-dovey again ; just like some human sisters ! Same applies to litter brothers.But I have the sisters because I bred them, not from choice. Ideally you should have one which is some months (small breeds) or a year (big breeds) older. That way one is that bit more advanced and mature than the other. Two of identical age are four times as much trouble as than those with such an age difference. And with one being adult sooner, there is a natural tendency for that one to be accepted as leader by the other

[woofgang]

Fredpuli
"Two of identical age are four times as much trouble as than those with such an age difference."
^^ this no doubt at all. I love my boys, having both of them (when we went to look at one pup, we discovered that there were only two in the litter and the owner was having trouble placing the other one; she had refused a couple of enquirers because they hadn't had HPR's before) was one of the best decisions I have ever made BUT oooo the first two years were hard as horseshoe nails....and I am an experienced HPR owner.

[Khandro]

woofgang; We have a black miniature poodle, and have absolutely no hairs at all around the house or in his bedding, occasionally we find a complete tuft of hairs which can be picked up and disposed of, that's all. I think this is the reason this breed is favoured by adults and for children with allergies.

[viv38]

Whatever you get sparky, PLEASE go to a rescue centre, rather than encouraging breeders who are bringing more and more dogs into a world already overflowing with too many dogs and not enough homes !

[woofgang]

yes indeed khandro but, as I explained, this doesn't mean that they don't shed, everything that has hair has a hair growth cycle and the hair will fall out when it dies, with poodles the natural hair length is longer so hairs die less often; and when the hairs do die they remain they tangle with the remaining living hairs and so are more likely to stay on the dog.

[Khandro]

woofgang; We don't find that; his hair doesn't become matted, and when we do brush him there is virtually no hair comes away onto the brush, we don't have him 'poodle clipped' (I hate that!) he gets what is called a 'teddy bear' clip, ie, my wife clips him evenly all over.

[lankeela]

But Khandro unless someone around your dog was allergic you wouldn't know because its not the hair that they are affected by its the dander off the skin which all dogs shed even hairless ones. The only way for people to check if they are going to be allergic is to meet the actual dog, because even in the same breed some dogs affect people whereas others don't. I would never sell anyone two puppies at the same time, and if there was a danger of allergies I wouldn't let them have one because I hear of so many being got rid of because the person/child was allergic. The breeders of the so called designer dogs such as labradoodles sell them on the false pretence that they are suitable for allergy sufferers but it is total b*llsh*t and even the man who 'invented' them to use as guide dogs for people with health problems admits that they were no good for this reason.