How To Choose Your Dog – Dog Allergies And Allergy Testing

This short article introduces dog allergies.

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Most people make a mess of choosing a dog.  It happens to 6.5 million dogs per year in the USA alone.  That’s BILLIONS of dollars wasted.  Heartache and tears.  Unbelievable cruelty. So stop!  Think!  Fast track your success with the best tips around.  Get your Free Guides today by clicking this link

How does a dog allergy come about?

People with dog allergies have sensitive immune systems.  These immune systems respond very strongly to dog ‘particles’, or allergens.   They might also respond to other particles in the environment – for example:

  • asthma from dust particles
  • hay fever from pollen particles
  • rashes from exposure to some types of material

Their bodies see these particles as alien invaders, in the same way as they might see a virus such as the common cold. One way the body tries to repel the invaders is to get rid of them through shedding moisture – hence the symptoms such as watery eyes, sneezing, runny nose and so on.

Anything on a dog has the potential to affect someone with an allergy.  However some dogs produce much less of the allergens which trigger that response.  Coat type is a major issue, so people who are highly allergic might only be able to manage a hairless or mostly hairless breed.

Also you can be allergic to saliva, skin particles (dander), urine and faeces.

Testing your allergy

If you’re looking for a low allergy dog you first need to have some idea of really how dog allergic you are.  Are you highly, slightly, or moderately allergic?

If you’re very allergic, then hairless and created breeds might work for you.  Sign up for the complete list of hypoallergenic dog breeds using the form in the sidebar or drop down form.  There you’ll see the hairless and crested breeds highlighted.  But if you don’t want this kind of dog, there’s possibly up to 60 breeds to choose from.

The advantage of signing up for the list is that is you get this course e-mailed to you directly!

Then shortlist breeds which fit your lifestyle.  After this, find some responsible breeders.  Then you’ll need to test how much you react to the different suitable breeds.

There are some tried and trusted ways of testing your allergy and you need to be sure you know what those are before you go to a breeder.  There’s the obvious one of direct exposure to the dog, but that’s not just limited to stroking their fur.  Even dog breath can be a problem!

And if you’re testing more than one dog breed you need to leave space between visits to different breeders.

If your potential breeder is some distance away you can also do some remote tests before you go, so you don’t waste any time.  These are in effect ‘tests by post’ to check if things are likely to work out in advance.

P.S.  You can adopt adults from rescue shelters but you do need to know some key facts first.  All of the allergy tests, and information on taking an unwanted adult hypoallergenic dog are in the formula for success.