In a quandary about our dog

[Fusterclucked]

We have a lovely dog, it’s 2 1/2 years old. My daughter has developed an allergy towards the dog. It started as a mild reaction but has steadily got worse. Her respiration is affected, coughing sneezing and wheezing. Her eyes are swollen and sore and she feels generally unwell all the time. My daughter is 16. She is taking medication which helps a bit but doesn’t alleviate it entirely. She spends most of her time in her room to stay away from the dog. We all really love the dog, including her. I feel like I need to rehome it, it’s not fair that my daughters health has to suffer. It would be tough to say goodbye to the dog but surely my daughters health comes first. Aibu and also wwyd?!

Are you sure it's the dog? seems
odd that it has suddenly worsened.

I think the decision is up to your daughter. Ideally if it's rehomed locally you could let it get to know the new house gradually and maybe visit regularly for a while to ease any guilt. When I was 9 we got a kitten and I adored her til my sister developed allergies and we had to rehome him. It was upsetting but not the end of the world, I know dogs are very different though. I think your daughters health and wellbeing needs priority here.

I might be mixed up here but someone on TikTok had cats that she was allergic to and she gave them a really expensive food. The food was made from something that had eaten eggs that caused anti allergy so it could be home made but you'd need to make sure they were a certain type of egg to make sure the allergy protein went into the food?! Assuming if you can do it for a cat you can do it for a dog.

Must be a tough situation but loved or not the dog is making your dd ill, sadly I think you must rehome it. She shouldn't need to spend all her time in her room to keep away from the dog.

What breed is it, is it well trained will it be easy to rehome?

Anything else making a family member ill would be dealt with, so you have to deal with this. Get rid of the dog.

Absolutely not.

OP is the adult and owner of the dog- it’s not fair to give responsibility for a really difficult decision to a 16 year old.

You’d be asking her to choose between feeling like total crap 24/7 because of the allergy and evicting a much loved family pet.

Whatever happens, OP needs to make the call.

I would rehome the dog if some of the suggestions here don't work.

Labrador, lovely dog, nicely trained. Got a doctor appointment for Monday so will see if there are any options then. Would be truly sad to give up the dog but my daughters health, comfort and happiness at home has to be prioritised

Absolutely she comes first. It'd be more difficult if you had a dog with behavioural or medical issues but a well trained healthy lab will be snapped up and may even be happier in a relaxed home. Not saying yours isn't but understandably the situation must be causing a lot of stress.

Speak to a vet as well OP.

I saw a video on tiktok (obviously the most evidence based source) that said for cat allergy sufferers, feeding raw eggs to cats regularly reduces whatever causes allergies in people.

Perhaps something similar could be said for dogs and a diet change is needed?

Yes! This what I saw but it wasn't just any eggs. It was eggs from chickens that ate something else!

If you rehome try Labrador Rescue, they take straight from your home into a new home so no awful time in kennels. Plenty of people love Labradors as they’re such gorgeous dogs, my parents have had two from Lab Rescue, as have friends, they select a new home on who they think will best fit the dog. Very dog centred which is great.

But try the other stuff first, you never know it may work.

I think I'd be looking to carefully and quickly rehome your dog. The situation is already unreasonable for your daughter. She's in an exam year, she's stressed, she's spending most of her time in her room to avoid the dog. I think everyone needs to give their heads a wobble, you don't have time to try out these ideas.
Interesting your dog is a lab. I'm mildly allergic to the occasional dog, but I'm allergic to all labs. Can't be in a room with one, get breathing problems and swollen eyes. If I touch one a rash starts appearing on the inside of my arm immediately.

Petal Clense
Hard floors, leather sofa
HEPA air filtration
Certain diets can reduce dander output in dogs.

Groom dog outdoors every day using an undercoat rake - with a lab this should only take 5 minutes.
Bath weekly.

If that plus medication that once given a fair trial, doesn't produce awful side effects, doesn't work, then yes, rehome. It's no fun for anyone to live with a dog they're horribly allergic to and it's not great for the dog to be isolated and miss out because someone is allergic to them.

I will say the above routine has kept several friends with longer coated dogs (one a Samoyed!), who have severe allergies and asthma, able to live with dogs, but of course they actively wanted to!

You can get it otc.

It can be sedating (its often used for insomnia as its non addictive) so best taken at night.

Sorry about your quandary, not an easy one. I'm a massive dog lover and would hate to be in your situation but hour daughter's health must take priority.

Petal cleanse
Antihistamines
Meds from GP
Steam clean floors and damp dust
Air purifier

Try all of the above before rehoming your dog who has done nothing wrong. Your DD will likely be off to Uni in less than 2 years. Gone for 3/4 years. Air purifier makes a huge difference.

Friends have rehomed their dog in similar circumstances. They didn’t realise it was the dog causing her symptoms until a week away without it. Their previous dog didn’t cause any problems so they never linked the two together.