Dogs and allergies!

[Ellielou02]

Basically DH and I really want a dog, I always had a dog when I was a child as did DH, DD1 has not had much contact with animals and is a bit scared of dogs but I think if we had a family pet it would be a good thing for her, but I am allergic to dogs(cats, rabbits and horses) all of which I have owned at one point or another. My asthma seems to react worse to certain breeds (labs seem to be really bad) but not to breeds such as west highland terriers or yorkshire terriers (have been experimenting lately) we always had german shepherds when I was a child and they were ok too, but I think that since I have not had a dog for so long I react quicker IYSWIM its not a bad reaction and my asthma is generally quite mild.

So my question is, is anyone in a similar situation and have you got a dog and what breed is it?

There is a useful list here

I think you need to look for a breed that does not shed it's undercoat.

Generallly allergies are set off by dander (dried saliva and dust from the coat). Wiping pets daily with a damp cloth can reduce the shedding of dander. It's also ok to use antihistamines daily. I am a vet, I have dogs and a cat, and I am allergic to animal hair, and asthmatic. It's not impossible!

Thanks for your replies they are very helpful, I dont want to give up on the idea of having a dog altogether.
I was thinking about a jackadoodle but jack russels set me off a bit lol so thats prob out of the question.

Dh is allergic to our dog. Before we got him we knew that he was allergic to cats but had no idea about dogs. Dh is very allergic to cats, but his dog allergy is not so severe.

We try to wash our dog weekly which is not ideal for them (but is better than rehoming an animal). After his bath we wipe Patch with Petal Cleanse which neutralises the dander, and is a marvellous product for us. We dyson the house at least twice weekly and have an air purifier. The dog is not allowed upstairs at all, and we try to keep our bedroom door shut and the window open.

If we keep up the petal cleanse routine then dh's breathing is quite good. When we first started doing this we actually thought that his allergy had disappeared and stopped washing the dog. This was a big mistake. Now the washing is just a weekly routine.

What kind of dog do you have madsometimes and where do you get the petal cleanse

I have a cockapoo, and like many poodle crosses he does shed and clearly does cause allergies. I'm not going to give them a ringing endorsement for allergy suffers, particularly because you sound like your allergy is more severe than my dh's.

I have recently met some really lovely Portugese Waterdogs. I had always thought that they were huge, but they are not necessarily. Maybe you could look at that breed. I think that Obama has a lot to answer for their popularity, but they are lovely.

We get petal cleanse from amazon.

Anyone got a schauzer??

Dh is allergic to dogs and cats too, and we are planning on getting a standard poodle. A friend of ours has a labradoodle that happens to have a curly coat, and dh was fine with that. However, she paid a ridiculous amount of money for him, so we'll get a poodle instead!