Son allergic to new puppy

[Peachy27]

We have had our new puppy for three weeks now, all totally in love with her but my eldest has started itching his eyes really badly since we’ve had her. I’m trying to get him to wash his hands lots, cleaning thoroughly, keeping her in one part of the house only but he’s still itching. Has anyone else experienced this? Is it something that he is likely to grow out of/come accustomed to? I tentatively mentioned that if he couldn’t cope with the itching we may have to consider rehoming the puppy and he was distraught. Any advice would be much appreciated

What is it? Did he react when you visited the breeder?

No, he was fine. It’s a cavapoo. We’ve borrowed a friend’s cavalier for up to a week before and he’s never had any reaction.

But you don't have a cavalier so he wasn't exposed to the same sort of dog. How many times did you visit breeder and for how long?
How old is your eldest?
Tried damp dusting or can you use petal cleanse (only heard of it with cats.)

sorry, you need to rehome.
living with allergies is hell. and it would be unfair to the dog to be confined to outside.

Does your DS have asthma?

We only went once before but were there a while. He’s 9, never had any sort of reaction to anything before....

My DS had a reaction to our cats at first. We keep his bedroom door shut at all times so he has a dander-free zone. After about six months to a year, we suddenly realised his symptoms faded away. He didn't have a strong reaction, just sneezing and sniffling, but in our experience he became desensitised.

Will look up petal cleanse thank you

Thanks Rosie, that’s really good to hear

No he doesn’t have asthma

Have you tried piriton?
I'm afraid this is the issue with poodle crosses. People think they are good for people with allergies. There's no certainty of anything with a cross.
Unfortunately there won't be a breed rescue as it isn't a breed and this mix has likely come from puppy farmers who won't have it back.

I think short-term you should use Piriton, he a really good HEPA filter vacuum and damp dust.

If he’s never reacted to anything before then hopefully it will fade as he becomes desensitised- quite a lot of people with mild allergies can cope with their own pets but react to other people’s so I wouldn’t panic yet.

Sadly, despite what many breeders claim, adding a poodle to the mix doesn't automatically produce an hypogenic dog.

Hair isn't the only allergen - dander and saliva can trigger allergies, too.

Hope that your son is able to overcome the difficulty.

When we got our puppy I spent many weeks with red raw hands. I think I reacted to him licking my skin. It was awful and painful but I did eventually become desensitised to him.

Some allergies get worse with exposure not better. Cavapoos are not hypoallergenic, you'd have had better chances with a pedigree poodle but then it depends what bit of the dog he's allergic too -saliva, dander, hair etc. If it were me, the dog would have to go. Its not fair to have your son living on piriton.

I was allergic to the dog I grew up with. Honestly, I resented that my parents kind of chose the dog over me - I spent a lot of time upstairs where the dog wasn’t allowed. I couldn’t stroke him without reacting, andathiugh he really was a lovely dog, my fear of dog hair pretty much permeated the whole thing.

My parents and sibling loved the dog so much, and did vacuum daily, but I never grew out of my allergy. He lived for nearly ten years.

Piriton is not a nice tablet to take, I would put my son first and would not expect him to take medication.

My SiL takes piriton daily because of her cats.

I'd try it. He may respond to eye drops as well.

Thanks all. I would absolutely never put the puppy above my son. I was just explaining to him i didn’t expect him to have to live with itching eyes and that we could rehome the puppy and it was him who was completely distraught at the prospect.
Will have a chat with the doctor about pirition. Interesting to hear stories of peopl who have got used to pets too

You are right to speak to the doctor first, Piriton has some horrible side effects and he is a kid who wants to enjoy life, not be feeling drowsy or unco-ordinated. Hope you work something out that suits everyone.

Well... it depends how much work you want to do and how much you want to work on keeping your child and your puppy away from each other and puppy away from the areas your son uses.

Spaniels are bad for allergies because they shed a lot of hair and dandruff, so if your son is reacting to the puppy in the way you say, I would say that such reaction is the effect of the dandruff your puppy has left behind over a limited number of days.

Things I have done to keep DS allergies under control include:

• not allowing the dog into any area with textiles and rugs DS was going to be in contact with directly (so no dog on beds, sofas, or playroom rug)
• vacuum cleaning every single day (including walls and curtains every month)
• the easiest solution to keep the dog’s bed fresh was to use value pillows and pillowcases. I use to vacuum clean the bed every day and binned the pillowcase every month (forget about getting it in the washer, as the dandruff can transfer to your son’s clothes.
• we used petal cleanse... waste of time and money IMO, took quite a bit of time to swipe the dog with it and didn’t make any tangible difference.

Frankly, if I had not had the dogs for so many years before DS was born, I would have rehomed them. I know that some people keep the allergy symptoms down by regularly medicating the children but this is not really something you should consider for the long term.

Is there any possibility to return the puppy to the breeder and get a dog from a breed that doesn’t shed as much? Poodles and Yorkers are good examples of them (they do not have an undercoat so the dandruff is less) but beware of any mixes ie, a labradoodle is only allergy friendly if it has proper poodle fur, if you get the Labrador coat... forget about it.

Your son may become less sensitive to the puppy but it will get worse before potentially getting better. It may be that he becomes less sensitive as he reaches puberty (mine did), but again, there are no guarantees.

I’m sorry is not good news.

Maybe a once a day non sedating antihistamine like cetirizine would help? You can buy it otc from supermarket or pharmacy?

considering the reaction the OP mentions, her son will need to have Pyriton every four hours when he is at home or cetirizine every single day. I do think that in the long term, it is always better to remove the cause than treat the symptom.

I’m allergic to my dogs. I was allergic to cats when I was a child but seemed ok with childhood dogs. I’m also afraid it hasn’t faded or disappeared over the 8 years I’ve had them. I have to take antihistamines all year round. My allergies built up from sore eyes, itchy throat and runny nose too now suffering itchy rashes. I’m a adult and I adore my dogs so I’m prepared to live with it, if it were one of my children I’m not sure I would as it can be miserable some days. I broke out in a type of eczema on my face that lasted nearly a year and that was awful. I really hope your dc allergy fades my GP told me mine might when I was first diagnosed so fingers crossed for you 🤞🏼as it’s still early days.

I ripped up all carpets and hoover and mop the floors everyday, wash the dog bed every couple of days and keep them off the furniture and beds and have dog free areas so they aren’t locked up. These have eased my allergies as well washing my hands after I’ve touched them (100’s time a day 😂) They also go to the groomer for a groom every 6 weeks as I if try to Bath them once they are wet I’m screwed.
Annoying thing is I’m not allergic to my friends happy yapping little Yorkies I can sit a stoke them for hours and not react to them.

I deeoepd an allergy to our dog when we first got him just over 2 years ago including a trip to doctors then hospital (symptoms along with other medical history they wanted to rule out other things) we had him about 3-4 weeks when symptoms really arose itchy eyes and throat, heavy chest etc . He temporarily lived with in laws for 2 weeks where husband and daughters would go every day to play and walk him whilst I got meds in my system he came home and I was on eye drops, anti histomines we had strict rules he wasn’t allowed on sofa and his bed had blankets in that I changed every other day and washed on 60 degree wash. Lots of hand washing etc and we put a stair gate on and he wasn’t allowed upstairs so that was a dog free area. I had to use medication for about 6 months daily then gradually warranted off to every other day every few days then weekly etc I am tolerate him now (he is a cocker spaniel) but all the rules still apply he isn’t allowed upstairs (shouldn’t go on sofa but sure he does when I’m not home but I hoover carpets daily and often hoover all sofa cushions too and still wash his bedding frequently on high washes)