Breeds for possible allergy sufferers

[MegsSmeg]

Kids are desperate for a dog (and so are we, having grown up with them!). But I have a concern that my hay-fever suffering child may have a mild allergy. Are there particular breeds that we are better to lean towards, just in case? I think cockapoos may fall into this category. Are there any straight haired breeds? Thanks

There is no guarantee any dog will be good for allergy sufferers, it all depend on your allergy sensitivities.

Dogs with non shedding coats or no undercoat produce less dander which is what triggers many allergy reactions. Non shedding dogs are poodles, Maltese, Yorkshire terriers.

I would avoid cockapoos (and any poodle mix) as although they can inherit the non shedding coat of their poodle parent they can also inherit the one of the cocker spaniel parent and believe me, if there is a highly shedding dog it is a spaniel!

But again, it all depends on the sensitivity of the allergy sufferer. DS copes with the breeds I mentioned but I needed vacuum very often.

No, cockerpoo do not.
They are cocker x poodle and the cocker coat is high shedding, you can’t guarantee what coat the pup inherits.
And in any case, the dog’s saliva will aggravate an allergic person as well as the fur.

I have hay fever and don’t have any dog allergy, neither does DH or BIL.

Breeds that shed less and are thought to be less allergenic would be extremely fine coated breeds like:
Greyhounds
Whippets
Italian greyhounds
Basenjis

And wire coated breeds (if hand stripped) like:
Schnauzers
Fox terriers
West highland whites
Cairns

And breeds with silky hair and very little, if any undercoat like:
Yorkshire terriers
Maltese
Papillons

And the fleecy breeds like:
Poodles
Bichon
Bolognese
Portuguese water dogs

Or if you want something seriously ugly you could try a Chinese crested or the Mexican hairless

We have 2 goldendoodles and a poodle and none of them shed and none of them affect my highly allergic sister.

You’d really need to get your DC to spend some time with some dogs tbh, it’s often not fur that people are allergic to it’s saliva and their skin.

Thanks all. Not as straightforward as I assumed then! I wonder if I can get proper allergy testing done anywhere, rather than just expose my son to some dogs?? Will investigate.

Agree about the saliva, my son has got hives while playing with a border collie, but has no problem with my poodle.

Your GP can refer you to an allergy clinic, or you can go privately, but I imagine with Covid things are very slow. Meeting different breeds would be helpful but possibly not easy to achieve !

Decent breeders, perhaps not so much now with covid mind, like it if you visit and spend sometime getting to know each other before buying one of their puppies.

You could explain to a breeder (after lockdown) you are worried your DC might react and could you visit and spend a few hours with them and their dogs to gauge your DC reaction with a view to buying a puppy when they have their next litter?

And yes, I’m quite sure allergy testing is available privately

Welsh terriers very good for dog allergy sufferers. We have one and the difference to labradors for example, is remarkable

My DS is allergic to spaniels, but no other dog he's come across (lots)!!

We have a Tibetan terrier. Tibetan name is tsang apso. Naturally low for allergic reactions as they don't shed. They're coats do need a bit of maintenance if you keep them long all the time. We clipnour girl back twice a year (normally go to groomer but we've got pretty good at it ourselves for the last year!) They're amazing family pets. Clever, family orientated dogs who are good with kids!