Hives on son’s arms linked to new puppy?

[abdnhiker]

Hi, we’ve had our working cocker puppy for a week and my son (13) has hives on both his arms. We’re all gutted and distraught that it might mean we have to rehome her - but wondering if anyone’s had a similar experience. We can’t remember exactly when it started except that they were definitely there less than 24 hrs after the puppy came home and they’ve not budged since. (There’s a tiny chance they might have been there before we brought her home and they’ve just got worse since).

My son used to be babysat when he was 10 after school in a house with a working cocker with absolutely no problems and he visited the puppy in a house with three grown dogs and three puppies at least twice a week since she was four days old and he’s never had any negative reactions to working cockers before. He also plays volleyball and has to use hand sanitiser all the way up his arms - exactly where the rash is - so we’re hoping that’s contributing to the problem.

He does have asthma but has had zero issues since we brought the puppy home with asthma and no itchy eyes or runny nose (although has hay fever so is on cetrizine hydrochloride already like the rest of the family).

Is the next step to get him allergy tested?

I would get puppy checked for fleas/mites as it might be a reaction to bites rather than the puppy itself?

What about keeping them seperate for a few days to see if it clears up. If it doesnt then you can rule the dog out as a cause.

Either keep the dog in a couple of rooms that ds isnt to go into, or maybe a relative or friend could look after the dog for a couple.of days?

I had really problems with my hands and arms when we got our puppy. I think I reacted to the saliva etc with contact.

It did eventually stop after a few weeks.

Thanks so much for all the help quick replies! We’ll look into all of these options.

Has the puppy been health checked and has she had all her flea and worm treatment?

I would get her checked for fleas, worms and mites before you do anything else.

She had her first shots and a worming treatment at the vets on the 31st, I’ve got her booked in to go again on the 17th. Given my son’s reaction was on the 2nd, as much as I’d love it to be as straightforward as fleas, it’s probably not? But yes, worth checking.

I would make sure you rule everything out before rehoming her.

Is it definitely hives and not dry skin/nips from where he's been playing with the puppy and she's licked and nibbled him up his arms?

Oh yes! Re homing would be a last resort! We’ve been waiting for this puppy for a very long time .

It is definitely hives as it’s spread all over both arms and evenly covering them from the wrists to fading out around where a t-shirt would be. That’s partly why we are wondering if it could be in part due to the hand sanitiser from volleyball (they use it all the way up their arms as that’s where they make contact with the ball).

Unfortunately one of my dc had this. It gradually got worse despite investigation and treatment and we had to return our puppy back to the breeder. Devastating 😢

I’m allergic to dogs, it was bad with hives and itchy eyes when we got her but ok after an antihistamine. Have you tried that, I took loratidine every day? After a few months the reaction has gone and my body has got used to dog. It never affected my asthma. I would see how it goes personally.

Is it more likely to be in the hand sanitiser on the arms in combination with the bangs and whacks of the volleyball?

For a working cocker, is your first port of call not to return to the breeder rather than rehome onwards?

I get a reaction from my dogs fur when he has rolled in certain types of grass. Could the puppy have something on him that is causing the reaction rather than the dog itself?

Thanks everyone - so hoping he isn’t allergic!

Sillysmiles - if worst comes to it the puppy would of course be rehomed with input from the breeder - she’s not from a formal breeder but was from a litter of friends of ours. There are other families in the village that we both know who are looking for a puppy - we’d be able to sort that 100% right it would just emotionally devastate us.

It does sound like as well as seeing our GP we need to just keep our fingers crossed and hope we’re the lucky ones where this will get better. I really appreciate everyone’s advice.

if worst comes to it the puppy would of course be rehomed with input from the breeder - she’s not from a formal breeder but was from a litter of friends of ours.
I thought that she had to go back to the breeder, formal or not, but that's the breeders responsibility. Not picking a row, just that was my understanding of what happens when you buy from a breeder?

I’ve just heard back from our surgery (I sent photos) and they feel like it’s probably a combination of things and their gut instinct is heat rash. 🤞they did say the puppy may be irritating it so I’m to pick up prescription antihistamines and barrier cream and we’ll keep our fingers crossed

We have working cockers and they run through everything. We obviously have plants that our DC are allergic to, but only come into contact with on the dogs' coats after they run through them. What you are experiencing sounds like what happens to our DC.

It could be a whole range of things connected to but not the dog itself.
My mum can't go near my dogs within a week of them having their flea treatment. She's reacting to the drug not the dogs.
I also have a friend who is allergic to puppies! It's something to do with the hair and dander. Once they get their proper full adult coat she's fine!

So many brilliant and reassuring responses. We’ll keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best.

That’s interesting, my allergies improved considerably about the time the proper coat came in 🧐.

Antihistamines and a nose spray stopped pretty much any reaction I had to the point I don’t need either anymore.

Have you bathed the puppy yet since bringing her home? My son had really itchy eyes and runny nose when we first brought our puppy home and I worried about allergies. We bathed her after a week and his reaction stopped so must have been something on her from the breeders house... so if you haven't already bathed your puppy that's also worth a try!