Sneeze Prone? Top 5 Dogs for Allergy Suffers

When I was 12-years-old, my 6 pound Chihuahua was involved in a tragic fatal accident. It was bit of a traumatic experience for me and I vowed to never own an animal again. About 15 years later I finally began to have a change of heart. But as I began my search for a new family member at local shelters, I noticed that something was terribly wrong—I couldn’t hold the dogs I was considering adopting for more than 5 minutes before going into a sneezing convulsion. I was more than aware that I was allergic to cats—that was evident since childhood. But dogs had never been an issue before. I assumed that over the years I lost my resistance to dog since I had been away from them for so long. I was terribly sad—I wanted a furry companion terribly. According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, more than 15 % of the U.S. population has pet allergies, mainly to dogs and cats. But those who fall in this category may just be able to find a dog that doesn’t stimulate their allergies. Hypoallergenic dogs do exist. To learn some of the more popular hypoallergenic dogs, continue reading below.

Before anything else it said it’s important that you understand what actually causes allergic reactions. Contrary to belief, it’s not “fluffy” or “long-haired” dogs that induce allergies. In fact, it has nothing to do with a dog’s fur. It’s actually the dog’s dander (skin flakes). What happens is that the dander is released via fluids or gets embedded in the dog’s fur which is then spread in the air and attached on multi-surfaces when a dog urinates, salivates or sheds. Once in the air or on surfaces, it can even take several years for the effects of a deceased pet’s dander to fully diminish.

That said, dander can be found on all breeds, long-haired and short haired ones too. So don’t adopt a short-haired dog thinking that this automatically means that it will shed less and thus reduce allergies. Small short-haired dogs can have tons and tons of dander.  What categorizes dogs as hypoallergenic however is that these types of animals shed less dander—the causing agent of allergic reactions. But they do shed dander nonetheless. Thus hypoallergenic dogs are NOT a guarantee. Depending on the sensitivity of your allergies you may very well have reactions to even “hypoallergenic” dogs. Thus it’s important that you interact with the dog you are considering adopting—for example visit and play with it a few times at the shelter—before making a commitment and  signing all of the paper work. There is nothing worse that realizing your newly adopted family member makes you ill until you get home—bouncing back from home-to-home will damage the dog emotionally. Note that there are some additional ways you can reduce the amount of dander even with a hypoallergenic dog. For example, you can make sure that your pet doesn’t sleep on your bed or sits on the couch (you can frequently wash sheets and couch/pillow covers, just in case). You can add a purifier to remove the dander in the air. And you can definitely invest in an excellent vacuum cleaner to remove dander and hair from the carpet. You also need to make sure that you brush your pet and bathe it often to remove excess dander.

That said, below are some really good choices allergy-sufferers should consider adopting:

1. Miniature/ Toy Poodle

2. Shih-Tzu

3. Maltese

4. Grey Hound

5. Schnauzer

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Mariana Ashley is a freelance writer who particularly enjoys writing about online colleges. She loves receiving reader feedback, which can be directed to mariana.ashley031 @gmail.com.