Barking Up The Wrong Tree

Buying a hypo-allergenic dog

Hypoallergenic dogs have been in the spotlight in the last two weeks, ever since Barack Obama said that he had promised a dog to his daughter, Malia, who suffers from allergies.

Obama seemed rather dismayed with the public’s interest as he wryly stated that the dog issue has

“generated more interest on our Web site than just about anything”

Around 10 per cent of Americans are allergic to dogs apparently although the level of severity varies from breathing problems to itchy eyes.  No dogs are truly hypoallergenic but there are several breeds which are recommended more than others, the non shedding varieties or the ones that shed less ‘dander’.

Dander is the part of skin attached to the shedding hair which is usually what humans are actually allergic to, not the dog hair.

Candidates for Obama’s ‘first dog’ include:

• Bedlington Terrier

• Bichon Frise

• Chinese Crested

• Irish Water Spaniel

• Kerry Blue Terrier

• Maltese

• Poodles (Toy, Miniature or Standard)

• Portuguese Water Dog

• Schnauzer (Miniature, Standard or Giant)

• Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier

• Xoloitzcuintli (show-low-eats-quint-lee)

And before anyone tells me that shih tzus are non-shedding, they’re actually not truly non shedding, so take a look at the shih tzu profile for more detail.