Dog breed: Shed – Part 1
February 22, 2011 
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Some dogs may shed less hair, but there are no dogs that are completely allergen-free. My Mum is allergic to dogs so I am speaking from experience. For those who suffer from allergies you will know the discomfort that they can cause. It can make you sneeze, then your eyes may itch, the more you rub them the more they hurt but you need to rub them. Allergies can make you wheeze, all in all they are very unpleasant.
My Dad wanted a dog, my Mum was allergic so what did we do? We borrowed a toy poodle to see if she was allergic. They have wool not hair so they don`t shed. It didn`t seem to cause too many problems so off we went to buy a poodle.
Of course my Dad doesn`t like small dogs so we bought a big dog, a standard poodle. He was around 29 inches and black. Now it is true, poodles don`t shed as they have wool not fur. However the wool grows, it needs clipping. No dog hairs though so no allergies? Not quite true.
The poodle would need clipping about every six weeks. In this time he would need grooming or he would become tangled. Now he wasn`t a show dog, he was a pet. He didn`t have the extravagant coat of the show poodles, he was clipped quite close. He still became tangled if not groomed regularly. My Mum was unable to groom him as this would make her sneeze.
Dust would be the main problem here. Most people who are allergic to dogs are in fact allergic to dust also. When the dog`s wool became longer, he attracted more dust, therefore he was not allergen free. I must say though, it was much better for my Mum to have this dog than one who shed hair, but he still made her sneeze.
The other problem that my Mum had with this dog was his barking. I don`t mean it got on her nerves. What I do mean is, when he barked, his saliva would spray (very minute droplets that no-one could see). This would make my Mum sneeze and would cause irritation making her face itch. So you see, this allergy was nothing to do with shedding hair.
Anyway, my Dad then wanted a lurcher who was going to live outside, then outside at night, then she was allowed in the kitchen, then the whole house. My poor Mum. We picked a short haired lurcher who didn`t shed much. My Mum was still more allergic to the lurcher than the poodle. She would take anti-histamine tablets frequently. Whilst it was not unbearable for her, she did not enjoy it as it did make her suffer.
This short haired lurcher who didn`t shed much was groomed outside most days
