# Hypoallergenic



## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

This article claims no such thing.??? http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110707161738.htm


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## Mojo's Mom (Jun 6, 2009)

Okay, but tell me then why I can live with two Havanese who sleep with me, but half an hour in a house with a golden retriever and I am wheezing, sneezing and needing to leave?


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

Mojo's Mom said:


> Okay, but tell me then why I can live with two Havanese who sleep with me, but half an hour in a house with a golden retriever and I am wheezing, sneezing and needing to leave?


Not sure , you should ask these people? But here's one explanation. ...."If a person is allergic, they may be best able to tolerate a specific dog, possibly of one of the hypoallergenic breeds. Dr. Thomas A. Platts-Mills, head of the Asthma and Allergic Disease Center at the University of Virginia, explained that there are cases in which a specific dog (not breed) might be better tolerated by a specific person, for unknown reasons. "We think there really are differences in protein production between dogs that may help one patient and not another," Dr. Platts-Mills said


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## heatherk (Feb 24, 2011)

I took Cey to the bank a week or so ago (as I always do if I can, when I have to go to the bank - everybody there just LOVES him) and when I was done, the teller I had been talking to offered to help the next lady in line. The lady refused, and said that she was very allergic to dogs, and that she wanted to wait for the other teller. I wanted to speak up and tell her that Cey was 100% Havanese and hypoallergenic, but I didn't - I will next time something like this happens though! I too have very bad allergies, but I've never noticed any allergy symptoms from Cey...


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

davetgabby said:


> Not sure , you should ask these people? But here's one explanation. ...."If a person is allergic, they may be best able to tolerate a specific dog, possibly of one of the hypoallergenic breeds. Dr. Thomas A. Platts-Mills, head of the Asthma and Allergic Disease Center at the University of Virginia, explained that there are cases in which a specific dog (not breed) might be better tolerated by a specific person, for unknown reasons. "We think there really are differences in protein production between dogs that may help one patient and not another," Dr. Platts-Mills said


That's very true, but it's also true that some breeds are worse culprits for a particular person than other breeds are. For me, all the oily coated out door hunting or water dogs are the worst. This can be SOMEWHAT alleviated by frequent bathing. (which those dogs typically don't get, just because of their size) My brother has a rescue hound from Kentucky. He's a neatnik, and that dog gets bathed weekly, just as most of us who have Havs and allergies do with our dogs. I'm LESS allergic to him than most hounds, but still more allergic to him by far than I am to any of the (many) Havs that I've handled.

Also, if it were specific to one dog, I would hae had more trouble when I went to pick Kodi up. We spent 2 days with his breeder (including sleeping there) and 11 or 12 Havs. If Havs were going to be a problem for me, I would have seen it there.

Allergy testing and studies like this can be useful in moving forward the body of knowledge we have about allergies IN GENERAL. I have found (living in a very allergic family) that they have less implication on an individual level. My so, who has severe (anaphylaxis which lands him in the hospital several times a year) allergies TESTS as being highly allergic to peanut butter. But he can and does eat that with impunity. With all their fancy tests, they can't tell us for sure what sends him into anaphylaxis.

As far as the early exposure helping... maybe for some people, but not for me. I was born into a house with a Pug, and that breed is one of the worst offenders for me in terms of allergies. It IS true that my body tends to adjust to specific animals I'm around all the time, if the allergy wasn't too severe to start with. For instance, I am less allergic to our own cat than I am to other people's cats. And this has been true of a long string of cats.

Allergies are a VERY individual thing, and from what I've seen, all generalizations about allergies are suspect.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

heatherk said:


> I took Cey to the bank a week or so ago (as I always do if I can, when I have to go to the bank - everybody there just LOVES him) and when I was done, the teller I had been talking to offered to help the next lady in line. The lady refused, and said that she was very allergic to dogs, and that she wanted to wait for the other teller. I wanted to speak up and tell her that Cey was 100% Havanese and hypoallergenic, but I didn't - I will next time something like this happens though! I too have very bad allergies, but I've never noticed any allergy symptoms from Cey...


Be very careful with that thinking. People can be allergic to other PEOPLE. So just because Havanese seem to cause less allergy problems than other breeds doesn't AT ALL mean that there aren't SOME people allergic to them.

Poodles are also considered a "hypoallergenic breed"... probably the first that had that tag attached. When I was in second grade, a woman brought her daughter's Poodle in to our class for show and tell. I told her and my teacher that I was allergic to dogs, but they lady said, "Oh, don't worry about it... no one is allergic to Poodles! The girl's desk was right next to mine, in the front row, so the dog was very close to me. Well, I ended up in the hospital that afternoon and was there for 2 days.

I prefer the term "low allergy" for this group of dogs rather than "hypoallergenic", because I don't think there is ANYTHING that NOONE can get allergic to... certainly not in the animal world.


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## Missy (Nov 6, 2006)

What the article didn't mention is sebum....skin oils are also a huge allergen... My belief is that havs are generally well tolerated because they produce less sebum. Of course it also means they are often itchy. (poor neezers) I can not go near a poodle. I did a lot of research and trials with a borrowed Hav before we got our boys. 

I can occasionally be in a house of a dog I should be allergic to for longer than normal and not react. And I equate that to the individual dog. But I can be with 20 different Havanese (and all at once...lol) and as long as they are kept relatively clean I have no problem. 

The biggest of all pet allergens is urine! People with allergies should be prepared to be allergic to their Havanese puppy until they are house trained and have more control so the urine does not run down the leg. 

Also, the pet allergens are not the only culprit. Don't forget even in a puppy cut, your Hav is bringing in all sorts of pollen, dust, mold, animal waste, grasses, you name it every time they come in, even if you don't see it. 

But to anyone going into getting a hav because you heard they were hypoallergenic, do not go into it lightly, my sister is allergic to my neezers. Try to find a Hav to borrow in your home for at least a week. Do it again, as allergies are often culmulative. And if you cannot find a Hav to borrow...at least find one to visit with hours at a time. 

I believe most allergist (and therefore this study) really feel that a home with no pets is the best for an allergic person. And I don't disagree... If you are talking pure allergy health. My house is so much dustier than before the boys..let alone the animal and outdoor allergens...but the other health and mood benefits they provide, along with their lower allergen load a very good trade off.


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

yeah I don't know what to believe of this . I'm sure more studies will come out.


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## Sheri (Oct 11, 2008)

krandall said:


> Allergy testing and studies like this can be useful in moving forward the body of knowledge we have about allergies IN GENERAL. I have found (living in a very allergic family) that they have less implication on an individual level. My so, who has severe (anaphylaxis which lands him in the hospital several times a year) allergies TESTS as being highly allergic to peanut butter. But he can and does eat that with impunity. With all their fancy tests, they can't tell us for sure what sends him into anaphylaxis.


Karen, two of my boys had severe food allergies. The doctor I finally found real help from was an MD that finally got tired of just treating symptoms and went into homeopathic medicine. He explained something to me that might help explain this ability for your son to eat peanuts. Analogy: picture our immune system as a barrel. Each person is able to control the amount of allergies they have as long as those allergens remain within the barrel. If your barrel fills up with the maximum amount of allergens it can cope with, the moment even a single drop of excess allergen drops in to make the barrel over-flow, it is THEN than the immune system goes into overdrive and symptoms set in. Every person's barrel is a different size. So, even if you are terribly allergic to peanuts, your body _might_ be able to cope until you've reached your "barrel's" limit. Then, even a whiff of something you are mildly allergic to can push you over into the allergic reaction.

Anyway, it helped a lot with raising two boys that were allergic to many foods, and to allow them their occasional treats by watching their diets. Now, for my son that was allergic to peanuts (off-the-charts!) he never was able to enjoy that food. As you say, it is very much an individual thing, huh?


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Missy said:


> What the article didn't mention is sebum....skin oils are also a huge allergen... My belief is that havs are generally well tolerated because they produce less sebum. Of course it also means they are often itchy. (poor neezers).


That would go along with my experience with hunting dogs... all of which have oily, weather resistant coats. I am highly allergic to the northern breeds too... I get itchy if I touch them.



Missy said:


> The biggest of all pet allergens is urine! People with allergies should be prepared to be allergic to their Havanese puppy until they are house trained and have more control so the urine does not run down the leg.
> 
> Also, the pet allergens are not the only culprit. Don't forget even in a puppy cut, your Hav is bringing in all sorts of pollen, dust, mold, animal waste, grasses, you name it every time they come in, even if you don't see it.


Yes! And what they are washed in! The one time I was "allergic" to Kodi was when I tried another shampoo from our usual one. Now if I experiment, I do it at a time that I know, if I HAVE to, I can re-wash him!:biggrin1:


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Sheri said:


> Karen, two of my boys had severe food allergies. The doctor I finally found real help from was an MD that finally got tired of just treating symptoms and went into homeopathic medicine. He explained something to me that might help explain this ability for your son to eat peanuts. Analogy: picture our immune system as a barrel. Each person is able to control the amount of allergies they have as long as those allergens remain within the barrel. If your barrel fills up with the maximum amount of allergens it can cope with, the moment even a single drop of excess allergen drops in to make the barrel over-flow, it is THEN than the immune system goes into overdrive and symptoms set in. Every person's barrel is a different size. So, even if you are terribly allergic to peanuts, your body _might_ be able to cope until you've reached your "barrel's" limit. Then, even a whiff of something you are mildly allergic to can push you over into the allergic reaction.
> 
> Anyway, it helped a lot with raising two boys that were allergic to many foods, and to allow them their occasional treats by watching their diets. Now, for my son that was allergic to peanuts (off-the-charts!) he never was able to enjoy that food. As you say, it is very much an individual thing, huh?


Unfortunately, T's allergist has given him that exact same lecture. But he's 18, and I have little control. This all started when he was 14, and it was already hard to really control his diet. And the one thing we KNOW triggers anaphylaxis is latex... If any one, anywhere in the food processing industry has touched his food with latex gloves, down he goes. We've had it happen even in places where he has eaten many times before and since, with foods that should be completely safe. It's LESS likely to happen at home, with minimally processed food that I cook, but we've even had occasional problems there.

At least now, the first thing he does when he goes into any restaurant is ask them to bring the BOX of gloves they use out for him to read, and make sure they aren't latex. He doesn't take any chances. (and it's amazing, in this day and age, when SO many people have at least mild latex allergies, how many restaurants still use latex gloves)


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## Sheri (Oct 11, 2008)

Wow. That level of latex allergy is huge! But, so good your son is willing to go out to eat when he needs to take the responsibility to check for himself the safety issue of gloves.

Just in case you haven't used it, did you know that Buffered Vitamin C Powder is a natural antihistamine? It did help with my boys--so much so that my (then) 16 year old MALE would get himself a dose when needed, without my saying anything about it. For your son and his extreme reactions it might not do much, but if it even took the edge off it would be worth knowing about. Use 1-tsp stirred into any quantity of liquid, like water or juice, stir and drink. It is water soluble so if the body doesn't need it it washes out in the urine, no build up for toxic levels or such. It works within 10 minutes or so.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Sheri said:


> Wow. That level of latex allergy is huge! But, so good your son is willing to go out to eat when he needs to take the responsibility to check for himself the safety issue of gloves.
> 
> Just in case you haven't used it, did you know that Buffered Vitamin C Powder is a natural antihistamine? It did help with my boys--so much so that my (then) 16 year old MALE would get himself a dose when needed, without my saying anything about it. For your son and his extreme reactions it might not do much, but if it even took the edge off it would be worth knowing about. Use 1-tsp stirred into any quantity of liquid, like water or juice, stir and drink. It is water soluble so if the body doesn't need it it washes out in the urine, no build up for toxic levels or such. It works within 10 minutes or so.


Hmmm. I'll look into it. But if you can taste it, he won't drink it. (he's also got all kinds of SI issues...)


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## Sheri (Oct 11, 2008)

Karen,
It has very little taste, I've used it myself, it has a smidgeon of tang to it, like a drop of lemon juice might give. So, in orange juice it is tasteless, and added no texture at all. My son just put it it a small glass of water. His allergies hindered mental acuity and had many of the same symptoms as ADHD, and he'd get himself a dose at times when studying. For a teenaged BOY I think that is a pretty impressive testimonial.

It helped almost everyone we've told about it, at least those that had real significant allergic reactions. We had a teenager come over once that (we found out after he was already showing signs) was quite allergic to cats. (We had one.) I gave him a glass, with his mom's okay, and we continued visiting. After about 15 minutes I asked him how he was doing, and he had forgotten all about it and wasn't showing hardly any sign of the allergy.

If it does help, it seems to work within 10-15 minutes. I'd love to hear if it helps any of you--


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Cool! I don't know if I'll be able to get him to drink it... he doesn't do fruit or fruit juice. But _I'd_ like to try it!

My allergies were MUCH worse when I was younger, but I think that, in some ways, habituated me to them... it was just part of life. Now, when I DON'T have a lot of trouble most of the year, I am miserable when the right (wrong!) things bloom in the spring. Zyrtec and that sort of thing don't work very well for me, and while Benadryl will help with the allergies, it also puts me to sleep for the day!


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## Flynn Gentry-Taylor (Jan 17, 2008)

Karen, what shampoo do you use on Kodi that works for you?


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## morriscsps (Aug 17, 2010)

wow... I don't know what I can add to the thread.

I do know that when we discuss the 'hypoallergenic' properties of Siberian cats, we alway say that hypoallergenic means that they have a lower count of the enzyme/protein which most people react to. So if a person just gets itchy eyes and the sniffles, *probably * they won't react. However, we strongly suggest they visit a Siberian cat. If the person's reactions are more severe than itchy eyes, we require a visit and will send fur samples first.

As for food allergies... been there, done that... 
Lent sucks for me. That no meat on Friday means clam chowder which I adore but if I have any other shellfish during the week... my hands swell! so not fair.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Flynn Gentry-Taylor said:


> Karen, what shampoo do you use on Kodi that works for you?


I use BioGroom Super White Shampoo and BioGroom Silk Conditioner.


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## Sheri (Oct 11, 2008)

I can't find that anywhere around here--I've looked. Bummer.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Sheri said:


> I can't find that anywhere around here--I've looked. Bummer.


I buy it online from Cherrybrook. I buy it by the gallon and it lasts a LONG time... And I bathe Kodi weekly.


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## Sheri (Oct 11, 2008)

Thanks.


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## Cailleach (Jan 30, 2010)

I'm rather glad this topic came up as I was hesitant to post my views on it before but I wanted to. I really wish that Havs were not advertised as hypoallergenic as a sales feature because although as everyone has mentioned they are on the low level of being problematic to allergy sufferers they are not guaranteed to not effect people with allergy problems. IMO too many people considering a dog purchase will believe the advertising and when the claim is found untrue the dog gets rehomed or is shelter bound.


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## Ellie NY (Aug 27, 2010)

I have allergies. I like the barrel analogy made earlier as there was a time when we first got Eli and then again several months ago I had quite a reaction that needed medical intervention. I think it depends quite heavily on the what else my body is going through given my environmental allergies. When pollen or weed count is high then I'm more likely to react to Eli. I wash him weekly using a shampoo designed to minimize allergens, I keep the house clean particularly dust and dirt, and he doesn't sleep in our room. That helps a lot. 

Anyone thinking Havs or any dogs are hypoallergenic are fooling themselves.


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## misstray (Feb 6, 2011)

I have allergies and asthma and I'm allergic to dogs. I do well with Bichons, Maltese, Havanese (never spent much time with a Shih Tzu but imagine I'd tolerate them well). That's not to say I am 100% not allergic, because I'm not. I can sleep with Brody in my bed and room, but I do need my asthma medication and several tissues when I brush and comb him. How much of the reaction is from him himself and how much is from the dust, pollen, dandelion fluff etc. in his fur I'm unsure. My guess is the reaction will be less in the winter, but there'll still be some reaction.


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## SOPHIES-MOM (Oct 4, 2010)

My daughter, who lives in her apartment, is terribly allergic to Sophie while many "non-hypoallergenic" dogs don't bother her at all.My long haired cat doesn't bother her so much either. I think people with allergies have very individual mixes that they are allergic to. I think that's why the shots don't work in many cases. It is also clear that many more people have allergies now. When I was young, many years ago, if a child had allergies they were considered quite strange. Now almost everyone has allergies. My husband and I aren't allergic to anything, even poison ivy, and my daughter is now getting shots.


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