Ask The Dog Guide: Family Friendly Hypo-allergenic Breed?
Question:
We are quite allergic to dogs and have a 4 year old and we LOVE dogs. Would you just recommend the poodle for highly allergic owners or would there be other breeds that are good with kids and are hypo-allergenic?
Answer:
While we love Poodles, and you may very well want to consider a Standard (as they are the most child friendly of the 3 sizes), there are quite a few other breeds that may be appropriate for your family’s needs. Some other breeds you may want to consider are the Irish Water Spaniel, Portuguese Water Dog (think “Bo Obama“), Havanese, Coton de Tulear, Polish Lowland Sheepdog or even the rare Lagotto Romangolo.
Photo by luigix
Now, each of these breeds are very different, but all of them are considered to be less triggering to individuals who have allergies or asthma. Once you’ve researched the individual dogs and have narrowed it down to the traits that your family is looking for, go spend some quality time with the dog you are interested in - weather it be at the breeders or at a rescue. Even some of the hypo-allergenic dogs can be triggering to certain individuals (due to allergies to canine saliva, skin flaking, etc) and you want to be absolutely sure that you’ll be able to keep your new pet! Good luck in your search!
