Allergies to doodles?

[Melissa Bissell]

Hello Everyone-

Yesterday my husband and I met our doodle puppy for the first time!  His name is Hugo.  He is 6 weeks right now and weighs 5 lbs, 10 oz.  He will come home with us on 3/15.  The breeder thinks he will be 45 pounds when mature.  We fell in love with this little guy immediately.  He is perfect for us - snuggly, sweet, playful, and mischievous.  We have 3 kids ages 12, 16, 18.  My question/concern is in regards to allergies.  We chose a multigenerational Australian Labradoodle first because we heard they were good dogs for people with dog allergies.  My husband is allergic to most dogs, although he has been doing well when he spends time with most dogs considered "hypoallergenic".  Before searching for an ALD my husband spent some time with a friend's 3 year old ALD.  They got along great and my husband had virtually no reaction to the dog.  After 90 minutes playing on the floor with him he had nothing but a slight tickle in his nose by the end.  His usual reaction to dogs would be hives, wheezing, congestion, etc.  So we searched for a breeder of this breed and found our puppy.  However during our 6 wk meet & greet visit yesterday my husband became fairly allergenic - a few non-itchy hives on his neck, some congestion, scratchy throat - not as extreme as he has had with other "allergenic" dogs though.  However, we were in the breeders home where the dogs are bred and their were 8 puppies from the litter plus 2 adult doodles and we were also in the room where the breeder grooms all of her dogs.  Our little doodle was completely non-shedding and has a beautiful glossy curly/wavy coat (we met his mom and she is a very curly ALD, the dad is more of a fleecy ALD).  I am wondering if people would be willing to share their experiences with their ALD pups/dogs and their own allergies or allergies of a family member.  Did anyone else experience a similar reaction at the breeders and if so what was their experience once home with their doodle?  Honestly, I am nervous since I don't want my husband to have to live uncomfortably in his own house. As I mentioned earlier we both immediately fell in love with our sweet little Hugo and my husband is insistent on making it work.  We also heard that some people with allergies have a break-in period of a week or 2 where their immune systems take a bit of time to adapt to their doodle?  I have heard of so many dog allergic people who have had success incorporating doodles into their families.  Please let me know your thoughts.  Thanks in advance and so this was so long-winded!!!

[Tracey & Spike]

We have minor allergies here too. But no issues with Spike. Could it be that the breeder has other animals that would have come in contact with your prospective dood? Or even on the chairs you all sat on. The floor and such? Or maybe he's being kept on shavings and the allergies are coming from there? Maybe see about going back and visiting with your dood outside? Maybe the breeder would even be willing to bath him before you see him again? Just thoughts.

[Melissa Bissell]

Hi-

Yes, they use shavings for housebreaking at the breeders and we were sitting on the floor with Hugo.  Although we were not sitting in the shavings they were all over the place and Hugo was tracking them all over us - we were pretty covered with them by the time we left!

[Tracey & Spike]

That might have done it if your husband has allergies in that department as well. Mess and such sticks around on shavings and they drag it with them and onto you. Although if they had a shaving scented shampoo my mom would be all over it! The scent wore off of Spike around the two week mark

[Melissa Bissell]

yes, we did wonder about that - the shavings were quite abundant!  

[Julie and Max]

Being that you were in a house full of doodles both puppies and adults as well as a room where they were being groomed, it would be hard to tell what your husband was reacting to, that's a lot of dogs for anyone. I know that doodles are not always hypoallergenic and you're not really going to know until you get him home and then you won't REALLY know until he goes through his coat change later on. My daughter has pet allergies, both cats and dogs, of which I have both, and she has built up an immunity to ours (she doesn't live here) and even got her own cat, which she had some trouble with the first week or two but now is okay. She also got a somewhat hypoallergenic breed though no breed of pet is truly hypoallergenic. If you decide you're going to bring him home despite the reaction make sure that you clean up all excess hair and what not as much as possible. Keep the puppy well brushed this will help a lot. It's really only a decision you can make though, I wish you the best in deciding. 

[Melissa Bissell]

Thanks for your thoughts.  We have already decided to keep him.   But the breeder does give us 2 weeks with the puppy, after which if we feel my husband's allergies are too difficult to live with we can bring Hugo back to the breeder for full refund.  This is reassuring, although we really do not want to give him up!  The breeder also was great and kept checking in with my husband to see how he was doing.  I really appreciated her thoughtfulness.

[Melissa Bissell]

Also, you mentioned your own dog allergies.  How do you do with your doodle (allergy-wise)?

[Rose Coward]

Is it possible that you could consider a pup with the curly coat?  It's just a thought, the curly coat would indicate it leaned more to the poodle side and may be less allergy inducing.  It may improve the risk that in a year's time when his adult coat comes in your not looking to re-home Hugo. 

[Melissa Bissell]

He seems to be pretty curly.  That was one of our reasons for choosing him.  And his mom is very curly(that made us really happy!).  The breeder posts their photos weekly and you can really see the progression of the coats of the pups.  He has always shown some wave and you could tell at 4 weeks that he was one of the curlier coated pups in the litter, as he gets older in his photos his coat looks curlier and curlier.  I don't know how it will change as he gets older, but it definitely seems he will be on the curlier side right now.

[Leslie, Yogi & Maci Bear]

The puppy in the picture looks to be pretty curly..... It really would have been nice not to have so many possible causes of a reaction at once. I went to see Yogi in an area that had Many doodles. I felt just a tiny tingle of a an itch at the time, but so insignificant that we decided to get him. Personally, I have not had one single allergic reaction to him since he's been home with us, and that's with him sleeping and snuggling with me in bed.

I would been more concerned though if I have gotten hives. Good luck to your family

[Melissa Bissell]

Thanks for your thoughts.  That is reassuring.  We both felt that the environment was very allergenic, so we are hoping that it was more from that.  

[Leslie, Yogi & Maci Bear]

Can he go meet with your doodle again in a more neutral environment? Please keep in mind some people say the allergic reaction might even change when the adult coat comes in.