Hi thank you so much for getting back to me, I’m just trying to get as much advice on this as possible, to be honest I am super anxious about taking a pup on without the worry of possibly being allergic to it. We are mainly doing this for our 15 year old daughter who struggles massively with anxiety as a kind of therapy dog .Welcome, Nik! My husband is allergic to most dogs, I'm allergic to some dogs, and neither of us is allergic to our spoo Peggy.
That said, it's impossible to know with any sort of certainty how you'll react. You may be allergic to your puppy, but find your reaction diminishes as he or she matures. Or it could happen the other way, where you don't show any reaction at first, but develop symptoms with prolonged exposure or as your puppy reaches adulthood.
Some of our members have had luck with air purifiers. Regular bathing and grooming can also help, as can keeping your bedroom off limits. But with no guarantees, you'll want to go into it with a plan for how to proceed if your reaction proves intolerable.
Have you spent time with poodles, giving them lots of good scratches, getting a lick or two, etc?
Thank you so much for your advice really appreciate it , also can you advise on how difficult it is to train a poodle puppy? We are looking at a miniature pure bred red poodle .. many thanksI have allergies too - but not to poodles. But that doesn't mean that you will be safe with a poodle.
As PeggyTheParti mentions it's important to get up close and personal with as many poodles as you can to see if you react.
Poodles come in three sizes - the smaller the poodle, the less allergens produced - so you might be fine with a toy poodle, but not a standard.
Good morningI’m allergic to anything with fur and my allergies trigger asthma, from very severe to mild depending on the animal. I am allergic to my toy poodles (I have two). I get skin reaction, itchy eyes, sneezing, runny nose and asthma.
With my toy poodle allergies,the asthma is under control, except in winter when all windows are closed. Which is why I’m having an air exchanger installed. I have no carpets. My dogs don’t go upstairs where I sleep. I also bought a commercial air purifier recently.
Knowing if you’ll have any allergies and how severe they will be is impossible before getting the dog. Which is why I always make sure I can have a trial period for 2-3 weeks and return the dog to the breeder if need be. It’s very hard to do, but easier than rehoming a dog after a year or two. In my case, it takes 2-3 weeks to know if I can tolerate a dog or not. When the new dog comes in the house, I usually have symptoms within a day or two and then it either stays the same or diminishes or it increases as the days go by.
So yes, it can be done, as long as you have a good plan. My pulmonary problems due to allergies are moderate to severe, so maybe it will be a lot easier for you.
I wish you the best.
Thank you so much for your reply , my daughter wants this more than anything in the world and I know would love it but we have no clue on how difficult it is to train a pup or even how long it takes , Ive been speaking to many people about this to try and get as much advice as possible. Also does your poodle have a good temperament, as not sure if the colour affects this? Was it difficult to train ?I have a mini pure breed red poodle who's 11+ months old. Poodles are smart, but they're still dogs. Some are more difficult to work with than others. (That's true for children too but we seldom admit it.)
Since your daughter's 15 and the dog is for her, perhaps she could do some of the poodle research. Would she enjoy training a dog? Does she have the patience to house-train her puppy?
How motivated is she?
There are several good puppy threads here. I've learned a lot. Why don't you encourage your daughter to join our forum? We have other young members; she might enjoy talking with them.
That’s a good start. But remember, even within the same breed and/or litter, you can react differently to different individuals. But that should give you an idea. In my case, spending a few hours with a dog would not be an accurate test. Everyone is different.I am going to see if I can find someone locally who has a poodle to see if I can spend time with it and see how I react , I’m also going to contact the breeder of the pups we are going to see to see if she would let me visit a few times before definitely taking one on, I think that’s an excellent idea about having the pup on a trial period and I will ask the breeder about this too ,
Color is not an indicator of temperament. The parent’s temperament and the quality of the breeder are what matters (social environment and stimulation). My apricot poodle has a poor temperament, he has generalized anxiety and agoraphobia. In his case he was probably born this way and the environment wasn’t appropriate to help with his development.Also with your pure bred red pup did you find the pup easy to train and do they have a good temperament? We have never owned a dog before so very anxious about everything. Lol