Trying to make him happy

My son is desperate for a dog as you are all aware he is a chronic severe allergic asthmatic.... I seem to say no to him for everything..... Today he asked for the first time that he feels like he could go to school, the health care advisors have said that it would be better if he stayed off for another week as he is back to the hospital on Monday and there are a few bugs going around the school...(He has already been off 5 weeks)... He then says can I play outside.... no John you have to stay its too cold and the cold makes him worse..... He then talks to someone at school who has allergic tendencies who has just got a dog...(this is johns life long dream)... Mam can I have a dog... no John you cant..... Why cant I he asks.... so then we surf the net to find that there are dogs which are fine for allergy sufferers... Bichon Frise or Poodles which is going to set me back £600, all being well if John can tolerate it... but how do we know until we have purchased the dog, then what do we do if it all goes wrong... would love your views.... just want John to be happy and healthy....

Love Beverley xxxxxx

[yaf_user681_28534]

Has he been tested for allergies? I was told off by both my GP and my consultant for refusing to get rid of my dog or stop working at an animal sanctuary, until both blood tests and skin tests came back negative for dog allergy. If he has not been tested, could you ask about allergy testing as it would probably be the safer (and cheaper!) way to find out if he is allergic.

Do you/he have any friends with dogs who you could visit to see what effect the dog has on him?

If you do decide to get a dog, rescue centres are a lot cheaper than buying from a breeder and you know that you are giving a dog a second chance. There are breed specific rescue organisations who specialise in rehoming certain breeds. such as labradoodles or lhasa apsos. Most rescue organisations have a condition of adopting from them that if can no longer look after the dog they take the dog back, which would mean you had the option of sending the dog back to the centre if your son had problems with it.

Hope this helps. PM me if you want to talk.

[yaf_user681_26677]

Hi Bev,

Like John, Emily is allergic to dogs. She had RAST tests and skin prick tests done which were positive for dog....not breed specific though !!

We had a Cocker Spaniel for 9 years before Em developed the allergy and then we had to part with him. It was heartbreaking and she has never got over this and would love another.

Like you we thought about a Bichon Frise or a Yorkshire Terrrier.....apparently they have hair like ours. My heart says one thing but my head says something else. Not sure how her cons would react either. We always get asked the usual questions whenever we have a new one....do you have carpets ? Does anyone smoke ? and Do you have any pets ? Can just see their faces if i tell them we just bought a puppy even if it is allergy friendly !!!! Just not sure what to do. If you find anything out, please let me know.

Talk to you soon.

Cathy xxx

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Hi Beverly, I can really sympathise with your situation. I found myself in a similar situation. Jayden and my youngest daughter have both been asking for a dog, Jayden more so since he has been spending alot more time at home due his asthma. He has also proved allergic to dogs on skin prick tests (although only mildly) but I have said a firm no as his asthma has been pretty uncontrolled this winter and I don't think throwing a puppy into the mix will go down too well with hospital. We have had at every admission the classic question 'has anything changed at home, have you any new pets?' Not sure how they would react to 'Oh yes, we just bought a dog, but I am sure that has nothing to do with it!'

HOWEVER....

My friend felt really sorry for her daughter who has multiple allergies and spends 90% of her time indoors. She is a wheelchair user and rarely gets to play outside. She finally gave in to her (she is 6) as she has a bit of a hard time and doesn't get many treats (she is tube fed so not even nice munchy treats.) She did loads of research and also found out that bichon frise, lhasa apso and shi tzu are supposedly allergy friendly dogs as they have human type hair (keeps growing and they don't malt.) She found a cross breed of lhasa apso and shi tzu and took the chance and bought it. Usually her little girls eyes start to stream withing seconds of being near a dog and she wheezes and coughs. She has had the pup now for 9 months and has not noticed any decline in her daughters health. Unfortunately this has given Jayden an argument to keep on at me to get a dog.

I am sure if I discuss it with cons it will be big no no, but at least Jayden will see that I have tried.

Hope you can come to some arrangement. If you do decide to go ahead and give it a try have a look on gumtree.com there are occasionally some reasonably priced pups on there. ie Yorkshire Terriers for around £300.00 not great I know but in an affordable price range and a price you can recoup if it doesn't work out. I must admit I have never seen anyone wanting to rehome this type of dog due to allergy, and there alot of people on there rehoming for this reason.

Hope this helps.

[yaf_user681_28534]

Bumped for weingum