Getting a dog + Allergies

I am also someone who considered herself allergic to dogs for many years, starting from childhood. My aunt's pit bulls would slobber all over me and I'd immediately swell up and get welts where their saliva had touched me. BUT! I eventually as a 40 year old, after spending a bit more time around dogs here and there, realized I am NOT allergic to all dogs. I can't be around slobbery ones (goldens, labs, pits) and the really short hair ones (pits, chihuahuas) because their skin and saliva causes a reaction in me. I can be around wire hair dogs and the really great news is we adopted a dog in 2020 after I haunted Petfinder for months looking for one that seemed to have the right type of fur for me. I get a reaction from him once in a blue moon, and usually if it's something like I've been rubbing his tummy and then I touch my face. Our dog is a total mutt but the DNA test showed 1/3 wirehair daschund - the point being, you can tell from photos if a dog is scruffy, and that kind of dog is ok for my allergies! Hopefully yours too! His shelter referred to him as a "low shedder" but it still is a fair bit of hair around, and we don't allow him to sleep on my bed. Poodles and maltese are supposed to be relatively hypoallergenic too.

All that said, I would highly recommend that if you are single mom of a 4 year old, to put off dog ownership for a few years. It was a huge learning curve for me and my husband, and our kids were 9/almost 10 and 12 at the time. The 12 year old was moderately helpful with dog walking. The 10 year old actively undid our training attempts and to this day, has not walked the dog more than 10 times in her life. Neither of them is proactive about things like cleaning the dog's butt, trimming nails, cleaning up vomit, etc. There is a reason why shelters recommend adopting households not have kids younger than 10 or 12! It's a lot of work, and sounds like it would all fall to you. If you could dogsit a friend's dog for a day once in a while, that might be a great way to scratch the itch for now.

My family has a mini-poodle - they are while no dog is 100% hypoallergenic poodles are definitely well suited for the allergy sufferer. I'm allergic as is my FIL (it triggers asthma and itchy eyes for me), and we have no issues having her in the house/bed/snuggling/all the love. Other options are Yorkshire Terriers, Bichon Frise, Maltese, and Schnauzers. We love our mini poodle, highly intelligent, wants to please, food motivated for training and is just all around the sweetest most loving animal I've ever had the pleasure of owning. I would recommend doing your research on some of these breeds - training needs, grooming needs etc., before making your final choice, but I highly recommend the mini-poodle.

Ours is 14 lbs, we brush her about 1-2 times a week, take her to the groomer every 8 weeks (sometimes we go a bit longer in the winter when it's a bit chillier), she loves going for walks and hiking - don't let her small size deter you from your runs/hikes...she'll go forever (poodles are sporting dogs). Feel free to ask me any more questions! 

We have a similar situation for a cat and dog. Tricks that help us: No pets allowed on the furniture. No pets allowed in the bedrooms. Wood floors. Robot vacuum runs daily. Minimal soft furnishings like pillows, rugs and curtains in the areas where we allow pets. Dog was taught not to lick. Pet beds are thick canvas instead of soft fluffy dander/fur holding materials. 

It's made it so no one needs allergy meds, but it does require being quite strict and often having baby gates for bedrooms that kids forget to close the door for. 

Four of the five members of our family are very allergic to dogs and even more allergic to cats. After much research and experimentation, we eventually decided to get a mini-poodle. There is no completely hypoallergenic breed, and we found that we were fairly allergic to some breeds that were touted by some as being hypoallergenic (like lhasa apsos and schnauzers), but you'd need to see if this is true for you. Two of us still take allergy medicine most nights, and we don't allow our dog to sleep in our beds, but it's mostly fine. Interestingly, size matters - bigger dogs produce more allergens! And non-shedding breeds are better than any that shed (it's great not to have dog hair floating around in any case). Good luck! We've been very happy with our choice and love having a dog in the family.

A good friend of mine did a lot of research and got an Australian labradoodle.Make sure they are a legitimate breeder and they have the right paperwork.He drove to somewhere near Sacramento to get the dog.She is a wonderful dog and he has had no problems with his allergies.

Googling "hypoallergenic dog" is helpful.  Some sites also say female dogs are less allergenic due to something about the dander.  Of course a little dog has less skin.  I am allergic and never got a dog until recently.  I am very allergic to German Shepherds (my office mate had one).  We adopted a 13 pound Jack Russell Terrier mixed breed female dog.  I am allergic to her.  I run an air cleaner and take Allegra.  The best days for getting uninterrupted sleep are the days when she has just been washed and I have just washed my bed sheets.  She has been great and my kids love her.  What the other posters are saying is true, poodles, labradoodles, maltese and some other breeds are considered hypoallergenic.  She is a lot of work.  But as I said, the internet has a ton of information about dogs.