Why is my hypoallergenic dog making me sneeze? He’s supposed to HYPOALLERGENIC! That’s something I often heard working at the vet’s office. People think that a hypoallergenic dog is the answer to all of there problems, but remember what I addressed in The Hypoallergenic Dog – What’s the Real Scoop . Hypoallergenic dogs are not actually hypoallergenic. They are LESS allergenic.
Your Hypoallergenic Dog – It’s not Always About the Fur
The biggest selling point of a hypoallergenic dog is the fact that it doesn’t shed. While this is one contributing factor to dog allergies, it’s not the ONLY one. In fact, when you get down to it, it’s the least contributing factor. The thing about fur is not that it is, in itself, allergenic. It’s more what is on the fur that’s the problem.
The reason a shedding dog is so hard on your allergies is that it is covered in allergen causing elements. If that fur were squeaky clean, it would be nothing more than an irritating tickle. The problem is what gets on that fur. What causes your allergies to a dog is its saliva, urine, and skin cells. When a dog urinates, microscopic droplets can float in the air and get onto its fur. Dogs also clean themselves with their tongues. When a dog sheds, skin cells are shed along with it. So what you have with a dog that sheds is an allergen factory blowing urine, saliva, and skin covered hair out into the air. You then get those allergens into your eyes, nose, and mouth. That’s what makes a shedding dog so hard on allergies. Okay. Now that we know why shedding is so bad for allergies, let’s address the question: why is my hypoallergenic dog making me sneeze.
So Why is Your Hypoallergenic Dog Making You Sneeze
If your hypoallergenic dog is making you sneeze, it’s a combination of urine and saliva. That sounds extremely gross, but it’s not quite as disgusting as it sounds. It doesn’t take much to trigger a reaction in a person with dog allergies. Your dog isn’t soaked in urine and saliva. The amount of urine on its fur is negligible to anyone who doesn’t have allergies. It’s not even enough to stain. The saliva is the same way, unless you have a dog with allergies. That’s a topic for another time.
The biggest culprit is going to be its saliva. Your dog cleans itself by licking. It addresses an itchy spot on its body by licking and chewing. So it’s always getting saliva on its fur. If your dog is super loving and shows that love by licking you to death, it’s also getting its saliva all over you. The most common way that your hypoallergenic dog makes you sneeze is by licking your face. When it licks your face, you get saliva all over it – and in many cases – up your nose. Your nose is lined with a very sensitive mucous membrane that will immediately soak up all of that allergen causing love, and you’re off to the races. Sneezing is the most common problem associated with that. If you have severe dog allergies, you’re also going to get itchy, watery eyes as well.
How to Stop Your Hypoallergenic Dog From Making you Sneeze
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You’ll never totally stop it. It’s impossible. However, there are a few things you can do to mitigate the problem. The first step is to bathe your dog regularly. This address the problem of urine and saliva on the fur. Bathe your dog with a high quality aloe and oatmeal shampoo. I would recommend a good conditioner as well. This will help keep your pooch free of allergens and condition its skin which will cut down on flaking. Flaking is no good because that is an allergic trigger, as well.
In addition to bathing your dog, never let it lick you on the face. Also, NEVER let it lick around or IN your nose. Yes, I have seen that before at the vet. Many people think it’s cute. I think it’s gross. Whether you think it’s cute or gross, if you have allergies, you WILL suffer if you let your dog’s nose get around or into your nose.
It’s a simple as that, really. If you frequently ask, “Why is my hypoallergenic dog making me sneeze,” all you really need to do is bathe it and keep its tongue away from your eyes, nose, and mouth. That’s it. It couldn’t be simpler. If you do that, your sneezing will be drastically reduced, and you’ll be able to enjoy your dog’s affection instead of dreading the sneezing fit that usually comes with it.
Do you have any other questions about hypoallergenic dogs that you’d like us to answer? Tell us in the comments!
