AHTs and Allergies - Our Experiences
When Corbyn (my daughter) was a toddler, we had a dog, Hans, that my husband rescued from the side of the road. He was a good dog, tolerating fingers in the eyes, nose, mouth, etc. Corbyn loved him. But with time, Corbyn's asthma became life threatening. She was on nebulizer treatments 4 times/day, constantly sick...not just with airway problems but with chronic sinus infections, ear infections, chronic cough, vomiting, etc. All in all, she was a sick kid and as a survivor of 2 strokes, she really couldn't afford to be so sick all of the time. Finally, after failing to gain weight over 2 yrs., allergy tests were done. Please note, we had asked the doctors about the possibility that allergies were causing all of Corbyn's illnesses...and they assured us that allergies were NOT to blame. Well, they were wrong. Following the allergy testing, we found the culprit...yes, she was allergic to dogs (not cats or horses, though...weird), pollens, molds, cockroach dust, dust mites, oak trees, grasses, etc. So, the doctor told us to get rid of our dog ASAP. My husband immediately drove the Hans to WI (from FL) to live with his aunt.
Removing the dog helped, but the dander and hair was long embedded in the carpeting, furniture, etc. So, we wound up moving to IN for my husband to attend Purdue (he has a MS in biology). Once we moved, Corbyn did great! After only 2 months, she didn't need the nebulizer treatments, she started to gain weight and was hardly ever sick! My husband and I are truly animal lovers... would love lots of dogs, cats, whatever (when we were in IN we had all sorts of salamanders, lizards, frogs, toads)...so we always felt bad about not being able to have a "real" pet. We still have 2 turtles and fish. But that's not the same as having a dog!!
As Corbyn got older, her allergies lessened. So, when I saw an article on hairless dogs in an animal magazine, I started looking into them. The American Hairless Terriers were the cutest (to us) and seemed like they'd fit best into our lives. But we weren't going to leave any breed out if it had potential to become part of our family. We did look into the Chinese Cresteds and the Xolos but Corbyn had reactions to both of those animals within 40 minutes of being with the dogs. Granted the reaction was less severe than her typical reaction. Her typical reaction to coated dogs consists of runny nose, sneezing, coughing, eyes watering, hives, eyes swelling, itching....her reaction to the hairless dogs was much more subtle but she did sneeze, rub her nose, and cough. So, we quickly eliminated those as options. I really didn't think we'd have better luck with the AHTs but figured after 1 month of research and tests...what did we have to lose??? And my son, Aaron, NEEDED a dog. All Aaron talked about was getting a REAL dog. So, we tried it (having an AHT)...and the rest is history.
Our family is very grateful to have found the AHT. Although we started with 1 AHT, we have surpassed that for sure!! Corbyn doesn't have any allergy issues with the AHT anymore! All of the dogs have different personalities but some things are consistent...they really LOVE all of us, they are active, fun, cuddlers...all the terrier things!!
Originally, we tried to keep Corbyn from touching the dog(s) too much...but it doesn't seem to matter. Now, Corbyn can really play with all of them, lay with them, pet them, whatever and the allergy isn't even an issue. CORBYN IS NOT ALLERGIC TO THESE DOGS AT ALL!!!! Needless to say, the kids are happy!!
I do want to mention that Corbyn DID have a very slight allergic reaction (stuffy nose) when SOME of the pups were young (under the age of 6 months). However, as the pups aged, the reaction disappeared. Our allergist and veterinarian explain that this way...
Most people are allergic to the enzymes found in the dog's dander, saliva, and urine. The enzymes for each breed are different (that's why some people are allergic to some breeds and not others...coated or not). Also, the cell turnover rate is different for each breed...some dogs have high rates of cell turnover which leads to an increase in dander (tends to cause more allergy problems)...other dogs have slower cell turnover rates (less likely to cause an allergy problem). To add to this, pups have different enzymes than "adult" dogs...these appear to cause more problems with the allergy sufferer than the enzymes produced by older dogs.
If you would like additional information on this, please feel free to email us.
Click here for our suggestions about doing allergy trials with the AHT...or any breed
Click here for other's experiences with the AHT and allergies
Click here to visit maps with locations of people/families willing to perform allergy trials
Allergy trial etiquette...a MUST read
