[nagdu] TSE now breeding poodles

[Steven Johnson]

Contrary to popular believe, poodles are not hypoallergenic.  This credible
scientific data is one of the primary reasons why Leader Dog no longer uses
poodles.  There are many similar studies out there, and I highly doubt that
a credible dog guide training program would overlook something like this.
Read on...

Asthma & Allergies

The Myth of the Hypoallergenic Dog

By Meredith Melnick @meredithcmJuly 08, 2011Add a Comment	




You may now file hypoallergenic dogs under Things That Are Too Good to Be
True. That's the conclusion of a new study by Henry Ford Hospital
researchers, which finds that homes with so-called hypoallergenic dogs don't
have lower household levels of allergens than those with other breeds.

Hypoallergenic dogs, which include purebreds like poodles and Portuguese
water dogs, along with increasingly popular mixed breeds like labradoodles
(the offspring of a Labrador retriever and a poodle), are thought to shed
less fur and to produce less of the stuff that triggers allergies, such as
dander and saliva. The price tag for these allergy-free pooches usually tops
$2,000, but the new study suggests your money may be misspent if you're
buying them in hopes of avoiding allergy attacks.

"We found no scientific basis to the claim hypoallergenic dogs have less
allergen," said Christine Cole Johnson, chair of Henry Ford Hospital's
department of public health sciences and senior author of the study, in a
statement.

LIST: Top 10 Evil Animals

Although some previous research has suggested that exposure to dogs during
infancy may help prevent children's development of allergies later, "the
idea that you can buy a certain breed of dog and think it will cause less
allergy problems for a person already dog-allergic is not borne out by our
study," Johnson said.

For the study, researchers collected dust samples from the carpets and
floors of baby's rooms in 173 homes one month after a newborn arrived home.
Each home had only one dog; 60 breeds were involved in the study, 11 of
which were hypoallergenic. Johnson and her team tested for the primary dog
allergen, Can f 1.

In comparing homes with dogs that were bred to be hypoallergenic to those
with other mixed-breed and purebred dogs, the researchers found no
significant difference in allergen levels among them. In fact, in homes
where parents said the dog was not allowed in the baby's room, allergen
levels from hypoallergenic breeds were actually slightly higher than from
non-hypoallergenic counterparts; perhaps parents were more apt to bend the
rules if they believed their dog was hypoallergenic.

MORE: Why You Shouldn't Snuggle with Your Pooch in Bed

Despite the study's findings, labradoodle-breeder Gail Widman says she has
seen many pet-allergic clients take her puppies home with good results.
Recently, a family who said their 10-year-old daughter was allergic to dogs
found that she had no reaction when exposed on four separate occasions to a
labradoodle; they happily went home with a puppy. Widman says another client
from Seattle, who had extreme dog allergies, also purchased a labradoodle
puppy; he broke out in welts whenever the puppy licked him, but said the dog
didn't trigger breathing problems like other breeds did. He later reported
to Widman that his allergic reactions to the dog decreased over time.

"It makes an extreme difference for people with allergies," says Widman,
founder and president of the Australian Labradoodle Club of America and
owner of the Whispering Winds kennel, where she breeds the dogs. In her
experience, Widman says, her breed produces less dander than other types of
dogs.

The Henry Ford study's authors acknowledge that their study had a few
limitations: it did not record how long dogs spent in babies' bedrooms, and
its sample size was too small to come to firm conclusions about specific
breeds.

MORE: Study: Living With Pets May Protect Infants From Allergies

But ultimately, early exposure to a pet - hypoallergenic or not - may not be
a bad thing, if as some studies suggest, exposure in infancy helps safeguard
some babies from future pet allergies. For adults who already have
full-blown allergies, though, relying on the hypoallergenic label may be no
guarantee.

Meredith Melnick is a reporter at TIME. Find her on Twitter at @MeredithCM.
You can also continue the discussion on TIME's Facebook page and on Twitter
at @TIME.








   

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Tracy Carcione
Sent: Thursday, April 24, 2014 7:45 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: [nagdu] TSE now breeding poodles

The Seeing Eye has added a couple poodles to their breeding colony.  They
will breed "a few for people with severe alergies."

Almost makes me with I had alergies; I love poodles.
Tracy


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