Can anyone recommend a good hypoallergenic pup for cats & chickens?

[Run-A-Muck Ranch]

I am not possitive but I thought I heard once that the Bichons (sp??) are suppose to be hypoallergenic....

 

[georgialee]

Maltese don't shed b/c the don't have an undercoat so they're hypoallergenic. I have one and they are very sweet dogs. Also, have you thought about a deerhound or wolfhound? They have wire-y hair so the don't shed nearly as much as other breeds. Plus, the original breed was meant to hunt down MUCH bigger animals than chickens... I don't think they would hurt a small animal with proper training. My wolfhound doesn't even run after squirrels or cats when we walk him (and he is NOT trained, lol!).

 

[Khyree]

oooh! i hadn't even thought that the deer hound or wolf hound was an option.

we (meaning i) aren't so much into the smaller breeds, although i do like them. my grandmother has had 2 maltese and 1 chinese crested. very sweet dogs... they don't attack the chickens or rabbits because the chickens are practially bigger than they are ;p. i will look into the spinone! he has been around many dogs. it's mainly the saliva that really bothers him... the dander/fur getting into his eyes isn't so cool either, but unless they are rough housing (which they usually are) he doesn't react very much. Thanks for the advice. i have gone to google and dog breed info and several other websites but as i grew up in a very rescue/pound puppy household without ANY allergies i'm still getting used to all this.

 

[kycklingmamma]

Khyree,
I got to ask you where do you find the lagotto romagnolo dog. I love those but it is so hard/impossible to find them here in the states. I am from Sweden and they are very popular dogs there. I just got a Basenji and they are also considered hypoallergenic. They do shed but minimal and they have minimal amounts of dander, as far as chicken friendly, mine is doing OK, but I imagine without guidance any dog/puppy would do Ok. You have to be the packleader if you know what I mean.

Kycklingmamma

 

[Goat_Walker]

We have schnauzers

They are hypoallergenic as well as great with my ducks. Im not sure about cats, as i have never had one, but the only problem ive even had with the dogs and ducks is when drake tries to mount my less then a year old pup

 

[kycklingmamma]

Funny post and probably a sight to be seen.

Quote:
Kycklingmamma

 

[what eggs]

For our allergic son saliva and dander set him off so this routine seems to help: dog not allowed on any furniture (but has his own dog beds in the house), not in the child's room at night, small hepa air filter in child's room for days when the dog may be in there, a large hepa filter in the living room to use when we do any "deep cleaning" of the house stirring things up. A bath for the dog every 2wks, clipping every few months, allerpet put on after a bath and spritzed on in between baths, dog taught not to lick people. Vacuuming more than we did previously and with the bags that made for allergens has helped quite a bit with the cleaning day sniffles.

Being a large, clumsy lot a small underfoot dog was not a choice in our minds. We looked at the soft coated wheaten terrier-kind of hyper, boxy body, long hair needing to be clipped an from what we read originally bred to be farm dogs / good with livestock. We also looked at standard poodles since we had one as a pet previously and knew they were smart, energetic and quick to adapt to new rules/situations/tasks. We ended up with a re-homed 1yo standard poodle with issues about being left alone, those are resolved and now he is a great dog with the children and the chickens. He chases off the squirrels and blue jays when they go after the girls scratch, herds the girls out of the vege garden back into the free range area when they sneak in and has an absolute *I think not* bark for the hawks that fly by for a look now and then. My spouse thinks he is a genius for knowing the difference of who to chase/who to protect but I think he understood my simple whisper of "dirt nap" when he first met the chickens.

I do think it is prudent to research the purpose of a breed and would tend to avoid ones with a strong prey drive/instinct to begin a search. I understand the search for the type of dog "less likely to trigger an allergic reaction" and many of those are usually not farm dog choices. I also believe that some dogs are enigmas within their breed (?genetics/environment/training) and you might find the one that will work for you that is usually ruled out for being around small farm animals.

 

[hoppy]

Quote:
I have schnauzers too, they are great with cats but not for vermin.
they are better mousers then my cats. schnauzers come in 3 sizes, mini, standard and giant. standard is about female boxer sizer and the giants are bigger then a lab should be. schna. can be stubborn and don't listen (minis). if you want a mix, a some of the doodle dogs don't shed. I can't believe I just recommended one of the designer mutts

port. waterdogs are also very good but they need a job.

 

[Backyard Farm]

you might consider coton de tulear. definitely hypoallergic. non-shedding.

good natured, relatively healthy as a breed. not a "birdy" breed.
coats can easily be kept long or short. even long.. only takes about 20min per week to groom. ..not a like bichon. good with kids.

 

[Khyree]

The lagotto is actually sold about an hour and 1/2 north of me. There is a breeder in Ferndale. Montagna del Mare
I've also seen ads for CT and AZ on the dog breed info center
http://www.breederinfocenter.com/index.php?c=Lagotto+Romagnolo

would you recommend them for chickens, and cats? so far the only negative that i have heard about them is that they LOVE to dig... rather like a beagle in that respect. and that they have to be exercised mentally to stay out of trouble... i'd much rather my dog be smart and trainable than otherwise.


i looked at the coton but it is still a rather small dog for us.

it does have a cool fluff coat! more like a cloud.

however we could always change our minds later

schnauzers are still on our list of probables as well. my hubby likes them but the websites keep talking about dominance issues. don't get me wrong i've had dogs and can run a pack just fine but was a bit leery of breeds were that warning was repeated several times. (once again not a breed that i have personal experience with so just doing the computer based research first)

thanks for the allerpet tip! we always washed our dogs every couple/few weeks growing up simply because my mother didn't like dogs and it was the family compromise. i will have to look for the after spritz though. lol and i will most certainly have the 'dirt nap' talk with the pup no matter what breed it is.