I'm a dog person?

[realexplodingcat]

My brother and I accumulated quite a menagerie of pets over the years. We had it all. Cats, birds, snakes, turtles, lizards, hamsters, insects, mudskippers, piranha, and countless other fish. But we never had a dog. Both of us had asthma inducing allergies. Cats used to do that too, but somehow the right cat at the right time showed up and didn't trouble us. That cat is now 20 years old and still with my parents. Consequently, I grew up into a cat person.

I never understood dog people. Due to my allergy, I had limited exposure to dogs. All I saw was the fuzzy ball of bodily functions that barked viciously every time I passed one. I grew up with a slight fear of dogs, quite convinced that their behavior was consistently aggressive and not really understanding that it's in the nature of most dogs to bark at the arrival of people and, if permitted, to chase them down for an eager greeting of smells and/or licks. I always assumed it would be bites, but I rarely stuck around long enough to find out.

No matter how much I tried to avoid dogs, all the good people had them. Friends and family I couldn't (and often did not want to) avoid introduced me to many dogs, from toy poodles to labradors to shitzus to scotties to giant german shepards and the list goes on. My allergy problems were mixed. I noticed certain dogs didn't bother me as much (the toy poodle and the german shepard) while others yielded consistently terrible problems (black labradors and golden retrievers) and the rest I never spent enough time with to figure out. So, maybe I'm not allergic to all of them? But I figured it would be safer not to bother experimenting.

However, the wife has been working on me. Weaving her will into the fabric of my being. She needs a dog. The walls started crumbling when I met Jazz, redzshadow's delightful chihuahua. The walls collapsed completely when krasota and I brought home a black standard poodle named Jericho. He's still a fuzzy ball of bodily functions, but I've finally realized how dogs can be so much more. It hit me like a ton of bricks. A dogs unbounded potential for joy and carefree optimism serves as a daily reminder to us all to focus on what is truly important in life--living each moment to the fullest. The message is compounded by the fact that the average dog doesn't live very long, compared to a human. That brevity encourages us to squeeze out as much of that joy as possible in our time together.

So far, so good. Jericho is already the best dog I've ever known. I think he may spoil me for any future canine companions. However, the verdict is still out on my allergies. I've spent a lot of time around him. Much of the time was compromised by the presence of Scotties, to which I am allergic. So, now that I'm back in my dog free house (with a new dog), I need to wait and see how things go. I'm hoping for minimal problems. How can I be a dog person otherwise?

(To any cats reading this, I'm still a cat person, too. You are vicious little creatures and that is exactly why I like you.)

Comments

[98.livejournal.com]

I most sincerely wish you joy of your pup.

As for the allergies, I have heard that those breeds whose fur resembles hair (including poodles and Bouviers) are much less allergenic than the rest. On the other hand a highly allergic friend and his allergist say this is bullshit. On the gripping hand another friend highly allergic to cats believes the soothing effects of stroking his cat on his lap outweigh the inconvenience of allergy shots.

[explodingcat.livejournal.com]

I'm inclined to believe that some breeds are less allergenic than others. In my own experience, I definitely have different reactions to different breeds. However, it is possible that my sensitivity to dogs has waxed and waned over the years and enough coincidental encounters with so-called non-allergenic breeds during allergy down times has led to my conclusion. Hard to say. However, I think I may pursue allergy shots, just in case. I have not been entirely symptom-free with the new poodle, but thankfully thus far it has been very mild.

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

With the "labradoodles" (I squirm at that name) the guide dog people breed, because they make great guide dogs, some end up hypoallergenic like poodles and some end up more allergenic like labs. I'm pretty sure they're tested somehow, as that's what tikva specifically got, so that her allergic partner could stay at her house.

[explodingcat.livejournal.com]

I always figured that my experience with labradoodles would be like playing russian roulette. Surely some of them must end up with the lab's potential for allergens.