Dog Allergy

As a person who had raised pets all my life, I've often been asked what I think about dog allergy. Well, maybe 40 years ago I would have considered this allergy a bad joke, and not only in dogs or other pets, but in humans as well. I never believed allergies were real, and I suspected all people who claimed to be allergic of hypocrisy.

Is Dog Allergy For Real?

Lately, especially since I've been diagnosed myself with various degrees of allergy (from mild to severe) to pollen, dust, and several foods, I started to pay more attention to allergen substances that surround us in all seasons, and particularly in spring, and I've noticed that allergy is not the exclusive privilege of mankind, but dogs can suffer from allergic reactions also.

For instance, Timmy, my dear Scottish Terrier, used to get teary eyes and running nose each time we went to play in the park during spring. In the same time, he seemed to be scratching more often than usual, so I accused a skin disease. The dermatological tests our vet recommended did not show any ailment, however, he manifested the same symptoms after every walk. Then a friend of mine told me about the possibility of dog allergy, which I vehemently denied in the beginning. How could a dog be allergic?

How Can Dog Allergy Be Diagnosed

Intrigued by my friend's words, I asked my allergy specialist and he told me that yes, it is also possible for a dog to develop an allergy. He recommended me to bring in Timmy to get him tested for the most known allergens.
The allergy tests for dogs can be done in the same way they are done on people: either by taking a blood sample and make it react with various substances, or by intradermal skin testing.
As my dog was very young, I feared letting him get injected all those things under his skin, so I decided for letting the doctor take some blood and get it analyzed.

To make a long story short, it came out that my little dog was allergic to birch pollen. As avoidance of the allergen is many times the best treatment, I never brought Timmy into the park during the spring days and his dog allergy symptoms almost disappeared.