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Nov. 12, 2008 -- Hypoallergenic dogs have gotten a lot of buzz lately as the Obama family searches for a dog to bring with them to the White House -- without triggering dog allergies in older Obama daughter, Malia.
A quick glance at the Internet shows lots of web sites devoted to "hypoallergenic dogs" and "hypoallergenic dog breeds." But no dog may be free of potential allergens, cautions allergy and asthma expert Corinna Bowser, MD, of Havertown, Pa.
WebMD talked with Bowser about hypoallergenic dogs and dog allergies -- and what the Obamas might consider to help avoid triggering Malia's dog allergy.
"I don't think there is such a thing as a hypoallergenic dog," Bowser tells WebMD.
She explains that the major allergen in dogs is a protein found in dog serum, and dogs excrete that allergen in sweat and shed it from their skin. "It also gets secreted into the saliva, and possibly a little bit in the urine," Bowser says.
Since all dogs have that protein, no dog is completely allergy-free, according to Bowser.
Bowser says she didn't find much evidence in medical literature about dog breeds being better or worse for allergies.
But she did find a German study, published this year, that tracked allergies among people exposed to various dog breeds. "They said factors related to individual dogs seem to influence the allergenicity more than breed or gender, which I thought was interesting," says Bowser.
In other words, it was a dog-by-dog issue more than a breed-by-breed issue in that particular study, which Bowser says is the only one she found that involved specialized allergy tests.
"The size of dog could matter in terms of the overall amount of allergen," with smaller dogs contributing less allergen, says Bowser.
"Hair length could have something to do with how it spreads in the house," Bowser says. She explains that shorter dog hairs may not stick as much as long hair to furniture, clothes, and other surfaces, "so maybe the allergen does not stick as much, but the amount of allergen should be the same."
Bowser has no ties to the Obamas, but she says that "if this was my patient ... I would say it's probably better not to get a dog."
"Of course, now he made the promise and he kind of has to," she says. So Bowser recommends doing two things before bringing a puppy home: Dog-sit and see how Malia's allergies fare, and set some rules about how they'll handle any allergy issues.
"What we tell our patients is draw an imaginary line in the sand. If the child has an ER visit for asthma or needs significantly more medication, or whatever you want to determine as the line, that's when the dog has to go. And set these rules ahead of time, because then everybody knows that's when the dog has to go," Bowser says.