Allergies to Border Collies?

[Catg]

I have always wanted a Border Collie and I adopted one last weekend. She was 5 years old and a dream dog, seriously the sweetest animal I have ever had!!

Here is the problem though both my husband and myself were allergic to her. We had watery eyes and nose stuffiness. The allergies were not severe but we were afraid they might get worse so we had to return her to her owner. I have been around dogs all my life and my entire family owns dogs and I have never been allergic to one so I can't understand this. Are border collies dogs that alot of people are allergic to? I only had this dog two days and cried my eyes out when I had to return her. The owner thinks she also had some Great Pyrenees in her too. She also really smelled bad, just a really strong doggie odor.

So I am still in love with Border collies and would like to try another one that is maybe a full bred BC. Has anyone else out there experienced allergies to BC? Did they improve with time? Do BCs usually have a really strong doggie smell? I gave her a bath and brushed her really good while she was here. She did have quite a bit of dandruff before the bath.

Any advice you can give would be much appreciated. A BC has always been my dream dog but I just don't understand the allergy thing. Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[Tuxedodog]

I have a Great Pyr/GSD cross.  When we first got her she smelled awful. Bathing didn't take care of the smell for more than a couple days.  When the dogfood we were feeding got recalled, we switched brands a number of times because we apparently made bad choices as in more recalls.  We switched to Canindae and along with a fabulous coat, the awful doggy odor was gone.  Now that she is 14 she smells a little more than before, but that is because we don't bathe her as frequently due to issues with her being able to stand in the tub long enough to get washed.  Just suggesting a possible cause of the odor.

[jami74]

When we first got our boy as a puppy he stank. Absolutely reeked and bathing did not help. The smell wore off so I'm not sure if it was to do with where he had come from or food or what, it doesn't really matter now.

My daughters allergies seemed to worsen when we first got him and she worried that it might be him, after a bit of research we decided it probably wasn't him and she upped her allergy medication. Once the season changed her allergies cleared up so we are confident now that it wasn't him.

Could it be that this dog you had for a short while was not particularly clean and full of dust? Maybe you could have controlled your symptoms with some allergy tablets for a few days and once she'd got properly cleaned up and you'd got used to each other your snuffy nose would have got better.

5 hours ago, Catg said:

So I am still in love with Border collies and would like to try another one that is maybe a full bred BC.

It doesn't really seem fair to 'try another one' if it means another dog gets returned after a couple of days.

[Rigby]

I thought for years that was allergic to dogs, then I got allergy tested and I'm not! I. Allergic to lots of other things and stuff that can be in their coats like dust and pollen and even mold. I highly recommend an allergist if it's possible for you.

[GentleLake]

Welcome to the Boards.

I've never heard of allergies as being breed specific. I'm allergic to dogs and can attest to the fact that some dogs produce more allergens than others, but it's more an individual thing rather than being breed specific. Even so-called "hypoallergenic" are not completely. They still produce dander and in fact I've read that poodles are one of the breeds used to collect dander for allergy testing.

I'd agree that the culprit was most likely something the dog was carrying in her coat, especially if she smelled bad.

FWIW, my allergist told me that males generally produce fewer allergens than females do. Again, there are individual exceptions to the rule, but it might make sense to look for a female.

[D'Elle]

Did you bathe her? I would say that she needed a good bath (or three) if she smelled bad because no dog ought to smell bad and border collies are known for having "teflon coats" and being clean. My guess is that it was something she had on her coat rather than the dog. I one time broke out in hives after petting a Bouvier, and because I was only a teenager I avoided Boouviers from then on, thinking I was allergic to them. But since then I have touched several of them and had no effect, and I now realize that dog had probably just been treated with something on his coat, or rolled in something, or whatever, and my reaction was to that and not to the dog himself.

On the other hand, I would hesitate to recommend that you try another border collie under the circumstances, unless you can spend a lot of time with the dog first and make sure that you do not have any reaction. It's unfair to you and the dog to adopt another one only to have a repeat of such a hard thing. 

[Catg]

Thank you all for your advice and recommendations. I agree that it is weird we would be allergic to one breed. I am going to try and spend some time with different BCs before I consider adopting one again. It is not fair to the dog or us if it doesn't work.They are just such wonderful dogs. Thanks again for all your advice.