Hypoallergenic Dog Breeds
As we all know, dogs are some of the best bets there are (if not the best ones). Every child wants a little puppy he or she can play with.
However, before buying a child a puppy, parents should make sure that the child is really interested in it. Often, once the puppy grows and is not as cute anymore, or when responsibilities such as feeding it, walking it and taking care of it arise, the child loses interest in the puppy.
Therefore, it’s a good thing to make the child assume some responsibilities before buying him or her a puppy. Some of these might be good grades, helping consistently around the house without having to be reminded, extra chores to the ones he or she’s normally assigned, keeping a plant alive for 1 month, etc. If a child can keep any of these responsibilities, it’ll be more likely for him or her to keep up the responsibilities of having a puppy.
On the other hand, parents have to keep up with their responsibilities as well. One of them includes making sure that the puppy they buy is safe for their children. Remember that puppies grow much faster than children, so a small puppy of a large breed will eventually outgrow your child if he or she is too young.
Also, a lot of children have allergies. If that’s the case, you might want to consider hypoallergenic dog breeds, in order to reduce health hazards and problems. Even president Barack Obama said he was in favor of hypoallergenic dog breeds for his daughters as one of them is allergic to dogs.
Hypoallergenic dog breeds are breeds of dogs that are meant to be safer for allergic people. However, it’s not as simple as that. Both the hypoallergenic dog breeds and the persons have to be “compatible.” This means that a person might react favorably to some types of hypoallergenic dog breeds and react badly to others. It also means that some hypoallergenic dog breeds will not cause allergies on some people, but will in others.
In general, veterinarians claim that there aren’t really any hypoallergenic dog breeds, but allergic individuals who react normally to a few dog breeds, and which might not have the same effect on other allergic individuals. On the other hand, dog breeders claim the true existence of hypoallergenic dog breeds.
Of course, both groups could be only speaking for their own interests. In my opinion, the answer is to leave up to every parent to decide what to do.