allergic to dog?

[mutleynhollywood]

Hello.
I have 3 dogs and 1 cat. Now the cat n oldest dog are both 12- cat (Solomon) is a regular domestic shorthair and the dog (Tyson) is a chow chow collie mix with lots of thick fluffy hair.
Recently I bought a bichon silky terrier mix (Chanel aka hollywood- 10mths) and rescued a pitbull boxer mix (Zion aka mutley - 6mths).
Here is my dillema... when I handle Zion (or anyone for that matter) we get little bumps and or welts on the area that touched him and itch like crazy. The only difference in my furry bunch is that Chanel, Tyson and Solomon all have soft hair.

Has anyone else ever experienced this? I am bathin Zion 2xs a month (he is sucha trooper) and he is already at 30lbs. siigh The vet told me he is perfect and that it could be allergies that I have. huh? Handling him sends everyone to the bathroom to WASH that area with antibiotic soap. I love the spacey little bugger and want him to be the new watch dog once Tyson goes to puppy heaven as he has several medical conditions and the vet gave his life expectancy anywhere from 1 to 2 years at this point.

please.. any suggestions?? No one has this reaction to the cat or other 2 dogs and I so dont want to part with Zion.

thanks!

[Todd]

Hi there and thanks for the post.

I know that a lot of people can have skin reactions to dogs like Shar pei's. I don't know if Chows have the same problem but this may be the cause of this problem. I think it is more likely to be a some characteristic of the coat that is causing you to react not something on the coat.

If you are worried you may want to ask a doctor or skin specialist if they have ever had anything like this before.

Good luck but for the mean time it may have to be the antibacterial soap

Todd

[Luv_my_Pitbull]

I have a pitbull (american-blue-Alice) and I have also had a chow-chow and a bichon-frise/pitbull mix, the last two are both soft-haired. I have to say I personally didn't have any skin problems between the three. Alice has sensitive skin herself, which is common among pits, so i have to watch what I bathe her in. You may need to change what you bathe Zion with and hopefully this will help. I use and Oatmeal/Aloe Vera shampoo and this seems to help. I know my advice is more for the dog than you but you never know i guess. Also, because she is so sensitive I give her baths once a week. This is to keep her from scratching herself to the point of breaking skin and causing bleeding. It may be that Zion doesn't get bathed enough and so he is producing some sort of irritant that gets passed on to you guys when you pet/play. I hope this helps, keep us posted!

[KOPcaroline]

Hi there,

You said you bath Zion regularly, is that with a flea treatment or just a shampoo? Have you checked him for fleas or other bugs - mites, etc? Just a thought.

It could just be the rough coat irritating your skin. Look into dermatological washes and soaps for you and your family to use, and as suggested, you can ask your family doctor what they think. I'm sure if you are extremely worried you could try some allergen testing to see if its something specific to Zion (dander, saliva, etc) that is setting everyone off. I'd think allergies would be lower on the list since everyone in your family is only affected by Zion. Your vet might have more specialized shampoos they could order in for Zions baths too.