[Stephen Whitley]

Would you do it or is it unethical/wrong/detrimental to the breed? Would you continue to train the dog or seek another prospect?

 

[Rainmaker]

I don't want another allergy (skin) dog, royal PITA, though my worst one was a mixed breed. I don't know about the inheritance factor, I don't think it is usually a simple inheritance and can just "pop up". I just don't feel comfortable breeding a dog with real, confirmed, chronic allergies that affect daily living, whether it be a special diet or the need for medication. I would not personally breed one and I would hope stud owners are honest enough when I ask them about such things.

 

[JusticeDog]

I wouldn't breed an allergy dog. But there is nothing wrong with training one....

 

[Slowyota]

I currently have an allergy dog (skin) and I would never breed him. It's a PITA to deal with and wouldn't want to pass that on to another dog/owner.

 

[Stephen Whitley]

I currently have an allergy dog (skin) and I would never breed him. It's a PITA to deal with and wouldn't want to pass that on to another dog/owner.

Is your dog's skin allergy a year round thing?

 

[suepuff]

I have had a dog with severe food and environmental allergies. It IS heritable. I let her go through a heat, then spayed her. She was a wonderful performance dog. I wouldn't wish a dog with severe allergies on anyone...it's frustrating and until you figure out how to manage it...can be miserable for the dog.

Sue Puff

 

[Todd Caswell]

Do we really know if allergies are hereditary?

 

[Angie B]

I would and have in a heart beat... I guess I've just had good results. That being said the allergies were seasonal and not severe. If I had a dog with severe allergies I doubt I would breed it. Also you have to look at siblings, parents, grand parents and cousins to see if there was any issue.

Know your pedigree's,, Know your pedigree's, and Know your pedigree's...

Angie

 

[Brad]

I had an accidental breeding with one with allergies and the other without. One of my neigbors has a pup (now 2 years old) and apears to have allergies, last time I saw it it had real bad flakey skin. I dont know if its realated or not but seems to look alot like allergies to me. I havent heard back from them to see if they had a vet check yet

 

[Montview]

I agree- having one dog with severe allergies (environmental mostly), I wouldn't wish that on anyone. It is miserable for dog, miserable for owner, expensive ($$$) and overall just plain frustrating for both dog and owner as well....usually for the life of the dog.

Yes, they do know that many allergies are heritable.

From one study (quoted on a number of websites of different companies who do canine allergy testing), simplified:

• If neither parent is allergic, the chance of developing allergies in offspring is about 15%.
• If one parent is allergic, the risk increases to 30%.
• If both parents are allergic, the risk is greater than 60%.

NOTHING wrong with training/competing with an allergy dog, but I don't think it is ethical to breed one... after all, of an entire litter, how many will be going to other homes? Those people may ALL end up dealing with the results of a breeding like this. I wish more folks would be up front about allergies when breeding their bitches or offering their dogs at stud, though. Usually, allergies show up in dogs between 2-4 years of age, though... and often this is *after* they have had or sired their first litter(s), so there are some cases where it is understandable.

 

[Rainmaker]

Do we really know if allergies are hereditary?

I think, like lots of other things, they can be, but I don't think it is quite as simple as clear/carrier/affected like EIC or CNM, and sometimes, it just "shows up". Lots of mixed breeds have terrible allergies. My worst allergy dog (Lab) had at least two siblings with pretty nasty seasonal skin allergies. She was never bred, she had other physical issues, like both CCLs repaired before 2.

 

[GoldenSail]

While I have never bred a litter...I say it would depend on the severity of the allergies, the type of allergies, as well as factoring any good qualities the dog has to offer. Not a black and white issue like some things (i.e. temperament for me).

 

[frontier]

My show/field chocolate female only had a summer ear infection yearly as a younger dog. She has so many other nice qualities, and I had a waiting list for puppies, so I bred her. She had six females. Out of six puppies, 2 developed skin allergies (one of them the pick female I kept). That was enough for me to spay the dam, and retire her from breeding. She has now since developed severe allergies as she has grown older.

Possibly, a different outcome with another sire, but I opted to not take a chance.

 

[Pat Puwal]

Out of curiosity, has the dog been tested by a professional veterinarian who specializes in canine allergy treatment? I would have to believe that you would need to know the cause of the allergy before making a decision and a professional could probably indicate whether there was an genetic factor involved.

 

[Aussie]

I would rather stick a hot sharp poker in my right (or left) eye.

 

[roseberry]

pita, astronomical expense, almost constant suffering.......nope, not the one i owned. i can still hear that poor girl's ears flapping when she would shake her head. then off to the vet again. constant cleaning and drying each time in water. vetrinary "fish and potato" dog food at $3/pound. on and on and on.....

 

[labsx3]

As many others have said, there is a huge range of severity when you are talking allergies. This is a question I intend on asking amongst many others when looking for my next dog. I have a lab that started with allergies very young, and they were very bad at a very early age. I cant even begin to tell you the expense of trying to keep one step ahead of the awful skin issues, at one point I had him on two atopica 100 mg tablets a day, a box of 15 runs about $100,and that was only one of his many drugs... you do the math.My dog is probably one of the more extreme cases, but with allergies its the immune system that is all screwed up, his eventually led to him going blind with something called SARDs , sudden acquired retinal degeneration, and also has some weird kind of arthritis in his feet that seems to also be immune related...he is now back on methylprednisolone(steroids) which come with their own set of problems....so my answer is if the dog has allergies that you are treating.....Please do not breed, even if it is a one in a million chance hat it would be passed on, it is a miserable condition for the dog and so expensive and frustrating for the owner.

 

[ErinsEdge]

Would I knowingly breed a dog with allergies, no. However, the breeder has no control over what people feed and what they do with vaccinations. I raised a litter and sold the puppies. I have one from another breeding. Oddly enough, two males were sold to people in the same building in Chicago. One grew up totally fine and was neutered at about 18 months. The other was neutered at 3 months, (he looked completely different-long postly legs) was given Revolution and frontline and multiple vaccinations on his first visit. The reason I know this is I took the dog back when he was about 2 years because the owner was an ER physician and couldn't let him out because she worked 15 hour shifts, and he came with a folder 3" thick and was on 6 meds including pred and antibiotics. He was a mess-he would scratch himself until raw. He was on his 3rd vet. I put him on a holistic diet with supplements and he got much better and I got the pred down to one tab a week 10mg. At 7 days he would start scratching. I had a wealthy lady that wanted him as a companion to a dog she bought from me and was willing to find a cure for him. She also went to 3 different vets with the file. They tried to eliminate the pred and it didn't work. She finally went to a vet who felt that the puppy got too much too soon and he now lives on a fish and potato diet, weekly spas at the groomers, and his pred tablet. I'm not going to say that the owners caused the allergies, but sometimes too much too soon along with early neutering depresses the immune system, and it doesn't recover. The one that lives with me is fine, different father. I spread out my vaccines, I don't frontline if not needed and use a herbal repellant instead which I make up. I encourage puppy buyers to delay the frontline and use a herbal spray and separate the vaccines, and to start their pups on Omega fatty acids and to feed a high quality of feed. The more you depress the immune mechanism, the more prone the dogs are to develop environmental allergies. My "studies" actually started out when I was going to an allergist and asked him how I could prevent allergies in my future children. They were raised on goats milk because strange allergies showed up when they were young (my daughter developed an allergy to the wheat consumed by the goats-that even blew the allergists mind). So far so good, other than some small bumps both are in their 30's. My son regressed to milk protein allergy because of stress in his life. My allergist was very smart and he told me what to avoid, and that allergies didn't always make sense. You might be fine for most of the year but in ragweed season in August you couldn't eat say strawberries. I received allergy shots but he told me I could probably never live in the country. Well, I have been here since 1971. He also said under the right circumstances, almost everyone could have allergies sometime in their life.

So, would I breed a dog with known allergies, no; but it is not 100% due to heredity. All dogs are born with mites. The immune mechanism depresses them as the puppy gets older. Constant depression may lead to more problems, deep mites. This is IMHO, from research, but also from some lifetime experiences. Sometimes more is not better.

 

[Angie B]

Good post Nancy,,,

Angie

 

[labsx3]

I agree that it is not 100 percent hereditary, and also agree with the idea of vets giving too much all at once.I spoke to my veterinary dermatologist about this subject a few years ago because as far as I knew my dogs relatives were all allergy free(at least not affected to his degree). His thoughts were that it is one of those things that seem to pop up in some dogs, and its like a perfect storm, hereditary, enviorment, and unfortunate luck, and sometimes these dogs can be "pushed" over the edge at a young age with blasting them with too many vaccines or other stressers such as a big surgery etc.....either way it is an awful thing for the dogs and owners.