Back in 1996, I became a breeder for the purebred Golden Retriever. In 1999, I began creating
Goldendoodles. Yes, back then, I created them...I did not breed them. There is a difference. This was before I even knew the term "Goldendoodle". I began having severe allergy issues back in 1994 while serving in the military and stationed in Germany. I am not even sure what caused my first allergy issue but I definitely remember my first asthma attack. I had been cutting the grass on the military installation all day long, along with a few other soldiers. Even as a young child, I use to always love to cut the grass. It was something that I would always volunteer for! Perhaps the altitude in Germany had something to do with my first asthma attack but I remember having to call an ambulance because I was unable to catch my breath or breathe properly. I felt as though I were suffocating. From that attack on, I was placed on asthma medication and steroids. All people suffering from asthma know how horrible an attack feels. The person has the sensation of literally drowning, from the inside. To make matters worse, if a sufferer can not obtain medication quickly, they can suffer a heart attack...collapse or die. Asthma attacks can be deadly. From my first attack on, I was on medication to help breathe properly.
When my husband and I moved to North Carolina from Germany for our jobs, I really didn't seem to have such a severe problem. I had good days and I had a few bad days. I never knew what triggered an attack but I definitely knew when I had one coming on. We purchased a few Golden Retrievers and at that time, I didn't have too much of a problem with their shedding coat. Over the years, my asthma became worse, but it seemed every year that passed, my asthma was getting worse...not better. My dogs did not live inside the house so I knew that it was not THEM or their hair that was causing my issues. Many asthma sufferers become worse over the years and it seems that their medication stops working as good as it did when first prescribed and they have to go to heavier doses or heavier medications to keep their lungs functioning properly.
By 1998, I was placed on stronger asthma medication because what I was taking at that time was no longer working. Some people would blame their dog and get rid of it. I would never consider the factors to be my dogs. I would never consider getting rid of my dog just because I am having allergy issues. I've had dogs and cats all of my life and I never had an issue with my animals and their fur or hair. Whatever the cause of my asthma, my lungs were not functioning properly. After more testing was conducted, I was placed on even stronger medications including heavy steroids and my asthma seemed to be in check. For awhile. What I noticed about the medication is that it caused excessive weight gain. A complete disappointment to those who have to take steroids to breathe. Being fat does NOT run in my family, nor do I over eat. I also am not one for snacking or continued eating, so it was quite obvious the weight gain was medical and not from over eating. Prior to my asthma issues, I use to run five miles a week and three miles a day. It was a requirement while in the military and we exercised twice a day, every day to include going to the gym. After my asthma attack and being placed on medication, the weight would not come off regardless of how much I exercised and it was very frustrating! When I began my Goldendoodles in 1999, I noticed that I did not have as much of a breathing issue while caring for my doodle pups. When bathing my doodles or brushing them, there wasn't any little hairs flying around in the air like there was for my purebred Golden Retriever pups. I didn't see all the little hairs falling all over the place like when I had purebred Golden Retriever pups, either. Even though we got alot of hate mail in the beginning and purebred fanatic Golden Retriever breeders and owners were calling and threatening us due to their anger about my creating Goldendoodles (Like I was the only one or like I invented the Goldendoodle???), I did not allow their silliness to detour my future with my Goldendoodle dogs. I loved my Goldendoodles....still do! I could breathe easier with my Goldendoodles and I had less allergy issues with my Goldendoodles and that's what mattered. I'm not sure why so many people feel the need to interfere with the business of what others are doing, especially when they sure as heck are not helping do the work!
What mattered with me the most was that we were making many families happy who had similar allergy issues as myself and I myself was able to have fewer allergy issues with my Goldendoodles vs. my Golden Retrievers. When the Goldendoodle dog exploded in popularity in the United States in 2003, we saw an unfortunate thing occur. Breeders were popping up on every street corner, but that wasn't the only problem. It was what these inexperienced new breeders were claiming that became an issue with me. It bothers me greatly when people make up stories just to sell their dogs and they write about things they have no factual evidence to back up!
Breeders were making claims of the doodles being "Hypoallergenic"...."Never shedding"....."non-shedding coat" or using the almighty word "Rare". Good grief! The nonsense was endless. So many breeders placed erroneous information over the internet about the Goldendoodle dog inside of their ads as well as on their websites and to this day, so many still place the same erroneous information over the internet of which I like to call the "copy cat syndrome". Because so many place inaccurate information even to those who write magazine articles, this continues the flow of mis-information that leads people down the wrong path when on a Doodle quest. When someone is seeking a Goldendoodle dog, they ask the wrong questions or they have the wrong information because they read it somewhere. I'm not saying that I'm the only person (breeder) with the right answers...I'm just saying that many breeders write incorrect information and they are not writing about the facts. Some of them are making it up as they go. Then of course you have the naysayers writing incorrect information just to turn people against either a breeder or the dog and so it goes.
So many people would call us asking if we had any non-shedding Goldendoodle puppies. They would even get mad at me when I tried to explain to them that Goldendoodles DO shed, but shed very lightly. I was even amused by reading a few forum postings by people who fell for their breeders' nonsense about the Goldendoodle NEVER shedding and wrote FRANTIC messages like "HElp! My doodle's hair is falling out!"; The people who believed their dog should never shed was falling apart inside of doodle forums because they saw their doodle losing hair! What??? A non-shedding dog losing its coat? What was wrong, I wonder ? I'm stumped! The breeder said it was a non shedding dog! Oh, my gosh! I fell out from laughter after reading the silly postings. Those that didn't believe me saw it for their own eyes AFTER getting their doodle from a breeder who promised them a non shedding Goldendoodle. Oops! Poo Poo the doo! Dang it I hate it when I'm right! Some folks just have to learn the hard way I guess.
The truth is, The Goldendoodle dog does shed. BUT, they shed very, very little and like no other dog. The Goldendoodle's coat will change at least 10-15 times from the time its born until the day it turns one year of age. Some doodles go through a more serious coat change/phase than others, but the change is there nonetheless.
So how does the doodle coat affect people who have allergies?
It depends upon the allergy sufferer. You see, everyone has different triggers as to what sets off their asthma or allergies. As I have neared my 50th (yeah...it sucks getting older) birthday, my asthma has actually turned into Chronic pulmonary obstructive disorder and is much more difficult to keep under control...dogs or no dogs. The funny thing is, it's not just dog hair that sets off my pulmonary issues. With me, it could be a combination of flying dog hair near my face, sprays, perfumes, fumes or odors. Certain odors will kick off my asthma such as cigarette smoke or cigar smoke. I use to be a smoker many, many years ago as a teenager so I am not down on those who smoke....but I can no longer tolerate tobacco smoke in my own lungs or near where I am breathing. This can be an issue for me if my husband and I go out to a club or where ever alot of smoke would be. My husband smokes but he is not allowed to smoke inside of our home or inside of our vehicles.
Sometimes it can be hair sprays, perfumes or even cleaners such as cleaning sprays or cleaning detergents. Car or truck fumes can also set off my asthma. So, everyone has different things that causes their allergies to kick off and cause them to go into respiratory distress. This has not caused me to get rid of my animals, by any means. My respiratory issues has caused me to change many things inside of my home and the first thing was to rip out every single shred of carpet within our home and replace the flooring with hardwood floors. Those who suffer from allergies can breathe easier if they do not have floors that are carpeted. Alot of dirt becomes trapped under the padding as well as the carpet no matter how often a person vaccums. Also, raising the bed a few inches near the headboard helped me sleep better at night. Many allergy sufferers find themselves able to breathe easier when they are sleeping if their headboard is raised a few inches. I also took the steps at covering our mattress and pillows with zippered allergy free covers. Dust mites can cause alot of health problems for someone with asthma. If you have asthma, the best thing is to make sure your mattress has a zippered cover because this will prevent the dust mites from getting out of the mattress. As a precaution, I did this for my pillows too. Anyone with central air/heat and suffers from allergies should always use the best filter possible and check on it regularly to ensure it's free of dust.
Replacing the filter often is a must for someone who has allergies. So, its not just about owning a Goldendoodle or any type of breed that is considered to be a low dander or a low allergan dog. Someone with pulmonary issues must take many precautions to live a healthier, breathable life. It's not always just about the dogs or animals. Many people blame animals for their allergy issues when it may not even be the case. Dogs, even if there was a such thing as a supposed hypoallergenic, non shedding dog, can bring allergans into the home by way of their coat and paws. When they go outside during a heavy pollen day, this pollen can become entrapped inside of the dogs' coat. Your dog can also track in pollen just from walking outside. Just check your car! If you want to know if its a heavy pollen day, look at your car and see if it is covered with pollen!!! Believe it or not, we ourselves also bring in this pollen upon our clothing; our shoes; our hair; anything we may be carrying indoors! So while people can blame the pet for their allergy issues, they may not even give it a second thought that it the issues may be traveling via themselves or their pet.
Goldendoodles are terrific dogs. If you do have allergies, I highly recommend that you visit your allergist before making a purchase decision whether its a Goldendoodle or any other low shedding dog or pet. Many people who have servere allergy issues don't bother to get tested first and make the mistake of buying a dog they feel will be a low allergan dog only to find out they still have severe allergy issues. The worst thing for a Goldendoodle is to bond with a new family only to be uprooted from its home because the family has decided their allergies can't handle a dog in the home. It is very frustrating to read stories about people who knew they had severe allergy issues but didn't bother to get tested...went out and bought a doodle only to give it up because they believe its the dog causing their problems.
Make sure that you see your allergist first if you suffer from severe allergies and this will help the family and the doodle tremendously. Don't fall for the "never shedding" "hypoallergenic" silliness. I will say that the majority of people who have mild allergies should be okay with a Goldendoodle...but I'm a breeder and not an allergist. Breeders can't guarantee their dogs are perfect for those who have allergies. I know from personal experience, those who have purchased the Goldendoodle dog because they suffer from mild allergies have done very well. I just don't like to lump people or dogs into one single group.
People always call us asking if they can visit our with our Goldendoodles so they can see if they have an alleric reaction but we always turn them down. First of all, I'm not going to be responsible for someone getting ill on my property nor am I going to be liable for someone having an asthma attack while on my property. Secondly, because the Goldendoodle's coat changes so many times within their first year of life, an allergy sufferer may do fine at one phase vs. another. One phase may not set off a reaction while another phase might. This is why it is so important for those with severe allergies to be tested first. It's quite possible that a person with severe allergies would do better with buying a doodle that is closer to one year of age rather than when very young. The reason an older doodle would work out better for someone with high allergy issues is because the closer to one year of age the doodle becomes, the fewer coat changes they go through. The Goldendoodle has its adult coat when it turns one year of age. Before that, the puppy fuzz will continue to slough off while the adult coat comes through. That's why there are so many different coat changes and phases.
It's also important to remember that dogs can be low dander, low allergan breeds and yet, bring IN the very thing that triggers some people's asthma. Pollen can attach itself to your dog's coat when he or she ventures outdoors. When this happens, people assume its their dog that is causing the problem when in fact, the problem is the Pollen on the dog's coat...not the hair itself. The nice thing about the Goldendoodle is that when they do turn a year of age and the shedding becomes very little, there is less hair inside of the owner's home. With a Goldendoodle, there are no little hairs all over the bed, the chairs, or even your clothing. There is nothing worse than having company come over and when they sit down, every strand of dog hair ever left behind by your dog (not the doodle) is now on the clothing of your company. This doesn't happen as often or at all with the doodle dog. Bathing your doodle on a high pollen day AFTER your doodle is through going outside for the day will help remove any pollens he or she may have brought into your home.
It's my personal opinion that we see the Poodle hybrids becoming more and more popular with people because so many DO have allergy issues. More children have asthma than when we, ourselves, were children. Our society has more issues with pollution than less say during the times when OUR parents were younger. I am firmly a believer in the Goldendoodle hybrid. They are so much more than a "designer" dog. Regardless of how angry the fanatic purebred breeders or owners HATE the idea of the Doodle dog, they are here to stay and their popularity will continue to rise. I've personally witnessed their rising on the popularity charts since 1999 and they'll continue to do so as time goes by. Allergy sufferers just need to be realistic when owning a dog of any kind. Don't get sucked into the "hypoallergenic" "non-shedding" words tossed out there by breeders who claim this because they know that's what the person with allergies wants to hear. Know that your doodle will still have some light shedding but so long as the owner is diligent in keeping out as many allergy issues as possible, the sufferer and Goldendoodle can live quite comfortably together.
A
uthor/breeder: Dee Gerrish of Goldendoodle World - copyright 2007. Dee Gerrish has been a private, registered, professional breeder since 1996. She is one of the original founders of the Goldendoodle dog in the southern region of the United States. Dee Gerrish is a winning, top 100, featured, founding author for searchwarp.com