I get asked about the Shih Tzu a lot, usually by someone who has read that it is a good dog for allergies because it has hair instead of fur. So let me answer the real question up front: are Shih Tzus hypoallergenic? Not the way the reputation suggests. A Shih Tzu sheds very little, … Read more
I spent a week reading breeder pages that sell mixed dog breeds that don’t shed, and here is the part they leave out: with a crossbreed, the coat is a coin toss. A cross between a low-shedding dog and a heavy shedder does not average out to “low shed.” It can land anywhere between the … Read more
I went in expecting a tidy shedding blacklist, and the research talked me out of it. The worst dog breeds for allergies are the heavy, double-coated shedders and the big droolers: Siberian Husky, Alaskan Malamute, German Shepherd, Labrador and Golden Retriever, Akita, Chow Chow, Samoyed, and the slobbery Saint Bernard. They spread the most dander-carrying … Read more
I’ll be straight about this one: hypoallergenic guard dogs are a real but short list, and the honest version has an asterisk on both words. A handful of low-shedding breeds can do protective work, mainly the Giant Schnauzer, Standard Poodle, Bouvier des Flandres, and Airedale Terrier. None of them is truly hypoallergenic, because low shedding … Read more