This may sound like a silly question!
We have been prevented from having any kind of furry pets in the past because our daughter is allergic to cats, dogs and even rabbits.
Now, however, we have been led to understand that because Bichon Frise do not shed their fur this might be a possibility.
Is anybody able to reassure us that a Bichon Frise might be a suitable pet or should we forget this possibility immediately?
This is a serious question as we are a family of animal lovers who have always been prevented from having a live-in pet for this reason but would really love to have a dog as part of the family.

I was told, like you that I couldn't have any furry animals. I have owned 9 cats, rabbits (which did produce a reaction) hamsters and various other small rodents and I currently own 6 dogs. I am also a dog groomer. In fact one of the few dogs that has produced an allergic reaction in myself is a Bichon Frise! However, not all bichons cause me to react so it is clearly on an individual dog basis. Best thing is to short list those breeds that would suit your circumstances and ignore their 'hypoallergenic' status at first and go and visit as many breeders of these breeds as possible to ascertain whether a reaction will occur. Then take it from there. There are some hairless breeds that you may want to consider such as the chinese crested and mexican hairless.

Yes, they are non-allergenic. They don't shed and have hair not fur. - Janet R.

Its not usually the hair/fur that causes the trouble it's the dead skin cells. So any pet may or may not cause a problem except of course fish. JH

Hi
My husband is extremely allergic to most animals, but we now have a standard Poodle and Chinchillas......all have proved wonderful pets, and he has no reaction to them, I do have heard its not just the dog hair that causes the allergy, but in his case, he is definately fine with poodles.
Hope that helps.
Maisie

You could also try poodles, bedlington terriers, westies or Miniature Schnauzers.

We have the latter as both myself and my husband are allergic to dogs (our last dog, a boxer caused us no end of sneezing and itching).

However as has been mentioned previously it is not always the shed hair, but often the dander from the skin under the coat that is the problem, my other allergy is to the saliva of the dog, but then who wants to be licked by a tongue that has been elsewhere anyway!!!!!!!!!!!

I have found that the mini schnauzer to be an all round brilliant dog, small enough to take places, especially the bath to keep the aforementioned dander under controll, robust enough to be played with, tough enough for anything, and manly enough for the whole family to take for a walk. I cant imagine my husband walking any of the other breeds mentioned above.

It is interesting, as a family bought a pup from me 4 1/2 years ago. the lady was of Norweegian extraction and her cousin in Norway had the breed. She had always thought herself allergic to dogs, but found the double coated Elkhound did not make her react, despite copious loose haior when moulting.

The dogs she found a bad reaction with wsere all short haired, so it turned out to be an allergy to dander!