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[jaydub]

What's wrong with a presidential mutt?  I mean, literally - if Obama's a man of the people, what's he doing looking at bourgeoisie pooches like (the horribly named) labradoodle or Portuguese Water Dog?  If he wants a purebred, I'd recommend a bull terrier with a furious leg humping habit.  That should be good for breaking the ice at White House summits.

[littlefallsmets]

I think you need to purebred to be sure that a hypoallergenic dog is, like, actually hypoallergenic.

Coupla drops of greyhound in there and whoever's the allergy risk is basically screwed.

[miles]

Seconded. Since when did owning a dog become a requirement to be a respected human being?

[pmcd9]

What!?  Don't turn this shit around.  They are getting a dog because the two little girls want one.  This is not a political issue.  WTF?

[miles]

Oh, that's right. He promised them that they could get one. My bad.

[wombat]

LFM, honey, I mean this in the nicest possible way but, you have no idea what you are talking about.

First of all, there is no such thing as a hypoallergenic dog, and anyone who says there is, is lying or ignorant. The breeds under discussion have a coat that needs to be cut, like a Poodle, and these can reduce the amount of allergen that's flying around because the dog is not shedding hair and skin cells all over the place. But they're not a magic cure for allergies and some people who are allergic may still be affected.

Second of all, that coat type is often inherited in a mix. That is exactly why there are such things as for example 'labradoodles,' which are just specially bred mutts that have the coat of the poodle parent.

There is no difference that 'one drop of greyhound' will make, if the dog has inherited that type of coat. However, just that type of coat doesn't solve the problem for everyone.

[jaydub]

Somehow I missed the whole hypoallergenic angle.  That'll teach me to get out of the news cycle.  I remember reading somewhere that some breeders will let you send them a shirt that they then let the dog sleep/drool on so you can get a preview of how your allergies would respond to the actual dog.  I'm glad my physiology gave me a break on that aspect of life.

[littlefallsmets]

I know that there aren't ENTIRELY hypoallergenic dogs but...

Aren't there, like, significantly-close-to-hypoallergenic dogs?

You have far more expertice on this subj, though, so I do yield the floor.

[wombat]

All dogs produce the same allergens regardless of breed. It's just a question of the coat and how the coat care and shedding or lack thereof help or hinder the distribution of the allergens. This is what experts I have interviewed tell me.

There also seem to be individual differences, anecdotally - a certain person and a certain dog may be better or worse regardless of the coat type, but I don't think anyone has done any Science about this.

It's entirely misleading to use the word 'hypoallergenic'. There is no guarantee that if you get a poodle you won't have allergy symptoms. There are many infuriating things about this whole Obama puppy coverage but this is the most annoying, to me. The second most annoying is the claim that he needs to have a purebred because of the allergy problem and then people talk about Labradoodles when, hello, a Labradoodle is a mixed breed.

[JorgeFabregas]

DO YOU WANT SOME FRITTATA!

Seriously, though, the story that he promised the girls a dog was published at least as early as June or so. Political, probably, but a long time coming.

I don't care too much about the coverage, but I am glad that they apparently want a rescue dog of some sort.

[Choop]

or you know he could get any old mutt and help the allergic kid get over the allergy. i'm allergic to cats but if i spend a good amount of time dealing with it safely i can be around cats without any problems. the only issue is when i'm around one after not having been around one for a long while.

[wombat]

With all due respect Choop, for your average family "just get a pet and give it a try" is a good way for an animal to end up in a shelter. It doesn't work for everyone and allergies are a common reason pets are surrendered. Shots work for some but they take a long time - the Tech Staff got them for at least two years.

As far as coverage and wanting a rescue dog, actually the latter is pretty much a direct result of the former. They clearly had no idea what they were getting into when they made this promise public. Animal rescue groups jumped on it and had letter-writing campaigns to ask them to adopt instead of buying a puppy. When the allergy concern was raised, the (correct) response was that that didn't matter - if you want a particular breed, you can get a purebred at a shelter or rescue too.

So they kind of have no choice now, it will cause such an uproar if they buy a puppy.