I know I’ve been on a bit of a dog kick but, what can I say. I’m a theme person. I talked about my friend last time but what I didn’t say was that we both have children under a year and a half old. The thing is neither of us knows if our child will be allergic to dogs and if they are to what degree. I mentioned at the end of my last post that you need to spend a bit of time with a possible dog to find out how severe your (or in this case your child’s) reaction to the dander is going to be.

I mean hopefully the babies won’t have an allergic reaction to the dander Fido is flinging, but what if they do? Which brings me to the title of the post, Baby v. Dog. What happens to a family if they have pets and the child is allergic to the pet dander? If it is one of the dogs that are better for people with pet allergies it might not be too bad, but what if it is just a normal dog like a lab, or a retriever, or a chow? I’ve come up with a few options.

Medications – I’m torn about this. I’m not sure it is right to put a child on medications that aren’t medically necessary, and in my opinion a dog allergy isn’t. But I know people who are crazy about their dogs and would do anything to keep them, so this option may work for them.

Outside Only – Most of the ‘dog people’ I know have their pups inside. If medication isn’t an option the pup could be turned into an outdoor only doggie. Not a bad compromise.

Adoption – Not the child, the pup. If you don’t want your dog outside and don’t want your child on meds, this is the way to go.

Most of these options makes me sad because it is impossible to think everyone in the family could be happy with any of these solutions. What have you done/would you do if you child ended up being allergic to a dog you had owned for years?

Photo Credit Ezzz

One of my friends had an unexpected surprise this weekend, and really, not the good kind. She came home Friday night looking forward to a relaxing weekend with her boyfriend preceded by a girl’s night in with her roommate, some ice cream, and a chick flick. All was going really well, even the dog was up on the couch enjoying the estrogen fest. Can you guess where this is going?