"Non-shedding" is a term used to describe dog breeds that lose very little or no hair at all and discharge little or no dander. Some of the dogs included in the non shedding category may not even have undercoats. Although they are mostly safe to own when you have allergenic reactions to dogs, you should test breed tolerance before setting your mind to a certain pup.
You should know what dog breeds are hypoallergenic in order to get an idea of what breed may suit you best. Below are a few breeds of non shedding dogs that may help you decide who your future canine friend may be: The American Hairless Terrier - it has no body hair except whiskers and eye brows, and comes in three sizes: toy, miniature, standard;
The Bichon Frise - it has no undercoat and almost no health problems during its life
The Brussels Griffon - only the rough coat breed is non-shedding (the toy breed)
The Cairn Terrier - small to medium size, friendly with children
The Chinese Crested - the hairless varieties are hypoallergenic, friendly with other pets, have great temperaments and few to no health problems
The Lhasa Apso breed - it has thick coat that requires high maintenance
The Poodles - they come in a variety of toy, miniature and standard sizes
The Maltese - high maintenance non shedding dogs, a fragile toy breed
The Affenpinscher - also known as the “monkey dog”, a toy breed; may lose small amounts of dander
The Havanese breed - it sheds a small amount of hair (tolerance testing required)
The Italian Greyhound - can release a small amount of dander (tolerance testing required)
The Schnauzer - these dogs vary in sizes (standard, miniature, giant) and may lose a small amount of hair (tolerance testing required)
The Scottish Terriers - may lose hair (tolerance testing required)
The West Highland White Terrie - medium size non shedding dogs, they lose small amounts of dander and hair (tolerance testing required)
The Yorkshire Terrier - these toy dogs also lose really small amounts of hair, but have high maintenance coats (tolerance testing required).
In milder cases of allergy, dogs breeds that lose small amounts of hair and dander can be adopted as well, but tolerance testing should be done for safety. It is easy to go through such a test; all you have to do is have a few visits with the dog you want to adopt. If there are no sneezing or watery eyes during your visits, then you have tolerance for that dog breed and you can move on with the adoption.
When you have dog allergies, but love to spend your time with a canine companion, non shedding dogs may be your solution.
