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Old August 17th, 2006, 06:48 PM
Angies Man Angies Man is offline
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Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Reno
Posts: 333
I guess I'll put my 1.8 cents (2 cents ?) in. (That's not a comment about the exchange rate, btw ) I'm allergic to a lot of things, lucky for me not dogs. But I am allergic to most cats, most of the northern tree fruits & some nuts--I get that horrible scratchy mouth and my throat can close during severe reactions--after a lifetime, I have the remedy.

But it's funny, with apples, some varieties make me react much more strongly, some hardly at all. I can't eat a mushy apple, either, but crisp right off the tree mostly doesn't bother me. I don't understand why I can eat a Granny Smith (and most of the year, too) but a slightly past ripe Mac or Jonathon, etc. sends me to the meds cabinet for the benedryl (tastes terrible when you chew on the capsule to get a topical application inside your mouth!) And lord help me if I get a little juice in one of my eyes!

Except that they ARE different varieties. Some are more allergenic than others--just like dogs and cats.

I've found Poodles--I admit I like the personality. The Poodle Brain, one of my friends calls it. But one of the most attractive things about them for me is their coverings (is it fur? hair? I dunno.) I've had Labs, Collies, Danes, an Eskie, Peekapoo, a Shepard--all of them made me want to wash up after handling them. Lots of skin oil in the fur--the thing is that the Poodles I've had don't feel that oil, and looking in their hair, there is very little flaked off skin. And, of course, I control the length of my dog's hair--they don't shed, so without periodic maintenance they get messy and matted.

For the person asking about the Portuguese Water Dog, I've met a couple--the fur is very comparable to Std & Min. Poodle fur. The ones I've met were very nice doggies, friendly and outgoing. Stature of the ones I met were sort of inbetween the Mini and the Std. at about 35 to 40 pounds. I understand that may be smallish. The black ones I met were very Poodle-like. If one came into my radar for a rescue, I'd have probably have one (not looking for another dog, tho.)

And my experience has been that the shorter haired varieties have oilier skin--maybe that's because the fluffier furred dogs do a better job of absorbing oils into the fine guard hairs?
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