TEXT: URSULA WILBY . PHOTO: URSULA WILBY, CAMILLA HEINMERT JONSSON, ANDREA KARLSSON, MARINA ERIKSSON. FROM DOG SPORT NO 5/2015

So we decided to test how much truth there was behind the claim. Of course, as a person allergic to fur animals, you should clean often, not let the dogs stay in the bedroom and, of course, not let them sleep in the bed. No dogs on sofas and to the extent that you have carpets, these must be easy to wash. But how does it work in "real life"? Then when you may not always live as you should. When the dog is allowed to lie in both bed and sofa? We selected a number of dog owners and let them test the special allergen-reducing shampoo from Allergenius. The dogs were bathed once/week for four weeks.

Catherine have been allergic since the age of 15. The allergy manifests itself in her having asthma attacks and shortness of breath. But this has not stopped her from having animals.

"I am not ready to give up my interest in animals. So there have always been both horses and dogs in my life. Currently I have a ridgeback and two shih tzu, all three are male dogs. I bathe the small dogs once a week and the ridgeback every 14 days. So of course I have adapted to my allergy. Bed linen is changed once a week, I vacuum often and have carpets that are easy to wash. I try to have as few things as possible standing in front. But my dogs sleep in both beds and sofas. Usually I react most to the ridgeback during the shedding periods and most of all when he licks me, then I get a really itchy rash.”

How did it go?
“I actually felt a huge difference after just one bath. Big enough difference that I was able to stop my meds. Then, of course, you can think that there may be a certain placebo effect, but I have an extremely allergic friend who normally reacts strongly to my Ridgeback.

She had no idea I was testing this shampoo and didn't react at all when she hit the ridgeback last time. Interesting! Of course, you are skeptical, but this has worked beyond all expectations. A positive side effect was that I didn't have to use conditioner on my shih tzus. One dog has a really tough coat that feels more like steel wool and I usually use a lot of conditioner on him, but it hasn't been necessary. He has never had such good fur as now!”

Andrea first noticed her fur allergy in 2005. She had a rottweiler at the time and her allergy manifests itself in watery eyes and stuffy nose. "Choosing a dog does not exist in my world! So I've mostly ignored it. The alternative to a life without a dog is thorough cleaning, which means that I wet wipe at least every three days. Vacuuming does not work because then I only distribute the allergens.

The Rottweiler was in bed, and so are my two Danish-Swedish farm dogs, not so clever perhaps. And it wasn't meant to be either. After the Rottweiler, it was supposed to be the end of dogs in the bed, but the two I have now are older rehomed dogs who have slept in the bed their whole lives, so it felt a little wrong to try to stop it. But the next dog will definitely be banned from bed!”

How did it go?
"A big difference was noticed quite immediately after the first bath, it got better with both eyes and nose. Not quite perfect, but far, far better! It has been one bath a week, and I also notice when it is time to bathe again. I will definitely continue with the shampoo, and the same goes for the next dog.

A funny thing is that one bitch became like a little fluff ball from the shampoo. Nothing that bothers me in any way, what does bother me is that the shampoo smells "veterinary". I would have liked to have a better scent there!”

Camilla's allergy showed itself already at the age of 8-9. She grew up with both cats and dogs and according to the doctor, the allergy would go away. But unfortunately it has not done that.

"At the same time, I also got a pollen allergy, which is apparently quite common. The allergy manifests itself in my eyes watering and my nose being blocked. It can really affect breathing as well and especially in the spring I often get bronchial catarrh. We have eight dogs here at home and it is of course a bit silly to have so many, but then there are my dogs, and my husband's dogs and our four children who also have dogs. Several of these are quite old, so the number will be reduced later. Currently, we have drivers, dusters, bullmastiffs, French bulldogs and miniature pinschers.

And yes, they are in the bed and in all the furniture. Not so smart either. I clean constantly and change bed linen very often. There are also no carpets in the house and everything that has to do with the dogs is something that I can easily wash. Sometimes I have thought about what it would be like to live without a dog and I promised myself that if one of the children became allergic, it would have to be a life without animals. But none of the children have been affected. To keep the allergy under control, I use tablets, eye drops, nasal spray and also have an inhaler.”

How did it go?
"One bath a week for eight dogs was quite a lot and I usually got as wet as the dogs! But I actually noticed a difference after the first bath. During the time that the dogs have been bathed, I haven't had to take medication and haven't had the usual tracheal catarrh. But most impressive is that I have been able to wear contact lenses all day. I usually don't last more than a few hours at most! An easy shampoo to use that didn't lather excessively and the dogs felt very nice and soft in their fur afterwards.

A positive side effect is that one of the dogs usually gets really dandery after a bath, but there was much less dandruff from the shampoo! A lot of work to bathe so many dogs, but I intend to continue with this!”

Marina has grown up in a family with two allergic brothers and an allergic mother. And it has not always been easy to combine with a great interest in animals.

"There have always been animals around me, but they have not lived inside our house. I rode a lot and that meant I had to take the basement road, change all my clothes and shower before entering the house. I now have two French bulldogs and this has unfortunately meant that the interaction with the family is quite limited. If I visit my mother, I have an indoor yard with me and the dogs can only stay in the kitchen where there is no upholstered furniture. And as soon as mom touched the dogs, she had to wash her hands. Visiting me at my home has only been for short periods, my one brother, who is most affected, cannot visit my home at all. Not an easy situation.”

How did it go?
“Beyond all expectations! I had mentioned to mom that I would be there for the test, but then it took a long time before the shampoo arrived and before I started bathing the dogs. After the first bath, I visited mom, without mentioning anything to her, but she felt a clear difference immediately! Since then it has only gotten better with each bath. The problems have not disappeared in my family, but have become significantly less with each bath.

I also have an allergic friend who immediately noticed the difference, amazing! Before the test, I was a little worried because one of my dogs is allergic himself, and I wondered how it would react to the shampoo, but there was no reaction at all. The shampoo lathers very little and smells nothing, that's probably what I've reacted to the most. And that it is done so quickly, no hassle at all. If you bathe an allergic dog in special shampoo, it must sit for less than ten minutes to work. There was nothing like that here.

The dogs were also shiny and fine in their fur. Yes, I absolutely want to continue with this, so little work that meant such a big improvement for my family!”

In Annika's case, it is her husband who is allergic to the bichon mix. He grew up with a dog and loves dogs, but it took until a year ago before he bought a dog. Despite her daughter's nagging. He gets problems with his eyes and, if he has had close contact with the dog, also a rash. There will be a lot of hand washing and changing of bed linen. "Admittedly, she doesn't sleep in bed, but after all, it happens that she jumps up if we lie down and drag ourselves a little further during the weekends. We have opted out of carpets and have as few textiles as possible in the home. And yes, there will be a lot of cleaning.”

How did it go?
"There you go - that's the best I can say. We could not notice more than an extremely marginal difference. And it's also not that my husband has changed his way of spending time with the dog, no extra petting in other words. But unfortunately, he did not improve significantly during the test period.”

Niki is not allergic herself, but her father, on the other hand, looks after her dog during the day. Niki no longer lives at home, and in addition to her own chihuahua, there is another dog in the family.

"As soon as dad is in the same room as fur animals, his eyes sting and we have always cleaned and aired. It feels like we clean basically every day.

We used to have large woolen carpets, but the home is now decorated in a more allergy-friendly way. No more heavy carpets, but instead large floor surfaces that are easy to wet dry and carpets that can be washed in the washing machine. Dad is quick to speak up and immediately notices with his eyes when the dogs fur is a little dirtier. The situation is quite difficult, and we can hardly clean more often or more thoroughly than we already do."

How did it go?
"Dad is usually quick to tell when he feels discomfort from the dogs, but after we started bathing the dogs, he hasn't noticed anything! I'm really happy that this has worked so well, and since Dad hasn't had any eye problems, we've also been able to clean a little less…great!

Even if the dogs are small, it's still pretty good to bathe them every week. So I thought I'd try extending the time between baths a little and see how it works."

Fact box:

Six different allergens in dogs cause allergies

> Substances that cause allergies are called allergens.

> We currently know of six different allergens in dogs. One of these allergens is secreted by the prostate and is therefore only found in uncastrated male dogs. Remaining allergens are found in the dog's skin and saliva.

> Allergens spread from the dog to the environment and are found, among other things, in furniture and textiles.

> The shampoo is deep cleansing and both captures and removes the allergens from the dog and reduces fungus and calms the skin's production of dander (it is in the dander that the allergens are found).

> Different dog individuals secrete different amounts of allergens. This means that you may have to bathe for a longer period (than the four bathing occasions that made up the test) before the allergic individual notices a noticeable difference.

> Of course, the success also depends on how allergic the person in question is, and if there are other underlying allergies apart from the one to dogs.

> The shampoo is developed and produced under pharmaceutical-like forms in Sweden.

The article was published in Hundsport no. 5/2015. Here you will find a PDF of the article .

Here you order the shampoo .