# Dog allergies **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 13, 2010, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-allergies/556946 "2010-10-13T01:46:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![copperwindow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@copperwindow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/copperwindow)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-allergies/556946/1 "2010-10-13T01:46:36Z")
Are some people really allergic to dogs? If so, what happens if you’re on a bus and you are allergic to dogs and someone else has a service dog? ---
**Author:** ![Buckler\_of\_Swashing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Buckler\_of\_Swashing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buckler_of_Swashing)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-allergies/556946/2 "2010-10-13T02:57:27Z")
Not quite as many as are allergic to cats, but [yes, some people are allergic to dogs](http://www.aafa.org/display.cfm?id=8&sub=16&cont=63). If an allergic person was to encounter a service dog in public and that dog was of a breed they were allergic to, they may well be exposed to the allergen and have a reaction. The severity of that reaction would differ depending upon individual circumstances (how allergic they were, how much allergen they were exposed to etc). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-allergies/556946/3 "2010-10-13T03:02:23Z")
My wife is allergic to dogs. She can be around a dog for a few hours without a problem, but if she lives with one she develops headaches/itchy eyes/runny nose/etc. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-allergies/556946/4 "2010-10-13T04:08:02Z")
I am allergic to dogs, and reactions can vary. One time at a party the dog of the house (large, I don’t know what breed) walked through the house once and a few minutes later I could hardly breathe from asthma. After I moved away from my parents’ home my mother got a poodle, and whenever I visited it would take a few hours before I had a reaction. I think in a bus, for example, there is enough fresh air that a reaction would take longer. If someone with a service dog sat next to me, I would probably excuse myself and move somewhere else in the bus as politely as I could, and I wouldn’t expect to have a reaction. If it were a subway, I would probably move further away or to another car. Roddy ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-allergies/556946/5 "2010-10-13T14:02:48Z")
I’m allergic to cats but to have a reaction I usually have to have had touched the cat then touched my eyes/nose/mouth or touched a surface the cat had been on (sofa, chair, bed, etc.) and touched my eyes/nose/mouth. Either that or the cats hair/dander has to be immediately in my breathing space like someone brushing a cat near me. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-allergies/556946/6 "2010-10-13T20:34:06Z")
> [@copperwindow](#): > > Are some people really allergic to dogs? If so, what happens if you’re on a bus and you are allergic to dogs and someone else has a service dog? Are some people really allergic to pollen? If so, what happens if you’re on a bus and you are allergic to pollen and the bus driver opens the door to let on a passenger, thus wafting in pollen-laden air to the bus?