Are Rottweilers Hypoallergenic? Tips for Families with Allergies.

Having a pet is fun and exciting; however, there are a lot of factors to consider when deciding which pet is best for you. One of the most important things to consider is allergies because you don’t want your new friend to make you sick. Knowing if your dog is hypoallergenic is important before bringing them home.

What makes a rottweiler trigger allergies? Even though these dogs aren’t hypoallergenic, there are some preventative measures you can take to decrease the extent to which your allergies get triggered from rottweilers if they truly are the dog that is right for you.

What Causes Rottweilers to not be Hypoallergenic?

Although Rottweilers aren’t hypoallergenic, they are not the worst breed for those who have allergy issues. There are many other breeds that cause a lot more problems. However, rottweilers do trigger allergies in people who are allergic to dogs.

Approximately 10% of the US population is allergic to dogs, so if you are included in this group, you are not alone. It is important to know that no dogs are completely hypoallergenic, but there are some that cause fewer issues than other breeds.

There a couple of things that people are really allergic to when they are allergic to dogs; first is saliva. This can cause a rash or other allergic reaction for many people. This comes from letting your rott lick you. It could also be from playing with them and their toys that have been in their mouths.

This issue is not as severe as some of the others because it can be observed and controlled quite easily. It still is something to be aware of and careful with.

The next and probably more common issue with rottweilers that trigger allergies is called “pet dander,” which in simpler terms is dandruff.

When a rottweiler gets dry skin or their hair starts to build up dander can develop and as that sits on their body, or when they shed that can stick to clothes, floors, couches, and all of the other places dog hair can be found, which oftentimes are everywhere.

Due to the fact that dog hair ends up everywhere in and around houses, the dander that comes with it stays there too and triggers allergies in any family member who is allergic to dogs.

Rottweilers and Shedding

Rottweilers aren’t considered to shed heavily but they do shed a moderate amount. They shed a little bit all year round and they shed a lot during the fall and the spring as they are growing a new coat for the upcoming drastic changes in weather, whether it be cold or hot.

Their hair growth process looks something like this: First, they grow new hair, and then eventually it stops growing. Then new hair starts growing in behind the hair that is already there. Eventually, the old hair comes out, or is shed and the new hair replaces the old hair.

There are many different things that cause a rottweiler to shed. These include things like genetics, age, nutrition, health, sex, and temperature.

Genetics:

The two genes that are responsible for a dog shedding are MC5R and RSPO2. Since rottweilers do carry these genes, they are more prone to shedding. You can look at your rott’s parents and see if they shed heavily. That can have an influence on how much your pup will shed.

Age:

As dogs grow older, their coats become thinner as a part of the aging process. As their coats becoming thinner, shedding can increase because they are losing more hair. Also, once dogs get to a certain age they are unable to move in the way they once could.

Sometimes natural grooming occurs as dogs lick themselves, or rub against things. Since older dogs aren’t able to do these things, their hair might collect more and dander can build up causing problems for those with allergies in the house.

Nutrition:

Diet is a huge part of life for a rottweiler, what they eat plays a part in absolutely everything that follows in life for them.

First and foremost they need protein. Protein should be 22-28% of their diet. This has many purposes including helping with muscle building, preventing obesity, and protein decreases their shedding. Their body uses protein for so much, including helping with preventing an excessive amount of shedding.

Health:

A dog’s both physical and mental health can be a factor in how much they shed. If your rottweiler is stressed out then they are more likely to shed.

Likewise, if your pup is experiencing pain or they are sick they might shed more because of the stress or because of their body producing more hair than normal due to the abnormality in whatever is wrong health-wise.

Sex:

Females can shed more especially if they aren’t fixed because when they are going through heat or they are pregnant their hormones don’t act the same. Just as human body behavior is sometimes unpredictable when a woman is pregnant, this same thing can occur in rottweiler females.

Temperature:

Temperature is what influences and causes rottweiler’s biannual shedding seasons. During the spring and the fall, they shed more as they prepare for the weather to change to summer or winter as they change coats.

So the temperature plays a huge role in rottweilers shedding because their body adjusts by producing a more or less thick coat depending on the temperature. This is often called “blowing coat.”

How to Avoid Allergies from Being Triggered by Rottweilers

Although rottweilers are not hypoallergenic, there are things to do to prevent too much shedding or dander getting stuck around your house so you can still enjoy life with your rott.

Grooming

Proper and effective grooming can make a huge difference in how your allergies react to rottweilers. Brushing them often is super important. During the parts of the year when your rott is not having his or her big shedding periods it is necessary to brush him or her every other day or so.

During the parts of the year that he or she is changing coats and the shedding is heavier, you will want to brush him or her every day.

Brushing your rottweiler is important because it gets rid of excessive hair that it just sitting in their coat waiting to be rubbed off onto the couch or your clothes.

It is also effective to brush your rottweilers coat because it helps to spread the natural skin oils over their whole body.

These oils can help to prevent dry skin, and dry skin is a leading cause of dander. Since most people are allergic to the dander and not the hair itself, controlling the dander is more important than the hair.

It is best to do this brushing outside so hair doesn’t collect inside. It is also smart to not be around the person who is allergic when you are brushing your rott’s coat.

Due to a rottweiler’s shorter coat, brushing is the only grooming that is required. Dogs don’t always love being groomed so it is smart to try to make it as painless of an experience for everyone involved.

By being quick about it, only brushing with the direction their hair grows, and setting up a schedule so the brushing happens at around the same time on the days that you brush them makes things better.

Bathing

Some people may think that bathing your pup often is helping in controlling dander and dry skin. This is actually not the case. Bathing your rott too much can be a cause of more dander forming and dry skin appearing.

Only bathe your rottweiler when absolutely necessary. Baths can be limited to once every month or two. This makes everyone happy because most dogs do not like being bathed and getting them to cooperate isn’t the easiest task.

If they absolutely need a bath from getting dirty outside or getting into something smelly that they shouldn’t have, then that is okay but make sure you do it the right way.

Bathe your dogs using shampoos and conditioners that are going to moisturize their skin and put the moisture back in their skin that is lost from the bath rinsing off some of those natural oils. These shampoos and conditioners might be more expensive than others, but it is worth it for your dog’s skin and coat.

It is okay for the person who is allergic to be near while bathing the dog since hair floating around them isn’t as big of a risk, but it is still probably smart for them to not be the one doing the actual bathing.

Dealing with Shedding

Proper grooming and bathing can really help with the shedding because it controls the amount of hair that is shed. Also paying attention to the factors that contribute to shedding listed earlier, can help.

If you feed your dog right and watch their health, this can control the amount that they shed. Watching for any abnormal behavior can help to notice any health concerns or issues your pup might be having.

Since temperature is such a large cause of rottweilers shedding, if you live in an area that has a more consistent temperature, your dog won’t need to shed as much because he or she won’t need to change coats as often.

Of course, it is not very convenient to pack up and move everything for your dog, but if you are already living in a place like that, it can really help.

Containing the Hair

Like mentioned above, dog hair gets everywhere. You find it on your couch, your bed, the floor, clothes, the bathroom, even in food sometimes. If you can do your best to contain the hair and keep it in the same place it can help allergies.

Having a specific place for your rott to sleep is very helpful. A lot of shedding takes place while dogs sleep since their whole body is being pressed against something.

This keeps all of the hair shed in the night in one spot on their own bed.

This can also train them to only associate that spot with sleep, so during the day they won’t be tempted to nap just anywhere, but they will want to nap in their bed because that is there sleep space.

Although it might be hard, it is smart to only be around your rottweiler for a couple of hours at a time. If your rottie is brand new, ease into being around them. Slowly increase the amount of time you can spend around them so you can build a tolerance to their hair.

Even if you do everything you can to prevent shedding, such as grooming, assigning their sleep place, everything, they are still dogs.

Vacuuming and keeping your living space clean can help to contain the dog hair and avoid storing dog hair for long periods of time, as well as avoiding turning your living room into a place that you can’t go into without having an allergic reaction.

If you make a habit of vacuuming often, then hair won’t build up and you should be able to control it.

Allergic Reaction Due to Saliva

Although significantly less of an issue, people can also be allergic to their rottweilers saliva. Not letting your rott lick the person who is allergic to dogs is an easy solution, as well as not letting the allergic person play with dog toys with your dog.

Limiting your rott to a few dog toys eliminates the possibility of those toys being scattered around the house all covered in saliva.

Being clean is another solution to this problem. If you sanitize and keep things put away and cleaned up, traces of saliva won’t be left behind on the floor or in other areas of your house.

Dogs that are Less Likely to Trigger Allergies

There aren’t any dogs who are completely hypoallergenic. There are some breeds, however, that are more hypoallergenic than others. These dogs usually grow a different type of hair, that is more hair like instead of the “fur” feeling most dogs’ coats have.

One of the main breeds that don’t trigger allergies are terriers, including:

• Yorkshire terrier
• Bedlington terrier
• Kerry blue terrier
• Soft-coated Wheaten terrier
• Dandie Dinmont terrier
• Australian terrier
• Boston terrier
• Maltese terrier
• Tibetan terrier
• American hairless terrier

The terriers have a very unique and soft coat. Their coat does require a lot of maintenance to avoid getting tangled and staying clean. Their grooming will be much different from most breeds of dogs. For the most part, the breeds listed in the terrier family will shed little to none but not as much as a rottweiler.

Other breeds that don’t shed therefore are more hypoallergenic are Bichon Frise and poodles, both of which have a very fluffy coat, that again is very high maintenance, but won’t end up all over your house.

Both standard and giant schnauzers don’t really shed, they have very curly hair, very similar to many terrier’s hair, so it requires the same maintenance.

A few other breeds that are hypoallergenic are the:

• Afghan hound
• Irish water spaniel,
• Portuguese water dog
• Spanish water dog.

These dogs all have quite a bit of hair, but not the kind of hair that sheds, so they do better with those who have allergies.

As shown, it is possible to buy a dog that is hypoallergenic, but there is a price to pay because all of the breeds that are less prone to shed have very high maintenance coats to take care of.

Dogs shed, that is in their nature, yes there are some that are less likely than others but for the most part, even if it is just a little bit, all breeds shed.

Rottweilers shed moderately, and because of that their dander can get around and trigger allergies for someone who is allergic to dogs. They still make great dogs and minimizing their hypoallergenic activity can help you to still be able to live with and love your rottweiler.