Are you an Asthma Sufferer?My journey towards Nelson started in September 2016 with a speculative e-mail to the rescue. Just to give you some background, I have been a life long asthma sufferer with an allergy to dogs (amongst other animals) and for this reason I never thought I would be able to own one. That was until circumstances took a twist and I found myself living back at my parents following a divorce, while I was awaiting the completion of a new build property. They have two miniature schnauzers, which I found I was able to tolerate well with the use of a standard daily antihistamine. It was this experience that put the idea in to my head that I may be able to own a dog. Following much research on the internet, the Kerry Blue Terrier was a breed that was coming up time and again as being a good dog for allergy sufferers. This prompted me to research the dog in more depth and what came up was really encouraging, the only down side being possible dog aggression common within the breed. Not wanting to take the internet as being the gospel truth, I made contact via e-mail with the rescue. What I got was an almost immediate response from Mark Buckley, despite being on holiday with his family at the time. Now the purpose of my contact at the time was to get insight into the breed with a view to buying a puppy, however Mark allowed be to join the recue group facebook page and I was immediately won over by the great work that was going on. Mark had suggested that I foster a dog for a short time to see how I got on, but I pretty much knew that if I did that I would have difficulty letting the dog go. Mark was generous with his time and advice and to cut a long story short put me I touch with Bridie Moriarty in November, also attached to the rescue. I arranged to visit Bridie so that I could spend some time with her two lovely dogs to see how my allergy reacted, and I am happy to report that there wasn't a reaction at all. From this point I was expecting a long wait for a dog to come along which would be suitable for me, but to my surprise I was contacted the following week to be told that a change in circumstances meant that a dog had become available and thus began my partnership with Nelson, who arrived with me at the beginning of December. Since then myself and Nelson have become firm friends. We are rarely out of each others company and he has slipped into our family effortlessly. I have to say that everything that I had read and been told about the breed has manifested itself in Nelson. He is an incredibly loving and bright dog, who is absolutely fantastic with all people but can also be feisty with other dogs when out walking. I certainly couldn't be without him now. For anyone with asthma and allergies I would highly recommend the Kerry as a great breed for you. I have had Nelson now for nearly 4 months and while I can't claim that I have been totally unaffected by him, the reaction has been very minor compared to other dog breeds. A quick visit to my GP for a slight change to my prescription and now the impact of having him around is practically zero on the negative health side compared to the exercise I get with him and the love and affection that comes back.
1 Comment
|
AuthorHelping Kerry Blue Terriers find loving forever homes and sharing their stories. Archives
October 2024
Categories |