"too Clean" And Skin Problems

[sandgrubber]

I was talking with a local vet who said that the theory about human allergies . .. that over-hygenic upbringing can result in an ill-equipped immune system . . . is also valid with respect to domestic animals. Ie, eating dirt of various forms, chewing well aged bones, coping with fleas, rolling in yuck, etc. are natural for puppies, and leave their immune systems better prepared to cope with what the world throws at them.

None of my mob have skin problems or allergies: could just be luck. It would be interesting to know if letting them grow up, relatively 'free range' in a two acre paddock has contributed . . . and whether it might be a bad thing to start using flea control measures from early on.

Anyone have anyone has stories that either support or contradict the idea that 'too clean' results in allergies and sentitivities.

[persephone]

I don't know- all I know is that our working dogs never get bathed, or brushed (the very long coated ones get the odd comb thru during moulting), they only get spray on flea/fly treatment (permoxin)when needed, and we have never had one of them with any sort of skin problem or allergy (aside from the odd case of sarcoptic mange from killing mangy foxes .), and the 'collie nose' in those odd ones with lack of pigment.

Our pups are born & raised on/in sand/dirt. they eat all sorts of dead things/bones, and play with very undesirable looking things they find

Edited October 6, 2009 by persephone

[sas]

The over-hygenic upbringing of children today apprantly can cause them to pick up bugs etc. easier because their immune systems haven't been prepared for typical illnesses as have other children who eat dirt and touch everything.

I'm not sure about the theories of allergies because allergies occur through an over active immune system....something to ponder though.

My boy has severe allergic skin disease and he's been treated as a fair dinkum dog since he was a pup....mucky bloody dog LOL I never flea treated or worm treated unless there was an actual need to.

My boy eats poop, dead things he finds etc, he's not over protected I guess in the same terms some kids are.

Skin allergies are considered to be genetic so that's probably where the difference comes in.

An interesting thing too about some allergic dogs is that daily rinsing can actually assist them especially if it's something like pollens or grass upsetting them.

I don't wash too much now he was a show dog so received weekly washing but always finished with a conditioner, these days he is only when it's really neccessary but a 'dirty' coat on some dogs can cause them to itch more.

I have an old girl who is treated the same as my boy and she doesn't have allergic skin diesease.

Edited October 6, 2009 by sas

[Staranais]

I've heard that story too, not sure if anyone's actually researched it, but it sounds sort of plausible. The idea is that if the immune system matures never having to fight off any real pathogens then it never really learns what is normal and what isn't, so it overreacts later when it encounters harmless things. Kind of like not socialising a puppy and having it freak out when it sees people roughhousing, I suppose!

Allergies in dogs are considered a genetic predisposition, there is a far higher chance of your dog developing an allergy if any of his near relatives is allergic, some breeds are far more prone to skin issues than others, and dogs with one type of allergy are much more likely to develop a second allergy than a non allergic dog is. But that doesn't mean that there can't be a strong environmental component as well in some dogs.

[Nekhbet]

i think its more to do with breeding practices and the amount of chemicals we pump into our animals

puppies have a habit of getting into everything grotty so unless you keep them solely inside their whole lives on disinfected floors I wouldnt say that being the primary cause

[anniek]

Could be why greyhounds as a breed are generally very healthy. Racing greys are raised in yards as young pups - only ever receive the C3 vacs. They do however get given steroids and other goodies etc to help recover from injuries quickly once ready for breaking in.

[Erny]

There is also a similar theory on worm burdens in dogs. Their systems are engineered to be able to deal with a light worm burden. But we keep their guts whistle clean of worms (with chemicals, I might add .... which don't really help the immune system either) and the system's immune response has nothing to do, so it looks for a job and this can lead to it fighting things it doesn't need to fight .... which appears as allergy skin.

I don't worm my boy. Instead, I have a worm burden count done to keep an eye on things that way.

Edited for spelling.

Edited October 6, 2009 by Erny

[stormie]

But how would you explain this theory within a litter of pups, where only one or two was unlucky enough to have allergies, even though they'd all been raised in the same environment?

[Gayle.]

But how would you explain this theory within a litter of pups, where only one or two was unlucky enough to have allergies, even though they'd all been raised in the same environment?

They might be from the same litter, but they are still individual pups, and each one has their own immune system and how one pups immune system reacts, might be totally different to the next one.

Why do some children catch every cold, flu, bug etc going around and yet their brothers and sisters barely miss a day of school due to excellent health? Same thing.

I don't worm my boy. Instead, I have a worm burden count done to keep an eye on things that way.

I think there is something in this. I have used less chemicals and preventive "measures" on my two Aussies than I ever have with past dogs, and I'm finding less problems. I rarely use flea preparations, but they don't have fleas. They share the same backyard that my previous dogs lived in and they always had fleas....despite regular applications of flea repellant chemicals.

I rarely worm them, but they don't appear to have any problems with worms (I do worm them, but I leave a lot longer gap than recommended).

[dogcop]

Well they used to reckon that a healthy kid used to eat a bucket of dirt a year . So I think there could be something in this its certainly possible.

[Erny]

Well they used to reckon that a healthy kid used to eat a bucket of dirt a year . So I think there could be something in this its certainly possible.

.... yes, but only if you eat the dirt with a silver spoon, as my sister insisted on doing when she was a toddler. She couldn't stand the thought of getting her hands dirty.

[Jigsaw]

I understand that there is some research being carried out on mild infestations of hookworms in immune diseases such as asthma and coeliac disease to see if they suppress the immune system so reactions are less intense.

I have my son on video shovelling handfuls of sand/dirt into his mouth when he was crawling! Unfortunately he is an allergy kid so it mustn't have been the good stuff! :rolleyes: And I certainly wasn't a clean freak in the house!

[sas]

LOL and then go figure someone like me who developed allergies as a 30 year old! Ripped off!

[stormie]

I was always a really grubby kid, always outside playing with animals and bugs etc. My sister is the complete opposite of me and was always into being clean and looking pretty. Yet I'm the one with all the allergies to pollens, animal hair etc!