Pet Allergies: What About Therapy Dogs in Hospitals?

By Andrea Jensen, CHES, AE-C

3 min read

Ah, the good ole days. You know, before COVID-19. Hospitals would be busy, but they didn't have patients lined up in the hallways.

My 3 kids and I all have allergies and asthma. My middle son also has food allergies. These conditions all combine to make our lives miserable. They have also caused 12 total hospitalizations among my kids.

Over the years, we have learned that controlling our allergies can control our asthma. Like many people with asthma, we all have allergic asthma. So there are A LOT of things that make our bodies and lungs cranky.

Asthma and allergies are a challenge to manage

I use a simple visual when I teach families about allergies and asthma. I use toys or painted wood blocks in the shape of dogs, cats, flowers, trees, grass, etc., and then I add them 1 by 1 to a glass container. My clients can quickly see that people can manage 1 or 2 allergens. But, adding more and more allergens can cause the glass container (a.k.a. our body) to overflow. Cue the sneezing and wheezing.

My family tries our best to avoid our allergy and asthma triggers. Our home and my kid's apartments are allergy-friendly. But other places aren't. When my kids were little, they would start sneezing and wheezing in school, even when other students had dog or cat dander on their clothing.

You would think a hospital would be a safe place for allergies and asthma, right?

Hospitalized due to an asthma flare

During a scary hospitalization for my middle son's allergy and asthma flare, he was really struggling to breathe. He was on high-flow oxygen and was worn out. We were in his room watching TV when suddenly, a woman walked into his room with a dog on a leash.

I jumped up and yelled, "What are you doing?!" She had a look of shock on her face and started to back out of the room. The nurse came running in and shouted, "What's going on here?"

I shouted back, "My son is here with an allergy and asthma attack. He's allergic to dogs. Why would you bring a dog in here?"

The nurse curtly said, "Well, it's a therapy dog. How are we supposed to know that your son is allergic to dogs?"

Therapy dogs are not suitable for all hospital patients

I put my hand on my hip, gave her my best "Mom Scowl," and replied, "By asking." I told her she couldn't assume that every sick kid wants to see a therapy dog in their hospital room.

After my heart slowed down, I told her I appreciated the gesture - I really did! However, she needs to ask for a parent's permission and check a patient's chart before bringing a dog into their room.

If a child is in the hospital with allergies and asthma and is struggling to breathe (even on high flow oxygen), it's not a good idea to bring one of their triggers directly to their bedside.

My son thought I was a mean mom. But, it's my job to protect my children - from anyone or anything.

Patients with asthma or allergies can't enjoy therapy animals

Therapy dogs would be great for a child in the hospital due to another medical reason and who needed a little love from a furry friend. But it's not a great idea if the patient has allergies and asthma and is struggling to breathe.

Don't get me wrong. We love dogs. But their dander and fur don't love us back. 2 minutes of petting a dog leave my family wheezing and sneezing.

So while therapy dogs are adorable and comforting, they're a no-go for us. And, don't tell me it's okay because there are hypoallergenic dog breeds: this is a common myth!

What are your thoughts on therapy dogs? Should they be brought into pediatric wards of hospitals?

This article represents the opinions, thoughts, and experiences of the author; none of this content has been paid for by any advertiser. The Allergies.net team does not recommend or endorse any products or treatments discussed herein. Learn more about how we maintain editorial integrity here.

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AmyW Member
It is becoming harder and harder these with a child or even myself having pet allergies that trigger full blown asthma attacks requiring some sort of urgent visit. Trying to navigate in a store, hospital or school has become uncomfortable to say the least. My son's school district is now placing a therapy dog in every school. They expected him to take allergy meds which he already does, and it doesn't help on the regular, not consistent, so he is suppose to avoid his triggers to keep from having an asthma attack. I understand the reason for having a therapy animal, but my child could have serious health events due to animal dander exposure. Of all places you want to feel safe is in a hospital and you can't these days. Frustrating. I had to quit working and homeschool my child. The bitterness of that is the school he should be attending gets all the funding for him not being there. Definitely not a good situation over here. We feel pretty unconsidered. A doctor we talked to when I brought this up said, it is concerning even for the kids with pet allergies that do not have asthma as they will be needing to take allergy medication daily now rather than on occasion, and allergy medicine tends to cause lack of focus, tiredness, or the opposite depending on the person, and he said it is not what you want a child in school dealing with when they are trying to learn. Just my two cents, I know it is the least of most parent's concerns these days as we are a very small group dealing with this. Be kind, consider all the kids that need to attend school or visit a hospital, and find a way to make it a good experience for both requiring a therapy animal and those who cannot be around one. As my husband says, to fix one thing, you either destroy or ruin another, balance is a hard thing to manage. 
1. Andrea Jensen, CHES, AE-C
 <inline-mention username="AmyW" user-id="8498096"/> I'm sorry to hear that your son experienced this. It's a no win situation 🙁 My middle son struggled with severe allergies and asthma in 2nd grade, when other kids would come to school with dog and cat dander on their clothes. It would cause asthma attacks for my son. (It took us a while to figure out the cause!) My son was already taking allergy meds every night (year-round), and an allergy nose spray every morning (also all year-round.) In fact, we're a family of 5 and all 5 of us take allergy meds and allergy nose spray every day of our lives. Sigh. So my middle son had no choice but to go to the next step, which was to start allergy shots to help with his allergies. He was already on the maximum dose of allergy meds and having asthma attacks at school. The only option left was to start allergy shots, which he had for 5 years. So, we had to take on the expense of allergy shots and the inconvenience of going to Allergy Docs office twice a week for 5 years to get shots. It's really frustrating! I know we are in the minority, but for us - allergies and asthma are our whole world and have changed our lives forever. Sending good vibes your way! Andrea, Author and Certified Asthma Educator