Anyone who has owned a service dog has encountered the "iron-clad" blockade to your dog's presence. I've even had a psychiatric nurse tell me that I could never again bring my dog to appointments - then spend two hours in the same room as my dog with nary a sneeze or a grab for a tissue.

How do I achieve this? Not magic, just educating myself and applying the knowledge. Just two weeks ago, I finally encountered a vet practice that teaches their clients exactly what I have been teaching vets for years.

Now cats cause allergies because of proteins in their saliva that become airborne as they are shed from the fur's surface. Unless you bathe your cat before every outing and then keep them confined to a clean carrier, it is impossible to integrate a cat into an environment that includes a allergic person.

But a dog's allergy is caused by dander (doggy dandruff). So what, exactly, IS dandruff. It is an a rapid growth and speedy shedding of layers of skin cells heavily colonized with a human-type dandruff yeast, a primitive plant form, complicated by the opportunistic overgrowth of bacteria feasting on the organic debris. The results - itchy skin, dander shedding and the "smells like a dog" odor we all know.

If you purchase an antibacterial dog shampoo that controls doggy odor and mix it, half and half, with a blue dandruff shampoo such as those with zinc pyrithione (the head & shoulder types) or a "tar-derivative" like Selsun Blue. All these come in varieties for normal and moisturizing formulas.

Shampoo every possible square inch, even the inside of a drooping ear flap, let it do its work for a few minutes (ten minutes of this will kill every last flea on a dog). Rinse thoroughly. If your dog's coat needs a conditioner, try to keep it off the skin or, preferably, use a spray-on conditioner for use on the dry coat.

Use of this shampoo combo will keep your dog smelling fresh and decidedly undoggy for at least 4 weeks. The dog's skin will no longer contain the infected dander that is what causes sneezes and you can confidently go anywhere.

Of course, if your dog spends significant time outdoor or likes to swim, all bets are off as s/he will be picking up soil and organisms that will speed his transition to doggy smell again.

Wishing you all many pleasant hours of cuddling without fears of doggy-smelling clothes or upholstery.

OMT