DaytonDailyNews.com

While studies show that children who grow up in homes with dogs and cats have fewer allergies later in life, some of us already seem to be allergic to our companions.

If you are allergic to pets, there are some like poodles and schnauzers that cause less problems. But what do you do if your pet is making your life a sneeze?

Petland of Dayton suggests the following ways to reduce allergy symptoms in the home:

• Keep pets out of the bedroom and off the bed. Wash bedding in hot water twice a month to kill allergens.

• Vapor steam clean your home.

• Use allergen air filters in your

furnace.

• Clean and vacuum with a Hepa filter. Take bags or dump bagless cups outside the home so nothing crawls out of the trash.

• Shampoo your pet weekly with an allergen-reducing shampoo.

• Wash pet bedding regularly.

• Brush your pet daily (outside so hair and dander don't fly around the house).

Animals affected by chemicals

A recent study has found that

companion dogs and cats are carrying higher levels of toxic synthetic industrial chemicals than humans.

According to the Environmental Working Group, the study was done to see if pets face more or less contaminants in homes and outdoor environments. The answer is yes. And those doing the study say it should be a cautionary warning for humans.

Of the 70 industrial chemicals the study tested for, it found dogs and cats were contaminated with 48, including 43 chemicals at levels higher than those typically found in people.

Average levels of many chemicals were substantially higher in pets, with 2.4 times higher levels of stain-and grease-proof coatings (perfluorochemicals) in dogs, 23 times more fire retardants (PBDEs) in cats, and more than five times the amounts of mercury than found in humans.

The pets picked up the exposure, according to the study, just as children drink pollutants in tap water, play on lawns with pesticide residues or breathe in an array of indoor air contaminants. Pets, like infants and toddlers, have limited diets and play close to the floor, often licking the ground as well as their paws, greatly increasing their exposures to chemicals.

EWG said some scientists believe the chemical exposure could be the cause of high rates of cancer in dogs and skyrocketing hyperthyroidism in cats.

For more information on the study, visit www.ewg.org/reports/pets.

Animal advocacy workshop

People/Animals Network and Dogs Deserve Better will host an animal advocacy workshop from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 17 at Faith Lutheran Church, 3315 Martel Drive, Dayton.

Julie Lewin, a nationally recognized advocate for animal protection laws and author of "Get Political for Animals and Win the Laws They Need," will be at the one-day workshop that focuses on how to enact more effective animal legislation through the formation of voter blocs.

The $25 fee includes a vegetarian lunch. Registration deadline is May 14.

For information and a registration form: e-mail peopleanimalsnet

@AOL.com (put "workshop" in subject line), or call (937) 253-9448. For more information about Lewin, her book, and the National Institute for Animal Advocacy, visit www.nifaa.org.

New dog club classes

Gem City Dog Club will start its third session of classes the week of May 5 and run through June 28.

Classes include agility, conformation, freestyle, obedience, earthdog and rally. The cost is $65-80 per class.

For more information, visit www.gcdoc.com.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2248 or

ldenger@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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