Pavlov's Baby

Nathan is a smart boy.

He had been a dog lover. One of his first words/sound was "Ooo-Ooo" which was quite obviously the bark of a dog. With arms outstretched, fingers grasping the air, he would bark at any dog passing at any distance, reaching with obvious need toward his 4-legged soon-to-be-friend. Faced with actually touching a dog he was usually a little more hesitant. they are, after all, larger than him and very frenetic. Still, he got to pet a few dogs.

After this encounter we noticed a few hives on his face and he was rubbing his eyes. By the time we got home from the park it was gone.

Then came the incident known as Nate versus poodle. Supposedly hypoallergenic dogs, but within about 5 minutes of being tasted by the friendly poodle, our boy was red, puffy, and his eyes were swollen almost shut. the hives on his face were so big and tight they almost looked like blisters. His skin was weeping.

After a bath, some time, and a large dose of benadryl he felt much better. But obviously, he can be taught. Dogs now elicit no excitement from him. He turns his head away and ignores them. Even the dog button on his animal noise toy gets a scrunched up face and a "bye-bye, bye-bye".

One picture per blog of a hive-y boy is enough, so here is a cute picture of our little man glowing with pride at his ability to motor around unassisted.

When we took Nate for his allergy testing this week he was tested for dog allergen. The doctor was hesitant because it is so rare for a child before age 2 years to be allergic to dogs. But because he had so many other allergies, and because we had the pictures I am not posting here, he consented, and sure enough a large wheal and flare ensued.

He recommended we keep him away from dogs. Nate seems ready to keep himself away.

Clever boy.