Pet dander and new allergies?

Stella is now 21mos old and a crazy delight. This summer, in the last 6wks or so, the shedding of super fine hair has been unreal. She's had the "big sheds" in the fall and spring of the coarser hair, but right now it's out of control. It was not like this last summer when she was a puppy. I'm brushing her once or twice a day, sweeping the hardwoods, and our cleaning lady does a deep vacuum of the rugs and furniture every week and yet the house is covered in this fine fine yellow hair.

Ok, annoying enough. EXCEPT, in the last 72hrs after rolling around on the dog-hairy wool rug, and then this afternoon after laying on and snuggling with her, my 7yr old has developed a significant case of hives on her face, and bare arms and legs. Monday I attributed it to the wool rug, but this afternoon she was on the furniture and laying with the dog, but not on the wool and we just noticed welts/hives breaking out on her cheek, arms and hands.

A few questions, and I'll of course be calling both the pediatrician and vet tomorrow.
First, has anyone else or their family member developed allergies after a year or two or more of having pets? If so, were they manageable?
Second, any thoughts on how to manage this out of control dander and shedding? We haven't changed food or anything else about our lifestyle.

The mess of the hair is annoying and embarrassing when we have guests. The potential for allergies in my child is scary.

Have not had a problem or know anyone with that type reaction but heard it does happen.

My suggestions: Brush daily, which you are doing. Vacuum way more often, daily if you have to. Dander or flaky skin happens during shed. You might try a good brushing then a lukewarm bath with sometime like Earth Bath (for dogs) using a Zoom Groom in the bath, then outside in the sun (a windy day helps) and more brushing. The bath helps loosen the undercoat which is shedding. Keep up the brushing and vacuuming. Definitely consult your pediatrician about your child's reaction.

Also invest in a good dog hair vacuum if you can. Launder frequently all blankets, pillows, etc that Stella has contact with.
Keep us posted on your child.

Thank you! We head to the pediatrician this morning. Has anyone had success with a HEPA air purifier in reducing the dander and/or hair in the air? I may stop at Target or Walmart and pick one up for our family room to try it out on a small scale, depending on what her doctor says.

Is it really, really exceptionally humid where you are as it is here? Humidity in summer made my sister react more to her cat than she did in drier winter air. Sounds weird, I think, but it did. Maybe a dehumidfier would help, just as adding humidity in winter can help? I know, SO contradictory sounding.

Back from the ped. They did a blood draw to test for allergens and started her on Zyrtec. The ped said it would be highly unusual to out of nowhere go from no allergic reaction to an extreme like this. However, because the amount of dog hair right now is so extreme, perhaps the volume is triggering something.

My cleaning lady said her vacuum filled with dog hair three times today just on the first floor of my house between the floor and the upholstered furniture, which is apparently way more than normal. Hopefully between the vet and the lab we'll have some answers in a day or two.

Fingers crossed.

Does the dog have access to seeded out grasses (field grasses) by chance? I have a hay field here and when it's ready to cut, my dogs all bring in grass seeds etc on them which will cause me to break out in hives.
It has also been a crazy year here in the NW for shedding due to the extreme heat, so all I can say is brush as much as possible, swim the dog to loosen it all up and keep them clean. You'll want to avoid a lot of shampoo w/ labs so maybe just a cider vinegar rinse regularly????

No field grass, just regular suburban grass. On the East Coast it's been a weird summer. High heat but then stretches of rain and cool. It could be that the dog is bringing in grass or mold spores. I'm hoping that's it instead of Stella herself!

I would definitely vacuum more and keep the Stella off the furniture (sad I know :( ). I had very bad allergies growing up and my mom also used all of this allergy free bedding in my room. It was slightly more plastic-y than normal bedding, but it didn't bother me. She also used an allergy free carpet cleaner in my room.

If you want to continue to allow Stella on furniture I would cover ip the furniture with blankets that you remove when your daughter is on the couch, and launder them frequently. We do that just to keep our couch cleaner anyway.

Good luck!

Update from the vet. Apparently she is seeing lots of dogs and cats in our area with unusually massive shedding, and a huge increase in cats with hair balls. They don't know why but it's clearly something environmental or climate that is triggering the pets. She recommended a good bathing/grooming, and using the wet washcloth to wipe her down a few times a day in addition to all the brushing.

I'm putting sheets/blankets over the furniture and likely buying a good vacuum tomorrow.
Fingers crossed the dander dies down AND that it isn't the cause of my daughter's allergic reaction in any event. She is terrified that allergies would mean we would have to re-home Stella, even though I've assured her repeatedly that isn't the case.