A mom in Denver, Colorado, urged caution after she heard a mysterious voice through her baby’s Nanit monitor, believing the device was hacked.
Sorry cat owners, but it turns out dogs really are man’s — and child’s — best friend.
According to researchers at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto, Canada, babies exposed to dog allergens in the home have a lower risk of developing childhood asthma by the age of five years old.
“Children spend most of their time indoors, so in this research we wanted to study allergens in the home,” said Dr. Jacob McCoy, who will present the data at the European Respiratory Society (ERS) Congress.
“These are an important risk factor that we could potentially alter to reduce asthma,” he added.
To come to this conclusion, researchers analyzed samples of dust from the homes of 1,050 children between the ages of three and four months old. The dust was measured for three indoor allergens:
- Can f1 — a protein shed in dog skin and saliva
- Fel d1 — a protein shed in cat skin and saliva
- Endotoxin — a molecule on the surface of bacteria
Five years later, the children were each assessed for asthma. Doctors also tested their lung function and took blood samples to monitor genetic risk factors for asthma and allergies.
The findings would make any dog-loving parent happy.
While researchers were unable to find any protective effect for babies exposed to the cat allergen or endotoxin, they did determine that exposure to dog allergens lowered the risk of asthma by 48%.
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Those babies were also found to have better lung function, according to the study.
“We don’t know why this happens; however, we do know that once a person becomes sensitive to dog allergens, they can make asthma symptoms worse,” McCoy said, per the ERS.
“This suggests that early exposure to dog allergens could prevent sensitisation, perhaps by altering the nasal microbiome or by some effect on the immune system,” he added.
How common is childhood asthma?
Asthma is a chronic condition that inflames and narrows the airways in the lungs.
According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, asthma affects nearly five million children in the United States and is “one of the most common chronic (long-term) diseases in children.”
It’s also one of the most common reasons children miss school, per the AAFA.
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“Asthma is a very common chronic respiratory illness in children, with the highest rates in the first four years of life,” Dr. McCoy said, per the ERS.
“It is caused by complex interactions between genetic factors and the environment, including infections, allergies and air pollution,” he added.
The most common asthma symptoms in children include whistling or wheezing while breathing, chest tightness, shortness of breath and frequent coughing, according to the Mayo Clinic.
While there is no cure for childhood asthma, it can be managed with lifestyle changes and medication.
And if the new data is any indication, then dog allergens could help reduce that risk — even with families that don’t have a dog.
According to a 2014 paper published by Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol, dog allergens (Can f1) were detected in 100% of homes in the U.S. — despite less than half of families owning a household pet.
In 2024, the American Veterinary Medical Association estimated that roughly 46% of households owned a dog — accounting for nearly 60 million homes in the United States.
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“Our findings highlight the potential protective role of dog allergens, but we need to do more research to understand the link between early-life exposure to dog allergens, lung function and asthma,” McCoy said.
