So I came home from work Friday afternoon and I had a crazy allergy attack. My nose was running, I was sneezing, I had nasal congestion, my eyes were watering. It was pretty bad. Now, on Monday I am back at work and I can breathe better and I feel great. I took some Zyrtec the past couple days, so maybe its just that kicking in, but its a pretty big coincidence that my symptoms go away when I leave the house. We'll see what happens when I go back to the house today. I grew up with dogs and I have had Bear for 2 years now and this has never been an issue.

Can you develop dog allergies over night like this? How can I know for sure if I'm allergic? What can I do if I am allergic?

I'm allergic to dust, pollen and animal fur - yes, that means I'm allergic to cats and DOGS too! However, Huskies are one of the very few breeds of dogs that I am NOT allergic to. It's because their fur has a coating the repels dirt and water which means Huskies to not carry a lot of the pollens and/or allergens in their fur as most other breeds.

This does not mean to say you cannot develop an allergy to dogs when you've never had an allergic reaction before. Not sure what the chances are but you can.

You can take an allergy test to see what specifics you are allergic to. They will test for animals, pollens and pollutants. This will tell you what you are specifically allergic to. It could also be that a specific type of pollen is making you react, as spring rolls around.

What makes you say it's dogs when you've had Bear for so long? I think that it's very likely that you may be allergic to something in the house, but I would look for another source. Have you brought ANYTHING home recently that's new? With the new baby coming, I would imagine you're opening gifts and lots of furniture, etc for the baby to use, did you open something recently? It could be a packaging chemical or material.

You can definitely develop allergies to animals after living with them, but it's rare to have a full out "attack" like that out of the blue. I would look for something else in your home to try and narrow it down. A new cleaner perhaps? Air freshener?

Like Claudia says, going to an allergist will help you narrow it down.

In my experience most people who are alleric to animals are DESENSITIZED to that allergen the longer they live with the animal. My sister-in-law can now only visit her mother for a few hours at a time because she is now allergic to the cats that she grew up with. I'm sure she always was allergic to them but had become desensitized to them.

I vote that something else is bothering you and not Bear. Air freshener? Mold? Ladybugs / stinkbugs?

My sister-in-law had also left her mother's house like Sara in the following post. I think I made it sound like the allergy developed while the SIL was living at the home with the cats.

I became allergic to my mom's dogs after going away to college, but seems a little weird that yours happened over night. Sounds more like something is pollinating near your house that you're allergic to. Going to the doctor will probably be the only way to know for sure.