hi i have a wee girl who is nearly 6mth, my dog who is a year old is casting alot and was looking for some advice on how to stop this as am scared of my wee girl getting asthma dont want to get rid of my dog as hes really good with my wee girl keira and she adores him aswell.donna:\)

Hi there, what do you mean by casting? If I assume you mean moulting(loosing hair) then other than brushing your dog everyday, regular baths (1 monthly) and keeping your dogs bed away from radiators/heating theres not much else you can do. Most dogs moult. Depending on the breed there will be differences in the type of hair lost i.e Labradors have a pointed hair which causes the hairs to stick in the carpet/clothing. Terriers have slightly courser hair which means they tend to lay on top of fabric.
As for the affect on your lo, other than hoovering well with a dust free carpet freshner and making sure your lo's bedding/blankets are well away from your pet. And the area that your lo plays most on the floor in the dog is not allowed while lo is playing. (Obviously outside isnt included in that!!).
I have three children myself and at one point we had three dogs(are down to one now though). I worked for Battersea Dogs home for several years and learnt that its basically general hygene and pet maintanance thats helps stop these problems with excema or asthma.
Obviously this depends on if those ailments run in the family or if your lo already has either.
All three of my kids get excema though not because of the dogs as their dad has it(i know its not yet proven to be hereditory but still!!)
and if Im honest the dog(s) have never made it worse.
So really hon I wouldnt worry too much, if you keep your accomodation clean then you shouldnt have any worries.
If you do get at all concerned about your lo just give your GP a call or if you need more advice about your dog, your local rescue center shuold give you advice(number in yellow pages)

If you make sure the dog is never let into the baby's room so that remains a hair free zone.

Do you have a vacuum cleaner designed for pet hair, I have a VAX swift pet premium and that works great on my animals hair, my shepherd moults regularly then there's the cat hair! They work better than regular hoovers as they suck in all the hair and not blow it around the room as some do.

Brush the dog daily outside and collect the hair in a carrier bag and throw into the bin, so the hair is not blown back into the house.

This should stop any problems really, x