[Help] Girlfriend allergic to dogs, question about possibly getting a non-hypoallergenic dog

My girlfriend has a (in her own words) mild allergy to dogs. I believe it's an allergy to their dander, she is not allergic to their saliva. Her response is different depending on the cleanliness of the dog. When the dog is fairly clean and brushed, she doesn't seem to have a reaction; when the dog is dirty and/or shedding a lot, she gets hives on her arms (after petting) and gets an itchy throat and sometimes wheezes (she also has mild asthma).We have been very unsuccessful in finding a hypoallergenic dog, part of the reason being we want to get a rescue dog. What we want to know is, if we were to get a non-hypoallergenic dog is there a possibility of her allergies getting worse? As a long as her allergies don’t get worse, we think that she would be fine having a non-hypoallergenic dog as long as we kept it clean and brushed. I have read, and heard anecdotally that having exposure to an allergen over time reduces the reaction and this is essentially how immunotherapy works; is there any merit to this statement?For a couple of months she stayed at a house where her roommate had a non-hypoallergenic dog that was clean and was brushed everyday, and my girlfriend never felt any allergy symptoms that entire time. However, she did not pet the dog as the dog was very anxious.*Note: If we did get a non-hypoallergenic dog we would not give it up under any circumstances; she would just deal with the allergies and take allergy medication to deal with the problem. via /r/dogs http://ift.tt/2qOzT5s