While I don't think it's a good idea for folks to live in constant mortal fear, dog allergies can potentially kill in the form of asthma. My husband ended up in the ER twice in one night from his dog allergy when he was a toddler.
My brother has had severe asthma attacks from his dog allergy.
Asthma kills. That's why identifying triggers and attempting maintenance/prevention is so darn important.
ygg

My son is allergic to dog saliva as well. Another issue he has with dogs is seasonal allergens that collect in their fur. For example, he can play with them in the winter or right after a bath, but once they've been outside awhile it's a disaster waiting to happen.
Recently we visited with friends we hadn't seen in 10 years while on vacation. They have two dogs, and we had to cut the visit short when DS's face blew up like a blowfish and he started wheezing. He just adores animals, and it's so hard keeping him away from them!
Miraculously he's not allergic to cats, and practically uses ours as a pillow (though I beg him not to).
Amy

My DS is PA & egg allergic, but we are not yet sure about animals yet. However, the list of items to avoid that I have for PA includes dog food/treats. Evidently they use peanut products in a lot of pet foods even if they do not state peanut butter flavored. We keep him away from the pet food bowls - afraid for him to even touch the food. Newly diagnosed with his PA, we went to visit family and even after explaining his allergy, and they said they understood. A couple hours later they were using a big glob of peanut butter to give their dog some medicines. So I would definately say there is at least cross contamination there

We have a new puppy. His dog food has eggs in it.
I noticed at Target last week that Milkbones now has a peanut flavored treat.
I would say some of these reactions you are describing are from the dog food residue.