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December 2009

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Training Your Dog Not to Jump Up
There’s a common misconception that dogs jump on people to establish dominance. Balderdash! Dogs jump on people because there’s something about jumping that is reinforcing for the dog - usually the human attention that results from the jumping. If you want your dog to stop jumping on people, you have to be sure he doesn’t get reinforced for it. Here are five things to do when your dog jumps on people. Of course you need to practice polite greetings in the absence of the exciting stimulus of guests and strangers by reinforcing your dog’s appropriate greeting with you and other family members. Be sure to take advantage of the presence of guests and strangers to reinforce your dog’s polite greeting behaviors while you’re managing with leashes and tethers.

Canine Health News and Current Events December 2009
My dog Ella and I spent an anxious night at the emergency clinic recently, after she found and ate paintballs while on our walk. She was off-lead at the time, so when I realized what she was doing, I had no way of knowing how many she had eaten. In fact, I did not immediately recognize the colorful, marble-sized gelatinous balls, and thought they were some kind of candy. It was only a few hours later, when she threw up bright turquoise, that I became concerned and investigated further. Paintballs ingredients can include polyethylene glycol, dipropylene glycol, glycerol, and sorbitol, all osmotic laxatives, which can lead to hypernatremia (“salt poisoning”) when ingested in sufficient quantity. These ingredients also taste sweet, which is why dogs find paintballs so attractive.

Constructional Aggression Treatment (CAT) Can Improve Behavior
Aggressive behavior in their beloved companions is an incredibly challenging and upsetting problem for most dog owners to deal with. The problem is painfully public -and the public is equally free with accusations and advice for the hapless owner of a reactive dog. Many training “solutions” that people try are inhumane, ineffective, or both. Some owners respond by sequestering their dogs to their home “quarters” -sometimes for life. In early 2008, I was excited to learn about a very new behavior modification approach for dealing with aggressive behavior in dogs. I described the technique, known as Constructional Aggression Treatment (CAT), in Whole Dog Journal’s May 2008 issue. “Building Better Behavior” explained the CAT program, and described my first experience (and positive results) using the technique. The subject was Juni, an eight-year-old Pit Bull-mix belonging to my friend and colleague Jolanta Benal.

Finding Your Dog a Playmate
Otto is such a lucky dog: he’s found a best friend. Lena is also a young dog (about a year old, to Otto’s two years), about his size, and she loves to play all of his favorite games, including “Chase me,” “Let’s bury stuff in the sandbox,” and “I’m going to chew your head off; no, wait, you can chew my head off!” And I am such a lucky dog owner; Lena belongs to a friend who lives close enough that we can schedule regular playdates for our youngsters, so they can run themselves ragged. Otto doesn’t dig up the vegetables the night after Lena comes over, and he doesn’t bark. After a few hours with Lena, he sleeps so soundly he snores.

Managing Your Dogs Stress - A Holistic Approach
As your pet’s human companion, you want to do the best you can for him or her, as do the clients who come to my clinic. In my opinion, a holistic approach will give you new tools to ensure that your pet stays as happy and well as possible. I would like all animal caretakers to learn a new perspective on health and healing – one that respects the best that natural health care and mainstream medicine have to offer, yet goes beyond the limitations of both. This new way of thinking will take you beyond fixing immediate problems and will give you a fresh and comprehensive take on prevention. The holistic way of thinking also involves seeing your role and your veterinarian’s role in a different way. Because you are the person closest to your dog, you are in the best position to influence her well-being. You have the primary responsibility for making decisions that affect her quality of life. In my view, a veterinarian is a coach who provides expert opinions, perspectives, and advice about how to support your pet’s wellness. At times, he may point you toward further resources and even toward other types of health care professionals to help you do that.

Dog Carting and Draft Training
What do you envision when someone says “draft work“? What probably comes to mind are horses, mules, oxen, and other large “beasts of burden.” Think again. Since the 18th and 19th centuries, dogs have assisted humans by hauling wagons and carts across fields and through towns. Dogs have delivered milk and mail, hauled the day’s catch of fish from boat to town, and even hauled lumber in lumber camps. This heritage forms the basis upon which the sport of carting was built by a variety of breed clubs. Between the 1970s and 1990s interest in the sport grew; the St. Bernard folks offered their first competition in 1988, and Bernese Mountain Dog fans added theirs in 1991. The natural inclination of dogs to pull has been literally harnessed by a variety of people through the years. Put backward pressure on a leash and collar, and most dogs will pull forward. Take that “opposition reflex” and a nice, padded harness, and you can see where this is going. Forward, of course! Sledding. Weight pulling. Sulky driving. Skijoring. Carting. Some of these activities are still used to help humans with important tasks. Sled dogs have delivered critical medicines in the dead of winter. Service dogs pull wheelchairs. And some dogs show off their carting skills during public demonstrations and therapy dog visits. This sport has a very practical aspect to it. If you are creative, I’m sure there are tasks around home that you can find for your carting dog.