March 2010
Organization Facilitates Donations of Pet Oxygen Masks
Subscribers Only House fires are devastating and life-threatening for everyone in the family – including the pets. It’s estimated that half a million pets are affected by fires each year and more than 40,000 die from smoke inhalation. Emergency first responders can provide oxygen to a fading animal, but they usually face the challenge of working with a human oxygen mask, which is difficult to securely fit over a dog or cat’s face.
AAHA to Create New Nutritional Guidelines
Subscribers Only In January, the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) announced its plan to create a new set of nutritional guidelines for use by veterinarians and to publish these recommendations in June 2010.
More States Change Rabies Vaccine Requirement
Subscribers Only Arkansas canines and their humans have very good reason to celebrate the start of the new decade. That state’s new rule allowing for a three-year rabies vaccine became effective January 1, 2010. This means dogs in Arkansas will need to be vaccinated only every three years (after their initial first-year booster) instead of annually, as was previously required.
Whole Dog Journal's Dry Dog Food Review Update
This is a test of the emergency broadcast system. This is only a test. If this were an actual emergency, the alert you just heard would be followed by an official message from state and local authorities.
Subscribers Only Several of our eagle-eyed readers caught an error in dry dog food review in our February issue: “In the February 2010 issue, the picture of the approved dog foods includes Nutro Ultra but it is not listed in the article. Why the discrepancy?” “I see that Nutro Ultra is included in the photo on page 3; its caption says ‘these are just a few examples of premium quality foods.’ However, it’s not included on the ‘approved foods’ list. Can you clarify?” “I noticed that the Nutro Ultra Holistic food is in your picture, but I couldn’t find it in the actual list of approved foods. Is it one of the approved foods?”
Credible Canine Health Information on the Internet
Your dog depends on you to employ credible health-related (and training-related!) information. To do this, you also have to learn to recognize and reject information from sources that lack objectivity or accuracy, or are outdated.
When you or a loved one develops a medical issue, chances are you’ll be inclined to do some Internet research. While I say, “More power to you!” other medical professionals might roll their eyes at the thought of “wasting” valuable time discussing potentially whackadoodle notions gleaned from cyberspace. Whether veterinarians like it or not, the Internet is here to stay. What can you do to make your online research more productive and your discussions about it with your vet more palatable? Here’s how to find instructive, accurate, credible Internet information while avoiding “online junk food” -and how to comfortably discuss what you’ve learned online with your veterinarian in a way that promotes collaborative discussion. By the way, although I’m a veterinarian teaching people how to better care for their dogs, this information is also applicable to your own healthcare! So, let’s begin. How can you determine whether or not a website is dishing out information that is worthy of your time?
Canine Hospice Care Options
Hospice care, or "pawspice," the term coined by Alice Villalobos, DVM, former President of the American Association of Human Animal Bond Veterinarians (AAHABV) and founding member of the Veterinary Cancer Society, is supportive assistance in evaluating and managing our pets" quality of life as they near the end of their days, a time period that can span from days to months.
When we first adopt that pudgy puppy, or spring that delinquent adolescent canine out of a shelter, our new dog's senior years and final days are far from our thoughts. But if we're lucky enough to enjoy a long life together, eventually, we'll spend a number of months or years caring for him as a senior dog - and sometimes, a challenging and emotionally difficult time seeing him through to a peaceful death. Fortunately, there are many resources available to help us support our beloved canine companions - even those who have been diagnosed with chronic or terminal illness - in maintaining the best possible quality of life before they die. Hospice care, or "pawspice," the term coined by Alice Villalobos, DVM, former President of the American Association of Human Animal Bond Veterinarians (AAHABV) and founding member of the Veterinary Cancer Society, is supportive assistance in evaluating and managing our pets' quality of life as they near the end of their days, a time period that can span from days to months.
Letting Your Dog Sleep on Your Bed With You
Why wouldn’t your dog prefer your bed to any other place to sleep? It’s probably warmer, softer, and more companionable than any other place in the house. If you choose to snooze without your dog, make sure he has an equally comfortable bed, as close to a responsible family member as possible.
Contrary to the strongly held opinion of some training and behavior professionals, I’m generally pretty comfortable with allowing canine family members on their humans’ beds. In our family, two of our five dogs sleep with my husband and me. Scooter, a Pomeranian, routinely sleeps with us; Dubhy, our Scottish Terrier, graces us with the privilege of his presence on our bed only from time to time. Trainers who adamantly oppose dogs on the bed mostly fall into the old-fashioned training camp, and often, they also buy into all the dominance stuff that’s been pretty much discredited by behavioral scientists. Chances are good I would differ with them on many dog training and philosophical issues, not just this one. The dog who wants to sleep on your bed isn’t trying to take over the world. He just wants to be close to his humans -and comfortable!
Less Stressful Veterinary Visits
When examining a fearful dog, the vet should back up to the dog when approaching her personal space. Approaching while facing her head on can cause her to snap defensively. Photos courtesy Dr. Yin, lowstresshandling.com.
A training friend suggested that I read Low Stress Handling, Restraint, and Behavior Modification of Dogs and Cats, by applied animal behaviorist Sophia Yin, DVM, MS. As an owner whose dogs have taken their fair share of visits to vet clinics, I really liked what I read. Dr. Yin’s text takes a critical look at how our pets are often handled in veterinary clinics – and it’s not pretty, as you may have seen yourself. Fortunately, she also offers common sense advice on approaching veterinary care so as to make it as stress-free as possible for our pets. Popular myths abound that force is needed to get animals to behave. Instead, Dr. Yin focuses on how to modify behavior quickly in a veterinary setting using a systematic and positive approach. Her methods involve classical conditioning to change the pet’s emotional state; setting up the veterinary environment to ensure the pet’s comfort; teaching us how to handle animals with appropriate, rather than stronger, restraint; and how to behave around animals so as to avoid creating problems.
Canine News You Can Use: March 2010
Arkansas canines and their humans have very good reason to celebrate the start of the new decade. That state’s new rule allowing for a three-year rabies vaccine became effective January 1, 2010. This means dogs in Arkansas will need to be vaccinated only every three years (after their initial first-year booster) instead of annually, as was previously required. The majority of states in the U.S. now allow for the three-year vaccination schedule. Despite a slightly premature announcement from the Rabies Challenge Fund (rabieschallengefund.org) last August that all 50 states had accepted a three-year protocol, a few still do not. Rhode Island’s Rabies Control Board approved a change in April of 2009 accepting the three-year vaccination, but as of yet no effective date has been set. Until that happens, Rhode Island dog owners are still required to vaccinate their canine companions every two years. West Virginia also requires vaccination bi-annually. There may be a few others. Still, every state that approves a three-year schedule is one step closer to that 50-state goal.
Unwanted Dog Food Guarding Behavior
A fake hand, mounted on the end of a stick, is used to safely assess whether this dog guards his food – obviously, he does! If a dog habitually or intensely guards food or other resources like this, find an experienced, positive behavior professional to help you. And employ scrupulous management to keep everyone safe!
Canine resource guarding may be a natural, normal dog behavior, but it’s alarming when your own dog growls – or worse, snaps – at you over his resource. Resist your first impulse to snap back at your dog. Whatever you did that caused your dog to growl, stop doing it. Immediately. If you were walking toward him, stand still. If you were reaching toward him, stop reaching. If you were trying to take the toy or bone away from him, stop trying. Your next action depends on your lightning-fast analysis of the situation. If your dog is about to bite you, retreat. Quickly. If you’re confident he won’t escalate, stay still. If you aren’t sure, retreat.
Stuffed
We’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback about two newer features in Whole Dog Journal. The first is “Action Plan” - the column that appears opposite this page, which features five things that an owner can do to solve any given dog behavior problem. The second is “Canine News You Can Use.” Our annual dry dog food review, published each February, is such a monster that it ate the space for these two columns in last month’s issue, but they have reappeared this month. We did give the “Good Sports” column this month off, but author/trainer Terry Long will be back in the next issue with an installment on the sport of competitive herding.
