Dogs are pregnant for about nine weeks or 63 days.
With the exception of dog breeders, many dog owners will have little experience with pregnancy in dogs. It may surprise you to learn that, while human pregnancies typically last around nine months, the dog gestation period is much shorter, averaging just nine weeks or 63 days. Since the pregnancy period is so short, each day matters that much more. Dog owners must be able to recognize the stages and signs of dog pregnancy to provide the best possible care for the expectant mother and pups along the way.
Signs of pregnancy in dogs
If your dog has been spayed, there is no chance she will become pregnant. However, intact female dogs typically go through heat around every six months during which they may become pregnant. When your dog will go through heat does vary with different breeds with some dog breeds only going through heat once a year. Check with your dog breeder or the dog breed national parent club to find when your dog is most likely to go into heat. There’s currently no instantaneous dog pregnancy test like humans have, but there are certain signs of which to be aware. Note that most dogs won’t show clinical symptoms during the first few weeks of the pregnancy (gestation) period.
Here are five signs of pregnancy in dogs:
Weight gain
Increase in appetite
Swollen belly
Enlarged nipples
Increased affection seeking
Once you suspect your dog may be pregnant, bring her to your veterinarian as soon as possible. There, a vet can perform diagnostics including palpation (feeling the abdomen for swelling), hormone tests, X-rays and ultrasounds to confirm a dog’s pregnancy.
Care during a dog’s gestation period
Since canine pregnancy lasts just nine weeks, it’s imperative to monitor your female dog closely during the dog gestation period. This will help you catch any irregularities or possible complications as early as possible. You should also consult with your vet early on and visit regularly as your dog’s pregnancy progresses. Having a plan in place for the birthing of puppies will help you be better prepared for the big moment.
Feed pregnant dogs a high-quality diet, with no changes to normal food intake during the first two-thirds of the gestation period. After six weeks of pregnancy, slowly increase food intake to keep up with the growing mother-to-be. Omega-3 fatty acids are vital to developing puppies, so consider a supplement if you think your dog’s diet could use a boost.
Lastly, prepare as best you can for puppies with a whelping box and any other necessities for a smooth birthing process. Dog pregnancies can be a whirlwind and nine weeks goes by fast. If you follow the right steps, your pregnant dog will soon be the proud parent of a litter of happy and healthy puppies.
People keep asking if Boone is related to Otto. Um, no; Otto was neutered 14 years ago! They are not related!
The news that I’m keeping my former foster puppy is leaking out. I loved him from the get-go, when I agreed to foster him for my local shelter, back at the beginning of March. The reason I didn’t just immediately decide to keep him was that I wanted to give my senior dog, Otto, extra consideration. No old dog should have to spend his or her last days being harassed by a rambunctious puppy – or perhaps a slightly disrespectful one.
But as it turns out, though 14 ½-year-old Otto doesn’t particularly like Boone (the new puppy’s name), he doesn’t seem to mind him, either. He mostly ignores most other dogs, just as he did with Woody, my six-year old dog, when he was a puppy. The difference is, Boone has another playmate: Woody! As much as Otto ignores Boone, Boone ignores Otto, and focuses all his love and mischievousness on the younger dog.
The one time Boone and Otto are ever proximate is when I work with Boone on good-manners behaviors. As soon as Otto sees someone getting treats for sits, downs, or stays, he comes a-running to get in on the fun. When he was younger, he’d be the first to hit the floor on the “sit” and “down” cues, like the smarty-pants kid, jumping out of his chair to raise his whole arm, frantic to let the teacher know he knows all the answers to all the questions the teacher asks the class. Today, he crashes our “classes” to demand treats – but often doesn’t even bother hitting the sits or downs! He’s playing the “senile old man” card a lot – and, because of his arthritis, I let him get away with it, most of the time. As long as he waits his turn and doesn’t interrupt the pup’s learning, he “earns” many treats for just being his usual handsome self.
As this spring warms into summer, Otto spends most of the day in his shady sandbox, which we keep nice and damp for him. He’s been insisting on spending a lot of his nights out there, too. I’m not crazy about him being out all night – especially since we have coyotes and even mountain lions in our neck of the edge-of-town woods, but if I’m to get any sleep whatsoever myself, I have to give in and let him go outdoors. Otherwise, starting uncannily close to 2 a.m. every night, he will pace and pant and escalate into whining and even barking, insisting to go outside. If I let him out and make him come right back inside after relieving his bladder, I will get maybe an hour’s peace before he starts with the pacing and panting all over again. This is torture for me; I start feeling crazy with lack of sleep myself! So I give in, and he gets to stay outside – usually until around five a.m., when he’ll bark to be let back in.
Otto snoozing in his sandbox. I rake and wet the sand daily, and he digs new holes daily, too.
I do have an outdoor pen that I could lock Otto in. He’d be outdoors, but protected from any potential predators. But no; that’s not his jam. I’ve tried it, and he just barks in protest. He knows how to accept being locked in the pen and wouldn’t dream of barking rudely during the day, but at night, he’s a different and fairly unreasonable old dog. He wants to be out patrolling the property (or surveilling from the sandbox). He’s going to make us all miserable if he doesn’t get what he wants at night. So he gets it, as scary as this is for me.
Boone and Woody sleep right through all of this letting Otto in and out. Thank goodness! If we had one more insomniac in the house, I don’t know what I’d do.
During much of the day, Boone shadows Woody, his idol. He sleeps with Woody (often, on Woody), and takes his cues about what to do when they see people passing our house from Woody (run to the fence, barking, and then run back to me, wherever I am, for treats!). He brings toys to Woody, inviting play, and when Woody isn’t interested in playing tug or chase games, he’ll kill time by laying on or near the big dog and chewing very gently on Woody’s ears! It’s the weirdest thing! Woody lets him do it; these days, his ears are almost always a little crunchy with dried Boone saliva.
Amusing himself by playing tug-of-war with a toy tied onto the bottom of the tree swing.
Boone does spend a little time on his own, exploring our property. He likes to play with a toy I’ve hung from the bottom of my grandson’s tree swing; he’ll grab the toy and run with it as far as the rope will go, and then turn and tug furiously, lifting his front feet off the ground, then dropping it and watching it swing away from him, chasing it, and starting all over again.
He also plays this game with the tree on our front lawn. My husband doesn’t like the willow-like hanging branches, so we allow him to go ahead and do a little trimming.
I make Boone spend a little time in the outdoor pen during the day. It’s where he gets to enjoy chewing on pizzles, licking toys stuffed with canned food and frozen or Lickimats slathered with peanut butter. He’s doing great with these short (maybe an hour-long), daily confinement/alone-time practice sessions.
It’s definitely harder to give each one of my three dogs individual attention, and I think maybe it’s Woody who is getting the short end of the stick. Because Boone adores him so much, he is forced to babysit, and while he clearly enjoys having someone to play with sometimes, at other times, he looks sort of glum. I imagine he’s saying, “When is this twerp leaving?” When that happens, I call my friend Leonora, to see if Woody can visit her and her little dog Samson, and enjoy some spoiling time free from puppy spit.
I follow three or four local “lost and found pet” groups on Facebook. These are places where people in the community can post photos of dogs they’ve lost or found, and where neighbors can come together in the comments to offer suggestions to both distraught owners of lost dogs or overwhelmed dog finders. These sites can be invaluable for reuniting pets and owners, as members tend to be the kind of people who pay attention and remember any stray or needy animals they’ve seen.
When I have found a stray dog, it’s helpful to already belong to these groups, so I can quickly submit a “found dog” post. Usually, nonmembers of these groups can’t post to them; generally, you have to wait for a moderator to approve of your membership in the group before you can post – and sometimes it takes a moderator a day or more to respond to your request to join the group! As an already-approved member of these groups, I’ve had responses that helped locate the owners of the dog or dogs I found within an hour!
That’s the good news. The bad news is that these groups can also be a place where people with animal-related problems blame others in the community for those problems, look for other people to solve their problems for them, and bash anyone in the helping professions who fail to help. Animal control officers who fail to materialize immediately, shelters that are overcrowded, and veterinarians who fail to go to any lengths to save the lives of injured stray animals often get singled out for shaming and blaming. I try hard not to read those posts – and have to try even harder, sometimes, to not to respond to them!
Well, I failed utterly the other day. Here was the post that caught my eye:
The post reads:
“I felt compelled to write this post and share something sad that happened this afternoon on XXXXX Road. My neighbor called me to say he found a chocolate lab in front of his house that had been hit by a car. I immediately rushed over and the owner was there. The dog was seriously injured but still alert. Both the front and back legs were broken. They had already called several places without success. No one was willing to come out and euthanize her (XXX).
“Most disturbing too (stet) me was discovering the XXXXXXX Veterinary Hospital (my neighbor had been taking their animals too (stet) for the past 30 years (not even a minute up the street) had refused to help. I decided to call the hospital myself hoping that a second house on their street would convince them of the urgency. This poor baby had been out there suffering for over an hour at this point. I was told everyone was with clients and they would call me back. I let them know this animal was a patient of theirs and in immediate need and I was certain their clients would be willing to wait 10 minutes if they knew it meant the end to an animals (stet) misery. Unfortunately this did not help. The animal had to be lifted into the back of a truck by the neighbors (stet) son. More pain and unnecessary suffering.
“The lack of care for the animals entrusted to them in their own community is appalling and unacceptable. I refuse to take my sweet girls XXXX and XXXX their (stet) in the future.
“My heart breaks for XXXXXX and her parents”
Within hours, there were more than 100 comments from people who were promising to never bring business to the named vet clinic and, what’s more, stating that they would be leaving the vet clinic a bad review.
I don’t know the veterinarian at that clinic personally, but I have a friend who takes all of her pets there – and my friend has encouraged me to bring my dogs there if my vets are ever unavailable, because even though this clinic is farther away than the clinics I currently patronize, my friend finds that the vet and support staff there to be uniquely kind and competent, and the wait times not bad. Through my friend (and a quick review of the clinic’s website to be certain), I’m aware that this clinic has one doctor working there. And now there are hundreds of people in our community being told that this doctor is heartless and inhumane, because she didn’t leave her patients on a moment’s notice in order to run down the street and euthanize a dog on the side of the road. Argh!
Social media can do so much good, especially when it’s bringing people together to accomplish something for those in need. Why do so many people insist on using it for negativity?
Woody’s “chin rest” behavior is not just solid but adorable.
I’ve taught both of my grown-up dogs several positions where they will be rewarded for holding still while I – or, importantly, a stranger such as a vet or vet tech – examines them. They both will lay flat and hold still, or stand and do a “chin rest” (where they press their chin in my hand) and hold still. But the desired behavior is not just “remaining still no matter what”; the “cooperative care” piece of this behavior is a sort of deal: they hold still so that I (or someone else) can touch and examine them, but if they lift their heads, the touching and/or exam must stop immediately. It’s the “deal” you make with them, and what I – like most people who teach this behavior – have found, is that once they learn that they have control over the procedure – they can stop the exam at any moment by lifting their head – they feel more confident about going along with it.
However, I’ve been remiss in working with Boone, the name we’ve finally given to the “foster puppy” who has been here since early March. (I guess this is also an adoption announcement!) Something I’ve observed about him since he’s been here: He hates people looking at his teeth!
Checking a puppy’s teeth before he’s 6 months old is the best way to estimate his age, as the “puppy teeth” all start falling out when the pup is around 4 months old, are usually all gone by about 5 months, and have all newly erupted incisors (the little front teeth), canines (the “fangs”), and premolars (the ones just behind the canines) by about 7 months. (The molars generally take a little longer to erupt, but this varies a lot by the size of the dog.)
Ever since was brought into my local shelter as a “stray,” people have been lifting his lips and trying to figure out his age. He was a lot larger and bigger-boned than the litter of 11 puppies that were brought into the shelter on the same day; the staff judged him to be about 8 weeks old, just based on size, but his demeanor and lack of coordination made him seem much younger. To try to get a better read on his age, shelter staff members (and I!) kept trying to look at his teeth – and he’d struggle every time! And every time, I’d say, “Oy! I have to work on that behavior!”
Now I’m paying the price for having not yet taken the time to work on it.
Boone’s darling facial fuzz could have been hiding anything from a bee sting to a snake bite.
Yesterday, while wrestling and playing tug-of-war with Boone and Woody on our trampoline (a favorite place for this), I heard Boone screech when he and Woody’s mouths bumped as they jostled for the same toy. The next time in the game when he came to sit in my lap, I tried to gently put my hands on Boone’s muzzle, so I could try to see if he had something wrong – a wood splinter or plastic chunk stuck in his teeth, or a foxtail jammed in his gums, perhaps. He could even have a snake bite or something else really serious hiding under that adorable beard! But as I went to lift his lips, he screeched again and dodged away from me. Uh oh; something definitely wrong going on in there. Now I have to look, and we have no agreement or understanding about how this is going to get done.
This is one of those times when it would be easy to permanently damage my relationship with the pup, or advance his reluctance to have his mouth examined into full-scale aggressive resistance.
Instead, I spent more than an hour, in five-minute sessions over the course of the evening and well into the night, working with Boone to teach him a chin rest (that went very quickly – he got it almost immediately) and to hold that chin rest while I touched his upper lip. That made him a little frustrated, because he is very food-motivated, but he also does not want to tolerate any pressure on his upper lips at all.
As we practiced, I was able to determine that he didn’t have any obvious bite marks or wounds on the outside of his face, and given his ability to take treats and chew his dinner kibble, I surmised that he didn’t have anything seriously wrong with his mouth. I suspected – from our previous estimates of his age – that he lost one of those canines; it might have even been torn out during his raucous games of tug with Woody. So I didn’t push for a more complete exam.
But this morning, we went back to the drawing board, and after another half-dozen, several-minute sessions, I was finally able to get Boone to stay still and allow me to lift his upper lip enough to confirm my suspicion: He has a (relatively) big gaping hole where his top left canine used to be. The other canines are all still firmly in place, so he likely lost that one a little prematurely, leaving the gum very sensitive.
I’m glad that’s all it is – but I’m definitely going to commit to daily sessions of the cooperative care “Bucket Game” from here on out. I don’t want the next medical crisis to precipitate a behavioral one.
The symptoms of bloat come on suddenly. A dog may become restless and uncomfortable, and start panting, pacing, or drooling. His abdomen may or may not appear distended, but he will likely react painfully to pressure placed on his left flank. The symptom that clinches the diagnosis is an unproductive retching - get him to an emergency clinic FAST. Call ahead so they are ready for him. Photo Credits: David Herraez / Dreamstime.com
Stomach bloat is something that every dog owner should be aware of. Knowing the early signs of bloating in dogs and the best ways to prevent it can mean the difference between life and death for your dog, and a full or empty bank account for you.
The fancy medical term for simple bloat is gastric dilatation. The fancy medical term for severe bloat with a twisted stomach is gastric dilatation-volvulus, or GDV.
DOGS WHO ARE HIGH RISK FOR BLOAT
Really any dog (or cat) can bloat, but it is far more likely in large breed, deep chested dogs. The Great Dane is far and away the No. 1 breed when it comes to bloat. Other high-risk breeds include the Greyhound, St. Bernard, Weimaraner, German Shepherd, Boxer, and setter breeds.
Any large dog (over 90 pounds) should be considered at risk, and this risk increases with age. Interestingly, the Bassett Hound, though smaller, also has a greater than normal propensity to bloat.
CAUSES OF BLOAT IN DOGS
Nobody knows exactly what causes bloat or why it happens in some dogs and not others, but there are certain things that have been linked to an increased risk of bloating including:
History of bloat in a particular breed line (hints to a possible genetic predisposition)
Dogs who eat too fast (ingest excess air with the meal)
Using elevated feeding bowls (promotes ingestion of excess air with the meal)
Feeding dry food with heavy fat/oil content
Feeding a large meal vs. multiple smaller meals
Exercising on a full stomach
Drinking excessive amounts of water at one time
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN DOGS BLOAT
If excess gas starts to accumulate in the stomach for whatever reason, the distension quickly kinks off both the entrance and the exit of the stomach, so there is no way for the dog to dispel the gas that’s normally accomplished by burping or passing gas through the intestines.
Additionally, the pressure from the gas compromises the blood flow to the stomach wall, which starts suffering tissue injury right away. Then the big gas-filled stomach starts putting pressure on the great vessels that return blood to the heart (these travel underneath your dog’s backbone), which compromises cardiac output and general circulation, throwing your dog into shock.
At a certain point, the gas-filled larger part of the stomach (the “body” of the stomach) starts floating upward and flips over, resulting in a twisted stomach. This compounds all the issues mentioned above and accelerates the speed of progression of this disastrous medical condition. Without emergency surgical intervention, dogs with GDV die a painful death from cardiovascular shock and septic peritonitis from stomach devitalization and/or rupture, and it can happen within hours.
SIGNS OF BLOATING IN DOGS
Bloating dogs usually appear uncomfortable, if not distressed. It comes on suddenly. They are restless and may pace. Drooling and panting are common. Their bellies sometimes, but not always, look distended, and they may react painfully to pressure placed on their left flank. It’s common for dogs to display frequent, unproductive retching like they are trying to vomit but can’t.
WHAT TO DO
Get to a veterinary hospital as soon as any suspicion arises. Time is of the essence! If your dog receives treatment early enough, twisting of the stomach may be avoided and the full snowballing, life-threatening process described above may be averted.
Prophylactic Gastropexy
To have this surgery performed or not, that is the question. There are many opinions about this; it may just come down to what feels right for you and your dog.
Why wouldn’t you do it? Well, it’s a pretty major surgery to put your dog through when you don’t even know if he’ll ever bloat. There are risks (and significant cost) associated with any surgical procedure. And even if you have your dog ’pexied, it doesn’t mean he can’t bloat. It only means the stomach can’t flip. So you may still have some costly emergency visits for decompressing simple bloats if they occur.
Why would you do it? Maybe you’ve had Great Danes your whole life and have lost a few to bloat. There’s something to be said for doing whatever you can to avoid that traumatic, heart-breaking experience again. The most obvious time to consider it would be if you have an at-risk breed with a history of bloat in the line. Some might opt for prophylactic gastropexy on these breeds even with no history in the line.
If you do elect to have a prophylactic gastropexy performed on your dog, I encourage you to find a facility that offers it as a laparoscopic procedure. With laparoscopy, the incisions are much smaller, post-operative discomfort is way less, and recovery time is shorter than with traditional surgery, where the abdomen is opened with a large incision.
TREATMENT FOR BLOAT
Your dog will be given antibiotics, medication for pain, and started on intravenous fluid support to combat shock. Abdominal x-rays will be taken to see if the stomach has twisted. Decompression of the stomach as quickly as possible is of the utmost importance. This is achieved either by passing a tube down the esophagus into the stomach to let the gas out, or by passing a large needle through the dog’s side into the stomach to release the gas.
Once the stomach has been decompressed and cardiovascular status is stabilized, the dog is taken to surgery. At surgery, the stomach, if twisted, is repositioned and then sutured or tacked to the body wall (gastropexy) to prevent reoccurrence of GDV. Even if the stomach didn’t twist this time, gastropexy is recommended, as the risk of recurrence of bloat with twisting in the future is high. Any devitalized or necrotic stomach tissue identified is removed. The spleen is sometimes collaterally damaged when the stomach rotates and must be removed or partially removed if damaged.
Post-operative care is intensive. Even if your dog makes it through surgery, he is not out of the woods for at least the next 24 to 72 hours, as post-operative complications are common. These include infection, sepsis, DIC (disseminated intravascular coagulation – a life-threatening diffuse clotting problem that can happen after a massive physiologic insult like this), and potentially fatal cardiac ventricular arrhythmias.
PREVENTION OF BLOAT
It’s pretty obvious this is a situation you’d be better off preventing if possible. The list of simple things to do to avoid bloat includes:
Make sure there is no history of bloat in your potential puppy’s line.
Avoid using elevated feeding bowls. These were once thought to help prevent bloat, but studies showed they actually increased its incidence.
Add canned food to dry kibble meals; this has been shown to lessen risk of bloat.
Feed at least twice a day, so meals are smaller.
No exercise associated with meals. Do not feed after exercise until breathing is normal and relaxed. Promote rest for several hours after a meal.
Consider a prophylactic gastropexy, especially for higher-risk dogs (see sidebar, above).
Even if prevention is not possible, the most important thing is to be aware of the signs of bloat and be ready to respond quickly.
Is this dog looking forward to being touched by a stranger, or has she learned she has to tolerate it because she's stuck on a a tight leash and has no choice? If you slow down your greeting and let the dog choose, you'll know. Photo Credits: Yuril Zushchyk / Dreamstime.com
It used to be that if folks wanted to pet your dog, they just reached out and did it. Happily, in today’s more well-informed world, there’s usually a quick, “May I pet your dog?” first.All too often, though, the moment that permission is granted, the stranger is moving in close and looming over the dog, swiftly thrusting a hand an inch from the dog’s nose. The dog – perhaps pushed forward a bit by the owner who sees how eagerly the other human wants this – might find an enthusiastic, two-handed ear jostle is next.
For some dogs – the stereo-typical Golden Retriever, perhaps? – this is the moment they’ve been waiting for! That extra human attention may even be the highlight of their walk. If your family has only included extroverted canine ambassadors like this, the idea that a dog would not welcome an outstretched hand is incomprehensible.
Yet, comprehend we must. Because, believe it or not, few dogs automatically love being trapped on a leash and touched by new people. As hard as it is for us to accept, that quiet dog being petted may well be hating every moment that the human is enjoying so much. While that’s important to understand when you’re the stranger in the scenario, it’s absolutely critical when you’re the one holding the leash.
DON’T ASSUME THAT DOGS WANT TO BE PETTED
Look for consent before the two-handed ear jostle! Photo Credits: Antoniodiaz / Dreamstime.com
Indeed, plenty of wonderful dogs are not eager to say hello to strangers. They may feel anything from uninterested, to wary, to terrified. In some cases, they have been specially bred – by humans – to feel what they’re feeling.
Unfortunately, because we humans value petting dogs so much, we often ignore that pesky truth. We tend to believe that all good dogs should happily accept petting from anybody at any time. But dogs have plenty of reasons for choosing to say no:
Perhaps they’ve been bred to guard, so this forced interaction with strangers is deeply conflicting.
Perhaps they’re simply more introverted and don’t enjoy this kind of socialization.
Perhaps something in their background has made them less trusting of people.
Perhaps normally they’d be all in, but today their ear hurts, or they are very distracted by the big German Shepherd staring at them from across the street.
There are many reasons, all legitimate, that may make a dog prefer to skip this unnecessary interaction.
DON’T GIVE CONSENT ON BEHALF OF YOUR DOG
Becoming conscious of just how deeply some dogs do not want to be randomly touched is the first step toward realizing that we really should be asking dogs, not their handlers, whether or not we can pet them. Ultimately, it’s the dog’s consent we need in order to safely pet them, not the human’s.
Maybe the idea of giving our dogs the right to consent feels strange to you. For my part, it feels downright creepy to not give my dog the right to consent or decline to being touched by a stranger. It feels wrong that I have the power to decree, “Sure, absolutely, you go right ahead and put your hands all over this dog’s body. She’s so pretty, isn’t she? We all love to touch her.” Ew!
Of course, dogs can’t verbally answer the “May I pet you?” question (when given the opportunity to do so), but they sure do answer with their body language. Unfortunately, most people don’t have the skills to read what can be very subtle signals, and as a result, many dogs are routinely subjected to handling that makes them uncomfortable. Worse, this often happens while they’re restrained by a leash with their owner allowing it.
That experience can make dogs even less enamored of strangers, and – the saddest part – less trusting of their owners, who did not step up to help them through that moment.
TIPS FOR MAKING FRIENDS WITH A DOG
I give my dogs agency when it comes to who touches them and when. If somebody asks, “May I pet your dog?” I smile at their interest and tell them I’d love for them to ask the dog. Then I show them how:
Keep a little distance at first.
Turn a bit to the side, so you don’t appear confrontational.
Use your warm, friendly voice to continually reassure.
Crouch down, so that you’re not looming in a scary way.
Keep your glances soft and light instead of giving a steady stare.
Offer your hand to sniff. But instead of the fist shoved unavoidably in the dog’s face (which is what society has been taught is the polite thing to do), simply move that hand ever so slightly toward the dog so she has a choice of whether to get closer to investigate. Look elsewhere as she does so, so she can have a little privacy as she sniffs.
Often, this approach gets us to a waggy “yes” from even a shy dog in 30 seconds!
HOW TO TELL IF YOUR DOG IS GIVING CONSENT
If the dog pulls toward the stranger with a loose, relaxed, or wiggly body, the dog is saying yes. Great! The next step is to begin petting the dog in the spot she’s offering – likely her chest or rump. (A top-of-the-head pat is on many dogs’ list of “Top 10 Things I Hate About Humans.”)
If my dog does not give a quick or easy “yes,” I may try backing us up a bit and making conversation, because many dogs warm up after having a few minutes at a safe distance to size up a new human. I might feed my dog a few treats while talking to the stranger, or give him some treats to toss near my dog. If she then relaxes and leans into the experience, great!
If not, we just call it a day and move along. That is also – and this is critically important – great! No harm, no foul. No need to apologize if our dogs say, “No thanks.” We can simply and cheerily head on our way.
Many dogs suffer ligament and/or muscle tears when they lose their footing on slippery floors. Make sure your dog has slip-resistant paths in highly trafficked areas and anywhere he is likely to jump up or down from furniture (such as bed and couches.). Photo Credits: Przemyslaw Iciak / Dreamstime.com
Maintaining a healthy home is in everyone’s best interests. Here are simple steps that can lead to a healthier home environment for you, your dogs, and your family.
NONTOXIC, PET SAFE CLEANERS
In recent years nontoxic household cleaners have become popular in supermarkets, natural food stores, and from online retailers. Some contain traditional ingredients like vinegar and baking soda, both of which you can use individually.
The acetic acid in distilled white vinegar kills harmful bacteria and microbes, plus it has antifungal properties that help resist mold. For a simple all-purpose cleaner, mix equal parts water and vinegar. Apply with a sponge, cloth, or spray bottle, then rinse or wipe with a clean, damp cloth and let dry. Make a spray that can help prevent ant or mite infestations around food storage areas by blending 1 cup distilled vinegar, 1 cup water, and a few drops of peppermint essential oil.
A popular do-it-yourself cleaner for vinyl floors combines 1 cup vinegar, 5 drops baby oil or jojoba oil, and 1 gallon warm water. The result removes waxy buildup and leaves the floor shining.
While recommended for kitchen counters, floors, sinks, mirrors, bathrooms, and windows, vinegar’s acidity can damage stone and should not be applied to granite countertops.
Baking soda, which is alkaline rather than acidic, is an effective scrubbing agent for sinks, countertops, and cookware, plus it’s a natural deodorizer. To remove odors, sprinkle baking soda on carpets before vacuuming and add to laundry wash water.
DUST AND VACUUM
Dust is often a challenge in homes with dogs. If yours is a shedder, you’ll want a good vacuum cleaner, Swiffer floor sweeper, lint rollers, or all three. Vacuum cleaners designed for use around pets feature allergen-capturing filters and attachments that work on floors, furniture, dog beds, and more.
To deal with flea infestations, vacuum areas frequented by your pets every two to three days, especially highly trafficked hallways and paths in your house. Flea eggs, larvae, and pupae can be found wherever a dog lives, and female fleas lay 20 to 50 eggs per day for up to three months. No wonder they’re hard to eliminate!
Flea larvae mature on or near the dog’s bedding and resting areas, so removing opportunities for eggs to develop is the most effective nontoxic flea population control strategy. Don’t forget to vacuum under cushions on couches or chairs that your dog sleeps on. Change vacuum bags frequently and seal their contents safely in a plastic bag (or empty bagless canisters into a plastic bag) before disposing.
HOW TO WASH DOG BEDS
Washing your dog’s bed is a good idea wherever fleas are a problem or whenever it needs a good cleaning, so check bed labels for cleaning instructions. Dog beds, blankets, throw rugs, and removable bed covers can be tossed in the washer with any detergent – you won’t need insecticidal soap, special detergents, or bleach because fleas cannot survive plain water. If desired, add baking soda as a deodorizer.
If a bed cover isn’t removable or the bed shouldn’t be washed, vacuum or clean it thoroughly, scrub it with a damp microfiber cloth, and wash the floor under the bed as often as possible. Purchase several covers, sheets, or towels for pet bed use and rotate them in and out of the wash.
HOW TO CLEAN FOOD AND WATER BOWLS
The best food and water bowls are made of stainless steel. Avoid ceramic bowls, as some decorative ceramics allow chemicals to leach into food and water. Plastic bowls may contain carcinogenic substances and can harbor bacteria.
Washing your dog’s food and water bowls with soap and hot water is especially important if you feed your dog raw meat because pathogenic bacteria can reproduce quickly at room temperature. Your dog should have access to fresh, pure water at all times.
NON-SLIP SURFACES
Slick or slippery floors, whether polished wood, vinyl, laminate, or tile, can pose health risks to dogs who have arthritis or are recovering from an illness or accident. Replace slippery flooring with bamboo or cork, both of which are slip-resistant, or use non-skid rugs, sisal grass runners, peel-and-stick carpet squares, yoga mats, or other skid-free surfaces wherever your dog needs traction.
You can discover a flooring’s slip-resistance by checking for its coefficient of friction, or COF, which is an objective standard of rating how slippery an item is. Manufacturers and retailers publish flooring COF ratings for comparison. Terracotta tile, quarry tile, and brick have high COF ratings, so they are very slip-resistant, while honed natural stone, which is slippery like glass, has one of the lowest COF ratings.
Open some windows in your home whenever possible; this will improve the indoor air quality (as long as there are no wildfires or other threats to outdoor air quality.). Screens help to keep flying insects out. Safety bars are a good idea for incautious dogs. Photo Credits: Alina Rosanova / Dreamstime.com
BRING THE OUTDOORS IN
Science tells us that dogs improve human health by bringing the outdoors in, but we don’t want a house full of muddy paw prints. Create an entrance plan to help keep things tidy. A mud room or garage entry, coupled with a super absorbent doormat or rug directly inside or outside the door will reduce incoming dirt. Have a good supply of towels, paw or body wipes, brushes, and grooming supplies nearby to simplify cleanup.
IMPROVE OR PRESERVE AIR QUALITY
You already know that, for your own health, you shouldn’t smoke. But did you know that second-hand smoke has been associated with lung and nasal cancers in smokers’ dogs? If you must smoke, do it outdoors and away from your dog. Don’t smoke in any enclosed space such as a closed room (or worse, in a car) with your dog present.
The air in the average home can be two to 20 times more polluted than the air outside. In addition to using natural cleaning products, open the windows in your home at least once a day unless the outdoor air quality is poor, such as when smog, air pollution, smoke from forest fires, or high pollen counts reduce air quality.
Whole-house and portable air filters remove dust, pollen, mold, and bacteria. Non-toxic houseplants improve air quality by removing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen. Instead of using chemical “air fresheners,” use scented flowers, dried herbs, or aromatherapy essential oil diffusers to add fragrance.
KEEP YOUR YARD “GREEN”
Pet waste smells bad and can attract flies and spread worms. Removing it daily helps prevent health problems including coprophagia (when dogs eat their own or other dogs’ poop).
In place of commercial pesticides and herbicides, look for safe, organic compounds that can help control garden pests and keep your yard healthy without the use of toxic chemicals.
Every improvement you can make in the health of your home and yard will help your dog avoid common problems.
Crickets are just one of the alternative sources of protein increasingly being used in pet food and treats. The production of insect-sourced protein has a far lighter environmental impact than the production of conventional animal-protein sources. Photo Credits: Petrp / Dreamstime.com
What if we could give millions of pets a healthier, happier life and, in the process, make our planet healthier, too?” That’s the question that a pet food company called Jiminy’s was founded to answer back in 2016. Jiminy’s hoped to meet this lofty goal by replacing conventional sources of animal protein (such as chicken and beef) in its dog food with protein obtained from commercially grown crickets.
Yes, crickets. According to the calculator provided on Jiminy’s website, replacing a 50-pound dog’s beef-based food for one year with a cricket-based food containing the same amount of protein would save almost 3 million gallons of water, reduce the production of greenhouse gases equivalent to driving an average car more than 4,000 miles, and use 23 acres less land.
THE COSTS OF PROTEIN PRODUCTION
Protein is, of course, a critical component in dog diets. Animal-sourced proteins are the most commonly used proteins in pet food. In 2021, a report commissioned by the American Feed Industry Association’s Institute for Feed Education and Research, the Pet Food Institute, and the North American Renderers Association estimated that U.S. pet food manufacturers purchase 6.9 billion pounds of animal protein per year (report quoted by Pet Food Processing magazine).
According to a study published in 2017 by a researcher at the University of California – Los Angeles, dogs and cats are responsible for 25% to 30% of the environmental impact of meat consumption in the U.S. American pets consume more meat than humans in most countries worldwide.
The production of all those food-animal proteins has an enormous impact on the planet. Beef production is the largest driver of deforestation in South America. Producing a kilogram of beef causes the emission of almost 100 kilograms of greenhouse gas; by comparison, the production of one kilogram of peas results in a little less than one kilogram of greenhouse gas emissions. The production of both food animals and the food that must be produced to feed the food animals requires massive amounts of water; it’s estimated that 70% of all the freshwater withdrawals on the planet go to agriculture.
INDUSTRY RESPONSE
Jiminy’s may have gone further than any other company to directly address the environmental impact of pet food production, but it isn’t the only company making these calculations; the entire pet food industry has sustainability on its mind.
With an ever-growing global human population, there is ever-increasing competition for ingredients that can sustain humans and their pets alike. That causes the cost of the nutrients that dogs require to continually increase – and the cost of dog food to rise accordingly.
Pet food makers have a number of different tactics for meeting their consumers’ needs for protein. Each of these protein sources offer benefits and pose concerns for both the canine consumers they are made for and the planet. Most use a combination of the following:
Human-edible animal-source proteins
Meats and meat by-products that are not human-edible
Plant-sourced proteins
Insect-sourced protein
Historically, we’ve advocated for what we believe is nutritionally healthiest for dogs – the use of the highest-quality animal-protein sources that dog owners can afford – to the exclusion of all other factors (and that will continue to be the primary selection factor in our dog food reviews). After all, the amino-acid profiles of animal-sourced proteins more perfectly meet dogs’ nutritional requirements than plant-sourced proteins.
But perhaps we should all consider, at least once, the deleterious effect on the environment of producing all of that food – just for our pets. If the most dire predictions about climate change come to pass, dogs in the future will be fed very differently than they are now.
Considering 'Humanely Raised'
We know more than a few vegans and vegetarians who own dogs. Some feed their dogs vegan or vegetarian diets, not wanting to support the production and death of any food-source animals, even for their own dogs’benefit.
Others feed their dogs conventional foods that contain animal-sourced proteins. A subset of these friends buy only those dog foods that offer third-party certifications that the meat sources used in the foods were humanely raised and/or wild-caught.
We’re not vegetarians nor vegans, but we’ve always admired the concept of “humanely raised” meats, and have sought to support companies that offer products with humane certifications. But we’d never before seen the particular animal-welfare consideration illustrated in this graphic, which we found on the Jiminy’s website:
Courtesy of Jiminy’s
Jiminy’s calls their food and treats “humane” partly because the insects used as the primary protein source in their products are able to live for a far greater percentage of what would otherwise be their natural life than any other food-species animals.
Jiminy’s also considers its products humane because of the way insects used in the food are raised and harvested. According to the company, “Crickets are naturally a swarming species and like being in a dark, warm place. They’re raised in cricket condos (inside barns) which allow the crickets to live in a way as close as possible to how they would live in the natural world. They are free to hop from feed station to feed station and can burrow deep into the condos if they choose. Harvesting time comes near the end of their natural life cycle – which is approximately 6 weeks. This comes after they have mated and laid their eggs. At the end, temperature is lowered and they go into a hibernation-like state before they’re harvested.”
HUMAN-EDIBLE MEATS AND MEAT BY-PRODUCTS
The phrase “edible” confuses everyone; isn’t all food edible? Well, no; not by the official definition of the word in this country. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the word “edible” means that it’s wholesome (untainted and fresh) and safe for humans to eat. People often use the phrase “human grade” to describe the same type of ingredient as “edible” but “human grade” has no legal definition.
“Meat” has a legal definition, and it refers to the muscle tissue of food-source animals.
There are a number of edible meat by-products (sometimes referred to as “offal”); these are non-muscle parts of slaughtered animals that are eaten but have been cut from a dressed carcass. These include foods such as liver, tongue, hearts, and pigs feet.
Human-edible animal-source proteins are among the most expensive ingredients that pet food makers have at their disposal. Since they have to pass the same inspections as for the foods we eat, they are as wholesome and nutritious as possible. They are kept clean and chilled throughout processing.
There are a very few products made for pets in human-food manufacturing facilities (see “Human Grade Dog Food,” WDJ December 2021”). There are probably more pet food makers that use human-edible meats in their products (mostly refrigerated and frozen diets), but unless the products are made with 100% human-edible ingredients in USDA-inspected human-food manufacturing plants, they cannot make “human-grade” claims on their labels or marketing materials.
Of all the protein sources available to pet food makers, meat and meat by-products have the greatest deleterious effect on the environment.
“NON-EDIBLE” MEATS AND MEAT BY-PRODUCTS
Non-edible meats include those that didn’t pass inspection for human consumption or have passed their sell-by date. Meat by-products include many nutritious parts of the animal that humans don’t typically eat, including organs, stomachs, intestines, bones, and poultry “frames” (what’s left of a bird after the feet, wings, neck, head, organs, and most of the meat have been removed). Blood, collected from freshly killed animals before they are butchered, is also considered a meat by-product.
Some meat by-products are used in canned, fresh/refrigerated, and frozen pet foods. Most meat by-products, however, are rendered – subjected to a process that separates the fat from the proteins, removes most of the moisture, and kills any pathogens present; the result is a low-moisture meal. According to the North American Renderers Association, without rendering, roughly 50% of each meat animal would go to waste.
We’ve recently become convinced of the value of a meat by-product that we were strongly opposed to in the past: spray-dried porcine and bovine plasma. Blood is collected in slaughterhouses that are specially equipped for its capture. The blood is chilled and transported in food-grade, species-dedicated tank trucks to processing plants where it is treated with ultraviolet photopurification, centrifuged (to remove red and white blood cells), concentrated, and dried.
Plasma contains albumin proteins with bioactive peptides and immunoglobulin G (IgG). Studies indicate that its inclusion in canine diets support immune and gut health. It’s been used as a thickener in canned foods for some time, often disguised under another of its legal names, “natural flavor.” Increasingly, it’s being added to dry dog foods as a palatant (reportedly, dogs love its taste) and protein booster.
Over the years, mankind has gotten increasingly inventive in finding uses for by-products of the meat industry. If these materials went unused, it would make the environmental impact of their production even more egregious than it is.
PLANT PROTEINS IN DOG FOOD
There are a number of protein-containing grains and legumes (and grain and legume by-products) used in dog food production. Some have been used for many decades; others are just emerging as potential replacements for animal-protein sources. The most commonly used plant proteins used in pet food include:
Algae (aquatic plant)
Beans
Brewers dried yeast
Chickpeas
Corn
Duckweed (aquatic plant)
Fava beans
Lentils
Lupin beans
Peas
Potatoes
Quinoa
Rapeseed
Rice
Soybeans
Sunflower seeds
Wheat
The environmental impact of growing all of these plant sources of protein is far less than that of producing an equivalent amount of animal protein. However, more care must be taken to ensure the resulting products are formulated to fully meet the dog’s nutritional needs – the amino acids in particular.
Another drawback of foods that contain only plant-sourced proteins is that they tend to be far less are less palatable to dogs. According to Pet Food Industry, characteristic off-flavors from plant proteins in pet food include bitterness and astringency.
Finally, plant-derived protein sources also carry the risk of mycotoxins – toxins that are produced by fungi that can infect certain plants. The higher the inclusion of ingredients that can be contaminated with mycotoxins, the higher the risk of mycotoxin poisoning.
INSECT-SOURCED PROTEIN DOG FOOD
As previously mentioned, crickets are being used by Jiminy’s in treats and its “Cricket Crave” dog food. Cricket protein is reportedly more expensive than any animal protein, but as more entrepreneurs figure out cricket farming, and more commercial cricket farms come onto line, the price of this unique protein will descend.
Cricket protein production has an exponentially smaller carbon footprint and less water consumption than conventional animal protein production. Nutritionally, it has some other advantages: It’s highly digestible, exceeds the amino acid requirements set by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), and (due to its fiber content), functions as a prebiotic (a microbial food source that promotes the growth of beneficial bacteria in the gut).
Jiminy’s also uses another protein sourced from dried larvae of the black soldier fly. Nestlé has announced it’s launching a pet food that contains this protein, initially to be sold only in Switzerland, and there are several other foreign pet food manufacturers offering dog food containing insect meal. These foods are promising, but given their newness and dearth of feeding trials, we’d recommend using them only in rotation with more conventional diets.
I’ve been fostering a very special scruffy-faced pup for a little more than two months now. It pains me to say that, while I truly do love him to pieces, I am still on the fence about whether or not to keep him.
I’ve justified his extra-long stay here with a couple of different excuses. At first, it was because I wanted the chubby, wobbly puppy to lose a little weight and develop a little muscle; it seemed like he had trouble with his knees. I thought it would be best to be certain that his lack of strength and coordination was simply due to a lack of opportunity to exercise and not some serious abnormality that should be addressed or corrected before we tried to find him a home. I wouldn’t want him to get placed with someone who had neither the time nor resources to fix whatever problem he might have.
He was so much bigger and thicker than the litter of 11 unrelated pups I was also fostering, and didn’t appear to be any particular breed or type, so I went ahead and ordered a mixed-breed DNA test for him. I told my husband that since we had no clue about his breed, we’d have a hard time telling prospective adopters how big he might become. I told my friends that I was waiting for the results before promoting him for adoption, so I could better represent him as something or other, to make sure he ended up in a home that was appropriate for his size.
The litter of 11 all went back to the shelter and got adopted, he slimmed down and muscled up, and his legs started looking fine. The DNA tests results came back and indicated he’s going to be a medium-large dog. According to Wisdom Panel, he’s (in descending order) American Staffordshire Terrier, American Pit Bull Terrier, Boxer, German Wirehaired Pointer, American Bulldog, English Springer Spaniel, Great Dane, Australian Cattle Dog, German Shorthaired Pointer, Labrador, andIn other words, medium-large.
Then, my husband and I were leaving for a week’s vacation, and I didn’t have time to show him to anyone before we left, so he stayed with my sister-in-law and niece while we were gone. (They fell in love with him, too.) When we got home, I was busy doing all the things that pile up while you’re away on vacation, which meant no time to schedule any meet-and-greets.
Though my stated reason to not keep the puppy has been to give Otto, my 14 1/2-year-old dog, a peaceful last year or so, the puppy hasn’t really been bothering Otto at all. Help! I’m running out of excuses!
Producers of some of the brachycephalic breeds have taken the face-flattening trend further than others, that's why some of the brachycephalic breeds have more health problems related to their anatomy than others. In particular trouble are the Boston Terrier, English Bulldog, French Bulldog, Pekenese and Pug.
Photo Credit: Irina Stolyarova / Dreamstime.com
Brachycephalic dog breeds, while incredibly cute, are the result of repeated passing on of genetic defects of the bones of the face and skull. While these anatomical defects create the cuteness we can’t resist, they also cause a multitude of problems. Owners and potential adopters of flat-faced dogs should be aware of the most prevalent anatomical problems suffered by these dogs and what extra care is required to keep them alive and well.
Breathing problems. The most dire problems suffered by brachycephalic dogs are breathing issues. While the bony structures of the skull became shorter with breeding that selected for increasingly flat-faced dogs, the soft tissue structures inside did not – so the tissue lining the airway from the nostrils to the trachea is essentially all bunched up in a shorter space. The result is partial blocking of airflow, making breathing more difficult, even at rest and even in a cool environment.
Breathing issues due to scrunched-up/pushed-in facial anatomy is so common it has a name: Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome (BOAS). Signs of BOAS include snoring, snorting, increased respiratory effort, wheezing, gagging, heat intolerance, and exercise intolerance. The mucous membranes of severely affected dogs may turn blue and the dogs may collapse when stressed or overheated. If the brachycephalic dog is overweight, the danger of these symptoms is exponentially worse.
There are multiple places along the upper airway where obstruction can occur, starting at the nostrils, which may be collapsed or closed off (this is known as “stenotic nares”). The soft palate is frequently too long, resulting in airway obstruction. Pouches on the sides of the larynx can get sucked into the airway with each breath (everted laryngeal saccules), the entire larynx can collapse with the increased inspiratory pressure, and the dog may have prominent nasopharyngeal turbinates (little prominences whose purpose is to humidify inhaled air) that become obstructive. Many brachycephalic dogs also have narrow tracheas (tracheal hypoplasia), which is another impediment to good air flow.
Corrective surgery should be considered for severely affected dogs. This involves referral to a board-certified veterinary surgeon and a veterinary hospital that offers 24-hour care. Pre-surgical diagnosis and planning may include a combination of chest x-rays, sedated laryngeal exam, and computed tomography (CT) scan. These dogs must be monitored closely after surgery, and throughout the night. While complications do occur, the prognosis is generally good, especially for dogs who are presented for surgery sooner rather than later.
Heat stress. All dogs are somewhat prone to heat stress because the mechanisms they have for dissipating body heat are not very effective. When our human bodies overheat, we sweat, profusely, from all over our body surfaces. This is a highly effective way to dissipate heat quickly and continuously. The only mechanism dogs possess for dissipating heat is panting. With every breath in and out, evaporative cooling occurs as air passes over the moist tongue and upper respiratory tissues.
It’s not a great system – and the brachycephalic anatomy makes it even worse, as these dogs can’t move enough air with each breath for effective cooling to occur.
This makes it critically important for owners to manage these dogs’ exposure to heat, minimize their stress, and carefully monitor their breathing during exercise, even on a cool day. Maintain your brachycephalic dog at a healthy weight and body condition. If he or she is overweight now, work with your veterinarian on a weight-loss program. If you live in a hot, humid climate, keep your dog in air-conditioned housing. Do not exercise in the heat of the day; try early morning or late evening short outings instead. And never leave your dog unattended in a car, even on cool days with the windows cracked. Just don’t.
Gastrointestinal issues. The brachycephalic dog’s structural abnormalities extend beyond their faces. Their upper stomach sphincter is often weak, resulting in frequent regurgitating, vomiting, gastroesophageal reflux, and esophagitis. The outlet to the stomach is frequently thick (pyloric stenosis), resulting in delayed gastric emptying and vomiting. Studies have shown gastritis is common in brachycephalic breeds. Hiatal hernias (where the stomach pushes through an oversized hole in the diaphragm) are another common brachycephalic abnormality.
Dental problems. As one can imagine, there isn’t enough room in the mouths of brachycephalic dogs to have a normal number of teeth in a normal arrangement. Dental overcrowding and crooked teeth are common. This can cause a painful malocclusion (misalignment of teeth, with teeth poking into the roof of the mouth), requiring either orthodontic correction or selective tooth extraction. The overcrowding of teeth makes them prone to tartar accumulation and dental disease, too.
Ear problems. Ear infections in brachycephalic breeds can be difficult to manage due to their very narrow ear canals. Infections frequently become chronic, and often spread to the middle ear, resulting in long-term pain and even neurologic impairment. It is not uncommon for the chronically infected brachycephalic ear to end up having surgery to remove the ear canal in its entirety, called a total ear canal ablation (TECA).
Corneal ulcers. Brachycephalic breeds are prone to corneal ulcers, because of their very cute (but not very practical), prominent eyeballs. Their corneas are known to have decreased sensitivity, so they don’t notice as well as we would if something gets in theireye and damages it.
Additionally, the eyelids don’t always close all the way when blinking over these big eyeballs, so blinking is less effective at clearing the corneas of debris. Big nasal folds also tend to rub on the inner half of the corneas, creating chronic irritation there.
Skin-fold infections. Speaking of nasal folds, these require careful hygienic maintenance to prevent severe dermatitis and infection, as does that cute, little, curly tail fold.
High-risk anesthetic patients. Finally, brachycephalic breeds are a nightmare to anesthetize due to their compromised airways and associated gastric issues. If your healthy brachycephalic dog has to be anesthetized for anything, the risk assessment for him or her is automatically higher than for other dogs. These dogs should always be given preoperative anti-vomiting and stomach acid-reducing medications to minimize the chance of regurgitation or vomiting under anesthesia, which puts them at risk for aspiration pneumonia. Endotracheal intubation must be done extremely carefully, due to the possibility of tracheal hypoplasia.
The dogs must remain intubated until fully awake and aware because of their compromised airways, and they must be closely monitored, one on one, for an extended time postoperatively.
Brachycephalic Dog Breeds List
Affenpinscher
Boston Terrier
Boxer
Brussels Griffon
Bullmastiff
Cane Corso
Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
Chinese Shar Pei
Chow Chow
Dogue de Bordeaux
English Bulldog
English Toy Spaniel
French Bulldog
Japanese Chin
Lhasa Apso
Pekingese
Pug
Shih tzu
HOPING THIS FLAT-FACED DOG TREND REVERSES
In summary, brachycephalic breeds, while very cute, have been selectively bred for anatomical features that result in significant health problems and life-long discomfort and distress for them.
My hope is to see a trend toward breeding for less of that super flat faced dog with bulging eyeballs and more for a longer nose and less prominent eyeballs. They would breathe better, live longer, have fewer GI problems, fewer ear and eye problems and still be super cute, if you ask me.
There are many reasons that dogs engage in mounting or humping behaviors, few of them are overtly sexual - and none of them are about "dominance". Photo Credits: Koldunova Anna / Dreamstime.com
You may be embarrassed by your dog’s proclivity to mount other dogs, cushions or pieces of furniture, or even (horrors!) humans. You are not alone; dogs all over the world can be seen wrapping their front paws around what seems to us to be inappropriate targets and thrusting their pelvis in what appears to be sexual behavior.
Mounting and/or humping is a natural, normal canine behavior – and it’s not just male dogs who mount; female dogs do it too! – but it’s one that humans all over the world tend to get upset about. Sadly, many caretakers see the behavior as grossly unacceptable, and their dogs may suffer for it.
Such was the case in late March, when a North Carolina couple surrendered Fezco, their 5-year-old, 50-pound male Shepherd mix to their local shelter because they had observed him mounting another male dog and were aghast at the thought of having a “gay dog” in their home. The uneducated owners were apparently unaware that while there are a number of reasons why dogs “hump” other dogs, being gay is not considered to be one of them. (Happily, when this story made national news, the dog found a forever home with a gay couple elsewhere in North Carolina.)
The misinterpretation is somewhat understandable; humping sure looks like sex! But reproduction is only one of the many reasons your dog may mount dogs, humans, or objects, and those reasons are far more common than the intent to breed:
Reproduction. If you’re intentionally trying to have your female dog impregnated, you’re happy to have humping happen. If not, manage the behavior by separating the dogs until the female’s heat period is done; then talk to your vet about spay/neuter surgery.
Play. Yes friends, this can be a normal part of play interaction between dogs, including but not limited to puppies. As long as both puppies are enjoying the play and the mounting isn’t excessive to the point is becomes oppressive to the mountee, you can leave them alone and let them play.
Stress and/or anxiety. Your dog may mount other dogs (or whatever) as a means to relieve stress. You’ll see this most often in dogs who tend to be stressed. Again, there’s no real harm in allowing the behavior in the moment, but you would do well to reduce stress in the dog’s world and address the generalized anxiety so he no longer feels the need to mount to try to relieve his stress.
Excitement and/or arousal. Some dogs are inclined to mount when they get over-excited – for example, when visitors arrive at your home. You can manage this by putting your dog away in another room before (or when) people arrive and bringing him back out on leash when things have settled down. Keep him on leash for controlled greetings (restrain so he can’t mount visitors’ legs) and let him off leash only when he is over his initial excitement.
Attention-seeking. Dogs are pretty good at figuring out what they need to do to get what they want. If they want your attention and you hustle over to stop them every time they mount someone or something – mission accomplished! The game is on, just like the dog who learns to pick up forbidden objects so you’ll chase after him. The answer: Find a different way to intervene when intervention is called for.
Masturbation. This can be due to a medical issue – a urinary tract infection or allergies, perhaps, that cause the dog’s private parts to itch or be painful. It’s always a good idea to have your dog checked by your veterinarian to see if there are any medical issues causing or contributing to behavior challenges. But some dogs have learned that it feels good to hump a pillow, stuffed toy, or other animal – and behaviors that are self-reinforcing are likely to increase.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). This is a very rare cause for mounting behavior, but it can happen. If your dog’s behavior doesn’t seem to fall into any of the above descriptions, if it’s difficult if not impossible to interrupt the behavior, and he’s doing it with a frequency and intensity that is damaging his quality of life, then it may be due to an OCD. If you suspect this, a visit to a qualified behavior professional is in order. (See “Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in Dogs,” September 2010.)
IT’S NOT DOMINANCE!
There is a fairly widespread misconception that mounting behavior is about being “dominant.” It’s not.
In behavior science, “dominance” is about gaining access to a mutually desired resource – it’s not about oppressing the other dogs in the social group. Sometimes one dog gets to be dominant in an interaction because they want the resource more and are less willing to defer, and sometimes the other dog gets the resource. Mounting has nothing to do with gaining access to a resource.
WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT
Just because mounting is a natural, normal behavior doesn’t mean you have to put up with your dog humping everything in sight! There are things you can do to decrease his need and opportunity to mount.
Rule out or treat any possible medical contributors to the behavior. All your modification efforts will be for naught if a medical condition is driving his mounting behavior.
Increase the amount of exercise your dog gets. This doesn’t have to be hours of hiking in the woods – you can use interactive games, cognition, and scent work to tire his brain as well as off-leash exercise to tire his body. This can help keep his excitement level down, so he feels less of a need to release his energy through mounting. Tired minds and bodies are less likely to need or want to run around humping. Increased exercise can also help reduce stress.
(For information about brain-engaging tools and exercises, see “The Best Food-Dispensing Toys,” WDJ April 2019; “How to Engage Your Dog’s Brain When Activity Is Restricted,” March 2021; and “How to Teach Your Dog to Play Nose Games,” September 2019.)
Look for ways to reduce your dog’s stress levels. Manage his exposure to things that worry him and get rid of any stressors you’re able to (such as shock, choke, or prong collars; verbal or physical punishment; and other aversive training techniques). Also, use counter-conditioning and desensitization (CC&D, carefully pairing high-value reinforcers with things that worry him) to change his opinion of his stressors. (For information about reducing your dog’s stress, see “Counter-Conditioning and Desensitization,” March 2020, and “Stressed Out,” April 2020.)
For dogs who mount others too persistently in play, occasionally use a “positive interrupt.” The idea is to move him away from the other dogs and give him several minutes of quiet time to reduce his arousal level. If you cheerfully interrupt every time your dog becomes too much of a pest to his playmates, he may learn to self-modulate his mounting behavior. At worst, you can use it to easily let him calm down while giving his play pals a break as needed.
My favorite positive interrupting exercise is “Walk Away,” which teaches a dog to not just leave alone the object of his interest, but also to return to you for a reinforcing treat.(See “How to Teach Your Dog to Just Walk Away!” September 2018.)
If you haven’t already, make a commitment to good manners training for your dog. This may take the form of group classes, private training, or training on your own if you have these skills. Teach your dog how to greet people politely to reduce excitement mounting, as well as a multitude of other useful behaviors (Down, Touch, Go to Your Mat, etc.).
The more he responds to your cues for a variety of behaviors, the more easily you’ll be able to ask him for alternative, incompatible behaviors when he gets that humping gleam in his eye. Plus, the better the two of you can communicate, the less stressful life is for both of you! (And remember, the less stressed he is, the less likely to mount.)
Finally, get ready to make some judgment calls. You’ll want to be able to determine which of your dog’s mounting behaviors might be innocuous and allowed to continue, and which need intervention and/or behavior modification assistance. Your friends will be relieved when they can come visit without having intimate relations with your dog, and your dog (and his friends) will be happy that they can engage in normal play activities.
If your dog habitually hunts for and eats feces, the behavior gets reinforced each time he finds and is able to consume some. Managing his access to feces is your best bet. At home scoop poop promptly, and out in the world using a leash (and perhaps a positively introduced muscle) to prevent his access to feces may be the best you can do to control the behavior. Photo Credits: Taticmania / Dreamstime.com
Why do dogs eat poop – especially their own? It’s so gross! There’s nothing worse than when your dog eats a fresh piece of poop and then, in response to your shrieks of horror and dismay, tries to lick you in an appeasement gesture.
Poop eating – or “coprophagia,” to use the scientific term – isn’t just disgusting to us. Your dog may be ingesting intestinal parasites and/or disease pathogens such as parvovirus, toxoplasmosis, or giardia along with the feces.
Unfortunately for us, coprophagia is common in dogs – a natural, normal behavior. Dogs may eat all kinds of poop – deer, horse, bunny, even human poop. Cat feces seems to be especially delectable.
No one knows for sure, but some theories commonly offered to explain why dogs eat poop:
It tastes good (natural/normal behavior).
Intestinal parasites, endocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI), underfeeding, or poor diet have deprived the dog of needed nutrients, leading to an instinctive urge to eat novel sources of nutrients.
Eating feces can recolonize the gut with a different/healthier microflora; dogs may possess some natural instinct to eat feces to improve their own digestion.
Den cleanliness instinct: Mother dogs naturally eat puppies’ poop to clean the den.
Some medications can make a dog very hungry.
Stress/anxiety, boredom, and attention-seeking can cause/contribute to coprophagia.
WHAT TO DO WHEN YOUR DOG EATS POOP
You must first explore possible medical causes. Talk with your veterinarian and follow her recommendations to diagnose and treat or rule out medical issues. If stress, anxiety, and/or boredom are the cause, reduce stress and add enrichment to your dog’s world. If you need help, consult a qualified force-free dog-training professional.
Once any medical reasons are ruled out, try management: Scoop promptly after your dog(s), put cat litterboxes where he can’t access them, keep him away from the manure pile, and use “Walk Away” or “Leave It” cues to move him away from temptation when walking on trails where horses or other animals may have eliminated. Consider, too, using counter-conditioning and desensitization (CC&D) to teach your dog to love wearing a muzzle, and use it when you and your dog are in locations where feces might be found.
Alternatively, accept that it’s a natural, normal canine behavior and grin and bear it when your dog dives into a pile of poo on the hiking trail.
By the way, all those products out there you can feed to your dog to make his poop taste bad? I’m sorry to report that they pretty much don’t work.
I’ve had a number of older owners book lessons with me lately—more than half a dozen individuals and couples in their 70s and even 80s, all wanting some training help with their new dogs or puppies.
