Service dogs are taught to refuse a cue to do something if complying with the cue would be unsafe for their handler; their judgment is respected, supported, and rewarded. This experience is not commonly extended to many of our companion dogs - but it could be!
Photo Credit: Szabolcs Steiber / Dreamstime.com
Sometimes, we don’t want a dog to do what we just told the dog to do. Intelligent disobedience, also known as intelligent refusal, is a concept held dear by those who train service dogs, especially guide dogs for the visually impaired. These dogs are taught to use their own judgment and not respond to the cue of their blind human if it’s not safe to do so. For example, if given the cue to cross the street but there is traffic coming, the dog is expected to decline to move forward no matter how strongly the handler urges the dog forward.
HOW IS IT TAUGHT?
Twenty or30 years ago, this behavior was taught using aversives. The trainer carried a cane and would rap sharply on an obstacle to alarm the dog into avoidance behaviors. Dogs were walked into moving cars to teach them to stop for oncoming traffic. Not surprisingly, there was a high dropout rate in those training programs. Fortunately, times have changed. Most modern service-dog training programs incorporate science-based positive reinforcement training, and the dropout rate has plummeted.
Dogs are initially taught behaviors such as “move forward” with a reward marker (such as the click of a clicker, which signals the dog that she has done something that will result in a treat) followed by the delivery of a treat. Once the dog reliably responds to the cue to move forward, she can be taught to refuse to respond to that cue in certain situations.
When the “move forward” behavior is very solid, obstacles such as barriers, ditches, drop-offs, and low-hanging signs or branches are introduced. The dog is cued to move forward, but the reward marker and a treat are delivered before she can take even a single step. The handler then touches the obstacle with a hand to create an association with the click/treat and the behavior of not-moving, then encourages the dog to find a way around the obstacle.
When the dog reliably disobeys in the presence of obstacles, more difficult challenges are introduced, such as narrow passageways and eventually traffic.
Self-preservation likely plays a role here. A dog doesn’t want to bump into a barrier, step off a cliff, or get hit by a car any more than you do! But in other cases, the dog must be able to view the obstacle from the human’s perspective; this is the very cognitive piece of this behavior. The dog could easily walk under a hanging sign or a tree branch, but how low is too low for the dog’s handler to pass under? How narrow is too narrow a passage for the human, even though the dog could easily pass through? How much of a ledge is too high for the handler to step off? The dog must be able to understand all of this.
Amazingly, guide-dog trainers report that this skill has no effect on the dogs’ willingness to respond reliably to the “go forward” cue when there’s not an obstacle. The dogs readily understand that the refusal response is expected and accepted only when there is a potential hazard in the path. That’s some impressive cognitive thinking!
REFUSAL AT HOME?
As recognition of canine cognition expands, there is growing acceptance of the non-service dog’s option to sometimes say, “No.” If we understand why our dog may choose to decline to respond to our behavior requests, we can either respect her choice and not ask her to do that behavior, or, as the supposedly more intelligent species, we can figure out how to get her to willingly and happily do what we want or need her to do, without the use of fear or coercion.
Our appreciation for intelligent disobedience, whether in service dogs or our own canine family members, is a sign of our growing respect for the dogs who are such an important part of our lives.
Neither one of my dogs has ever been a beggar – haunting the kitchen or dining table, whining or nudging us in hopes of receiving bits of food from the table. And it’s not even because we don’t ever feed them a scrap of food from our plates, because we sometimes do. And sometimes we feed them our leftovers scraped into their food bowls.
But this was the summer that I started teaching our grandson to make his own breakfast, which resulted in not only a lot of leftover scraps of food, but also dropped food, including the occasional raw egg dropped onto the floor. Our grandson is cereal-averse, and scrambled eggs and pancakes are his preferred breakfast foods (which is why I wanted him to learn to prepare these foods by himself; his breakfasts are more labor-intensive than I’m used to providing in the morning!).
When you teach kids to cook, there is a certain amount of waste as they learn the skills – cracking and whipping eggs, measuring ingredients, pouring appropriate amounts of milk and syrup, and attending the foods in the toaster or pan so that nothing gets burned. It takes a while before their motor control and judgment is developed enough to prevent a puddle of wasted syrup, dropped eggs, blackened pancakes or toast, or spilled milk.
And that’s how my dog Woody became, in just a few days, the most attentive kitchen monitor ever. He identified the sounds of Liam in the kitchen as the most reliable predictor of food scraps EVER, and would come running from a dead sleep on the couch at the sound of the cabinet where we keep the pans. He shadowed Liam around the kitchen, watching alertly for every bit of spilled or dropped food matter – and volunteering to lick the food scraps off the plates before they were put into the dishwasher.
The kitchen-haunting behavior hasn’t drifted; Woody isn’t following me or my husband around the kitchen; we are not reliable predictors of dropped food (though we often do scrape any healthy leftovers from our plates into the dog’s bowls). I think it’s the random yet reliable reinforcement of food scraps that came from Liam’s trials in food preparation that led to the rapid development of at least two new behaviors from Woody: a perfect “heel” around the kitchen and a solid sit-stay (sit-stay-stare?) while Liam ate.
Single-trial learning
Trainers sometimes talk about the “single-trial learning” that occurs when our dogs experience a powerful (and perhaps unexpected) reinforcement for their behavior. Some of the strongest examples of this are negative, as when a dog gets his tail accidentally stepped on or slammed in a door and thereafter avoids the site where this happened or the person who was nearby. Going to the groomer or vet’s office and having something unpleasant happen to them might also result in the instant development of fearful (or even aggressive) behaviors in those settings following a single painful or aversive experience.
Sometimes this one-trial learning causes a new and highly unwanted household behavior, such as when the dog follows the aroma of a roast cooling on the counter and has the opportunity to help himself to it, or finds a wealth of discarded food scraps in the garbage and learns to check the counter or garbage can for unattended food from then on. That’s more or less what happened with Woody’s new behavior of lurking, buzzard-like, in the kitchen when Liam is cooking or eating – the first broken egg he was called on to clean up taught him to pay rapt attention to every move Liam makes in the kitchen.
I should note here that I’m not terribly worried about the development of this lurking/mildly begging behavior because Liam doesn’t stay with us all that often – and because it’s kind of handy to have Woody clean up most of Liam’s spills! I only wish he liked orange juice as much as he liked pancake syrup!
But it occurs to me that if you wanted to teach a dog a simple new behavior, particularly one that requires only that he BE in a particular spot or position – such as staying on a mat just outside the kitchen while you cook, as perhaps the most useful example, using a spectacularly valuable (to him) food reward for putting himself in and staying in that spot would be a great way to go about it.
There’s a Twitter hashtag that never fails to make me laugh: #BadStockPhotosOfMyJob. It’s where people share photos taken by some of the less imaginative photographers of the world – folks who were apparently given an assignment to take pictures of something that they knew little about, using models who know even less. To qualify for a comically bad stock photo, the photographer must employ the most obvious, ham-fisted symbols of the trade they are attempting to illustrate, so that the photo looks like a ridiculous – and completely inaccurate – caricature of a profession.
For example, a #BadStockPhotoOfMyJob for a veterinarian (one of my favorite categories) must have the model wearing a stethoscope – otherwise, how would you possibly know she’s a vet? But to fully represent the genre – a really top-quality #BadStockPhotoOfMyJob – the model will be using the profession-identifying prop in a 100% inaccurate way. The beautiful, perfectly coiffed woman with the spotless white lab coat will be placing her stethoscope on the back of the dog’s neck, or some such nonsense. (Think I’m joking? Go search for #BadStockPhotosOfMyJob and “veterinarian”!)
I was reminded of this when I went looking for nice stock photos of people walking with their dogs to illustrate Pat Miller’s article, 4 Dog Walk Approaches to Add Enjoyment. I was specifically looking for shots of people walking with their dogs in the various ways that Pat described – with dogs being encouraged to sniff things in an unhurried manner, or jump on or over obstacles (a “parkour walk”), and so on. But what I found in the stock houses were thousands of shots of people seemingly trying out for #BadStockPhotosOfMyJob as “person walking a dog.” In 99% of my search results, the model was spotless and had great hair, but was doing all sorts of things we don’t want people to do when they walk their dogs!
If there is more than one person in the photo, the people will always be smiling fatuously at each other or at the sky, but never the dog. In about 80% of the photos of a dog in nature, the dog is pulling and/or on a retractable leash (and still the people will be paying zero attention to the dog). If the person is alone, they are likely on a cell phone. I swear that all the remaining photos feature tiny kids holding the leash of a giant dog that they could not possibly control if the dog pulled. I can assure you that I wasn’t laughing as I perused these stock photo sites!
Here’s a “training tip” from a photo editor: To take a really enjoyable walk with your dog, try to look like the picture you’d want to see: Use a nice loose “regular” leash, keep your eyes on your dog (no cell phone use!), and relax! No makeup or clean clothes are required.
No, he doesn't look thrilled with being surrounded by puppies, as some kids would be. But he's there, and making good observations about the puppies' behavior.
My grandson Liam doesn’t really like dogs all that much. Maybe that’s too strong; he’s more or less indifferent to dogs, though this attitude can tip over into mild interest at times – mostly to humor me, I think. I think the genes for this indifference came straight from my husband, who has a friendly, “roommate” sort of relationship with my dogs, and tolerates my foster puppies, but who would probably be happier if I had no dogs at all. My husband’s son (my stepson) professes to like dogs more, but not enough to own one. (My own son is as dog-crazy as I am, and so is his fiancé, so I have high dog-hopes for my genetic grandchildren, if and when they may arrive.)
My husband and I are fortunate to have the opportunity to have Liam come from the East Coast and stay with us for a period of time each summer – and we pull out all the stops to make sure he has a memorable time. My husband built a massive treehouse for Liam when the boy was just six years old (he’s nine now). We have a trampoline, a super fun rope swing where Liam spends practically an hour a day, and last summer, we built a 150-foot zip line from the tree house to the other side of the pasture. We take him swimming someplace (various town pools, the nearby lake or river) almost every day, and we read together almost every night. We treasure every single day we can get with him.
Someone else here does, too: my almost-six-year-old dog Woody. In Liam’s memory, Woody has “always” been here, like the furniture. But in Woody’s mind, Liam is our most special visitor. When we came home from the airport with Liam earlier this summer, Woody practically levitated with joy, leaping around the kitchen and trying to smother the travel-weary boy with kisses. I know when Liam’s feet have hit the floor out of bed every morning, because I will see Woody grab a toy and race to Liam’s bedroom, greeting the boy with a strong tail-lashing and wiggles and moans of excitement before Liam can rub the sleep out of his eyes – that is, I saw this every morning until Woody started pushing Liam’s bedroom door open every night and joining him on his bed to sleep. Woody’s adoration of the boy is unconditional.
The funny thing is, Liam acts like he barely notices Woody, or, when he does notice the big dog’s excited greeting, he tends to push Woody away with an annoyed-sounding “Go AWAY, Woody!” In truth, I know he likes Woody and feels safe around him; if a movie we are watching gets at all scary, Liam will unconsciously slide off the couch and go sit next to Woody, or lay across Woody, on whatever couch Woody is currently on. And when we go swimming at the river, if he’s at all worried about the current, Liam will call Woody to his side, knowing that he can grab Woody’s tail and get a strong tow to shore with the muscular dog. But through most of the day he ignores Woody, and the fact that Woody is always following him around.
Reading time
I don’t usually foster dogs or puppies when Liam is here, because we often travel with him, but my shelter is full to the brim right now, and a young litter of eight puppies – and no mom – were brought in by someone who told the shelter he “found them under his house.” (I can’t tell you how many times I have heard this, and I always worry and fret about the poor mother dog, whether she was truly a stray or an owned dog, whose pups were presumably all stolen from her overnight.) This time, when the shelter called looking for fostering help, we had already done the travel we planned to do with Liam, so I said I’d take the pups until they were at the age of adoption. Besides, it was a good opportunity to model some community service to Liam – and to compel him to help with said service. He’s been helping me feed the puppies and herd them from place to place on the property, as the temperature requires (into my office for mealtimes and during the heat of the day, back outside into a pen under the big oak tree the rest of the day, when we’re not playing with them on the lawn). And he helped me round them up and get them in the car to take them back to the shelter for their first vaccinations and deworming.
Over a series of weeks, Liam has seen their development from barely conscious little grubs, who waded into the pans of formula and soaked kibble and had to be wiped clean afterward, to curious little explorers who can run in all directions and are learning to sit on cue for treats. Helping me with their care tasks, he’s made observations (“Gosh, we have to do EVERYTHING for them!”) that have led to good talks about the role of parents and other caretakers of small beings.
He’s seen with his own eyes how little ones can lack certain skills or cognitive abilities one day and suddenly have them the next. This came up as we discussed the pups’ early inability to recognize the hazard presented by edge of a concrete slab, about a foot off the ground; a week or so later, he realized that the puppies had developed the awareness of its danger, and they would avoid it – and a week later, he saw that the small “cliff” had morphed into a fun obstacle for the puppies to overcome, up and down, many times a day. (This led to some very pertinent talks about the development of good judgment as it relates to personal safety and gravity.)
He’s asked endless questions about “if they were humans, how old would they be NOW?” He’s obsessed with what age they will be when they are “older” developmentally than him – a fascinating thought!
I’m not sure that Liam will ever be a “dog person,” but I’m thrilled with the brain development and dawning social consciousness he’s gained from puppy care this summer. (And for his help!)
When was the last time you needed to take a dog to the veterinarian after regular business hours – you know, in an emergency? In the past few years alone, I’ve taken dogs (foster and my own) to the closest hospital providing 24-hour emergency services at least a half dozen times, for a puppy with a suspected broken leg (it wasn’t), a puppy with an injured eye (remember Odin? He eventually had to have the eye removed, despite prompt and lengthy treatment), and several times for my dog Woody, who has had after-hours treatment for lots of things.
NOTHING happens to Woody during regular hours! He’s needed stitches (cut his back legs on something while skidding to a stop playing fetch), swallowed a small tennis ball (they made him vomit it up), had a suspected bloat (he had gotten into the foster Great Dane puppies’ food and ate way too much, but was able to start pooping and get relief while we waited for service), and one night, he tanked with a sudden fever and vomiting and diarrhea (not sure what that was, but he was hospitalized overnight on fluids and antibiotics and recovered).
It’s been a couple of years since he’s needed emergency care – KNOCK WOOD – but if you have an accident-prone dog like Woody, take note: Many veterinary hospitals who ordinarily provide 24-hour, emergency services have begun suspending those emergency hours and overnight service. In my area alone, the closest three hospitals I could take a dog or puppy to in the middle of the night have suspended overnight service indefinitely. All three are citing staffing shortages as the reason for this. If something happened to my dog tonight, I’d be driving about 80 miles to the closest emergency vet hospital still operating overnight – and, presumably, so would a lot of other people whose hospitals did the same. The domino effect here, alone, is terrifying to ponder, with so many cases flowing to a few concentrated emergency-care providers.
A banner on the website of my local emergency and specialty veterinary hospital.
I was first alerted to this by a friend who forwarded an email that one of her training clients had received from the emergency care provider in our area, stating that the hospital was closing at 9p.m., and no longer available for emergency care until 7 a.m. Since my trainer friend also provides boarding services, and needs to be able to take clients’ dogs for care in case of an emergency, she started calling around to see if the next closest emergency-care providers were available. That’s when she discovered that two more had followed suit and suspended their overnight emergency services. All three hospitals are citing staffing shortages as the reason for the suspension.
A post from the Facebook page of a veterinary hospital in Colorado, explaining why they are suspending emergency service temporarily.
Shortly after I learned this, I saw an article (linked here) posted on a friend’s Facebook page, discussing the suspension of emergency veterinary services by a BluePearl Pet Hospital in North Seattle. Several friends of my California friend commented that the same thing was happening in their towns – in Colorado, New Jersey, Oregon …
So, just a heads-up: It might be worth a call to whatever veterinary hospital you usually go to in case of an overnight emergency, to check to see if they are still providing service after regular business hours. If they are not, it’s better to know now, so you’d know where to go in case of an actual emergency without a last-minute panic.
And also: Has this happened in your area? If so, please post a comment here.
A neat trick to pick up the loose ticks in your dog’s coat is to go over his body with a masking tape roller.
It’s a good idea to check your dog carefully for ticks after every outing. You may find loose ticks crawling through your dog’s coat. You may find ticks that are attached – either recently attached skinny, flat ticks, or ticks that have been feeding for a while and are engorged, making them oval to round and fat. You may find the pre-adult ticks called nymphs, which are tiny, like the size of the head of a pin. Nymphs can be hard to see, are usually grayish in color, and frequently found on the face, having been picked up when the dog was nosing around in the grass or bushes.
How to Remove Tick From Dog
A neat trick to pick up the loose ticks in your dog’s coat is to go over his body with a masking tape roller. This works really well, especially when done as soon as you get home.
Attached ticks can be difficult to remove. This is because their saliva contains a cement- like substance, which holds them securely in place. You can try to remove them with tweezers, but you need to try to grab as close to the skin as possible to avoid separating the body from the head. Pull firmly and steadily straight up. You can usually tell if you got the head out or not by examining the tick after removal. The head looks like a tiny pointer at the front. You can also usually see the head in the skin if it’s left behind. It looks like a tiny black splinter. Picking at it gently with a clean needle, like you would a splinter, usually results in successful removal. If you can’t get the head out, don’t panic. They will usually work their way out eventually without causing problems.
Using a Tick Twister tool is the easiest way to remove ticks with no concern for leaving the head behind. This inexpensive device has a groove that slides between the tick and your dog’s skin. Rotating or twisting the device cracks the tick’s cement anchor, allowing the tick to slide freely out all in one piece.
When removing engorged ticks, whatever you do, be careful not to squish the tick while it’s still attached. This could result in a massive regurgitation from the tick into your dog, putting your dog at even greater risk of becoming infected with a tick-borne disease.
How to Kill a Tick?
Now that the ticks have been removed, what do you do with them? The quickest way to kill a tick before disposing of it is to soak it in isopropyl alcohol. You can alternatively drown ticks in soapy water, but it can take 48 hours for ticks to drown. Desiccation, which is basically extreme dehydration, kills ticks. So if you seal your tick in a plastic bag before disposal, it will eventually die from desiccation. Finally, the Center for Disease Control (CDC)’s website says it’s fine to flush them down the toilet.
The pancreas is an organ that sits near your dog’s stomach. It produces digestive enzymes and the hormones that regulate blood sugar.
Any time you see “-itis” at the tail end of a word, it means inflammation of whatever it comes after. Dermatitis is inflammation of the skin. Enteritis is inflammation of the intestines. Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver. Pancreatitis is inflammation of the pancreas.
Pancreatitis is a fairly common ailment in dogs. Why one dog, eating exactly what another dog eats, develops pancreatitis while the other doesn’t is unknown. An unplanned, super-high-fat meal is usually the culprit, as when a dog gets in the garbage and eats discarded bacon grease, or gets on the counter and eats a pound of butter, or someone left a cake on the coffee table with a Labrador Retriever around.
Risk Factors for Pancreatitis in Dogs
Predisposing factors include obesity, diabetes, Cushing’s syndrome (overactive adrenal glands), and some medications. Schnauzers sometimes suffer from a condition called hyperlipidemia, which predisposes them to pancreatitis.
Signs of Pancreatitis in Dogs
Signs of pancreatitis include vomiting, loss of appetite, painful abdomen (which can look like a hunched up appearance, or the dog may posture like the yoga pose downward dog), lethargy, and fever.
Acute pancreatitis can be severe and life-threatening. Many of these dogs must be hospitalized for intravenous fluids and supportive care. Chronic pancreatitis tends to cause waxing, waning symptoms repeatedly over time. Chronic pancreatitis requires careful, long-term management.
If your dog is showing signs of pancreatitis, your veterinarian will likely take an abdominal x-ray. This is to rule out other potential causes of the signs your dog is showing. Baseline blood work is done for the same reason. Finally, a blood test called specific canine pancreatic lipase (SPEC cPL) will likely be run. This test is much more sensitive and specific for pancreatitis than the older tests veterinarians used to have to rely on (lipase, amylase). Many veterinary hospitals can run this test in-house. With results immediately available, your dog can get the treatment he needs right away.
For chronic cases, your veterinarian may recommend an abdominal ultrasound, as this can provide useful information regarding severity, which helps in determining prognosis.
Treatment for Pancreatitis in Dogs
Treatment for acute pancreatitis generally includes fluid therapy [either hospitalized intravenously, or administered subcutaneously (under the skin) as an outpatient], anti-nausea medications for vomiting [Cerenia (maropitant)], and pain medication (usually opioids like buprenorphine and tramadol; gabapentin – a neuropathic pain reliever – can be helpful as well).
Treatment for chronic pancreatitis may start the same way as for acute, but then long-term maintenance needs to be implemented. This means feeding a low-fat, highly digestible diet (like Hill’s I/D Low Fat or Royal Canin Gastrointestinal Low Fat), and having pain and anti-nausea medications on hand at home to manage flare-ups.
Pancreatitis in dogs can be unpredictable, sometimes even unavoidable. Knowing what to watch for, and seeking veterinary attention right away can make all the difference for your dog.
Some people call their dogs "fat and happy," but the pain of health problems caused by excess weight will surely interfere with happiness later in life.
Canine obesity has reached epidemic proportions, and it’s clear that one contributing factor has to do with the close relationship we have with our dogs.
Dogs play an important role in the lives of many people. They help reduce their humans’ anxiety and stress, and even motivate their owners to exercise. Of course, they are adorable and always willing to listen. It’s been widely observed that many millennials choose to have pets instead of children – and it’s long been a trend that couples get a dog for the first shared family member before making the big parenting commitment. And many empty-nesters fill the void with a dog.
Unfortunately, people might demonstrate their affection by overfeeding their dogs. In the past two decades, there has been a dramatic increase in rates of obesity among the pet population; more than 50% of dogs in the U.S. are either overweight or obese.
The issues with obesity include a tendency to develop metabolic diseases such as diabetes, increasing insult to aging joints resulting in osteoarthritis, and other health issues related to inflammation. Sadly, this decreases the dogs’ life expectancy.
As a project for her undergraduate summer internship at Kansas State University, Alyssa Perry, from Prairie View (Texas) A&M University, decided to examine the dog/owner relationship – specifically, the effect of dogs’ behavior on their humans, and whether it might have something to do with overfeeding.
How This Study Came About
Alyssa Perry (with her Australian Shepherd, Roscoe) enjoyed her K-State summer internship from hundreds of miles away.
Last summer, in the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic, a few faculty members at Kansas State University (KSU) were presented with a new educational and research challenge as part of the annual Summer Research Multicultural Fellows Professional Development Series. The task: to engage student interns in research – without bringing them to campus.
With the help of K-State faculty members, graduate students, research associates, and subscribers of Whole Dog Journal, we were able to launch the first step in a program that has been resting on the shelf for several years – a silver lining to the pandemic.
Our intern was Alyssa Perry, a Prairie View A&M undergrad. Perry is studying agriculture with an animal-science concentration; after she graduates from Texas A&M, she plans to attend veterinary school and study animal behavior. Perry’s internship project was this: a survey of engaged dog owners that would help us begin to understand how much impact the dog has on food and treat provision as it relates to weight management.
With involvement from WDJ editor Nancy Kerns, participation from some of WDJ’s subscribers, and a whopping dose of midnight oil, Perry and her academic support team put together a preliminary report in a quick six weeks.
The KSU team’s involvement didn’t stop there, though; after a year of wrestling with the data, we wanted to share the outcome of this project with WDJ readers.
STARTING THE SCIENCE
While Perry wasn’t able to attend her internship in person due to the COVID-19 restrictions, in a way, she was fortunate: A talented team of academics was unusually available to help her conceive, build, execute, and largely complete a research study. As Perry’s internship advisor (and KSU professor), I recruited and led the team: fellow K-State faculty Dr. Kadri Koppel, graduate students Isabella Alvarenga, Krystina Lema, and Lonnie Hobbs, and research associate Dr. Siim Koppel.
To address the issue, we created a survey. Through an acquaintanceship with editor Nancy Kerns, I reached out to WDJ’s publisher, asking for access to a sizeable email list of dedicated dog owners to survey. Belvoir Media Group emailed the survey to nearly 20,000 subscribers and 2,342 responded.
To get at the most meaningful data, we disqualified some of the responses, omitting, for example, responses from people who indicated that they were not involved in their dogs’ feeding, or who had more than four dogs (because we wanted to focus on owners with a more typical number of dogs).
That left 1,456 qualified responses. These owners were actively involved in feeding their pet, had fewer than four dogs, and their “chosen” dog (if they had more than one dog, they were asked to choose just one to keep in mind when answering the questions) was between the ages of 1 and 10 years old.
Participants answered 35 questions. Some had to do with the dogs, including their body-condition scores and their behavior before and during meals. Some had to do with the owners, including their background and feeding practices. Finally, some had to do with the interactions and attitudes of the dogs and owners during feeding.
RESULTS OF SURVEY
The majority of the participants (78.6%) were women over 50 years of age. The vast majority of participants described themselves as very attached to their dogs and strongly agreed that being with their dogs brought them comfort, as well as a lot of happiness and pleasure.
Nearly 40% of dogs were mixed breeds; 25% of the dogs were from 10 breeds. The most common: Golden Retriever, Labrador, German Shepherd, Standard Poodle, Australian Shepherd. Owners reported that 33% of their dogs had an ideal body score, 47% were overweight, and 20% were obese.
The majority of owners (62%) indicated that their decisions regarding daily food allowance were based on perceptions of their dogs’ body weight; 30% followed the food’s feeding guidelines or their veterinarians’ recommendation. Most (71%) metered their dogs’ daily food by use of a measuring cup, and 12% weighed the dogs’ food on a scale. At the other extreme, 16% did not measure food at all and 1% allowed food access continuously.
The vast majority (70%) of owners provided treats one to three times per day, but less than a third of dogs received treats “on special occasions.” The primary reasons for giving treats was for rewards or training, with “pampering” or showing/receiving love and affection secondary motives. One-third of owners reported giving table scraps to their dogs.
The respondents reported that when waiting for the meal, their dogs commonly exhibited behaviors that included gazing or staring, sitting and waiting with excitement, or tail-wagging. The least common behavior was whining or barking. There was a significant correlation between gazing or staring at the owner while waiting for food and the frequency of treats given (see Figure 1). Those suggestive glances are powerful!
These results suggest that most owners are diligent about controlling food amounts for their dog – but they may not be aware that their pets are overweight (recent studies put the number of obese dogs at more than 50% of the population). And the data suggest that dogs may have significant influence in overriding their owners’ self-discipline. The dogs’ behaviors (eye gaze, anticipation, excitement) encourage the owner to provide more treats or table scraps. These added calories accumulate over time.
Veterinary nutritionists recommend that owners limit treats to no more than 10% of the dog’s daily calories and reduce food portions to account for any treats or table scraps provided. Given the power of persuasion from our pets, this may not be an easy task.
MORE WORK TO DO
Our next steps include submitting the full research manuscript for peer review and publication in a scientific journal. Then, we plan to start on another research series, including an intervention study to better understand how we might solve the obesity puzzle and where economics might play a part in the dog owner’s decision-making.
Greg Aldrich, PhD, is a research professor and the Pet Food Program Coordinator at Kansas State University. He writes a column for Petfood Industry, has authored several textbook chapters regarding pet foods and nutrition, and is a frequent speaker at industry and scientific forums.
If you are struggling with getting the toothbrush in the dog's mouth, just allow her to lick an enzymatic toothpaste off the brush. While it's the mechanical action of the brush that is most beneficial for reducing biofilm and plaque, the antimicrobial action of the enzymes will be better than doing nothing at all. And if you don't force the matter, she might come to accept increasingly longer brushing sessions.
Photo Credit: Anastasiya Tsiasemnikava/ Dreamstime.com
The phrase “toothpaste for dogs” sounds like the punchline to a joke – the epitome of a ridiculous product that’s not necessary but is being marketed by an avaricious industry looking to profit by foisting useless gear on unsuspecting dog owners. I’m sure that some comedian somewhere could get a good five minutes of laughs out of the topic.
The truth is, though, that toothpastes that are formulated for pets are helpful. They improve the mechanical effect of the toothbrush, their abrasive ingredients improve the plaque-removing effect of brushing, and their enzymatic ingredients help reduce the population of bacteria present in a dog’s mouth.
Why is this so important? To prevent a cascade of ill effects for your dog. Bacterial overgrowth, also referred to as “biofilm,” causes infection and inflammation when it accumulates below the gum line.Biofilm becomes plaque; plaque promotes the formation of tartar, and both substances give the bacteria more surfaces to cling to and opportunity to proliferate under the gums. And bacteria can not only contribute to bad breath, but also contribute to periodontal disease, which has been linked to severe deleterious effects throughout the body, including the liver, kidney, heart, and lungs. Studies have established a link between canine dental disease and diabetes, “distant neoplasia” (gastrointestinal, kidney, pancreatic, and hematological cancers), chronic inflammation, and early mortality.
To recap: It’s critically important to help your dog keep his teeth clean!
WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A DOG TOOTHPASTE
We’ll start by mentioning that there is an organization – the Veterinary Oral Health Council (VOHC) – that examines any applicable research studies that might prove the effectiveness of various veterinary dental products as they relate to one of two possible claims: “Helps control plaque” and “Helps control tartar.” Interestingly enough, only one pet toothpaste on the market carries one of those claims: Petsmile Professional Pet Toothpaste, which earned the VOHC seal for “Helps control plaque.” That was enough to make this product our favorite, despite the fact that it’s way more expensive than its competitors.
The one thing that all pet toothpaste manufacturers seem to agree on is that these products should contain an abrasive ingredient. If that sounds alarming, relax: Abrasive ingredients make up at least 50% of human toothpastes!
Commonly used abrasive ingredients include calcium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate (also known as baking soda), sodium chloride (salt), various forms of silica, and dicalcium phosphate.
Pet toothpaste should have a flavor that’s (at a minimum) not aversive to dogs and (at best) pleasant. It’s generally accepted that most dogs don’t particularly enjoy minty flavors, so you’ll see most pet toothpastes flavored with either an artificial sweetener, an artificial peanut butter, or meat “flavor.” We tasted every toothpaste we included in this review and not one, in our opinion, tasted like either meat or peanut butter. Some were vaguely sweet.
That said, dogs have far fewer taste buds than we do – about 1,700 compared to about 9,000 in humans – so, as long as the toothpaste doesn’t taste bad, perhaps the taste isn’t that important.
It’s well established that the mechanical action of brushing is the most effective home care that owners can provide to their dogs. But the use of products that contain antimicrobial agents can increase the efficacy of brushing. Antimicrobial agents reduce the bacterial population in the dog’s mouth and reduce the formation of the biofilm which, left undisturbed, would begin to form plaque and, eventually, tartar.
If your dog resists the brushing process, and you’re able to get only a little antibacterial toothpaste into his mouth, don’t despair. Several studies have indicated that the simple introduction of antimicrobial toothpastes into a dog’s mouth – even without the mechanical brushing action – is more beneficial to the dog than no action being taken at all.
WHAT DOG TOOTHPASTES SHOULD NOT CONTAIN
Here’s a great way to choke, smother, or poison your dog – by using a toothpaste with a foaming agent. Don’t do this! Photo Credit: Oleksii Stasiuk/Dreamstime.com
We hope that all dog owners are aware that they shouldn’t use toothpaste that is formulated for humans when they brush their dogs’ teeth. There are a number of ingredients in human toothpaste that are problematic – and even downright toxic – for dogs. Some of the ingredients are no healthier for humans to swallow than dogs, but you can tell humans not to swallow it, and they (usually) won’t. (Children’s toothpastes contain less fluoride than adult toothpaste because they are less able to follow this instruction than adults.)
Almost all human toothpastes contain fluoride, an effective anti-cavity agent, but it’s not in any pet toothpastes, as dogs are particularly sensitive to this agent; it’s considered a major toxin for them.
Xylitol is a sweetener that’s found in many human toothpastes, but is highly toxic to dogs and is never included in pet toothpaste.
Humans seem to love the foaming action of our toothpastes; it seems to help distribute the cleansing, refreshing agents all around our mouths. But given that we don’t want our dogs to swallow the toothpaste – and they have no way of knowing that, or of rinsing their mouths without swallowing – foaming agents should not be included in a pet toothpaste.
Sodium lauryl sulfate is the most commonly used foaming agent in human toothpastes. It also offers detergent properties (binds with impurities and helps them be rinsed away) and mild antibacterial properties. However, it can cause gastric upset in dogs – and its foaming action is more trouble than its worth in a dog’s mouth. We found it included in just one of the 10 toothpastes we reviewed (Nylabone Tartar Control Pet Toothpaste; see next page).
Need Motivation to Break Out the Brush?
I doubt that anyone enjoys brushing their dogs’ teeth; with the most cooperative of dogs, it’s a minor inconvenience, and at worst, a major hassle. But if you need a little motivation to convince you to put this chore on your to-do list, consider these dental-health facts:
✔ People who brush their dogs’ teeth regularly are more likely to notice problems such as tooth fractures or chipped teeth, loose teeth, gum inflammation, or growths in the mouth. Early detection of these problems is essential to successful treatment (especially of oral tumors).
✔ Reducing the amount of bacterial plaque at and below the gum line of the teeth is critical for preventing the development of gingival inflammation and periodontal disease. Regular brushing has been shown in many studies to be the most effective means of reducing the amount of plaque on dogs’ teeth; it’s considered the gold standard for maintaining dental health. In fact, one (human) study found that professional cleanings were of little value without regular home care (brushing). Multiple studies have shown that bacterial plaque begins to attach to the tooth surfaces again within 24 hours of cleaning.
CHOOSE WHAT WORKS FOR YOU AND YOUR DOG
We’re not picking any favorites other than the Petsmile product (with its VOHC seal). Use of any of the products will be better than none. We’d recommend trying various products and seeing which ones your dog accepts best.
That said, if your dog already has a significant tartar accumulation on his teeth, we’d definitely suggest a product with a tartar control agent (see the list of ingredients and what they do on page 21). Otherwise, just buy a pet toothpaste, introduce it to your dog as soon as possible, use it regularly, and monitor the appearance of his teeth and gums as time goes by. We think you’ll be amazed at the improvement you will see with regular use of any product.
DOG TOOTHPASTES
Product Name
Maker Information
Price/Size
Ingredients
Comments
Arm & Hammer Completecare Enzymatic Toothpaste
www.fetch4pets.com
(855) 430-8100
Note that Arm & Hammer name is licensed by Fetch 4 Pets; product not actually made by Arm & Hammer. Flavors: Beef, banana mint, chicken, peanut butter, vanilla ginger.
Freshbarks Enzymatic Toothpaste
freshbarks.com
Phone # not made available
$25, 7 oz (3.5 oz per tube)
Glycerine, aloe, pectin, neem oil, grapefruit seed extract, baking soda (sodium bicarbonate), glucose oxidase (enzymes), natural flavors
Sold only in a pack of two tubes with a unique two-headed toothbrush. One flavor. We’re not crazy about companies that can be reached only via email and that seem to take pains to hide their business location (in this case, the Netherlands).
Nylabone Tartar Control Pet Toothpaste
nylabone.com
(855) 273-7527
Original and peanut butter flavors. We tried the original; we can’t tell you exactly what it tastes like. It’s vaguely sweet and sort of toffee-flavored. “Tartar control” in name is supported by more anti-tartar agents in the ingredients than some of the others.
Available in peanut butter and poultry flavors. We tried the poultry flavor, which, likely due to an actual poultry-originated ingredient and also its unappealing (to humans) brown color, we didn’t enjoy as much as our test dog did.
Petsmile Professional Pet Toothpaste
petsmileusa.com
(800) 784-7645
This is the only product on our list that carries the seal of the Veterinary Oral Health Council for plaque inhibition – that’s actually a big deal (and justifies the high price); it’s been proven to work. Available in “Rotisserie Chicken” and “London Broil” flavors. We tried the latter; it was inoffensive but didn’t taste like steak. The dogs didn’t object.
Vet’s Best Enzymatic Toothpaste
vetsbest.com
(800) 690-9908
$5.50, 3.5 oz
Glycerin, aloe, pectin, neem oil, grapefruit seed extract, sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), glucose oxidase (enzymes), and natural flavors
Vet’s Best offers a money-back guarantee if you are not satisfied with the product. This is the most “natural” product included here. Comes in one unspecified flavor; tastes like aloe but also slightly soapy. No objections from the dogs.
Vet’s Preferred offers a money-back guarantee if you are not satisfied with the product. Available in one flavor: peanut butter. Our test dogs are good sports but we really didn’t like the taste of this.
Virbac described this a “dual-enzyme system toothpaste” and it does, in fact, contain multiple antimicrobials. Comes in beef, malt, poultry, seafood, and vanilla mint flavors. We tried the poultry; the dogs liked it.
This product was developed by a dentist (rather than a veterinarian), and it takes a novel approach with the “targeted oral probiotics,” herbal extracts, and essential oils in its formula. One flavor; tastes just like you would imagine a product that contains peppermint and thyme would taste.
INGREDIENTS IN PET TOOTHPASTES AND WHAT THEY DO
The following are ingredients that are commonly found in pet toothpastes. They are listed alongside their mode of action – or purported mode of action – the reason they are presumably included. Not all ingredients used by various manufacturers have proven to perform the tasks for which they were included in this application.
Ingredient
Action
Aloe
Antibacterial, anti-inflammatory
Ascorbic acid phosphate
Biofilm inhibitor
Calcium carbonate
Abrasive
Calcium peroxide
Whitener
Carbomer
Gelling agent
Cellulose gum
Thickener, stabilizer
Cetylpyridinium chloride
Antiseptic
Dextrose
Sweetener
Dicalcium phosphate
Abrasive, tartar control agent
EDTA (edathamil)
Reduces biofilm
Glucose oxidase
Antibacterial, helps break down plaque
Glycerin (also known as glycerine and glycerol)
Humectant (retains moisture, keeps product from drying out), improves gel texture
Grapefruit seed extract
Antibacterial
Grape seed extract
Antibacterial
Hydrated silica
Abrasive
Lactoperoxidase
Antibacterial
Neem oil
Antibacterial
Pectin
Thickener, gelling agent
Polysorbate 20
Surfactant (reduces a liquid’s surface tension, thereby increasing its spreading and wetting properties); emulsifier (stabilizer, keeps product from separating)
Poultry digest
Flavoring agent
Potassium hydroxide
Neutralizes the acidic pH imbalance caused by other chemicals used in toothpaste
Potassium sorbate
Preservative
Potassium thiocyanate
Reduces gingival inflammation and supragingival plaque
Saccharomyces enzymes
Antibacterial
Sodium chloride (salt)
Abrasive
Sodium benzoate
Preservative
Sodium bicarbonate (baking soda)
Abrasive, mild disinfectant, fungicide (may change a dog’s urinary pH)
Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose
Stabilizer
Sodium copper chlorophyllin
Antimicrobial
Sodium lauryl sulfate
Detergent
Sodium saccharin
Sweetener
Sorbitol
Sweetener, thickener, humectant
Tetrasodium pyrophosphate
Tartar control agent
Titanium dioxide
White pigment, thickener
Xanthan gum
Thickener, stabilizer (keeps ingredients from separating)
This dog's extreme itching, crusting, and hair loss is body-wide. This is the first clue that sarcastic mange will be the diagnosis.
Photo Credit: T.Tapp/Veterinary Healing Arts.
Difficult to diagnose, yet easy to treat, sarcoptic mange is a miserably itchy, uncomfortable disease
Canine scabies, also known as sarcoptic mange, is a dreadfully itchy skin disease that affects an estimated 2% to 4% of the canine population. Courtesy of the Sarcoptes scabiei var canis mite, the condition is highly contagious and incredibly uncomfortable. Tiffany Tapp DVM, DACVD, of East Greenwich, Rhode Island, describes untreated scabies as “a painful, relentless, progressive condition.”
Though perhaps not as common today because of advancements in flea and tick preventives (some of which control for the mange mite), canine scabies should be on the radar for those of us who use a flea preventive that doesn’t control for mange mites, or those of us who are forgetful about administering preventive regularly to their dogs.
HOW SARCOPTIC MANGE IN DOGS SPREADS
The mite has a host preference for canids, including dogs, with fox and coyote serving as significant reservoirs. Practicing in New England, Dr. Tapp suspects that some of her patients contract the disease from wildlife.
If an infected fox sniffs around garbage bins or decking, for example, you may now have mites in your environment. Or your dog sticks his head in a hole that turns out to be a coyote or fox den, voilà, your dog can contract scabies. Then, when she scratches herself, mites drop off into her environment. And if she’s spending time in a place frequented by other dogs, i.e., veterinary clinics, groomers, dog parks, daycare, etc., your dog potentially becomes a Super Spreader, passing on her mites to other dogs she encounters.
Mite survivability off-host is typically only a few days, though they are infective in the environment for about 36 hours.
SCRATCH THAT ITCH – WHERE ARE MITES FOUND ON A DOG?
Once on board, mites tunnel into the dog’s skin, producing an intense itch. The mites are typically found on areas where there is less hair, such as ear flaps/margins of the ears, lateral elbows, hocks, and the ventrum (belly). Lesions, crusting, hair loss, and a thick crust along the pinnae (ear flap) soon develop.
The itch caused by the bite of the scabies mite differs in intensity from even seriously flea-allergic dogs. Dr. Tapp says, “In the exam room, for example, it’s non-stop scratching – a 10 on the pruritus (itch) scale.”
WHAT DOES SCABIES LOOK LIKE ON A DOG?
Dr. Tapp says she can prove that it’s mange via skin scraping only about once in every 10 times. “The mites are hard to find on a skin scrape, because they are notorious tunnelers; plus, it doesn’t take many to make a dog itchy, so they’re easy to miss. A negative skin scraping doesn’t necessarily mean anything.”
A vet might suggest a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, in which a sample is analyzed to see if it contains genetic material from Sarcoptes scabiei– but, says Dr. Tapp, these tests are not always accurate.
That said, mange is always on her differential for an itchy dog, particularly if the dog is super itchy and doesn’t have a history of severe pruritus. Additional clues that lead her to consider a diagnosis of sarcoptic mange include:
Pinnal-pedal scratch reflex. The pinnal-pedal scratch reflex is assessed by vigorously rubbing the tip of one of the dog’s earflaps against the base of her ear for five seconds. The test is considered positive if the dog’s hind leg makes scratching motions. Dr. Tapp says, “A positive reaction should give the vet pause to consider scabies on the differential, but not all dogs with a positive reflex have scabies.”
Itchy human. Mites can cause temporary itching and irritation on our arms, neck, and waistline. Although this mite cannot reproduce on people and dies on its own fairly quickly, if the animal remains untreated, the humans in the household are fair game.
History. A variety of treatments that failed to address the itching, including bathing, or an initial good response to steroid therapy followed by recurrent pruritus are a couple of flags. Usually by the time a dog gets to Dr. Tapp and she reads the dog’s history, she already has a good idea of whether the dog should be isolated because it may have the highly contagious disease.
Pattern. Where is the itching, crusting and hair loss?
• Ears, elbows, hocks, ventrum: Mange suspected.
• Rump, tail, back of legs: Flea allergy likely.
• Paws, front of elbow, face and groin (places that touch the ground where the dog can absorb pollens): Atopic dermatitis.
• “Ears & rears”: Food allergy, although this is a great one for mimicking flea allergy.
Demodectic Mange Is Different
Demodectic mange is caused by Demodex canis, a different parasitic mite than the one that causes sarcoptic mange or “scabies.” Demodectic mange, sometimes just called “demodex,” is the most common form of mange in dogs – but not because it’s infectious and transmissible like the scabies mite. As it turns out, most dogs (and humans!) have some species of Demodex mites living on their skin all the time! But only some dogs develop hair loss and itching from an overgrowth of these mites, due to a depressed immune system, which fails to take appropriate action to control the mites. Poor nutrition, stress, exposure to the elements, and a lack of clean places to live all contribute to the immune-system depression that can lead to an overgrowth of Demodex. Fortunately, today’s isoxaline-class medications readily treat these infections, quickly stopping the itching and allowing the dog’s hair to regrow.
SARCOPTIC MANGE TREATMENT FOR DOGS
Since a negative scraping is insufficient to rule out scabies, a “may be mange” medication trial is often implemented. The dog is treated for sarcoptic mange and observed for resolution of symptoms over the course of a few weeks. Treatment is simple and typically successful; treating with a trial course of medication offers a quick rule in/rule out.
A variety of treatment options are available, including the use of some routine flea/tick preventives. Used regularly, some – though not all – preventives keep mange from ever taking hold on a dog, which is a likely reason why there are not more cases.
For a long time, off-label, multiple doses of ivermectin, administered orally or via injection, was the primary go-to strategy for treating sarcoptic mange. For ivermectin-sensitive (MDR1 positive) dogs, this is not an option.
More recently, isoxazolines have been game changers in the treatment of mange. They work quickly and efficiently; in most cases, a single treatment, at the usual dose, is all that’s required to clear sarcoptic mange mites. Oral medications Simparica (sarolaner), NexGard (afoxolaner), Credelio (lotilaner) and Bravecto (fluralaner) are used off-label in the U.S. for this indication, but are approved in Europe for the treatment of sarcoptic mange,
Some topicals including Revolution (selamectin) and Advantage Multi (imidacloprid and moxidectin) require more than one dose but will also kill scabies.
Before these newer drugs came along, the standard treatment was comprised of labor-intensive weekly bathing with an odoriferous lime sulfur dip for at least six weeks. It was often successful – but my, oh my, it stinks so badly! That said, those looking for an alternative to an oral or topical medication could employ this treatment (especially if you don’t have a particularly sensitive nose!).
If the condition has gone untreated, many dogs will display secondary bacterial and yeast infections that will require additional systemic and/or topical treatments.
EASY TO RULE OUT
Sarcoptic mange should be on the veterinarian’s radar for any dog with intense itchiness.
Dr. Tapp says, “It’s so horrible for the dog. With the intensity of the pruritus, the dog doesn’t eat or sleep; it’s true misery. If the diagnosis is missed, there is progressive discomfort to the dog and significant financial expense if the wrong conditions are treated, such as allergy testing, food trials, and multiple rounds of drugs, not to mention secondary infections that will also require treatment.”
Canine scabies, itself, can become expensive if left untreated. Easy to treat, there’s no reason for it to ever get to that point.
It's unlikely that any of our readers have dogs this flea-infested at home; a dog with such a heavy flea burden is likely to be quite ill with anemia and tapeworms. But veterinarians, shelter workers, and rescue volunteers do see dogs who are this heavily infested - mostly in situations where there has been no flea-control efforts for some time. Unchecked, fleas populations grow quickly and exponentially.
Photo Credit: Dimarik16/ Dreamstime.com
Nobody thinks fleas are good for dogs. But do you know why they are bad? And that they are bad for you and your family, too?
Fleas have been around for centuries. They carry organisms that cause disease in both animals and humans. They were the vector for the bubonic plague that killed millions of people back in the Middle Ages. Flea-borne diseases you’re more likely to see in this day and age include parasitic larvae that infect the skin and eyes; rickettsial bacteria that cause fever and systemic illness; and Bartonella, the bacteria that causes cat scratch fever.
Fleas also carry tapeworms (Dipylidium caninum). If your dog swallows a flea while chewing at his flea bites, he can end up with tapeworms in his intestines. Owners usually become aware that their dog has tapeworms when they see rice-like segments in the hair around the dog’s anus or in the dog’s feces. These segments are actually just tiny pieces of very large, long worms. Yuck.
Fleas suck a lot of blood. They can consume enough to cause a life-threatening anemia, especially in young puppies of any breed and in toy-breed adult dogs. This preventable situation requires intensive veterinary intervention, including blood transfusion, if the dog is to survive.
As if that weren’t enough, fleas cause considerable discomfort for your dog. Flea saliva contains histamine-like compounds and other irritating substances that result in inflammation and itchiness around the bites. If your dog happens to be allergic to fleas, this inflammation and itch is amplified exponentially. One flea bite can make a flea-allergic dog’s entire body break out!
BREAK THE FLEA LIFE CYCLE
In order to effectively prevent fleas or treat a current flea problem, it is important to understand the life cycle and habits of the flea.
The adult fleas you see on your dog are not the biggest issue. They make up less than 5% of the problem. The more important 95% lives in your home environment in the form of adult fleas and pre-adult flea stages (eggs, larvae, and pupae). Each adult flea only lives a few weeks.
So, in and of itself, one flea may not seem like a big deal. The problem is, a female flea lays approximately 50 eggs a day – that’s 50 eggs a day, for 20 days, or about 1,000 eggs laid before that one flea dies.
It takes at least three weeks for each egg to go through three molts and become an adult. Let’s say half are female. So now we have 500 fleas, laying 50 eggs a day, for 20 days, which equals 500,000 flea eggs laid in your home, within six weeks of one flea entering the premises. The female half of these 500,000 fleas will lay 50 eggs a day, and before you know it, you are up to 12.5 million flea eggs in your home.
ENVIRONMENTAL SOLUTIONS FOR FLEAS
So, if you have an active flea problem, it is important to include this environmental population in your treatment plan. An integrated flea-control program includes killing adult fleas, both on the dog and in the environment, as well as eliminating and preventing pre-adult flea stages from the environment.
For eliminating existing fleas and pre-adult fleas from your home, heavy vacuuming daily is recommended. Be sure to discard your vacuum bag or the bagless debris full of fleas and pre-adult fleas; if you have one of those bagless vacuums, make sure you dump it into a bag you can seal after vacuuming. Be aware that the heaviest burden of eggs and larvae will be wherever your pet jumps down, like from a bed or chair, as lots of flea eggs and larvae fall off the dog when he impacts the floor.
Also, it’s important to know that flea larvae do not like light. This means they migrate to darker areas, like underneath furniture, so be sure to focus on these areas. Don’t forget about your car if your dog has been in it, and wash all bedding (yours and your dog’s) in hot water regularly.
If you are not adverse to using an insecticide on your carpets and upholstered furniture, I recommend using an area spray (not a bomb) that contains an adulticide (ingredient that kills adult fleas) and an Insect Growth Regulator (IGR).
IGRs interfere with the progressive development of the pre-adult fleas, either stopping eggs from hatching (one example is the drug lufenuron), or preventing larvae from becoming pupae (pyriproxifen, s-methoprene), effectively preventing them from becoming biting, reproducing adults. Using an area spray instead of a bomb means you can direct the spray where it’s needed, including under furniture, as previously discussed.
My favorite area spray is Knockout spray by Virbac. Used as directed, this product is considered safe. You and your pets should not contact sprayed surfaces until they are completely dry, however. For severe flea infestations, hiring an exterminator can be extremely helpful.
If your yard is sunny and dry, there is usually no need to treat this area. Keep the grass cut short. If your yard is heavily shaded and moist, you might consider using an area treatment to knock down any existing flea population outdoors.
If you prefer not to use insecticidal sprays in your home or yard, don’t lose hope. Keeping all resident pets on effective flea preventative products, (discussed in the next section), will slowly whittle away at your existing flea population. It will take six to eight months to accomplish this, and your dog may continue to experience annoyance with fleas during this time, but if you keep the protection on your dog up to date, the existing flea population will eventually be extinguished.
Flea Treatment Information Resource
Oral medications that are fed to your dog to repel and kill fleas are regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Topical pesticides that are used on your dog to repel and/or kill fleas are regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. For an exhaustive list of FDA- and EPA-approved flea, tick, heartworm and other parasite preventatives for dogs, you can visit the Companion Animal Parasite Council (CAPC)’s website, capcvet.org, and click on the Quick Product Reference Guide.
FOR YOUR DOG
You’ll never get rid of fleas if you don’t treat your pets. A good integrated flea-control program requires that all pets on the premises be treated with a safe and effective flea adulticide. This will kill any existing adults and kill any new ones that come along, before they reproduce, one hopes. I think it’s a good idea to use a product that also has an IGR, as this acts as a failsafe for any eggs that happen to be laid before the adult flea is killed.
There are many good products available at this time, so talk to your veterinarian about which would be best for you. You can choose from safe and effective oral products (e.g., Nexgard, Bravecto, Simparica, Simparica Trio, Trifexis), topical products (e.g., Advantage products, K9 Advantix products, Bravecto, Frontline products, Revolution products), or a long-acting collar (Seresto).
It is important to note that all these products vary a bit in how they work and what they prevent in addition to fleas. Some contain IGRs, some don’t. Some prevent ticks, some don’t. Some require the flea to bite to die, some repel before the bite; this difference is of importance for the flea-allergic dog, who reacts to the bite. Some flea preventatives also prevent heartworms, which means it’s important for your dog to have a negative heartworm test before using these products. When in doubt, it’s always best to check with your veterinarian.
Once any current flea infestation has been eliminated, if you keep all your pets on appropriate flea preventatives all year round, treating the environment should never again be necessary. Keeping all pets on preventatives all year round is important, as fleas and pre-adult fleas (especially the very hardy pupae), can easily overwinter in your warm, comfortable home.
DON’T WAIT IF YOU SEE A FLEA: GET TO WORK
I hope that if you have a flea problem, this information will help you get through it. And I hope that if you don’t have a flea problem, this information will help you avoid one. A familiar, old cliché fits too well here not to mention it. When it comes to fleas, an ounce of prevention is definitely worth a pound of cure.
While all allergies cause dogs to itch, flea allergy often focuses a dog's chewing and scratching in the areas where fleas most frequently bite: flanks, base of tail, and inner thighs.
Photo Credit: Cunaplus/ Dreamstime.com
There are few things that make dogs (and their veterinarians) tear their hair out like skin allergies. Skin conditions are the top cause for veterinary visits in the United States, and most of those skin problems are symptoms of allergies. Signs of allergies in dogs include itching – called pruritus – redness, hair loss, and damaged and infected skin. Vomiting, diarrhea, and weight loss are other but less common effects and are generally associated with food allergies in dogs.
WHAT CAUSES ALLERGIES IN DOGS
In the simplest terms, allergy is the result of an immune system gone awry. When it’s functioning as it should, immune system agents patrol the body, checking the identification (as it were) of every molecule in the body. The immune-system patrollers allow the body’s own molecules and harmless foreign substances to go about their business, but when they are operating properly, they detect, recognize, and attack potentially harmful agents such as viruses and pathogenic bacteria.
When a dog develops an allergy, the immune system becomes hypersensitive and malfunctions. It may mistake benign agents (such as pollen or nutritious food) for harmful ones and sound the alarm, calling in all the body’s defenses in a misguided, one-sided battle that ultimately harms the body’s tissues or disrupts the body’s usual tasks. Or the immune system may fail to recognize normal agents of the body itself and start a biochemical war against those agents (an “autoimmune” response).
Allergies can be very frustrating to diagnose, manage, and treat. Just as in humans, allergies are usually a lifelong condition without a cure. Management is focused on identifying the causative allergen(s) (often through extensive testing), eliminating the allergen(s) from the dog’s environment when possible – or, if not possible, reducing the dog’s exposure to the allergen(s) as much as possible, and treating secondary effects of allergies, such as infections and discomfort.
In theory, this is very simple; in reality, it can be difficult and frustrating. Any breakthrough in controlling the dog’s exposure to the allergens (assuming they even can be determined!) can lead to itching and infections. Whenever I am counseling an owner on managing a dog’s allergies, I start with the caveat that we will never cure the allergy. We will only keep it under control.
Choose Wisely; Be An Informed Owner
I wish that more dog owners were aware of their preferred breeds’ genetic predisposition to allergy and planned accordingly when buying or adopting.
Breeds to consider as particularly prone to allergies include West Highland White Terriers, Golden Retrievers, Boxers, Shar-Peis, Lhasa Apsos, Shih-Tzus, Boston Terriers, Staffordshire Terriers, and Bulldogs. There are many others as well, so thoroughly research any breed that you are interested in owning. If possible, ask about the parents and other offspring that have resulted from the same matings; if the parents or siblings have severe allergies, chances are better than even that the puppies will develop them, too.
SIGNS OF ALLERGIES IN DOGS
Many dogs with allergies lick and chew their feet, causing raw swollen irritated skin and secondary infections. Photo Credit: Raquelsfranca/ Dreamstime.com
So how do you know if your dog has allergies? Allergies generally manifest as dermatitis – meaning skin inflammation. In particular, skin infections are called pyoderma, meaning “pus skin.” A one-time skin infection that responds to treatment is not a reason to suspect allergies. That can happen to any dog! It is when infections recur again and again that makes allergies the prime suspect as the underlying cause.
Allergies and pyoderma are a vicious cycle. When a dog is exposed to whatever substance(s) to which he is allergic (whether it be fleas, food, or an environmental allergen like dust mites), his first and most intense symptom will be itchy skin. (In contrast, the most common symptoms of allergy in humans are sneezing and an itchy, runny nose and eyes.) As a result, the allergic dog will scratch and chew at his skin, damaging the skin’s protective barrier.
Once the skin is broken, opportunistic bacteria, particularly Staphylococcus (which commonly lives harmlessly on the skin in some amount), enter the damaged area and colonize it. This stimulates the immune system to release white blood cells to fight off the invaders. The white blood cells release inflammatory substances to kill the bacteria – but they also irritate the surrounding tissue and cause more pruritus. The itching continues, the dog continues to scratch, and more bacteria enter the broken skin. The cycle continues.
Intense itching and discomfort, redness, and skin infections that recur despite appropriate treatment are the hallmarks of allergies. In the case of severe allergies, it may be hard to distract a dog from the maddening itch.
Recurrent ear infections can also be associated with allergies. Or your allergic dog may scratch behind his ears, along his belly, or chew on his feet. The skin is often moist and red and may have a yeast-like odor. Epidermal collarettes – small, flaky circles – may be seen; these are most often noted on the belly, where there is less hair.
DIAGNOSING ALLERGIES IN DOGS
When you take your dog into the veterinarian for itching and red skin, an initial skin work-up will be done. This includes three important steps: a skin scrape, tape cytology, and skin impression. This will determine if there is an easily treatable cause for the discomfort and if pyoderma is present. Mite infections can lead to these symptoms and are easy to treat.
For a skin smear, a glass slide is pressed against the infected area, dried, stained, and examined under a microscope.
A skin tape cytology is similar. A piece of acetate tape is pressed to a place on the dog’s skin in an infected area or where a pustule is seen; then the tape is removed and examined microscopically. The veterinarian is looking for the presence of mites, yeast, or bacteria to determine the cause and treatment for the infection.
If mites are not suspected to be the cause and none are found on the scrape, the veterinarian will treat the infection based on the skin cytology and impression.
If bacteria are found, a topical shampoo with antibacterial effects may be used. Chlorhexidine shampoos are inexpensive and readily available in most veterinary clinics. Alternatively, if the infection is widespread and/or severe, an oral antibiotic like a cephalosporin may be more appropriate.
If yeast is also present, a topical shampoo or mousse treatment with an antifungal agent will be needed. In some cases, oral antifungals such as itraconazole are also used.
A one-time skin infection does not indicate allergies, but when infections recur – especially in susceptible breeds – allergies are the most likely diagnosis. At that point, it becomes necessary to try to identify what substances the dog is allergic to.
We’ll discuss food and substances that are inhaled or that come into contact with the skin (such as dust mites, pollen, grass, mold, and other common environmental substances) that commonly cause canine allergies in upcoming issues. Below, we’ll discuss the most common canine allergy: Flea allergy.
DON’T BE IN “FLEANIAL” – SIGNS YOUR DOG MIGHT HAVE FLEAS
Flea combs have fine teeth that are very close together. If you comb through the coat of a dog who has fleas, you may or may not capture a flea between the fine teeth; flea actually spend only a small amount of time on the dog, and hop off shortly after feeding. But if you see dark specks like those seen in this photo of a few comb, you are looking at flea “dirt” – the feces of the flea, which contains dried blood.
As vexing as they may be, fleas are the simplest cause of canine allergy to diagnose and treat. The offending agent is the flea’s saliva: When they bite into a dog, they inject a small amount of saliva into the dog’s skin, and the dog’s immune system responds to this material.
Flea allergy typically develops when a dog is between the ages of 2 and 5 years, though dogs who are as young as 1 year or are senior dogs can also develop flea allergies.
Some dogs are so intensely allergic to flea saliva that one flea bite can lead to widespread, severe itching and self-trauma, setting up the pyoderma cycle. (These dogs in particular need to be kept on flea prevention year round in most parts of the United States. Fleas can be a year long problem in many parts of the United States that stay warm or have warm days during the winter.)
If you are in doubt, drop those specks in a saucer of water. If the water turns a rusty red, it’s flea poop – and you need to address the flea infestation STAT.
Generally, diagnosing flea allergy is fairly simple. It presents with symptoms in the “flea triangle”– the base of the tail, rear legs, and inner thighs. There is hair loss in those areas, where fleas tend to congregate. Sometimes, live fleas can be seen crawling around in those areas, but not always.
Your veterinarian may use a fine-toothed comb (called a flea comb) to detect and expose living fleas. Whether or not fleas are found with a comb, she will also conduct a skin scrape, tape, and cytology as outlined above to determine what infectious agents may be present. The pruritus caused by fleas leads to the vicious cycle of skin trauma and pyoderma, so that must be treated in conjunction with eliminating fleas.
It’s important to remember that just because you don’t see fleas doesn’t mean that they are not present. Fleas remain on a dog for only a few minutes to an hour while they are feeding. Once they feed, they return to their environment. By the time you begin seeing live fleas crawling on your dog, the infestation is severe. It is common for owners to be certain that their dog cannot have fleas, just for us to use a comb and find several live ones. (We veterinarians call this “fleanial.”)
In addition to recommending products that kill the fleas, your vet may also prescribe a medication to help with the itching. Older medications like oral steroids are very effective but do come with significant side effects such as increased drinking, urinating, panting, restlessness, and the risk of inducing diabetes with long-term use. Some dogs also experience temporary behavioral changes. Steroids are very inexpensive, and generics are available.
Newer medications such as Apoquel (oral tablet) and Cytopoint (injectable) specifically target the factors that cause itching, are safer, and are extremely effective without the side effects of steroids. They are also more costly, as no generics are yet available.
But the pyoderma caused by self-trauma must also be treated. This is called flea allergy dermatitis (FAD). Treatment involves either topical shampoos or mousses and/or oral medications, depending on what the veterinarian finds on microscopic examination.
FLEAS ARE THE EASIEST CANINE ALLERGY TO TREAT
If your dog has flea allergies, consider yourself (somewhat) lucky! Of the three main causes of allergies in dogs, flea allergy is the easiest to treat and manage. With careful attention to preventives, maintaining a flea-free house and yard through regular treatments, dogs with FAD can live a happy and itch-free existence.
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.
