Did you know that there are unflavored heartworm preventative chews available, as well as other forms of preventatives? I didn’t either, until recently.
Pixel, my sister’s dog, was just diagnosed with a gastrointestinal disease that was causing inflammation of her intestinal tract and malabsorption of food. Fortunately, this condition was quickly resolved by changing Pixel’s diet to a novel protein and eliminating any foods with beef, pork, or chicken and she is now thriving. Then it became time to administer her monthly chewable heartworm preventative. My sister hesitated: The chewable preventative medication that she ordinarily used to protect Pixel was flavored with chicken, which Pixel couldn’t have. Fortunately, there are alternatives, and Pixel’s veterinarian was happy to change Pixel’s prescription to one of these.
Heartworm disease is a serious and potentially fatal condition caused by Dirofilaria immitis, a parasitic roundworm that is transmitted to dogs through the bite of a mosquito. Unfortunately, canines are natural hosts for the parasite, and once it infects a dog’s body, the larvae mature into adults, mate and reproduce, with the adult forms of the heartworm residing in the heart, lungs, and associated blood vessels. Heartworm disease can cause lasting damage to a dog’s body and have a long term effect on health and quality of life. Heartworm disease has been diagnosed in all 50 states; risk levels for contracting the disease vary and are difficult to assess. Accordingly, prevention is usually necessary in most areas. Heartworm medications do not actually prevent the transmission of the heartworm, but rather they act to destroy the larval stages of the parasite, preventing the development of the larvae into adult heartworms.
Prevention of heartworm disease is usually achieved by the monthly oral administration of a flavored chew, which is highly effective when administered correctly. Most oral heartworm preventives, however, contain a protein-based component for flavoring, usually pork, soy, beef, or chicken, in their formulation. Because many dogs suffer from food allergies and sensitivities or are undergoing food elimination trials (and flavorings can interfere with and affect the success of the trial), heartworm prevention in these cases should be changed to a non-flavored oral formula or topically applied product.
The monthly heartworm preventive HEARTGARD® (ivermectin) is available in an unflavored tablet form and does not include any food ingredients that may trigger an allergic reaction. A topical (applied externally to the body) heartworm preventative, such as Advantage Multi, Revolution, or Selarid, is another option, especially as this form completely bypasses the gastrointestinal tract.
There is a third option: ProHeart 6 and ProHeart 12 take the form of sustained released injections of moxidectin (this ingredient is also available as a topical) and provide protection from heartworm infection for six months and twelve months respectively. Its use in the U.S., however, still draws controversy over concerns regarding adverse effects (ProHeart 6 was taken off the market in 2004 because of safety concerns, but it was reformulated and returned in 2008; ProHeart 12 was approved for the first time by the FDA for use in the U.S. in July 2019). In other countries, both products remain on the market and are in use.
As always, consult with your veterinarian about your dog’s prescription heartworm preventative.
If you have been following the weather news, you might have guessed what this post was going to be about, am I right?
So, we had a little dress rehearsal for fire season a month ago. Here in California, we had a unseasonal storm that featured a ton of thunder and lightning and ignited hundred of wildfires all over our state. One fire started fairly close to my home, which triggered evacuation warnings and caused my husband and I to go through our evacuation checklist and get prepared to evacuate. At that time, I also had to drive my grandson to an airport that is three hours away, so he could fly home to his mom after spending a good bit of the summer here, so my husband was left with the burden of being ready to load up the dogs and go if the fire blew up.
Fortunately for me, the very local edition of the lightning-sparked fire was extinguished pretty rapidly. Within a few days, it was a non-event.
Elsewhere in the state, though, lightning from the same storm ignited fires that grew and grew. Tens of thousands of people all over the state were displaced by the fires – forced to evacuate their homes with just what they could pack into their vehicles. Hundreds later learned they had no homes to return to.
Getting ready for an evacuation
Other fires that were sparked into being in mid-August smoldered quietly in very sparsely populated parts of the state until recently, when a freak windstorm blew several of them into monsters. My husband and I woke up several times in the night, hearing a strong wind blowing the trees around and smelling smoke more strongly than in recent weeks (the smoky sky had been persistent but not awful previously). We woke up with the news that the fire that had been burning about 40 miles from us was moving FAST in our direction. In a matter of hours, we learned that our area was being given a warning: be ready to evacuate.
Given the wind, I took the warning quite seriously. I filled up both our car and our truck with gas, got cash, and started staging things that the dogs would need if we had to evacuate: a big soft crate, dog food, bowls, leashes, poop bags, their vet records. I put on their collars, the ones with my phone number stitched into them. I had a foster puppy here, too – a pup who was found with a badly broken leg and, while staying with me, had surgery the previous week to amputate the not-reparable leg. I put his medications and Otto’s in the “to go” pile near the back door.
As the afternoon wore on and the news got increasingly dramatic, I took my work computer apart and loaded it and all my backup drives and cameras into a big plastic tub and put it in the car. All evening, I kept thinking of things I wouldn’t want to live without and putting them into a suitcase, just in case. The wind was so awful.
At 11 pm, all of a sudden my phone started screeching with an emergency warning: Our area was being ordered to evacuate. Now. Mandatory.
Even with all that prior preparation, it took my husband and I over an hour to load everything that we had staged into the car and truck. Part of it was the stress brought on by the urgency of the evacuation order; it’s amazing how shaky you can get when the thing you’ve been preparing so hard for suddenly happens. Part of it has to do with my husband’s OCD; he has to keep checking and checking his list to make sure we’ve done all the things he wanted to do before we left: water the oak trees we planted in the spring, pull anything flammable away from the house, make sure the sprinklers are set to come on every day while we are gone, check the locks on all the outbuilding, etc. As I waited for him with the dogs in the car, I texted with a friend who had offered a place for us to land about 20 miles away, and talked to my sister on the phone; she and her husband were evacuating in another direction, headed to our sister-in-law’s house.
As we drove down the back roads headed for the two-lane highway that leads to my town, so much ash was swirling through the air, it looked like snow in the headlights. Every so often, whole blackened leaves swirled through the ash, too. The black leaves scared us; if whole leaves that had been burned could be carried more than 10 miles by the wind, surely burning embers could, too?
We arrived at my friend’s house at around 1 am. We had brought a tent and sleeping bags, but my friend ushered us into a spare bedroom that was all made up for us – so sweet! She collected her four little dogs, each of whom is a rescue from my friend’s long career in animal sheltering and each of whom was barking like the fiercest protectors of the property; she locked them all in her bedroom (my apologies to her husband!). I set up a huge soft crate in the bedroom, and after letting them go potty outside, put my young dog, Woody, and the foster puppy in the soft crate together. Then I went to bring Otto in the house – whoops! He didn’t like the tile floor he had to cross to get into the bedroom, and didn’t like the sound of the four barking little dogs in the other room. I could read his mind: “Mom, I’d feel a lot better sleeping in our car.” And so I made him a nice bed on the back seat, with the windows cracked and a non-spill bowl of water.
When I got back into the house, my husband was in bed, and the puppy was sprawled, sound asleep, taking up far more than half of the huge soft crate. Though Woody often slept with the puppy at home, he didn’t seem to feel comfortable sleeping with the pup in the crate and he was sitting up, leaning miserably against the side of the crate, making a Woody-shaped bulge in the fabric. I unzipped the side zipper as quietly as I could, and he slithered out the side exit, leaving the foster pup sleeping soundly – an evacuation miracle! The pup had a big aversion to crates in general, which I had been working on by allowing him to chew on meaty bones and food-stuffed Kong toys only when he was in a crate, but he was still prone to kicking up a big fuss once his treat was over and he realized the door was closed. Even when we woke in the morning he was quiet!
When I took the puppy and Woody outside to let all three dogs go potty and to give them breakfast, I was shocked by how much ash had accumulated on every surface, just like snow would have.
The news of the fire was awful; it had traveled about 30 miles in the previous 20 or so hours and it had burned through several small communities. As of that morning, it was stopped about 7 miles from my sister’s house and 10 miles from mine. We wouldn’t be going home soon.
Next, we delivered the foster pup to his adoptive family; they had been prepared to take him the following week, once his stitches had been removed, but given the evacuations, this was going to work out better. And I’m a little embarrassed to report that we spent the next two nights in a nice hotel in the state capitol about an hour even farther away from the fire.
Relief: The dogs were perfect gentlemen in the hotel, though the hotel charged us a $100 “nonrefundable pet deposit,” an amusing oxymoron. They earned it though, because Otto left a considerable amount of red hair on the dark brown carpet. Also, the air was better (though still smoky), good enough to walk around the park that surrounds the state capitol building. Woody especially liked watching the squirrels that leap from tree to tree in the hundred-year-old trees in the park.
Just as we were having dinner in our room on the second night, I received a text: Our neighborhood was being downgraded to an evacuation warning again; we could go home. Comfortable as we were, and having already paid for the night, we stayed until the next morning.
Emergency animal shelters are no walk in the park
Well, it was a nice vacation of sorts. Time to get home and get to work – volunteer work at the emergency shelter set up to take in evacuated pets and animals that had been rescued by first responders from the fire. I had spent weeks and weeks helping care for dogs who were displaced by the infamous Camp Fire two years ago, and had taken the training sessions provided by the North Valley Animal Disaster Group (NVADG), the organization that runs the shelter. Several people I had met and worked with and had become friends with during the Camp Fire had already been hard at work at the emergency shelter; more than 150 dogs and at least 100 cats, bunnies, pet birds, and more were already at the shelter.
Emergency animal shelters are sort of like Red Cross shelters: People go to Red Cross shelters and have a place to sleep, to eat, and to be safe, but shelters are not exactly comfortable and can be crowded and stressful. Similarly, in emergency animal shelters, we keep all the animals safe and feed them, but the accommodations are similarly crowded and stressful. The animals are kept in wire crates, in some instances stacked two high, and positioned close together. It’s loud from the barking of stressed dogs and from fans. We position flattened cardboard boxes between the crates and use sheets to try to block the views of the ones who get triggered by seeing other dogs walk by, but there is a lot of barking no matter what we do.
There are two types of animals in the shelter: Those who were brought to the shelter for safe-keeping by families who had to evacuate, and those who were brought in by first responders. Sometimes people are looking for these “stray” animals, but sometimes, for whatever reasons, their owners don’t look for them and they end up getting sent to the regular county animal shelter like any other stray animal. And so the county needs to be prepared to care for a certain number of unclaimed animals for some time.
It takes a village to care for animals displaced by emergencies
It takes a small army of volunteers to manage to take care of all the animals’ most basic needs. The volunteers I’ve met are all extraordinary people, strongly committed to doing everything they can for the animals in the shelter. But, in the face of a local emergency, with many volunteers themselves displaced, with terrible, smoky air to breathe, and more animals to care for than there are volunteers to care for them, it never feels like a completely successful effort. I imagine that people who work with displaced human populations feel the same way; the need feels overwhelming, and trying to make uncomprehending animals comfortable in a situation that is completely uncomfortable for them is taxing.
Each dog needs to be taken from his or her crate and walked outdoors on a leash, while someone else cleans the crate, replaces the dog’s bedding, dumps any dirty water that is in the bowl, refills it, and dishes an appropriate amount of food into a food bowl or paper tray. Ideally, one person performs those tasks while two or three others walk the dogs. Each person who walks a dog makes notes on the dog’s chart: Did the dog go pee, poop, or both? Were any worms seen in the stool, or blood? If the dog had any signs of illness or discomfort – ear infection, lameness, sores, etc. – these are noted or their progress followed. If each dog is walked for about 10 minutes, a three or four person team can get out only about 18 to 24 dogs an hour. The numbers have been changing daily as some dogs are brought in and others are picked up, but in this disaster, there have been around 150 dogs being sheltered for over a week now.
All of this goes smoothly only with the help of even more people who are checking the shelter’s supplies of dog food, bedding, paper towels, zip ties, disinfectant and spray bottles, garbage bags, pens, you name it. People to haul away the giant garbage bags of refuse and poop bags. People to take away crates that have been broken and chewed through by large, anxious dogs and replace them with new crates. People to wash bowls. People to provide veterinary care and administer medications. People to follow the paperwork, to track down owners who are staying with relatives or friends or at human shelters. People to order food and drinks and ice (and masks) for all the volunteers, and haul away the trash after meals, too. It makes for very long days – and all under the emergency conditions, complete with weather that may or may not be cooperating, road closures, bad air, etc.
It’s incredibly humbling to learn that some of the people who are here to help are from other counties — and even other states. And that some are laboring at their regular jobs, and then coming to work another six hours after work to help. Incredible.
Many displaced animals come from underprivileged areas, and it shows
People who know California only by reputation might think it’s all urban and upscale. The fact is, where I live in far northern California, it’s rural and fairly low-income. Translate this to mean that some of the pets have had little in the way of routine veterinary care. Most of the dogs are mixed-breeds; many are intact. Many of the dogs have fleas and flea-allergy dermatitis. Some dogs are way too thin; some are way too fat – like, if they were humans, they’d weigh 400 pounds. There are 4-month-old pups who are terrified of humans and can’t be touched, and 14-year-old dogs who have to be carried to go potty. There are some fit, healthy dogs, too, but they don’t stick in our brains the way the sad dogs do. It gives us a little relief to take a few extra minutes to lavish a little extra care on some of these dogs – rooting through the piles of donated blankets and towels for extra thick ones for the sore, old dogs to sleep on at night, or hunting through the donated foods for better ones to give the extra skinny dogs. Again, I imagine this is similar to how people who work or volunteer in human shelters must feel – that the need for help is overwhelming.
Coming home to our clean, well-fed dogs, sleeping on their extra thick beds in the house, feels so strange after triaging these underprivileged dogs.
I know that not everyone lives in an area where they are subject to the specific danger of wildfires – but just about everyone lives somewhere that experiences some form of natural disaster occasionally, whether it’s flooding, tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, or that wind/rain thing that happened in Ohio recently. I implore everyone I know to prepare for the possibility of having to leave their homes with their pets in case of emergency. Bring or keep your animals with you if you possibly can. Cultivate a network of friends or family members who live at a reachable distance (but not so close that they are in the same boat as you in case of a disaster), and offer them mutual aid; if they need help, help them, and vice versa. And if you are able to do those things in a disaster, and can possibly help people who don’t have these resources, please do. Find out when your local animal aid organizations offer new volunteer orientation and training so that you know how to best help when a disaster strikes. There are national organizations, both nonprofit (such as the ASPCA) and governmental (FEMA) that offer online courses that meet the training requirements for some aid agencies. The ASPCA has a great list of training opportunities here. If my experience is any guide, I can guarantee that you will meet some really amazing folks who are also helping.
With the ever-increasing popularity of force-free, positive reinforcement-based training, more people than ever are feeding their dogs treats, and that’s a very good thing. Hopefully you are one of them. But did you know there are right ways and wrong ways to feed treats to your canine pal?
The “right” way can vary, depending on your training goals in the moment, but most commonly involves feeding the treat directly to your dog’s mouth. Even this is not as simple as it sounds. Feed a little too high and you’re likely to lure the dog to get up instead of holding the position you’re reinforcing her for. Feed the treat a lot too high and you might encourage her to jump up and/or grab to get it. Feed a little too low and she may think you’re asking her to lie down. Feed too close and you’re invading her space – she may back away from you. Feed too far away, or pull back as she reaches for it, and you can teach her to get grabby for treats as she lunges to follow it. Ouch!
A good general rule of thumb is to offer the treat a half-inch to an inch away from the dog’s mouth, right at nose level, and keep your hand still as she takes it from your fingers. However, it’s important to remember that each dog is an individual, and you may want to experiment a little with your own dog to determine where the best treat-feeding spot is for her, while keeping in mind the above caveats.
There are also times when you might choose to feed treats somewhere other than directly to the mouth. If you are working on attention, you can toss the treat on the ground to get your dog to look away from you, then invite her attention back with her name or a “Look!” cue, mark with a clicker or verbal marker when she looks, and feed the next treat by tossing it on the ground so you can cue the “Look” again. If you’re shaping a “go to mat” behavior, it’s helpful to toss the treat behind her after you click her for moving toward the mat so she “resets” and can move toward the mat again. And if you have a dog who is very sharky about taking treats (i.e. – leaves your fingers shredded) you can toss the treat on the ground just to save yourself from pain and bloody lacerations, until you teach her to take treats gently. Another finger-saving technique is to feed the treat from the palm of your hand as you would feed a treat to a horse. Alternatively, you can feed sticky treats (cheese, peanut butter) from the end of a wooden spoon to save your fingers, or make a soft dog food mush that you can squeeze from the ending of a dog training squeeze tube. (https://www.petexpertise.com/dog-training-food-tube/)
And yes, it is possible to teach your canine shark to take treats gently. I do not recommend the oft-repeated advice to “yelp like a dog” when your dog bites too hard. We aren’t dogs, and we never really know what we’re communicating when we try to pretend that we are. Plus, in my experience, a significant number of dogs just get more aroused when you start yelping. Instead, offer your dog a low-value treat in a closed fist, grit your teeth while she gnaws at your knuckles, and when her mouth finally softens a little, open your fist and feed the treat from the palm of your hand. (You can wear gloves for this, if necessary, to reduce wear-and-tear on your skin.) You can add a “gentle” or “easy” cue as you offer your close fist, and then use this cue as a reminder once she has learned to be soft, if you feel her reverting to taking treats with a hard mouth.
If you must say something, try a soft, calm “Ouch” to let your dog know she is hurting you. Over time and many repetitions, gradually wait for her mouth to get softer and softer before opening your fist, until she can routinely take even high-value treats appropriately. Be aware, though, that your reformed shark is very likely to revert to taking treats hard when stressed or excited, and even a soft-mouthed dog can give your fingers a resounding pinch when aroused! With time and practice, however, you and your dog can share a lifetime of appropriate treat delivery and soft-mouthed treat-taking.
Dog ownership is not all puppy breath and humorous or beautiful Instagram photos of our dogs; there are times when it is breathtakingly difficult. These are the times when it helps to have good relationships with great vets, good information resources, great friends – and sometimes, deepish pockets. (Or at least a credit card without a balance on it already.) My message for today: Remember always that pain and loss is the flip side of dog ownership, the cost of all the joy they bring us. But it’s our responsibility to be grownups and deliver our dogs from pain and suffering when it’s needed.
Amputating my current foster pup’s badly injured leg
Last week, I delivered my foster puppy to a veterinary hospital to have his badly broken leg amputated – and days later, accompanied my good friend and her senior dog to the same clinic for euthanasia. Both visits were emotionally trying – but they both were in service of doing the right thing, the most responsible thing.
The pup I am fostering was brought into rescue with a leg that was broken, the vet estimated, about a month prior. The hock joint was just a smashed-up mess, with all those tiny bones in the joint all smooshed and displaced from where they are supposed to be– and the puppy’s body, of course, was trying to fuse and heal all of that damage, but given the location – in the very middle of his back leg, every time the pup took a step the broken joint would flex in all the wrong ways.
The pup is absolutely adorable and, as these things often go, has a totally sweet, funny personality. Of course the rescue group’s leader wanted to know whether the leg could be saved. The veterinarian who examined him said slowly, “Well, certainly, you could try to go down that road . . . we could get an orthopedic consultation. We couldn’t help him here . . . It would likely take two or even three surgeries, and months and months of healing and pain meds – and even then, the damage is so bad, he’s going to have arthritis no matter what, and it may end up having to be amputated anyway . . . .”
After seeing the x-rays, and talking to the vet, I felt compelled to push the rescue group to schedule amputation ASAP. The puppy was in pain; that was indisputable. The faster we could get him out of pain, the better. Surgery was totally iffy, and would mean months and months of more pain – and the pain of amputation would be pretty much done in a week or so.
I was bolstered in my opinion about this by having had a peripheral role in another rescue group’s handling of another young dog who had a broken leg; my best dog friend here in my town fostered that dog following the dog’s second surgery to repair a broken rear leg (the dog had been hit by a car – and the first repair failed and needed a total and more elaborate do-over, this time complete with bone grafts). The dog was young and energetic and excitable, difficult to keep under control – and she had to be kept on a leash most of the time, even in the house, to keep her from trying to whirl and play and do zoomies. For months and months the dog had to endure assiduous control, at times with pharmaceutical help to keep her calm, and often with pain medication. And despite all this, she was going to walk with a limp forever, and would need another surgery at some point to remove the metal hardware used to hold her leg together. It just didn’t seem worth it. With my encouragement, the rescue made an appointment for this puppy to have amputation surgery a little more than a week later.
But boy, oh boy, did I second-guess this decision all week. Every time I saw the pup put his leg down in what looked like a somewhat regular way, my heart would sink; maybe we should be trying to get an orthopedic consult after all. I was taking video of him at one point and he scratched behind his ear with his bad leg, and I was instantly convinced amputation was the wrong thing. But then I’d see him take a step that would make the leg twist in a sickeningly wrong way, or yelp as the paw hit a bit of uneven ground too hard and the shock would obviously carry up to the injured joint, and I’d feel relieved that we were doing the right thing. Right, wrong, right, wrong, all week.
Dogs are the best! 24 hours after surgery and he’s doing great.
Making the tough decision to euthanize your beloved dog
Meanwhile, my friend who had fostered that other dog with the bad leg a couple months ago was dealing with a terrible decision of her own: whether it was time to euthanize her senior dog, who had two terrible hips and two terrible knees. She had maintained the dog at a healthy weight her whole life, and maintained strict control over her activities, had supplied the dog with every type of “brain game” interactive toy and food puzzle that exists, had taught the dog a dozen tricks, took her for regular car rides and field trips where she could see interesting sights and smell interesting aromas, all in a low-impact way . . . but Lena’s body was finally just giving out altogether. She collapsed suddenly one day, horribly, and couldn’t get up. My friend brought her to an emergency appointment – on a Sunday, as these things tend to go – and Lena’s x-rays made the veterinarian shake her head sadly: so much arthritis, those hips, compressed vertebrae – it was a wonder my friend had gotten the dog to age 12.
My friend made the final appointment for Lena for the following weekend, and, all week, gave Lena extra meds for pain and a ton of all her favorite foods, the ones she had to enjoy in tiny amounts her whole life in order to keep her weight under control. We planned a field trip for Lena and Otto, who had played and romped together when they were both young, to a spot in a nearby lake that is shallow and warm, where you can drive right up to the water. We put her life jacket on and she and Otto spent nearly an hour just sort of float-walking around us in the shallow water, not quite swimming, just barely touching their paws to the lake bottom. It was bittersweet, seeing her so happy and comfortable in the water – but knowing how much discomfort she is in every day as she goes about the daily business of life: getting up to drink and eat, going outside to potty, not being able to get up quickly to go bark at the mailman, and so on. And knowing that every day brings more risks of collapsing in pain.
I went with my friend for the final appointment. I have to say that it was absolutely the most peaceful and calm euthanasia I have ever been present for, and the veterinarian and the clinic responsible have my everlasting loyalty from now on. We had one of the first appointments of the day, and we waited for the vet on a blanket that we spread on a grassy area under some giant oak trees outside the rural clinic. The veterinarian and a technician came outside and, after a brief exam, administered a subcutaneous dose of sedative, and let us sit with Lena there under the trees until she grew very, very relaxed. When they came back out of the clinic to administer the euthanasia solution into a vein on her back leg, Lena barely noticed. Her owner stroked her face and told her what a good girl she was, and she slipped quietly away.
My friend and I agreed – if only humans could have deaths that were as peaceful and painless, with loved ones around us and birds singing overhead. But I know my friend will also second-guess herself. Was it too soon? Could Lena have made it a few more months, was there some other intervention that could have helped?
These are tough decisions – though of course, life and death decisions should be tough. My foster pup is recovering from surgery wonderfully – and the increasing mischief he is getting into tells me he is in less and less pain as each day passes. He gets the surgical stitches out two weeks after his surgery, and a few days later, he will go home to a new family – a mom and dad and teenaged girl who met him a few days before surgery and already love him. I’ve been reading about the care of “tripawd” dogs, and have assigned our veterinarian contributor to write an article about this for an upcoming issue, but I, too, still wonder if amputation was the right thing to do. This uncertainty, too, is part of the price of loving dogs like we do.
Pretty darn adorable puppy. He was found with an old injury, a severely broken and displaced hock joint on his left rear leg.
My senior dog, Otto, is nearly 13 years old. He often acts like a big grump around any puppies or foster dogs I have here, but honestly, he goes out of his way to snark at them. There are many foster care providers who stop fostering during their dogs’ senior years, because many dogs who were social and willing to guide foster dogs around the house get sore and achey and stressed at the thought of young’uns and clumsy idiots underfoot – and honestly, I thought I would be one of them. Otto does not permit any other dogs to sniff his butt, stand anywhere between him and the door, or accidentally brush up against him while romping the “fun uncle” Woody. I have long anticipated the day when I would start saying no to fostering, to give Otto the space he deserves.
But I recently said yes to fostering a single puppy, because I could not imagine that this puppy would possibly – could possibly – get in Otto’s way. Right this minute, I’m fostering a puppy who was found in a ditch with a broken leg, starving and flea-covered and scared to death. The puppy’s injury appears to be weeks old, if not more than a month old, and severe enough that the veterinarian who saw him said unequivocally that the leg should be amputated. I figured I could keep the not-very ambulatory puppy with me in my office until his surgery date arrived; how could a puppy who can barely get around bother Otto?
In the space of a week, I have witnessed and learned some very interesting things:
Even severely injured puppies bounce back quickly when fed properly and given pain medication.
Puppies who are about 12 weeks old have REALLY sharp teeth. (My foster puppies are usually adopted by this age.)
Otto seems to actually enjoy being bossy and laying down the law. Several times this week, I have seen him get up from a comfortable dog bed, just to hover near the puppy, seemingly in order to have the opportunity to make ugly faces and his big “GrrrRUFF!” noise at the puppy (all the while wagging his tail!).
After the third time of being RUFF!ed at and not dying, puppies seem to learn that the old dog is harmless and can be ignored.
When the puppy gets particularly bitey and is aimed in Otto’s direction, Woody often inserts himself between his boss (Otto) and his minion (the puppy). He doesn’t get assertive or defensive; he still lowers his posture and wiggles and grovels to Otto like a little puppy himself – but he unmistakably puts himself between the puppy and Otto. I accidentally got a photo of this in action the other day, as I was taking pictures of cans of dog food (for our annual canned dog food review, coming up in the October issue). It’s not a great photo, but it was the first time I had a camera in hand when the behavior happened.
The thing about having a puppy here that seems to be the stressful for Otto? When I work with the puppy to teach him something. Otto can’t stand to hear the cues for “Sit” or “Down,” or to hear “Gooood boy!” addressed to someone else. He will come running from the far side of the property to insert himself into any training session that happens, so he can sit and down on cue, panting and wide-eyed and watching the treat bag to make sure he gets his share. He’s like a former child star from a television quiz show who can’t bear for anyone to watch “Jeopardy” without him in the room, and calling out all the answers before anyone else can even read the question.
The puppy was on a collision course for Otto, and Otto was already growling and making his fearsome snarl, warming up to a “RUFF!” But Woody hurried and inserted himself between the two of them, absorbing both the puppy teeth and Otto’s wrath (a second later). Otto looks momentarily disappointed here.
The puppy is having surgery as I write this, and I’m getting out all my exercise pens so I can limit the puppy’s movements and keep out from under Otto’s feet, and refraining from play with Fun Uncle Woody for at least a few days. The plan is for me to keep the pup for about two weeks post surgery, and then, hallelujah, there is a family who wants to adopt him.
And then, really, I don’t plan to foster again for a while… Or should I?
I am certain that if you have a child with a chronic and particularly challenging medical condition or behavioral disorder that cannot be readily addressed or resolved, you could become desperate for help – desperate to receive any assistance that you heard good things about. I completely sympathize with parents who are raising a child like this; my heart goes out to them. Unfortunately, some people see them as potential targets for service dog scams.
$20,000 lost to scammers
Several people sent me an article about a single mother in Wisconsin who was duped into raising more than $20,000 for a dog she thought would help ameliorate her son’s aberrant behavior. Her 10-year-old nonverbal son has autism, and often has fits of frustration that make him bang his head or become destructive. The mother, and her son’s social worker, had heard that service dogs could help some children with autism, and they started researching organizations that provide and train service dogs. At some point, the mother learned about an organization in Virginia, called Service Dogs by Warren Retrievers (SDWR), whose representatives promised that they not only train the dogs, but bring the dog to your home and teach the dog and client to work together. That sounded great to the mom, who said that travel with her son is nearly impossible.
The organization also made it easy for friends and family members to help a family in need of a dog meet the high cost of one of their dogs and related services: SDWR provided an online fundraising page to which all donations could be sent, and indicated that when the total amount due was reached, a dog would be forthcoming. But after many months of fundraising and lots of community support, when the target amount – some $20,000 – was reached, SDWR sent only an email, which stated that the family was now on the “wait list” to receive a dog. And not long after, emails sent to SDWR started bouncing back and its phone number was disconnected. Then the family learned the organization had declared bankruptcy. The $20,000 was gone.
This family wasn’t the only one to be scammed by SDWR. It developed that the group had received money from a number of other families, who also never received a dog. The families started a Facebook page in order to communicate with each other and share information about SDWR that might help any of them receive even partial reimbursement through the bankruptcy court. And more families claim that they did receive dogs from the organization who were not only untrained, but unhealthy.
Identify and avoid service dog scams
But here’s the thing: The people behind this organization aren’t the only ones out there scamming families who are desperate for a service dog. This happens frequently. There are numerous unscrupulous people who are selling unhealthy and/or untrained (or poorly trained) dogs and representing them as service dogs.
WDJ Training Editor and long-time trainer Pat Miller wrote about this in an article, “Service Dog Scams,” that we published in the June 2019 issue. The article contains many tips on how to identify and avoid these scams. Make sure that anyone you know who is considering getting a service dog for a vulnerable member of their family has a copy of the article!
Note: Pat’s article was published in the magazine last year, but due to a glitch when we moved 22 years’ worth of issues to a new web service provider last year, it never appeared in the online version of the magazine, and thus, never got as much exposure as it deserved. Forward it to anyone you know who is thinking about a service dog for someone in their family!
The two syringes on left contain a very small amount of antibiotic. The large syringe is for intravenous (IV) administration of stem cells. It contains about one quarter of the total stroll vascular fraction (SVF) diluted in sterile saline. The four syringes on the right contain a combination of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and SVF and will be injected into joints and intervertebral spaces.
At this time last year I didn’t know stem cell therapy for animals was a thing. While searching for a job where I could use my biology background and love of animals, I found a posting for a stem cell technician at a local veterinarian’s office. Igot the job! – and have found that there are few things as thrilling as having a part in changing a dog who had been in so much pain she could hardly move to become one who’s able to trot around and enjoy life again.
Stem cell therapy is a powerful tool in treating degenerative or other diseases as well as injury. It’s an effective way to regenerate damaged or diseased tissue using cells from the dog’s own body. It was first used in a veterinary context in 2002 for tendon and ligament repair for horses.1 Since severe leg injuries can be detrimental for horses, particularly for those involved in sports of racing and jumping, stem cell therapy was a game changer. The results were remarkable – most of the treated horses were able to return to their previous activity.
Eventually stem cell therapy was utilized in treating companion animals, primarily for the same issues of tendon or ligament repair but has largely become focused on arthritis. While not a cure-all, stem cell therapy is a low-risk approach to treating injuries and degenerative diseases, providing our dogs with a better quality of life without dependence on medications.
STEM CELL BASICS
What is a stem cell? It’s not quite as simple a question as it sounds. There are different types of stem cells, but the first main characteristic of a stem cell (SC) is that it can become one of a number of different cell types (called differentiation), giving rise to different tissues. Stem cells are also very proliferative, meaning they quickly divide and produce more cells, but at varying rates depending on the type of SC.
There is a difference between embryonic and adult stem cells. Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are responsible for embryonic development. They are pluripotent, which means they can develop into any type of cell in the adult body. And they are vastly proliferative, more so than adult SCs. ESCs do not exist in the organism after birth.
An embryo develops from a single cell into a complex organism composed of multiple tissues. The course of development involves many stages, but in short, a few cells proliferate and eventually develop specialized cells that compose all the various tissues of the body. ESCs in the early embryo proliferate, or divide, to produce more cells very quickly. They are pluripotent, which means they are capable of becoming any cell type in the organism. As development proceeds cells eventually become more specialized and less proliferative. There are many stages or levels as SCs move toward specialization.
Early in development, ESCs differentiate into one of three germ layers, each of which gives rise to certain parts of the fetus. The endoderm (endo = inner) gives rise to many internal organs, including the lungs, pancreas, stomach, and liver. The mesoderm (meso = middle) gives rise to bone, cartilage, tendons, ligaments, muscle, heart, fat, and some nervous tissue. The ectoderm (ecto = outer) gives rise to neurons, outer layers of the skin and hair. As ESCs divide they produce new SCs that are specialized to one of these layers. Those SCs produce more SCs as well as “progenitor cells,” the precursors to specialized cells that compose distinct tissues.
The mesoderm lineage produces mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) which are the cells used for therapy. The MSCs are considered multipotent (as opposed to pluripotent) because they can give rise to a limited number of tissues. MSCs and SCs from the other two lineages are present in the fully developed organism but are dormant or inactive until they are needed. They are activated by injury or disease at which time they begin proliferating and differentiating.
Non-controversial
Upon hearing what I now do for a living, friends sometimes ask me: Isn’t stem cell therapy controversial? In our context, no! The controversy involves the use of embryonic stem cells. There are objections to their use in humans from ethical and religious points of view. Also, from a clinical perspective, ESCs have proven to be difficult to employ properly and in some cases hazardous. Because of their highly proliferative nature they can actually replicate too much. This can lead to mutations in the cells which can result in cancer.
What we use are adult stem cells. There are no ethical concerns because the cells can be extracted from a living organism with minimal risk. For SC therapy in the veterinary context the cells are taken from the same animal who will use them for therapeutic purposes. And because adult stem cells are less “hot” in terms of proliferation their genome remains much more stable essentially eliminating the concern of developing cancer.
PUTTING STEM CELLS TO THERAPEUTIC WORK
There are plenty of adult SCs in an adult organism. They are typically dormant and become activated in response to tissue damage or disease, which begins a complex cascade of cellular and chemical signals. The local SCs become activated and migrate to the specific area and proliferate to create more stem cells as well as progenitor cells to replace specialized cells (like cartilage or bone) that have been impaired.
Importantly, MSCs can be used to treat tissues to which they do not give rise; their main function in those cases is to activate the SCs in that tissue. SCs also modulate the immune system, decreasing the inflammatory response. The primary function of the stem cells used for therapy is to directly (in the case of tissues of the mesoderm lineage) or indirectly (for endoderm or ectoderm lineages) regenerate healthy tissue to replace what is damaged or diseased.
So, in cases of arthritis or dysplasia where there is damage to bone or cartilage, the MSCs produce and become those cells; in cases of ligament damage they produce ligament cells. In cases of the other two lineages the MSCs stimulate the SCs of that lineage to produce new cells, such as liver cells or skin cells. Since it causes the body to regenerate new, healthy cells, SC therapy is often referred to as regenerative medicine.
To undertake stem cell therapy we must first extract the MSCs, concentrate them, and then get them to the area of injury or disease. The closer the cells can be placed to the specific site of trouble the better. For cases of arthritis the MSCs are injected into the diseased joint; for areas or organs where injection is not possible MSCs are administered intravenously. As the SCs travel through the blood to reach various organs they are available to respond to specific areas of distress in those tissues.
Most dogs who receive SC therapy will need to receive multiple treatments. The time between treatments depends on the individual. Repeat treatments are given anywhere from one to two months to a year or so apart. In my work I’ve seen a few cases where the problem has ceased after one treatment. This is not common, but it does happen.
TREATMENT PROCESS
For SC therapy, MSCs are extracted from the body of the animal to be treated. They are present in tissue such as bone, fat, skin, brain, and heart.2 Initially SCs were extracted from bone marrow. However, there is a greater abundance of MSCs in adipose (fat) tissue, and this tissue is less traumatic to harvest, so this is the source used most frequently.
There are a few sources of adipose tissue in a dog. Some vets take fat from the scapular (shoulder) area. Others, including the veterinarian I work for, Dr. Robert Hagler in Lafayette, California, prefers to use fat from the umbilical area. This is a relatively simple procedure, but does require general anesthesia.
After removal, the fat is processed to extract the stem cells from the tissue (that’s my job!). The tissue goes through several mechanical and chemical digestion and separation steps. After a few hours the output is the stromal vascular fraction (SVF), which has concentrated mesenchymal SCs as well as other cells and components that support the action of the MSCs. Depending on the veterinarian, the SVF may be extracted on-site, in which case the dog is treated the same day (at the clinic where I work, we do the processing in-house). The majority of vets send the fat off to be processed and the SVF is returned for treatment on the second day following harvest at which time it is administered to the dog.
Usually, there are plenty of cells from the fat harvest for multiple treatments, depending on the condition being treated. The SVF needed for the initial treatment is slightly diluted in sterile saline and divided up to accommodate the number of injections to be made. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP, more on this below) is usually added to the SVF to further support the stem cell response. We usually save a small portion of SVF to be given intravenously. Extra fat containing cells for future treatments is sent off to be processed and the cells cryogenically frozen.
In most cases the dog is sedated for injection. If you’ve ever had an injection into a joint, you know that they are quite painful and that it is much easier on the dog to be sedated. If MSCs are administered only via IV, sedation is typically not necessary. Once the injections are complete, the sedation is reversed, and the dog can go home once he has fully recovered.
Future treatments are simpler, since the fat harvest and cell extraction has already been completed. In our office the dog comes to the office in the morning and has blood drawn for PRP. The blood is processed to obtain the PRP while thawed SVF goes through steps to wash and activate the MSCs. Once both components are prepared, they are administered as described above.
For joint injections, the first few days following treatment can be more painful than pre-treatment. The time for positive results to be evident varies from dog to dog. The average is a matter of weeks, but in some cases we’ve seen positive results in a few days, and there are times where it takes a month or two.
PLATELET-RICH PLASMA
Many vets accompany the MSCs with platelet-rich plasma. This substance helps amplify the signals from the injured or damaged area and directs the MSCs to that area. It helps to get the most out of the MSCs that are used. PRP also uses the dog’s own tissue – in this case, blood, which is drawn on the day of treatment. It is processed using a series of separation steps to concentrate platelets and a number of growth factors present in blood, and then the PRP is activated. It is combined with the SVF and administered with it in the injection.
In our office we sometimes use PRP outside of SC therapy to help promote healing. The most striking example of its efficacy I’ve seen was when two dogs had tibial plateau leveling osteotomy (TPLO) surgery for a ruptured ACL on the same day. Both had previous TPLO surgery on the other rear leg. PRP was administered to the surgical site once the procedure was complete. According to the owners and Dr. Hagler, both dogs had shorter recovery times compared to their previous surgeries and were using the surgical legs much sooner.
RISKS
Stem cell therapy is very safe. The MSCs used for therapy are autologous, meaning they come from the same dog who will receive them, so there is no risk of rejection. There are essentially no side effects from the treatment itself. The treatment process is rooted in the biology of the animal utilizing the natural healing properties of his or her own cells.
The most significant risk of the therapy has to do with the general anesthesia required in order to surgically remove some fat from the dog. There is always some risk in surgical procedures requiring anesthesia – more so for older or frail dogs. In addition, there is some risk of infection, since injections are often given into joints. To mitigate this risk, injections of MSCs are often accompanied by a small dose of antibiotic.
Rocco's Transformation
Ten-year old Rocco out on a walk two days after his second stem cell treatment. He’s seen great benefits fro stem cell therapy, including less pain, more energy, improvements in his musculature, and a decrease of this medication.
Rocco is a 10-year-old black Labrador Retriever. Thirteen months ago he had his first stem cell treatment to address a number of issues including arthritis in both hips and a neurological issue causing weakness in his rear end. The pain from his hips combined with the rear end weakness made it increasingly difficult for him to get around. Rocco’s owner, Vicki, says that he would squat to urinate and couldn’t get back up.
He also had masticatory myositis – an autoimmune condition that causes the muscles involved in chewing to become inflamed and very painful. Rocco was unable to open his mouth without terrible pain. To add to that he had neurological problems that affected his head and neck resulting in laryngeal paralysis. He had such a smorgasbord of neurological symptoms it was difficult to give him a definitive diagnosis.
Before he was hindered by his conditions Rocco was an active dog with a lot of pep. He loved his long walks at a local park. He let his family know he was ready for a walk by picking up his leash in his mouth. He caught treats that were tossed to him. And he would jump up onto the couch to hang out with his family. Vicki describes the heartbreak of seeing Rocco so impaired by pain that he wasn’t able to pick up his leash or jump up to the couch, and when they arrived at their favorite walking spot Rocco wouldn’t get out of the car. Because of the loss of musculature of his head, he looked very different, like his eyes were sunken in. She describes him looking like a skeleton. Rocco was on medications for pain and prednisone for the masticatory myositis but was getting little relief. Vicki was afraid this was the end of Rocco’s life.
She and Dr. Hagler decided to try stem cell therapy, and the results were amazing. Rocco received injections in both hips, intervertebral injections in his lumbar and sacral spine, and stem cells via IV for his head, jaw, and neck. The day after his treatment he was frisky and happy. He returned to his usual exuberance about his daily walks. And, his masticatory myositis and laryngeal paralysis resolved, and have not been apparent since.
While not necessarily one of the targets of his SC therapy, Rocco also had a long history of digestive issues. Despite years of trying to identify and treat the problem, nothing seemed to help. Rocco had diarrhea about every other week. He hasn’t had an episode of diarrhea since his SC treatment. Added to the success for the symptoms that were targeted this was an unexpected and wonderful surprise!
Rocco just came back in for a follow-up treatment, as Vicki had noticed some of the signs of his hip pain and rear end weakness returning. Again, he received injections in his hips and between vertebrae, and stem cells via IV. The next day Vicki described him as “super spunky” for the walk they had just been on. She describes Rocco’s experience being “like a miracle” and is so thankful to have her happy dog back, noting that Rocco’s improved health has been therapeutic for the whole family.
EXPECTATIONS
As I mentioned, SC therapy has been used most often in the treatment of arthritis, and with significant improvement in pain levels, range of motion, and functional mobility. Our practice has also used it in many cases of hip or elbow dysplasia, with excellent results in very young dogs with severe dysplasia.
One example is Tugboat, a chocolate Lab who was debilitated by elbow dysplasia when he was just four months old. His owner tried everything, including costly surgery, pain meds, therapy, etc.
Searching for other options she decided to try SC therapy. Following treatment, Tugboat is a different dog! He could hardly tolerate walking before, but now walks over an hour a day and plays at the beach. He comes in for repeat treatments every six months or so, when he starts showing signs of pain and decreased mobility, and soon returns to his normal activities.
MSCs are also used to treat damaged tendons and ligaments. SC therapy is helpful for partial tears, but not if the ligament is completely ruptured; there is simply not enough material to bridge a complete tear. At the clinic where I work, we have used SCs to treat degenerative myelopathy with good results. There have been a number of small scale (n=10 or less in most cases) studies that found SC therapy improved the condition of dogs with arthritis, dysplasia, intervertebral disc disease, perianal fistulas, inflammatory bowel disease, and keratoconjunctivitis sicca.3
Some dogs show improvement very early after treatment; others take longer, and the degree of improvement varies. However, says Dr. Hagler, “I’ve never seen a dog that didn’t have some improvement.”
Overall, the literature3 concurs that SC therapy is effective, though many studies or reports are anecdotal, based on practitioners’ data and experience; few clinical trials have yet been completed, though the companies whose technology is used to extract the SCs have studies in the works.
THE FUTURE OF STEM CELL THERAPY
The exciting possibilities for future directions of stem cell therapy mainly concern the source of cells used to treat patients. Currently the dog being treated must be the source of the cells used for treatment – otherwise the treatment would be legally considered a drug and must first gain approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Having a stem cell “bank” would be a great help in the cases of dogs who lack enough fat to harvest or dogs who are too frail to undergo general anesthesia for surgical fat harvesting. Just as dogs can be universal recipients of blood, they can also safely receive stem cells that came from another dog. One study even found that MSCs can be extracted from human adipose tissue and transplanted into dogs.4 (Anyone have some fat you’d like to donate?)
Transplantation of MSCs from another animal would be a game changer. There are cases where the dog with banked cells doesn’t need them anymore, either because they’ve stopped doing therapy or because they are deceased. It would be ideal if the dog’s owner could make the banked cells available to other dogs. Currently this is not legal.
It’s possible to grow MSCs (but not supporting cells) in a lab to increase their numbers, reducing the need to harvest fat more than once; one company does that now.
Getting Started with Stem Cells
You may be thinking that this sounds like something that may help your dog. Here are the next steps.
The first is to find a veterinarian who offers SC therapy. All veterinarians who provide this therapy work with one of two companies that provide the equipment, reagents, processing, and storage of cells: VetStem Biopharma and MediVet Biologics. The details of how services are offered depend to some degree on the company with which the vet’s office works.
VetStem has been doing SC therapy for animals for the longest time. VetStem currently cultures the animal’s MSCs, while MediVet does not, although they are working in that direction. VetStem does all the processing at their own facility.
MediVet provides training, equipment, and reagents to vet hospitals that choose to process cells in-house. Not all hospitals working with MediVet choose to do this, so in those cases, MediVet does the processing. The beauty of doing the processing onsite is that the fat harvest and initial therapy can be done in the same day. If you have to travel a distance to a vet for SC therapy, it certainly isn’t ideal to have to make multiple trips within a few days of each other for the initial therapy.
PRP can also be done onsite. VetStem does not incorporate PRP into their SC therapy.
Both companies store SCs for future use and can bank cells even before treatment is needed. If your dog is undergoing anesthesia for another procedure, like a spay or neuter, your veterinarian can harvest fat at that time and ship it to the company, so they can extract and freeze the cells for any future use your dog may need. If you have the foresight (and funds) to do this, it could eliminate the need to put your dog through fat-harvesting surgery later, when he may be less able to tolerate general anesthesia. When I am ready to have my dog neutered I will likely do this.
Depending on where you are located the choice of which company to utilize for the SC processing may be narrowed down for you simply by the vets who offer SC therapy in your area. Check with your veterinarian. You can also check the VetStem and MediVet websites; they can put in you in contact with one of their partner veterinarians near you.
CONSIDERATIONS BEFORE PROCEEDING
There are some cases where SC therapy is contraindicated. Because of the proliferative and immune-modulating effects of SCs, therapy should not be done for dogs who are known to have or suspected of having cancer. Neither should dogs who have an active infection receive therapy.
SC therapy may also not be an option for dogs who are lacking sufficient fat (until there is a stem cell bank for dogs!) or dogs who are too frail to withstand general anesthesia.
Stem cell therapy is not inexpensive; the cost for the initial treatment, including adipose harvest, is in the neighborhood of $2,500. Follow-up treatments can run $500 to $1,000. These numbers will vary from vet to vet. The good news is that many pet insurance plans now cover SC therapy. Even without insurance it is substantially less costly and less invasive than more drastic measures like joint replacement.
SC therapy is not a panacea and getting the greatest benefit requires basic but sometimes overlooked actions. It’s important to support the health of the whole dog: Keep his nails trimmed so they don’t interfere with walking. Feed a quality diet that supports overall health. Take precautions to prevent infection following surgery. Keep up with follow-up treatments in a timely manner to minimize the amount of pain or dysfunction the dog experiences. Supporting the dog’s overall health and providing him with quality care is imperative in getting the most out of treatment.
Joanne Osburn is the stem cell technician at Mt. Diablo Veterinary Medical Center in Lafayette, CA. After working for nine years as a biology tech at a government laboratory, she is delighted to be working in the veterinary field where she can help improve the lives of pets. She lives in the San Francisco Bay area with her husband Paul and super silly dog Guster.
References
1 Fortier LA, Travis AJ. “Stem cells in veterinary medicine.” Stem Cell Research & Therapy 2011; 2:9.
2 Markoski MM. “Advances in the use of stem cells in veterinary medicine: From basic research to clinical practice.” Scientifica 2016; 2016: 4516920.
A vaccination that protects against a virus may contain a killed (inactivated) strain of the virus or a live but weakened (attenuated) strain of the virus. The latter are also called modified live virus (MLV) vaccines. Often, several virus antigens are combined in one "shot", and vaccines are available that contain varying number of antigens in many different combinations. Some contain as many as nine disease antigens! - and not all of them are necessary to protect all dogs.
Canine viruses have existed for thousands of years. Today we have tools to combat and prevent many of the diseases they cause. But despite this, viruses linger and mutate in wildlife and domestic dog reservoirs, so it’s important to understand how they work and how to prevent them.
Viruses are not actually living organisms. Containing only one piece of genetic information – either DNA or RNA – they require a host cell to survive and reproduce.
Once in the body, the virus hijacks normal cells and uses them to reproduce. Eventually, the host cells become overwhelmed with new particles and explode, releasing more virus into the bloodstream. The cycle continues. Every system in the body, from the skin to the brain, can be affected by viruses.
Viruses are spread by a variety of mechanisms. In dogs, these include aerosolized droplets from barking, coughing, and sneezing; saliva transmission via bite wounds; and the fecal-oral route (this occurs when a dog eats or licks the feces of an infected host). Urine, ocular, and nasal discharge can also lead to exposure in some cases. Fomites (inanimate surfaces such as bowls, beds, crates, kennel walls and doors, leashes, and grooming equipment) also play an important role in transmission of disease.
Once exposed to a virus, it can take anywhere from a day to weeks for symptoms to manifest, depending on the particular virus.
PREVENTION
There are many ways to prevent infection. Keeping your dog healthy and fit with regular exercise and an excellent diet is the best way to promote a robust immune system. It’s also important to keep up with routine treatments that prevent infections by parasites, such as gastrointestinal worms, heartworms, fleas, and ticks, since the burden of parasites can sap the dog’s health and vitality.
Avoiding social situations where dogs with illness may be present is another good idea. When considering boarding and daycare facilities, choose one with strict sanitation policies and vaccine requirements. Since many canine viruses can be transmitted via infected bodily fluids such as feces and urine, as well as on fomites like water and food bowls, cleanliness is important in limiting spread of disease.
It’s also critical to keep your dog home if she manifests any signs of illness.
Vaccines are a safe and effective way to protect your dog and are available for almost all of the major canine diseases caused by viruses. Vaccinations are not “one size fits all,” and you should work closely with your veterinarian to determine which vaccines are most needed for your dog.
All puppies should receive a series of vaccines until they are 16 weeks of age. Vaccines are generally given again a year later, and, according to the the most commonly accepted canine vaccination guidelines, every three years after that.
Some dogs should not be vaccinated on this schedule. This includes dogs with immune-mediated diseases, like hemolytic anemia and dogs with a history of severe vaccine reactions. Some vaccines may be discontinued for senior dogs after a certain age, depending on lifestyle. Titers are another method that has been utilized to determine when vaccination is necessary. (See “Taking the Titer Test,” WDJ June 2014.)
WHY RISK IT?
Prognosis and recovery from a virus is highly dependent on the causes. The rabies virus, for instance, is universally fatal. Other viruses, like parainfluenza (a mild, often asymptomatic upper respiratory tract infection), may never cause any illness.
As always, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure with regard to viruses.
After nine years in emergency medicine, Catherine Ashe, DVM, now works as a relief veterinarian in Asheville, NC.
Training ourselves (and our family and friends) to stop reinforcing our dogs' unwanted behaviors is a significant part of the challenge.
Ignoring should work, right? One of the first bits of behavior science that we pick up as dog trainers is that behavior is driven by consequences.
• If something good happens after a behavior, that behavior is likely to be repeated.
• If something bad happens, the behavior may diminish.
• And if nothing happens at all after a behavior, there’s often no point to the behavior. It may well fade away.
Those are all true statements. So if a dog greets us by jumping in the air and pounding us with his front feet, or barks demandingly as we prepare his meal, how come he doesn’t quit when we ignore the naughtiness?
KEYS TO UNDERSTANDING
When seeking to change behavior, we start by identifying and describing the behavior. Then we seek to identify the consequence that is driving the behavior. We identify antecedents: We note the situations and environments in which the behavior is likely to occur. We then create a plan to change the consequences and/or the antecedents in order to change the behavior.
I’m going to describe five reasons why “ignoring” may fail as a strategy; each corresponds to failures in a behavior-change plan. They may occur because we fail to identify the consequences that could be driving the behavior. They may occur because we misidentified the emotional state of the dog (an error in identifying an antecedent). Or they may fail because our plan was not complete or we just couldn’t carry it out. Here are five common ways the “ignoring” plan can fail:
1. Other reinforcers are present. A very common reason why ignoring fizzles as a strategy is that paying attention to the dog is not the reinforcer of the undesired behavior in the first place, or it is not the only reinforcer.
The classic example of this is the behavior of jumping to greet. Surely part of the reason a dog jumps on his owner or arriving visitors is to interact with them. It is so tempting to assume that if we remove that interaction –
if we look away, turn away, and don’t speak to him – he will quit that annoying jumping. Good luck with that, though; it rarely works by itself.
The dogs who continue to jump when ignored – what are they getting out of it? One consequence is that they get closer to our faces. We are vertical creatures and it takes a good jump to get up to where the action is!
Also, we have to consider that the behavior just may feel good to the dog, even when he’s being ignored. It’s fun for dogs to use humans as a backstop or a launching pad! Jumping may also be driven by anxiety or over-arousal.
If we use ignoring for the dog who barks demandingly for his meal, we are even more off-track. What is the ultimate reinforcer that results from meal preparation? Food!
Wise trainers pay close attention to what their dogs are doing for the period before such a big reinforcer. Barking, twirling, head butting, hand nuzzling, getting underfoot in the kitchen, and jumping can all be beautifully maintained by the presentation of a meal’s worth of food at the end of it all. You can get any of those behaviors without paying any attention to the dog. Consequently, removing the attention does nothing to decrease the behaviors.
2. People are confused about what, exactly, constitutes “ignoring.” It’s difficult to define and hard to carry out! Ignoring might work in a few more cases – if only we really knew how to do it. Also, it’s hard to define the term “to ignore” without using negatives; you don’t do this; you don’t do that . . . .
What you do is to proceed as if the dog, with her annoying behavior, is not there. That’s hard, especially if the dog is making physical contact with you. And there’s some truth to the “don’ts” in the common definition. It can take as little as a quick glance from us to connect with our dog. They are the world’s best noticers! That quick look, that “Oof” noise, that lurching body movement you might make – all those can be responses to the dog. They affected your behavior and they noticed!
And then there are the things we sometimes try to get them to stop. Turning our backs just gives them a clearer vertical surface to carom off of. Pushing them away – what a fun game! For some dogs, even being yelled at is more enjoyable than being truly ignored.
There are some dogs out there for whom certain behaviors are so driven by attention that ignoring could work. But a good trainer would use it as only part of a strategy for behavior change – and it still has to be done correctly. A great trainer friend of mine teaches her clients a targeting behavior when she implements that plan for dogs who jump. But the behavior is not for the dog; it’s for the person! She teaches her human clients to make eye contact with her (if she is present) or read a magazine (if the client is home alone). It gives them an alternative behavior so they don’t look at the dog.
But that is only a part of the training plan. The dog is learning a behavior, too. She and her client are working on reinforcing a more acceptable behavior that doesn’t include knocking down visitors.
3 We don’t ignore the dog for a sufficiently long period. Even in situations where ignoring might work, we have a hard time sticking with it long enough.
Here’s a different behavioral example: Let’s say your tiny dog has learned to get attention by pawing at your leg. Perhaps she gets picked up, petted, spoken to, or even fed from the table when she does that. How many hundreds of times has that worked for her in your life together?
Now turn it around. How many hundreds of times have your responses to her been reinforced? Hundreds! Dogs are masters of negative reinforcement. They learn to bug us until we do something, then stop (for a while). That’s how your own habit of response got built and firmed up.
It’s jarring for some of us when we realize that to change our dog’s behavior, we have to change our own. After all those repetitions, how are you going to remember never again to respond to the adorable paw-on-the-leg behavior? Perhaps you’ll blow it when you are talking on the phone or messing around on social media. There’s that little foot. You reach down and – darn! You kept the behavior alive.
Even if you are an expert at changing your own behavior, if you can make a plan and stick to it – how about the rest of your family and acquaintances? How are you going to prevent them from reinforcing the dog for that little pawing motion?
This is the situation in which we need to be careful about variable reinforcement. It may not be the best solution for building strong, reliable, cued behaviors in training, but it is fantastic for keeping annoying day-to-day behaviors alive. Variable reinforcement makes a behavior resistant to extinction. So when your dog has nothing else to do, why shouldn’t she revert to something that used to work for attention? Why not try that little paw scratch one more time? You are back where you started if you respond!
One more thing about extinction: The behavior we are trying to extinguish will generally worsen before it gets better. It will typically get more frequent or intense in what is called an extinction burst. How many times do you punch the button for a “walk” signal at an intersection you want to cross? How many times will you click on the “OK” box on the error message on your computer, even as nothing happens, before realizing your computer has frozen up? When that happens, do you ever treat your keyboard rather roughly?
When reinforcement for a behavior is abruptly removed, it can be frustrating. So with our little dog, the paw scratching may get more frequent or harder. The dog may start adding a whine. That’s often when we cave, and that has bad consequences. We just reinforced a long behavior chain of undesirable behavior instead of one little scratch.
4 The dog doesn’t know what to do instead; we’ve left her in a behavioral vacuum.
Let’s say we have correctly identified that the sole reinforcer of an annoying behavior is attention. We have learned how to ignore the behavior and been consistent at that. We have convinced every other person in the dog’s life to do the same. We still have a problem, though. We have left the dog with a void. There used to be something she could do to gain reinforcement and it’s gone. What behavior will take the place of the one we have discouraged?
Left to her own devices, the dog may come up with something worse – and who can blame her? Being ignored is hard for members of a social species. And performing a behavior that has successfully served a purpose for years without getting the expected outcome is unpleasant for anyone.
In my opinion, this can be especially hard on dogs who are otherwise untrained. Let’s say a pet owner reads an article that she should just “ignore the bad behavior” and gives it a try. But she has never used positive reinforcement in the form of food or play to train her dog. Trained dogs usually have default behaviors – behaviors they can fall back on that are desirable to humans and will earn the dog some reinforcement. They have at least some clues about what to try. But dogs who get the “ignoring” treatment when they don’t have a clue what to do instead are in an unfair, even pitiable position.
The outcome won’t likely be great for the owner, either. Since she hasn’t trained the dog to chill on a mat or crate or sit to ask for something, the dog will likely come up with a natural doggie behavior to fill the void. And it may be even less acceptable than the first one. Well-designed plans for behavior change include the teaching and reinforcing of new behaviors.
5 The dog may be too upset to care that you are ignoring him. If he’s worked up about something, he may not be able to change his behavior at that moment.
Until now, I’ve been discussing situations where the dog is not scared or overwrought. But there are whole classes of behaviors wherein the dog is undergoing a sympathetic nervous system fight or flight response. Thankfully, it’s uncommon for people to recommend that we just ignore our dogs if they lunge or pounce at another dog on-leash or stalk humans who are strange to them. But there is a common, emotion-driven behavior where ignoring is sometimes recommended: barking.
Dogs bark for so many apparent reasons. Certainly they bark purely for attention sometimes, especially if they and their owners have developed a little reinforcement cycle for it. But dogs also bark in excitement, as part of territorial aggression, and for many other reasons – including fear.
Fear barking (which mostly coincides with what people call reactivity) can be hard for we humans to identify. We may think the dog is being protective of us. Or we think that it is “fun” for a dog to run through the house to bark at the mail carrier at the door or delivery trucks on the street. We say, “It’s the highlight of her day!”
It took me two or three years to realize that my dog who used to bark in a frenzy when a delivery truck was in the neighborhood was afraid. During those couple of years of my ignorance, her triggers expanded to include a host of sounds. These included the truck engine sound, the truck doors sliding open or slamming closed, the delivery person walking onto the porch, the noise of the mailbox lid or a box hitting the porch, and (the frosting on the cake) the voice of the particular mail carrier who had loud conversations on his Bluetooth headset as he delivered our mail.
None of her barking was for attention. I know from my webcams that she did it when I was not home. And I have observed that the barking was negatively reinforced. She barked all through these scary stimuli, then the truck engine would start up or rev (another trigger) and the truck would finally leave. The aversive things were gone, and she stopped.
Since then I have helped my dog with her fear and barking via classical conditioning. But I haven’t been able to completely eliminate it, since I am not always home when trucks come by. In any case, ignoring her barking had no part in our plan.
MAKE A PLAN
I can’t present a plan that will decrease all annoying dog behaviors across the board – nobody can! That’s the problem with “ignore the dog.” It’s a one-size-fits-all solution that fits almost no situation. But we can decrease most of those nuisance behaviors with a good training plan: We need to identify the reinforcer of the behavior, identify what sets the stage for it, and aim our interventions with full knowledge of those things.
This isn’t always easy. Consider booking a lesson with a force-free trainer to keep from wasting time on non-solutions such as “just ignore the dog”!
This article was first published in Clean Run – The Magazine for Dog Agility Enthusiasts.
Puppies require more calories per pound of their body weight than adult dogs do; they also require higher levels of protein, fat, calcium, phosphorus, and a few more minerals. Feeding them food that is labeled for "adult maintenance" will leave them nutritionally deficient.
Michael Pollan, author of the best-selling books on diet The Omnivore’s Dilemma, In Defense of Food, and Food Rules, once came up with the world’s most succinct guide for a healthy human diet: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”
If only we could come up with something that simple for puppies! The advice could start in a very similar fashion: “Feed food. Not too much….” But in order for the slogan to be nutritionally sound, the next part would be far too complicated to put on a book cover or tote bag: “Mostly quality sources of animal protein, delivered at adequate levels. Same goes for fat. Not too much calcium, but enough, depending on the expected adult size of the puppy . . . .”
There’s more, but you get the idea. There are a lot of factors that have to be carefully considered when feeding puppies – that is, if you want them to grow into healthy and sound adult dogs.
On the other hand, I don’t want to scare anyone; feeding puppies isn’t rocket science. But there are a few little details that you need to attend to in order to make sure your pup grows at an appropriate rate – things that aren’t as critical with an adult dog.
STANDARD ISSUE
The differences between the nutrient requirements for puppies and those for adult dogs are laid out in tables developed by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO); these are called the AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles, and they include the standards for what comprises the legal definition of “complete and balanced” diets for dogs. One lists the nutrient levels required for the “maintenance” of adult dogs only; the other lists the nutrient levels that meet the needs of breeding animals, pregnant or nursing females, and growing puppies. The latter is often referred to as the “growth and reproduction” nutrient profile.
These tables differ in notable ways. Puppies need higher amounts of protein (including higher amounts of many specific amino acids that contribute to the food’s total protein), fat, calcium, phosphorus, and several other minerals than the amounts needed by adult dogs. This is why you must make sure that the food you buy for your puppy (any dog less than a year old) is formulated to meet the standards for complete and balanced nutrition for growth.
Often, dog food labels say that the food contained in the package meets the standards for dogs “of all life stages.” This implicitly includes puppies. If a food is labeled as either meeting the nutrient levels or passing a feeding trial for dogs of “all life stages,” it has to meet the “growth” requirements.
Often – but not always – food that is formulated to meet the needs of puppies has the word “puppy” in the name of the food. Again, if the label indicates that it’s “complete and balanced for dogs of all life stages,” it has met the AAFCO standards for growth (puppies). But if the label says it is “complete and balanced for adult maintenance,” it is not suitable for puppies.
Always look for the AAFCO (for nutritional adequacy) statement to make sure the product you are considering is intended for puppies – and puppies of the size you expect your pup to be as an adult.
Where will you find this information? This is where things get weird: This statement is the most important thing to check on the label of your puppy’s food, and I will almost guarantee that it will be printed on the bag or can in teeny, tiny type. Scan the label carefully for the words “AAFCO Nutrient Profiles” or “AAFCO Feeding Trial.” The block of text containing one of these phrases will probably appear on the back or even the side of the package, and it will reference either “growth” (great!), “dogs of all life stages” (super!), or “adult maintenance” (womp, womp, no!).
CHECK THE SIZE
All puppy foods used to be formulated to meet the same nutrient standards. In recent years, however, animal nutrition experts came to understand that large-breed puppies should receive less calcium than puppies of smaller breeds to prevent their bones from growing too quickly. Excessively fast growth can result in the development of bone and joint abnormalities in large-breed puppies. So, in 2016, AAFCO began to require food makers to explicitly state whether their products contained calcium at an appropriate level for large breed puppies (defined as those pups expected to reach an adult weight of more than 70 pounds).
If the AAFCO statement says the food is for growth/all life stages “including growth of large-size dogs (70 pounds or more as an adult),” it is safe to feed to large breed pups.
If the statement says the food is for growth/all life stages “except for growth of large-size dogs (70 pounds or more as an adult),” it should not be fed to large-breed puppies.
To be safe, if you have a large-breed puppy, or a mixed-breed pup who looks like he may grow to more than 50 or 60 pounds, you should choose foods with the “including growth of large-size dogs” statement. Smaller-breed puppies can be safely fed foods with either statement.
Dog Food Selection Criteria
Hallmarks of Quality
✓ Lots of animal protein at the top of the ingredients list. Plant-sourced protein is less appropriate than animal protein.
✓ When a fresh meat is first on the ingredients list, there should be a named animal-protein meal immediately or closely following the meat.
* “Animal plasma” or blood meal as a protein source.
* Added sweeteners.
* Artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives (such as BHA, BHT, ethoxyquin).
OUR USUAL CRITERIA
Once you are confident that you can identify foods that are appropriate for puppies of the size you expect your pup to be, you can search among those products for diets that meet our usual selection criteria (listed in the box below) and that are in your price range.
Check the protein and fat content of the food you are feeding your pup right now. If his weight and energy are good, try to buy only those foods that contain similar levels of protein and fat. Be aware that these levels range widely. If you start feeding him a product with double or half the protein or fat content of the food you are giving him now, you will see changes in him; his appetite, weight, stool quality, and/or energy may be affected.
Finally, don’t be afraid to try different foods. Pet food companies want to win your loyalty, but the fact is, variety is actually good for your puppy. The more you change foods, the more accustomed his digestive tract will become to a wide variety of ingredients. Also, because each manufacturer’s products contain different levels of each required nutrient (within the AAFCO specifications), by routinely switching products, you are sure to provide “balance over time” and prevent him from suffering ill effects of any potentially excessive or deficient nutrient levels.
Reinforce your dog frequently and generously when he's doing what you want him to do. In most cases, it's less productive to randomize the reinforcement "schedule" than it is to make sure you reinforce the behavior you desire frequently enough for him to understand what you want him to do!
There’s an old saying: “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” Fortunately for our beloved dogs, that’s not necessarily the case in the world of dog training and behavior. Granted, there are still far too many professionals who cling to old-fashioned methods that employ the use of force, pain, and coercion. For them, things do seem to stay the same. However, the corps of enlightened training professionals that routinely read about, absorb, and apply innovations of behavior science grows daily, and I’m proud to consider myself one of these.
Of course, that means from time to time I have occasion to change what I say and how I say it. I sometimes look back at something I wrote years ago and cringe when I realize that, as much as there may have been general agreement with it in the profession then (whatever it is), there is growing or widespread agreement now that it isn’t really so. Here are some examples of things about which I have changed my mind over the years:
* The importance of putting reinforcers on an intermittent schedule of reinforcement.
Early on, when using treats in training was somewhat revolutionary, we “foodies” took a lot of heat for our use of treats. As a result,in the past, we put a lot of emphasis on moving the dog from a continuous schedule (in which he gets reinforced every time – very important when he is first learning a new behavior) to an intermittent schedule of reinforcement, which means he learns to offer the behavior multiple times when asked and gets reinforced only occasionally. Continuous reinforcement, we thought, would make dogs and humans dependent on the presence of the treat in order to get the behavior to happen.
We have come to realize that it’s not all that important to use intermittent reinforcement unless you need the behavior to be durable – resistant to extinction. There is absolutely nothing wrong with reinforcing the behavior every time it happens. And I pretty much do! The Miller dogs are generally on a continuous schedule of reinforcement, even if it’s sometimes just a cheerful “Good dog!”
Remember, “reinforcement” doesn’t have to mean a treat. While I almost always have treats in my pockets, I can also use praise, a toy, petting (for dogs who love to be petted), opening a door to go outside, the opportunity to perform another behavior the dog loves – or anything else the dog finds reinforcing, in place of a treat.
We do know that a behavior extinguishes over time if it is not reinforced and that behaviors that are intermittently reinforced are more durable than others. But how many of us are often in environments with our dogs where we can’t reinforce behavior every time, or most of the time? I can think of a few – a dog in an American Kennel Club obedience trial, a canine actor on stage in a play, a working dog who, by nature of his job, has to work at a distance from his handler . . . not all that many!
In the real world, few owners “over-reward” and end up with dogs who refuse to work unless a treat is shown to them first. More commonly, I see owners who fail at “catching their dogs doing something right” – that is, fail to frequently reinforce their dogs for the behaviors they like to see. Lacking reinforcement, and thus, experience that teaches them which behaviors will reliably result in enjoyable consequences produced by their owners, dogs will find things to do that please themselves!
That’s why I now advise you to reinforce your dogs any and every time you see behaviors you like – looking at squirrels out the window without barking, going to her mat when the family sits down to dinner, checking in with you on a walk, greeting friends at the door with all four paws on the floor. And reinforce these terrific behaviors with anything your dog finds enjoyable – a treat, a cheerful word, a belly rub, a favorite toy, or a rousing game of tug o’ war.
* Rules for playing tug o’ war with your dog.
Use a toy that’s long enough to keep his teeth away from your hands – and call for a “Trade!” every so often.
Speaking of tug, I’ve considerably lightened up on my recommended “rules for tug o’ war” with dogs. Again, sensitive to criticism from the old-fashioned trainer crowd, we used to dictate strict rules for playing tug with your dog. Playing tug even under these rules used to be considered dangerous by many old-school trainers, who warned owners that tug could make their dogs aggressive. I wouldn’t ever go that far – though I certainly wouldn’t advise an inexperienced owner to casually play tug with an already aggressivedog or one who is known to guard resources.
Many dogs love to play tug with their owners, so it has a ton of potential for use as a mutually enjoyable and fantastically reinforcing game. To get the most out of the reinforcing nature of the game, ask your dog to play by some basic rules; to keep yourself safe, play with a few safety guidelines in place. Here are my current rules and guidelines for playing tug:
• Use a toy that’s long enough to keep your dog’s teeth far away from your hands and that’s comfortable for you to hold when he pulls.
• Hold up the tug toy. If your dog lunges for it, say “Oops!” and quickly hide it behind your back. He needs to be polite when he plays tug with you.
• When he’ll remain sitting as you offer the toy, tell him to “Take it!” and encourage him to grab and pull. If he’s reluctant, play gently until he learns the game. If he’s enthusiastic, go for it!
• Randomly throughout tug-play, ask him to “Trade!” Offer him a yummy treat, which he can take after he relinquishes the tug toy to you. Then, offer the toy and tell him to “Take it!” again.
• While you are playing, if his teeth creep up the toy toward your hands, say “Oops! Too bad!” in a cheerful voice, have him give you the toy, and put it away briefly. (This is for safety reasons. You can get it out and play again after 15 seconds or so.)
• If your dog’s teeth touch your clothing or skin, say “Oops! Too bad!” and put the toy away for a minute (again, for safety reasons).
• Children should not play tug with your dog unless and until you are confident they can play by the rules. If you do allow children to play tug with your dog, always directly supervise the game.
• Only tug side to side, not up and down (up and down tugging can injure your dog’s spine) and temper the vigor of your play appropriately to the size and age of your dog. (You can play tug more vigorously with an adult Rottweiler than you can with a Rottie puppy or a little terrier.)
Here are the rules for tug that I have discarded or modified:
• Keep the tug toy put away. Bring it out only when you want to play tug. (There is no logical justification for keeping the tug toy away from the dog at other times.)
• Ignore the dog if he invites you to play tug. You get to decide when tug happens. (What does it hurt if your dog asks you to play? You can always say, “No thanks! Not now!”)
• You should “win” most of the time – that is, you end up with possession of the toy, not your dog. (As long as you allowed the dog to take the toy, and he didn’t take it in an aggressive manner, there is no harm in letting him have it sometimes, or even frequently. In fact, some dogs quickly learn that playing with the toy by themselves is nowhere near as much fun as playing with you.)
• When you are done playing, put the toy away until next time. You control the good stuff. (Playing with you is the really good stuff! It’s fine to let the dog trot off with the toy when you’re done, as long as it’s safe for him to have.)
As you can see, I’ve removed all the rules that insist you always have to be in total control of the game – the ones that were based in the old-fashioned thinking that if you weren’t in total control your dog would take advantage of you and perhaps even become aggressive. We know better now. Happy tugging!
* Leave It/Walk Away
We’ve found that most dogs find the “walk away!” behavior to be much more fun (and thus, easy to remember to do when they hear the cue) than “Leave it” or “Off!” At least part of the reason for this is the emphasis on doing something, rather than not doing something.
Many of us teach our dogs a cue to “Leave it!” (also known as “Off!”) for use in those situations when you see something you don’t want your dog to mess with – whether it’s a pile of cat poo, a discarded chicken bone, a cat crossing the sidewalk, or a snake. I still teach that cue for use when I want the dog to understand “Whatever you are coveting or considering going toward, I want you to leave it alone.” But I also teach an alternative cue, “Walk away,” which means “Whatever you are looking at, I want you to do a 180-degree spin and run away with me.”
While there are many situations where the two cues could be used interchangeably, and some cases where “Leave it” is still the more appropriate choice, I find that dogs respond much more reliably to the “Walk away” cue, simply because we teach them that it’s a fun game. Given the choice, it’s my much-preferred behavior to ask for.
I first discovered this with my Cardigan Corgi, Lucy. She had learned “Leave it!” in her adolescence and responded reasonably reliable to that cue. When she was 10 years old, I learned about New Jersey trainer Kelly Fahey’s “Walk away” protocol, and taught it to Lucy.
Then I did an experiment. I set a bowl of tasty food on the floor, and as Lucy walked toward it, I said, “Leave it!” She took two more steps and started eating. Then I said, “Walk away!” and she spun away from the bowl and ran away from it with me.
The moral of the story and a good reminder: We are almost always more successful asking our dogs to do something (run away with me!) than not to do something (don’t eat that!). It’s one of the basic tenets of positive reinforcement-based dog training.
For complete instructions on teaching “Walk away” to your dog, see the “Walk Away!” sidebar in the “Frustrated on Leash?” article in the October 2019 issue of WDJ.
* Head halters can help – or hurt.
Some dogs find head halters highly aversive, even after desensitization and counter-conditioning efforts have been made with the intention of associating them with good things.
Just like almost every other positive trainer, I was enthusiastic about head halters when they first made the training scene around 1995. They helped many people prevent their dogs from dragging them around on walks, without the use of painful yanks from choke chains or pinching prong collars. With a regular collar, the leash is attached at the dog’s neck; with a head halter, the leash attachment is right under the dog’s head, making it very difficult for him to brace against the leash and pull.Gentle pressure on the leash from the handler turns the dog back toward the handler.
But the more we saw halters used, the more it became clear that the majority of dogs hated them, even after fairly thorough efforts were made to desensitize and counter-condition dogs to wearing them.
Then front-clip harnesses came along and fulfilled much of the same function: giving us a significant degree of control over dogs who pulled hard. It was easy to switch my allegiance to these new products (and we described all the reasons for this in the February 2005 issue of WDJ).
Most dogs accept harnesses without protest, and they are far less likely to do damage to a dog’s neck or spine if they hit the end of the leash hard. (I occasionally come across a dog who finds front-clip harnesses aversive, and I don’t use them with those dogs.)
For a review of front clip harnesses, see “Harness the Power,” WDJ April 2017.
* Modified recommendations for crating your dog.
Some people believe that confining your dog in a crate – ever – is cruel.Never fear: I am still a strong advocate for crating. There are a couple of things regarding crates, however, that I do differently now than I did years ago.
I used to be on board with this common caveat to owners: “If your dog/puppy is crying in his crate, ignore him until he stops crying, or you will reinforce his vocalizations.” I shudder now to think of that.
Okay, granted, if your dog barks a few times, it’s still good advice to ignore it so you don’t reinforce him for barking. But anything beyond that – ongoing, emotional vocalization – needs to be addressed behaviorally. Leaving a dog to cry in his crate for long periods increases his stress and gives him an even more negative association with being crated.
A dog who is stressed about crating but still needs confinement for management purposes needs a gradual program of habituation (a few seconds at first with you right there, then longer and longer, with you gradually removing yourself), or needs alternatives to crating (an exercise pen or a dog-proofed room).
My other change having to do with crates regards size. I used to say that a dog’s crate should be just big enough for him to stand up, lie down, and turn around. That is still true if you’re housetraining – you don’t want the crate to be big enough that he can soil one end and sleep dry and comfortably in the other.
But after he is housetrained, if he still needs to be crated, there’s no reason to continue to deprive him of more spacious quarters.
THE GOOD NEWS
In general, the positive dog training world has made a quantum shift from, “I will make the dog do want I want him to do … I bought him so I could compete with him in agility and he’s damn well going to do it!” to “I will explore options with my dog to see what he would like to do. I’ll be really happy if he wants to do agility, since I love agility, but if he tells/shows me that he would prefer to do nosework, or rally obedience, or canine freestyle, I’m good with that, too.”
Personally, I have also made a quantum philosophical shift. I used to be fiercely competitive with my dogs. My wonderful terrier-mix (and “crossover dog”) Josie had multiple obedience titles and was one of the first 26 dogs in the world to earn a rally obedience title through the Association of Professional Dog Trainers (APDT). I no longer need my dogs to be precise competitors, doing perfectly straight sits in perfect heel position; just being who they are is good enough. Today, while I respect those who find joy in mutual partnership and competition with their dogs, I just want to be with mine, doing barn chores, hiking on the farm, and sharing and enjoying our life together.
As I read through my past writings to find things that I now disagree with, I was pleased to find there weren’t as many as I thought there might be. I went through my articles all the way back to Whole Dog Journal’s inception in 1998, and didn’t find anything horrendously objectionable. Yes, I found some things I would do or say differently now, but nothing that would get me kicked out of the force-free trainer club. It’s always good, though, to remind ourselves that when we know better, we do better.
Author Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT‑KA, is WDJ’s Training Editor. She and her husband live in Fairplay, Maryland, site of her Peaceable Paws training center, where she offers dog-training classes and courses for trainers. Miller is also the author of many books on dog-friendly training. See page 24 for more information.
A "viewport" in the fence is perfect for this senior gentleman, who wouldn't dream of barking at every passerby. But it could cause real problems for a dog who is more reactive to passing joggers, bicyclists, and dog-walkers.
Given the sensible advice to socially distance, what better time to create a safe, at-home haven for your dog? Here are five ways you can increase your dog’s (and your own!) enjoyment of your yard.
1. Invest in a good fence. A secure fence is the most critical element of a safe place for your dog to potty, play, train, and just hang out. Sometimes a dog owner will tell me, “We don’t need a fenced yard; we have a large property for the dog to run on.” I explain that while my husband and I live on about 300 acres, we have fenced a much smaller area next to our home so we have an absolutely safe place for them to be outdoors without supervision.
What type of fence? There are many to choose from, including chain link or other wire fencing, wood, composite, or plastic. It’s up to your budget, your aesthetic preferences, your location (homeowner’s associations may limit your options), and your dog.
Why do I include “your dog” on the list of factors that will affect your choice of fencing? The height of the fence is most obvious; if you have small dogs, you may not need a six-foot fence. But if you’ve got leggy dogs known for their interest in chasing game (ahem, hounds), a six-foot fence might not be secure without an inwardly angled section or “coyote rollers” at the top.
Height isn’t all there is to it, however. Some dogs enjoy their ability to see through a wire fence, and never get excited by passersby on bikes, skateboards, or on foot. Other dogs might lose their minds when faced with this much stimuli. Also, if there are dogs next door, their presence and/or behavior on the other side of the fence may be frustrating for your dog. In these instances, a solid privacy fence may be advisable.
If your dog is a digger, you may need to bury wire fencing along your fence line, or build the fence on a concrete pad or path. Digging out may not occur to some dogs ever, but others may detect any sign of light under the fence and get to work digging out immediately!
Think carefully about the type of gate that is used to access the area. It should be easy for you to open (especially when you have only one hand free, with a leash in the other) but not at all easy for your dog to open.
Just Say No to 'Fenceless Fences'
Note that when I say fence, I do mean a real, physical fence. Electric fences (a.k.a. “shock fences”) may keep your dog in but can’t keep other animals out– that is, critters who could harm your pet, aggressive stray dogs, or even a human who could steal or harass your dog).
Also, if your dog is motivated sufficiently to chase something, she could go through and then likely would not return, scared to try to cross the boundary now that she’s not overstimulated by chasing something.
Last but not least, a dog that gets zapped for coming close to the boundary to investigate a passing jogger, bicyclist,or other dog is likely to begin to associate those with punishment and may develop fear and/or aggression related to those previously neutral stimuli.
Need more convincing? See these past WDJ articles:
2. Consider the flora. Are there parts of your yard that you don’t want to be disturbed? In this case, a lower level of decorative fencing may make the most sense – and keep you from tensing up every time you see your dog approach your award-winning roses or dahlias.
Many of us dream of having a lush garden and a dog who respects the garden boundaries – but some of us end up with uprooted vegetable beds “planted” with buried dog toys and half-chewed bones. A separate fence for the garden might be needed.
A couple of our dogs used to enjoy raiding the vegetable garden just when the cucumbers or strawberries ripened! That made me smile so I made no effort to cordon off the area.
If you haven’t already planted a garden, consider your dog’s current pattern of uses before planting. Note where your dog spends the most time so you can design accordingly; don’t put plants where he’s created well-worn patrol paths, for example. Consider sacrificing those areas and putting down some river rock, permeable pavers, sand, or bark mulch.
When choosing plants for your yard, keep in mind that many of the options found in your local garden supply stores can be toxic for your dog. One that is distressingly common to see is the sago palm; just a few nibbles on the leaves or roots of this plant can cause liver damage and even death. For an exhaustive list of plants that are toxic and non-toxic to dogs, see the ASPCA’s website: aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control/dogs-plant-list.
Don’t forget to research the mulch you are considering for use in your yard; mulch made from cocoa beans, in particular, is toxic for our canine friends!
3. Designate a potty spot and train your dog to use it. You’ll thank me later for this one. Even if you’ve had your dog or puppy for a while, it’s worthwhile to spend the time to teach him to potty in the same area. This saves time when you’re cleaning up (no hunting for the poop in the dark or rain) – and prevents squishy surprises!
Some people want their dog’s potty area to be located close to the house for quick access; others might want it to be hidden from view of the places in the yard where you spend time. Either way, make sure it’s in reach of a hose. An area that is layered with at least three inches of 3 absorbent sand, covered with pea gravel or small river rock, will be easy to keep clean and odor-free with an occasional hosing.
To teach your dog or puppy to use the potty, pretend you are starting house-training all over again. Accompany your pup on leash to this area several times a day and handsomely reward him or her upon elimination until this habit is deeply ingrained. Be sure to pick up the poop and hose down the area regularly.
4. Add enriching “playground” equipment. Our yards should be about more than just containing our dogs; ideally, they are also a super fun place to play with our dogs and to let them play.
Many dogs like to climb or to have a raised platform of some kind where they can survey their terrain (obviously, away from the fence). My Boxer-mix, Petey (seen above), loves to hang out on a homemade A-frame we built out of scrap lumber and covered with artificial grass carpet. Make sure to apply something to prevent slipping – whether you paint the surface with a paint to which sand has been added, or you apply rubber or sand-textured non-slip adhesive-backed strips.
A recent WDJ article (“The Play Way,” June 2020) promoted the power of play to help fearful dogs gain confidence. Our family’s new addition, a rough-coated Jack Russell Terrier, Archie, had very little socialization during his first year of life and is fairly fearful. We engage him in tug, chase, and fetch play sessions in the house, but Archie is also enjoying climbing and playing on the A-frame. We are seeing a new dog emerging!
I recently took Petey to a friend’s home where she has fenced about an acre for her dogs. Petey thoroughly enjoyed this space, not only for its size, but also because they had left many natural features like tree stumps and boulders for the dogs to explore and look for varmints. Consider leaving some natural features in your yard for your dog to sniff and hunt.
One of the most enriching things you can add to any dog’s yard is a digging box – a place where they can dig to their heart’s content, without getting in trouble! You can buy a child’s sandbox or build a basic frame, fill it with sand, and hide some doggy toys and bones for your pooch to seek out. In hot weather, keep the sand wet, and in no time at all, you’ll find your dog hunkered down in a freshly dug, cool, damp hole.
Most dogs will also appreciate a variety of lounging surfaces – lush grass, cool (or warm, depending on the season) concrete, and perhaps a raised cot-style bed – and move from one surface to the other throughout the day.
Home Field Advantage
I’m a huge fan of allowing compatible dogs to play together – but not at all a fan of dog parks. Not every dog at a public park is playful, and not every owner is super attentive, able to read their dog’s body language, and ready to intervene to keep the peace. A better alternative, if you have a playful, social dog and a secure yard, is to create your own mini dog park. Help your dog cultivate friendships with dogs who have a similar play style and set up play dates with their owners!
A safely fenced yard is also a fantastic place to train your dog! Inside your home is the best place to start training new behaviors to keep the distraction level low, but as your dog gains competence, take the practice out into your fenced yard. The distraction level outdoors will be just a bit higher, but not as high as the wider outside world. Practice there until his responses to your cues are solid; only then should you practice his new behaviors in the face of even more distractions.
A fun and safe dog yard is a beautiful thing – and for some of my elderly or handicapped dog-training clients, given their strength and mobility issues, a required tool for giving their dogs a chance to potty, exercise, and relax outdoors. Design yours so it meets your and your dog’s needs and have a blast!
5. Install yard lights so you can visually scan for critters, or go out with your dog and check the yard before every night-time potty excursion. How many of you have a dog who got skunked when you put him out for a late-night potty? I’d guess a pretty high percentage of us have experienced this, whether we live in the country or a suburb.
Skunks aren’t the only type of animal to look out for before allowing your dog to enter the yard at night, however. Depending on where you live, your yard just may be visited at night by a fox, raccoon, coyote, bobcat, badger, mountain lion, or bear. Turning on a light before sending your dog outside will send most of these animals back over the fence and keep your dog safe.
The tendency of dogs to chase anything perceived as prey – deer, bunnies, stray cats, etc. – is another reason to check the yard each time before you allow your dog out there. Turning on the lights and clapping your hands can warn any critters that they have just a few seconds to vamoose!
Author Helene Goldberger, Esq., PMCT, CPDT-KA, is an attorney in Albany, NY, who has been a professional dog trainer for six years (Heartdog Training). She is also a certified canine massage practitioner. See page 24 for contact information.
