Adopting siblings can work, but it takes a truly special owner who has double the time and energy to give to puppyhood. These sisters, Icebox and Spaz, have committed owners who knew how much extra time it would take to make a littermate adoption succeed.
I hear it all the time: “Honey, maybe we should get two! Look how much they love each other! How can we possibly split them up?”
My family and I frequently foster litters of rescue puppies, and when approved adopters come over to make that big decision – which one will it be? – the conversation often takes this detour. Watching two darling pups snuggling or romping together, somebody says, “Why don’t we just take two?”
It’s a natural impulse. In fact, keeping littermates together was very much my own hope when we fostered our first litter almost a decade ago. Back then, when a potential adopter epressed an interest in getting two pups, my heart raced. Think of it: Little Ben and Pretty Girl, together forever! I loved this idea! The advantages quickly added up in my mind:
* The transition would be so easy! No sad pup crying through those initial nights without the warmth and company of littermates.
* The pups would be so happy to have a friend to play with every day.
* There would be guaranteed exuberant exercise, which would decrease household destruction and mouthiness.
* The owners would be less stressed by the demands of puppyhood because, rather than having a bored puppy constantly seeking their attention, they’d have two pups pretty darned content with each other. After all, I vastly preferred fostering two pups to one, because it was way less work for me.
Filled with excitement, I let the shelter know that one of our potential adopters wanted two puppies. Their response? “We don’t actually adopt out littermates together.” I was stunned. What kind of anti-puppy-happiness policy was this?
A PREPONDERANCE OF CONS
It turns out I had a lot to learn. While every one of the bullet points above is true, there are even more bullet-point reasons why most dog trainers and animal shelter professionals recommend against adopting littermates, including:
* Puppies need to learn to be alone. One of the key things I try to teach my foster pups is that they’re okay without their littermates. If I were to let them hang out in the same room with their mom and siblings every single minute for eight weeks, then adoption day would be terrifying for them. In the beginning that means simply holding one pup outside of the puppy pen for a moment, and immediately returning. Then I might take just two pups into the kitchen to play while I do the dishes. Finally, I’ll take just one pup upstairs with me to hang out with a chew toy while I work on the computer.
Adopting siblings can delay this vital bit of the puppies’ education indefinitely. Now there are two pups who may have never taken one breath when they weren’t next to another pup. The longer that goes on, the more deeply attached they become. Some owners realize they have a giant problem only months later when they casually separate the pups – perhaps for a vet appointment – and find both dogs in an absolute panic, destroying walls and escaping from crates.
Littermates Twilight and her brother TikTok joined a family that includes anther dog and three cats, so the duo is rarely alone together, and each gets critical one-on-one time with their human.
Of course, you can combat this issue just the way I do with a litter at my house: by making time to take each pup alone somewhere, every day. They need to have regular, varied experiences where they are separated from their siblings: in the house, on a walk, in the car, on a playdate. If you have the time and perhaps the household structure to allow that, this may not be a problem. However, experienced trainers and shelter staff will tell you thatmost owners find they barely have time for one pup, much less two – even though they thought they were prepared.
* Having an always-present playmate isn’t enough to properly socialize a puppy. Daily play with a live-in packmate helps tire out both puppies, which is great – but the giant downside is that, without the urgent impetus to find another puppy or dog to help tire out a singleton pup, owners tend to get complacent.
A lone puppy’s chewing, biting, and jumping will push a good owner to seek out other dogs to exhaust the little guy, which enlarges the pup’s world beautifully. There is far greater value in playing with all kinds of dogs – big and small, runners and wrestlers, floppy-eared and pointy-eared. They each play differently, and by interacting with a number of play partners, a pup learns a more nuanced, expanded language of doggy communication. That, in turn, makes the puppy comfortable with future dog encounters – on leash walks, at your sister’s house for Thanksgiving, at the beach with your friend’s dogs.
In contrast, the littermates who play only with each other may well end up being dogs who can play only with each other! Unaccustomed to play styles they are unfamiliar with, less-socialized dogs may take offense at playful overtures from dogs who are new to them, and erupt in defensive aggression out of fear.
Again, an owner who is well aware of this issue can completely mitigate the effects by arranging for plenty of play time with other puppies and dogs as the puppy matures.
* When people own two puppies, they tend to take the pups on fewer walks and adventures. When I first started fostering, I was always drawn to the adopter whose application mentioned their big fenced yard. Sure, the city apartment dwellers said all the right things, but then I’d think about this little pup who’d have to go down an elevator and then pass strangers and hear loud trucks every time he just had to pee! “Poor pup,” I thought.
I’d like to slap my old self. I’ve learned over the years that those city dogs become fabulously socialized! Because exposure to all of those things is an automatic part of their life, they inevitably become incredibly relaxed about it all. It’s wonderful.
What does that have to do with littermate adoptions? Well, often littermates don’t get out into the world if they live in the same house. They are nicely tired from all of their playing, so they don’t nudge their owners into walks. And even if they do, sometimes the owner remembers that last walk where two dogs were awfully hard to manage and opts out.
Again, the dedicated owner will get around this by remembering how critical it is to get a young pup out and about in the world and will make the time (and enlist the helpers) to make adventures into the wider world a regular part of the routine for both puppies – preferably, one at a time, for most of those walks.
* It’s more than twice as hard to train two puppies than it is to train one. I love to teach young pups to sit, stay, spin, touch, and shake. In fact, I really can’t help myself – whenever I have just one pup here. But if I have more than one pup? The best I can do is “sit.” I’m a dog trainer, for goodness sake, and I can’t teach two dogs a new thing at the same time.
Teaching well requires giving split-second feedback to the dog. When you have two dogs doing different things, the feedback loop becomes meaningless. “YES!” you say as Pretty Girl sits nicely. But Little Ben heard that too, while he was jumping up on you. Hmm. What exactly did he just learn?
To train two pups, you need to separate them. And perhaps the trainee needs to be out of earshot so that the distressed barking of the left-out pup does not distract our student of the moment. Do you have a set-up where you can easily take one pup away and work with her a few times a day – and then turn around and do that with the other pup? Can you sustain that for a year? Maybe you can!
But most can’t, and, sadly, what often happens is that an owner calls a trainer in tears, reporting two completely unruly 9-month-old dogs who “can’t” be walked. The pups are bonded strongly to each other, but not with the owner. It’s a heartbreak that often results in one, if not both, being rehomed.
THE IDEAL SCENARIO
Lots of individual training plus the owner’s robust support system has made the adoption of brothers Bristol and Bedford work beautifully. They are each other’s best friend and comfort – but they also settle down just fine when separated.
Trainers and shelter staff will almost always advise against a littermate adoption; instead, they frequently give the very sound advice to simply wait a year, so that your well-trained adult dog can set a fantastic example for a new pup.
That said, taking in two siblings might be the right decision for you. The key is to be fully informed about the tricky issues and committed to a plan. When that happens, it can work out beautifully.
As I was preparing to write this article, I reached out to a handful of people who adopted littermates from my rescue group. Every one of them wrote back using exclamation points about how much they love their doggies and how the double adoption was the perfect approach for them. My follow-up questions revealed that these folks truly walked the walk. They’ve poured a lot of time and resources into these pups, carefully shaping their experience so that each dog is well trained and confident on their own – and also darling together. Clearly, it can be done.
Even so, any time I hear an adopter say, “Hey honey, how about two?” I’ll still suggest my very favorite option: “Do you have a neighbor who needs a puppy?” That’s the best of all worlds: each of the pups will have a buddy close enough so they can get happily tired from everyday playdates, the owners can get little breaks while their pup is visiting next door, and each puppy will get plenty of individual attention back at home.
A dog who is going to live with children shouldn't merely tolerate kids; she should adore children - and even prefer playing with them to being with adults. This dog is friendly, but not all that interested in the little girl
Those of us who love dogs find the prospect of bringing home a new canine family member intoxicating and exhilarating. Well-planned in advance or not, the adoption of a new dog likely triggers a rush of oxytocin unparalleled by all but a few other high-end life experiences.
That said, while some spur-of-the-moment adoptions can and do turn into successful relationships, when possible, we highly recommend that your next dog adoption be well thought out in advance, and you select your new dog carefully, to maximize the likelihood that you will be able to provide a lifelong loving home for the fortunate canine who joins your family.
THINK IT THROUGH
The process of adopting a dog can be daunting. We encourage you to do some pre-planning before you start looking for the newest member of your family, to increase the chances that you will find an ideal lifetime companion.
If you are single and living alone, you are free to consider only your own needs and wants; the process becomes considerably more complex if you have family or housemates. In either case, before you begin your search in earnest, it behooves you to think about your prerequisites and preferences, including:
• Family/roommate buy-in. Is everyone in the household on board with getting a dog (or another dog)? If not, work through all the reservations before you proceed any further. It doesn’t benefit the dog to bring her into a home where there will be simmering resentment or outright conflict over her presence.
• Breed and source. Do you already have your mind set on a specific breed or breed-type? If so, does everyone in the family or household feel comfortable with your choice? Have you researched the breed thoroughly so you understand its behavior propensities and common medical issues?
If you are looking for a particular breed or type, you might consider adopting from a breed rescue group, getting pre-approved and putting yourself on a waiting list at your local shelters, or purchasing from a reputable breeder. Private-party adoptions are also a reasonable option – a friend or co-worker who needs to rehome a canine companion, or even, carefully, a private adoption from a classified ad, or Craigslist. No pet-store puppies, ever, please. (For more about where to look for your next dog, see “Adopt or Shop,” WDJ August 2020.)
• Size. If you don’t already have a breed in mind, does size matter? If so, what size dog are you considering – toy, small, medium, large, or giant?
Be aware that toy and giant breeds are at greater risk for significant medical problems. In general, the giant breeds tend to have short life spans while the smaller breeds tend to live longer. A recent analysis of veterinary records revealed that dogs under 20 pounds had an average lifespan of 11 years, with some smaller dogs living as long as 14 years or more, while those over 90 pounds typically lived for an average of only eight years. Small dogs may be a greater tripping risk – but they are more portable! – while large and giant breeds may be more likely to knock you over (or your senior grandparent).
• Age. Puppies are undeniably adorable. On the plus side, starting with a baby dog means you can have a huge influence on her development and know that her world has been force-free from very early on. Still, that’s not a guarantee that she will turn out to be the perfect dog, especially if she wasn’t well socialized before you adopted her. (Despite what you may have heard, an eight-week-old puppy is not a “blank slate.”) And they are a lot of work.
As we recently contemplated the adoption of a 3-month-old Australian Cattle Dog-mix, my husband and I realized that we don’t want to adopt a puppy. They are a lot of work!
In contrast, adult dogs are more likely to be a “what you see is what you get” proposition – although they can deliver behavioral surprises too, as they adjust to their new life with you. They are past the “needle-sharp puppy teeth” stage, thus less likely to shred your flesh (and your possessions) with puppy mouthing. And while some adults still may enjoy chewing, there’s a good chance they will be less destructive (barring anxiety-related behaviors) and are more likely to already be house-trained (or easily house-trained).
On the other hand, it’s also possible that they may come to you with some already-well-established behavior challenges…
• Coat. Are you thinking short or long coat? Does it matter to you? It matters a lot to some people.
First, consider grooming. Is someone going to be happily responsible for brushing that long Afghan Hound, Collie, or Pomeranian fur on a regular basis – at least once a week, and maybe more? Will you happily bear the cost of routine trips to the groomer for that Poodle or Doodle clip? Will your Roomba handle the carpet of long white Great Pyrenees fur that covers your rug?
You’re not off the hook with short-coated dogs either – those prickly Labrador Retriever hairs are great at infiltrating the fabric of your furniture (or business suit) and can be a bear to get out! Of course, there’s always the Mexican hairless dog… the Xoloitzcuintli (pronounced “show-low-eats-QUEENT-lee”).
When considering an adoption prospect, those of us older adopters would be wise to consider our own health, strength and energy level, in addition to the dog’s. The fact that we have owned big dogs our entire lives is, sadly, not a guarantee that we can still safely handle one for the next 10 or so years.
• Dog-keeping details. Which family members will be responsible for which dog-related chores: feeding, clean-up, walks, grooming, trips to the vet, training? Where will the dog sleep? Is she allowed on the furniture? Who will be your vet, groomer, pet sitter, dog walker? There is an endless array of minutiae that comes with sharing your life with a dog; the more of the details you work out in advance, the better!
SELECTING YOUR DOG
Okay: You’ve given all of the previous prerequisites and preferences some consideration. You’ve read the “Adopt or Shop” article in the August issue of WDJ, so you know where you are going to look for your next dog. It’s time to go meet some prospects!
When my husband and I both worked at animal shelters, selecting our next dog was easy. We never actually set out to look for one; instead, while we met dozens of dogs every week, sooner or later a dog would enter the shelter that one or the other of us would have a near-instant connection to. Our “love at first sight” moments would then be enhanced by the opportunity to get to know the dog better over the next few days as he went through the intake process.
Since leaving shelter work, we’ve learned just how challenging it can be for most people to find the perfect dog! You go to the shelter or rescue meet-and-greet location, you see a dog that appeals to you, spend a few minutes with him, and the next thing you know you’re filling out adoption papers. You wouldn’t get married that way!
Today, it’s common for people to receive very little information about the dog they adopt. When we worked in shelters, we would get extensive information from owners who were surrendering their dogs. We generally had less information about stray dogs that our officers picked up, but at least we conducted behavior assessments (flawed as they may be) and kept notes on the dog’s behavior during her stay with us. Anything we learned about the dogs was passed on to the adopter.
In contrast, today it seems like few organizations have much information about their dogs other than “she came from a shelter in North Carolina.” They sometimes don’t even seem to know if the dog was owned or stray! When it’s time to adopt, you may have to rely entirely on your own observations and instincts about the dogs you meet – and purchasing from a breeder can be equally fraught with challenges.
Here are some suggestions to help you succeed in your adoption quest:
* Get help. If your adoption organization doesn’t provide skilled adoption counseling and you aren’t confident in your own abilities to make a good choice, consider taking a dog-savvy friend with you, or even paying a qualified force-free professional to help you with your search. The same holds true if you are purchasing from a breeder. Take someone with you, unless you are 100% confident that the breeder is ethical, knowledgeable, and well-qualified to you help you select your pup.
* Insist on meeting the dog in person. I am a professional dog trainer/behavior consultant and I wouldn’t even consider adopting a dog sight unseen. I don’t care what information or assurances the organization has given you, or how many videos of the dog you have watched – you don’t know who the dog is until you meet him.
I am appalled by the prevalence of internet adoptions happening these days with no actual meeting between dog and human until after the paperwork is signed and sealed and the dog is delivered halfway across the country. While it is fairly common practice for breeders to ship puppies across the country (or across oceans!) to buyers, sight unseen, I wouldn’t do it, no matter how great the breeder’s reputation.
* Know what you’re looking for (as described above) – and also know which qualities might be negotiable. Perhaps you’re looking for a female Border Collie and you go to the shelter and the most perfect male Australian Shepherd is there in the kennel, begging you to adopt him. Close enough? Maybe so!
It doesn’t necessarily even have to be that close. A husband/wife couple, clients of mine, were recently looking to adopt a small dog. They went to the shelter to meet a 20-pound terrier-mix they had seen on the website, but when they got there the dog was already adopted. They came home with a purebred Akita who is one of the nicest dogs I’ve met in a long time. They are quite thrilled with their new family member.
Too scared to approach you? Do not adopt unless you want a “project” dog who may never get comfortable with humans.
* Resist the pity party pup. It’s easy to feel sorry for the poor, scared dog huddled in the back corner of her kennel run. But you should know that if you adopt this dog there’s a very good chance you are looking at a significant behavior-modification project; it’s possible that this dog will have fear-behavior challenges for the rest of her life. Note: I am a dog behavior professional and I would not adopt such a dog!
Truth be told, most people want a behaviorally healthy dog they can take with them to the beach, to the office, to their child’s soccer game, on hikes, to family reunions, to dog training classes – and shy, frightened dogs may never be able to do those things. Adopt only if you enjoy the challenge of a behavior modification project and understand the possible long-term ramifications of adopting a fearful dog.
* Consider foster-to-adopt. More shelters and rescue groups now offer this as an option, both to give you a chance to evaluate the dog in a home setting and to free up shelter and foster home space for incoming dogs. Fostering can give you and the dog the opportunity to see if it is a good fit – and allows you to feel less guilty about returning the dog if it doesn’t work out. You hadn’t made a full commitment, and you are now able to provide the adoption agency with information that can help them make a better fit with another adopter.
* Conduct your own behavior assessment. It doesn’t have to be as extensive as the ones that some organizations utilize, but there are some basic things you can do to see how the dog responds and make adoption decisions accordingly.
A DO-IT-YOURSELF BEHAVIOR ASSESSMENT
Studies in recent years have found shelter assessments to be unreliable and non-predictive; behaviors seen in assessments are often not seen in the adoptive home after the dog leaves the shelter, and behaviors not seen in the assessment may appear after the dog is in a home. Even so, it helps to walk through a structured assessment, if only to extend the amount of time you spend with the dog before making a commitment.
I’m not suggesting you do an extensive assessment protocol, just try a few reasonably non-aversive things to see how the dog responds. If you’re headed out to assess a potential new family member, take this list with you and circle the appropriate letters for the behaviors you see. Having a rubric like this can help guide you to a smart decision.
Before you start, ask if the shelter or rescue group is comfortable with you performing an assessment, and share with them the protocol you intend to use.
1. Watch the dog. Before actually interacting with the dog, observe her from a distance. Is she:
[A] Comfortable and relaxed in her kennel or other housing? (This would be ideal.)
[B] Pacing, stressed, and barking?
[C] Charging at dogs and humans who pass?
[D] Huddled in the back?
Note that B, C, and D are red flags; however, some dogs who are stressed or fearful in the kennel are reasonably normal when in a less intimidating environment, so this doesn’t have to be a complete rule-out.
It’s wonderful when you find a dog who walks super nicely on a leash. Not walking on a leash is not necessarily a deal-breaker, however.
2. Walking on leash. Out of the kennel and on leash, does she:
[A] Walk happily with her handler? (This is ideal.)
[B] Pull hard on the leash and/or sniff? (This is your basic training project.)
[C] Flail wildly or put on the brakes and refuse to move? (This represents a more significant training and/or behavior challenge.)
3. Take her off leash. In a safely enclosed area, remove her leash. Does she:
[A] Happily greet and stay somewhat near humans? (This is ideal affiliative behavior.)
[B] Cling desperately to humans? (This might be fear or separation-related behavior.)
[C] Confidently explore the room with occasional check-ins with the humans? (This is nice, somewhat independent behavior.)
[D] Confidently explore the room and ignore humans? (This might indicate a very independent dog, which can be challenging.)
[E] Go wild and crazy, racing around the room non-stop with glee? (High-energy dogs can be a challenge.)
[F] Pace back and forth, perhaps whining, never calming or settling down? (A stressed, anxious dog can be a significant behavior challenge – or could settle once out of the shelter environment.)
[G] Cautiously explore the room? (She may lack confidence and need some behavior modification.)
[H] Hide in a corner and refuse to move? (This is a very fearful dog who will need extensive behavior modification.)
This affectionate dog loves being handled and touched all over, but her contact is loose and relaxed. An anxious, insecure dog would be more clingy and tense.
4. How is she with handling? With the leash back on, do some general handling: Pet her all over, touch her paws, look in her ears, look at her teeth. (Stop at any time if she appears uncomfortable or resistant to a degree that is unsafe.) Does she:
[A] Enjoy your touch, warm and wiggling and asking for more? (Best.)
[B] Tolerate your touch but not really enjoy it or invite more interaction? (This is acceptable if you aren’t looking for a touchy-feely snuggle-dog.)
[C] Move away from you? (If she’s clearly not comfortable with handling, she may be a behavior-modification project.)
[D] Freeze, give you a hard stare, growl, and/or snap? (These indicate significant behavior issues; do not adopt unless you are a behavior professional or very skilled and experienced dog owner looking for a project.)
5. Check for any training. Ask the dog to sit, lie down, and shake – three behaviors that owners are most likely to have taught her. Then see if you can get her to do anything by luring with treats that you brought with you. Does she:
[A] Appear to have already have some training? (This is best.)
[B] Easily perform new behaviors that you try to get her to do with a treat? (This is also great.)
[C] Show interest in the treat but doesn’t understand what you are trying to get her to do? (This is acceptable; she may just need more time and patience to help her understand.)
[D] Show no interest in the treat? (She may be too stressed to be interested in food – but her lack of interest in food may present a more significant training challenge.)
6. Is she playful? Try offering the dog a variety of toys you have brought with you – a ball, a stuffed squeaky toy, a tug, a food-dispensing toy. Start with gentle play; you can intimidate some dogs if you play with them too much or too hard. Does she:
[A] Play with you happily and appropriately? (This is best.)
[B] Play with you happily but gets too aroused and a little mouthy? (This is acceptable, but she will need management and training.)
[C] Love to play with the toys but gets a little (or a lot) tense when you try to take the toy? (This indicates a tendency to guard her “stuff,” better known as resource-guarding; she will need management and training to improve this behavior.)
[D] Declines to play at all? Avoids you or looks at you like you’ve lost your mind? (This is okay if you don’t mind a dog who doesn’t play, or you want to try to teach her to play; see “Let the Games Begin,” November 2014.)
A dog who favors attention from and interaction with a child over an adult is an ideal prospect for a family with kids.
7. Kid considerations. If you have children you must have your potential dog meet them before finalizing the adoption. Some dogs who are perfectly wonderful with all of the above simply cannot live with children. For a dog to live safely with children she should adore them, not just tolerate them. When the dog sees your child or children, does she:
[A] Appear happy to approach and interact appropriately, as if she were saying, “Yay! Kids!”? (This is best.)
[B] Appear happy to approach and interact, but is a little too excited? (She will need management and training.)
[C] Appear to ignore or tolerate the presence of the child or children? (If you have kids, this is not acceptable; do not adopt this dog.)
[D] Is she cautious, fearful, reactive or aggressive? (Do. Not. Adopt!)
8. Do you have other dogs? Ideally, you will have brought along your home dog(s) so they can be introduced in a neutral environment. If not, if at this point you are still very interested in the dog, ask to have the dog put on hold so you can go home to get your home dog(s) for an introduction. Introduce them carefully, of course, and again, have a qualified dog training professional or dog-savvy friend present to help.
When the dogs see each other from across the room or yard, do they:
[A] Both appear reasonably calm and happy to approach and meet each other? (This is best.)
[B] One appears more assertive, the other more appeasing? (This is also great, as long as the more assertive dog doesn’t come on too strong.)
[C] Both appear happy to approach but are very excited? (This is acceptable, though you will need to manage their behavior with each other.)
[D] Dogs ignore/avoid each other? (This is not a good choice; avoidance often turns into a significant behavior challenge.)
[E] Either or both dogs show signs of tension: stiff body language, hard stares, growling, reactivity? (This is not a good choice.)
9. Do you have other animals in your family? If you have other small or large companion animals (cats, pigs, birds, horses, etc.), ask if the dog has any history around those, and if there are any available on the premises where you are meeting the dog. With the dog on leash at a distance, observe her behavior. Does she:
[A] Watch calmly from a distance? (This is best.)
[B] Watch with happy excitement from a distance? (This is okay, though she will need management and training.)
[C] Become highly aroused and /or reactive, barking and lunging? (With excellent management and modification, this might be acceptable if you have large animals – but it’s not acceptable if you have small animals.)
[D] Go into predator/stalking mode, or crouch, with a hard stare? (With excellent management and modification, this might be acceptable if you have large animals – but it’s not acceptable if you have small animals.)
A CHALLENGING QUEST
It’s been eight years since my husband and I have been closely affiliated with a shelter. Two years ago, in the same year, we lost our last two shelter adoptees to old age and cancer.
Our current dogs are not shelter alumni; we were unable to find the dogs we wanted through any of our local shelters or rescue groups. After lengthy searches we adopted one from a rescue group in New York (we live in Maryland) and the other was privately adopted; he was being rehomed through Craigslist. Now we can better empathize with the struggles of dog lovers to find good candidates for their own families.
Even so, scarcity isn’t a good reason to be less than scrupulous in your assessments. Remember, you are making a commitment of thousands of dollars for food and veterinary care, and countless hours of time spent with your dog over at least the next decade or more. Take your time! Good luck with your search.
Author Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT‑KA, is WDJ’s Training Editor. She lives in Fairplay, Maryland, site of her Peaceable Paws training center. See page 24 for information about her books and courses.
Jessie touches Woody's foot and he instantly looks at her with a happy "Where's my chicken?" expression: at this point, the touch on his foot elicits the desired happy conditioned emotional response (CER). She feeds him several bits of chicken, then stops touching his foot and simultaneously stops feeding the treats to him.
1. Determine the location of touch your dog can tolerate without reacting fearfully or aggressively. Perhaps it’s her shoulder, perhaps her elbow, or maybe just above her paw. She should be a little worried, but not growl or try to move away. This is “below threshold” – the emotional state where we want her to remain for all this work.
2. With your dog on leash, touch her briefly and gently at the spot where she is slightly below threshold – aware of your touch and somewhat concerned, but not highly concerned. The instant your dog notices your touch, start feeding her bits of chicken, non-stop. After a second or two, remove the touch and stop feeding the treats.
3. Keep repeating steps 1 and 2 until touching your dog at that location for one to two seconds consistently causes your dog to look at you with a happy smile and a “Yay! Where’s my chicken?” expression. This is a conditioned emotional response (CER); your dog’s association with the brief touch at that location is now positive instead of negative. Note: Feed the treats whether or not your dog displays the desired CER. The happy CER is a product of this process, but you don’t wait for it to happen each time.
4. Now increase the intensity of the stimulus by increasing the length of time you touch her at that same location, a few seconds at a time, obtaining the desired CER at each new touch and continue to feed for the duration of the touch. Do several repetitions of two to four seconds, until you get consistent “Yay!” looks, then several repetitions for four to eight seconds, then several four eight to 12 seconds, etc., working for that consistent CER at each new duration of your touch.
5. When you can touch your dog’s body at that spot for any length of time with her in “Yay” mode, begin to increase the intensity of stimulus again, this time by increasing the duration of your touch, then the amount of pressure, before moving your hand to a new location very slightly lower than the spot you were previously touching. I suggest starting at your initial touch location and sliding your hand to the new spot, rather than just touching the new spot. Continue with repetitions until you get consistent CERs at the new location.
6. Continue gradually working your way down to your dog’s paw, an inch or two at a time, getting solid CERs at each spot before you move closer to the paw.
7. As you work your way down the leg, be sure to add duration and pressure at each step before proceeding; each is a separate step in the CC&D procedure.
8. When you can touch, grasp, and put pressure on the paw, add lifting the paw, very slightly at first, then more and more, as you achieve the desired CER with each increase in lift. Then repeat the process with each leg. The other legs probably won’t take as long, but still, go slowly and be sure to achieve the happy CER with each step.
9. Did you think we were never going to get to the nail grinding part? We’re almost there! Start the process over again, this time with the nail grinder (or clipper) in hand. Show the tool to your dog at a sub-threshold distance until you achieve consistent CERs, then gradually move it closer (CERs at each step!) until you can touch the tool to her nail. Gradually increase the duration of the contact with her nail, and feed her a treat, again and again, until the appearance of the nail trimmer elicits a “Yay!” response. Then counter-condition the sound of the grinder (or the clipper action, by squeezing the clippers), starting again at a distance and gradually moving closer as you achieve consistent CERs at each step.
10. Go through the whole touch sequence again, this time with the trimming tool in your hand, also touching her with the tool, then again while you turn on the grinder or squeeze the clipper. Remember that you are still feeding yummy treats and obtaining the desired CER throughout the whole process. When you can hold her paw and use the tool right next to her nail with a happy response, grind or clip one nail, feed lots of treats, and stop. Do one nail a day until she’s happy with that, then advance to two nails at a time, then three, until you can grind or clip all her nails in one session.
The more complex the stimulus, the more successful the dog’s avoidance or aggressive strategies have been, and the more intense the emotional response, the more challenging it is to modify a behavior. Take your time. Be patient. A few more weeks – or months – of long nails isn’t the end of the world, and the result – a dog who willingly participates in the nail trimming procedure – is well worth the effort.
Casfuy's Two-Speed Pet Nail Grinder comes with Ni-Mh batteries that can be charged in three hours via a WSB cord (included)
There are dozens of grinding tools on the market – products specifically for trimming dogs’ nails, as well as rotary tools designed for woodworking or other projects. We polled a dog trainers’ group – people who habitually trim their own dogs’ nails – about the type and models of grinders they like best: Which products consistently get four tidy-nailed paws up for usability and effectiveness?
The consensus was that while the dog-specific rotary grinders are quieter, they take much longer to reduce the dogs’ nail length, especially on breeds with thicker nails. However, a few people said they find the grinders branded for use on dogs to be useful when initially training young or fearful dogs to tolerate nail trimming or for small breeds with thinner nails.
ENTRY-LEVEL DOG-SPECIFIC GRINDER
A quick search on Amazon reveals dozens of dog-specific nail grinders to choose from. Most all of them have a low-profile plastic guard covering the grinding bit. The plastic guard has a cut-out area that exposes just a small portion of grinding surface, and this is where you position the nail.
While I like that the presence of a guard appears to prevent the hair of a dog with a long coat (or the human operator’s hair) from accidentally getting wrapped around the quickly spinning tool head, it does seem to require better aim to get and keep the nail aligned with the cut-out. We noticed the guard on some products is removable in order to accommodate larger nails or for faster filing.
A good entry-level pet-specific grinder is the best-selling Casfuy Upgraded Professional Two-Speed Pet Nail Grinder, which sells on Amazon for $30. Note that the two speeds are both relatively low: 7,000 and 8,000 revolutions per minute (RPM).
A pet-specific grinder might be a nice addition to your toolbox, if you’re working with a breed with thin nails, or young, small, or fearful dogs, or you’re brand new to grinding and don’t want to start with a higher-power tool. If your dog has thick nails and/or you feel confident you can safely handle more power, it’s worth stepping up to a multi-purpose rotary tool.
HOBBYIST’S ROTARY TOOLS
When it comes to rotary tools that are not made specifically for pet nails, our panelists agreed on a top pick: The Dremel 8050 Micro. This grinder runs on an 8-volt rechargeable lithium battery. The tool features five variable speeds ranging from 5,000 to 25,000 RPM. Note that 5,000 RPM is too slow to accomplish much grinding and that 25,000 RPM will get the nail too hot too quickly. Overall, this product is quieter than older models – a plus for working with dogs.
Three features help give the 8050 its top ranking:
✓ The LED light that’s built into the tool’s nose cap (this illuminates the nails as you work – brilliant!).
✓ The docking station that keeps the tool fully charged and ready for use.
✓ If caught on something, the tool automatically stops.
If your grinder doesn’t have an automatic stop feature in case of a tangle, you must keep your own and your dog’s hair out of the way of the spinning tip. A baby’s sock with a hole in it protects your dog as well.
This last point is especially important when working with long-coated dogs or if you have long hair. (Pro tip: If your dog has hairy feet, try snipping a tiny hole in the end of a baby sock or nylon stocking. Cover the paw with the sock or stocking and use it to keep the dog’s long hair at bay. Don’t forget to pull your own long hair back, too!)
Dremel also offers a clear plastic “nail guard” attachment that clips onto a variety of its rotary trimmers. The guard is said to help achieve a 45-degree angle for trimming, manage nail dust, and hold a long-haired dog’s fur out of the way. If you already have a Dremel but aren’t comfortable using it, the Pet Grooming Nail Guard might make for nice “training wheels.” The guard is sold individually as the “AT01-PGK Pet Grooming Nail Guard,” but costs almost as much ($33!) as a kit that includes the guard and a Dremel 7760 rotary tool ($47 on Amazon.com). Get the kit if you don’t already have a rotary tool and like the idea of using a guard.
While many people visit a vet or groomer for their dogs' nail care, pandemic-induced restrictions have limited the availability of this option. So it's even more important to learn how to (and stay in the habit of) trimming your dog's nails yourself.
Maybe it’s the telltale click-clack as your dog moseys across the kitchen floor. Or the unmistakable and often painful raking sensation when she jumps up to greet you. Or maybe it’s when you’re lounging together on the couch and you realize your dog’s nails have grown so long, you’re not sure if you should trim them or see what they’d look like if painted a sizzling shade of fire-engine red!
Whatever prompts you to notice that your dog’s nails need attention, good for you. Nail care is important, and it’s often overlooked by owners who either aren’t sure how to do it, are afraid to trim nails themselves, or can’t quite get their dogs to go along with the program. If this describes you, we can show you how to do it most easily and how to get your dog to not just cooperate, but to willingly volunteer for a trim.
GRIND AWAY
The Benefits of DYI Nail Trims
There are many benefits of do-it-yourself dog mani-pedis, especially when you take the time to teach your dog to cooperate during the procedure by slowly and carefully desensitizing and counter-conditioning first. (See “A Counter-Conditioning Protocol for Nail Trimming” on page 5.) Some of the DYI benefits include:
• Improved health. Walking on long nails can affect how the dog moves and potentially contribute to the development of orthopedic problems, such as arthritis, later in life.
• Decreased stress. Teaching your dog to calmly tolerate a nail trim prevents stress and, potentially, fear-based aggression.
• Increased safety. The dog is less likely to be injured as a result of active resistance or panic-induced flailing, and you (or your vet or groomer) are less likely to sustain a bite.
• Body awareness. Time spent trimming nails is also the perfect opportunity to familiarize yourself with your dog’s physical topography. Regularly getting your hands on your dog – beyond basic petting – is a great way to quickly recognize changes that could indicate health problems.
• Financial benefits. The cost of professional nail trimming adds up over time!
There are two main ways to shorten nails: clipping with either a guillotine-style or a scissor-type clipper and grinding with a rotary tool such as a Dremel or a similar product designed specifically for grinding dog nails.
Between the two methods, many groomers (and I) prefer using a rotary nail-grinding tool, even though many dogs need to be desensitized to the sound and the vibrating sensation. The biggest advantage of using a nail grinder over clippers is that with clippers, if you cut off too much – either because you misjudged how much to cut, or the dog wiggled just as you squeezed the handle – you’re more likely to “quick” the nail by mistake. (“Quicking” a nail happens when you cut into the blood supply of the nail. It can be painful and, as a result of the yelp and reflexive action that the pain elicited from the dog, traumatizing for both the dog and the person doing the nails.)
In contrast, grinding the nail involves high-speed filing where the excess growth is ground down incrementally but quickly, as long as the tool is in contact with the nail. You can “quick” a nail by going too short with a grinder, too, but in our experience, you have to work harder to do so.
The other advantage of grinding vs. clipping is how the high-speed filing makes it easy to round off the tip of the nail, whereas clipping often leaves sharp edges. If your dog tends to paw at people for attention, this can be problematic until the nails naturally wear down into a more rounded shape.
We’ve published a number of articles in the past about clipping a dog’s nails; what follows here is all about using a grinder instead.
POSITIONED FOR SUCCESS
Author/trainer Stephanie Colman has taught her Golden Retriever, Saber, to relax on his back between her outstretched legs, which cradle and support him. It’s a great position for trimming his nails, as well as checking his paws for foxtails or other burrs, and giving belly rubs and face and chest massages.
It takes a little practice to figure out what position is most comfortable for you and your dog during the nail trim. Both of you on the floor? Him on the couch and you on the floor? On a grooming table? Some people find it easiest to trim the dog’s nails when he is laying flat on his side.
I find it easiest to sit on the floor, legs outstretched, with my dog on his back and cradled between my legs. I find this allows for the most comfortable angle of approach to grind the nails, and especially for rounding the edges, as I like to round up from the bottom of the nail. I teach and build value for this position early in my dogs’ lives, and we use it often – it’s an opportunity for quiet massage and “together time” – not just something we do when it’s time to trim nails.
No matter what position you use, don’t forget to first build a positive association with simply being in that position and having his paws handled before you add any of the steps that involve trimming nails. I feel strongly that all dogs should be taught to accept all the different behavioral pieces of a nail trim regardless of whether you will do nails yourself or if you plan to send the dog to a vet or groomer for routine trims.
It’s wise to “assume the position” often – for praise, treats, and calm petting – to help keep your dog from learning that your request for that particular position always accompanies nail trimming, in which case you may find your dog becomes reluctant to cooperate.
READY TO GRIND
The goal of nail trimming is to shorten the dog’s nails so that they don’t quite touch the ground when she is standing on level ground; she should be able to walk across the kitchen floor without a tap, tap, tapping sound. Nails that touch the ground will push the toes out of their natural position as the dog stands and moves; the longer the nails, the more displacement the toes will experience.
Remember, the innermost core of the nail consists of a vein and nerve, usually referred to as the “quick.” The longer the nail, the farther toward the tip of the nail the quick will extend. If your dog’s nails are far too long, it will take a lot of sessions of removing tiny bits of nail at a time to gradually return them to a healthy length without cutting into the quick, hurting the dog, and causing the vein to bleed (called “quicking” the nail).
Diamond grinding tips for rotary grinders are more expensive than sandpaper bands, but they grind more smoothly and don’t wear down quickly or need frequent replacement like sanding bands do, making them the preferred grinding tip of many professional groomers.
Fortunately, taking tiny bits off at a time is exactly what rotary grinders are best at! Frequently removing the excess nail a millimeter at a time will help the “quick” recede back toward the base of the nail. For very long nails, see if you can fit a few minutes of nail grinding once a week. It might take months of this to get the nails to a short and strong condition, but if you stick with it, your dog’s feet and legs will be much healthier for it. Once your dog’s nails have reached an appropriate length, just one or two short sessions of grinding each month should maintain them.
A few final tips:
* Don’t grind on any one nail for more than a second or two, as the friction creates heat, causing a burning sensation. Touch the grinder to the nail for one or two seconds and pull it away – a grind-release, grind-release pattern.
* To maintain the effectiveness of the grinder, be sure to replace the sandpaper-like sanding band once it’s worn. Replacement bands are inexpensive – about $6 for a package of 6 – and can be purchased through many online pet-supply stores.
* Using a diamond bit (instead of sanding bands) helps reduce the noise and vibration of grinding. These bitsare more expensive (anywhere from $20 to $20) but they last a long time.
With a little product research and some training and practice, you, too might soon find yourself a member of the rotary club.
Stephanie Colman is a writer and dog trainer in Southern California. She works in the puppy department at Guide Dogs of America, helping to recruit and manage volunteer puppy raisers.
Quick! What To Do About Bleeding
Whichever tool you use to trim nails, don’t get started without having some styptic powder on hand.
Styptic powder is used to quickly stop any bleeding that will occur if you accidentally cut into the nail’s blood supply. It’s an anti-hemorrhagic agent that works by constricting tissue to seal injured blood vessels.
Failing to have the powder nearby when you start nails is a great way to simulate a crime scene; if you have a “whoops!” moment when trimming your dog’s nails and have to go into the other room to get the powder, you can be sure your dog will leave a bloody trail – either following you or trying to run and hide from you!
Styptic powder is sold in a variety of containers with various applicators that are supposed to make it easier to get onto a cut nail quickly. Most commonly, however, it comes in a small jar. Some people tap some of the powder into the palm of their hand and then press the cut nail into the powder in their hand. I like to keep a little dish of water nearby so I can wet my finger without needing to lick it, especially during these pandemic times, where I’m being extra mindful of keeping my hands off my face in general. I coat my wet finger with a generous layer of styptic powder and press the powder directly onto the affected nail tip. I give a little tap to help pack the quick with powder.
Reapply as needed if the nail continues to bleed through the first layer of powder. If needed, you can temporarily occupy the dog with a favorite chew bone to prevent him from smelling and then licking the nail, re-starting the bleeding.
No styptic powder? In a pinch, cornstarch also works.
If the bleeding hasn’t stopped within 20-30 minutes, contact your vet, as that can be a possible sign of clotting issues.
Every month, it seems, we have an opportunity to share with you another pandemic-inspired article. This month, it is Stephanie Colman’s piece on “do-it-yourself” nail trimming. It’s important that your dog’s nails stay trimmed to a healthy length, whether or not your favorite grooming shop is open. Stephanie offers tips on equipment, positioning, and what to do if you accidentally cut or grind a nail too short and it starts to bleed. If your dog isn’t cooperative, check out the instructions on page 7 from WDJ’s Training Editor, Pat Miller, about how to counter-condition and desensitize your dog to nail trims.
We’ve included two articles about adopting dogs in this issue. If you’re looking to add a canine family member to your household, read them both!
Starting on page 8, Pat also shares her expert advice about how to identify and choose a dog who will fit well into your household and/or family. Pat’s descriptions of the specific behaviors that would indicate a sound adoption candidate are so incredibly helpful. I’ve volunteered for a long time at my local shelter and have witnessed countless would-be adopters meeting dogs that they were considering adopting, and I can honestly say that most of them don’t have a clue about what they are seeing when they interact with the dogs they think they want.
Trainer Kathy Callahan, author of the most moving dog book I’ve read in years (101 Rescue Puppies: One Family’s Story of Fostering Dogs, Love, and Trust), contributed a companion piece to Pat’s article. As someone who fosters homeless puppies for a few different rescue groups, Kathy loves to see puppies get adopted – but as you will see on page 13, she warns against any family casually adopting littermates on the spur of the moment. A multiple-puppy adoption can work out, she says, but it takes a lot of planning and effort.
Kathy’s article made me curious: Only once in all the years that I have raised foster puppies for my local shelter was I informed that an adopter wanted to adopt two of “my” puppies – and they were Great Danes. I was horrified that my shelter allowed this to happen and certain that two of the big galoots were going to be way too much for a family that had come to the shelter planning to adopt just one. Some time ago I posted an old video of my young dog in his “Fun Uncle” role, playing with that litter of puppies, and someone I know had commented that they knew someone who had adopted two of those pups. Afterreading Kathy’s article, I tracked down the adopter and the story. I was thrilled to find out that, four years later, they are still firmly embedded in their adoptive family. Yay!
Last week, I mentioned that there were a number of people coming to help locally with the emergency animal shelters established here in Butte County, California, where the North Complex West Zone fire, formerly known as the Bear Fire, has killed 15 people, burned at least 750 homes, and displaced thousands.
The fire was originally started by lightning storms on August 18. Locally, it was controlled and extinguished, but in a neighboring county, it burned in remote, mountainous areas until September 8, when it re-entered our county, driven by a ferocious windstorm. The wind pushed the fire more than 30 miles in the direction of the town where I live, Oroville, California, burning through the small town of Berry Creek and other even smaller remote communities. Within just a couple of days, the existing facility that can shelter small animals in emergencies such as this was holding a couple hundred dogs and cats.
I know this is just one fire among many burning across the western United States right now, so I’m even more humbled by the fact that volunteers have arrived from far and near to help the displaced and evacuated animals in my community.
Hundreds of dogs, cats, rabbits, birds, and smaller pets, and dozens of horses, llamas, pigs, sheep, goats, and chickens and other barn yard birds are being sheltered in three different locations in my town. Caring for them are a few animal control officers and dozens of volunteers. Many of the animals are considered “stray,” having been brought to the shelters by first responders on the fire lines, or by citizens who found them running loose as they themselves evacuated from the fires. Others were brought to the shelters by their owners, who have either lost their homes or are being kept from their homes by road closures in the area where the fire is either still actively being fought, or where the damage from the fire and firefight have rendered the area unsafe (downed power lines, trees fallen or falling across the roads, roads damaged by bulldozers, etc.).
As with the infamous Camp Fire of 2018, it’s expected that it will take weeks, if not months, for most of the displaced animals to be identified and/or picked up by their owners. Some may be surrendered to the county animal control, if their owners have no place to keep them.
Once again, our local animal rescue group NVADG leads the rescue efforts
Much of the heavy lifting is performed by volunteers belonging to a local group, the North Valley Animal Disaster Group (NVADG, pronounced as “NAV-Dag). When animals are affected by a local fire or other disaster (including floods, animal trailer rollovers, horses who have fallen off cliffs, etc.), county animal control officers contact and activate NVADG. Experienced NVADG volunteers set appropriate actions into motion; in this case, volunteers immediately went to work opening buildings lent to NVADG by the county to use for this purpose, and started setting up crates and an intake process to identify and track each animal brought to the shelter. NVADG volunteers care for the animals, with supervision and oversight provided by county animal control officers.
It’s a rough fact that the process of keeping these animals safe is highly stressful for the sheltered small animals, no matter how good their keepers’ intentions for them are. Cats are in cages with small litterboxes; for the most part, dogs are kept in large wire crates. (Especially huge dogs, such as the Anatolian livestock protection dogs that we are sheltering, or large dogs who prove to be particularly hard to keep enclosed in a wire crate, are kept in small pens within the temporary shelter buildings.) They are taken out of the crates and walked about three times a day – which sounds (and is) incredibly minimal, and yet requires an army of volunteers to accomplish.
I’d like to mention a few of the organizations that have sent workers or volunteers to our shelters from out of this area. I’m honored to have worked alongside many of them.
IFAW
Image courtesy of IFAW
First on the scene from out of the area were folks from the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW, pronounced eye-faw). The organization describes itself as a global non-profit helping animals and people thrive together. They work in more than 40 countries across the globe, partnering with other animal welfare groups and even just concerned citizens who are trying to help animals in their communities. IFAW workers were a huge part of the response to the Camp Fire two years ago, and some of the same individuals who came here then returned to help us again.
IFAW workers flew into California on September 14, and immediately began setting up a second temporary shelter in a leased warehouse. Within a day, animal control officers started transferring “stray” animals from NVADG’s overcrowded site to the more spacious temporary facility. Some IFAW workers stayed on the new site, working alongside NVADG volunteers to care for the animals, while others went into the fire zone with search and rescue teams, looking for hurt animals and ones that had been left behind. These folks work 12- and 14-hour days while thus deployed, and are, to a single person, cheerful, hard-working, and driven to improve the care and treatment of animals in any way they can. Their expertise and guidance to local leaders is incredibly valuable.
Sonoma CART
I lived in Sonoma County, California, during my high school years and as a young adult, so I know that the differences between that county and this one could not be more stark. Sonoma County is wine country, home to lush redwood forests, grassy foothills grazed by dairy cows, an unbelievably gorgeous coastline along the Pacific Ocean, and affluent towns that are home to many urban tech workers. About 200 miles to the north and inland, Butte County is much more economically challenged, hotter, and drier. Butte County’s largest city is smaller than most Sonoma County cities; its total population is less than half of Sonoma County’s.
But they have one thing in common: They both experienced horrific destructive fires in the past three years. The 2017 Tubbs Fire burned in Napa, Lake, and Sonoma counties, but its worst devastation occurred in the city of Santa Rosa, where it killed 22 people and burned thousands of homes and businesses. Sonoma County Animal Rescue Team (Sonoma CART) was already in existence at the time of the fire, and its trained volunteers were instrumental in providing assistance to the animals affected by the Tubbs Fire. In the months and years after the Tubbs Fire, many Sonoma County residents joined Sonoma CART and took its training classes – and many have gone on to respond to calls for help during other California disasters. I’ve met eight or more members of Sonoma CART while working with dogs at the NVADG shelter during this fire, each of whom drove hours to get here, spent their own money to stay in local hotels, and labored for days in a row to feed and walk dogs and care for other animals.
At least one volunteer I worked with spent a week here, working 12-hour days. On her last day here, we shared some bonding moments over a blind, elderly yellow Labrador who needed some extra TLC, and she shared photos of her own senior Labrador, who had died not long ago. She also confided in me that she did this work in honor of her mother, who lost pets in a fire some years ago and “has never been the same since.” We both shed tears as she recounted her mother’s pain; with heavy smoke in the air, surrounded by displaced animals, we could only too keenly imagine losing our own beloved dogs.
Thank you, Sonoma CART, for sending such generous, open-hearted people to help us.
Red Rover
Image courtesy of Red Rover
This is another national organization who showed up during the 2018 Camp Fire disaster to help run the emergency animal shelters – and who has sent workers once again to provide our weary local animal control officers with some much-needed respite. Red Rover has more than 4,000 volunteers who have taken one or more training courses in emergency response for animals, and they help provide emergency sheltering assistance for animals displaced by natural disasters and rescued from other crises, such as puppy mills and hoarding situations.
Red Rover workers have been on the ground here for the past few days, and, I hear, more are due to arrive this week. The emergency shelters here will likely be operating for at least another month, if not longer, as so many people have no houses to take their pets home to, so the extra help is highly needed and will be appreciated.
After two weeks, many of us local volunteers are exhausted, or have given as much time as we can spare. Thank goodness for fresh boots on the ground! I’ve been working closely with a Red Rover worker who flew in from New York, who has been helping to run the NVADG shelter for the past few days, giving the NVADG volunteer leaders who had been operating the shelter for the past two weeks a chance to sleep and catch up on their regular-life duties. She’s been amazing and cheerful, even in the face of poop-splattered crates and a too-thin list of local volunteers arriving for the 7 am dog walking and crate-cleaning shift. Devon Krusko, thank you!
Image courtesy of Red Rover
Find an “animal rescue” class and take it!
If you ever had a hankering to pitch in to help animals in (or near to) a disaster zone, check out the national organizations IFAW and Red Rover. Both offer courses to help people understand how to work in conjunction with professional rescue workers in an “Animal Incident Command System Matrix.” And if fires or floods or other natural disasters commonly affect or displace people and their pets in your local area, look for a local organization such as NVADG or Sonoma CART to train and work with. Helping feels a whole lot better than just watching and worrying from afar.
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’ve had a number of older owners book lessons with me lately—more than half a dozen individuals and couples in their 70s and even 80s, all wanting some training help with their new dogs or puppies.
