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About five years ago, we ran an article about “counter surfing” – the euphemism for the act of dogs taking any food they can find on your kitchen counters – and I couldn’t find a picture of a dog “caught in the act.” That might be because, usually, if we spot a dog eating our dinner or licking the butter dish on the counter, we don’t take a photo of it. Instead, we interrupt the behavior and redirect the dog to another activity. Wait – that’s the right thing to do. Most of us probably just yell, “WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?!” But I digress.
At the time I needed the photo, my son’s dog, Cole, was staying with me; my son was somewhere else on the planet, at one of his athletic competitions somewhere. Cole is always happy to play the training game with me, so I taught him to stand on his hind legs with his front paws on a butcher block table, near a nice roast beef sandwich. Then I took pictures of him doing it.
The photos looked a lot like a dog who was counter-surfing – only Cole looked cheerful and expectant, instead of a dog who had gotten yelled at for “stealing food.” This is because he hadn’t been yelled at; he was receiving treats and praise after every few pictures I took!
When my son got back from wherever he had gone and asked for a report on the activities Cole enjoyed in his absence, I told him about how helpful Cole had been, modeling for WDJ again. My son was rather unamused. “Mom!” he scolded. “If he starts taking food off counters and tables, I’m going to be so mad! And why didn’t you use your own dog, anyway?”
I didn’t use my own dog for these photos, because Otto wouldn’t dream of putting his paws on the counter; it would have taken me weeks of training to get him to look even slightly convincing as a counter-surfer. (Also, Woody wasn’t born yet.) Until recently, Otto has never once taken food from the counter, kitchen table, or even a carelessly uncovered kitchen garbage can. It never occurred to him – until recently, when he started displaying a little senior dementia, or old dog privilege, or whatever you call it when a dog helps himself to the burrito on the coffee table right in front of you. Um, Otto?
Anyway, I was thinking about all this because our Training Editor, Pat Miller, has written a great article about counter-surfing in this issue (see page 6), and I came across those pictures of sweet Cole. I called my son to ask, “Remember when I used Cole as a model for a dog who is counter-surfing? And you were so mad? Did he ever counter-surf after that?”
In the April 2020 issue, we published an article by WDJ Training Editor Pat Miller, CCBC-KA, CPDT-KA, about fostering dogs and puppies. Pat has often fostered dogs during her long career in both animal shelters and as a professional dog trainer, and she’s also the author of a great book on the topic, How to Foster Dogs: From Homeless to Homeward Bound.
In both the article we published and her book, Pat mentions some of the potential hazards of fostering for the foster provider, and offers questions that a person should ask before agreeing to foster for an organization that is new to them. I had to pull out that article, and review those questions in light of the experience that one of my friends is having right now as a foster provider for an organization that both of us were only vaguely familiar with. The part I wanted to review was this question, among a list of questions that Pat recommends a potential foster provider asks before taking a dog to foster:
* How does the adoption process work? Are you, the foster parent, allowed to be a part of that process? (The answer to this one should be “yes.”) Are potential adopters carefully screened? Do you get veto power if you think the prospective family is not appropriate for your foster? Are the dogs adopted directly from your home, or do they have to go back to a shelter or kennel?
There aren’t necessarily right or wrong answers to these questions – just answers that will help you decide if this is an organization you can work with.
I’ve been fostering for the same organization for a long time, my local shelter. I know and trust the manager of the shelter well, and she knows and trusts me. When I foster a litter of puppies for the shelter, I generally raise them to a certain age, and then they go to the shelter to get adopted; I don’t have any say in who gets to adopt them. I could have input, but by and large, I trust the shelter’s own screening process to ensure they all go to qualified homes. If I were more involved, it would just muck up and delay the process.
But when I foster an adolescent dog or a senior dog or a dog with health or behavior issues, I invariably have the dog for a longer period of time, and form some opinions about the kind of home and person where that dog should be placed in order to thrive and shine. In these cases, I almost always either promote the dog to my own network of friends (and their friends) and work to make sure that any prospective adopter is really suited to the dog and vice versa, or I work closely with the shelter to meet any potential adopter they find for the dog, and discuss what I know and have experienced about the dog with them.
A great foster provider
My good friend is currently fostering a dog with special medical needs. This is what we know: The dog, a little over a year old, came into the rescue with a broken leg. She had a limb-saving surgery that failed and needed to be repeated. She was briefly in a foster home that turned out to be unsuitable; she is young and playful and there was another young and playful dog in the household, and they wanted to play. The risk of her reinjuring the leg and necessitating the removal of the leg was high. So that foster person asked my friend if she could foster the dog post-surgery until she was healed and ready for placement. My friend agreed, as she has experience with rehabbing her own dog following ACL surgery and is currently working from home.
The dog is very sweet. She’s also very energetic and wants nothing more to do than run and play. She had to spend the first few weeks under the influence of calming medications and went outdoors only on a leash. She weighs around 50 pounds and is strong, and knows nothing about good leash manners (or much else), so my friend has been using a harness to walk her, and has been teaching her some basic good manners: to not pull, to wait at doors, sit and down on cue, etc.
My friend has also been working from home, so she can see how bored and restless the dog is, and she has endeavored to give the dog lots of enriching games and food puzzles to play with. She freezes bits of hot dog and cheese in blocks of ice and lets her enjoy them in a playpen on her shady lawn. She moves the playpen from one location to another during the day, giving the dog changes of scenery – because if she’s left outside for very long by herself, she barks and barks. My friend serves the dog all her meals in Kongs and slow feeders, for enrichment and stimulation.
And, of course, my friend has gotten very attached to the dog – but from the get-go, she has been steeling her heart against the idea of adopting the dog herself. She has an older dog who has had multiple lameness issues for years, and she misses having an utterly sound, healthy dog to take on long walks and hikes. She doesn’t want to hasten her own dog’s death, of course, but she also has been looking forward to the day she can adopt a young, 100% sound dog without medical issues or concerns.
So my friend has had the dog for over two months; she’s healed! She hasn’t heard one word from the rescue group, which is strange, but it sure seems like it’s time to make contact. My friend calls the person who recruited her for the fostering task, who is a co-founder of a local nonprofit animal rescue group, and who, presumably, was the legal owner of the dog. She was saying, hello! The dog is doing great, and what’s the plan for finding her a home?
Whoops! That person told my friend that it was another local group who really owns the dog. Oh boy. Okay.
A not-so-great rescue group
My friend calls that group – and it seems to be a minor surprise to them that the dog still exists. Okay, there is a pandemic going on; everyone is a bit stressed. Once they recover, they say someone will get back to my friend. There was someone a while back who was interested in the dog….
When my friend reports this to me, we are both perplexed. If the rescue group had someone who was interested in the dog months ago, why wasn’t that person hosting the dog during rehab? Maybe they work outside of the home and couldn’t provide enough supervision…. But then, why wouldn’t that person want to visit the dog during rehab? Or call and ask how she was doing occasionally? We are sort of mystified, and, of course, concerned.
The next day, a person calls my friend and says she met the dog some months back, when the dog first came into rescue, and she’s interested in adopting the dog. She starts asking my friend about the dog, and my friend describes her: She’s young, sweet, friendly, smart – and she needs some training. She is still learning not to pull on the leash … and the potential adopter starts telling her that this won’t be a problem; the dog obviously just needs some training with a choke chain or pinch collar. My friend is like, “Um, no, that’s really not necessary, it’s not severe or anything; I’m just telling you that she’s a young dog without training, and because she’s only been in physical recovery mode, I haven’t been doing that training. I’ve only been managing her behavior so she doesn’t get the zoomies and start running around!” The adopter insists that there are correction collars that will stop pulling without hurting the dog.
The discussion sort of sputters to a halt. Then the potential adopter asks how the dog is with other dogs. My friend explains that’s she’s super playful and wants to play with any other dogs she meets – and the potential adopter says, “Well, she’ll have to learn to stop that; I have a very grouchy little dog who will tell her what’s what!” Oh man, another sinkhole of a conversation stopper.
My friend asks the potential adopter more about herself; where will she keep the dog? The person explains that she works all day out of the house, so the dog will be either indoors all day or outdoors all day… and at this, my friend is officially depressed. This does not sound at all like a great home for this dog! And now my friend is saying, “If this is the dog’s only option, maybe I should keep her!”
But those two things shouldn’t be the dog’s only option! A good rescue group would have been checking in on the dog’s progress, and either would either promote her as a special-needs dog in search of a very particular kind of home (lots of supervision, other friendly and playful dogs or perhaps no other dogs, someone with the experience or willingness to teach her basic behaviors without resorting to punishment-based techniques) or at least have a plan to promote her. Instead, it seemed like they just made a call to someone who had expressed a minor interest in her, hoping to just solve the custody issue by palming off the dog to anyone. Ugh.
My friend called the group again, to try to find out who, exactly, is the person in charge of this dog’s case, so she could have a discussion about the plan going forward – and got a runaround. The person in charge is too busy to talk; the person she can talk to is fine with the placement with the choke-chain lady. Or, my friend can keep the dog. Whatever.
Ugh again. I feel terrible for my friend; she’s invested a lot of time and loving care into this dog, and was hoping for the dog’s story to end with a great adoption into a suitable home. Instead, she’s being torn between taking on another not-100% sound dog, for another decade-plus of more-extensive-than-normal medical needs, and just handing the dog over to a home that she’s not particularly well suited for. At the moment, the whole thing feels like a disaster. It’s great that the rescue group found the money for the dog’s medical treatment, presumably saving her life (or at least her leg), but their follow-through has been dismal.
Moral of the story
I was only peripherally involved in all this; while I know all the parties involved, I don’t know any of them except my friend very well. I probably would have been more proactive at communicating with the person who delivered the dog to my door in the first place, to determine the “chain of command,” as it were, before so much time had gone by – and I feel really bad that I didn’t inquire and encourage my friend to learn more about this earlier on in the fostering process. I’ve been distracted and preoccupied, too! All I can say is, if you are considering fostering:
Before you take on a dog, know exactly who you are dealing with and who is ultimately in charge of your foster dog’s case – and what the plan will be to find the dog a home.
I don’t know how all this is going to end; the rescue group asked my friend to keep the dog for a few more weeks before their veterinarian will clear her for unsupervised activity. I just really hope a more suitable adopter will come along.
If you’ve fostered before, do you have a most-important bit of advice for other potential foster providers? Any cautionary tales of your own?
One of the most common skin diseases that develop in dogs is atopic dermatitis. Most of these cases are caused by allergies to substances in the environment. Dog owners are aware of the possibility that their dogs may have environmental allergies to plant pollen and dust or dust mites, but may be completely unaware of one more very significant environmental allergen that can cause ill effect on susceptible dogs: mold.
Molds are a type of multicellular fungi that are present almost everywhere in the environment including the air; favored surfaces include wood, leaves and plants, air ducts, soil, and basements. They thrive in moist, damp, and humid environments, multiplying through microscopic spores that disseminate through the air. Because dogs tend to explore environments – especially with their noses – they can be at increased risk for coming into contact with and inhaling mold spores.
Molds are usually harmless in small quantities, but they can cause problems if a dog is sensitive to them and suffers an allergic reaction. An allergic reaction occurs when the dog’s immune system responds to a substance with a state of over-reactivity or hypersensitivity. If the allergy becomes chronic, it can become uncomfortable and even painful; if not treated, it can lead to the development of more severe health issues.
Symptoms of mold allergies in dogs
Dogs allergic to mold typically develop a year-round skin problem. If they are allergic to mold, the symptoms may wax and wane with atmospheric humidity (which allows molds to reproduce at a faster rate) but will be present to some extent year-round, because the offending allergen is present all the time, not just seasonally like some pollens. This allergy is most likely to develop in dogs between the ages of 6 months and 3 years, however, dogs can develop an allergy at any time during their lifetime.
Mold allergies tend to manifest as a skin condition. Symptoms may include scratching (often persistent), inflamed and irritated skin; dry scaly skin, localized or generalized hair loss, chewing/licking (especially the paws); chronic ear infections. It is also possible, but uncommon, for molds to cause respiratory symptoms such as coughing, sneezing, wheezing, labored breathing, discharge from nose and/or eyes, and even loss of appetite and lethargy in more severe cases. Dogs with mold allergies are also frequently affected by other inhalant allergens, such as mites.
Diagnosis
Mold allergies cannot be distinguished from other types of allergies without allergy testing, but your veterinarian may first want to perform a thorough exam, obtain a history, and perform other diagnostics to determine if the presenting condition is caused by or complicated by an infection or another disease that resembles atopic dermatitis.
Allergy testing in dogs typically takes one of two forms: intradermal skin testing or blood serum testing. Intradermal allergy testing is considered the gold standard for the diagnosis of atopic dermatitis and involves injecting small quantities of 40-60 different types of allergens into the dog’s skin, typically performed under general anesthesia by a veterinary dermatologist. A visible swelling will occur at the injection site if a dog has a reaction to the allergen, allowing determination of which allergens are triggering atopic dermatitis. Blood testing can be performed in a general veterinary practice; a blood sample is drawn from the dog and submitted to a testing laboratory. The lab searches for the presence of antibodies to allergens that are known to contribute to atopic dermatitis. The results of these tests can be used to formulate an allergen-specific immunotherapy based on the offending allergens.
Management and treatment of mold allergies
The treatment of allergies, including those caused by molds, usually involves two steps: get control and keep control. This frequently requires using one or more therapies, often in combination with one another; these include, but are not limited to, corticosteroids, antihistamines, ATOPICA® (cyclosporine capsules), and Cytopoint® (Lokivetmab).
Allergen immunotherapy, also known as desensitization or hyposensitization, consists of administering gradually increasing quantities and strengths of relevant allergens, either by subcutaneous injection or sublingual drops. The goal of this treatment is to help build tolerance to the allergens by tempering the immune response. This custom immune-therapy regimen can take up to 12 months before a response is observed. But the commitment may be well worth it as it may not only prevent the current allergies from worsening but also help prevent new allergies from developing.
Dogs suffering from allergies often develop secondary recurrent ear and skin infections. The inflamed skin can be susceptible to bacterial and yeast infections, which in themselves can lead to even more scratching. Targeted topical antimicrobial therapy shampoos and sprays containing chlorhexidine, miconazole, and/or ketoconazole may be recommended, as well as ear cleansers and treatments. In severe cases, oral systemic treatments with drugs such as ketoconazole, itraconazole, or terbinafine may be necessary.
Environmental therapy
Reducing the mold levels in your dog’s environment can help mitigate exposure and thereby reduce allergy symptoms. Unfortunately, because mold is all over, completely avoiding contact is not possible. Ideally, keep your dog (and his bed!) out of damp basements or garages; frequent baths or wipe-downs with a damp microfiber cloth can help remove mold spores that fall on his skin and coat. Inspect your dog’s favorite places, especially under his bedding. Large mold infestations in the home can usually be seen or smelled. If mold is present, these areas should be cleaned and treated appropriately. Depending on the location, extent, and type of mold, this may need to be done by a professional service.
Because a mold allergy is environmental and environmental allergens are everywhere, complete alleviation of the condition is not usually possible and most dogs will require lifelong treatment. But it can be successfully managed, resulting in a happier and more comfortable dog.
My sister and her husband used to live down the street from a fire station. At least 10 times a day (often many more), they would hear sirens from fire trucks leaving the station, responding to fires and medical emergencies. Their little dogs would howl every time they heard a siren, which, in these “work from home” times, would have been a huge distraction. But my sister and her husband thought it was cute! They enjoyed the little dog howls; they also had to keep their windows closed at all times, to keep the noise from bothering the neighbors. When I was visiting them, I thought it was mainly a pain in the rear, having our conversations interrupted every hour or so!
Today, they live in a semi-rural neighborhood. If they hear a fire engine, it’s a real cause for concern, not a prompt for a fun little “singing session.” So sometimes my sister starts a session herself. It doesn’t take much, just one or two howls, and the dogs all immediately get to their feet and join in.
Here’s the funny thing: When my senior dog Otto stays with them (when I’m out of town i.e., not much any more), he joins in with the little dogs, adding his big deep voice to the chorus of little voices. I keep telling my sister to try to get this on video, because at my house, Otto will NOT join in! And I have no idea why! If he’s outside when a fire truck or ambulance goes by, he will howl for a moment or two – but not if I’m near him. He will grow animated, like he’d like to howl, but he won’t do it. It’s so strange to me! I’ve never admonished him for howling, I would think it’s cute, too! But he just won’t do it in front of me!
Otto is sticking to his no-howling-at-home standard
My son and his girlfriend drove up here last weekend for a socially distant visit. I cleaned my detached home-office thoroughly and put mattresses on the floor for them, and gave them their own bathroom to use, and we ate meals and hung out outside together. They spent the days canoeing and playing disc golf at a course in town, relaxing, while my son’s hound dog Cole and his girlfriend’s parents’ dog, Bailey, stayed with me and my dogs. One evening after dinner, we were having the dogs show off their tricks for various bits and pieces of leftover dinner, and my son mentioned that Cole now knew how to howl on cue as a trick – and that little Bailey, a terrier-mix, would join in very earnestly. We turned on the camera to capture the action, and I hoped Otto might join in.
Nope. He wagged his tail and paced and looked like he wanted to join in, but held to his “no howling at home” standard. The big surprise was Woody, who did join the fun, in a surprisingly high-pitched tone. I would have thought such a big, big-chested dog would be more of a bass, or at least a baritone. He’s nearly a mezzo-soprano!
Now I want to practice, and see if I can put the behavior on cue, too, for one or both dogs. (For video of our one-time howling fest, see the Whole Dog Journal’s Instagram page, dogsofwholedogjournal.) What’s your stance on howling? Cute? Or annoying? Can your dog do it on cue? If so, share a video on our Facebook page! I’ll put a post there, asking for your contributions.
These days, thanks to coronavirus, more and more restaurants are offering outdoor dining, and many are allowing dogs to accompany their humans, as some traditional outdoor restaurants have for years. You may have seen some very well-behaved dogs lying quietly at the feet of their humans as they dined outside Panera Bread and other eateries, and wondered “How do I get my dog to do that?” Here’s how.
Start teaching your dog to be a good dining companion at home
The first step is to get your canine pal to lie quietly at your feet while you eat in the comfort of your own home. Mat training is great for this. Start by reinforcing your dog for lying on a portable mat, rug or dog bed when you’re not eating.
When she is solid with this behavior, generalize it by moving the mat to your eating area. When she can do at least 10-15 minutes of duration on her mat while you sit nearby at the table reading a book or typing on your computer, add the eating part – short snacks at first, gradually increasing your food consumption to full meals. Ideally, your dog will just take a snooze while she waits. If not, it may help to give her a long-lasting chew of some type to keep her happy while you eat.
You do want to remember to occasionally reinforce your dog for staying on her mat, but you don’t want to feed her from your place at the table, as this may encourage begging or demand behaviors. Instead, have her stay on her mat while you get up, walk away from her, get a treat from a counter or shelf (or even from your pocket), and feed it to her as you approach from her non-table side. This way she won’t have expectations of getting treats from you while you are seated and eating.
Now it’s time to take the show on the road. For purposes of this article, we are assuming that your dog is already comfortable and reasonably well-behaved in public. If not, you’ll need to back up and start there. You do not want to try to eat at a restaurant with an ill-behaved dog! (Please note: It is never a good idea to take dogs who are reactive or have aggressive behaviors to public eating places.)
Start by making several trips to the outdoor restaurant(s) of your choice, and do some good manners training practice outside the eating area. Take your dog’s mat along, and practice her mat behavior there as well.
When she can do well with “Mat” outside the eating zone, you’re ready for the real thing. Visit your restaurant of choice, enter with your dog and her mat (and a long-lasting chew, if needed). Select an out-of-the-way table so you’re not smack in the middle of the traffic pattern, invite your dog to lie down on her mat, and take your seat.
It should go without saying that you never let your dog approach, bother or otherwise interfere with the dining experience of other customers. If they ask if they can pet your dog, that’s up to you. If your dog might not handle it well, or you don’t want to disrupt her mat tranquility, just say sorry, but no.
Be ready to leave at any time if your dog tells you she can’t handle it. (Let your waitress know in advance that this might happen and you’re not running out on the bill, you’ll be right back to pay. Then stash your dog in the car –running, with the air conditioning on, while you dash back to pay.)
Dine alone at first, so you aren’t distracted by companions and can give your full attention to your dog and her training program. Start again with light snacks so you can keep your eating time short, and as she demonstrates to you over several visits that she’s ready for more, work your way up to a full-course meal with your friends.
There is a trainer I know who posts a lot of short videos of her own dogs and dogs owned by clients of her board-and-train business. The dogs always look very well behaved and lots of people leave complimentary comments on these posts.
I’ve never seen a comment mentioning the shock collars that every one of the dogs wears. (Or the shock collar combined with a choke chain or pinch collar. Always the shock collar, and often the second pain-inducing collar, too.)
Again, judging by the comments, no one seems to be bothered by the subtle signs of stress and anxiety the dogs in training display. If the dog is “behaving,” the trainer never raises her voice, and the dog’s tail wags at some point, it all looks good to most people (apparently).
Now, it could be that some people DO comment or ask questions about the collars and the trainer deletes them. I would put money on a different possibility, though; I’m pretty sure that this trainer so thoroughly believes in and relies upon the collars that if someone DID comment, she would strongly defend their use.
Quick-fix methods can be seductive, but…
In general, I try to keep WDJ as free as possible from negative appraisals of training techniques and gear that we don’t support. I’d rather that we talk about the many reasons we advocate for the techniques and gear that we love. But I worry sometimes that many people can’t tell the difference between what we would call dog-friendly training and training that’s focused on quick, telegenic results.
I know that quick-fix methods are seductive: “I sent her an unmanageable dog who barked at the door, jumped on everyone, and couldn’t be walked on leash, and two weeks later, now look at him! He’s calm and I can walk him without being dragged down the street!”
But my question is, at what cost? What was that dog’s total experience? A dramatic transformation does not happen that quickly without a certain amount of pain and discomfort and lack of initial comprehension.
Note that I’m not talking about the use of a shock collar to deal with a specific behavior that the owner or training has been unable to stop in any other way, something that may well shorten the life of the dog if the behavior is unchecked, such as taking off after animals (not responding to a recall cue off-leash) or failing to respond to a “leave it” cue in rattlesnake country. That’s a separate debate we could have. But what I’m talking about here is the use of a shock collar to teach dogs to perform every sort of sit, down, stay, come, go to your bed, every-day type of behaviors – the same behaviors we can teach 8-week-old puppies to do on cue with a handful of cookies.
Now, I have to add that this trainer is skilled and experienced. I don’t see the kind of obvious fear that an unskilled force-based trainer induces in his clients’ dogs – the videos posted on social media don’t show dogs who are overtly cringing or flinching. They do show dogs who display more subtle signs of stress: licking their lips, ears back, tucked tails, yawning. In a few videos, it takes a sharp eye, but you can see the reaction a few dogs make when they have hesitated to perform the requested behavior and are being shocked: a long blink or a momentary grimace before they perform the behavior they have been asked for. You can see it, but only if you know what to look for.
I bet her clients are genuinely happy with the results – pleased to discover that their dogs are capable of being calm and compliant and have learned a few behaviors on cue.
Dangers of using shock collars
There is no denying that in the hands of an experienced trainer – an even-tempered person with superior skills at observing body language and good timing – collars that shock or apply painful pressure to the dog’s neck can teach a dog to perform certain behaviors (in order not to suffer a painful consequence) in fairly short order, and without the appearance of violence. But this sort of training is anathema to me, and to most “positive only” trainers, for many reasons. Here are just a few:
Training methods that use pain can emotionally scar some dogs. Dogs may learn to perform certain behaviors in order to avoid pain, but many lose trust and interest in having a loving relationship with humans.
There are certain dogs who respond to pain with aggression. You can’t always predict which dogs this will be, but the odds are higher with dogs who are fearful and those who possess more than the average amount of self-preservation instincts. I would argue that from their point of view this constitutes simple self-defense. But the pain-based trainer will respond to the dog’s aggression with greater and greater pain, because if the dog’s aggression successfully (from the dog’s view) ends the training session, the trainer will fail, so the trainer will feel compelled to increase the pain until the dog “submits.” Unfortunately, if the dog’s aggression escalates enough, at some point the trainer is likely to inform the owner that the dog is dangerous and defective and the dog usually ends up dead – euthanized for behavior that was introduced in response to the training method.
While the trainer might have good timing, observation skills, and judgment, few owners do. When the dog is sent home with his new shock collar and the remote control is now in the hands of his much-less experienced owner, it’s inevitable that the collar will be activated at inappropriate times: when the dog tried to do the wanted behavior but the owner didn’t recognize it as such, after the dog had stopped doing the unwanted behavior but the owner’s timing was delayed, when the owner is angry at the dog for perceived misbehavior, and so on. As the “corrections” make less and less sense to the dog, and he fails to clearly see what behaviors work to stop the pain and which don’t, his “training” will deteriorate – and so will the relationship between the dog and his owner.
In my view, the introduction of a button that is pressed to cause discomfort that will increase compliance from another living being – just this, alone – would indicate to me that the button-presser should spend his or her time with a stuffed or electronic toy dog rather than a thinking, feeling being of another species.
Again, I don’t like to discuss training methods that we would never promote, but I’m not sure that novice dog people are ever told about the potential for harm that quick-fix tools like shock collars can cause. And when a dog owner with an unruly dog sees the “before and after” videos, many happily sign on, without being informed about the potential for fallout. They probably haven’t been told up front that the dog’s seeming calmness and compliance comes with a remote control – one that they will have to learn to utilize in order to maintain those behaviors. Were they asked if they are willing to continue to hurt their dogs into the indefinite future? Or have their dogs learn to associate them with the pain?
The goal of the kind of dog training we describe in WDJ – dog-friendly training, positive-reinforcement-based training, fear-free training, call it whatever you want – is to cultivate communication with and cooperation from our dogs, not just assert control through superior strength or power. Communication and cooperation with other beings is most soundly built on a foundation of mutual comprehension – and this takes a little bit of time! But if the process of learning about each other is rewarding and enjoyable for both parties (canine and human), the bond between them will be strong, even if communication breaks down at times.
Let’s talk about it
*Please note that this place on the WDJ website – the blog spot – is where my personal thoughts are posted. The word “blog” is short for “web log”; it came into being to describe the sort of sites that were devoted to journaling and other personal posts. This isn’t an “article” about the evils of shock collars; it’s where I am trying to work out my personal discomfort with both the use of the tools and the general public’s seeming inability to detect or understand the potential for quite serious fallout from their use and misuse.
Trainers: Do you have personal experience with using shock collars for training garden-variety behaviors? (Let’s confine the discussion to this.) Do you have experience working with dogs who were shocked by different trainers or owners before you were consulted? If so, what can you tell us about these experiences?
Owners: Have you paid someone to train your dog with one of these devices? Were you told up-front that a shock collar would be used on your dog? What has your experience been? Has your dog seemed different in any way?
Do any of you work in a veterinarian’s office or shelter? If so, what are the words that you wish you could forbid people to say when they walk into the lobby and find that they are the only ones there at the moment? Say it with me:
“Wow, it’s quiet in here today!”
It’s almost guaranteed that when those words are said out loud, within minutes, the phones will start ringing and cars will start pulling into the parking lot and pet-related emergencies will just start busting loose. I’ve seen it happen with my own eyes, many times.
Which is why I feel a little anxious about saying what I’m going to say next: Are the shelters emptying out? Have all the people who are out of work and working from home who have ever wanted a dog recently adopted a dog?
Fewer dogs are available for adoption
My shelter currently has six adoptable dogs. Just six! Often, they have 30 or more!
I’ve also received requests for help with locating dogs to adopt. I’ve heard it again and again: Everyone is going to their local shelters, but there aren’t many dogs to adopt!
Boy, I look tired. We also had a local fire that day, and I am still wearing my North Valley Animal Disaster Group “Animal Rescue” shirt, after reporting for volunteer duty
I heard this, too, from the West Coast coordinator for the American Black and Tan Coonhound Rescue (ABTCR), a group I have transported dogs for and have helped place dogs through. My local shelter had an American Foxhound that they were having trouble placing, and the ABTCR contacted me, asking if I could transport him to their facility a couple hours’ drive away. No problem! Happy to help!
I expressed my gratitude to the coordinator; since I first met her about 8 years ago, her group has taken in at least a dozen hounds from my local shelter. That’s a significant burden, as she has fostered as many as 30 hounds at a time in her dog daycare/boarding facility for the ABTCR. Her response to my thanks? “I will have him placed in a week; we have way more adopters than hounds at the moment!” WOW. I did a little happy dance at that news!
Since the first shelter-in-place orders went out in mid-March, I’ve had a hand in a few adoptions myself. One was a dog who was pointed out to me by another shelter volunteer; the dog is active and craves attention from people, and her behavior was deteriorating in the shelter. I spent just a few minutes with her and decided to bring her home to foster; she was super smart and sweet and really needed to get out and run! I kept posting photos of her on my personal Facebook page, and after a few weeks of fostering, she found a great home with a young couple, friends of my son who live a few hours away.
Good photos get dogs adopted
Then, a few weeks ago, I spent a couple mornings at the shelter, helping with behavior assessments and taking photos of adoptable dogs. I can honestly say that new, good photos got one of the dogs adopted the very next day. The person who adopted her wondered where the dog had been hidden; she hadn’t seen her photo on the website before! Actually, she had; it’s just that the intake photos were so bad, the woman wasn’t previously drawn to the dog at all.
Big fluffy dog and adopter
I helped connect another dog I photographed with an adopter a couple days later. I remembered that a friend who works in rescue locally had told me that she had an adopter looking for a nice, large dog. We don’t get enough people who specifically want BIG dogs! So when I saw this large, fuzzy, super-friendly fellow, I gave my friend a ring. Her acquaintance adopted the dog days later. Yahoo!
Perfect terrier adoption
Another friend of my son contacted me, hoping I could help him find the first dog he would be adopting as an adult out on his own. He had been raised in a family with lots of dogs, but hadn’t ever had one of his own. He wanted a friendly dog who isn’t too big or too small, athletic but not bananas, not a puppy but not old … and I almost fell over myself with excitement. I had just the dog for him! I fell in love with this little terrier when I met her at the shelter, and was so happy to fix her up with my son’s friend.
For the past two weeks, I have been buried in work, getting the August issue to the printer, and with no time to get to the shelter. So I was thrilled when I saw only six dogs available for adoption. I’ll get over there in the next few days and take some more pictures.
But now I’m curious and anxious and happy, all at once: Are the shelters emptying out where you are, too?
Woman training a dog in back yard. Photo: Vladimir Vladimirov/Getty Images
Our dogs have very little opportunity for choice in their lives in today’s world. We control what and when they eat, when they play, when and where they can go to the bathroom, and where they sleep. We expect them to walk politely on leash without exploring the rich and fascinating world around them, and want them to lie quietly on the floor for much of the day. Compare this to how dogs used to live: running around the farm, chasing squirrels at will, eating and rolling in deer poop, chewing on sticks, digging in the mud, swimming in the pond, following the tractor…
Noted behaviorist and Utah State University psychology professor Dr. Susan Friedman says, “The power to control one’s own outcomes is essential to behavioral health.”
There’s a good likelihood that our dogs’ lack of choice is at least partly responsible for the amount of stress we are seeing in many of our canine companions these days, and some of the resulting behavior challenges. Imagine how stressed you would be if your life was as tightly controlled as your dog’s!
You can introduce choice to your dogs by teaching a “You Choose” cue:
1. Select a very high-value and very low-value treat.
2. Show high-value treat to your dog and name it: Meat, Beef, Chicken, High, etc. Let him eat it. Repeat several times.
3. Show the low-value treat to your dog and name it: Kibble, Milkbone, Low, etc. Let him eat it. Repeat several times.
4. Now tell him to “Wait,” say your high-value name, put the high-value treat in one bowl and show it to him in one hand, then name your low-value treat, put it in a different bowl, and show it to him in your other hand. Place both bowls on the floor at your feet at the same time, about six inches apart. Repeat “Wait” if needed, to keep him from eating it. (If your dog doesn’t have a good “Wait” behavior, either have someone hold his collar or leash, or teach him to “Wait.”
5. Now say “You choose!” “Pick one!” (or whatever you want your “Choice” cue to be) and invite him to choose a bowl. While he eats that treat, quickly pick up the other bowl so he doesn’t eat that treat also.
6. Repeat numerous times, putting high-value/low-value randomly on alternate sides, until it’s clear he’s realizing he can choose his preference. (You might be surprised to discover what you think is higher value for him – may not be!)
Watch for “side-preference”
If your dog always eats the treat from the bowl on the same side regardless of which treat is in it, your dog has a strong “side preference” – like a left-handed or right-handed person. You can overcome this by putting your high-value treat on his non-preferred side, and his low-value treat on his preferred side far off to the side, and doing lots of repetitions, very gradually bringing the preferred-side treat closer and closer. When he will continue to choose the high-value treat even when the low-value treat is close, go back to switching them randomly.
Generalize “Choice”
Now that your dog understands the concept of choice, you can use it in a variety of situations. Take him in the vicinity of your back door and say, “Want to go out? You Choose!” If he gets happy and moves toward the door he is saying “Yes!” and you can open the door, say “Okay, go!” and let him out (assuming your yard is fenced!). If he looks away, stays calm or otherwise indicates that he’s not excited about the prospect of going out you can say, “Never mind,” and close the door, keeping him in the house with you.
Perhaps you’re going for a walk and the path divides. Stop, have him sit at the fork in the path, say “You choose!” and let him pick which way he wants to go. Offer him two toys and say “You choose!” so he gets to pick which toy he wants to play with. Put some serious thought into other ways to give him choices, and incorporate as many as you can into his world. As Dr. Friedman reminds us, the more he can control his own outcomes, the more behaviorally healthy he is likely to be.
The author's formerly feral puppy, Clara. Despite her seemingly innocent puppy charm, the time that Clara had spent fending for herself in the world made her a tougher customer than she appeared
When I first started to learn about training, it was in the world of competitive dog obedience. In that specialized niche, dog training was mostly separate from everyday life. You trained the dog to do difficult but stylized stuff. It was a sport, a competition, a mini-culture. I jumped in, competing with several dogs. This changed the course of my life a bit, adding new interests, activities, and friends.
But a friend used to tease me and ask why this training didn’t include anything practical. Why didn’t it teach my dogs not to jump on her when greeting? I would weakly tell her about the Canine Good Citizen classes and test, which are a great step in the right direction in the obedience world. But I also knew in my heart that a dog could easily pass the CGC at that time and have poor manners in real life. (I know because I did it with two dogs!) There was something missing.
I only gradually learned about another type of dog training – one that is based on the science of learning but is also all about practicality. This type applies to everything from helping dogs get along in human homes to agility to search and rescue. (It applies beautifully to competitive obedience as well.) It considers the ethics of changing functional behaviors. It encourages us to learn about dog body language so that we may better perceive our dogs’ response to training and other situations. This type of training emphasizes enriching our dogs’ lives even as we may need to change some human-unfriendly behaviors.
It helps us realize that the laws of learning apply to humans too. Professional dog trainers train humans as much as they train dogs.
This was the new-to-me world of training that I had hoped was out there. This was the missing piece. And when I finally found it, the lessons I learned caused sea changes in my life, my beliefs, and my behavior.
Here are three of the many things I’ve learned:
1. Perceive the dog (or person) in front of me. I tend to live in my head. My friends tell me they could rearrange the furniture in my house and I wouldn’t notice. I believe my thoughts. So when things go counter to my expectations, I don’t always notice right away.
A potent example of this happened when I took in my once-feral puppy, Clara. She had grown up wild to the age of about 11 weeks; her mother had a litter of puppies in the woods and I and other people in the neighborhood were feeding the mother in hopes of catching and rescuing the whole family. The puppy came in my house – completely ignoring me and slipping past me through the door – because she heard my dogs barking. She started to engage with them and I closed the door behind her – captured! In the space of an hour she had accepted my dogs and me, too.
When Clara accepted me, I assumed that would extend to the rest of the human race. She was young and she had turned the corner very quickly with me. Plus, she was a puppy!Puppies are fun; puppies are joyful. Puppies return our love for them!
The next day I put her in my car to take her to the vet for an exam and vaccinations. On the way, I stopped at a friend’s house to show her my new puppy. My friend stuck her head in the car and Clara growled – and not a cute growl. But I didn’t believe what my ears heard! I encouraged my friend to look in again and reach her hand out. This was met with louder and lower growls. Yikes!
That’s what it took to make me let go of my “puppy” preconception. I finally noticed that this puppy was extremely uncomfortable and doing rather un-puppyish things.
Clara’s extreme case forced me to learn and relearn this lesson: Perceive the actual dog in front of you, instead of your preconceived idea of the dog in front of you. I have become more observant because of her!
These folks are watching the conclusion of a bicycle race. As each bike whizzes by, people ring cowbells and cheer. This dog’s owner hasn’t yet realized that her dog is stressed by all this, even though the dog is trying hard to say she would like to leave.
But you don’t need a feral puppy to make this mistake. When you plan an outing with your dog that you’re sure she’ll like, how long does it take you to notice if she is not enjoying it?
If you’re like me, you might have had a picture all fixed in your head of the wonderful time you were going to have together. It can sometimes take a while to notice that your beloved dog is not happy. She may not like the noise or the water or the other dogs or whatever and she has been trying to drag you back to the car. Oh! There is a real dog here on the end of my leash, and she’s not acting like the imaginary one in my head!
THE DOG IS OKAY
Interestingly, it works the other way as well. A dog might actually be okay when we assume she is distressed. I had this experience with my elderly dog Cricket after she developed canine cognitive dysfunction. Dementia, in humans and in dogs, is a tragedy. It is terrible and heartbreaking to see your loved one’s cognitive functions fail. My Cricket did go through what appeared to be a period of anxiety in the early and middle stages of her dementia. But she was fortunate because as the disease progressed, she got less distressed, not more. But it took me a while to catch up with this and believe it.
For a long time, I would experience a wave of sympathy and grief when Cricket walked in circles, forgot what she had just done, or zoned out in a corner. But I came to believe, through careful observation and what we know of dog cognition, that she wasn’t suffering when she did these things.
Unlike me, she didn’t remember her former capabilities and grieve them. She didn’t show frustration or anxiety as the disease progressed. The dog in front of me was impaired, but she was actually doing okay.
2. See the good. This sounds simple enough. Most of us know the benefits of “seeing the good in the world” and looking on the bright side. But that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m not talking about attitudes or the big picture. I’m talking about the little picture.
In positive reinforcement-based training, we set the stage for the behaviors we want. When our dogs perform them, we reinforce with food, play, and other things that work for that particular dog. But we have to see the behaviors first. We have to pay attention.
One method of developing a new behavior is capturing. With this method, we are on the lookout all the time for a behavior we want in a specific context. We look for the moment our dog bows, does a fold-back down, or checks in with us in a tough situation. We reinforce it. We are looking for what we want, rather than reacting to all the stuff we don’t want.
After a while, capturing can generalize – for the human! We aren’t looking for just that one behavior anymore. We notice all sorts of cool and helpful stuff that our dogs do.
It’s easy to notice the bad stuff; we are wired that way. It’s a survival issue. If our forebears missed seeing the stand of blackberries, the ripe pecans on the ground, or the excellent fishing hole, they might’ve gone hungry. Usually, however, they got another chance. But if they missed noticing the coiled snake or the rip tide – well, they weren’t anyone’s forebears.
This is not to say that positive reinforcement is flimsy. Far from it. We have to eat eventually, after we finish hiding from the tigers. We have to do it regularly or we die. It’s just that things that are dangerous or unpleasant grab us by the amygdala.
But I learned to notice when my dog did the right thing, the pleasant thing, or the safe thing. And this habit spread slowly to the rest of my life. I started noticing the good more, and that led to behavior change on my part. I not only noticed the good, but also encouraged it.
It meant going out of my way to say, “Thank you” – and not only in rote social situations, but in circumstanceswhere a little observation told me that the person had gone out of their way to do something kind or helpful. It meant seeing common ground with difficult people. It meant sticking up for someone I disagreed with if they were arguing politely and fairly. It meant complimenting perfect strangers if I liked how they were interacting with their kids, their parents, or their animals.
Finally, it made me examine my values carefully. What is “good,” to me anyway? If I’m going to encourage people in certain behaviors, I’d better have thought things through!
Humans are hard-wired to notice problems and imperfections. It takes a lot of practice to learn to notice (and reinforce) all the tiny good things our dogs do – even when we know that the more we reinforce the behaviors we want, the more the dog will do them.
3. Have patience with behavior change. I can remember the days when I thought I should be able to change my dog’s behavior instantly, if only I knew the right trick or could buy the right gizmo. Abracadabra, and the dog no longer jumps over the fence into the garden. There is some kind of disconnect in our culture about that. Because even if we haven’t heard of things like learning theory, positive reinforcement, or extinction, we are probably familiar with habits.
We know habits are hard to change – and I’m not even talking about addictions, just everyday habits! How long does it take you to consistently remember to take the new route to work because of the long-term construction happening on your usual route? What about that time four weeks into the new route when you were daydreaming and went the old way again?
How many times do you try to flip on a light switch when you know your power is out? How long does it take to change your posture because of your physical therapist’s instructions? To breathe differently?
Most adults have been bopped on the head by reality many times when trying to change habits. Yet we still can buy the idea that we should be able to change a dog’s behavior instantly when said behavior is currently working great for the dog. And even if we are taking our time to train the dog well and the dog is a happy participant – we are still working against habits.
What I have learned from dog training and behavior science and by paying attention is that changing an ingrained behavior can be slow. When I see how difficult it can be for me, it gives me more patience with my dogs (and with people, too!).
COMPLEMENTARY LESSONS
These three lessons enhance each other. Not being hampered by preconceptions (#1) helps me see the good in a situation (#2), and patience (#3) helps me shape the good that is already there into something better. This is true for dog training, people training, and my own personal growth.
Portions of this article were first published in BARKS from the Guild, Pet Professional Guild’s official publication.
The July 4 holiday is almost upon us – a source of distress for many dogs, with its days and days of popping and cracking sounds of firecrackers and fireworks, followed by one very long day and night of firecrackers, fireworks, and BOOMING fireworks. It’s not actually something I have personally worried about – until recently! I’ve never before had a dog who was particularly concerned about the sounds of fireworks or guns or thunder, but I do now.
Otto is getting more anxious as he ages
Nope, I don’t have a new dog. I have an old dog, Otto, and his anxiety about these sounds has gone up exponentially in the past few years. Last year’s Independence Day was the first time that he got upset enough at the sound of fireworks to concern me. Prior to last year, he didn’t seem to notice thunder and would merely lift an eyebrow at the sound of a gunshot. Fireworks have made him pant and tremble for the past few years, but he would recover within 10 or 15 minutes after the sounds stopped, like, “Whew! Glad THAT’S over!”
But last year, in the days leading up to July 4, he came running to me, shaking and panting, every time he heard a firecracker go “Bang!” – and he’d stay in that clingy, panicky state for hours. And on the night of the 4th, we spent a fairly miserable night with all the windows closed, all the fans in the house on high, and the sound on the TV turned up VERY high, trying to drown out the sounds: the far-away booms of the town fireworks, the much closer and smaller fireworks show put on by a local casino (less than a quarter mile away as the crow flies), and the absolutely illegal and dangerous crap being set off in the driveways and yards of neighbors all around us (we live in a rural area where the fire danger is VERY high). I ended up sleeping (or trying to sleep) on the couch with Otto, trying to comfort him well into the wee hours of the morning as he jumped off the couch with every occasional “bang!” and trembled and panted for 10 or more minutes after each episode.
Otto under my desk panting, wild eyed.
It’s not too late to get help for your dog (or, wait, it might be)
So, this year, I vowed, I was going to act early to see a veterinarian and get a prescription for something to help him get through the 4th without trauma.
I called my vet’s office on June 2 to schedule an appointment. They didn’t have an opening until June 10 – no worries. That should be fine.
The trouble started when I discussed with my vet – over the phone, from the vet’s parking lot, after her examination of Otto, as per post-Covid-19 standard practice – what sort of medication I wanted to get for Otto. I have heard from any number of dog-trainer friends and dog-owner friends that the newish drug, Sileo, works wonders for their thunder-phobic or fireworks-averse dogs, and so that was the medication I was hoping to get for Otto. But my vet told me that it is her practice to prescribe a combination of Acepromazine and Trazodone for dogs who freak out at fireworks.
For years and years, “Ace” was the go-to drug prescribed by many (most?) veterinarians for dogs with severe anxiety, including dogs with a history of panicking in the face of fireworks. But in more recent years, veterinary behavior experts have learned and taught that dogs who are dosed with Ace may actually experience a greater sensitivity to the sounds of fireworks – but they are unable to move or react. Using the drug in combination with another drug sounds more effective, but also introduces more possible adverse side effects into the equation.
My vet mentioned that she’s familiar with the active ingredient in Sileo – dexmedetomidine – and uses it in her practice as a pre-anesthetic. But she hasn’t used the drug in the oral form used in Sileo; it’s a gel that is applied to the dog’s gums. She mentioned that she didn’t see anything wrong with prescribing it for Otto, but that her practice doesn’t carry it, so she’d have to give me a paper prescription that I could have filled elsewhere.
Filling prescriptions online can be tricky
Here’s where things started to get tricky. I immediately took that paper prescription to the pharmacy at Costco, which is literally next door to my vet’s practice. The pharmacist looked through three supplier catalogues, but handed the prescription back to me, shaking his head. “None of our suppliers carry it, sorry.”
I got home and called a friend who has reported using Sileo for her thunder- and fireworks-phobic dog. She said, “For goodness sakes! I have gotten it from my vet, but I generally get it for a lower price from 1-800-PetMeds.com. I also have friends who have gotten it from Chewy.com,” she told me.
I already have a Chewy.com account, so I pulled up that website and started an online order. With online pharmacies, you can either mail your veterinarian’s paper prescription to the pharmacy, or click a box indicating that you’d like the pharmacy to call your veterinarian to confirm the prescription, to speed up the process. I clicked that box. It was June 10, already. Let’s get this ball rolling!
A few days later, I received an email from Chewy.com. I was fully expecting a shipping confirmation, but what I received was, “We haven’t been able to reach your veterinarian; please call us.” Given that my veterinarian is a 24-hour, 7-days-a-week practice, I thought that was unlikely. I called, and a representative told me, “Sorry, that was a stock message; it doesn’t really fit this situation, but I’m glad you called. Your veterinarian’s office told us that they don’t work with online pharmacies and won’t confirm the prescription; you will have to mail us the paper copy.” Ack! Now * I * was feeling a little panicky, like I might run out of time before the medication arrives!
I mailed the prescription off that day. About five days later, I received another email from Chewy.com, indicating that they received the prescription and will be sending Otto’s medication to me soon. It arrived on June 23.
There are drug-free ways to help your dog
Long story, short: If your dog could benefit from pharmaceutical intervention to get through the July 4 holiday without having a nervous breakdown, act immediately to get veterinary help.
Also, here are some links with terrific ideas for other interventions that may be helpful:
Even an extremely obese dog's quality of life can improve a lot with a little weight loss. A reduction of even just a few pounds might mean the difference between mobility and immobility - and that can mean the difference between continence and incontinence, especially later in life.
In 2013, the American Medical Association defined obesity in humans as a disease. The veterinary medical profession is also pushing to have obesity in companion animals similarly designated. In October 2019, the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention (APOP) released a position statement (the “Global Pet Obesity Initiative”) calling for a uniform definition of obesity in companion animals, a universal body condition score system, and a definition of obesity as a disease. The release found wide support from veterinary healthcare organizations all over the world.
Chances are, if your dog is carrying extra pounds, she doesn’t feel good. The impact of even a little excess weight is exponentially greater and more concentrated in dogs than it is in humans. Canine obesity can not only cause a number of diseases and exacerbate others, but it also impairs normal body functions. Overweight dogs are predisposed to developing metabolic irregularities, abnormal functions in many organ systems, diabetes mellitus and insulin resistance, hypertension, diseases of the kidneys, liver, and skin, arthritis, bladder/urinary tract issues, joint and ligament problems and other orthopedic issues, thyroid imbalances, respiratory conditions, heart failure, and chronic inflammation.
Research has also demonstrated a connection between obesity and cancer, but it is not clear how it increases cancer risk. One theory is that excess fat around vital organs increases damaging inflammation. Over time, chronic low-level inflammation can cause DNA damage that leads to the development of cancer.
Dogs who are overweight or obese also live shorter lives – on average, 21/2 years less than dogs with a healthy body condition. A study published in 2018 examined records for more than 50,000 client-owned, neutered dogs across 12 popular breeds over a 20-year span and found that overweight body condition was associated with a shorter life span in all 12 breeds. The magnitude of the effect varied, being least for large-breed dogs (5 months) and greatest for dogs of the smallest breed (more than 2 years).
The good news is that a lot of these health concerns can be prevented, mitigated, or eliminated by proper nutrition, an active lifestyle, and maintaining a healthy weight.
MANY FACTORS AFFECT A DOG’S WEIGHT
Energy is measured in calories, and calories are essential for a body to function. Excess energy, however, is stored as body fat and occurs when more calories are consumed than are used by the body.
Fat storage can be a useful hedge against leaner times ahead for some animals. For example, bears spend their non-hibernating days searching for food and eating as much as possible so that this extra weight (stored energy) is available for the body to use for basic bodily functions while they hibernate. They do this because food is not readily available during the lean cold winter months. In hibernation, their bodies reduce their physiological processes to their most minimal level, using the stored energy to survive.
In contrast, our dogs have food available year round and therefore don’t have any need for storing extra energy. In fact, that extra weight can be detrimental.
Besides the amount of food, there are other factors that can affect the weight of a dog. Calorie density (the number of calories in a serving) and the digestibility of food can also play a role. Non-food related factors that can affect weight include genetics, lifestyle and activity level, stage of life, climate, and even some diseases.
In October 2019, Preventative Veterinary Medicine published a Danish study that looked for obesity risk factors.2 Researchers found that neutering increased the risk of obesity in male dogs, but females were at risk regardless of whether they were intact or spayed. Interestingly, as dogs aged, the study noted that the risk of obesity increased in older female dogs but decreased in senior males.
The same study found that owner behavior is an important factor in canine weight management. Overweight owners tended to give treats freely as a snack or when the owner is eating, whereas non-overweight owners usually dispensed treats for training purposes only. This suggests that the health of pets and owners is interconnected – and that weight management plans for both dog and owner might be more successful if they were jointly undertaken!
BODY CONDITION SCORE
Because the ideal weight of a dog varies based on breed, size, and age, and the dog’s condition is more important than how much he weighs, a body condition score (BCS) provides for a more a meaningful measurement than the dog’s weight alone.
BCS guidelines call for an assessment of condition at certain locations on a dog’s body; these assessments can then be categorized into a score. The nine-point scale ranges from 1 to 9. A score of 1 indicates the dog is extremely thin, and score of 9 indicates extremely obese. Scores of 4 and 5 are considered ideal.
The difference between each point on the nine-point chart represents approximately 10 to 15%. Generally speaking, a dog is considered overweight when the level of excess body fat is greater than or equal to 15% of ideal; while obese is loosely defined as being 30% above optimal.
An overall BCS score gives an owner more information about what the dog’s whole body does look and feel like – and how, specifically, it should look and feel. While frequent weigh-ins are helpful for detecting small losses (or gains) in a dog’s weight, the BCS helps describe both the problem and the goal.
12 Canine Weight-Loss Tips
1. Measure food out in daily portions and use that food for treats as well as meals.
2. Never guess at amounts. Use a food scale.
3. Become familiar with the caloric measurements of your dog’s food.
4.Avoid processed treats; instead, seek out healthy single-ingredient treats (such as fresh vegetables and fruit) – and know how many calories they contain!
5.Use play, praise, petting (only in forms the dog enjoys), or attention instead of treats to reward good behavior.
6. Some dogs use food-seeking behavior as a way to seek attention. Try substituting play, petting, and other forms of interaction instead of giving in to that request for a snack.
7. Walk with your dog. Slowly increase distance as your dog builds stamina.
8. Play with your dog! Look for toys that interest your dog and encourage movement.
9. If your dog gets bored with a toy, put it away to bring out at a later time and try a new one.
10. If your dog likes to play with other dogs, schedule play dates with appropriate play partners.
11. Place your dog’s food bowl in a different place at every meal; turn “going to find the bowl” into a “search and find” game.
12. Use a food-dispensing toy (like Paw 5’s “Wooly” snuffle mat, seen here) so that your dog gets exercise and enrichment while eating.
VETERINARY HELP REQUIRED
The first step to addressing your dog’s weight condition is a wellness visit to your veterinarian. If are finally facing the fact that your dog is obese, don’t put her on a weight-reduction program without veterinary input first; there may be an underlying health condition that is responsible for the excess weight. For example, hypothyroidism, hyperadrenocorticism, and Cushing’s disease can be associated with weight gain; these and other conditions must be ruled out as possible causes or contributors to your dog’s weight issue.
Your veterinarian should test for diabetes; obesity can complicate blood-sugar regulation. If your dog is diabetic, the condition needs to be stabilized prior to embarking on a new diet and monitored throughout the process so adjustments to medication can be made. If medications are not adjusted appropriately, it can lead to hypoglycemia, which can be fatal.
Your veterinarian can work with you to assess your dog’s body condition, muscle condition, and lifestyle, and evaluate any other concurrent health conditions that might need to be addressed in concert with the dog’s new diet and exercise plan.
Importantly, your vet will also calculate how many calories you should feed your dog each day. Few people seem to understand that the recommended feeding amounts on dog food labels are based on dogs’ ideal weight. They feed the amount indicated on the label for the dog’s current weight, which makes him get even fatter!
Ask your veterinarian to help determine what your dog’s ideal weight should be, how many calories your dog should eat to achieve that weight, and precisely how you should adjust from your current feeding regimen to a more appropriate amount. (Hint: If you cut your dog’s food in half overnight, you may see the quick emergence of unpleasant behaviors, such as counter-surfing, getting into the garbage, aggression with your other dogs over food, and so on.)
Your vet also may consult with or refer you to a board certified veterinary nutritionist to help determine the best feeding options for your dog. Diplomates of the American College of Veterinary Nutrition (ACVN) are extensively trained in the nutritional management of both healthy animals and those with diseases. These specialized veterinarians are uniquely qualified to formulate commercial foods and supplements, formulate home-prepared diets, manage the complex medical and nutritional needs of individual animals, and understand the underlying causes and implications of specific nutritional strategies that are used to prevent and treat diseases.
EXERCISE AND BEST DOG FOOD FOR WEIGHT LOSS
The three basic strategies to losing excess weight are reducing caloric intake, increasing exercise, and a combination of the two. Weight loss is usually best achieved by the latter.
Ideally, a dog’s weight-reduction program will be designed so that the dog receives enough calories to support his ideal weight, achieve weight loss, and keep him comfortable throughout the program. When his caloric intake is reduced to a more appropriate level (sufficient to support the energy needs of his ideal weight, but not enough to support his extra weight), his body will start to pull energy from the stored weight.
Low-calorie, fiber-rich foods (such as green vegetables) can be beneficial to the success of a weight loss plan; they not only help dogs feel fuller and reduce the sensation of hunger, they reduce the caloric density of a diet so that a larger volume of food can be fed.
When food needs to be reduced over prolonged periods, specialized diets may be prescribed to ensure that nutrition deficiencies do not occur. Good nutrition is necessary for maintaining optimal health and for managing certain diseases.
Exercise is important for general health, but that’s not the only reason it helps: Muscles burn more calories than body fat, and increasing exercise helps build muscle mass.
Work closely with your veterinarian to develop a safe and appropriate exercise plan, too. If your dog is not accustomed to exercise, do not begin with a vigorous new regimen as it can be dangerous. Slow and steady tends to work best, with increases as your dog becomes healthier.
Kissy's Journey Back to Health
Kissy’s intake photo
Kissy, a 9-year-old Scottish Terrier/Poodle-mix, entered the Dogwood Animal Rescue Project (DARP, a nonprofit, foster-based animal-rescue group located in Sonoma County, Calif.) in mid-April 2020. When she arrived, it was obvious that she had a lot of extra weight on her small frame; on the body condition score (BCS) scale, she scored at 9. She was so heavy she had difficulty walking – even stepping over a two-inch barrier was a challenge. It was also immediately apparent that she was aptly named: Jessica, her foster provider, describes her as a sweet, gentle girl who always wants to give kisses, but a little shy.
Kissy and her foster mom
Kissy’s veterinary evaluation found she had dental disease, so she underwent cleaning with extractions. Jessica also noticed that Kissy was drinking an excessive amount of water and was lethargic; the vet determined that she had a urinary tract infection (UTI). Not long after she was started on antibiotics to treat the UTI, her energy level increased and her demeanor became much happier and more outgoing. It was impossible to determine if secondary health issues were causing Kissy’s obesity (the results of her Cushing’s test, for example, were inconclusive) or if the obesity was causing secondary disease. Either way, she needed to lose weight, so a veterinary-supervised program was put in place.
Kissy’s diet consists of precisely measured food given to her twice a day and periodic treats of carrots and green beans. Jessica started her on slow walks. At first, Kissy did not seem to understand what a walk was! With gentle training and encouragement from Jessica’s other two dogs, Kissy is discovering the joy of walking and is starting to sniff and take in the adventure.
In addition to her individual short walks – which are getting longer and longer as her health improves – Jessica includes her on more vigorous outings with her dogs by bringing Kissy along in a stroller. She’s easy going but doesn’t want to be left out of the fun! Jessica also found that Kissy loves to chase balls and that was initially part of her exercise routine. Unfortunately, Kissy was experiencing lameness in a rear leg and has been diagnosed with a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Until that can be resolved (possibly with surgery, after she has lost more weight), her exercise is limited to walking.
With the change in diet and gentle exercise, Kissy has lost4 pounds in six weeks; this has improved her health and her future and her world has blossomed. DARP will continue to provide the care she needs until she is placed in a permanent home. For updates about Kissy, visit DARP’s Facebook page: facebook.com/DogwoodAnimalRescue/. As we go to press, CARP is acceptingapplications for Kissy’s adoption. To apply, or to support DARP’s mission (rescue, rehoming, spay/neuter, education),see dogwoodanimalrescue.org.
DOG WEIGHT LOSS: GO SLOW
Canine weight loss programs can be long-term projects and healthy weight maintenance is lifelong. While the length of time it takes a dog to return to an ideal body weight varies, don’t be surprised if it takes nine months or more to reach that goal. Focus on incremental successes, such as an improvement in BCS or reduction of a health problem.
Keep in mind, too, that it doesn’t take a lot of weight loss to make a dog feel better. Even modest losses can be of benefit. A 2010 study found that there were discernable improvements in the mobility of obese dogs with concurrent arthritis after just a 6% weight loss.
A position paper published by the University of California-Davis School of Veterinary Medicine (“Nutritional Management of Weight”) recommends that dogs lose no more than 2% of their body weight per week. If the loss rate exceeds this, dogs may feel hungry and engage in food-seeking behaviors. Worse, their metabolism may slow (which makes weight loss more difficult) and muscle mass may be lost as the body burns muscle tissue for energy instead of body fat. After beginning a weight-loss program, periodic rechecks and weigh-ins are necessary to ensure that the approach is working and continues to work; often a plan will require tailoring to maintain optimal efficacy.
YOU HAVE ONE JOB
In 2017, PLOS One published the results of a three-month observational study of weight loss in 926 overweight dogs conducted at 340 veterinary practices in 27 countries. The dogs were fed a commercially available dry or wet weight-loss diet; the amounts fed were determined according to the dog’s estimated ideal weight.
The short duration of the study did not permit most dogs to reach their target weight, but even so, owners reported positive changes including improved activity and quality of life.
But the study also highlighted the problem of owner noncompliance. The success of a weight-loss program depends on owners; maintaining owner compliance often proves to be a challenge for veterinary professionals. In this study, nearly 40% of the owners who enrolled their dogs did not complete the trial, similar to retention rates of other field weight-loss studies.
It is our responsibility to protect our dogs – we all agree on that. So remember: By keeping your dog lean, you are helping to prevent him from developing debilitating diseases and live a longer, healthier, and happier life. Keep that in mind when he’s begging for treats, and give him a carrot! He’ll be the better for it.
Dog Weight Loss Resources
*Dog Food Logic, by Linda P. Case, M.S. Dogwise Publishing, 2014
*Walk a Hound, Lose a Pound: How You & Your Dog Can Lose Weight, Stay Fit, and Have Fun, by Phil Zeltzman and Rebecca A. Johnson. Purdue University Press, 2011
