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Howling Good Fun

By
Nancy Kerns
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28
© Nigel Spooner | Dreamstime.com

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.

How to Teach Your Dog to Be a Good Dining Companion

By
Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA
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1
Photo: FluxFactory/Getty Images

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. 

Related: Mat Training Tips, December 2019.

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.

dining out with your dog
Photo: ablokhin/Getty Images

How to dine al fresco with your dog

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. 

Happy doggie dining!

Top photograph: FluxFactory/Getty Images

Read Next: How to Train Your Dog to Calmly Walk on Leash

Using Shock Collars for Dog Training – Is It Ok?

By
Nancy Kerns
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175
Are shock collars okay for dog training? They definitely have downsides.

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?

Pet Adoptions in the Time of the Coronavirus Pandemic

By
Nancy Kerns
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19
Stella enjoying a sunny day.

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?

How to Teach a ‘You Choose’ Cue

By
Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA
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2
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.

Top photograph: Vladimir Vladimirov/Getty Images

Read Next: Whole Dog Journal, Pro-Choice, November 2016

Life Lessons Learned From Training Dogs

By
Eileen Anderson, MM, MS
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5
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 circumstances  where 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.

Preparing Your Fireworks-Phobic Dog for July 4th

By
Nancy Kerns
-
19

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:

https://www.preventivevet.com/dogs/get-your-dog-ready-for-4th-of-july

https://www.preventivevet.com/dogs/why-you-shouldnt-use-acepromazine-for-cats-and-dogs

How to Help Your Dog Lose Weight

By
Barbara Dobbins
-
2
help my dog lose weight
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
dog weight chart

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 lost  4 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 accepting  applications 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 

*American College of Veterinary Nutrition
acvn.org/frequently-asked-questions/#Overweight

*Association for Pet Obesity Prevention (APOP)
petobesityprevention.org

*The Global Pet Obesity Initiative Position Statement
petobesityprevention.org/about/#GPOI

*UC Davis Veterinary Medicine, Small Animal Nutrition
vetmed.ucdavis.edu/hospital/animal-health-topics/weight

*World Small Animal Veterinary Association Global
Nutrition Committee
wsava.org/committees/global-nutrition-committee/

Safe Choices for Chewing in a Crate

By
Nancy Kerns
-
11
Kong toys of an appropriate size, filled with canned food, and then frozen, is our favorite thing to serve to dogs in a crate. If you dog has ever chewed up a Kong toy, however, it should be eliminated from the list of things you can leave him with, unsupervised, in a crate.

Dog owners tend to think of crates as safe havens for their dogs or puppies – a place where they can stash a puppy for a short time to keep him from chewing household items or chasing the kids. Even owners of adult dogs sometimes use crates to protect their dogs, preventing them from escaping the house or from getting into a fight with another dog in the house, as just a couple examples. The overall idea is that the crate is a place where the dog or pup will be safe while we need to take our attention elsewhere and are unable to supervise him for a short amount of time. 

However, owners are often advised to give their puppies or dogs a toy, bone, or chewie to make being in the crate more enjoyable and to help pass the time. And if the item that is given to the dog or puppy is dangerous to his health, then that unsupervised time in the crate is absolutely not safe. It may, in fact, present a bigger danger to him than being loose in the house without the item.

If you will be walking away from your crated dog or pup, even just to take a shower or a Zoom meeting, your choices for a crate-safe chewie or food-dispensing toy are somewhat limited.

GO BIG!

If the item you give your dog is meant to be chewed, it should be far too large for the dog to swallow, even after a good long session of chewing. Don’t give any dog something that can be completely chewed up to a swallowable size in less than an hour. 

The problem, however, is finding items that are large enough. I have been dismayed, again and again, to see chew items designated for “large” dogs that are smaller than anything I would give to a five-pound Chihuahua. 

Many of the chewie products on the market can be chewed up and swallowed by an aggressive chewer in 10 minutes or less. If your dog can chew the item to a swallowable size in less than an hour of dedicated chewing, it’s not safe to give to him unsupervised. 

Lots of people buy dried beef “pizzles” for their dogs, and they are often sold in 12-inch lengths. But have you noticed that most dogs can chew these down to three or four inches within 15 minutes or so? At that point, these (and similar chew items) are in danger of being swallowed and causing the dog to choke! While a few dogs will keep chewing until the item is small enough to be safely swallowed, others will gulp it down when it’s definitely still long enough to pose a choking hazard if swallowed. For this reason, we wouldn’t recommend an item like this be used in a crate! 

There is a single rawhide product on the market that I occasionally buy for my strong-chewing large dogs (about 70 pounds each) and for any puppies or adolescent dogs I happen to be fostering: Wholesome Hide’s 10-inch Retriever Roll. These chews are made in Illinois of a single sheet of very thick rawhide. It takes a lot of work to chew off small pieces of the rawhide to consume, which is good, because we don’t want any dog to consume very much rawhide in any one sitting. If Wholesome Hide made even larger rolls, I would buy those, instead, even for small dogs.  If it takes days of on-and-off-again chewing for my large dogs to reduce the product to the size at which I throw it away, it will take a small dog more than a week to do so – and that’s great! Providing something that is ridiculously large will slow the dog’s rawhide consumption and prevent choking. 

BONES

This bone is too small; the dog can get it between his moles, risking a slab fracture. It’s also small enough that he might try to swallow it – and large enough to choke him if he tries.

We don’t approve of giving dogs dried bones – neither the sterilized, bleached white ones that are devoid of tissues or marrow, nor the decidedly not sterile, dried bones that have tissue still attached to them and marrow present inside them. The former bones are too hard; dogs invariably try to crack them open and are at a high risk of cracking their molars on them. While the latter bones are softer, they contain enough moisture to host pathogenic bacteria such as  Salmonella. 

If you are going to give your dog a bone to keep him happy, it should be fresh (or fresh-frozen). Ideally, these still have tissue still attached to them; the act of chewing, licking, and tearing at these tissues is incredibly helpful for scraping plaque from a dog’s teeth. 

Unfortunately, it’s difficult to find bones that have tissue still attached to them, unless you are lucky enough to have access to an old-fashioned butcher who still cuts up carcasses.  Industrial “big meat” practices utilize most bones for other purposes, and the few that do make it into supermarkets (and even commercial suppliers of raw diets who sell raw bones) usually lack these tissues. 

Also, bones should be given only to dogs who have proven, thorough many supervised trials, that they can chew bones safely – not super aggressively, and not intent on quickly swallowing as much bone as they can. Even then, we’d give a large, fresh, meaty bone to an experienced bone-eating dog in a crate only if the crating period was not going to be more than an hour or so; bone-chewing should be supervised.

MISCELLANEOUS CHEWS

If you give your dog rawhide, it should be gigantic, thick, and not filled with small pieces. He should have to work hard for long periods to chew any tissue off the roll.

What about dried pigs’ ears and snouts, beef hooves, tendons, and all the other miscellaneous dried animal parts found in the pet store aisles? Nope. We wouldn’t give a dog any of these items in a crate when we are not close by and actively supervising. Too many of these items can be chewed to sizes that can be choked on in a short time. 

FOOD-DISPENSING TOYS

Stuffing food into a toy such as the original Kong is the safest option for most dogs who benefit from having something in their crate to keep them occupied and happy. 

By filling your dogs’ Kongs with canned food or a raw diet and then freezing the toy, it takes longer for the food to melt and for the dog to completely empty the toy. Or you can use kibble mixed with peanut butter, cream cheese, or yogurt – anything healthy and sticky enough to make the dog have to work at licking and manipulating the toy to try to reach and eat all the food. 

However, you still have to make sure that the toy is of an appropriate size (too big to be swallowed) and toughness (chew-resistant), and that your dog will empty the food from the toy in a safe manner, not progressing to chewing the toy after the food is gone. Run a number of trials while supervising him to determine what type of food keeps your dog working at the task the longest.

There are many types of “food puzzles” (which require the dog to manipulate sliding covers or remove pegs to reach food treats) and balls or cubes that will dispense kibble when knocked around by the dog. These are not generally safe for most dogs to use without supervision, and certainly not appropriate for use in the close confines of a crate. 

AGGRESSIVE CHEWER?

Nothing is 100% safe. We’ve heard of dogs who are able to chew up even the toughest Kongs – the black ones, intended for the strongest chewers. If you have one of these dogs, crating him with a scattered handful of kibble might be the only safe solution. It won’t last as long as some of these other options, but it will be the safest choice for him. 

Crate Expectations: What You Need to Know About Your Dog’s Crate

By
Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA
-
4
You're not seeing double! These two young German Shepherds like to play rough - and sometimes one or the other loses his temper and the play escalates into aggression. When their owner can't actively supervise their interactions, one (or Both!) can cool their hells in a crate for a bit. As long as these active dogs get enough exercise and time out of their crates, they are content to spend quiet time in them.

I first learned about crate-training for dogs in the early 1980s and have been a big fan ever since. There are many advantages to having a dog who is comfortable in her crate, not the least of which is puppy housetraining and management. Imagine my surprise then, when I recently discovered an increasingly loud, visible and growing opposition to crating. Granted, there’s an unfortunate amount of abusive crating out there, and that’s certainly not acceptable, but the vehement anti-craters are essentially opposed to any crating, ever. Seriously? Never?

CRATING BENEFITS

There are so many benefits to appropriate crating that I can’t list them all, but here are some of the most useful:

* Puppy housetraining and management. As mentioned above, housetraining for puppies (and even adult dogs) is greatly facilitated by the proper use of a crate. Since dogs have natural inhibitions against soiling their own dens, crating your pup for periods of time when she cannot be directly supervised, then taking her out to eliminate in her designated bathroom spot, can help her become reliably housetrained more quickly, with far fewer accidents. Crating also minimizes puppy chewing/destructive behaviors when direct supervision isn’t possible. Properly trained, most puppies and dogs can learn to see their crates as a very positive place. 

* Restricted activity. Most dog owners are familiar with the dreaded words from their veterinarian following surgery or some other intensive medical treatment: “Your dog needs to be on restricted activity.” If your dog is already comfortable/happy being crated, a period of restricted activity is far less likely to be stressful to her (and to you!) and her rehabilitation is likely to be more successful. (See “Rest Easy,” WDJ August 2015.)

* Transportation. We know that there are significant risks posed by having loose dogs in a car – both from their potential to interfere with the driver and cause an accident, as well as the increased risk of injury or death to the dog if an accident occurs. 

My own brother lost his lovely Australian Shepherd in a car wreck; she survived the accident but jumped out the smashed windshield and was killed by another car on the highway. A strapped-down crate (or a harness/seat belt combination) could have prevented her death.

* Canine classes and competition venues. There are a variety of canine classes and competition venues where dogs are routinely crated when it’s not their turn to work. It is generally expected that your dog can be crated when necessary.

* Behavior management. There are many situations in which a crate can be of great benefit for behavior management. 

For example, our small mixed-breed, Sunny, constantly competes with Kai (our Kelpie) for attention, and because Kai consistently defers to Sunny, he tends to lose out in the attention game. We crate Sunny at night and Kai sleeps on the bed, so he gets an extended period of time with his humans without having to compete. 

If one of your dogs has food-guarding issues, feeding one or both dogs in their crates can eliminate this source of tension. Some adult dogs still need to be confined for management purposes when their humans aren’t home, and some find their crates comforting during stressful events such as thunderstorms, fireworks, or visitors in the home. Others see it as the perfect place to stash their toys when they aren’t using them.

* Décor. No, I’m not kidding – there are actually some very stylish dog crates available that are useful when performing a double service as end tables, sideboards, coffee tables, corner cabinets, and more – you can decorate your house while you crate your dog! 

HOW TO CRATE TRAIN

Here is a step-by-step guide for teaching your dog to love her crate. If at any time you get stuck in the process, don’t hesitate to contact a qualified force-free professional for help:

1. Start by leaving the crate in its intended long-term location with a soft blanket inside and some toys and treats on the blanket. The best introduction to the crate is when your dog can choose to explore it on her own. (Be sure to tie the door open so it won’t bang and frighten her.)

2. After she has had a chance to explore, with the crate door still tied open, toss some irresistibly yummy treats inside. If your dog is hesitant to go in after them, toss them close enough to the doorway that she can stand outside and just poke her nose into the crate to eat them. If you’re training with a clicker or other reward marker, use your marker each time she starts to eat the treat.

3. Gradually toss the treats farther into the crate until she will step inside to get them. Continue to mark each time she eats a treat. When she’ll enter the crate easily to get the treats, mark and offer a treat while she’s still inside. If she’s willing to stay inside, keep marking and treating. 

If she comes out, that’s okay too, just toss another treat inside and wait for her to re-enter. Don’t ever try to force her to stay in the crate. 

4. When she will enter the crate without hesitation, start using a verbal cue (such as “Go to bed!”) as she goes in, so that you will eventually be able to send her into the crate with just a verbal cue.

5. When she happily stays in the crate in anticipation of a mark and treat, gently move the door a little. Mark and treat. Gradually increase the movement until you are swinging the door all the way closed, using a mark (click or “Yes!”) and giving a treat with each swing. Don’t latch it! Mark and treat, then open the door. 

Repeat this step, gradually increasing the length of time the door stays closed before you mark. Sometimes you can mark and reward without opening the door right away.

6. When your dog stays in the crate with the door closed for at least 10 seconds without any signs of anxiety, close the door, latch it, and take one step away from the crate. Mark, return to the crate, reward, and open the door. Repeat this step, varying the time and distance you leave the crate. Gradually increase the number of times you mark and treat without opening the door, but remember that a mark always gets a treat.

NOTE: Don’t make each of your dog’s stays in the crate longer and farther away from you; intersperse longer stays with shorter ones. Some dogs will grow increasingly apprehensive if they realize that each time they are in the crate, they will be “stuck” there for a longer period each time. Randomize the duration of each stay. 

MORE TIPS

It’s a good idea to leave the crate open when you aren’t actively training. Toss treats and your dog’s favorite toys in the crate when she’s not looking, so she never knows what wonderful surprises she might find there. You can even feed her meals in the crate – with the door open – to help her realize that her crate is a truly wonderful place. With the door open, she can choose to relax in her crate whenever she wants.

There are many dogs and puppies who can do the whole crate training program in one day. Others may need practice over several days before they are completely comfortable entering and staying in the crate, and a few will take weeks or more. If your dog or puppy is one of the slower-to-love crating, you may need to use an exercise pen, instead, to contain her for management purposes. 

If at any time during the program your dog whines or fusses about being in the crate, try to wait for a few seconds of quiet, then mark and reward. (If she won’t stop fussing, she is probably stressed and you will need to let her out despite her fussing.) Then, back up a step or two in the training program; you have made it too hard for her. 

When she is doing well at that level again, increase the difficulty in smaller increments, and vary the times rather than constantly making it harder. For example, instead of going from five seconds to 10 to 15, start with five seconds, then seven, then three, then eight, then six, then four, then eight, and so on. 

If, however, you believe your dog has a separation-related behavior, stop the crate training and consult a qualified force-free professional.

Once your dog is crate-trained, you have a valuable behavior management tool for life. Respect it. If you abuse your dog by keeping her confined too much, for too long a period of time, or by using it as punishment, you can easily ruin all the good work you’ve done, and lose the use of this invaluable tool. You really don’t want to do that!

Five Common Ways That Crating Can Be Abusive

Sadly, there are far too many readily available examples of improper and even abusive use of crates:

*Over-crating. Some owners crate too much because they don’t know any better. Just because your dog can “hold it” for 10 to 12 hours in his crate while you are at work, doesn’t mean he should have to. Anyone who has to leave their must-be-crated dog home for longer than four to five hours needs to find other options for a mid-day break for the dog. (Young puppies shouldn’t be asked to hold it longer than two to three hours during the day.) Options could include a family member, neighbor, or pet walker who can come by at mid day, a crate inside an exercise pen with the dog trained to use pee pads, or a well-run doggie daycare (young puppies generally should not go to daycare). Or perhaps a responsible friend, neighbor, or family member could provide daycare for your dog.

*Punishment. A dog’s crate should never be used as punishment – as in, “Bad dog, go to your crate!” The crate should be your dog’s happy place – not a place you send her to in anger. (Of course, we don’t advocate verbal or physical punishment anyway.) It is perfectly okay to use a crate as a temporary cheerful timeout: “Oh you need a break? Go to bed for a bit!” Nor should anyone, ever, punish the dog by thumping on the top of or shaking the crate. 

*Teasing. A crate should be a safe place as well as a happy place. No teasing allowed – from thoughtless or wicked humans or from other dogs. If your dog must be crated where there is human foot traffic, set an exercise pen around her crate as a generous “air lock” so no one can get to her.

*Misguided behavior modification. A crate is the absolute wrong management or modification tool for most dogs with separation-related behaviors. (See “Amicable Separation,” June 2020.) The outdated adage to leave your anxious, stressed, screaming dog of any age alone and crated until they are quiet is hideous advice and likely to make your dog’s anxiety even worse. Dogs with moderate-to-serious separation stress are truly panicking when they are left alone, and dogs with these behaviors are notorious for not crating well. 

Your job when crate training is to make it positive enough that your dog never has to bark in protest. If that’s not possible, there is likely a stress element involved, and you need to address that before you can even begin to crate-train.

*Hoarding. Bad breeders, rescue groups, shelters, and even foster providers sometimes keep dogs in crates 24 hours a day, with occasional bathroom breaks if they are lucky. These are situations that are better referred as “hoarders.” No dog should live in his own urine and feces in a crate. No dog should live in a crate 24/7 even if he does get out often enough to avoid soiling his den. Period.

IF ALL ELSE FAILS, USE OTHER OPTIONS

So, if you crate (and I do!), do it right. Consider whether you have other options, either temporary or long term. When we first adopted our dog Sunny, he had not been crate trained and he had some (fortunately mild) separation-related behaviors that ruled out crating as an option. For the first few months, he slept in an exercise pen next to my bed, initially with my arm draped over the side to reassure him that I was close by. 

Over a period of weeks, I was gradually able to remove my arm from the pen and start moving the pen farther and farther from the side of the bed. Our bedroom is really too small to comfortably accommodate a crate, so he was eventually crate-trained and now sleeps happily in his crate. 

However, Sunny is still not 100% trustworthy loose in the house, so when I leave him alone, he is shut in my office (spacious compared to a crate!) to keep him out of trouble, usually with his brother Kai, and all is well. We’ve even been able to remove the barriers that were originally put in place to prevent him from chewing up all my books. Be a creative minimalist with your crate use! 

Proper Crating

Some dogs prefer a bare crate to one with bedding, especially in hot weather. If you can offer him two crates, each offering a different type or amount of bedding, to determine his preference.

There are a number of things you can do to make your dog’s crating experience more successful and more positive for her.

• If your dog has had past unpleasant experiences with crating, consider changes. If you were using an airline crate, try a wire crate. Try offering two or three different types of crates and see if she shows a crate-style preference. If she was crated in the living room, try the den. If she gets aroused by outside stimuli, move the crate away from the front door to an isolated, quiet location in the house.

• Make sure your dog’s crate is placed in an environmentally comfortable location. You may not realize that the sun comes through the living room window and hits the crate at 1 p.m., causing your dog to overheat, or perhaps there’s a draft from an open window that makes her uncomfortably cold. Try putting several crates in different locations and see if she shows a location preference.

• Respect your dog’s preference for bedding. She may love a cushy comforter to lie on while crated – or she may prefer the coolness of a bare crate floor. Accommodate her wishes! Try offering two crates with different types of flooring/bedding and see if she chooses one over the other.

• Consider giving your dog more spacious accommodations. When housetraining, we want the crate to be just large enough to stand up, turn around, and lie down comfortably, so she can’t soil one end and rest comfortably in the other. After she is housetrained, however, there is no need to keep her in a small space. If you have the room, give her luxury accommodations!

Author Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT‑KA, is WDJ’s Training Editor. She and her husband live in Fairplay, Maryland, site of her Peaceable Paws training center. Miller has written many books, including How to Foster Dogs: From Homeless to Homeward Bound and Do Over Dogs: Give Your Dog a Second Chance for a First Class Life. See “Resources,” page 24, for information on her books, classes for dog owners, and academies for dog trainers.

Be Prepared For Any Canine Medical Emergency

By
Barbara Dobbins
-
10
The author keeps three first-aid kits packed and ready at all times. She loads the red backpack with the supplies she anticipates needing on whatever adventure she takes with her dogs, whether it's a long road trip or a mountain hike. The large duffel bag stays home and contains extra supplies and all the things on this list. The smallest bag is for human first aid.

Tico came running in from the backyard shaking his head. I noticed something was flying off him and I calmly wondered what he was shaking off; his Velcro-like fur often collects burrs and grass and leaves. But then I suddenly realized with alarm what was being spread all over my house: blood! Tico was bleeding! 

Somehow – my best guess is a rose thorn – he received a tiny (less than 1/4 of an inch) cut on the inside of ear and it was bleeding profusely. He wasn’t too bothered, but it must have felt strange as it bled and he responded by shaking his head, decorating the walls, floors, furniture, and curtains with a red splatter pattern. 

Almost as quickly as the injury had revealed itself to me, I was able to stop the bleeding and sanitize and seal the wound. How, so fast? Because I have not one but two pet first-aid kits equipped and ready at all times. 

I corralled him in the bathroom and grabbed the kit. After flushing the wound with a saline rinse and checking for foreign objects, I used a non-stick gauze pad to press against the injury and slow the bleeding. Soon it was down to a trickle and allowed for the application of liquid bandage, sealing the wound. No panic. No running around in circles looking for the equipment I needed, wasting time while Tico painted the walls with blood!   

IN FAVOR OF BEING PREPARED

When I began assembling my pets’ first-aid kits many years ago, I started with a human outdoor wilderness kit and added to it. As my kits grew, I decided to keep the human kit stored along with my pets’ kits, as many of the items can be used for both. I keep these kits updated, packed, and ready to go, next to my even larger disaster preparedness kit. 

Why two pet first-aid kits? One is a scaled-down version that I bring with me when taking my dogs on road trips and on backwoods hikes. It’s contained in a small, red (making it easy to find) Victorinox Swiss Army backpack with lots of separate compartments and pockets that are convenient for keeping items organized. 

The other, larger kit is contained in a larger gear bag that contains everything, and in extra amounts. (The kit that contains first-aid items for humans, which I bring along on hikes and other adventures, is the smallest of the three. Ha ha!)

I keep a small amount of basic wound-care supplies in the little red backpack at all times, and add or subtract more items before leaving the house with my dogs for an outing. The items I add will depend on where I’m going and what I will be doing with the dogs. Going hiking in the mountains? Anticipating scrambling over granite escarpments? I’d likely add a splint, extra cotton padding, and a couple rolls of stretchy, self-adhesive bandage material. If I’m headed for a long stay at a distant friend’s house, I likely don’t need the emergency space blanket, water purification tablets, headlamp, and dog sunscreen.

Soft gear bags with zippers work for me. Other people may prefer storing their kits in tool boxes, tackle boxes, or watertight storage bins. Before you buy a special container for your kit or kits, it’s a good idea to assemble the contents first so that you know what size container you will need. All this stuff adds up!

FIRST AID ITEMS

Below, and on the following pages, is a list of everything I have in one or both of my two pet first-aid kits, along with a short description of each item’s use.

If the list looks ridiculously long, it is! But my dogs and I are active and we get outdoors a lot. You might have a less accident-prone dog! Also, I’m a “better to be safe than sorry” sort of dog owner; I like being prepared for anything that my crazy little dogs might throw my way. You could probably consider yourself well prepared with half of this stuff. Or, if you participate in dog sports or something like search and rescue with your dog, you might need even more in your kit. Customize your kit for your individual needs. 

It’s often suggested that people go through their first-aid kits on New Year’s Day each year, checking bottles for leakage, looking at expiration dates, and determining whether the supplies are present in adequate amounts. When doesn’t matter, but you should go through your dog’s kit at least once annually – and not just when it was needed. 

An Ambitious List of Useful First-Aid Items
✓ Activated charcoal. To absorb only ingested organic poisons, chemicals, or toxins. It is only for use in dogs that are not showing any clinical signs. Never administer to dogs who are vomiting, having tremors or seizures, unconscious or otherwise mentally altered. Always contact your veterinarian or animal poison control center before treating.

✓ Antibiotic ointment. Topical antibiotic ointments and sprays containing bacitracin, neomycin, and polymyxin, applied before bandaging, help prevent infections from developing in wounds. Avoid any product that contains a corticosteroid like hydrocortisone. Individual-use packs or sprays (which absorb faster, making it less likely for a dog to ingest) are ideal for pet first-aid kits.

✓ Antihistamines (oral and topical). The safest oral antihistamine that can be given to dogs is diphenhydramine (best known as Benadryl). It’s useful for any allergic reaction, especially the dramatic reaction to bee stings. While diphenhydramine is safe for most dogs, check with your vet for the proper dosage for your dog’s weight. Make sure the product contains only diphenhydramine as the active ingredient and does not contain xylitol (this sweetener is toxic to dogs). Note: Your dog may become sleepy after this medication has been given. The topical form of diphenhydramine product (for external use only) can also temporarily relieve pain and itching associated with bites and stings. It may be delivered as an “itch relief stick,” spray, or gel. 

✓ Artificial tear solution. To soothe irritated and inflamed eyes, supplement aqueous tear production and restore lubrication – especially after using eye wash. Individual-use packs are ideal for preventing contamination.

✓ ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center number. This is your best resource for any animal poison-related emergency, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year: (888) 426-4435. A consultation fee will apply.

✓ Bandage tape. For securing gauze wrap or bandage in place.

✓ Battery-powered trimmer. To trim fur away from wounds and to remove mats and sticky substances from fur (a safer option than using scissors). Battery-powered (because electricity may not be available) trimmers probably can’t do double-duty as grooming clippers but are ideal for limited use in a first-aid kit. Remember to keep extra batteries in your kit.

✓ Blood clotting powder. Quickly stops bleeding of wounds. One brand, Clot It, is a non-staining, non-stinging blood-clotting powder made up of natural minerals designed to rapidly and painlessly stop bleeding in minor to severe external wounds. Clot It is odorless, does not clump, and has an unlimited shelf-life. It accelerates the body’s natural coagulation processes, slows blood flow by constricting local vessels and capillaries, and rapidly absorbs plasma at the wound site.

✓ Blunt-tipped bandage scissors. Bandage scissors are angled-tip scissors with a blunt tip on the bottom blade, designed to safely lift bandages away from skin without gouging the skin. They may also be used to cut tougher material such as plaster and fabric.

✓ Calendula ointment. For external use to promote healing of cuts, scrapes, and minor burns. Formulated with the Calendula flower, commonly used for wounds, rashes, infection, inflammation, and more.

✓ Camping pack towels. These fast-drying tear-resistant towels not only pack down to a small size, they are also great for absorbing water and repelling dirt. Towels can also double as slings or stretchers to stabilize an injured animal and prevent further injury during transport.

✓ Cold packs (instant). The application of cold is an inexpensive and non-invasive method of reducing pain, swelling, and inflammation, Apply cold packs to injured area as quickly after the injury as possible (use on new injuries within 24 to 48 hours) for only 10 to 20 minutes at a time or until your dog’s skin feels cold to the touch, stopping to examine the skin every 5 to 10 minutes. Make sure to use a barrier – such as a towel – between the cold pack and the body to avoid tissue damage.

✓ Collapsible cup/disposable cup. To mix solutions or hold water for cleaning a wound.

✓ Cotton balls and cotton-tipped swabs. For gentle and delicate cleaning of wounds and sensitive areas. To avoid damaging your dog’s ears and eyes, never insert Q-tips or swabs into your dog’s ears or eyes without first without first being shown how to do it safely by your veterinarian.

✓ Cotton padding roll. Provides a layer of soft cushioning bulk between primary bandage layer and wrap. Conforms to body contours and mild stretch and cohesiveness allows padding to stay in place.

✓ Credit card-like card or piece of cardboard. To scrape away a bee stinger attached to your dog (wasps and hornets do not leave a stinger behind). Do not use tweezers, as they may squeeze more venom out of the stinger sac into the skin. Sting sites can be soothed with a thick paste of baking soda and water, an antihistamine stick (like Benadryl), or with application of a cold pack. 

✓ Digital thermometer. The ideal thermometer for checking your dog’s temperature (the most reliable way is rectally) should be easy to use; work quickly (minimizing stress on both you and your dog); have a large, easy-to-read LCD display; and is easy to clean (wash with soap and water or use rubbing alcohol). Normal body temperature for dogs is 101° to 102.5° Fahrenheit (38.3° to 39.2° Celsius), but some dogs maintain a baseline temperature a little above or below the average, so it’s a good idea to take his temperature when he’s resting at home a few times in order to learn what “normal” is for him. If your dog’s temperature rises above 104° F or falls below 99° F, this is an emergency and a visit to the veterinarian is required. We like the Vet Temp Rapid FlexibleDigital Pet Thermometer, available in stores and online.

✓ Disinfectant wipes. Soap and water may not be accessible.

✓ Emergency information about your dog, including:

• A photo of your dog.

• A copy of your dog’s medical records,
including medications and vaccination history.

• Contact information for your veterinarian.

• “In Case of Emergency” number for someone who knows
your dog in case you are incapacitated or unavailable.

✓ Emergency warming blanket. Sometimes referred to as a first-aid blanket, space blanket, Mylar, thermal, or weather blanket. Use in emergency situations to reduce heat loss in an injured or traumatized dog’s body in case of shock.

✓ Emergency whistle. Use to call for your dog or alert others to your location.

✓ Exam gloves. To prevent infection, protect wound from contamination, and to protect wearer.

✓ Extra collar and leash. Slip leads are lightweight and non-bulky and can double as a muzzle.

✓    Eyewash (sterile irrigating solution). To flush and clean your dog’s eye(s) to help relieve irritation, discomfort, itching, or remove loose foreign material. Can be helpful with allergies. Can also be used for cleaning wounds in the event that a clean wound flush is not available.

✓     First-aid manual. Provides instructions on how to handle myriad pet emergencies.

✓     Flashlight or headlamp. Provide a light source at night or whenever extra illumination is needed. Headlamps allow for hands-free examination. Don’t forget extra batteries.

✓ Flea comb. Great for removing tick nymphs that are not attached but crawling over fur.

✓ Gauze pads/sponges. Beneficial for wound-care applications such as controlling bleeding and general cleaning. It can also be used as a temporary absorbent dressing over wounds but be aware that these are not non-stick and could adhere to the wound and skin.

✓ Gauze roll/wrap. Can be used to wrap an injury, provide compression and pressure, as a primary dressing for wound care, or to cover and secure a primary layer. Can be used to secure limbs that require limited mobility. Can also be used to make a muzzle (dogs who are in pain may snap as their injuries are being treated).

✓ Hand sanitizer. Soap and water may not be accessible.

✓ Hydrogen peroxide (must be 3%). To induce vomiting in certain cases. Never induce vomiting without first speaking with a veterinarian or animal poison control. Hydrogen peroxide is not a good way to clean or disinfect a wound as it is detrimental to the cells responsible for healing the wound. Hydrogen peroxide is also an ingredient in the most effective deskunking formula (1 qt. 3% hydrogen peroxide, 1/4 cup baking soda, 1 teaspoon liquid dish soap).

✓ Liquid bandage/tissue adhesive. For closing minor wounds, eliminating the need for bandages or in areas where bandage application is not feasible (like Tico’s ear).

✓ Lubricant. To coat the thermometer to facilitate taking your dog’s temperature rectally; water-based, individual-use packets are ideal.

✓ Magnifying glass. There are terrific little handheld, battery-operated, lighted magnifying glasses available for first-aid kits (a 30X magnification works well). Useful for close inspection of wounds and removing ticks. Remember to keep extra batteries in your kit.

✓ Muzzle. Injuries are painful and a dog in pain may try to bite, especially when you are trying to administer first aid. It’s a good idea to prevent a bite by using a muzzle. The best muzzle is one that you have already fitted and trained your dog to be comfortable with. In an emergency, a leash, soft cloth, gauze roll, and towels are options for use. Check your first-aid book on how to use a makeshift muzzle. Never muzzle a dog who is vomiting.

✓ Non-stick bandage pads. Ideal for placement as the first layer over a wound. The ventilated film allows the wound to breathe and fluid be absorbed into the pad, and the non-stick covering prevents sticking to the wound and disrupting any healing process that has begun. Available in singe-use packages and can be cut or trimmed to fit most wounds.

✓ Notebook, leakproof pen, and Sharpie kept in a sealed plastic bag. Keep notes about any treatments given your dog so that it can be relayed to your veterinarian. Sharpies are good for writing on a multitude of surfaces and are smudge-resistant.

✓ Paw balm. Used to protect paws from substances on the ground, keep them hydrated and healthy.

✓ PawFlex bandages. These bandages stretch, are disposable and reusable, and made from fabric that is water resistant, breathable, non-adhesive, and non-irritating. PawFlex has bandages currently available in six sizes to cover any wound, especially wounds around joints that can be difficult to protect. (See pawflex.com for purchasing information.)

✓ Paw socks. While a resourceful owner can modify a human hiking sock to cover an injured paw out on the trail, these commercial socks fit better and stay on without constant adjustments:  see ruffwear.com/collections/dog-boots/products/dog-socks-barkn-boot-liners. 

✓ Pest repellent. A flea/tick repellent should be applied to dogs prior to hiking or going other places that are of concern for exposure. In some backwoods locations, a topical repellent for flying insects (biting flies, gnats, and mosquitoes) is needed to prevent these insects from tormenting dogs by gathering on their faces in particular. 

✓ Plastic bags (sealable). Great for putting over a bandaged limb to keep dry (secure with self-adhesive bandage), containing ice, or for storing a tick you just removed (add a little rubbing alcohol to preserve it,  in case your veterinarian thinks it should be tested for infectious disease). Also, it can be helpful to store all liquid items in sealable plastic bags to mitigate any potential leak or spilling of contents.

✓ Rubbing alcohol. Use to wipe down thermometer, instruments, and tools before and after use. 

✓ Self-adhering bandages. These bandages stretch, are strong, conforming, and flexible, and secure wound coverings in place. When properly applied with padding or gauze, the material can be used as a pressure bandage to inhibit bleeding. Available in a variety of widths from different makers (including 3M’s Vetrap, Andover Healthcare’s CoFlex, GOGO’s Self Adhesive Bandage Wrap).

✓ Splints. To immobilize an injured limb for transport. Our favorite is the lightweight and durable SAM Splint, which is constructed of two layers of closed-cell foam with an aluminum interior. The material can be cut with ordinary scissors to adapt to any size and can be bent into any of three simple curves, becoming extremely strong and supportive for any fractured or injured limb. Waterproof, reusable, and latex-free, it requires only a wrap or tape to secure an injured bone or stabilize a joint. 

✓ Sunscreen/sun protection. Dogs with white or light fur, thin coats, or exposed skin (such as pink or lightly-pigmented noses and ears) are prone to sunburn and to other complications and diseases associated with sun exposure. Use protection when outdoors for long periods. Choose an appropriate sunscreen that does not contain zinc oxide or para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA), as these ingredients are toxic to dogs if ingested. There are also sun-protective clothing options available for dogs.

✓ Syringes, 10 milliliters (ml). For administering liquids orally to your dog and to clean and flush wounds. 

✓ Tape (duct and masking tape). Innumerable MacGyver-like uses, including securing a temporary bandage or splint in the absence of stretchy self-adhesive or bandage tape. Be careful not to use directly on your dog’s fur or skin as removal can be painful and cause more damage. You don’t need 25 yards’ worth; if you use these products around the house, save the last few feet on the roll for your first-aid kit.

✓ Tick remover tool. Once you have used a tool made expressly for tick removal, you’ll never use tweezers for this purpose again.  Place the removed tick in a sealable plastic bag with a little alcohol. Follow up by contacting your veterinarian to see whether she advises having the tick tested for its potential to have transmitted a disease to your dog (anaplasmosis, babesiosis, bartonellosis, ehrlichiosis, hepatozoonosis, Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever).

✓ Waterproof storage bag or container. For storing supplies such as bandages and gauze that can be damaged by moisture.

✓ Water purification tablets. Water purification tablets can ensure safer drinking water without having to rely on a heat source to boil water. They can provide protection against microbial regrowth and can keep water safe to drink for 24 hours without additional treatment. Products vary in regard to efficacy against pathogens, shelf life, and wait time.

✓ Wound disinfectant/antiseptic. To kill the types of bacteria and yeast that commonly lead to infections in dog wounds. Safe disinfectants include chlorhexidine diacetate solution (not scrub) and povidine iodine solution. But the pre-diluted strengths that are ready to ise! If not pre-diluted (check the label!), the disinfectant will need to be diluted to the strength indicated on the label for safe use. Chlorhexidine diacetate should be diluted to a 0.05% solution, while the povidine iodine should be diluted to a 1% solution for safe and effective cleaning and disinfecting. If not diluted correctly, it can damage tissue.

✓ Wound flush. Used for cleaning/irrigating wounds. Premade sterile saline wound wash is available for purchase; the solution can be used to quickly, easily, and effectively clean a wound, remove debris, and dislodge bacteria from damaged tissues. Warm tap water, warm saline solution (made with one level teaspoonful of salt or Epsom salts to two cups of water), or saline eyewash can also be used. If possible, try to clip away the fur from around wounds before cleaning. Do not use hydrogen peroxide to clean wounds as it can inhibit the healing process.

What Fostering Can Do For Rescue Puppies

By
Kathy Callahan, CPDT-KA, FDM
-
7
Captain Crunch and Cocoa Puff are enjoying the back yard with the author's daughter Grace, who was suddenly back in the nest this spring - just in time to enjoy and help socialize this litter. The more people who handle the pups, the better- a challenge with "shelter in place" policies, but easier to accomplish with each additional family member.

A pandemic has upended the globe, but here’s a little bright spot: puppy fostering is experiencing a golden era. Record numbers of people are offering to host a rescue pup, and they’re better positioned than ever to do a great job. 

A shelter-like environment is always terribly risky for the youngest puppies. Enter the foster network, where volunteers provide in-home care for puppies who are not yet fully immunized. That can mean anything from enjoying one weekend with an 11-week-old pup to hosting a nursing mama and her litter for two months or more. 

In normal times, many foster providers aren’t at home enough to promise any “extras” beyond keeping a pup safe and healthy. Thanks to COVID-19, though, many families are around 24/7, and in search of a fun, interesting, rewarding activity. Making the most of the almost magical canine “socialization window” can be just the ticket. Puppies who are not yet 4 months old are so impressionable that even a few days spent in an enriching environment can pay dividends forever. How about that for a worthwhile “stay at home” project? 

BEHAVIORAL HEALTH GOALS

The best foster providers do far more than meet puppies’ physical needs; critically, foster families can also contribute to the puppies’ behavioral development. Puppies who have gained a wide variety of experiences in a safe, supportive environment will be far better prepared for the next phase of their lives – ideally, adoption into a forever family – than pups who saw the same four walls and busy kennel workers in a shelter environment. 

There are four big life lessons I aim to teach my foster pups – to date, my family has hosted 175 – and each of those educational goals is easier because of this pandemic. In terms of getting puppies off to the right start, foster providers can knock it out of the park by leaning into this stay-at-home moment.

* LESSON #1: HUMANS ARE GOOD

A pup who is friendly and confident around people has a giant head start on a happy life. Frequent, relaxed interactions with different family members work beautifully to build the puppies’ strong positive association with humans.

Let’s say a family with three kids is fostering two skittish 9-week-old pups found under an abandoned porch. Normally, progress might be slow, with the family gone all day at work and school and engaged at night with sports and activities. But wait – now the parents are working from home, the kids are doing online school, and the activities are cancelled? That’s a bonanza for these puppies, whose days can now be packed with exposure. The pups can be set up in the middle of the action, perhaps in a pen in the kitchen. They can spend all day listening to five different human voices and getting used to how five different bodies move. The family can set a treat jar on the counter, so that each person can easily toss something yummy to the pups every single time they walk by. 

Soon, instead of cowering in the back corner, those pups will be bounding over to interact. The transformation in behavior that could take weeks under normal circumstances might happen in two days. 

Foster providers typically host nursing litters for a much longer time than the pair-of-pups scenario above. That offers even more chances to cement the “humans are good” lessons through the following actions:

• In the first weeks, foster providers can gently stroke the pups while they’re nursing, linking human touch with the happy feeling of nursing from mom (assuming mom is comfortable with this, too). 

• Providers can progress to careful, strategic holding of each pup, gently touching toes and ears while pups are content and comfy near their mama. 

• As pups begin to see and hear, the potential for interaction deepens. Five different family members, each hanging out in the puppy pen a few times a day, offers ideal exposure to various voices, bodies, and scents. 

• As the pups grow, each person can feed them, introduce them to toys, cuddle them, and carry them on “field trips” to different areas of the house. The more household members are involved, the better. 

By the time they are 8 weeks old and ready for adoption, these lucky pups will be gazing at any approaching human with calm, happy expectation. 

Of course, a key part of getting pups accustomed to humans is introducing them to strangers, and that’s something that is challenging in this era of social distancing. Still, it can be done. Having dog-savvy friends drop by while you’re hanging out in the yard with pups is a good start.

* LESSON #2: NEW THINGS ARE FUN AND REWARDING

As pups approach 14 weeks old, biology tells them that anything they haven’t seen before just might be a threat. While that might help a pup survive in the wild, it is devastating to surprised owners when their previously bouncy, friendly pup becomes fearful. 

A dog-savvy cat is an incredible asset to puppy-fostering work. Ever calm, always standing his ground, Callahan’s cat, Mr. Bojangles, teaches foster pups how to be civilized around cats. “You be nice and I’ll be nice, if not, you might be sorry”

Foster providers can have a powerful impact on a puppy’s future by strongly counteracting biology’s lesson with this one: “New things are fun!” A big job for a puppy foster provider is to gently introduce as many novel sights and sounds as possible.

Pre-pandemic, asking volunteers to find the time for this seemed over the top. But now, with a little too many hours at home to fill, showing puppies something new sounds like a nice distraction. Here are some sample approaches, all of which should include reaction monitoring. Foster providers should pair the novel experiences with something positive: the presence of mom, littermates, or treats. Pup still worried? Back up and try again another day, because the whole point is for the pup to feel comfortable.

• Redesign the puppy area every few days by shifting the angle of the pen wall, moving the bed, using different bowls, and switching out items that hang in sight.

Here is Callahan’s den design for a litter of 5-week-old foster puppies. It features six kinds of flooring: fleece blankets, Terry towels, yoga mats, vinyl tile, newspaper and pine pellets.

• Add different toys and bedding every day, and offer a new sort of flooring every few days, such as tile, newspapers, towels, carpet, and wood. 

• Carefully use TV and radio, at a comfortable volume, to help puppies get used to all sorts of sounds: kids screeching, cars honking, etc. 

• Take pups on field trips to different spots inside and outside the house, so they get accustomed to new places.

• Introduce puppies (when safe) to any other resident pets.

• Hang outside with the pups, so that they experience different kinds of weather, bird sounds, neighbor dogs barking, lawnmowers, etc. 

• Have family members sometimes wear different hats, coats, boots, or backpacks as they interact with the pups. 

• Give each pup short sessions of being separated from her littermates. Start with just a couple or three minutes and increase as their comfort level and confidence grows.  

Foster providers can’t introduce puppies to every single thing they’ll ever encounter, of course, but the goal is to bring them around so many things that novelty actually becomes an expected part of life. 

* LESSON #3: BEHAVIOR PAYS OFF

Pups want good things, namely food and fun. Unfortunately for them, they can’t hop in the car and drive to the pet store. Instead, they need to go through us. The kindest thing a foster can do is begin to give them keys to the kingdom, by teaching them that if they perform certain types of behavior around humans, it really pays off. Here’s how:

• When you approach a pen of puppies who are jumping and scrambling to get to you, wait just out of their reach. Somebody will get tired and sit down. The moment they do, pet or pick up only that one. 

• Walk up to a lone pup with the food bowl. As he jumps to get it, hold the bowl over his head so he lands in a sit. The moment that he does, set the bowl down in front of him. 

• You’re in the puppy pile and everybody is wrestling for your attention, but one pup sits and holds your gaze. Give that one a treat and a cuddle, while you ignore the rest.

After a week of consistent moments like this – made ever so much more possible when you’re home all day – you see puppies sitting in front of you whenever they’re hoping for something. The light has gone on! Instead of jumping for that treat in your hand, they have figured out how to get you to give it to them. 

Looking to you for direction on how to get what they want is the cornerstone of beautiful canine-human communication and an absolute gift to give to a pup and her future adopter.

* LESSON #4: YOU GOT THIS!

In adult dogs, frustration and stress can lead to behavior problems, so it pays to help puppies learn to deal with those emotions. How? By giving them some practice. Fosters can have a powerful impact by allowing pups to experience small bits of stress that are quickly relieved every time: 

• Deliberately let cabinet doors slam (gently at first!), pots clang, or a book drop now and then. The idea is not to startle and scare the puppies on purpose, but to gradually acclimate them to a normal, active household.Go ahead and vacuum, but at first, just for a few minutes at a time.

• As long as there are no health concerns, don’t intervene in the scramble for the best teat on mama. That competition can help a pup learn to persevere through the next frustration.

Don’t be too quick to help foster pups navigate stairs, climb onto the sofa, or drag a heavy stuffed toy into their bed; learning to problem-solve and survive these mild frustrations is beneficial.

• Don’t rush to pick up the pup who has trouble climbing a step. Give encouragement instead. Once the pup gets over that step he’s much more likely to approach the next obstacle with calm confidence.

• Set up little blockages on the way to exciting things like food, people, or going outside. Some pups will quickly learn to find a way around that new pen or over that pile of towels, while others will sit and cry at the spot that used to be an opening. Offer support and company, but let the stymied pup solve the problem on her own.

It used to be hard for me to watch a pup feeling anxious or frustrated, so I’d jump in to fix everything. But now I sit back and think about how this tiny moment is helping to inoculate that pup against behavioral problems down the road, so I watch and smile.

GOOD FOR EVERY PUP

Of course, all puppies, not just foster puppies, will benefit from these four critical lessons. But there’s something special about teaching foster puppies. It’s a chance to do something good, for someone else. Sure, it’s “just” a puppy, but you’re helping set up a lifetime of happiness for that pup and a future owner. Right now, that feels particularly joyful. 

Kathryn Callahan’s book, 101 Rescue Puppies: One Family’s Story of Fostering Dog, Love, and Trust, published by New World Library, is set to be released in September 2020. “This engaging, photo-filled book features the wonderful stories that emerge as these foster pups, typically from underfunded rural shelters, are suddenly surrounded by a nurturing family complete with generous-spirited adult dogs and curious cats. With a gift for capturing the moment in both words and images, Callahan brings readers inside the delightful, moving, and ultimately uplifting work of fostering.” The book is available now for preorder on Amazon.com.

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