Subscribe

The best in health, wellness, and positive training from America’s leading dog experts

Home Blog Page 146

About Mast Cell Tumors in Dogs

By
Barbara Dobbins
-
18
lab with mast cell tumor
Labradors are prone to a particularly aggressive type of mast cell tumors. Pugs, Boxers, Golden Retrievers, Beagles, and Boston Terriers are also overrepresented in the population of dogs with MCTs.

Mast cell tumors (MCTs) are the most common form of malignant skin cancer that occurs in dogs, accounting for about 14 to 21 percent of all skin tumors. There is significant variability in the presentation of MCTs from dog to dog and even from tumor to tumor, which explains why this form of canine neoplasia is often referred to as complicated and challenging. But the fact remains that MCTs are treatable, and many dogs are considered cured after treatment and go on with happy, healthy lives.

How Mast Cell Tumors in Dogs Develop

Mast cells are a subtype of white blood cells that derive from the bone marrow and then become residents of specific tissues, especially those that are closest to the external surfaces of the body, such as the tissues of the nose, mouth, lungs, skin, and around blood vessels. Their primary functions include defense against parasitic infection, tissue repair, and formation of new blood vessels; they also play an important role in the allergic response system. They can be activated by the immune system – a process called degranulation – to release a wide variety of inflammatory mediators, including histamine and heparin, which in turn modify immune reactions and inflammation.

When mast cells replicate in higher than normal numbers, an MCT (also known as a mastocytoma) can form. They are usually first noticed on or just under the skin, but they can form anywhere on the body. The most common location is on the trunk, followed by the limbs and in between the toes; they can occasionally be found on the head and neck. The skin mass might appear as a raised lump or bump or growth; it can soft or firm; hairless or covered by hair; it may or may not be red, ulcerated, or swollen.

MCTs can also occur internally, developing on the spleen, liver, intestine, and in bone marrow, as well as on the salivary gland, nasopharynx, larynx, oral cavity, gastrointestinal tract, ureter, and spine. This type is more aggressive, and it is usually preceded by dermal and subdermal tumors.

MCTs can not only vary in location, appearance, shape, and size, but also have a tendency to present with varying clinical behavior, which is suspected to be influenced by breed. MCTs can even change in size (increasing and decreasing from day to day!) because of reactions occuring in the mass. This is due to secondary inflammation caused by the release of histamine, which then results in intermittent swelling.

This type of tumor tends to present in dogs of middle age or older, but can occur in dogs of any age. No gender predilection has been reported. MCTs typically present as a solitary tumor but about 11 to 22 percent present with more than one tumor and 10 to 20 percent of those that have had an MCT will develop a new MCT in another location at some point.

The Cause of Mast Cell Tumors

The cause of MCTs is unknown. Certain breeds of dogs are predisposed to them, so there may be some genetic component. A genetic mutation in the protein c-kit tyrosine kinase receptor – called a c-kit oncogene – is found in 25 to 30 percent of tumors. Chronic inflammation may also predispose dogs to developing the disease, such as dogs that have a history of allergic skin disease. There has been no association found between sun exposure and MCT in dogs.

Breeds With a Predisposition for Mast Cell Tumors

MCTs are over-represented in Pugs (at risk for multiple but low-grade tumors), Boxers, Labrador Retrievers (at increased risk for the more aggressive form), Golden Retrievers, Beagles, and Boston Terriers. Other breeds showing an increased likelihood of developing the disease include Schnauzers, Bullmastiffs/Bulldogs/ Bull Terriers, Cocker Spaniels, Fox Terriers, Weimaraners, Rhodesian Ridgebacks, Shar pei, and Dachshunds.

Diagnosis of Mast Cell Tumors

The initial evaluation of a suspected MCT begins with a fine needle aspirate and cytology, from which a diagnosis is usually made. Grading of the tumor cannot be done at this point as only cells are obtained from the aspirate; visual examination combined with the cytology report will determine if the MCT is a candidate for surgical excision.

It is reasonable to stage (evaluate how far the disease has spread) the tumor prior to surgery; in cases of a recurring tumor, multiple tumors, or evidence of metastasis, staging in advance is considered necessary.

When an MCT spreads, the cancer usually moves into the regional lymph nodes near the tumor, then to the liver and spleen; it can also spread to other places in the abdomen as well as to the bone marrow. At a minimum, the staging tests should include an aspirate of the lymph nodes near the tumor and an abdominal ultrasound.

The ultrasound can show if there is any evidence of metastasis or anything suspicious that requires further testing. Aspirates of the liver and spleen may be recommended, even if all the organs appear normal, because they may harbor cancer cells.

Treatment for Mast Cell Tumors in Dogs

The preferred treatment for MCTs is surgical removal – and for many cases, this is the only treatment needed. Prior to surgery and to alleviate some of the unpleasant symptoms of MCTs, a dog may be placed on antihistamines and antacids to mediate the effects of the histamine generated by the mast cells. Because MCTs are prone to growing into surrounding tissues, the visible tumor is removed with the addition of wide surgical margins – 2 to 3 centimeters on all sides, as well as layer of tissue below – in an attempt to remove all cancerous cells; as a result, the surgical sites can be quite large. If there is more than one tumor, a biopsy is recommended for each one because individual tumors can be of different grades and require different courses of treatment.

dog after mast cell tumor removal surgery
This dog is recovering from having two mast cell tumors removed. ©Greg King

The excised tumor(s) will be sent to the lab for pathology; the resulting biopsy report will provide the tumor’s grade, confirm whether or not the tumor was completely removed (“clean” or “dirty margins”), and provide a foundation for prognosis. If the biopsy report shows that detectable cancer cells remain, the tumor can regrow. In these cases, a second surgery (if the site is amenable) or radiation therapy can be recommended. Mast cell tumors can be slower to heal post-operatively with suture sites that have the potential to break down.

If the location of the lesion disqualifies it as a candidate for surgery, further diagnostics can be performed to obtain its disease stage. If the tumor is deemed too large for removal, chemotherapy and/or radiation treatments may be recommended in an attempt to reduce the mass to an operable size. Inoperable tumors should be evaluated by incisional biopsy for histologic grade.

The decision to pursue additional treatment should consider the grade of the cancer as well as the results of other prognostic tests. Post-surgical radiation and chemotherapy are warranted on a case-by-case basis. The most important considerations when determining if a patient needs additional treatment following surgery are tumor grade, how complete the excisions of the tumor were, and whether the MCT has spread or not.

Mast Cell Tumor Grading

Traditionally MCTs have been classified using the Patnaik grading system, which assigns a histological grade of I, II, or III to each tumor. Studies have shown that the grade assigned to a particular tumor can vary as it is based on the subjective opinion of the pathologist; accordingly, sometimes a second evaluation of the biopsied tissue is warranted.

  • Grade I. About 33 to 50 percent of MCTs are classified as Grade I; these tumors act in a benign manner and are usually considered cured with complete surgical excision and simple monitoring over time. They tend to be contained and not prone to metastasis or recurrence. One exception is low-grade tumors on the dog’s muzzle or lips; these have a high rate of spread and need to be treated more aggressively, as 50 to 65 percent of them will develop metastasis.
  • Grade II. About 25 to 45 percent of MCTs are classified as Grade II – and this is where the decisions about their treatment get really challenging. Some Grade II tumors act like Grade I tumors, but others are similar to Grade III and more difficult to treat.In general, Grade II tumors are less defined than Grade I tumors and about half of them are more likely to spread into surrounding tissues and other parts of the body, with about 25 percent having already spread at the time of diagnosis. A Grade II tumor with a mitotic index (more on this below) of greater than 5 should be treated as a Grade III tumor.
  • Grade III. About 20 to 40 percent of MCTs are classified as Grade III. These very aggressive tumors invade quickly and into deep tissue layers. About 50 to 90 percent grow and metastasize, with most cases showing spread by the time of diagnosis. If removed, 55 to 95 percent are likely to recur. Surgery along with chemotherapy and/or radiation is usually recommended.The Kiupel system of MCT grading is more recent and achieves better consensus among veterinary pathologists. This simpler approach categorizes the tumors as either high-grade or low-grade; the assessments this system uses provide for a more accurate prediction of the behavior of the disease and therefore hopefully to determine a more significant prognosis. High-grade tumors tend to be associated with increased likelihood to metastasis and poor prognosis with an average survival time of approximately four months. Low-grade tumors have a median survival time of more than two years.

Supplemental Testing

As there is no single factor or test that accurately predicts the behavior of the disease, supplemental testing can be invaluable in developing an accurate assessment and improving the prognosis of affected dogs.

  • Mitotic Index. This test measures the rate at which the malignant mast cells are dividing and populating at the time of biopsy (this is one of the tests in the Kiupel system of grading) and is now usually included in biopsy reports. A tumor with a mitotic index of 5 or less can be treated as a Grade I MCT with a good prognosis and a median survival time of more than five years (regardless of histological grade). MCTs with a mitotic index over 5 should be treated as Grade III tumors. Median survival time for those with higher mitotic indexes is two to four months,  again, regardless of the grade.In general, the higher the mitotic index, the poorer the prognosis. For those tricky Grade II tumors especially, this test provides insight into how the tumor is likely to behave,  so an appropriate treatment plan can be developed.
  • MCT Panel. The MCT prognostic (or proliferation panel of tests can derive additional information from the biopsy sample may help develop a prognosis and treatment plan, especially for high-grade/Grade II/Grade III tumors. This panel evaluates the specific markers AgNOR, PCNA, Ki-67, c-Kit, and tests for c-Kit mutation status, which are related to the proliferation of the MCT.

Approximately one-third of all dogs with MCTs have c-Kit mutation of the mast cells. This is an abnormality in the c-Kit gene, which affects a protein found on the cell’s surface and is involved with proliferation and other biological activities; the mutation causes the tyrosine kinase receptor enzyme in the gene to be stuck in the “on” position, causing uncontrolled growth. In particular, the c-Kit mutation test can indicate whether chemotherapy is warranted, as well as provide a guideline for which chemotherapy protocol to use.

While the presence of this mutation is usually found in higher-grade tumors and indicates a more aggressive form, it also may be more susceptible to treatment with a class of drugs known as KIT inhibitors. Palladia and Kinavet are two chemotherapy drugs that target this mutation specifically; they act by cutting of the blood supply to the tumor and inhibiting tyrosine kinase (a protein that plays a role in growth and development).

Other Treatments

MCTs are very susceptible to radiation therapy, a localized treatment. Radiation is especially helpful in preventing regrowth for incompletely excised tumors. The majority of dogs with low-grade MCT remain tumor-free two to five years after surgery and radiation therapy.

Even dogs with Grade III MCT can benefit from this dual mode treatment; one study documented 70 percent still alive one year following treatment; another study reported a median survival time of 20 months. It may also be used to treat tumors that are not candidates for surgical removal due to size and/or location, either to reduce the size prior to surgery or as palliative care by reducing the size of the tumor and improving clinical signs. It does not prevent metastasis.

Radiation as a primary treatment is considered a palliative approach; the addition of chemotherapy and steroids can improve this approach and may be offered for cases with no other treatment options.

Chemotherapy may be recommended as part of the treatment protocol in cases where the MCT has metastasized or has been rated as high-grade or Grade III, as well as those with a positive c-Kit mutation result, dirty margins, high scores on either the prognostic panel or mitotic index, or presenting with multiple tumors. Chemo may also be considered to prevent tumor recurrence, especially when radiation is not an option.

Combining chemo with surgery typically improves the prognosis of dogs with high grade tumors; median survival for dogs with Grade III tumors undergoing surgery alone is six months while those who undergo surgery and chemo have a median survival time of 12 months. Combination chemotherapy protocols, often in conjunction with steroids, also offer improved efficacy. Commonly used drugs include Lomustine (CCNU), Vinblastine, Palladia, and Kinavet. Vincristine, L-asparaginase, and cyclophosphamide have also been used with some effectiveness.

Supportive Treatment

In addition to antihistamines, supportive medications to consider include: prednisone to reduce inflammation; cimetidine, an antacid that helps to counter the increased acid production in the stomach caused by the MCTs; and intralesional triamcinolone, a corticosteroid, which can be injected directly into the tumor to reduce size. Cryotherapy is sometimes used to freeze and destroy small MCTs; this approach can be an option for older dogs for whom anesthesia and surgery are not an option.

Prognosis

Prognostic considerations for MCTs include grade, clinical stage, location, systemic symptoms, status of surgical margins, and mitotic index. Mast cell tumors that are completely removed and are Low-Grade, Grade I, or Grade II with a low mitotic index and free of metastasis have an excellent prognosis, with most cases being considered cured. Dogs with tumors that were incompletely removed but subsequently treated with radiation therapy have an excellent prognosis as well, with 90 to 95 percent having no recurrence of the tumor within three years.

Poor prognosis is associated with MCTs that occur on the muscle, around the mouth, in internal organs, in the bloodstream, or in bone marrow; those that are ulcerated, large, fast-growing, or recurring are also in this category. Dogs with c-Kit mutation are also associated with poor prognosis, as are dogs with Grade III tumors as local recurrence and/or spread is likely (only about 10 percent of these dogs live a year past surgery). Survival rates for dogs with a mitotic index of over 5 is only two to four months. As daunting as some of these figures are, remember that these are only guidelines; every dog is different.

On the Horizon

A number of exciting therapies for MCTs are in development:

  • New treatments using receptor tyrosine kinases inhibitors for tumors with c-Kit mutations are an active part of cancer treatment research for both humans and dogs.
  • QBiotics has completed clinical trials on Tigilanol Tiglate EBC-46, a novel anticancer pharmaceutical protein kinase C activator isolated from the seeds of the Blushwood tree (Fontainea picrosperma). The drug, administered by injection into the tumor, stimulates the immune system, resulting in destruction of the mass as well as the blood supply to the tumor. Complete tumor destruction was achieved in 75 percent of the cases after a single injection; the trial demonstrated that the treatment was well-tolerated (minor side effects) with rapid healing and minimal scarring. Application for approval is in process.
  • A recent study at the Animal Health Trust Center for Small Animal Studies looked at the genetic changes in mast cells that promote metastasis. Researchers hope this will help develop a highly accurate test that can predict whether an MCT will metastasize; if successful, targets can be identified for new drugs to prevent metastasis. Future research will attempt to identify the causes of those genetic changes, resulting in the development of new cause-targeted anti-metastasis drugs.
  • The Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University is conducting a clinical trial to evaluate an experimental drug in dogs with solid tumors (such as MCTs). The hope here is that the drug will not only stimulate the immune system to destroy the cancer cells but also kill the cancer cells directly.
  • Oncolytic virotherapy is an emerging therapeutic option for cancer treatment. Studies have found that a modified Sendai virus (of the Paramyxoviridae family) can spread in tumors and kill malignant cells while sparing normal cells.A recent pilot study of six dogs with MCT received the oncolytic Sendai virus treatment. It was well-tolerated with minor transitory side effects. All tumors responded, either partially or completely, indicating a promising approach. Because this treatment does not overlap with any known mechanism of current conventional MCT treatments, researchers hope it will prove effective in combination with other protocols, and warrants additional research.
  • Companion Animal Health recently initiated a partnership with Nanospectra Biosciences, Inc. to conduct clinical trials in the treatment of MCT using a combination of laser and nanoshell therapy. The approach of this treatment is to destroy the tumor without damaging adjacent healthy tissue. The initial results are encouraging, and trial outcomes should be published soon. It is hoped that it will deliver an improved treatment option and extend life without harmful side effects.

Watch Those Lumps

My Border Collie Duncan had 29 lipomas. Every time he developed a new lump, I had it aspirated and checked to make sure it was just a lipoma, not an MCT. I also tracked every one of his lumps on a diagram (see below) so I knew whether any given bump was new and potentially dangerous or just an existing lipoma.

Early detection for MCT is key and important for obtaining optimal treatment and long survival rates. If you find a growth on your dog that doesn’t go away after a month, please see your veterinarian to have it aspirated. Even dogs with high-grade metastasized MCTs can have a good quality of life.

Beyond the 5 Freedoms of Animal Welfare

By
Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA
-
30
We’re on board: All puppies should be raised in comfort and cleanliness.

The “Five Freedoms,” a set of standards for humane animal care, have long been internationally respected and embraced by animal protection organizations, including the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Humane Society of the United States, and many more. The American Humane Association calls the Five Freedoms the gold standard of animal welfare.

The original guidelines were developed in response to a 1965 United Kingdom Government report on livestock husbandry. Each of the Freedoms was followed by a “Provision” that explained how the goal could be met. Initially focused on livestock, the application of these five principles of care has been generalized to include the keeping of companion animals, too.

The Five Freedoms and Correlating Five Provisions

These are the Five Freedoms and Five Provisions as currently accepted worldwide:

  1. Freedom from hunger or thirst, provided by ready access to fresh water and a diet to maintain full health and vigor.
  2. Freedom from discomfort, provided by an appropriate environment, including shelter and a comfortable resting area.
  3. Freedom from pain, injury, or disease, provided by prevention or rapid diagnosis and treatment.
  4. Freedom to express (most) normal behavior, provided by sufficient space, proper facilities, and company of the animal’s own kind.
  5. Freedom from fear and distress, provided by ensuring conditions and treatment that avoid mental suffering.

Many of our agricultural practices still fall short of these standards. Sadly, even many companion-animal-keeping practices fall short in puppy mills, and even in some homes, shelters, and rescues.

An Even More Progressive Model: The Five Domains

More recently, a more progressive approach to animal welfare has been proposed – one that parallels the move toward more dog-friendly dog training. David J. Mellor,Ph.D., Director of the Animal Welfare Science and Bioethics Centre and professor of Animal Welfare Science at Massey University in New Zealand, developed and promotes a set of guidelines he calls the Five Domains. His model emphasizes maximizing our animals’ positive experiences, not just minimizing negative ones. This approach moves beyond animal welfare (taking care of an animal’s basic needs) to the modern, far more progressive and humane concept of animal well-being (ensuring the animal’s quality of life).

In a 2016 paper published in Animals (an international, peer-reviewed, open-access journal devoted entirely to animals, including zoology and veterinary sciences), Dr. Mellor stated, “A marked increase in scientific understanding over the last two decades now shows that the Five Freedoms do not capture, either in the specifics or the generality of their expression, the breadth and depth of current knowledge of the biological processes that are germane to understanding animal welfare and to guiding its management.”

Dr. Mellor more fully described his model in a 2017 paper also published in Animals. “The Five Domains Model is a focusing device to facilitate systematic, structured, comprehensive and coherent assessment of animal welfare,” he wrote. “The purpose of each of the five domains is to draw attention to areas that are relevant to both animal welfare assessment and management.”

Dr. Mellor proposed that there are five domains of critical importance for modern, humane animal keeping.

In order to provide clear guidance on beneficial objectives for animal welfare management, Dr. Mellor described correlating provisions in each of these domains. Here we list his Five Domains, followed by questions we developed to help you assess how well you might be meeting – or falling short of meeting – these provisions when caring for your own dogs.

1: Good Nutrition

Provide ready access to fresh water and a diet to maintain full health and vigor. Minimize thirst and hunger, and enable eating to be a pleasurable experience.

Self-assessment: Do you feed a good quality food that is also pleasant to taste for your dog? Do you add extra tasty tidbits, vary his diet and control the presence of any aversives while he eats, perhaps even incorporate scent work with his meals to make sure he has a pleasurable dining experience? Have water accessible at all times (except perhaps when he is sleeping)? Avoid the use of water or food deprivation as a training tool?

2: Good Environment

Provide shade/shelter or suitable housing, good air quality, and comfortable resting areas. Minimize discomfort and exposure, and promote thermal, physical, and other comforts.

Self-assessment: Do you make sure your dog always has access to areas with appropriate/comfortable temperature levels – heat in the winter and air conditioning in the summer? Does he have options to choose for himself how warm or cool he wants to be? If walking with your dog in heat or cold, do you provide various means for him to stay cool or warm as needed, depending on the dog: warm jackets, boots to protect paws from hot pavement, dampening his coat to allow for cooling evaporation?

3: Good Health

Prevent or rapidly diagnose and treat disease and injury, and foster good muscle tone, posture, and cardiorespiratory function. Minimize breathlessness, nausea, pain, and other aversive experiences and promote the pleasures of robustness, vigor, strength, and well-coordinated physical activity.

Self-assessment: Is your dog up-to-date on all necessary prophylactic treatments? Do you seek veterinary care promptly at the first sign of illness or injury? Do you consistently mitigate temporary or long-term pain or discomfort with appropriate analgesics? Is your dog fit, well-exercised, and in good weight, not over-crated or overweight?

4: Appropriate behavior

Provide sufficient space, proper facilities, congenial company, and appropriately varied conditions. Minimize threats and unpleasant restrictions on behavior and promote engagement in rewarding activities.

Self-assessment: Do you allow and encourage your dog to behave like a dog? Does he have regular opportunities to bark, dig, run around, jump on things, play, get wet, get dirty, and otherwise act like a dog – with you, and/or other dogs or individuals of other species, if he enjoys their company?

5: Positive Mental Experiences

Provide safe, congenial, and species-specific opportunities to have pleasurable experiences. Promote various forms of comfort, pleasure, interest, confidence, and a sense of control.

Self-assessment: Do you take him places he likes to go and encourage activities that engage his mind, challenge his creativity, give him choices, spark his curiosity, encourage him to think and problem-solve, build his confidence, and otherwise enhance his enjoyment of life?

Score Your Own Dog-Keeping

We would expect that Whole Dog Journal readers in general are doing a good job of providing for their animal companions’ welfare. Even so, we can all do some self-examination to ensure that we are doing as much as we possibly can to also ensure our animal companions’ well-being.

Take another look at the Five Domains and Provisions, and then do a critical self-examination of all the things you provide to enhance your own dog’s well-being. If you can honestly check off all five of the boxes, our hats are off to you: You are a dog-companion superstar and the champion of your dog’s well-being.

If, on the other hand, you identify some areas that need work, then get started on any needed changes – and kudos to you for your willingness to commit to providing your dog with the best life possible.

An Ill-Advised Weight-Loss Program: Bowser’s Story

By
Catherine Ashe, DVM
-
3
Overweight and senior dogs are at increased risk of heat stress. Weight loss must be undertaken slowly.

Bowser was a sweet, lovable, and very fat Beagle. Instead of weighing a healthy 30 pounds, he was a whopping 50. Bowser’s veterinarian examined him in June and prescribed weight loss. It was recommended to his owner that Bowser’s food be changed to a metabolic diet, he stop receiving hourly treats, and he start exercising.

His well-meaning owner felt terrible. He hadn’t realized that Bowser was so overweight. Determined to help his canine friend get in shape, he took Bowser on a run. Unfortunately, Bowser, unlike his owner, was not a runner. He was terribly out of shape. He kept up gamely for the first mile, but somewhere in the second, he collapsed. It was, after all, June in the southern U.S.

Bowser came to our ER on a stretcher. He was panting uncontrollably, stretched out on his side. He had been vomiting, and he had severely bloody diarrhea. His belly was covered with bright red spots. The thermometer read 111 degrees.

Our emergency team jumped into action immediately. An IV catheter was placed and cooled fluids were started. A fan was pointed at Bowser, and towel-wrapped ice packs were placed along his belly and in his armpits. An oxygen mask filled with ice chips was placed over his nose.

Bloodwork showed that Bowser was already severely affected. His white blood cell count and blood sugar were low, and his blood wasn’t clotting properly. His liver and kidney values had already shot up as a result of the shock and organ damage, making his prognosis guarded. His owner was devastated. He had never intended to cause his dog any harm, and he told us to do whatever we needed to do to save his friend.

Bowser spent four days in the hospital with intensive care. He was given two plasma transfusions, many liters of fluids, and kept on antibiotics. Despite how severely he was affected, Bowser recovered. After four days, he went home with his loving and grateful owner to begin his weight loss journey at a much slower pace!

Avoiding Heat Stroke in Dogs

By
Catherine Ashe, DVM
-
15
Protect dogs who are obsessive about fetching; it’s easy for them to develop heat stroke in warm weather.

Summer is a great time to be a dog owner. Long warm days mean plenty of outdoor activities like swimming, hiking, and playing. It’s important to remember however, that just like us, our canine friends can overheat. As a result, taking precautions in the spring and summer is critical. With attention to your dog’s behavior in the heat and preparation for the season, you can avoid a heat stroke.

What Causes Heat Stroke?

The canine body operates best in a very narrow temperature range – usually from 99 to 102 degrees. Above 109, and body systems will become severely damaged.

The dog’s temperature is tightly controlled by the hypothalamus, an area in the brain. Elevations in temperature can be caused either by endogenous factors (inside the body) or exogenous (outside).

Fever occurs when the hypothalamus resets the normal body temperature higher as a result of infection or inflammation. It is initially a beneficial response, as it enhances the ability of the immune system to destroy viruses and bacteria. With fever, trying to cool a dog down will not help, as the brain is controlling the body temperature. It will only lead to shivering as the body tries to rewarm to the new set point. This is uncomfortable and expends energy. Cooling is not recommended for fevers.

Heat stroke (hyperthermia) is caused by external factors such as a hot environment or overexertion in the heat. The brain set temperature is normal, but a dog is unable to cool effectively, and so body temperature rises.

Dogs cool by two mechanisms: evaporation and conduction. Evaporation of heat occurs with heavy panting. Conduction occurs when a hot dog lies on a cool surface and heat is transferred. Dogs sweat very minimally and only through their footpads, so this is not a significant means of cooling.

Heat stroke progresses through three stages. It begins with heat stress. Initially, a dog will pant heavily, seek a cool surface, and drink water to bring body temperature down.

If a dog cannot do these things or cannot do them effectively (such as when trapped in a hot car), heat stress develops into heat exhaustion. The panting becomes much faster, heart rate elevates, the gums become red and tacky, and body temperature is likely greater than 106 degrees.

If this goes unaddressed, heat stroke develops. Body temperature exceeds 109 degrees. A dog will vomit, have profuse diarrhea, begin to seizure, and collapse.

Most Susceptible Dogs

All dogs can have heat strokes, but some are more prone to developing problems. Brachycephalic breeds like Bulldogs, Boston Terriers, and Boxers are notorious for overheating. Due to breed-related airway abnormalities such as small nostrils, long floppy palates and tonsils, and narrow, weak windpipes, brachycephalic dogs can overheat very quickly.

However, Labradors and other breeds vulnerable to laryngeal paralysis, another obstructive upper airway disease, are also at significantly increased risk. Dogs with cardiac disease can be predisposed, as well.

Another consideration is whether a dog is conditioned enough to be in the heat. Dogs who are not accustomed to exercise and exert themselves in hot weather can suffer heat stroke very rapidly. This is especially true if they are overweight or elderly.

Most commonly, any dog left in an unventilated car in temperatures above 65 degrees can suffer from heat stroke. This is most often seen in the spring and summer.

Symptoms

Heat stroke is not immediate. Symptoms begin with heavy panting and restlessness. This progresses to weakness and collapse, followed by profuse vomiting and diarrhea (often bloody). As heat stroke continues, a dog will become extremely dull to non-responsive. Seizures can develop in the late stages. Red to purple spots and patches may become visible on the skin.

Once the heat stroke goes untreated, every body system becomes involved. Shock develops. This means decreased oxygen delivery to tissue, which eventually leads to multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS).

In the kidneys, the renal tubules (responsible for conserving water and electrolytes) are damaged. Water, glucose, and electrolytes are lost instead of conserved. Potassium, instead of being excreted, is retained. High levels of potassium causes cardiac arrhythmias.

The ability to clot blood is also severely affected. Coagulation proteins are made in the liver, and they function within the body’s normal temperature range. At above 109 degrees, they are damaged, and clotting becomes difficult. This leads to visible bruising on the skin called petechiae. When these coalesce into large patches, they are called ecchymoses. It is especially visible on the belly, where there is less hair, on the gums, the white of the eye (sclera), and inside the ear pinna.

Liver damage also occurs due to shock. The liver is essential for many functions. Two of the most important are production and storage of glucose, the body’s energy source, and the manufacture of clotting factors. Most dogs suffering heat stroke will have low blood glucose levels due to liver damage. Brain tissue is likewise affected leading to swelling of neurons. This can cause stupor, seizures, coma, and death.

The cells lining the gastrointestinal tract start to die as a result of the hyperthermia. Once those cells are damaged, the protective lining of the intestines weakens and thins, leading to bacteria moving freely into the bloodstream (bacterial translocation). This causes “blood poisoning” or sepsis.

Every system of the body feels the effects of heat stroke, making prompt care imperative to recovery.

Treatment

Treatment of true heat stroke must be rapid and aggressive. Immediately cool your dog if you suspect heat exhaustion. If you have a hose or bathtub, wet your dog down with cold water thoroughly, especially the paw pads and thinly haired areas like the stomach (this will help dissipate heat quicker). If you are outdoors and near a body of water, a quick dip can help bring down temperature.

After cooling, take your dog to the veterinarian. Do not wait to see if he improves, as heat stroke can be deadly in a matter of hours.

Heat stroke causes shock, and this must be treated quickly. Initial vitals will be taken while the veterinary team works to stabilize your dog. If you have already cooled your dog at home, the temperature may be lower than expected, but this does not mean your dog has not had a heat stroke.

An intravenous (IV) catheter will be placed, and cool fluids will be given rapidly. This will increase blood flow to all parts of the body and improve oxygen delivery. Fans and cold water will be applied to bring body temperature down. Oxygen should be supplied either via face mask or nasal prongs. Ice chips in the oxygen mask can cool and moisten the air to further increase cooling.

Additional treatments should include broad spectrum antibiotics to protect against bacterial translocation and sepsis, IV dextrose to maintain normal blood sugar levels, mannitol or hypertonic saline to decrease cerebral edema (swelling in the brain), and continued oxygen and IV fluids. Fresh frozen plasma may be given in cases where clotting abnormalities have already developed. The plasma can provide clotting factors when the liver cannot manufacture its own or when they are deactivated by hyperthermia.

Prognosis

The prognosis is always guarded, as uncontrolled hyperthermia leads to multiple organ damage. Immediate, intensive care will improve the prognosis. Hospitalization can be prolonged, often at least 48 to 72 hours. During that time, frequent vitals and bloodwork should be conducted, including tests of clotting times and blood glucose.

Avoiding Heat Stroke

When the weather warms up, it is important to slowly acclimate your canine companion to the weather. Heat and humidity both play a role in overheating, and even on moderately warm days, if the humidity is high, overheating can occur. Plan exercise and activities for the cooler parts of the day – around sunset and early in the morning. If the temperature is moderately hot, your dog can spend short periods of time outdoors to acclimate. Do not exercise an unconditioned dog in the heat.

Any dog with upper airway abnormalities or cardiac disease should have minimal outdoor time in the summer. At the first sign of any overheating, they should be calmed and aggressively cooled with a hose or bath. This includes brachycephalic breeds and dogs with laryngeal paralysis and heart disease.

Make sure when your dog is outside that he has shade and plentiful fresh water. Keeping it cold and fresh may encourage your dog to drink more. Replenish frequently and add ice cubes. A kiddie pool filled with cold water is also excellent for the water-loving canines. If you plan to visit a dog park, choose one that has water nearby for swimming and playing.

There are an array of cooling devices that can be found for purchase including vests, sleeping pads, dog houses, and collars. (The best of these were recommended in “How to Prevent Heat Stroke in Dogs,” in the July 2015 issue.)

The best tip to remember is, if you’re in doubt, err on the side of caution and avoid overdoing it!

Doing Time in the Waiting Room

By
Nancy Kerns
-
0
whole dog journal editor Nancy Kerns

It’s June, and northern California, so we’re here (probably) for a foxtail. My tenant left the side gate to my office/house open, and Odin was out in the (unfenced!) front yard for anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour – grr! I looked up from my computer when I heard the sound of vomiting and glanced around me to find the source of the sound. I simultaneously noticed that Odin was not lying on the office couch with Woody as per usual and that the vomiting sound was coming from the front yard. I stood and looked out the window, and there was Odin, puking on the front lawn.

I went out and called him, and he looked up at me miserably, giving a weak tail wag. “I don’t feel so good!” I brought him in the house and got a fork, with which to poke through the vomit, to try to determine what he ate that was making him throw up. It looked like it was entirely comprised of his breakfast kibble and a lot of grass – fortunately, no sign of rotten things or chicken bones or rat poison. But then, over the next couple of hours, he kept having strange hiccuping sessions, with moments of gagging. It could be that his esophagus is just irritated. Or it could be he has a foxtail stuck in there somehere. Only one way to find out.

You can’t wait with foxtails. The longer the grass awns have been in a dog, whether between his toes or up his nose or down his ear, the more damage they cause. If you can get them out on the first day, the bill will be less. So here we are.

Also here: An old Labrador, lumpy with (presumably, I hope) lipomas. He’s shaking with anxiety and balking a bit, and his owner gives the leash a rough yank. Oh, c’mon. Why do people do that at a time like this?

I watched a lovely black and white Standard Poodle, immaculately groomed. She’s pulling for the front door, and her owner stops for a moment and says something to her in a quiet voice. She immediately stops pulling, circles back to his side, and they resume their walk to the front door at a sedate pace. That’s better.

A lady sits near us, waiting to pick up her dog. Odin strains to reach her, wagging his tail. She smiles and asks if she can pet him. “He’ll jump in your lap!” I warn her, laughing. “He will kiss you on the lips!” He does just that as she giggles and wraps her arms around him in a warm embrace, and he buries his head in her chest. “I have had my rescue dog for six years, and she’s never let me do that!” she exclaims. Wow. I can’t even imagine.

We had a three-hour wait for a room. After observing Odin’s hiccups and hard swallowing, the vet sedated Odin to examine his throat. Four hours and a nap in my car later I picked up a still dopey pup; the vet hadn’t found anything besides irritated tonsils, but at least we know. Life with dogs!

When It Comes to Dog Training, Practice Makes Perfect

By
Nancy Kerns
-
8
A girl uses handsignals to train her puppy

Anyone who has ever learned to do something physical – hitting a baseball, sewing a garment, driving a car, you name it – understands that you gain competence only through practice and repetition. At first, your movements and timing are clumsy and imperfect. You probably overcorrect, making crooked or zig-zagging seams or driving the car over the centerline bumps. But over time – and especially if you have some expert guidance – your movements become smooth and coordinated, and it seems to any observers that you’re a natural! Ha! If only they could see you at the beginning!

Learning new skills is hard work – for people AND dogs

Now, think about learning something new with a partner who is also learning the same skill, such as a new dance or perhaps sign language. The difficulty factor goes way up! It’s going to take a bit longer for the result to look smooth.

A chocolate lab paying attention to his owner

Now imagine that your dance partner or sign language conversation partner speaks a different language! If this is the case, all of your clumsy efforts require that much MORE patience, creativity, and humor with each other as you try to figure out how to communicate while simultaneously managing intricate dance steps or movements of the hands.

This latter scenario, you may have already guessed, is exactly what’s at play with new dog owners and their new dogs or puppies!

Every new owner wants their puppies or dogs to behave well – to stop doing uncomfortable or naughty things like chewing shoes, jumping on people, or barking at the leaves falling in the back yard, and to perform good behaviors on cue, such as sit, down, wait, and leave it. It adds quite a layer of difficulty to teach them to do what we want, in a language that is not their own, while we are simultaneously learning to use our posture and movements (body language!) for cues and the timely delivery of reinforcers!

Using markers and reinforcers

In the late 1940s, pioneering animal trainers Keller and Marian Breland started teaching other animal trainers to use a marker and the immediate delivery of a reinforcer to teach animals to perform behaviors. They found that chickens were a great species to use to help trainers learn the physicality of cues and reinforcement delivery – especially,  the timing of the marker and reinforcer delivery, as well as the location and presention of the both the cue and the reinforcer.

Chickens who were raised around people aren’t afraid of humans, they notice very minute differences in the appearance of things, they are very quick to react when they notice these differences, and they are very motivated by food to try new behaviors. They also don’t carry a lot of behavioral “baggage” along with them, resulting from living with sometimes-intemperate humans! They make amazing practice partners for anyone who is learning how to observe animal behavior and learn to change it swiftly and without force, and there is a long legacy of trainers who still use chickens to teach dog trainers how to refine and improve their training technique.

Don’t blame the chicken!

Another brilliant thing about using chickens to teach people how to train: people don’t get mad at chickens when they are failing to get the chicken to perform a specific behavior! They don’t tend to start calling the chicken “stubborn” or “spiteful” – or blame the chicken’s breed, origins as a “rescue chicken” or anything else. They are able to easily see that training the chicken is just a matter of presenting the training challenge to the chicken in a precise way that makes it easy for the chicken to do the behavior (or some approximation of it), for the behavior to instantly be “marked” (with the click of a clicker or a verbal marker, such as the word “Yes!”, or the flash of a penlight, or what have you!) and be reinforced for it immediately.

They are also able to see that if they are late with the marker, or fail to deliver the reinforcer in a timely fashion and in a location that doesn’t pull the chicken out of the position the trainer wanted her in, that it’s impossible for the chicken to “get” the point of the exercise! They see that it’s their own clumsiness or bad timing, not the chicken being “bad.”

Get a second set of eyes

Dog dancing with his person

If you are having trouble teaching your dog some new behavior, consider taking a little video of yourself as you work with your dog, or ask someone who you consider to be a good trainer to watch you. It might develop that you simply need a little coaching on how you are presenting the cue, or marking the desired behavior, or delivering the reinforcer. Strike that: It is undoubtedly a problem with one of those things, not that your dog is being dumb, lazy, or a non-native speaker of English.

Honestly, if you are motivated to learn how to more effectively teach your dog new behaviors quickly, sign up for a class or even just a private lesson or two with someone who is experienced with positive reinforcement-based training (and who does NOT use punitive, physical “corrections” AT ALL). With a few pointers, you will be amazed at how quickly you and your dog or puppy will be happily speaking the same language as you dance through life together.

Dog Kisses: Is Your Dog Really Kissing You?

By
Sassafras Lowrey
-
8

You either love it or hate it: the wet, warm sensation of a dog licking your face. Many of us seek out this kind of interaction with our dogs (sometimes much to the horror of onlookers) while others try to discourage the behavior. Many dog lovers attribute a lot of meaning to dogs licking us, especially if we’re the sort that enjoy it – we say our dogs are giving us kisses and we interpret that as a sign of affection, but are dog kisses really a sign of affection? Or are they just after the leftovers we forgot to wipe off our chins?

dog kisses

Why do Dogs Lick People?

Certified Professional Dog Trainer and Chair of The Association of Professional Dog Trainers Nick Hof, CPDT-KA, CBCC-KA, KPA-CTP, CSAT, explains there are a lot of reasons why dogs lick people’s hands, feet or faces. It might mean your dog wants to show you affection, but it could also be because you taste good or that your dog is struggling with compulsive behavior.

dog kissing feet

If you are wearing sweet-scented lotion, or come home sweaty, your dog might be licking you because you taste good. I know my own dogs are very excited to lick my hands if I’ve been eating something greasy or salty, like potato chips. Hof mentions that dog guardians shouldn’t be alarmed by their dogs finding them delicious – they probably won’t take a bite out of you!

While most of the time dog kisses aren’t anything to be concerned about, Hof warns there are times when the kissing might be a sign of something else going on with your dog. He advises that there might be an underlying health issue “if the licking seems to be compulsive, excessive, or self-destructive; if it is difficult to redirect your dog or they are harming themselves, you should consult with your veterinarian for help addressing this issue.”

dog chewing paw

Are Dog Kisses Actually Signs of Affection?

Unfortunately, there’s no easy answer to dogs’ intentions when licking their people, but it seems to come down to whether your dog is seeking you out, or if you are seeking your dog out.

Hof explains, “It’s helpful to look at the context of the licking to better understand and pay attention to other signals besides the licking or the kiss, such as the dog approaching the owner and choosing to engage in the behavior despite having the option to move away or leave; or was the dog thrust upon and looking away and licking his lips as well?” In other words, forced affection on the part of the guardian can warp the true intention of a dog’s kiss – a dog will “kiss” your face to appease you and make go away rather than to display their love for you.

dog kisses

Hof offers the following important reminder: “it’s always best to invite your dog to approach you so that you feel more confident they’ve made that choice willingly. When you begin to respect your dog’s autonomy, you see more comfort and confidence in their behavior.” What you can count on as a result is knowing the way your dog behaves with you is genuine.

For safety reasons (and this is a hard one for many of us who share our lives with dogs), Hof states that it is not recommended for people to put their faces up to their dogs’ faces. Although this is often done as a sign of affection from us, it is very commonly invasive to our dogs and they may not appreciate it. This is where we most often see dogs licking or “kissing” their person’s face as a way for the dog to avoid conflict.

This “Kiss to Dismiss”, as coined by the Family Paws Organization, is often paired with a look away from the person and licking of lips. If you would like to have a close moment with your dog, invite them to do so with you, and if they want to come up to your face, they will – but if not, respect it when they say ‘no’. Obviously we want our dogs to be comfortable so it’s important to be thoughtful of how we physically show emotions to our dogs, so that our dogs don’t feel pressured to appease us through kisses.

How to Get Your Dog to Stop Licking You

If your dog is prone to kisses and you or your family and guests aren’t fans of it, Hof explains the best thing you can do is to be proactive with training your dog.

“If you see them approaching and you know they’re going to lick you, ask them to sit as they approach, then redirect their affection and energy onto a toy or other activity. If, when you sit down to watch TV, your dog tries to give you a tongue bath, give them a stuffed Kong or a bone to enjoy instead of your sweat or lotion.”

Getting ahead of the behavior is particularly important. “If you wait until they are already licking you to always redirect, you may inadvertently reinforce the licking behavior with a treat or chew,” Hof cautioned. Simply this means your dog may increase his licking in order to get the treats you were using to redirect the licking in the first place.

If you have a hard time redirecting your dog or discouraging licking behavior, it’s a good idea to talk with your veterinarian or a veterinary behaviorist to determine if there is something going on with your dog causing what might be obsessive licking behavior. Dog trainer Jill Breitner reminds us that, “Licking as in lip licking or tongue flicks are a sign of stress.” She also points out that it can happen quickly and that dog guardians may not even realize that their dog is stressed.

“Context is always key in decoding the emotional state of a dog,” explains Breitner, creator of the Dog Decoder App in collaboration with artist Lili Chin of Doggie Drawings. This interactive education app teaches users about canine body language and how to better read what your dog is telling you about their emotional wellbeing through body language. The app is available for iPhones and Androids.

Sassafras Lowrey is an award-winning author and Certified Trick Dog Instructor. Sassafras lives and writes in Portland, Oregon, with her partner, a senior Chihuahua mix, rescued Cattle Dog mix, young Newfoundland, two bossy cats, and a formerly semi-feral kitten.

Favorite Dog Breeds: Everyone Has One

By
Nancy Kerns
-
2

It finally hit me: I’m now a pit bull owner. I’ve never been able to say those words before. When my son heard the news, he called – from work! – to ask how I was, was I okay? A sensitive young man and a dog lover himself, he knows I’ve been fighting off some lingering sorrow over the numerous sad events in my life in 2015 by indulging in perhaps too much fostering. But he also knows that the bully breeds have never been my favorite, and he must have worried that my judgment has been compromised by depression.

Whole Dog Journal editor Nancy Kerns

Is it shocking to hear the editor of a dog magazine say she doesn’t particularly like bully breeds? I could go farther: I’m not a fan of Boxers, Mastiffs, or Bull Terriers. I tend not to enjoy terriers of any kind. Yorkshire Terriers, ack! When I was a young adult, my parents had some that I honestly loathed, and they sort of ruined the breed for me.

That’s not all! I actively avoid the company of dogs who have so much hunting instinct that hunting is all they want to do outdoors. I like to be able to walk with a dog and relax, for crying out loud! I don’t like having to be vigilant every step of the way, or to have to keep a dog on leash on every walk, lest she run so far after game that she disappears (for any length of time) or threatens to harass or murder some other animal. I have so many friends who have German Wire-Haired Pointers, and I can’t say I’ve ever liked a single one of them.

While I admire the work that some of the German Shepherd-type dogs do (GSDs themselves, as well as the Malinois, Tervuren, et. al.), I wouldn’t want to live with one. I love Border Collies but for what specific reason I cannot say, I tend to dislike Aussies.

That’s just off the top of my head. Who haven’t I alienated yet?

If I have alienated you, I have to ask: Can you honestly say you love all breeds equally? You’d be just as happy with a pack of Chihuahuas as you would be with a Great Dane? You could give your heart to a Great Pyrenees as easily as a Chinese Crested?

I don’t think it’s disrespectful or insulting to admit that you have favorite breed types, as long as you respect the fact that other people have favorites (and most-disliked breeds), too. Especially if you are open to the possibility that there may well be individuals among the breeds you say you don’t like that you could absolutely love.

Maybe this is all just rationalization, because that’s what’s happened to me: I fell hard for an individual of the most maligned not-breed, the most feared and misidentified type of dog in this country, the dog that is over-represented in every open-admission shelter in the country, the pit bull terrier-mix.

But I haven’t undertaken this adoption lightly. I happen to believe that the owners of this type of dog – and all large, powerful dogs – need to be willing to take more than the average amount of responsibility for the socialization, training, management, and utter control of their dogs. When someone neglects the training or socialization of a cute little poodle-mix, and the poorly behaved, fearful dog ends up in a shelter, the odds are usually pretty good he’ll get a second chance at a nice home. That’s just not true for anything that looks like a “pittie.” Pity. There are countless reasons for this, some valid, some pure fiction, but it’s true: this type of dog has cultural baggage.

My hound foster is a master of door-darting, and we’ve been working daily on “wait” at the door. But she caught me being inattentive the other day and darted out the front door just in time to accost a woman walking a Chihuahua. Yes, I became that person. “She’s friendly!” I cried as I raced after the hound, but the lady wasn’t the slightest bit alarmed; she smiled at the hound’s bouncing around and goofy goodwill. That won’t be true if my pit-mix does the exact same thing – so I will be doing everything possible to make sure it just doesn’t happen.

Memorable Things I’ve Learned From Pet Seminars

By
Nancy Kerns
-
8

Continuing education is an awesome thing. I am so grateful that my publisher sends me to a couple of places or events each year in order to expand my knowledge of canine health, training and behavior, and nutrition.

Over the past 22 years, I have visited quite a few pet food manufacturing plants, pet food company corporate headquarters, and pet food company testing laboratories. I have attended at least a dozen conferences organized by professional dog training organizations, including Karen Pryor’s ClickerExpo, the Association of Professional Dog Trainers, the Pet Professionals Guild, and the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants. There are gigantic pet products trade shows, SuperZoo, Global Pet, and one that doesn’t exist any more, HH Backer. In addition, I’ve attended the conferences of veterinary professionals, including the American Veterinary Medical Association and the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association.

What I’ve Learned

Each time I come home from an educational opportunity like this, my bags are bursting with product literature, conference proceedings, business cards, and tons and tons of notes about things that I found to be extraordinarily interesting. But then I get back, and, after a week out of town, find myself playing catch up – with my own dogs and family, the next issue of the magazine, and so on. Some of what fascinated me a few weeks prior gets lost – at least until I have a chance to go through my notes again, or get a call from someone I exchanged business cards with, or I read another article about a topic I had just learned about, or I receive a query from a writer who would like to write about that topic for WDJ.

But in every instance, there are at least a few products or topics or presenters that were so riveting, that their memory stands out above all else that I witnessed at that educational opportunity.

Most recently, from SuperZoo, there were two products that leap into mind: a toy (which I will review in the next issue) and a particular type of dog poop picker-upper (which I am waiting to hear has gone into mass production before I promote it).

From the past few training conferences, it was speakers Chirag Patel (a London-based trainer) and Dr. Chris Pachel, a veterinary behaviorist in Portland, Oregon.

Getting Dogs Adopted Faster

And from the most recent small conference I attended, the Canine Science Symposium, held in San Francisco in April, it was a lecture by Dr. Sasha Protopopova, of Texas Tech University about how shelters can improve their marketing efforts to both get more animals adopted and to decrease the length of stay for adoptable animals (i.e., get them adopted faster!).

There were more scientific talks – and there were some really fascinating talks on topics I knew little or nothing about. But this is the one that pops into my head when I think about attending that particular event! Dr. Protopopova started out by showing how many shelters market their wards almost in the same way that unsuccessful job applicants do – by stressing that they need a job by a certain date or they are going to lose their home, and that they are unemployed through no fault of their own. These things might elicit sympathy in employers or potential dog adopters, but they are unlikely to make someone say, “Well, gosh, tell me more!”

Dr. Sasha Protopopova

She cited a number of formal studies that looked at how pets were marketed by shelters and how various things affected (or did not affect) the length of their stay. A really good photo of the animal, for example, was found to correlate with a 67% decrease in the length of stay. The most effective photos of dogs were taken outdoors (correlated with a 27% decrease in length of stay), standing, and making eye contact with the camera.

Put It All Out There?

She also studied research on human dating services, and what made ads for some people more “clickable” than others. Though it’s not a direct corollary, she suggested that some of the same characteristics of successful dating profiles could be applied to adoptable dog profiles, including, of course, several good photos: a short, humorous, memorable description, with only the dogs’ positive attributes described (detailing the dog’s limitations in his ad is similar to someone listing off-putting restrictions in their personal ad, turning off potential partners before a meeting could be arranged to see whether there is enough attraction to warrant working with those limitations).

Anyway, I see descriptions of dogs who are being promoted by various shelters, rescue groups, and fellow foster-providers every day, and I keep thinking about Dr. Protopopova’s talk. Which reminds me, I need to pass along my notes and the Powerpoint presentation of the talk to my local shelter.

What was THE most resonant thing you learned from the last seminar or conference you went to?

Service Dog Scams

By
Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA
-
0
San Diego resident Tamandra Michaels, who was born witih spina bifida, trained her own service dog, Justice, to retrieve items and help “motor” her non-powered wheelchair, among other tasks.

Imagine scraping, scrimping, and saving all your hard-earned dollars to realize a long-held dream – the purchase of a well-trained service dog for yourself, a family member, or a friend. You’ve spent long hours imagining how life will be so much easier for you and your loved-ones with a trusted canine assistant there to help. Finally, the long-awaited day is here, and your service dog arrives.

Now imagine your disappointment and horror when you realize the dog you just paid thousands of dollars for is untrained, undersocialized, fearful, and even aggressive. Your dream just turned into a nightmare. You have been scammed.

A growing number of news stories are reporting cases of dog training companies allegedly selling completely untrained dogs as service dogs. The Ry-Con Service Dog Company in Raleigh, North Carolina, closed its doors in January of this year after more than 40 customers filed complaints with that state’s Attorney General. Prices for those dogs ranged from $10,000 to $15,000, and complaints included dogs who weren’t housetrained, and on at least one occasion, a dog who bit the child he was supposed to be serving.

Virginia’s Attorney General filed a lawsuit in May 2018 against Roanoke-based Service Dogs by Warren Retrievers, alleging the dogs they sold for $18,000 to $27,000 were sometimes as young as three months and weren’t even trained to respond to basic cues, much less perform the diabetes-alert tasks they were sold to do. The State received complaints from more than 50 Warren Retriever customers.

Justice allows a child in a wheelchair to pet him. Spending a small fortune to buy a dog with a temperament that is unsuited to close work with disabled children or adults would be disastrous for many people who need a reliable service animal. Photo by Tamandra Michaels

It’s truly one of the more heartless scams being perpetuated these days, and it’s happening with increasing frequency, due in part to the large sums of money people are willing to pay for service dogs, and in part to the complete lack of regulation in the dog training industry.

Evolution of a Scam

When properly trained, dogs can immensely improve the quality of life for people who need them. Many years ago, the only service dogs were guide dogs for vision-impaired humans. Only a few companies provided the very highly specialized training dogs needed for this task, and scams were nonexistent. A poorly trained guide dog could easily get her person killed.

Next on the scene were hearing dogs for people who had varying degrees of hearing impairment. Because hearing dog tasks were (and are) simpler to train than guide dogs, this option attracted multiple training professionals to the service dog field. The San Francisco SPCA was a leader in this new development and soon others jumped in.

Eventually, people realized that service dogs could be capable of performing a much wider variety of tasks, and the service dog boom was born. Today, dogs perform a limitless list of behaviors for their differently abled humans, including opening and closing doors; helping their people get dressed; detecting allergens, low blood sugar levels and the impending onset of seizures; picking up dropped items; turning appliances on and off; providing physical support; calling for emergency help; and much more.

Their incredible versatility and value has created a huge demand for service dogs and a well-trained dog can command a high price.

Add in the fact that our society has become accustomed to ordering anything we want from the internet; more and more people today purchase puppies and adopt dogs sight unseen from across the country.

If you type the words “service dog fraud” into any online search engine, you will find that there is no shortage of people who have been victimized by fake service dog trainers.

This combination created a perfect storm that explains the success of service-dog scammers who ship untrained dogs great distances, sight unseen, to disabled clients. Who would be so cruel as to defraud a person with a disability? Apparently, there are all too many who are willing to do so.

Lack of Regulation

Another contributor to the problem is the fact that the dog training industry as a whole, not just the service-dog training industry, is woefully unregulated. In most if not all parts of the United States, literally anyone can hang out a sign or put an ad in the paper and call themselves a dog trainer – even a service-dog trainer. Someone who is willing to be unethical about acquiring the background and training necessary to be a competent training professional may also be more likely to be willing to rip people off for an untrained service dog.

Tips for Avoiding Service Dog Scammers

Many people have a very real need for the assistance and independence that a real service dog can provide. It’s a travesty that those who could really benefit from a well-trained dog might be afraid to try to acquire one because of the risk of being scammed – or, worse, might actually be defrauded when they do purchase a dog. If you know someone considering a service dog, please share these tips to help him or her avoid the scammers:

1. Check out the trainer and/or company. Ask training professionals you know and trust if they are familiar with the person or company with dogs for sale. If they aren’t familiar with the prospective seller, ask if they will help you find other reputable trainers who are familiar with the prospective seller.

Anyone who trains service dogs for sale should have, at a minimum,  valid professional credentials from reputable trainer organizations, such as the Certification Counsel for Professional Dog Trainers, the Pet Professional Guild, or the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants. There are other credentials that can support or boost a professional’s credibility, but these are a start. Veterinary Behaviorists or Certified Applied Animal Behaviorists have advanced degrees, which should be very easy to verify, but don’t take anyone’s word about any credentials! Contact the certifying organization and  make sure the person’s credentials are in good standing.

2. Ask for a lot of references – 10, if not more. A trainer or company is unlikely to give you references to dissatisfied clients, but asking for a significant number decreases the likelihood that the references are fake. Contact the clients, and ask very specific questions about their dogs: age, breed, gender, how long they’ve had them, specifically what tasks the dogs were trained to do, and if the client is happy with the dog’s performance. Make the conversation light and chatty, not an interrogation!

After getting answers to the questions, ask if the client would be willing to send you videos of their dog performing some of the tasks. Many service dog owners are proud of their dogs and would be happy to show off their dogs’ accomplishments. When you receive the videos, make sure the dogs and the tasks match the descriptions given in the answers to your questions.

3. Meet your prospective service dog in person. I can’t even imagine adopting a dog sight unseen as a regular companion, much less one who will fill the critically important role of a service dog. I realize there may be a cost and significant inconvenience involved in traveling to wherever the dog is, but this is mandatory.

You need to see that the dog genuinely is trained, and the trainer should ensure that you and the dog are a good match. He or she should spend some time teaching you how to work with the dog. You also need to know you are comfortable with the dog!

4. Do a background check. Many states permit online criminal records searches. Something from someone’s far distant past might not be cause for alarm, but something more recent might be. Check with the Better Business Bureau to see if complaints have been filed. Ask the local Animal Control in the jurisdiction of the business if they have had any problems with the facility or its staff. Check to see if they have a business license. Do several online searches of the business name and look for articles and reviews about the business or its owners.

5. Consider setting up an escrow account. You might want an animal law attorney to help you with this one. An escrow is a contractual arrangement in which a third party receives and disburses money or property for the primary transacting parties. The disbursement is dependent on conditions agreed to and well-described in the contract by the transacting parties.

The conditions could include a period of time during which the dog demonstrates her ability to perform the tasks as promised by the trainer, and well as providing a guarantee of payment to the trainer when conditions are met.

6. Consider training your own service dog. No law says you have to buy a trained service dog, and a growing number of training professionals are helping owners train their own service dogs, especially for some of the less-demanding tasks.

Service Dog Coaching: A Guide for Pet Dog Trainers is a good and recently published book by Veronica Sanchez, CPDT-KA, CABC, that is helping trainers meet the needs of people seeking to train their own dogs. There are a variety of other books on the market intended to help you train your own service dog. Check with your trusted training professional about which of these books might be acceptable/suitable for you.

One important caveat: Your dog may or may not be suited for the work of a service dog – be prepared for this!

7. Trust your instincts. If any part of the service-dog training or service-dog purchase process feels wrong to you, trust your instincts! Whether it’s a bad feeling about the individual trainer, alarming information that turns up during the background check, or your own feelings about the dog you are being matched with – trust your instincts! Trying to recover your $10,000 to $25,000 from a scammer after the fact may be a very difficult challenge – if not an impossible one.

Your service dog should be an invaluable asset, a treasure, a life-enhancer, a comfort, and a joy. Do everything within your power to make sure she can be everything you want and need her to be. 

Take the Sit/Down/Stand challenge!

By
Nancy Kerns
-
10
"Hey, everyone: Let's have a quick group practice session on the lawn. I know it's hot!"

My trainer friend Sarah Richardson, owner of The Canine Connection in Chico, California, recently attended a conference in Hot Springs, Arkansas, with a world-renowned pioneer in animal training. She came back home full of inspiration and excitement, with ideas about how she wants to add things and change things in her group training classes.

Sarah hosts a discussion group on Facebook for her training clients, and she posted this shortly after she got back:

“Bob Bailey is now in his 80s but was literally one of the first in the world to be training as we now do with operant conditioning, use of a marker, etc. Bob invited some of the key people he has influenced to serve as his fellow presenters and they came from Canada, Holland, Germany, Mexico, and the US to be with him.

“One of the presenters gave a talk about how ballet improved her dog training. As an adult in her 40s, she took up ballet and learned how hard it is to do the basic movements really well. In contrast, world-class ballerinas practice the basic movements – just the basics – up to 8 hours a day! It got me thinking: How much do we practice the basics – just the basics! – with our dogs so that they are competent with these core skills, and so we are competent with teaching and communicating with our dogs?

“So, I am returning home from my trip with a challenge for myself and my dogs. We are going to return to practicing our canine calisthenics – sit, down, stand – like crazy, in short, frequent training sessions this month. My goal is for my dogs to do these behaviors on a verbal cue as well as on a hand signal and in many different contexts (how they are positioned in relation to me, the setting we are in, etc.).”

Further, Sarah encouraged those in the group to practice and post video of their practice sessions with their dogs.

Time to Start Practicing

I thought I would take the challenge. Back to basics – easy peasy, yes? Both of my dogs know hand and verbal cues for sit, down, and stand, and can readily move from one position to the other. My senior dog Otto is super sharp at these, and eagerly demonstrates his acuity. I looked forward to taking some video of Otto confidently moving through these exercises to share with the discussion group.

“We’re happy to lay down on the cool grass.”

I thought (correctly) that I would have to practice more with my younger dog, Woody, before I could commit to putting our efforts on video. Woody takes a more speculative approach to my cues. “Why are you asking?” he seems to say when I give him a cue. He “knows” the cues for sit, down, and stand. After taking a moment to determine whether I’m serious about wanting a response from him, he will methodically change from any one of those positions to any other position. But he tends to get stuck a few position changes into any session of more than three requests. He needs some convincing that the work is worth his while. He may go into a down, and then just stay there after I ask for “sit” or “stand.” His expression seems to say, “I’m just not sure there is a point to all this!”

Food treat rewards increase the motivation – and I don’t blame him one bit. I don’t like working for zero pay, either. And his speed definitely increases when the compensation value increases; he will work longer and faster for chicken or cheese than kibble. But he only gets enthusiastic and sharp-looking if the “pay” is his highest-value reward: a chance to go fetch his Planet Dog Squeak ball.

With the “stand” cue, we lost Odin; he had no interest in a cue he didn’t know yet.

“What’s In It For Me?”

Woody’s deliberations make me miss my Border Collie, Rupert – the dog I owned when we launched Whole Dog Journal 22 years ago. Well-trained Border Collies make any trainer look good; they love to work and find it incredibly self-rewarding to respond to rapid-fire cues. Many will work without treats or any other tangible reward; the opportunity to work with their person is often enough of a high-value reinforcement in itself! In contrast, Woody, a pit-Lab-mix, has a healthy self-preservation instinct. He wants to know, “What’s in it for me?” before committing himself to a lot of training nonsense.

Otto is somewhere in between. He’s keen to earn my praise and attention, and he likes food treats. But he’s not going to do this all day. I have to keep our practice sessions short and fun, or he starts dramatically sighing and moaning on his “downs” – or looking off to the side when I first give him a cue, like, “Wait, one sec… Did you just hear the mail truck? I think maybe I should go check to see if your mail is here…”

Anyway, I’ve been practicing. I took video on Otto’s first session, and it wasn’t bad. As I predicted, he is really pretty sharp and willing – though the fact that I was holding a camera/phone between us was definitely off-putting to him. And after a dozen or so position changes he was like, “Um, Nance… What’s going on here?”

It took a couple days of practice before I even bothered to try to take some footage of Woody’s efforts. The fact that I recently brought home a nice new Squeak ball helped a lot.

I do tend to take these basic behaviors for granted from my own dogs, but practicing with the goal of taking video that I could share has been fun. It also gives me and my dogs something to “talk about” – an extra few interactions each day that are (I hope) mutually enjoyable. Try it yourself! We’ll put a post on the WDJ Facebook page where you can upload video of your own dogs doing these basic exercises.

Calcium in Homemade Dog Food

By
Mary Straus
-
133
calcium in homemade dog food
If you feed your dog a home-prepared diet, and you do not include a source of calcium, you could be seriously endangering your dog’s health. The ingredients shown here are the basis of a very healthy diet – but without the ground eggshell added in, the diet would be incomplete and imbalanced.

If asked the most common mistake people make when feeding their dogs a homemade diet, I’d have to say that it’s not adding calcium. This error is not only common, it’s also dangerous, especially for puppies, but for adult dogs as well when too little calcium is given long term. Giving an inappropriate amount of calcium (either too much or too little) can cause orthopedic problems in growing puppies, especially large-breed puppies during the first six months when they are growing the fastest. But giving too little calcium can lead to bone disease and more in adult dogs, too.

It’s not surprising to me that many people do not realize the importance of adding calcium when feeding a homemade diet. Most of the homemade diet recipes I’ve seen online make no mention of added calcium. I reviewed more than 30 books on homemade diets for WDJ some years ago.1 Of the 24 books I reviewed that were not exclusively about feeding a raw diet that includes bones, only 10 included adequate calcium guidelines!

Why Calcium is Important in Dog Nutrition

I’m aware that some people who feed home-prepared diets rely on annual blood tests to indicate whether their dogs are receiving enough calcium; they think that if their dogs’ blood calcium levels are normal, the dogs must be getting the right amount of calcium in their diet. Unfortunately, this is not true.

For both dogs and humans, the body must keep calcium levels in the blood within a specific range to prevent serious health issues, including loss of muscle control, seizures, and even death. Adult dogs are able to control their blood calcium levels by absorbing a greater or lesser percentage of dietary calcium, depending on the amount fed, though this can be impacted by the amount of vitamin D in the diet as well, as vitamin D promotes calcium absorption. Note that puppies do not have the ability to control their absorption of calcium before puberty, and thus can suffer the negative effects of too little or too much calcium and vitamin D very quickly.

feeding dog treats
Calories from treats, chews, and shared snacks can add up quickly, especially for small dogs and couch potatoes, unbalancing whatever type of diet you feed. Limit treats to healthy foods in small amounts. Dogs are happier to get two or three tiny treats than one large one!

Dogs (and humans) also control their blood calcium levels by storing calcium in bones, then drawing it back out when needed – when they aren’t getting enough calcium in their diet. When adult dogs are given too little calcium for long periods (like months), they develop a condition called nutritional secondary hyperparathyroidism. In this situation, the body produces excess parathyroid hormone to draw needed calcium from their bones, which can also result in elevated levels of phosphorus in the blood.

Parathyroid hormone is completely different from thyroid hormones; the name is given because the parathyroid glands are located adjacent to the thyroid glands. Parathyroid hormones are responsible for regulating calcium and phosphorus levels in the blood. Hyperparathyroidism (too much parathyroid hormone) can also be caused by a tumor on one of the parathyroid glands (primary hyperparathyroidism) or by advanced kidney disease (renal secondary hyperparathyroidism). Nutritional secondary hyperparathyroidism is usually linked to a deficiency of calcium, sometimes combined with too little vitamin D.

When the body produces too much parathyroid hormone, it causes demineralization of the bones, which may result in lameness, bone pain, swelling, stiffness or limping, not wanting to move, and even spontaneous fractures. Adult dogs may develop spinal deformities, loose teeth, or neurological signs. Puppies are more likely to develop deformities in their legs and joints that may leave them unable to walk normally. If the condition is not corrected quickly, it could lead to long-term orthopedic disorders.

Now that I have scared the pants off you about providing the right amount of calcium in your dog’s homemade diet – at least, I hope I did! – what kind of calcium should you add, and how much is the right amount?

When You DON’T Need to Add Calcium to Your Dog’s Food

Never add calcium to commercial diets that are “complete and balanced” – these already contain the right amount of calcium! Adding calcium to a “complete and balanced” diet would be particularly dangerous for large-breed puppies.

However, most homemade diets require added calcium with a few notable exceptions. DO NOT add calcium to a home-prepared diet if:

  • You feed a raw diet that includes raw meaty bones (RMBs) — parts such as chicken and turkey necks where the bone is fully consumed. Bones are high in calcium and phosphorus; there’s no need to add calcium to a diet that includes at least 25 to 30 percent RMBs.
  • You use a supplement that is especially designed to complete and balance a homemade diet, such as those made by Balance IT and Just Food For Dogs.
  • You use a dog food “base mix,” such as those made by The Honest Kitchen and Sojo’s, that you combine with your own added protein source according to the product directions.

When using supplements or base mixes that promise to complete a homemade diet, make certain that the product includes a complete nutritional analysis showing appropriate amounts of calcium. Don’t accept the verbal assurances of the company’s owners or representatives, or those of pet food store employees; if they can’t or won’t provide you with complete nutritional analyses of their products, we would not rely on those products for anything more than an occasional meal.

Following Calcium Guidelines

With very few exceptions (see “When You Don’t Need to Add Calcium,” above), you need to add calcium to your dog’s homemade diet.

Calcium guidelines can be determined in several different ways, including the body weight of the dog, the dry matter percentage of the food, and the calories that the dog needs. Each has its own complications:

  • Small dogs eat more and have higher nutritional needs for their weight than large dogs do, so you can’t use linear guidelines such as “give x amount per 10 pounds of body weight.” Any time you see linear feeding instructions, it’s a red flag that whoever is giving the instructions does not understand nutrition.
  • The amount of moisture (water) in food can vary from about 10 percent or less in dry foods (kibble, dehydrated, freeze-dried) to 80 per percent or more in wet foods (canned, fresh, frozen, raw, cooked). You must convert the “as fed” food weight to dry matter (DM) in order to give guidelines based on how much food is fed. Dry matter percentages won’t change much when you convert from “as fed” for dry foods, but are usually three to five times as much as the “as fed” percentage for wet foods. Also, because we feed dogs less of high-fat, calorie-dense foods, adjustments need to be made for foods with more than 4,000 kcal/kg DM.
  • Calculating nutritional requirements based on the number of calories your dog needs is the simplest method, but comes with some warnings as well. Caloric needs will vary based on your dog’s activity level, metabolism, and more. The right amount to feed will also be affected by how many calories your dog gets from treats, chews, leftovers, and other sources. In particular, inactive dogs who eat less food for their weight than would be expected should get most of their calories from a balanced diet in order to avoid nutritional deficiencies.

The National Research Council (NRC) issued updated nutritional guidelines for dogs in 2006. They recommend feeding adult dogs at least 1 mg of calcium per Calorie (kcal), which is the same as 1 gram (1,000 mg) per 1,000 kcal (Mcal).

The nutritional guidelines published by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), which were finally modified in 2016 to reflect the latest NRC recommendations, increased this to 1.25 mg calcium/kcal (1.25 grams/Mcal).

On a dry matter basis, that’s 4 to 5 grams of calcium per kilogram of food on a dry matter basis, or 0.4 to 0.5 percent DM.

One other factor affects how much calcium your dog needs: phosphorus. There should always be at least as much calcium as phosphorus in the diet, up to twice as much for healthy dogs (or three times as much for dogs with kidney disease).

Most homemade diets that I’ve looked at have between 0.5 and 1.25 mg phosphorus per kcal, so giving 1.25 mg calcium per kcal will provide most dogs with an appropriate amount of calcium and a proper calcium:phosphorus ratio.

You will need to know how many calories your dog is likely to need, based on his ideal weight – not his actual weight. See Table I on the next page for the approximate amounts of calcium to add to homemade diets for dogs of various sizes and various activity levels in order to provide 1.25 mg of calcium per kcal. While nutrient needs don’t vary by activity level, dogs who eat more food need more calcium in order to balance out the amount of phosphorus in the diet.

At minimum, give the lowest amount of calcium shown for your dog’s ideal weight, even if you find that you need to feed fewer calories than shown to keep your dog at a proper, lean weight. If you must feed a lot less to help your dog lose weight or prevent your dog from gaining unwanted weight, it’s time to cut back on the number of calories your dog gets from other sources.

The amount of calcium you give does not need to be exact. It’s fine to give a little less or a little more calcium than shown. Most commercial diets for adult dogs that I’ve looked at have between 2 and 3 mg of calcium per kcal (diets designed for puppies or for “all life stages” will have even more). These diets also have an equivalently higher amount of phosphorus.

If you feed a diet that is part commercial, part homemade, adjust the calcium amounts shown in Table I appropriately. For example, if you feed half homemade, give half the amount of calcium shown.

Calcium for Puppies is Trickier

All of these guidelines are for adult dogs only. Puppies are trickier. NRC and AAFCO agree that puppies need at least 3 mg of calcium per Calorie (three times the amount of calcium that adult dogs need on a caloric basis).

The maximum amount of calcium that puppies should get is 4.5 mg per kcal (4.5 g/Mcal). It’s especially important not to give too much calcium to large-breed puppies during their first six months, as they are the group most likely to develop bone and joint abnormalities when given the wrong amount of calcium and phosphorus.

Puppies also need more phosphorus than adult dogs do. Never add plain calcium to a puppy’s homemade diet. Puppies need bone meal or some other type of supplement that provides both calcium and phosphorus, in order to provide the correct amount and ratio of calcium to phosphorus.

calcium levels for puppies

What Form of Calcium Should You Give Your Dog?

There are many forms of calcium that can be added to your home-prepared diet to meet your dog’s requirements. Any form of plain calcium, without other ingredients such as vitamin D, is fine. Dogs do need vitamin D, but since dogs need more calcium but not more vitamin D than people do, the amount of vitamin D that you would end up giving when using a combination product would be too high.

Calcium carbonate is usually the cheapest and the easiest to give, as it has more elemental calcium than most other calcium compounds, so you will need to add less powder to the food.

One easy way to provide calcium is to use eggshells that have been washed, dried, and ground to powder in a clean coffee grinder or blender. One large eggshell will make about one level teaspoon of eggshell powder weighing 5.5 grams; this will provide approximately 2,000 mg calcium:

1/8 teaspoon eggshell powder provides about 250 mg calcium
1/4 tsp = 500 mg
3⁄8 tsp = 750 mg
1/2 tsp = 1,000 mg
5/8 tsp = 1,250 mg
3/4 tsp = 1,500 mg
7⁄8 tsp = 1,750 mg
1 tsp = 2,000 mg

Some people like to give their dogs whole eggs with the shell, but I don’t think that’s a good way to ensure that your dog gets the right amount of calcium. The calcium in eggshells that have not been ground to powder may not be absorbed, particularly if you notice any bits of shell in your dog’s stool. If it is absorbed, you may end up giving too much calcium, especially to smaller dogs.

It’s okay to give a dog a whole egg, including the shell, as a treat on occasion, but when using eggshells to provide dietary calcium needed to balance out a homemade diet, it’s safest to grind the shells to a powder.

If you use a calcium supplement that also includes phosphorus, such as bone meal powder or dicalcium phosphate, you will have to give more calcium than if you use a plain calcium supplement in order to keep the calcium:phosphorus ratio in the proper range. To determine how much to give, you must first subtract the amount of phosphorus from the amount of calcium, then use the remaining amount of “extra” calcium to calculate how much to give based on Table I.

dog food calcium supplementation
Table I: Calcium Supplementation Goal: 1.25 mg Calcium per kcal Fed to Adult Dogs

For example, if the bone meal supplement you’re using has 800 mg calcium and 300 mg phosphorus per teaspoon, there’s 500 mg “extra” calcium to use to calculate how much to give. If your dog needs 1,000 mg calcium added to his diet based on Table I, you would need to give two teaspoons of bone meal powder (500 mg extra calcium per teaspoon) in order to provide an appropriate amount of calcium while ensuring that the calcium:phosphorus ratio remains in the proper range.

Note that bone meal products designed for humans may not tell you the actual amount of calcium and phosphorus they provide, but will instead give you percentages of daily recommended values for adults.

For example, NOW Foods Bone Meal Powder says that 1 level teaspoon provides 80 percent of the recommended daily amount (RDA) for calcium, and 30 percent of the RDA for phosphorus. The RDA for both calcium and phosphorus for humans has been 1,000 mg (1 gram), so 80 percent would be 800 mg and 30 percent would be 300 mg.

This calculation will soon become more complicated, however, as the FDA recently increased these recommended amounts to 1,300 mg calcium and 1,250 mg phosphorus. New labels must reflect this change by July 2020. If NOW Foods does not change their formulation, the same product would now show that it provides 62 percent RDA for calcium and 24 percent RDA for phosphorus.

Many bone meal products provide about twice as much calcium as phosphorus. In this case, you can just double the calcium recommendations shown in Table I to determine how much to give.

If you use bone meal powder to provide calcium, look for brands that have been tested to show that they contain low levels of lead. Never use bone meal products intended for fertilizer.

Dolomite is another type of calcium supplement that may contain unacceptably high levels of lead.

Plant-based calcium supplements show considerable variety in the amount of lead they may contain; contact the company to ask for test results before using one of these supplements on a daily basis.

Again, these guidelines are only for dogs who are fed a homemade diet that lacks an adequate source of calcium, such as raw meaty bones or a supplement designed to balance a homemade diet. There’s a lot more to feeding a homemade diet that we’ll try to address in future articles, but getting the calcium right is a big step in the right direction of feeding a complete and balanced diet.

Mary Straus is the owner of DogAware.com. She and her mixed-breed, Willow, live in the San Francisco Bay Area.

1...145146147...390Page 146 of 390

Latest Blog

When are you too old to adopt a dog or other pet?
Blog

Too Old to Adopt?

Nancy Kerns 25
I’ve had a number of older owners book lessons with me lately—more than half a dozen individuals and couples in their 70s and even 80s, all wanting some training help with their new dogs or puppies.
© Belvoir Media Group, LLC. All rights reserved.