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Dog Trainers Save Lives

By
Nancy Kerns
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4
Dog Sitting on Stump

The first time I met Annie, a year-old German Shepherd Dog, it was at about 9 p.m. on February 10, 2017. I am certain of the date only because I can look up the events immediately before and after our meeting on Wikipedia. I met Annie in the middle of the Oroville Dam Spillway disaster – after the main spillway collapsed, and just before Oroville was evacuated due to fears that the “emergency overflow spillway” was in danger of collapsing, too.

I wrote about all of these events in a blog post, but I didn’t mention Annie by name. She was just one of the dogs I helped load into a crate and move in a friend’s horse trailer. They were on their way to another friend, who had offered shelter as an emergency evacuation site: The Canine Connection, a daycare, boarding, and training facility owned by trainer Sarah Richardson, in Chico, California.

My local shelter, very much in the path of the potential flood that would occur if the rising lake continued to undercut the spillway, was sending away all of the animals in its care. My shelter was offering free adoptions, fee forgiveness, fostering, transfer to other shelters, or breed rescues to get the situation under control. Even with all these efforts to empty the shelter, there were about 40 dogs left we needed to find safe places for. Sarah offered to take up to 20 dogs. Given the fact that her facility was secure and professionally staffed, some of the largest dogs and a few behaviorally challenged ones were chosen to go to The Canine Connection.

A couple days after staff and volunteers helped completely evacuate the animals from the shelter, a genuine mandatory evacuation was called for the city of Oroville and other towns downstream. Over 180,000 people left town overnight, taking shelter wherever they could find to stay out of the path of the potentially deadly flood. Three days later, the county Sheriff relaxed the evacuation order to a “warning,” meaning that people could go home, but residents were ordered to stay ready to evacuate again.

All in all, my local shelter stayed empty for about two weeks. Given that it took a few days to completely empty the shelter as a precaution, the shelter director wasn’t about to move animals back until there was <em>zero</em> risk of having to evacuate them again. During that time, shelter employees were also caring for evacuated cats, who were moved to staff homes in banks of cat cages; volunteers were caring for the rest of the evacuated dogs (and other small animals) in their homes. At The Canine Connection, Sarah, her staff, and many volunteers were caring for 18 or so dogs that came from the shelter.

About half of the dogs that Sarah took on had been on the shelter’s adoption row. After discussion with the shelter manager, Sarah was given permission to place any of those animals she could into good homes. Sarah took to social media and started promoting the adoptable dogs and got a lot of them adopted!

A German Shepherd Seemingly Beyond Help

Annie was not one of the dogs who was on the adoption row prior to the evacuation. In fact, she had been on the list for euthanasia. Annie had a number of things working against her. The most significant were these: She could be highly reactive to other dogs. She would seem fine, and then suddenly explode in a frenzy of barking and try to attack every other dog she saw. And she appeared to have serious physical problems; she moved like she had bad hips and torn ligaments in her knees.

But adding to the unattractiveness of her total “package,” she had chronic, explosive diarrhea. She seemed to have no impulse to keep her kennel free of urine, either; she peed frequently in her kennel, no matter how many times and for how long she was walked outside. In fact, she seemed to prefer to “go” in her kennel; she would come in from a 45-minute walk during which she did not pee or poop, and immediately “go.” Also, she was highly reactive to any activity in the kennel. When you opened the door to the room where her kennel was, she would start spinning – liberally spraying her latest diarrhea and urine all over her kennel walls and herself.

Lovely.

I was not a fan of Annie. When Sarah asked me what I thought about her, I grimaced. “She’s a mess, physically and behaviorally. Who would or could ever adopt her?”

“Have you walked her yet?” Sarah asked me. “She’s actually really nice on a walk. And she loves people. She is happy to meet any human she sees. She just lights up! And she doesn’t pull!”

I rolled my eyes. Sarah can find something to like in any dog.

During the evacuation, the veterinary staff from the shelter made the rounds, visiting all of the evacuated animals. When the staff came to The Canine Connection, it was quickly determined that Annie needed medication for a urinary tract infection and for a giardia infection. The care she received didn’t mean she was off the euthanasia list, though. Nobody at the shelter saw anything to like about Annie, either.

In fact, I think Sarah may be the only one who looked at this giant young German Shepherd Dog and saw anything to like at all. When the shelter reopened and the few dogs that Sarah had not been able to find homes for went back to the shelter, Sarah asked if she could continue to foster Annie. The shelter manager, grateful to Sarah for her help, couldn’t say no, even though she had very little faith that Sarah could turn things around for Annie. But she agreed to let Annie stay with Sarah indefinitely. So Sarah took Annie home from The Canine Connection – to Sarah’s own home. And she started managing the dog’s life in an entirely new manner, trying to find the keys to making the dog adoptable.

Fixing the Whole Dog: Lots of Progress, Lots of Work

That was almost two years ago. Annie is still living in Sarah’s home. And Annie is an entirely different dog.

It has taken an enormous amount of work. I can’t think of anyone else I know who would have been so committed to turning this dog around – Sarah can be stubborn that way. Once she believes in a dog’s potential to live safely and happily in someone’s home, she won’t quit trying to make that happen.

From the very first days, Sarah was heartened by Annie’s happiness at meeting people, and how good she was on walks. Annie loves getting outside and exploring the world. She’s interested and curious about everything; she will often stop and just observe something – not balking or spooked, just interested. And she’s not particularly reactive to passing dogs when out on walks! If the passing dog is calm, so is she; if the other dog barks or lunges, she will strike a similar posture, but, with a savvy handler, she can be redirected and calm again in a minute. So Sarah dug in and started a total dog-life makeover for Annie.

It took Sarah months to get Annie’s diarrhea stopped. A combination of prescription medications, a ridiculous amount of cleaning and sanitizing, probiotics, digestive enzymes and time eventually got it under control. Part of the problem was giardia, but even after the giardia was for sure cleared up, any sort of stressful event could bring the diarrhea back.

Sarah kept Annie separated from her other dogs at home while she tried to get to the bottom of Annie’s unpredictable dog-aggression. Annie seemed very curious about other dogs, and her body language and behavior consistently indicated that she was interested in playing.

Sarah used her own very dog-friendly, dog-savvy dogs to act as “neutral dogs,” and used leashes and long lines and wide-open spaces to see if Annie could learn to be comfortable around other dogs. But it seemed like Annie just didn’t “speak dog,” and could misinterpret any random signal from other dogs as an attack. She would freeze for a moment, and then dramatically launch an offensive; if not for alert handling and the long line, she could definitely hurt another dog.

To meet Annie’s exercise needs, to both burn off some of her excess mental and physical energy, Sarah hired a dog walker to take Annie for an hour-long walk every day. The more she exercised, the better her gaits and posture got. Sarah would occasionally send me photos or video of Annie playing fetch or walking, with notes that said, “She’s so much better! Look how tall she is now!” The wobbly gaits and plantigrade stance completely disappeared as the dog gained fitness.

Curious about the dog’s past, Sarah asked the shelter if they would pass along her contact information to the people who had surrendered Annie. The couple contacted Sarah, overjoyed to hear that the dog had ended up in the hands of a professional dog trainer. At Sarah’s request, they met to discuss Annie’s life to date and the people’s reason for surrendering the dog at 11 months of age.

The couple had bought Annie as a puppy to be a companion for their elderly Basset hound. Unfortunately, the Basset never liked Annie, and was quite aggressive toward her – until Annie grew to several times the Basset’s size, and had enough maturity to realize that she didn’t have to take the Basset’s abuse anymore. The dogs started fighting regularly, and Annie ended up in a crate most of the time – and when she was let out of the crate, she was a maniac. The people finally gave up and brought her to the shelter.

The back story certainly explained why Annie was so unpredictable and stressed about dogs, and why she had so little competence at relating to dogs. Her only experience with another dog was traumatic. The story also explained why she was so crippled and weak-looking when we first met her; she had probably been spending 23 hours a day in a crate.

Sarah used every tool in her dog-trainer’s toolbox to try to determine what amount, if any, of dog companionship Annie might be able to handle. She introduced Annie to lots of different dogs through fences, for safety. Annie wanted to play; she would run up and down the fence playfully, inviting chase games. Sarah found that Annie got along better with female dogs than males, and that she would tense up and be prone to making an attacking sort of lunge if introduced while on-leash, but rarely would do this if off-leash (or on a loose long line). If another dog showed aggression toward her, however, it was on. Like the former abuse victim she was, she seemed to say, “I’m never going down again without a fight.”

Sarah said it was the saddest thing ever the first time Annie saw a Basset Hound in her care. The dog, an amiable old soul, belongs to one of Sarah’s employees. Annie was at The Canine Connection that day for daycare (exercise in a private play yard). When she saw the Basset in an adjacent play yard, she ran in a blind terror, and hid, trembling.

At one of Annie’s veterinary visits, Sarah asked her vet about some sort of anxiety-reducing medication for the big German Shepherd, and the veterinarian agreed to a trial of fluoxetine (Prozac). Sarah said the drug made an almost immediate improvement in the dog’s anxiety level. She seemed more relaxed and playful, less guarded.

Annie Still Needs A Home

As the trainer worked with Annie, she would occasionally publish a social media post asking for help in trying to find a home for Annie.

Whenever someone who fosters a dog tells the dog’s story, someone will always make the observation, “She’s so happy with you!” followed immediately by the question, “Why don’t you just keep her??”

Sarah has been asked this question countless times. The simple answer is, because she owns three other dogs – and is always going to own more than one dog – and because she feels that Annie would be most successful and comfortable in a home where she was the only dog. (And no cats. Sarah has a cat, who does not approve of Annie one bit. Annie does not like cats.)

After many experiments in socializing the dog with other dogs, Sarah has learned that Annie is capable of making a dog friend and playing happily with that friend. But given her size (a very fit 95 pounds) and the speed and ferocity with which she is capable of taking offense by another dog’s actions, in Sarah’s professional opinion, it would be best if Annie were an only dog in someone’s home. Also, says Sarah, “Annie deserves to live with someone who really loves and needs a big friendly dog. She thrives on human attention and affection. She loves everyone she meets, from old people to youngsters – although, given her size, I think she would be best suited to a home with adults who were not frail, or has little kids.”

I admire Sarah’s commitment to this dog. I know for a fact that Annie would have been euthanized by my local shelter, had the dam disaster and evacuation not happened. And had Annie been adopted into a home with another dog, at some point, Annie would have been triggered and someone would have gotten grievously injured and Annie may well have found herself back on a shelter’s euthanasia list. Sarah saved this dog, and found all the good things about her: the dog’s intelligence and ability to learn, sensitivity to and curiosity about humans, her enjoyment of walking outdoors with her person, her sense of fun and playfulness.

But there is a real shortage of homes with no other dogs and no cats – only humans who are physically capable of living with a large, exuberant dog, and with people who will be committed and able to walk this large dog every day (she’s great on leash!). Many people have expressed interest in Annie over the past two years, but literally not one person has stepped forward who meets all the criteria Sarah knows Annie is going to need to be successful.

As I write this, Sarah is about to start construction on a huge expansion/remodeling project on her training center. The plans include a suite for Annie – a large private area with attached outdoor run, where Annie can have tons of room to live and play, without the stress of seeing or dealing with other dogs. The suite will allow her 24-hour access to the facility’s boarding and daycare staff (who all really love Annie, too), and is adjacent to Sarah’s office, so she will be near people at all times.

When the construction is complete, Sarah plans to move Annie to her new suite, so that her own dogs can finally have the run of her entire home, not just half of it, and she won’t have to go through multiple dog gates to travel from one end of her house to the other.

Having the dog reside at her business isn’t ideal, but on the other hand, Sarah has spent the past two years learning all about what works and what doesn’t work to keep Annie happy, healthy, and behaviorally consistent, and she knows she can continue to do the same. Sarah says she will keep the big dog for the rest of Annie’s days if she’s not able to find the right home. “I absolutely love Annie,” Sarah says. “She is happy right now, but she would be even happier if she was an only dog. I really want that for her – but I won’t let her go any place where she is doomed to fail. Humans failed her utterly in her first year, and she very nearly didn’t survive that.”

This isn’t necessarily the best time to try to find Annie a new home; there are hundreds of animals who have been displaced by the more recent disaster in this county (the Camp Fire), and dozens of people looking to rehome their pets due to their own dislocation.

In addition to the heroics she performed for the animals from the Northwest SPCA when the dam disaster happened, Sarah stepped up to put a program in place to help connect fire victims and people who are willing to foster displaced pets until their owners can find housing where they can have their pets. She’s been so crazily busy with that program and preparing for this massive construction project at her boarding/training facility, I know her own dogs are getting the short end of the stick – a common hazard for dogs who belong to overworked dog trainers!

The time I spent with Sarah volunteering to help the animals who were staying in the emergency evacuation shelter (from the Camp Fire) convinced me that Sarah could use a break, and some extra help in putting the word out about Annie’s need for a very special home.

If you know someone who needs Annie – and has what Annie needs – would you ask if they would contact Sarah Richardson via email? Reach her at Sarah@thecanineconnection.com.

Mast Cell Tumors in Dogs: Is It Always Cancer?

By
Catherine Ashe, DVM
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79
canine cancer patient
Mast cells can develop cancer, whether it's benign or malignant must be diagnosed by a veterinarian through tests. © iStock/ Getty Images Plus/ Chalabala

Mast cell tumors (MCTs) are one of the most frequent skin cancers seen in dogs. Mast cell tumors are the reason why careful monitoring of any skin growths is essential for maintaining a healthy canine. Any new masses on the skin should be evaluated by your veterinarian. In regards to MCTs, there are several predisposed breeds including Boxers, American Staffordshire terriers, and pit bulls.

Mast cells are important in the immune system, particularly in allergic reactions. They are found predominantly in the skin, but they are also found in lower numbers throughout the internal organs. Rarely are they found in the bloodstream. These cells are filled with substances such as histamine and heparin. During an allergic reaction, they degranulate – meaning they empty their contents onto or in the area of the offending allergen. The effect of mast cells can be seen when a patient develops hives and welts, as well as itching and redness.

As with any cell in the body, mast cells can develop cancer. The word cancer merely means the uncontrolled proliferation of cells. It can be divided into 2 broad categories – malignant and benign. Malignant cancers can be locally invasive and damaging, spread to other organ systems like the lungs, or both. Benign tumors do not spread to other organs and are cured by removal.

mast cell tumor on a dog
If a mast cell tumor is benign, it will not spread to other organs and can just be removed. © iStock/ Getty Images Plus/ Elen11

The symptoms of a MCT on dogs begin with a skin mass, most of the time (in rare circumstances, they can start in the internal organs, but this is more common in cats). They can be as small as a pea or as large as a softball. One important aspect is that they tend to wax and wane. They can start as small and suddenly become large, red, and irritated or weepy. This is a sign of degranulation, meaning the tumor has become irritated and released the nasty substances within it. The hallmark of a mast cell tumor is a tumor that grows and shrinks periodically.

If you note a skin mass on your dog, it should be checked by your veterinarian. As with any veterinary visit, your dog should have a nose-to-tail examination including weight and vitals, followed by a detailed history. Your veterinarian will ask how the mass has behaved, how long it has been present, and if it has changed significantly. They may also measure it with calipers.

After a history and physical exam, your veterinarian will focus on the mass with gentle palpation. It is likely they will recommend a fine needle aspirate. This involves taking a very small needle and obtaining a sample of cells from the tumor.  Another option is just having the entire mass removed and submitted for testing (excisional biopsy).

If your veterinarian is suspicious of a mast cell tumor and wants to sample it, they may recommend pre-medicating with Benadryl, an antihistamine. As we discussed above, one of the substances found in mast cells is histamine. Giving Benadryl may help prevent the tumor from degranulating during sampling. Sudden degranulation can cause a systemic reaction (anaphylaxis) and can be very serious or even life-threatening. Your veterinarian will handle any suspected MCTs gently, as a result.

Diagnosis is generally by a veterinary pathologist. MCTs are graded on two different scales – the older Patnaik scale (giving a number I through III with I being the least malignant), and the newer Kiupel system that simply evaluates high grade versus low grade.

mast cell tumor in dog eye
Boxers, American Staffordshire terriers, and pit bulls are prediposed to getting mast cell tumors as some point in their lives. © iStock/ Getty Images Plus/ cynoclub

If your dog is diagnosed with a mast cell tumor, your veterinarian will recommend staging as the next step. This means determining if the cancer has spread by conducting bloodwork, urinalysis, chest xrays, and abdominal ultrasound. Once staging is completed, a clearer picture of prognosis can be seen.

Treatment of mast cell tumors in dogs involves initial surgical removal followed by evaluating whether the whole tumor was removed. If it wasn’t (called “dirty margins”), a second surgery may be needed. Radiation is also an option when the entire tumor wasn’t removed. It may seem “simple” to remove a whole tumor, but sometimes the cancer cells have infiltrated the surrounding tissue on a microscopic level. For low grade (Kiupel system) or grade I-II (Patnaik system), usually removal is sufficient if the margins are clear. Even with removal, a dog will be at higher risk for developing MCTs again.

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

With high grade/grade III tumors, following surgery, oncologists recommend chemotherapy. This is usually administered by a veterinary oncologist. If chemotherapy is not pursued, a dog with high grade MCT will likely stay on Benadryl and steroids to suppress the MCT until symptoms become too severe. As the disease progresses, the mast cell tumor will spread to distant sites like the liver, spleen, and lungs. Symptoms will correlate with the system that is affected.

A mast cell tumor is not the end of the world, but they can be very serious. It is important to notify your veterinarian when you find any skin masses so that they can be promptly evaluated. Early detection and treatment are critical to a successful outcome.

For more information on mast cell tumors in dogs, read our other articles on the topic:
About Mast Cell Tumors in Dogs
What Are The Treatment Options for Dogs With Mast Cell Tumors?

Getting Your Dog to Potty in Winter

By
Nancy Kerns
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1

When temperatures hit near- or below-zero, you may need to strongly encourage your dog to potty – actually, insist on it! Veterinarians see spikes in the number of cases of urinary tract infections in winter, when dogs tend to “hold it” for as long as possible, declining invitations to go outside at their usual potty times, and failing to take the time to empty their bladders fully when they do go outside. The longer urine is held in the body, the more bacteria can grow in that urine; when the population of bacteria tips past a level that the dog’s immune system can control, discomfort and systemic illness can result.

GOLDEN RETRIEVER PEEING IN THE SNOW
iStock / Getty Images Plus / cunfek

You may need to encourage your dog to drink adequate amounts of water when it’s super cold, too. Many dogs become reluctant to drink when it’s cold, and end up getting dehydrated, which can set the stage for a wide constellation of disorders, especially in senior dogs. If you come home from work and your dog’s water bowl has gone untouched all day – it’s at the exact level where it was when you filled it fresh that morning – you should start experimenting to find whatever works best to get your dog to drink more. Some effective tactics include filling the bowl with fresh water more frequently; warming the water to something more than room temperature; or adding bone broth, chicken broth, or even a bit of honey to the water. Feeding him a high-moisture food will also help, whether it’s canned, fresh home-prepared, raw frozen, or simply his regular kibble soaked in warm water or broth.

Assuming your dog is drinking enough, here are some tips for encouraging him or her to potty as fully and often as usual:

If you can, make a designated potty station outdoors. A covered outdoor area, preferably a spot with some protection from driving wind, is very helpful. Put down anything that will help protect your dog’s paws from the cold ground (or ice or snow): some straw or wood shavings work great, but a few squares of artificial turf (even if it’s just a door mat) that your dog can stand on to pee, will help. You can hose them off (or even toss them out) when the temperatures thaw! This is an emergency!

Some folks walk their dogs to the nearest parking garage, or set up a “potty box” in their own garage when the weather is too nasty to spend an adequate amount of time outside.

Do you live in an apartment or other urban setting where you have to potty your dog on walks? If so, we hope you have already invested in and accustomed your dog to wearing some sort of paw protection. Wearing boots can help protect his feet from freezing temperatures as well as potentially dangerous ice-melt substances that can be found on urban sidewalks.

Make sure you are bundled up, too! Trying to rush your dog into going potty quickly because you are freezing can backfire; back in the house, when you step in a puddle in your socks, or find a pile under the dining room table, you can go ahead and smack yourself over the head with a rolled-up newspaper. “Naughty owner!” Dress as warmly as possible and let your dog take her time outside.

Make sure you give your dog some extra-yummy rewards when he or she goes potty outdoors in extraordinary temperatures. Anything you can do to help your dog associate going outdoors with good things, rather than an aversive experience, will help keep him or her “regular,” and help prevent “accidents” in the house.

Dry Dog Food Lists, Puppy Adoptions and Complications Along the Way

By
Nancy Kerns
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0

Would you forgive me for doing a grab-bag sort of blog post occasionally? I get a lot of mail asking for updates on topics I’ve started, here or in the print version of the magazine, and this is as handy a place as any to answer questions.

The 2019 Dry Dog Food Review

whole dog journal 2019 dry dog food list

The February issue – the one containing our annual discussion and review of dry dog foods – has been published, and as is often the case, we missed a company or two that should have been included on our list of approved foods. WHEN will we be perfect? Not this year, sadly. We will update the online version of the list as errors or omissions are detected and include corrections in the March issue.

The Mange Puppies

While the Camp Fire was still burning, I took on a litter of puppies who were brought into my local shelter, skeletal with malnutrition and looking like burn victims, with little hair and red, inflamed skin. (I blogged about them here and here and here.) They hadn’t been burned at all; they had something far more prosaic: demodectic mange (and I quickly asked one of our veterinarian contributors to prepare an article for us on the topic of mange; the resulting article appears in the February 2019 issue).

puppies with severe mange

Two of the puppies succumbed – one to parvovirus, against which they had been vaccinated, but the vaccination had not yet conveyed protection; one spent days receiving veterinary care for a perplexing set of symptoms that slowly paralyzed her and made her unable to eat or drink. She was euthanized without a definite diagnosis – meant to humanely end her suffering, but upsetting and haunting for me and the friends who helped care for her.

Four of the remaining five puppies, however, gained weight, got stronger, grew their hair back, and made their way onto the adoption row at my local shelter, where each was quickly adopted into a loving home! I met only one adopting party – a very nice couple from a town about an hour away. But I had assurances from the shelter staff that each of the four had found a very nice home indeed.

puppy with severe mange

I’m still fostering the last puppy. Odin, as I am calling him, was the biggest of the puppies from the day I met them, and less affected by the mange than the rest of his littermates. He had about 40 percent of his hair when I first met them; the rest had from about 10 to 20 percent of their hair. Unfortunately, though, he has been dealing with other health problems that necessitate more care and time being fostered.

The first thing that happened was he developed a big, swollen eye, which quickly turned blue with inflammation (I wrote about this in more detail here). This has been diagnosed as idiopathic (but possibly immune-deficient) uveitis. We’ve had three visits to the ophthalmology department at the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital (VMTH) at UC Davis, and have another scheduled for this coming Monday. The doctors seem confident that he hasn’t lost sight in that eye, and that continuing treatment should “defog the windshield” (as the clinician who has seen him the last two visits put it).

puppy adopter

However, he developed two new issues. The first was a bit of a limp. It was very mild at first, and worse when he first got up from a nap than it was after he had been walking around for a bit. The veterinary ophthalmologist who examined him last did a brief lameness exam, flexing his joints to see what, exactly, was hurting, and he expressed the opinion that it was Odin’s right elbow that was bothering him – and he correctly predicted that the symptom might worsen. Odin has been on a low dose of a steroid(prednisone) – prescribed as part of the treatment to reduce the inflammation in his eye – and when that dose was reduced (and is now even lower, as we are now tapering him off of the drug altogether), the limp increased visibly. So, he’s scheduled for some x-rays so we can try to figure out what’s up with his apparent joint pain.

puppy adopters

While the prednisone was effectively reducing the inflammation in Odin’s eye (and elbow), it also left the puppy vulnerable to infection. Last week, he developed a hacking cough overnight, and though he was eating and cheerful and had no other symptoms, the cough was so severe that I was afraid he had something stuck in his throat. We ended up at the ER in the wee hours. After an exam and x-rays, the vet diagnosed, instead, another round of “kennel cough” (the whole litter had been treated for this early on). He thought it was likely that the prednisone prevented Odin’s immune system from protecting him from another viral or possibly bacterial agent that caused a bronchial infection.

The strong cough (and resulting gagging) also inflamed his esophagus, so Odin was prescribed a new round of antibiotics, as well as two medications meant to soothe his inflamed esophagus and prevent the irritation from developing into megaesophagus, and a strong cough syrup (the kind where you must show your driver’s license to receive it!).

So, I take Odin and our Tupperware box full of medications and eye drops everywhere I go. This week, it’s three different eye drops (one is two times a day, the other two are three times a day) and four oral medications (it was five, but he doesn’t need the cough syrup any more). Next week, he should be off all of the oral meds and we will see about the medications for the eye – which is s-l-o-w-l-y looking better and less blue. And we will see what the x-rays say about his joints.

MEDICATIONS FOR DOGS

NO, I’m not keeping him!! He’s a darling little guy and he’s learning a ton and he loves my younger dog (and vice versa) – and he’s going to be somebody’s DREAM DOG someday. He’s calm and friendly and rides (and waits) well in cars, but I want him to have a home of his own someday, when his medical issues are resolved or at least under control.

dog with uveitis and child

So, the bad news is, Odin has been to my local vet five times (including the first visit for treatment of the demodectic mange, and several visits to see the vet who has a special interest in ophthalmology) and the UCD VMTH four times (including the first visit to assess the whole litter’s hyperflexed joints early on, when they were still recovering from malnutrition).

But the AMAZING news is that YOU GUYS have made all this veterinary care possible, and it hasn’t bankrupted me or hurt the ability of my local shelter to help other dogs. I did ask if any of you felt so moved, if you could donate to the Northwest SPCA (the legal owners of the puppies), and enough of you did that their medical care has been completely covered by your donations.

And it’s not just this litter of deserving puppies that your generous contributions have helped.

Two weeks ago, I was at my local shelter right after it closed to the public, staging some large crates for the transport of three large dogs. The Northwest SPCA shelter has been so heavily impacted by the Camp Fire – we have had far more than the usual number of owner-surrendered dogs and unclaimed cats – that they put out the call to a number of other northern California shelters for help in getting animals adopted.

dogs sleeping on couch

A friend and I volunteered to transport three large dogs to one shelter in the San Francisco Bay area, and we had to load up and leave at about 7am to meet volunteer drivers from the other end. While I was getting the crates ready, I heard some kennel attendants talking about a tiny blind Chihuahua that the shelter had for adoption; it seems they were trying everything, but she wouldn’t eat. I asked to see her, and after taking just one look, asked the shelter manager if I could foster her over the weekend (at a minimum). The tiny dog was already quite thin, but when she refused some freeze-dried chicken treats from my treat pouch and some canned cat food, I knew she needed some extra TLC.

I kept her at home that night, offered her everything under the sun, but she just wouldn’t eat. She drank water, but wouldn’t eat the next day, either; she just stayed on my lap curled in a little ball during the next day’s transport. Knowing that there was still a positive amount from your donations in the shelter’s medical fund, I asked the shelter director if I could take her to the vet for some diagnostics and further care, and the director agreed.

Blood and urine tests were normal, but the vets were stumped by the tiny dog’s disinterest in food and rapidly declining condition, despite the administration of IV fluids and nutrients – until an ultrasound revealed a large mass on her pancreas and an accumulation of fluid in her abdomen. Thirty hours of care, lots of medications, lots of tests – and the prognosis was absolutely dismal. The vets who saw her and the shelter director agreed that she should be euthanized – and though this was absolutely NOT what I had hoped for when I took the little smidge to the vet, I was glad that her condition was at least diagnosed faster than it would have been in a crowded shelter over a weekend and her suffering ended sooner than later.

As I said to my friend who had driven her van during that weekend transport, and who called to ask about the tiny dog’s condition (it was she who started calling the little dog Smidge), fostering for an open-admission shelter is not for the faint of heart. And lately, it’s been absolutely heart-rending for me! It’s hardly ever like this, with so many sad outcomes. But when I think of the dozens and dozens of puppies I’ve fostered without incident or loss, I know that these recent experiences are outliers. Even so, the ability to obtain top-shelf medical diagnostics and treatment for these needy dogs, without either busting the shelter’s budget or my own, has meant so much – it makes me cry every time I think of it.

THANK YOU SO MUCH, all of you who have donated to the Northwest SPCA.

Disaster Preparation Training

Last weekend, I participated in the annual training session for the North Valley Animal Disaster Group (NVADG, pronounced colloquially as “nav-dag”) – the group that was so instrumental in rescuing, sheltering, and caring for hundreds of animals during and after the devastating Camp Fire in nearby Paradise, California. I was not always happy about the conditions and practices in the temporary shelters set up and run by NVADG – but the only way to have any credibility in critiquing the things that I didn’t like, and to (I hope) help craft changes in these practices in any future local disaster is to join the group officially and participate. I’ve taken the first step in that process, and plan to take more classes and workshops organized by the group.

New Year’s Resolutions

Progress report on my three resolutions: Still haven’t brushed my dogs’ teeth. Am taking my first private agility lesson with Woody this week. And am signing up for another class to work on a Canine Good Citizen title with Woody, too.

Signs of Cancer in Dogs

By
Catherine Ashe, DVM
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54

Cancer is a word that strikes fear in the hearts of dog owners. As human cancer deaths rise in the United States, you may wonder if a similar phenomenon is happening in our canine companions. According to veterinary oncologist Dr. Stacy Binstock, estimates show that 25%-33% of dogs will have cancer at some point in their lives. It is the number one cause of death in older dogs. Those are sobering statistics. The good news is that you can help with early cancer detection and early treatment of your dog.

The first step is semi-annual or annual examinations with your veterinarian. These are not just vaccine appointments. A visit is needed for a thorough physical examination. Your veterinarian will check your dog’s weight, vitals, lymph nodes, heart and lungs, palpate the abdomen, and perform a rectal exam. These are all essential to early detection of illness. Weight loss may be the first sign and can be easy to miss at home. Secondly, as your dog ages, your veterinarian will likely recommend bloodwork, urinalysis, and other diagnostics. These can detect changes in organ function, possibly indicating cancer.

dog getting examined by vets
E+/ hoozone

Types of cancer in dogs are varied and include skin, orthopedic, blood, and bone malignancies. As a result, the symptoms differ wildly and depend on which system is affected. The four most common cancers and their clinical signs are listed below.

senior dog sleeping in vet hospital
iStock / Getty Images Plus/ Obradovic

Lymphoma. This is a frequently diagnosed cancer in dogs. It can originate in the lymph nodes, bone marrow, or organs like the spleen. The first signs may be very vague and often include large knots that are palpable under the jaw, behind the elbows, and behind the knees. These are all locations of lymph nodes that can enlarge with cancer. Other symptoms may include lethargy, weight loss, and increased drinking and urinating.

Osteosarcoma. This is a type of bone cancer seen often in large breeds such as Great Danes and Wolfhounds, although it can occur in any breed. Osteosarcoma typically grows silently at the end of a bone (called the diaphysis) until the bone is severely weakened. Early symptoms may include swelling and tenderness. Often, there are no symptoms until the tumor destroys the bone enough to cause a fracture. When this happens, your dog may suddenly be unable to walk on the affected leg and demonstrate signs of severe pain.

Hemangiosarcoma. Another type of cancer that often has no obvious clinical signs is hemangiosarcoma. These tumors can grow anywhere—on the skin or in the spleen, liver, or other internal organs. In dogs, it is most frequently encountered in the spleen, liver, or heart. Usually, no signs are noted until the tumor grows very large and ruptures. This sudden, catastrophic rupture leads to internal bleeding, weakness, and collapse.

Mast cell tumor. Boxers are especially prone to these skin malignancies. Mast cells are normally found in the skin and react when an allergen is introduced. They are filled with histamine and other substances that are released in an allergic reaction, leading to the formation of hives. Unfortunately, cancer can arise from these cells. The hallmark of an MCT is a growth on the skin that waxes and wanes in size and character. They can be small and “quiet,” or they can become large, inflamed, and weep fluid.

Always observe your dog carefully for any changes. Any skin masses or lumps that you palpate should be checked out by your veterinarian sooner rather than later! Remember, early detection is critical in catching and treating cancer.

Dog Muzzles Are Useful Tools When You Use Them Right

By
Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA
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11
Photo by @lovemonstersrescue

A significant percentage of my clients come to see me because they have dogs with aggressive behaviors. Often, they will ask me if their dogs should wear a muzzle. My answer is almost always, “Good idea!” In each case, however, we have a serious discussion about the reason why the client’s wants to use a muzzle, when and how the dog’s aggressive behavior presents, and – this is the clincher – whether the client is willing and able to take the time to condition her dog to love the muzzle before starting to use it.

Why and When to Use A Dog Muzzle

The “why” seems obvious: You use a muzzle to prevent your dog from biting someone – human or other animal. Duh! But there are a few certain circumstances where it is appropriate to use a muzzle and many others where it is definitely not.

Let’s start with the situations when it is definitely not appropriate to muzzle your dog.

How NOT to Use A Muzzle on Your Dog

It is not ever appropriate to muzzle your dog so you can put her over-threshold in an avoidable situation. Here are some examples:

  • “Oh gee, the grandkids are coming over and Muffy might bite them. Let’s muzzle her so the kids can have fun with her and she can’t bite them.” NO! Instead, either use scrupulous management to keep her and the kids safe from each other while the young’uns are visiting, send her to a friend’s house for the day, or perhaps board her for a longer grandkid-visit.
  • “My friend wants to take her dog to the dog park, and she wants us to come with her, but Rocky, who loves my friend’s dog, might bite the other dogs at the park. Let’s muzzle him and take him along.” NO! Rocky doesn’t get to go to the dog park. Ever.
  • “Chomper guards his food bowl. Let’s muzzle him and show him we can take his bowl away from him because he needs to learn that humans are the boss.” NO, NOT EVER!

dog wearing muzzle
Photo by Aditi Joshi

When It IS A Good Time to Use the Muzzle

Here are some appropriate times when a muzzle could or should be used:

Emergencies. Any animal in pain may bite. If your dog is injured and must be moved or handled it is strongly advised to muzzle her. This, of course, will be easier and less stressful for everyone during an already stressful event if you have taken the time to convince her that a muzzle is wonderful.

Procedures. When your dog must be handled or examined by your veterinarian for an unexpected condition, or treated at home for an injury, and there’s a good likelihood she will bite during the procedure, she will need to be muzzled for everyone’s safety.

Muzzles should be used as needed for emergency or unavoidable procedures. If your dog needs to be muzzled for routine care or grooming, you have some counter-conditioning work to do to help her learn to love (or at least happily tolerate) these events!

Note: While veterinarians often use “sleeve” muzzles, these are not recommended, as they inhibit your dog’s ability to pant and take treats, and they can be very stressful for dogs. Most veterinarians will allow you to use your own good-quality muzzle.

Public safety. A muzzle is an appropriate tool if you know that your dog might try to bite a toddler who rushes up to hug her, a well-meaning dog person who insists that “all dogs love me,” or an off-leash dog who bounces up to say hi.

Even if your dog is on a leash, you will still be responsible (and she will be in big trouble) if she bites someone who invades her space. Muzzling her when you take her out in public keeps everyone safe (and her out of trouble!). It also tends to keep people away, as they assume (often correctly) that a dog who must wear a muzzle would prefer not to be social.

Of course, you will need to fiercely protect her to prevent people and other dogs from interacting with her, even if she is muzzled; the muzzle itself is just a backup.

In a behavior modification program. A muzzle can be a useful tool in situations where, based on all the behavior-modification work you’ve been doing, you’re 99.9 percent sure it’s going to go okay, but you’d like a little extra insurance.

Say you’ve been working with dog-aggression issues between your own canine family members, or you’ve done a ton of counter-conditioning with your dog’s dog-reactive behavior, and you think you’re ready to let her interact with other dogs. Perhaps she’s been fearfully aggressive with your grandchild in the past and you’ve worked your tail off using the CAT procedure (Constructional Aggression Treatment) to convince her that she loves the toddler, and you think it’s time to let them meet.

This is the ideal time and place for your dog to wear her well-loved muzzle. Not only does it prevent that tiny 0.1 percent chance of a tragic “Oops,” but it also helps you relax, so that your stress about that first interaction doesn’t add to your dog’s level of stress. (Remember, stress causes aggression!)

10 Tips for Teaching Your Dog to Love a Muzzle

All of the “could or should” situations are predicated on the assumption that you have taken the time to teach your dog to love her muzzle. You will use classical conditioning – giving your dog a wonderful, happy association with her muzzle, to make any muzzling experiences as positive as possible. Here’s how:

1. Purchase a top-quality basket muzzle.

(See the muzzles we love most below). Good basket muzzles allow your dog to breathe, pant, eat, and drink, which reduces muzzle-related stress and prevents overheating.

Measure your dog to ensure a perfect fit; most muzzle websites include a sizing chart that will help you take proper measurements and order the proper size. The best sites will custom-fit your dog’s muzzle. For additional information about how to find the right muzzle for your dog, see the MuzzleUp Project.

2. Show your dog the muzzle.

Don’t even try to put it on yet! Just hold it up, then feed your dog a yummy treat from the other hand. Hide your treat hand and muzzle behind your back, then show it to her again, and feed.

Repeat this step until, when you bring the muzzle out from behind your back, her eyes light up and she looks for the treat. She now thinks muzzle = yummy stuff!

3. Feed treats in the muzzle.

You can push high-value treats through the front of the muzzle or use squeeze cheese through the straps; the important part here is that your dog puts her nose into the muzzle voluntarily, you do not push the muzzle onto her nose. If she backs away, don’t follow her with the muzzle, wait for her to come back to you.

4. Increase the duration.

When your dog voluntarily offers to put her nose into the muzzle (ideally shoves her nose into the muzzle), gradually increase duration by feeding, pausing, then feeding again several times while she keeps her nose in the muzzle.

5. Play with the straps.

Now, while holding the muzzle with one hand and occasionally feeding treats, play with the straps a little behind your dog’s head as if you are getting ready to buckle it.

6. Condition your dog to the sound of the snap.

If your muzzle has a snap rather than a buckle, and your dog might startle at the sound of the snap, take time to condition her to the sound separately from putting the muzzle on. Hold it up so she can see it, snap the snap in place, and feed her a treat – until the sound of the snap makes her eyes light up and she looks for the treat.

7. Close the snap or buckle briefly.

This can be tricky. For starters, how do you keep feeding treats while using two hands to close the snap or buckle?

Perhaps you have a partner who can help by feeding the treats while you manipulate the hardware. If not, you can smear peanut butter or squeeze cheese on your refrigerator door or on a vinyl floor to keep your dog happily occupied while you snap or buckle.

Alternatively, try the Chase ‘n Chomp Sticky Bone, which can suction onto your floor, wall, or refrigerator door.

8. Leave the muzzle on for longer periods.

Gradually leave the muzzle on your dog for longer periods, making sure to keep her happy (feed treats!) while it’s on. Over time you can reduce the frequency of treats, but always be ready to treat occasionally to keep it happy for her.

9. Refresh the positive association.

Be sure to do “happy muzzle” sessions routinely, so she doesn’t only wear the muzzle for bad/scary times. Once you have conditioned her to love her muzzle, if she wears it only for trips to the vet’s office, her association will change from positive to negative and you’ll have to start all over again. A good rule of thumb: Give your dog at least 10 happy muzzle experiences for every stressful one.

10. Watch this video.

This Youtube video by superb trainer Chirag Patel (of Domesticated Manners in London, United Kingdom), is an excellent tutorial for teaching your dog to love a muzzle.

Okay now, time to get to work! Check out our favorite muzzles, measure your dog, order one, and start convincing her that it’s the best thing since sliced chicken!

Best Dog Muzzles

We asked our trainer network to tell us about their favorite muzzles. We expected to hear about a variety of different muzzles, but there was overwhelming consensus about just two brands. Here are the two, and some of our trainers’ comments about them:

Baskerville muzzle
Photo by Jessica Miller

The Baskerville Ultra Muzzle

The Baskerville Ultra Muzzle is widely known for security and comfort. The rubber material can actually be heated up and molded to better fit the shape of your dog’s face. Here’s what our trainers say:

Kelly Fahey, PMCT2, DogSmith of Hunterdon, Pittstown, NJ
“The Baskerville muzzle is my go-to muzzle. It allows your dog to pant, drink, and eat. There are other basket-style muzzles on the market, but they don’t seem to have a space to feed treats while working with your dog. I also like the extra strap that is on the Baskerville Muzzle. It attaches to the dog’s collar for a more secure fit.”

Jessica Miller, CPDT-KA, PMCT, CNWI, Go Pawsitive Dog Training, Clear Spring, MD
“The Baskerville saved us when our house flooded. My dog Handel had to be carried across a knee deep river, lifted into a truck by a firefighter (whom he tried to bite), walked through a flooded town surrounded by other stressed-out people and children, stationed at a church for an hour when we couldn’t get out, and then had to live at my mother’s house for three days before we could find a new place to live. I was able to feed him, he could drink, I knew he wouldn’t overheat, and I was sure it wouldn’t come off or fail. If we didn’t have his muzzle, almost all of that would have been impossible and I dread to think what could have happened. Plus, it was a nice light blue color that stood out against his dark fur, so that strangers could see he needed space.”

Cindy Mauro, CPDT-KA, Cindy Mauro Dog Training, Northern NJ
“I do a lot of work with dogs who need to be muzzled. My go-to is the Baskerville muzzle. The dog can easily eat treats, drink, pant, and bark with this muzzle on. With proper muzzle training, there is little fuss. ‘Good things happen with the muzzle on.’”

The Bumas Muzzle

The Bumas Muzzle is made to order. It can be customized with fewer or more straps (depending on your dog’s anatomy and the level of security needed), and you can specify the color of each strap on the muzzle. These muzzles are very expensive, however. If we had a dog who needed to wear the muzzle often, it could be worth the expense, but it’s not likely practical for a dog who only needed to wear a muzzle at the vet once or twice a year.

Cindy Mauro
“The Bumas muzzle is my top choice for flat-faced dogs. It comes in many custom colors, which makes it like wearing a nice pair of glasses. The colors tend to appear ‘friendlier’ on the dog.”

Laura Dorfman CPDT-KA, PMCT1, Kona’s Touch, Chicago, IL
“The Bumas offers a good custom fit for lots of differently shaped dog faces, and I like the colors too.”

Author Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT‑KA, is Whole Dog Journal‘s Training Editor. She lives in Fairplay, Maryland, site of her Peaceable Paws training center. Miller’s newest book is Beware of the Dog: Positive Solutions for Aggressive Behavior in Dogs.

Come, Sit, Stay

By
Nancy Kerns
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2

whole dog journal editor nancy kerns

Those who are new to WDJ may not be aware that we talk at length about dry dog foods in the February issue each year. I don’t know how that tradition got started; all I know is that dog food is all I can think about from before Thanksgiving through the winter holidays. We give this annual coverage a lot of space; the list of recommended foods alone takes many pages! In this issue, I hope that you will learn a lot about the dog food industry as a whole, how the machinations of the pet food market may have affected you and your dogs, and how you can ensure that the food that you buy for your dog is appropriate. You will also find a long list of products that meet the criteria we use to identify better-quality foods, and we hope you can use it to find healthful foods for your dogs.

This issue also contains a helpful article from Mardi Richmond, a professional dog trainer who found herself grappling with a vexing behavior issue in her own young dog: a compulsive behavior disorder that saw the dog spinning in circles chasing her tail, attacking her own hind foot, and going into a trance-like state watching the sunlight sparkle on the surface of a pond. Mardi describes how compulsive disorder manifests in dogs and explains how to respond in order to help a dog recover. She’s taken her own advice, and it works! Her own dog no longer meets the description of a troubled victim of this serious condition.

I asked Dr. Catherine Ashe, one of our veterinarian contributors, to write about canine mange for this issue, as I personally was dismayed with the plethora of inaccurate and inadequate information that I found online about the condition. I had agreed to foster a litter of seven severely affected puppies that were brought into my local shelter in the midst of the devastating Camp Fire. I had no previous experience with a dog suffering from this condition, but with Dr. Ashe’s informative guidance, I found that treating the mange to be the easiest part of caring for these unfortunate pups, who are pictured in the article.

Finally, Pat Miller, WDJ’s Training Editor and a professional dog trainer who lives Fairplay, Maryland, has written a useful article about why and how to condition a dog to happily and comfortably wear a muzzle. Hint: The devices are not just for dogs who display aggressive behavior in certain situations; as just one example, I know of a dog who wears her muzzle every time she is released to play and potty in her own backyard. If she doesn’t have it on, she spends much of her time hunting for and eating acorns that have fermented following the winter rains and that have sent the little dog to the veterinary emergency room several times. For this dog and other dogs with pica, especially dogs who eat pebbles and stones, well-fit muzzles rock!

Whole Dog Journal’s Approved Dry Dog Foods for 2019

By
Nancy Kerns
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12
dry dog food

Products appear alphabetically by best-known name. In some cases this is the name of the company that makes the food; in others, it’s the name of the food line. We have split some lines made by the same manufacturer into separate rows to better distinguish prices, # of varieties, etc.

Whole Dog Journal’s 2019 Approved Dry Dog Food List

By
Nancy Kerns
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24

The Dog Food Label Information That Matters Most

1. Ingredients

In our opinion, the ingredients list tells you more about the product’s quality than anything else. It’s a highly regulated section of the label; the ingredients must be listed in descending order of their inclusion in the food by weight.

 

whole dog journal 2019 dry dog food list

 

 

In order to appear on our approved dry dog foods list, a dry dog food must have the following:

Hallmarks of Quality Dry Dog Food

Lots of animal protein at the top of the ingredients list. Ingredients in pet food are listed in order of the weight of that ingredient in the formula, so you want to see a named animal protein or named animal protein meal first on the ingredients list. (“Named” means the species is identified: chicken, beef, lamb, etc. “Meal” means a dry, rendered product made from an identified species.)

When a fresh meat is first on the ingredient list, there should be a named animal-protein meal immediately or closely following the meat. Fresh meat contains a lot of moisture (which is heavy), so if meat is first on the list, it acts like a diluted protein source; while it adds an appealing flavor and aroma to the food, it doesn’t actually contribute that much protein. That’s why another named source of animal protein should appear in the top two or three ingredients.

When vegetables, fruits, grains, and/or carbohydrate sources such as potatoes, chickpeas, or sweet potatoes are used, they should be whole. Fresh, unprocessed food ingredients contain nutrients in all their complex glory, with their vitamins, enzymes, and antioxidants intact.

Bonus points for products that are made with ingredients that are certified as organic, humanely raised, or sustainably farmed. We understand that it’s good marketing, but we also like to buy from companies who support shelters or rescue, manufacture in “green” plants, and participate in recycling and waste reduction programs.

Dog Food Label Disqualifiers

Here are some things to look out for – undesirable attributes that indicate a lower-quality food:

 

whole dog journal 2019 dry dog food list

 

 

 

 

Meat byproducts, poultry byproducts, meat byproduct meal, and poultry byproduct meal. Many of these animal protein sources are nutritious, but are often handled with far less care than more expensive animal protein sources (i.e., without refrigeration and with less sanitation).

“Generic” fat sources. “Animal fat” can literally be any mixed fat of animal origin. “Poultry” fat is not quite as suspect as “animal fat,” but “chicken fat” or “duck fat” is better (and traceable).

Watch out for a practice commonly called “ingredient splitting,” whereby two or more very similar food “fractions” appear on the ingredients list. Because the ingredients are listed in descending order of their weight, a manufacturer can make it appear that a high-quality ingredient is represented in the food in a greater amount than it really is. This is accomplished by using several fractions or versions of an ingredient as separate ingredients (i.e., rice, brewer’s rice, rice bran, rice protein meal). If all the iterations of that ingredient were combined or reconstituted, they would outweigh the higher-quality ingredient, pushing it down on the ingredients list.

We don’t recommend foods that use animal plasma or blood meal as a protein source.

Added sweeteners. Sweeteners are used to increase the palatability of foods comprised mainly of carbohydrate sources (and containing less animal protein).

Artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives (such as BHA, BHT, ethoxyquin). The color of the food doesn’t matter to your dog. And it should be flavored well enough with healthy meats and fats to be enticing. Natural preservatives, such as mixed tocopherols, can be used instead.

pet food label shopping

 

Getty Images Plus | andresr

 

2. Guaranteed Analysis (GA)

Listed in this section of the label are the minimum amounts of protein and fat that are present in the food (the amounts may actually be higher than those listed), and the maximum amounts of moisture (water) and fiber that are present in the food. This is the guaranteed analysis.

Minimum levels are used for protein and fat because those are the most important values in a dog’s food; it’s what you are paying for. Maximums are used for moisture and fiber because this is not what you want to pay for!

Manufacturers may (but are not required to) include other nutrient values in the GA. By doing so, they are legally guaranteeing those amounts in the food, and this is subject to testing and enforcement by state feed control officials. It’s a good way for a pet food maker to put their money where their mouths are concerning claims of special benefit from the inclusion of certain nutrients, such as DHA or glycosaminoglycans (e.g., chondroitin).

When you switch or rotate foods, you need to pay particular attention to the amount of protein and fat in the products; try to find products with protein and fat levels that suit your dog. If his weight and condition are perfect, find other products with macronutrient levels in the same range. As just one example, switching your older, slightly overweight dog to a food that contains twice the protein and fat that she’s been accustomed to could invite disaster in the form of crippling weight gain or even pancreatitis.

 

whole dog journal 2019 dry dog food list

 

 

 

 

3. Nutritional Adequacy Statement

It’s crazy that this critical bit of information is difficult to find on most dog-food labels. The statement is usually in tiny print, but can be identified by the phrases “complete and balanced” and “the Association of American Feed Control Officials” (AAFCO, whose nutritional guidelines legally define “complete and balanced”).

There are two AAFCO dog food nutrient profiles – tables that detail the minimum (and in some cases, maximum) levels of each nutrient required by dogs. One profile lists the nutrient requirement levels for “growth and reproduction” and the other profile lists those for “adult maintenance.” In general, the nutritional requirements for dogs engaged in the process of growth and reproduction are higher than those for adult dog maintenance.

Statements that claim that a product provides complete and balanced nutrition for “growth and reproduction,” “puppies,” or “dogs of all life stages” are equivalent; a product with any of those claims has met the “growth and reproduction” nutritional profile. But if the product is complete and balanced for “adult maintenance” only, it will be nutritionally inadequate for puppies.

CLICK HERE for the 2019 WDJ-Approved Dry Dog Food List!

Understanding Canine Compulsive Disorder

By
Mardi Richmond, CPDT-KA
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3

When I first noticed Shadow’s eyes staring into the pond, I thought she saw something in the water. It looked like her eyes were following fish swimming, except there were no fish in our little pond.

I looked closer to see if perhaps there were some water bugs. Then I stood back and watched my new pup. Her eyes were following the ripples, or perhaps the light sparkling off of the ripples. I watched her eyes go from fixation to glazing over into an almost trance-like state. “Oh, no,” I thought. “It can’t be!” I tried to distract her, which worked for a minute, but then she was right back at the pond, chasing the sparkles on the water. This incident confirmed my suspicions: My new dog was showing strong signs of canine compulsive disorder.

Also called compulsive behavior disorder, this is a mental health disorder “characterized by the excessive performance of repetitive behaviors that don’t serve any apparent purpose,” explains Dr. Jennifer Summerfield, a veterinarian and professional dog trainer who specializes in treating behavior problems. Common compulsive behaviors include spinning or tail chasing, licking or self-mutilation, flank sucking, chasing lights or shadows, fly snapping, or hallucinatory prey chasing/pouncing behavior. It is considered similar to obsessive-compulsive behavior (OCD) in humans.

What’s Normal Repetitive Dog Behavior?

Lots of herding dogs and other types of “high drive” dogs have what I like to call the “do it again, do it again, do it again” trait – doing behaviors over and over again. But this isn’t necessarily canine compulsive disorder.

Dr. Summerfield says that some repetitive, apparently non-functional behaviors can be perfectly benign. Many dogs spin in circles when they’re excited or will happily retrieve a ball as long as you continue to throw it. Lots of dogs will fixate on squirrels or birds in what many consider to be an obsessive manner. Dogs may also pace back and forth in the yard when they’re bored or spend a lot of time carefully licking their paws during downtime in the evening.

In contrast, “a behavior like this crosses the line and becomes a problem when it begins to interfere with other normal activities like eating and drinking, resting, playing, and being social with family members,” Dr. Summerfield says. “In many cases, it may also be difficult to distract the dog or get him to stop once he’s started to engage in the behavior.”

This was why the incident with my dog by the pond clinched my suspicions. Prior to this, I wasn’t sure if what I was seeing was simply an extremely high-energy herding-dog puppy, or one who was exhibiting signs of a serious problem. Shadow would incessantly chase her tail and sometimes would attack her rear foot as if it weren’t attached to her body. And she was in constant motion – always moving and having a difficult time settling even when she was clearly exhausted. But the fact that distracting her from these activities worked for only a few brief moments brought home that this was much more than an over-the-top puppy.

In the 20 years I’ve been working with dogs, including those who exhibit problematic behavior, I had seen compulsive behaviors to this extent only a handful of times.

Canine Compulsive Disorder in Dogs: It’s a Brain Thing

According to Dr. Summerfield, studies have shown that abnormal repetitive behaviors (including the clinical disorder of OCD in human patients) are associated with abnormalities in a particular area of the brain. These areas are called the cortico-striatal-thalamic-cortical (CSTC) loop.

Essentially, this is a circuit connecting the cerebral cortex to deeper structures in the brain, those that are involved in information processing and in controlling motor function. There is a pair of complementary signaling circuits called the direct and indirect pathways that form a part of the CSTC loop. The direct pathway is involved in initiating or enhancing movement, while the indirect pathway stops or inhibits movement.

“When it comes to starting and stopping behaviors, you can think of the direct pathway as the gas pedal and the indirect pathway as the brake,” Dr. Summerfield says. “In patients with compulsive behavior disorders, these pathways are out of balance – the direct pathway becomes more active, and the indirect pathway becomes less active. As a result, the affected animal (or human patient) may get ‘stuck’ in repeated loops of behavior and have a hard time stopping what they’re doing.”

Dr. Summerfield says, “Of course, this is almost certainly not the whole story! The brain is incredibly complex. There is some evidence that different types of compulsive behaviors (spinning or tail chasing vs. licking or sucking objects vs. hallucinatory prey chasing or fly snapping, etc.) may involve slightly different mechanisms and changes in the activity of different neurotransmitters. So there’s a lot more to learn here!”

What Causes Canine Compulsive Disorder?

Studies indicate that there are likely a variety of causes and contributors to repetitive, compulsive behaviors in dogs, including medical issues. So much is still unknown, but here are some of the more widely considered causes:

Genetics

While any breed may develop a compulsive disorder, there are certain compulsive behaviors that seem to be more common to specific breeds. For example, Dobermans may have a higher risk of flank sucking, Bull Terriers are more likely to spin or tail chase, and Border Collies are more likely to stare at shadows and/or flickering lights.

Response to Stress

Animals (including dogs) that are living in situations where they cannot express normal behaviors, such as those living in kennels for long periods of time, can develop stereotypic behaviors such as pacing, circling, or spinning.

Response to Arousal or Frustration

Different from animals who are living in poor conditions or who are under stress, some repetitive behaviors seem to be triggered by extreme arousal or frustration.

Dogs who become light-obsessed after playing with laser pointers may fall into this category. The theory is that when a dog chases a laser pointer, he cannot complete the normal predatory sequence by actually catching or grabbing the “prey” in the same way he can with a ball or toy, or a real rabbit or squirrel. This can cause an excessive amount of frustration and can cause the dog to constantly search or wait for the light to appear.

Medical Problems

Sometimes repetitive behaviors are not caused by a compulsive behavior disorder, but are instead the result of a different underlying medical problem.

Spinning or tail chasing may be caused by things such as anal gland problems, pinched nerves, or spinal problems. Dogs who compulsively lick or chew at certain parts of their body may have allergies, a skin infection, orthopedic pain, or other physical sources of discomfort. Both spinning and fly snapping can be neurologic, with a variety of possible underlying causes such as brain tumors, seizure disorders, or hydrocephalus (buildup of fluid in the brain cavities).

In addition, a medical cause such as an allergy may initially trigger a behavior that then develops into a compulsive disorder; conversely, a compulsive behavior such as licking or flank sucking may cause a physical problem such as pain or an infection.

Help for Dogs Affected By Canine Compulsive Disorder

Unfortunately, the underlying cause of compulsive issues is not always easy to diagnose. This is why a trip to veterinarian or veterinary behaviorist is a good place to start.

If the veterinarian suspects medical causes, says Dr. Summerfield, then he or she may recommend diagnostic testing or imaging studies. If testing is not feasible, in some cases, a trial course of a steroid or pain medication might be used to see if there is any response. If the behavior improves on these medications, this is a strong indication that there is an underlying physical problem rather than “just” a compulsive behavior disorder.
 Helping dogs with compulsive behavior disorder live a more normal life takes a holistic approach – generally a combination of lifestyle changes, behavior modification, and medication is needed. A dog’s treatment plan might include:

1. Avoiding known triggers.

As much as possible, it is important to avoid the triggers for the compulsive behaviors. For example, for one dog avoiding triggers meant not going on walks at night when headlights flashing on fencing would trigger light chasing. Avoiding triggers may be short term until medication and/or behavior modification kick in, or it might be ongoing.

2. Interrupting and redirecting if the compulsive behavior occurs.

According to Dr. Summerfield, interrupting the behavior should always be done in a neutral manner and the dog should be redirected to some other activity.

This sounds pretty simple, but it can sometimes be very difficult to get a dog who is doing a repetitive behavior to stop. Moving the dog into another room or even crating them with a meaty bone or food-stuffed Kong can sometimes help.

3. Teaching an alternative response.

Sometimes the trigger is something that can’t be avoided, but you may be able to teach your dog to do something other than the repetitive behavior.

If your dog spins when frustrated, for example, you may have success with teaching him to run into his crate or go grab a toy instead. For a dog who is triggered by overexcitement or anxiety, teaching him to settle on a mat and then reinforcing it throughout the day so he is less overall excitable can help.

4. Creating a structured daily routine.

Because predictability lowers stress, doing specific things at set times can be very helpful for dogs who are anxious. In addition, compulsive behaviors are sometimes triggered by frustration, and routine can help eliminate frustration.

5. Increasing exercise.

Increasing exercise may help, especially if the repetitive behavior issues stem from boredom or frustration. Exercise also increases serotonin and other chemicals in the brain, which may provide some benefit.

6. Providing brain stimulation.

Training exercises using positive reinforcement techniques may help dogs who have anxiety that is being relieved by the compulsions.

Puzzle toys and food games may help engage a dog’s brain so that he is less likely to engage in the repetitive behavior. Giving your dog outlets for normal dog behavior, such as allowing her to sniff on walks or play with dog pals, also can help some dogs.

7. Talking with your veterinarian or a veterinary behaviorist about medication.

Many dogs with a compulsive behavior disorder will benefit from medication.

When Shadow was first diagnosed, I wanted to see if we could make headway without medication, but my veterinarian cautioned us against waiting. Compulsive behaviors tend to get worse over time, she said, and the longer the problem goes on the more difficult it is to modify. On our veterinarian’s recommendation, we started Shadow on fluoxetine (Prozac) and were amazed at the positive benefits in just a few short weeks.

Does Canine Compulsive Disorder Get Better?

Compulsive behavior disorders are tricky to diagnose, work with, and live with. “In many cases (though not always, unfortunately) the problem can be significantly improved with diligent management, training, and medication,” says Dr. Summerfield. “However, most dogs with a history of compulsive behavior issues will always have this tendency to some degree, so in most cases some degree of continued management will be needed for the life of the dog.” Dr. Summerfield says that unfortunately, even with intensive management and treatment, some dogs simply don’t get better.

The prognosis may depend on several factors, including:

  • How quickly the problem is properly identified and addressed.
  • How easy or difficult it is to resolve the underlying issue or avoid the triggers.
  • How easy or difficult it is for the dog’s people to follow the recommended behavior plan.
  • How well the dog responds to behavior medications.

Canine Compulsive Disorder Improvements Take Time

We have been very fortunate with Shadow. We identified that there was a problem quickly, and we had a great veterinary team to help us take the steps needed. Shadow responded to medication and to behavior modification, and we were able to make some lifestyle changes that helped, too. Within a few months of starting treatment, she showed signs of improvement.

Now, a little over a year later, Shadow seldom engages in compulsive behaviors, and she has become a pretty normal high-energy adolescent herding dog.

A long-time contributor to WDJ, Mardi Richmond is a dog trainer, writer, and the owner of Good Dog Santa Cruz in Santa Cruz, CA.

Special thanks to Dr. Jennifer Summerfield for her help with this article. Dr. Summerfield is the author of Train Your Dog Now! Your Instant Training Handbook, from Basic Commands to Behavior Fixes, and Dr. Jen’s Dog Blog.

What is Mange in Dogs?

By
Catherine Ashe, DVM
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There may be no other canine malady that seems to inspire as much misinformation as canine “mange.” Internet searches often return pages that blame it on lice (wrong) as often as mites (right). Ask an older person about it and he may tell you to use a dangerous and ineffective treatment such as dousing the poor dog in used motor oil (a great way to sicken or even kill the dog). But the condition isn’t a mystery, and its treatment has never been easier. Let’s clear up the misinformation!

The term “mangy” is a general way to describe a dog who is itchy, missing hair, and has scabby, unhealthy-looking skin. Mange generally refers to one of two conditions: demodectic or sarcoptic mange, caused by two different species of mites.

Demodectic Mange

There are two types of Demodex mites that can afflict dogs: D. canis and D. injai; the former is much more prevalent. The mites are always present on dogs in low numbers as normal fauna. The skin is colonized with mites at birth, so puppies “catch” it from their mothers; it is not contagious between dogs otherwise. In a dog with a healthy immune system, the mites do not cause problems.

demodectic mange puppy

nancy kerns foster puppy

So, one wonders, if Demodex mites are a common and usually benign inhabitant of a dog’s skin, how does mange develop? It’s not a simple question. There are four ways to divide infestations: by age group (juvenile and adult onset) and by severity (localized and generalized).

Generalized Demodicosis

Generalized demodicosis happens when the immune system becomes suppressed and the mites proliferate out of control. This proliferation may lead to a sense of itching, causing a dog to scratch and self-traumatize. The scratching leads to breaks in the healthy skin barriers and allows bacterial and yeast infections to occur, which leads to more itching and discomfort, more self-trauma, and worsening infection and skin disease. It is a vicious cycle that can be difficult to stop.

A dog with generalized demodicosis has involvement of more than one site, an infestation that spreads, lasts for more than one to two months, or involves all four feet. The symptoms are hair loss, follicular casting (a yellowish debris is matted around the base of hairs), red bumps (called papules), and variable itching. West Highland White Terriers, Staffordshire Terriers, Shar-Pei, English Bulldogs, Boston Terriers, and several other breeds seem predisposed.

Generalized demodicosis can occur with both juveniles and adults. In puppies, there tends to be an underlying, inborn problem with the immune system. These puppies also will be susceptible to other illnesses like viral and bacterial infections.

In older dogs, another condition could trigger demodicosis. These triggers can include diseases like hypothyroidism and Cushing’s. Demodicosis can also appear if a dog has been on long-term steroids and has a weakened immune system.

In the case of generalized demodicosis, a full veterinary workup should be conducted to evaluate the dog for underlying triggers. This will include bloodwork, including a thyroid level, a urinalysis, and possibly x-rays of the chest and abdomen (in older dogs).

Localized Demodicosis

Localized demodicosis is the other possibility. These are small, well-circumscribed circular hair-loss lesions often seen on young puppies. Sometimes they are seen around the eyes. They do not tend to be itchy. These can clear on their own and often do not pose a problem. No one knows exactly why some puppies have this and others do not. It is rarer to see the localized form in adults.

Diagnosis of Demodectic Mange

The beginning of any diagnosis is a good history and physical examination. Your veterinarian will likely ask general questions about diet, exercise, vaccine history, as well as specific questions about the lesions. How long have they been present? Have they changed – smaller or larger? Do they bother your dog? Any known injuries? After a detailed history, your veterinarian will do a physical exam. This should include a nose-to-tail assessment including vitals and weight.

Once this is accomplished, the vet will gather samples. These will usually include a skin scrape, tape preparation, and impression smears.

In the first, a dull scalpel blade is used to scrape the edges of the lesions until a thin scrim of blood is noted. It is important to get a little bit of blood, as the mites can be deep in the hair follicles. This sample will be placed on a microscope slide with mineral oil and examined under a microscope at low magnification power.

The mites are usually easily visible. Demodex mites are long and cigar-shaped with six legs.

Your veterinarian should also place a strip of clear acetate tape over the lesions and press microscope slides directly onto the affected areas. These samples are stained and examined at high power. She will also look for evidence of secondary bacterial and/or yeast infections that must also be treated.

Sarcoptic Mange

Unlike Demodex, Sarcoptes is not normally found on dogs. This is a contagious mite that spreads from dog to dog. It can also spread from dogs to people, though it will not live long on humans. The most common Sarcoptes mite that afflicts dogs is S. scabiei.

Sarcoptic mange (often called scabies) is intensely itchy and uncomfortable for dogs. Dogs will dig and scratch at themselves, particularly on the sparsely haired areas of the body. These dogs are often in misery. The skin will be red and crusty around the elbows, base of the ears, belly, and outside of the knee. Secondary skin infections are extremely common. As with Demodex, in some cases, the skin infections are so bad that the lymph nodes become enlarged, and the dog may become depressed, lethargic, develop a fever, and lose appetite. No breed seems particularly predisposed.

demodectic mange puppy

Scabies may also be diagnosed if the humans living in the house with the affected dog(s) start itching! While canine Sarcoptes lives only transiently on humans, it can cause intense itching and red papules on the skin. These show up along the waistline, neck, and arms. It can occur within 24 hours of exposure and last for up to three weeks. Usually within one to two weeks, the lesions will resolve, as long as the dog is treated successfully and re-exposure does not occur.

Diagnosis of Sarcoptic Mange

The tests are the same as for Demodex, but Sarcoptes mites live very deep and can be difficult to find. Under the microscope, Sarcoptes mites are fat, round mites with six legs on the juveniles and eight on the adults.

Your veterinarian may scrape in four or five places in an attempt to locate just one mite and will also look for mite eggs. The absence of mites on a skin scrape does not rule out scabies. If your veterinarian is very suspicious, and the skin scrape is negative, she may scratch behind your dog’s ears. A response of thumping of the leg on the same side is called a “positive pinnal-pedal reflex.” While it is not specific for scabies, it is one sign that, paired with the other symptoms mentioned above, makes scabies a likely diagnosis.

What to Do About Mange on Dogs

Until fairly recently, treatment for both types of mite infestations was extensive and involved repeated use of lime-sulfur shampoos and/or dips (every five to seven days, for as long as it takes for the lesions to heal) and ivermectin. The dips are effective treatments, but they are time-consuming, hideously smelly, and carry other risks.

These treatments have been largely supplanted by a new class of chemicals called isoxazolines. These include the oral medications sold under the names Bravecto, Credelio, NexGard, and Simparica; Bravecto is also available as a topical “spot-on” treatment. These medications were all developed to treat infestations of fleas and ticks, but have proven to be so effective at killing mites, that most veterinarians are now using them “off-label” as their go-to treatment for mites. On-label use is expected within the next year.

If the affected dog is young and the lesions are minor, a one-time treatment with one of the isoxazoline drugs will likely be sufficient. In cases of generalized demodicosis, the dog may require another dose or two, given a month apart.

Concerns About Isoxazolines

You may have recently seen FDA warnings about the isoxazoline drugs. There have been reports of serious adverse effects, such as seizures, that may result from their use. The drugs are safe to use in the vast majority of patients, but the cases of adverse effects cannot and should not be dismissed.

As with any medication, it is important to review your dog’s medical history with your veterinarian. If there is history of neurological disease or seizures, the risks, benefits, and disadvantages of an isoxazoline drug should be weighed against those of different medications, such as (in this case) lime-sulfur dips and ivermectin.

demodectic mange puppy

There are many alternatives to these drugs for flea and tick control – and many pose less-serious potential adverse effects. But nothing beats the efficacy of the isoxazoline drugs for treating the mites that cause canine mange. Dog owners should be advised of the risks and advantages of using these drugs as well as the older alternatives.

While the primary treatment is focused on getting rid of the mite overgrowth, secondary skin infections must also be treated. These infections can be bacterial, fungal (yeast), or a combination of both. The samples your veterinarian took will help determine what treatment is needed.

Antibiotic resistance in veterinary medicine is becoming a significant problem. Many times, skin infections (yeast and bacterial both) can be treated with topical medications before oral medications. There are many different products such as mousses, wipes, and shampoos on the market. Type and availability will vary among veterinary offices. Topical therapy should be tried first to avoid encouraging antibiotic resistance. This will be done in conjunction with treatment of the mites with an isoxazoline and/or lime-sulfur dips.

If topical treatment fails for the infections (called pyoderma), oral therapy is next. This can include a combination of antibiotics like the cephalosporin class and oral antifungal drugs such as ketoconazole.

If first-line oral therapies do not treat the skin infections, then your veterinarian will likely recommend a culture of the skin to determine which antibiotic is most appropriate. This is becoming increasingly common as overuse of antibiotics is rampant in both human and veterinary medicine.

Once the mites begin to die (particularly with Sarcoptes), the itching may dramatically intensify. Using steroids (such as prednisone) in dogs with mite infestations is not a great idea, as this suppresses the immune system further. If the itching is intolerable and causing a dog to severely self-traumatize, then a very low dose of prednisone may be prescribed for a short course.

Since sarcoptic mange is contagious, all dogs who came into contact with an affected dog should be treated for the mites.

Your veterinarian may repeat skin scrapings after treatment, to make sure the mite overgrowth has been controlled, but given the effectiveness of the isoxazolines, this isn’t usually done anymore. Improvement in clinical symptoms is generally proof of successful treatment.

Mites are host-specific and do not live off of their preferred hosts for long. Still, it’s never a bad idea to wash your dog’s bedding, especially if she has skin infections and itching. It’s also a good approach to wash your dog’s combs, brushes, and collars.

Catherine Ashe, DVM, graduated the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine in 2008. She practiced ER medicine for nine years and now works as a relief veterinarian in Asheville, North Carolina.

Download the Full February 2019 Issue PDF

By
Nancy Kerns
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  • Wagging The Dog (Food)
  • Approved 2019 Dry Dog Foods
  • Understanding Canine Compulsive Disorder
  • Mange, Mange, Go Away
  • Nuzzle Up To Muzzles
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