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Blood Pressure Tests for Dogs: Worth It?

By
Cindy Foley
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7

A health exam for all adults includes a blood-pressure reading. So why not for our dogs? There are a few reasons that veterinarians save blood-pressure testing for only certain cases.

The first is money. Because vets constantly face clients who are unable or unwilling to pay for anything “unnecessary,” veterinary clinics are forced to offer a la carte services. The basic office-visit fee includes the veterinarian’s brief examination and writing applicable prescriptions. Anything else is an additional charge; veterinarians say this helps the client determine the cost of veterinary care.

“Veterinary exams would have to climb more than $100 per visit to include ancillary services that are ‘included’ in physician visits,” says Eve Ryan, DVM, of Baldwinsville, New York. “As unfortunate as it may be, many pet owners do not want or cannot afford all of the high-quality medical services that are recommended, so non-exam services are separated out.”

Another reason that veterinarians are hesitant to perform regular blood-pressure checks is because of the high incidence of false positives. “You don’t want to risk inappropriate treatment due to an invalid diagnosis,” says Bruce Kornreich, DVM, PhD, DACVIM, a cardiologist at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell. “We don’t want to over-treat.”

Although an estimated 20 percent of humans suffer from “white-coat syndrome” (temporary high blood pressure caused by the anxiety associated with visiting the doctor), dogs aren’t as easy to sort out. “It’s reasonable to assume that dogs also suffer from white-coat syndrome,” Dr. Kornreich says, “but validation is different.” In human medicine, the patient sits quietly for a few minutes while the nurse prepares to take blood pressure. She might chat about the weather or an upcoming holiday to distract the patient’s thoughts, hopefully normalizing any white-coat effects. The blood-pressure reading itself is quick.

Visualize your dog in the veterinarian’s office, with the many smells, noises, and distractions. Just getting the dog to stand on a weight scale can throw him into a hyper state. Now add one or two staff members to restrain the dog and a Doppler ultrasound beep as the reading is done.

“It’s difficult to get blood pressures if the dog won’t stay still,” says Eileen Fatcheric, DVM, of Syracuse, New York. “The readings can be falsely elevated in a clinic setting, especially if the dog is anxious, and it is time-consuming.” Veterinarians are advised to take at least three readings – and preferably five to seven! – once the animal is quiet. The first reading is always disregarded.

Of course, the standard back-up plan physicians use is asking human patients to monitor blood pressure at home and report back to them. Over-the-counter human blood-pressure monitors are relatively inexpensive and foolproof. Get a cuff the right size for the patient and you’re good to go. Not so with dogs.

Types of BP Measurement

canine blood pressure test

There are three main methods of measuring blood pressure in dogs. The gold standard is direct arterial monitoring, which is invasive (involving a catheter) and usually done only under anesthesia.

The Doppler ultrasound method is used in many clinics, but it, too, is not without drawbacks. “It involves a messy gel that is necessary for the probe to detect the pulse sounds, and operator error is a possibility,” Dr. Ryan says. “In my experience, the noise associated with the Doppler unit often frightens the animal unnecessarily. Headphones are available, but this mode is becoming outdated. New oscillometric devices used in modern veterinary medicine are well-calibrated, easy to use, reliable, and mess-free.”

Indeed, modern veterinary oscillometric devices – similar to human at-home blood-pressure measuring machines – have undergone dramatic improvement, and more veterinary clinics are utilizing them. But that doesn’t mean you can expect to buy a device at Walmart and take your dog’s blood pressure at home.

“Machines made for humans might give a ‘ballpark’ reading on a dog, but it wouldn’t be expected to be accurate, nor should it be used to make any medical decisions regarding medication or treatment,” Dr. Ryan says. “Only an animal-calibrated machine used with the appropriately sized cuff, used on the appropriate parts of the patient’s anatomy, should be used for medical decisions. Choosing the appropriate size cuff and its placement requires an understanding of the anatomy of the patient, which may change, depending on species and breed.”

When To Pay for a Blood-Pressure Check

There are times you won’t be offered a choice on blood-pressure reading fees, including during surgery, serious illnesses, shock, trauma, and IV treatments. If your dog has been diagnosed previously with high blood pressure or is on cardiac medications, blood-pressure monitoring may be a necessity. There are aspects of veterinary medicine your pet’s doctor will not negotiate.

“Patients with disease states that predispose them to hypertension – heart disease, Cushing’s syndrome, renal failure, among others – should be monitored, and therapy instituted before a hypertensive crisis occurs,” Dr. Ryan says. “Patients on medications that affect the blood pressure need to be monitored even more closely. A dog with certain health conditions, both acute and chronic, may present with high or low blood pressure, and this is often checked if needed, given the illness or situation.”

Some lay animal experts advocate that regular blood-pressure monitoring should be part of every canine veterinary exam, as it is with human exams. They are adamant that the service should be included in all wellness exams at a minimum, believing if blood pressure is checked regularly, you’ll know what normal is for that dog and be able to catch problems earlier, similar to human medicine. But it’s just not that simple.

The problem is that humans usually have primary hypertension, which is high blood pressure without a known cause. The most common reasons for high blood pressure in humans really don’t apply to most dogs: smoking, drinking, stress, high salt intake, lack of exercise, and obesity. (Those last two are increasingly applicable, of course.)

Dogs are more likely to have secondary hypertension, which means another disease is actually causing the high blood pressure. The most likely first offenders are kidney disease, diabetes, Cushing’s disease, and eye problems.

One place most veterinarians do press for routine blood-pressure screenings is geriatric wellness exams, but even then, money can complicate the decision. “In my senior pets, if money was an issue, I would choose physical exam first, then blood work, then urinalysis for my general health screening,” Dr. Fatcheric says. “If kidney, heart, thyroid, or adrenal disease was detected, I would strongly recommend blood-pressure monitoring. However, the earliest indicator of kidney disease is actually protein in the urine (microalbuminuria).”

Bottom Line

If your dog has been diagnosed with hypertension – whether due to an underlying disease or not – he will require monitoring, probably once every three months, plus applicable blood work and urinalysis. And that means regular trips to the veterinarian.

Be wary of those YouTube videos showing how to take your pet’s blood pressure with a human monitor. Research has shown that the proper cuff is a necessity and the placement of the device on hind limbs vs. forelimbs vs. tails will generate varying results, none reliable.

If you absolutely want a blood-pressure monitoring at each office visit, chances are all you have to do is pay for it. The wisest course of action is to discuss the option with your veterinarian.

“Every pet parent should have a veterinarian they trust and can have an honest conversation with regarding the best health care they can provide for that pet. Good health care is a team effort,” Dr. Ryan says. And part of that team effort is the decision about whether a blood-pressure check is a valid monitoring tool in your dog.

Cynthia Foley is a freelance writer and dog agility competitor from New York.

Living in the City with Dogs

By
Helene G. Goldberger, Esq., CPDT-KA, PMCT
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0

If I were to choose two words to summarize how to live harmoniously with dogs in apartment buildings it would be “with consideration.” It really is no different than how we should strive to treat our neighbors even when pets are not involved. For example, before having a party, it’s considerate to inform your neighbors that you will be entertaining, invite them to join in on the fun, and be mindful of not being excessively noisy late in the evening. Similarly, if one has a dog, check in with your neighbors from time to time to make sure that Rocky is not driving them crazy with his whining and barking.

The consideration extends to our dogs as well. It is not fair to leave a young, active dog all day in an apartment with nothing to do and expect that he will be a model citizen. He might be destructive (which may or may not affect neighbors) and vocalize out of boredom and frustration.

If there is an opportunity to meet and discuss the rights and responsibilities of dog owners and other residents, I suggest bringing in a professional positive reinforcement dog trainer to educate everyone involved (building management, pet owners, and affected and/or concerned neighbors), about what constitutes normal dog behavior. Two sources of such trainers are the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers and the Pet Professional Guild.

Here are some topics that apartment dwellers, landlords, and cooperative/condominium boards should take up and discuss proactively in buildings where dogs reside:

Noise (barking/whining)

Dog owners should be courteous and respond promptly to complaints. They should also try to figure out why their dog is barking, perhaps with the help of a qualified professional positive reinforcement-based trainer. Does the dog get enough exercise during the day? A walk around the block is insufficient for most dogs. Can a dog walker be hired to come during the day? If the dog is easy to walk, could a young person in the building perform this task?

Noise (separation distress or anxiety)

If your dog is whining and/or barking for hours, it’s likely being caused by some amount of separation distress, especially if there is evidence of destruction such as biting the door or walls. If so, you may need to address this with a professional positive reinforcement-based behavior consultant or possibly a veterinary behaviorist. The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior has a list of certified veterinary behaviorists on its website. These veterinarians are expert in behavioral issues in animals and may, if necessary, prescribe medications that can help relieve your dog’s anxieties.

Bored dogs

Leave him with something to do! Fill Kongs with his food, mixed with a spoonful of yogurt or peanut butter and freeze them; leave them around the apartment so he has to hunt for them and work to get the food out, rather than eating it in a few seconds out of a bowl. If he’s a good, safe chewer, provide him with some raw bones to work on, or use interactive toys such as Kong Wobblers. You can try something as simple as hiding treats or your dog’s kibble in cereal boxes or paper towel rolls (be sure he won’t ingest these by first trying this out while you are at home). Leave a classical music radio station on or play “Through a Dog’s Ear” CDs. Or try Dog Appeasing Pheromone (DAP or Adaptil plug-in).

city dog

Aggression

We expect dogs in an urban environment to tolerate crowded conditions, weird noises and smells, and all kinds of strange activities. Many dogs, thanks to good training and socialization at an early age, good genes, and/or just the luck of the nature/nurture combination, are wonderfully calm about all this. But others are more sensitive and fearful.

Fear is the main cause of aggression. So what to do? First, don’t put your dog in a position where he may feel the need to snap or, worse, bite. For example, if you are about to enter the elevator and there is already a dog in there and your dog doesn’t particularly like other dogs, don’t take any chances, just say, “Okay, I’ll wait for the next one!” Or, take the stairs and give yourselves even more exercise!

If you enter the building with your dog after a walk and the doorman has a package for you, tell him you’ll get it later. If your dog is fearful, he may be alarmed by a giant bag of dry cleaning being handed over by the man in the uniform.

Try to continually make positive associations with everything going on by rewarding your dog for calm behaviors in the presence of things he may be uncertain about. How? With tiny yummy treats that you will always carry in your pockets. (But remember to unload them at the end of the day or you may find holes chewed in your clothes when you wake up in the morning!) See “Eliminating Your Puppy’s Fear-Related Behaviors,” WDJ June 2012, for information about using counter-conditioning to reduce your dog’s anxieties.

Don’t take chances in having your dog meet other dogs he does not know, just because he generally likes other dogs. He may not like this one if you’re in tight quarters! The other owner may not be aware of her dog’s tolerances; many people aren’t that good at reading a dog’s body language. Speaking of which – educate yourself about canine body language! There is a lot of good information out there. Sarah Kalnajs has an excellent DVD on this subject called “The Language of Dogs“.

city dogs

Greetings

Be very careful about introductions, especially with children. If you have any doubts about your dog’s ability to handle an introduction with grace, say, ” Sorry, my dog is too shy to meet you. Maybe another time.” If it’s deemed safe, let the dog sniff the back of the person’s hand. Let the would-be greeter know that she shouldn’t reach out to a strange dog. If your dog is relaxed, with a softly wagging tail and no stiffness, instruct the person to pet his chest or under the chin. Many dogs don’t like to be petted on the head.

If you know that your dog doesn’t care to meet people or if he may jump on someone, until you can train better behavior, just manage with a smile and a good hold on a short leash. Then use treats to maintain your dog’s attention long enough to get past the person without interaction.

Exercise

When it’s subzero or pouring rain, it’s hard to convince ourselves and sometimes even our dogs that we must go out. While it’s very creative to use a hallway to play fetch, it may not be such a great idea. The noise may disturb others and even worse, a person leaving her apartment unaware could get knocked down or trip over your dog. If you have everyone’s permission on the floor to engage in this activity during a certain time of day, great, go for it.

Elimination

Be courteous. You wouldn’t dump your trash in the hallway or right outside the entrance. Try get your dog to the curb to eliminate and always pick up. If he has an accident, clean thoroughly with an enzyme cleaning solution so other dogs don’t get the idea the elevator is a good place to eliminate. Perhaps a spray bottle could be kept at the front desk in the lobby for this purpose.

dog with poor quality of life

Must Not Love Dogs?

Dog owners need to remember that everyone doesn’t love dogs as much as you want them to. Some people don’t have the experience of being around dogs and may be afraid or maybe they just don’t like them. Or, worse, perhaps they’ve had a bad experience! So have consideration and, who knows, based on observing your well-behaved ambassador, maybe they’ll come around!

Also keep in mind that non-dog owners may not understand the bond that so many of us form with our furry family members. If they have a complaint about your dog, try to understand and address their concerns, just as you would about any other grievance stemming from living in close quarters.

For a list of some city-friendly dog breeds, check out this Dogster post!

Helene Goldberger, Esq., CPDT-KA, PMCT, grew up with dogs and pursued a better way to train in order to help her fear-aggressive dog, Chester Bighead, CGC, TT. This path led her to becoming a professional trainer; her training business is called HeartDog. Helene is of counsel to Tooher & Barone LLP, an environmental law firm, in Albany, NY. She lives with her husband, two rescued pitbulls, and two retired horses in the Catskill Mountains.

Aggressive Behavior Information

By
Nancy Kerns
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0

Yellow Dog Project – This is a project to encourage the use of a yellow ribbon tied to a dog’s collar and/or leash to let others that this dog needs space. The reason could be varied; perhaps the dog is fearful, may bite, or perhaps just had surgery and is in pain. For more information, go to yellowdogproject.com.

“Dangerous Dogs” – In some states, dogs that have a “vicious propensity” can be deemed dangerous – the canine version of being on probation. This means that while you may know your dog is a sweetheart much of the time, one bite can be enough for the authorities to label him dangerous, and two bites could result in an order to surrender or euthanize the dog. Also, if your dog bites someone you could be sued and found liable, and if the building ownership had knowledge of the dog’s propensity for aggression (a past bite), it could also be found responsible (which is one reason why many building owners and managers are reluctant to rent to dog owners).

Muzzles are Useful Tools! – If you know your dog is prone to biting, get to a positive behavior consultant who can also teach you how and when to use a muzzle, which can keep everyone safe while you work to modify your dog’s behavior. I like Baskerville basket-type muzzles, because they have a lot of ventilation so the dog can pant and even accept treats. Another advantage of using a muzzle is that it will enable the handler to relax, which will also help the dog! For more information, see Karen Pryor’s site.

Breed Prohibitions

It has become all too common to see lists of breed bans in multi-unit residences as well as municipalities. Books could be written about the drawbacks of breed-specific legislation (BSL), but suffice to say that all dogs have the potential to bite and no breed has 100 percent benign membership. The “bully breed” lovers among us (count me in) would point out that many of these dogs are model citizens and great companions.

Further, breed bans provide a false sense of security. See the position statement of the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior (AVSAB) on this subject.

Rather, encourage or require new owners to provide proof of having properly trained their dogs through programs such as the American Kennel Club’s Canine Good Citizen (CGC) certification and encourage your building’s management to develop and enforce common sense rules, such as, “All dogs must be leashed when outside their apartments,” and “All dogs must be licensed.”

Puppy Training Pros and Cons

By
Nancy Kerns
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0

Whole Dog Journal editor Nancy Kerns

Last month, I mentioned how concerned my son was when he heard I had made the decision to adopt one of the bully-breed-mix puppies I had been fostering. He’s accustomed to me pretending that I don’t like puppies (“Ew, a puppy! Gross! Who likes puppies? Ick!”) – a stupid joke meant to soften the hard fact that unprepared people always seem to be magnetically drawn to the puppies in the shelter where I volunteer, passing right over many more suitable, calm, house-trained, non-chewing adult dogs in the process.

I never worry that the puppies in my shelter won’t get adopted; despite the fact that people often share pictures of the puppies on Facebook (usually with a plea, “Share this album, save the puppies!”), the puppies are in no danger whatsoever. Puppies of all descriptions fly out of the shelter like iPads on sale. So while I do foster puppies that are surrendered to the shelter (or are brought in by animal control officers) at a too-tender age, or in poor health and in need of a few weeks of TLC, I don’t worry about them finding homes. They are often adopted the same day I bring them back to the shelter. What I do worry about is them coming back to the shelter a few days, weeks, or months later, when people realize how much work it is to raise and train a puppy. And I worry about them coming back with baggage – such as newly implanted fears of people, noises, and/or other dogs.

So many people adopt puppies without a clue as to their needs – it never fails to amaze me. People will literally walk out the door with their newly adopted puppy, stop, turn around, and ask, “Say, what should I feed him? How much?” I’ve seen more than one person clip a leash onto the collar they brought to the shelter for their new baby dog, and then look puzzled as the puppy (who has never before worn a collar or been pulled by a leash) bucks wildly in a panic. And they will start calling the front counter staff the next day to ask, “How do we stop him from biting our kids?” and “What should we do to keep him from chewing all of our shoes?”

Only rarely do the staff members get asked, “Can you recommend a good puppy trainer in this area?” It breaks my heart.

Because puppies fly off the shelter shelves, so to speak, whether through thoughtful adoptions or ill-advised ones, usually I focus my fostering efforts on adolescent and adult dogs. It’s much harder to find homes for dogs who have a little behavioral baggage, despite the fact that they may also be way past the problems that perplex and plague puppy owners – most notably chewing and housetraining. I deal with those issues and more: teaching the dogs not to eat (or even think about chasing) my cats or chickens; to wait at doors before trying to dart through them; how to get in and out of cars, and how to ride calmly and quietly, even if we are on the way to our favorite trailhead; to stay out of both the garden beds and my family’s beds (unless they have been specifically invited); and so on. Sometimes this process takes months, because these dogs have had an equal number or even more months to practice behaviors that make them less attractive to potential adopters.

But here’s the thing – and I’m sorry for taking so long to get to it: Oh my word, you guys! It’s so incredibly easy to train a puppy from the get-go, especially when you are equipped (baby gates, crates, puppy toys, superior food and treats, lightweight leashes and well-fitting harnesses, etc.) and you know what you are doing! I haven’t raised a puppy from such a tender age (I started fostering my new puppy’s litter when they were just about four weeks old) since I was 12 years old (and plumb ignorant) myself. Which is why, maybe, it’s such a revelation: Starting with a puppy this young can be – it is – an absolute dream.

The Importance of Trimming Dog Nails

By
Denise Flaim
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12

Nobody, it seems, likes trimming dog nails. Not you, not the dog, nor anyone else who may be called upon to take on nail-clipping for you (such as a technician at your local veterinary hospital or even a professional groomer). But for the health of your dog, it must be done, and should be done frequently enough to keep your dog’s nails short.

This isn’t an article about how to make nail cutting a more pleasant experience for you and your dog; this magazine has run plenty of those. Don’t be tempted to skip that step: You should read up on positive reinforcement and desensitization techniques before you even think about snipping; of course your dog should be comfortable with having his feet touched and manipulated before you attempt any type of nail trimming. If he is not – and especially if he shows signs of serious distress or aggression – consult a qualified dog behavior specialist to help you modify this behavior. Better safe than sorry.

No, this article is what you’ll need to know before you have appropriately and positively introduced your dog to the nail-cutting experience. I hope to convince you to commit to a regular nail-maintenance program for your dog.

A closeup photo of a dog's paw with a missing nail.
Long hair on a dog’s feet can hide a really painful situation with too-long nails. Keep your dog’s hairy feet clipped, or check the length of her nails weekly.

Why Dogs Need Their Nails Trimmed

When dogs spend a good deal of time outdoors, running on various hard surfaces, including concrete and blacktop, their nails are gradually worn down, and they have less of a need for formal nail-grooming sessions. But today, with many suburban and urban dogs increasingly confined indoors when their owners are at work, and running mostly on soft surfaces such as lawns when they are outdoors, this welcome friction is often absent in their daily lives.

Long, unkempt nails not only look unattractive, but over time they can do serious damage to your dog (not to mention your floors). When nails are so long that they constantly touch the ground, they exert force back into the nail bed, creating pain for the dog (imagine wearing a too-tight shoe) and pressure on the toe joint. Long term, this can actually realign the joints of the foreleg and make the foot looked flattened and splayed.

Again, this isn’t just an aesthetic problem, it’s a functional one: Compromising your dog’s weight distribution and natural alignment can leave her more susceptible to injuries, and make walking and running difficult and painful. This is especially important in older dogs, whose posture can be dramatically improved by cutting back neglected nails.

In extreme cases, overgrown nails can curve and grow into the pad of the foot. But even if they are not that out of control, long nails can get torn or split, which is very painful and, depending on severity, may need to be treated by a veterinarian.

And in the end, unattended nails create a vicious cycle: Because the extra-long nails make any contact with his paws painful for the dog, he avoids having them touched, which leads to unpleasant nail-cutting sessions, which makes both human and dog avoid them, which leads to longer intervals between trims, which leads to more pain …

The Basics of Trimming Dog Nails

So what’s the goal? What’s the “right” length? While some breeds (most notably the Doberman Pinscher) are often shown with nails so short they can barely be seen, the most commonly accepted rule of thumb is that when a dog is standing, the nails should not make contact with the ground. If you can hear your dog coming, her nails are too long.

The nails of mammals are made of a tough protein called keratin. Technically, dogs have claws, not nails, though we’ll use the latter term in its colloquial sense for this article. (The distinction is that nails are flat and do not come to a point. And if your nail is thick enough and can bear weight, it’s called a hoof.)

Dog’s nails differ from ours in that they consist of two layers. Like us, they have the unguis, a hard, outer covering in which the keratin fibers run perpendicular to the direction in which the nail grows. But unlike us, under their unguis, dogs have the subunguis, which is softer and flaky, with a grain that is parallel to the direction of growth. The faster growth of the unguis is what gives the dog’s nail its characteristic curl.

In addition to one nail at the end of each of the four toes usually found on each foot, many dogs also have a fifth nail, called a dewclaw, on the inside of the leg, below the wrist. Some dogs are born with dewclaws in the front only; others are born with dewclaws on every leg. There’s a great deal of debate about whether these should be surgically removed; some breeders do this a few days after birth because they believe that the dewclaws are vestigial, and are likely to rip or tear if they are not removed. (Many shelters also do this surgery on dogs at the same time they do spay/neuter surgery.)

Proponents of dewclaws argue that dewclaws are not vestigial, but indeed used to grip objects such as bones, and to provide important traction when a galloping dog needs to change direction. (Poke around Youtube and you can find videos of Sighthound lure coursing; they actually lay their entire forearms perpendicular to the ground when redirecting their momentum.) Even the floppy double-dewclaws of breeds like the Great Pyrenees are said to have some purpose (traction or a “snowshoe” effect in the snow).

One thing is certain: If a dog has dewclaws, they need to be trimmed – perhaps even more often than nails that routinely touch the ground. Because the dewclaws rarely touch the ground and so aren’t worn down, they tend to be pointier than the other nails. But perhaps because dewclaws are so loosely attached to the forelimb, many dogs object to trimming them much less.

The Canine Toenail Quick

There’s a reason why the phrase “cut to the quick” means to deeply wound or distress: Running through the nail is a nerve and vein called the “quick.” Nicking or cutting this sensitive band of tissue is very painful for the dog – and messy for the owner, as blood often continues oozing from the cut nail for what seems like an eternity. (Keeping a stypic-powder product, such as Kwik-Stop, on hand can help promote clotting and shorten the misery. Or, in a pinch, try flour.)

Shortening the nail without “quicking” the dog is easier said than done – unless your dog has white or light-colored nails, in which case, you’re in luck: The quick will be visible from the side, as a sort of pink-colored shadow within the nail. Avoid going near it. If you trim the nail with a clipper or scissors, trim a bit off the end of the nail, and notice the color at the end of the nail (in cross section). As soon as the center of the nail starts to appear pink, stop.

A white dog's paw with short nails
It’s much easier to trim white nails nice and short, since you can see the pink, sensitive tissue inside the nail, and stop short of cutting into this and causing it to bleed.

You can’t see the quick in a black or dark-colored nail. With these nails, you have to be even more conservative about how much nail you trim off. After making each cut, look at the cross-section of the nail. If you see a black spot in the center – sort of like the center of a marrow bone – stop cutting. It’s likely your next slice will hit the quick.

The longer a dog’s nails are allowed to grow, the longer the quick will become, to the point that taking even a very small bit of nail off the end “quicks” the dog. Then the goal becomes a matter of snipping or grinding the nails to get as close as possible to the quick, without actually cutting it. This is perhaps easiest to accomplish with a grinding tool (such as a Dremel), though it can be done with clippers, too, with practice. By grinding away the nail all around the quick – above it, below it, and on both sides – the quick has no support or protection, and within days it will begin to visibly recede, drawing back toward the toe.

If a dog’s feet have been neglected for months (or, horrors, years) at a time, it might take months to shorten those nails to a healthy, pain-free length. But if you keep at this regularly, it should get easier for the dog to exercise. And the more he moves, the more his nails will come into contact with the ground in a way that will help wear the nails down and help the quicks to recede.

Helpful Tools for Trimming Dog Nails

Nail clippers use blades to remove the tip of the nail. There are a couple of different styles to choose from, but no matter what type is used, their effectiveness is dependent on the blades being sharp and clean.

Guillotine trimmers have a hole at the end, through which the dog’s nail is inserted; then, as the handles of the tool are squeezed together, an internal blade lops off the end of the nail in a fashion reminiscent of the execution device for which the trimmer is named.

Two types of dog nail clippers
Plier-type clippers (left) need to be sharpened occasionally to be effective. Replacing the cutting blade on guillotine-style clippers (right) is easy, but operating this tool is daunting for some people.

Some people find it easier to chop through thick nails with these clippers, but others find it difficult to thread each nail through the hole at precisely the right distance from the end of the nail, especially when the dog is wiggling or uncooperative. On the plus side, though, it’s fast and easy to replace the blade in guillotine-style clippers – in fact, most guillotine clippers are sold with replacement blades, which encourages an owner to swap out the blade as soon as the tool loses any effectiveness.

Scissor- and plier-style trimmers are arguably easier to use, but need to be sharpened from time to time – and who knows how to do this, or where this service can be obtained these days? Many people find themselves discarding and replacing these tools as needed, instead.

trimming dog nails

Grinders are relatively new to the world of canine manicures. So many owners discovered how easy it was to use that old hardware standby, the Dremel tool, that you’ll sometimes hear that brand name used as a verb, as in “I Dremel my dog’s nails.” Soon enough, pet-specific rotary grinders found their way to market – and now Dremel makes a pet-specific grinder, too.

Regardless of the type of grinder you buy, make sure it is appropriate for your dog. Some cordless models might be perfectly adequate for a Papillon, but simply may not have enough oomph for trimming the thick, hard nails of a larger breed like a German Shepherd.

Though Dremels and other grinders come with several different attachments, most owners opt for the sandpaper barrel. Change the sandpaper sleeve whenever you see it’s becoming worn.

Be sure to acclimate your dog to the sound of the grinder, and then slowly introduce the tool, so that your dog is accustomed to the grinding sensation on his nails. Don’t keep the rotary tool stationery on one area of the nail, as the heat it generates can be painful for the dog.

Be aware of dangling hair – both yours and your dog’s – and take care not to have it get entwined in the tool’s spinning drum. To protect your eyes, wear safety glasses. And because nail grinders can generate a good deal of nail dust, a disposable surgical face mask is a sensible idea as well.

Nail Maintenance Routines are Crucial

If this sounds like a lot of work, it is – at least initially, until you and your dog develop a nail-maintenance routine. And “maintenance” really is the name of the game; it’s far easier for you (and less painful for your dog) to maintain his short nails than to shorten nails that have gotten long, with the inevitable corresponding long quicks.

If your dog’s nails have gotten too long, or you adopted a dog whose nails were too long, you need to really commit to frequent trimming to restore his foot health and comfort. Three to four days is probably the minimum amount of time that’s advisable between salon treatments that are intended to encourage the quicks to recede. Once a week is ideal if you want to gradually shorten your dog’s nails and eliminate all that clickety-clacking on your wood floors. And, depending on the rate at which your dog’s nails grow (and what sort of surface he exercises on) once or twice a month is a reasonable goal to maintain the nails at a healthy length.

No matter what frequency you choose, make a commitment. Earmark a specific day of the week or month for your grooming sessions, and stick with it. You’ll have a better chance of remembering to do your dog’s nails on a regular basis if you get into a routine.

It may also be helpful to dedicate a location in your home for doing your dog’s nails – somewhere comfortable for you and your dog and with a good light source. Make sure you have everything you need at hand before you begin: clippers, styptic powder and some tissue or a small clean towel or washcloth (in case you accidentally quick the dog), eyeglasses for you (if you need them to see well up close), and lots of small, high-value treats to keep the experience rewarding for your dog.

It’s also smart to have a leash on your dog, even if he’s usually fine with having his nails clipped; many dogs will attempt to leave abruptly if they are “quicked.” And who could blame them? If you do  make a mistake, don’t make a huge fuss. Feed your dog some treats, and proceed with more conservative clips.

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Nancy Kerns
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Dogs Who Readily Pee in the Rain

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Nancy Kerns
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This is what I’m grateful for this chilly, rainy morning: Three dogs who willingly and quickly go right outdoors and get to work. Not all at once, of course: there is a peeing order that is aligned with the pecking order. The puppy goes first. Tito, the older small dog, goes next. Otto, the benevolent leader of my little pack of three, checks to make sure it’s really happening; Tito is so small it’s hard to tell. Only after everyone else is done does Otto go back over both spots and mark them himself.

This is what I’m sorry for: The fact that I rehomed the foster dog who takes the longest to pee of any dog I’ve ever known with my sister, who lives across the street from me. From my front window, where I sit at my computer and work, I can see the top of her umbrella over her backyard fence. This morning it was there for a very long time; it made me shiver from inside my warm office. Sorry, Pam!

How are you guys holding up this winter? Do your dogs easily do what they need to do when the weather is cold, snowy, or wet? Or do you have to join them in an extended cold-weather experience? Do they have more accidents indoors when they don’t want to get their feet wet or icy?

 

Up with Pups at Puppy Socials

By
Nancy Kerns
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I’m a big fan of “puppy socials” – a classroom-type setting to which people bring their puppies for socializing with pups of a similar age. It’s a powerful opportunity for the puppies, especially the ones who are being raised with no other dog at home to learn basic canine social skills from – or the ones who DO share their homes another dog, but the dog is super grumpy about puppies.

I first learned about puppy socials from my good friend Sandi Thompson, owner of the famed Bravo!Pup (dog and puppy training) in Berkeley, California (bravopup.com). Sandi was lead trainer for Dr. Ian Dunbar’s pioneering business, Sirius Dog and Puppy Training, for many years, before striking out on her own. Due to the value to the puppies and the popularity among the puppy owners of the “Go play!” breaks within her puppy training classes, Sandi decided to offer the participants in her classes a separate weekly session of “just” playing and socializing. During the sessions, she helps the owners identify and reinforce healthy puppy play, and teaches them how to gently interrupt potentially problematic puppy play. She also prompts the owners to occasionally interject moments of practicing training exercises that they learned in the puppy classes, and then powerfully rewarding the puppies for their compliance in such an off-the-charts distracting environment with the best possible reward: “Go play!”

Ten years ago, I moved from the San Francisco Bay Area, where I was surrounded by wonderful and highly educated dog trainers (including Sandi), to the relative dog-training desert three hours north. But thank dog, there was ONE wonderful and highly educated dog trainer close to me: Sarah Richardson, of The Canine Connection in Chico, California (TheCanineConnection.com). That’s who I sought out for modeling for WDJ articles when I moved here in 2006, and whose training classes I attended with Otto when I adopted him as an adolescent shelter dog in June 2008. And whose puppy training class and puppy socials I am attending with my new pup Woody!

Like Sandi, Sarah offers the owners in her puppy training classes a separate session each week that is devoted to puppy socializing and play only, separated from the training classes – although she guides the puppy owners in reinforcing their puppies’ healthy social interactions and gently but proactively stopping them from practicing any sort of bullying or defensively aggressive ones. The super shy or anxious puppies are given opportunities to come out from under their owners’ chairs and explore while the more assertive and/or brave pups are reinforced for restrained on-leash behavior on the sidelines. And then the strongly social pups are given a chance to run, play, and practice introducing themselves to other puppies in manners both weird and wonderful. They learn what physical body language prompts potential playmates to engage in play and which body language triggers another puppy to take defensive action upon their own person – in other words, it’s a safe place for the little pups to learn kindergarten social skills in a group that is safe from “big kids” or grumpy grownups.

That’s not to say it doesn’t take a certain amount of management to make sure it’s safe for everyone. My friend Leonora, who fostered a litter of six TINY puppies for my local shelter recently, ended up adopting the tiniest one in the litter, Samson – all two pounds of him. I adopted the largest puppy in the litter that I fostered over the same time period, Woody, and we are commuting together to bring both pups to Sarah’s puppy training classes and puppy socials. The puppies get along famously, but they can’t yet be permitted to play together unfettered; one playful gesture of Woody’s can mean a concussion or broken leg for Samson. In Sarah’s puppy social sessions, there may be 20 or more pups of various sizes and play styles, and Samson’s stature and social needs are considered alongside of the big, exuberant puppies. Unfortunately, because all of the puppies present in our first session were so large, Samson did some of his socializing from behind a protective exercise pen, and some on leash, so that Leonora could swoop him to safety, if need be. As he grows a bit, and the pups get more accustomed to the play sessions, we hope he can “Go play!” in a more unfettered fashion.

A side note: I think the people who have big, rowdy puppies are the most likely to avail themselves of these social sessions, because they can clearly see their developing dogs need to play. But this is one of the many reasons that so many small dogs grow up with poor social skills: because their exercise needs can be met readily through less-strenuous outlets, and their owners don’t recognize that ALL dogs need time with other dogs to practice their own “language.” My friend wants Samson to be comfortable with all the dogs he meets, and is taking pains – at the highest level of exposure she can risk – to make sure he gets social time with dogs and puppies of all sizes. Smart!

At our first session, Sarah asked the puppy owner participants to described their puppies in one word, and I used “mellow” to describe Woody. That is ordinarily true, but I’m not sure anyone believed me after his first play session. There was one particularly exuberant, large German Shepherd puppy in the session who seemed to inspire Woody to new heights of both activity and over-arousal, so I had to interrupt my puppy a couple of times and bring him back to the sidelines for a highly rewarding calm-down session. I have witnessed Woody’s genetic predisposition for play-biting with a particularly extended hold on the “bite” part, and I want to nip that behavior in the bud to the extent possible. He’s got a lovely soft mouth when playing with humans, and learned to bite gently when playing with my former foster, Maebe – she would dump him unceremoniously on the ground and quit the game if he tried the bite-and-hold with her – but since Otto won’t brook ANY contact with the puppy, he’s losing practice time at this important skill, and the puppy social is a great time to regain it. I don’t want him to get frustrated, so instead of being put on some sort of punitive time-out when he gets over-the-top with play, or bites another puppy and won’t let go after a second or two, I’ll jump in with a super high-value treat and lure him off to the sidelines to practice some sits and downs for some yummy treats and some low-intensity down/tug with his favorite toy.

 

Canine Parvovirus Myths and Truths

By
Nancy Kerns
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MYTH: Adult dogs don’t get parvo.

TRUTH: It’s true that the likelihood of a serious parvo infection decreases as dogs age, and that most victims are puppies. But adult dogs can become seriously ill or die from parvo.

MYTH: I can protect my dogs from exposure to parvo by maintaining a clean environment and restricting their contact with other dogs.

TRUTH: The virus is everywhere, and it’s impossible to prevent exposure.

MYTH: My dog is strong and healthy. His immune system will prevent him from getting sick.

TRUTH: Under the right conditions, any dog can be vulnerable to illness.

MYTH: Vaccinations will protect my puppy.

TRUTH: Vaccinated puppies can get parvo under certain circumstances.

First, not all puppies have an appropriate immune response to vaccines. It’s rare, but it does happen, that some dogs must be vaccinated numerous times before their immune systems respond by manufacturing protective antibodies.

More common is something called maternal antibody interference. As long as they are active in a puppy’s body, the antibodies received from a protected mother both guard the puppy from infection and prevent vaccines from working properly. These maternal antibodies begin to fade from the puppy’s system anywhere from 6 to 16 weeks following birth.

In order to protect puppies as soon as possible after the maternal antibodies wane, they are generally vaccinated for the first time around 6-8 weeks of age, and then given additional vaccinations every 2 – 4 weeks, until they are around 16 weeks old. But if they’re exposed to parvovirus at any point between the fading of the maternal antibodies and the advent of an immune response to vaccination, they can become infected.

Parvo Victim # 1

By
Nancy Kerns
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Joanne Levy has bred and exhibited Alaskan Malamutes since 1972 and has finished 17 champions. Last year, she and her husband shared their Rockland County, New York, home with seven Malamutes, one Akita, one Poodle, and two six-month-old Pomeranians.

Their peaceful life changed in December when Jonah, one of the Pomeranians, threw up his dinner. “Because his vomit contained a funky old apple from the tree outside and some asparagus fern, which is toxic to dogs, I thought he might have given himself a wicked tummy-ache,” Levy recalls. “I kept an eye on him, and during the night he vomited little circles of frothy white foam.”

The next morning, at her veterinarian’s office, Levy was asked whether any other dog in the household was sick. “If any of my other dogs had shown symptoms, they would have done a parvo blood test,” she says. “But because everyone else was fine, we approached it as a case of indigestion.

“If he didn’t improve by the next day, I’d bring him back.”

Micah the Pomeranian

Joanne Levy

That night, Jonah’s symptoms advanced to bloody diarrhea and severe nausea. He stopped breathing, and Levy and her husband performed artificial respiration. Rushed back to the clinic, Jonah received IV fluids and other support therapies. But despite two days of intensive care and a vet bill approaching $2,000, Jonah died on New Years Day.

Three days after Jonah first showed symptoms, so did his brother, Micah. Three days later, eight-year-old Tyrone and two-year-old Vivian, both Malamutes, became ill. Levy caught their symptoms early because she kept all of her dogs confined and followed them individually to check for diarrhea. “Parvo’s diarrhea has such a specific, pungent, metallic smell,” she says, “that it viscerally imprints itself on the nasal passages. I believe I could diagnose any dog that has parvo by the odor of its feces alone.” Micah and Vivian were as ill as Jonah had been, but immediate treatment saved their lives. Tyrone had milder symptoms and did not require hospitalization.

Levy blames her vaccination protocol for the outbreak. In 1994, she stopped giving her adult dogs annual vaccinations and put her puppies on a reduced schedule of shots.

“For eight years I thought I was doing the right thing,” she says. “Then four of my dogs got parvo, three were hospitalized at great expense, and one of them died. I lost a spectacularly healthy, fat, robust, powerful, well-muscled six-month-old puppy who was in excellent condition and a joy to live with – to a disease that’s completely preventable.”

Now Levy is a vaccination advocate. “Losing Jonah was one of the most devastating experiences of my life,” she says. “I will never allow it to happen again. Parvo is terrifying because dogs that die from it suffer horribly and unnecessarily. I absolutely resent people who have their dogs on reduced vaccinations or who don’t vaccinate at all, for the obvious reason that all dogs, their own and others, are needlessly put at risk.”

Levy revaccinated her dogs for parvovirus and distemper and plans to repeat their vaccinations every two years. If she ever gets another puppy, she says she will probably alternate between parvo and distemper vaccinations until the puppy is six months old.

“To me the only valid argument is whether to give a multiple-vaccine cocktail or individual vaccines,” she says, “and I agree with those who favor individual vaccines. A month after vaccinations end, I’ll have the puppy tested. And I’ll keep him quarantined at home until I know he’s fully protected.”

Parvo Victim # 2

By
Nancy Kerns
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The name Ray Carlisle is synonymous with Doberman Pinschers. A breeder and exhibitor for 40 years, a show judge for the last 20 years, and a former president of the Doberman Pinscher Club of America, the United Doberman Club, and the American Working Dog Federation, the New York resident travels the world on behalf of his favorite breed. “I vaccinated my dogs for many years,” Carlisle says, “but they all had chronic health problems, and many died of cardiomyopathy at age five or six.”

As he looked for ways to improve his line of dogs, Carlisle met breeders of Dobermans, Great Danes, and other breeds whose dogs lived well into their teens. “Some of them hadn’t used vaccines for years,” he says, “and they used remedies I had never heard of. Their dogs were so healthy and in such excellent condition, I slowly started to reduce my vaccinations and improve my dogs’ diet.” Today they eat large amounts of raw meat supplemented by PHD dry food and occasional raw green tripe.

Since 1978, Carlisle has used what he calls “field vaccinations.” In each new litter, he gives one puppy a combination vaccine and places it back in the whelping box. Vaccinated puppies do “shed” the virus in the days after vaccination, and close contact with vaccinated littermates can stimulate an immune response in the unvaccinated pups. Carlisle has faith in this approach; whenever he has tested their titers, all of the littermates, vaccinated and unvaccinated, have shown identical results.

Ray Carlisle and Doberman

“It’s an interesting coincidence,” he adds, “but in the last 25 years, the only puppies that developed health problems were the vaccinated ones. I save these puppies for people who believe in vaccination. One went to an obedience competitor whose brother is a veterinarian. Following his advice, she had the puppy fully vaccinated, and it died of cancer at age two.”

For three generations, Carlisle has taken puppies from unvaccinated parents and exposed them to everything imaginable during their first eight weeks. “This is the exact opposite of what most breeders do,” he says, “but I’m convinced that exposing puppies to the world protects them, while keeping them in isolation makes them weaker.” In the past 25 years, Carlisle has bred more than 400 unvaccinated puppies, and until last summer, none of them had ever contracted parvovirus, distemper, coronavirus, or other serious contagious illness.

Four years ago, Carlisle kept a puppy who became his favorite companion. UDC Champion Cara’s April Fool, Schutzhund I, was born to a mother who had received only one vaccination and a father who was never vaccinated. “April traveled all over the world with me,” he says, “and she was never sick a day in her life.”

In August, she accompanied Carlisle to his Spring Valley office, then to a large dog park in New York City, and to an obedience class. “That’s where we were when I learned my mother had died, and I spent the rest of the day rushing home, packing, and taking the first flight out.”

April stayed home with Carlisle’s wife. The next morning, she wasn’t hungry, and later that day, she had a small amount of diarrhea. By the next morning, April was severely ill with what her veterinarian called the heaviest case of parvo he had ever treated, and she died the following day.

“I was shocked,” says Carlisle. “She was only three years old, had never been bred, and had her whole life in front of her. She was also one of the strongest, healthiest dogs I’ve ever known. It was unbelievable. This happened almost a year ago and it still hurts.”

Despite this unfortunate incident, however, Carlisle has not changed his aversion to using vaccines. “My attitude about vaccinations hasn’t changed. In a breed that has been steadily declining, my dogs live almost twice as long as they used to, and they’re in excellent condition. Cardiomyopathy, which used to be a major problem for my dogs, has disappeared. There’s absolutely no question in my mind that the benefits of not vaccinating far outweigh the risks.”

Foster Dog Goodbyes…Happy New Beginnings

By
Nancy Kerns
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For over three months, I had possession of a year-old American Black and Tan Coonhound or coonhound-mix whom I called Maebe. I absolutely loved that dog, and cried when I dropped her off for transport to her new home. AND I’m thrilled and tearful – in a good way – that she found a great new home. That’s the bittersweet experience of fostering.

American Black and Tan Coonhound

As a frequent foster person for my local shelter, I had originally pulled her as a prospect for my sister-in-law and her six-year-old daughter. She is one of the sweetest, most affectionate dogs I’ve ever met, loves cuddling on the couch or petting anytime, and is super inquisitive about anything humans are doing. But within days of bringing her home, I could see that she had far too much energy for my sister-in-law’s home and schedule. She needs regular running, or she finds creative/destructive ways to amuse herself in a house. I knew my sister-in-law, a working mom without a partner (her husband, my brother, passed away last year), didn’t have time in her schedule to add in hour-long walks.

Even though I had pulled her with a specific home in mind, once I realized Maebe wouldn’t work out for that home, I couldn’t take her back to my shelter. Once I’ve pulled a dog and have gotten interested in him or her, I just can’t take them back to the loud, concrete row of barking dogs. Instead, I figured I’d advance her training and life experience, and find her another home, while keeping an eye peeled for a different dog for my sister-in-law and niece.

I started work on her house manners, sit, down, wait for the food bowl, not jumping up, and especially, not darting out the door. She was a champion door-darter. She flew out of the car from the backseat over my shoulder once, before I started using a harness and seat belt, even if we were just driving the two blocks from my home to my office. We worked on leash manners, and a recall off-leash. She learned everything really fast. We also worked to reduce her mild separation anxiety, with lots of short, drama-free exits and entrances.

She caused a certain amount of trouble in my home and at my office. She dug up some garden beds. At first, she wailed when left alone for any length of time, even just the few minutes it took me to walk to the post office on the next block and back. She chewed through my Macbook power cord. She ate an entire cake that my sister baked for me one day, a cube of butter another day; she is an experienced and crafty counter-surfer. But she is also the most playful mischievous, likable dog! And she played and played with the litter of puppies I was fostering, and then the one in the litter I decided to keep. She served as a full-time companion and playmate to the puppy, Woody, keeping him from having to get reprimanded sternly by my older dogs, Otto and Tito, every two minutes. She and Woody slept together, switched bowls back and forth when eating meals, chewed opposite ends of the same toys, and romped together all day long.

I marketed her initially to my son’s friends and teammates. He plays a sport that involves a lot of running (Ultimate, better but less accurately known as Ultimate Frisbee), and almost all of his friends are athletes. I’ve found dogs for several of his friends, teammates, and work associates before – three dogs in his office are my former fosters! – but nobody was currently in the market for a canine running partner.

So I reached out to the American Black and Tan Coonhound Rescue, an organization I’ve talked about before. It’s one of the best breed rescues I’ve had the pleasure of working with. They have a very large and dedicated group of volunteers who foster and transport hounds from areas where they are very much in danger of being euthanized in shelters, and finding them homes with people who can handle and appreciate their unique characteristics. Like many breed rescues, they often take on hounds other than the one the group is named after, and even hound-mixes. And they take on dogs who have health and/or behavioral challenges, and find just the right type and amount of help they need to be appropriately placed.

Within a week or two, the rescue had passed along a couple of inquiries about Maebe to me. I corresponded with both potential adopters, and one lost interest fairly quickly, based on the amount of exercise I suggested that Maebe needed to behave herself. But the other potential adopter wasn’t daunted by that OR the news about Maebe’s other various mischief (door-darting, separation anxiety, and all); she had adopted another coonhound from ABTCR a few years ago, and was well acquainted with coonhound ways. The only catch: she lives in Arizona, almost a thousand miles away.

And then, just a week or so later, the ABTCR came through with transportation, largely provided by volunteers from another amazing organization: Pilots n Paws, a group of aircraft owners and enthusiasts who volunteer to help move dogs from places where they are in danger to new homes or rescue groups, especially across distances that are too far for a simple bucket-brigade of volunteer drivers.

American Black and Tan Coonhound

photo by Stacy Gonzalez

I drove Maebe to the ABTCR’s Western region coordinator’s base, a dog daycare in Jackson, California, about two hours away. I wept and sniffled during the whole drive, seeing Maebe’s goofy countenance in my rear-view mirror the whole way. It kills me every time I take one of my foster dogs to a new home, even when I’m certain it’s going to work out perfectly. THEY don’t know where they/we are going. When I hand the leash over to someone they don’t know, they don’t know they won’t see me again, or where they are going to sleep that night. They just know they are in the wind again. Those facts just stab me in the heart. Just as the sight of Maebe’s confused expression did when I last saw her, among a group of dogs at the daycare. “Where are you going? Why are you leaving me here?” I could barely say goodbye to the rescue coordinator, and sobbed once back in my car.

But a day later, I got to see pictures of inquisitive Maebe in a small airplane, flying over California, and being greeted at a small airport a thousand miles away by her new owner. And within another day, pictures of her chewing toys with her new coonhound “brother” in her new home, and snuggling on the couch with her new owner. And I’ve been getting reports from the owner, about how funny and mischievous she is, and how Maebe has already become the exception to the adopter’s mother’s lifelong rules about “no dogs on the couch,” and “no big dogs on laps.” And those things cause an outbreak of happy tears!

I’m completely immersed in puppy-training Woody now, and have a new litter of nine foster puppies to care for, for at least a few more weeks. So I don’t think I will be fostering any adult or young-adult dogs for a while.  It’s time-consuming and draining… but eventually, I forget about all that, and with the help of a continuing flow of happy pictures from my former foster dogs’ new owners, I just remember the best news: another dog saved from the shelter, and beloved in a home. And so I bring home another one to foster.

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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.
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