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Vaccine Titer Tests for Dogs

By
Nancy Kerns
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It’s always been interesting to me that few people know why young puppies have to be vaccinated several times, a few weeks apart – and yet, few question the practice. There’s a term for it: puppy shots! The concept is widely accepted – and rarely explained. In my experience, when people ask why a puppy needs repeated vaccinations, they are told something vague and inaccurate, such as, “It takes a few shots to build the puppy’s immunity.”

puppy titer tests

It’s a similar situation with annual or semi-annual so-called vaccine “boosters” – not many people know much about their dogs’ vaccination status, so they take their veterinarians’ word that their dogs are “due” for more vaccinations.

The truth is, there is no single vaccination protocol that will protect all dogs for all things, without over-vaccinating most of them. Vaccination really ought to be determined on a case-by-case basis, because each dog’s risk factors are unique, based on his age, genetic inheritance, current health, geographic location, and lifestyle.

That said, there is a very useful tool that can help an owner gain solid information about whether her dog is likely to be protected against the most common infectious diseases: the vaccine titer test. Positive test results can also give a dog owner some solid ammunition for countering those who blindly promote (or require, in the case of some boarding or training facilities) so-called “current” vaccinations, which can mean many different things to different people.

Core Canine Vaccines

The closest thing that there is to a universal list of recommendations for canine vaccinations in North America is produced by the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA). The veterinary medical experts who have contributed to the AAHA’s recommendations agree that there are a handful of infectious diseases that pose a threat to all dogs and that all dogs should receive vaccinations for those diseases; these are commonly referred to as the “core” vaccines.

Core vaccines include:

Canine distemper virus (CDV, commonly referred to as distemper)

Canine parvovirus (CPV, parvo)

Canine adenovirus (CAV, better known as canine hepatitis)

Rabies

Among healthy dogs, the first three “core” vaccines are expected to induce a protective immune response lasting at least five years. However, much longer protection from these vaccines has been demonstrated in dogs in many studies – sometimes, even as long as the dogs’ lifetime.

Rabies is a slightly different case. Because the disease poses a significant risk to human beings, it’s the only vaccine that is required by law to be administered to dogs. Each state has its own legal requirements for rabies vaccination. Some require annual rabies vaccinations; the rest require the vaccination be given every two or three years (depending on the state). There is ample evidence that rabies vaccines confer protection from rabies for longer than three years, but given the public health risk to humans, there is considerable pushback from public health officials to the idea of extending the legal requirement for rabies vaccines.

Noncore Vaccines

There are also a number of vaccines for infectious diseases that can pose a risk to some dogs, depending on individual risk factors and geographic location. These are called the “noncore” vaccines, and they include:

Bordetella bronchiseptica (Bb, kennel cough)

Borrelia burgdorferi (Lyme disease)

Canine coronavirus

Canine parainfluenza virus (CPiV, parainfluenza)

Leptospira spp. (leptospirosis)

Measles virus

Most of these vaccines are useful in certain circumstances, but the evidence falls short of proving that they are helpful to all dogs everywhere. Further, there is proof that some of the noncore vaccines can be harmful to certain dogs. For these reasons, the AAHA recommends that the administration of these vaccines should be decided on an individual basis by a veterinarian familiar with the puppy or dog and the local risks.

As just one example, Lyme disease is prevalent in some parts of the country, and quite rare in others, and it is transmitted by tick bites. Also, some dogs can suffer serious side effects from the vaccine. So if a dog lives in a part of the country where Lyme is not common, and/or if you have a dog who has very little exposure to environments where ticks are likely, the risks of vaccinating that dog for Lyme outweigh the potential benefit.

A Test of Protection

Let’s go back to the diseases that every dog should be protected from; these are the ones that are most likely to appear on the reminder postcards sent out by your veterinarian – and the ones that you will experience the most pressure (from your veterinarian’s staff) to repeat in order to keep “current.” Depending on your vet, “current” may be defined as annually, every three years, every five years, or longer. As little as 20 years ago, it was widely thought that annual vaccinations “couldn’t hurt, and might help,” and most veterinary practitioners recommended that their clients vaccinate every dog annually. But today, we understand that canine vaccines don’t “wear off” or “become due” in any standard amount of time. Also, it’s better understood today that randomly stimulating the immune system can have negative consequences that we don’t fully understand, so we should be more discriminating about vaccinations.

Let’s put a fine point on it: The core vaccines are an important and life-saving component of responsible dog care when administered properly – neither too frequently nor inadequately. Which brings us back to the original question: How do you know when your dog is protected – or unprotected – against the core diseases?

The best tool at our disposal today is something called a vaccine titer test, and in our opinion, every dog should be tested at least once, and again every three years or so.

When we vaccinate a dog, we administer disease antigens (in a weakened, modified, or killed form that can’t cause disease) in order to stimulate the dog’s immune system to produce antibodies, molecules that are produced to recognize and neutralize that specific antigen, should they ever cross paths. A vaccine titer test checks for and quantifies the amount of antibodies to specific diseases that a dog has circulating in his blood.

The technology exists to detect any specific antibody for which we may have vaccinated a dog; we can test whether a dog possesses circulating antibodies for any disease. But as it turns out, that’s not necessary.

There are two types of antibodies that are highly predictive of the competence of a dog’s overall immune response to vaccines: distemper and parvo. If a dog has been vaccinated against distemper and parvo, and develops antibodies to these diseases, the odds are very good that he has developed antibodies for any other core disease for which he has been vaccinated.

In other words, a positive vaccine titer test for parvo and distemper can put your mind at ease – and should put your veterinarian’s mind at ease – that your dog is adequately immunized against the core disease vaccinations he has received.

The AAHA – and vaccine-savvy veterinarians – recommend that puppies receive a vaccine titer test about two weeks after they have been given their final puppy core vaccinations (which should occur when the puppy is about 14 to 16 weeks old). Again, a positive result for both distemper and parvo antibodies indicates that the puppy is properly immunized. The AAHA’s recommendation is that adult dogs are tested about every three years, to ensure that they still possess circulating antibodies for the core diseases.

Negative Results

What about when vaccine titer tests come back negative for distemper and/or parvo antibodies? The significance of this result depends on a few factors, including the dog’s age and vaccination status, and the vaccine used.

If the test was for a puppy who recently completed a series of core vaccines, he should be revaccinated promptly, and then a titer test run again about three weeks later. The most likely explanation is that something called “maternally derived antibodies” (MDA,antibodies he received via colostrum from his mother) were still active in his bloodstream when the vaccines were given, and they neutralized the antigens present in the vaccines.

Maternal antibodies don’t last forever, however; they “fade” at an unpredictable rate. The maternal antibodies can fade quickly (or may be absent) if a pup’s mother was unvaccinated, or he received very little or no colostrum from his mother. If his mother had an unusually high antibody titer herself (the highest levels result from surviving an infection with the disease itself), her pups’ MDAs might take longer than usual to fade. This would render all of the puppy’s early vaccinations useless; only vaccinations given after the MDA faded would stimulate the puppy’s own antibody production.

However, if the puppy was undoubtedly more than 20 weeks old when he was vaccinated the final time, and his vaccine antibody titer test results (from a sample taken three weeks after the last vaccination) were still negative, it could indicate that he was a “non-responder” – a dog who could not be properly immunized.

It’s been estimated that 1 in 1,000 dogs are not able to respond to the canine parvovirus vaccine; those dogs will be at a lifetime risk of contracting the disease (though the risk if greater when they are puppies; adults are more likely to pull through with prompt and dedicated care). Far more rare are dogs who cannot respond properly to the distemper vaccine antigen; this is estimated to occur in about 1 in 10,000 dogs.

The third possibility for the dog’s failure to produce antibodies in response to vaccination: bad or improperly stored vaccine. In this case, a different vaccine should be used, and the dog re-tested a few weeks later. According to the AAHA guidelines, “If, after one or more attempts at revaccination with a product different than the one originally used, the dog fails to develop an antibody response” to distemper or parvo vaccines, the dog should be considered a nonresponder.

Canine vaccine experts agree that if a dog previously had a positive antibody titer for both distemper and parvo, and upon later titer testing is negative for one or both antibodies, he should be revaccinated with the core vaccines, and another titer test should be ordered about three weeks later.

There are people who disagree, however. The antibodies may no longer be in circulation, but if they had been present earlier in the dog’s life, the dog should have immune memory cells – that we can’t detect with lab tests – which should, if a dog is exposed to the disease antigen, recognize the antigen and re-start production of the appropriate antibodies.

It’s a valid theory . . . but the most-respected small-animal vaccine expert in the country, Ronald D. Schultz, PhD, of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, disavows the wisdom of the practice. Dr. Schultz has studied animal vaccines for decades, and as a consultant and researcher, has helped develop many of the ones on the market. “You have to consider a dog who has no detectable antibodies against disease to be unprotected for that disease,” he says firmly. “I would revaccinate the dog. The risks of contracting the disease are far greater than the risk posed by vaccines – particularly in a very infrequently vaccinated animal.”

Titer Caveats

I can tell you from personal experience that it can be difficult to be the first in your veterinarian’s practice to ask for a vaccine titer test in lieu of automatic revaccinating. The staff may not understand which test to order; a practice manager once told me it would cost $50 – $100 for a test of each vaccine in the combination shot the vet wanted to give my dog Otto. I actually helped them find and order the appropriate test from their laboratory catalog, but switched veterinarians shortly afterward.

During my second visit to the next veterinary clinic I tried, one of the practice owners spent 20 minutes arguing with me about the value of titer tests. “There is no way to know what titer numbers are protective,” she stated, and added that “even dogs with positive titers can contract disease.”

Those statements are both technically true – but it’s very, very rare for a dog who has any circulating antibodies to a disease to become infected with that disease upon exposure. Practitioners who make statements like this are unlikely to add the corollary to this – that dogs who do not have detectable antibodies to a specific disease may be able to fend off a challenge (exposure) to that disease, again, thanks to as-yet immeasurable “cell-mediated immunity.”

I want a collaborative professional relationship with my dogs’ veterinarian. If we have very different opinions about something as basic as vaccination, the chances are we will butt heads over other treatments, too. I advise looking for a new doctor to work with if your vet is resistant to running a titer test in lieu of needless and potentially harmful overvaccination. In my experience, veterinarians who are either under 40 or interested in holistic medicine (or both) will readily and with professional curiosity order a titer test for your dog.

The veterinary medical laboratories that provide vaccine titer tests all offer a combined canine distemper/parvo vaccine titer test that is less than the cost of running two separate tests. The price you pay will vary, depending on which lab your vet uses and how much your vet charges for taking a blood sample for your dog and sending it to a lab; your veterinarian may also mark up the cost of the test.

The labs founded by veterinary vaccine experts Jean Dodds, DVM (Hemopet) and Ronald Schultz, PhD (CAVIDS Titer Testing Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin-Madison) charge a flat fee for the tests, but you still have to pay your veterinarian for taking and shipping the blood sample. The CAVIDS Titer Testing Laboratory  has the lowest-cost test of $40; this price is partially underwritten by Maddie’s Fund, as the samples submitted become part of ongoing studies in vaccine research.

The large national labs charge different prices depending on the size of the local market and the volume of tests (all the lab tests, not just titers) ordered by your individual veterinarian.

Some vets now offer in-office vaccine titer tests, such as the Synbiotics TiterCHEK® CDV/CPV test. This can be run while you and your dog are in the clinic for an examination, making it possible for you to follow up on the spot with a vaccination if your dog has a negative result. Again, the price charged by your own veterinarian will vary for these tests.

Antech Diagnostics: $75 – $150
Irvine, CA

Hemopet: $52
Garden Grove, CA

Idexx Laboratories: $75 – $150
Westbrook, ME

CAVIDS Titer Testing Laboratory: $40
Madison, WI

A Tale of Two Shelter Dogs and Vaccination

I adopted my mixed-breed dog Otto from a local shelter in June 2008. He was estimated to be about 7 months old and had been turned into the shelter in early May, about six weeks before I adopted him. At the time I adopted him, he had been vaccinated five times already, with four combination vaccines and once for rabies.

Given his estimated age when I adopted him – at least 6 or 7 months old – I felt confident that no maternally derived antibody would interfere with any of those vaccines, and that Otto was more than adequately immunized. (In fact, it’s likely that he was overvaccinated, a practice that is typical in shelters.) Had he been younger, so that maternally derived antibodies could have nullified his vaccinations, I probably would have ordered a vaccine titer test at the time of adoption, to confirm his immunization status.

In May 2009, Otto was due for and received a (legally required) rabies vaccination. Standard practice calls for the use of a one-year vaccine when the dog is first vaccinated for rabies, and then vaccines that are approved for longer periods after that. In California, the longest period that a dog can legally go between rabies vaccinations is three years, so I asked for a three-year rabies vaccination at that time.

The veterinarian who saw Otto for that visit gently recommended another combination vaccine, but I demurred and this sufficed. However, the invoice I received for the visit indicated that Otto was “due” for a “DHLPP-C annual vaccine” and a “Bordetella annual vaccine” the following month – a year after his last combination vaccine. No one seemed very concerned about the vaccinations at this time, least of all me.

In April 2010, I made an appointment with the veterinarian who had seen Otto the previous spring; I needed to get a new prescription for heartworm preventatives for Otto. At this appointment, the vet (a gentleman who is probably in his late 60s or early 70s) pressed hard for Otto to receive another combination vaccine. We bantered a bit about vaccination schedules and overvaccination. I finally asked if he’d feel better if we had a titer test result that showed Otto still had circulating antibodies to parvovirus and distemper. He said he would, so I had him take a blood sample and send it off to IDEXX Laboratories. (Despite his age, this was probably a first for his clinic. The office manager first quoted me $500 for the titer test. When I insisted that was too much, she admitted that she was looking at a price book for the lab and wasn’t certain which of the tests she was supposed to order. I helped her locate the code for the correct test, which IDEXX called the “Vaccination Profile Canine (ELISA),” and paid $100 for the test.

I have ordered annual vaccine titer tests for Otto ever since, and every one has come back with strong positive results. He was vaccinated with another three-year rabies vaccine in 2012, and is next required by law in early 2015. I have no plans to vaccinate him for anything else unless one of his titers comes back negative.

In January of this year, my son adopted a puppy from the same shelter. Cole’s estimated age was 12 weeks. He had been vaccinated with a combination vaccine four times since he arrived at the shelter.

I brought him to see my veterinarian at the estimated age of 18 weeks for a titer test. The result came back positive for parvo, but negative for distemper! Oh no! Did we inadvertently adopt a non-responder, who would be at risk for distemper throughout his lifetime?

I had ordered the test from Dr. Shultz’s lab, and the results take a little longer than from the big commercial outfits, so it was two weeks before I took Cole back to the vet to discuss the results. We agreed we should revaccinate with a different product, and then run another titer test. During this consultation, the vet examined Cole thoroughly, and suddenly was struck by Cole’s teeth. “I don’t think he’s 20 weeks old,” she said. “I bet he’s more like 16 weeks today.” We surmised that “maternal interference” was to blame for his negative titer for distemper antibodies.

We revaccinated Cole and ran another titer two weeks later. This time, the results were a nice high positive. Whew! I can rest now, knowing he’s protected.

Nancy Kerns is the editor of Whole Dog Journal.

Awesome Adoptions – Consider a Shelter Dog!

By
Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA
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There is an unfortunate perception held by many in our culture that dogs in shelters and rescues must be somehow flawed. As a result, according to a 2012 report from the American Pet Products Association, only 20 percent of canine companions in U.S. households were adopted from shelters. This, despite the fact that millions of wonderful canine companions are euthanized for being homeless in shelters every year in this country.

While it’s true that your shelter adoptee may come to you with some behavior and medical challenges, acquiring a dog from a private source doesn’t preclude those challenges. I have had countless clients who purchased their dogs from “private” sources and still ended up with major behavioral and/or medical issues. I know many behavior and training professionals who have found themselves in the same boat. There are no guarantees.

It is also true that “behavior problem” is the number one reason people surrender their dogs to animal shelters. But what may be a behavioral problem for one owner (barks outside in the yard all night and neighbors are complaining) may be easily resolved in another home – such as the dog who used to bark all night in someone’s backyard and who  now sleeps blissfully at the foot of your bed every night. If your adoptee comes with more significant issues than that, imagine your sense of pride when you help her overcome those obstacles to become the canine companion of your dreams.

Shelter dogs across the country are overcoming the odds, getting themselves adopted, and achieving some heady accomplishments. If you are among those who elect to not adopt from a shelter or rescue because you want your dog to “do stuff,” take a look at what these shelter and rescue dogs have done!

Labrador Retriever adopted from the Maryland SPCA in Baltimore

Moose’s story was submitted by Corporal Jonathan Novack of the Maryland State Police K-9 Unit. Cpl. Novack prefaced his dog’s story with this quote: “Saving one dog will not change the world, but surely for that one dog, the world will change forever.” It certainly was true for Moose.

police officer adopts working dog

On March 12, 2011, I decided I was going to stop by the Maryland SPCA to ‘take a look’ at the dogs that were up for adoption. What I didn’t know was that on that day I would find and bring home a future Maryland State Trooper K-9, my partner, but most of all, my best friend.

“As I walked the kennels looking at the dogs available for adoption, I came across Moose and he looked almost too good to be true. Moose was in his kennel bouncing a tennis ball off the wall to himself and would not stop playing. Knowing this type of focus and attention is what it takes to be a good working police K-9, I adopted Moose that day. Two days later he started his first day of drug detection school with the Maryland State Police.

“Moose and I, as a team, went through 14 weeks of school where Moose was taught basic obedience, his agility and confidence were tested with several tough obstacle courses, and his natural abilities and desires to play, hunt, possess, and retrieve were enhanced. Every day, new challenges were presented that Moose had to learn and overcome and he did so with ease. Every ability he possessed fit perfectly for the type of work he now performs.

“Both Moose and I graduated from drug detection school in June 2011 and have since been working as a team at J.F.K. Highway Barrack. Moose made an impact immediately during his first month on the road and was awarded the J.F.K. Barrack “Trooper of the Month” by Barrack Commander Lt. Dan Fairburn.

“Moose also enjoys his role during community events and school demonstrations where the children love spoiling him with attention. Moose has proven to be one of the top dogs in the State Police and continues to impress with his skills. With his help, I was awarded the 2013 State Police Non-Commissioned Officer of the Year Award, which would not have been possible without him. We are a team who never leaves each other’s side, on or off duty, and I am truly blessed to have him be part of my career, but more importantly, part of my life.”

American Staffordshire Terrier adopted from Dane County Humane Society, Wisconsin

Dylan’s story was submitted by Rebekah Klemm, CPDT-KA, Woofs Dog Training Center, LLC

Dylan was a stray American Staffordshire Terrier, found near Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, in 2008. At the time, Diane Wagner was a volunteer at the Dane County Humane Society (DCHS), and she quickly fell in love with this easygoing, friendly, calm, and laidback couch potato.

“After adopting Dylan, Diane discovered that he had been trained in basic obedience and already knew several cues like down, stay, and come. He fit in well with the three pit bull-mixes in Diane’s household (all adopted from DCHS), and was always very attentive to Diane.

“At the time, Diane was doing agility with one of her other dogs, a ‘free spirit’ who was proving to be a challenge to direct in the agility ring – so Diane decided to try agility with Dylan. To her surprise, he loved it! And, because Dylan was so focused on Diane, they made a great team. Everything was going so well.

“Then, in early 2012, Diane noticed that Dylan’s left pupil was a little bigger and darker than his right one. She took him to the vet, and the vet sent her to an ophthalmologist. After some testing, the ophthalmologist delivered the bad news: it was a tumor and it was best to remove his eye. Diane was devastated. She wanted to see her boy continue to do the things he loved, but could a one-eyed dog do weave poles? How would he see the poles on his left side?

“As Dylan recovered, though, Diane could see that he wasn’t skipping a beat. She decided to try agility with him again. Dylan acted as if he hadn’t missed a day – he hit the weave poles without hesitation, had no problems with the dog walk, and even took a few off-course jumps for ‘extra credit’!

“Since then Dylan has proven himself to be an excellent ambassador for the American Staffordshire Terrier breed,  and even has his own fan club, which cheers him on at the agility competitions. Dylan was awarded the AKC 2012 Top American Staffordshire Terrier in the Preferred Agility Classes. ‘In my wildest dreams, I never thought Dylan and I would be getting an award like this!’ said Diane. ‘I wasn’t really trying to get any awards, but just to have fun with Dylan.’ “

German Shepherd Dog-mix adopted from Briggs Animal Adoption Center, Charles Town, West Virginia

Handel’s story was submitted by Jessica Miller, PMCT, ANWI, Go Pawsitive, LLC

Nothing about Handel’s life has been easy,” says his adopter, Jessica Miller. After seeing him running stray in Ranson, West Virginia, matted, emaciated, and covered in ticks, a staff member at a local shelter spent 15 days trying to catch him, finally succeeding with a humane trap. The shelter adopted him out, but the home was not a good fit; he soon showed signs of protective aggression around the family’s mother. They stuck with him for more than a year, hoping that training would fix his issues. Unfortunately, they were directed to a harsh style of training and Handel’s behavior began to escalate toward the children in the home. They elected to return him to the shelter.

dog training

“That was when he came into our lives,” Jessica says. “As the head trainer at Briggs Animal Adoption Center at that time, I was responsible for Handel’s rehabilitation plan. I could see that his ‘training’ had left him confused and wary of strangers. Anytime a person passed his kennel he would lunge relentlessly at the door. On our first meeting I was greeted with this behavior. I walked forward and opened the kennel door. Handel shrank back into a corner of the kennel, growled, and peed. I sat down and he came forward slowly, finally lying down and putting his head in my lap with a great sigh. I put my hand on his head to give a comforting touch and was met with a deep growl. Clearly he was a very confused and conflicted fellow. I obviously had to take him home.”

Recognizing that the stress of the shelter would undermine a behavior modification program, Jessica took Handel home as a foster dog. She and I  began systematic work to help Handel accept people, new things, strange sounds, and most importantly Jessica’s husband Chris. This was critical, because as Jessica describes it, “Handel had decided that Chris must remain at least 10 feet away from my person. Having a 55-pound German Shepherd-mix regularly lunging between you and your spouse isn’t very romantic!”

At the same time, Jessica began taking Handel to classes for K9 Nose Work®, a style of scent work created for the enrichment of companion dogs. “I’d been taking nose work with my other dog and had seen the benefits that sensitive/reactive dogs in our class had enjoyed by participating.” Jessica says that Handel was not a natural – “In fact his first class session was a bit of a disaster!” – but as time went by, Handel became more and more willing to explore the boxes.

“Over time, Handel’s searching became more immediate and direct,” says Jessica. “Then one day we noticed that his tail was up and waving while he worked, and we knew that we had cleared a huge hurdle. As Handel became more comfortable and confident with his nose work, he also became more relaxed about coming into class, and even began soliciting attention from other members of class. Now, as soon as he puts on his harness, he eagerly hops into his crate and sits waiting for his turn to work. He is now a dog with something to look forward to each week.”

If you hadn’t already guessed, Handel is no longer Jessica’s foster dog; he’s her dog, and a very successful one at that.  “When I started K9 Nose Work with Handel it was not with an eye for competition,” Jessica explains. “We’ve been working together solidly for two years now, and as his nose work has steadily improved so has his behavior around people (including Chris).

“I recently decided he was ready to enjoy a trial day, so a few weeks ago Handel and I competed together in an NACSW K9 Nose Work trial in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. He had to work in front of two cameras and two large male judges, but work he did, and at the end of the day he went home with an NW1 title. He wasn’t the fastest dog – we were 10th out of the 34 dogs that day – but he was correct and confident and happy the whole day. His happy, waving tail was the biggest win in my book!” 

Mastiff/pit bull-mix adopted from the Norfolk Animal Care and Adoption Center, Virginia

Enzo’s story was submitted by Dawn Kalinwoski, Poised Pups, LLC.

Enzo is a 5-year-old male mastiff/pit bull-mix who found his way to the Norfolk Animal Care and Adoption Center (the municipal shelter in Norfolk, Virginia), as a stray. He was about six months old at the time. When he arrived at the shelter, he was dangerously malnourished and underweight – his bones protruded through the skin on his 50-pound frame, he was suffering from a respiratory infection, and he had a serious infestation of intestinal parasites. While at the shelter, he was given excellent care: proper nutrition, medication for his maladies, and lots of love from the shelter staff.

Enzo’s luck really turned for the better the day his future adopter, Miki Keilholtz, stopped by the shelter. Miki was recovering from the loss of her previous companion dog, Milo, and she had no intention of adopting another dog. However, something about Enzo’s eyes told Miki to take him home.

“Enzo acclimated quickly to his new home. He gained weight and became healthy. He immediately took to the positive manners training that Miki used as a way to communicate with him. Enzo mastered many basic obedience cues as well as a plethora of tricks suitable for showing off.

therapy pit bull

“Enzo’s life was great until he suffered a knee injury while playing with another dog at a local park. Luckily, with proper treatment and rest, Enzo avoided surgery and recovered completely.

“Miki and Enzo went on to pass their American Kennel Club Canine Good Citizen (AKC CGC) test. I had the pleasure of working with Miki and Enzo as they prepared for and passed the therapy-dog certification. As a certified therapy dog, Enzo is now a regular visitor at Lake Taylor Transitional Care Hospital in Norfolk, and he is a Tales-to-Tails reading partner with the Norfolk Public Library.

“In 2013, Enzo was voted one of Norfolk’s Canine Crusaders for the Elizabeth River Project, an ongoing environmental campaign. He also lends his time as a ‘spokesdog’ to raise funds for the shelter. He is featured in the shelter’s latest fundraiser, a cookbook titled Sit, Stay, Eat. The cookbook’s launch recently featured a book ‘signing’ session with ‘pawtographs’ by none other than Enzo himself!”

Pit bull adopted from Out of the Pits, Inc., Albany, New York

Helen of Troy’s story was submitted by Helene G. Goldberger, Heartdog.

I grew up with dogs – always rescue dogs; that ethic was instilled in me at an early age,” says Helene. “After moving to upstate New York in the late 1980s and adopting my first pit bull, I became somewhat obsessed with their plight. This led me to become a longtime volunteer with Out of the Pits, Inc. (OOTP), a small non-profit organization that has done yeoman’s service for pit bulls in our community through education, rescue, training, and wise placements, led by the amazing Cydney Cross.

“After we lost our first pit bull and our hearts had begun to heal, we went to Animal Farm Foundation (AFF) to meet Helen. She had been found on the streets of Troy, New York, and brought into a shelter, where it was discovered she was deaf. She was on the euthanasia list for that reason, when a compassionate vet tech saved her by taking her home. Since OOTP did not have space at the time for an adult dog, Animal Farm Foundation literally came to the rescue.

“When we adopted Helen from AFF, she had already begun basic training with positive reinforcement methods. Instead of a clicker (since she couldn’t hear it), she was taught that thumbs-up meant goodies were coming.

“When we first adopted her, we worked with local positive reinforcement trainer Jody Diehl of Dog’s Best Friend, who gave us additional tools to use with Helen such as using vibration, on/off light switch, and practicing collar grabs with her. We also bought and read Living With a Deaf Dog, by Susan Becker.

“Helen had little experience with the world at large; she screamed, loudly and shrilly, upon seeing other dogs, people, vehicles, and any other novel stimulus. Another wonderful trainer, Corrina Bright, MS Ed., CPDT-KA of Canine Connection Training, helped me see that Helen’s screaming was not aggression but rather frustration.

“We used the Premack Principle (using a more desirable behavior – from the dog’s perspective – as the reinforcer for a less desirable behavior), giving Helen access to things she wanted once she gave us her focus. Over time, she not only became a calm and happy girl in public as well as at home, she passed her therapy dog test with Therapy Dog, Inc., and is a volunteer with the Veteran’s Administration Hospital in Albany. Helen has also been a reading dog at the library in Rensselaerville, and has been doing competitive agility for more than two years.”

Who Rescues Whom?

I still get tears in my eyes as I re-read these stories. My own shelter dogs have won competition titles, found missing turtles, and proved to be invaluable helpers in my training and behavior work, so I know very well how awesome and accomplished shelter and rescue dogs can be. Corporal Novack says it best, and most eloquently. We are all blessed to have them as part of our lives.

Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA, is WDJ’s Training Editor. She lives in Fairplay, Maryland, site of her Peaceable Paws training center, where she offers dog-training classes and courses for trainers. Pat is also the author of many books on positive training. She has a terrific brand-new book, “How to Foster Dogs: From Homeless to Homeward Bound.”

Productive Ways to Train Your Dog

By
Debi Davis
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Life with any dog has its moments of agony and ecstasy. The ecstasy happens when our dogs’ behaviors are top notch, and all systems seem to run smoothly. The agony happens when our dogs have an “oops” moment, and we know we’re responsible.

I’ve yet to meet a dog owner who does not have at least one embarrassing story to share, of an unguarded moment in time, when in a public place, his or her dog acted in a socially inappropriate way.

Part of learning is making mistakes, and as trainers or companion dog owners, we learn to survive those “oops” moments. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t times when we wish we could don a cloak of invisibility.

well-trained service dogs

As a now-retired service dog trainer, I’ve spent countless field trips teaching my dogs to work comfortably and reliably in public environments. We teach service dogs to respond appropriately in places where pets are not allowed; obviously, we also teach them to display appropriate behaviors in public places as well. Our wonderful canine companions help us with many tasks as we accomplish our errands and work, but they must also behave appropriately during our leisure actitivities in public, such as when we meet a friend for a cup of coffee at an outdoor café, attend an art festival, or enjoy a festive picnic in a park.

It happens when we least expect it: Our dog is standing quietly by our side on a loose leash, ignoring distractions, when he suddenly unloads his bladder while waiting at a crosswalk for a light to change, splattering shoes of other people also waiting to cross the street.

We might be browsing items in a booth at an outdoor art festival with our dog standing or sitting quietly at our side, and our attention is drawn away from our dog for a moment. In the single second we take our eyes off our dog, he swivels his head and sticks his nose into another shopper’s crotch, inhaling dreamily. Though we instantly cue the dog to focus on us again, it’s too late. The crotch sniffer has already goosed his gander.

We may have thought we’d adequately prepared for these kinds of responses by allowing our dog ample time to “empty out” before going into stimulus-rich environments, and we may have practiced “leave it” in as many diverse environments as possible. But sometimes, especially with young, more easily distracted dogs, the occasional “oops” will inevitably happen when we least expect it.

It’s Not a Criticism, Just Information

I chalk these moments up to “learning experiences” for the trainer/handler, and see it as simply helpful “information” – a hint that we need to be more vigilant and proactive during future training outings. It’s also a chance to suck up our embarrassment, and learn to laugh through the red-faced moments. We learn along with our dogs – our greatest teachers.

When I was a novice service-dog trainer/handler, my first service dog was a 10-pound Papillon named Peek. He was nearing the end of his first year of training, well on the way to becoming a very reliable service dog, and was generally extremely well mannered in public. I knew the first rule of public access-training was to never take your eye off your dog for very long, and to always be aware of your dog’s body at any given time.

Peek was becoming so reliable in stores, never sniffing nor soliciting attention from other shoppers, that I began to relax my guard a bit; honestly, I became somewhat complacent. Inside a craft store, I focused more on the craft items I wanted to buy that day, and too little on the fact that my dog was still learning lessons in appropriate public behaviors.

Stopping at one aisle for a few minutes, I lost my focus on my dog, gathering items to put in my lap basket as I rolled through the store in my wheelchair. I’d occasionally glance down at my dog, but he remained nicely in a heel position, so I kept shopping. Finding my last item, I headed to the cashier’s counter and put my items on the conveyer belt. When the cashier had scanned all the items in my lap basket, she paused, smiled, and said, “I’m just waiting for your last item, ma’am.”

I looked down at my lap, thinking perhaps something had come out of my basket and was between my legs or stuck between my leg and the seat of the chair, but I saw nothing. I looked back up at the cashier in bafflement. She whispered, “Your service dog is carrying your last item, ma’am.”

Knowing I hadn’t asked him to hold anything, I looked down, this time looking at his head, not just seeing that his body was parallel to the wheels of my power chair. I didn’t notice that though he had stayed in perfect heel position, he had a death grip on a white rabbit pelt, which he’d somehow pilfered off a bottom shelf when I wasn’t paying attention. It was now clamped securely between his chops, dripping with ropy drool.

Horribly embarrassed, I tried to cover by saying, “Oh, I’m so very sorry – I completely forgot about that item.” I cued Peek to release the item into my hand. Peek released the item to me, and never moved, but he drilled a hole through that rabbit pelt with his eyes, willing it back into his mouth.

Holding the pelt by two fingers, I try to wipe it off with a couple of wadded-up tissues, but it was hopeless. That ropy, sticky drool was embedded in the thick white rabbit pelt. The cashier looked at the dripping pelt, grimaced, and said, “That’s okay, ma’am. You just read the numbers to me and I’ll key it in manually instead of scanning it.” No way was she touching that slimy object.

It was a sobering moment to realize my inattention had allowed my dog to shoplift an item from a store. Yes, it was back to “Dog Zen” and refining the dog’s ability to bypass the urge to sniff and pilfer items he had not been asked to carry.

Beware the Rewarding Environment

Another time, when I lived in the Sonoran desert, I had a 6-month-old puppy named “Dandy,” a young service-dog hopeful. For desert dogs, water is an excellent primary reinforcer. After a nice down-stay or a sit, a cupful of water is a most coveted reward. Dandy, however, was a duck-in-training. Papillon by birth, he seemed to be more waterfowl or fish by nature.

On our river walk that day, the green Palo Verde trees on the newly landscaped path were being watered by effluent -recycled water used for irrigation. It’s common in the desert for landscapers to dig moats around the trees for the water to pool up and gradually soak into the hard, desert sand and clay soil.

Young Dandy trotted along next to my wheelchair on a loose long leash, as it was a relaxing “sniff and jog” trip, and he’d stop every few bushes to hike a leg and post a pee-mail message.

Suddenly, Dandy darted to the left, pulling the long leash loose from my hands as he spotted the irrigation sprinklers pop up and spurt fountains of water up into the air around a tree.

Before I could get “Dandy, COME!” out of my mouth, he’d jumped into the water, and started swimming around the tree, wrapping the leash twice around the thin tree trunk. Dandy looked up, shook off (standing in water that was over his belly), and tried to move toward me, but he could only walk a few steps before the securely wrapped leash stopped him.

He began swimming back and forth, paddling water, ducking his head, lifting it out of the water, shaking his head and diving his head back under the water again. He looked like a mallard duck in training.

I realized I had no choice but to slide out of my wheelchair and crawl across the dirt and cacti, into the moat of muddy water, to untangle his leash. I crawled from my chair to the water’s edge, and slid into the waist-deep effluent and attempted to untangle the leash.

Happy for a playmate, Dandy snapped at the fountains of water coming out of the irrigation tubes, then rolled over, submerging his body, and leapt up like a dolphin to grab another sip, vaulting over the top of the rubber tube. Clearly, this was the best water park he’d ever seen.

Dandy was happily barking at the spurting water as I laughed heartily while unclipping the leash from the top of his harness. I giggled out the recall cue and Dandy swam toward me, glad to be unfettered. Reaching me, he climbed up onto my lap, leapt over my shoulder and dove back into the water.

dog biting leg

 

We splashed each other with water until we were both covered with mud, and I have to admit that on that 100 degree day, it felt mighty refreshing.

A lone, perspiring jogger dashed by, tipped his baseball cap at us, and quipped, “Nice day for a swim, isn’t it?”

New Behaviors

I had a lovely Border Collie named Finn, a change-of-career dog. He was a gift from Virginia (Broitman) Dare, after I lost my service dog Peek prematurely from congestive heart failure. Virginia thought that all Finn’s past media work for print and video could easily transfer over to service work with just a bit of tweaking to turn a trick into a task.

Finn was used to crowds, noisy equipment, bright lights, and lots of people scurrying around. Nothing much fazed him.

When Virginia delivered him to me, we went for a training outing at a local casino here in Las Vegas. Finn flawlessly pressed handicapped door openers, picked up trash and put it in the trash bins, did nice sits and downs for extended periods, and ignored all the distracting food treats we’d thrown on the floor to test him.

I’d spent a decade using a different set of cue words and phrases for my own service dog. Virginia wrote down as many words and phrases she could think of that were already in his repertoire, admitting she could not remember them all. I cued Finn to pick up his leash, accidentally using my own default cue phrase of “Get your leash.” Finn’s cue for that behavior was “Take it.” Finn had never heard my particular cue words coupled together, but he knew “Get your. . . .” And he filled in the blank with a behavior he thought I might have meant.

 He reached back, picked up his left rear leg, and held it in his mouth. Virginia and I broke out in laughter at my miscued directive, and we couldn’t stop laughing while Finn stood there holding his left leg in his mouth. He remembered a behavior he’d once been taught years prior, of “get your leg.”

 In moments, a crowd had gathered, watching in amazement as this dog stood there holding his back leg and beckoning us with his eyes for the release cue. New handler error! And of course, there was a nice reward for the problem-solving dog who had no fear of trying new behaviors, as he’d been shaped regularly to think up compound cues and adduction.

 As trainers, handlers or companion-dog owners, we all have experienced those moments of enjoying the ecstasy and enduring the agony. But it’s also a journey filled with unexpected mirth and great lessons, which makes every outing fresh and original.

Debi Davis is a retired professional calligrapher and service dog trainer. She is a former faculty member of Clicker Expo, and has presented at service dog training seminars and workshops. Peek, her first service dog, was a 1999 National Service Dog of the Year and participated in animal assisted therapy in a hospital rehabilitation department. Davis and Peek carried the Olympic torch during the Salt Lake City Games. Debi is an advocate for reward-based training, and enjoys being an informal ambassador of goodwill in the service dog and disability communities. She currently lives in Las Vegas, NV, with her husband and service dog in training, Cooper. 

Download the Full June 2014 Issue PDF

By
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(Ear Infections #1) – Treating Ear Infection – At the Vet

By
Lisa Rodier
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Heading to your veterinarian for help with an ear infection is always a good idea, especially if you haven’t had previous experience with a canine ear infection and you aren’t certain what it looks like, or if a previously treated infection has recurred. If you are going to take your dog to the vet, don’t clean his ears that day; it may be helpful for the veterinarian to see the appearance and amount of the discharge.

The vet will clean and examine the ears, and usually will take a look deep inside the ear canal with an otoscope – that is, if the swelling in the ear canal is not too severe. Some brave veterinarians will also put their noses near the dog’s ear and take a quick sniff; the odor of an infected ear is distinctive.

In mild cases, after cleaning the ear well, veterinarians will generally administer and give the owner a topical ear solution containing antibiotic, antifungal, and anti-inflammatory agents. This is typically used for a dog’s first or infrequent ear infection because, no matter what the causative organism, this type of topical will address it. In many cases, that’s all there is to the ear infection event.

However, if the infection recurs, it’s likely that the treatment was incomplete, whether because the solution wasn’t applied as frequently or as well as required (sometimes the outer ear looks good, but the infection continues to fester deep within the ear canal), or because the infectious organisms developed resistance to the antibiotic in the solution. In these cases, we may wonder why the infection keeps “coming back” when, in reality, it never ever went away.

When an ear infection recurs (if not before!), culturing a sample of the exudate is a must, to make sure that the next treatment is targeted to treat the specific pathogen. Oral antibiotics may be indicated in such severe cases in addition to topical therapy. Note that oral antibiotics are not the first go-to for a one-off ear infection and are rarely successful as the sole therapy.

Chronic cases may also be helped by a Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine (TCVM) approach including acupuncture, and/or when used preventively such as prior to spring/summer if dealing with seasonal allergies. Also, acupuncture and laser therapy can relieve pain associated with infections.

For more on diagnosing and treating ear infections, please refer to Caring For and Preventing Your Dog’s Ear Infections by Whole Dog Journal.

Flying with a carry-on dog: Postscript

By
Nancy Kerns
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So, I flew across the country with a little dog. She did great, never made a peep! But there were a few little hitches – none of which turned out to be the ones I expected.

When I made the reservation for the dog (my daughter-in-law’s) on the flights (from Boston to Sacramento, through Atlanta, on Delta), the airline agent gave me the maximum dimensions for the carrier I could carry on those flights. I bought a Sherpa carrier that met those dimensions. Even so, I was concerned, because I have heard many accounts of carriers being turned away by the front counter agents when a traveler tried to check in for his or her flight with her carry-on dog – based on the bag’s size, or the apparent comfort of the dog within the carrier.

As it turned out, the front counter agent barely looked at the carrier, much less measured it, much less checked to see whether the dog I had inside was comfortable and able to stand and turn around – one of the few actual federal regulations regarding the appropriateness of carriers. So much for one of my biggest worries.

I was also concerned about the dog’s behavior, although there isn’t a whole lot I could have done to manage it beforehand. I had flown to the East Coast on business, and would be meeting the dog I was carrying with me for the first time just hours before our flight. I had brought the carrier with me – and though I could have ostensibly shipped the carrier to the family who had custody of the dog beforehand, asking them to put her in the carrier each day for a period of time, to get her used to traveling in it, without being present to make sure the experience didn’t traumatize the more than desensitize her, I decided to just take my chances and hope for the best. I did bring a Thundershirt with me, and after meeting Sadie, and seeing that she was, in fact, a bit nervous about being handed off to a total stranger, I put it on her. Those shirts (and, as an alternative, a TTouch “wrap”) do seem to work to calm anxious dogs, and Sadie was a total trooper. She never made a peep or whine in the carrier the whole trip.

The biggest issue I experienced on my trip was one I didn’t not anticipate at all. In all my travels, I have seen signs for “pet relief areas” at airports, but since I’ve never needed to use one, I never investigated these further. I found one outside the terminal at Boston’s Logan airport – a grungy, 10-foot square of space out on the curb, fenced with chain link. It was about half concrete, and half bedded with rubber shavings – and surrounded by people smoking their last cigarettes before they went into the terminal. I stood and breathed shallowly while hoping and praying Sadie would pee before I had to put her inside the crate for the next four or five hours, and thank goodness, after a bit of sniffing around, she did pee. I figured that when I changed planes in Atlanta, with more than an hour between flights, I would be able to take Sadie to another pet relief area, so she could again urinate before the last leg of our flight to Sacramento.

But no – it turned out that the only pet relief area at the airport in Atlanta is also out at the front curb – before security. I’d have to go OUT of the airport if I wanted her to be able to pee, and then go back through security – and since my flight was delayed leaving Boston, there was not enough time to consider such a thing. I asked several airport and airline employees: “Are you SURE there is no relief area for dogs in the terminal?” And they all said, no, the only one is outside – UNLESS that’s a service dog; there IS an area where you can take service dogs to go potty.

Well for crying out loud. I’m glad there is a service dog potty area, but I’m not going to lie about a non-service dog being a service dog. Now, if I had flown from Europe, say, and she had not had an opportunity to relieve herself for more like 8 or 10 hours . . . for her comfort and health, I may have been tempted to do so. What a ridiculous situation to put people in.

Trying to think as fast as possible, and not miss my flight, I carried Sadie into a handicapped stall in the women’s restroom, thinking maybe I could let her out of the bag and give her a pile of paper towels or toilet paper to pee on. I didn’t know whether or not she was paper-trained; it’s possible, lots of little dogs are. But I no sooner closed the door behind us in the stall when I heard an attendant rapping on the door: “Don’t you let that dog out in there!” she said sternly. “It’s against airport regulations and I will get security in here!” Ahem. So, apparently, I’m not the only one who has had this problem.

This issue is one of the reasons why Sleepypod, makers of the extremely luxe small-dog carrier pictured on page 23 of the current (May 2014) issue, sells something they call “Dryfur,” an absorbent disposable pad that can be placed in the bottom of a carrier, in case a dog is forced to relieve herself in the carrier (see http://sleepypod.com/dryfur). The pad is well-made; unlike something like a puppy pee-pad, if the dog does not relieve herself, it can be used again and again.

In addition to marketing its pet travel products, Sleepypod maintains a travel-related website (http://www.pettravelexperts.com/) and a Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/pettravelexperts), which is where I learned that at least one airport, Detroit Metro, installed a pet relief area recently right in the terminal. Awesome.

What sort of travel-related issues have you experienced flying with small dogs in the cabin? And are you aware of other airports with pet relief areas for carry-on dogs in the terminal?

(Play With Your Dog #3) Playing With Your Dog – Family Interaction

By
Nancy Kerns
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Everyone in the family, including children, should play with their dogs. Even young children can be suitable playmates for many dogs, with some important caveats. Assuming your dog likes to play, the more humans she gets to play with, the more humans she’ll think are wonderful because they make good stuff happen, and the better socialized she’ll be. Dogs who are will-socialized are far less likely to bite or otherwise engage in behaviors that are likely to get them into serious trouble.

In addition, the more that each family member has fun interacting with the dog, the more likely it is that the dog will stay in that home for her entire life. Play helps build strong bonds, and relationships that support lifelong loving homes for canine family members.

For ideas and advice on the best ways to play with your dog and the benefits to both you and your dog purchase Pat Miller’s book, Play With Your Dog from Whole Dog Journal.

 

Lost and Found

By
Alice Benoit
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The last thing he wanted to hear on a Saturday night. “He’s gone, I can’t find him.”

Jay looked up from his study book. “Wasn’t he with the other two boys? Maybe he is hiding?”

But Fred was not hiding. He was missing. I looked through the house & I searched the entire yard. Our smallest Brittany had disappeared.

Jay grabbed his flashlight & his field dog whistle and started hiking around the neighboring properties. Since they were small pups, all of our dogs have been trained by the sound of a whistle. A blast of a whistle means “come here” and Fred is the most obedient of them all. If Fred hears a whistle, he comes running, no matter how far he has to run. After the first half hour of calls and shrill whistling, Fred did not return to our side. It was clear that he was truly lost.

I took my Avalon & headed west on Leona Avenue; while Jay headed east in the Scion. We drove up and down private driveways yelling “Fred!” followed by a loud whistle call. Nothing. I drove up hillsides & down canyons to the far end of town. I stopped the car & listened. All I heard was the jubilant celebration of a pack of coyotes as they enjoyed a wintertime feast. I started to cry. Living in wild country is quite beautiful, but this stunning beauty is filled with risks to a dog. Coyotes, mountain lions, fast cars, poison, any number of hazards could take our little boy. I don’t know what I would do if he were hurt….or killed. And now, a full hour has passed. Our property is only a few lots away from the Angeles National Forest. He may never be found.

While I thought the worst, Jay did not panic. He went back home. Knowing that Fred is not a fence jumper, Jay reexamined the property one more time. He searched around the temporary home thoroughly & then faintly heard clink clink clink, the sound of Fred’s identification tags hitting against each other.

Fred was trapped beneath the house & did not know how to get out. Upon opening the trap door to the side of the house, the light of the flashlight shined through the darkened place, with a frightened dog, covered in dirt and dust crouched far away. “Come here Fred!” Cautious at first, Fred knew to leave the darkness & follow the stream of welcoming light. And when he did, he found his way back to the safe arms that he always loved.

Many of us search high & low for the meaning of life. We often do this by conquering a great task, going on a fantastic voyage, purchasing a fast car, climbing the biggest mountain or finding our way to a mysterious land. We travel far & wide, over land & sea, never realizing that what is most important & what gives us the most meaning is in the place we are least likely to look. At first glance “it” seems to be elusive, if not missing. But if we look real hard & listen quite carefully, we will find that the search for what truly matters was never far away.

It is not in a canyon, a valley, on a hillside or in a forest. It was never in a mysterious far away land. In the end you will discover that your life has meaning & that what you were seeking was never truly lost. It has always been & will always be beneath the shingled roof with a flickering glow of a fire at the most welcoming place on God’s green earth………a place we all call home. Welcome home Fred. You were never lost. We were.

About the author: Alice Benoit is a real property consultant, council person, and dog rescue volunteer. She lives in Leona Valley, California with her husband, three Brittany dogs and her Shepherd/Greyhound mix who thinks he is a Brittany. Read her updates and view her photography on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alicewollman

Your Dog’s Bad Breath is Significant

By
Nancy Kerns
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I met a small dog recently who had breath that could knock you over. Because I’ve had small dogs before, I knew enough to lift her lip and take a peek at her teeth. Even so, I was shocked, though not surprised, by the appearance of her teeth. That is, you could barely SEE white tooth material, for the accumulation of hard calculus ­ tartar ­ on her teeth. Her gums were inflamed and swollen, too.

It apparently didn’t occur to anyone who knew or handled the dog that her bad breath wasn’t some sort of character flaw, it was an actual health problem exacerbated by neglect. Rather, she was criticized as a “fussy eater.” I imagine I’d be a fussy eater, too, if I was in excruciating pain from infected gums.

Small dogs, especially the ones with crowded mouths (overlapping teeth) or underbites or overbites that keep the mouth partially open at all times, are prone to more dental disease and accelerated accumulation of dental plaque. Daily brushing is highly recommended ­ and annual exams and frequent veterinary cleaning is critical to prevent the relatively fast development of such a serious tartar build-up (the dog I’m describing is only four years old!).

She’s since had her teeth cleaned ­ and eight of them had to be extracted. She’ll receive pain meds for 4 days and antibiotics for 10. Her breath is now completely inoffensive, and she’s eating anything offered to her.

The experience made me check my own dogs’ mouths. Both of my dogs are 6 1/2 years old. Tito the Chihuahua has had one dental cleaning already, about two years ago. His breath is not at all bad, and his teeth look pretty good. I was surprised (when I took a whiff ) that my big dog’s breath is not as fresh as I expected it to be, and when I lifted his lips to examine his teeth, I saw no tartar at all . . . on ONE side of his mouth! On the other, I found a rather large chunk of tartar on one of his upper molars. I think of myself as being fairly aware of what’s going on with my dogs’ health, and completely missed this! He was examined by a veterinarian recently, too, for an annual health checkup, and she hasn’t spotted it, either. I’ll be taking him back in for a further exam – and likely, a cleaning — this week.

How often do you check your dog’s teeth? Make sure you look at the ones all the way in the back, too.

Identifying Tumors on Your Dog

By
Nancy Kerns
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Given the opportunity to examine an older dog, I’ll very likely find at least one or two cutaneous (within the skin) or subcutaneous (just beneath the skin surface) lumps and bumps. Such growths are common by-products of the canine aging process. In this regard, I liken them to the brown spots that appear on our skin as we get older.

dog with large tumor

The good news is that most cutaneous and subcutaneous canine tumors are benign. It’s the small population of malignant masses that keeps us on our toes. They are the reason it’s important to have your veterinarian inspect any newly discovered lumps and bumps your dog develops. The smaller a cancerous growth is at the time of treatment, in general, the better the outcome.

Pet Your Dog to Find Tumors

In terms of “lump and bump patrol,” your first order of business is to pet your dog. No doubt you and your best buddy already enjoy some doggie massage time. What I’m asking you to do is a more methodical petting session. Once a month, slowly and mindfully slide your fingers, palm sides down, along your dog’s body. Move systematically from stem to stern while inspecting for any new lumps or bumps.

Also, look and feel for changes in the size or appearance of those previously discovered. Any new findings should be addressed with your veterinarian, who relies upon your help with this surveillance. Imagine your vet trying to find a tiny growth on a shaggy Sheepdog or Sheltie during the course of a single exam. Some lumps and bumps are bound to be missed without your assistance.

When to See Your Veterinarian

Does finding a new growth suggest that you must see your veterinarian right away? Not necessarily. Say that you’ve just spotted a new bump in your dog’s skin that is no larger than the size of a pea. She is due for her annual physical examination in three months. Must you rush to visit your vet with this new finding, or can it wait the three months? The answer depends on the behavior of this newly discovered growth.

My recommendation is that you continue to observe it once a week. Examining it more frequently can make it difficult to accurately assess change. If the mass is growing, or otherwise changing in appearance, best to have it checked out sooner rather than later. If no changes are observed, waiting to address it at the time of the annual physical exam makes perfectly good sense.

In contrast, say that in the course of examining your best buddy you discover a prune sized, firm, subcutaneous growth that feels attached to the shoulder blade. Based on the larger size and deep attachment of this mass, it’s best to have this one checked out right away. If ever in doubt, give your veterinarian a call to figure out the best course of action. As with most things medical, better to be safe than sorry. 

In advance of your veterinary visit, mark the location of any lumps or bumps requiring inspection. You can clip some hair over the site or mark the fur with a ribbon, hair band, or marking pen. Growths discovered at home when an animal is lying down in a relaxed, comfortable position have a habit of magically disappearing when the dog is upright and uptight in the exam room.

Fine Needle Aspirate for Cytology

If a newly discovered growth is large enough, the usual first step your veterinarian will recommend is a fine needle aspirate for cytology. Cytology refers to the microscopic examination of cells. The purpose of this step is to attempt to noninvasively clarify the cell type within the mass, and whether it is benign or malignant.

Collection of a fine needle aspirate is a simple process that is easy on the dog and rarely requires any sort of sedation. Using a needle no larger than the size of a vaccination needle along with some gentle suction, your vet will remove a smattering of cells from the growth. These cells are then spit out onto a glass slide and evaluated under the microscope.

Some cytology interpretations are a slam-dunk, and can readily be interpreted by your family vet. Others require the eyeballs of a specialist – a clinical pathologist who works in a veterinary diagnostic laboratory. Remember, the goal of the cytology testing is to determine the underlying cell type, therefore whether the growth can be left alone or requires more attention. Fine needle aspirate cytology is often (but not always) definitive. If the results do not provide clarity, a surgical biopsy of the mass may be recommended.

If your veterinarian recommends surgical removal of a mass as the very first step (chooses to forego the fine needle aspirate), I encourage you to consider getting a second opinion. It is disappointing and frustrating when a veterinarian foregoes cytology, proceeds with surgery, and the biopsy report reveals a malignancy with cancer cells extending beyond the margins of the tissue that was removed. In other words, cancer cells were clearly left behind. Had the veterinarian known in advance from the cytology report that the tumor was malignant, a different approach (much more aggressive surgery and/or radiation therapy) would have been undertaken, almost certainly resulting in a better outcome.

A second “bad news scenario” that can arise from forging ahead with surgery without benefit of fine needle aspirate cytology is failure to identify a cancerous growth that may have already spread elsewhere in the body. If the cytology reveals a malignancy, screening the rest of the body for metastasis (spread) is a logical next step. If metastasis is discovered, removal of the originally discovered mass is unlikely to provide any benefit. Rather, such surgery will only subject the patient (and the client’s pocketbook) to a needless procedure. Leaping into surgery to remove a mass without the benefit of cytology is risky business.

Lipomas (Fatty Tumors)

Lipomas are one of the most common types of canine tumors. Fortunately, the vast majority of them are completely benign. They arise from fat (lipid) cells and grow in subcutaneous locations, primarily in the axillary regions (armpits) and alongside the chest and abdomen. Occasionally one will develop within the chest or abdominal cavity. Rarely does a dog develop only one lipoma. They tend to grow in multiples, and I’ve examined individual dogs with literally hundreds of lipomas.

Should lipomas be treated in some fashion? In the vast majority of cases, the answer is a definite, “No!” This is based on their benign, slow-growing nature. The only issue most create is purely cosmetic, which dogs could care less about!

There are a few exceptions to the general recommendation to let sleeping lipomas lie. A fatty tumor is deserving of more attention in the following situations:

A lipoma that is steadily growing in an area where it could ultimately interfere with mobility. The armpit is the classic spot where this happens. The emphasis here is on the phrase “steadily growing.” Even in one of these critical areas there is no reason to remove a lipoma that remains quiescent with no discernible growth. 

Sudden growth and/or change in appearance of a fatty tumor (or any mass for that matter) should prompt reassessment to determine the best course of action.

Every once in a great while, a fatty tumor turns out to be an infiltrative liposarcoma rather than a lipoma. These are the malignant black sheep in the family of fatty tumors. Your veterinarian will be suspicious of an infiltrative liposarcoma if the fine needle aspirate cytology reveals fat cells, yet the tumor feels fixed to underlying tissues. (Lipomas are normally freely moveable.) Liposarcomas should be aggressively surgically removed and/or treated with radiation therapy.

Occasionally a lipoma grows to truly mammoth proportions. If ever you’ve looked at a dog and thought, “Wow, there’s a dog attached to that tumor!” chances are you were looking at a lipoma. Such massive tumors have the potential to cause the dog discomfort. They can also outgrow their blood supply, resulting in potential infection and drainage from the mass. The key is to catch on to the mass’s rapid growth so as to surgically remove it before it becomes enormous in size and far more difficult to remove.

How can one prevent canine lipomas from occurring? No one knows. Anecdotally speaking it is thought that overweight dogs are more predisposed to developing fatty tumors. While I’m not so sure I buy this, I’m certainly in favor of keeping your dog at a healthy body weight.

Sebaceous Adenomas

These are the most common benign skin tumors in dogs. Sebaceous glands are microscopic structures found just beneath the skin surface. They secrete an oily substance called sebum that is transported to the skin surface via microscopic ducts, and can arise from the gland or the duct.

Sebaceous adenomas tend to be small, no more than 1/4 to 1/3 of an inch in size. They may appear round, or they can have a wart-like appearance. Sebaceous adenomas occur primarily in middle-aged and older dogs. Any breed can develop sebaceous adenomas, but certain breeds are particularly predisposed: English Cocker Spaniels, Cocker Spaniels, Samoyeds, Siberian Huskies, Alaskan Malamutes, West Highland White Terriers, Cairn Terriers, Dachshunds, Miniature Poodles, Toy Poodles, Shih Tzus, Basset Hounds, Beagles, and Kerry Blue Terriers.

Because of their benign nature, the vast majority of sebaceous adenomas require no treatment whatsoever. There are some exceptions to this general rule, and they are as follows:

Surgical removal is warranted for those sebaceous adenomas that recurrently bleed or become infected because of self-trauma (the dog bites or chews at them) or because they get in the way of the groomer’s clippers.

Some sebaceous adenomas secrete oodles of sebum, creating the constant appearance of an oil slick on the dog’s hair coat. The grease rubs off on hands, furniture, and anything else the dog contacts. No fun!

Some sebaceous adenomas are pretty darned unsightly, looking like warty little aliens poking through the hair coat. Although this is not bothersome for the dog, it can be a significant issue for the person living with that dog.

If a mass believed to be a sebaceous adenoma is growing or changing in appearance, it is important to ask your vet to have another look. What was thought to be a benign adenoma may be its less common cancerous cousin, a sebaceous carcinoma.

The Importance of Histopathology for Your Dog

If your veterinarian surgically removes a growth from your dog, do not, I repeat, do not let that tissue sample wind up in the vet clinic garbage can! A far better choice is to have the mass submitted for histopathology (biopsy) to a veterinary diagnostic laboratory. There, a veterinary pathologist will evaluate paper-thin slices of the mass under the microscope to confirm the identity of the mass.

Even if fine needle aspirate cytology indicated that the growth was benign, histopathology is warranted. On occasion, the pathologist discovers something quirky such as a malignant tumor within the center of a benign lipoma.

If histopathology is not affordable, ask your vet to place the growth that was removed in a small container of formalin (preservative) that you can take home for safekeeping. This way, should multiple masses begin growing at the surgery site or should your dog develop a tumor at another site, you will still be able to request histopathology on the original sample. Formalin is toxic stuff, so keep the container lid sealed tightly.

Lumps and bumps are a very normal part of the canine aging process. Teaming up with your veterinarian to assess them on a regular basis is the best way to insure that they never create a health issue for your best buddy.

Nancy Kay, DVM, DACVIM, is the author of Speaking for Spot: Be the Advocate Your Dog Needs to Live a Happy, Healthy, Longer Life,and Your Dog’s Best Health: A Dozen Reasonable Things to Expect From Your Vet. She lives in North Carolina. You can read her blog at speakingforspot.com/blog.

Preparing Your Dog for Airplane Travel

By
Nancy Kerns
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1

[Updated March 2, 2017]

The ability to carry a little dog onto an airplane with you is one of the greatest advantages of owning a small dog that can’t be shared by owners of medium or large dogs. Most (though not all) of the risks of flying a dog on a commercial flight are posed by the dog’s handling by airport employees behind the scenes and by the dog’s unattended experience in the cargo hold of the plane; in contrast, the risks to a dog who is with you at every moment of your flight are very slight – and under your control. That said, there are a lot of things you need to know and contingencies for which to prepare if you are going to subject your dog to air travel. Here’s how to make the carried-on dog’s flight as enjoyable and stress free (for both of you) as possible.

pugs at airport

Prepare Your Dog for Air Travel

Before you count on being able to bring your dog on any flight with you, you should be aware that there is no cut-and-dried rule regarding the size of dogs who can be carried on a plane. Most accurately, the limiting factor for which dogs can be carried onto a flight is the size of the dog’s carrier, and how well the dog appears to fit inside it. But every airline has different maximum dimensions for kennels and soft-sided carriers – and airlines sometimes have different maximum dimensions for the various types of airplane that may be employed on your journey. And there is quite a range! I found airlines with stated maximum carrier heights as small at 7.5 inches (in this case, for a hard-sided carrier on Alaska and United), and as much as 11 inches (and in this case, specifically for a soft-sided carrier on United). The maximum dimensions for the width and depth of the carrier vary quite a bit, too. We found a range of maximum carrier width from 11 to 19 inches, and a range of maximum length from 12 to 19 inches.

In addition to their carrier dimension limitations, some airlines also have a weight limit for the pet and her carrier. For example, JetBlue dictates that the combined weight of the dog and carrier cannot exceed 20 pounds.

Dogs are supposed to be able to stand up, turn around, and lie down naturally and comfortably in the carrier. It doesn’t pay to try to stuff a borderline too-large dog into a small kennel; airline representatives, who may or may not be knowledgeable about pets, can refuse to allow you to board with your dog if they feel the kennel is too small and causing (or potentially causing) your dog undue distress.

On top of the size and weight considerations, there are federal regulations regarding the minimum age for puppies who can be carried on a plane. These regulations (and common sense) require puppies to be at least eight weeks old and weaned at least five days before flying.

If your dog is small enough to fit comfortably into a carrier that will meet the airline’s size specifications for the plane used on the journey you plan to take, read on!

Buying the Plane Ticket 

It’s weird and annoying: I haven’t yet seen an airline’s website that allows a traveler to indicate that she would like to bring a pet on board for a flight. Generally, you first book the flight for yourself, and then call the airline directly to reserve a spot for your dog. That’s a weird order of operations, given that airlines allow only a limited number of pets on any given flight; if the flight you have booked for yourself already has reached its capacity for pets, you will have to select a different flight. Although the airline won’t charge a “change fee” for this, if the new flight costs more than the one you originally booked, you will have to pay the higher price. Take home point: Book your flight as early as possible, and call the airline to reserve a spot for your dog immediately after booking.

Dog Health Requirements for Air Travel 

When you make the phone call to reserve your dog’s spot on your flight, ask the reservation agent whether any health certificates or vaccinations are required for your dog for that flight. A health certificate, issued by a veterinarian who examined your dog within a short period (usually 10 days) before your flight, is required for all international flights, but generally not for domestic travel in the U.S., with a couple of notable exceptions. Because Hawaii is the only place in the U.S. that is completely free of rabies, that state has special requirements for inbound pets. And certain destinations in Alaska have vaccination requirements (for canine parvovirus and rabies).

Pay a Pet Travel Fee 

All airlines charge an extra fee for your carried-on dog, and the price (like all airline add-on fees) has gone up in recent years. Unlike the price of your ticket, the fee doesn’t seem to be dependent on the length of the flight; a flat fee is applied no matter how long (or short) the flight is, and varies from airline to airline, from about $125 to $200 (one way). Payment for the pet fee is made at the counter when you check in for the flight.

Getting Your Dog Ready to Fly

Ideally, you’ve bought your ticket and made your dog’s reservation months (or at least weeks) in advance of your flight. That gives you time to prepare your dog for some of the experiences she will be subjected to on the day of travel, so she’s not miserable on the airplane – and so you and your fellow passengers aren’t made miserable by her distressed behavior, either.

It’s most important for your dog to practice spending time in a small carrier – and, while there, being jostled about and subjected to strange noises and movement. Small dogs who are regularly carried in soft-sided bags are likely to accept everything about the air travel experience with ease. But if your dog has rarely graced the inside of a crate, or is unhappy being in one, you need to start conditioning and desensitizing her to this ASAP. (See “The Benefits of Crate Training,” WDJ January 2011, for more information about teaching a dog to be comfortable in a crate.)

Flying with Your Dog

Once your dog is comfortable spending time in a crate or carrier at home, make sure she is equally comfortable being carried in it, subjected to the sounds and motion of a vehicle in it (people who crate their dogs in the car, with the crate securely belted or strapped in, are way ahead of the game here), and will go into it happily at any time. Ideally, your dog will be familiar with and comfortable in the carrier you plan to use on the trip well before you travel; don’t subject her to an entirely new carrier on the day of the flight if you can help it.

You may need to take your dog out of and put her back into the carrier several times during your travel. The airline representative at the front counter might want to see your dog out of the carrier to make sure she’s in a correctly sized carrier. You will be asked to remove her from the carrier again when you go through security. If you have to change planes, you will probably want to seek out a “pet relief area” at the midway airport so your dog can go potty. You want to be able to remove your dog from the carrier without her trying to escape in a panic at all of these points, as well as at your final destination. So in the weeks before the flight, practice asking your dog to enter the carrier, and taking her out of it, in all sorts of different environments: dark, bright, loud, indoors, outdoors, etc. Keep the experience highly rewarding (with high-value treats and praise) each time she enters and exits calmly.

It’s also a good idea to bathe your dog a day or two before your trip, so that she’s odor free and comfortable.

Finally, make sure your dog’s nails (including the dewclaws, if any) are clipped short. A dog who tries to paw or dig her way out of a carrier can easily catch and tear a nail, especially in a soft-sided carrier. Bleeding, whining, and distress can follow. Having all the nails short and sound (not split and snaggy) will help prevent a slightly stressful trip from turning into a very stressful one.

Day of the Flight 

It should go without saying that your dog should be wearing an ID tag with your current contact information on it; ideally this includes your current mobile number. It’s also best if your dog is microchipped (in case he somehow got his collar or harness off) and that the microchip registration is also up-to-date.

It’s usually recommended that you not feed your dog within six hours of a flight; you really don’t want him to vomit, urinate, or defecate in the carrier on the plane if you can help it. But whether or not you heed this recommendation totally depends on how well conditioned your dog is to spending time in the carrier. Dogs who are super comfortable spending even long stretches of time in their carriers aren’t likely to vomit or need to eliminate any more than usual. But if your dog is not as well accustomed to the carrier as he should be, is a nervous traveler anyway, can’t yet go for very long without needing to eliminate (like most puppies), or suffers from motion sickness in a car, you may want to withhold food and give him just small amounts of water in that time frame before flying.

Note: If you are flying with a very young puppy, or a toy breed puppy of any age, don’t withhold food before flying; you don’t want to add to the risk factors of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). Hypoglycemic attacks can be brought on by stress, and may result in seizures, listlessness, muscle weakness or staggering, tremors (especially in the face), coma, and even death. The stress of shipping is a common cause of hypoglycemia in puppies, especially those of the toy breeds. Other causes include missing a meal, becoming chilled, and exhaustion (this can happen when people get a new puppy and, thrilled with their new friend, keep instigating play and not letting the puppy rest).

Start your day as early as necessary in order to have enough time to walk your dog far enough (or be outside long enough) so that he eliminates as fully as he ever does! Once you have arrived at the airport, give him a leisurely (not rushed) chance to urinate one more time outside before putting him in his carrier and taking him inside.

Never Accept Travel Condition Changes for Your Dog 

Imagine this for a moment: You have arrived at the airport, dog in carrier and carrier in hand, and were told at the front counter that a mistake had been made and there was no room in the cabin for your dog after all. The airline could, however, put your dog in the cargo area. What would you do?

If this happened to you – as it has happened to more than one person I know! – I strongly suggest that you calmly refuse to allow your dog to be put in the cargo area, even if it meant you had to take another flight. If you had a legitimate reservation for your dog to be in the cabin, you should hold the airline to it, or accept their offer of reticketing (without fee) on another flight with an upgrade.

The only possible exception would be if your dog were completely comfortable being in a crate, without you, and with travel; you had an appropriately sized “hard” crate already; your dog is a fit, healthy, adult, non-brachycephalic breed; the weather conditions were perfect (neither at all hot nor at all cold); and the flight wasn’t a terribly long one. In my opinion, those are the only conditions under which any dog should be shipped via cargo – but honestly, somebody’s life would have to be at risk before I would consider letting my dog travel that way.

En Route 

Check all the zippers and fasteners on your carrier carefully, to make sure they are completely closed, and can’t be pawed or nosed open. Some bags have double zippers with tabs that can be clipped together with the snap from your leash to ensure that the bag cannot be unzipped without unsnapping the tabs first.

Consider teaching your dog to lick water from the slightly opened spout of a sports bottle (sort of like a rabbit’s water bottle). You can bring an empty bottle through security, and fill it up from a water fountain in the gate area. That way, you can offer your dog an occasional lick of water on the flight if she’s panting or seems hot. If you are certain she won’t try to escape, you can offer this by unzipping one of the carrier’s doors just enough to permit the insertion of the tip of the sports bottle. Or just hold the tip up to the mesh of the bag; if she licks the mesh, she can still get enough water to wet her mouth.

Don’t break the rules and allow your dog out of her carrier on the plane; she’s far safer, and your fellow travelers will be far more comfortable, with your dog contained. Also, if your dog did vomit or relieve herself in the crate, letting her out will only make matters worse in terms of the mess and odor! Wait until you deplane to try to improve the situation. Ask a flight attendant or the gate attendant (upon deplaning) for the location of the nearest pet relief station and head straight there.

It should be a huge relief to you for both of you to have arrived safely!

Should You Tranquilize Your Dog?

Veterinarians generally advise against administering a tranquilizer to dogs for air travel. The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) has a Traveling with Your Pet FAQ page on its website, with this statement: “It is recommended that you DO NOT give tranquilizers to your pet when traveling by air because it can increase the risk of heart and respiratory problems. Short-nosed dogs and cats sometimes have even more difficulty with travel. Airlines may require a signed statement that your pet has not been tranquilized prior to flying.”

The AVMA goes on to quote Dr. Patricia Olsen of the American Humane Association (AHA): “An animal’s natural ability to balance and maintain equilibrium is altered under sedation and when the kennel is moved, a sedated animal may not be able to brace and prevent injury.”

If you are concerned about your dog’s behavior or anxiety on an upcoming flight, spend time daily getting him accustomed to being in his carrier. See “The Benefits of Crating Training,” WDJ January 2011, for tips on teaching a dog to be happy in a crate.

What About Large Dogs as Cargo? 

There are people who routinely airship dogs as cargo across the country. I am not and will never be one of those people.

The federal government requires airlines to report incidents to the U.S. Department of Transportation every time an animal on a commercial flight is injured, lost, or dies. The reports appear online in a remarkably timely fashion. The owners’ names are redacted but all the other basic facts about each incident are recounted in the reports.

If you spend a few hours reviewing those “animal incident reports,” you may find yourself turning in your dog’s wings. The reports describe pets who were sickened, injured, escaped from their crates, or lost during air travel – as well as those who were dead on arrival at their owner’s destination.

The reports certainly do serve to educate. Ongoing analysis of the reports (compiled since the law mandating their collection went into effect in 2005) has exposed the most potent dangers of air travel to pets. For example, in 2010, analysis of five years’ worth of animal incident reports revealed that dogs with short muzzles (such as Pugs, Boston Terriers, Boxers, some Mastiffs, Pekingese, Lhasa Apsos, Shih Tzus, and Bulldogs) are much more likely to die on airplanes than dogs with normal-length muzzles. One-half of the 122 dog deaths associated with airline flights in that time span involved these short-faced breeds.

An alarming number of incident reports involve dogs who manage to escape from their crates (and are found by the ground crew at their destination loose in the cargo hold), dogs who were injured in frantic attempts to escape from their crates – descriptions of blood-spattered crates and limping dogs dot the incident reports – and crates that are found to be cracked upon arrival.

Industry observers say that since the airlines (those operating airplanes that seat more than 60 passengers) have been required to collect and publish these reports, the number of incidents have gone down. Industry spokesmen tend to minimize the number of pet losses; you will find all sorts of projections – based on estimations of the total number of pets flown on airlines – as to the rate of pet injury or loss that make air travel look very safe for your dog.

However, it’s far less safe for your pet to fly than it is for you. It’s telling that most of the airlines have increased the number of limitations on which pets they will accept as cargo, on which routes, and at what times of year. And some airlines no longer accept pets as cargo at all.

Alternatives to Cargo Flights For Transporting a Dog

Before flying a dog as cargo, I would recommend exhausting every other option for moving a dog from one place to another, such as:

-Chartered flight (where even large dogs are allowed in the cabin). Example: Magellan Jets
– Professional pet ground transportation service. Example: Royal Paws
– Driving the pet yourself.
– Transatlantic move? Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 (QM2) is the only ship that allows the transatlantic transportation of dogs.

No Alternative?

If you had to ship a dog as cargo, consider the following:

– Dogs with any sort of breathing or cardiac impairment, those who are elderly, obese, and/or in poor health, very young puppies (especially those of toy breeds), and brachycephalic (flat-faced dogs) are at extremely high risk when flying.
– Do not ship during times of year when extremely hot or cold weather can add to the risk.
– Choose an itinerary with the shortest flight time and direct route to minimize extraneous moving (and potential mishandling) of your dog’s crate.

Thoroughly condition and desensitize your dog to spending long periods in the crate, and being in the crate when it is transported. Load and unload the crate into your car with your dog in it, and take long drives with him in the crate. If he shows signs of anxiety or discomfort during these trips (panting, whining, barking, pawing or chewing at the gate, trying to escape, etc.), understand that he will be even more anxious (if not panic-stricken) in the crate as it is handled by baggage crews – and when unattended in the baggage hold during the flight or flight delays.

Buy the strongest, heaviest crate you can buy.

Follow (and exceed) all of the airline’s rules for fastening and labeling the crate. Experienced shippers drill holes near the crate door and use plastic zip ties to keep the door closed in the event that the spring-loaded latch gets jostled open.

Get more information on flying with your dog at Dogster.com.

Download the Full May 2014 Issue PDF

By
Nancy Kerns
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