Have you ever felt dismayed over the shrinking access for our canine companions? I know that to a large degree we’ve brought it on ourselves by our collective carelessness about proper public and leash-walking etiquette.
Remember that your dog’s leash is not a steering wheel or handle. It’s a safety belt, intended to prevent your dog from leaving. It’s not to be used to pull him around, nor should he drag you along behind him.
For left-side walking, start with your dog sitting by your left side. I suggest holding leash and clicker in your left hand (same side as the dog) and having a good supply of treats in your right hand.
For right-side walking, just switch all the equipment to opposite hands. Make sure there’s enough slack in the leash so it stays loose when your dog is in the reinforcement zone you’ve identified for polite walking.
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One of the tests I asked for at Otto’s annual wellness exam last week was a vaccine titer test. These blood tests are able to detect antibodies that the dog has produced in response to a vaccination. Such positive results can confirm that the dog responded in the desired manner to the vaccination and is now protected against the diseases he was vaccinated for.
However, many of us owners who ask (and pay) for titer tests year after year are not doing this to assure themselves that their dogs are protected against disease. In my case (and that of many of my friends), we are paying $50 to $100 a year for the test to prove to our veterinarians that our dogs are adequately protected against disease – to ward off the overzealous promotion of what we know to be unneeded (and thus excessive) vaccinations. Because once we have the first positive titer test results, it’s almost certain that he is protected for life from the diseases he was vaccinated for. The only exceptions to this are rare.
I adopted Otto from a shelter in June 2008. He was picked up as a stray two months prior, and was estimated to be about 7-8 months old. During his two-month stay in the shelter, he had received four combination vaccinations (for distemper, adenovirus Type-2, coronavirus, parainfluenza, and parvovirus); another vaccination for adenovirus type 2 (combined with parainfluenza and bordetella); and a rabies vaccine. The only vaccines he’s received since then are rabies vaccines: a 3-year vaccine given in April 2009, and another one given in late March 2012.
I brought Otto to a local veterinarian in spring of 2010 for a heartworm test and wellness exam. The vet was adamant that Otto also needed “booster” vaccines. The vet had been recommended to me as the best one in my town, so this was a bit discouraging. (So-called “boosters” do not, in fact, “boost” immunity. If the dog has wither circulating antibodies against disease OR immune “memory cells” — cell-mediated immunity that has developed following a vaccine against or infection from the disease — he’s got as much immunity as he CAN have against those diseases.) I asked the veterinarian if he would be content with the results of a vaccine titer test; if the test showed that Otto still had circulating antibodies to the vaccines he had received at the shelter, would he be satisfied that Otto did not need further vaccines? He said he would. So I paid for a titer test, which came back, as I expected, with a nice healthy positive result.
In spring 2011, however, I received a postcard from that veterinarian’s office suggesting that Otto was not just “due” but “OVERDUE” for a laundry list of vaccines. So this was going to be an annual argument, it looked like. I strongly believe in annual wellness examinations and blood tests, but I don’t think my healthy dog need to be vaccinated with anything but the state-required rabies vaccine again. I decided to seek out a new veterinarian – someone younger and, I hoped, more comfortable with the idea that Otto’s previous vaccinations and apparent good health meant he wouldn’t need further vaccinations for years, if ever!
I found a highly recommended veterinarian the next town over, a college town with a lot of progressive, younger doctors. He agreed that Otto was probably protected by his previous vaccines – but wanted to repeat the titer test to “prove” this. I figured if it helped him feel more comfortable NOT recommending further vaccines, it would be a small price to pay to have access to this larger, better equipped, more modern clinic. We ran another titer test; nice and positive. Otto and later Tito saw the same vet later in the year for unrelated issues, and I was mostly pleased with those experiences.
In spring 2012, when I made an appointment at this clinic for Otto’s annual wellness visit and a heartworm test, despite requesting the vet who saw Otto the previous year, I was given an appointment with one of the (older) practice owners. And she wanted to talk to me about vaccines. She felt strongly that a positive result to a titer test was not enough to prove that Otto was protected against disease. She told me that dogs whose titer tests reveal circulating antibodies may lack cell-mediated immunity (adequate T-cells) and be unable to defend themselves against illness. I have heard that, I responded, “but isn’t that rare?” She agreed that it was. “And can’t dogs with past positive titer tests be protected by cell-mediated immunity even if their later titer tests don’t show any circulating antibodies?” I asked. She agreed that this can be true – that previously vaccinated dogs may lack circulating antibodies, but retain immune memory cells that will “remember” experiencing a disease antigen, and mount a vigorous immune response if challenged with disease. But she wanted to stress that there are rare cases where dogs with nice high levels of circulating antibodies but a dysfunctional cell-mediated immune response failed to respond properly to a disease challenge. So her takeaway point was this: You should vaccinate your dog again, regardless of titer test results.
Back to the drawing board — looking for a new vet.
I recently found a young doctor at a clinic in my town. Before I made an appointment for Otto’s annual wellness exam and heartworm test, I asked the practice receptionist if I could have some time to talk to the vet and find out whether he was comfortable with the idea that Otto was not in need of any vaccinations. Later, talking to the vet on the phone, he said he would be willing to accept this – but would feel most comfortable with a current titer test showing a positive antibody result. Well, beggars can’t be choosers. I agreed, and the test came back positive. So far, so good.
It might seem crazy, paying as much as $100 for an unnecessary test annually in an attempt to prove that my dog doesn’t need a $20 vaccination. But I need a local vet who will work with me, happily, without feeling that “overdue vaccines” are putting my dog at risk. I spent 14 years with another dog whose severe allergies may well have been caused and worsened by the completely unnecessary annual vaccines I didn’t know enough to refuse in his first five or six years. I’m not going to risk putting another dog through years of suffering like that to save a few bucks. If the titer test is the price of a good local vet’s cooperation, I’m willing to pay it.
Like all yeasts, candida thrives on sugars, including those from grains, starches, and othercarbohydrates. Beneficial bacteria (such as Lactobacillus acidophilus) metabolize sugars, which keeps candida in check by disrupting its food supply. A shortage of beneficial bacteria results in a sugar-rich environment and an abundance of Candida albicans.
Once a candida overgrowth occurs, it becomes a vicious cycle. Candida cells overwhelm whatever beneficial bacteria survive in the digestive tract or are introduced as supplements, and a diet high in carbohydrates keeps the candida population strong and in control.
Candida is a formidable enemy because its cells manufacture toxic chemicals that kill beneficial bacteria and harm the body. Candida’s waste products include toxic alcohols, acetone, and the nerve poison hydrogen sulfide, all of which slow the brain, contribute to fatigue, and disrupt the immune system.
Candida symptoms are often misdiagnosed as allergies, says Arndt, manifesting as rashes or skin outbreaks on the feet, face, underarm, underbelly, or genital areas. Recurring hot spots or infections of the ears, eyes, bladder, or urinary tract can be caused by candida overgrowth.
I took Otto and Tito to the veterinarian yesterday for wellness exams (and heartworm tests and blood tests) and spent $500. I had priced things beforehand, and knew what I was in for, but it’s still quite a bite.
I strongly believe in the value of annual wellness checks. It’s a perfect opportunity for the vet to find things that we owners wouldn’t necessarily notice, such as the beginning of a mass growing on the roof of our dog’s mouth, say, or a swollen abdomen. Routine blood chemistry, blood cell counts, and heartworm tests (where heartworm is a threat) are also valuable early-detection tools for any number of budding health problems; even if they don’t reveal problems, the “normal” values result may serve as a useful baseline down the road if problems do develop. It’s also a good time to ask the vet about low-priority things that you have been wondering about. Be sure to let the receptionist know when you book the appointment that you need a little extra time to have a number of questions answered or things looked at, so the vet has time to talk – and then prepare to pay for that time.
Health insurance plans vary, but many pay for – or at least discount the price of – regular wellness visits. I’ve priced these plans, but have blanched at the monthly cost of covering two dogs and two cats. By the time I pay, completely out of pocket, for the wellness visits and the various things that come up in a multi-pet family, that I would pay less annually for insurance and co-pays, but I just haven’t been able to make myself sign up yet. I’ll kick myself, I know, if Otto needs costly care – if he tore an ACL or got cancer, for example — but right now I just keep crossing my fingers and paying for things out of pocket.
How about you? Are your dogs insured? Have you found insurance to help keep costs down? If you haven’t gotten health insurance for your dogs yet, why not?
Ever had a dog who won’t give you his bone or chew toy if you try to take it from him? Or one who gets uncomfortable or growls if you get close to him when he’s eating his dog food? Or snaps at you if he’s on the sofa and you want him off? Or lifts his lip in a snarl if your friend tries to get close to you?
Answer yes to any of the above, and you’ve successfully diagnosed your dog as having a guarding issue. The catch-all, technical term is “resource-guarding,” and can include guarding of dog food bowls (or food), place (dog crate, dog bed, sofa, etc.) items (rawhide, bones, balls, tissues, etc.) and less commonly, people.
Resource-guarding simply means that a dog gets uncomfortable when we (or other humans) are around him when he had “his stuff.” He’s nervous that we’re going to take it away, so he tries to warn us off in a variety of ways, ranging from simply consuming his food faster, to an all-out bite.
One of my favorite things about my dog, Otto, is that he loves and apparently cherishes his squeaky toys. Unlike dogs I’ve known who feel that the only good squeaker is a dead squeaker, Otto has had squeaky toys that have lasted for years with nary a squeak-ending puncture. Sadly, this trend seems to have ended.
It started with a soft rubber pig that made a realistic, low grunty sound – not incidentally the noise-making toy that created more excitement from Otto than any toy ever had. Otto would do anything for that toy, including a long, arduous chain of behaviors, in order to earn a minute of blissed-out noise-making with that toy. But a moment’s inattention led to the toy getting stolen away by Diamond, my former foster dog, who very quickly chewed the pig’s nose off – and with it, the ability of the toy to make noise. When Otto discovered the theft, and attempted to make the pig grunt, he seemed genuinely puzzled by the “whoosh, whoosh” noise it made instead. He would make the noise, put the toy down, look at the toy carefully, nose it around on the ground, pick it up again, whoosh whoosh, again and again. He was disappointed — nowhere near as excited or as motivated by the toy as he had been before. As soon as the novel “Grunt, grunt” noise was done, so was he.
The toy was such a motivator for him, I took a long drive out of my way to return to the only store where I had ever seen the toy sold, and bought him another one. By this time, Diamond was placed in his new home, and Tito the Chihuahua isn’t a chewer, so I felt safe in handing over the new pig to Otto to enjoy. But within about two minutes, to my surprise, I heard a familiar sound: “Whoosh, whoosh.” What? I investigated and lo and behold, the pig’s nose had been chewed off, as neatly as if Diamond had done it.
A few months went by before I was anywhere near that one pet supply store again. I looked at the pig toy, and the price. Did I dare buy another one? It’s a fragile toy. But he used to treat it so gently; the first one lasted for at least six months before its rhinoplasty. I spent the money.
Sadly, the new toy quickly went the way of the previous two. It’s almost as if he can’t help himself. He loves the grunting noise, but he has to bite the nose off the toy. I won’t buy another, and it makes me almost as sad as it’s made him.
I recently had the great pleasure of meeting and interviewing Karen Pryor, who, more than anyone else, pioneered and popularized force-free animal training with the publication of her 1985 book, Don’t Shoot the Dog! At nearly 81 years of age, Pryor continues to inspire people in every behavior-related field to give these kind, respectful techniques a try.
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I was searching online for photographs of Pryor to accompany the article and interview with her (starting on page 8) when I came across the picture below. I clicked on the photo’s link – a 2009 article in an online newsletter from Cornell University; I was curious about the identity of the bright-looking young woman in the photo with Pryor.
The story in the newsletter was about a high school student, Lily Strassberg, a junior at Newton (Mass.) South High School, who was taking a summer course in Marine Environmental Science at Shoals Marine Laboratory, Cornell’s marine field station. The course required each student to design and carry out a scientific study.
Strassberg, a dog fanatic, had recently read Karen Pryor’s most recent book, Reaching the Animal Mind, which describes many training examples from Pryor’s long career with animals. One anecdote in the book recounted Pryor’s effort to train a hermit crab to ring a bell on cue. Strassberg decided that her project for her summer science course would be to attempt to replicate Pryor’s feat with a local crab species: Carcinus maenas.
For the longer version, read the story for yourself at http://news.cornell.edu/stories/Sept09/crabRingsBell.html. The URL gives the story away; to the amazement and delight of the instructor and her classmates, it took Strassberg just three days, a clicker, and some mussel treats to teach the crab to ring a bell on cue.
Strassberg was a work study student; she was working off her tuition for the summer courses she was taking at the Shoals lab by cleaning dorm rooms and helping in the cafeteria. A week after her bell-ringing crab presentation, she was helping serve lunch to a group of alumnae who were touring the lab when she realized she was face-to-face with her idol, Cornell alumna (class of 1954) Karen Pryor, who just happened to be on the tour of the marine lab that day.
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When I tracked down Strassberg, to see if I could use the photo I had found online, Strassberg described the moment to me: “I looked over at her name tag and made a flat-out fool of myself when it registered. I flipped my chair back and literally screamed ‘Oh my God are you Karen Pryor?! Your book changed my life!’ ”
Since that chance meeting, Strassberg has become “great friends” with Pryor; they’ve met a number of times, including at last year’s conference of the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants.
Strassberg has since volunteered and worked at a number of shelters and groomers, interned at Duke University’s Canine Cognition Laboratory last year, and is currently majoring in animal behavior studies at University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She’s a perfect example of the bright future of positive, passionate, educated dog trainers that Karen Pryor referenced in her interview with me, weeks before I even knew Strassberg existed. And I can’t help but think that Pryor should take great pride in knowing that she has helped inspire trainers like Lily Strassberg.
Every new dog owner looks for a definitive dog vaccination schedule to follow, but the truth is that the best vaccine protocol for your dog is very subjective. Puppy vaccinations are important, but when to vaccinate your dog will always depend on your individual dog’s immunization history and immune function.
I am surprised at how frequently the subject of vaccinations comes up with my dog-loving friends. We often talk about the pros and cons of certain vaccines and look for the latest information. We struggle to understand the complexities, and to sort out the facts from the controversy.
When it comes to vaccines, being an advocate for our dogs may be the most important thing we can do. Being an advocate doesn’t mean being an expert, but it does mean taking action. These tips can help you take action that supports your dog’s good health.
1. Acknowledge the benefits AND the risks of vaccines for your dog.
You don’t need to know everything about infectious diseases, and you don’t need to know every possible risk associated with immunization. But you do need to know that there are both benefits and risks. It is just not as simple as “Vaccines save lives,” or “Vaccines can make your dog sick.”
“Over-vaccination is just as risky as not being protected,” says Evelyn Sharp, DVM, of My Personal Vet in Santa Cruz, California. “Some of the risks associated with vaccines include autoimmune diseases and anaphylaxis.” But Dr. Sharp emphasizes that you can minimize these risks, while still protecting your dog.
To evaluate the risks and benefits, consider the need for a vaccine each time it is due. Vaccines should not be “routine.” Understand that even the core vaccines may or may not be appropriate for a specific dog, at a specific time.
2. Team up with your vet.
Even if you choose a vaccine clinic or to administer vaccines yourself, a discussion with your veterinarian first may help you make the best decisions. Your vet will likely know the diseases prevalent in your area, your dog’s overall health, genetic risk factors, and more. You may want to ask:
– What vaccines do you recommend, and why?
– Are there disease risks that are unique to your area?
– What are the possible side effects of the vaccines?
– Does the veterinary clinic offer titer tests (to determine whether your dog may already possess sufficient immunity to the most common diseases)?
3. Consider your dog’s lifestyle.
Your dog’s lifestyle can influence disease risk. Your vet may want to know things like:
Where you walk your dog or if you go to dog parks.
If your dog goes to dog shows, is boarded or visits doggy day care. (If your dog is a regular at doggy day care, you and your vet may discuss the pros and cons of bordetella – plus, it may be required by the day care facility. But if your dog is never boarded and does not participate in dog activities, he or she may not need that particular vaccine).
4. Check out titer tests for dogs.
Titer tests are both accurate and cost effective, according to Dr. Sharp. “One newer test checks for antibodies in your dog’s blood for parvovirus, distemper, and infectious hepatitis, and the cost is much less than some of the older titer tests.” A titer test can tell you:
– Whether your dog or puppy had a positive immune response to a recent vaccine (basically, did the vaccine do its job?)
– Whether your dog has antibodies (showing immunity) from a previous vaccine (lacking these, you should consider a booster).
– Whether a newly adopted dog has been previously vaccinated.
5. Remember, with vaccines, one size does not fit all dogs.
Each dog has his or her own risks when it comes to disease and to immunization. Plus, circumstances and risks can change. A decision you made for your dog last year may not be the best decision this year.
It is a stretch to think that each of us (no matter how many conversations we have about vaccines with our dog-loving friends!) can be an expert on what our dog needs when it comes to vaccines. But by asking questions, talking with our veterinarians about our particular dog, and considering all options, we can be our dog’s advocate.
Mardi Richmond, MA, CPDT-KA, is a writer and trainer living in Santa Cruz, California, with her partner and a wonderful heeler-mix named Chance.
Domestication appears to have led to genetic changes in dogs that make them able to digest starches better than wolves can, according to a paper published in Nature in January.
Kerstin Lindblad-Toh, a geneticist at Uppsala University in Sweden, led the team that looked for genetic differences between the genomes of 12 wolves from around the world and 60 dogs from 14 different breeds. They found 36 areas in the genome where dogs differed from wolves, but not from dogs of other breeds, indicating changes likely linked to domestication. Nineteen of the regions found involve the brain, and 8 of those are involved with nervous system development that could help to explain behavioral changes that make dogs friendlier, less fearful, and less aggressive toward humans.
Another 10 genes were found to help dogs digest starches and break down fats. The researchers believe that 3 genes in particular make dogs better at splitting starches into sugars and then absorbing them in the gut. Interestingly, most humans have also evolved the ability to more easily digest starches in what appears to be a case of parallel evolution. The researchers suggest that the adaptations in both species are likely linked to the development of agriculture about 10,000 years ago.
These new findings help to support the theory that dogs may have become domesticated by hanging around human settlements and scavenging their scraps and waste. The study does not rule out the possibility of earlier domestication, however, which is supported by fossil records that may go back 33,000 years, or of later interbreeding with wolves. Another scientist plans to analyze fossil DNA to try to discover when these changes first appeared. Changes in digestion may have developed after behavioral changes that could have occurred much earlier, when our human ancestors were still hunter-gatherers.
What does it mean? In 1997, I attended a seminar at Wolf Park in Indiana, where I learned that wolves cannot digest starches very well and require a high-meat diet in order to thrive. The wolves at Wolf Park are fed primarily deer carcasses, but when those are in short supply, the wolves are given Nebraska Brand carnivore diets that are mostly meat with very little carbohydrate content, rather than dog food.
In contrast, most dogs digest starches well, as evidenced by their ability to utilize the calories and nutrients provided by dog food that is high in carbohydrates. Already, some people are claiming this study supports feeding high-carbohydrate diets to dogs, but I disagree. The study says, “Our results indicate that novel adaptations allowing the early ancestors of modern dogs to thrive on a diet rich in starch, relative to the carnivorous diet of wolves [emphasis is mine], constituted a crucial step in the early domestication of dogs.”
Since wolves consume almost no starch, a diet that is relatively rich in starch does not mean that grains and other starchy foods would (or should) make up the majority of the diet. It also does not mean that dogs require starches in their diet, and it does nothing to support feeding a highly processed diet rather than fresh foods. The parallel evolution involving starch digestion in humans and dogs could also help to explain similarities in certain diseases, including diabetes and inflammatory bowel disease, indicating that there could be drawbacks as well as advantages to eating diets that are high in starch.
The flip side is that I do think this study supports the idea that it’s acceptable to include some starch in your dog’s diet, as long as it doesn’t cause problems for an individual dog. For example, I feed my own dog a homemade diet that is high in protein, but I also include carbohydrates in the form of vegetables, fruits, and even grains (she gets a meal of cereal, yogurt, and banana for breakfast every fourth day).
I don’t believe it’s necessary or even advisable to avoid starches altogether unless you have an individual dog who reacts badly to them, and even then, she may do well with some starches, even if she has problems with others. Whole grains are high in some vitamins and minerals and provide fiber (prebiotics) that helps to support beneficial bacteria in the intestines (probiotics). Other starchy foods, such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, and bananas, also provide nutrients that may otherwise be lacking in a homemade diet.
The study also found a variation between dogs in the number of duplicate genes involved in the production of amylase, a pancreatic enzyme required for the first step of starch digestion. While wolves had 2 copies of this gene, called AMY2B (one of the three genes identified above), researchers found a range of 4 to 30 copies in the dogs they studied, indicating that some dogs (and possibly some dog breeds) are better at digesting starches than others.
As always, it’s important to do what works for your dog. If she has digestive issues when consuming a diet that is high in starch, or shows signs of inflammation, such as from allergies or arthritis, it’s worth trying a low-starch diet or even eliminating starchy foods completely to see if improvement is noted. – Mary Straus
Antifreeze Becomes Safer (Finally) Manufacturers agree to add bittering agent to deter pets from ingesting antifreeze.
On December 13, 2012, the Consumer Specialty Products Association (CSPA) and the Humane Society Legislative Fund jointly announced that all major marketers have agreed to voluntarily add a bitter flavoring agent to all antifreeze and engine coolant products manufactured for sale in the United States to deter animals and children from ingesting them. This is great news about a change that will save many lives.
Each year, up to 90,000 pets are poisoned by ingesting antifreeze that drips onto our garage floors and driveways, or is left in open containers. Antifreeze has a sweet taste that makes it attractive to pets, livestock, wildlife, and small children. As little as one teaspoon of antifreeze can kill the average cat. The minimum lethal dose in dogs is about 2 ml (less than half a teaspoon) per pound of body weight.
Most antifreeze products are 95 percent ethylene glycol, a potent alcohol that is readily absorbed once it is ingested. Its effects start with alcohol toxicity to the central nervous system, beginning as soon as 30 minutes after ingestion and lasting up to 12 hours. Signs may include ataxia (loss of balance), disorientation, and appearing “drunk.” You may also notice increased drinking and urination. The pet may seem to recover within a few hours, only to get worse again with possible coma or seizures. If the pet survives, the next stage involves cardiopulmonary effects due to severe acidosis and electrolyte disturbances. These generally occur 12 to 24 hours after ingestion and may include rapid breathing and heart rate, depression, seizures, and/or pulmonary edema. Within 24 to 72 hours, the pet goes into kidney failure due to damage caused by calcium oxalate crystals from the breakdown of ethylene glycol in the body. Early veterinary care is essential to survival; failure to properly treat within the first several hours may lead to irreversible damage or death.
Some newer antifreeze products use 50 percent or more propylene glycol in place of ethylene glycol, making them safer than older products, but propylene glycol can still cause alcohol poisoning. Doses of more than 10 ml/kg (about 1 teaspoon per pound of body weight) are considered potentially toxic to dogs.
Seventeen states have passed legislation requiring antifreeze manufacturers to add a bittering agent to their products that makes them unpalatable to animals and children. Federal legislation had been introduced but did not progress. Denatonium benzoate, the bittering agent used, is a common ingredient in many household products and has been used in anti-nail biting formulas for decades.
Although the change takes place immediately, older products already on shelves and in cars will still be around for awhile, so continue to exercise caution regarding the products you use in your own vehicles, and to minimize exposure your pets may have to these substances. – Mary Straus
Purchasing prescription medicines for your dog from your veterinarian is definitely convenient and often necessary from a health standpoint (for example, when your pet urgently needs the drug), but it is usually the more expensive option. The mark-up at veterinary offices usually starts at 100 percent over wholesale prices but it can be 1,000 percent in some cases!
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In defense of veterinary offices, keeping a fully stocked and up-to-date pharmacy is usually not cost-effective. Small practices in particular can’t keep the myriad of medications that might need to be prescribed and used before their expiration dates. Dedicated pharmacies have a higher turnover, receive volume discounts, and thus tend to be less expensive.
My cost-conscious veterinarians are happy to call in my dog’s prescriptions to a pharmacy of my choosing or to provide me with a written prescription; many veterinarians are. To make this a standard of care, the “Fairness to Pet Owners Act” was introduced to Congress in April 2011. The bill would have required vets to provide a written prescription for any recommended medications and to notify clients of the option to have the prescription filled elsewhere. The bill died in committee at the end of 2012, but it will likely be reintroduced. The good news is that many veterinarians already follow the American Veterinary Medical Association’s Code of Ethics, which states that vets should honor a client’s request to have medications prescribed to a pharmacy.
Many of our pets’ prescription medications are the same as those prescribed to humans, and are available at on-line pharmacies, big box stores, chain drugstores, supermarket pharmacies, and specialty pharmacies. What few people seem to know is that almost all of these dispensaries offer some type of discount program for pet medications. An overview of some of the prevalent pet medication saving programs is listed below; new programs are showing up every day, so inquire at your favorite pharmacy for additional incentives.
The American Automobile Association (AAA) offers AAA Prescription Savings. This program is free with membership and covers all members of the household including pets. The discount applies to many of the medications that are also prescribed to humans at an average savings of 24 percent off the pharmacy’s regular retail prices; savings on generics can be even more.
To receive the discount, simply present your AAA card to any participating retail pharmacy. There are more than 59,000 participating pharmacies nationwide (including CVS); to find one near you, visit AAA.com/prescriptions or call (866) AAA-SAVE.
Costco dispenses nearly 100 commonly used prescription drugs for pets, and claims that it has prices lower than those charged by most veterinarians or on-line pet medication suppliers. Costco pharmacies are open to the public; you don’t need to be a member to buy prescriptions there. However, if you are a member, your pets qualify for the no-fee Costco Membership Prescription Program (because they are not covered by your medical insurance, they are considered uninsured and thus eligible). This plan offers specially reduced pricing on select medications, both brand-name and generic. The amount of savings per drug can vary, but usually ranges between 2 and 3 percent.
The Walgreens Prescription Savings Club provides for discounts off the cash price of brand name and generic pet medications (human-equivalents only). Pets can be enrolled as individuals ($25 annual fee) or as part of a family membership ($35 annual fee); if your savings for the year don’t reach the cost of your membership, the difference is refunded. To include your pet as part of a family membership, simply add the pet’s name to your list of dependents.
Target has recently expanded the scope of its pharmacies and has started offering animal-specific medications under its PetRX program. Check out its list of common pet medications, from Alprazolam to Xalatan, at target.com/pharmacy/petrx-dog-medications-alphabetic. This list is not all-inclusive, so call if you don’t see your pet’s medication. Covered generic drugs at commonly prescribed dosages cost $4 for a 30-day supply; a 90-day supply usually runs $10 (may be priced differently in some states).
Kroger Pharmacies has a program similar to Target’s, also with hundreds of pet medications available – including animal-specific drugs – and offers similar $4 and $10 generic supplies. They also offer price matching and sometimes accept special orders.
Many municipalities, including some counties, cities, and organizations, offer prescription discount cards (most of these are administered by CVS Caremark Inc., the largest pharmacy healthcare provider in the US). Major pharmacies accept these cards, which cover both people and pets. There are usually no forms to complete, no age or income requirements, and no restrictions on how may times the cards can be used. They are easily obtained through the organizations mentioned or can be printed from on the many on-line resources such as RxSavingsPlus. Savings through these types of programs tend to range between 13 to 34 percent, depending on the medication.
Be a savvy consumer and check with the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy to ensure you are dealing with a reputable pharmacy before making any purchase. This regulatory board provides a list of accredited veterinarian on-line pharmacies (see http://nabp.net/programs/accredication/vet-vipps/find-a-vet-vipps-online-pharmacy); there are currently 19 on this list. This accreditation means that their licenses have been verified and they comply with all NABP criteria (license and policy maintenance, patient/client information, communication, storage, shipment, and quality improvement programs).
I’ve had great experiences with on-line pharmacies. Most not only offer price-matching, but also guarantee 100 percent satisfaction. Once, I was beyond satisfied when I called to see if there was any chance of returning the $335 worth of antibiotics that had been prescribed for my dog – before we found out that the antibiotic wasn’t effective against my dog’s particular bacteria; the pharmacy actually issued a credit to me immediately – wow! I returned the antibiotics (which can’t be resold, making the credit very noble indeed).
Many on-line pharmacies offer price-matching, so search for the lowest price and then call to place your order and mention the lower price and where you saw it. Don’t forget to factor in shipping and handling costs if ordering on-line or from a non-local source.
A few more considerations At times the recommended dosage for your pet may not be available as a standard dosage. Some medications can be purchased in higher dosages and then the pills split to the approximate dosage. This approach can result in a substantial cost savings, but this strategy is not always possible or appropriate. Medications that are enteric-coated or have sustained release formulations are not generally suitable for splitting prior to administration. Capsules can’t be cut, as their contents can’t be properly divided or contained after opening. Another consideration is the stability of the medication when exposed to air; many decompose rapidly when exposed to air and/or moisture. Always check with your vet to confirm whether your pet’s medication is appropriate for splitting.
If your pet needs a specially formulated or compounded medication, shop around, as costs can vary even from one specialty pharmacy to another. After checking that a pharmacy is licensed by the state board in which it operates (again check the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy), call and ask for quotes. Even with shipping costs, there can be substantial price differences.
When one of my dogs was going through treatment for cancer, she was prescribed the medication piroxicam, which needed to be compounded for her based on her weight. The first prescription of this I had filled for her was done for ease and timeliness; it had been called into a compounding pharmacy that her veterinarian had recommended but it was over an hour away. A 30-day supply was prepared and shipped to me at a cost of $51; when I realized that my dog was going to be on this drug for a long time, I located a recommended compounding pharmacy closer to home. I was happy to receive a 60-day supply (twice the amount) for $56.
There are some medications that are available only from a veterinarian or a veterinary pharmacy. When this occurs and your pet will be on the medication for a prolonged period, ask about getting larger quantities, as the price per unit can decrease with quantity.
It’s important to discuss any potential side effects with your veterinarian before you get your medications elsewhere. Human pharmacists aren’t usually trained to know the specific effects the medication can have on animals, most have no training for veterinary drugs, interaction with other drugs, or the appropriate dosages for pets. Ask your veterinarian whether generic drugs are acceptable, as they are not recommended in some cases (for example, for treatment of hypothyroidism). No matter where you obtain your pet’s medications, always confirm that what you have received are the exact same medications and dosages as your veterinarian has recommended.
Barbara Dobbins is a San Francisco Bay Area dog trainer on hiatus.
In 1985, upon publication of Don’t Shoot the Dog!:The New Art of Teaching and Training, written by the now-famous proponent of canine clicker training, Karen Pryor, some people were confused. Was it actually a dog training book? Because it talked an awful lot about changing the behavior of humans!
Karen Pryor’s books describe why and how positive reinforcement works so well to improve the behavior of any animal species. Her experiences with marine and land mammals, as well as fish, birds, and even crustaceans, are engaging and legion.
Today, Don’t Shoot the Dog! is considered a ground-breaking text. The book helped revolutionize dog training, influenced untold numbers of dog owners and trainers to change their training methods, and helped its author develop a stellar reputation in the dog world. Not bad for a book that wasn’t written solely about dog training!
“This book is about how to train anyone – human or animal, young or old, oneself or others – to do anything that can and should be done.” That is the first sentence of the book’s Foreword. Pryor wrote Don’t Shoot the Dog! in order to share what she had learned about using operant conditioning to effectively, gently, and respectfully alter the behavior of those we share our lives with, whether they are human or nonhuman animals. The book contains many tactics for training dogs, but Pryor also explains how the techniques described in the book can be used to make bosses more courteous, children better-behaved, cats less destructive, horses more compliant, and mothers-in-law more pleasant – all through the use of well-timed positive reinforcement.
The first chapter alone succinctly and clearly explains what positive reinforcement is (and is not), and how it differs from negative reinforcement. Pryor describes how reinforcement (of both kinds) alters the behavior of people and other animals in a variety of common situations, and how every living animal can be influenced – in a force-free way – to voluntarily change its behavior. She explains both how to increase behaviors that you enjoy and appreciate, and how to eliminate behaviors that you don’t like – without shooting the dog, or other negative fallout.
Pryor didn’t originate the principles of operant conditioning and learning theory, but she has certainly thought deeply about them and put them to good and effective use, and she’s particularly gifted at explaining them in an engaging, relatable way. Her background and education have a lot do with that.
Personal History
Pryor was born in 1932. Her mother was an antiques dealer; her father was a prolific writer, authoring fiction (mostly science fiction), screenplays, syndicated newspaper columns, and more. In 1954, Karen graduated from Cornell University (where she majored in English but dabbled in biology, ornithology, botany, and entomology) and married Taylor “Tap” Pryor. Tap also graduated Cornell that year, and immediately joined the U.S. Marines; he served his final months in the military in Hawaii, and was discharged as a Captain in 1957.
The family stayed on Oahu, and Tap took graduate courses in marine biology at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. When she wasn’t taking care of their three young children, Karen also took graduate courses at the University. She followed in her father’s footsteps as an author, publishing her first book, Nursing Your Baby, in 1963. (Its fourth edition, still in print and highly praised, was revised and co-authored in 1985 with her daughter, Gale Pryor.)
1963 was also the year that Tap, by then a founding partner in Sea Life Park, an oceanarium and research facility on Oahu, asked for his wife’s help with a project at work that had gotten unexpectedly difficult: training dolphins for a dolphin show.
Years before, the scientific advisor at Sea Life Park had studied a bottlenose dolphin for early research on sonar, hiring a psychology graduate student to train the dolphin. The student, a fan of Harvard psychologist B.F. Skinner, trained the dolphin using Skinner’s theories of operant conditioning. Sea Life Park’s advisor asked the same student to write a manual on using operant conditioning to train dolphins for the Park, and the resulting manual was given to the Park’s new employees.
Karen Pryor works with her dog, Twitchett, using a target stick, clicker, and treats, of course! The happy, engaged expressions both trainer and trainee wear are both a goal and a side effect of training with positive reinforcement.
The problem was, the Park employees, hired to put the manual into effect with several species of wild dolphins caught in the waters just off Oahu, found the manual (as Karen describes in her 2009 book, Reaching the Animal Mind) “pretty impenetrable.” She writes, “Three months before the park was to open, there were 10 dolphins, two prospective show arenas, and no shows.” Karen, at least, had trained the family dog and a Welsh pony for her kids, then three, six, and seven. Plus, as the boss’s wife, she wouldn’t cost the as-yet-unopened business anything.
Pryor was quickly fascinated with the manual, operant conditioning, and the dolphins. She employed the techniques and her own good judgment to immediate positive effect with the dolphins, and (to make a fascinating story short) the dolphin shows opened on schedule.
Karen and her daughter Gale in a Sea life Park pool with Haole, a spinner dolphin.
Over the next nine years, Karen continued to work part-time with the trainers and marine mammals at Sea Life Park, as well as kids, ponies, and dogs at home. She also used random opportunities at the park to work any other animal she happened to come across in the research center – such as a tiny octopus and a damselfish – just to see if she could train these species with positive reinforcement, too (she could).
The Pryors divorced in 1972, and Karen left Sea Life Park. She wrote a book, Lads Before the Wind (the title was borrowed from Herman Melville, describing dolphins) recounting her incredible encounters and work with marine mammals (both at the park and those she had in the open ocean while working with marine biologists). The book also explained everything she had learned about training, and Pryor hoped that others would do as she had done: extrapolate how animal training methods could be used to positively influence the behavior of any animal, nonhuman or human – “No more choke chains or yelling at kids,” as she told an interviewer. The book was published in 1975, but was only modestly received, and generally regarded as an animal adventure story of some kind.
Pryor kept thinking about the potential for using operant conditioning in everyday life. She began to organize her thoughts into another book, which was published in 1985 as Don’t Shoot the Dog! It was a watershed event, because the book succinctly clarified the basic tenets of animal behavior and made the prospect of animal training seem not only possible, but also simple.
Versatile theories
After publication of Don’t Shoot the Dog!, Pryor began getting speaking requests from the three disparate groups who were most interested in training and animal behavior: dog trainers, marine mammal scientists, and corporate trainers. Pryor’s interest in behavior and connections with all three communities have provided her with a variety of jobs, public service, and continuing education ever since.
For example, Pryor has conducted research for the tuna industry, to learn how best to prevent incidental dolphin kills while tuna fishing. In the 1980s, she served on the Marine Mammal Commission. In 2004, she was elected to the Board of Directors of the B.F. Skinner Foundation, which publishes significant literary and scientific works in behavior analysis. She is a popular speaker (her speaking requests have increased since the publication of her latest book, Reaching the Animal Mind, in 2009); for instance, she gave the keynote address to the Southwestern Psychological Association in 2010, the same year she gave a seminar at Harvard’s Brain Research Institute.
But perhaps most significant to WDJ’s readers are her many contributions to the evolution of dog training.
Pryor founded Sunshine Books, Inc., in 1998, focusing on publishing and selling books and videos on operant conditioning and positive reinforcement; in 2002, the company was rebranded as Karen Pryor Clickertraining (KPCT). In 2003, KPCT launched ClickerExpo, a training conference presented twice a year, featuring some of the most progressive trainers in the country. Faculty members include carefully chosen, well educated trainers who possess deep experience with operant conditioning, such as Kathy Sdao, Ken Ramirez, Emma Parsons, Kay Laurence, Cecilie Koste, Michele Pouliot, and many more.
2007 saw the launch of the Karen Pryor Academy, “committed to educating, certifying, and promoting the next generation of dog trainers.” Graduates of the Academy are called “KPA Certified Training Partners (KPA CTPs)” – and to date, there are more than 500 of these graduates.
But Pryor has not abandoned her interest in using operant conditioning and positive reinforcement for “training” humans. In 2004, Pryor helped found TAGteach International, LLC, to develop and promote a clicker training-based teaching system (TAGteach™) for humans. (TAG stands for Teaching with Acoustical Guidance.) TAGteach has been used successfully to teach competitive gymnasts, competitive dancers, and Special Olympians; “TAGteachers” have used the TAG protocols to teach everything from physical rehabilitation to team sports.
Karen Pryor gives the opening talk at ClickerExpo, a twice-annual training conference (now in its tenth year).
Click On
In January, I had the privilege of interviewing Pryor at the most recent ClickerExpo, now in its 10th year. Pryor plans and hosts the ClickerExpo events and addresses the attendees on the event’s opening morning and in teaching sessions. At 80 years of age, one might expect Pryor to rest on her laurels, simply enjoying the development of the training methods she has promoted for so long. But as I learned, Pryor is still working very hard, collaborating with friends and colleagues all over the world, and continuing to monitor and study the work of other like-minded behavior analysts.
WDJ: I have to ask you to address the criticism that I hear the most about positive reinforcement-based training: “It’s all right for tricks, but what about real world training problems?”
Pryor: By which they mean that they wish you would address more things that they can’t figure out how to interrupt or stop. Real world training includes teaching my dog to do anything that is possible to teach. But most of the time, people who are hung up on this question really just mean stopping or interrupting unwanted behaviors.
WDJ: I often wonder if they don’t actually mean, “Please give me justification for the time I came unglued and hit my dog! Please tell me that this is okay!”
Pryor: Of course! And I’m full of sympathy for them. I said this morning in my talk, that I used to get impatient with my dog, too, when he was reluctant to get in the car and was taking forever to decide whether to get in. Sometimes I’d get impatient and bam, I’d just toss him in. Not to punish him, just to get going – but for him, it was very aversive. More importantly, it didn’t improve anything!
You do have to stop behavior sometimes. But that’s not a teaching moment for the animal – although it could be one for you. Is there some other way? How can you prevent the same situation in the future? People need to keep in mind that punishment rarely makes a bit of difference; what the animal learns is just that they ought to stay away for you! It’s bad for the relationship.
Fortunately, there are many other techniques to overcome all those things that you don’t want to happen, from eyeing the cheese on the coffee table to terrible aggression in the street.
Pryor and one of her pupils at Sea Life Park in the 1960s.
WDJ: Our Training Editor, Pat Miller, was a very early adopter of dog-friendly methods, and she has helped guide WDJ toward the most effective, progressive dog-friendly training. But not all dog owners are fans of these techniques. Do you get exposed to much opposition or criticism of clicker training?
Pryor: There was a little of that, maybe 10 years ago. There were people who said, “Gee whiz, I can’t give up the tools I’ve already got, so I’m going to use both” – what people called “balanced training.” But what we see now is, in general, awareness on a level that we never expected. More and more we see an amazing level of understanding of and commitment to dog-friendly training in the general public.
In general, we don’t suggest that our trainers get into arguments over training. There are plenty of people who want to use these techniques, so why would you waste your time on people who don’t want to change?
And usually, when we see people who say, “That stuff didn’t work for me,” it’s because they didn’t know how to do it right or where to begin. So we continue to work hard to find the best ways to teach owners how to make good, fast, efficient, and easy use of conditioned reinforcers to get the behavior they want with their puppies and dogs – bing, bing, bing.
Historically, perhaps there has been too much explanation. We have learned to start teaching people the little mechanical skills that will make a big difference to their success, such as carefully watching their dogs (in order to identify rewardable behaviors), and keeping their treat hands still. You have to teach people a new skill bit by bit; you can’t expect them to be ballet dancers from the start. We’ve learned to break down the process more and more, just as we do for the dogs. So we now have more effective ways of getting people into it. Very often they got stuck because they knew just a little bit, or some of what they learned was wrong.
The good news is that positive reinforcement or “clicker training” has become exponentially better understood and accepted. And I think ClickerExpo and the Karen Pryor Academy have helped, by training people to teach with the same technology, and to have them out there teaching all over the world.
WDJ: That’s so great. Do you consider this as the culmination of your life’s work? To pass the torch to so many trainers?
Pryor: Well, it is great. But I have to say that the dogs are just one part of what I do. I was really aiming at parents, and society, when I first wrote Don’t Shoot the Dog! It’s not about dogs at all – though dogs have been a gateway animal (laughs). I’m happy with the progress in this area, but I’m not through yet. We haven’t gotten yet to the school systems, or the prisons, the medical profession, the researchers in the labs. . . .
It’s not just about being nice to other beings; it’s about how to be more efficient in getting the behavior you want, whatever that might be. We are often so inefficient – and inadvertently unkind. The school system, as just one example, is full of built-in unpleasant things for the children, making things punitive rather than reinforcing what they are trying to learn. . . .
WDJ: What percentage of your time these days is spent with dog training and how much with your other work?
Pryor: I don’t do much hands-on teaching anymore. I am more interested in seeing the community grow, especially the portion of the community that works with humans, such as TAGteach.
The comparable work with teaching humans, I’d say, is about 10 years behind the dog training – though it’s spreading. I spend a lot of time interacting with behavior analysts – people from the branch of psychology that is interested in this kind of learning.
WDJ: How many children and grandchildren do you have? Are any of them involved in this kind of work?
Pryor: I have three children and seven grandchildren. And none of them are directly involved in a career with behavior. One son is a builder and an artist. His wife is a special needs teacher, though, and she and I enjoy spending time talking about this stuff. I recently visited them; they have an 11-year-old who is good at training their family dogs, so we had some fun with that.
My daughter is a writer and an editor, married to an architect, and she does a lot of work with nonprofits; right now it’s a hospital in Uganda. She is quite a good trainer, though! My oldest son is a banker, and he and his wife run an executive placement company. I would say he’s the least infected (laughs). So, no, none of my kids are in this line of work exactly, but they are all great parents, really thoughtful, kind, attentive, and realistic, and I think it comes from being exposed to this.
Still communicating with and learning from animals in 2013.
WDJ: My son was five when I got this job, and he’s almost 21 now. I feel like WDJ and he grew up together; what I learned about dog training dove-tailed with how I wanted to raise and educate him. He’s always had to model for the magazine, and learned a lot about dog training in the process, he’s a terrific dog trainer! And now he’s working with kids in a part-time job; he’s a junior in college. But when I observed him at his job as a camp counselor last summer, I was amused to hear him speaking to one child like a dog trainer might: “Sam, sit! Sam, stay here.” He defended the tactic, though; he told me that he learned with that kid that if he used too many words, the kid couldn’t really hear him!
Pryor: That’s wonderful! In TAGteach, they have learned that you have to keep it down to five words or less! It doesn’t matter whether it’s a person or an animal. If you are using more than five words to make the “TAG point,” you lose the student.
WDJ: You seem to have a lot of great people carrying the flag of this work, both with animals and humans.
Clicking with someone everywhere she goes!
Pryor: Thanks! I do have a great staff. That’s not an accident and that’s not easy. My business partner, Aaron Clayton, has done a great job, and between us we’ve tried hard to find the right people. And the people who are coming into the dog trainer professional course – they are amazing! They are already professionals, they are trainers, they are psychologists; we’ve got PhDs going through the course! They usually have a dog-related reason to take it, and they are wonderful, creative, intelligent, professional people. And it’s a positive company, so everybody gets along well.
WDJ: That’s important to maintain. I often hear people allege that some so-called positive trainers can be very negative. . . .
Pryor: That’s a sign that someone hasn’t fully gotten the message, because learning to use positive reinforcement with a goldfish or a horse or a kid in your class is one thing, but failing to generalize it to your life means you haven’t yet gotten that far! If you’re still grumpy and complaining and suffering and yelling and whining about your life and everything in it, you haven’t learned enough yet.
WDJ: While reading your books, it strikes me again and again how these methods are so very respectful . . . .
Pryor: Yes. That’s a beautiful word.
WDJ: It’s clear how much respect that you have for the intelligence of every species you work with, and lovely to see how you don’t presume anything – you don’t seem to have expectations of the animal ahead of time, but just seem to start working with the goal of communicating with the animal.
Pryor: I think you used a very important word: expectations. We don’t have them. Instead, let’s see what happens.
I have a friend who is a psychologist/behavior analyst who works with special needs kids, and is married to a dolphin trainer. He told me once that it took him a while to realize that the overwhelming difference between them was that when his wife steps up to the dolphin pool, she has no expectations. If she gets the behavior, great. If she doesn’t get the behavior, she changes strategy. Whereas with kids, there is that perpetual leaning on them, which doesn’t help. It’s freeing to enter into a conversation with another being without expectations, and it helps in relationships, too. It helps you see the difference between what is really happening and what you thought ought to be happening.
WDJ: Speaking of relationships, why do think people seem to expect their dogs to understand what is said to them?
Pryor: I think it’s all what we call superstitious behavior; if the dog acts like he understands sometimes, then he’s expected to behave as if he understood all the time. Also, many people are completely ignorant of natural dog behavior.
WDJ: It just seems to me that people try so much more with a dog than they would ever do with another species. Why are people so comfortable physically manipulating them? I mean, no one would walk up to a zebra or an elephant and try to push its bottom onto the ground or yell “Sit! Sit! Sit!”
Pryor: (Laughing) Actually, they do! There is conventional elephant training, too, where the elephants are hit if they don’t “obey!” Well, I know what you mean. Dogs are so extremely domesticated, they put up with an awful lot from us. They tolerate almost anything we do to them, more than almost any other animals.
WDJ: The most common justifications I hear are, “If we don’t get through to this dog, he’s going to be put to sleep! And this positive stuff takes too long!”
Pryor: Again, that’s because they really don’t know how to do it. Training with positive reinforcement is actually a lot faster. It’s simple but it’s not easy. If someone doesn’t have the tools, they tend to fall back on punishment when their poorly executed positive reinforcement doesn’t work. And when you fall back on corrections, you lose the animal’s cooperation; he becomes merely compliant. An animal who gets punished will stop trying to learn, and will just try to stay out of trouble; that slows things down to zero. And that can be the reason why people complain that these methods are too slow.
WDJ: More than anything, I love the moment when a dog suddenly understands the training game and realizes that he knows how to figure out what will earn him a reward. The dog often looks so engaged and happy, as if he’s thinking, “At last! A human who makes sense!”
Pryor: I agree. For many dogs, the human world is a completely confusing, arbitrary place, but then suddenly they can control something. It’s a great moment for them, and obviously very gratifying.
WDJ: How long do you want to keep doing this? Do you anticipate retiring at some point? Is the work fulfilling enough to just keep going and going?
Celebrating her 80th birthday at ClickerExpo in May 2012.
Pryor: Well, I’m an artist and a scientist. And this is my art and my science. So why would I stop? I have already stepped back from teaching, from the company’s day-to-day operations. I think I have another book to write. I just accepted an invitation to go to China for a month in 2014. I travel a lot with my family.
It’s not a question of slowing down, but of rearranging my priorities. I’ve been getting a lot more attention from the scientific community than I’ve had for a long time, thanks to the 2009 book, Reaching the Animal Mind. That brings me speaking invitations I like to follow up on, though I can set my own pace. I don’t plan to stop, but I might change the emphasis a little bit. There is still a lot of work to do.
Years ago, I had high hopes for participating in dock diving sport with my now-9-year-old dog, Woody. But it turned out that my high-jumping, strong-swimming dog absolutely hates getting water in his ears!
