We hear about a lot of amazing people who are doing great deeds for and with dogs – people involved with rescuing and fostering dogs, search and rescue, training service or therapy dogs, etc. We also know that dog lovers are asked, frequently, to donate money to these and many other animal-oriented good causes. But because our primary mission is to provide our readers with information they can use to benefit their own dogs, we don’t often highlight these admirable canine-oriented social services in the pages of Whole Dog Journal.
We’re making an exception for the Pet Fund, largely because it’s possible (but we hope it doesn’t happen) that the organization could provide you or someone you know with a lifesaving service someday.
Saving lives In its simplest description, the Pet Fund pays for urgent veterinary care for pets whose owners cannot afford it.
The people behind the Pet Fund deplore the fact that dogs (and other pets) are sometimes euthanized, relinquished to shelters, or suffer without medical care because their owners cannot afford expensive surgery or emergency vet visits. Pet insurance programs are available, but often even these programs cannot cover the total cost of necessary medical care. The Pet Fund can, for a limited number of qualified owners, step in and make a huge difference, sometimes with only a modest grant.
Here’s how it works. Either a participating veterinarian or an individual contacts the Pet Fund. The veterinarian discusses her diagnosis, prognosis, and recommended treatment of the animal needing assistance with a Pet Fund staff member. Depending on the level of funding available and the urgency of the needed treatment, the Pet Fund staff decides whether or not to fund the animal’s care, based on several factors.
The decision is based on the stated financial need of the owner, the opinion of the treating vet as to the medical necessity and urgency of the treatment needed, and the demonstrated capability of the animal owners to be responsible for their animals.
According to Karen Leslie, Executive Director of the Pet Fund, “The owner’s responsibility is crucial, since we will not fund treatment for animals whose owners do not seem to be able to care for the animals’ basic needs now or in the future. One of the greatest benefits of the Pet Fund is keeping animals out of shelters, so giving funds to irresponsible owners would not accomplish this goal. There is a significant difference between pet owners who are responsible but have incurred financial difficulties and irresponsible owners who view their animals as objects and unnecessary expenses.”
If the funding needed for a particular course of treatment is available and approved after the consultation with the veterinarian, the Pet Fund staff informs the vet of the level of funding that will be granted. (Funds are dispersed only to treating veterinarians, never to individuals.) The most urgent cases are funded first, with other less urgent requests put on a waiting list for available funding.
The people behind the Pet Fund are clear that its intent is not to grant funds for any “heroic” lifesaving measures which would cause unnecessary suffering to animals, nor to fund basic medical care, such as vaccinations, spay and neuter surgeries, or routine veterinary care. “We feel it is the responsibility of all pet owners to budget for these expenses,” says Leslie. “The Pet Fund can best serve in urgent situations where serious medical treatment is needed beyond routine care.”
Other goals Recognizing that preventive care could help many pet owners avoid many future medical problems for their companion animals, the Pet Fund provides information about available products, services, and healthy pet practices on its Web site. Information about pet insurance plans and financial services (such as savings plans and debt counseling agencies) is also made available to interested pet owners.
“If we do not provide a way for the pet owner to develop financial freedom, we have not totally remedied the situation or accomplished our goal,” says Leslie. “It’s a large part of our objective to ensure that our clients provide a more secure future for their companion animals by developing their resources in order to become independent and stable. The Pet Fund therefore truly benefits both animals and people.”
At this point, most of the Pet Fund’s grants fall into the $500 range, making up the difference between the cost of an animal’s treatment and what each client is able to pay. The grants have provided assistance to hundreds of companion animal owners; we think helping the Pet Fund reach its goal of helping thousands of animals is a great idea.
“Is he something special, or just a mutt?” the man asked, as I passed him on the trail. Trigger, my 65-pound Australian Shepherd mix stood beside me with tail wagging, ready, as always, to meet this inquisitive stranger with the blunt question of parentage.
As one of the first people to hike in a national park with a service dog, I was very aware that Trigger and I had the responsibility to set a good example and to educate people about service dogs in national parks. Often when we stepped off the trail for a break or to let people pass, we got questions and I always took the time to answer them as accurately as possible. A lot of questions were about service dogs:
• What kind of service does he perform? (This, as he stands there wearing a pack!)
• Did he go to service dog school?
• Where do you get a pack dog?
While many dogs are trained by professionals and there are schools for the most common functions that dogs perform (such as guide and sound alert), many more dogs are trained by owners to perform the services necessary to meet their own specific needs. When I adopted Trigger I didn’t know he was to become my service/pack dog. But as our relationship developed and his training progressed, I also learned that I qualified under the Americans With Disabilities Act to declare him as my service/pack dog. This made it possible for me to take him into national parks and other places where dogs as pets are not allowed.
Defining Disabled
If you hike with a service dog, one personal question that you should be prepared to deal with is obvious: Why do you need a service dog? The details and nature of your response may depend on who is asking and why.
Many people do not understand how an individual can hike five or six miles over mountainous terrain and be disabled. When I meet people in high mountain camps or on the trail, I tell them about the ADA, which mandates a much more user-friendly (though relatively untested) definition of disability than that of the federal government for a Social Security disability grant. The ADA uses the terms “restriction,” “limitation,” and “impairment” all interchangeably with the word “disabled.”
I have hiked and backpacked all my life, but I am now substantially limited in what I can carry. The purpose of the ADA is to ensure that people with limitations are not denied full and equal enjoyment of the “goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations” offered by a place of public service. While the ADA does not require you to show proof of your restriction, I inform park superintendents that I qualify under the ADA for pack-carrying assistance, so they can notify their rangers of this policy exception.
Enhancing the Outdoor Experience for You and Your Dog
If you are an experienced outdoor person and you have a sturdy, well-behaved dog, he has the potential to be of substantial help to you. I used to backpack, but now I am retired, and only able to continue hiking with pack-carrying assistance. Now I like to hike between established camps where meals and primitive shelter are provided.
Well before each trip, Trigger and I start to condition ourselves to carry more weight and hike farther. The maximum pack weight recommended for a dog is 25 percent of its body weight, but that doesn’t mean that every dog will carry that much. Trigger weighs a slender 65 to 70 pounds, but he doesn’t want to carry 15 pounds. He willingly carries about 13 pounds after several months of gradual conditioning. Most of the time, Trigger only carries about seven or eight pounds on a day trip in the winter, and less in the summer. Trigger carries all the water we drink in a day, so his load lightens as we travel.
Some people think that dogs should be banned from public land because they may jump on people, bark at or chase animals, and are generally disruptive or incompatible with nature. I have to agree that I have seen my share of dogs who are out of bounds and out of control, but contrary to what people may think, a well-trained dog is neither disruptive nor incompatible with nature. Animals aren’t any more afraid of a dog than they are of a person, unless they are being stalked or chased.
Trail training would not be complete without careful desensitization to lots of distractions – people, other dogs, bicycles, horses, and mules. I attended canine agility meets and horse shows at fairgrounds, to give him exposure and training to reinforce his steady behavior around livestock and in distracting environments.
Early in his training, when Trigger was tempted to chase a squirrel, I used a long distance “sit” in place rather than a recall to keep him from chasing anything that he saw. Better to use an immobilizing command, such as “sit” or “down” than an active behavior such as “come!” when his predatory reflexes are tempted. I used a dragline for backup to have him sit in place. Then he could be rewarded for a steady response.
One afternoon in the campground on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon Trigger appeared to be asleep. Then all of a sudden he was on his feet with his eyes riveted on a tree. Clinging to the opposite side of the tree was a Kaibab squirrel peeking around the tree trunk at him.
The squirrel could certainly have run away or climbed the tree if he wanted to. Trigger could have barked and scared him away. But it was as if time was suspended as two very alert and curious animals contemplated each other. The squirrel was focusing all of his attention on Trigger; and I had the extended opportunity to observe a friendly natural encounter. Trigger is always pointing things out to me, and it’s fun to see nature through the eyes of a dog.
There was one animal that we were instructed to avoid: the pack mule.
Over the years, mules have become a part of the wilderness experience. Visitors have come to depend on them as a means of transportation, and park staff depend on them as beasts of burden. They are essential for getting food and supplies up to the high camps. The mules are steady and dependable for what they do. The problem is, most of them have never seen dogs.
When hiking in the Grand Canyon, I was instructed to get Trigger off the trail and hide him when I saw mules coming. Once, when we saw the mules coming there was no place for both of us to get off the trail. The only possible place for him to go was down into a steep ravine between two legs of a tight switchback. I couldn’t go down there with him, but I tied his leash to his pack and sent him down, putting him on a “down stay” with a hand signal. The mules, not more than 10 feet above, surrounded him as they made their way around the switchback. He didn’t move until I called him up.
Future of Dog Packing
Is there a future for dog packing in the national parks? There could be, if people traveling with dogs in national parks show consideration and respect for other visitors. At this time, only dogs performing a needed function to compensate for a physical (or mental) limitation of its handler can accompany its person on trails in national parks.
If there were an organization to promote dog packing, could the members reach consensus on what they want? What is their part of the bargain? What kind of privileges would they like to earn? Hiking with a dog (as a pet) in a national park should definitely be an earned privilege, not a right. Dog owners need to take more responsibility for their dogs’ supervision and control, especially in high-use areas.
A lot of people would like to see some kind of special permit for those of us who hike with our dogs. But even so, dog packing under the ADA is a very controversial and contentious subject. Understandably, there is a serious concern that the open nature of the ADA will encourage abuse within it. Along with every right, there is the responsibility to act with respect and consideration for those we meet, and for those who are likely to be most impacted by one’s actions.
If dog owners want to access the back country of national parks, we have to actively educate ourselves and others about canine trail manners, and regulate dog packing so as to minimize the risk of losing what freedoms we still have. Many other users of public lands have organizations to promote their interests. Dog owners do not have any real national voice, but there are a lot of dog owners who would like to be considered as fair share users of public lands.
Last month, author Lexiann Grant discussed the benefits of touching for dogs and humans (“Pet the Dog“). I was graphically reminded of those benefits recently when our beloved 15-year-old Pomeranian, Dusty, succumbed to an ulcerated cornea and eventual rupture of his left eye. This is an extremely painful condition, and given his failing ability to use his hind legs, refusal to eat, and signs of obvious depression, we sadly opted for euthanasia.
We spent our last afternoon together sitting in the sun, on the grass lawn of our new farm in Maryland. As I stroked Dusty’s soft golden fur and massaged his limbs and frame, I could see the tension leave his small, frail body. His pain seemed to fade at my touching; he stretched out on the grass with a sigh, more relaxed than he had been since his eye ruptured three days earlier. I could feel my own tension lessen as well, as I savored what I knew were my last moments with this gallant little boy who had shown me that small dogs could be every bit as big in heart and mind as their larger brothers.
I’m grateful that our dogs enjoy being touched, and that we can share the gifts that such healing contact offers. But not all dogs like – or even tolerate – being touched. Fortunately, a dog’s negative association with touching can often be changed through the use of counter-conditioning and desensitization (CC&D).
Classical v. Operant Conditioning in Dog Training
A negative reaction to being touched is usually a classically conditioned response. With classical conditioning, the environment acts on the dog. That is, the dog’s brain contains a pre-programmed message that says, “Touch is BAD!” – and when the dog feels your touch he reacts, without stopping to think. The negative message could be a result of harsh handling and punishment, pain from a prior injury, or simply a lack of adequate handling and socialization when he was a pup.
This is very different from operant conditioning, where the dog acts on the environment. For example, if you say, “Sit!” the dog thinks, “Ah, I know what that means – if I put my bottom on the ground I might get a cookie!” and so he chooses to sit in order to make a good thing happen. When your dog reacts to your touch with distaste, perhaps even aggression, he’s not choosing to react that way, it just happens, thanks to that pre-programmed message in his brain.
The most effective and successful way to change your dog’s response to your touch is through counter-conditioning, which reprograms the message at a low level of stimulus that he can at least tolerate – perhaps briefly and softly touching his head. Then we use desensitization to help him accept the touching at gradually increasing levels of intensity – touching more of his body, or touching with more pressure, or for longer periods of time.
It’s almost magical to watch an effective CC&D program in progress. Some behavior changes I’ve seen as a result of this kind of behavior modification have been nothing short of miraculous, such as one family’s Chow mix and newly adopted Chow who wanted to tear each other to shreds, but became fast friends within three weeks when the owners implemented a CC&D program.
Reprogramming Touch Sensitivity in Dogs
Perhaps your dog will tolerate a light touch on the top of his head, and a gentle scratch under his chin, but he becomes very tense if you do more than that, and any efforts to touch his legs and feet or his hindquarters and tail elicit serious warnings about forthcoming aggression. You believe him, and wisely don’t press the issue, but that means even simple but necessary procedures such as nail trimmings and baths are stressful and potentially dangerous.
The first step in your program is to have a complete and thorough veterinary exam, and an adjunct visit to a chiropractor if indicated. Pain is a huge contributor to aggression – if he’s hurting, all the CC&D in the world won’t change his opinion of being touched – it hurts!
Of course, if the whole point is that your dog doesn’t tolerate being touched, how do make him submit to a vet exam before you work on the problem?
Unfortuntely, it’s a necessary evil, so spend a week (or a few weeks) acclimating your dog to a comfortable cloth muzzle. Lend muzzle-wearing a very positive association by pairing its presence and application with wonderful treats. Then muzzle him before the vet or vet tech begins to examine him, in order to keep everyone safe.
Ask your whether using a sedative would help make the experience less traumatic. You might also consider products such as herbal calming agents, Rescue Remedy, and DAP (Dog Appeasing Pheremones, sold as “Comfort Zone“).
With a clean bill of health, you’re ready to begin. You’ll need a large supply of absolutely scrumptious treats – canned chicken, rinsed and drained, is my favorite for CC&D purposes; most dogs totally love it. Pick a comfortable spot on a bed that your dog loves, or lay down a cushion or a soft thick blanket for the two of you to sit on. Attach a leash to your dog’s collar so you don’t have to grab to keep him with you.
The sequence of the next part is very important. You will touch your dog’s head first, very briefly – say for one second – then feed him a tiny bit of chicken. The touch must come first because you want him to understand that the touch makes the chicken happen. If you feed chicken first, then touch, he won’t make that connection.
Keep repeating this step until your touch causes him to look at you with a smiling face as if he’s saying, “Alright – you touched me. Yay! Where’s My Chicken?” You want the “Where’s My Chicken?” (WMC?) response to happen reliably several times in a row before you proceed to the next step.
Good job! You’ve accomplished the first tiny step on a long road; he thinks being touched softly and briefly on the head is a wonderful thing. Now you must decide whether to stop the session – ending on a high note – or continue on because you both are having a wonderful time and don’t want the session to end. If you’re unsure how much longer he will work with you, it’s better to stop sooner, while you’re ahead, than to push it too far and suffer a setback.
If you proceed, the next step might be to touch him on the head, still very gently, but for two seconds. You may lose the WMC? response at first as he adjusts to the increased time, but it will probably return quickly. Continue to increase the time, very gradually, so you don’t lose the progress you’ve made. As your touches get longer, feed him several treats in rapid succession while you are touching. Remember to stop the treats when the touch stops.
Be sure to end the session before one or both of you gets bored, tired, stressed, or frustrated. You can always do another session later that day or the next. If you sense that he’s getting restless, stop the session, feed him a few extra tidbits for being a wonderful boy, and release him with an “All done!” cue. Next time, stop a little sooner – you don’t even want him to think about getting restless.
Session #2 – Taking the Next Step
When you start up again with your next session, back up a little. If you ended with five-second gentle touches on your dog’s head, start with three-second touches. You’ll be able to progress more quickly back up to five seconds, but be sure to start within his comfort level and warm up to the place where you ended.
When he has a positive association with gentle touching up to perhaps 10 seconds, you can increase the intensity of a different stimulus – the amount of pressure. Each time you raise the bar for a new stimulus, lower it for the others – in this case you might go back to two or three seconds, with a slightly stronger pressure when you touch. Work to get that positive “Where’s My Chicken?” response with the new amount of pressure at each length of time before you increase the time again.
When he’s responding happily to a moderate amount of touch pressure at 10-15 seconds, you can increase the intensity of the third stimulus in the touch package – the position of your hand. Up until now you’ve been touching him in his most accepting spot – the top of his head. Now you’re going to begin to move your hand to more sensitive places – again reducing the intensity of the other two stimuli – time and pressure.
Perhaps you’ll try ears first. Returning to a very gentle touch, stroke one ear for one to two seconds, then feed some chicken. Repeat this until you’re getting his WMC? response to the ear-stroking, then do the same with the other ear. Gradually increase the length of time you stroke each ear gently, and when you’re getting positive responses to 10-second ear stroking, it’s time to increase the pressure. Shorten your ear strokes back to one to three seconds, but stroke the ear a bit more firmly.
Remember to be very generous with your chicken bits, feeding a morsel or two every time you stroke the ear, and several morsels as the touches get longer. When he’s happy to have you stroke both ears firmly for 10-15 seconds or longer, you can move to a new spot.
Don’t forget to reduce the other stimuli each time you move to a new touching place. After the ears, you might run your hand down the back of his neck, gently and briefly. Treat! You should find that as you work toward various new spots around your dog’s legs and body, he’ll accept new touches more quickly in many places. Adjust your pace to his behavior. If he’s giving you WMC? responses very quickly, you can progress more rapidly in your program. If he seems slower to respond, you’re probably working on or near a very sensitive place, and you need to slow the program down. He’ll tell you how slowly or quickly you can progress. Listen to him. Attempts to force him to accept your touching will backfire, big-time.
Petting Sensitive Spots
Many dogs, even those who are comfortable being touched elsewhere, are tense about having their feet handled. Take extra care as you begin to move down his legs. A few extra days – or weeks – now will pay you jackpots in the long run, when you can finally clip his nails without a violent struggle. Spend lots of time massaging the areas where your dog has come to enjoy being touched, and occasionally work on the more sensitive spots. In addition to the chicken, soothing massage sends a very positive association to the message that you are reprogramming in his brain.
It’s critically important to avoid triggering the negative associations outside your CC&D sessions. If you forget about his sensitivities and grab him during a “real-life” moment you may set your program back. It won’t hurt to skip one or two nail-trimming sessions while you work to get him to accept foot-handling without a fight.
Make sure that others are aware of the importance of respecting your CC&D program too. There’s nothing like having a friend or family member think it’s funny to see your dog’s negative reaction when they play “grab your paws” – thereby undoing all the good work you’ve done. Grrrr! I’ve been known to banish human acquaintances from my household for less!
Factors for Ease of Touch Conditioning
How quickly you complete your CC&D program depends on several factors:
• Your dog’s age, and how long he has been displaying a negative response to being touched.
• The intensity of his negative association with touch.
• The cause of his sensitivity. Prior harsh handling is likely to be more difficult to overcome than lack of handling, since he has a negative association with the human presence as well as the sensitivity to touch itself.
• Status of physical contributors to the sensitivity. If your dog has a grass allergy that causes inflammation in his pads, for example, your constant struggle to reduce the discomfort in his feet will slow your CC&D progress.
• Your commitment to implementing the program on a daily basis. Several short sessions a day are generally more effective than one long daily session.
• Your skill at reading your dog’s comfort level and moving the program forward at an appropriate pace without triggering negative reactions.
Success!
The success rate for touch CC&D programs is high. Unlike modification programs for things like dog reactivity, where it’s difficult to control all the variables, you can manage the factors of a touch modification program with relative ease. Chances are good that even if you don’t achieve 100 percent positive association with touching every part of your dog’s body, you can accomplish a positive response for much of it, with agreeable acceptance for the highly sensitive parts.
Just ask our three-year-old Scottish Terrier. When we found him as a stray in Chattanooga as a six-month-old pup, his feet were raw and bloody, he had sores and scabs all over his body from a generalized dermatitis, and his ears were badly infected, all from a severe grass allergy – not uncommon to Scotties. He could barely tolerate being brushed, treating those infected ears was a real challenge, and touching his sore paws was out of the question.
Today, although he’s still a little sensitive about his paws, he adores being touched elsewhere – there’s nothing he loves more than lying on my lap, stretched out flat on his back for tummy rubs, and having the rest of his body brushed and massaged. We’re still working on feet – it was 18 months before I could clip all his nails in one sitting – and his first instinct is to pull away when I touch them – but then he relaxes and enjoys a little foot massage as well.
And for me – there’s nothing like a Scotty body in my lap to help ease the tensions of a busy day, and soften the grief of losing a beloved companion.
Pat Miller, CPDT, is WDJ‘s Training Editor. She is also author of The Power of Positive Dog Training, and Positive Perspectives: Love Your Dog, Train Your Dog.
• Use a glucosamine supplement early in your dog’s life to prevent osteoarthritis.
• For lower-cost products, buy supplements that contain only glucosamine; the other ingredients in a combination product are what drives the price up.
• Compare the price of products using the cost of a daily dose; some are more concentrated than others, so you feed less on a daily basis.
My Border Terrier, Dash, and I have been enthusiastic agility partners for about four years. It’s difficult to imagine anything more fun than stepping up to the start line at an agility trial and getting ready to rocket around the course with her! Of course, my friends who work with their dogs in flyball, herding, freestyle, obedience, earthdog, lure coursing, hunting, search and rescue, and more, all feel the same way about their dog activity (or activities) of choice.
It can take years to train a dog and to prepare his body for the physical challenges of competition in these sports. Once he’s ready to compete, the goal becomes preservation of his fitness and soundness (physical and mental), so that you both can enjoy your activities for as long as possible. Preventing injury and, as much as possible, the breakdown of structural integrity that accompanies advancing age is a huge challenge.
In recent years, one kind of nutritional supplement in particular has been embraced by competitive dog owners and veterinarians for its ability to meet that challenge. Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) are the most popular form of joint treatment for both dogs and people. GAGs are supplements – reproductions of chemicals found naturally in the body. Because glucosamine exists naturally in healthy joint cartilage, the idea behind taking a supplemental dose of glucosamine is that it will slow or reverse the destruction of cartilage as a body ages.
Glucosamine is the best known and most commonly used supplement for prevention of lameness due to osteoarthritis (a.k.a. degenerative joint disease) – a disorder of the joints characterized by progressive deterioration of the articular cartilage. It is currently offered in two forms: hydrochloride (HCI) and as a sulfate. Experts say both seem to perform equally well.
Your Dog’s Joints Health
For the active dog, mobility is all about the health of the cartilage that forms the protective cushion between a dog’s bones where they meet at the joint. Cartilage provides a spongy, watery pad where the shoulder, hip, knee, elbow, wrist, and other bones come together, acting as a shock absorber between the bones when they are in motion. Like a fluid pillow full of thick liquid wedged between the bones, cartilage consumes the force of the concussion generated during movement.
Cartilage does not have a blood supply; it relies on the motion of the joint to pump nutritive liquid in and out, pulling needed nourishment into the tissue. With age, cartilage can become drier, thinner, and less effective at cushioning the bones in the joint.
Joint problems occur when the rate at which joint cartilage degrades exceeds the rate at which the dog’s body replenishes it. When the supply of cartilage is inadequate for the needs of the joint, bone rubs against bone, inflaming the bone itself and the surrounding nerves, and producing pain and lack of mobility.
Cartilage is a very dynamic substance, constantly turning over and renewing itself, especially in young dogs. So, proper nourishment of the cartilage tissue is important at all stages of an active dog’s life, not just when visible signs of joint degeneration appear.
Many factors can contribute to the net loss of cartilage in a dog’s joints. Hip dysplasia (an improperly formed ball and socket joint in the hip) and osteochondrosis (poor structural integrity, sometimes due to poor breeding) top the list of hereditary conditions. Injuries to the joint as a result of a dislocation, torn ligaments, or even the trauma of surgery may cause cartilage deterioration. Bone “spurs,” or the excessive growth of bone material in the joint, inflame the joint and break down healthy cartilage. Inflammatory and degenerative joint diseases, like Lyme disease, can affect dogs of all ages. And of course, osteoarthritis – the slowly progressing erosion of cartilage due to age or excessive use of the joint – has become one of the most frequently diagnosed health problems in older and highly active mature dogs.
Athletic Dogs, Arthritic Dogs
Glucosamine supplementation for the arthritic dog is “an absolute must,” says Dr. Bessent. Unfortunately, when signs of joint disease become visible, some inherent damage, such as the accumulation of calcium deposits, has already occurred. Glucosamine does not cure joint disease by reversing existing damage. Rather, it constantly aids in the replenishment of cartilage that decreases irritation, inflammation, and pain.
Remember that nutritional supplements act more slowly than pharmaceutical pain relievers. It may take as long as 30 days to see marked improvements in your dog’s condition using glucosamine. And, just as it takes a while for your dog to improve, it also takes a while for the beneficial effects of glucosamine to fade once supplementation is discontinued. Don’t declare your dog cured because he seems much better even after missing a few days of glucosamine supplementation. Plan on a lifetime maintenance program.
I’m committed to the addition of glucosamine supplementation to my dogs’ diets, in concert with their bimonthly chiropractic adjustments and fresh food meals. I’m now more confident that I’m doing my best to successfully work against the effects of years of high-energy activities on my dogs’ mobility, and giving them every opportunity to stay at the top of their game for a long time.
Fight the onset of joint degradation in your active, high-energy dog by putting into practice the following:
■ Provide a daily glucosamine source beginning at 1-2 years old.
■ Provide regular chiropractic adjustments to maintain structural integrity.
■ Consider acupuncture, massage therapy, and other holistic practices, especially to support speedy recovery from slight to serious injuries.
■ Exercise your dog regularly to maintain range of motion.
■ Feed your dog a healthy diet filled with high quality nutrients.
The Arthritis Symptom-Relief Strategy
A conventional treatment for the discomfort of joint pain in dogs is the administration of pain-relieving non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), including aspirin, as well as Rimadyl, Deramaxx, and EtoGesic. These pharmaceuticals temporarily relieve pain but may also produce significant, unwanted side effects ranging from gastric upset and bleeding to liver damage and seizures. All of the NSAIDs have been plagued by reports of serious health problems resulting from their use. But they continue to find a following among veterinarians and dog owners who value their potent and fast-acting pain relief.
Unfortunately, many people do not understand that pain relief drugs may mask escalating joint problems. These products do nothing to heal or stabilize the joint’s destruction; as soon as the drugs are discontinued, the dog again experiences all of the discomfort associated with joint deterioration.
Your Role in Your Dog’s Joint Health
Joint cartilage contains an element called glucosamine, an essential building block of healthy cartilage tissue and a key ingredient in cartilage metabolism. A naturally occurring compound in many mammals’ bodies, glucosamine is composed of a sugar and an amino acid, which the body uses in the creation and repair of cartilage. Glucosamine molecules have low compressibility rates, which makes them excellent shock absorbers. These molecules also attract and hold water, which makes them great lubricants.
As joints degrade, a vicious cycle begins. When cartilage suffers damage, the joint area becomes inflamed, thereby releasing enzymes into the joint. These enzymes further break down the cartilage and thin the joint lubricating fluid. The absence of healthy cartilage and the thinning of protective joint fluids make joints more susceptible to injury over time. More injuries add to the cycle of joint deterioration.
A “nutraceutical” or nutritional supplement rather than a drug, glucosamine is extracted from shellfish shells (although there is also a corn-derived version on the market). Available in several chemical forms, including glucosamine hydrochloride and glucosamine sulfate, glucosamine helps to improve joint health by supplementing the nourishment of the cartilage with more glucosamine than the body produces itself.
Therefore, adding glucosamine in the form of supplementation essentially tips the balance in favor of the creation of healthy cartilage, and halts the cycle of net cartilage loss due to overuse, injury, or joint disease. The goal is to provide the tissue with plenty of the component the body uses to produce healthy cartilage cells that quickly replace damaged or lost cells. Glucosamine performs this work by creating an environment that supports cell formation and the thickening of joint fluids.
“Every active dog should be on a glucosamine source,” asserts Dr. Chris Bessent, a Wisconsin-based veterinarian specializing in natural treatment methods for performance horses and dogs. She explains that most athletic dogs have healthy joints that have not sustained damage yet. But, active dogs regularly “push the envelope,” causing some joint inflammation that can develop into early joint breakdown. Dr. Bessent refers to mature, athletic dogs that show the generalized, early signs of joint deterioration as “dogs running on four low tires.” Supplementing with glucosamine, she believes, “pumps up the tires” again.
Dr. Bessent recommends taking a proactive approach to joint maintenance and injury prevention starting when an athletic dog is one to two years old. This is a far-sighted approach that may not be appreciated by most dog owners, especially when they see the price tag on some glucosamine supplements.
Selling people on the value of preventive maintenance is difficult, unless they have had a dog with a promising competitive career cut short by osteoarthritis. This is the point at which most veterinarians will mention glucosamine to their clients, but much of the damage has already occurred. However, even in late-stage osteoarthritis, the supplement may improve matters enough to make it worthwhile.
Choosing a Good Arthritis Supplement for Your Dog
The pet supply marketplace overflows with all sorts of glucosamine supplements, many containing ingredients that reportedly enhance the positive effects of glucosamine. These supplements come in a variety of forms and dosages, and pricing runs all over the map. For example, a well-known supplement called “InflamAway”, which contains yucca and garlic in addition to glucosamine, has a suggested dose of one 1500mg tablet per 40 lbs. of body weight. This does not deliver 1500mg of glucosamine to your dog. A call to the company revealed one 1500mg tablet contains only 100mg of glucosamine. It is important to note here that GAGs are sold as “dietary supplements” rather than as medicines, and are not regulated by the FDA. This puts dosage and exact ingredient labelling up for discrepancies. Just about every pet supplement manufacturer offers at least one glucosamine product, so buyer beware!
Also, many manufacturers add “synergistic” ingredients to the supplement including vitamins C, D, and E; manganese; Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids; and herbs like yucca and alfalfa. Many supplements also contain chondroitin sulfate, which some medical professionals believe aids in holding fluids in the cartilage. Several manufacturers also offer chondroitin sulfate as a stand-alone product of equal importance to glucosamine.
Dr. Bessent has used both glucosamine and chondroitin in her practice for years, and has experienced “huge” clinical successes using glucosamine, and “some” clinical improvement using chondroitin. According to Dr. Bessent, the glucosamine molecules are smaller and probably have a better absorption rate than chondroitin.
Dr. Bessent says that the base product, glucosamine, is really inexpensive – a fact that won’t be apparent as you start shopping; many of the products on the market are quite expensive. However, the most expensive supplements tend to be the combination products. Shop around and chose reasonably priced combination products if you think the added ingredients are appropriate for your dog, but look for pure glucosamine if prevention of joint deterioration is your goal. “The glucosamine is the important part of the compound,” asserts Dr. Bessent.
Although, ironically, it’s no guarantee, make sure the manufacturer provides a “guaranteed analysis” of the amount of glucosamine in each dosage.
The results of tests of glucosamine and glucosamine-combination products conducted by ConsumerLab.com, a firm that provides independent test results and information to help consumers and healthcare professionals evaluate health, wellness, and nutrition products, were released in November 2003. Of 49 products they tested, four contained much less chondroitin than the products’ “guaranteed analysis” stated. Shockingly, two pet supplements contained no chondroitin whatsoever – None! Zip! Zilch! – despite the labels claiming contents of 87.5 to 750 mg of chondroitin content.
Our recommendation is to look for a product with a guaranteed analysis, and then to contact the company and ask for proof of third-party testing or verification of the analysis. Additionally, we recommend starting your dog off on a single-substance supplement to clearly gauge its effects, then trying one with added ingredients later.
Contraindicated Supplement Labelling
In cases where dogs have medical conditions that preclude supplementation with glucosamine, chondroitin provides a treatment alternative. Most commonly, these conditions are as follows:
• Dogs having trouble with bleeding – Glucosamine may increase blood clotting times in dogs, so dogs with bleeding problems should not take glucosamine.
• Dogs diagnosed with diabetes or at risk for diabetes – Glucosamine is sugar-based and is not appropriate for diabetic animals.
Again, when choosing a chondroitin supplement, look for a product with a guaranteed analysis; then, contact the company and ask if they have third-party testing or verification of the analysis. This sort of reporting sounds extreme, but for a pricey supplement, given for a long time, it’s necessary to make sure you get your money’s worth.
Glucosamine Delivery and Dosage for Dogs
There are several common delivery methods used for glucosamine supplementation: pills and capsules, powder, liquid, and intramuscular injection. Dr. Bessent deems all of these methods acceptable.
When an owner plans to use an oral glucosamine supplement, Dr. Bessent recommends a dosage level higher than she would use in an injection to accommodate some of the degradation that takes place in the dog’s stomach during digestion. Intramuscular injection gets the glucosamine into the bloodstream without traveling through the “acid pit” of the stomach, so she administers lower dosages of the injectable products. Pills and capsules that degrade properly in the stomach offer the same bioavailability as powders and liquids. Dr. Bessent recommends administering oral glucosamine supplements in the following daily dosages:
Use chondroitin supplements in the following daily dosages:
• Dogs less than 80 pounds: 900 mg
• Dogs more than 80 pounds: 1,800 mg
Dr. Bessent says she has been impressed recently with clinical results using d-acetyl glucosamine, a form of glucosamine given by injection. This supplement is not produced by pet supplement manufacturers and cannot be ordered from a catalog, but must be compounded by a veterinary pharmacist.
For many years Dr. Bessent has relied on Vita-Flex, an oral glucosamine supplement in powder form that she advises her clients to add to their horses’ and dogs’ food. For dog owners, check out the equine section of the Vita-Flex Web site, where the pricing is more attractive than for most “pet” supplements.
When determining the cost of glucosamine supplements, consider the following:
• Compare the cost per daily dosage of each product, not the cost per ounce or tablet. The milligrams of glucosamine per ounce or per pill vary by product, so calculate the cost of the appropriate daily dosage of each product for your dog’s weight to find the true cost of administering it.
• Make sure the dosage amount you must give your dog each day is reasonable. Some products require giving a large dog as many as eight capsules 2-3 times a day. Who wants to do that?
For Dash and her younger brother, I currently use Platinum Performance Plus as their daily, all-purpose supplement. A high quality wellness and performance product, the Plus formula adds a joint support component in the form of glucosamine sulfate at 500 mg per tablespoon.
Other reputable GAG products are Drs. Foster & Smith’s “Joint Care”, which adds only vitamin C to its glucosamine-chondroitin formula, and the products sold by Bronson Vitamins because of their straightforward dosage statements.
Fifteen-pound Dash’s daily dose of Platinum Performance Plus (about two teaspoons) contains about 330 mg of glucosamine. I plan to either supplement this dosage with Vita-Flex to adjust her to the daily 500 mg level recommended by Dr. Bessent, or use the original Platinum Performance formula and add all of her glucosamine from Vita-Flex.
Lorie Long is a freelance writer and agility competitor from Virginia.
1. If you live in an area where skunks are a hazard, buy and keep Nature’s Miracle Skunk Odor Remover on hand. It’s amazing.
2. For dealing with other odors, dog-related or not, give Petrotech Odor Eliminator a try.
We had not planned to review products that promise to remove skunk scent, but then, are skunk/dog conflicts ever planned? No, this was an emergency, and we dealt with it by running out the door to our local pet supply store and buying every odor-eliminating product on the shelves.
As I mentioned in my editorial, I promised my brother that I would dog-sit his darling Hannah while he and his girlfriend vacationed. It became quickly apparent to me that Hannah had been more closely acquainted with a skunk than is wise. My brother hadn’t mentioned this to me, probably because he is completely without a sense of smell – a result, our mother always told us, of his many ear infections as a baby.
I work at home, in a little office built into the ground-floor basement. It works for me and the many test and model dogs who come and go, because they can lay around my feet or zip out into the backyard for a wild romp any time they like. I leave the door open when I’m working, but after Hannah got here, I had to open the window and put a big fan in it, too. Pee-yew!
Keith had brought one of Hannah’s beds with her, but it was too stinky to bring inside. I hung it over a fence in my backyard to deal with later. Unfortunately, because Hannah had arrived at night, I couldn’t do anything about her stench until the next morning.
How I Tested The De-Skunking Products I Found
I’ve read accounts of double-blind lab tests of odor-removing products, complete with control groups. My test was going to be much less controlled! I had just one stinky dog on my hands, not a whole pack of them! Plus, there were only three products indicated for removing skunk-smell on the shelves of a local PETCO; I bought all three.
As I rode my bike back from PETCO, I made my plan. I would put each product on one third of Hannah – front, middle, and back end. I’d delineate the lines of demarcation with a Sharpie permanent marker. And I’d enlist my family and the neighbors who were still speaking to me to come over and “Smell the dog now!”
I changed my plan slightly when the first product I opened turned out to smell disgusting – easily as repulsive as the skunk. I put the top back on, and quickly checked the scent of the other two; they were inoffensive. I changed my battle plan to include just the other two products, one for Hannah’s front half and one for the back half.
So, I didn’t test De-Skunk, the product that smelled bad. To be specific, it has a super strong, sickly sweet, but bad chemical smell. The directions indicate that the product is supposed to be used promptly after the dog has been sprayed by a skunk – a caveat not made by the makers of the other products I tested. The dog is wetted with warm water, and then the thick, goopy product is applied much like shampoo. The directions suggest leaving it on for at least three to five minutes, rinsing well, and then repeating the process at least once more, or until the skunk odor is gone.
The label doesn’t explain how it works, although a review of the ingredients (water, nonionic emulsifiers, citric acid, propylene glycol, pine oil extract, isoparafinic solvent, polyquaternium 10, fragrance) suggests it acts as a solvent, deodorant, and astringent.
The maker, Synergy Labs of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, suggests following De-Skunk with a shampoo and conditioner. It’s just as well I skipped testing this product, because the next two products I used were much simpler.
Enzyme-Based Odor Removers for Skunk Spray
We’ve found enzyme-based odor removers to be safe, nontoxic, and effective for use in removing pet “accidents.” For skunk scent, the products are applied directly to the dog’s dry coat and allowed to dry.
The most effective enzyme-based product I tried, hands-down, was Nature’s Miracle Skunk Odor Remover. I used it on Hannah’s back half, pouring the clear, watery liquid directly from the bottle onto her coat and rubbing it in well with my hands.
Nature’s Miracle smells like rubbing alcohol, not surprisingly, since this is its second ingredient (after water). It also has a slight perfumey fragrance. The only other ingredients are “Nature’s Enzymes,” and natural citrus scent. It was easy to saturate Hannah’s coat with the product, and despite the alcohol, it didn’t sting my eyes or skin, nor did it seem to bother Hannah in any way.
After Hannah dried, I could not detect any skunk odor on her back half at all. That is a miracle! She smelled like a fairly clean dog, and her coat was nice and soft.
On Hannah’s front half, I used a product called Pet Odor Eliminator, made by Beaumont Products, Inc., of Kennesaw, Georgia. It came in a spray bottle, which made it easy to apply around her face (holding the bottle very close to her skin, to avoid getting into her eyes). But to really wet her shoulders and chest, I took the top off and poured the watery liquid over her, while rubbing it into her coat.
I was not crazy about the smell of Pet Odor Eliminator, which has a stronger perfumey odor than the Nature’s Miracle product. However, this odor faded quite a bit as Hannah dried, along with the skunk odor, which was vastly reduced – but not completely gone.
I asked three “sniff test” volunteers which half of Hannah smelled better, and each said her back half was odorless, but that they could still detect faint traces of skunk odor on her front half. Still, it was an amazing improvement. You had to really lean into Hannah’s fur and sniff hard to pick up the scent, whereas before she was treated, you could smell her from 20 feet away.
The label of this product does not list all its ingredients, only its active ingredient, “100% natural vegetable enzyme complex.”
Further Deodorization
That night, as usual, Hannah slept in my office, and when I entered it the next morning, it still smelled a little. It was probably from two nights before, when she was still covered in skunk and got the scent on the dog bed that was in there.
That morning, I happened to go to my local health food store, looking for a dog shampoo that I love the smell of (CloudStar’s Buddy Wash). On the shelf next to the shampoo was another enzymatic odor-removing product, PureAyre Odor Eliminator. Its label promised it eliminated all odors instantly, even skunk, and was child- and pet-safe. Its ingredients were listed as distilled water and plant enzymes. I bought it, too.
Back home, I decided to use this product on the bed that Hannah had slept on the night she was still skunky. I sprayed a generous amount on the bed, and rubbed it well into the fabric with my fingers. This product has a mild peppermint fragrance, and it definitely improved the smell of the dog bed once it dried.
I kept sniffing Hannah, too. Back end? Odorless. Front end? Well, still a little skunky. I decided to soak her front end again, this time with the PureAyre product.
Interestingly, when I first sprayed the watery liquid on her, it seemed to bring on the skunk smell again, and this persisted until she was completely dry. Then she smelled fine, skunk-free.
Of course, this was a slightly less vigorous test of the product than the other two received, since Hannah had already been treated once, and the bed received only a secondhand skunking. Still, I suspect that all three enzyme-based products are fairly similarly effective, with Nature’s Miracle having an edge over the other two for some reason. Nature’s Miracle is also the only product of the four I bought that says on the label, “Guaranteed or your money back!” You gotta love that.
Another Product That Kills Odor
At this point, I remembered that someone had sent me an odor-removing product once upon a time (I hadn’t been able to think through the skunk smell!). After some digging, I found the product, Petrotech Odor Eliminator, distributed by SeaYu Enterprises, Inc., of San Francisco.
This product is radically different from the others I tried. SeaYu’s Web site explains, “When Petrotech is sprayed on an odor source, it shears the hydrocarbon chain (of the odor source) and then encapsulates the odor source; this immediately eliminates the odor. Once Petrotech encapsulates the odor source, it becomes a microbial-food source for the indigenous bacteria in the environment, which accelerates the biodegradability of the odor source.”
I still have no clue as to what is in it. But it’s supposed to be safe for pets and humans, and the label indicates, “Satisfaction guaranteed! Or your money back!” And it says it works on skunk spray.
Only Hannah’s bed from home was still skunky. I sprayed its cover fairly liberally, and rubbed the soapy-feeling liquid into the fabric with my hands. As the bed dried, I also misted my office carpet. Fairly quickly, my office actually did smell less . . . doggie.
Now I was intrigued. I walked around my house, spraying smelly things: a pair of running shoes, the inside of my car, the compost bucket, and even the outdoor garbage can. Each thing I misted immediately smelled less.
Incredulous, I went back to Hannah’s bed. Whoops! It still smelled skunky, although much less so. SeaYu’s Web site explains, “In order to eliminate the odor, Petrotech must be sprayed directly onto the odor source.” My theory is that the skunk smell on the bed from home had saturated not just the cover, but the whole bed.
I didn’t experiment further, however, leaving the bed outside for the rest of Hannah’s stay. Given its other successes, I’ll try Petrotech for other uses, and will report on it more thoroughly when we cover general-purpose pet odor removers.
Over the years I have treated literally thousands of animal patients for allergic problems, using both Western and alternative medicine methods. I have a multi-tome library of books devoted to the subject of allergies, and my allergy file-folders bulge with articles from dozens of professional journals, magazines, and Web sites.
Still, I am searching for answers.
The more I think I know about allergies, the more I read and learn about them, the more confused I get. Nothing I have tried therapeutically works with all my patients; some patients get better with hardly any effort on my part; others finally respond to my third or fourth treatment protocol (or 9th or 10th); and some never respond, no matter what I try.
Often, as I try to figure out how to give some semblance of relief for a dog’s itches, it feels like the three of us – the dog, the dog’s caretaker, and I – are stuck in the midst of a huge maze, blindly trying to find our way to the outside. And, while there may be some general rules that can help get us through the majority of the mazes (see sidebar), each and every allergic patient has its own unique construct, and the pathway through the maze is likely to be very different for every individual.
The following pathway in this article is meant to help you navigate most cases of allergy, most of the time.
How Allergy Manifests in Dogs
Allergies can present as a variety of symptoms, but in the dog, the most common symptoms occur as skin irritations: itching, scratching, digging, and gnawing at the skin, often to the point of creating open raw wounds over large areas of the body. Chronic ear infections are another common symptom. Occasionally dogs will have respiratory symptoms such as coughing, sneezing, or a nasal or ocular discharge. Food allergies may produce, in addition to skin irritations, vomiting and/or diarrhea. Symptoms can extend to include epileptiform seizures, and many holistic vets feel that allergies can ultimately result in chronic diseases such as arthritis, asthma, chronic urinary tract infections, inflammatory bowel disease, etc.
Interestingly, whereas dogs typically have itchy skin symptoms, a human allergic response usually produces respiratory symptoms. An estimated 10 percent of the human population may be allergic to animals (the rate for being allergic to cats is about twice as high as for dogs); a higher rate of 20 to 30 percent of individuals with asthma have pet allergies.
When Dogs’ Immune Systems Run Amok
It has been estimated that more than 70 percent of all skin conditions in dogs are allergy-related, but every allergic patient presents a unique diagnostic challenge, and merely deciding which diagnostic tests should be run can be the most challenging of all our decisions. The following suggestions will help you determine which of the myriad causes might be responsible for your dog’s allergies. From this information, you and your holistic veterinarian can determine the best therapeutic action(s) to take.
In a nutshell, allergy is the result of an immune system that has, for one reason or another, turned against the self. Sometimes, this reaction seems instantaneous, as when a dog receives a food that contains something to which he is allergic, and he breaks out almost immediately with rashy, itchy skin. But frequently, allergies may become made evident in your dog only after “gestating” for a long period, as long as four years or more. It can thus be almost impossible to pinpoint the exact cause that has instigated the symptoms.
We know there is a genetically derived propensity for developing allergies, but of course, there’s not much you can do about this after the fact, after your dog’s allergies have already begun to surface. About all we can do is to support breeders who select individuals for immune competence, Zheng Chi vigor, healthy vital force, or for any of the health-giving attributes necessary for long-term, holistic well-being.
First Steps to Relieving Pet Allergies
Make fleas flee. Most studies indicate that fleas are the number one cause of contact dermatitis in the canine species. So, it makes sense to look for fleas first, and if they are present, to use a low-toxic way to lower their numbers in the environment – in as natural a way as is possible. (See “Eliminate Fleas Without Poisons,” WDJ March 2002.)
However, if your dog is highly allergic to fleas, you may not have the luxury of taking your time to reduce flea populations. In these cases, a careful, limited use of the highly effective (and sometimes dangerous) “spot-on” pesticides may be necessary to quickly eliminate the flea population. This can give you time to improve his overall health and ability to withstand an occasional flea bite. Of course, a blind and sole reliance on pesticides is not recommended (see “Are Spot-On Flea Killers Safe?” February 2002).
Treat skin lesions. A holistic approach to allergies understands that external, skin symptoms are merely an outer manifestation of something going wrong inside. This is contrary to the conventional Western medicine way of thinking in which, often, only the symptoms are attacked, with little or no concern for the underlying cause.
That said, you must tend to the skin lesions, possibly with topical medications and/or soothing baths, as you work your way through the diagnostic and medical challenges of the allergic case. My favorite topical medicine for almost any skin lesion is to apply a spritz made from a tea brewed from calendula flowers (Calendula officinalis), several times a day, directly to the lesion. Other herbs such as chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla or Anthemus nobile), yarrow (Achillea millefolium), lavender (Lavendula officinalis), and mullein (Verbascum thapsus) may also be added to the herbal brew.
In every case of allergy, I initiate immediate treatment of the dog’s gastrointestinal system. As we heal the gut, we in turn enhance the immune system – recognizing that a good portion of the immune system is located in the gut wall. A balanced immune system helps the dog deal naturally with any allergen that may be causing allergic reactions, whether this allergen is contact (skin-induced), inhalant (respiratory induced), or gut induced (food allergy). It’s been my experience that if we can get the immune system balanced, most, if not all allergies, tend to go away.
Further, though I have not seen any studies that confirm this, experience has proven to me (and many other veterinarians) that some animals are allergic to the preservatives, artificial flavors, and/or artificial colorings found in some commercial dog foods. Oftentimes a simple upgrade to a higher quality diet without artificial ingredients eliminates the allergies.
I treat this “gut-check” step much as I would a confirmed case of Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Here’s where your holistic practitioner can help devise a protocol that is definitive for your dog. My general approach is to detoxify first, probably with a mild herbal laxative such as aloe (Aloe vera), or senna (Cassia spp.). Then I add herbal liver helpers such as dandelion root (Taraxacum officinale), and milk thistle seeds (Silybum marianum). I’ll also try to return the gut to a normal flora by adding beneficial bugs (Lactobacillus and other so-called probiotics) and increasing the dietary fiber.
As I am working with the gut, I will try to enhance a balanced immune system using herbs such as echinacea (Echinacea spp.) or Siberian ginseng (Eleutherococcus senticosus). Immune enhancing supplements including vitamins C and A and zinc may also be helpful.
Essential fatty acids (EFAs) are a group of chemicals found in some foods, and some of them can be converted into beneficial prostaglandins. At the top of the beneficial list are the Omega-3 EFAs found in flax oil and deep sea fish such as salmon, haddock, and cod, and gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), found in evening primrose, borage, and black currant seed oil. A combination of the Omega-3s and GLA seems to have the most potent effect.
A natural anti-inflammatory or cortisone-like herb such as licorice root (Glyceriza glabra) may enhance the adrenal gland and also take some of the itch away.
Many of the holistic vets I know have found that an addition of some raw meat to the diet often alleviates the symptoms. Interestingly, in what may seem to be a paradoxical finding, I’ve had several animals who tested as allergic to a specific meat eliminate their allergies when we’ve added that particular meat (raw) to the diet. Note that these have all been animals that were treated beforehand to enhance their gut immunity, with the above inflammatory bowel protocol.
Realize that in this protocol we are simply upgrading the diet and adding anti-inflammatory and immune-enhancing nutrients. This is not a “food elimination” test for food allergies – a test that we might consider down the road, if these first steps don’t seem to work. A true food elimination diet is more complex than this and will take at least two months of a strict dietary regime before we’ll have a diagnostic answer. (See sidebar.)
There is a certain amount of discipline involved with setting aside the obvious skin condition for a time while you change diets and add supplements, while you begin to think in terms of whole-body, long-term effects of whatever therapies you will use in the future. Not everyone has the time, patience, or forbearance to go through a holistic protocol for treating allergies, and it’s a waste of time for everyone concerned to try to force a holistic protocol on someone who only wants a quick fix.
The Value and Limits of Allergy Testing Dogs
If we don’t have much luck alleviating symptoms after we’ve eliminated the fleas and changed the diet, then we are confronted with further challenges.
A dog (or any animal) may become allergic to almost any substance that exists in the real world. Furthermore, there are many diseases – external parasites, fungal or bacterial infections, hormonal conditions (hypothyroidism in particular), to name just a few – that create very similar symptoms to those caused by allergies.
The challenge is to figure out which substance, bug, or agent is creating the allergic response – and we may not be able to determine that substance. Not ever. Or we may be lucky and find a diagnostic test that elucidates the one cause of the allergy, and all we have to do is either eliminate this one cause from the dog’s environment or create an inner environment whereby he can counter the cause.
Using the Western medicine approach, we might decide that a complete blood count and blood chemistry would narrow our list of possible causes. A thyroid panel might also be helpful, but remember that animals will often test low for thyroxin (T-4) whenever they are sick (as with allergies). So, a low T-4 may only indicate an animal suffering from allergies; not an animal that is hypothyroid.
Oftentimes these tests are more helpful for eliminating potential causes than they are for creating a specific diagnosis. And my usual caveat for testing definitely applies here: “Only do those diagnostic tests that, depending on their outcome, will change your treatment protocol. To do otherwise is a waste of time and money.”
There are two basic types of allergy testing for specific causes: skin and blood testing. The skin test injects small amounts of potential antigens into the skin, and the practitioner looks for an excess reaction around the injection site – indicating a possible allergy to the injected substance. Various blood tests, such as the RAST (radioallergosorbent) and ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) tests, check for antigen-induced antibodies in the dog’s blood. If we can identify a specific allergen from the testing, we can then desensitize the patient by injecting small doses of the allergen over a period of time – often extending over several years.
However, all of these tests have problems inherent in their design, and depending on their personal experiences with them, practitioners either “swear at” or “swear by” them. Part of the problem is that the tests are not very accurate; false positives and false negatives are common. Furthermore, and this may be an even worse problem, when we do determine what substance a dog is allergic to, we may conclude that we won’t be able to eliminate or reduce his exposure to the allergen anyway.
For example, say that tests indicate that your dog is allergic to house dust and the oak trees that grow naturally all around your neighborhood. To avoid all of this dog’s allergies, we’d have to sterilize the house and deforest the town – not practical solutions!
The Pathway of Allergy Treatments
Even the pathway we choose to take when we decide which medicine to use is not an easy or clear-cut choice. Whatever medical system we opt to use, we need to understand that each method has its way of looking at health and disease (its diagnostic and treatment paradigms) and its own set of advantages and disadvantages when treating allergies.
Conventional Western medicine’s paradigm is to confront the disease with biochemical methods (think war metaphors) and to palliate the symptoms so the patient looks well on the surface. Western medicine’s most common therapy for allergies is to use either one of the glucocorticoids or an antihistamine. Glucocorticoids have a litany of adverse side effects (see “Use Corticosteroids With Caution,” WDJ July 2004), especially when used for prolonged periods, and antihistamines can adversely affect a number of body systems in many patients. On the other hand, both these drug categories are fast-acting and are powerful at palliating the itchy skin symptoms.
There has been a recent spate of newer, non-steroidal drugs on the market. Most of these are simply another way to shut down the immune system’s overreaction. The problem is, of course, that no matter how we do it, when we shut down the immune system (rather than attempting to balance or enhance its ability as we do with alternative medicines), we have opened the door to infections and other complications of a nonfunctioning immune system.
Atopica (cyclosporine), a drug sold by Novartis, is an interesting example. Its package insert lists the following adverse reactions: vomiting (30.9 percent); diarrhea (20 percent); persistent otitis externa (6.8 percent); urinary tract infection (3.8 percent); gingival hyperplasia (2.3 percent); and lymphadenopathy (2.3 percent). Contra-indications include “dogs with a history of malignant neoplasia” (hmm), and according to the insert: “killed vaccines are recommended for dogs receiving Atopica because the impact of cyclosporine on the immune response to modified live vaccines is unknown . . .” (double hmmm).
Way back in the 1980s, cyclosporine was used as immunosuppressive therapy to eliminate organ rejection during organ transplantation. Its mechanism of action seems to be to suppress the activation of CD4 Helper T (lymphocyte) cells – that is, it has a mechanism of action different from the glucocorticoids, but with basically the same result: immunosuppression.
Then there are the alternative and complementary pathways.
Homeopathy works with the patient’s inner vital force, to enhance the ability to dispel any disease, including allergies. Homeopathic medicine is typically slow to work, and (at least in my experience when treating allergies) it is critical to find the specifically appropriate remedy that matches the totality of symptoms (“classical homeopathy”) – a process that can take many months.
Homeopathic remedies may cause aggravations, and unfortunately the aggravations often take on the appearance of a recurrence of the skin symptoms. It can be difficult to differentiate between a homeopathic aggravation (a good sign) and a worsening of the condition. Homeopathic cures are typically whole-body and long-lasting, although many of my patients have needed to re-dose their remedy every few months or so.
Acupuncture works by balancing the patient’s chi. In the case of allergies, the chi is overly active and needs to be calmed. “Zheng chi,” as the corollary to the immune system, is also enhanced.
In my experience, acupuncture almost always takes at least four or five treatments before we can determine its effectiveness, and the total number of treatments may reach a dozen or more. Most of my allergy patients need to return for follow-up acupuncture treatments on a periodic basis, usually a few times a year.
Although there are times when a simple herbal remedy is exactly what an allergic patient needs, I often find herbal remedies to be very mild in action and slow to work. I find them most helpful in enhancing and balancing specific organ systems that are under duress from the allergic condition.
I’ve seen many cases of localized skin lesions that have responded favorably and rapidly to chiropractic. Presumably, when a vertebra is out of alignment, the irritation to the associated nerve endings sends a sensation to the skin area that the dog interprets as, “Dang, that itches!” And so he scratches and bites until the chiropractic treatment readjusts the vertebral alignment.
There are a number of other therapies that occasionally surprise me with their effectiveness, especially flower essences, which work to balance the emotions, and aromatherapy, which works at a subtle inner-brain level. There are several methods that utilize various forms of applied kinesiology as an aid to both diagnosis and treatment. (Applied kinesiology tests the body’s reaction to a substance to determine if the subject is allergic to it, and it can also be used to “test” for the expected effectiveness of treatment preparations.)
Perhaps the most important concept to be clear with here is that Western medicine’s way of diagnosis (and its philosophy of treatment) is very different from alternative medicine’s methods. When a Western-trained practitioner sees an allergic animal, he immediately visualizes the biochemical symbols that are running amok, and his plan of attack is to use chemicals to block the out-of-control biochemical reactions.
An acupuncturist, on the other hand, might see an allergic response as an imbalance of energy or chi, specifically “Zheng chi” or “Righteous chi,” the Traditional Chinese Medicine correlate to the immune system.
Part of the acupuncturist’s thera-peutic approach, then, will be to enhance the Zheng chi, the life force that maintains homeodynamic bal-ance and produces optimal health.
Canine Allergy Treatment Summary
My general treatment protocol for allergies, then, would look something like this:
• Reduce the flea populations on and around the dog.
• Reduce the potential for food allergies by improving the quality of the food, and at the same time . . .
• Enhance the immune system with high-quality food and nutritional supplements.
• Don’t challenge the immune system excessively – with any vaccines that are less than absolutely necessary, for example.
• Use natural anti-inflammatory herbs and supplements.
• Consider acupuncture or homeopathy for chronic and/or severe cases (NOTE: I’ve often been disappointed when using these two in combination for treating allergies).
• Reduce environmental causes of allergy – airborne smoke and dust particles, for example. Air quality is important in preventing the passage of allergens through the air. If your dog (or anyone else in the family) has allergies, consider using a quality household air filter.
• Whenever possible, use methods that enhance the animal’s innate ability to balance its own immune system and use methods that are the most natural and have the least potential for toxicity. However . . .
• If early therapeutic attempts are not productive, consider testing for specific allergens (using skin or blood tests or a food elimination diet) if other methods do not seem to be working.
• There may come a time when you may need to resort to medicines we know to be toxic and/or medicines that shut down the immune system rather than helping to balance it. Only you can decide when your dog and even you cannot take any more itching and scratching, and the loss of hair, skin, weight, sleep, and/or sanity that often accompanies severe allergy.
It has been said that sometimes, along our journey to wellness, we need to see and feel how it looks and feels to be well, so we can try to get back to this place. Sometimes I get the feeling that dogs affected with allergies – after perhaps months of itching and scratching, of evident pain and sleep loss – have forgotten how it feels to be well. With these cases, I think it is important to let them experience wellness, however briefly, even if it means that we may have to resort to types of medications such as glucocorticoids and/or antihistamines that I would ultimately like to avoid.
I think we need to approach allergies (and other chronic diseases) with an under-standing that the treatment protocol we choose will likely require time, effort, and discipline; that we may never be able to come up with a treatment regime using a linear-logical approach; and that, in the end, we may not truly find our way out of the maze of allergies, no matter what we try.
Dr. Randy Kidd earned his DVM degree from Ohio State University and his Ph.D. in Pathology/Clinical Pathology from Kansas State University. A past president of the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association, he’s author of Dr. Kidd’s Guide to Herbal Dog Care, and Dr. Kidd’s Guide to Herbal Cat Care.
Two years ago, WDJ published an excellent two-article series about flea control by Kathleen Dudley. The first article (“Are Spot-On Flea Killers Safe?“, February 2002) discussed the potential dangers of using pesticides. The second (“Eliminate Fleas Without Poisons,” March 2002) gave readers numerous non- and low-toxic tools they could use to control flea populations in their homes. The latter article mentioned, quite briefly, something called a “light trap,” which is supposed to attract and trap fleas.
I decided to test light traps a few months ago, when warm spring temperatures seemed to cause a resurgence of fleas in the editorial office of WDJ – which is on the ground floor of my home in a part of California that is famous for fleas. Plus, I have a more or less constant stream of potentially flea-bearing dogs coming through my home and office: dogs belonging to friends and relatives, and models and “test” dogs who try out products for us. Also, I have an indoor/outdoor cat, whom (I’m sure) helps carry fleas from here to there around my neighborhood. After seeing my long-haired Chihuahua scratch and finding a couple of fleas on him, I decided that my office would make a perfect test of these products.
I searched through a pile of pet supply catalogs and found two products appearing in a number of them. I ordered both from Jeffers, which advertised the lowest price.
Electric Flea Traps Flunk the WDJ Test
Here’s how these products are supposed to work: A small electric light bulb – the size that goes into the average night light, or old-fashioned Christmas tree lights – is suspended by a plastic case over a tray that contains a super-sticky pad. Fleas are attracted to the light, heat, and supposedly, infrared rays of the bulb, and jump toward it, landing on and adhering to the sticky pad.
I kept the flea traps plugged in (there is no on/off switch on either product) for two full months. I positioned them about a foot apart, on the carpeted floor between my office door and Mokie’s crate. Mokie sleeps in my office at night, in a sleeping bag-style bed in the crate, and he’s in and out of the office all day, as are all my guest dogs. The directions of both products suggested placing the traps as close as possible to the places where pets sleep and walk.
But in two months, neither trap caught a single flea – and not because there weren’t fleas here. Using a flea comb, I removed fleas from both Mokie and my cat throughout that time. Not a lot, but at least a dozen or so per week. In addition to the combing, I employed a number of other nontoxic flea-control techniques – baths for the animals and frequent vacuuming and floor-washing.
The traps did attract and kill a few other insects, including flies, tiny gnats, and one ant. Worried that the sticky pads in the traps were not sticky enough to catch fleas, I once dropped a flea that I had combed out of Mokie’s fur onto one of the pads. It stuck! But after walking past the traps wearing white socks and seeing two fleas jump onto my socks – and not toward the traps – I had to conclude that these products are not helpful in attracting (and thus controlling or detecting) a light flea population.
I didn’t test the traps in the face of a heavy flea infestation, but given their poor performance in this test, I would choose more effective options if my home and workplace was overrun by fleas.
1. Understand that there is no way to separate the glucocorticoids’ antiinflammatory activity from their immunosuppressive activity.
2. Whenever glucocorticoids are used for prolonged periods, “wean” your dog off them gradually.
3. Consider using natural alternatives when possible, such as herbs, acupuncture, homeopathy, and a lower-stress lifestyle.
Corticosteroids are perhaps the most enigmatic of all the drugs in the western medicine man’s arsenal. It has been said by many practitioners that they are the most used and most abused of all our medicines. Corticosteroids are a necessary component of a healthy physiology and they can be life saving…or they can cause multiple adverse side effects that can be devastating to a dog’s health and well-being. Since this class of biochemicals affects nearly all cells of the body, their beneficial effects can be widespread – and their adverse effects may be totally debilitating and long-lasting.
So who are these guys that can seemingly wear both white and black hats at the same time?
What Are Corticosteroids?
Naturally occurring corticosteroids are a class of steroid hormones that are produced in the cortex (thus the “cortico” prefix) of the adrenal gland. The adrenal medulla (inner part) manufactures epinephrine and norepinephrine, the hormones responsible for the “fight or flight” reaction, among other functions. Corticosteroids are made from the same steroidal chemical base that also produces the male and female sex hormones and the androgenic steroids made famous by athletes who want to enhance their muscle mass. However, the corticosteroids are slightly different from the androgenic and sex hormones in their chemical structure, and they are very different in the ways they affect the body.
Corticosteroids are further divided into two major classes of compounds: mineralocorticoids and glucocorticoids.
Mineralocorticoids are a vital component of the body’s hormonal balancing system, even though they make up only a small portion of the overall mix of the corticosteroids in the body. Mineralocorticoids function in the kidney (in the distal tubules) where they stimulate the exchange of sodium and potassium – increasing renal excretion of potassium and increasing resorption of sodium, which in turn helps maintain the body’s water balance by increasing resorption of water.
The principle steroid with mineralocorticoid activity is aldosterone. Cortisol, the major “natural” glucocorticoid in dogs (and other non-rodent species) has weak mineralocorticoid activity. But in the natural state, cortisol’s mineralocorticoid activity is of some importance because, in the healthy animal, there is so much more cortisol secreted than aldosterone.
The name glucocorticoid derives from early observations that these hormones were involved in glucose metabolism. The vast majority of glucocorticoid activity in most mammals is from cortisol, also known as hydrocortisone.
Since synthetic glucocorticoids are used extensively in veterinary therapy, this article will focus on them.
Activities of Glucocorticoids in Dogs
Glucocorticoids (especially cortisol, the predominant natural glucocorticoid) stimulate several processes that collectively serve to increase and maintain natural conversion of glucose. These effects include:
• Stimulation of gluconeogenesis, the synthesis of glucose from other sources such as amino acids (protein building blocks) and lipids (fats). Glucocorticoids stimulate the enzymes that enhance this process, especially in the liver.
• Mobilization of amino acids from tissues, generating a substrate for gluconeo-genesis.
• Inhibition of glucose uptake in muscle and fatty tissue, thus conserving glucose.
• Stimulation of fat breakdown, releasing fatty acids, which provides energy to various tissues and adds more substrate for gluconeogenesis.
Glucocorticoids have potent anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive properties. These are the primary medicinal uses of the glucocorticoids and will be discussed more fully below.
Glucocorticoids also have multiple effects on fetal development, including their role in promoting maturation of the lung and production of the surfactant necessary for lung function immediately after birth.
Excessive glucocorticoid levels resulting from administration as a drug or hyperadrenocorticism (Cushing’s disease) have effects on many systems. Just a few of the examples include inhibition of bone formation, suppression of calcium absorption, and delayed wound healing. Note that these effects suggest that there probably are many physiologic roles for the glucocorticoids that we are not yet fully aware of. Also note that these effects can occur from drug administration, and most of them are ultimately detrimental to health and healing.
Insufficient production of cortisol is called Addison’s disease (or hypoadreno-corticism). This disease may be caused by autoimmune destruction of the adrenal cortex or as the result of infectious disease and is often accompanied by an aldosterone deficiency. Aldosterone deficiency can be acutely life threatening, causing severe electrolyte imbalance and loss of normal cardiac function. Other signs of Addison’s disease include weakness and lethargy, diarrhea, and cardiovascular disease.
Inflammatory and Allergic Conditions Often Treated With Glucocorticoids
Abortion Alopecia – loss of hair Calcinosis cutis – calcium deposits in the skin Delayed wound healing Diabetes mellitus Gastrointestinal ulceration Growth suppression Hyperlipidemia – excess fat in the blood Latrogenic hyperadrenocorticism – Cushing’s disease Immunosuppression – secondary infection, infections that worsen Insomnia, agitation, behavioral changes Insulin resistance Ligament and tendon rupture Muscle atrophy Osteoporosis Panting Polyphagia – excess hunger Polyuria (excess urination) or polydipsea (excess thirst) Proteinuria – excess loss of protein in the urine Psychosis or behavioral changes Seizure threshold lowered Skin thinning
Physiological Effects of Glucocorticoids
Metabolic: Increase gluconeogenesis and protein breakdown; antagonize insulin activity; mobilize free fatty acids
Cardiovascular: Vasoconstriction
Gastrointestinal and liver: Induce alkaline phosphatase enzyme (blood chemistry tests routinely reveal an elevation of this enzyme when glucocorticoids are being used therapeutically); decrease calcium and iron absorption; promote fat and glycogen deposition in the liver; increase secretion of digestive hormones; alter mucin structure
Kidney: Increased glomerular filtration rate; promote water, sodium, and chloride retention; increase potassium and calcium excretion
Neurologic and muscular: Euphoria or behavioral changes; muscular atrophy; muscular weakness
Endocrine: Decrease ACTH production; suppress thyroid-stimulating hormone and T-3 and T-4 concentrations
Inflammatory and immunologic: Decrease prostaglandin and leukotriene formation; inhibit mononuclear phagocytosis and chemotaxis; decrease cytokine production; depress cell-mediated immunity
Miscellaneous: Stimulate appetite; inhibit fibroblast proliferation and collagen synthesis; accelerate bone resorption
Control of Cortisol Secretion
Cortisol and other glucocorticoids are se-creted in response to adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) from the anterior pituitary gland. The secretion of ACTH is in turn under the control of the brain’s hypothalamic peptide, corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH), creating a classic hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis of control over the ultimate secretion of the glucocorticoids. It is important to recognize that, in the natural state, the brain (hypothalamus) is the primary controlling organ, and whenever the animal is stressed, there will be increased production of cortisol.
Any form of glucocorticoid (whether drug-induced or endogenous – from stress, for example) exerts a negative feedback on this axis and shuts down further secretion of the glucocorticoids. The negative feedback mechanism is medically important because after shutdown, the axis may take several days to gear up again to a normally functioning level.
Effects on Inflammation and Immune Function
From the medical perspective and certainly from the holistic perspective, the most important thing to realize about the very potent anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive properties of the glucocorticoids is that there is absolutely no way to separate these two properties.
Whenever the glucocorticoids are administered (or produced naturally), the result will be a combination of anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive activities. Thus, using glucocorticoids is always a balancing act; the multiple actions of glucocorticoids simultaneously allow for beneficial and adverse effects.
The anti-inflammatory activity of gluco-corticoids is primarily directed toward inhibiting the production of arachidonic acid, which in turn inhibits the production of inflammation-causing prostaglandins and leukotrienes. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) also inhibit prostaglandins (by inhibiting a later enzyme in the cascade, cyclooxygenase), but not leukotrienes.
The immunologic activity of the glucocorticoids is directed primarily toward the cellular component of the immune system: monocyte phagocytic function and cytokine production. Some lymphocytes may be destroyed by the glucocorticoids, particularly neoplastic (tumor-inducing) and activated lymphocytes. These effects can be either beneficial (e.g., treating immune-mediated conditions or some lymphocytic cancers) or detrimental (e.g., impairing the body’s defenses against fungal, viral, and bacterial infections).
In what may be an overlapping function (anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive), glucocorticoids produce the classic “stress leukogram,” a white blood cell (WBC) picture of increased mature neutrophils, decreased lymphocytes and eosinophils, and variable increases in monocytes.
Pharmacologic Uses of the Glucocorticoids
Glucocorticoids are commercially available in a variety of forms for either systemic (oral tablets or liquids and injectables) or topical use, and the relative potency and duration of action of these products varies widely.
If we assume the potency of cortisone (the natural glucocorticoid produced by the dog’s adrenal) to be “1,” relative potencies of commercial products may be 5-6 times as potent (prednisone, prednisolone, methylprednisolone, triamcinolone), and even as much as 40 times as potent (dexa-methasone and betamethasone).
We can also categorize commercially available glucocorticoid products based on the length of time they suppress the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. On average, short-acting glucocorticoids (hydrocortisone and cortisone, the naturally-produced glucocorticoids) suppress the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis less than 12 hours; the suppressive activity of long-acting glucocorticoids (dexamethasone and betamethasone) lasts more than 48 hours, and in many cases, the exact duration in dogs is not known. Intermediate-acting products (prednisone, prednisolone, methylprednisolone, and triamcinolone) fall somewhere in between.
Commercial products have variable mineralocorticoid activities when compared to cortisone or hydrocortisone. Prednisone and prednisolone, for example, have about half the mineralocorticoid activity of the natural glucocorticoids, and most other synthetic products have almost none.
Some synthetic glucocorticoid compounds require conversion to an active metabolite. For example, prednisone requires conversion in the liver to prednisolone to become active. Because this conversion is necessary, prednisolone is a better choice for topical application, but since the conversion is rapid and nearly complete, the two drugs are interchangeable for systemic use.
Finally, the biologic half-lives of the glucocorticoids are different (prolonged) from their plasma half-lives, which are responsible for the variability of duration (from short-acting to intermediate to long-acting).
This is because the biologic effects of the glucocorticoids are largely due to alterations in genetic regulation of protein production, and these alterations create a longer time of activity.
Note that glucocorticoid amounts naturally fluctuate in the body throughout the day. Therapeutic protocols should take this diurnal variation into account and, where necessary, prescribe amounts of the drug that would correspond to these daily variations.
Also note that all cases where glucocorticoid therapy has been prolonged (for more than a few days), there is the possibility that the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis has been shut down by the negative feedback mechanism. These cases, then, require a gradual reduction from the therapeutic levels rather than abrupt cessation. The time and method of “weaning” depends on the glucocorticoid used and the duration of its use. Check with your veterinarian for the correct protocol.
Natural Options
There are many natural alternatives to the glucocorticoids, substances that have anti-inflammatory activity and/or that enhance a balance of the immune system’s function.
• Herbs – There are many herbal remedies that are anti-inflammatory, enhance the immune system, prevent pain, and are specifically directed toward a body system, balancing it in response to inflammation or pain.
Of special interest here is meadowsweet, the original source of aspirin (the old botanical name for meadowsweet, Spirea, is how aspirin got its name). The term salicylate (the “active” ingredient in aspirin) comes from the Latin name for willow, Salix. The herbs that contain salicylate include meadowsweet, wintergreen, the bark of aspen and cottonwood, birch, black cohosh, and willow.
In addition, there are several herbs – examples include licorice, wild yam, yucca, sarsaparilla, and fenugreek – that contain steroidal saponins that have a chemical structure very similar to cortisone. These steroidal saponins have direct anti-inflammatory, cortisone-like effects, and in addition, some of them inhibit an enzyme in the liver that breaks down natural cortisone, thus making it available longer.
Herbal steroids typically do not create an atrophic effect on the adrenals, and in fact are often used to aid in the weaning process from therapeutic glucocorticoid levels.
• Acupuncture has been shown to be beneficial to the immune system and for prevention of inflammation. In addition, acupuncture alleviates pain of arthritis and may promote healing.
• Homeopathy works by enhancing the vital force, an unmeasurable component of the healthy body that has been likened to the immune system.
• The contribution of a low-stress lifestyle to health is also unmeasurable, but undoubtedly valuable. Remember that the body constantly produces glucocorticoids, and whenever there is an excess production, there is the potential for disease. Excess glucocorticoids are produced with excess stress; think about the “Active Dog, Tiny Apartment Syndrome,” a dog left home alone for extended periods (away from the healthy “pack” and forced to abnormally control elimination patterns), constant noise pollution, lack of exercise and open air walks – all these are potential stressors.
In my opinion, the best anti-stressor in the world is to let your dog be a dog; let him reunite with his true inner nature and with a natural and healthy outer environment.
Putting It All Together
Okay. So we have the facts before us, and here’s a summary:
• There are both natural and synthetic glucocorticoids, and the synthetically produced products have a wide range of duration and potency.
• Glucocorticoids are a necessary hormone for body maintenance, and therapeutic doses can be beneficial – and harmful.
• Glucocorticoids affect all cells in the body. Their activities are thus far-ranging.
• There is no way to separate the glucocorticoids’ anti-inflammatory activity from their immunosuppressive activity.
• Veterinarians have a variety of products available to them, and each of these products has its niche in the therapeutic toolkit.
• Many diseases respond favorably to glucocorticoid therapy.
• There are many adverse side effects that may come along with glucocorticoid therapy.
• Whenever glucocorticoids are used for prolonged periods, the patient needs to be gradually weaned off them.
• There are some natural options available – options that are likely not as potent, but almost certainly not as potentially harmful.
Now comes the most difficult part. Knowing the advantages and disadvantages of the glucocorticoids, how and when do I choose to use them for my dog? Unfortunately, there’s no good answer. Once again, regrettably, we have to fall back on the old truism, “It all depends. On the individual dog. On the particular case as it is presented. And on the family situation.”
Here’s my take: I would never hesitate to use massive doses of short-acting glucocorticoids in an emergency: anaphylaxis, immune-mediated system collapse, acute trauma, nerve damage. I know that even these applications are now being questioned – because we don’t really have scientific proof that they work for dogs – but the time I spent in an emergency clinic where I used glucocorticoids to effectively treat hundreds of “shocky” animals demonstrated to me their effectiveness.
However, I would think long and hard before I ever used glucocorticoids for dermatitis or chronic immune-mediated diseases. I’d think in terms of the alternative medicines first here – combining both anti-inflammatory and immune system balancing methods – and I would hope these would be potent enough to be curative.
On the other hand, I am not comfortable demanding that we stick with the alternatives no matter what. I think there may come a time with some patients when we do them more harm than good, trying to make the alternatives work. Sometimes a quick regime of short-acting glucocorticoids is just enough to give the animal’s immune system a chance to recover enough to gear up on its own.
For an arthritic animal I’d think even longer and harder about ever using the glucocorticoids. I’ve simply had too much success with acupuncture (along with chondroprotective agents and herbs), and the glucocorticoid side effects (demineralization of bone, weakening of the ligaments and tendons, the possibility for infection), which all seem to work against everything we are trying to accomplish. Furthermore, the glucocorticoids have no pain-relieving activity, and pain is one of the key components of arthritis.
In all cases, I think it is imperative that we (to use a currently popular metaphor) have an exit strategy. Decide beforehand what your exit protocol will be – how long before you think of using alternative tactics, how will you judge results, and most of all, if and when you do decide to quit, what you will use for a “weaning off” protocol.
Finally, I think there may be a place for glucocorticoid therapy for the end-stage animal, for treating any of the diseases where we might commonly use them. It seems to me that in these cases, the advantages may outweigh the disadvantages.
Glucocorticoids are often an inexpensive way to stimulate the metabolism; they may alleviate inflammation; and they oftentimes create a “feel-good” attitude in a previously depressed dog.
Further, in these cases we won’t have to worry about long-term effects, nor will we likely be confronted with the necessity of gradually weaning the animal from the therapy.
Dr. Randy Kidd earned his DVM degree from Ohio State University and his Ph.D. in Pathology/Clinical Pathology from Kansas State University. A past president of the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association, he’s author of Dr. Kidd’s Guide to Herbal Dog Care and Dr. Kidd’s Guide to Herbal Cat Care.
The domestic dog is, inarguably, a social species. There is little scholarly disagreement over the fact that the dog’s social dependency makes him exceptionally aware of the behavior of others, and contributes to his own behavior and learning abilities.
There is, however, ongoing discussion about how much, and how, dogs can learn by interacting with each other – the question of “social learning” through contact, joining in the action, and pure observation without active participation.
You may have seen it yourself when you got a new puppy. You’re positive ol’ Spot taught little Junior where to go to the bathroom in the yard, how to find the water dish, and the importance of barking vociferously at strangers. Junior certainly came running hot on Spot’s heels when you called the pair, thus learning the importance of the word “come.” It even seems like the new pup learned how to sit politely for a treat by watching Spot perform that well-practiced behavior. But did he really learn by watching Spot? Or was it all just coincidence?
Following the dog who responds to the “Come!” cue helps the newcomer learn it, too.
Social Learning
The term “social learning” encompasses several closely-related concepts. Some clearly apply to the learning processes of dogs. Others are more debatable.
Allelomimetic behavior (mimicking), or group-coordinated behavior, relies on the hardwired inclination of a social animal to follow and mimic members of the social group. Puppies are genetically programmed to follow and copy others of their kind. This is an important factor in early learning; it comes into play when Junior chases along when you call Spot, or when you run away from Junior and call him to chase after you.
Social facilitation is related to but different from allelomimesis. It refers to behaviors performed in a group, where the presence of another dog causes an increase in the intensity of the behavior. Two dogs acting in concert may run faster, bark louder, jump higher, eat more, or eat faster than a dog performing alone. For this reason, trainers and behaviorists often caution against adopting a second dog for the primary purpose of resolving the behavior problems of Dog #1; you can easily end up with louder barking, or an increase in destructive behaviors, rather than the hoped-for decrease in undesirable behavior.
It is likely that the amplified magnitude of behavior is a result of an increased state of arousal, stimulated by the presence of one or more additional dogs. While the negatives of this effect are obvious, social facilitation can have a positive effect as well, such as the increased speed and intensity of a competitive flyball dog due to the presence of the running dog in the next lane.
The flip side of social facilitation is called social interference – the irritating phenomenon that occurs when the presence of other dogs playing nearby interrupts your dog’s ability to pay attention to your training session. This is known in training class as a “distraction.” It’s wise to teach Junior his new behaviors in a quiet environment, free from such social interference. Make sure he knows them well before you can expect him to be able to perform them in the face of major distractions.
Local enhancement includes pieces of social facilitation, mimicking, and trial-and-error learning, but is different from true observational learning in that the dog actively participates in the behavior in the presence of the other dog and/or other environmental cues. Spot starts digging a hole; Junior joins in, and learns that digging holes is fun and rewarding as he follows Spot under the fence. Simply watching Spot dig the hole was not enough to inspire Junior to dig his way out of the yard; it was actually a combination of watching, participating, and enjoying the whole process that characterizes this as local enhancement.
Another example of local enhancement is when Junior learns to coordinate his clumsy puppy legs and jump into the car much more quickly by following behind Spot than he would by trying to climb in on his own. Junior’s performance is enhanced by Spot’s immediate example, and learning happens more quickly for Junior as a result.
New dog-walking clients learn how to behave in this complex situation through “local enhancement,” which includes social facilitation, mimicking, and trial-and-error-learning.
The Extent of Dogs’ Observational Learning
This brings us to the controversial question of true observational learning in dogs. Can our canine pals learn by simply watching?
“No” is an easy answer. Four necessary conditions for observational learning are: attention, retention, motivation, and production. That is, the dog must pay attention to the dog performing the modeled behavior; retain the information gathered about the behavior during the observation; be motivated to reproduce the behavior in a time and place removed from the original; and finally, produce the behavior, or some reasonable facsimile thereof.
In training, for example, one dog could watch you through a window while you train another dog to lie down on cue. You could then take the observer dog to a new room and have him perform the down behavior for you, on cue. Not likely!
If dogs were adept at observational learning, you could plop Junior in front of the television, pop in your favorite videotape about clicker training, leave him there while you head off to work, and come home to a trained dog. There would be no need for dog trainers, or dog training classes. Sometimes we wish it were that easy!
Still, some studies have determined that puppies, at least, have some capacity for observational learning. A 1997 study conducted by Slabbert and Rasa determined that pups between the ages of 9-12 weeks who were permitted to observe their narcotics-detecting mothers at work generally proved more capable at learning the same skills at six months of age than control puppies the same age who were not previously allowed to watch their mothers working.
An 1977 experiment by Adler and Adler found that puppies who watched other puppies learn to pull a food cart into their cages by an attached ribbon proved considerably faster at the task when later given the opportunity themselves. At 38 days of age, the “demonstrator” puppies took an average of 697 seconds to succeed, while the observers succeeded in an average of 9 seconds.
These are startling and exciting findings. While evidence of observational learning has yet to be found in adult dogs, the potential for it in puppies may change, yet again, our definition of a responsible breeder. One day, we may come to expect good breeders to set her puppies on the sidelines so they can watch their mothers run through obedience routines, agility courses, and service dog, search-and-rescue, or drug-sniffing jobs before they are placed in their new homes.
Put a Good Dog to Work
While we wait for more scientific information on observational learning in puppies, we can take advantage of social learning opportunities that we know can enhance our dogs’ behaviors.
If your new dog is an only dog, you can still make use of his innate social mimicking behavior to encourage him to follow you while teaching him “come.”
If you do get a new dog, structure some training sessions so that he can learn from your more-experienced dog’s knowledge of good manners and skills. For example, before you open the door to let your dogs out, wait for Spot to sit (we hope he has already learned this “good manners” behavior), and then calmly wait for Junior to do the same. Spot’s calm behavior sets a good example for Junior to mimic. If Junior hasn’t quite figured out the sit, that can come later; as soon as Junior is standing calmly, open the door and let them both out as their reward for calm.
Rather than chastising Junior for barking at a passing skateboarder when you’re out playing in your fenced yard, grab Spot’s ball and run with him away from the skateboarder, playing with him in loud excitement, to make use of social facilitation to turn Junior’s unacceptable intense barking into acceptable intense play.
Finally, remember that you can utilize the presence of other dogs to amplify the magnitude of your dog’s desired behaviors, while taking care to avoid those circumstances that might amplify the undesirable ones. In other words, it might be wiser to spend more time with your new dog in the presence of well-mannered dogs at a daycare or training center than in a pack of unruly, barking dogs at a dog park.
Training a dog is a big challenge – we can use all the social learning help we can get!
What You Can Do
What You Can Do – Identify one or more situations where you can use your dog’s natural allelomimetic talents to mimic you and enhance his training. – Find a friend’s dog that you can use to socially facilitate an increased intensity in your dog’s positive behavior. – Watch your dog and see if you can see any examples of true observational learning.
Those of us who like dogs can’t help but touch them. We are irresistibly drawn to adore them with our hands, to pet them, stroke them, rub their ears, and get lost in the ecstasy of dog beneath our fingertips. Dogs pull not only our hearts but also our hands into a companionship of touch, a relationship we hope is mutually satisfying.
Caressing a dog can be a direct line to nirvana, calming nerves, lifting mood, relieving suffering, a spiritual experience that soothes the soul.
Touching a dog feels so good because our body responds with a release of the neurochemicals of pleasure that have positive physiological effects as well.
During the past couple of decades, science has proven what we canine lovers have always known: petting a dog is good for you. Studies have shown it lowers blood pressure, decreases cholesterol levels, and reduces the risk of heart disease. Alzheimer’s and AIDS patients, autistic children, and nursing home residents often improve when they have contact with a dog. Pain, grief, stress, depression – the list of studied situations where petting a dog has proven beneficial to humans is lengthy.
“When I got my dogs, I wanted to touch them,” says Kathy Diamond Davis, author of Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others. “I have rheumatoid arthritis and when I touch them, it relieves the pain.”
But what about the dogs? Are there benefits for them?
Until quite recently, these questions were seldom considered and studied even less. Mostly these experiments evaluated the impact of researchers on laboratory animals, or, the effect of lack of touch on long-term personality development.
“There has been little research looking at the effects of dogs interacting with people,” says Rebecca Johnson, PhD, RN, and director for research at the Center for the Study of Animal Wellness at the College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Missouri, Columbia. “Now we are interested in the animal side of the equation.”
The Chemistry of Touch
Dr. Johnson and her veterinarian colleague, Richard Meadows, DVM, began an ongoing study in 2002 that involves people, dogs, and a robotic dog. Although the study is looking for new means to treat human illnesses such as depression and cancer, it’s also geared to determine if beneficial chemical changes occur in petted dogs.
In a quiet room, participants are instructed to pet their dogs; in some iterations of the test, an unfamiliar but friendly dog or a canine robot is used. Prior to beginning, blood is drawn from both the human and the dog, and their blood pressure is monitored continuously. After both the human and dog experience a 10 percent decrease in blood pressure, the experiment is stopped and blood is drawn again.
“The dogs are like sponges in enjoying the petting,” Johnson says. “Their blood pressure goes down, no problem. But the humans take longer.” Some dogs have even gone to sleep.
Preliminary findings largely show ben-eficial changes occurred in the dogs’ levels of the neurotransmitters serotonin, beta-endorphin, prolactin, oxytocin, dopamine, and beta-phenylethylamine. Cortisol, the “stress hormone,” also decreased.
In future studies, the researchers hope to explore the impact of quantity of touch on dogs as this may help to further explain the chemical changes that occur during petting. Says Dr. Johnson, “We are always trying to uncover answers on how the human-animal bond works.”
Released in response to gentle touch, neurotransmitters affect bodily functions in a positive manner. “Petting has broad physiologic effects on the cardiovascular system of the dog,” says Franklin McMillan, DVM, DACVIM, coauthor of the forthcoming book, Unlocking the Animal Mind.
In “Exploring the Bond,” Dr. McMillan cited data from recent studies describing the physiological, health, and emotional effects of touch on animals.
One study found that as a result of touch, a dog’s coronary artery blood flow increased to the same level as during intense exercise. The heart rate of dogs increased when a person joined them in a room, but would drop dramatically within one or two seconds of being stroked.
In another study, whenever dogs were exposed to a stressful stimulus such as pain or fear, their heart rate and blood pressure decreased significantly if they were petted.
Other animal studies have indicated that touching also increases immune response, slows changes associated with aging, reduces harmful cholesterol levels, enhances development of the brain and nervous system, and promotes physical development.
Neurotransmitters associated with positive touch also affect behavior and emotion. Observed animals who were routinely touched were found to be more resistant to stress. In addition, their separation anxiety was diminished, they displayed less fear, and their learning capabilities were enhanced.
Researchers at the Biofeedback Institute in Boulder, Colorado, discovered that stroking horses (also humans and one dog) had a measurable effect on brain waves. The wave patterns were those often associated with optimal brain function, creativity, learning, or relaxation.
“Reductions in adverse emotional states are important,” notes Dr. McMillan, “but the data also indicate some direct beneficial effect of human contact.”
Types of Touch
The way in which we touch our dogs is important.
“I have video that I show veterinarians on how to correctly pet a dog. The same dog goes from relaxed to ‘on guard’ then back to relaxed again in about two minutes, just based on petting,” says Karen Overall, VMD, PhD, DACVB, and research associate in the Center for Neurobiology and Behavior at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School. “Fast scratching or rubbing makes dogs aroused, while slow, firm petting calms them down.”
In studies where touch produced beneficial results, the contact was “gentle” or soothing. Davis has noticed that dogs prefer to be petted by someone with “knowing hands” – an assuring touch by those who understand dogs. “Some people pat dogs, hard, on top of the head. I don’t think that does much good,” comments Linda Tellington-Jones, creator of TTouch, a specialized therapeutic touch. “However, there is a difference when you put your hands on an animal and make the connection with care.”
Grooming or even just running our hands over our dog’s bodies to scan for physical problems can qualify as beneficial touch.
Massage is another purposeful touch. Besides feeling good to dogs, says Maryjean Ballner, author of Dog Massage: A Whiskers to Tail Guide to Your Dog’s Ultimate Petting Experience, “Massage increases blood flow at the massage area, speeds arrival of fresh nutrients, expedites removal of waste products, and loosens tight muscles.”
With practice, anyone can use massage to relax or reassure a dog. In a quiet, comfortable place, lead into massage with soft petting. Let your dog guide the technique. Feedback that you’re giving a good massage may include “power” tail wagging, doggy grins, drooling, leaning or sprawling against you, and flopping belly up. Massage can elicit a “glorious, incredible response,” says Ballner.
According to Tellington-Jones, TTouch goes beyond massage to augment training and improve behavior. “Massage is wonderful for dogs; it relaxes them,” says Tellington-Jones. “TTouch relaxes but also makes them alert and heightens their senses in a non-anxious way.”
TTouch is an extensive series of circular movements or gentle lifts, using the fingertips on various parts of the body. Rather than relaxing muscles, the technique is designed to activate cells and neural pathways.
In tests, says Tellington-Jones, massage was found to produce alpha brain waves, while TTouch caused both hemispheres of the brain to be activated, resulting in the activation of beta (used for logical thinking) and two additional brain waves, as well as the release of stress-reducing neurotransmitters.
Tellington-Jones has taught TTouch practitioners to help dogs alter aggressive behavior, reduce nervousness, and as a training method for competition. “We’re interested in working with animals in a way that increases their intelligence,” she says. “We allow the cells in our hands to talk to the animal’s body and remind them of their potential and function.”
Emotional Benefits
The emotional benefits of petting to our dogs may be more important than the physical. “Most animals are tactile and need to be touched; they like it,” says Allen M. Schoen, DVM, author of A Kindred Spirit: How the Remarkable Bond Between Humans and Animals Can Change the Way We Live. “Touch stimulates healthy socialization. The more you touch a dog, the more easily he is socialized.”
“Dogs are a social species, and humans have developed such a degree of social dependency in them, that their need for touch is critical,” agrees Dr. McMillan, “If they are not touched, they suffer emotional pain.”
Touch may also ameliorate the angst that accompanies healthcare for many dogs. When Dr. McMillan did the research for his article, he sought information on how human contact could improve veterinary care and promote healing.
“Whether touch actually improves health beyond the elimination of stress, we don’t know,” says Dr. McMillan. “But we presume it benefits health because of the beneficial physiology. Perhaps touch blunts, eliminates, or counteracts the adverse effects of stress, and thus aids recovering and healing.”
Dr. Schoen encourages owners to visit or even stay with their dogs while they are in the hospital. Dogs left alone or not petted commonly become depressed and in serious situations may even “give up” if deprived of contact with their people.
As part of their education, veterinary students must take a surgical course and perform operations on dogs. Retired veterinarian Robert Houston recalls that in his senior year, he had to learn 14 different procedures over a period of 16 weeks. Normally students would have access to 14 dogs, one for each procedure. After discussions with his lab partner, they decided for humane reasons to limit the number of dogs on which they would operate to one.
Houston operated with as much skill as possible and followed up with good nursing care. He and his lab partner alternated visits, so that the one of them visited the dog every two hours. During this time, they talked to the dog and stroked him. “While it was sometimes heartbreaking, our dog survived every procedure,” says Dr. Houston, now retired from the Air Force Veterinary Corps. He gives a lot of credit for the dog’s survival to the caring contact they shared.
A new trend in specialty clinics is to have a place for clients to stay with their animal overnight. “It makes a big difference in their recovery,” says Dr. Schoen.
Dr. McMillan hopes to see more veterinary clinics move in this direction. He also feels it is helpful to have owners present during medical procedures. Technicians note that pets receiving chemotherapy seem to experience less discomfort and accept treatment more calmly when they’re held and stroked while the drugs are administered.
“The more human contact during any kind of illness or recovery, the better,” Dr. McMillan says.
Scientists have barely begun to look at why loving touch can positively effect healing, but Schoen believes it’s because “love is the greatest healer and touch is a great expression of love.”
Communicate Through Touch
The use of touch can be effective in training, too. “When I train my dogs, I use touch to guide them into position,” says Kathy Diamond Davis, who trains therapy dogs.
Touch can also be the means for expressing complex emotion.
“Touch is one of the most critical ways of connecting with all other living beings,” says Dr. Schoen. “Touch is a powerful connection that can have a negative or positive impact. It’s our responsibility to relate to our dogs from the most positive perspective possible.”
Maryjean Ballner, author of Dog Massage, writes that touch transcends every other way of communicating with our animals. Touch is not egocentric, but altruistic. When we pet our dogs, it should be from a place of integrity and with the message of unconditional love.
-Lexiann Grant is a member of the Dog Writers Association of America and an eight-time recipient of the Maxwell Medallion for excellence in dog writing.
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