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Best Dog Treats
by Nancy Kerns
Rearranging the treats I was photographing for this article, I decided to spell a word. The decision to spell out the word “love” was not a conscious one, but it was automatic.
To our dogs, food is love – and security, affirmation, and reinforcement. When we give our dogs what trainers refer to as “high-value” treats – foods that are especially sweet, meaty, or pungent – our message gets through to them especially loud and clear. Behaviorists are highly appreciative of the ability of food treats to “classically condition” a dog to tolerate, and then even enjoy, environmental stimuli that he previously found frightening or threatening.
Plus, it’s fun for us, feeding our canine friends something they’re crazy about – the doggie equivalent of taking the kids out for doughnuts or ice cream.
Except, in the case of dog treats, we don’t have to worry about ruining our friends’ health with dangerous additives like high fructose corn syrup or partially hydrogenated oils (aka trans fats), which are found in many (if not most) snack foods in supermarkets. That’s because, unlike most human treats, dog treats can easily be found in healthy flavors and formulations that dogs find irresistible.
Hold out for health
The problem is, treats are probably the most likely of all dog-related items that a person might buy impulsively, without (horrors!) even a glance at the ingredients list. That’s because treats are often so darn cute! The packaging is frequently adorable and the names are hilarious.
Regular WDJ readers, however, know that you should never buy anything for your dog without a long, hard look at the ingredients panel, no matter how cute the cartoon dog on the label looks. It’s simply pointless to spend so much time and energy finding the best healthy foods for your dog if you are going to subvert your own efforts at health-building with low-quality, additive-filled garbage.
Nowhere are these deleterious junk foods more prevalent than at your local grocery store. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: Don’t buy commercially manufactured treats for your dog at the market. The treats they sell there (including most treats for kids) are just full of stuff your dog is better off without – stuff like low-quality by-products, sugar and corn syrup, and artificial colors. (See the examples of poor-quality, grocery-store treats in the sidebars.)
So where should you buy dog treats? For the utmost in quality, we recommend selecting fresh treats from local artisans. Our list of favorites includes treat makers such as Wet Noses (of Snohomish, Washington), Howling Hound Treats (Summerville, South Carolina), and Heidi’s Homemade Dog Treats (Columbus, Ohio), who hand-select the produce they buy from local farmers, as well as Rosie’s Rewards (Pray, Montana), who uses free-range Montana beef from local ranchers. Some of these folks have storefront shops; others rely on independent pet supply stores, veterinarians, and groomers to display and sell their wares. A few offer their goods only through phone orders or through their Web sites.
We have also been impressed by the number of folks who have managed to launch or grow their companies to national prominence while still manufacturing a top-quality product – companies like Cloud Star of San Luis Obispo, California (maker of Buddy Biscuits); Nature’s Animals of Mamaroneck, New York; and Pet Central of Sylvania, Ohio, maker of Waggers Dog Treats. These treats can be found in many pet supply stores and catalogs nationally, yet the company owners have maintained high standards for ingredient quality and consistent production.
What’s on the label
We hinted earlier that you have to read the label of any item that crosses your dog’s lips. Don’t be scared; it’s not that difficult! Your first task is to make sure the products don’t contain stuff that’s not good for dogs – such as artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives. Keep an eye out for lower-quality ingredients that indicate the maker may have cut corners to keep costs down, such as by-products or food fragments. If you are not sure you would recognize products meeting this description, compare the treats in the “Do Not Buy!” list with our selections; it’s really obvious if you just look at the ingredients list.
Those of us who have figured out which foods don’t agree with our own dogs due to food allergies or intolerances are also on the lookout for ingredients that may make our dogs itch, develop ear infections, or suffer painful gas or diarrhea. These ingredients vary from dog to dog, although many treat manufacturers focus on a handful of ingredients – including wheat, corn, soy, and eggs – that are purported to be more commonly implicated in canine allergies or intolerances than not. One company (Waggers) covers its bases by making three treats: one is “wheatless,” one is “meatless,” and one is “sweetless” – something for every dog!
Don’t worry about the presence of sweeteners in treats (unless your dog is diabetic, in which case you should focus on the meat-based treats). After all, the assumption is your dog will receive only a small number of these per day or week.
After you eliminate treats that have stuff that is bad for your dog, look for the good stuff: things like whole meats, grains, fruits, and vegetables. The more organic ingredients you see, the better, especially for dogs with chemical sensitivities and dogs who are combatting cancer (see sidebar).
Final notes
As is always the case when we review foods, we did not consider price in our selections. As ever, we implore you to remember that you get what you pay for. Inexpensive treats cannot contain good quality ingredients, because quality ingredients cost more. Of course, you also pay more for an especially cute presentation, such as the candy box style used by Happy Pet of San Francisco for its Canine Confections. You can’t beat a presentation like this, however, if you are looking for a special gift for a fellow dog-lover.
Be aware that we do not rate or rank-order our selections. A treat either meets our selection criteria (outlined in the sidebar) or it does not; there is no “top pick” or “best on the list.” And if you are familiar with a treat that meets our selection criteria, don’t worry that it’s not as good as our selections because it’s not on our list; we obviously haven’t reviewed every product on the market. Happily, there are many more good products than we could ever list.
We grouped our new selections into two categories: cookie-type treats, which contain grains; and meat-based treats that are usually carb-free. The selections are grouped alphabetically by category.
We’ve also listed all of our past selections that meet our current selection criteria. We’ve taken only a few products off our lists; this has occurred because we have made our selection criteria more stringent – not because those products are bad.
Also With This Article
Click here to view How to Identify and Pick Top Quality Dog Treats”
Click here to view “The Difference Between Quality Dog Treats and Unhealthy Dog Treats”
Click here to view “Top Quality Dog Treats”
Click here to view “How to Make Your Own Top-Quality Dog Treats”
Online Dog Chat Forums
by C.C. Holland
A few years ago, I underwent extensive knee surgery. Thanks to a skilled doctor, a supportive husband, and an Internet message board comprised of people who’d either undergone or were about to embark on similar procedures, I made it through with both my physical and mental health intact.
A couple of months ago, my dog, Lucky, decided to follow in her mom’s footsteps by tearing a ligament in her knee and undergoing her own surgery.
Before she went under the knife, I researched everything I could about the procedure. As I scoured the Web, it occurred to me that if there were message boards and online support groups for humans with knee injuries, maybe there’d be an equivalent for canines and their owners.
Sure enough, I found Orthodogs, a free group (set up through a Yahoo! service) that provides support, information, and advice to owners with dogs facing orthopedic problems. And then I discovered it was only the tip of the iceberg.
There are dozens of online groups aimed at dog owners out there, covering a wide range of topics – disabled dogs; dogs with cancer; dogs who have behavioral and training issues; and even grieving the loss of a pet. Groups range in size from a few dozen people to thousands; thanks to the Web, many include members from all over the globe. Most are free – and the criteria for membership are simply time, interest, and an Internet connection. To communicate, members “post” messages via interactive tools and can even contact each other directly through e-mail.
Can a virtual community of people you’ll probably never meet really help an owner cope with a dog’s problems? Yes, say mental-health professionals.
“Finding like-minded people who understand exactly what you’re feeling and who can respond to you basically 24 hours a day is very helpful,” says Darlene Mininni, Ph.D., author of the forthcoming book, The Emotional Toolkit, and an expert in coping strategies.
In addition, says Dr. Mininni, the act of typing out your messages provides a therapeutic outlet.
“That’s an added bonus, because writing about your feelings helps you make sense of them,” she says. “It’s the same benefit of writing in a journal – and there are tons of studies that demonstrate how doing that can improve your feelings.”
Betty Carmack, a professor of nursing at the University of San Francisco, has been running a pet-loss counseling group in the Bay Area since 1982. While her group is one that meets physically, rather than virtually, she says that any kind of support network can be helpful to owners weathering a crisis with their pets.
“It’s so important for people to find some kind of validation for what they’re feeling, whether it’s online, one-on-one counseling, books, or support groups,” she says. “Now there are wonderful resources, and people don’t have to get through it alone.”
Benefits of community
One benefit of online groups commonly mentioned by participants is the feeling that they become part of a community or family. Sharing a common challenge can be a powerful bond.
Andrea Barnhart of Albany, New York, found the Canines in Crisis cancer board when her dog, Patches, began battling lymphoma and leukemia. “These people truly understand what I’m going through because they are experiencing the same emotions,” she says.
Brenda Osbourne of Owasso, Oklahoma, joined the Orthodogs group when one of her seven dogs required knee surgery.
“It was like being brought into a big extended family, and the warmth and the caring was so heartfelt,” she says. “It felt so good to be sharing what is a very frightening journey with so many other people who had not only been through it but were so willing to help you get through it.”
Osbourne became so involved in the group that she became an official moderator – a member with administrative rights who polices the message posts, keeping an eye out for people who ignore the basic rules (no profanity, no personal attacks, etc.) or have less-than-altruistic agendas, such as pushing commercial “miracle cures.” Osbourne now spends a good part of each day reviewing posts and answering questions, squeezing out the time despite her demanding career in cancer research.
In some cases, the feeling of family extends beyond the computer. In March, a group of people on the Orthodogs message board pooled resources to help a financially challenged member afford surgery for her dog. And the members of a group known as Deaf Dogs hold yearly get-togethers around the country.
“I thought (that) was amazing,” says Monica Mansfield of Ancramdale, New York, who joined the group two years ago when she became interested in adopting a deaf puppy. “It is wonderful to get to meet some of the friends you’ve made online in person. I’ve been to two different Deaf Dog picnics and plan on attending many more.”
No stupid questions
Many newcomers can be hesitant about posing questions on these online boards, worrying that their inquiries are inane or redundant with earlier message posts. But most find their concerns to be unfounded.
“I wondered what they would think of another newbie asking the same dumb questions they’d heard a million times,” says Tamie Adams, an Alabama dog owner who found the Orthodogs group while researching ligament repair options for Brodie, one of her two Rhodesian Ridgebacks. “So I introduced myself and then proceeded to read, and read, and read, without posting very often. (But) as I became familiar with the other people who posted, I was amazed at how warm and caring they were to everyone.”
“I think it is a continual ‘passing of the torch’ in online groups,” says Mansfield. “Almost everyone starts as a newbie and is there for answers to their questions and to learn from the people who have more experience. Then they start becoming comfortable enough to start answering other peoples’ questions.”
Dr. Mininni says this give-and-take process can be very helpful to group participants.
“It’s important that you feel like you matter to others,” she says. “If you are both getting advice and giving it, and people are appreciative of that, those are multiple ways you’re helping your psyche.”
Advice and research
In addition to seeking the mental and emotional support offered by these groups, many owners also use them to compare notes, discuss new research and information, and give advice. Some turned to the groups in frustration after their veterinarians fell short in providing them details, or when they believed their vets couldn’t or wouldn’t provide information about adjunct therapies such as herbal remedies.
“Good grief, my surgeon didn’t give us squat!” says Adams. “I had researched herbs and supplements, but I had to get all the dosage information from (the group). I also got all of my pre-op and post-op information from the things that other people’s vets had told them.”
Paola Ferraris, of Milan, Italy, who also serves as a moderator for the Orthodogs group, says that people often appreciate hearing about the range of issues that can affect dogs before and after surgery.
“Comparing notes and reactions of the dogs post-op and pre-op can be useful,” she says. “In some cases, issues discussed – such as pros and cons of (a certain) clinic, or breed-specific (problems) that vets rarely mention – have helped people discuss all options with their surgeons, or made others aware of potential reactions and side effects of treatments.”
Members may also suggest alternative therapies or procedures that other owners hadn’t considered or even known about. “I’d have to say that if I weren’t part of this group I probably would never have explored holistic approaches or using natural herbal remedies in certain cases,” says Osbourne.
Indeed, reading posts on the Orthodogs board before Lucky’s surgery prepared me for some of the physical challenges that could plague her afterward, including constipation – something our vet didn’t mention despite our extensive consultations. It also clued me in to the potential of horsetail grass as a supplement to help speed bone healing.
Sometimes, there’s so little data out there that only talking to someone facing the same challenges can help. Monica Mansfield says the Deaf Dogs board was an invaluable resource for obtaining real-world information instead of theoretical feedback.
“There are so many things that I learned from the group that you can’t learn anywhere else,” she says. “Many vets don’t have much deaf-dog experience, since deaf puppies are routinely euthanized or culled. Also a lot of the parent breed clubs are against the placing of deaf dogs or puppies, so there is not much information to be gotten from them.”
The information provided can be more than anecdotal. It’s not unusual to find message board members posting links to recent veterinary journal publications, studies, press releases, or newspaper and magazine articles. That’s yet another way members can deepen their understanding of the challenges they and their dogs are facing.
A few drawbacks
Despite the benefits they offer, message boards must be consulted with prudence. The biggest risk of using message boards is using poor information and putting your pet at risk. Few people deliberately post incorrect suggestions, but they may not get all their facts straight. In addition, the people who are the most prolific posters aren’t necessarily the ones with the best information, which can make it tough to decide when to accept ideas and when to break out that proverbial grain of salt.
“New people don’t know who to listen to,” says Osbourne. “With a group the size of Orthodogs, new people tend to get a lot of responses and since they’re usually just beginning their journey, they don’t know how to sort out the good advice from the bad. I think it can be a little overwhelming sometimes.”
If you obtain any medical advice or information from a message board, run it by your vet before putting it into practice. Herbs and supplements may interfere with medications or affect dosages. Changing a diet can stress an ill dog if it’s not done correctly. And rehabilitation protocols vary widely. Your vet might have a very good reason for, say, allowing your dog a short daily walk post-surgery while requiring that another dog remains completely immobilized.
It’s also wise to verify what you read through independent, reliable sources rather than taking one person’s posts as gospel. When I read a recommendation about horsetail grass as a bone-healing supplement, I verified that claim through Drug Digest (drugdigest.org), a consumer health and drug information Web site; the Food and Nutrition Information Center (nal.usda.gov/fnic/index.html) at the National Agricultural Library; and Greg and Mary Tilfords’ definitive reference, Herbs for Pets.
Some of the problems with online message boards are more social than serious. One common complaint is that it’s sometimes difficult to interpret the emotions behind the typed word. “The worst drawback is not being able to get the ‘tone’ behind the posts,” says Mansfield. “It’s very hard to tell if someone is being sarcastic, serious, kidding, or angry just by their words. I think that a lot of misunderstandings happen that way, on all the groups.”
“It’s e-mail, which tends to be a very impersonal way to communicate,” agrees Osbourne. “Messages can be misinterpreted or somebody’s sense of humor doesn’t quite come through and it can cause problems.”
Also, you should be aware that your vet may not be completely supportive of your involvement in message boards, especially if what you read conflicts with his advice or protocols.
“I think some vets consider the list a big pain,” says Ferraris, “(because) people start comparing prices for surgery, rehab options, therapies, and post-op protocols.”
Maximize the resource
The best way to approach message boards is to view them as research and support tools, rather than replacements for your veterinarian. Don’t accept at face value the information you read, and keep your vet in the loop at all times when it comes to medical decisions, including complementary and alternative options. Talk to your vet about message-board questions and concerns with a collaborative mindset, rather than thinking combatively.
“I’ve told my vet I participate in the group, (and) she supports it,” says Adams. “I just tell her my game plan after weighing all the input from the group and my own research, and get her feedback.”
And don’t discount the value of the boards’ social support when you’re dealing with a crisis.
“Numerous studies show that feeling connected to others and using that care when needed can decrease sadness, anxiety, loneliness, and feelings of helplessness,” says Dr. Mininni.
“I’m so thankful for the message boards,” says Barnhart. “There have been suggestions made by other visitors that have made a big difference for Patches . . . medicines, supplements, books to read, diets, you name it. And the support and comfort that I have gained have been amazing.”
-C.C. Holland is a freelance writer in Oakland, California, and regular contributor to WDJ. Her dog, Lucky, is recovering well from TPLO surgery.
Rage Syndrome in Dogs
RAGE SYNDROME: OVERVIEW
1. Document your dog’s episodes of unexplainable, explosive aggression so you can describe all the details to a trainer/behaviorist, including all environmental conditions you can think of.
2. Seek the assistance of a qualified, positive dog trainer/behavior consultant. Take your documentation with you on your first visit.
3. Be safe, and be sure others are safe, around your dog.
The term “rage syndrome” conjures up mental images of Cujo, Stephen King’s fictional rabid dog, terrorizing the countryside. If you’re owner of a dog who suffers from it, it’s almost that bad – never knowing when your beloved pal is going to turn, without warning, into a biting, raging canine tornado.
The condition commonly known as rage syndrome is actually more appropriately called “idiopathic aggression.” The definition of idiopathic is: “Of, relating to, or designating a disease having no known cause.” It applies perfectly to this behavior, which has confounded behaviorists for decades. While most other types of aggression can be modified and reduced through desensitization and counter-conditioning, idiopathic aggression often can’t. It is an extremely difficult and heartbreaking condition to deal with.
The earmarks of idiopathic aggression include:
• No identifiable trigger stimulus/stimuli
• Intense, explosive aggression
• Onset most commonly reported in dogs 1-3 years old
• Some owners report that their dogs get a glazed, or “possessed” look in their eyes just prior to an idiopathic outburst, or act confused.
• Certain breeds seem more prone to suffer from rage syndrome, including Cocker and Springer Spaniels (hence the once-common terms – Spaniel rage, Cocker rage, and Springer rage), Bernese Mountain Dogs, St. Bernards, Doberman Pinschers, German Shepherds, and Lhasa Apsos. This would suggest a likely genetic component to the problem.
The Good News About Rage Syndrome
The good news is that true idiopathic aggression is also a particularly uncommon condition. Discussed and studied widely in the 1970s and ’80s, it captured the imagination of the dog world, and soon every dog with episodes of sudden, explosive aggression was tagged with the unfortunate “rage syndrome” label, especially if it was a spaniel of any type. We have since come to our senses, and now investigate much more carefully before concluding that there is truly “no known cause” for a dog’s aggression.
A thorough exploration of the dog’s behavior history and owner’s observations often can ferret out explainable causes for the aggression. The appropriate diagnosis often turns out to be status-related aggression (once widely known as “dominance aggression”) and/or resource guarding – both of which can also generate very violent, explosive reactions. (See “Eliminate Aggressive Dog Guarding Behaviors,” WDJ September 2001.)
An owner can easily miss her dog’s warning signs prior to a status-related attack, especially if the warning signs have been suppressed by prior physical or verbal punishment. While some dogs’ lists of guardable resources may be limited and precise, with others it can be difficult to identify and recognize a resource that a dog has determined to be valuable and worth guarding. The glazed look reported by some owners may also be their interpretation of the “hard stare” or “freeze” that many dogs give as a warning signal just prior to an attack.
Although the true cause of idiopathic aggression is still not understood, and behaviorists each tend to defend their favorite theories, there is universal agreement that it is a very rare condition, and one that is extremely difficult to treat.
Idiopathic Aggression Theories
A variety of studies and testing over the past 30 years have failed to produce a clear cause or a definitive diagnosis for idiopathic aggression. Behaviorists can’t even agree on what to call it! (See The Evolving Vocabulary of Aggression, below.)
Given the failure to find a specific cause, it is quite possible that there are several different causes for unexplainable aggressive behaviors that are all grouped under the term “idiopathic aggression.” Some dogs in the midst of an episode may foam at the mouth and twitch, which could be an indication of epileptic seizures. The most common appearance of the behavior between 1-3 years of age also coincides with the appearance of most status-related aggression, as well as the development of idiopathic epilepsy, making it even impossible to use age of onset as a differential diagnosis.
Some researchers have found abnormal electroencephalogram readings in some dogs suspected of having idiopathic aggression, but not all such dogs they studied. Other researchers have been unable to reproduce even those inconclusive results.
Another theory is that the behavior is caused by damage to the area of the brain responsible for aggressive behavior. Yet another is that it is actually a manifestation of status-related aggression triggered by very subtle stimuli. Clearly, we just don’t know.
The fact that idiopathic aggression by definition cannot be induced also makes it difficult to study and even try to find answers to the question of cause. Unlike a behavior like resource guarding – which is easy to induce and therefore easy to study in a clinical setting – the very nature of idiopathic aggression dictates that it cannot be reproduced or studied at will.
Rage Syndrome Treatment
Without knowing the cause of idiopathic aggression, treatment is difficult and frequently unsuccessful. The condition is also virtually impossible to manage safely because of the sheer unpredictability of the outbursts. The prognosis, unfortunately, is very poor, and many dogs with true idiopathic aggression must be euthanized, for the safety of surrounding humans.
Don’t despair, however, if someone has told you your dog has “rage syndrome.” First of all, he probably doesn’t. Remember, the condition is extremely rare, and the label still gets applies all too often by uneducated dog folk to canines whose aggressive behaviors are perfectly explainable by a more knowledgeable observer.
Your first step is to find a skilled and positive trainer/behavior consultant who can give you a more educated analysis of your dog’s aggression. A good behavior modification program, applied by a committed owner in consultation with a capable behavior professional can succeed in decreasing and/or resolving many aggression cases, and help you devise appropriate management plans where necessary, to keep family members, friends, and visitors safe.
If your behavior professional also believes that you have a rare case of idiopathic aggression on your hands, then a trip to a veterinary behaviorist is in order. Some dogs will respond to drug therapies for this condition; many will not. Some minor success has been reported with the administration of phenobarbital, but it is unclear as to whether the results are from the sedative effect of the drug, or if there is an actual therapeutic effect.
In many cases of true idiopathic aggression, euthanasia is the only solution. Because the aggressive explosions are truly violent and totally unpredictable, it is neither safe nor fair to expose yourself or other friends and family to the potentially disfiguring, even deadly, results of such an attack. If this is the sad conclusion in the case of your dog, euthanasia is the only humane option. Comfort yourself with the knowledge you have done everything possible for him, hold him close as you say goodbye, and send him gently to a safer place. Then take good care of yourself.
The Evolving Vocabulary of Aggression
Different behaviorists and trainers have used and continue to use different terms for what was once commonly known as “rage syndrome.” The confusion over what to call it is a reflection of how poorly understood the condition is:
Rage syndrome – This once popular term has fallen into disfavor, due to its overuse, misuse, and poor characterization of the actual condition
Idiopathic aggression – Now the most popular term among behaviorists; this name clearly says “we don’t know what it is”
Low-threshold dominance aggression – Favored by those who hold that idiopathic aggression is actually a manifestation of status-related aggression with very subtle triggers
Mental lapse aggression syndrome – Attached to cases diagnosed as a result of certain electroencephalogram readings (low-voltage, fast activity)
Stimulus responsive psychomotor epilepsy – Favored by some who suspect that idiopathic aggression is actually epileptic seizure activity
“Rage syndrome” is not the only aggression term that has undergone a metamorphosis in recent years. Even the way we look at aggression is changing. Where once each “classification” of aggression was seen as very distinct, with its own distinct protocols for treatment, it is becoming more widely recognized that most aggressive behavior is caused by stress or anxiety.
It is now generally accepted by the training and behavior profession that physical punishment should not be used in an attempt to suppress aggressive behavior. Rather, aggressive behavior is best managed by preventing the dog’s exposure to his individual stressors, and modified by creating a structured environment for the dog – through a “Say Please” or “Nothing in Life Is Free” program – and implementing a solid protocol of counter-conditioning and desensitization to reduce or eliminate the dog’s aggressive reaction to those stressors.
We also now recognize that aggressive dogs may behave inappropriately and dangerously as a result of imbalances in brain chemicals, and that the new generation of drugs used in behavior modification work help rebalance those chemicals. This is in stark contrast to older drugs, such as Valium, that simply sedated the dog rather than providing any real therapy. As a result, many behaviorists recommend the use of pharmaceutical intervention sooner, rather than later, in aggression cases.
Here are some of the newer terms now in use to describe various types of aggressive behavior:
Status-related aggression: Once called dominance aggression, a term still widely used. Status-related aggression focuses more on getting the confident highranking dog to behave appropriately regardless of status; old methods of dealing with dominance aggression often focused on trying to reduce the dog’s status, often without success.
Fear-related aggression: Once called submission aggression. A dog who is fearful may display deferent (submissive) behaviors in an attempt to ward off the fearinducing stress. If those signals are ignored and the threat advances – a child, for example, trying to hug a dog who is backing away, ears flattened – aggression can occur.
Possession aggression: Previously referred to as food guarding and now also appropriately called resource guarding, this name change acknowledges that a dog may guard many objects in addition to his food – anything he considers a valuable resource, including but not limited to toys, beds, desirable locations, and proximity to humans.
Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA, 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.
Yucca Root for Canine Arthritis Pain
[Updated March 29, 2018]
YUCCA ROOT FOR DOGS: OVERVIEW
1. Consider a yucca supplement for a dog with digestive problems that prevent him from properly utilizing his already top-quality diet, or for a dog with arthritis.
2. Use yucca for four days, and then discontinue for three days. An on-and-off-again schedule will help prevent irritation of digestive tissues.
3. Discontinue the use of yucca if the dog exhibits digestive upset such as vomiting and discuss this with your holistic veterinarian.
When valuable herbs gain momentous popularity in the mainstream marketplace they often show up as “buzz words” on various product labels. By market decree such herbs become not only popular, but stylish. After all, why would anyone want to buy an herbal cold remedy that doesn’t contain the mighty echinacea?
Usually when mass-market, celebrity herbs are born, oceans of research and published introspection soon follows to satisfy the curiosities of the consumer. We want to know why certain herbs keep showing up in the products we buy and use, and rightly so. Nevertheless, many herbs remain as ambiguous words on the labels of our favorite animal care products.
By San906 (Own work) [CC0]
Why is this so? Because manufacturers are largely prohibited, by federal regulations, to provide any tangible clues about the medicinal or nutritive attributes of the herb ingredients they list on their animal product labels.
One of the best examples of this is yucca – a succulent, cactus-like member of the lily family that inhabits desert areas and garden landscapes throughout America. Anyone who has studied natural dog and cat food labels, shampoo labels, and ingredient lists for livestock feeds has seen the name of this important plant food and medicine, yet very few of us can cite its intended purpose, much less a broad view of its holistic potential.
Yucca as a Nutritional Aid to Dogs
The description “nutritional supplement” really doesn’t fit yucca as well as the term “nutritional aid.” Although yucca root contains notable quantities of vitamin C, beta-carotene, calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, niacin, phosphorous, protein, and B vitamins, this herb’s greatest nutritive and healing powers are chiefly attributable to a group of compounds collectively known of as saponins, which are found in the root of yucca.
Saponins are plant glycosides, which are characterized by their tendency to dramatically foam up when agitated with water, much like soap does. When ingested in very small amounts with food, saponins contribute a cleansing and penetrating action upon mucous membranes of the small intestine, which in turn helps with the assimilation of important minerals and vitamins through intestinal walls.
The results can be astounding. In studies conducted at Colorado State University, cattle fed small quantities of yucca root showed greater weight gain than those without. Other trials have concluded that chickens that are fed yucca have a tendency to lay more eggs, and dairy cattle tend to produce more milk.
Other research shows that when added to dog food, yucca can help reduce the emission of noxious odors in urine and feces. This finding comes from studies in which the chemical breakdown of urea (the body’s final by-product of digested proteins) were examined. The findings: anhydrous ammonia, which is largely responsible for the less-than-delightful odor of animal excrement is caused by a single microbial enzyme called urease, was inhibited when food supplements containing preparations of Yucca schidigera were fed. In the studies, fecal and urine odors were reduced by up to 56 percent in dogs and 49 percent in cats.
While the notion of less-offensive stool and less yard cleanup is attractive to many, the issue of excess urease should not go unchecked, as this kind of imbalance may lead to health problems that are much more serious than a soiled backyard.
Excess urea (and larger, more offensive stools) are often the result of a poor quality diet, where protein fillers (like soy meal) or cheap meat by-products cannot be efficiently broken down and eliminated during the digestive process. If left unchecked, this can lead to serious problems, such as urinary stones, kidney disease, arthritis, or chronic skin problems.
In other words, feed a balanced, natural diet, and excess fecal and urine odor shouldn’t be an issue in the first place.
My bottom line: yucca root can be helpful for optimizing a good quality diet that has been specially tailored to the needs of dogs that need added help with nutrient absorption. However, yucca really has no value as a supplement to lousy food.
Steroidal Effects of Yucca
Yucca root also possesses chemistries that add powerful medicinal activities to the veterinary herbalist’s goodie bag. Among these chemistries are sarsasapogenin, smilagenin, and various other compounds that are loosely known by the herbal/scientist community as “phytosterols.”
Herbalists theorize that phytosterols serve the body by stimulating and assisting the body in the use and production of natural corticosteroids and corticosteroid-related hormones. Unlike corticosteroid drugs such as prednisone, yucca is thought to work in concert with natural autoimmune functions of the body – actually supporting immune system functions as opposed to shutting them down.
It can be reasonably hypothesized that the natural, corticosteroid-like actions of yucca may play a role in the body’s natural production of growth hormones, which in turn may contribute significantly to the accelerated growth and production we see in animals that receive it in their food. And although this theory has not been established as “fact” by the scientific community, we know that yucca is very safe in the diet when fed in moderation and in a sensible manner.
What all of this means is that yucca can be a very useful natural remedy in the treatment of arthritis.
In a study conducted at the beginning of the twentieth century, yucca was found to bring about safe and effective relief (from pain and inflammation) to human arthritis patients when taken four times daily over a period of time. Although this study has been repeatedly discredited by the American Arthritis Foundation because of the contro-versial manner by which the study was conducted, the beneficial effects of yucca in humans and animals remain clearly validated in the minds of holistic practitioners who have repeatedly used it and witnessed positive results.
In my experiences with monitoring the therapeutic effects of yucca root in arthritic dogs, yucca can be very useful toward reducing inflammation of the knees and hips, especially when the herb is used concurrently with liquid extracts of licorice root (Glycyrrhizza spp.), alfalfa, and a liquid glucosamine supplement. Part of this may be attributable to the improved assimilation of glucosamine, another possible attribute of yucca’s amazing saponin constituents.
Undiscovered Values of Yucca Root for Dogs
Although scientists largely remain focused on the saponin constituents of yucca, it is obvious that there is much to discover about several other compounds within this plant. Native Americans used the roots, leaves, and flowers in a wide variety of applications, ranging from burns and digestive disorders to contraceptive applications.
A water extract (tea) of Yucca glauca (“small yucca” or “soapweed”) has been shown to have anti-tumor activity against a certain type of melanoma in mice. Its mechanism in this context is believed to stem from its polysaccharide constituents, not necessarily its steroidal saponins.
Perhaps most famously, yucca’s high saponin content has been widely exploited to make soap and shampoos.
A Few Words of Caution
Yucca root is classified by FDA and the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) as “Generally Regarded as Safe” (GRAS) for use in animal feeds and supplements. Yucca root powders, extracts, and other preparations can be used very safely in dogs and other mammals. Nevertheless, several controversies have been raised over the years concerning the safety of yucca’s saponin constituents.
Many of these concerns stem from cases of intestinal bloating or photosensitivity in livestock. Most of these events were triggered when too much saponin-rich, fresh alfalfa was fed while the plants were in bloom (alfalfa should only be harvested and fed prior to blooming).
There have also been reports of bloating and other digestive problems that have been attributed, at least in part, to cheap, fibrous, saponin-rich vegetable by-products (such as beet pulp) that are used in lieu of whole vegetables in commercial dog foods.
Then there are the numerous scientific studies in which animal subjects suffered digestive distress when they ingested (or were force-fed) isolated saponin compounds in chemical concentrations far exceeding than those naturally found in yucca root, or for that matter, any other herb. Such an experiment, in my mind, only proves that animals (and humans) shouldn’t eat soap.
Saponin is found in many of the vegetables we eat and frequently feed to our dogs (including yams, beets, and alfalfa sprouts), yet a few outspoken individuals insist that anything that contains saponin must be harmful. This is simply not true. Virtually anything will produce a toxic reaction if ingested in too much abundance, including herbs and vegetables.
Common sense rules here. Too much of virtually anything will likely cause some sort of toxic reaction, and yucca root is no exception. Remember this: Yucca is also known as “soapweed.” If used in excessive amounts over an extended period of time, yucca may eventually irritate the stomach lining and the intestinal mucosa. This in turn may cause vomiting. In fact, many of the Native American tribes of the southwest used yucca preparations to induce vomiting in cases of food poisoning. If vomiting or any other adverse effect is observed, discontinue use.
Yucca Dosage for Dogs
Although yucca has become a popular additive in pet foods, I do not feed foods that contain more than two percent yucca root on a daily basis unless a therapeutic purpose for a higher dose has been identified by a holistic pet care professional.
It is best to follow the manufacturer’s recommendations of yucca supplements that are formulated specifically for dogs. Yucca products vary according to their concentrations and added ingredients. If the product you buy does not have a suggested feeding amount on its label, then call the manufacturer or shop for a different brand.
As a food supplement for dogs with suspected malabsorption: Mix ¼ – ½ tsp. of dried, powdered yucca root (available at health food stores) to each pound of food fed each day. Feed on a schedule of four days on, three days off each week; this will help prevent overstimulation and subsequent irritation of digestive tissues that may otherwise occur with long term use.
As an anti-inflammatory and tonic for dogs with arthritis: Use a liquid tincture product that has been specifically formulated for use in dogs, and follow the manufacturer’s recommendations or the advice of your holistic veterinarian.
Alternatively, an alcohol-free liquid extract can be used. Again, buy one that is formulated for dogs and follow the manufacturer’s recommendations.
Greg Tilford is a well-known expert in the field of veterinary herblism. An international lecturer and teacher of veterinarians and pet owners alike, Greg has written four books on herbs, including All You Ever Wanted to Know About Herbs for Pets, (Bowie Press, 1999), which he coauthored with his wife, Mary.
Dog Ear Infection
DOG EAR INFECTION: OVERVIEW
1. Keep your dog’s ears clean. Use a gentle cleaning agent such as green tea, or a commercial product such as Halo’s Natural Herbal Ear Wash.
2. Use a pinch of boric acid to keep the dog’s ears dry and acidified.
3. Consult your holistic veterinarian in cases of severe or chronic infections; she may need to treat an underlying condition.
Chronic dog ear infections are the bane of long-eared dogs, swimming dogs, recently vaccinated puppies, old dogs, dogs with an abundance of ear wax, and dogs with allergies, thyroid imbalances, or immune system disorders. In other words, ear infections are among the most common recurring canine problems.
In conventional veterinary medicine, a dog ear infection can often be treated with oral antibiotics, topical drugs, or even surgery. The problem is that none of these treatments is a cure. Ear infections come back when the dog eats another “wrong” food, goes for another swim, experiences another buildup of excess wax, or in some other way triggers a reoccurrence.
Holistic veterinarian Stacey Hershman, of Nyack, New York, took an interest in dog ear infections when she became a veterinary technician in her teens. “This is a subject that isn’t covered much in vet school,” she says. “I learned about treating ear infections from the veterinarians I worked with over the years. Because they all had different techniques, I saw dozens of different treatments, and I kept track of what worked and what didn’t.”
Over the years, Dr. Hershman developed a program for keeping ears healthy and treating any problems that do arise, without the steroids and antibiotics usually dispensed by conventional practitioners. In addition, when she treats a dog with infected ears, she usually gives a homeopathic remedy to stimulate the dog’s immune system and help it fight the infection’s underlying cause.
“Ear infections are a symptom of a larger problem,” she says. “You don’t want to just treat the ear and ignore the rest of the body. You want to treat the whole patient.”
Dr. Hershman believes that many dog ear infections, especially in puppies, stem from immune system imbalances caused by vaccinosis, a reaction to vaccines. “The ill effects of vaccines,” she says, “can cause mucoid discharge in puppies. For example, it’s not uncommon for puppies to have a discharge from the eyes or to develop conjunctivitis after a distemper vaccine.”
Once a dog develops an ear infection, conventional treatment can make the problem worse. “Dogs are routinely given cocktail drugs, which are combinations of antibiotics, antifungal drugs, cortisone, or other ingredients,” she explains.
“After a while, you’ll go through 10 tubes, and your dog will develop a resistance. Then you’ll have to go to more powerful drugs to treat the recurring infection. In conventional veterinary medicine, chronic ear infections are considered normal. Dog owners are told they’re a fact of life, they’re never cured, they just keep coming back, and the best you can do is ‘manage’ them. My goal is to cure, not to manage.”
Dr. Hershman’s treatment for infected ears is not a cure by itself, but it’s a remedy that isn’t harmful, and it gives you an important kick-start in treating ears holistically. “That’s the approach that leads to a cure,” she says.
Note: If your dog develops an ear infection for the first time, or if his condition seems especially severe or painful, take him to see your holistic veterinarian, to rule out a tumor, polyp, or something else that requires veterinary attention.
Maintenance Ear Cleaning
Dr. Hershman’s healthy ears program starts with maintenance cleaning with ordinary cotton balls and cotton swabs. “This makes a lot of people nervous,” she says, “but the canine ear canal isn’t straight like the canal in our ears. Assuming you’re reasonably gentle, you can’t puncture the ear drum or do any structural damage.”
Moisten the ear with green tea brewed as for drinking and cooled to room temperature, or use an acidic ear cleanser that does not contain alcohol. Dr. Hershman likes green tea for its mildness and its acidifying, antibacterial properties, but she also recommends peach-scented DermaPet MalAcetic Otic Ear Cleanser or Halo Natural Herbal Ear Wash.
“Don’t pour the cleanser into the dog’s ear,” she warns, “or it will just wash debris down and sit on the ear drum, irritating it.” Instead, she says, lift the dog’s ear flap while holding a moistened cotton ball between your thumb and index finger. Push the cotton down the opening behind the tragus (the horizontal ridge you see when you lift the ear flap) and scoop upward. Use a few dry cotton balls to clean out normal waxy buildup.
Next, push a Q-tip into the vertical ear canal until it stops, then scoop upward while rubbing it against the walls of the vertical canal. Repeat several times, rubbing on different sides of the vertical canal. Depending on how much debris is present in each ear, you can moisten one or several cotton balls and use two or more Q-tips.
“You don’t want to push so hard that you cause pain,” she says, “but for maintenance cleaning using gentle pressure, it’s impossible to harm the eardrum. I refer to the external ear canal as an L-shaped tunnel, and I tell owners to think of the vertical canal as a cone of cartilage. People are always amazed at how deep the dog’s ear canal can go. I often have them hold the end of the Q-tip while I demonstrate cleaning so they feel confident about doing it correctly without hurting their dogs.”
If excessive discharge requires the use of five or more Q-tips, or if the discharge is thick, black, or malodorous, Dr. Hershman recommends an ear flush.
Dogster.com offers another protocol for cleaning your dog’s ears here.
Washing Out Debris from Your Dog’s Ears
Dr. Hershman realized that when an ear is not inflamed and not painful but full of debris or tarry exudates from a yeast or bacterial infection, flushing the ear makes sense. “If you don’t flush it out but keep applying medication on top of the debris,” she says, “you’re never going to cure the problem. But I also learned that flushing the ear is an art. You can’t simply fill the ear with otic solution and expect it to flow out by itself, taking all the debris with it. Because the dog’s ear canal forms a right angle, you just can’t get the liquid out unless you suction it gently with a bulb syringe or some kind of tube with a syringe attached.”
Flushing the ears, says Dr. Hershman, is one of the most important techniques you can learn for keeping your dog’s ears healthy. “They don’t teach this in veterinary school,” she says. “It’s something people learn by experience.”
When should the ears not be flushed? “If they’re painful, ulcerated, or bleeding,” she says, “or if there’s slimy, slippery pus in the ear or a glutenous, yeasty, golden yellow discharge. In any of these cases, flushing is not recommended. But if the ears are not inflamed and are simply waxy or filled with tarry exudates, flushing works well.”
The procedure begins with a mild, natural, unscented liquid soap from the health food store. Place a few drops of full-strength soap in the ear, then thoroughly massage the base of the ear. The soap is a surfactant, and it breaks up debris that’s stuck to the sides of the ear canal. From a bowl of water that’s slightly warmer than body temperature, fill a rubber bulb syringe or ear syringe, the kind sold in pharmacies for use with children or adults. Place the point of the syringe deep down in the soap-treated ear, then slowly squeeze the syringe so it releases a gentle stream of water.
“By the first or second application,” says Dr. Hershman, “you should see all kinds of debris flowing out. It’s like a waterfall. At the end of each application, hold the syringe in place so it sucks remaining water and debris up out of the ear canal. Then empty the syringe before filling it again.”
For seriously debris-filled ears, Dr. Hershman repeats the procedure three or four times, then she lets the dog shake his head before drying the ear with cotton balls and Q-tips. “I look for blood or debris,” she says, “and I check inside with the otoscope. If there’s still a lot of debris, I put more soap in, do a more vigorous massage, and flush it a few more times.
“An ear flush can be traumatic if the ear is inflamed,” she warns, “and occasionally there will be an ulcer or sore that you don’t know is there and it will bleed. That’s why you have to be careful about how you do this. You have to be vigorous but not aggressive. You don’t want to make the ear more inflamed, painful, or damaged than it was to begin with.”
After flushing the ear, Dr. Hershman applies calendula gel, a homeopathic remedy. “I put a large dab in each ear and ask the owner to do that once or twice a day for the next three days. The gel is water-soluble and very soothing. Calendula helps relieve itching and it stimulates the growth of new cells, so it speeds tissue repair.”
If the discharge in the dog’s ear is yeasty or obviously infected, Dr. Hershman skips the ear flush, instead using the following treatment.
Treating Dog Ear Infections
Careful treatment is required for infected ears and ears that are full of debris that resists even an ear flush. But what approach works best?
When Dr. Hershman began her veterinary practice, she met many dogs who wouldn’t let anyone touch their ears. “I knew that nothing I’d learned in vet school was going to help them,” she says, “so I thought back to all the treatments I’d seen over the years. The one that seemed most effective was a combination of boric acid and a thick, old-fashioned ointment that looks like pink toothpaste. I couldn’t remember its name, but I never forgot how it smelled – really peculiar, like burnt embers.”
The ointment was Pellitol, and as soon as she tracked it down, Dr. Hershman developed her own protocol for using it in combination with boric acid. Through groomers she had learned the importance of ear powders. “Like those powders,” she says, “boric acid dries and acidifies the ear. Yeast and bacteria are opportunistic organisms that die in a dry, acidic environment. They thrive where it’s moist, dark, and alkaline.”
Experimenting first with her own dogs and dogs at the animal shelter where she volunteered, she placed two or three pinches of boric acid powder in each infected ear unless it was ulcerated, bleeding, or painful. “Being acidic,” she explains, “boric acid might irritate open wounds. In that case, I would use the Pellitol alone. Otherwise, a pinch or two of boric acid is an effective preliminary treatment.”
Boric acid is toxic; note warnings on the label. It should not be inhaled, swallowed, or placed in the eye. Shielding the face is important and usually requires a helper, someone who can hold the dog’s head steady while protecting the eyes, nose, and mouth.
“I put the boric acid in and use my finger to work it deep into the ear canal,” she says. “If the dog has a very narrow ear canal, I gently work it down with a Q-tip.”
Next, she attaches the Pellitol applicator to the tube and squeezes the pasty ointment into the ear canal, applying enough pressure as she withdraws the tube to completely fill the canal. “I massage the ear,” she says, “especially around the base, then leave it undisturbed for an entire week. I learned this by trial and error. The Pellitol dries up within a day or two, but if you leave it undisturbed for an entire week, it removes whatever exudates are in the ear, whether they’re sticky, tarry, yeasty, or slimy pus. It just attaches to whatever’s there, dries it up, and everything falls out together.”
Pellitol ointment contains zinc oxide, calamine, bismuth subgalante, bismuth subnitrate, resorcinol, echinacea fluid extract, and juniper tar. “Zinc oxide,” says Dr. Hershman, “is a drying agent; calamine helps with itching and inflammation; bismuth is soothing and has antibacterial properties; resorcinol is used to treat dermatitis and other skin conditions; echinacea is antiviral and antibacterial; and juniper tar, like all tree resins, fights infection and makes the ointment very sticky. Once applied, it stays in place until it dries and flakes off, taking the ear’s debris with it.”
After a week, the ear should be much improved. “That’s when I use cotton balls or Q-tips to remove whatever’s left,” says Dr. Hershman. “I love this treatment because it works well, it doesn’t traumatize the ear, and it doesn’t antidote homeopathy.”
If Pellitol has an adverse side effect, it’s the product’s stickiness. “I tell people to protect their furniture for a day or two,” says Hershman. “The ointment will stick to anything it touches, and when you fill the ear, it can stick to the outside of the ear or the dog’s face. That excess will dry and fall off. You can remove it with vegetable oil, but leave the inside of the ear flap alone.”
Sometimes a second treatment is needed, and sometimes Dr. Hershman flushes the ear to complete the therapy.
While dog owners can successfully treat many ear problems with the foregoing program by themselves, don’t hesitate to bring your dog to your holistic veterinarian if he exhibits severe pain or discomfort, or if the ear problems recur. There may be an underlying issue that your holistic veterinarian can identify and treat.
Also, there have been cases in which the alternatives described here don’t work. If this happens, conventional treatment might be needed to defeat the bacteria infecting the dog’s ear. Dr. Hershman’s cleaning and flushing program can be used afterward for preventive maintenance.
A NOTE ON PELLITOL: Since this article was originally published, Pellitol stopped being manufactured under that name. The same product is still sold, but have your veterinarian contact your pharmacy to make sure you are getting the right product.
Ear Mites
Not every ear infection is an infection; sometimes it’s an infestation. Ear mites are tiny parasites that suck blood and fill the ear with waste matter that looks like black coffee grounds. The problem is most common in dogs from pet shops, puppy mills, shelters, or breeders with unclean environments.
Ear mites are species-specific, meaning that feline ear mites prefer cats’ ears and canine ear mites prefer dogs’ ears. Their bites ulcerate the ear canal, often leading to secondary infections.
How can you tell if your dog has ear mites? The definitive test is by microscopic examination, but Dr. Hershman describes two simple home tests. “Smear some ear debris on a white paper towel and wet it with hydrogen peroxide,” she says. “If it creates a brownish red stain when you smear it, you’re looking at digested blood from mites. In addition, most animals with ear mites have a positive ‘thump test.’ They vigorously thump a hind leg when you clean their ears because of intense itching.”
Ear mites are usually treated with pesticides, but there’s a safer, easier way. Simply put a few drops of mineral oil in each ear once or twice a week for a month.
Mineral oil has a terrible reputation in holistic health circles because it’s a petrochemical that blocks pores and interferes with the skin’s ability to breathe. But when it comes to fighting ear mites, these characteristics are a virtue. Mineral oil smothers and starves ear mites. Reapplying the oil twice per week prevents the growth of new generations.
Note: Herbal ear oils containing olive oil or other vegetable oils can be less effective in the treatment of ear mites, either because they contain nutrients that feed the tiny parasites or because they are not heavy enough to smother them.
For best results, use an eyedropper to apply mineral oil to the inside of the ear. Then use a cotton ball saturated with mineral oil to wipe inside the ear flap. Massage the entire ear to be sure the mineral oil is well distributed. Before each subsequent application, remove debris from the ear with cotton balls and Q-tips.
If mites have caused a secondary infection, follow the mineral oil treatment with Pellitol ointment and leave it undisturbed for several days.
Veterinary Help for Chronic Ear Problems
If you are unsure of your ability to clean or treat your dog’s ears, you can ask your holistic veterinarian to help you; with a little practice, you should be able to prevent ear problems and help your dog maintain a clean, dry, healthy ear on your own.
“These are simple, old-fashioned remedies,” says Dr. Hershman. “There is nothing high-tech about them. But after 30 years of treating ear infections, I’m convinced more than ever that they are the best way to treat canine ear infections.”
CJ Puotinen is the author of The Encyclopedia of Natural Pet Care and Natural Remedies for Dogs and Cats, both of which are available from DogWise. She has also authored several books about human health including Natural Relief from Aches and Pains.
Why You Should Switch Dog Foods Frequently
[Updated August 9, 2018]
Without a doubt, the most common question I am asked is “What kind of food should I feed my dog?”
Unfortunately, the answer is not simple. I try to teach dog owners to recognize the hallmarks of good quality foods, buy a bunch of them to try, identify a few that really suit their dogs, and then to rotate between three or four of the best. I suggest that they give their dogs one food for 2-4 months, and then switch to another food, and then another. Ideally, the foods are made by a few different manufacturers, and contain completely different protein sources, too.
Variability in Our Dogs’ Diets
All “complete and balanced” pet foods, even the ones made of the best ingredients, contain a premixed vitamin/mineral supplement. This is intended to ensure that the finished products contain a minimum amount of the nutrients deemed vital for canine health. This is needed because many of the nutrients present in the food ingredients are destroyed in the manufacturing process, and because it’s difficult (if not impossible) to find food sources of some nutrients, especially the trace minerals.
Despite the inclusion of the vitamin/mineral premixes, however, laboratory analysis of the finished pet food may reveal a wide range of levels for all the nutrients contained in the finished products. The Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) provides guidelines for minimum levels for most nutrients, and maximum levels (for a few others). Within this basic framework, however, manufacturers have a lot of room to formulate their products to different levels, based on their own research, experience, and philosophies.
In fact, an interested dog owner can find quite a bit of variability in the nutrient levels in different pet foods – that is, if the maker will disclose this sort of minutiae. (The ones that won’t disclose the amount of any given nutrient in their formula aren’t worth dealing with, in my opinion.)
For example, the AAFCO nutrient profiles call for a minimum of 50 IU of vitamin E per kg of food, and a maximum of 1,000 IU/kg (based on dry matter, which excludes the moisture in the food from the calculations). Nature’s Variety reports that its “Prairie Brand Chicken and Rice Medley” contains 116 IU of vitamin E per kg of food (on a dry matter basis); Natura Pet Products reports that its “Innova” dry dog food contains 271 IU/kg of vitamin E.
Dogs Are What They Eat, Too
The point is, many of us have been conditioned to feed our dogs the same food, day in and day out. We are warned by food manufacturers and veterinarians alike that it is pointless and even possibly dangerous somehow to change a dog’s food. But a dog who eats the same diet every day can eventually become the living embodiment of the nutritional levels ever-present in his diet. To prevent nutrient toxicity, deficiency, or imbalance, the simple solution is to feed a variety of high-quality foods.
This just makes sense. If a company’s products are high in one nutrient, conceivably, after years of daily consumption of that food alone, a dog could develop problems associated with excessive levels of that nutrient. Years and years of feeding a food that is formulated to offer just slightly more than the minimum of another nutrient may result in a dog with a deficiency of that nutrient. Imbalances of nutrients that are best fed in certain proportions to each other (such as the Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids) can also become entrenched in a dog’s body after years and years.
Smart Dog Food Switching
There are other reasons to change a dog’s food every few months or so. Switching from one source of protein to another occasionally can help prevent the development of food allergies or intolerances. It can also help prevent a dog from developing a stubborn preference for just one kind of food, which can be highly inconvenient.
When switching foods, spend a few days replacing the old food with the new in gradually larger proportions. This gives the dog’s digestive bacteria time to adjust to their new job, and should eliminate the gas or diarrhea that can sometimes accompany a sudden diet change.
Other than when you are switching from one food to another, it’s not a good idea to feed different foods at the same time. Your dog might enjoy a mix of half this and half that, but if he suddenly exhibits a digestive problem, it will be harder to track down the offending ingredients.
On a final note: Don’t hesitate to discontinue feeding any food your dog has a bad reaction to. No matter how much you trust its manufacturer, any product can suffer a dangerous manufacturing defect that could put your dog’s life at risk.
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Click Here to Sign In | Forgot your password? | Activate Web AccessHome Remedies For Your Dog’s Skin Inflammation
IRRITATED SKIN RELIEF FOR DOGS: OVERVIEW
1. For fast, temporary relief of itchy skin that exhibits no change of appearance, liberally apply loose, soupy oatmeal or a cooled tea made with peppermint and/or lavender.
2. When itching is associated with minor redness, use a rinse made with herbs that speed healing and fight bacteria, such as chamomile, plantain, and/or calendula.
3. If your dog has open sores or scratches, use a rinse combining calendula and comfrey with sage, bee balm, thyme, and/or yarrow, to accelerate healing without harming beneficial microbes on the skin.
Winston, a four-year-old yellow Lab, is very happy. He got to go hiking with his human. But he is also itchy, and now he is chewing at little inflamed bumps on his chest and hind legs. Busting through underbrush in search of the ever-elusive cottontail, Winston picked up a few ticks. Luckily, his human always carries a fine-toothed flea comb when she walks in brush country with him, and she was able to remove the nasty blood suckers before they could dig in. Nevertheless, the ticks did get some bites in, leaving red, itchy, oozing bumps that may get infected if not treated.
Katie Bell, a 10-year-old Schnauzer, has different problems. She is itchy all the time, especially on her tummy and the insides of her haunches. Her skin there is pink, hot to the touch, and sometimes looks cruddy, even though she is as clean as a rambunctious little dog can be.
Katie Bell’s people know that her chronic condition is likely due to deeper problems – perhaps with diet, allergy, or autoimmune dysfunction. They are working toward finding a lasting resolution to Katie Bell’s distress, but need to find symptomatic relief for her in the meantime. And they wish to avoid, at all cost, the risky option of corticosteroid drugs.
If you live in the world of dogs, chances are you will be confronted some day with a dog suffering from some sort itchy-chewy skin ailment. Fleas, ticks, sunburn, mites, cuts, mosquitoes, cat scratches (those are especially fun to get), thorns, poison ivy, and especially allergies are bound to wreak havoc at some time or another, and you should be prepared for it.
Although most chronic skin problems like Katie Bell’s are secondary to deeper issues, such as food or flea allergies or perhaps sensitivity to exogenous chemicals in the environment, most skin problems can be temporarily relieved with proper use of topical remedies. And you probably don’t need to travel far to find one. Soothing, healing relief can be as close as the kitchen spice cabinet if your companion is bothered by an acute irritation, such as a “told you so” bite inflicted by the dog-harassed, queen feline of the house (my dog Willow insists it’s worth it).
Topical Home Remedies for Dogs’ Itchy Skin
One of the quickest ways to reduce inflammation of the skin and itchiness is by use of herbal astringents.
Astringents work their magic by quickly tightening skin and subcutaneous tissue, and thereby reducing inflammation and redness. A classic example of such an astringent is witch hazel extract, which can be purchased in a clear liquid, distilled form at any drugstore. A dab or two of witch hazel applied by cotton ball can bring instant relief to angry flea or mosquito bites.
It is important to know that most commercial witch hazel extracts are made with isopropyl alcohol, a substance that is toxic if ingested in large enough amounts. This type of witch hazel should be reserved for uses where only a few dabs are needed (i.e., don’t rinse your dog with it). Better yet, look for witch hazel that is made with ethanol (grain alcohol, the type contained in consumable liquors) or vegetable glycerin, an edible coconut oil derivative that is used in natural soaps and cosmetics for its emollient, skin-soothing qualities.
Several choices of natural topical remedies are available at the pet supply store, too. For hot spots, irritations caused from a bandage or a rubbing collar, sunburned ears, or insect bites that are limited to just a few points on the body, you might try a spritz or two of Animal Apawthecary’s FidoDerm Herbal Spray at the affected areas. FidoDerm contains aloe vera and calendula to help promote healing, along with a nontoxic assortment of antibacterial and antifungal essential oils.
Alternatively, you might wish to go the homeopathic route, with a few drops of Animal Aid (available from Biomedrix, Inc.), which is a combination of 11 different homeopathic remedies plus aloe vera. Or you could try P15 Skin Relief by Newton Laboratories, Inc., which combines a dozen homeopathic remedies into a base of 15 percent alcohol.
Do these “shotgun approach” homeopathic combinations work? For an answer to that question I talked with Terri Grow, CEO and founder of PetSage, Inc., a retail catalog company that stocks hundreds of natural pet care products and offers classes on how to properly use them.
“My customers report that the Newton (P15 Skin Relief) product works especially well for chronic, itchy patches,” says Grow, “especially when given internally and applied externally simultaneously.” She says that the aforementioned Animal Aid product works better to speed healing of more acute issues, such as flea and insect bites. This makes sense to me as an herbalist; the formula is based with aloe vera, a time-proven healing agent.
All-Over Itchiness
If your dog’s itching is body-wide and nonspecific, you may need to consider a full body rinse, or a natural anti-itch shampoo. Keep in mind, however, that there are no stand-alone “cure-alls” out there, and most topical products are designed to address specific conditions.
For instance, “skin and coat” products that are based with aloe vera may work great for healing wet, runny sores and oozing bites, but may be too drying for dogs with dry, flaky skin. In those cases, you are better off with products that contain vegetable oils, collagen, and herbs that promote skin healing without stripping natural body oils from the hair follicles.
One choice is AvoDerm Collagen Spray from Breeder’s Choice. This product contains avocado oil and collagen P-10, both of which are known for their skin-conditioning properties. Unfortunately, as with many pet care products, the other ingredients of the formula are not listed on the label; word on the street, however, is that this product works pretty well.
A good shampoo can bring relief, too, but keep in mind that “squeaky-clean” may not be what your dog needs. One of the biggest problems associated with frequent bathing is that many dog shampoos do their job too efficiently, cleansing the skin and coat of the waxy oils that are needed to maintain supple, healthy skin.
Of course, as I mentioned before, you may not need to buy commercial products at all. The remedy you need might already be in your home kitchen or garden. The following are a few of my favorite home brewed topical remedies. For dogs with itchy skin that exhibits little or no change of appearance (it just itches!), try a liberal application of oatmeal. Yep, the stuff we eat for breakfast. Cook it into a loose, soup-like consistency, allow it to cool, take it and your companion outside, and drench him with it. Allow it to remain in his coat as long as possible, before rinsing or brushing out the residue.
Another option is to make a peppermint and/or lavender skin rinse. Alternately, rosemary can be used as well. Buy some bulk lavender herb or peppermint leaf (or combine both) at the health food store. Pack a large tea ball full of the herb, and steep it in a quart or two of near-boiling water until it cools. Then drench the pooch with the liquid. It will help his itching, and he will smell nice, too!
When itching is associated with minor redness, I use rinses that incorporate herbs with vulnerary (speed healing) and bacteria-fighting qualities. Daily skin rinses made of chamomile, plantain, or calendula (individually or combined) are all worthwhile choices. Again, completely soak the dog with the tea, and allow him to drip-dry.
If open scratches, scabs, or sores are visible, combine calendula and comfrey with sage, bee balm, thyme, and/or yarrow tea in equal proportions. This will accelerate the healing process and help inhibit bacterial infection without irritating the skin or interfering with the activities of beneficial microbes and ectoparasites – friendly bugs that help keep the skin healthy.
However, if your companion’s skin condition appears severe (the skin is flaky, red, and scratching or chewing is continuous), stronger astringents may be needed. A decoction of uva-ursi leaf, juniper leaf (a common landscape shrub), or rose bark (any variety will do), combined with calendula flowers, should serve well here. Here is one such formula:
Astringent/Healing Skin Rinse
Combine equal parts of the following fresh and/or dried herbs:
- Juniper or uva-ursi leaf
- Calendula flowers
- Peppermint leaf
Combine all of the herbs and place into a glass or stainless pot. Cover with water and bring to a gentle boil over moderate heat. Simmer for 10 minutes, then remove from heat and allow to stand until cooled. Strain the cooled fluid through a sieve. Then soak the dog’s skin and coat and let him drip-dry.
If your companion insists on licking the solution off, you can use the rinse as a fomentation. Wrap an old towel or cloth (preferably dye-free and unbleached) around the affected body parts, and then thoroughly soak the towel with the cooled solution. This prevents your pup from licking the solution off, and enables you to keep the solution on her for several hours.
When to Call the Vet
If an established bacterial infection is evident (swelling is elevated and hot/red, and sores are discharging pus), you need to call your veterinarian. If she happens to be holistic, she might consider the following regimen, which is used to boost immune system response to the infection while adding direct antibacterial intervention:
- Twice-daily internal doses of echinacea tincture, to boost the immune system, along with a twice-daily dose of Oregon grape tincture, to strengthen liver function and the body’s elimination of systemic waste materials and bacterial die-off.
- Twice-daily external applications of echinacea and Oregon grape (or organically farmed goldenseal powder, tincture, salve, or ointment at the sites of infection).
As you see, symptomatic relief for your dog’s itching may be at arm’s reach. Just keep in mind that chronic skin ailments are seldom skin-deep, and treating symptoms such as dry, itchy skin or hot spots with topical remedies alone will not amount to a curative therapy for deeper health issues. Most chronic skin issues are related to allergies, diet, or both. To find a lasting solution for your companion, talk to a holistic veterinarian who is familiar with issues of nutrition, allergies, and natural approaches to skin care.
Greg Tilford is a well-known expert in the field of veterinary herbalism. An international lecturer and teacher of veterinarians and pet owners alike, Greg has written four books on herbs, including All You Ever Wanted to Know About Herbs for Pets (Bowie Press, 1999), which he coauthored with his wife, Mary.
Advanced Dog Training Methods: How to “Fade” Prompts and Lures
FADE TRAINING LURES: OVERVIEW
1. Examine your training routines with your dog to identify where you use prompts.
2. Determine which prompts you are using appropriately in the early stages of training a new behavior, and which ones are candidates for fading.
3. Create a written training program for each prompt you’d like to fade. How will you go about it? What results do you expect?
4. Implement your prompt-fading programs. Keep a daily journal to monitor your progress. Celebrate each time the two of you succeed in fading your prompts from another behavior!
Old-fashioned trainers – those who use physical corrections as a moderate or significant part of their training programs – often criticize positive training, saying that “foodies” (positive trainers) have to bribe their dogs to get them to do things. This is a shallow, shortsighted view of a powerful, effective tool.
It’s true that in the beginning stages of positive training we do use treats, also known as lures, to show the dog what we want him to do. Some positive trainers also use visual signals and gentle physical assistance as “prompts” to communicate with the dog.
But in a good training program, as soon as the dog performs a behavior easily for a prompt or lure, the trainer proceeds to put the behavior on cue. A cue is the primary signal (or stimulus) you use to ask your dog to perform a behavior. When a dog performs a behavior on cue quickly, anywhere, and under a wide variety of conditions, the behavior is said to be under stimulus control.
Many novice dog owners never make it past luring and prompting. As long as they’re satisfied with that level of training, it’s perfectly okay that they will always have to point, clap, or use a treat to get their dogs to perform. It’s their relationship, and their choice as to how well and clearly they want to be able to communicate with their dogs.
However, there is a huge advantage to working with your dog, gradually fading your lures and prompts and teaching your dog to respond to verbal cues or hand signals, until she can reliably perform certain behaviors on cue. Having your dog respond to cues without prompts gives you more security and versatility in your training; your dog will respond even if she can’t see you, or your arms are full of groceries. With enough practice, your dog will even be able to respond appropriately to your cue while “tuning out” potentially dangerous distractions – say, a squirrel chattering at the foot of a tree across a busy street.
If you would like to move on to the next level of training and communication with your dog, by working to “fade” your lures and prompts and teach your dog to respond to verbal cues or hand signals, read on!
Taking Off Your Dog’s Training Wheels
Your dog is pretty well trained. You point to the floor and say “Down!” Your dog instantly drops to the floor. You ask her to sit as you touch her on her back, and she happily responds by settling onto her haunches. You hold a piece of hot dog over her head and say “Up!” and she lifts her front paws off the ground in a lovely performance of “Sit pretty.” Your friends and family are in awe of your training prowess, and comment on how well-trained your dog is. But is she, really?
From one perspective, she certainly is. She knows how to perform a long list of behaviors, and will oblige you by doing them when you ask her to. But from another perspective, she’s not. For each behavior, you’re relying on back-up information to help your dog understand the cue and perform the behavior. You are using prompts.
Prompts are vitally important dog training tools. We use them all the time when we train a new behavior. A lure is something the dog wants – a treat or toy – that you can use to demonstrate to her what you want her to do, by moving it and having her follow. Because dogs are not native speakers of our language, you can use a piece of hot dog or some other tasty tidbit as a “translator” to explain the behavior you want. Because dogs are natural body language communicators, they respond easily to physical and visual prompts.
Anything you use to back up your initial cue is considered a prompt. A food lure is a very obvious prompt. Gentle physical assistance (for example, a light touch on the dog’s back to tell her to sit) is a less obvious but still very visible prompt. Hand signals are cues if they are the initial request for a behavior, but are prompts if they follow or closely accompany the initial verbal cue, such as pointing at the floor when you ask your dog to lie down. Consciously or unconsciously, all of us also use many more subtle prompts, such as eye contact (or lack of eye contact), the way we stand or move, the position in which we hold our hands or tilt our heads – all of these can be backup communications to our dogs when we give them a verbal cue.
The important thing to keep in mind when using lures and prompts is that the longer you continue to use them after your dog has learned a new behavior, the more dependent you both become on them, and the harder it will be to teach her to respond to a verbal cue alone.
Karen Pryor’s Four Rules of Stimulus Control
Karen Pryor is a scientist with an international reputation in two fields (marine mammal biology and behavioral psychology), and the author of many scientific papers and monographs, as well as seven books on animal training.
In her landmark book, Don’t Shoot the Dog: The New Art of Teaching and Training, Pryor suggests that a behavior is not truly under stimulus control unless or until it meets four conditions:
1. The behavior always occurs immediately upon presentation of the conditioned stimulus (the dog sits when told to).
2. The behavior never occurs in the absence of the stimulus (during a training or work session the dog never sits spontaneously).
3. The behavior never occurs in response to some other stimulus (if you say “Lie down,” the dog does not offer the sit instead).
4. No other behavior occurs in response to this stimulus (when you say “Sit,” the dog does not respond by lying down or by leaping up and licking your face).
In reality, very few dogs are under total stimulus control – particularly as proven by Ian Dunbar’s “sit test.” I consider stimulus control as more of a goal that you are always working toward with your dog.
Take the “Sit Test”
Originally developed by Ian Dunbar, a trainer and behaviorist based in Berkeley, California, the purpose of the sit test is to provide an objective assessment of performance reliability for basic behavior cues. This helps to remind us that, frequently, we think our dog “knows” a behavior when, in fact, it’s more likely that our dog knows the behavior reliably in response to our cue (under stimulus control) in a relatively limited scope. To wit: Most of us think our dogs know “sit.” Take the test and see how true this is!
Note: The following test is not the same as the one originally developed by Dunbar, but serves a similar purpose.
1. Front sit: Dog sits on cue facing handler
2. Side sit: Dog sits on cue at handler’s side
3. Chair sit: Dog sits on cue with handler sitting in chair
4. Floor/back sit: Dog sits on cue with handler sitting on floor with back to the dog
5. Handler down/sit: Dog sits with handler lying down on floor
6. Down-sit: Handler tells dog to down and stay, steps six feet away, cues dog to sit
7. Across-the-room sit: Helper takes leash, walks dog across room and drops the leash; handler cues dog to sit
8. Come-sit: Helper takes leash, walks dog across room away from handler, and drops leash; handler calls dog; cues dog to sit when dog reaches halfway point.
A result of 80 percent reliability or better (if your dog sat on the first try in 6-8 of these) is considered excellent. If he sat for 4-5 of them (60-70%), that’s good. You both need work if he responded to the “sit” cue in less than half of the exercises.
Fading the Prompt
In order to fade a prompt, whether it’s a lure or a physical or visual prompt, you need to help your dog fully understand the meaning of the cue itself. At this point in your training the verbal cue is often irrelevant to the dog. It makes you feel good to say “Down,” when you point to the floor, and you may think your dog “knows” the word, but here’s an experiment you can try to see if your dog really understands. Point to the floor without speaking. Chances are your dog will lie down. Now say “Down” without pointing to the floor. Chances are your dog will stand there with a happy look on her face, waiting for you to translate. She doesn’t really understand the word.
If she lies down without the point, then she does understand the word, and you don’t need to point to the floor every time you ask her to lie down. You can fade your prompt just by discontinuing its use, and/or you can also use the “point” as your primary hand signal cue for down, and disassociate its use from the word.
Let’s assume your dog didn’t lie down on your verbal cue. Right now, she knows and understands the “point to the floor” cue as the stimulus for the behavior of “lie down.” In order to give meaning to a new cue, the new cue must consistently precede the known cue. That means every time you ask her to down, you’ll need to use your verbal “Down” cue first, give her a few seconds to think and respond, and then use your “point” cue if she doesn’t respond to the verbal. It’s as if you’re saying, in canine shorthand, “Dog, the word ‘Down’ means the same thing as when I point to the floor.”
Some dogs catch onto this translation very quickly, others take some time. If you don’t feel you are making good progress, try these two things:
• Wait longer after you give the verbal cue before you give the prompt. As long as she’s still focused on you and the wheels seem to be turning in her doggie brain, have patience, and give her time to think it through. If you lose her attention, try again with another verbal cue, but don’t wait as long to prompt. Experiment with varying waiting times before giving the prompt. The longer you’ve been prompting, the more repetitions and practice sessions it may take her to catch on to the new concept.
• Gradually fade the prompt itself. Give your verbal cue, wait a few seconds, then point, but point less than you normally do. If your pointing finger usually ends up nine inches from the floor, stop 12 inches from the floor and see if she lies down. If she does, do several repetitions at 12 inches, then try stopping your point 15 inches from the floor. Gradually diminish your point until you are no longer pointing at all.
You can follow this fading program for any of the prompts you use. If you usually get her to sit by touching her back, say “Sit” first, then give her time to think and respond. If she doesn’t sit, go ahead and touch her back, but more lightly than normal, to elicit the sit. You’re saying, “Dog, the word ‘Sit’ means the same thing as this touch on your back.” Gradually fade the amount of pressure in the touch until you aren’t touching her at all.
Dogs Communicate with Body Language
When you’re fading your prompts, remember that your dog doesn’t know the word – she only knows the prompt. Dogs communicate primarily through body language, and it can be difficult for them to learn words, especially at first. It’s easy to get frustrated – spoken language seems so simple to us – but have patience. She’ll get it. Once you work through a couple of prompt-fading exercises it will come more and more easily with each new cue you teach her. I often wonder how frustrated our dogs get with us because we’re so dimwitted about understanding their body language!
In fact, if you watch your dog closely, she may give you body language clues that she’s beginning to understand the word. Many dogs, when they are starting to grasp the concept of “down,” will glance at the floor when they hear the verbal cue, as if they are saying, “I know that word has something to do with ‘down there,’ but I’m not exactly sure what.” Take heart; this means your message is getting through!
When you see her glance at the floor, tell her “Good girl!” and help her with your prompt. You’re telling her “That’s it!” Remember that it will speed her learning if you use a marker – such as a click! of a clicker or a verbal “Yes!” – and give her a treat when she lies down, even if you had to prompt.
Another body language message she may send you is to go partway down and stop, then look up at you. She’s saying. “Is this it? Is this what you mean?” Again, you’ll speed her learning if you acknowledge her question with a “Good girl!” and a prompt to help her lie down the rest of the way. Then click! and treat.
Note: It’s important not to click! and treat until she is all the way down. Your “Good girl!” tells her she’s on the right path; the click! and treat mark the performance of the complete behavior. If you click! the partway behavior, she will think she is only supposed to go partway.
Be Mindful of Your Unintentional Prompts
Anything you do as a regular part of a behavior cue is an unintentional prompt. If you always have your dog facing you when you ask her to sit, then she’ll think facing you is part of the “Sit” ritual; your position is a prompt. If you always bend your knees and lean forward slightly when you ask your dog to lie down, those movements will be unintentional prompts that help to translate the verbal “down” cue to your dog.
If you took the “sit test” (see “Take the Sit Test,”, above) and learned that your dog is highly reliant on unintentional prompts, you now know how well your dog really knows the “Sit” cue. You can create similar tests for other behaviors, such as “Down” and “Come,” to help you discern whether your dog’s behaviors are really under good stimulus control.
Another helpful exercise is to have someone videotape you while you’re doing a normal training session with your dog. Watch the video afterwards, and pick out several body movements or positions that you consistently use with some of your commonly used cues. Now go back and work with your dog again, making a conscious effort to eliminate two or three of those cues. See if your dog is less responsive to your verbal cues when you take away your unintentional prompts.
If your dog doesn’t sit when you ask but seems otherwise focused on your training exercises, it’s likely that you’ve made a subtle change in your prompt. Many people in this situation jump to the erroneous conclusion that their dogs have chosen to deliberately defy them, and they give their hapless companions a “correction” for their “disobedience.” Poor dogs! If your dog stops performing a behavior you think she “knows,” examine your unintentional prompts and see what you might have changed.
Subtle prompts are not a bad thing, just something to be aware of. In fact, obedience competitors make good use of a wide variety of prompts to back up their legal obedience ring cues. Some make it a point to always start off on one foot if they are asking the dog to heel with them, the other foot if the dog has been asked to stay. Many competitors fold their arms across their chests to emphasize their stay “commands” from across the ring, while their arms are relaxed at their sides as required by obedience regulations for a recall from a stay. You may decide to use prompts deliberately on certain occasions as well – nothing wrong with that!
Fading Treats as Lures
Using treats in training is not “bribery.” In early stages of training as described above, treats are lures; after a dog knows how to perform a behavior, when given after the fact to reinforce that behavior, treats are rewards.
Still, there’s value in minimizing the use of treats so your dog doesn’t expect one every time she performs. When your dog gets a treat every time she sits (what’s called a continuous schedule of reinforcement), she comes to expect one every time she sits. Ask her to sit a few times without a reinforcer, and she may stop sitting on cue because it’s no longer rewarding to her to do so. When an animal stops performing a behavior, it’s called extinction.
When you gradually reduce the frequency of treats so that she gets them randomly and occasionally but not every time (in what’s called a random schedule of reinforcement) she’ll keep sitting when you ask because she knows it will pay off eventually – like putting quarters in a slot machine. Putting a behavior on a random schedule makes it very resistant to extinction and makes it more likely that your dog will respond when you need her to, even if you’ve run out of treats.
That said, I always try to have treats in my pockets so I can randomly reward my dogs for giving me behaviors that I ask for. They don’t get discouraged if they don’t receive a reward for one or two or even a bunch of behaviors, because they have learned that they can count on me to eventually reward them in some way.
Thanks to trainer Sandi Thompson of Bravo! Pup Dog & Puppy Training, in Berkeley, California, for modeling for the photos in this article.
Why Punishment-Based Dog Training Doesn’t Work
Karen Overall is a scientist, and has a lot of science-based degrees: BA, MA, VMD and a Ph.D. She ran the Behavior Clinic for 12 of her 14 years at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, and now is a research associate in the Penn Med psychiatry department.
I heard Dr. Overall give a four-hour presentation on the treatment of pathological anxiety in dogs at the 2003 Association of Pet Dog Trainers conference. She spent almost an hour talking about the structure and function of the dog’s brain, and more time discussing the chemical actions and reactions that accompany thought, memory, and learning in mammals. It was fascinating.
It was especially gratifying for me to hear Dr. Overall explain why and how teaching techniques that help pupils think in a calm manner are the most effective – and how stress and fear interfere with learning and memory. Later, I had an opportunity to ask Dr. Overall to answer a few short questions for our readers. –Editor
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WDJ: Why is it a bad idea to use punishment when training a dog?
KO: First, because the punishment techniques that are most commonly used with dogs are not about teaching them something. Almost every person I have ever seen punish a dog was angry, hurt, disappointed, or embarrassed, and that’s why the dog got punished, not because the punishment was going to help the dog learn.
By definition, punishment is something that will decrease the probability of the occurrence of a certain behavior. Generally, this punishment involves something that is sufficiently startling or aversive so as to thwart the “problem” behavior. If the dog has benefitted from the behavior in the past, it will take even more startling or aversive punishment to override his expectation of getting that reward again.
Frequently, a punished dog stops attending to you; you become something to be avoided. And if you overstep and really scare the dog – even just once – you have taught him that you are a threat. It should not be a surprise that dogs learn through fear very quickly, and then try to avoid the thing that caused the fear response: you. The amygdala (the area of the brain that’s concerned with generating the fear response) and the hippocampus (the area that’s concerned with how information is processed and stored) sit right against each other. The circuits between the two are hard-wired, allowing dogs to learn avoidance behaviors very quickly. This makes sense, from an evolutionary standpoint. If you want to avoid a predator, hanging around and reasoning it out are not great survival strategies. Fear responses save your life, so they have to be constructed from a straightforward, direct, simple pathway.
Whether or not you end up teaching the dog what you wanted him to learn, he’ll learn that he shouldn’t trust you, and that humans are unpredictable.
WDJ: Why is it important to preserve a good relationship between dogs and people?
KO: Violence not only breaks our bond with dogs, it damages us, too. It affects how we deal with all of our relationships, with particularly worrisome implications for people with children. In my practice, I often see people who have used violent training techniques that have made their animals worse, and they are devastated. They are truly damaged by the terror they inflicted on their animals.
WDJ: Are there any circumstances in which using physical force with a dog is useful?
KO: No. The only circumstance in which I would hit a dog is if the dog was attacking, and I had to defend my life or the life of my human or animal family.
WDJ: Curiously, I have heard people use a similar argument when they advocate the use of shock collars. People argue, “This dog will have to go to the pound and probably be put down if his owners can’t contain him.” Is saving a dog’s life a good reason to use aversive training tools?
KO: Among my patients, all of the dogs who were “treated” with shock by their people became worse and ended up dead.
In my patient population, the single biggest risk factor that dogs have for euthanasia has nothing to do with their behavior. It turns out that if the clients have seriously considered euthanasia, the dogs end up dead. If they have said, “No, we absolutely will not consider euthanasia,” they do everything they can to rehabilitate the dogs – and the dogs get better.
Keep in mind that a shelter surrender is not always the worst thing that can happen to a dog. Some dogs, even dogs with serious behavior problems, do get adopted. They may be one of the lucky ones, like my dog Flash, who had a record of serious aggression when I got him – aggression that was aggravated, if not initiated, by physical abuse in the name of “training.” If they are really lucky, they will find a home where patient, consistent, intelligent handling will help them erase all those previous crimes.
WDJ: So, dogs and our relationship with them can recover from violence?
KO: Absolutely. I now use Flash to work with other dogs with behavioral problems and their damaged people; he’s a genius at this work. I would like to believe that the people who hung Flash by a choke chain are no longer part of his nightmares. I want to believe that that’s gone from him, that his recovery is complete. I hope with all my heart that’s true.
Epileptic Dogs Can Live Normally
EPILEPSY IN DOGS: OVERVIEW
1. If your dog displays any behavior that resembles the seizures described below, immediately make an appointment with a veterinarian who has clinical experience with canine epilepsy for an examination and testing.
2. If your dog’s seizures are severe or frequent, he should be medicated as soon as possible. This does not preclude your exploration of complementary care. Keep your vet in the loop with all your treatments, as they may affect medication dosage.
Pleasantly slumbering in the early morning hours of a mid-November day with my dogs cozy and warm next to me, my bed began shaking, and I was jiggled half awake. Assuming one of the dogs must be scratching an ear in bed, I mumbled a barely conscious “Stop scratching!” But the jiggling continued. Someone must be chasing bunnies in a doggie dream. I sat up to wake the dreamer.
It turned out to be my male, Cutter, paddling at the end of the bed. He didn’t wake up when I put my hand on him and gave him a little shake, raising my voice to rouse him. I realized something was very wrong when his neck arched and he began choking, or so I thought. About the time my sleep-fogged brain figured out that what I was observing was not a dream, but a seizure, it was over. He lay quietly on his side for a few moments, then got up and leaped off the bed as if nothing had happened. This was my literal rude awakening into the world of canine epilepsy.
Types of Epileptic Seizures in Dogs
Seizures can occur for a variety of reasons across the whole range of ages, and are the most common neurological disorder found in dogs. Making the diagnosis of canine epilepsy is a process of elimination. If the seizures are caused by a structural abnormality, such as a lesion or brain tumor, they are called “secondary.” Those caused by injury are called “reactive.” Seizures whose cause cannot be determined are called “primary” or “idiopathic” (which means without cause), and this type, unfortunately, is the most common.
Idiopathic epilepsy in dogs usually occurs between one and five years of age. It affects virtually all breeds and is found regularly in mixed breeds as well. Genetic inheritance is a known contributor to the incidence of this disease. Epileptic dogs should never be bred, and responsible breeders will also remove progenitors of epileptic puppies from the breeding plan.
Epileptic seizures range from mild, even barely noticeable “focal” or “partial” seizures to generalized “tonic clonic” or “grand mal” seizures. Behaviors commonly seen with focal seizures include facial twitching or blinking (often affecting only one side of the face), “fly biting,” muscle tremors, and partial loss of motor control with one or more limbs buckling and an inability to coordinate movement. Focal seizures last from a few seconds to several minutes duration.
Classic generalized tonic clonic seizures can occur at any time, though they frequently happen when a dog is relaxed and quiet. (As I learned, waking up to a seizure in the middle of the night is not uncommon for owners of epileptic dogs.) If the dog is awake and moving about, the tonic phase will begin with the dog falling to his side, his legs stiffened, body rigid, and neck stretched out with the head back. At this point the dog is not conscious, though in general the eyes will be open. There may be facial twitching and involuntary vocalization, excessive drooling, and the dog will frequently void its bladder, bowels, and anal glands.
From here the seizure usually moves into the clonic stage, with rhythmic movements such as chomping jaws and paddling or jerking of the limbs. The dog may also grimace and appear to be choking, and often does not breathe for a short time. While the dog’s tongue and mouth may become blue from lack of oxygen, it is imperative that you do not insert your hand into the dog’s mouth, as the animal is not conscious and you risk being badly bitten as the seizure progresses.
The typical tonic clonic seizure lasts from one to three minutes. (If your dog experiences a seizure that lasts longer than four minutes, contact your vet or emergency clinic immediately.)
Experts say that dogs don’t experience what are known as “absence” or “petite mal” seizures in humans. These seizures occur as a temporary loss of contact without losing full consciousness. A person experiencing an absence seizure may stare blankly and blink for a short period of time, but little else. It is believed that, in dogs, what resemble “petite mal” seizures are actually focal seizures.
Needless to say, witnessing a generalized seizure in your pet can be somewhat traumatic for even the most seasoned dog owner. It is important to remain calm and not to exacerbate the seizure with alarmed emotions.
A dog experiencing a tonic clonic does not experience pain, though he may be anxious and disoriented upon regaining consciousness. The post-seizure period, known as “post ictal,” can also include mild or marked ataxia (weakness and uncoordinated gait), pacing, restlessness, and even temporary blindness. The dog may also be ravenous at this point; often, a small snack to raise his blood sugar will help to resolve the post ictal period.
Some dogs do not experience any noticeable post ictal period at all, others for only a few minutes, and some for several hours. The variations in seizure activity are basically as varied as the dogs who have them; no two are alike, even in the same dog.
Is Your Dog Predisposed to Epilepsy?
Epilepsy can occur in any breed, and in mixed breeds as well, but isn’t it mostly a purebred thing? The breeds affected include many of the most popular breeds, and in a 1997 survey of American Kennel Club national breed “Parent Clubs,” 22 breeds reported that epilepsy was one of their top five health concerns. In a collective ranking of 80 diseases, epilepsy came in third.
In a white paper from a symposium on canine epilepsy conducted at the 1997 AKC’s Canine Health Foundation Canine Health Conference, it was noted that “approximately one to six percent of purebred dogs has a seizure problem and most of this epilepsy seems to be genetic. The incidence of epilepsy varies tremendously by breed, with a very large number of breeds, at least 20, having a high incidence of hereditary epilepsy.”
Breeds with an established genetic basis for epilepsy include the Beagle, Belgian Tervuren, German Shepherd, Keeshond, Labrador Retriever, Golden Retreiver, Collie, and Welsh Springer Spaniel. Additional breeds with high numbers of epilepsy that is undoubtedly genetic in nature, but have not been studied in depth, include the Poodle (all three types), Boxer, Cocker Spaniel, Dachshund, Irish Setter, Miniature Schnauzer, Saint Bernard, Siberian Husky, and Wire Fox Terrier. The white paper from the 1997 Symposium on Canine Epilepsy states that “Whenever enough data have been collected for analysis, the inheritance pattern has to be most compatible with recessive inheritance.”
Other breeds known to have a higher than average incidence of epilepsy include the Australian Shepherd, English Springer Spaniel, Boston Terrier, Shetland Sheepdog, and Border Collie.
But while we could find no studies that tracked incidence of canine epilepsy in mixed breeds, many veterinarians in an equally mixed practice (ratio of purebreds to mixed breed patients) report epileptic mixed breeds being nearly as prevalent as their purebred epileptics. One clinic reported that about 20 percent of their epileptic patients are mixed breeds, while another said the majority of their epileptics were mixed breed dogs. Obviously these figures are anecdotal and subjective in nature. However, it does hold true that mixed-breed dogs who have one or more parents of breeds known to have increased incidences of epilepsy will themselves suffer increased risk of epilepsy (i.e., German Shepherd mix, Collie mix, etc.).
The Canine Epilepsy Project is a collaborative study into the causes of epilepsy in dogs. It is supported by grants from the AKC Canine Health Foundation, National Institutes of Health, individual breed clubs, and private donations. Researchers are from the University of Missouri, University of Minnesota, Ohio State University, and the Animal Health Trust in Great Britain, who are working together to discover the mutations (or markers) responsible for hereditary epilepsy in many breeds of dogs.
Participation by the owners of affected dogs and their relatives is essential to the success of this project. Researchers need DNA samples from dogs who have experienced seizures, and immediate relatives, both normal and affected. Specifically, samples from all available siblings, parents, and grandparents are needed. If the affected dog has been bred, all offspring and mates should be sampled as well. Participation in this research project is confidential; the names of individual owners or dogs will not be revealed.
Diagnosing Epilepsy in Dogs
The first step in determining a cause for a dog’s seizures involves a physical examination and blood test. Serum chemistry and complete blood count tests are run to rule out medical issues like diabetes, hypoglycemia, and electrolyte disorders.
A thorough physical exam is necessary to rule out contributors to seizure activity or potential complications for treatment, including heart disease, liver disease, lung disease, etc. Tick-borne diseases and viral or bacterial infections are also of concern and should be addressed with this exam. A veterinarian can perform the initial exam and discuss the general protocol for seizure control.
Generally, if a dog experiences fewer than one seizure every four to six weeks, it’s considered safe to “wait and watch” without putting the dog on medication to control the seizures. Complementary therapies are of great benefit in these cases. If, though, a dog experiences seizures more frequently than this, or experiences cluster seizures (more than one seizure in 24 hours) or “status epilepticus,” a life-threatening generalized seizure that doesn’t stop, anti- seizure drugs are prescribed.
An examination by a veterinary neurologist is prudent at this time as well. A neurologist in acute cases can assist in determining the presence or likelihood of brain tumors or lesions, with an MRI and spinal tap being two of the most useful procedures for definitive diagnosis.
Epileptic Triggers for Dogs
Toxins and environmental triggers can be a factor, but don’t expect your veterinarian to ask about these; this avenue of inquiry is largely up to the pet owner. Many owners of epileptic dogs report that heartworm preventatives, vaccine boosters, and flea control products lower the seizure threshold in sensitive dogs.
Household cleaners and insecticides, paints and solvents, lawn and garden chemicals, and even air fresheners and aromatic herbs can also trigger seizures in susceptible animals. Keeping a detailed record of each seizure episode witnessed, with recent activities and environmental exposures noted, is an important tool to help determine patterns and begin to gain control.
Conventional Epilepsy Medication for Dogs
For dogs who experience seizures more often than once a month, conventional veterinary medicine will generally recommend starting the animal on one of two drugs. Phenobarbital is the most commonly used, though potassium bromide is becoming more prevalent.
Phenobarbital and potassium bromide are not FDA-approved for use in dogs and cats, but both are accepted treatments for seizure control. Unfortunately, each comes with its own set of significant side effects. It is important, though, to reduce the occurrence of seizures, so it’s wise to at least initially medicate with these drugs as you continue to research and look into other improvements in husbandry to help gain control.
Phenobarbital is a long-acting barbiturate that depresses the central nervous system and blocks seizure activity. The drug must be administered at 12-hour intervals, and since physical drug dependence is common, it must never be discontinued abruptly.
Initial side effects of phenobarbital include sedation, ataxia, lethargy, and increased thirst and appetite. These generally diminish over time, though the increased appetite tends to remain. More serious side effects can include liver damage and liver failure, anemia, and profound depression.
It is critical to perform regular blood tests on medicated dogs to monitor their liver function and check for anemia. Bile acid testing is recommended along with blood serum chemistry and CBC to detect the onset of liver disease. A blood test to monitor phenobarbital levels in the blood is also recommended. This is usually done two weeks after starting or changing dosage of the medication, and then routinely at six month intervals to be sure the concentrations remain in the intended range.
Many holistic veterinarians will recommend that dogs taking phenobarbital also take natural hepato-protective herbs like milk thistle or dandelion to assist in protecting the liver from damage.
Potassium bromide (KBr) is frequently used alone or in conjunction with phenobarbital for dogs whose seizures aren’t controlled with phenobarbital alone. It is the bromide that inhibits seizure activity by reducing excitability of nerve cells in the brain where seizures begin. Because it has no effect on the liver, is often chosen for dogs with liver damage. It must be obtained through a chemical supply company or compounding pharmacy.
It may take as long as four to five months for the blood levels of potassium bromide to stabilize, and more months for the full effect of a dose change to occur, though antiseizure activity occurs before blood levels are completely stable. Side effects can include temporary sedation and ataxia for several weeks until the dog adjusts to the medication (especially with dogs who are also given phenobarbital or any other sedative medication), loss of appetite, and vomiting.
Potassium bromide should be used with caution in dogs with renal insufficiency. Though rare, an increased incidence of pancreatitis has been noted in dogs medicated with potassium bromide. Any diet change must be made very slowly, and even an occasional treat must be considered carefully, because any changes in the amount of salt in the diet can drastically alter the effects of the medication. An increase in dietary salt may decrease the drug’s effects, and a decrease in salt can increase the drug’s effects.
There are several other antiseizure drugs being used in dogs, usually in severe, hard-to-control cases. These include zonisamide, gabapentin, felbamate, clorazepate, valproic acid, and Keppra. All are considered add-on medications to conventional canine anti-epilepsy drugs. These crossover medications from the treatment of human epileptic seizures are generally not as effective due to their short half-life in canines. For example, the elimination half-life of Keppra in dogs is 3.5 hours, compared to 7-10 hours in people.
Hypothyroid a Possible Factor
One often-ignored aspect of seizure activity is the presence of hypothyroidism, or underactive thyroid function. The “classic” hypothyroid dog is typically presented to his veterinarian with skin and coat issues, behavior concerns, or reproductive problems, but there are many other indicators of hypothyroidism, not all of them immediately noticeable.
One of the many symptoms of an underactive thyroid gland is seizures. In a report at the 1999 American Holistic Veterinary Association’s annual conference, W. Jean Dodds, DVM, and Linda P. Aronson, DVM, reported that an independent study of 634 dogs with abnormal behaviors (including 189 seizure dogs) found that 77 percent of the dogs experiencing seizures were hypothyroid.
When testing thyroid function in an epileptic dog, it’s important to perform a full panel thyroid test, as opposed to testing only the T4 and/or TSH, as is common. Evaluation of all six aspects of thyroid function is essential to the whole picture of the dog’s thyroid health.
Where a T4 alone may not indicate any abnormalities, the additional information provided by testing the Free T4, T3, Free T3, as well as the T3 and T4 autoantibodies, can help a knowledgeable veterinarian determine whether or not the thyroid gland is functioning normally.
Dogs with low thyroid function should be supplemented with thyroid replacement hormone and retested in six to eight weeks.
Note: Antiseizure medications like phenobarbital are known to cause low thyroid values, though this should be taken into account by the veterinarian when evaluating test results. Thyroid replacement therapy is not recommended in these cases. Once optimum levels are achieved, rechecking once or twice a year is adequate.
According to Dr. Dodds, 80 percent of epileptic dogs found to be low thyroid and subsequently medicated with thyroid supplement see a decline in seizures, with three quarters of these seeing a major reduction and even elimination of seizure behavior.
The other one-quarter of this 80 percent experience lengthened intervals between seizures and/or a reduction in the severity of the seizures. No significant changes to seizure activity was seen in 20 percent of thyroid-supplemented epileptic dogs.
Holistic Epilepsy Treatment for Dogs
What about natural treatments? Holistic care of epileptic dogs is very effective for those dogs whose seizures occur infrequently, or to augment conventional medical treatment. With complementary care, many dogs are able to maintain a lower incidence of seizures on a reduced (or, in some cases, an eliminated) dosage of conventional drugs. Complementary treatments, however, should never be considered a substitute for conventional medical care, and seizures must be kept to an absolute minimum.
That said, an examination and consultation with a holistic veterinarian can open up new avenues for improved seizure control and bring about improved health in an epileptic dog. Acupuncture, homeopathic remedies, chiropractic, Chinese herbs (especially for liver “wind”), and Western herbs have all been used by owners of epileptic dogs to improve health and achieve a successful balance in care.
Of particular note is the use of “gold bead therapy,” in which magnetized gold beads are permanently inserted at acupressure points by an experienced practitioner. This bizarre-sounding treatment has been known to reduce and even eliminate regular seizures in some epileptic dogs. Donna Kelleher, DVM, a holistic practitioner in Seattle, has had success with this procedure and chronicles one case involving an epileptic patient in her book, Last Chance Dog.
Diet and Epilepsy Link
Environmental control is a significant element in gaining better management of your dog’s seizures. Start with what goes into him. Feeding a home-prepared diet, cooked or raw, can make all the difference for some dogs. Though there are virtually no studies to determine whether there is a relationship between diet and seizure activity, many holistic veterinarians report anecdotal evidence that a top-quality home-prepared diet can play a large part in management of seizures.
Allergy testing for grain and protein sensitivities is another tool you can use to identify and remove any potential seizure triggers.
Dr. Kelleher also advocates the use of taurine supplementation for epileptic dogs at a dose of 250 milligrams per 40 pounds body weight daily. Taurine supplementation is especially important for dogs who eat commercial and grain-based diets. This amino acid is found in the central nervous system and skeletal muscle and is concentrated in the brain and heart. It’s unknown whether that has anything to do with the fact that taurine supplementation can reduce seizure activity, especially in those dogs experiencing tremors or noise triggered seizures. Discuss this or any other supplement with your dog’s veterinarian.
If feeding a home-prepared diet isn’t possible, find the highest-quality commercial dog food. Grains in the diet, including treats, should be kept to a minimum.
Keep in mind that many commercial dog foods include rosemary extract and sage, both of which are known to be seizure triggers in some sensitive dogs. Processed treats like rawhide chews and pigs ears should also be avoided with epileptics. Sharing human food containing MSG or cured products like hot dogs and luncheon meats is also not recommended. Many human takeout foods, instant, ready made, and convenience foods also contain chemical ingredients that can be adverse to the health of a seizure-prone dog. Cleaning up your dog’s diet is good incentive to do the same with your own.
Frequent, small meals are helpful in managing epilepsy, as keeping the blood sugar stabilized seems to help. Hypoglycemia can contribute to seizure activity, especially in smaller breeds where the dog’s digestive tract and his meals are proportionately smaller. Grain products are especially suspect in animals who have seizures regularly. Feeding frequent, small meals is also helpful for coping with the increased hunger experienced by dogs who are given phenobarbital. Snacks such as fresh or steamed vegetables or fruit pieces are great low calorie treats that can keep your dog satisfied and increase his seizure threshold.
Other Canine Epilepsy Triggers
Despite the changes in recommended vaccine protocols recommended by most of the major university-based veterinary medical schools, many veterinarians continue to recommend annual vaccinations for their patients. In a seizure-prone dog, a vaccine booster can trigger seizure activity for at least 30 days. This is one reason that Dr. Dodds recommends avoiding routine vaccination for canine epileptics.
Many owners of epileptic dogs ask their veterinarians to test their dogs’ vaccine titer levels instead, to ensure the animals have adequate antibodies to protect them from disease. If the results indicate a dog does not have adequate immune protection for a particular disease, the appropriate vaccination can be administered individually, rather than in a “5 in 1” vaccine combination.
Regular rabies vaccines are required in each state by law. These vaccines can be especially risky for epileptics; owners of epileptic dogs have lots of anecdotal evidence of this. Check with your local municipality to see if proof of adequate vaccine titer test results are acceptable in place of vaccinating an epileptic dog annually . Many towns and cities will accept documented titer tests as proof of vaccination.
Since exposure to many chemicals can trigger seizures in sensitive dogs, it should not come as a surprise that many heartworm and flea preventative treatments that are systemically administered can be disastrous for many epileptic dogs. While elimination of these treatments is not always possible, care must be taken with a seizure-prone dog when preventing heartworm infestation. Several of the most popular heartworm preventatives actually list tremors or convulsions as rare side effects, and can be contraindicated with a dog that is given daily phenobarbital.
Flea products containing insect growth regulator can cause twitching and muscle weakness when an animal is overexposed. Keep in mind these cautions are given for normal canine populations. An epileptic is commonly more sensitive to these products and great care must be taken when protecting them from heartworm and flea infestation.
Epilepsy Management Techniques
The most important thing to remember about dealing with a seizing dog is to keep calm. Sensitive dogs are known to be triggered by stress and loud noises. Household or family tensions can wreak havoc with an epileptic dog. Worrying about and coddling an epileptic can make them more anxious and seizure-prone. Sudden stimulation or excitement can also trigger seizures.
This is where herbs and natural treatments can be very helpful. “Nervines” like skullcap and valerian can reduce anxiety and excitability. Skullcap, or Scutellaria, has been shown to affect the area of the brain where seizures are triggered, and regular dosing can help reduce the frequency and severity of seizures.
Valerian, or Valeriana officinalus, is indicated more for general anxiety and can be used with dogs who experience prolonged post ictal periods of pacing and restlessness. A little goes a long way with valerian;don’t give too much, as it can actually have the opposite of the desired effect, causing hyperactive excitability in some dogs.
Tinctures are considered the easiest way to administer these herbs, with a dose of 10-20 drops for every 20 pounds of body weight given up to three times a day. If your dog is currently receiving conventional medications to combat epilepsy, discuss these herbal remedies with your holistic veterinarian before using them.
Another excellent aid in calming your pet, and especially for post ictal recovery, is melatonin, a naturally occurring hormone that is associated with the sleep cycle of mammals. It can be a wonderful relief for dogs who are noise-sensitive, fireworks- or thunder-phobic (see “Bring in ‘Da Noise,” WDJ May 2000) and has also been found to aid epileptic dogs.
Many dogs who typically have seizures at night or in the early morning can benefit from a small snack and some melatonin before bedtime. The food helps to keep blood sugar stabilized and the melatonin assists in maintaining a regular sleep pattern. A dose of 1.5 mg of melatonin for dogs under 40 pounds, or 3 mg. for dogs 40-100 pounds is adequate. Dogs over 100 pounds can take up to 6 mg.
Another area where epileptic dog owners have found melatonin to be beneficial is during the post ictal phase of a seizure. For dogs who have prolonged or profound post ictal symptoms, a dose of melatonin seems to aid in shorter and less intense symptoms. A very few dogs experience increased activity after melatonin is given, and it may not work for every animal.
Rescue Remedy, a combination of five different flower essence remedies, is indicated for stress, trauma, fear, and emergency situations. (Rescue Remedy is the name of the remedy made by Nelson Bach USA, the original maker of these remedies; competing companies sell the same combination of remedies under different names, such as Ellon USA’s “Calming Essence” and Healing Herbs’ “Five Flower Formula.”)
Some dog owners report that it works miracles; others say it just doesn’t affect their dogs. Those who find it helps their dogs use a few drops in the mouth, applied inside the ear leather, or directly on the skin of an actively seizing dog.
Rescue Remedy does not interact with any other medication and can be given as often as needed, with many owners routinely putting it in their dogs’ water. Some dog owners find it helpful to put a few drops of Rescue Remedy on a teaspoon or two of an all-natural vanilla ice cream for a speedier post ictal recovery. The ice cream helps to bring the blood sugar back to normal after the tremendous exertion from epileptic convulsions.
Rescue Remedy is also a great stress-reliever for caretakers of epileptic dogs, and especially helpful with the all-natural vanilla ice cream!
Hope for Epileptic Dogs
There is no cure for epilepsy, but it can be managed in cases. The only constant that seems to be true in managing this disease is that no two dogs will respond the same way to the same treatment protocol. In researching care for your epileptic dog you may learn about many supplements, aids, and treatments that have helped some dogs. These may or may not help your dog, however, and you should discuss any of them with your veterinarian before administering.
Finding a vet who has had clinical experience with epileptics is also important. Developing a rapport and nurturing that relationship will be essential in the care and well-being of your dog. Epilepsy can be managed, but only with a committed, cohesive team of doctor (or doctors, if you add a holistic practitioner to your healthcare team), owner, and patient.
Finally, while even the best care and management cannot always stop regular seizures, with both conventional and holistic treatments, the frequency and severity of seizures can be reduced. Best of all there is hope, and the great likelihood that my dog Cutter and epileptic dogs like him will lead normal, active, happy lives.
Maureen Finn is a freelance writer from Sammamish, WA. This is her first article for Whole Dog Journal.