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New databases aspire to make it easier to track down microchip registration
There are currently seven different pet identification microchip registries in the U.S., making it difficult to track down a found pets owner even when a scan finds a microchip number. Adding to the confusion, the chips manufacturer may not be the company that registered the chip. For example, I had a dog whose microchip was made by HomeAgain but registered with AKC Companion Animal Recovery (CAR). All the registries that exist in the U.S. will register their competitors chips as well as their own, but most charge a fee for doing so.
Two companies have emerged with Internet-based products that make it easier for rescuers to quickly locate the owner of a dog with an implanted identification microchip: the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) launched its PetMicrochipLookup.org, and Chloe Standard introduced ChecktheChip.com. Each built a website with a searchable database of microchip numbers, and attempts to return information about where a microchip is (or is most likely to be) registered.
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The AAHAs Universal Pet Microchip Lookup Tool relies on collaboration with microchip manufacturers and distributors, and so far supports only four of the main registries: AKC CAR (Companion Animal Recovery), HomeAgain, PetLink, and resQ. Three other registries Banfield, AVID, and 24PetWatch are not currently supported, but AAHA hopes to expand its coverage in the future.
When you enter a microchip number into the AAHA Universal Pet Microchip Lookup Tool, it tells you where that microchip has been registered, the registration date (which may not be accurate at this time), the registrys phone number, and a link to the registrys website. If a microchip number is not found in any of the supported registries, it gives you contact information for the most likely manufacturer and registries including ones not supported by the database.
Chloe Standard, a private start-up company in Mountain View, California, launched its website, ChecktheChip.com, in August. The company hopes to finance its operation with advertising.
According to a representative for Chloe Standard, the company asked various microchip registries for lists of their database numbers (minus owner information), but, the company says, the registries have been slow to respond. This means that in many cases Chloe Standard can identify only the chips distributor. When you enter a microchip number that is recognized, you are given the name of the registry, its phone number, and a link to the companys website. In cases where a number is not recognized, ChecktheChip provides contact information for six registries: AKC CAR, HomeAgain, PetLink (which is misidentified on the site as ResQ), 24PetWatch, AVID, and Banfield.
To be certain that your dogs identification microchip is properly registered to you, and your contact information is current, enter his microchip number into both search tools. If the registration is found, you should check with the registries to confirm that the contact information they have is up to date. AAHA suggests that you contact the registry directly if your registration is not found in its database.
Our tests indicate . . . I entered several identification microchip numbers in both ChecktheChip.com and PetMicrochipLookup.org, with mixed results.
When I entered the number of a microchip that was issued in 1995 and enrolled in two registries, AAHAs website correctly identified both registries. ChecktheChip.com did not recognize the chip number. When I entered an AVID microchip number that had never been registered, AAHAs site was able only to identify the chip as an AVID product and gave me AVIDs phone number. ChecktheChip returned AVIDs contact information, implying that the chip had been registered there a confusing result.
I tested four HomeAgain chip numbers, only one of which had been registered. AAHA correctly identified the registered chip and returned a phone number for that registry; for the other three chips, it gave me the contact information of three likely registries (HomeAgain, AKC CAR, and PetNet in Canada) and the chips manufacturer, Digital Angel. ChecktheChip returned only HomeAgains contact information for all four.
Both databases are still in an early stage of development, but as of this writing, AAHAs Universal Pet Microchip Lookup Tool appears to be the more useful.
Mary Straus
For more information: AAHA Universal Pet Microchip Lookup Tool: PetMicrochipLookup.org
Chloe Standard ChecktheChip.com
Variety Is Important for Nutritional Completeness
Renowned nutritionist deplores reliance on single-recipe diets
Marion Nestle is the award-winning author of Pet Food Politics: The Chihuahua in the Coal Mine, the story of the massive pet food recall in 2007, and the upcoming Feed Your Pet Right: The Authoritative Guide to Feeding Your Dog and Cat, due out in May 2010. A renowned professor of nutrition, food studies, and public health, Nestles interest in nutrition extends to both people and pets.
In her Pet Food Politics blog, Nestle recently wrote about the limitations of nutrition analyses and databases as aids for creating healthy diets for people. I was surprised by how closely her words echoed my own feelings in relation to the drawbacks of relying on a single recipe developed with a spreadsheet to feed a dog.
Referring to the databases used to create these recipes, Nestle says, If you give it even a moments thought, you realize that the nutrient contents have to vary with growing location, soil conditions, climate, transportation, and storage, so the amounts given in the database can only be approximations of what you are actually eating [our emphasis]. The data arent meaningless, but they dont mean nearly as much as people think they do.
Exactly. Too many recipes created with spreadsheets, including those from veterinary nutritionists, provide only minimal amounts of important nutrients. If the foods used to create these recipes dont match up to the numbers in the database, the recipes are likely to be lacking in some areas. Feeding the same recipe and nothing else for long periods of time may lead to nutritional deficiencies.
The same problem can occur when you feed one commercial food exclusively. Foods that state they are formulated to contain complete and balanced nutrition for dogs may not actually do so for a number of reasons. These include how the food is stored; changes in the ingredient sources; and whether laboratory analysis of the food itself was conducted to confirm its nutrient content (as opposed to tests of a similar food from its maker, or a feeding trial to determine its nutritional adequacy).
I recommend choosing at least two or three different brands, using different protein sources, and rotating among them. If one food is deficient in some areas, the odds are that the next food will make up for it, especially if its made by a different company though that food may be deficient in other areas.
Spreadsheets have their place, especially when you need to control specific nutrients due to health problems. A spreadsheet can help you determine how to limit phosphorus in diets for dogs with kidney disease, for example. Even then, its safer to use multiple recipes that include different ingredients rather than always feeding the same recipe.
Nestle goes on to say, We know from studies using experimental animals that it is extremely difficult to induce nutrient deficiencies in animals that are fed a variety of foods providing sufficient calories. The best way to avoid nutrient deficiencies is to eat a variety of minimally processed foods. If you do that, you dont have to worry about specific nutrients.
Rather than relying on a single recipe created with a spreadsheet to ensure that your dogs nutritional needs are met, feed a wide variety of fresh foods in appropriate proportions; thats the best way to create a healthy diet for your dog, as well as for your family. Mary Straus
For more information: foodpolitics.com, by Marion Nestle
New Pennsylvania Law Bans Five Home Surgeries
Law targets puppy mill operators and dog fighters; vets may still perform procedures
Late August headlines that blared about Governor Ed Rendell signing a bill banning ear-cropping, debarking, tail-docking, performing C-sections, and removing dewclaws were a little misleading, as the new law only applies to surgeries that are performed by non-veterinarians.
Rendell was quoted as saying, House Bill 39, which clearly defines the painful and inhumane procedures on dogs that constitute animal cruelty, takes the next important step for Pennsylvania in protecting dogs, said Rendell. Until now, these cruel practices could be carried out by dog owners without proper training and without supervision by a licensed vet, which could lead to long-term injury, pain and, in some cases, death to these defenseless animals.
Photo courtesy HCPHES
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An owner who has these surgeries performed legally must now keep a record of the surgery, including the vet who performed it, as well as the location and date where the surgery was performed. Any person in possession of a dog upon whom any of the listed surgeries have been performed is in violation of the new law (not just the person who performed the surgery) unless they have a certificate from the veterinarian who performed the procedure, or a certificate from their county treasurer (at a cost of $1) showing that the procedure was done before the law became effective. Violation of the law is a summary offense, punishable by a fine of up to $300 and/or 90 days (maximum) in jail.
The new law further protects dogs by making it a third degree felony to steal or acquire in any manner an animal for the purpose of fighting. Pat Miller
Contrary to the advice I offer to clients and Whole Dog Journal readers, I admit that I’m sometimes careless about taking my dogs in the car with me. I don’t always use crates and seatbelts on short trips to town, although I always do on longer travels. Just recently, however, my husband and I loaded up all five of our dogs for their annual well-pet visit to a veterinarian, and I did take the precaution of crating everyone rather than risk canine chaos on the highway. Other than Bonnie’s panting, it was an experience in car-ride serenity, and I vowed to crate everyone, always, on future rides.
Granted, my dogs aren’t the worst in the car. They don’t sit in my lap, leap over seats, get into fights, hang out the windows, do laps around the back of the van, or bark at everything outside the car. Other than Bonnie, who pants a lot and sometimes Even so, they’re safer in crates. Loose, they are a distraction, which decreases my driving safety. Not as bad as texting, but still!
In case of an accident (heaven forbid!), loose dogs can become dangerous free-flying projectiles, slamming into seats or passenger’s heads, smashing into windshields, or escaping through broken windows to face highway hazards. Years ago, my brother lost his lovely Australian Shepherd this way; she survived the accident unscathed, but ran into highway traffic and was killed by a car. Also, loose, protective dogs can deter rescue workers from helping injured humans in the car.
At the very least, with a carload of crated dogs I don’t have to worry about someone forgetting their “Wait” training at our destination, leaping from the car when the door opens, and possibly getting hurt or lost.
So how do you take a dog who is accustomed to free range of your car when traveling, and turn him into an “easy rider?” You start outside the car.
Crates are Great
I personally prefer crates to seat belts; I think they’re safer. My dogs are all quite accustomed to crating, so it’s simply a matter of loading and securing crates in the van – that’s an important step that many people carelessly skip – and finally, putting the dogs in crates.
One small exception is Bonnie, who came to us with an aversion to riding in cars and sometimes still needs a little extra coaxing to “go to bed” in the car. With five dogs, I’d have to put the two back seats back into the van in order to use seat belts, and anyway, I find the prospect of getting all five into harness and buckled in place a little cumbersome. I can’t imagine how mothers of multiple small humans do it!
If your dog isn’t already crate-happy, you need to start there, with crate-training at home, before you can expect him to be happy about being crated in the car. (See “10 Quick Crate Training Tips”.) When your dog has come to love his crate, it’s usually a simple matter to transfer his crating behavior to the car, especially if he already loves car rides.
If your dog, like Bonnie, finds the car aversive, you’ll need to work on that piece first – but you can work on it at the same time you’re teaching him to love his crate in the house. Just don’t put them together until he loves both. When he’s happy to run into his crate and stay there, and when he’s happy to hop into the car on cue, then put the crate in the car and work on them together. When that’s working well, you’re ready to start the engine.
Seat Belts are Spiffy
There are times when seatbelts are a better option. If your car is smaller than your dog’s crate, you have no choice. If, despite your best efforts, your dog hates crates, a harness and seatbelt will be easier for you and less stressful for him. If you prefer seatbelts, there are several good products on the market. Each has strengths and weaknesses, so be sure to study up and select the one you think best meets your dog’s needs. (See “(Seat) Belt Your Dog,” February 2004). Your dog should ride in the back seat when belted; air bags can be as deadly to canines as to young children. Alternatively, if he must ride in front, disable the airbag and make sure the seatbelt arrangement doesn’t allow him access to the driver’s lap. Features of the best seat belt products include:
• A strap that hooks directly into the seatbelt mechanism rather than loops over the belt, to minimize belt play and reliance on the seat belt mechanism should you stop suddenly. (Note: It may be difficult to find products that offer this feature.)
• Good quality parts and materials that can hold up in case of impact.
• Reinforced stitching at stress points.
• Options for customized fit.
• Easy to put on the dog.
• Comfortable for the dog.
When you have identified and purchased the best seat belt for your dog, take time to acclimate him to the apparatus well before you intend to use it. This is accomplished by classically conditioning him to the harness itself, then giving him a positive association (treats!) with wearing it, and ultimately being strapped into his seat.
To condition your dog to the harness, have him target his nose to it. Hold out the harness toward him, and when he sniffs it, click a clicker (or mark the moment with another reward marker such as the word “Yes!”) and quickly give your dog a treat.
When he’s eagerly touching his nose to the harness, hold it so he can put his head through it, and click and treat him for that. You may have to ask him to target through the opening to your hand at first, but he should quickly start offering to “put it on” himself. (For more on target training, see “Right on Target,” February 2006).
Note: For an excellent video on conditioning a dog to a piece of training equipment, go to abrionline.com, click on “Videos and Podcasts” and then on “Conditioning an Emotional Response.” You will see trainer and author Jean Donaldson conditioning her Chow-mix, Buffy, to a head halter – not my favorite piece of equipment, but the principle and procedure is the same.
Training Tips
If for some reason you simply cannot crate or belt your dog safely in your car, at least take the time to train him to ride quietly, and do not let him hang out the window.
Again, start outside the car by making sure you’ve trained a solid “down” and “wait” or “stay” (see “Wait Versus Stay,” April 2009). Then practice in the car, with the car sitting still, engine off, you in the driver’s seat, your dog in the back seat. You can reinforce his down at first with treats, but fade the treats as quickly as possible and replace them with calm praise – you won’t be able to reinforce with treats while you’re driving!
When your dog will lie on the back seat quietly for 10 to 15 minutes while you read a book, start the engine. That may be enough to get him excited; if so, practice having him lie down in the back-seat with the car’s engine running yet parked, preferably in a shady and well-ventilated area!
A Few More Car Thoughts
There are a number of products and practices that can improve the quality of your and your dog’s car-travel experiences:
• Covered crates: Another benefit of the crate is that you can cover it. If your dog is reactive to stimuli outside the car, a cover over his crate can make life happier for everyone – he doesn’t react to what he can’t see, he stays calm and below threshold, and you aren’t startled while driving by his sudden outbursts.
• The Calming Cap: For a reactive dog who is either loose or seat-belted in the car, the Calming Cap is a useful tool for reducing arousal to outside stimuli. The Calming Cap, created by Trish King (training director at the Marin Humane Society) for use with dogs who get over-aroused in cars, is a sheer nylon hood that covers the dog’s eyes. He can see shapes but not detail, so he’s less reactive to the reduced intensity of the stimulus. Calming Caps are available from Premier Pet Products, premier.com or (800) 933-5595.
• Exercise: A tired dog is a well-behaved dog. A well-exercised dog is far more likely to behave well (and safely) in your car than one who is brimming with energy. Give your dog a good workout before you take him in the car, at least until his car manners are solid. If you can’t do a good physical workout, tire him mentally with brain games (see “A Puzzling Activity,” June 2008).
• Open windows: Everyone knows dogs like to stick their heads out car windows. Not everyone knows how hazardous that can be. Debris can fly into your dog’s eyes at high speed and cause injury, even blindness. “Doggles” – goggles for dogs – can help protect his eyes, but there are other hazards. Your dog can also ingest harmful particles through his nose and mouth.
A dog who hangs out a car window can suffer far worse than getting hit by a bit of airborne debris – he can fall out of the car! I was driving through downtown Hagerstown one day, behind a car with a Beagle hanging out an open window. Just as I thought, “Uh-oh, that’s scary,” the little dog fell out of the window onto the road in front of my car. I slammed on the brakes, pulled over, and helped the driver retrieve his thankfully unharmed dog.
If you must leave car windows open for your dog, please install one of several safety products designed to prevent such accidents such as the Breezeguard (an expensive but well-made product, available from muttmanagers.com, 866-653-5631), or a Vent Guard (an inexpensive but much less secure item, available in many pet supply chain stores and online outlets).
• Calming products: I spray Comfort Zone/DAP, a stress-reducing product, in Bonnie’s crate to help reduce her stress. Calming aromatherapy products (especially lavender) misted in your car may also help keep your dog calm. Also consider an Anxiety Wrap (available from anxietywrap.com, 260-344-1217) or even a snugly fitting T-shirt; this sort of swaddling can calm anxious dogs.
I’ve also seen good results from playing one of the “Through a Dog’s Ear” audio CDs for an anxious dog. A company called BioAcoustic Research and Development has developed four music CDs meant to calm anxious dogs, including one just for driving with dogs. The “driving edition” also includes some helpful instruction on preparing your dog for a calm car ride. These are available throughadogsear.com, (800) 788-0949.
Pat Miller, CPDT, is Whole Dog Journal’s Training Editor. Miller lives in Fairplay, Maryland, site of her Peaceable Paws training center. Pat is also author of The Power of Positive Dog Training; Positive Perspectives: Love Your Dog, Train Your Dog; Positive Perspectives II: Know Your Dog, Train Your Dog; and Play with Your Dog.
Surely there is no such person as a dog owner who never gives his or her dog a treat. We all like to see our dog’s tail wag, and his face light up with attentive anticipation, right?
But how do you know that the treats you give him are healthy? It’s actually pretty simple. As with every food you buy (for yourself or your dog), it’s all about the ingredients.
If you do not already read the label of every food item you consider buying, get in the habit! Most of the information you need to know in order to determine the product’s quality is legally required to appear on the label.
Want to throw together your own homemade dog treats? Try these homemade recipes.
What to Look for in Dog Treats
We suggest that you start with the ingredients list. Ingredients are listed on the label by weight; there is more of the first ingredient on the list present in the treat than the second ingredient, and so on. (One exception: If equal amounts – by weight – of different ingredients are present, the manufacturer can list those ingredients in any order; that is, as long as they are still in order relative to the other ingredients). The first few ingredients on the list are the most significant; since they comprise the majority of the content, they should be especially high in quality.
What constitutes quality in a pet food ingredient? Actually, the same attributes that indicate quality in human food denote quality in pet food. Top-quality ingredients are as fresh, pure, and minimally processed as possible; whole food ingredients are better than by-products or food “fractions.” For example, “wheat” is better than “wheat flour.” “Wheat flour” is better than “wheat bran and wheat germ.” The more highly processed and reconstituted an ingredient is, the more opportunities it has for adulteration and contamination, and the more nutrients it loses.
It stands to reason that the freshest ingredients available to U.S. food makers will be grown in the U.S. While some manufacturers argue that their oversight of foreign ingredient providers is reliable, we strongly prefer domestic ingredient sources. The only exception may be those ingredients that are near-impossible to obtain from U.S. sources, such as free-range, organic venison. Even so, if we found a treat that contained domestically sourced free-range, organic venison, we’d favor it over a product containing free-range, organic venison from New Zealand.
Ingredients that are sourced as close as possible to the manufacturer (locally sourced ingredients) are good. Again, they are necessarily fresher than ingredients that require shipping from across the country. That’s good for the environment, too.
Every ingredient on the label should be an easily recognizable food; there should be no question what the source is. For example, “meat meal” or “animal fat” could come from just about anywhere. In contrast, “chicken” comes from chickens, and so does “chicken fat.” If you can’t determine what species of animal a meat or fat came from, you should not feed it to your dog.
Organic ingredients are good; they are less likely to be adulterated with contaminants, and they receive extra scrutiny from inspectors. The more organic ingredients, the better.
If a sweetener is used, it should be natural and food-based, and used in moderation. Applesauce, molasses, or honey are better than artificial sweeteners. We disapprove of any sweeteners in dog food, but we’re talking about treats here: something the dog may not get every day, and something he’ll get only a few of. A little natural sweetening in a treat is okay.
If a treat is preserved, it should contain a natural preservative. Vitamins C and E (the latter is listed as “mixed tocopherols”) are effective and safe preservatives. Some treats contain no preservatives at all; these should be stored properly and used promptly.
Meaty Treats
The most obvious characteristic of a meaty treat is its high animal protein content. Animal muscle and organ meat ingredients are much more expensive than grain- or vegetable-based products, so meaty treats will generally cost more than other types of treats.
Products may be quite dry (with a moisture content around 5 percent); or chewy, with as much moisture as 25 percent. The moist products will necessarily contain ingredients known as “humectants” — substances that promote the retention of moisture in the product. The low-moisture treats may be dried, freeze-dried, or dehydrated.
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In general, the fewer ingredients used in meat-based dog treat products, the better.
Cookie or Biscuit-Style Treats
In general, cookie- or biscuit-style treats are made with grain or another carbohydrate and baked. That said, this is a wide category of treats, and there are many grain-free products on the market.
Some biscuits use animal products (such as muscle meat, organ meat, fat, dairy products) as the principle palatant (ingredient used to appeal to dogs), but others use sweeteners or salt.
This style of product generally has the same range of moisture content found in dry dog foods — about 10 to 12 percent.
In general, the fewer number of least-processed ingredients used in these products, the better.
Dog Treat Ingredients to Avoid
While you are examining the list of ingredients for quality components, make sure the treat does not contain any of the following:
• Artificial preservatives, including BHA, BHT, ethoxyquin, potassium sorbate, sodium nitrate (used for dual purposes, preservative and coloring), and calcium propionate should be avoided.
• Artificial colors. Color is added to dog treats to appeal to you; your dog doesn’t care what color the treat is! You aren’t going to eat these treats, are you? So don’t buy treats that contain these unnecessary (and many believe unhealthy) chemicals.
• Chemical humectants, such as propylene glycol. These are used in some pet (and human!) foods to keep them moist and chewy, and to prevent discoloration in preserved meats. There are more natural, food-sourced humectants available, such as vegetable glycerin and molasses.
Speaking of glycerin: If it’s not identified as “vegetable glycerin” (a food-sourced product), it’s likely to be a petrochemical product – not good.
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Other Admirable Traits
There are many other factors that we consider when buying treats, but these don’t quite rise to the level of make-it-or-break-it selection criteria. However, they are attributes we appreciate for their benefits to our dogs, all dogs, and the planet we all share.
• We like to see products with recycled (and/or recyclable) and minimal packaging.
• We seek out treats that are either small, or easy to break into small pieces. When you use a lot of treats for training, they should be small, so you don’t ruin your dog’s diet.
• We admire companies that simply list the ingredients in their products, without splashing the ingredients they don’t contain all over the label, as in, “No soy, wheat, or corn!” Many dogs do just fine with soy, wheat, corn, and other ingredients that some food makers try to marginalize. (Please consider that there is a difference between a label that boasts, “No artificial colors or preservatives!” and one that says, “No corn!”).
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• On a related note, we get aggravated every time we see a label claim that a treat is “hypoallergenic” or “contains no allergens.” Any food ingredient can be an allergen; there are dogs who are allergic to eggs, chicken, beef, fish, pork, lamb, rice, barley, quinoa, and any other food you can name – foods that are perfectly appropriate for most dogs.
• We appreciate companies that donate a percentage of their sales to dog-related charities.
The Caloric Content of Treats
It’s long been one of my pet peeves that dog food manufacturers are not required to put the caloric content of their products on their labels. It seems that many food makers don’t seem to think that dog owners are smart enough to use this information to help determine how much their dogs should be fed in order to maintain a healthy weight. (I’m sure some aren’t, but hey! Some are!)
I applaud the pet food companies that do include the caloric content on the label voluntarily — which means the treat manufacturers that include this information should get a standing ovation.
Why should treat makers get extra credit? Because treats are, by their very definition, more desirable and delicious than regular food. And dog treat makers frequently achieve “desirable and delicious” the same way that human treat makers do: with extra fat, sugar, and salt. Fat is the worst offender in terms of adding calories; a gram of fat contains about 9 calories. In contrast, a gram of carbohydrate or protein contains about 4 calories. Salt, of course, is noncaloric.
However, the more palatable a treat is, the more a dog will want it, and the harder he will work to get you to give him more than he really should receive.
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“No problem!” some people say. “I’ll just reduce how much of his food I’ll give him!” He may need to have his total food intake reduced a bit anyway, but in general, it’s a bad idea to replace more than about 10 percent of his nutritionally “complete and balanced” diet with a decidedly not complete and balanced food (some vets suggest no more than 5 percent of his diet). Few treats are formulated with vitamins and minerals in the proper amounts and ratios, based on their calorie content, to represent a properly “complete and balanced” contribution to your dog’s diet. If incomplete and unbalanced treats replace a significant portion of his complete and balanced diet, it follows that your dog won’t receive all the nutrients he needs.
So, how much should you feed your dog, and how will treats affect that? As author Mary Straus explained in “Helping Your Dog Lose Weight,” “Resting energy requirement (RER) is the number of calories per day your dog requires for just basic needs . . . To determine your dog’s RER, convert his ideal weight in pounds to kilograms by dividing by 2.2, then multiply that number by 30 and add 70.”
For example, for my dog Otto, I would use 65 pounds as his ideal weight. I divide this by 2.2 (which is 29.54 kg). Multiplied by 30 plus 70 is 1,026.36 calories — Otto’s RER. I want to make sure that no more than 10 percent (rounding a bit, 103 calories) of these calories are treats.
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Well, Otto’s favorite treat is hot dog, and the ones I buy to use for his training treats contain 130 calories per hot dog. Yikes! When we go for a walk or to a training class, I generally bring two hot dogs. I cut them into many tiny pieces, but still, on these days, he’s getting more than 25 percent of the calories he should be eating in one day from an extremely unbalanced and certainly incomplete food.
So, why isn’t Otto hugely fat — or showing the signs of nutritional deficiencies? To answer the former, on the days when we walk or train, he gets a lot more exercise — enough to burn off the extra calories. As to the latter: I’ve only had him for a year and a half — and he certainly doesn’t get two hot dogs every day! But I should definitely adjust this treat habit — start mixing in some lower-calorie treats, and saving the really fatty hot dogs for just the most difficult behaviors I want to reward — before it results in health problems brought on by nutritional deficiency.
These are the sort of things you should be considering when you make treats a regular part of your dog’s diet. Do the math; it’s not that difficult! And look for the caloric content on the label of your favorite treats. If it’s not there, check the company’s website, or call them and ask. If they can’t give you the information, don’t buy that treat! It’s my basic information that they should know and be willing to share.
Our List of Approved Treats
We’ve listed a number of companies that make treats that meet all of our selection criteria. Be aware that we do not rate or rank-order the treats we have highlighted as examples of good products. A treat either meets our selection criteria (as outlined above) or it does not; there is no “top pick” or “best on the list.” We suggest that you try a variety of products, and keep track of which types your dog likes best and which don’t agree with him (so you can avoid them in the future).
Don’t fret if your top pick is not on our list; if it meets our selection criteria, it’s as good as anything we’ve highlighted below. Happily, there are many more good products on the market than we could ever list!
Top-Quality Meaty Dog Treats
Meaty treats vary quite a bit in consistency, since some are dried and others are dehydrated or baked. Also, some contain only meat: others contain grains or other carbohydrates on the ingredients list (below the meat ingredients).
Cookie- or biscuit-style treats tend to have a more consistent texture, thanks to their baked carbohydrate content. But because the dough can be rolled and cut out, bakers can design an unlimited number and variety of creative shapes and sizes. As cute as the larger cookies are, we strongly prefer small treats – or at least cookies that can easily be broken into hits.
We make it a point to say this every single time we discuss treats: Don’t buy dog treats at the grocery store, unless you also do each of the following:
1. Read the ingredients panel of any treat you consider buying. Pass it by if it contains artificial preservatives and/or colors, animal products from unnamed species, or animal by-products.
2. Check the ingredients list for foods your dog may be allergic to or intolerant of.
3. Don’t forget that you can use real, fresh food for treats! Offer your dog bits of cheese, cooked meat, and pieces of fruit and vegetables, and determine which he likes best.
Snapping fingers and tapping feet are the signature moves of musical freestyle – and that’s the audience! What happens between dog and handler during a musical freestyle performance is simply magical. The handler gives subtle cues, and her dog executes complicated maneuvers, one after the other, as the pair moves across the floor, their routine choreographed to music that emphasizes their connection.
For those of you whose introduction to this sport was watching a widely distributed video clip of Carolyn Scott’s routine to “Grease” with her Golden Retriever, Rookie, you were probably awestruck. You may have even gotten a little misty eyed, recognizing the commitment, training, and connection between two different species. But it was the look on Rookie’s face that sold you that this was a sport worth exploring. This dog was having a blast, and the behaviors he was doing were difficult! How could training something so hard be so fun?
Photo by Brenda Cutting
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“I first saw freestyle in 1997, a video of Donna Duford and her PBGV (Petit Bassett Griffon Vendeen),” recalls freestyle judge and instructor Julie Flanery. “In 1998 I saw it live for the first time at a demonstration at an APDT (Association of Pet Dog Trainers) conference. I was amazed at what these dogs were doing and how much fun it looked. I had to do this with my dog!”
Flanery has since become one of the sport’s most ardent boosters, convincing many people to give this sport a try even in the sport’s early days in her area of the Pacific Northwest. “Most of my early freestyle training was on my own by watching others and then figuring out how to train it using positive reinforcement methods. I had to do a lot of problem solving early on and came up with several of my own methods. I also took several workshops, sometimes traveling great distances to learn from top performers.”
Flanery added freestyle to the list of classes she was teaching at the time, cajoling several of her students to give it a try. “That small group of six friends created the first freestyle club on the West Coast, Dogs Gone Dancin,’ now with almost 50 members in Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia.”
Since then, Flanery has stayed so active in the sport that she has been invited to present workshops in South Africa, has presented numerous workshops in the U.S., has become a judge for the World Canine Freestyle Organization (WCFO), and, of course, put advanced freestyle titles on her own dogs. All from just watching that one demonstration. Watch out; this sport can be addictive!
The game There are two major styles of dog dancing, as this sport is also known. One is heelwork to music, or canine dressage, which focuses on setting precise heelwork (in close to proximity to the handler) to music. Musical freestyle, on the other hand, allows any movement or combination of movements, in close proximity or at a distance, as long as the movements are safe for the dog.
Music is chosen based on a dog’s gait, with faster tempos for the quick-moving dogs and a more moderate beat for dogs that naturally move slower or are larger in structure. Handlers memorize the music, break it down into segments, choreograph movements for themselves and their dogs, and then string it all together. The result can be breathtaking, hilarious, dramatic, or a combination of all three.
If you have never seen a freestyle routine, you might want to power up your computer, go to YouTube.com, and type “canine musical freestyle” in the “search” field. You’ll find a wide variety of clips. Carolyn Scott’s “Grease” routine has had more than 5 million viewers. Look at a few of the “most viewed” clips and you’ll see why this sport is so fun and challenging.
At its core, musical freestyle is the art of training individual tricks such as spin, twist, back up, leg weaves, circling around the handler, side stepping, etc., and then training your dog to do multiple tricks in a row while you move around at the same time. Cindy Mahrt was one of the people Flanery enrolled in one of her classes in 2000. Mahrt attended with her 18-month-old Rottweiler, Gitta.
“I wanted to keep Gitta in some sort of class to keep up her socialization skills,” recalls Mahrt. “Gitta and I had gone through all the normal classes – puppy, beginners, advanced beginners; we even tried a tricks class. When Julie decided to try a freestyle class, she asked if we were interested. It was way more fun than doing basic obedience over and over. A small group of us tried it one night; it was a little crazy, but fun, and I was hooked.”
Mahrt had never competed in a dog sport before and had no intention of doing so in freestyle. However, Flanery’s enthusiasm was infectious and Gitta just loved the sport. “I swore I would never compete,” says Mahrt. “I just couldn’t see myself going out in public and dancing with my dog in a costume. I wasn’t comfortable with the whole idea of competition. I just wanted to have fun with Gitta and the friends I’d made in class. At that time, there weren’t many opportunities to compete, so it wasn’t much of an issue.”
History Freestyle in North America goes back to 1989 when Val Culpin of British Columbia, Canada, started developing the sport. Trainers in England were on a similar path, with top obedience competitor Mary Ray wowing crowds with her demonstrations at Crufts, the top conformation, obedience, and agility competition event in Britain.
Throughout the 1990s, the sport continued to grow in Canada, the U.S., and Britain. The Canada-based Musical Canine Sports International (MCSI) was launched to write rules and judging guidelines. Its first U.S. competition was held in 1996 in Springfield, Oregon.
Rainbow River Photography
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Throughout the years, different styles of the sport developed, including heelwork to music and musical freestyle, as well as a distinctly theatrical style with highly costumed competitors and dramatic story lines. Bring up YouTube.com on your computer’s Web browser again and search “Attila and Fly, Gladiator” for an excellent example of this more theatrical style. The sport has continued to evolve throughout the world, and additional organizations have sprung up to support different approaches and philosophies. (See Snapshot of the Sport, below.)
Attributes of dancing dogs and handlers A wide variety of breeds and mixes participate in this sport. Freestyle training is great for fearful dogs, too, since only one dog competes at a time, and the training culture in freestyle is one of using positive reinforcement methods.
Positive methods help build dogs’ confidence and trust, and this was an attraction for Mahrt when she decided to try freestyle. “Gitta really responded well to positive reinforcement training. When we first started [obedience] classes, it was mostly positive, but switched back to traditional methods when any problems arose. This just didn’t work with Gitta; it only made things worse. It was wonderful to start freestyle and switch to only positive reinforcement. We do a lot with clicker training and shaping.”
Flanery believes that freestyle appeals to many kinds of people, but especially “those who enjoy music, enjoy the teamwork between dog and handler, who seek a creative outlet for themselves and their dogs, and who are willing to step outside of their current skill set and learn new things, such as music editing, choreography, and presentation.”
Equipment & supplies Although some trainers use some props in their routines (e.g., a cane, a stool, a handkerchief), all that is required is you and your dog. With the exception of the more theatrical routines, costumes are not essential although most people dress in a manner that supports their routine. For example, a team performing to country music might wear a western-themed shirt and jeans.
You will need a boom box or other music player to play your music, and it is helpful to have one that is easy to pause, rewind, and find your place again. A remote control can be helpful for this. Handlers use pen and paper and sometimes rally obedience signs and software to map out their choreography. Otherwise, standard training supplies (clicker and treats) are all you need.
Expenses This is a relatively inexpensive sport. Gas and lodging will probably be your biggest expense if you intend to compete in person. If you can find a class in your area, they are typically similar in cost to basic pet manners classes. An alternative to a freestyle class is to enroll in a tricks class to build your repertoire of behaviors.
Competition fees run about $30 per class per event. Live competitions are still far and few between so you might compete only once or twice a year, and video competitions are only scheduled a few times a year as well. Membership in one of the sponsoring organizations varies. For example, an annual membership in the WCFO is $30.
Training This is a deceptively difficult sport. It looks like so much fun that one forgets that each behavior must be trained to mastery before putting them together in a routine.
Professional trainers like to say, “A behavior chain is only as strong as its weakest link.” If one of your behaviors, e.g., leg weaves, falls apart in the middle of a routine, it can be difficult to get the routine back on track.
Flanery points out, “As freestyle competitors we are asking our dogs to perform anywhere from 30 to 80 (or more!) cued behaviors in a span of a minute and a half to four minutes depending on the level entered . . . there is a lot of multi-tasking that goes on in the freestyle ring. Both the dog and the handler are working hard. The dog, attentive, following cues and performing with as much precision as possible, always ready for the next cue; the handler, listening to the music cues, cueing the dog’s moves, keeping her choreography straight, and readjusting for missed moves or cues.”
The prerequisite behaviors that set teams up for success are those brought from basic pet manners: attention, sit, stay, down, and heel (walk in position next to you). Of these, attention and heel in position are the most important. While polishing those basic skills, you can also be training a variety of tricks, the foundation of what you see in a freestyle routine.
Most important for handlers who want to excel in freestyle is a solid understanding and hands-on experience with positive reinforcement and, in particular, clicker training. The clicker excels as a “behavior marker,” quickly and accurately (in the hands of a skilled trainer) identifying the smallest pieces of a full behavior that might be difficult to get with other methods.
For example, imagine that you want to train your dog to lift a front foot off the floor and hold it in space for two seconds. It might be difficult to lure that behavior (using a treat to move your dog in the direction you want). With the clicker and good observation skills, you can click for the slightest shift of weight. Dogs that have been clicker trained understand that the click happened for something very specific and they soon figure out what it is. The art of “shaping” behavior this way also makes it easier to motivate your dog to work with you even if you don’t have a treat in front of her nose.
Flanery has used a combination of luring and clicker training to train many of the creative and complex behaviors she has taught over the years. “While there are freestylers who don’t use a clicker, I believe strongly that to get to the upper levels of creativity, a dog and handler team should focus on building solid clicker skills and an understanding of operant conditioning. It is often the dog who comes up with the most creative behaviors, and if you don’t understand how to draw that out of your dog, then you are missing out on one of the most amazing aspects of freestyle.”
Training freestyle, even if you choose not to compete, has additional benefits. As with many dog sports, an amazing connection between human and dog blossoms through the training process. This is especially true for dogs with behavior issues or physical challenges. Cindy Mahrt’s Rottie, Gitta, had both. Now 11 years young, Gitta’s freestyle training was interrupted in 2003 when she underwent anterior cruciate ligament knee surgery at age five and then a year later for the other knee. She had also always been a bit fearful, and being out of commission for almost two years for her surgeries and recovery was a set back for Mahrt who had worked so hard to train and socialize her dog.
“We suddenly were very restricted in what she could do for those couple of years. Freestyle is a great sport for building up muscle tone. Dogs do a lot of rear work – backing up, side passes, circling around backward, backward weaves, etc. All of these take an awareness of their rear ends that most dogs don’t have. I think it really helped her recovery.
“Being sidelined by two surgeries kept her pretty isolated for awhile. Gitta is very reactive to dogs she doesn’t know. Freestyle got me working with clicker training and positive reinforcement. They are very useful and important tools in dealing with a reactive dog. Giving her something else to focus on is also important. If a new dog comes into class, I can have her do spins, circles, weaves, etc., and get a big treat; she forgets all about the other dog. Pretty soon that dog isn’t so scary anymore.”
Levels of competition Each organization has its own rules for heelwork to music and musical freestyle. Judging takes into consideration creativity, variety, and audience appeal. Specifics such as how much floor space must be covered in a particular level or division will be covered and guidelines provided that help handlers decide the number of behaviors they want to showcase in a given performance.
Both WCFO and MDSA have a system for handlers to submit videotape of their performance for judging, so you can “compete” without having to always travel long distances.
What if you don’t want to compete? Many people start out thinking that competition is not their cup of tea. Mahrt remembers her own reluctance to compete. “Then I figured I could at least try it, once, but without a costume. I guess you can see where this is going,” Mahrt says wryly. “Although I don’t have a fancy costume – I usually wear nice black trousers and a velvety black shirt – I do now compete. I think it was 2001 that we had our first competition in Washington. We did pretty well; that was our first beginner’s leg. It took a long time after that to get the next leg and move up the ladder. The surgeries and stage fright – hers, not mine (well, a little mine) – slowed us down for a while.
“We compete through WCFO in live competitions. We got our Beginner and Novice titles. It then became obvious that physically she could not compete any longer in the regular divisions. WCFO is a great organization for its inclusion of everyone. I’m happy to say that Gitta and I earned our Championship title in the Handi Dandi division last May. We are now going to start over in the Sassy Senior division, for dogs older than nine years.”
How to get started Contact one of the sponsoring organizations to find out if there are any instructors or member clubs in your area. If there aren’t, do what Julie Flanery did. Watch some videos, get inspired, and share your enthusiasm with your friends. Many freestyle groups start when friends meet at a park and train together, sharing music, tricks, and choreography tips. Find a local clicker trainer or training facility that uses positive reinforcement and, if they don’t offer freestyle, convince them to bring someone in to present a seminar to get you started.
Is this sport for you? There are many aspects of freestyle that may appeal to you: the fun in just spending time with your dog, the challenges of competition, or sharing your routines with nursing home residents through therapy dog visits or doing public demonstrations. This is truly a sport that, at its core, expresses the deep potential within the human-canine bond.
Now, go grab those dancing shoes!
Terry Long, CPDT, is a writer, agility instructor, and behavior counselor in Long Beach, CA. She lives with four dogs and a cat and is addicted to agility and animal behavior.
Please remember to mention rescue groups for people looking for specific breeds. We love Newfoundlands, and are celebrating the one-year anniversary of our adoption of Terra, a brown Newfie we rescued.
Terra was very stressed by the move and I wasnt really planning on preparing another BARF (bones and raw food) diet. She doesnt like kibble, though, so here we are again. BARF diets are a little hard to get started, but once you get a system, theyre not bad. The hardest thing for me is getting enough fresh chicken necks, since my usual grocery store doesnt stock them, so I have to make a special trip to a different store, but I think its a lot cheaper than buying the prepared meat meals.
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I started receiving Whole Dog Journal when we had our first Newf. We got her as a pup and she soon became infected somehow with chronic Staph after her spaying or another operation. It was awful! Could you imagine bathing a Newfoundland with two different antiseptic shampoos every other week?
Being a holistic health nut myself, I just couldnt see having to give her antibiotics for the rest of her life. Thats where your publication came in. I read Whole Dog Journals articles about BARF diets, and after more research, gradually switched her over to BARF when she was two or three years old. The Staph went away completely, never to be seen again! She did have problems with arthritis, even on the great diet. We tried chiropractic and acupuncture, and were finally able to manage the arthritis with Adequan injections. She lived to be almost 12.
Also, I wanted to write last winter and tell your readers how difficult it is to adopt a dog in winter in a cold climate. Here I was with my treat bag, bundled to the hilt, having to remove my mittens to reward this enormous dog who had never been trained to do anything (!) for nice walking! We had much fun, though, using Pat Millers run away technique for training a dog to come to you. Terra invented her own variation: She would run several yards in front of me on the snowy path, and then turn around and look at me, wait for my signal and run back to get her treat. I wait for Pats articles every month! Laurie Pevnick Glendale, WI
In my editorial last month, I mentioned rescue groups and local shelters as ideal sources for dog adoptions. However, please see this months editorial (page 2) for information on how to determine whether a rescue group is legitimate. Increasingly, we read reports of so-called rescue groups that are hoarding animals, or worst of all, failing to properly care for them while profiting on their sale. Editor
Last month, I used this space to tell the story of my former neighbors, who bought a puppy from a puppy mill; despite my warnings to them, they didnt really get that they were buying from a puppy mill until they received an underaged, very ill puppy who is clearly not the breed she was purported to be. I used the story to implore readers to take their time when looking for their next dog, never buy a dog sight unseen from the Internet, and to adopt from shelters and rescue groups.
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Three days before I sent this issue to press, I received the following note, containing very good advice, from a subscriber:
What a terrible experience your neighbors had with their Poodle puppy. Sad to say, they could have had the same experience with a Petfinder adoption. Adopting a dog over the Internet can have unintended results: dogs who are sick, aggressive, or misrepresented (age, temperament, even breed). Not all organizations presenting themselves as rescues on Petfinder are nonprofit (yes, some are puppy mills) and not all obey state laws about health certificates. Some circumvent these laws by having adopters meet the transport vehicle in a parking lot just over the state line.
Please advise your readers to work with a local rescue organization, where they can meet the dog before adoption. A good local rescue will take back the dog, for any reason, for the life of the dog.
In a bizarre coincidence, later that very day, I got a boots-on-the-ground lesson about exactly what the letter writer had described: rescue groups who promote adoptions of dogs on Petfinder.com, but turn out to be warehousing dogs and selling them, perhaps at a profit.
I happened to visit a shelter that was housing over 100 small dogs that had been seized days before in a raid on a so-called private rescue organization. All the dogs were small and very cute. They were also were infested with fleas, as well as every type of worm that exists. Almost every long-haired dog was matted down to the skin and had to be shaved. The shelter was free-feeding the dogs because every time they refilled a bowl, the dogs would reflexively rush for the food and fight. A dozen or so dogs were skin and bones clearly, the ones who couldnt or wouldnt fight for their share.
There were also a few dogs with injuries and others with severe skin problems.
There were also three litters of puppies, and many intact dogs. The rescue charged $250 to $350 per dog; according to the Petfinder.com description of this rescue facility, the adoption fee helped pay for neuter/rabies/dhlp [sic]/bordatella [sic]/worming/frontline, microchip, grooming, and heartgard. If those things were done at all, they must have been done just after a dog was paid for.
The shelter, in contrast, actually does all those things before a dog is adopted. And it charges $80 for most dogs small or large, cute or not. There are exceptions: the director frequently waives fees if it helps place a dog in a qualified home.
Ill write more about this subject in the December issue. Ill pass along information from experts on how to determine if a rescue is truly rescuing dogs, or profiting from their misery. For example, the owner/operator of the rescue conducted monthly adoption events at WalMart and Petco; in fact, potential adopters were always met elsewhere, not at the rescue facility. That should have been a warning sign right there.
Finally, Ill ask Petfinder.com what, if anything, it can do to weed out losers like this one. And not just Petfinder; Ive been told there are equally bad actors among the breed rescues listed on the American Kennel Clubs website.
Food rewards are powerful tools in the hands of a good positive trainer. Food is considered a primary reinforcer because it has innate value; a dog doesn’t have to learn to like food through association. Using a clicking sound made by a clicker (or other reward marker, such as the word “Yes!”), followed by a high-value food treat is a quick and easy way to send your dog a powerful positive message about which behavior he could repeat to get reinforced again.
Food is also commonly used in classical conditioning and counter-conditioning, to create and build a dogs positive association with a specific stimulus.
But what do you do when your dog can’t or won’t take a treat? It depends on the reason he has to decline the food offering. Try these tactics:
1.) If he’s too distracted: Try a higher-value treat. High-value treats for dogs tend to be meaty, smelly (like sardines or smelly cheese), or fatty treats, but for some dogs it might be slices of banana or apple, baby carrots, cat kibble, or buttery bits of toast.
Experiment with a wide variety of foods to find out what trips your dog’s treat trigger. If higher-value treats don’t work, remove your dog to a less distracting environment, gradually increasing distractions as he’s ready to handle them.
2.) If he’s too full: Schedule your training sessions before meals when he’s hungry, rather than after. If he was eating treats but stopped, try a different high-value treat. Eventually even the best treat can get boring.
Also, cultivate a backup list of secondary reinforcers for use when he’s full. These may include playing a game with you (chasing a ball, tugging on a rope toy, chasing after you), being petted, or hearing cheerful praise. Be sure they’re really reinforcing to him! Does he seek them out? Then they are reinforcing. If he turns away or declines them, they are not.
3.) If he’s too stressed: Reduce your dog’s stress level. If you’re doing counter-conditioning, reduce the intensity of the aversive stimulus to a level where he’ll notice the stressor but still take treats. Increase the distance between your dog and the stressor, decrease the movement of the stressor, turn down the volume, etc. If you’re out and about, for example, on the first night of a training class just hang out in a corner with him until he habituates to (gets used to) the new environment and starts taking treats. Use backup reinforcers to improve your dog’s emotional state: a game of tug may cheer him up enough to eat. If he won’t eat from your hand, he may take treats dropped on the floor.
4.) If he’s not feeling well: If your dog is too sick to eat treats, or in too much pain, you shouldn’t be training. You can improve his associations and relieve his stress with acupressure and calming massage. There’s a calming acupressure point in a dog’s ear: gently rub his ear flap, near but not at the very end, between your thumb and fingers in a circular motion. If he can’t eat due to pending surgery, or to avoid carsickness but is otherwise fine, use alternative reinforcers.
5.) If you’ve run out: When you find yourself digging for treat crumbs in the corners of your pockets, you’ll be glad you have that list of alternative reinforcers! Also, don’t be afraid to delve into your own lunch box or refrigerator for treat alternatives. As long as you avoid the obvious no-no’s like chocolate, cooked chicken bones, grapes, raisins, and onions, most of what we call “human food” is fair game for dog treats.
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Dogs weighing 75 pounds or more may not be fully protected
On August 13, Virbac Animal Health, Inc. announced that it was recalling certain lots of Iverhart Plus® Flavored Chewable Tablets, a heartworm preventative. Routine stability testing found these lots no longer contained enough ivermectin to be effective for dogs weighing more than 75 pounds.
Lot numbers 090093 and 090095 of Iverhart Plus Large (51-100 pounds) were recalled. A third lot for small dogs (up to 25 pounds), 090073, was also recalled because it was found to be nearing the potency limit. These lots were sold to distributors starting March 20, so any product purchased earlier would not be affected.
The recalled product is not harmful, but may leave larger dogs unprotected from heartworm infection. Virbac recommends that dogs who weigh more than 75 pounds who were given the recalled product be tested five to six months after the last dose was given (I advise waiting the full six months to test your dog, since it can take that long for heartworm larvae to mature into adults that can be detected by heartworm tests).
Virbac will reimburse veterinarians for heartworm tests performed on 75-plus-pound dogs who were given the defective product. Their standard product guarantee will also cover heartworm treatment for any dog taking Iverhart Plus who is found to be infected with heartworms.
If you purchased the recalled product, you should return any unused portion to your place of purchase for replacement from a different lot number. The lot number is listed on the bottom lid/flap of the box in a white text field and on the blister foil of the individual doses. Note that even though dogs who weigh less than 75 pounds are fully protected now, the product may lose further potency over time, so it’s important to replace it rather than continue to use it even if your dog is under the weight limit. That also applies to the single lot for smaller dogs that was recalled.
Virbac has notified its distributors and are asking them to notify the veterinary clinics who purchased the recalled lots. Only those who received the recalled lots will be contacted, so your veterinarian may not be aware of this recall.
Testing has confirmed that all other lots of Iverhart Plus Flavored Chewable Tablets remain potent. Only the three lots identified are affected by this recall. Mary Straus
For more information:
Virbac Technical Services
(800) 338-3659, ext. 3052;
virbacvet.com/news
Sales Outlets for Greenies Have Been Restricted
Distribution reverts to pet specialty retailers and veterinary clinics
In May 2009, the Greenies® line of pet dental chews disappeared from supermarkets and other mass markets. Some dog owners, aware that the maker of Greenies had been sued by owners of dogs who died, allegedly from intestinal obstructions caused by an undigested Greenies chew, assumed the company had ceased manufacturing the “dental treat.” Actually, beginning in June, the distribution of the product was reconfigured; now Greenies are available only through veterinary hospitals and pet specialty retailers.
A statement on the product website (greenies.com) explains the rationale for the change of distribution, stating, “Greenies products are marketed exclusively through pet specialty retailers and veterinary clinics where knowledgeable staff is equipped to answer pet owner questions and make the right recommendation. This is particularly important for clinically proven canine Greenies dental chews, as each of the five sizes is specially formulated to deliver the maximum dental benefit to each weight range.”
In 2006, consumer complaints and a subsequent CNN investigation uncovered 40 cases over a three-year period in which the green chews had become lodged in a dog’s esophagus or intestine. Reports indicate that 13 of those dogs died, despite veterinary treatment.
Following that investigation, the products were reformulated in order to make the chews “safe, soluble, and easily digestible.” Its website states, “Since the product was reformulated in 2006, there have been no reports of blockages or obstructions.”
Greenies may be more digestible than they used to be, but we’ve never been fans of the chews. The products don’t come in a large enough size to prevent rapid consumption by large dogs or dogs who tend to gulp or aggressively consume their chews. There are more natural products capable of helping to keep your dog’s teeth clean that don’t contain the highly processed ingredients used in Greenies fresh, raw, meaty bones, for example. Please note that your dog must be actively supervised when chewing any product. Chews should be taken away from any dog who chews too aggressively or swallows large pieces. And when any chew is small enough to be swallowed, it should be taken away and safely disposed.
The Greenies line was originally invented by S&M NuTec, based in Kansas City, Missouri. Although the Greenies products are still manufactured by S&M NuTec, the entire line of Greenies products was acquired by Nutro Products, Inc., in May 2007. Nutro, in turn, was purchased by corporate food giant Mars, Inc.
-Pat Miller and Nancy Kerns
Law also protects those who report abuse to authorities
In August, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed new legislation that amends Illinois Humane Care for Animals Act, as well as the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act, affirming the link between animal abuse and child abuse.
The new law requires investigating animal welfare and child welfare agencies to report suspected abuse incidences to each other. Animal welfare investigators who have reasonable cause to suspect or believe that a child is being neglected or abused must now make a written or oral report to the State Department of Children and Family Services. Investigators employed by the Department of Children and Family Services must report suspected animal abuse or neglect to the Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Animal Health and Welfare.
The measure also provides for immunity from liability and confidentiality of identity for persons, institutions, and agencies participating in good faith to report or investigate abuse or neglect.
At least one other state has a reciprocal reporting law. California humane officers are mandated reporters, while child protection workers may report but are not mandated to do so.
-Pat Miller
Trilostane Approved by FDA
Veterinarians treating dogs with Cushing’s disease now have new tool
In May 2009, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the approval of the drug trilostane (Vetoryl) for the treatment of hyperadrenocorticism (Cushing’s disease) in dogs.
Trilostane has been used in the U.K. since 2001, but until recently, anyone who wanted to use this drug to treat their dog in the U.S. had to fill out a lot of paperwork to get permission to import it. The FDA’s approval means the drug will now be readily available to veterinarians. There are, however, many unanswered questions about trilostane, including whether it’s safer than traditional treatment.
Cushing’s disease occurs when the body produces too much cortisol. It causes increased appetite and thirst, skin problems, muscle weakness, and panting. It can also predispose a dog to other conditions such as diabetes and pancreatitis.
There are two types of Cushing’s disease: adrenal and pituitary.
Pituitary Cushing’s is the most common, accounting for 85 percent of cases. Pituitary Cushing’s is caused by a small, usually benign tumor of the pituitary gland that overproduces the hormone ACTH, which in turn tells the adrenal glands to produce excess cortisol. These tumors are usually too small to remove, so pituitary Cushing’s is managed with medications that suppress the production of cortisol.
Adrenal Cushing’s is caused by a tumor on one of the adrenal glands. It is often treated with surgery to remove the tumor. There are three drugs that have been commonly used to treat the pituitary form of Cushing’s disease in dogs:
■Lysodren (mitotane) is the traditional therapy, though its use is off-label. This chemotherapy drug works by eroding layers of the adrenal glands. Lysodren is relatively inexpensive, but careful monitoring is needed to prevent a life-threatening Addisonian crisis if cortisol levels are reduced too far. Lysodren can also cause permanent changes to the adrenals, requiring continued treatment for Addison’s disease (hypoadrenocorticism).
■Ketoconazole, an anti-fungal drug that suppresses cortisol as a side effect, is safer than Lysodren, as it does not affect the adrenal glands. However, it is very expensive, especially for large dogs, and it is not effective in 20 percent of dogs. Its use in treating Cushing’s is also off-label.
■L-deprenyl (Anipryl or selegeline) is an MAO inhibitor that acts on the pituitary gland itself. While considered very safe, it is questionable how well L-deprenyl works, particularly since its more difficult to measure the response with this drug, and because it can take some time to begin working. The manufacturer’s study found L-deprenyl helped more than 80 percent of dogs it followed. However, a separate, independent study concluded that only 20 percent of treated dogs improved. L-deprenyl is the only other drug approved by the FDA for treatment of Cushing’s.
Trilostane inhibits an enzyme that is needed in the production of cortisol. As with Lysodren, this drug has the potential to cause a life-threatening Addisonian crisis if cortisol levels go too low. Initially, it was thought that trilostane would not cause permanent changes to the adrenal glands, but in a small percentage of cases, for reasons that are unknown, it’s been found to cause sometimes fatal adrenal necrosis as well as permanent Addison’s disease.
For these reasons, the same type of careful monitoring is needed as with Lysodren. Two studies found that the risk of either permanent or life-threatening Addison’s was 2 to 3 percent for trilostane, and 2 to 5 percent for Lysodren. Unlike with Lysodren, these adverse effects of trilostane do not appear to be dose-dependent, so there’s no way to predict which dogs may react. Trilostane is more expensive than Lysodren and must be given more frequently.
When switching from Lysodren to trilostane, it’s best to wait at least a month in between. Dogs who have been treated with Lysodren in the past may be more susceptible to the effects of trilostane.
Both Lysodren and trilostane can also be used to treat the adrenal form of Cushing’s, when surgery is considered too risky.
-Mary Straus
For more information:
Dechra Veterinary Products
(913) 327-0015; dechra-us.com
Passing by all manner of things in the real world – and being passed by them – is an important canine good manners skill. Unfortunately, it seems to be one that is absent in many dogs’ behavior repertoires. Some training classes don’t address this behavior challenge at all. Others do, but owners don’t always take time to generalize the behavior outside the training center. Their dogs, in the real world, still bounce over to greet any and all comers on the street, or on the opposite end of the continuum, shy away from people and things that frighten them.
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My “Downtown Hound” class graduated in early September with a celebration at Nutter’s Ice Cream in nearby Sharpsburg. It was a 90 degree-plus day with high humidity, and the ice cream parlor was a popular spot in this small Maryland community. I watched with pride as the four dogs lay quietly at their humans’ feet, happily downing the occasional offered dog treat while their owners licked ice cream cones. More importantly, they rested quietly as people walked by with strollers and dogs, kids on skateboards flew past noisily, and motorcycles, trucks, and cars rumbled by a few feet away on busy Main Street.
I offer this class for students who want to a structured opportunity to work on their dogs’ real-life skills. It’s a summertime-only class; we take advantage of daylight savings time to give us enough light for evening get-togethers. We go to a variety of locations: the local outlet mall, a dog-friendly outdoor cafe, Hagerstown City Park, the C&O Canal, and downtown Sharpsburg. In each venue, the focus is on polite behavior as we pass by whoever else might be there: Shoppers at the mall; evening strollers, bird watchers, ducks, and swans at the park; walkers, bikers, joggers, and fisher-people at the canal; and town folks in Sharpsburg. And of course, occasional other dogs on leashes.
In order to participate in Downtown Hound, dog/human teams have to pass my Peaceable Paws Intermediate Class or, if they trained elsewhere, pass an evaluation. I want to be sure their leash-walking and owner-focus skills are solid enough to handle the excitement of the real world.
The first session is a refresher course here on my farm. Class members hike on the trails and practice passing each other. When the dogs pay attention to their handlers (over all else), the handlers respond with a lot of clicks – a noise made by a small plastic box called a clicker, used to mark the moment a dog exhibits a behavior we want – and treats, to reward and reinforce the attention-paying behavior.
We set up the teams six to eight feet apart in an open meadow with the dogs on a sit-stay or down-stay. One at a time, the handlers ask their dogs to heel, weaving in and out of the living weave poles. As each canine and human pair takes their place at the end of the row, another pair walks by them. We also practice recalls in an open field, with the dogs on long lines (and off-leash when possible), to tune up that important skill, just in case a leash gets dropped in the real world and a recall is needed. The following six weeks we meet off-property.
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Five tools for polite passing Our first outing is usually to the outlet mall. The sidewalks there are wide and there are lots of grassy spaces, so it’s easy for us to avoid people if one of our dogs is behaving in a rude manner.
Dogs should never greet a passer-by unless he’s been invited to do so, and even then the greeting should be polite – a “say please” sit. I remind the group that they are supposed to be good canine ambassadors, always on the alert for human body language that says an approaching person isn’t comfortable with dogs, and giving those people an extra wide berth.
Dog-dog interactions follow similar rules. Our canine pals should walk politely past another dog on the sidewalk, greeting only if and when both human parties agree to a meeting and the dogs are given permission to do so (hence our “living weave poles” exercise).
The key to polite passing is focused attention – assuming the dog already has reasonably polite leash-walking skills (see “Good Dog Walking,” Whole Dog Journal March 2007). If you can keep your dog focused on you, he will walk politely; it’s as simple as that. Simple, but definitely not easy! Here are the exercises we practice in my training center’s basic classes to lay a focus foundation for real life:
• Good lookin’: When dogs come to class for the first time, they are understandably distracted – just as your dog is when he gets to go out with you in the big wide world. Lots of very exciting stuff happening! It’s ineffective to beg and plead for your dog’s attention. Instead, I tell my students to sit in a chair and wait. The instant their dog looks at them or even glances in their general direction, they should click their clickers and feed their dogs a treat.
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You can do the same with your dog when you take him out in public. Sit on a folding chair on your front lawn, or on a bench in a park, or in front of the post office, and wait. The instant your dog looks at you, or near you, click and feed him a high value treat. You’re reinforcing his offered attention, teaching your dog that if he chooses to look at you he can make you click and give him a treat.
Over time, “shape” this behavior (reward successively more precise behavior) for longer eye contact, and then for making eye contact with you when you’re both walking. If he’s making eye contact with you when you pass someone on the sidewalk, he can’t be looking at them!
• Name game: If your dog’s not offering attention, you can always ask for it – if you’ve taught him that his name means “Look at me for something wonderful!” Say his name, then feed him a tasty treat.
Repeat this game regularly, until your dog instantly swivels his head toward you at the sound of his name. Then practice with increasing levels of distraction. Now you can get his attention, if he doesn’t offer it.
• Zen attention: Getting your dog’s attention is one thing; keeping it is sometimes an entirely different matter. This exercise makes it clear to your dog that eye contact with you, not just looking at the treat, is what gets reinforced. The game also allows you to “shape” for duration.
With your dog sitting in front of you, hold a treat out at arms’ length to the side. He will likely watch the treat. Just wait. Here’s the Zen part. In order to get the treat he has to look away from it – back at you. The instant he looks at you (as if to say, “Hey Mom, what’s the deal here?”) you click and feed him the treat. Then do it again. Most dogs figure this out amazingly quickly. When he comprehends that looking at you – not the treat – gets the treat, you can add your “Watch me” cue, and start shaping for longer duration of eye contact.
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• Me, not that: Now it’s distraction time. With your “Watch me” cue solidly installed, ask a family member or friend to walk past while you’re reinforcing your dog for looking at you. Use a high rate of reinforcement at first (click and treat a lot) – then decrease the frequency as your dog figures out the game. If he looks away, use his name or your “Watch me” cue to get his attention back. Click and treat!
Gradually increase the intensity of the distraction: Start walking with your own dog toward your human distraction, have your friend whistle, clap his hands, or jingle car keys while walking past, then jog, then bounce a ball – get creative! Now take him to a low-distraction public place to start your real-life practice. With each successful session under your belt, you can plan for a more distracting venue the next time.
• The Premack look: Perhaps your dog is a social butterfly and really wants to greet the people and other dogs you’re asking him to pass. You can use something called the Premack Principle to your advantage, by teaching him that polite passing sometimes gets reinforced by the opportunity to greet. Premack, also referred to as “Grandma’s Law,” says you can use a more desirable behavior to reinforce a less desirable one (you have to eat your vegetables before you can have dessert).
To use the Premack Principle for polite passing, start by hiding high-value treats in an open area (remember where you hid them!), and practicing polite leash walking in that area. Occasionally when your dog is giving you wonderful focused attention, say “Find it!” and run with him to the nearest hidden treat. You’re teaching him that great attention makes unexpected treasures happen.
Now bring your friend back into the picture. Practice your polite passing, and occasionally after an excellent pass-by, when you’re several feet beyond the person say “Go say hi!” and turn around to let him (politely) greet. In public, when someone asks if they can pet your dog, ask them to play this wonderful game with you. Be sure to do the greeting randomly (sometimes but not always), and vary the distance you pass the other person before you greet, so your dog doesn’t start expecting to greet everyone he passes.
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With these five strategies for gaining your dog’s attention at your disposal, you and your dog should be able to skate through any public polite passing opportunities. That is, unless your dog is fearful. If you’re having difficulty passing people, dogs and/or things on the street because your dog’s afraid of them, you’re looking at a whole different challenge – passing scary stuff.
Passing other dogs Perhaps the most frequent transgression of canine passing etiquette occurs when dog owners routinely allow their canine charges to dash up to every other dog they see, often despite the other owner’s obvious and desperate attempts to avoid interaction.
“It’s okay,” they say. “My dog’s friendly!”
“Friendly” isn’t the point. The dog being approached may be fearful of other dogs, or may react poorly to dogs getting in his space – or face. He may be recovering from an injury or surgery. The human being approached may simply choose not to have her dog interact with others while on leash, for a myriad of valid reasons. Whatever the case may be, uninvited on-leash greeting is simply rude behavior.
The five tools for polite passing are doubly, maybe even triply important when you and your dog are passing others with their dogs. The ultimate challenge is keeping your dog focused on you and passing politely even when the other dog is doing everything in his power to get your dog to engage. Now there’s good attention training!
Passing scary stuff The dog who is fearful may exhibit one of a number of behaviors when asked to pass his fear-eliciting stimuli. He may cling to his owner’s side, seeking protection, trying to pass the monster as quickly as possible. He may try to flee, running away to the end of the leash and thrashing in panic when he feels the restraint. Or he may become defensively aggressive, offering a display of teeth and noise to try to ward off the scary thing. All of these behaviors are embarrassing and unacceptable in public, and the third one can pose a significant threat to the safety of passers-by. The fear-aggressive dog is quite likely to bite if he feels sufficiently trapped or threatened.
Ideally, you’ll avoid over-threshold public exposures for a dog who is fearful, until your behavior modification efforts succeed in building canine confidence using either counter-conditioning and desensitization (see “Fear Itself,” Whole Dog Journal April 2007), operant conditioning (see “Building Better Behaviors,” May 2008), or a combination of the two. In a pinch, feeding your dog some high-value treats while retreating to a safe distance or moving swiftly past the scary thing can get you and your fearful dog out of a tight spot. If your dog loves targeting (see “Right on Target,” February 2006), you can also use “Touch!” to temporarily give him a little more confidence and improve his emotional state while keeping him focused on you and the target you’re asking him to touch with his nose or a paw.
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Note: Do not try to have the scary person feed your dog treats. This is a good way to get someone bitten: the dog is coaxed over threshold and temporarily distracted by the temptation of the high-value treat, but after he eats it he realizes he’s too close to the scary person and may be compelled to bite.
Emergency escape Alternatively, if you know that hurrying past a scary person or thing is not a viable option, an emergency escape can get you and your frightened Fido out of a perilous predicament. Rather than passing, you’re going to turn and run the other way. First, however, you’ll take the time to teach your dog that “run away fast!” is a really fun game.
Pick a cue, such as “Run awaaaay!” that will easily pop into your brain in times of stress. In the comfort of your dog’s own familiar surroundings, practice polite leash walking. Occasionally, unexpectedly, announce, “Run awaaaay!” while you whirl and dash off as fast as you can in the opposite direction with your dog bounding along beside you. After you’ve run 20 to 30 feet, sometimes fling a handful of treats out in front of your dog, sometimes whip out a ball and throw it for him to chase, and sometimes pull out a hidden rope toy and play a rousing round of tug.
Your goal is to make this an absolutely wonderful, fun game for him. When you succeed, you’ll have a powerful tool for those emergency encounters; your “Run awaaaaaay!” cue will take advantage of his classical “Yay, fun!” association with the game to help manage his emotional state, and his operant response to the cue will get the two of you safely away from the scary thing.
Of course, fearful dogs aren’t good candidates for a Downtown Hound class. One of our class members, a Spitz named Dexter who showed up last winter as a stray on the doorstep of his owners-to-be, started out with some fear issues in our good manners classes. Thanks to the diligent work of his human, Maryann Hamilton, he overcame his fears and was able to graduate from the class with honors.
Our class also included three dogs without fear-related behaviors: Walden, a year-old Labrador Retriever/service dog-in-training; Harley, a hound-mix practicing his public good manners skills partly in preparation for upcoming rally trials, and Mo, an 11-month-old, 100-pound Rottweiler/Shepherd-mix, who needs good manners for his owner who doesn’t weigh much more than he does.
All of the teams became quite skilled at politely passing each other, strangers, and other dogs in public places. You could say they all “passed” the class with flying colors!
Pat Miller, CPDT, is Whole Dog Journal’s Training Editor. Miller lives in Hagerstown, Maryland, site of her Peaceable Paws training center. Pat is also author of The Power of Positive Dog Training; Positive Perspectives: Love Your Dog, Train Your Dog; Positive Perspectives II: Know Your Dog, Train Your Dog; and Play with Your Dog.
Nine-year-old Armond, a handsome Bouvier, had his right hind leg amputated after his veterinarian discovered osteosarcoma. His guardian, Fanna Easter, then enrolled him in a rigorous chemotherapy regimen designed to knock the cancer out of his system. Seven days after his first treatment, Armond was still reluctant to eat, and had lost close to two pounds. Easter tried everything, from home-cooked beef and pork, to McDonald’s, Arby’s, liverwurst, potted meat, sardines, four types of canned dog food, and more. The most Armond ate at any one time was two bites.
Two different veterinarians recommended that Easter add acupuncture to Armond’s treatment regimen for help with his discomfort and lack of appetite. Easter is a self-proclaimed “huge skeptic,” but, desperate to do something to help her dog, she made an appointment for acupuncture with her veterinarian. Easter recalls sitting on the floor of the clinic with Armond as the veterinarian explained which acupuncture points she would focus on to treat Armond, including the nose area for nausea:
The vet placed the needle on his nose leather first, inserted the rest of the needles, and left the room. She immediately came back in with a bowl that contained canned dog food, which she presented to Armond. He turned his nose away, which did not surprise me. Calmly, she removed the food, waited for a count of three, showed it to him again, and he wolfed it down. This all transpired about 20 seconds after she’d inserted the needles. I thought, “This is not happening!”
Still the skeptic, I declared to the vet that it was a fluke. So she left the room and came back with another bowl containing another can full of food. He promptly, without any hesitation, wolfed it down. And I just cried!
Is it for real?
Randomized clinical trials in humans have shown that acupuncture is effective for dealing with chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, as well as post-operative pain, cancer-related pain, chemotherapy-induced leucopenia (excessive reduction in white blood cells), fatigue, xerostomia (unusual dryness of the mouth), and possibly insomnia, anxiety, and quality of life.
Further, esteemed U.S. cancer centers such as the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFC) in Boston, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, and M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston have begun to integrate acupuncture into their treatment plans.
The National Cancer Institute notes that the oldest medical book known, written in China 4,000 years ago, mentions acupuncture being used to treat medical problems. In the United States, acupuncture has been used for about 200 years, although research on acupuncture did not begin in the U.S. until 1976. And it was in 1996 that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the acupuncture needle as a medical device.
Susan Wynn, DVM, CVA, of Georgia Veterinary Specialists in Atlanta, has been using acupuncture with her cancer clients for 11 years. She notes that we’ve not yet seen studies conducted using dogs as subjects that are similar to the studies that have shown the positive results in humans. However, she adds, Anecdotal evidence mirrors what has been shown in people. The species are similar enough, and there are enough historical data that we feel confident using some human studies as guides to what we do. In the long run, she believes that we will need to see studies in dogs, simply to lend validity and credibility to the technique.
How it works
In a paper, “The Value of Acupuncture in Cancer Care,” published in 2008 in Hematology/Oncology Clinics of North America, the authors state that. . . studies of acupuncture in animal models and humans suggest that the effect of acupuncture is primarily based on stimulation to and the responses of the neuroendocrine system involving the central and peripheral nervous systems.
Dr. Wynn comments that, “In general, we see the systemic release of chemical mediators such as endorphins and serotonin.” In layman’s terms, those are the “feel good” chemicals of the body. Acupuncture is often used as a complementary method along with usual care to provide additional pain reduction and can, in fact, lessen the need for prescription painkillers.
The National Cancer Institute’s website says that, “Acupuncture may cause physical responses in nerve cells, the pituitary gland, and parts of the brain. These responses can cause the body to release proteins, hormones, and brain chemicals that control a number of body functions. It is proposed that, by these actions, acupuncture affects blood pressure and body temperature, boosts immune system activity, and causes the body’s natural painkillers, such as endorphins, to be released.”
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) guides the clinical practice of acupuncture in the U.S. During acupuncture, certain physical “points” or locations on the body are tonified (stimulated) or sedated (suppressed). Some points are indicated for common symptoms, but the patient’s overall symptom pattern or “picture” is also taken into account by the practitioner.
Diane Castle, DVM, CVA, of the Union Hill Animal Hospital in Canton, Georgia, has been using acupuncture in her clinic since 2001. She explains, Points are chosen based on the pattern the patient presents with. Patients with the same type of cancer may present with different patterns and therefore be treated with different points.
When to use acupuncture
Dr. Wynn uses acupuncture in her cancer patients to target nausea, neutropenia/immunosuppression, and fatigue. She recommends it primarily for addressing side effects of chemotherapy and/or radiation treatments, but also uses acupuncture to alleviate cancer pain and for hospice situations.
Dr. Castle has seen acupuncture help in cases of anorexia, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, oral ulcers secondary to chemo, bleeding, pain, and weight loss.
Dr. Castle and Dr. Wynn agree that there is not a typical protocol to follow, and both frequently use a combination of acupuncture, herbs, and diet to support cancer patients. Dr. Wynn has seen programs range from a single treatment, up to regular treatments for the life of the animal. Dr. Castle points out that, Treatment intervals will vary with the pet and how they respond to treatment, how often the owner is able to get them in for treatment, and whether or not we have to work with a chemotherapy schedule.
Karissa Carpenter’s white German Shepherd, Baby, was diagnosed with lymphoma at age 11. Two months after her diagnosis, Baby’s family added acupuncture to her treatment plan, taking her in for acupuncture anywhere from every week, to every three weeks, depending how the dog was feeling. We would get there for our appointment, and Baby would take a nap while she was being treated, says Carpenter. She would just be so much more comfortable, and her old age creakiness seemed to be alleviated by acupuncture. We continued taking her in for acupuncture right up until she died. We even had an appointment scheduled for that last week.
Dr. Castle, Baby’s veterinarian, adds that in addition to helping Baby feel more comfortable, she used acupuncture to treat vomiting that occurred during chemo. At one point, the internist administering the chemotherapy took Baby off Metacam (a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory); since she was unable to stay on the medication for arthritis, acupuncture was the major treatment for keeping her comfortable. Baby lived for close to two more years after her cancer diagnosis.
Quality of life
It is possible that a dog will not respond to acupuncture. Dr. Wynn has seen this in some dogs who have had severe reactions to chemo and who do not respond to acupuncture alone; they need critical care support and time.
Dr. Castle concurs, but adds, “Of course there are some who don’t respond, but I feel I can generally improve the quality of life for the pet even if the time left is short.”
Both vets emphasize the importance of preserving or improving the patient’s quality of life and have seen many clients turn to acupuncture when no other options were furthering that goal. Dr. Castle relates the story of a 12-year-old Corgi who was diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma of the spleen and heart. The internist gave the dog two to four weeks to live if the dog did not have surgery to remove the spleen. The owners elected not to put him through the surgery, but a combination of Chinese herbs and acupuncture gave him and his family several happy months together.
In humans, a study involving 40 ambulatory patients with advanced ovarian or breast cancer who received conventional palliative care (treatment of symptoms) also received acupuncture for 8 weeks (12 sessions). A significant decrease in symptom severity was seen for fatigue, pain, and insomnia. Quality of life measures showed higher positive scores during acupuncture treatment than before treatment and were sustained for 12 weeks relative to baseline.
Who’s a candidate?
Really any canine cancer patient can benefit; the only contraindication is using needles near a tumor. This makes having a confirmed cancer diagnosis critical. Dr. Wynn explains, I sometimes hesitate to do acupuncture on a patient for symptomatic therapy; if I suspect a tumor, I’m not comfortable until I know what’s there.
That brings up two points: using a veterinary acupuncturist who is certified in the technique, and informing your dog’s veterinary oncologist about using acupuncture as part of your dog’s treatment plan.
Look for a practitioner trained by one of the large acupuncture education organizations such as the International Veterinary Acupuncture Society or the Chi Institute. They should have the knowledge to address cancer patients, and should have the designation of Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist (CVA). See “Resources Mentioned in This Article,” below, for listings of veterinary acupuncturists.
I asked Terrance Hamilton, DVM, ACVIM (Oncology), an oncologist at Georgia Veterinary Specialists whether he actively advocates the use of acupuncture for his oncology patients. The quick answer? No. However, he is supportive of those clients who wish to utilize acupuncture in their dogs treatment plans, and fully believes in a complementary approach to dealing with cancer.
Dr. Hamilton’s area of focus is narrow, he admits, and he feels out of his comfort zone actively recommending acupuncture. Nevertheless, he understands that acupuncture is great for pain control, having witnessed firsthand several years ago anesthesiologists using acupuncture to alleviate pain in dogs having head trauma.
Dr. Wynn comments, The fact that many private specialty and veterinary school practices have acupuncturists speaks more to public demand and the curiosity of certain practitioners, usually anesthesiologists, rather than any interest by oncologists or other specialists.
In memory of Armond
After Armond’s difficulty with chemotherapy, Easter elected to abandon the chemo regime, despite the oncologist’s suggestion to continue, opting instead to focus on his quality of life. She continued to take Armond for acupuncture biweekly; his veterinarian focused on building his immunity and relieving pain associated with the amputation (and later for arthritic areas). Easter reported that after each acupuncture session, Armond slept the first day or two then he was hell on three legs! His Bouv grin came back and he was busy in everyone’s business again!
On August 23, Armond lost his six-month battle with osteosarcoma. Would his owner have done anything differently? Nope, and she credits acupuncture with giving him more good days than bad as he fought his fight. Acupuncture really helped Armond manage this nasty disease with pain control and quality of life. I can’t say enough great things about it.
