Last March, I attended Expo West in Anaheim, California, an enormous “natural products” trade show with a good representation of natural pet product makers. In July, I took a trip to Indiana and Ohio, where I toured a dry pet food manufacturing plant, a poultry processing plant, a high-volume daycare and boarding facility (that also houses foster dogs for a rescue group), and the main research facility for one of the country’s largest pet food makers. In October, I attended the annual conference of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT).
288
These trips expand my store of knowledge about responsible dog care -in ways that, I hope, enable me to bring you more and better information about products, food, and training methods to benefit your dogs.
They also produce a consistent side-effect: they make me really excited about going home and doing further investigation about what I learned. I find myself spending days reviewing materials that I picked up on my trips, and performing behavior modification experiments on my dog. Each time, my batteries got recharged; I found a new interest and enjoyment in my dog -and my job! Anyway, I can’t recommend extended learning enough. Especially because there are so many inspiring and fascinating educational opportunities available! Need examples? How about these:
• The “Well Adjusted Dog Workshop: Secrets to Understanding Canine Behavior,” presented by Dr. Nicholas Dodman, founder and director of the animal behavior clinic at Tufts University. Dr. Dodman will present this two-day workshop for owners, trainers, vets, and vet techs in March (California), April (Illinois), and June (New Jersey). Topics will include canine anxiety, phobias, compulsive behaviors, aggression, and more. For more information, see thepetdocs.com.
• Safer Vaccination and Pet Health Care, featuring world-renowned vaccination experts Drs. Jean Dodds and Ronald Schultz and benefitting the Rabies Challenge Fund, March 28, San Diego, California. See petseminar.org or call (858) 755-8820 for more info.
• Holistic Veterinary Medicine Symposium presented by the University of California at Davis Holistic Veterinary Medicine Club, May 22, Davis, California. Send an e-mail to ucdhvmc@gmail.com for details.
• Introduction to Small Animal Acupressure by Amy Snow and Kim Bauer, April 25-27, Pittstown, New Jersey. Call the Tallgrass Animal Acupressure Institute at (303) 681-3033 or see tallgrasspublishers.com for more information.
Foster dog update I found a perfect home for the little Beagle-mix I fostered for a few weeks in December. She is a bright, fast, and super-sweet dog, and finding her a home should have been a snap, but, due to separation anxiety, she also displays some fairly vexing behavior when left alone. Then I found a family with four boys (ages 5 through 13); Dad has wanted a dog his whole life, and Mom is a full-time, stay-at-home mom. This family was tailor-made for a snuggly but energetic dog with separation anxiety!
Delivering her, freshly bathed and in a new collar, to their home at 6:30 on Christmas morning totally made my day, week, month, and year. And hearing their reports about her integration into the family has given me a warm glow going into these cold winter months. The mom told me, “The boys argue about who she loves best, which is funny because she really does seem to love them all!”
By every measure, the “natural and holistic” segment of the U.S. pet food market has enjoyed spectacular growth over the past decade – far greater than that of the pet food market as a whole. As one example, figures supplied to Petfood Industry magazine by industry analyst Packaged Facts show that the U.S. pet food market as a whole grew at a rate of 5.3 percent from 2003 to 2007, but the “natural foods” segment of that market grew 24.6 percent in the same span. And the “organic” segment experienced an astounding 48.1 percent growth rate.
288
A rising tide lifts all boats. And the success of the “natural and holistic” niche has been lifting the quality of offerings from the pet food industry as a whole. What pet food company owner or wouldn’t look at those numbers and immediately ask his employees to run out and concoct a product to compete in the “natural foods” niche?
The answer is, apparently, none, because just about every pet food maker has rolled out products claiming to be natural and/or holistic, containing organic and/or “wild” ingredients. That should be a good thing, right? Well, yes. And no!
It’s good because there are more and more better-quality foods available to dog owners. Today, the medium-quality foods have gotten better, and what we would consider true “premium” foods are much more widely available than they used to. They now appear regularly in most independent pet supply stores (historically the leaders in finding and promoting the healthiest products) but also in chain retail stores. In 1998, the year Whole Dog Journal was launched, the “big box” pet supply stores had little to offer owners who were looking for the very best-quality dog foods; today, they carry a wide variety of good foods. A few premium foods even appear in higher-end supermarkets!
On the other hand, so do what I’d call “posers” – the catch-up products churned out by the pet food industry giants in an effort to grab some of that “natural and holistic” market share. These products beg the question: Can corporate titans produce foods of the same quality as the little “boutique” companies that were founded on the concept of producing only the very best, healthiest dog foods?
I’d like to quickly dismiss the idea that any of the giants – Iams and Eukanuba, Purina, Science Diet, et. al. – could possibly make dry dog foods that are as good as the foods that have a regular presence on Whole Dog Journal’s “approved foods” list. The fact is, though, of course they could; they have all the resources needed to do so. They could bury most of the competition in the “natural and holistic” niche . . . if they followed through and used only the same high-quality ingredients typically used by the smaller, boutique brands. But they generally stop short – perhaps because they are unaccustomed to paying a lot for their raw materials, or marketing the products at a correspondingly high sales price?
Advantages and disadvantages of scale The sheer size of a company doesn’t disqualify it from making truly premium foods (although we’ve been accused, falsely, we think, of promoting that idea). The corporate giants have some amazing advantages over the boutique food producers; they really shine at some aspects of food production – not incidentally, the very tasks that the smaller companies don’t always do very well.
As an important example, economies of scale enable the giants to conduct more frequent and more thorough quality and safety tests, to produce larger batches with greater consistency (fewer production glitches), retain better-paid and more highly trained employees – in short, to do a better job of producing safe, consistent products.
The giants also employ legions of brilliant food scientists, who are able to conduct incredible research into animal nutrition and health. Their products are better-researched and more thoroughly tested than their small competitors’ products – some of which were dreamed up by people with very little education or experience in animal nutrition.
But for all that, what the giants can’t seem to do – yet – is to formulate foods using the high-quality ingredients that the “little guys” are using. Many of the companies whose products are on our “approved foods” list buy their ingredients from local farms, ranches, and fishermen. Most source their ingredients themselves; they don’t leave procurement to their co-manufacturing partners or ingredient brokers, so they can be absolutely certain of the origin and quality of every ingredient used in their products. We think that the recalls of 2007 proved the critical nature of this sort of rigor.
It’s the ingredients Nutrition experts don’t agree on everything, but one thing they generally concede to be true is that all animals enjoy the best health when given a balanced and varying diet of fresh, species-appropriate foods. They also generally agree that highly processed foods are not as healthy as lightly processed foods; some of nature’s value is always lost to oxidation, heat, pressure, and chemical interactions. Dry food (kibble) is the most processed type of food available to dog owners – but foods that are made with already highly processed (and sometimes, as a result, rather aged) ingredients are at a big disadvantage, compared to those that are made with fresh, whole ingredients.
It’s bad enough that most pet foods are made with meats and fats that are far inferior in quality to what’s known as “edible” (“human quality”) meats and fats. I’m talking about the things that may go into pet food that cannot go into human-edible products, like meats that don’t pass inspection and meat from animals that are dead before they can be slaughtered. Also, the handling and storage of ingredients that are diverted at the processing plant for “non-edible use” – in other words, for pet food – is far inferior to the processes used for “edible” ingredients. (In short, edible ingredients are kept clean and cold all the way through the food production chain; pet food ingredients are not.)
We’d certainly like to identify and promote only those products that contain “edible” meat sources. Unfortunately for consumers, there is no reliable way to do this. A company can say they use only edible ingredients, but few (none?) can legally prove it; according to Federal law, any ingredient that is present at a pet food plant is, by definition, “inedible.” So, if a truckload of fresh, refrigerated, wholesome chicken headed to your local supermarket pulls over at a pet food plant, and opens the back door of the truck, the contents of the truck are now “inedible” by law. It’s perfectly fine food, but the food maker is not legally permitted to say that it’s edible.
Only human-food plants – inspected by the USDA – can legally claim they use edible meats, and this is only if not one single inedible ingredient is on the premises.
Barring the ability to identify the companies that use edible ingredients, we suggest that you look for other evidence of quality. Will – or can – the company identify the sources of its ingredients? Are the ingredients unprocessed, or lightly processed? Or are they a waste product from the production of human food?
We don’t have studies to prove it, but we regard it as a founding principle of holistic healthcare: A diet made with fresh, whole, species-appropriate ingredients (think animal proteins, rather than plant proteins) is far healthier than one made with cheap fats discarded from restaurants, inexpensive carbohydrates produced as waste from the brewing industry, and plant proteins such as corn gluten meal.
Not that many years ago, the pet food industry became a convenient place for the human food industry to dispose of its waste products, without paying landfill fees. Pet food makers were pleased to have ready supplies of inexpensive ingredients. Owners were happy to buy something to feed their dogs that was so convenient to store and feed. Dogs, as they have been for centuries, were thrilled to get whatever their humans would share with them. The ingredients panel on a bag of dog food was rarely considered.
But today, we’re putting the pieces together: diet affects health. Consumers are responding to the positive changes they’ve seen in their dogs on improved diets, and many companies are responding to consumers’ feedback. But the only way to distinguish the passionate, committed, knowledgeable food makers from the posers is to start looking at, and understanding, the ingredients panel.
Representative “top foods” Here is our “approved dry foods” list for 2010. All these products meet our selection criteria – including our newest criterion, that the company discloses the name and location of its manufacturers. It’s by no means a list of the only good foods on the market; it’s meant as a fair representation of the good-quality foods that are available. Rest assured that any food that you find that meets our selection criteria is just as good as any of the foods on our list.
What if your favorite dog foods don’t meet our selection criteria? It’s up to you. If you have been feeding what we would consider to be low-quality foods to your dog, and she looks and appears to feel great, good for you! She’s one of those genetically lucky animals who can spin straw into gold, digestively speaking. But if she has allergies, chronic diarrhea, recurrent ear infections, or a poor coat, we’d recommend that you upgrade.
Note that we’ve listed the foods alphabetically, by the name of their manufacturers. Some companies make several product lines. We’ve listed each product line that meets our selection criteria from each manufacturer. We’ve also highlighted one product from each company as a representative, to show what sort of ingredients and macro-nutrient levels (protein, fat, fiber, and moisture) are typically found in that maker’s foods. Be aware that some companies offer dozens of different products with varying nutrient levels and ingredients. Check the company’s website or call its toll-free phone number to get information about its other varieties.
Unexpected visitors have pulled into your driveway, exited their car, and are walking up the steps to your front door. You brace yourself. You know what’s coming next. “Ding-Dong,” goes your cheerful doorbell, and your dog charges to the door, unleashing a frenzy of ferocious barking. Frustrated and angry, you yell at her to be quiet – to no avail – while you try to grab onto her collar and open the door to greet your guests. Her doorbell display is so embarrassing that you’re becoming more and more reclusive, meeting friends at restaurants rather than inviting anyone to your home for social events.
Don’t despair; you’re not alone. In fact, doorbell arousal behavior is pretty common. And there is hope.
Why Do Dogs Hate Doorbells?
Thousands of dog owners around the country have canine family members who present similar distressing doorbell behaviors. These dogs may be naturally somewhat protective, and quickly come to associate the ringing doorbell with the presence of an intruder on their property. Barking at the bell may send a serious “Go away or I’ll eat you” message. Even when there’s no aggressive intent, the excessive vocal display serves to announce an event they want the rest of the family to be aware of. “Someone’s here! Someone’s here!” If a doorbell-aroused dog is very social, his frenetic barking may also signify an excited, “Hurry, hurry, hurry and let ‘em in so I can jump all over them and say hi!”
From early puppyhood, dogs realize that the ringing of the doorbell itself is an event – it gets you excited. Really. What happens when the doorbell rings? One or more humans in the home jump up and move quickly to the door, usually with human body language arousal signals, including fast movement, alert or excited facial expression, tension in the muscles, and loud vocalization (“I’ll get it!” or “Be right there!”). It’s no wonder our dogs learn to get excited right alongside us as we dash to the door, “barking” our heads off.
It doesn’t even have to be the doorbell. Some dogs are equally aroused by a knock at the door, or the sound of footsteps up the walkway, or even a car pulling in the driveway. These are all things they’ve come to associate with the excitement of the event – someone coming to, and often coming in, the door.
Manage, Modify and Train Your Dog’s Doorbell Behavior
A good doorbell manners program is a combination of management, classical conditioning, and operant conditioning. Ideally, you implement the program before your dog learns inappropriate door behavior. If it’s too late for that, it’s never too late to start changing behavior.
If you start by programming appropriate classical and operant responses to door arrivals from day one, your dog will quickly learn incompatible operant behaviors in response to the environmental cues that someone is approaching his home. He will also make a different association with the arrival of guests, and as a result his emotional response will be relaxed and positive. If you’re having to undo previously programmed inappropriate behaviors, your training and modification program will take longer, but you can still accomplish your goal of calm instead of chaos when visitors arrive on your doorstep. Here are several options for achieving doorbell calm:
Mostly Classical
Classical conditioning means giving your dog an association between two stimuli. In the case of the doorbell or other “arrival” stimuli, you’re going to convince the part of your dog’s brain that controls emotion (the amygdala) that someone ringing the doorbell, knocking on the door, or walking up your front steps makes absolutely wonderful stuff happen. For our classical conditioning purposes, “wonderful stuff” likely means very high-value food, such as canned chicken (rinsed and drained), or some other moist, meaty, tasty treat that she doesn’t get in the normal course of events.
1. Have your dog on leash, preferably some distance from the door, and a large supply of very high-value treats.
2. Instruct another family member to ring the doorbell. Immediately feed your dog a high-value treat. Or ring the doorbell yourself and feed a treat, if a helper isn’t available. Look for a remote battery-powered doorbell at the hardware store or on the Web – one that sounds like your existing doorbell. Alternatively, you could record the doorbell ringing, and play the recording. Or download a recording of a ringing doorbell from the Internet and play that. (You can find doorbells, knocking, and just about any other sounds you can imagine online at findsounds.com/ISAPI/search.dll.) Practice at least twice a day, five minutes per session (more is better) until your dog looks happily to you for a treat when she hears the doorbell ring.
This is called a “conditioned emotional response” or CER. Note: If your dog already goes from zero to 100 the instant she hears the bell, you can reduce the intensity of stimulus to keep her below threshold by starting as far away from the chime box as possible, by reducing the volume of your chime box if you have that feature, or by using the recorded doorbell sound and turning the volume down low enough that she doesn’t go “over threshold” immediately upon hearing it. Part of your program will then also include gradually increasing the volume of the bell, before you move on to Step 4.
3. When you are getting consistent CERs from your dog at the sound of the doorbell, repeat the exercise with your dog off-leash, a short distance away from you. When she looks at you with her “Where’s my chicken?” CER and walks the few steps to you, feed her treats. You are adding operant pieces to her behavior now: she has the classical association between doorbell and chicken, but she’s choosing to come to you. That’s operant behavior.
4. When she’ll hustle to you from any point in the same room, build in a sit before you feed the chicken – more operant behavior. You may need to cue it at first, but your goal is to create an automatic sit, so that when the doorbell rings she runs to you and sits politely every time. You can encourage your dog to sit with your body language – stand up straight, and move your hand toward your chest if necessary – and eventually fade those cues by minimizing your movements, until she offers sits automatically.
5. Gradually increase the distance between you and your dog, until she comes running to you from any room in the house when she hears the doorbell, and offers a sit.
6. Now practice Steps 1 through 4 with real visitors coming to the house. You may have to bribe your friends with the promise of food; schedule a dinner party but ask your guests to arrive at 5- to 10-minute intervals so you get several practice sessions in a short time. If your friendships are strong you can even ask them to leave and come back a few times during the evening so you get more chances to practice.
When your dog is solid on the Step 5 behavior, you can slowly begin to diminish the frequency of your treat delivery. Make it random; don’t just suddenly stop treating, but skip one here and there, and use some other form of reinforcement that your dog loves, such as happy praise, a scratch in her itchy spot, or her favorite toy. Eventually you can phase out treats altogether, but be ready for remedial practice sessions if her door manners start to deteriorate.
Utilize the same process for door knocks, for people coming up the walk to your door, and for cars pulling in the driveway. Associate the stimulus with good stuff in order to give your dog a different behavioral response to the various sounds of visitors arriving.
Mostly Operant
Alternatively, you can choose a training approach that focuses on operant behavior from the start, by simply teaching your dog that the doorbell (or knock) is her cue to do a specific behavior, such as lie down on a dog bed you’ve strategically placed in your foyer, or run to her crate in the living room.
For best results, use backchaining for this exercise, meaning you’ll teach the last piece of the behavior first, and build backward until you’ve completed the entire behavior chain. If you’re going to teach your dog to lie down on a dog bed in your foyer, it would look like this:
1. Stand a foot from the bed and either lure or shape your dog to lie on the bed. To lure, say “Go to bed!” or “Doorbell!” or whatever cue you want to use, put a tasty treat in front of her nose and lure her onto the bed, then cue her to lie down. Click and give her a treat.
To shape the behavior, wait for any micro-movement toward the bed: even just a glance or a lean toward it. Then click and toss a treat behind your dog so she has to get up to eat it. When she comes back toward you (and the bed) take advantage of the “reset” to click while she’s moving, and toss the treat to reset her again – giving her another opportunity to move toward you (and the bed) and get clicked. When you have shaped her to go to the bed and lie down on it, then add your cue. (See “The Shape of Things to Come,” March 2006.)
2. When your dog will lie down on her bed on cue when you are a foot away, move another foot away from the bed and repeat the exercise (this part should go quickly).
3. Gradually move farther and farther away from the bed, making sure she does the “go to bed” behavior reliably at each new location before increasing distance. Practice from all different directions, until she will go to her bed on cue from anywhere in the foyer.
4. Now add the doorbell as a new “go to bed” cue. Whenever you add a new cue, you put it in front of the known cue, so you will ring the doorbell, then say “Go to bed,” and click and treat when she complies. You are saying to her, “Dog, this ‘ding-dong’ sound means the same thing as your ‘go to bed’ cue.”
5. With repetitions, you will see her start to move to her bed when she hears the doorbell, even before you give the verbal cue. This means she’s made the connection between the new doorbell cue and the old verbal cue. Click and jackpot with several treats one after the other when she lies down on her bed. You may need to remind her with the verbal cue few more times, but she’s there.
6. Now increase distance until she’ll go to her bed upon hearing the doorbell cue from anywhere in the foyer, and then generalize to anywhere in the house. Now when your dog hears the doorbell she’ll automatically run to her bed from anywhere in the house, and lie down.
If you prefer the crate in the living room scenario, just substitute “crate” for “dog bed” and follow the same steps. Note that while you were focusing on operant behavior in this training approach, your dog was also getting a positive classical association with the doorbell, because she was getting treats in close proximity to the sound of the chimes. Classical and operant conditioning are always both in play, even when we’re focusing on one or the other.
Management
As you work to create associations, modify behavior, and train new operant responses to the doorbell and other “visitors arriving” cues, you’ll want to include the always useful management piece of your behavior program.
When your dog has successfully arrived on her bed – either in response to your “in-progress” verbal cue, or to the doorbell itself – you can tether her there to prevent an after-the-fact aroused rush to greet your guests. To reinforce polite greeting as well as appropriate doorbell manners, offer your visitors treats and ask them to walk over to your dog and feed her treats as long as she is sitting or lying down. Tell them that if she stands up, jumps up, or barks, they should step back, wait for her to sit again, then feed her the treat and give her a scratch under the chin. (See “Greetings and Salutations,” April 2005.)
Note: If your dog barks aggressively at guests as they approach her on her tether, you’ll need a separate behavior modification program for the aggression. Please consult with a qualified positive behavior professional for assistance with this behavior challenge. Meanwhile, teaching your dog to run to her crate may be a better option for her than running to her bed in the foyer.
If you’ve chosen the crate instead of the dog bed, management is as simple as closing the crate door. When your guests have been greeted and made comfortable, barring aggressive behavior you can let your dog out, on-leash if necessary, for introductions. Depending on the degree of your dog’s doorbell arousal, baby gates and closed doors, or even a leash, can also effectively dampen or divert intense guest-arrival behavior.
Other Options for Changing Doorbell Responses
There are many other creative options for programming or modifying doorbell behavior. Here are two.
• Try changing your doorbell sound. If your dog has a very strong emotional response to the existing doorbell, it will be easier to give him a new association with a new sound. Don’t actually use it as your new doorbell until you’ve conditioned a very positive response for your dog (or trained him to perform an appropriate operant behavior in response to the new chime). When your training is completed, then substitute the new doorbell in place of the current one.
• Get a toy: You can teach your dog that the doorbell is her cue to run to fetch a toy. You can toss the toy for her to fetch (have her offer a sit first!), and thus focus her energies on the toy instead of the doorbell or your guests. You can also teach her to take the toy to your visitors, and construct a polite greeting behavior that includes sitting until they toss the toy for her.
• Manners Minder: This unique remote treat-delivery gadget was developed by veterinary behaviorist Sophia Yin for a variety of training and behavior applications, including door manners! The concept is simple. When you push a button, the unit beeps and delivers a treat. Your dog makes the classical association between the “beep” and treat, and quickly learns (operantly) to run to the machine when she hears the beep. The beep becomes the cue to run to the machine.
Then add the doorbell as the new cue to run to the machine, as in Step 4 of the “mostly operant” approach, above. Ring the doorbell, beep the beep, and the machine delivers. When the doorbell alone sends your dog to the machine, fade the beep cue by utilizing the “mute” feature of the remote: you press the button to deliver a treat but no beep occurs; the doorbell alone sends your dog to the machine for her treat. Gradually increase your dog’s distance from the machine so the doorbell sends her running to her Manners Minder from anywhere in the house.
It Takes Work, But It Works!
So there you have it: lots of ways to install appropriate doorbell manners in your dog. They work. One of my early clients had an Australian Shepherd with inappropriate doorbell behavior; she would run to the door barking fiercely when the doorbell rang. In a matter of just three weeks, Sasha learned to run to her bed and lie down calmly at the sound of the doorbell. Her owner was amazed and delighted. So was I.
DOORBELL BARKERS: OVERVIEW
1. Determine which approach to teaching good doorbell manners appeals to you and is most appropriate for your dog.
2. Make sure all family members are on board with the program; enlist friends, too, to help with implementation.
3. Remember to have fun with training. You and your dog will be most successful if you enjoy yourselves while you’re training!
1. If your dog is limping, bring him to your veterinarian to determine the cause. Chances are your dog has a cruciate injury.
2. Keep a dog with a ligament injury quiet and confined.
3. Understand the risks and benefits of knee surgery for dogs so you can make an informed decision about which direction to take.
4. Explore physical therapy and other treatments that strengthen joints.
5. No matter the treatment, speed your dog’s recovery with nutrition, physical therapy, and other support.
Why is My Dog Limping?
Dogs go lame for all kinds of reasons. Arthritis, Lyme disease, paw injuries, muscle sprains, bee stings, interdigital dermatitis, and dislocated kneecaps can make any dog limp. But when an active dog suddenly can’t put weight on a hind leg, the most common diagnosis – for more than a million American dogs every year – is a torn cruciate ligament. In 2003, according to the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, cruciate ligament dog surgery costs exceeded $1.32 billion, and the price tag keeps rising.
The most common prescription for dog knee injuries is surgery. Unfortunately, operations don’t always work and some patients, because of age or other conditions, are not good candidates. In recent years a nonsurgical approach called “conservative management” has helped thousands of dogs recover from ligament injuries, and it is growing in popularity. At the same time, conservative management is not a cure-all. It doesn’t always prevent the need for surgery, it is not necessarily less expensive, and it can require as much time and effort as post-surgical rehabilitation. At its best, conservative management improves the outcome of whatever treatment is needed for full recovery.
“Conservative management consists of any nonsurgical treatment of injuries,” says Faith Rubenstein, who founded an online forum devoted to the subject in 2004, “including physical therapy, chiropractic adjustments, acupuncture, massage, nutrition, the use of a leg brace, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, medicinal herbs, prolotherapy, weight loss for overweight dogs, and other noninvasive treatments.”
Rubenstein, who now lives in Austin, Texas, first encountered dog CCL injuries when her 100-pound Briard, Dakota, then six years old, experienced a partial tear of his cranial (anterior) cruciate ligament. “When our veterinarian recommended that we see an orthopedic surgeon,” she says, “I went looking for answers.” An academic researcher who is now a private investigator, Rubenstein discovered the term “conservative management” in a veterinary textbook.
The orthopedic surgeon diagnosed a partial tear in both of Dakota’s knees and recommended immediate TPLO (tibial plateau leveling osteotomy) surgery. In this procedure, the tibia is cut, then rotated and held in place with a metal plate and screws so that after the broken bone heals, weight-bearing exercise stabilizes the knee joint.
“I had misgivings about this method,” she says, “especially because surgeons at the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania don’t use it. I spoke with Gail Smith, the head of the University’s department of clinical research, and with Amy Kapatkin, a board-certified orthopedic surgeon who was then at Penn. What Dr. Kapatkin said made perfect sense to me. She asked, ‘Why break a bone to fix a ligament?’ My whole interest in conservative management was triggered by my fear of the TPLO.”
The University referred Rubenstein to an orthopedic surgeon who used other methods. He found Dakota to have so few symptoms that he agreed to write a prescription for physical therapy in hopes that it might make surgery of any kind unnecessary.
“Physical therapy and exercise made all the difference,” she says. “Dakota never needed surgery, and neither did his littermate, Aubrey, who tore his cruciate ligament a few months later. Many veterinarians believe that the only effective treatment for these injuries is surgery – either TPLO or another surgery – but that simply isn’t true. Conservative management is a TPLO surgery alternative that can help most patients, including those who eventually have surgery, and then recover to lead active, happy lives.”
Understanding Ligament Injuries in Dogs
The stifle (knee) connects the femur (thigh bone) and tibia (leg bone) with a patella (kneecap) in front and fabella (a small bean-shaped bone) behind. Cartilage (the medial meniscus and lateral meniscus) cushions the bones, and ligaments hold everything in position.
Two key ligaments, the anterior (front) and posterior (back) cruciate ligaments, cross inside the knee joint. In animals, these ligaments are called cranial and caudal, respectively. The anterior or cranial cruciate ligament prevents the tibia from slipping out of position.
Veterinarians see most ligament patients immediately after their injuries, when symptoms are acute, or weeks or months later, after symptoms become chronic. If not immediately treated, most ligament injuries appear to improve but the knee remains swollen and abnormal wear between bones and meniscal cartilage creates degenerative changes that result in osteophytes (bone spurs), chronic pain, loss of motion, and arthritis. In some patients, osteophytes appear within one to three weeks of a ligament injury. Swelling on the inside of the knee, called a “medial buttress,” indicates the development of arthritis in patients with old injuries.
The main diagnostic tools for ligament injuries are X-rays, which can rule out bone cancer as a cause of leg pain, and a procedure called the “drawer test,” in which the veterinarian holds the femur with one hand and manipulates the tibia with the other. If the tibia can be moved forward, resembling a drawer being opened, the cruciate ligament has been torn or ruptured.
The drawer test is not necessarily conclusive because the tense muscles of a frightened or apprehensive dog can stabilize the knee temporarily. To produce more accurate results in such cases, patients may be sedated before being tested.
In the tibial compression test, which is another way to check for ligament damage, the femur is held steady with one hand while the other flexes the dog’s ankle. A ruptured ligament allows the tibia to move abnormally forward.
“A completely torn CCL in dogs is always a surgical case,” says Stacey Hershman, DVM, of Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, “since otherwise the knee cannot function as a hinge joint.” Advocates of conservative management recommend that whenever the tear is partial, nonsurgical techniques be given an eight-week try. If symptoms improve during that time, they say, the odds favor ACL recovery without surgery. If symptoms don’t improve, conservative management techniques can be used as pre- and post-operative conditioning and therapy.
Which Dogs Are at Highest Risk for Leg Injury?
Any dog can injure a cruciate ligament, but large breeds are most susceptible. According to one study, Neapolitan Mastiffs, Newfoundlands, Akitas, Saint Bernards, Rottweilers, Chesapeake Bay Retrievers, and American Staffordshire Terriers lead the list. Most veterinary clinics have seen ligament injuries in Labrador Retrievers, Golden Retrievers, German Shepherd Dogs, and other popular large breeds.
Young, athletic dogs playing hard can turn or step the wrong way and suddenly not be able to walk. Cruciate ligament injuries are unfortunately common in dogs who compete in agility, obedience, field trials, and other active sports.
Some veterinarians report progressive lameness in young Labrador Retrievers, Rottweilers, and other large-breed dogs resulting from a partial rupture of the cranial cruciate ligament. This may not be associated with a specific injury but may instead result from poor stifle biomechanics combined with a yet-to-be-defined conformation abnormality.
Older large-breed dogs can develop weakened ligaments that eventually tear, especially in dogs who are overweight. When a weakened ligament is stressed, its rupture can be triggered by activities that are otherwise insignificant, like sitting on cue, stepping over a curb, or jumping off a sofa.
A small dog’s size may not prevent a ligament injury, but smaller dogs usually recover faster. One study that compared dogs six months after their cruciate ligament ruptures found that 85 percent of those weighing less than 30 pounds had regained near normal or improved function while only 19 percent of those weighing more than 30 pounds had regained near normal function. Dogs in both groups needed at least six months to show maximum improvement.
Helping Your Dog After An Injury
If your dog is injured, visit your vet as soon as possible, but be an informed consumer. Many veterinarians consider cruciate ligament surgery necessary, routine, fast, easy, highly effective, and the only treatment that will help. For many dogs this has been the case, but some veterinary research places the cruciate ligament surgery for dogs success rate at well below 50 percent. If surgery is necessary, your investment in conservative management may pay dividends in faster recovery and better overall health.
Canine health and nutrition researcher Mary Straus recommends simple first-aid strategies for dogs with knee injuries. Straus learned about the benefits of such an approach when her dog, Piglet, had surgery for dysplasia on both elbows before her second birthday, followed by surgery for a ruptured cruciate at age three. “First and most importantly,” she says, “exercise must be restricted. No running, no jumping (including on and off furniture), and no stairs. Walk your dog on-leash when going outside to potty. The dog doesn’t necessarily have to be crated, which can restrict movement so much that it increases stiffness and limits flexibility, but should be confined to a small room or ex-pen, or kept on-leash while with the owner. Exercise restriction must be continued for at least six to eight weeks.”
Second, inflammation needs to be controlled. “I would use nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs),” she says. “Inflammation contributes to cartilage degeneration and accelerates the development of arthritis. Don’t avoid NSAIDs in the hope that pain will keep your dog from overusing the leg. There are natural anti-inflammatories like bromelain, boswellia, quercitin, and turmeric, and I would use those as well, but they may not be strong enough alone. You could use white willow bark, which is comparable to aspirin, but it should not be combined with other NSAIDs. In addition to anti-inflammatories, I would give glucosamine-type supplements to try to protect the cartilage and slow arthritic changes. It’s questionable how much these help with cruciate injuries, but they do no harm and I would include them.”
Dr. Hershman prescribes Glycoflex, a nutritional supplement that contains freeze-dried Perna canaliculus or New Zealand Green Lipped Mussel. This product is recommended for joint and connective tissue support, for geriatric and working dogs, and as a follow-up to orthopedic surgery.
In addition, she gives subcutaneous Adequan® injections or teaches the owners to do so at home. Adequan Canine (polysulfated glycosaminoglycan) is a prescription, water-based, intramuscular, polysulfated glycosaminoglycan that helps prevent cartilage in the dog’s joint from wearing away. “I give injections twice a week for two weeks,” says Dr. Hershman, “then once a week for maintenance.”
She also recommends Wholistic Canine Complete Joint Mobility, which is a powder containing organic vitamins, minerals, digestive enzymes, hydrolized whitefish, immune-support ingredients, and pharmaceutical-grade glucosamine, chondroitin and MSM (methyl sulfonyl methane), all of which support healing, speed tissue repair, or help alleviate pain and inflammation.
Standard Process products for improved ligament health include Ligaplex, which contains organic raw bone, herbs, and minerals, and the veterinary product Canine Musculoskeletal Support, which contains anti-inflammatory herbs, Perna canaliculus, and whole-food ingredients that enhance tissue regeneration and improve joint health.
It is important to keep injured dogs from gaining weight, which can easily happen when their exercise routine is interrupted. “Overweight dogs have a harder time recovering from a cruciate ligament injury,” says Straus, “and they are more at risk for injuring the other knee. I would feed a high-protein, low-carbohydrate, reduced-fat diet. Fat is high in calories and so should be limited, but too little fat will leave the dog feeling hungry all the time. Protein helps with wound healing and also to create and preserve lean muscle, while carbs are more likely to be stored as fat. For those who feed kibble, I would cut back on the amount fed and add fresh, high-protein foods such as eggs, meat, and dairy. For seriously overweight dogs, this is one situation where I might consider using the drug Slentrol to help speed weight loss.”
Physical Therapy for Injured Dogs
Faith Rubenstein’s Dakota received physical therapy from Carol Wasmucky, PT, a licensed physical therapist for humans in Herndon, Virginia, who founded Pet Rehab Inc. and works full-time with animals by referral from veterinarians throughout Northern Virginia.
She began Dakota’s treatment by measuring his hind legs, one of which had atrophied and was smaller than the other. “Our goal,” says Rubenstein, “was to have both legs measure the same. Dakota and I worked with a holistic veterinarian, who put him on nutritional and herbal supplements, and we did acupuncture as well. I restricted his activity so he was not allowed to run off-leash for six months, and during that time he had regular physical therapy. Dakota wasn’t a swimming dog but he became one, for swimming was the perfect exercise for him. After six months, both hind legs were the same 17 inches in girth. He was in great shape, his drawer test results improved to nearly normal, and he didn’t need surgery.”
Dogs who are intermittently lame with a partial tear of the cruciate ligament are ideal physical therapy patients, says Wasmucky. In addition to providing weekly or twice-a-week ultrasound, laser, and electrical stimulation treatments, she puts patients on a home strengthening program with range-of-motion and stretching exercises. “Every program is different depending on the dog’s condition,” she says. “The owners are involved every day; I show them what to do. It’s just like working with human injuries; if you want the best results, you have to do your homework.”
Wasmucky, who has worked with thousands of canine patients over the past 10 years, encourages anyone whose dog has a partial tear to use physical therapy to build muscle so that even if surgery has to be performed, the dog goes in and comes out in better shape. “This means shorter rehab time,” she says, “and a faster recovery.”
Swimming is such effective exercise for injured dogs that many veterinary clinics have installed swimming pools. “Dogs who can’t yet do weight-bearing exercises can start in a pool,” she says, “and as they get stronger, they’re able to progress through the exercise program. I check their progress in weekly appointments and make adjustments as needed. It takes time to heal from ligament injuries and I like to be sure that dogs are completely well before they resume agility or other demanding sports.”
She requires a major commitment from owners. “It’s usually an hour or so every day in twice-a-day sessions,” she says, “and this can go on for months. It’s a big investment of time and energy, and it requires a motivated dog as well as a motivated owner, but it can make a world of difference in mobility and overall health.” For more about canine rehabilitation, see “The Benefits of Canine Rehab & Conditioning,” September 2009.
Prolotherapy for Dogs
Although most veterinary experts agree that there is no way to repair a damaged ligament, one alternative therapy claims to do exactly that. Prolotherapy, also known as proliferative or sclerosing therapy, has been used for over 30 years to treat musculoskeletal pain in humans, including arthritis, sports injuries, and damaged or partially torn ligaments, tendons, and cartilage.
The term “prolo” is short for proliferation, as this treatment is said to cause the proliferation (growth or formation) of new tissue in weakened areas. Ligaments have a limited blood supply, which slows healing, but in prolotherapy, injections of dextrose (sugar water) or other benign substances cause localized inflammation that increases the supply of blood and nutrients, stimulating tissue repair.
Health columnist Jane E. Brody described prolotherapy as “injections to kick-start tissue repair” in the August 7, 2007 New York Times, where she wrote that most scientifically designed controlled studies of prolotherapy have shown “a significant improvement in the patients’ level of pain and ability to move the painful joint.” In studies of human knee injuries, she said, patients with ligament laxity and instability experienced a tightening of those ligaments, including the anterior cruciate ligament (also known as the ACL). Other studies showed a significant improvement in the symptoms of arthritis in the knee one to three years after prolotherapy injections.
In Royal Oak, Michigan, John Simon, DVM, uses prolotherapy to repair damaged cruciate ligaments in dogs. He explains, “Prolotherapy is a way of tightening up loose, unstable, hyper-mobile joints by injecting a ‘sclerosing’ agent in and around the joint. The resulting thickening of the joint capsule and the ligaments surrounding it act like scar tissue and eventually contract with time. The thickening and contraction of the ligaments and joint capsule increase joint stability and relieve joint pain.”
Most canine cruciate ligament patients receive five sessions at three-week intervals. “Although I tell caregivers not to expect any positive results until at least the third treatment,” he says, “I am occasionally surprised to see improvement after just one. Other modalities that I often recommend in conjunction with prolotherapy are soft laser therapy and pulse magnetic therapy. These treatments reduce pain and help the joint recuperate.”
According to Dr. Simon, the best candidates for prolotherapy ligament repair are dogs whose injuries do not involve torn meniscal cartilage in the joint. During the past three years, he has treated 35 dogs for cruciate ligament problems and estimates that 80 percent experienced significant improvement.
Getting Your Dog A Leg Brace
Debbie Kazsimer, who lives in Pennsylvania, knows a lot about cruciate ligaments. Trouble, her Shepherd/Husky mix, had TPLO surgeries at ages six and seven, and her Shepherd/Malamute mix, Fly, had a TPLO when she was two.
In 2005, the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association published the case of a German Shepherd Dog who developed bone cancer after her implant corroded. Two years later, Trouble was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, and when his leg was amputated, its metal implant was found to be corroded. The biopsy report linked the cancer to his 2004 TPLO surgery.
As a precaution, Kazsimer had Fly’s implant removed. “But by then five years had passed and it was too late,” she says. “The damage was already done.” Within months, both dogs died of osteosarcoma.
Four weeks after Fly’s death, Kazsimer’s six-year-old 100-pound Shiloh Shepherd, Kimber, tore a cruciate ligament. By then, Kazsimer had learned about conservative management and knew she didn’t want to put another dog through a TPLO surgery. Because of her experiences with Fly and Trouble, she was familiar with range-of-motion and physical therapy exercises, and she studied massage with her husband, Ken, an Integrated Touch Therapy canine massage therapist. She spent an hour or two daily on Kimber’s rehabilitation.
“I thought a leg brace would be a big help to her,” she says, “but my veterinarian refused to fit her for one because he was convinced it wouldn’t work. So my husband and son helped me to cast her leg with a casting kit from Orthopets. The brace supports the knee externally, just as surgery supports it internally.”
Kimber went from walking on three legs to walking on four, then swimming, then finally bearing full weight on her leg. Eight months after her injury, Kimber’s regimen of supplements, physical therapy, massage, swimming, and wearing the brace have enabled her to recover well without surgery. “She runs around like a wild girl!” says Kazsimer, who has posted videos of Kimber online, where you can see her running, swimming, and playing with and without her brace on. “It’s wonderful,” she says. “Kimber is able to do everything she did before she got hurt.”
Holistic Therapies and Home Treatment for a Dog’s Torn ACL
The most popular “hands-on” treatments for injured dogs include acupuncture, acupressure, chiropractic, and massage.
Dr. Hershman, a certified veterinary acupuncturist, treats patients with acupuncture to alleviate pain and enhance healing of the torn ligament. “I do this once or twice per week for the first two weeks,” she says, “depending on the dog’s level of pain, then once a week for five to six weeks, then once every two weeks, and finally once a month. When the dog is weight-bearing and in less pain, I stop.” Dr. Hershman is also a certified veterinary homeopath who prescribes homeopathic remedies according to the patient’s symptoms.
In the article “Post-op Acupressure” (August 2006), Nancy Zidonis and Amy Snow describe how stimulating specific acupressure points with a thumb or fingertip can help with pain management, clear the effects of anesthesia, minimize the building of scar tissue, and reduce swelling. Acupressure can be learned at home and applied whenever needed.
Veterinary chiropractors help speed the healing of injuries and surgeries by making adjustments that improve skeletal alignment and musculoskeletal function. (See “Chiropractors for Canines,” March 2008.) Chiropractic adjustments help restore normal nerve activity by gently moving bones, ligaments, and tendons back into alignment, and when ligaments are injured, adjustments help realign the body to improve balance and speed healing.
Canine massage therapists used to be unusual, but now they play an important role in maintaining and improving our dogs’ health. Efflurage, passive touch, kneading techniques, and stroking increase circulation, release muscle tension, reduce pain and soreness, relieve stress, and accelerate the repair process. Massage books and how-to videos make it easy for caregivers to apply these same techniques at home.
Online Support for Injured Dogs
Thanks to the Internet, anyone whose dog suffers a cruciate ligament injury can find a wealth of information about canine anatomy, surgical options, and alternatives to cruciate ligament dog surgery online.
The conservative management forum that Faith Rubenstein founded five years ago now has more than 2,000 members around the world. Paola Ferraris, who lives in Italy, is one of its moderators. “What I would like to stress is that conservative management is not an easy (and often not cheap) alternative to surgery,” says Ferraris. “Successful conservative management requires just as much commitment as post-op care. It’s tough love and careful management. Your work is basically the same as rehabbing a dog who has had surgery; in fact, a number of our members have had surgery done on their dogs and use the list for pre-op and post-op support.”
When her own dog suffered an ACL injury, Ferraris had to make decisions with little information. “The best way to discuss treatment with your veterinarian is when you understand the available options and their pros and cons,” she says. “I had to educate myself by spending nights doing research online, after the fact. I would have appreciated having more available information, which is what we now offer.”
Co-moderator Ansley Newton of Pownal, Maine, became interested in conservative management when her chocolate Lab, Dooley, injured his second knee. “The first knee had TPLO surgery,” she says, “so I was excited to try conservative management with the second knee.
Unfortunately after four months he did not get better and I chose to have a traditional surgery, which was very successful for this 90-pound dog. Then one day my large chocolate Lab, Nutmeg, came inside with that familiar limp. I again decided to try conservative management along with a knee brace, acupuncture, massage, swimming, and some other supportive techniques. Within six months she was back to normal with very little arthritis.
“After three ligament injuries, I thought I was done. But no, two years later Nutmeg came in limping again. I again went the conservative management route and things were going fine until the second month when Nutmeg had an oops moment. She was limping again, so I decided to do surgery but had to postpone it for a couple of months because I tore my own anterior cruciate ligament and damaged my meniscus at the same time!
“So here I was running a farm by myself on crutches and wearing a knee brace with a dog in a knee brace. What a sight we both were. I wish I had taken a picture. We were forced to stay with conservative management because there was no one to take care of the farm and I couldn’t drive Nutmeg to get her surgery. We limped through several months together and lo and behold, we both healed. Nutmeg was good to go in six months and it took me closer to 10. Nutmeg recently passed away from lymphoma. She was 14 years old and despite those two ligament injuries, her legs were still fine.”
The Surgical Options for Torn ACLs in Dogs
While it is not possible to repair canine ligaments surgically, lateral suture stabilization, or LSS techniques, can stabilize knee joints so that they function well.
In the extracapsular repair procedure, tom or partially torn ligament tissue and bone spurs are removed along with the damaged portion of the meniscus. Through a hole drilled in the front of the tibia, a large, strong suture is passed around the fabella behind the knee, which tightens the joint and replaces the cruciate ligament.
The intracapsular repair method, which is no longer popular in the United States but still widely used in the United Kingdom, replaces the cruciate ligament with a strip of connective tissue after the damaged meniscus and ligament fragments are removed. This “new ligament” is sewn into place or attached to an implant.
A ligament repair technique called the Tightrope procedure utilizes a fiber tape suture material developed for human ankle and shoulder reconstruction. This material
replaces the damaged cruciate ligament and stabilizes the stifle joint.
Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy, or TPLO surgery, involves breaking and resetting the tibia. The meniscus cartilage is removed and, if badly damaged, the remains of the cruciate ligament may be removed as well. The repositioned bone is held in place with a metal plate and screws. This procedure treats an estimated 50 percent of all cruciate ligament injuries in the US. and its popularity helped double the number of American veterinary surgeons in a single decade (1995-2005). TPLO surgery requires a specialist and typically costs twice as much as extracapsular repair.
Tibial Tuberosity Advancement, or TTA, which was developed in 2002 at the University of Zurich, repositions the top of the tibia by separating and then anchoring it with titanium or steel implants. Like TPLO surgery, TTA requires special equipment and expertise.
None of these procedures work for every patient and all carry risks associated with the use of general anesthetics, post-operative infections, and other complications. The TPLO and TTA are most expensive and most invasive.
Which surgical method is best? Every procedure has its advocates and many veterinary surgeons claim high success rates, but the results of research studies can be sobering. In
2005, the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association published a study* comparing the results of lateral suture stabilization (LSS), intracapsular stabilization (ICS),
and TPLO surgery on 131 Labrador Retrievers with ruptured cranial cruciate ligaments and injury to the medial meniscus. Limb function was measured before surgery and again two and six months after. Treated dogs were also compared to 17 clinically normal Labrador Retrievers. Compared with the clinically normal dogs, only 14.9 percent of the LSS-treated dogs, 15 percent of ICS-treated dogs, and 10.9 percent of TPLO-treated dogs had normal limb function. Overall improvement was seen in only 15 percent of dogs treated with ICS, 34 percent of those treated with TPLO, and 40 percent of those treated with LSS.
* “Effect of surgical technique on limb function after surgery for rupture of the cranial cruciate ligament in dogs,” by Michael G. Conzemius, DVM, PhD, DVACS, et al. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, January 15, 2005, Vol. 226, No. 2, p. 232-236.
CJ Puotinen is a long-time contributor to WDJ and author of The Encyclopedia of Natural Pet Care and Natural Remedies for Dogs and Cats.
The cattle dog-mix races across the turf, his claws digging into the ground, pushing hard into his next stride, building momentum, faster, faster, faster. With a final turbo blast powered by his rear legs, he pushes off the ground and vaults into the air, seemingly weightless as he stretches his neck into the sky. A sudden twist of shoulders propels his torso and hips 180 degrees as he changes direction midair and snatches the prize from the air – a simple, round plastic disc.
Photo by Jen Gregg
Eyes alight with the thrill of the chase and the kill (catch), he lands nimbly and races back to his handler. Can we do it again? Can we, can we? Yeah, we can.
This is the sport of disc dog. It’s been around since Frisbees became popular in the early 1970s and the players’ dogs chased the players’ errant tosses. When a bad toss resulted in a disc rolling on its side, that was fine by Fido. When a disc skimmed the ground, that was fine, too. And when the disc floated, tantalizing in the air, that was simply perfect, allowing Fido to analyze velocity and drift and match his body’s physical prowess to the job at hand. If he got a little too excited at the prospect of a toss and jumped up at his person and ricocheted off his body as the disc sailed away, how cool was that? All of these (and more) eventually made their way into disc dog training and competition.
History of Disc Dog
The first disc dog exhibition to grab the public’s attention was in 1974 in Los Angeles at a baseball game between the Dodgers and the Cincinnati Reds. Alex Stein, a 19-year-old college student from Ohio, crashed the game with his Whippet, Ashley. In the eight minutes before he was escorted from the field and arrested, Stein and Ashley Whippet wowed the crowd with 35-mph runs and breathtaking vaults and catches. Interest in the sport skyrocketed.
Since then, a multitude of official sanctioning organizations have been created to promote competition and the sport in general. Local and regional clubs sprouted everywhere and in some locales formal group classes are offered to help people and dogs prepare for competition. Some top-flight competitors even turned their hobby into livelihoods, offering exhibitions for hire for public demonstrations to draw crowds to a variety of events.
Disc Dog Competitions
As with many of the other sports we have featured in this series, not everyone who trains for a particular sport chooses to compete. This is especially true with disc dogs. Many people love the challenge of training a particular routine, but get as much enjoyment from going to the local park and playing with their dogs as some get from competing. Playing in the park, however, can entice some into the competition ring.
That’s what happened to Chris Sexton, who got his first dog (Laika, a Border Collie) in 1995. Chris had been playing “disc golf” since 1990 and had a friend whose dog loved to fetch. “This crazy Lab-mix would fetch for hours. We discovered we could wear him out faster with a disc. When we saw an ad in the paper for a local Frisbee contest, we entered him. It was a lot of fun! Then we found out about another, bigger event coming up. I entered Laika in that one, and I was hooked.”
Sexton founded a disc dog club in Fort Collins, Colorado, called the Northern Colorado Disc Dogs, which later merged with the Front Range Flyers to form Colorado Disc Dogs. Then, in 2000, he and a few friends started the UFO World Cup Series, an international competition series organized like NASCAR or World Cup Skiing, where teams accumulate points to qualify for the final “World Cup Final” championship event. So, be forewarned: like many dog sports, this one can be addictive!
There are several different events for which teams train and compete. Points are accumulated for titles as well as to qualify for larger, national events.
• Toss and fetch: This is the bread and butter of the sport and the event that most people start with. This short-distance event goes by a variety of names such as “mini distance,” “throw and catch,” and “distance/accuracy,” but the goal is the same: You have a set amount of time – as little as 60 seconds – to throw a disc as many times as you can, with your dog retrieving it before it is thrown again. The field is marked with increasingly longer distances and you are judged on the distance and the number of tosses and catches. The average distance is about 40 to 45 yards.
Dogs are scored on their ability to catch the most discs, but can earn extra points for catching the discs while completely airborne (where the dog’s body leaves the ground). Thus, if the handler is good at throwing the disc predictably longer and higher, the team has a better chance of scoring higher than teams whose throws are shorter and lower.
• Freestyle: This event is where some of the most amazing acrobatics happen. Jumping off handler’s bodies, vaulting and twisting high in the air, and racing around and/or through the handler’s legs are common pieces of increasingly elaborate and complex routines. Each routine is between 30 seconds and 3 minutes long and individually choreographed by the handler. Each piece of the routine (e.g., leg weaving) is trained individually and then linked together into the final routine performed to music selected by the handler.
Teams are judged for creativity, athleticism, difficulty, showmanship, etc. As the sport has matured, routines have become more and more spectacular and have become the most popular event at public exhibitions.
• Long distance: This event is rarer than the two above. It pits teams against each other in an elimination-style event, with the winning teams successfully throwing the longest distances. This event has separate classes for women and for men. Women in this long-distance event typically throw 50 to 60 yards, although some have thrown in excess of 65 yards. For long-distance men, 70 to 80 yards is considered competitive, although throws of 90-plus yards have been recorded.
Some clubs and sanctioning organizations promote a variety of other events in addition to the ones listed above. As with many of the dog sports, dogs should be in good physical condition and be at least 12 to 18 months of age before competing.
Disc Training
Not all dogs hit the ground running, chasing, and leaping after plastic discs. If yours does, you are one of the lucky ones. Most dogs – and handlers – still need training to perfect the individual pieces of a routine, or to catch a disc in midair instead of waiting for it to hit the ground. Most people learn and train on their own or with local clubs since formal classes are quite rare.
“I learned primarily on my own,” remembers Chris Sexton. “There wasn’t very much in the way of videos or books, so the way that I learned new throws and tricks was to go to contests and watch, and then go home and try to replicate what I saw.
“Today, with the Internet, people can watch videos, read training articles, and ask anyone any question. This access to information means that people can get up to speed even if they are isolated. I saw this in action in 2009 on a trip to China. Chinese disc dog people have been watching people in Japan, Europe, and the U.S. on the Internet for years. They copy the moves and read the articles, so the level of talent there is respectable.
“One other aspect that has helped the sport a lot is the proliferation of clubs. The disc dog clubs started in the mid 80s, but took off really big in the mid to late 90s. Having a group of people to practice with and participate with is a really big help. I think the clubs are the source of most ingenuity in the sport, and bring the most people in.”
Most training starts with straight tosses to the dog at very short distances. Once the dog catches those with a high degree of success, distances are increased and the height of the toss is increased. Eventually, discs are tossed just over the dog’s head and the dog leaps a bit to catch it. The handler has to work hard to ensure that the timing of the disc toss is well timed with his dog’s speed.
The websites of disc dog sanctioning organizations and clubs often provide training information and/or links to other sites; see the next page for contact information and Web addresses.
Disc Dog Team Attributes
Owners are often motivated by seeing their active dog have a fun outlet for his energy and talents. Although some people search for dogs with the energy for the sport, some gravitate to the sport because they ended up with a dog with too much energy to be expended by walks around the block.
Dave Rosell, a competitor from Huntington Beach, California, remembers when he got his first dog, Hook. “I wanted to get a dog to take on walks, go hiking with, and such. What I ended up with was a high-drive Australian Shepherd. He was full of energy and never seemed to tire even after having him fetch tennis balls or play tug for hours -well, it seemed like hours! So I started looking on the Internet for training and different activities I could do with him. I found Dog Services Unlimited, which offered not only obedience training, but also basic agility, flyball, and disc dog. I took all the classes.”
Energetic dogs who live to chase and retrieve love this sport. Sexton, who competes with two herding dogs, says a variety of dogs do well in disc dog events. “Herding breeds and retrievers are usually naturals. Their instinctive behaviors lend themselves very easily to disc play. Most smart dogs will enjoy the game and the challenge and interaction of the training as well. Border Collies, Aussies, Labs, Poodles, shepherds, some terriers, all do well. But, if there is one group that stands out, it would have to be the mutt! These dogs often have several aspects of those desirable qualities. Many mix-breeds excel in the sport.”
People who love this sport tend to love competition and share a love of seeing their dogs thrill at being in action and learn new physical tricks. Some competitors incorporate very physically demanding handler maneuvers, while others do very little, leaving the acrobatics to their dogs.
This sport is physically demanding on the dogs, but Sexton believes that, with care, you can safeguard your dog from injury. “It really depends on the dog and the handler, but in general, it’s no harder on dogs than playing outside and running around like a normal dog. The method to keep it safe is to start low and simple and build up to the more difficult tricks over time. This allows the dog to gradually learn the harder tricks and the body control required, which will make the tricks safer.
“Thankfully, injuries are not common in this sport! But you do see occasional tweaks and twists to legs that might cause a dog to come up lame for a bit. These are usually mild and rare. Another injury is in the form of cumulative damage from excessive height. In addition to normal aging-dog symptoms, I have seen a few dogs that had unusually stiff or arthritic joints when they were older. This can be partly genetic, but I think that the style of play can also be a factor. Excessive height in jumping is not only unnecessary, but even if the dog seems to land clean, he might accumulate long-term damage that could make for a less-pleasant retirement. Like many things, a little common sense goes a long way.”
Steven Donahue is a professional photographer who has taken photos for Purina Incredible Dog Challenge events for a number of years. When people see his photos of disc dog aerial superstars twisting through the air, or even fully upside down in mid-catch, they frequently comment, “Wow! I’ll bet those dogs get hurt a lot!” He replies, “I’ve been following the disc dog sport closely for about five years. I have seen hundreds of dogs who have been in the sport for years. During that time, I only know of a few minor injuries, and one career- (not life-) ending injury.
“With all that said, I would strongly discourage novice handlers from attempting advanced moves. First and foremost, know your breed, know your dog, and perform safe maneuvers with those limitations in mind. Secondly, know how to place/throw the disc for a safe flip or small vault before you ever even think about attempting it with a dog. Dogs with high drive will put themselves in danger attempting to catch poorly thrown discs.
“A personal example on knowing the limitations of your breed/dog. I have a Flat-Coated Retriever who is insane for the Frisbee. He would try to do this kind of stuff if I let him. However, he is awkward in the air compared to these Border Collies and Aussies. He doesn’t land safely on all fours if I do anything other than simple toss-and-fetch throws for him. So, that’s all we do.”
Easy to Start, Difficult to Perfect
Dave Rosell of Huntington Beach, California, trains and competes in three sports with two of his three dogs. When put on the spot and asked to compare his three chosen sports — agility, flyball, and disc dog — he does a good job of highlighting the attraction of each. But he has a soft spot for disc dog.
“Disc dog is great because you can start competing once you are good enough to throw a disc and your dog can catch it. But it also takes a tremendous amount of work and skill to be good enough to compete at the pro freestyle level. You probably have to spend as much time without your dog to learn your throws and routines as you do with your dog.
“I love the excitement that my dogs have when we play discs, but also the camaraderie that you have with the other disc doggers out there. They’re always there to congratulate you, give you advice, or help in any way. Another neat thing about disc dogs is you only need a couple of discs for your dogs to play, whereas with the other sports you usually have to have all kinds of equipment laid out before you can start practicing,
“Disc dog clubs help a lot. If you join a club, you get a lot of help and camaraderie i in addition to discounts on entry fees! Disc Dogs in southern California puts on most of the competition events in that area as well as joint ventures with other clubs. Its website has some training aids, a calendar of events, results of competitions, links, and information about the sport. Periodically it puts on ‘play days’ where the members and prospective members get together and the more experienced members help with some throws, with routines, and maybe even have a mini competition. But the big thing is that the people in the club are just a great bunch of people. We are a bunch of friends who get together with one thing in common: we are all disc dog crazy.”
Disc Dog Activity Expenses
The beauty of this sport is that all you need is your dog and a plastic disc and some space to throw it. Many of the websites listed in Resources will direct you to find the best discs (the hardest ones are not good on your dog’s mouth) as well as training materials. Entry fees and travel will be your biggest expenses, and these are still modest compared to many of the other dog sports.
If you can find a class, costs are usually modest – from $35 for classes and seminars to $80 per hour for private lessons. Competition fees run anywhere from completely free to $30 per class. Gas and lodging might be your next biggest expense, but the popularity of disc dogs has made competitions and exhibitions more plentiful than ever so you might not have to travel too far.
How to Get Started
Even if you don’t want to compete, joining a local club will be the fastest way to get up to speed. Club members are typically very helpful to newcomers and have a lot of experience to share. You and your dog can gain competition ring experience by first participating in public demonstrations with the club. Then, just take your dog and disc, smile, and toss!
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.
To continue reading this article or issue you must be a paid subscriber. Sign in
If you are logged in but cannot access this content, a) your subscription may have expired; b) you may have duplicate accounts (emails) in our system. Please check your account status hereorcontact customer service.
Immediate access to this article and 20+ years of archives.
Recommendations for the best dog food for your dog.
Dry food, homemade diets and recipes, dehydrated and raw options, canned food and more.
Brands, formulations and ingredients all searchable in an easy-to-use, searchable database.
Plus, you’ll receive training and care guidance to keep your dog healthy and happy. You’ll feed with less stress…train with greater success…and know you are giving your dog the care he deserves.
Subscribenow and save 72%! Its like getting 8 issues free!
There are many things to consider when choosing to share your life with a dog. Knowing who will care for your dog or dogs when you have to be away from home is just as important as knowing how you’ll provide for their everyday needs. Even if overnight travel isn’t part of your regular routine, it’s wise to think ahead and have a plan for overnight care – just in case it’s ever needed. You never know when a family or local emergency may force you and your pets to spend a night or two apart.
Fortunately, today’s dog owners have several choices for pet care, ranging from in-home care provided by visiting pet sitters, to a wide range of commercial kenneling options. Each comes with its own unique list of pros and cons and no one choice is right for every dog. It’s important to do your homework when considering boarding. After all, you are literally putting your dog’s life in the hands of another.
In-home care
Providing care for your dog in your own home is one option, by either recruiting a trusted friend or family member or contracting with a professional pet sitter or sitting service.
You may never find a boarding facility that will make your dog feel this comfortable when you have to leave him behind for a vacation or business trip. But it would be nice if the staff members tried!
Some people choose to have a pet sitter visit several times each day, while others prefer hiring someone to temporarily take up residence in their home. Unless the visiting sitter will make multiple visits throughout the day, this option provides the least amount of supervision for your pet.
In this scenario, your dog is left alone and unsupervised for an unusually long period of time, and for that reason, this option is generally considered to be the most risky.
In contrast, arranging for someone to live in your home while you are gone can provide a greater amount of supervision of your dog with the least amount of disruption to your dog’s daily routine. In-home service providers can bring in the mail, water plants, and give your home a lived-in appearance.
When choosing an in-home pet care provider, it’s important to consider the unique needs of your dog and the experience level of the sitter. While a friend or family member may opt to help care for your dog at no charge, and may have a personal history with your pet, they may not be as educated in the fine details of dog care, particularly in things such as recognizing the early signs of stress or distress, or the myriad ways a determined escape artist can find to Houdini his way out of a seemingly secured area.
With a reputable pet sitting service, employees should be screened, professionally trained, bonded, and insured, and pet sitters should be well-versed in all aspects of domestic animal care. As an added bonus, large pet sitting companies generally employ enough personnel to be able to accommodate last-minute bookings, something not often possible when calling on the aid of a friend, family member, or single-sitter service. This professional training and flexibility comes at a price, however.
Similar to recruiting someone to temporarily reside in your home, you may opt to have your dogs stay overnight at the home of a trusted friend, family member, or professional pet sitter. This is slightly more disruptive for your dog than staying in her familiar environment, but it works well for many pet owners, especially when the pet knows the person with whom he’ll be staying and/or when the pet is older and not as apt to adjust well to a busy kennel.
Before packing your pup’s overnight bag and dropping him off at Aunt Betty’s, it’s important to be aware of environmental differences that could impact your pet. Does the host have dogs of her own? If so, how do your dogs get along? If they haven’t met, be sure to arrange a meet-and-greet prior to travelling so that personality conflicts can surface and be dealt with in advance. Double-check to make sure your pet cannot slip through fencing or other enclosures. Be sure to educate your pet’s host on any behavioral quirks that may impact his safety, such as a tendency to door-dart or ingest stray socks! If your host has a swimming pool and your dog has not been taught how to safely swim to the steps, ask that your dog not be left outside unsupervised.
Commercial options
A variety of options exist for owners who prefer to professionally board their dogs. Pet owners can choose from conventional kennel environments to upscale “resort- style” facilities that offer extra services such as group playtime, interactive food puzzles, training time, or grooming and spa services. Many facilities offer “cage-free” boarding where the dogs spend their time roaming with fellow guests and bedding down for the night on dog beds in a common area, while others have dogs confined to their kennels throughout the day except while being exercised by kennel staff.
Keep in mind that what works best for one dog might quickly spell disaster for another. Regardless of the type of service or facility you choose, it’s imperative to get to know the ins and outs of the service provider. The following considerations can be helpful in making an educated decision:
Compliance with state and local regulations and adherence to professional standards and practices. The kenneling industry is unregulated at the Federal level, leaving individual cities and states to implement regulations as they see fit. According to Pet Care Services Association (PCSA), a non-profit organization dedicated to assuring standards of quality and professional care, only about 20 states have adopted any formal regulatory standards for boarding kennels.
As such, many kennel owners operate with little more than a standard business license. When regulations do exist at the city or state level, they are usually minimal and simply address things such as preventing animal cruelty and requiring that adequate food, water, and shelter be available – not exactly standards that put your mind at ease when leaving your pet for the weekend.
“The pet-owning public has expectations when it comes to boarding,” says Charlotte Biggs, CKO and board president of PCSA and co-owner of Stay N Play Pet Ranch®, Inc., in Dripping Springs, Texas. “There are so few regulations available. Our mission is to fill that void.”
For a fee, membership in PCSA is open to any individual or legally operating business that is actively engaged in the non-veterinary care of pets as a primary service. All active members must agree to adhere to the organization’s Code of Ethics and Pet Owner’s Bill of Rights, both of which are available for review online at petcareservices.org. Member facilities may also opt to pursue volunteer PCSA accreditation though the Voluntary Facilities Accreditation (VFA) program.
In order to be considered for accreditation, facilities must be in business for a minimum of six months, must submit a detailed binder of information documenting all of their business and pet care practices and demonstrating that they meet the standards set forth by PCSA, and must pass an on-site inspection. It’s a comprehensive process that takes an average of six months to complete. Facilities are subject to random inspections throughout the year and must repeat the accreditation process every three years.
In addition to professional trade organizations, pet owners are wise to look for membership in local Chambers of Commerce and the Better Business Bureau. The more ways in which a professional’s reputation may be on the line, the greater the chance he will do everything in his power to ensure a successful boarding experience for his clients.
While professional and civic memberships demonstrate a certain level of professionalism on the part of the business owner, pet owners should not rely on memberships alone. Once you’ve verified that your prospective pet sitter or boarding kennel is in compliance with local regulations and adheres to a set of professional ethics and practice standards, there’s still much research to be done!
Staff requirements and training. In any business, a well-trained, competent staff is critical to success. In the kennel industry, a well-trained and competent staff is what ensures the health and safety of your pet. A love of dogs or distaste for retail work isn’t an adequate job qualification! Kindness, patience, compassion, and an ability to keep one’s own emotions in check are all important traits that must be combined with a solid understanding of dog behavior and a natural ability with dogs. This is critical in facilities that allow dog-to-dog interaction among guests.
Ask how employees are trained and how much (if any) continuing education is required. Laurie Zurborg, owner of Wags and Wiggles in Tustin, California, requires that all new employees undergo comprehensive in-house training and that all employees participate in retraining every six months. Wags and Wiggles is a daycare facility that provides boarding for clients, so it’s imperative that facility staff be especially skilled in the often subtle nuances of dog body language – such as facial expressions and body posture; how to recognize, prevent, and interrupt bullying; and how to safely break up a dog fight.
Wags and Wiggles also requires that any staff member who interacts with a dog in a training capacity (often available in boarding kennels as an add-on service) should be certified by the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers. Unless you board your dog at your usual, familiar trainer’s facility, we suggest that you not authorize training during boarding, unless you have taken the time to thoroughly screen the trainer and her methods.
Where are dogs housed? When it comes to professional boarding kennels, accommodations come, literally, in all shapes and sizes. Kennels range from high-volume, no-frills facilities with the ability to house upward of 150 dogs to smaller, boutique-style kennels housing a very limited number of dogs – and everything in between!
When choosing a kennel, be sure to make arrangements to visit far in advance. Don’t be surprised if the facility requires that you schedule your visit or only visit during certain hours rather than simply popping in unannounced. Barb Gibson, owner of The Pawmer House Pet Hotel in Wilton Center, Illinois, explains that for her, preventing random visitors is all about reducing stress and ensuring the safety of the dogs in her care. Guests at The Pawmer House participate in mandatory “quiet time” from 11:30 am to 2:00 pm and for at least one hour after each meal.
Unless there’s an emergency, no one is allowed inside the kennel area during quiet time. The arrival of a human in the kennel area – especially a new human – sets off a cacophony of barking. Limiting such outbursts is an important part of managing the overall stress level of the dogs. Gibson also advises visitors to be prepared to wait if arriving unannounced because staff may be busy tending to the needs of the dogs, and the needs of the dogs come first.
When visiting a facility, pay attention to the area where your dog will be housed. Is it secure? How tall is the fencing? Are at least some of the kennels enclosed on the top to prevent jumpers and climbers from escaping? Is it clean? How is it sanitized? Does it smell? If housed in kennel runs, can the dogs directly see other dogs on either side and across from them?
If the enclosure has no direct access to an outdoor potty area, ask how frequently dogs are taken outside or if they’re expected to eliminate in the enclosure. If the latter, how quickly are messes cleaned up and where is the dog during the process? What, if any, “comforts” are provided (such as beds, blankets, toys, and chews) and how are they sanitized between dogs? What personal items are allowed from home? Does the kennel require that all guests eat a facility-provided kibble, or can owners bring their pet’s food from home? Will the kennel accommodate special diets such as home-cooked meals or raw food?
It’s also important to know in advance what vaccinations are required, how they need to be documented and what, if any, exceptions exist. As thoughts regarding vaccination evolve, many kennels now accept titers or statements of vaccine exclusion from a veterinarian in lieu of following a strict vaccination protocol.
Well-managed dog play groups. Many kennels offer the option of recreational play groups. When considering this option, find out how guests are screened to determine their eligibility for play groups. As with day care and cage-free facilities, play groups must be closely supervised at all times by well-trained staff.
How large are the play groups? How are play pals selected? How much time do dogs spend engaged in off-leash play? What is the procedure for breaking up a dog fight and how are dogs handled immediately following, as well as for the duration of their stay? Are owners notified? If you don’t wish for your dog to participate in a play group, how will your dog be exercised?
Emergency plans. Accidents happen and an emergency can strike at any time. Make sure the facility has detailed emergency plans in place. Can they safely evacuate guests in the event of a natural disaster? Where are the animals evacuated to? Are client records backed up off-site so that owners can be notified of an evacuation should the facility be compromised? Seventeen dogs were killed when a propane tank exploded at a boarding facility in Pennsylvania in March 2009 (including Martha Stewart’s Chow Chow), and several others were injured or temporarily lost after fleeing in a panic. Many client files were destroyed in the fire, making it difficult to notify owners about the emergency.
Every kennel should maintain excellent working relationships with local veterinarians and 24-hour care facilities. Find out how emergencies or potential emergencies are handled. When vet care is needed, are owners contacted ahead of time? For minor issues, how is the need for vet care decided and by whom? You should feel comfortable knowing that medical issues will be promptly addressed without sending your dog to an after-hours emergency facility at the first sign of soft stool.
Go with your gut
Once you’ve done your homework and thoroughly checked out your list of potential facilities, often the best way to make a selection is to go with your gut instinct. If deciding between two different facilities that seem equal in terms of experience and standards of care, ask yourself if one just simply feels better? On the other hand, if for any reason you feel uncomfortable with a facility, regardless of its memberships or glowing recommendations, trust yourself and your ability to know what’s best for your pet.
Agility is probably the most popular and best known of all the sports for canine athletes. It’s easy to see why. Your dog gets to do what dogs like to do: move around, jump, run, climb on things, and play!
Agility is a high-speed sport in which the handler directs her dog through an obstacle course of jumps, tunnels, weave poles, teeter-totter, and other obstacles. The goal is for the dog to complete the course without exceeding the “standard course time” and without incurring any “faults.” Faults include knocking jump bars, not completing an obstacle, going around a jump instead of over it, and failing to touch “contact zones” – places that the dog must touch as she navigates certain obstacles, to prevent excessive speed and dangerous leaps from the obstacle.
The rules for each level of competition vary; the novice level has more lenient rules and the higher levels of competition are more exacting. At the highest levels of competition no faults are allowed at all in order to “qualify.”
Training your dog for agility is fairly complex. Although your dog readily demonstrates how he can jump over the back of the couch in pursuit of the family cat, he might be stymied by your attempts to lure him over an agility hurdle. If you are willing to invest some time and effort in the training, however, agility can be very rewarding for both dog and human. In fact, the more training you put into the project, the more new avenues of communication open up between you and your dog.
There are two types of agility from which to choose: recreational and competitive. Some classes focus distinctly on one while others let you decide later if you want to compete.
History
According to most accounts, agility got its start as a demonstration to entertain the audience at the United Kingdom’s Crufts dog show in 1978. (Although other reports credit a demonstration by the Royal Air Force Police Dog Demonstration Team, it was the Crufts demonstration that caught Britain’s attention and led to more widespread interest in agility training for the average dog and dog owner.) By 1979, several dog training clubs were offering agility training and by 1980 Britain’s Kennel Club had established rules for competition.
During the 1980s, agility activity picked up in the United States, with several organizations (and varying philosophies and rules) in place by the early 1990s, including the United States Dog Agility Association (USDAA) and the North American Dog Agility Council (NADAC).
Competition
Each of the sanctioning organizations (see list on page 22) has specific requirements for qualifying a dog for a title at each level of competition, i.e., novice, advanced, and masters. At each of these levels there are a variety of “classes” or games in which you can compete.
For example, USDAA has one “standard” class and four “games” in each of its three levels or “divisions,” i.e., novice, advanced, and masters. The standard class is comprised of 15 to 20 obstacles that the judge has arranged into a “course” of obstacles, run in a set sequence. The four games are Jumpers (all jumps and tunnels), Snooker (a strategy game), Gamblers (a distance game), and Pairs Relay (two handlers in a relay race). There are also three “tournament” classes that test advanced handling, i.e., Grand Prix, Steeplechase, and Team (three handlers compete as a team in five classes).
Among the various agility organizations, Canine Performance Events (CPE) and NADAC offer the most agility classes, closely followed by USDAA, with AKC offering the fewest.
All of the agility organizations impose a “standard course time” that the team must not exceed for each class, as well as a variety of other rules, such as not knocking bars; touching the yellow “contact zones” on the A-frame, dogwalk, and teeter; and taking only the obstacles indicated on the course. Titles and placements (e.g., 1st place, 2nd place) are awarded at each level; additional, advanced titles are available in each of the agility organizations.
Training
Agility training involves teaching the individual at each end of the leash. The human must implement all the obstacle training taught in class, and learn handling skills such as when and how to use verbal and physical cues to direct her dog around the course. The canine must be taught how to perform each obstacle (see page 19).
In addition, the dog must be taught to immediately respond to all those verbal and physical cues in a fast-moving, changing environment. No two courses are ever the same, so the handler must make decisions about handling based on the course in front of her. The dog must closely attend to the handler in order to detect cues that come one after the other.
If you have competed in other dog sports, the learning curve may not be as steep as it is for people who have never trained for a performance sport. That said, the agility world is filled with people who tried agility as their first dog sport and became hooked.
Natalie Reusch of Hacienda Heights, California, is a good example of a dog sports neophyte who was captivated by agility. Reusch was not allowed to have a dog when she was growing up; her first dog didn’t come home until Reusch was married. “Go-fer” lived to the ripe old age of 18, and her second dog, Cami, lived to 13. Natalie and her husband, Dave, called Cami their “million dollar dog” because of the costs involved in addressing all her health issues. Dog sports were not even a topic of discussion.
Then came Boxie, a Boxer/Dachshund-mix. “Boxie was my inspiration because even though I knew nothing about agility, I could recognize potential when I saw it. And she definitely had that.”
Reusch started by enrolling Boxie in a class for basic pet manners, and then one for advanced manners. She found that both she and Boxie enjoyed the training process, which she had never done with her prior dogs. By the time she started agility training, Boxie had the basics under her collar, so to speak. It is difficult, if not impossible, to train your dog in agility if you and your dog have not mastered these prerequisites.
Before enrolling your dog in an agility class, you and your dog should be able to work in a distracting environment (both handler and dog have to be able to focus well!) and have mastered basic pet manners behaviors. These include sit, down, stay, come when called, and leash manners. The most challenging aspect of an agility class is keeping your dog focused on you and able to learn new skills in a group class environment. Dogs that are tremendously motivated by toys and food do the best. Additionally, depending upon your instructor, previous clicker training will be advantageous since that training technique is used more and more in this sport.
Recreational or competitive?
There are two broad categories of agility training: recreational and competitive. Recreational classes often focus on getting dogs on all the agility equipment as quickly as possible, using luring and leash guidance. Handling skills that cue the dog to turn, decelerate, switch to the other side of the handler, etc., are taught later, or, in some cases, not at all. These kinds of recreational classes are best for people who want a weekly class that provides fun and entertainment.
Competition classes tend to focus initially on “foundation” skills, including handling. This means that the instructor spends more time focusing on how to use your body to cue your dog. For example, you will learn the proper footwork for cueing your dog forward, for turning, and for decelerating versus accelerating. Foundation skills also include wobble board training (before allowing your dog to get on the teeter-totter) and target training (used later to teach the A-frame and dogwalk). Instructors who specialize in training for competition tend to offer much more structured classes that require students to do a fair amount of homework to keep up with the class.
Some instructors are adept at teaching students who don’t intend to compete at the same time as teaching students with competition goals. Once their dogs become competent on the equipment, however, students who plan to compete in agility require specialized, in-depth instruction. If you know from the outset that you want to compete, you will probably benefit more from an instructor who actively competes herself. Also, keep in mind that retraining is always much more difficult than training your dog correctly from the start.
Team attributes
Your dog should be physically fit and enjoy physical and mental stimulation. Agility is a physically demanding sport. If your dog is overweight, her joints are subjected to much more abuse than those belonging to dogs who are in optimum condition. Make sure you exercise your dog appropriately and regularly, so she is fit enough to withstand the demands of a weekly class. Swimming, jogging, and running up and down hills are excellent conditioning exercises. As agility has matured, more information has become available about the benefits of physical conditioning, massage, and chiropractic care for canine athletes.
Handlers must be able to sprint, stop quickly, accelerate quickly, turn, and twist. This sport can be hard on aging knees and backs. Many students who choose to compete recognize the benefits of a conditioning program for themselves as well as their dogs!
Supplies and equipment
Some agility equipment is heavy, most of it is costly, and there is a lot of it. That said, most people don’t buy the more expensive and heavy, space-hogging equipment such as the teeter, A-frame, dogwalk, and competition-grade tunnels; they train on this equipment only at facilities that offer agility instruction.
More frequently they practice at home with the lower cost agility obstacles: jumps, weave poles, and a tunnel. Four to six jumps and a set of weave poles will cost about $300 to $500. A good 15-foot tunnel will cost another $200 to $250. With those basic pieces of equipment, you can practice a variety of handling maneuvers, as well as help your dog become proficient in the weave poles. It will take a long time to train your dog to negotiate the weave poles if you practice only once a week in a class; having your own set will drastically reduce your training time.
Expenses
The most expensive part of this sport is investing in the basic equipment listed above and paying for ongoing classes. Beyond that, trial entry fees and travel and lodging are the big-ticket items. Competition fees run anywhere from $8 per class to $20 depending upon the sanctioning organization (AKC fees tend to be the highest) and the type of class. For example, it costs an average of $14 for a standard class in USDAA and $8 to $10 for each of the four games. The first class you enter in an AKC trial will cost $20, and the second class will cost $15.
In all venues except AKC, you will have the opportunity to run three to six classes per day. For example, five classes a day at a CPE trial would cost you about $50. Enter for both days of a weekend, and there goes $100.
Gas and lodging will probably be your next biggest expense. However, if you do AKC trials, which are rather plentiful in most areas of the country, you might not have to travel too far. And if you expand your horizons to include several of the different agility venues (USDAA, CPE, ASCA, etc.), you might be able to stay closer to home than if you only compete in one of them.
Agility classes tend to cost more than an average dog training class; they require a lot of expensive equipment, a large space, and the cost of maintaining that space and equipment. As a result, a weekly agility class that runs for six to eight weeks may cost as much as $225. Plan on staying enrolled in classes for months or even years; access to all that equipment is what keeps people coming back week after week. Check for public classes through your city/town, private training facilities, and even some larger shelters offer classes. You can also go to the Clean Run website (cleanrun.com) to search for trainers near you.
How to get started
Due to the maturity of this sport, there are many books, DVDs, seminars, and schools available. Try a basic or introductory class, or just go and watch one, to see if agility is something you and your dog might enjoy. Check to see if the class has a waiting list; the popularity of agility has resulted in waiting lists for many classes. While you wait for a class to start, refresh your dog’s basic pet manners, enroll in a clicker training class, and start a conditioning program for you and your dog.
If your dog has more mental and physical energy than you know what to do with, and you enjoy physical activities, this is probably your sport.
Reusch aptly describes agility’s appeal. “Agility offers a way of bonding with my dog, and working together as a team to develop skills, solve problems, and overcome obstacles. The better we get, the more fun it becomes. We aren’t doing this for a championship; we’re doing it because it’s fun and exhilarating. I enjoy the feeling of connecting with my dog when we’re running a course together, everything clicking into place. And then there is the big smile on my dog’s face and the excitement in her eyes after she finishes a run. That’s priceless.”
Whole Dog Journal frequently brings you reviews of products we have tested on real dogs and with real dog lovers. We’re always looking for new and particularly useful products to recommend to our readers (and to use for our own dogs!). We limit our attention to products that provide an actual service, that help owners keep their dogs healthy, happy, safe, and well-trained. As 2010 begins, here’s looking forward to some of the year’s best bets.
Pal Dog Bath Products The rosemary/mint shampoo can transform the smelliest dog into a sweetest-smelling pal in a matter of minutes, and the lavender/aloe conditioner soothes skin and makes any coat silky-soft. “Freshen-Up” Spray is for use between baths, or when bathing is restricted. Juno’s Garden lists all product ingredients; all are natural, safe, and organic whenever possible.
192
Pal Dog dog bath products – $15 Juno’s Garden Pacifica, CA (888) 738-8390 paldog.com
Click! Dog Training System It’s too late for holiday gift-giving, but never too late to educate your friends and relatives about the benefits of intelligent, dog-friendly dog training. This kit helps make clicker training understandable and accessible, even for novice owners. The kit includes only a clicker on an adjustable lanyard and a very clear, well-illustrated, unintimidating book written by Karen Pryor, the founder and leading proponent of “clicker training” (based on operant conditioning). This kit is sold by Barnes & Noble, online and in stores and is perfect for inexperienced or young dog owners. (More advanced owners might get more out of Pryor’s self-published books, offered on her site, clickertraining.com or by calling 800-472-5425.)
190
Click! Dog Training System – $10 Barnes & Noble
210
Lyndhurst, NJ (800) 843-2665 barnesandnoble.com
Pogo Plush Photos don’t do it justice, unless you can detect the extraordinary enthusiasm on the face of the dog playing with one. It looks like a simple ball of fleece with a squeaker inside, but it’s not. An inner rubber frame keeps the ball puffed up, and the location of the squeaker unpredictable. The spring-back action makes most dogs do a double-take when they first grab it, and then they don’t seem to want to give it back.
Pogo Plush – $8-$11 Premier Pet Products Midlothian, VA (888) 640-8840 premier.com
(picuture of Tugzees in Otto’s Pick PDF, picuture of Pogo Plush in Dogg Walkie Belt PDF)
To continue reading this article or issue you must be a paid subscriber. Sign in
If you are logged in but cannot access this content, a) your subscription may have expired; b) you may have duplicate accounts (emails) in our system. Please check your account status hereorcontact customer service.
Immediate access to this article and 20+ years of archives.
Recommendations for the best dog food for your dog.
Dry food, homemade diets and recipes, dehydrated and raw options, canned food and more.
Brands, formulations and ingredients all searchable in an easy-to-use, searchable database.
Plus, you’ll receive training and care guidance to keep your dog healthy and happy. You’ll feed with less stress…train with greater success…and know you are giving your dog the care he deserves.
Subscribenow and save 72%! Its like getting 8 issues free!
You may have seen it coming. As I shipped last month’s issue to the printer, I was contemplating the fate of the many, many great dogs currently waiting for homes at my local shelter. I didn’t mention that I was especially tempted by one particular little dog – one of many, true, but one who stood out to me for some reason as an especially bright diamond in the rough. I’m not sure the shelter staff saw what I saw; every time they saw me take the dog out for a walk they’d sort of shake their heads. “She’s a handful,” was the most they’d commit to.
288
I’ll admit that the seven-month-old dog is so energetic that it was difficult to slip a collar and leash over her head and get her out of her kennel, and that she ran around like a maniac once turned loose in one of the shelter’s exercise yards. But the staff members were probably too busy to see what I saw: that in her haste to drag her handler out of the shelter building, she steadfastly tuned out the incredible distraction and din of her fellow inmates’ barking and lunging at their kennel doors; that once she stopped zipping around the exercise yard, she was incredibly sweet and affiliative; and that she figured out exactly what you wanted her to do after just one or two treats and words of praise, and repeated her praiseworthy behavior immediately. In other words, she was able to concentrate, even when in a stressful situation; highly friendly to and interested in humans; and quick and easy to train.
Yes, I’m now fostering her. I’m determined to find her the perfect forever home – and I don’t intend for it to be mine! I really do enjoy the ease of a one-dog household, and the close relationship I have with my singleton dog. At the same time, I’ve been hijacked by a single-minded desire to see this dog in an appropriate and appreciative home.
My husband is perplexed. “We finally have Otto trained to be a really good dog; why on earth would you start all over again with a dog who doesn’t know anything?”
I’d be hard-pressed to answer that question as I’m shoring up the flimsy temporary fencing that keeps Otto out of the winter garden – and that Zip (she has a name now) keeps running right through, under, and over. Or when I’m filling the holes she’s dug in other places in the yard. Or mopping up the soup she spilled when she jumped up on the kitchen counter to investigate that delicious smell. Or standing outside in freezing weather (even as I’m afflicted with my second winter cold), waiting for Zip to pee, so I can praise and reward her.
But if I find it inconvenient and time-consuming to teach an exuberant, uneducated dog to fit into a human household, how much of a chance does she stand in a home with inexperienced owners, or ones who aren’t lucky enough to work at home? We have to do what we can. Please: Spay, neuter, foster, adopt!
Nasty, cold, blowing, snowing, sleeting, rainy day out and your dog won’t go out to potty? I can relate; I don’t much like to go out in bad weather either – even if I don’t have to poop and pee out there. Help is on the way. Here are five things you can do to help improve your dog’s winter “eliminate outside” outlook:
1. Go out with her.
She may be much more willing to brave the elements if her beloved human is with her. If you go with her you can keep her mind on her business, use her potty cue, get her to eliminate more quickly, and you will know if she’s empty or not. Don’t whine; if she has to go out, you can go out too!
2. Condition her to wear a coat and boots.
Watch this excellent video of Jean Donaldson conditioning her Chow, Buffy, to wear a head halter. Then use the same procedure with your dog’s coat and boots.
If she’s a short-coated, easily frozen kind of dog (think Chihuahua), you can hardly blame her for not wanting to go out on those wet, windy, or freezing days. When she’s happy to wear a coat, select the appropriate one for her from her ample wardrobe – a sweater for cool, blustery, fall days; a raincoat for wet ones; and a comfy down vest over the sweater for the days with real hypothermia potential.
3. Carry a large umbrella.
A big golf umbrella can completely protect a small-to-medium-sized dog from rain and snow, and partially protect a large one. While your thick-coated Great Pyrenees and water-resistant Labradors ought to be able to tolerate a little inclement weather, your thin-coated Great Dane might object. Remember to condition your dog to love your umbrella before you actually use it for weather purposes.
4. Build a covered potty area outside, and shovel a path to it.
Your dog will be happier to do her stuff outside if she has a spot that’s sheltered from wind and blowing snow or rain. Make it as close to the house as possible, so she doesn’t have to go far to get to it, and you don’t have to shovel as much snow. Be sure to build the shelter tall enough that you can stand under it, too!
5. Teach her to use an indoor litter box.
See “Indoor and Patio Litter Boxes for Home-Alone Dogs,” for directions on teaching your dog to use a litter box. Or at least put a litter box in your garage, or on your covered porch. The cold-aversive part of me thinks this is the best solution of all. If your dog has been really well trained not to go indoors you may need to start with teaching her to use her litter box outside, and when she’ll use it there, bring it indoors. At least you can do the training on warm sunny days, and use one or more of the other options to protect her outside on nasty days, until you’re ready to move the box indoors.
Purina makes small litter boxes and “secondnature,” a litter especially for dogs (although many dog owners use cat litter in their dog litter boxes). Some pet owners find puppy “pee pads” to be an adequate replacement for a litter box. But there are also a number of products on the market that simulate a bit of lawn for your dog’s indoor elimination. The “Porch Potty” is a box that accommodates the use of either real or artificial grass turf and contain any liquid runoff. The Ugodog is a similar system that employs the use of a mesh grating instead of a grass or grass-like surface for the dog to eliminate on. These products are fairly expensive, but may be just the thing for your fair-weather dog. Happy winter. Stay warm!
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.
Years ago, I had high hopes for participating in dock diving sport with my now-9-year-old dog, Woody. But it turned out that my high-jumping, strong-swimming dog absolutely hates getting water in his ears!
