Last month, I used this space to tell the story of my former neighbors, who bought a puppy from a puppy mill; despite my warnings to them, they didnt really get that they were buying from a puppy mill until they received an underaged, very ill puppy who is clearly not the breed she was purported to be. I used the story to implore readers to take their time when looking for their next dog, never buy a dog sight unseen from the Internet, and to adopt from shelters and rescue groups.
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Three days before I sent this issue to press, I received the following note, containing very good advice, from a subscriber:
What a terrible experience your neighbors had with their Poodle puppy. Sad to say, they could have had the same experience with a Petfinder adoption. Adopting a dog over the Internet can have unintended results: dogs who are sick, aggressive, or misrepresented (age, temperament, even breed). Not all organizations presenting themselves as rescues on Petfinder are nonprofit (yes, some are puppy mills) and not all obey state laws about health certificates. Some circumvent these laws by having adopters meet the transport vehicle in a parking lot just over the state line.
Please advise your readers to work with a local rescue organization, where they can meet the dog before adoption. A good local rescue will take back the dog, for any reason, for the life of the dog.
In a bizarre coincidence, later that very day, I got a boots-on-the-ground lesson about exactly what the letter writer had described: rescue groups who promote adoptions of dogs on Petfinder.com, but turn out to be warehousing dogs and selling them, perhaps at a profit.
I happened to visit a shelter that was housing over 100 small dogs that had been seized days before in a raid on a so-called private rescue organization. All the dogs were small and very cute. They were also were infested with fleas, as well as every type of worm that exists. Almost every long-haired dog was matted down to the skin and had to be shaved. The shelter was free-feeding the dogs because every time they refilled a bowl, the dogs would reflexively rush for the food and fight. A dozen or so dogs were skin and bones clearly, the ones who couldnt or wouldnt fight for their share.
There were also a few dogs with injuries and others with severe skin problems.
There were also three litters of puppies, and many intact dogs. The rescue charged $250 to $350 per dog; according to the Petfinder.com description of this rescue facility, the adoption fee helped pay for neuter/rabies/dhlp [sic]/bordatella [sic]/worming/frontline, microchip, grooming, and heartgard. If those things were done at all, they must have been done just after a dog was paid for.
The shelter, in contrast, actually does all those things before a dog is adopted. And it charges $80 for most dogs small or large, cute or not. There are exceptions: the director frequently waives fees if it helps place a dog in a qualified home.
Ill write more about this subject in the December issue. Ill pass along information from experts on how to determine if a rescue is truly rescuing dogs, or profiting from their misery. For example, the owner/operator of the rescue conducted monthly adoption events at WalMart and Petco; in fact, potential adopters were always met elsewhere, not at the rescue facility. That should have been a warning sign right there.
Finally, Ill ask Petfinder.com what, if anything, it can do to weed out losers like this one. And not just Petfinder; Ive been told there are equally bad actors among the breed rescues listed on the American Kennel Clubs website.
Food rewards are powerful tools in the hands of a good positive trainer. Food is considered a primary reinforcer because it has innate value; a dog doesn’t have to learn to like food through association. Using a clicking sound made by a clicker (or other reward marker, such as the word “Yes!”), followed by a high-value food treat is a quick and easy way to send your dog a powerful positive message about which behavior he could repeat to get reinforced again.
Food is also commonly used in classical conditioning and counter-conditioning, to create and build a dogs positive association with a specific stimulus.
But what do you do when your dog can’t or won’t take a treat? It depends on the reason he has to decline the food offering. Try these tactics:
1.) If he’s too distracted: Try a higher-value treat. High-value treats for dogs tend to be meaty, smelly (like sardines or smelly cheese), or fatty treats, but for some dogs it might be slices of banana or apple, baby carrots, cat kibble, or buttery bits of toast.
Experiment with a wide variety of foods to find out what trips your dog’s treat trigger. If higher-value treats don’t work, remove your dog to a less distracting environment, gradually increasing distractions as he’s ready to handle them.
2.) If he’s too full: Schedule your training sessions before meals when he’s hungry, rather than after. If he was eating treats but stopped, try a different high-value treat. Eventually even the best treat can get boring.
Also, cultivate a backup list of secondary reinforcers for use when he’s full. These may include playing a game with you (chasing a ball, tugging on a rope toy, chasing after you), being petted, or hearing cheerful praise. Be sure they’re really reinforcing to him! Does he seek them out? Then they are reinforcing. If he turns away or declines them, they are not.
3.) If he’s too stressed: Reduce your dog’s stress level. If you’re doing counter-conditioning, reduce the intensity of the aversive stimulus to a level where he’ll notice the stressor but still take treats. Increase the distance between your dog and the stressor, decrease the movement of the stressor, turn down the volume, etc. If you’re out and about, for example, on the first night of a training class just hang out in a corner with him until he habituates to (gets used to) the new environment and starts taking treats. Use backup reinforcers to improve your dog’s emotional state: a game of tug may cheer him up enough to eat. If he won’t eat from your hand, he may take treats dropped on the floor.
4.) If he’s not feeling well: If your dog is too sick to eat treats, or in too much pain, you shouldn’t be training. You can improve his associations and relieve his stress with acupressure and calming massage. There’s a calming acupressure point in a dog’s ear: gently rub his ear flap, near but not at the very end, between your thumb and fingers in a circular motion. If he can’t eat due to pending surgery, or to avoid carsickness but is otherwise fine, use alternative reinforcers.
5.) If you’ve run out: When you find yourself digging for treat crumbs in the corners of your pockets, you’ll be glad you have that list of alternative reinforcers! Also, don’t be afraid to delve into your own lunch box or refrigerator for treat alternatives. As long as you avoid the obvious no-no’s like chocolate, cooked chicken bones, grapes, raisins, and onions, most of what we call “human food” is fair game for dog treats.
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Dogs weighing 75 pounds or more may not be fully protected
On August 13, Virbac Animal Health, Inc. announced that it was recalling certain lots of Iverhart Plus® Flavored Chewable Tablets, a heartworm preventative. Routine stability testing found these lots no longer contained enough ivermectin to be effective for dogs weighing more than 75 pounds.
Lot numbers 090093 and 090095 of Iverhart Plus Large (51-100 pounds) were recalled. A third lot for small dogs (up to 25 pounds), 090073, was also recalled because it was found to be nearing the potency limit. These lots were sold to distributors starting March 20, so any product purchased earlier would not be affected.
The recalled product is not harmful, but may leave larger dogs unprotected from heartworm infection. Virbac recommends that dogs who weigh more than 75 pounds who were given the recalled product be tested five to six months after the last dose was given (I advise waiting the full six months to test your dog, since it can take that long for heartworm larvae to mature into adults that can be detected by heartworm tests).
Virbac will reimburse veterinarians for heartworm tests performed on 75-plus-pound dogs who were given the defective product. Their standard product guarantee will also cover heartworm treatment for any dog taking Iverhart Plus who is found to be infected with heartworms.
If you purchased the recalled product, you should return any unused portion to your place of purchase for replacement from a different lot number. The lot number is listed on the bottom lid/flap of the box in a white text field and on the blister foil of the individual doses. Note that even though dogs who weigh less than 75 pounds are fully protected now, the product may lose further potency over time, so it’s important to replace it rather than continue to use it even if your dog is under the weight limit. That also applies to the single lot for smaller dogs that was recalled.
Virbac has notified its distributors and are asking them to notify the veterinary clinics who purchased the recalled lots. Only those who received the recalled lots will be contacted, so your veterinarian may not be aware of this recall.
Testing has confirmed that all other lots of Iverhart Plus Flavored Chewable Tablets remain potent. Only the three lots identified are affected by this recall. Mary Straus
For more information:
Virbac Technical Services
(800) 338-3659, ext. 3052;
virbacvet.com/news
Sales Outlets for Greenies Have Been Restricted
Distribution reverts to pet specialty retailers and veterinary clinics
In May 2009, the Greenies® line of pet dental chews disappeared from supermarkets and other mass markets. Some dog owners, aware that the maker of Greenies had been sued by owners of dogs who died, allegedly from intestinal obstructions caused by an undigested Greenies chew, assumed the company had ceased manufacturing the “dental treat.” Actually, beginning in June, the distribution of the product was reconfigured; now Greenies are available only through veterinary hospitals and pet specialty retailers.
A statement on the product website (greenies.com) explains the rationale for the change of distribution, stating, “Greenies products are marketed exclusively through pet specialty retailers and veterinary clinics where knowledgeable staff is equipped to answer pet owner questions and make the right recommendation. This is particularly important for clinically proven canine Greenies dental chews, as each of the five sizes is specially formulated to deliver the maximum dental benefit to each weight range.”
In 2006, consumer complaints and a subsequent CNN investigation uncovered 40 cases over a three-year period in which the green chews had become lodged in a dog’s esophagus or intestine. Reports indicate that 13 of those dogs died, despite veterinary treatment.
Following that investigation, the products were reformulated in order to make the chews “safe, soluble, and easily digestible.” Its website states, “Since the product was reformulated in 2006, there have been no reports of blockages or obstructions.”
Greenies may be more digestible than they used to be, but we’ve never been fans of the chews. The products don’t come in a large enough size to prevent rapid consumption by large dogs or dogs who tend to gulp or aggressively consume their chews. There are more natural products capable of helping to keep your dog’s teeth clean that don’t contain the highly processed ingredients used in Greenies fresh, raw, meaty bones, for example. Please note that your dog must be actively supervised when chewing any product. Chews should be taken away from any dog who chews too aggressively or swallows large pieces. And when any chew is small enough to be swallowed, it should be taken away and safely disposed.
The Greenies line was originally invented by S&M NuTec, based in Kansas City, Missouri. Although the Greenies products are still manufactured by S&M NuTec, the entire line of Greenies products was acquired by Nutro Products, Inc., in May 2007. Nutro, in turn, was purchased by corporate food giant Mars, Inc.
-Pat Miller and Nancy Kerns
Law also protects those who report abuse to authorities
In August, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed new legislation that amends Illinois Humane Care for Animals Act, as well as the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act, affirming the link between animal abuse and child abuse.
The new law requires investigating animal welfare and child welfare agencies to report suspected abuse incidences to each other. Animal welfare investigators who have reasonable cause to suspect or believe that a child is being neglected or abused must now make a written or oral report to the State Department of Children and Family Services. Investigators employed by the Department of Children and Family Services must report suspected animal abuse or neglect to the Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Animal Health and Welfare.
The measure also provides for immunity from liability and confidentiality of identity for persons, institutions, and agencies participating in good faith to report or investigate abuse or neglect.
At least one other state has a reciprocal reporting law. California humane officers are mandated reporters, while child protection workers may report but are not mandated to do so.
-Pat Miller
Trilostane Approved by FDA
Veterinarians treating dogs with Cushing’s disease now have new tool
In May 2009, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the approval of the drug trilostane (Vetoryl) for the treatment of hyperadrenocorticism (Cushing’s disease) in dogs.
Trilostane has been used in the U.K. since 2001, but until recently, anyone who wanted to use this drug to treat their dog in the U.S. had to fill out a lot of paperwork to get permission to import it. The FDA’s approval means the drug will now be readily available to veterinarians. There are, however, many unanswered questions about trilostane, including whether it’s safer than traditional treatment.
Cushing’s disease occurs when the body produces too much cortisol. It causes increased appetite and thirst, skin problems, muscle weakness, and panting. It can also predispose a dog to other conditions such as diabetes and pancreatitis.
There are two types of Cushing’s disease: adrenal and pituitary.
Pituitary Cushing’s is the most common, accounting for 85 percent of cases. Pituitary Cushing’s is caused by a small, usually benign tumor of the pituitary gland that overproduces the hormone ACTH, which in turn tells the adrenal glands to produce excess cortisol. These tumors are usually too small to remove, so pituitary Cushing’s is managed with medications that suppress the production of cortisol.
Adrenal Cushing’s is caused by a tumor on one of the adrenal glands. It is often treated with surgery to remove the tumor. There are three drugs that have been commonly used to treat the pituitary form of Cushing’s disease in dogs:
■Lysodren (mitotane) is the traditional therapy, though its use is off-label. This chemotherapy drug works by eroding layers of the adrenal glands. Lysodren is relatively inexpensive, but careful monitoring is needed to prevent a life-threatening Addisonian crisis if cortisol levels are reduced too far. Lysodren can also cause permanent changes to the adrenals, requiring continued treatment for Addison’s disease (hypoadrenocorticism).
■Ketoconazole, an anti-fungal drug that suppresses cortisol as a side effect, is safer than Lysodren, as it does not affect the adrenal glands. However, it is very expensive, especially for large dogs, and it is not effective in 20 percent of dogs. Its use in treating Cushing’s is also off-label.
■L-deprenyl (Anipryl or selegeline) is an MAO inhibitor that acts on the pituitary gland itself. While considered very safe, it is questionable how well L-deprenyl works, particularly since its more difficult to measure the response with this drug, and because it can take some time to begin working. The manufacturer’s study found L-deprenyl helped more than 80 percent of dogs it followed. However, a separate, independent study concluded that only 20 percent of treated dogs improved. L-deprenyl is the only other drug approved by the FDA for treatment of Cushing’s.
Trilostane inhibits an enzyme that is needed in the production of cortisol. As with Lysodren, this drug has the potential to cause a life-threatening Addisonian crisis if cortisol levels go too low. Initially, it was thought that trilostane would not cause permanent changes to the adrenal glands, but in a small percentage of cases, for reasons that are unknown, it’s been found to cause sometimes fatal adrenal necrosis as well as permanent Addison’s disease.
For these reasons, the same type of careful monitoring is needed as with Lysodren. Two studies found that the risk of either permanent or life-threatening Addison’s was 2 to 3 percent for trilostane, and 2 to 5 percent for Lysodren. Unlike with Lysodren, these adverse effects of trilostane do not appear to be dose-dependent, so there’s no way to predict which dogs may react. Trilostane is more expensive than Lysodren and must be given more frequently.
When switching from Lysodren to trilostane, it’s best to wait at least a month in between. Dogs who have been treated with Lysodren in the past may be more susceptible to the effects of trilostane.
Both Lysodren and trilostane can also be used to treat the adrenal form of Cushing’s, when surgery is considered too risky.
-Mary Straus
For more information:
Dechra Veterinary Products
(913) 327-0015; dechra-us.com
Passing by all manner of things in the real world – and being passed by them – is an important canine good manners skill. Unfortunately, it seems to be one that is absent in many dogs’ behavior repertoires. Some training classes don’t address this behavior challenge at all. Others do, but owners don’t always take time to generalize the behavior outside the training center. Their dogs, in the real world, still bounce over to greet any and all comers on the street, or on the opposite end of the continuum, shy away from people and things that frighten them.
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My “Downtown Hound” class graduated in early September with a celebration at Nutter’s Ice Cream in nearby Sharpsburg. It was a 90 degree-plus day with high humidity, and the ice cream parlor was a popular spot in this small Maryland community. I watched with pride as the four dogs lay quietly at their humans’ feet, happily downing the occasional offered dog treat while their owners licked ice cream cones. More importantly, they rested quietly as people walked by with strollers and dogs, kids on skateboards flew past noisily, and motorcycles, trucks, and cars rumbled by a few feet away on busy Main Street.
I offer this class for students who want to a structured opportunity to work on their dogs’ real-life skills. It’s a summertime-only class; we take advantage of daylight savings time to give us enough light for evening get-togethers. We go to a variety of locations: the local outlet mall, a dog-friendly outdoor cafe, Hagerstown City Park, the C&O Canal, and downtown Sharpsburg. In each venue, the focus is on polite behavior as we pass by whoever else might be there: Shoppers at the mall; evening strollers, bird watchers, ducks, and swans at the park; walkers, bikers, joggers, and fisher-people at the canal; and town folks in Sharpsburg. And of course, occasional other dogs on leashes.
In order to participate in Downtown Hound, dog/human teams have to pass my Peaceable Paws Intermediate Class or, if they trained elsewhere, pass an evaluation. I want to be sure their leash-walking and owner-focus skills are solid enough to handle the excitement of the real world.
The first session is a refresher course here on my farm. Class members hike on the trails and practice passing each other. When the dogs pay attention to their handlers (over all else), the handlers respond with a lot of clicks – a noise made by a small plastic box called a clicker, used to mark the moment a dog exhibits a behavior we want – and treats, to reward and reinforce the attention-paying behavior.
We set up the teams six to eight feet apart in an open meadow with the dogs on a sit-stay or down-stay. One at a time, the handlers ask their dogs to heel, weaving in and out of the living weave poles. As each canine and human pair takes their place at the end of the row, another pair walks by them. We also practice recalls in an open field, with the dogs on long lines (and off-leash when possible), to tune up that important skill, just in case a leash gets dropped in the real world and a recall is needed. The following six weeks we meet off-property.
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Five tools for polite passing Our first outing is usually to the outlet mall. The sidewalks there are wide and there are lots of grassy spaces, so it’s easy for us to avoid people if one of our dogs is behaving in a rude manner.
Dogs should never greet a passer-by unless he’s been invited to do so, and even then the greeting should be polite – a “say please” sit. I remind the group that they are supposed to be good canine ambassadors, always on the alert for human body language that says an approaching person isn’t comfortable with dogs, and giving those people an extra wide berth.
Dog-dog interactions follow similar rules. Our canine pals should walk politely past another dog on the sidewalk, greeting only if and when both human parties agree to a meeting and the dogs are given permission to do so (hence our “living weave poles” exercise).
The key to polite passing is focused attention – assuming the dog already has reasonably polite leash-walking skills (see “Good Dog Walking,” Whole Dog Journal March 2007). If you can keep your dog focused on you, he will walk politely; it’s as simple as that. Simple, but definitely not easy! Here are the exercises we practice in my training center’s basic classes to lay a focus foundation for real life:
• Good lookin’: When dogs come to class for the first time, they are understandably distracted – just as your dog is when he gets to go out with you in the big wide world. Lots of very exciting stuff happening! It’s ineffective to beg and plead for your dog’s attention. Instead, I tell my students to sit in a chair and wait. The instant their dog looks at them or even glances in their general direction, they should click their clickers and feed their dogs a treat.
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You can do the same with your dog when you take him out in public. Sit on a folding chair on your front lawn, or on a bench in a park, or in front of the post office, and wait. The instant your dog looks at you, or near you, click and feed him a high value treat. You’re reinforcing his offered attention, teaching your dog that if he chooses to look at you he can make you click and give him a treat.
Over time, “shape” this behavior (reward successively more precise behavior) for longer eye contact, and then for making eye contact with you when you’re both walking. If he’s making eye contact with you when you pass someone on the sidewalk, he can’t be looking at them!
• Name game: If your dog’s not offering attention, you can always ask for it – if you’ve taught him that his name means “Look at me for something wonderful!” Say his name, then feed him a tasty treat.
Repeat this game regularly, until your dog instantly swivels his head toward you at the sound of his name. Then practice with increasing levels of distraction. Now you can get his attention, if he doesn’t offer it.
• Zen attention: Getting your dog’s attention is one thing; keeping it is sometimes an entirely different matter. This exercise makes it clear to your dog that eye contact with you, not just looking at the treat, is what gets reinforced. The game also allows you to “shape” for duration.
With your dog sitting in front of you, hold a treat out at arms’ length to the side. He will likely watch the treat. Just wait. Here’s the Zen part. In order to get the treat he has to look away from it – back at you. The instant he looks at you (as if to say, “Hey Mom, what’s the deal here?”) you click and feed him the treat. Then do it again. Most dogs figure this out amazingly quickly. When he comprehends that looking at you – not the treat – gets the treat, you can add your “Watch me” cue, and start shaping for longer duration of eye contact.
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• Me, not that: Now it’s distraction time. With your “Watch me” cue solidly installed, ask a family member or friend to walk past while you’re reinforcing your dog for looking at you. Use a high rate of reinforcement at first (click and treat a lot) – then decrease the frequency as your dog figures out the game. If he looks away, use his name or your “Watch me” cue to get his attention back. Click and treat!
Gradually increase the intensity of the distraction: Start walking with your own dog toward your human distraction, have your friend whistle, clap his hands, or jingle car keys while walking past, then jog, then bounce a ball – get creative! Now take him to a low-distraction public place to start your real-life practice. With each successful session under your belt, you can plan for a more distracting venue the next time.
• The Premack look: Perhaps your dog is a social butterfly and really wants to greet the people and other dogs you’re asking him to pass. You can use something called the Premack Principle to your advantage, by teaching him that polite passing sometimes gets reinforced by the opportunity to greet. Premack, also referred to as “Grandma’s Law,” says you can use a more desirable behavior to reinforce a less desirable one (you have to eat your vegetables before you can have dessert).
To use the Premack Principle for polite passing, start by hiding high-value treats in an open area (remember where you hid them!), and practicing polite leash walking in that area. Occasionally when your dog is giving you wonderful focused attention, say “Find it!” and run with him to the nearest hidden treat. You’re teaching him that great attention makes unexpected treasures happen.
Now bring your friend back into the picture. Practice your polite passing, and occasionally after an excellent pass-by, when you’re several feet beyond the person say “Go say hi!” and turn around to let him (politely) greet. In public, when someone asks if they can pet your dog, ask them to play this wonderful game with you. Be sure to do the greeting randomly (sometimes but not always), and vary the distance you pass the other person before you greet, so your dog doesn’t start expecting to greet everyone he passes.
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With these five strategies for gaining your dog’s attention at your disposal, you and your dog should be able to skate through any public polite passing opportunities. That is, unless your dog is fearful. If you’re having difficulty passing people, dogs and/or things on the street because your dog’s afraid of them, you’re looking at a whole different challenge – passing scary stuff.
Passing other dogs Perhaps the most frequent transgression of canine passing etiquette occurs when dog owners routinely allow their canine charges to dash up to every other dog they see, often despite the other owner’s obvious and desperate attempts to avoid interaction.
“It’s okay,” they say. “My dog’s friendly!”
“Friendly” isn’t the point. The dog being approached may be fearful of other dogs, or may react poorly to dogs getting in his space – or face. He may be recovering from an injury or surgery. The human being approached may simply choose not to have her dog interact with others while on leash, for a myriad of valid reasons. Whatever the case may be, uninvited on-leash greeting is simply rude behavior.
The five tools for polite passing are doubly, maybe even triply important when you and your dog are passing others with their dogs. The ultimate challenge is keeping your dog focused on you and passing politely even when the other dog is doing everything in his power to get your dog to engage. Now there’s good attention training!
Passing scary stuff The dog who is fearful may exhibit one of a number of behaviors when asked to pass his fear-eliciting stimuli. He may cling to his owner’s side, seeking protection, trying to pass the monster as quickly as possible. He may try to flee, running away to the end of the leash and thrashing in panic when he feels the restraint. Or he may become defensively aggressive, offering a display of teeth and noise to try to ward off the scary thing. All of these behaviors are embarrassing and unacceptable in public, and the third one can pose a significant threat to the safety of passers-by. The fear-aggressive dog is quite likely to bite if he feels sufficiently trapped or threatened.
Ideally, you’ll avoid over-threshold public exposures for a dog who is fearful, until your behavior modification efforts succeed in building canine confidence using either counter-conditioning and desensitization (see “Fear Itself,” Whole Dog Journal April 2007), operant conditioning (see “Building Better Behaviors,” May 2008), or a combination of the two. In a pinch, feeding your dog some high-value treats while retreating to a safe distance or moving swiftly past the scary thing can get you and your fearful dog out of a tight spot. If your dog loves targeting (see “Right on Target,” February 2006), you can also use “Touch!” to temporarily give him a little more confidence and improve his emotional state while keeping him focused on you and the target you’re asking him to touch with his nose or a paw.
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Note: Do not try to have the scary person feed your dog treats. This is a good way to get someone bitten: the dog is coaxed over threshold and temporarily distracted by the temptation of the high-value treat, but after he eats it he realizes he’s too close to the scary person and may be compelled to bite.
Emergency escape Alternatively, if you know that hurrying past a scary person or thing is not a viable option, an emergency escape can get you and your frightened Fido out of a perilous predicament. Rather than passing, you’re going to turn and run the other way. First, however, you’ll take the time to teach your dog that “run away fast!” is a really fun game.
Pick a cue, such as “Run awaaaay!” that will easily pop into your brain in times of stress. In the comfort of your dog’s own familiar surroundings, practice polite leash walking. Occasionally, unexpectedly, announce, “Run awaaaay!” while you whirl and dash off as fast as you can in the opposite direction with your dog bounding along beside you. After you’ve run 20 to 30 feet, sometimes fling a handful of treats out in front of your dog, sometimes whip out a ball and throw it for him to chase, and sometimes pull out a hidden rope toy and play a rousing round of tug.
Your goal is to make this an absolutely wonderful, fun game for him. When you succeed, you’ll have a powerful tool for those emergency encounters; your “Run awaaaaaay!” cue will take advantage of his classical “Yay, fun!” association with the game to help manage his emotional state, and his operant response to the cue will get the two of you safely away from the scary thing.
Of course, fearful dogs aren’t good candidates for a Downtown Hound class. One of our class members, a Spitz named Dexter who showed up last winter as a stray on the doorstep of his owners-to-be, started out with some fear issues in our good manners classes. Thanks to the diligent work of his human, Maryann Hamilton, he overcame his fears and was able to graduate from the class with honors.
Our class also included three dogs without fear-related behaviors: Walden, a year-old Labrador Retriever/service dog-in-training; Harley, a hound-mix practicing his public good manners skills partly in preparation for upcoming rally trials, and Mo, an 11-month-old, 100-pound Rottweiler/Shepherd-mix, who needs good manners for his owner who doesn’t weigh much more than he does.
All of the teams became quite skilled at politely passing each other, strangers, and other dogs in public places. You could say they all “passed” the class with flying colors!
Pat Miller, CPDT, is Whole Dog Journal’s Training Editor. Miller lives in Hagerstown, Maryland, site of her Peaceable Paws training center. Pat is also author of The Power of Positive Dog Training; Positive Perspectives: Love Your Dog, Train Your Dog; Positive Perspectives II: Know Your Dog, Train Your Dog; and Play with Your Dog.
Nine-year-old Armond, a handsome Bouvier, had his right hind leg amputated after his veterinarian discovered osteosarcoma. His guardian, Fanna Easter, then enrolled him in a rigorous chemotherapy regimen designed to knock the cancer out of his system. Seven days after his first treatment, Armond was still reluctant to eat, and had lost close to two pounds. Easter tried everything, from home-cooked beef and pork, to McDonald’s, Arby’s, liverwurst, potted meat, sardines, four types of canned dog food, and more. The most Armond ate at any one time was two bites.
Two different veterinarians recommended that Easter add acupuncture to Armond’s treatment regimen for help with his discomfort and lack of appetite. Easter is a self-proclaimed “huge skeptic,” but, desperate to do something to help her dog, she made an appointment for acupuncture with her veterinarian. Easter recalls sitting on the floor of the clinic with Armond as the veterinarian explained which acupuncture points she would focus on to treat Armond, including the nose area for nausea:
The vet placed the needle on his nose leather first, inserted the rest of the needles, and left the room. She immediately came back in with a bowl that contained canned dog food, which she presented to Armond. He turned his nose away, which did not surprise me. Calmly, she removed the food, waited for a count of three, showed it to him again, and he wolfed it down. This all transpired about 20 seconds after she’d inserted the needles. I thought, “This is not happening!”
Still the skeptic, I declared to the vet that it was a fluke. So she left the room and came back with another bowl containing another can full of food. He promptly, without any hesitation, wolfed it down. And I just cried!
Is it for real?
Randomized clinical trials in humans have shown that acupuncture is effective for dealing with chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, as well as post-operative pain, cancer-related pain, chemotherapy-induced leucopenia (excessive reduction in white blood cells), fatigue, xerostomia (unusual dryness of the mouth), and possibly insomnia, anxiety, and quality of life.
Further, esteemed U.S. cancer centers such as the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFC) in Boston, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, and M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston have begun to integrate acupuncture into their treatment plans.
The National Cancer Institute notes that the oldest medical book known, written in China 4,000 years ago, mentions acupuncture being used to treat medical problems. In the United States, acupuncture has been used for about 200 years, although research on acupuncture did not begin in the U.S. until 1976. And it was in 1996 that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the acupuncture needle as a medical device.
Susan Wynn, DVM, CVA, of Georgia Veterinary Specialists in Atlanta, has been using acupuncture with her cancer clients for 11 years. She notes that we’ve not yet seen studies conducted using dogs as subjects that are similar to the studies that have shown the positive results in humans. However, she adds, Anecdotal evidence mirrors what has been shown in people. The species are similar enough, and there are enough historical data that we feel confident using some human studies as guides to what we do. In the long run, she believes that we will need to see studies in dogs, simply to lend validity and credibility to the technique.
How it works
In a paper, “The Value of Acupuncture in Cancer Care,” published in 2008 in Hematology/Oncology Clinics of North America, the authors state that. . . studies of acupuncture in animal models and humans suggest that the effect of acupuncture is primarily based on stimulation to and the responses of the neuroendocrine system involving the central and peripheral nervous systems.
Dr. Wynn comments that, “In general, we see the systemic release of chemical mediators such as endorphins and serotonin.” In layman’s terms, those are the “feel good” chemicals of the body. Acupuncture is often used as a complementary method along with usual care to provide additional pain reduction and can, in fact, lessen the need for prescription painkillers.
The National Cancer Institute’s website says that, “Acupuncture may cause physical responses in nerve cells, the pituitary gland, and parts of the brain. These responses can cause the body to release proteins, hormones, and brain chemicals that control a number of body functions. It is proposed that, by these actions, acupuncture affects blood pressure and body temperature, boosts immune system activity, and causes the body’s natural painkillers, such as endorphins, to be released.”
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) guides the clinical practice of acupuncture in the U.S. During acupuncture, certain physical “points” or locations on the body are tonified (stimulated) or sedated (suppressed). Some points are indicated for common symptoms, but the patient’s overall symptom pattern or “picture” is also taken into account by the practitioner.
Diane Castle, DVM, CVA, of the Union Hill Animal Hospital in Canton, Georgia, has been using acupuncture in her clinic since 2001. She explains, Points are chosen based on the pattern the patient presents with. Patients with the same type of cancer may present with different patterns and therefore be treated with different points.
When to use acupuncture
Dr. Wynn uses acupuncture in her cancer patients to target nausea, neutropenia/immunosuppression, and fatigue. She recommends it primarily for addressing side effects of chemotherapy and/or radiation treatments, but also uses acupuncture to alleviate cancer pain and for hospice situations.
Dr. Castle has seen acupuncture help in cases of anorexia, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, oral ulcers secondary to chemo, bleeding, pain, and weight loss.
Dr. Castle and Dr. Wynn agree that there is not a typical protocol to follow, and both frequently use a combination of acupuncture, herbs, and diet to support cancer patients. Dr. Wynn has seen programs range from a single treatment, up to regular treatments for the life of the animal. Dr. Castle points out that, Treatment intervals will vary with the pet and how they respond to treatment, how often the owner is able to get them in for treatment, and whether or not we have to work with a chemotherapy schedule.
Karissa Carpenter’s white German Shepherd, Baby, was diagnosed with lymphoma at age 11. Two months after her diagnosis, Baby’s family added acupuncture to her treatment plan, taking her in for acupuncture anywhere from every week, to every three weeks, depending how the dog was feeling. We would get there for our appointment, and Baby would take a nap while she was being treated, says Carpenter. She would just be so much more comfortable, and her old age creakiness seemed to be alleviated by acupuncture. We continued taking her in for acupuncture right up until she died. We even had an appointment scheduled for that last week.
Dr. Castle, Baby’s veterinarian, adds that in addition to helping Baby feel more comfortable, she used acupuncture to treat vomiting that occurred during chemo. At one point, the internist administering the chemotherapy took Baby off Metacam (a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory); since she was unable to stay on the medication for arthritis, acupuncture was the major treatment for keeping her comfortable. Baby lived for close to two more years after her cancer diagnosis.
Quality of life
It is possible that a dog will not respond to acupuncture. Dr. Wynn has seen this in some dogs who have had severe reactions to chemo and who do not respond to acupuncture alone; they need critical care support and time.
Dr. Castle concurs, but adds, “Of course there are some who don’t respond, but I feel I can generally improve the quality of life for the pet even if the time left is short.”
Both vets emphasize the importance of preserving or improving the patient’s quality of life and have seen many clients turn to acupuncture when no other options were furthering that goal. Dr. Castle relates the story of a 12-year-old Corgi who was diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma of the spleen and heart. The internist gave the dog two to four weeks to live if the dog did not have surgery to remove the spleen. The owners elected not to put him through the surgery, but a combination of Chinese herbs and acupuncture gave him and his family several happy months together.
In humans, a study involving 40 ambulatory patients with advanced ovarian or breast cancer who received conventional palliative care (treatment of symptoms) also received acupuncture for 8 weeks (12 sessions). A significant decrease in symptom severity was seen for fatigue, pain, and insomnia. Quality of life measures showed higher positive scores during acupuncture treatment than before treatment and were sustained for 12 weeks relative to baseline.
Who’s a candidate?
Really any canine cancer patient can benefit; the only contraindication is using needles near a tumor. This makes having a confirmed cancer diagnosis critical. Dr. Wynn explains, I sometimes hesitate to do acupuncture on a patient for symptomatic therapy; if I suspect a tumor, I’m not comfortable until I know what’s there.
That brings up two points: using a veterinary acupuncturist who is certified in the technique, and informing your dog’s veterinary oncologist about using acupuncture as part of your dog’s treatment plan.
Look for a practitioner trained by one of the large acupuncture education organizations such as the International Veterinary Acupuncture Society or the Chi Institute. They should have the knowledge to address cancer patients, and should have the designation of Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist (CVA). See “Resources Mentioned in This Article,” below, for listings of veterinary acupuncturists.
I asked Terrance Hamilton, DVM, ACVIM (Oncology), an oncologist at Georgia Veterinary Specialists whether he actively advocates the use of acupuncture for his oncology patients. The quick answer? No. However, he is supportive of those clients who wish to utilize acupuncture in their dogs treatment plans, and fully believes in a complementary approach to dealing with cancer.
Dr. Hamilton’s area of focus is narrow, he admits, and he feels out of his comfort zone actively recommending acupuncture. Nevertheless, he understands that acupuncture is great for pain control, having witnessed firsthand several years ago anesthesiologists using acupuncture to alleviate pain in dogs having head trauma.
Dr. Wynn comments, The fact that many private specialty and veterinary school practices have acupuncturists speaks more to public demand and the curiosity of certain practitioners, usually anesthesiologists, rather than any interest by oncologists or other specialists.
In memory of Armond
After Armond’s difficulty with chemotherapy, Easter elected to abandon the chemo regime, despite the oncologist’s suggestion to continue, opting instead to focus on his quality of life. She continued to take Armond for acupuncture biweekly; his veterinarian focused on building his immunity and relieving pain associated with the amputation (and later for arthritic areas). Easter reported that after each acupuncture session, Armond slept the first day or two then he was hell on three legs! His Bouv grin came back and he was busy in everyone’s business again!
On August 23, Armond lost his six-month battle with osteosarcoma. Would his owner have done anything differently? Nope, and she credits acupuncture with giving him more good days than bad as he fought his fight. Acupuncture really helped Armond manage this nasty disease with pain control and quality of life. I can’t say enough great things about it.
Three months ago, I introduced Otto to canoeing. This was only a couple of weeks after my husband had unwittingly traumatized Otto by dragging him across some fast-moving streams on a fishing trip. When I briefly described that event in the August 09 issue, I don’t think I mentioned that this fishing trip happened when I was out of town; I didn’t learn that Brian was going to take Otto fishing until after it was all over. Brian tends to fish for many hours in a focused way; had I known about the trip, I would have tried to convince him that bringing the dog would be a distraction, and that
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Otto would need support and attention on a new type of adventure. Otto has, on a number of occasions, shown himself to be a little anxious about new experiences. So I’ve tried very hard to introduce him to strange places or activities in stages, always leaving plenty of time to allow him to explore and learn to deal with novel situations at his own pace. And I don’t take him anywhere new without a lot of high-value treats on hand, so I can reinforce any effort on his part to be brave – and to classically condition him to enjoy trying new things. In the long run, I want Otto to be able to confidently and happily go camping, backpacking, hiking, fishing, and, yes, canoeing with us.
However, I think Brian’s view is that I’m coddling the dog. Despite his many years of proximity to Whole Dog Journal’s editorial office, he’s really not a “dog person.” On the other hand, he likes Otto! So he probably thought no further than to associate walking in the woods and by a stream with Otto (something we do all the time) with bringing the dog along on a fishing trip.
A fine point that didn’t occur to Brian: Otto likes wading quite a bit, but he doesn’t like to swim. He can swim; I’ve seen him paddle well when he accidentally steps into deep water. But he tries to avoid this.
So, anyway, it was a disaster. Brian had to cross the stream a number of times; the stream was deep enough (to a dog) that it involved swimming a few strokes; and it was fast enough that Otto was frightened and dug in his heels. Brian dragged him across, losing Otto’s collar and tags at one point – and losing Otto’s trust and interest in accompanying Brian out the front door for a week or two afterward.
Nobody is perfect Fast-forward a few weeks; Brian and I had a free afternoon. He wanted to fish. I wanted to introduce Otto to our very long, wide, flat-bottomed, stable canoe. We decided to try to accomplish all our goals. This time, though, we had an alternate plan: If Otto was not happy in the canoe, I’d take him for a hike along the river instead, and Brian would fish from the canoe.
I brought Otto’s life jacket, a bait bag full of cut up hot dogs, a thick mat for Otto to sit or lie on, and two leashes, so we could both hold leashes, in effect “cross-tying” him (without tying him to the canoe, of course!). We put the canoe in the water, and I put the mat on the floor. I stood in the water, holding the canoe steady, and said, “Otto, here!”
I expected him to sniff and stretch cautiously toward the canoe, and maybe put a foot on the edge. Instead, he jumped in! And immediately looked at me for some hot dogs. And then sat on the mat and looked at Brian like, “What are you waiting for? Get in the boat!” He rode calmly and quietly, watching birds, and occasionally getting up to lap at the water over the edge of the canoe. It was as if he spent his whole life riding in a boat.
Late that night, still excited, I bragged via e-mail to Terry Long, one of Whole Dog Journal’s regular writers and an experienced trainer. “What?!” she teased me, “You didn’t break it all down into steps, by securing the canoe so it would rock on shore first, then doing some shaping to let him know where to sit, not to move around, how to get in and out?”
So, I’m almost as bad as my husband! I know a lot, but not as much as a professional trainer. Fortunately, the foundation of positive training that we’ve laid is sound enough that Otto forgives our occasional mistakes. But my goal is to make fewer in the future!
1. If you have a mixed breed dog, Check out the Mixed Breed Dog Clubs of America, which offers conformation, obedience, and rally competition for mixed breeds.
2. Keep all your training sessions short and positive with your show dog.
3. Use a high rate of reinforcement when teaching a new behavior. Gradually reinforce your dog less with food and more with praise as he masters the tasks you are teaching him.
4. Check out author Vicki Ronchette’s book, Positive Training for Show Dogs, for more detail on training dogs for the show ring.
Sitting at ringside at a large dog show recently, I spotted a woman getting ready to go into the group ring with her Visla. After watching for a few minutes I commented to a friend that I thought the dog was clicker-trained. There was something very telling in the way the dog interacted with her handler that led me to believe that the dog felt comfortable trying things to impress her handler. After speaking to the handler, I found that the dog was clicker-trained, and had, in fact, been trained entirely with positive reinforcement methods. It is always very exciting for me to see people using these methods for the show ring.
You don’t have to be a judge to be able to recognize a show dog who loves what he is doing. A dog who really loves to show and enjoys what he is doing is obvious, even to the untrained eye.
Dog Show Basics
Almost everyone has been to a dog show or at least seen one on television, but not everyone knows how they work or why they exist. The original purpose of dog shows was for breeders to have their breeding stock judged. Many breeders will not breed a dog until the dog has completed its championship. The dogs who most closely match the breed standard in structure and temperament are the most desirable ones.
The largest registry for purebred dogs is the American Kennel Club (AKC). Most dog shows in the United States are AKC shows. There is also a United Kennel Club (UKC) and a Mixed Breed Club of America for people to compete in conformation with their spayed or neutered mixed breeds. I strongly recommend that anyone interested in doing dog sports with their mixed breed check out the Mixed Breed Dog Club. This organization allows mixed breeds to compete in conformation, obedience, and rally. It’s a lot of fun and a great way to get started in showing.
Successful Show Dogs: What it Takes
So, what does it take to be successful and win at dog shows? Besides having a dog who is a correct representative of his breed, you also need the dog to enjoy his “job.” Part of what makes a successful show dog is showmanship. A show dog needs to be able to perform and look like he enjoys it. The only way I know to preserve and enhance enjoyment of this work is through positive reinforcement techniques.
An important piece of the success puzzle is the relationship between the dog and the handler. In order for the dog to enjoy what he is doing and feel comfortable and relaxed in the ring, he needs to have a strong connection or relationship with the handler, whether the handler is his breeder, owner, or a professional handler. Positive reinforcement training can help strengthen that bond. Training methods that focus on positive reinforcement, rather than physical punishment, allow the dog to trust and feel safe with his handler; that, in turn, allows the dog to relax and enjoy strutting his stuff in the ring.
Clicker training and other positive training methods have made their way into many different areas of dog training, from teaching good manners to family pet dogs, to agility and rally competition training for professional canine athletes. The behaviors that are necessary for agility or obedience are much more complex than the behaviors required of a show dog. It only makes sense that positive training should find itself a place in show ring training as well. My goal is to make it the norm!
Positive reinforcement training can not only teach a dog the behaviors that he needs to perform in the ring, but also teach them in a way that the dog can have fun with and enjoy. Positive training allows the dog to try things and figure stuff out without having to worry about getting physically punished in any way. This, in and of itself, is incredibly powerful, particularly when part of the end goal is a dog who looks like he’s having fun.
There are three core behaviors that a show dog must learn to do well. He must be able to “gait,” “stack,” and be examined. Gaiting means moving at the proper speed and in the proper position without pulling on the lead, so that the judge can evaluate how the dog moves.
Stacking means he must be able to stand still on the ground (if he is a small dog, he must also learn to stand still on a table), so the judge can observe the dog and form an opinion as to how the dog appears when standing still.
Finally, a show dog must be able to stand still and remain calm while a judge examines him. The judge must actually put his or her hands on the dog to determine the overall structure of the dog. These are not particularly challenging things to teach. In fact, I have found that they are quite simple when using the clicker and other positive reinforcement techniques.
Equipment
To best show your dog’s conformation in the ring, you’ll need a special collar and leash combination.
For small dogs I like to use a Resco, “all in one” style collar with lead. The Resco is basically a loop with a slider that slides down to keep it snug where you want it on the dog’s neck. For medium or large dogs, I recommend a martingale style collar that closes up enough to keep the dog’s head from slipping out, but doesn’t continue to tighten like a choke collar would. There are “all in one” leash and collar martingales, or separate martingale collars that you can attach to a matching leash.
Clicker Training
I use clicker training a lot when working with show dogs. I see clicker training as sending non-emotional information to the dog. If your timing is good and your training plan is well thought-out, the clicker allows you to clearly communicate to the dog what, exactly, you want him to do.
How does this happen? The clicker tells the dog that whatever it was that he was doing when he heard the click was the behavior you want, and that a reward is coming.
In order for a dog to understand this, you have to set up a few training sessions for teaching the dog the relevance of the clicker. You do this by simply clicking and then giving the dog a treat. Practice this about 10 times in each session, then take a break. Make sure that you and the dog are not always in the same position or in the same location. You want him to learn that a click results in a treat, no matter what. Once you have done this, you can begin training some behaviors.
Keep your training sessions fairly short. Three minutes is enough time for a good session. Several short sessions throughout the day is plenty to teach the show ring behaviors. It’s fine to teach multiple new behaviors to a dog at the same phase of his training. However, it will help the dog if you work on each new behavior during its own, separate training session. For example, work on gaiting, and then take a break before moving on to stacking.
First Behavior: Gaiting
Gaiting a show dog seems like a simple behavior, but if you think about it, it’s pretty complex. You aren’t just “walking the dog.” Rather, you are asking the dog to walk at a certain speed, in a specific space in relation to your body. You don’t want the dog to pull on the leash, but you also don’t want him lagging behind. You need his tail and his head to be carried in the correct position for his breed. You don’t want him to sniff the ground or watch you as he moves. Oh, and he needs to look like he loves doing it! That’s a lot to ask for! You must train in baby steps to get there.
I typically start with the dog off-leash. I put some treats in my left hand and the clicker in my right hand. I let the dog know I have treats, and then I walk off. I click if the dog comes with me or if he even starts to come with me. After I click, I give him a treat at my left side, always with the dog’s head facing forward. I do not want the reinforcer to be delivered with the dog’s head facing me. Unlike heeling, where you may want the dog looking at the handler, in conformation we always want the dog’s head facing forward, so that the judge will always see the dog moving in profile.
Once the dog seems to understand what I’m rewarding him for, and is reliably moving alongside me, I will add the leash. At this point, I put the treats in my right hand and the clicker and leash in my left hand. Be sure to gather up the leash so it isn’t hanging down in a distracting manner.
Once again, start walking and click and treat immediately if the dog walks off with you – always delivering the treat with the dog’s head facing forward. If your dog pulls ahead, simply say “Uh-oh!” or “Oops!” in an upbeat voice, and go back to where you started. On the next attempt, try to click and treat very soon – before the dog has a chance to pull. Click and treat frequently, as long as he’s by your side. Do not yank or jerk on your dog’s neck; this will not help him understand what you want and it won’t teach him to like the conformation game.
Once your dog learns to move alongside you without pulling, you can begin to slowly “raise your criteria” – that is, require that he do a bit more before you deliver the click and treat. Adding changes is challenging, so only add one at a time. For instance, if your dog is watching you and pulling while you move, you might need to ignore the fact that he’s looking at you while you teach him not to pull. Once he isn’t pulling, you can begin to click only when his head is forward. Ask for small pieces at a time. This is really important because if you ask for too much, your dog won’t be able to figure it out and both of you will get frustrated.
Once the dog is moving correctly, in the right position and at the right speed, begin to click less often (lower the “rate of reinforcement”), until you are using mostly your voice as reinforcement, with infrequent treats. At this point, I put this on cue or command by telling my dogs, “Let’s go!” just as we take off.
Stacking
Stacking is the behavior in which the dog stands in the proper position for the written standard for his breed. There are two kinds of stacking: free stacking and hand stacking. Free stacking is when the dog finds the position on his own; while you may prompt him to reposition a foot or two, you don’t put your hands on the dog. Hand stacking is where you actually manipulate the dog into the position that you want.
photo by susan joseph
The dog will have to be stacked a few times in each visit to the show ring: immediately upon entering the ring; before being moved as a group; individually for hands-on examination by the judge; and at the end, for the lineup with the other dogs.
Small dogs will be examined by the judge on a table, so they must learn to stack both on the ground and on a grooming table. Medium and large dogs will be stacked on the ground. Some shorter but heavy breeds such as Basset Hounds and Bulldogs may be examined on ramp, or a lower larger table that they walk onto. Many people will hand stack the dog only for the judge’s examination and let the dog free stack the other times.
Hand Stacking
Don’t use a clicker for the hand stacking; it’s too easy to click right by the dog’s ear, which won’t be pleasant for the dog. Also, you will need both hands to hold the bait (treats) and reposition the dog. Small dogs will be hand stacked on the table and medium and large dogs will be hand stacked on the ground.
Start out with a good chunk of bait. With hand stacking, use bait the dog can nibble on, such as a slice of dog food roll (tubed food) or a chunk of chicken breast. Position the dog so he is standing sideways in front of you; you face his right side. With the food held securely and somewhat protected in your right hand, allow the dog to nibble and chew off little pieces as you position his body with your left hand.
Whether you place a small dog on the table or walk a large dog into a stack, always start with the dog’s front feet in the proper position; that way you have to reposition only the rear feet. When positioning the front legs, move the legs at the elbows. When repositioning the rear legs, move the legs at the hock. Never, ever reposition the dog’s legs by grabbing at his feet; this almost always makes him shift and reposition himself in a way that you don’t want. When hand stacking, always gently smooth your hands over the dog, keeping your hand on him, rather than pulling your hand off and back on his body, which can startle him and make him shift. Once he is in position, give him one last nibble, and then give him a break before you start over. Practice this until he is comfortable being hand stacked.
The next step will be to teach him to hold it. Stack him, then say “stay,” and pull the food away from his mouth for just a moment. If he holds his position, say “Yes!” and give him a bite of bait. Repeat this, slowly increasing the amount of time that you require him to stay put, as he becomes comfortable holding the position.
Some dogs will get too stimulated with a chunk of food and do better without the food being held at their mouths. For a dog like that, put the treats on a table nearby. Walk him in front of you (or put him on the table if it’s a small dog), then put your right hand into his collar, and gently talk to him as you reposition his front legs; then reach for a treat, give it to him, and then let him take a break.
Once he is comfortable with that, do the same thing, but then fix his rear feet as well. Gradually shape this behavior so you can stack him, have him hold the position, and then go and get a treat.
Free Stacking
Just like everything else, train this behavior in baby steps. Begin by getting some treats and your clicker. Initially, click if your dog stands, whether or not he stands perfectly. If he continues to stand, click and treat again and again. Move away and allow him to walk up to you, and click and treat him before he has an opportunity to do anything else. Continue to do this until your dog offers the stand position. Do this until your dog easily stands very frequently.
Next teach your dog how to stack himself in the position that you want. I like to teach the dog to “back up” (which means “step backward and reposition your rear feet”) and to “step” (which means “step forward so that both front feet are side by side”).
To teach “back up,” step slightly toward your dog and click and treat any shift of movement backward. Do not expect a full “back up” initially; shape it by clicking and reward increasingly correct, successive approximations of the backing up behavior. Another way to teach “back up” is to have the dog walk toward you in between two objects, such as the long narrow space between your couch and coffee table, and click and treat when he backs out. Once the dog is easily able to step back, say “back up” right as he backs, then click and treat.
To teach “step,” I simply prompt the dog by stepping back slightly and clicking and treating as soon as he moves a front foot forward. Once he can do this easily, say “step” just before you prompt him.
In the end, free stacking will look like a dance with you and the dog. If he doesn’t stack perfectly, you say “back up” and reinforce that, or “step” and then reinforce that. When he finally ends up just how you like it, say “stack” and then click and treat him! If he holds it, click and treat him again. Reinforce him richly when he finds the proper positioning.
Some people feel that show dogs shouldn’t be taught to sit because the dog will sit in the ring. This typically happens because the owners practice more sits than stands. If you reinforce standing a lot and make it very rewarding, there is no problem with teaching both sit and stand.
Judge’s Examination
Most social, well-adjusted dogs don’t mind the gentle handling meted out by a judge. However, you just have to make sure that your dog is comfortable with people putting their hands on him. Get him used to this as early as possible. Make it a part of your daily routine to put your hands all over your dog. Get him used to you examining his teeth. If you have a male dog, get him used to having his testicles touched. If you have a small breed that a judge may lift up (such as a Pekingese), get him used to this.
I like to let my dogs know what’s coming next by saying a word right before that part of the examination. Every time I examine my show dog’s bite, I say “mouth please!” so he knows it’s coming. I do this in the ring as well, to let him know that someone is about to look into his mouth. Once your dog is comfortable with you doing these things, practice by having friends do the same thing. Remember to let your friends know to be gentle and respectful when examining your dog.
Good handlers make showing a dog look easy. The truth is, the behaviors are not overly complex, but it will make your job – and your dog’s job – so much easier and more enjoyable if you really put the time into training them well. Using positive reinforcement techniques will not only help the dog enjoy the training process but also teach him to like the ring behaviors in general.
Vicki Ronchette, CPDT, CAP2, is a dog trainer and behavior consultant specializing in positive reinforcement training for show dogs. She is the author of Positive Training for Show Dogs: Building a Relationship for Success, and owns and operates Braveheart Dog Training, in San Leandro, California.
Forward! The judge cues the team to begin. The handler cues her dog to “heel” and, with her left arm bent in at her waist, briskly moves forward with her dog on her left side, heading toward the first in a series of signs that prompt her to cue one of a variety of behaviors. As she completes an “about turn,” a particularly challenging behavior for her long-bodied dog, she smiles, praises him, and moves on to the next sign, attempting to keep up a steady pace around the course of 20 signs. Wait! Did we hear her praise her dog in the ring? Horrors! Surely, the judge made note of that! He’s scribbling furiously now!
The handler moves toward another sign and executes the “halt / sit / down / walk around” maneuver. As she releases her dog, she praises him again and even sneaks in a quick pat on the head. She can’t be serious! The judge must be grinding that pencil to a nub now! Does this handler not know that talking or touching your dog in the ring is not allowed? Ah, but therein lies the unique nature of “rally obedience.” It’s not just the signs and the greater variety of behaviors involved; it’s the philosophy of this sport that makes it distinct from its cousin, traditional competition obedience. Rally obedience was envisioned as a sport that would promote the human-canine bond by allowing more natural communication in both training and competition than historically had been available in traditional obedience. The game This is a sport that takes a variety of useful real-life behaviors and strings them together into a “course” you take with your dog, guided by signs that call out behaviors in both text and graphics. Depending upon the level of competition and venue, there are anywhere between 18 and 22 signs. In addition to common behaviors such as sit, down, stay, come, and leash walking (heel), here are just a few of the behaviors required: •Halt / sit / stand •Halt / sit / down / walk around •Halt / leave dog / recall over jump •Halt / leave dog / send over jump •270-degree turn, right •270-degree turn, left •Call front / finish right •Call front / finish left •Moving side step •Moving back up / heel back three steps / then forward •Moving stand / leave dog •Serpentine weave (heeling around cones) These are just some of the variety of behaviors that may be strung together in rally as your dog heels next to you around the course. There are many more, depending upon the venue and the level of competition. The dog’s rapt attention to the handler and his quick and correct response to cues are critical to smooth completion of each course. There are time limits to complete each course, and your speed in completing the course can mean the difference between placements (e.g., 1st through 4th). Each course is “designed” by the judge and, as a result, can vary widely from competition to competition. This is in contrast to traditional competition obedience where the heeling patterns are very similar, the judge simply calling out variations of “right turn,” “left turn,” “about turn,” “fast,” “slow,” and “halt.” In traditional obedience, the judge follows the team very closely, while rally judges give the teams more room to perform the behaviors. This can be helpful for dogs who might be fearful or stressed with strangers lurking nearby. Many of the behaviors are useful behaviors to train for real-life use. As Pam Dennison, author of Click Your Way to Rally Obedience, says in her book, “Passing other dogs or people on the road or trail, getting around a show site, even taking your dog to a flea market will all be easier, more enjoyable, and safer if your dog knows the rally moves outlined in this book.” Originally a self-confessed traditional competition obedience “snob,” Dennison first attended a rally seminar only to see if it might be something she could offer her students as an alternative to traditional obedience. She was hooked. She teaches it to her students and has competed with her own dogs in events offered by two organizations – the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT) and American Kennel Club (AKC). Dennison’s book is a good resource, detailing the differences between APDT and AKC rally and providing lengthy instructions about how to train rally behaviors. This includes how to use the clicker in training and how to “proof” your training using positive reinforcement instead of punishment. (See sidebar, below, for additional books and DVDs.) Ann Ford of Hagerstown, Maryland, had also competed in AKC obedience before discovering rally. In 2004, she attended a rally seminar presented by Dennison. She was curious about this new sport because her Border Collie, Jenny, did not seem to enjoy traditional obedience. Jenny was a challenge because she was very easily stimulated by the environment, which made training very difficult. “Because I can interact with my dog throughout an APDT rally course, by verbally praising her and giving her food rewards (and also a pat on the head!), Jenny learned that working with me can be a whole lot of fun for both of us. She would pull and tug on her lead in the traditional obedience ring and we were both miserable, but in rally, she enjoys all of the exercises and happily dances next to me in beautiful heel position. I never thought I would ever be able to do any type of venue with her off-lead until we started rally, so I have a happy dog and I am a happy handler!
“That’s the most important part to me – that my dog is happy working with me. Rally has given that to us, for which I am so very grateful! Ribbons, placements, and titles are all icing on the cake. Rally has also benefited our overall relationship and communication. It has also very much enhanced our training for canine musical freestyle dancing, as many of the moves we use are rally exercises.” History Rally was conceived in 2000 by Charles “Bud” Kramer, a long-time obedience and agility aficionado. Kramer saw interest in competition obedience wane as agility’s popularity grew. He envisioned a fun, attractive alternative to traditional obedience. The AKC took his proposal under review in 2000 and launched its program in 2005. Meanwhile, the APDT launched its rally program in 2001 (see “A Brief History of a Rally Cool Sport,” below). The United Kennel Club (UKC) and Canine Work and Games (C-Wag) both started rally programs in the past couple of years. We’ll describe some of the differences between APDT and AKC rally; UKC and C-Wag each have their own nuances, as well. Attributes of a rally team Rally obedience is a fun, upbeat sport, but does not favor dogs with any particular physical structure or temperament. Actually, it is the handler’s approach to the sport that is the most important contributor to successful training and competition. Obedience training requires precision behaviors and focused attention and these can be a challenge for many dogs. Thus, the handler who is committed to making training fun and truly enjoys training as a conduit to better communication between the species will be most successful. Although some handlers see rally as merely a stepping stone to “real” competition obedience, handlers who embrace rally as it was originally envisioned will get the most out of the sport. If you have previously thought that competition obedience is not your cup of tea, you might want to consider this version. Rally competitor Ann Ford shares her view of the sport: “Rally folks – especially APDT rally folks – are a bit different from the traditional obedience people, in that rally is a very bonded group of exhibitors. Everyone supports and encourages one another so very much. We have gained some very dear, lifelong friends thanks to rally trialing, laughed at our mistakes together, cried with our wondrous victories together, encouraged those who didn’t have a good day to try again another time, critiqued each other’s runs with loving respect, and took the “newbies” under our wings in making them feel welcome and less nervous at their first trials. “I have noticed that folks who gravitate to rally are those who have or are working to improve their relationship with their dog, to engage in a sport in which all dogs can participate and enjoy. APDT is open to all dogs (mixed breeds too!) as well as handlers with special physical restrictions and needs, so it’s a win-win situation! “Retired agility dogs seem to excel in rally (especially with distance work), as do traditional obedience dogs, who also enjoy the more relaxed interaction with their handlers. Puppies can get great obedience and trial experience in their early training, and older dogs who cannot physically perform actively like they used to can take advantage of APDT rally’s willingness to modify some of the exercises so they can still participate.” Equipment and supplies The sport does not require a lot of gear. •Rewards – Both toys and treats are used. As Pam Dennison stresses in Click Your Way to Rally Obedience, a variety of reinforcers are important in rally training. Using food alone limits handlers, especially with small dogs who can only eat so much! Reinforcing with toys can be a great stress reliever as well. •Signs – Trainers who teach rally classes will have the rally signs. You can also purchase your own. •Jump/hurdle – A single jump, similar to those used in agility training, is used. Other kinds, such as a broad jump or a panel jump, might also be used in AKC.
•Miscellaneous – If competitions are held outdoors, you will need a shade canopy for you and your dog, as well as the usual accoutrements of water bowls, training kit, chair, and crate. Expenses This is a relatively inexpensive sport. •Travel and lodging – The most expensive part of competing is often the cost of travel and lodging, depending on how far you must go to compete. •Classes – Class costs vary widely throughout the country. But plan on anywhere between $65 and $150 for classes that meet once a week for six to eight weeks. Plan on taking classes for several months to prepare for competition. •Entry fees – Trial fees are about $20 to $22 per class. You might enter multiple classes depending upon prior titles achieved. APDT rally sometimes offers two trials in a day, which adds to your trialing cost (who can say no?), but also opens up the possibility of “titling” in a single weekend of trialing. Training Even if you never plan on competing, training rally behaviors is fun and those behaviors can be used in many day-to-day situations. You can train on your own or search out a class in your area. There are many good books and DVDs available if you choose to train on your own. If you are lucky enough to have a trainer nearby who holds classes, that’s the way to go since seeing the exercises demonstrated and being coached by an instructor (especially one who competes with her own dogs!) will help a lot. Ann Ford has been fortunate to have had many good trainers help her along the way. “At Pam Dennison’s seminar in September 2004, a lady who was also taking the class turned out to be, without our knowledge at the time, our instructor at our own training facility. It was Kitty Bowman. We are still learning with Kitty, who has been our friend and instructor from October 2004 through the present and, I hope, long into the future. Pat Miller introduced me to the clicker, and Karen Allen taught me positive reinforcement and fun training. It has really been a group effort! “Rally is the best venue I could ever recommend for any dog owner to learn. You can use it for teaching basic good manners and solid obedience skills that could even save your dog’s life. What’s better than to have your dog do a solid sit/stay or down/stay in an emergency situation or to learn a 360-degree left turn to where you don’t step on your dog’s feet or fall over them? Side-stepping, the dog moving with you as you are heeling, is great for maneuvering through a crowd.” Levels of competition There are three basic levels in both AKC and APDT as well as additional, advanced levels of competition in each that have been added over the years. The following is a brief description of the titling requirements at each level. Books such as Dennison’s contain lists of each venue’s required behaviors at each level. •APDT rally In APDT rally, you are encouraged to praise your dog throughout the course. Petting is allowed after the conclusion of the behavior(s) on a sign. Food rewards are also allowed at the conclusion of a sign, but food must be kept concealed in a pocket and you will have points deducted if you reach for the food before the conclusion of the behavior. •APDT Level 1: Performed on-leash. The course consists of 18 to 20 signs (or behaviors). •APDT Level 2: Performed off-leash. The course consists of 20 to 22 signs, including behaviors from Level 1. •APDT Level 3: Performed off-leash. The course consists of 20 to 22 signs, including behaviors from Level 1 and 2. Three qualifying scores of 170 or higher under two different judges are required for each APDT title. •AKC rally In AKC rally, you are encouraged to praise your dog throughout the course. Neither touching your dog nor using food rewards is allowed in AKC Rally. •AKC Novice: Performed on-leash. The course consists of 10-15 signs. •AKC Advanced: Performed off-leash. The course consists of 12-17 signs, including those from Novice. •AKC Excellent: Performed off-leash. The course consists of 15-20 signs, including those from Novice and/or Advanced. Three qualifying scores of 100 or higher under two different judges are required for each AKC title. Other differences Both AKC and APDT have additional advanced titles based upon an accumulation of points earned from these higher levels of competition, and AKC has team and pairs competition, as well. The different venues each have their own challenges, although AKC is thought by some to be the easier of the two venues and commonly used to get versatility titles (titling in more than one sport) for AKC competitors seeking that distinction. For APDT rally competitor Ann Ford, some of the most challenging exercises to train for were the directional jump, the “offset Figure 8 around food bowls with treats in them,” and the “halt / leave dog while running” exercise. “At the higher levels, the hand cues should not be as pronounced as in Level 1. For example, a cue for a ‘down’ should not be your hand and arm held high in the air and then going down to touch the floor. “There are many challenges. In the advanced levels, you should not have to give multiple commands. A brisker, more flowing, confident pace and execution of exercises should be in place. Proper placement of handler’s footwork for pivots is also very important, but especially at the higher levels. In addition, re-tries of an exercise should be minimal. Distance work for directional jumps, straight and recalls over jumps, and the stand / down / sit at a distance (with minimal hand cues) is a must at the higher levels of competition. This is indeed a challenging sport!” Ford remembers a particular high point in competition: “When we tried for APDT Level 3 for the very first time, Jenny was so beautiful on the course, her tail up over her back, her face totally lit up and smiling up at me the whole time, she was in her glory, even with all the demands of Level 3. “I did have tears, remembering the days when I almost gave up doing any competition with her because she was unhappy in the ring and I didn’t know what to do about it. Accomplishing our ARCHEX (APDT Rally Champion Extraordinaire) brought it all together: Jenny and I are a team. Rally helped bring our minds and hearts together.” How to get started Check out some good books and DVDs and call local trainers to see if they offer rally classes. Many obedience clubs now offer rally. View the APDT website or contact its office to find a trainer who offers rally classes. Some trainers teach only AKC rally, so be sure to get a couple of books that detail the differences between the two venues if you want to compete in both. 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.
About five years ago, my then-next-door neighbors decided to get a dog, and not just any dog. They’d spent years dreaming about and planning for the day they’d have both a landlord who allowed dogs and the time to spend with a dog. Now they had both, and they wanted to get a miniature Poodle, preferably female, and “apricot” colored. And they wanted to know if I knew any Poodle breeders.
Well, gosh. No, I don’t know any Poodle breeders, but had they gone to any of our local shelters? Looked into rescue organizations? Were they aware of petfinder.com?
Yes, yes, yes, the wife answered, impatient. The problem is, she had her heart set on a female, apricot-colored, and small. And she wanted to get a young pup, not an adult, so they could raise it from the get-go. And she didn’t want to wait a year for a dog who met this description to show up in a shelter.
I tried to warn these folks (an educated couple in their fifties) about the evils of puppy mills. I gave them articles that describe how to identify a responsible breeder, and told them about the risks of buying from unprincipled or ignorant puppy producers. I suggested that they go to dog shows – the Golden Gate Kennel Club show was not far off – and ask Poodle exhibitors about retired show dogs, or pups that didn’t meet conformation standards. Ask for references, I told them; somebody might know somebody who has a dog who needs a new home for some good reason – a divorce, say.
We had these conversations daily for a week or two. Then the wife announced gleefully, “I found our dog! There is a breeder in Texas who has a litter of eight-week-old miniature Poodle puppies, and one of them is an apricot-colored female! He’s putting her on an airplane tomorrow!”
“I’m happy for you,” I said (probably rather flatly). “I hope it works out.” Inwardly, though, I was hugely disappointed in my neighbors. Should I have shouted, “Don’t you get it? That’s a puppy mill! Goodness only knows what you are going to get!” Maybe. Would it have made any difference whatsoever if I had? I don’t think so. The couple drove to the airport the next day to pick up their pup. And it was weird, because then I didn’t see them or get a telephoned “puppy report” for about a week. I guessed that maybe I hurt their feelings with my opinions about adopting (as opposed to buying) and my lack of enthusiasm for their luck in finding their dream pup.
Only it turned out even worse than I feared. They enjoyed only a few hours with their new pup when she started going downhill. She spiked a fever and grew listless. They took her to a veterinarian, who suggested that she was probably closer to five weeks than eight and diagnosed her with pneumonia. The vet was also pretty sure she wasn’t a purebred Poodle, but only time would tell.
The pup spent the better part of the next three weeks in the vet’s clinic as she fought for her life. My neighbors confessed to me that they spent almost $8,000 on vet bills.
When the husband called the breeder to complain about the condition of the puppy – supposedly “100 percent guaranteed” – he was told, “Put it to sleep, send me a receipt for the euthanasia, a check for airfare, and I’ll send you another one, no problem.” They didn’t kill the puppy. She grew into a leggy (and fearful) white dog with a Poodle coat and a terrier face.
Meanwhile, on any day on petfinder.com, you can find hundreds of dogs who resemble Poodles as much as that pup did. As a matter of fact, there’s one in my local shelter now; she’s what reminded me to tell this story. Feel free to give this page to anyone you know who’s in a big hurry to buy a puppy of a certain description – or even a certain breed.
Dog growling is a valuable means of communication, something that we humans need to appreciate and respect rather than punish. Of course, we don’t want our dog to growl at us, but neither do we want him to fail to growl if something makes him uncomfortable; that’s very important information in a successful canine-human relationship.
It’s quite common for people to punish their dogs for growling. Unfortunately, this often suppresses the growl—eliminating the dog’s ability to warn us that he’s about to snap, literally and figuratively. On other occasions, punishing a growling, uncomfortable dog can induce him to escalate into full-on aggression.
So, if you’re not supposed to punish dog growling, what are you supposed to do? The next time your dog growls at you, try this:
1. Don’t push your dog over his tolerance threshold. Whatever you’re doing, just stop.
If your dog’s growl threshold is near his bite threshold – that is, if there’s not much time between his growl and his bite, get safe. If his growl doesn’t mean a bite is imminent, stop what you’re doing but stay where you are. Wait until he relaxes, then move away, so you’re rewarding the relaxed behavior rather than the growl.
2. Analyze the reason for dog growling
Why is your dog growling? Does he growl when you touch or groom him? Growling when restrained? Does your dog growl when making direct eye contact? How about when you take something away from him? Or making him do something? If your dog is growling at you all of a sudden, try to determine what has changed in your shared environment.
3. Explore ways to get your dog to do something that does not elicit aggressive communication.
Try to get your dog to behave without eliciting a growl. Lure him rather than physically pushing or pulling him. Have someone else feed him treats or use a Licki Mat while you touch, groom, or restrain him. If you don’t have to do whatever it was that elicited the growl, don’t – until you can convince him that the activity in question is a good thing rather than a bad thing.
4. Evaluate the stressors in your dog’s world and reduce or eliminate as many of them as possible.
For example, if your dog is unaccustomed to strangers, then having your sister and her husband and three kids as houseguests for a week would undoubtedly stress your dog. Noise-phobic dogs might be under a strain if city crews have been digging up a nearby street with heavy equipment or there was a thunderstorm last night. The vacuum cleaner is a common stressor for dogs. A loud argument between you and your spouse could stress your dog as well as you, and your stress is stressful to your dog. Harsh verbal or physical punishment, an outburst of aroused barking at the mail carrier, fence fighting with another dog. The list could go on and on.
Keep in mind that stress causes aggression, and stressors are cumulative; it’s not just the immediate stimulus that caused your dog to growl, but a combination of all the stressors he’s experienced in the past few days. This explains why he may growl at you today when you do something, but he didn’t growl last week when you did the exact same thing. The more stressors you can remove overall, the less likely he is to growl the next time you do whatever it was that elicited the growl this time.
5. Institute a behavior modification program for your dog to change his opinion about the thing that made him growl.
One way to do this is to use counter-conditioning and desensitization to convince him the bad thing is a good thing (see “Reducing Your Dog’s Anxieties,” April 2007 WDJ).
Another way is through the careful use of negative reinforcement as in a Constructional Aggression Treatment (CAT) program to teach him a new behavioral strategy when presented with the discomfort-causing stimulus. (For much more detail about CAT programs, see “Modifying Aggressive Behavior,” May 2008 WDJ.)
If you need help to create and implement a behavior modification protocol, contact a qualified behavior professional who is experienced and successful in modifying aggressive behavior with positive, dog-friendly techniques. Good places to start your search are https://www.petprofessionalguild.com/Zip-Code-Search, ccpdt.org, or my own trainer referral lists at peaceablepaws.com.
I was so pleased to receive my August issue containing a piece (Your Dog Nose No Bounds) about scent training, K9 Nose Work, and specifically reference to Jill Marie OBrien and Amy Herot. I am currently attending one of their classes and it is truly amazing work. The concept that I love the best is that, while most other dog activities are micromanaged by the human, scent work is the opposite, allowing the dog to be totally a dog and be rewarded for following her instincts! I cannot wait to take my other dogs through the program.
I stumbled upon this sport by accident. I train dogs and also foster for a local rescue group; my current foster is Clara, a nine-year-old female Rottie. Clara had pneumonia when pulled from the shelter and had never lived indoors. Her nails were long; Lord only knows how she walked. She suffers from chronic arthritis and spondylosis. I wanted to offer Clara an activity that she could participate in but her physical limitations really curtailed what she could do.
While she moves uber slow I noted that her nose was always going full speed, sniffing the ground, checking the air, finding the latest hidey hole of our cat. Search and rescue and tracking came to mind.
I started asking around and was told to check online for a fun version of tracking K9 Nose Work. A bonus: Jill Marie OBrien is attached to it. I first met Jill Marie in 1999 when she temperament-tested my first bull breed rescue. I subsequently saw her at training/behavior workshops held at SPCA LA, where she is the director of training and behavior. Jill and Amy Herot co-teach and they are knowledgeable and informative about scent work.
When Clara came to our home in April she was grumpy and shut down, not very confident, and unsure about people. Attending K9 Nose Work classes has helped her personality blossom! It is a sport in which any dog can participate, whether a pure breed or mixed breed. It is perfect for Clara because she can work in the ring and check the boxes at her own sloooowww pace and gets rewarded for doing what she is already programmed and inclined to do anyway smell!
Clara will not be going into K9 Nose Work competitions but she has become a winner by gaining confidence and a new interest in life and people. She now has so much more to take with her when her forever home materializes.
Sandi Mineo-Rust Los Angeles
Your article about getting the family dog ready for children (Family Planning, August) sounds like my three-year journey with a rescue, Tibby, my teacher dog. I want to share a tip that turned her from a child-fearing snapper to a child-seeker. We had dozens of neighborhood children swirling constantly, a stressful situation for me and the dog. I had the children, one by one, hold (with both hands) a jar of meat baby food under the dogs nose.
It worked because the child was engaged and not jumping around, waving his/her hands, making noise, trying to pet the dog, nor reach over her head. The children had to be still to hold the jar and were fascinated watching Tibby eat. They stood in line to get their turn, rather than crowd around the dog. The dogs mouth was in the jar, rather than in the childrens hands (as it would be when taking a treat). The children learned that they could get Tibbys attention by being silent and still. We now have a dog who tries to go up to every child she sees for attention.
Joan MacKenzie, CPDT Springfield, VA
In the 10 years Ive subscribed to Whole Dog Journal (kept them ALL and refer often) Ive never had anything hit as close to home as Bleeding at Both Ends (July). My Aussie, Cloudy, started with bloody diarrhea last Monday, then went the route with bloody vomit. First thing Tuesday morning, I was at the vets office; they heard bloody diarrhea and hustled her into a room to start testing for Parvo. Naw, its not Parvo, thinks I. After an x-ray, CBC, Parvo titer, subcutaneous fluids, and a bill for almost $600, we left with some Flagyl tabs. When I got home and e-mailed Cloudys breeder to whine, she essentially called me a ninny and told me to re-read Bleeding at Both Ends.
Okay, brain death sets in when Im under stress. Then all the tests made sense and I settled down to care for my dog. Good thing I had Cloudy to practice on because two days later my Corgi went through the same ordeal. Im in the 10 percent of same household occurrences. The article helped me understand and cope with what was happening. Im most grateful that it allowed me to stop beating myself up trying to figure out what Id done wrong. This week both dogs are happy and healthy.
I’ve had a number of older owners book lessons with me lately—more than half a dozen individuals and couples in their 70s and even 80s, all wanting some training help with their new dogs or puppies.
