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That loud buzz you hear is the sound of the dog behavior and training community discussing a controversial new approach to modifying aggressive behavior in dogs. The developers of “Constructional Aggression Treatment” (CAT) claim that the shaping-based operant protocol produces stronger and much faster results than the classical counter-conditioning process widely used by training and behavior professionals today.
CAT was devised and tested by Dr. Jesús Rosales-Ruiz, a behavior analyst and associate professor of behavior analysis at the University of North Texas, and Kellie Snider, a board-certified associate behavior analyst. Snider completed her MS in Behavior Analysis at UNT in 2007 with Dr. Rosales-Ruiz as her graduate research advisor and the CAT procedure as the topic of her thesis research.
Canine behavior experts frequently use classical conditioning techniques (including counter-conditioning) to help change how dogs feel about and respond to the stimuli that triggers their aggressive behavior. In other words, classical counter-conditioning changes the dog’s emotions in order to change his behavior. In contrast, CAT utilizes “operant conditioning,” where the goal is changing the dog’s behavior in a way that will likely produce a subsequent emotional change.
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In order to best explain how this novel technique works, allow me to back up and discuss some behavioral theories that explain both the development of canine aggression as well as the techniques that are conventionally used to change the dog’s response to stressful stimuli.
The genesis of aggression Conventional thinking is that aggression is the behavioral result of an emotional response (fear, anger, frustration, etc.) that has been classically conditioned due to an association between two stimuli (events). For example:
• A small child hugs a puppy too tightly, hurting the puppy. The puppy associates pain with small children, and becomes fearful and aggressive toward small children as a result.
• A large, aggressive dog attacks a smaller, unassertive dog, causing multiple injuries. The small dog associates large dogs with attack and pain and becomes fearful and aggressive toward large dogs.
• Teenagers tease a dog in a yard behind a fence. The dog becomes aroused, angry, and aggressive toward teens.
So, the thinking goes, the best approach to modifying a classically conditioned response is with counter-conditioning – a subset of classical conditioning in which you change the dog’s emotional response. You do this by pairing the fear- or anger-causing stimulus with something that creates a happier response, thus giving the stimulus a new, positive association.
Food is commonly used to counter-condition, because it’s hard to eat yummy treats and be significantly angry or afraid at the same time. Also, food is a “primary reinforcer”; our dogs are hardwired to like food; they don’t have to learn that it’s valuable to them.
You can use other things to change associations in place of, or in addition to, food. With humans, money, jewelry, and other conditioned reinforcers (items with learned value) can be used to create and change associations. Think of the enamored suitor, wooing the object of his affections, plying her with all sorts of goodies to create a positive association while she plays hard to get. Dogs aren’t much impressed with diamonds and Cadillacs, but a rousing game of tug or fetch-the-ball can give a worried dog a positive association with a previously aversive stimulus.
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A counter-conditioning procedure goes like this:
• Present scary stimulus (say, a small child) at a distance great enough that the dog is worried (“Uh-oh, there’s a child!”) but not so worried that he goes into a barking, lunging frenzy. This is called the “sub-threshold” distance.
• The instant the dog sees the child, start feeding tiny bits of something very yummy, such as canned or boiled chicken.
• Keep feeding until the child is out of sight, then stop feeding.
• Repeat this process until the appearance of the child at this distance consistently causes the dog to look joyfully at you in anticipation of chicken. This is called the conditioned emotional response (CER), or the “Where’s my chicken?” look.
• Now increase the intensity of the stimulus and repeat the process. With a child, you might increase intensity by bringing the child a little closer, or by staying at the original distance and having two children appear, or one child running, skipping, or singing, or . . .
Eventually, due to the change in the dog’s emotional response to the presence of a child, then to the presence of children, the dog’s behavior changes. He comes to like children, so he’s no longer aggressive toward them.
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How CAT is different CAT’s founders acknowledge that aggression may be, initially, an emotional response, based in classical conditioning. However, they assert that operant conditioning quickly begins to play a much larger role than it’s often given credit for. They suggest the dog quickly learns that growling, barking, lunging, and snapping are highly successful strategies for making the threat leave, and so the behavior is negatively reinforced (the dog’s behavior makes a bad thing go away).
By definition, behavior that is reinforced continues or increases. Snider and Rosales-Ruiz posit that if you prevent the dog from receiving reinforcement for the unwanted behavior (aggression) and reinforce his desired behavior (friendly, affiliative actions), his behavior will change. When the behavior changes, the emotion that triggers the aggression will change as well.
CAT used for dog-dog aggression Here is how the CAT procedure would be used to modify the behavior of a dog who shows aggression toward other dogs:
The subject dog (the one with the aggressive behavior) is set up in an area where the trigger stimulus can be presented at a distance that does not trigger a big response from the subject dog (this is called “sub-threshold”). In this case, the trigger stimulus is another dog; note that people or objects can be the triggering stimuli in other cases.
Ideally, the environment where the procedure is carried out is the same or similar to the one in which the undesirable behavior normally occurs. This reduces the amount of future generalization required. The owner – not a trainer – holds the dog’s leash, which also keeps the stimulus picture as close to reality as possible and reduces the amount of generalization needed.
Other than restraining the dog, the owner does nothing else in terms of training – no clicking, no treating. The behavior of the stimulus dog becomes the sole reinforcer for the subject dog’s behavior.
The stimulus dog (sometimes called decoy or trigger dog) and handler approach the subject dog until sub-threshold signs of stress are noted by observers. This is the “threshold.” The handler and decoy dog stop and wait for any decrease in the subject dog’s stress behavior, at which point the decoy and handler immediately turn and walk away, reinforcing the subject dog’s more appropriate (less stressed) behavior.
If the subject dog barks, lunges, or offers other aggressive behavior as the decoy dog leaves, the handler and decoy immediately return to baseline to again wait for decreased signs of stress. Then they again attempt to leave. This is repeated until the subject dog no longer offers escalated stress behavior when the stimulus dog and handler attempt to leave. When this happens, they retreat to a greater distance to give the subject dog an opportunity to relax.
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An assistant marks the location where the threshold behavior occured, and the stimulus dog and handler return to this mark after a 15-second “cool-down” period. This return-and-leave process continues until the subject dog no longer shows signs of stress at baseline, at which point the handler brings the stimulus dog closer to the subject by a distance predetermined by the trainer – less if the dog is likely to be easily triggered, more if the dog is perceived as able to handle a larger increment of decreased distance.
Eventually it should be possible for the stimulus dog to approach with no aggressive reaction from the subject. In fact, in a successful procedure the subject dog begins to genuinely and happily invite the stimulus dog closer for more interaction. This point in the procedure is called switchover.
After switchover, the stimulus dog and handler continue to approach the subject dog in small increments until the two dogs can actually engage in friendly behavior with each other. The researchers labeled this part of the process interaction.
Why does it work? Remember, many dogs who behave aggressively toward other dogs do so as a result of learning that their barking, growling fit results in the other dog going away. Because that behavior has been successful in the past, it’s been reinforced, and the behavior has continued or increased.
In contrast, in a CAT procedure, the subject dog is presented with a different reinforcement scenario. The behavior that worked so well before – barking and lunging – no longer works. Instead of making the other dog go away, it actually makes her stay close or come back! A new behavior – acting calm – now makes the “bad approaching dog” go away. So, in theory, the subject dog learns to offer calm, relaxed behaviors to make the other dog go away.
Eventually the subject dog becomes calm and relaxed because he no longer needs to act aggressively to make the other dog go away. Lo and behold, once the subject dog becomes calm and relaxed about the other dog approaching, he actually gets happy about having the other dog approach; the change in his emotional response follows the change in his behavioral response.
Rosales-Ruiz and Snider have worked with or received reports of almost 100 dogs using the CAT procedure, and the results, they say, are overwhelmingly encouraging. Dogs with a lifetime history of aggression toward other dogs have become completely canine-social-appropriate. Dogs with a long record of aggression toward humans have become safe and friendly. Not every single one, of course, but the majority of dogs have done mind-bogglingly well with the procedure.
Things to consider The dog training and behavior community has not yet embraced the procedure with open paws. As striking as the reported results may seem, there are some significant potential obstacles to the widespread use of CAT. Trainers who might consider using this procedure professionally are struggling with some of the challenges:
– The sessions can be intensively time-consuming. Individual CAT sessions may run from as little as one hour to as much as eight, and require a number of helpers. When possible, the founders recommend sticking with it at least until you see switch-over (the point at which the subject dog’s behavior changes to actually offering distance-decreasing behavior such as soft body wags, ears back, soft and/or squinty eyes) and preferably all the way through interaction. Snider suggests setting aside three full days to work with an individual dog and owner.
Snider points out, however, that classical conditioning and desensitization (CC&D) is also time-consuming. Many owners practice CC&D on their own for months or years with less effect.
– It’s costly. Good training and behavior professionals may charge anywhere from $50 to hundreds of dollars per hour for their time. Three full days, eight hours per day, at hundreds of dollars per hour equals a lot of money spent in a short period of time. Of course, if it works, it may be worth almost any amount to an owner, and, over time, it may not be significantly more costly than ongoing CC&D with a trainer.
– It’s staff-intensive. Done well, the procedure requires at least several humans – the owner, the trainer, the handlers of several stimulus dogs (or presenters of whatever the trigger stimulus may be), and perhaps a person to videotape the procedure for later review. This can also add to the cost, if assistants are paid.
– It can be stressful to the subject dog. In some cases where the procedure has failed, the subject dog has continued to practice the bark/lunge strategy that’s been successful for him in the past, rather than offering – and switching over to – calm, relaxed behavior. Some trainers trying the procedure have pulled the plug early in the process rather than continue to subject the dog to the level of stress apparent as the old strategy failed to work. Other trainers have persisted for long periods of time (hours) before either giving up or ultimately achieving success.
On these counts, in CAT’s defense, Snider says, “Even with those dogs that did not completely switch over because the trainers didn’t take it that far, we have almost universally seen dramatic improvement. Trainers who are new to this procedure may need more practice and guidance before they learn to how to keep the dog below threshold by adjusting the environment in some way. If you don’t work below threshold, it’s not really CAT . . . and it’s unlikely to work as well. It’s too difficult for dogs to produce desirable behaviors when they are over threshold, and this is no different from CC&D.”
– It can be stressful to the stimulus dog. The stimulus dog will be asked to repeatedly approach a dog who is sending very clear “Don’t approach!” signals and appears to be more than willing to back the signals up. This can take a toll on the good nature of the neutral/friendly dogs being asked to play decoy. In fairness, the same can be said of dogs used as decoys in conventional CC&D sessions.
– Even when all goes according to plan, trainers may be reluctant to complete the final piece of the process – interaction – and rightly so. Misjudgment on the part of the trainer can result in injury to the stimulus dog (or trigger person/s). Again, to be fair, this is a risk whenever working with aggressive dogs.
– It may not be positive. One definition of “positive training” holds the position that positive trainers use negative reinforcement only as a last resort, after positive reinforcement and negative punishment have failed. Negative reinforcement, by definition, requires the presentation of something at least mildly aversive to the dog, and sometimes the presenting stimulus is significantly aversive.
Snider and Rosales-Ruiz offer CAT as a first approach, not after exhausting what are traditionally considered more positive methods. In fact, they say the less the dog has been worked with using other methods, the easier and more successful CAT is likely to be. In response to these points, Snider says, that in her opinion, CAT can be more positive than desensitization. “With desensitization, often trainers move closer if the dog gets calm (which constitutes punishment of calm behaviors) and move away when the dog is stressed (reinforcement of stressed behaviors). That’s one reason it takes longer!
“Also, sometimes the presenting stimulus is significantly aversive in CC&D programs, too. You can’t train an animal to accept something that is not there, and prior to treatment, having it there is stressful. The best you can do is present it at low intensities, which is an integral part of CAT just as it is of CC&D.”
Snider also points out that even positive reinforcement can be used in ways that produce problematic behaviors. “As Dr. Rosales-Ruiz has said, it is not about the name of the procedure, it’s about the emotionality produced by the procedure. Properly done, CAT produces happy, friendly dogs while working hard to remain errorless – which means keeping the intensity of the stimulus low enough that it is not overwhelming to the learner.”
Pat’s CAT journal, day 1 My own mind is still not made up about CAT. I have done the procedure once (I’ll describe this in detail below) with a dog I know well, owned and handled by Certified Pet Dog Trainer Jolanta Benal, of Brooklyn, New York. Jolanta is a friend and trainer for whom I have much trust and respect.
Going in, we were both cautious and somewhat skeptical, albeit hopeful, and we were both ready to stop the procedure at any time if either of us was uncomfortable with what we were seeing. I was happier with the results than I had dared hope to be, and will offer it on a limited basis to clients who I think can make the necessary commitment and whose dogs I feel are appropriate candidates.
Jolanta and I spent three days trying out the CAT procedure. Our subject dog was Juniper, Benal’s six-year-old neutered Pit Bull-mix. Juni has been dog reactive/aggressive since puppyhood, and several of his littermates also have aggression problems. At least two have been euthanized for aggression.
Juni is extremely friendly with humans, in large part due to growing up in Brooklyn, where Jolanta made it a point to socialize him well with a wide variety of humans. Unfortunately, living in NYC, anywhere he goes, Juni encounters other dogs – and the socialization didn’t work with those, despite Jolanta’s best efforts. Juni does have a circle of canine friends he can play with, including 13-year-old Cattle Dog-mix Izzy, with whom he lives.
Jolanta has done a considerable amount of work with Juni. They attended our Reactive Rover Camp and did well, easily progressing to parallel walking with other dogs by the end of the third and final day of camp. Juni could control himself, but was not relaxed and friendly with the other dogs, and it didn’t carry over to the urban home environment.
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Back in NYC, Jolanta found it pretty impossible to keep Juni sub-threshold – one of the challenges of ongoing counter-conditioning work with a reactive dog. Jolanta does a good job of keeping Juni focused on treats when necessary, and he has a very effective “run away” escape behavior. (As described by Patricia McConnell in her excellent booklet, Feisty Fido, a reactive dog is taught “Run away!” as a fun game, whereby the owner walks with the dog by her side, and suddenly says “Run away!” or some other cue in an excited tone of voice, then quickly turns and runs playfully in the other direction. Each time, at variable distances, the owner reinforces the fun aspect of the game with yummy treats or with a quick game of tug, until “Run away!” takes on a positive classical association. As a result, when the reactive dog and owner are out walking and a dog appears unexpectedly, the owner can use the “Run away!” cue to get her dog to happily turn and run with her, away from the other dog, rather than having a super-threshold eruption.)
We started the CAT process on Monday in early March, in the Peaceable Paws training center. Not ideal in terms of “recreating the actual environment,” (our farm is nothing like NYC!) but we wanted to maximize potential for some success, and it’s impossible to control intensity of stimulus in the Big Apple.
A dozen trainers attended one or more days of the three-day program to learn and assist. Our first stimulus dog was Amber, a small, mature female Rhodesian Ridgeback who belongs to Peaceable Paws apprentice Susan Sarubin.
Susan presented Amber at a distance of about 75 feet from Juni (one end of the training room). Juni immediately erupted, barking and lunging, hackles up. Jolanta had warned us that his threshold distance is “line of sight,” barring any efforts to divert his behavior. Juni confirmed the veracity of her warning. So “just inside the door” was our baseline.
It took several repetitions before Amber was able to enter the room without Juni erupting. Even then, Juni was still pretty tense. We did several more repetitions with Juni erupting when Amber and Susan turned to leave; they had to turn back toward Juni and return to the baseline mark. We looked for, and accepted, very small signs of relaxation from Juni as the trigger to make the stimulus dog (Amber) go away – the flick of an ear, blinking, a slight lowering of the head. When we got to the spot where no eruption took place, we began moving the marker closer, one foot at a time. It seemed like it took an eternity, but was actually no more than 10 minutes.
We worked with Amber as the only stimulus dog on the first day. At about 35 feet we began getting attention-soliciting affiliative behavior from Juni: soft tail wagging, relaxed body, ears back, squinty eyes. We continued to decrease the distance, and at about 10 feet (near the end of the session) we lost the soft behavior; Juni again began growling, barking, and even added a snarl (lips curled up) – a behavior we hadn’t seen before. We continued to repeat presentations at that distance until Juni relaxed again, although not to the point of the soft, waggy behavior we had seen previously.
We worked a total of three hours on that first day, with two breaks. In debriefing the session, Jolanta and I agreed that if we encountered a “stuck” spot again we would back up the stopping point to a place where Juni offered stress behavior but didn’t go over threshold, and work there until he again showed soft, friendly behaviors. Later conversation with Dr. Rosales-Ruiz confirmed that this would have been an appropriate step. As it turned out, we didn’t need it.
CAT, day 2 On the second day, we introduced Willow, a spayed Shepherd/Collie-mix owned by DC-area Certified Pet Dog Trainer Pen Brown. Juni immediately erupted upon presentation of Willow at 75 feet. This was disappointing; we were hoping to see more of a change in Juni’s behavior upon initial presentation. We were, however, able to progress more quickly this time; Juni’s barking stopped after just a few repetitions, and at the first-hour break we had moved the marker to about 35 feet and were getting soft, solicitous responses from Juni.
We switched dogs after the first break, introducing Bonnie, my three-year-old Scottie-mix. Snider and Rosales-Ruiz would probably have suggested proceeding to interaction with one dog before switching, but none of us were confident enough with the procedure to do this. In addition, Jolanta wanted to work on generalizing to as many different dogs as possible, knowing that she would face a constantly changing cast of canine characters back home in New York.
Juni had met Bonnie at a Reactive Rover Camp many months prior, parallel walking with her without incident on the last day of camp. Now, with CAT, there was some barking on the initial presentation of Bonnie at 75 feet, but it was less intense than with Willow, and we progressed forward rapidly. Between 40 feet and 10 feet we got very playful behavior from Juni: play bows, full body wags, and several “Don’t go away!” vocalizations on several occasions when Bonnie and I turned to leave. (This is a significantly different vocalization than Juni’s “Go away!” bark,)
At the end of that second day, we were parallel-walking Bonnie and Juni around the training center, about four feet apart. Juni was relaxed, and even made several play-bounce moves toward Bonnie – a behavior he had never shown toward her at Reactive Rover Camp. We chose not to let them play, as there is a significant disparity in size and we felt Juni would be too rough for Bonnie, even if he maintained his friendly demeanor.
CAT, day 3 On the third day we changed our location, transporting all of our dogs to a local, dog-friendly outlet mall – the closest approximation to a city environment we could come up with in rural Fairplay, Maryland. We started with Willow again, positioning Juni about 50 feet from the corner around which Willow would appear. There were no eruptions at all on day three. None! Not even when Pen invited Willow to leap in the air. (Historically, bouncy behavior was a guaranteed trigger for Juni to erupt.) We quickly progressed from 50 feet to about 10 feet, and then walked the two dogs together in the mall parking lot, sometimes as close as three to four feet apart. Juni was relaxed and unconcerned. We were not just pleasantly surprised; we were ecstatic.
We returned to the store front area, put Willow away and brought out Missy, my eight-year-old spayed Australian Shepherd. We were eager to see what would happen with a new dog. Juni had never seen Missy, and Missy is naturally bouncy – a potential double whammy. Again, no eruptions, rapid closure to about six feet, then walking together at close distance. We did get one small growl and a little tension when Missy was about 15 feet from Juni while we were doing the initial approaches, but he was immediately relaxed again on the next approach.
We brought Willow back, and worked with all three dogs together, then introduced Lucy, my Cardigan Corgi, and finally added Bonnie to the mix. We finished the morning after 90 minutes with all five dogs walking around one end of the mall, passing in close quarters, following Juni, approaching head-on, and appearing unexpectedly around corners. Juni was completely relaxed, as were the rest of the dogs. The humans, on the other hand, were all pretty excited. After close to eight hours of successful CAT work, the true test was yet to come. We headed back to our respective homes, waiting to hear from Jolanta on how Juni would do back home in his own ’hood.
Dog in CAT city The first report was promising. Jolanta called it in from her cell phone before she even got home. Juni saw a dog through the car window and did nothing! Prior to all the CAT work, this would have elicited a full-scale aroused eruption.
Jolanta continues to send glowing reports about Juni. He’s not letter-perfect, but is behaving far better around other dogs than he ever did in his pre-CAT experience. According to Jolanta, they have encountered more than 100 dogs per week since their return to Brooklyn, and experienced only six full-scale “explosions.” In 30 of the encounters, Juni growled or barked or exhibited some degree of tension. In almost every “tense” episode, Juni calmed himself quickly without intervention from Jolanta. Most happily, Jolanta says, “More than 60 encounters with approximately 70 dogs were characterized by responses ranging from complete indifference/nonchalance to active interest, to mild alertness that didn’t shade into tension.”
When asked how many of these incidents she estimates would have previously resulted in escalation to eruption, she answered, “Most of the ‘tense’ encounters would likely be explosions of one degree or another. I would not have seen any nonchalance though I would have had a lot of success distracting him with food.”
I believe the CAT program has significant value for certain dogs; it could mean a much brighter future for a lot of dogs who are currently under house arrest and strict management programs. I’ll be looking for additional appropriate applications for CAT. I have another client who wants to try CAT on her dog, and I fully intend to use it with Dubhy, our dog-reactive Scottie, the next time my husband and I want to introduce a new dog to our pack, if not sooner.
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; and Positive Perspectives II: Know Your Dog, Train Your Dog. See “Resources,” page 24.
I just finished reading “Why Vinyl Stinks” (Whole Dog Journal April 2007). While I think the article is wonderful, there is a problem with the reference to “vinyl linoleum flooring.” The descriptions “vinyl” and “linoleum” are frequently and incorrectly interchanged or combined.
Linoleum is a natural material, made from linseed oil (flax oil) and wood pulp or cork dust and backed by burlap or canvas. It is considered a “green” or “sustainable” building material. If there is anything synthetic added, it is no longer considered linoleum flooring.
This may seem silly to point out, but since the idea of “green building” and “sustainable design” are still in the infancy stages among most people, this case of mistaken identity could really turn people off to a great material. Armstrong, maker of arguably the best-known linoleum flooring, in fact has a partnership and is certified with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), an organization created by the U.S. Green Building Council, which sets the benchmark for “green” design. I hope that you may clear this up to the readers so those who may have linoleum flooring can rest easier and those who don’t might be introduced to this safe alternative to vinyl flooring. Julie Gianesini Via e-mail
Thanks for pointing out my editing error. I know that linoleum and vinyl flooring are different, and that linoleum is considered safe and vinyl is questionable. Still, somehow, I let the phrase “vinyl linoleum flooring” get past me. Maybe it was the fumes from all the vinyl products I had in my office for research for the article!
Your article about vinyl may have solved a mystery for me, but one regarding my finches, rather than my dog. I have enjoyed keeping caged finches in my home for many years. Until recently, I had seven Society Finches and two Star Finches in one very large cage. One morning, I awoke to find five of the finches had died; no explanation presented itself that I could determine. After reading your article, I realized that one thing was new: About five days prior, I had placed a flexible “plastic” mat over the cage bottom. The material has a distinctive, strong odor. I am now wondering if this material released a volatile toxic gas, resulting in the death of my finches. Letitia Annis Green Pond, NJ
The material you enclosed obviously contains plastic softening agents, which can release toxic compounds. I can’t say that this is what killed your finches, but I share your concern and suspicion, and avoid buying products like these for my home.
Thanks for the articles on EFT, directed energy, and acupressure in your series on energy medicine (October 2007-February 2008). A combination of these therapies has helped a chronic problem my dog has had for about six years. She was evaluated for intermittent vomiting and/or loose stools by five conventional veterinarians. Until early March, I was giving her Metronidazole two times a week, but it was only a temporary fix. In a short time after she received healing energy and acupressure, the problem was remedied. I went for two EFT sessions to help with my own shoulder condition and found relief. Antoinette, Rochester, NY
A year ago, I was invited to speak about “super premium pet foods” at Petfood Forum, an annual symposium presented by Petfood Industry, a trade and marketing organization. Exhibitors at the event include pet food ingredient suppliers, manufacturers, laboratories, and packaging suppliers. Attendees include pet food company employees and executives. And there I was, an industry critic, invited to talk about how Whole Dog Journal identified a top-quality dog food.
The timing was odd, because the pet food recalls were still being discussed in the nightly news, and the list of affected products was still expanding daily. The overall mood at the event, unlike industry trade shows I’ve attended in the past, was somber. I heard gossip in the elevators at the event hotel each morning about products whose representatives were present at the event. “Oh my,” people would say to each other. “I just talked to those guys yesterday. I wonder if they will be here today.” There was a definite sense that almost any company present at the event could be implicated in the disaster at any time. “It could happen to any one of us,” I heard again and again.
Adding to the strange atmosphere was the fact that the organizers had hired extra security for the event, and closer attention was being paid to event identification badges than at any trade show I’ve ever been to. An insert in the registration package that participants received at the show discussed the possibility that members of the press could attempt to infiltrate the event; it even suggested steps that attendees could take if approached by a member of the media or “if someone is disruptive or is bothering you.”
Given the circumstances, I was impressed that the organizers did not find a reason to uninvite me to the event! I was glad, because as it turned out, I had a number of intensely educational conversations with pet food industry representatives who seemed to have been pressed by all the tumult into self-reflection and openness – words that don’t usually get applied to executives in that industry.
The year, organizers have expanded the event and added an extra day, “Petfood Focus on Safety,” to address steps that are being taken industry-wide to prevent further pet food disasters. I’m very eager to learn whether there have been significant changes in the industry’s standard operating procedure – and whether the movers and shakers of the industry remain shaken by the recalls of 2007 or have returned to business as usual. I think this will be an ideal time to determine which companies have really moved their quality control procedures forward, and which ones just pay lip service to quality assurance.
As always, I’ll be looking for information that consumers can use to identify safe, top-quality pet foods. Given that our June issue will contain a review of frozen meat-based pet foods, I’ll be doing some special investigating to determine what the makers of premium foods do to secure, test, and process their protein sources.
Aside from some stiffness and a little arthritis, Emma, a 13-year-old chocolate Labrador Retriever, had always been a happy, incredibly healthy dog, welcoming each new day with delight and bounding enthusiasm. One evening, though, things changed suddenly and scarily.
I was at a friends house when, after laying quietly in the corner, Emma stood up and came into the room stumbling. She was staggering, panting, and totally confused, says her owner, Ici Schemm. Something was very wrong, and then almost as suddenly, it was over.
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After a visit to her veterinarian, Schemm learned that Emma suffered a bout of vestibular syndrome, a common condition in geriatric dogs stemming from inflammation in the nerves connecting the inner ear to the cerebellum, the control center for balance and spatial orientation. The duration of these incidents varies; so does the wide array of symptoms, with some dogs having relapses while others do not.
Schemm describes the sudden onset as very scary for Emma and me, too. Emma, fortunately, has not had another episode or shown any residual signs; she could be a poster dog for the most transient and benign form of vestibular disease. Other cases, however, can be much more serious.
The vestibular system A dogs balance is provided by a network of interactive anatomical structures that permit the dog to perceive his orientation in space and inform his extremities as to how to move appropriately. The vestibular apparatus encompasses the labyrinth of the inner ear along with the cochlea of the auditory system. Hair cells deep inside the ear function as sensors, detecting the position of the dogs head. They also transmit this information to the balance systems control center, the cerebellum and brain stem, which sends messages to the muscles in the body to maintain the dogs posture and equilibrium.
Problems in the vestibular system typically reveal themselves suddenly, as the dog abruptly experiences problems with his balance. Emmas staggering was a classic sign of vestibular dysfunction, but dogs may display varying degrees of loss of equilibrium and balance. Other signs include tilting of the head, uncoordinated muscle movements on one side of the body, falling, rolling, deviation of one eye in a given head position, circling, disorientation, and nystagmus (an involuntary eye movement where the eyes rapidly move back and forth or rotate, commonly described as flickering). Nausea (including vomiting) may occur, especially within the first day of onset of other symptoms, and dogs frequently decline to eat for the first day or more.
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As a rule, vestibular disturbance is asymmetrical; any head tilt, falling, or circling usually occurs toward only one side. If the condition is caused by a brain lesion (abnormal tissue), the direction of tilt or circling indicates on which side of the brain the lesion is located. The same is true for nystagmus, which tends to occur in a slow phase and a fast phase, with the slower movements indicating the side where the neurologic lesion is likely to be.
Types of vestibular disease There are three broad types of vestibular disease in the dog: idiopathic vestibular disease, inner ear disease, and central vestibular disease. The first two types are also referred to as peripheral vestibular disease. This means they involve either the receptor organs in the inner ear or the vestibular nerve. Central vestibular disease occurs when the brainstem or cerebellum is affected; this is the most serious type of vestibular disease.
Idiopathic means occurring without a known cause, and idiopathic vestibular disease is the most common type to be diagnosed. If the disease occurs in an older dog, his vet is likely to diagnose old dog vestibular disease which suggests to many owners that old age is the cause. However, in this case, old age refers only to the patient, not the cause of disease.
In most cases of idiopathic vestibular disease, the dogs symptoms have a sudden onset and resolve over a few days or weeks. Some dogs, however, retain a head tilt for years, although they are able to adjust and balance themselves.
Inner ear vestibular disease tends to develop more slowly; while the dogs exhibit the same signs that are common to idiopathic vestibular disease (head tilt, nystagmus, circling, imbalance), these are often less severe and may be only gradually perceived by the dogs owner.
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Bacterial infections are the most common cause of inner ear vestibular disease. Appropriate antibiotic therapy resolves most of these cases; sometimes sulfa drugs are added to the treatment regimen for their synergistic activity with antibiotics.The prognosis is less favorable in cases where the bacteria has infected the inner ear bones or if the infection is fungal. Treatment may have to be continued for as many as six to eight weeks to defeat these more stubborn invaders.
The third type of vestibular disease is the least common; thats fortunate, because it also presents the worst odds of recovery. Central vestibular disease occurs when the brainstem or cerebellum is affected.
A number of inflammatory diseases, infectious diseases, and neoplasia (abnormal or uncontrolled growth of cells) can all cause central vestibular disease. Canine distemper virus, granulomatous meningoencephalitis, toxoplasmosis, neosporidiosis, aspergillosis, cryptococcosis, steroid-responsive meningoencephalitis, Lymes disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and ehrlichiosis are the most common inflammatory and infectious diseases known to cause central vestibular disease in dogs. Treatment and prognosis for the vestibular disturbances depend wholly on the quick diagnosis and successful treatment of the disease or infection.
Diagnosing vestibular disease A full neurologic examination is the starting point for diagnosis, followed by an otoscopic exam and blood tests.
Not all veterinarians are knowledgeable or experienced in performing full neurologic exams; ask your vet if she is confident in this area or would rather refer you to a more experienced colleague or specialist. A neurologic exam should include, at a minimum, observation of the dogs movement (in several gaits) and posture at rest; palpation for abnormal muscle tone and mass; and tests of the dogs reflexes and reactions to visual and minimally painful stimuli (such as pin pricks or pinches).
An otoscope can be used to reveal some problems within the ear, but special imaging (with x-rays or CAT scan) of the middle ear bones may also be in order. When a complete exam points toward a central vestibular problem, says Karen Kline, DVM, an associate professor at Iowa State Universitys College of Veterinary Medicine in Ames, Iowa, an MRI of the tympanic bulla (one of the inner ear bones) is the gold standard for definitive assessment.
In addition to a complete blood count (CBC) and blood chemistry panel, blood tests that check the level of various thyroid hormones, including T3 and T4, are often performed to rule out hypothyroidism. A common problem in dogs, hypothyroidism occurs when not enough thyroid hormone is produced, causing a wide variety of symptoms, often including weight gain, hair loss, skin problems, and, in some instances, vestibular dysfunction.
Treatment options Since central vestibular diseases involve the brain stem and the cerebellum, they are often a sign of something more ominous such as an inflammatory disease or a tumor, said Dr. Kline. A central vestibular problem carries with it a more guarded prognosis, since often there is irreparable damage. The details of treatments for a central vestibular disease are best explored with your veterinarian.
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Once diagnosed, most inner ear vestibular diseases respond well to treatment. In cases where hypothyroidism is detected, a large proportion of patients will respond very well to medication, says Dr. Kline, and antibiotics are often used successfully to treat bacterial infections of the inner ear. Improvement is typically evident within 72 hours, with most dogs becoming completely normal in a week or two, although, again, in some instances a head tilt will persist.
Dr. Kline has found acupuncture to be highly effective for helping dogs with vestibular disease. Acupuncture seems especially helpful in relieving the patients nausea.
Many owners, like Ici Schemm, worry the most when their senior dogs experience a sudden onset of dramatic symptoms, but, says Dr. Kline, this is actually one of the better scenarios for vestibular problems. An old dog has a very good prognosis. Not all dogs have a terrible disease producing clinical signs, so try not to overprognosticate at first, she says. Dont panic; just make an appointment for your dog to see her veterinarian as soon as possible.
Kathryn Socie is a freelance writer from Missoula, Montana. When she is not writing, she is out on the trail hiking or running with her dogs.
1. Commit to teaching your dog polite greeting behavior so he’ll be a welcomed canine citizen wherever you want to take him.
2. Enlist the help of friends and family to practice polite greetings in different locations so your dog’s good manners behavior generalizes to all kinds of people in all kinds of places.
3. Exercise, exercise, exercise. A tired dog is far less likely to jump up than one who is bursting with energy.
Recently, I switched the group class format at my Peaceable Paws Training Center to “Levels.” Instead of a progressive curriculum with new exercises introduced each week, dogs and humans learn and practice a small, fixed set of behaviors until they’re ready to progress to the next level, where they begin working on new skills. One of the Level 1 skills is “polite greeting.” Because it can be a challenging behavior to teach, it’s often the one that keeps a student in Level 1 the longest. Because it’s an important good manners social behavior, it’s also a Level 2 and Level 3 skill.
The polite-greeting skill difficulty increases with each level. For Level 1, the dog must sit for greetings and not jump up in at least 8 out of 10 times as someone approaches. For Level 2, the dog sits for greetings, and the greeter pets the dog on his head or scratches under his chin without the dog jumping up at least 8 out of 10 times. In order to complete Level 3, the dog must be able to walk up to another dog and human, with dogs walking on the outside, further away from each other, human on the inside, closer together, as they approach. Both dogs stop and sit while handlers stop, greet each other, shake hands, and walk on. (This is one of the 10 tests a dog must pass in order to achieve a Canine Good Citizen certificate from the American Kennel Club.)
So how does one go about teaching this desirable good manners behavior? It should come as no surprise to regular readers that the answer involves reinforcing the behavior you want, and making sure the behavior you don’t want doesn’t get reinforced.
How to Greet On-Leash, with Strangers
Start with your dog on leash next to you. Have your helper approach and stop just out of leash-range, holding a tasty treat high against her chest. Hold the leash and stand still, waiting. Your dog will eventually get frustrated that he can’t jump on the helper, and he’ll sit to figure it out. The instant he sits, have your helper click her clicker (or use a verbal marker such as the word “Yes!”) and pop the treat in your dog’s mouth. This is called reinforcing an incompatible behavior. Your dog can’t sit and jump up at the same time. If he consistently gets reinforced for sitting and doesn’t get reinforced for jumping up, he’ll choose to offer the behavior that gets rewarded.
When your dog is sitting, relax the tension a tiny bit so he’s holding the sit himself, not being restrained by the leash. Only give him a little bit of slack, so you can prevent him from contacting the approaching person if he decides to revert to the jumping-up behavior that (probably) has a long history of reinforcement.
Keep repeating this exercise. It can take as few as a half-dozen repetitions for your dog to start sitting as the helper approaches. At that point, if he tries to leap up to get the treat when it is offered, have your helper whisk it out of reach and say “Oops!” in a cheerful voice, and wait, just out of jumping range. When your dog sits again, your helper clicks (or says “Yes!”) and offers the treat again. Your dog will soon learn to sit tight in order to get the treat instead of jumping for it, because jumping makes the treat go away.
In a variation of this exercise, you can click and pop the treat in his mouth when he sits. If you do it this way he’ll start looking at you and sitting when a person approaches, instead of looking at the person approaching.
Repeat this exercise with as many different humans as possible: big ones, little ones, kids, seniors, dads carrying babies, moms carrying briefcases, and so on. When you’re out walking and a stranger admires your dog and asks if she can pet him, hand her a treat and have her do the exercise. You’ll be amazed by how quickly your dog starts sitting as he sees people approach him.
NOTE: In these exercises, it’s important that you wait for your dog to sit of his own volition; do not ask him to sit. You want him to choose to sit without being asked, and the way to achieve that is to simply ignore the behavior you don’t want and reward the behavior you do want. If you ask him to sit, he may learn that he should sit for people when you (or they) ask him to, but he’s allowed to jump up if you don’t ask.
Train Your Dog to Greet You On-Leash
Okay, so you don’t always have a friendly helper handy. You can still practice this exercise on your own, by attaching your dog’s leash to a solid object. Better yet, use a tether: a plastic-coated cable with snaps at both ends. One end can be secured around a heavy piece of furniture, or attached to a strategically placed eye-bolt. Or you can attach the tether to an eye-bolt screwed into a block of wood, slip the cable under a door, and close the door; the door holds the tether in place.
Walk about 30 feet away, then turn around and start walking back to your dog. As long as he is sitting, keep approaching. The instant he jumps up, stop. When he sits, move forward again. In this exercise, the reward for sitting is simply that you come closer. You can give your dog a food treat when you reach him and he’s still sitting, but you don’t have to toss him one every time he sits.
If you want to experiment with variations on this exercise, try turning your back on him or actually backing up a step when he gets up, and see if that convinces him to sit even faster. The idea here is that not only does the reward (you) stop when the dog gets up, the reward (you, your attention, and treats) actually goes farther away!
Practice Greeting Your Dog Off-Leash
You come home from work, walk in the front door, and see your 80-pound dog flying over the back of the sofa. You know a brutal greeting is coming. There’s no leash to restrain him. What should you do?
Turn your back on him! Watch him out of the corner of your eye, and continue to turn away and step away as he tries to jump on you.
Again, in a surprisingly short period of time your dog will sit in frustration to figure out why he’s not getting his ration of attention. The instant he sits, say “Yes!” in a happy voice, feed him a treat, and pet him if he enjoys being petted (not all dogs do!). Yes, you have to have a treat with you when you walk in the door. I suggest keeping a jar of tasty biscuits on the front stoop. Or keep cookies in your pockets all the time, like I do. If he starts to jump up again after he eats the treat, turn and step away. Keep repeating this until he realizes that “Sit!” gets the attention, not “Jump!”
You want to be sure to give the click or “Yes!” marker when he is sitting. Click (Yes!) means, “Whatever behavior you are doing at the instant you hear this word has earned you a treat reward.” Because all living things repeat behaviors that are rewarding to them, using the click and reward for the sit will increase the likelihood that he sits when he greets people. If he’s consistently rewarded for sitting, and never rewarded for jumping up, he’ll quickly learn that jumping up is not a behavior worth offering.
When you do this exercise, be sure you don’t teach your dog a “behavior chain” – a series of behaviors that get connected or “chained” together because the dog thinks the reward is dependent on the performance of all the behaviors, not just the last one.
Sometimes we use behavior chains to our benefit. A dog can learn to run an entire obstacle course for a reward at the very end without any direction from the owner because the obstacles have been chained in a particular order. In the case of jumping up, if you’re not careful, your dog might learn the short behavior chain of “jump up, sit, reward.”
The way to avoid this is to look for, and frequently reward, the times when your dog sits without jumping up first. We have a tendency to ignore our dogs when they are being good, and pay attention to them when they are doing inappropriate behaviors. If you remember to look for opportunities to reward the good behavior of sitting, your dog won’t think he has to jump up to get your attention in order to get a reward for sitting.
Using Incompatible Behaviors to Shape Greeting Nicely
This works if your dog responds really well to the verbal cue for sit or down. When your dog approaches you, ask for a sit or a down before he has a chance to jump up, and reward that behavior with a click and a treat. With enough repetitions, he’ll learn that the sit or down gets rewarded, and he may start to offer them voluntarily. Be careful; as noted above, he may learn to sit if you ask, but jump up if you don’t.
Caution: This approach works only if your dog is very responsive to the cue to sit or lie down and does it the instant you ask. If you have to repeat the cue several times with your dog jumping up on you all the while, you are paying attention to him (rewarding him) for jumping on you, thereby rewarding that behavior and teaching him to ignore your verbal cues for sit or down at the same time. Oops!
Putting the Jump on Cue
I recommend this only when someone in the family finds a dog’s antics endearing and wants to be able to invite him to jump up. In this case, you teach your dog to jump up on a particular cue such as the word “Hugs!” (not patting your chest, as too many well-meaning strangers and children will likely invite the behavior), and teach him that the only time he can jump up is when someone gives the cue.
This means that he gets rewarded only when he has been invited to jump up, and never gets rewarded for jumping up without an invitation. My now-long-gone terrier-mix, Josie, was allowed to jump up if I got on my knees, patted my shoulders and said “Hugs!” Not many well-meaning strangers and children will do that!
Time-Outs on a Tether
Put a comfortable rug or bed at each tether location. When your dog is out of control and jumping on the company (or you!), he gets a cheerful, “Oops, time out!” and a few minutes on his tether. If you know in advance that he’s going to maul Aunt Maude the instant she walks in the door, clip him to the tether before you open the door, and release him once he settles down. (Have Aunt Maude practice some polite greeting approaches while your dog is tethered, if she’s able and willing.) If you release your dog and he revs up again, just do another “Oops, time out!” Remember, despite your frustration over his behavior, this is a cheerful interlude, not a forceful punishment. He’ll learn to control his own behavior in order to avoid time-outs, and you won’t need to yell at him.
Jumping up is a normal, natural dog behavior. Like so many other normal dog behaviors that are unacceptable in human society, it is up to you to communicate to your dog that jumping up isn’t rewarded. Help him become a more welcome member of your human pack by rewarding an acceptable behavior that can take the place of jumping. If you put your mind to it, it may be easier than you think!
Another Way to Stop A Dog from Jumping: Body Blocking
Dr. Patricia McConnell, noted animal behaviorist and author of The Other End of the Leash, and For the Love of A Dog, describes a process she calls “body blocking,” which simply means taking up space to prevent your dog from doing so.
Next time you are walking in the door and your leaping Lab makes a running charge for you, clasp your hands against your stomach and lean slightly forward, blocking the space with your body. It also helps to look away rather than make eye contact. Remember that you’re not trying to bump into your dog (although he may bump into you), but are simply occupying the space he was hoping to occupy.
You may have to do several repetitions of this, especially if your dog has had lots of practice leaping, but it can be very effective if you are consistent. He can learn to wait for permission to jump up, whether you are standing or sitting, with just the tiniest of barely perceptible body movements on your part. Wouldn’t that be nice?
A Dog Haven with No Jumping Dogs in Sight
I recently had the eye-misting good fortune of making an all-too-brief, nostalgic visit to my old stomping grounds (and birthplace of Peaceable Paws) in California’s Monterey and Marin Counties. A highlight of our trip was when my husband and I visited Carmel Beach, where dogs are allowed to run off-leash. We were reminded, and again amazed by, how beautifully most dogs can get along when they’re allowed to interact regularly and naturally with others of their own species.
What also impressed us, and what I hadn’t remembered from past visits to this very popular dog heaven, was that not one dog jumped up on us. The dogs were friendly, checked us out, looked for treats or balls, accepted a scratch or two under the chin, and then headed off to play in the surf with their four-legged beach pals. Not one sandy paw touched our jeans or sweaters.
We also saw no prong or shock collars, which led me to believe the dogs weren’t being coerced into being polite. Rather, I think, meeting people at the beach (and dog-savvy people at that, who probably know not to reinforce jumping up) is such a ho-hum everyday occurrence for them that there’s nothing to get excited about. In a perfect world, this would be true everywhere!
Last June, I received this note from Debbie Efron, of Manalapan, New Jersey: “Do you know anything about shock wave therapy for dogs with arthritis? I am considering this treatment for Taylor, my almost 13-year-old Labrador Retriever, who has arthritis in her hips, spinal column, and right hock, and has just torn a ligament in her right knee. It was recommended by my vet, Dr. Charles Schenck, who is a past president of the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association.”
Shock wave therapy? Is that like what they did to the Bride of Frankenstein? I had never heard of such a thing, and I was skeptical, to say the least, thinking it might be some new gimmick. But I was surprised and immensely intrigued by what I found. Shock waves have nothing to do with electric shocks. They are actually high-energy focused sound waves generated outside the body that can be focused at a specific site within the body. In human medicine, extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) been used for over 25 years to break up kidney stones and gallstones (lithotripsy) without the need for invasive surgery (“extracorporeal” means “outside the body”).
In 1992, doctors began using shock waves to treat a range of orthopedic conditions, including nonunion of bone fractures; plantar fasciitis (a cause of heel pain); tennis elbow and other forms of tendonitis; rotator cuff injuries; femoral head necrosis; and joint pain. New research is being done on the use of shock wave therapy to speed healing of wounds and burns, and other applications are under investigation.
History of Shock Wave Therapy in Veterinary Use
By the late 1990s, veterinarians began exploring the use of ESWT on horses to speed healing of broken bones (including those that failed to heal normally), treat tendon and ligament injuries, and ease the pain of arthritis.
The use of ESWT for horses has been evaluated at a number of veterinary schools, including Iowa State University, the University of Tennessee, Purdue University, the University of Wisconsin, Colorado State University, and the University of California at Davis. It has also been studied extensively in Europe, where it originated. Clinical trials demonstrate that ESWT is effective in treating musculoskeletal disorders that include bone spavin, stress fractures, navicular syndrome, bowed tendon, bucked shin, arthritic joints, and more.
Experimental treatment of dogs using ESWT began in 1999, and several of the schools listed above have been actively involved in this research. Good results have been reported for treatment of various orthopedic conditions in dogs, but the number of controlled clinical studies is still very limited. Conditions likely to benefit from this treatment include:
Osteoarthritis of the shoulder, hip, back, elbow, knee, wrist, and ankle
Hip dysplasia
Chronic back pain – relief of muscle pain due to spondylosis deformans, chronic intravertebral disk disease, and lumbosacral instability
Osteochondrosis lesions (OCD)
Sesamoiditis – inflammation caused by degeneration of small knuckle bones in the foot that can cause persistent lameness, particularly in racing Greyhounds and Rottweilers
Tendon and ligament injuries
Tendonitis
Fractures (nonunion or delayed-healing)
Lick granulomas
Cruciate ligament injury – can speed healing after surgery, and may also assist dogs with partial tears to improve without the need for surgery
Treatment can be used alone or in combination with other therapies. Both young, athletic dogs and geriatric dogs can benefit. One manufacturer is promoting ESWT for four weeks prior to casting on toy dogs with broken legs when it is not possible to use screws. Most studies show significant improvement in a majority of animals treated, but this treatment is still in the experimental stage, and results are not always consistent. As use of ESWT becomes more widespread, it is likely that overall results will improve as more is learned about how this methodology is best applied and procedure protocols are refined.
Small animal practitioners interviewed in 2003 reported that approximately 70 percent of their patients demonstrated a remarkable response to treatment. Another 15 percent exhibited improvement that was not as significant as the first group. Some of these may improve further with a second treatment. About 15 percent show no improvement. Shoulders, backs, and hips seemed to respond best to ESWT, while treatment of knee injuries had the least response. According to Sanu-Wave, makers of the VersaTron shock wave devices for horses and small animals, most cases demonstrate very significant improvement within a week. A second shock wave treatment two to three weeks later often improves the results further.
Taylor’s First Shock Wave Therapy Treatment
I passed along my findings to Efron, and told her that if Taylor were my dog, I would definitely proceed with the therapy – in fact, I wanted to try it with my dog Piglet, who has severe degenerative joint disease in both elbows, but I was having difficulty finding a practitioner in my area.
Dr. Schenck felt that ESWT would benefit Taylor’s hips and hock, and might possibly help her knee as well. He did not recommend it for the spine because he felt it works better where there is more soft tissue. He continued treating the spine with acupuncture instead. Dr. Schenck recommended a total of two sessions, three to four weeks apart, and told Efron to expect gradual improvement over six to eight weeks, with some regression possible in between treatments. Ultimately, he hoped for 80 percent improvement that would last six to seven months.
A few days after the first treatment, Efron sent me this report. “Taylor is greeting me at the door with a toy in her mouth, something she stopped doing weeks ago,” Efron said. “She is eager to go for walks and pulls me around the block, with no limping and her back legs no longer buckle. She is playful again, wanting to wrestle and play ‘steal the sock.’ She is still stiff getting up, though, and cannot make it up the stairs in the house, though she will go up six stairs to go outside, without the need for support as she did before.”
While at the office for Taylor’s first treatment, Efron met a Golden Retriever with severe elbow arthritis, who had difficulty walking by age two. After ESWT treatment at age three, he was able to walk without a limp. He was returning a year and a half later for another treatment.
How Does Electric Shock Wave Therapy Work?
ESWT devices generate a series of focused high-pressure acoustic pulses (sound waves) that travel from the probe through the skin and soft tissue. When the waves meet tissue interfaces of different densities, such as where soft tissue, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, and bone meet, the energy contained in the shock waves is released and interacts with the tissue, producing both mechanical and cellular effects.
The shock waves appear to relieve pain and stimulate healing within the injured tissue, although the mechanism for these effects is unclear. Researchers believe that ESWT stimulates the body’s own resources to speed healing, including increasing vascularization (blood supply) to the area being treated, and increasing osteoblastic activity resulting in accelerated bone growth, as well as other factors. The shock waves can also break up calcium deposits that are sometimes associated with tendonitis.
The reason that this treatment relieves arthritis pain is even less clear, but may have to do with depletion of neuropeptides that lead to the sensation of pain and can contribute to the inflammatory response. Shock waves do not appear to slow the progression of osteoarthritis, but rather reduce the pain associated with it. ESWT devices consist of a box that generates the waves and a wand (probe) that is used to target the waves to specific spots.
How Shock Wave Therapy is Performed on Dogs
A physical exam is required to diagnose musculoskeletal disorder and to rule out neurological disease that cannot be treated with ESWT. It’s important to identify all the painful areas that should be treated, including secondary issues that may have developed due to compensation for an injured or painful joint. Radiographs are usually required to help determine treatment, and other standard tests such as blood work and urinalysis may be done to ensure your dog is healthy prior to anesthesia.
Discomfort during treatment can range from mild to severe depending on the intensity used, so animals are usually heavily sedated or given short-acting general anesthesia. Low-intensity treatment may be done under light sedation. Pain medication, such as butorphanol, is given before the treatment. The machines that generate the pulses can be quite loud, which may be frightening to the patient, though some devices are quieter than others.
It takes only a few minutes to treat each site. The area to be treated must be shaved and a gel applied to ensure transfer of energy from the probe head to the patient’s tissues, as any air between the probe and the skin will interfere with the mechanism. The veterinarian determines the energy level used and the number of pulses delivered based on the location, type, and severity of the disorder.
Protocol varies, but commonly anywhere from one to four treatments are done, two weeks to a month apart. The dog may be a little more sore for a few days following treatment, though sometimes the opposite is true and the treatment produces a short-term anesthetic effect, during which time you must be careful that your dog doesn’t overdo it. Improvement may be seen right away, or it may take a few weeks to see the full effects of the treatment. The process may need to be repeated around once a year.
Taylor’s Second ESWT Treatment
Taylor experienced some regression two weeks after her first treatment, getting up more slowly and becoming more reluctant to go up steps. This may be partly due to the ruptured knee ligament, as she avoided pressure on that leg when she could. A second treatment was done three weeks after the first, and her improvement gradually resumed.
Six weeks following the second treatment, Efron reported, “I am quite pleased with the results – Taylor is almost her old self! Walks are getting longer, up to a mile with no limping or buckling, but still quite slow. She is swimming again twice a week, which she loves. She runs down a ramp, retrieves a toy we throw in, comes out of the water and wants us to chase her around the outside of the pool to get the toy again. She is on no medications at all, and she is happy.”
Taylor still has limitations. “She will never run again,” says Efron. “She won’t go up the steps in the house, but she climbs the steps to go outside much better now. She still gets sore at times, such as after a long car ride.”
Four months after treatment, Efron sent me an update. “I think Taylor is still improving somewhat. She does all of our old walks no problem, just a little slower. She even wants to chase her ball occasionally. We built a ramp off our deck, so she doesn’t have to use the steps to go out, but she is doing better going up the flight inside our house at bedtime.”
Electric Shock Wave Therapy Safety Issues
ESWT is generally considered safe, though high-intensity or prolonged treatment (beyond 1,000 pulses) might be capable of damaging tissue or bone. The energy intensity matters more than the number of pulses. It is possible that the analgesic (pain-relieving) effect can lead to overuse, which would make injury more likely, so it’s important to moderately restrict activity as needed for a few days following treatment.
Care must be taken during treatment to avoid the brain, heart, lungs and intestines, as well as neurovascular structures (major nerves and blood vessels). ESWT is not recommended for dogs with clotting disorders due to the potential for bruising. Dogs that are immune-compromised may not respond as well to therapy, which is thought to rely on the body’s own immune system for healing. With proper use, side effects are insignificant, limited to some bruising of the skin where the pulses are applied if bubbles are present or good contact with the probe cannot be achieved. Treatment requires an in-depth knowledge of canine anatomy, and so should only be done by a veterinarian or under the direct supervision of a veterinarian by someone who has been trained in this procedure.
Piglet’s ESWT Experience
I wanted very much to try this new form of therapy with my dog, Piglet, about whose arthritis I’ve written in the past (see “Joint Decisions,” March 2007). While Piglet has done remarkably well with a homemade diet, natural supplements, and prescription medications, she had slowed down several months earlier and was no longer taking long walks, cutting some as short as 20 minutes.
It was difficult to find a veterinarian in my area who offered shock wave therapy for dogs. The nearest vet school uses it for horses, but has not yet tried it for dogs. Efron suggested I contact the companies who make the devices to see if they could help, and one company gave me the names of two vets within driving distance. I took Piglet to Dr. Jeffrey Smith, current president of the California Veterinary Medical Association, of Middletown Animal Hospital in Middletown, California. Dr. Smith has used ESWT to treat horses, dogs, and even a goat, with great success.
“About 80 percent of animals show marked improvement post treatment, though it may take up to 90 days to see this,” Dr. Smith told me. “Ideally, treatment is repeated annually. Even in cases where no improvement is achieved, there are no negative side effects as one might experience with surgery or drug therapy.”
Dr. Smith recommended two treatments for Piglet, one month apart. While he usually treats dogs under heavy sedation, we decided to use general anesthesia, due to my concern about Piglet’s noise phobias, as well as her age and breed. The treatment went well, with only minor increased soreness for a day or two afterwards, possibly due to the long drive.
Unfortunately, Piglet did not experience marked improvement, possibly because of the excessive amount of bony growth around her joints. I didn’t notice any changes following the first treatment, but two weeks after the second treatment, Piglet unexpectedly walked for twice as long as she had in many months. For half a year now, she has continued to take periodic long walks, up to two hours, every week or two, though most walks are closer to an hour.
Even without the marked improvement I had hoped for, I’m still glad that I tried it. The treatments were not hard on her, and I felt confident that they would do no harm. The improvement that she gained, while small, was meaningful and has allowed her to enjoy her walks more than before. At 16 years old, she’s still remarkably healthy other than her arthritis, including being mentally sharp, and her walks mean a lot to her and contribute to her quality of life. If I had it to do over again, I would make the same decision in a heartbeat.
One Dog’s Remarkable ESWT Improvement
Dr. Smith told me about another dog he had treated a year earlier. Utah is a mixed breed (perhaps Pit Bull and German Shepherd Dog), weighs 45 pounds, and was 11 years old when she received shock wave therapy.
Utah’s owner, Jane Rosett, MD, of Kelseyville, California, gave me the details. “Utah had problems with one elbow for many years, eventually reaching the point where she couldn’t put weight on the leg at all,” says Rosett. Like Piglet, Utah was given two shock wave treatments, one month apart. “I didn’t see any improvement after the first treatment, and in fact I think she got a little worse. I was disturbed, as I thought I would see progress right away. But Dr. Smith explained that it can take some time for bone changes to take place,” Rosett continues.
Then it happened. “Two to three weeks after the second treatment, she suddenly began running around like a puppy again!” says Rosett. “The improvement was rapid and dramatic, and she’s been sound ever since, with only occasional mild limping.”
Rosett offered a recent update on her 12-year-old dog, about a year and a half after the treatment. “Utah had been doing so well that I hadn’t been giving her any medicine at all until a few weeks ago, when she began limping off and on. I’ll probably be taking her to see Dr. Smith for another treatment soon.”
Mechanisms for Generating Therapeutic Shock Waves
There are three types of ESWT devices, which generate high-energy, focused shock waves. They consist of electrohydraulic, electromagnetic, and piezoelectric devices. All of these mechanisms convert electrical energy into a pressure wave within a fluid media (the body). No significant difference in effectiveness between these different methods of producing shock waves has yet been demonstrated. The FDA has approved electrohydraulic devices for treatment of multiple conditions in humans. Both Dr. Schenck and Dr. Smith use the VersaTron electrohydraulic device.
A fourth type of device produces low- to medium-energy radial waves, also called ballistic or pressure waves. This type of treatment is most accurately called radial pressure wave therapy (RPWT), but is also sometimes referred to as radial shock wave therapy (RSWT), unfocused shock wave therapy, or grouped together with ESWT. RPWT utilizes a projectile mechanism to stimulate a pressure wave.
Focused shock waves and radial pressure waves differ mainly in terms of the energy type and penetration depth. Shock waves produce maximum energy at the focal point inside the tissue, while the maximum energy of pressure waves is delivered to the skin surface and dissipates from there. For this reason, radial pressure waves are most suitable for treating areas near the surface. Because pressure waves radiate outward from the point of origin, they affect a broader area than focused shock waves, which can be more effective for certain conditions, such as dissolving tendon calcifications. More treatments with less time in between are needed when using RPWT. Less sedation is required due to the lower intensity of the pressure waves, which cause less pain than higher-intensity waves. Most studies in the U.S. have been done using ESWT, which are the only devices approved by the FDA for treating humans. Both device types are widely used in Europe.
Soft-Focused Waves
Manufacturers have begun developing new delivery heads to provide a wider variety of treatment options for various musculoskeletal needs. Now, there are devices that allow use of either a focused or soft-focused therapy head, depending on the area being treated.
Practitioners at the Toronto Equine Hospital in Toronto, Ontario, have used shock wave therapy on horses for the past eight years. Tami Packham, a technician there, became interested in its use in canine conditions after reading studies done by Iowa State’s Dr. Scott McClure. Packham approached the hospital’s Dr. Darryl Bonder, and with his help launched a pilot project where the machine and a technician are contracted to small animal veterinarians in the area. Acceptance by small animal veterinarians has been slow, with word-of-mouth among owners being the driving force behind most treatments.
The manufacturer says that the soft-focused waves are non-painful and can be applied without anesthesia or sedation, though this is questionable. “I have seen dogs treated with both focused and soft-focused waves, with and without sedation,” says Packham. “Even with soft-focus, the treatment can be painful, so I prefer that dogs be sedated and given pain medication before treatment.” In addition, some areas, such as the hips, can be difficult to treat without sedation due to the positioning required of the dog.
Packham describes the difference between the two types of treatment. “The focused head has a band width of 6mm, while the soft-focus head has a 25mm band width. The energy level is the same but more intense coming through the 6mm band as opposed to the 25mm band. I have tested both heads on myself and found them both painful.” Note that soft-focused waves are true shock waves, not radial pressure waves, which are less intense than any shock waves.
A Search and Rescue Dog Improves with Shock Wave Therapy
Zeus, a German Shepherd Dog who was trained and FEMA-tested for urban search and rescue, is owned by Rob and Shari Martin. “Zeus was x-rayed at age two, and found to have grade-4 hip dysplasia, as well as elbow problems,” says Rob Martin. “His ability to work declined, and within a year, he was in so much pain that we were considering euthanasia.”
That’s when they met Packham. She explained about shock wave therapy to the Martins, who decided to try it for Zeus. After a single treatment, Zeus returned to about 80 percent of normal function. “Even though he could no longer do search and rescue, we were thrilled that he could enjoy a normal life as our pet,” says Martin.
Six months later, he began to decline again, and by the end of a year he was back to where he started, so the treatment was repeated. “Zeus was retired at age three due to severe dysplasia in both hips and elbows,” says Packham. “Zeus has been treated for the past three years, one session each time. He continues to receive a treatment session about once a year.” Zeus is now six years old and has received a total of four treatments.
Martin describes Zeus’s response to treatment. “For the first three days after a session, he is like a puppy again, apparently due to the numbing effect of the treatment. During that time, we have to be careful that he doesn’t overdo it. Over the next three or four days, he seems to have a lot of pain, even worse than before the treatment. He then begins to improve again, and by about the 10th day following treatment, he is zipping around with about 70 to 80 percent of normal function.” Martin says that the short-term regression a few days after treatment was not as bad when soft-focused waves were used.
Zeus has received treatment with and without sedation, but Martin feels he does best when sedated, which allows higher-intensity waves to be used. “The treatment seems to last longer when he is sedated,” says Martin. “It takes about eight months before he begins to decline, compared to six months following the lower-intensity treatment without sedation.”
ESWT for Spondylosis
Hayley is a 12-year-old Golden Retriever who was in so much pain from spondylosis (fused vertebrae) that the family was considering euthanasia. She had difficulty getting up and controlling her rear legs.
“We noticed rather rapid deterioration in Hayley’s movement last fall,” says Hayley’s owner, Christine Crooks, of Binbrook, Ontario. “She would take up to 10 minutes to get out of her bed. When she walked through a door and turned, the back half of her body would not follow and she would fall. When she lay on the ground to rub her back and tried to kick her legs up in the air, only the front half would go up, while the bottom half just lay there. She had difficulty going up and down the stairs. And she looked just plain sad. She also had trouble lying in one place for long.” Packham told the Crooks about shock wave therapy, and Hayley received a single treatment in November. She experienced a lot of pain after the procedure and had to take pain medication for two or three days.
“About a week after her procedure, I noticed that she was getting up effortlessly,” says Crooks. “Throughout the next week, we noticed constant improvements – she would walk out a door and turn, and her whole body would follow. She almost ran up and down the stairs. But the day that I started crying with emotion was the day that she lay on the ground and kicked all four legs up in the air.”
Crooks says this treatment has had a remarkable effect on Hayley’s life. “Her disposition improved greatly – we all talk about how our 12-year-old dog is like a puppy again. Our veterinarian even said that we have to slow her down a bit to prevent her from injuring her spine. She likes to run in the snow and jump if we throw a snowball, so we have to remember that she still has a condition. To date, four months after the treatment, she continues to do remarkably well.”
Packham says, “The dogs go home with pain medication because they are usually very sore for three days post treatment. On average, we see improvement that lasts for six to eight months, and then they start to degenerate again.” At that point, the treatment can be repeated.
Cost of Electric Shock Wave Treatment
The cost for ESWT can vary considerably, depending on which type of machine is used, how many sites are treated, whether your dog is anesthetized or just sedated, and what tests are needed before treatment. The lowest price I’ve heard of was $125 for treatment with RPWT without anesthesia (devices that generate radial pressure wave are less expensive and therefore the treatment may also be less expensive, though more treatments are usually required). Treatment with ESWT will commonly run around $200 to $300 per site, plus the costs for exam, tests, pain medication, and anesthesia or sedation. To give examples, Efron paid $425 per treatment for Taylor, with each treatment covering multiple sites. I paid $290 per treatment site (total $580 for both elbows) each visit. These prices do not include charges for sedation/anesthesia, pain medication, tests, or exams.
Still Doing Well
Taylor, the Lab who is owned by the people who originally asked me about ESWT, is still doing well, eight months after treatment. “Taylor is on no medications, but she gets a lot of supplements and a raw diet,” says Efron. “I think her improvement peaked about eight weeks after the second treatment, and she’s been great on walks ever since. We went to the beach last weekend. Taylor was so energetic and she was begging me to throw a ball. I threw one five feet and she trotted to retrieve and was happy as can be. Then my husband threw a leash and she ran a little. She was so happy and like a puppy again. I had tears in my eyes. Nothing makes me feel better than to see her like this.”
Because ESWT is still considered experimental, especially in dogs, it can be difficult to find a veterinarian who offers it. I recommend asking the device manufacturers to see if they have sold any to vets in your area; contact information can be found in the sidebar, below.
You can also try contacting veterinary schools and large-animal vets in your area. Because shock wave therapy is used more commonly with horses, you might find a large-animal veterinarian who is willing to treat your dog, which can be done in co-operation with your own vet if needed.
Mary Straus does research on canine health and nutrition topics as an avocation. She is the owner of the DogAware.com website. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her 16-year-old dog, Piglet.
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Can older dogs and younger dogs live happily together? Will a puppy bounding around (and possibly on) the arthritic body of an older dog encourage her to be more active, bringing energy and vitality during senior years? Or will the perfectly normal antics of a young dog aggravate and stress what should be a time of happy retirement for a senior dog?
If you’ve lived with an older dog, you’ve probably heard someone at some point recommend getting a puppy or younger dog. The advice may be something like, “It will keep your older dog young,” or “The new puppy can learn from your older dog.”
While you will likely find some truth in both statements, the opposite may also hold true. Your older dog could be stressed or exhausted by a younger dog. Your young dog will certainly learn from your older dog, but the lessons may not be those you would like to be passed from one generation to the next.
Many owners hope that their senior dogs’ good manners will rub off on a new young dog, and sometimes this happens. But be forewarned that some senior dogs want nothing to do with a youngster.
While every multi-dog household has its challenges and most have tremendous joys, adding a very young dog to a household made up of one or more senior dogs can bring about a special set of challenges. However, if you find yourself living with an older dog and younger dog (or like me, actively choose to do so in spite of knowing the challenges) you can take steps to ensure the experience is the best for both young and old.
How Old is an Old Dog? What Counts as Young?
Because age is relative to breed, size, and overall health and condition, for the purpose of this article, I’ll define “older” as any dog that has settled into “retirement.” This is not a function of numeric age, but rather defined by the dog’s place in his or her life cycle.
An older dog may occasionally still enjoy a game of ball or a few minutes of romping with another dog, but for the most part he or she really prefers quiet and comfortable companionship. An older dog is more likely to sleep a little longer, move a little slower, and tire a little sooner. He or she may have changing senses – be less able to hear, see, and smell – or may live with the constant pain of arthritis. An older dog may have a chronic or hidden illness or be in the last stages of life. An older dog may be a “senior” dog or a “geriatric” dog.
A “young” dog can be a puppy or an adolescent. As with older dogs, adolescence is relative and adolescent behavior may be evident from six months to three or more years of age. Just as it is appropriate for an older dog to be in retirement mode, it is imperative for a young dog to explore the world with gusto. Young dogs (and especially adolescent dogs) need to come to terms with who they are and their role in their world. It is a time for experimenting with behavior, and, like human adolescents, testing limits.
Why Does Age Matter in Dog Packs?
Younger dogs and older dogs often have dramatically differing needs. Older dogs need quiet and comfort; young dogs need activity, excitement, and challenge. Keep in mind that these needs can create conflict in your home!
For example, puppies can be a bother to an older dog who is tired, ill, or would rather just sleep in a spot of sun. They are not very good at remembering manners (“Oh, gee, that’s right. You did tell me not to pounce on your head or bite your ears two minutes ago . . . but I forgot!”). They can be relentless in their need for attention and play (“Come on, don’t you want to play? How about now? What if I prance with this toy? How about if I nibble on your toes? Not yet? What about now?”).
While an adult dog with plenty of energy and good social skills may enjoy a puppy’s antics and be comfortable setting limits when needed, a senior or geriatric dog may be more easily exhausted or may even be intimidated as the pup grows into a strapping young adolescent.
The most serious problems I’ve seen when mixing older and younger dogs occur when puppies become adolescents, and these problems can be amplified if the older dog has health issues. While a puppy may be an innocent pest, willing to back off when asked, an adolescent dog has a greater tendency to push limits. Adolescent play styles are often rough: bouncing, bashing, and slamming bodies. Many explore the world as if they are made of steel (and expect the rest of the world to be made of steel, too). While this is perfectly normal, even appropriate, for the adolescent and young adult dog, the impact on our senior companions can be seriously annoying or even downright dangerous.
A senior or geriatric dog may also be gruffer than a pup deserves. An older dog who does not feel well, for example, may be less tolerant of normal puppy behavior.
In addition, an older dog with compromised hearing and vision may have a harder time responding appropriately to the body language of the young dog. A dog whose movement is limited or who may be in pain may not communicate as effectively. The result can be inconsistent signals or what appears to be more abrupt communication, which can cause confusion in the relationship between the two dogs. While these types of scenarios are not a given, they are not uncommon. And, the result of these conflicts can vary dramatically. At best, the older dog will set limits, and the younger dog will respect them. At worse, one of the dogs will be injured (or even killed) in a serious conflict.
Most often, of course, the impact is subtler and somewhere in between. An older dog who is disturbed by puppy or adolescent antics may remove himself from the family in an attempt to avoid the chaos. The younger dog may learn that his rough behavior is fun, and learn to pester or bully other dogs.
Action Plan
In a household of dogs with dramatically differing needs, accepting that all is not equal is the key. And remember, meeting the needs of your individual dogs can provide all of you with great pleasure. You can enjoy hanging out quietly (perhaps reading your favorite dog magazine) with your older dog. You can enjoy active romps with your youngster. By providing for differing needs, you will get to spend special time with each dog and special time with them together. In addition, you will help prevent problems before they creep up.
Before you get a young dog, think hard about your old dog’s ability to cope, physically and emotionally, with a puppy. Provide your older dog with a quiet and comfortable “puppy-free” zone, without sequestering him away from the family altogether. Provide your young dog with lots of exercise and individual training sessions. Liberally reinforce all your dogs for calm, friendly behavior around each other.
Prevention First
Prevention is a powerful tool. It means understanding the realities of life with dogs of differing ages, and taking the steps to insure all dogs are happy and relaxed. Prevention is partially about managing the environment, and partially about proactively managing behavior. Each situation is different, and some dogs require more help via management, and many will need less.
• Provide separate spaces. When you are home, make sure all dogs have a space to which they can retreat in peace. It may be a crate or a bed. Help your young dog learn that when the older dog goes to his place, the youngster needs to find something else to do. When you see your senior dog head for his bed, use that as a cue to give the pup a nice bone or food-stuffed Kong and put him in a crate for a while.
When you are away from home, you will likely want to separate the dogs for safety. While many of us use crates, exercise pens, and baby gates with puppies, you may need to continue using them as your young dog becomes an adolescent and as your older dog moves from retirement into geriatric care. Just as it is not wise to leave a very young puppy unsupervised with an adult dog, it is not appropriate to leave a very old and vulnerable dog alone with younger dogs.
• Manage exciting times. You may also want to separate your young and old dogs during high arousal times, especially while the younger dog is learning manners. For example, in our household, getting ready to go out and returning home are very exciting times – as well as critical times for managing a jumping, bouncing puppy around the equally excited, but less agile old girls.
We now put one or all of the dogs in kennels or separate spaces during high arousal times, and this has dramatically reduced conflict and the risk of accidental bumps and bangs. Our youngest dog enthusiastically runs to her kennel – and is visibly relieved to be out of the path of the grumpy old ladies when we come home or get ready to go out.
• Consider feeding the dogs separately, too. Your older dog may be slowing down in eating. Dental problems are common in older dogs. In addition, when you are talking about vast differences in ages and abilities, it is best not to set up competition for resources. Consider separating the dogs when giving high value chews, stuffed Kongs, and bones, too.
• Support the needs of both young and old! Make sure all dogs have individual attention from you. Your younger dog may enjoy heading out for a long hike or off to training class with you, while the older dog may enjoy a ride in the car or a walk to the neighborhood park.
When your older dog is napping, encourage your young dog to take a break, too. Make sure she’s comfortable, and has a nice fresh bone or food-stuffed Kong to keep her happy – but use a crate or X-pen to enforce the rest period.
Support your young dog needs:
• Plenty of exercise. Remember the exercise needs of a young dog are greater than those of an older dog.
• Appropriate playmates. Make sure your younger dog has social interactions with dogs closer to her age – other dogs who will appreciate her normal exuberance. This can also help wear her out so she is not as likely to bother the senior citizen.
• Rowdy time at home. Younger dogs really do need to blow off steam at certain times. Direct rowdy behavior into activities that do not stress the older dog.
• One-on-one playtime with you! This will help your young dog learn that his or her play needs can be met by someone other than the old dog.
Support your older dog needs:
• Plenty of time to rest and sleep. My older dogs need to sleep much of the day. A puppy’s normal short bursts of sleep and activity can easily disturb an older dog’s much needed rest.
• A stable routine. Routine is an essential element in stress reduction, and a lower stress lifestyle can support your senior citizen’s health as he or she grows older.
• Time for favorite activities. It’s easy for the older dog to take a back seat to the loud and clear needs of a puppy. In addition, a young dog can often do the things you used to enjoy with the older dog and they need the activity. This makes it especially easy to shortchange the needs of a less-demanding older dog. Consider that your older dog needs your attention as much as the young one.
Positive Bonding Times
One of the best ways to insure the happiness of all dogs in a multi-dog household is to make sure they have positive bonding times. For young dogs of a similar age, that may come via rowdy play. For adult dogs, bonding time may take the form of exploring the environment on off-leash outings. Some dogs enjoy snuggling, other find pleasure in a good game of tug.
Having a younger companion just may invigorate your canine senior citizen, and help inspire him to renewed interest in exercise and a higher level of fitness. Just keep an eye on the old-timer, to enforce a rest period if he’s overdoing it.
With a very young dog and an older dog, these natural bonding opportunities may not be as evident. Rambunctious play may not be safe for your senior citizen, and the young dog may not yet be trustworthy in the world for off-leash exploration. But you can provide positive bonding opportunities, even for those dogs with disparate needs.
Non-competitive activities such as on-leash walks are one of the easiest ways for dogs to bond. Sniffing and exploring the world together can bring the dogs closer. Keeping them on-leash can help all remain comfortable and safe.
Sleeping in the same room (with you, ideally) is another way for all to bond. It’s okay for one or more dogs to be crated, if needed. Group training sessions can be great fun for all of the dogs and is a fun and productive way to facilitate bonding. Try practicing calm greetings and doorway manners (especially important skills for older and younger dog groups). In addition, teaching a “stop” during play can be extremely helpful, and a solid group sit and wait are a must for every multi-dog household. Even if your older dog already knows these behaviors, he or she will likely benefit from the training time as it will provide fun with you as well as with the pup.
Keep Everyone Safe
A big concern in a multi-dog household, and especially one with very young and very old dogs, is the question of when to intervene, and when to let the dogs negotiate on their own.
One of the most common situations I’ve seen is when an older dog does not tell a younger dog to mind his manners. The older dog may simply be passive, or may have been scolded by a well-meaning person for being too gruff with the puppy. (It is hard, after all, to watch an older dog growl or correct a puppy for simply wanting to play.) While it is important to monitor interactions, an adult dog giving an appropriate correction for rude puppy behavior is an essential way for the pup to learn to be respectful to other dogs. A puppy that is allowed to push around an older dog, even in play, can easily learn to bully others.
Instead of stopping an older dog from setting appropriate limits, support your older dog by looking for the earliest communications or signs of annoyance. Help your puppy understand that when limits are set, it is time to move away. Redirect your puppy to toys, playing with you, or some quiet time in a crate.
But if your older dog is simply intolerant or grows increasingly grumpy with the youngster over time, you may need to support both dogs by providing separation. Remember that your older dog may not be physically or mentally up for the challenges of a youngster. Support your older dog’s retirement by making sure he or she has the space to be quiet and calm.
And, for the sake of safety, with very old and young dogs, you may want to limit high arousal play (or supervise it closely). High arousal activities can lead to out-of-control behavior in young dogs (high speed zooming around the house or yard, for example!). This is too often a time when a young dog can “blow it” by simply playing too rough or knocking an older dog off of his feet.
Competitive activities such as ball play where they are both chasing and competing for the same ball is another time when conflict can easily develop between two otherwise comfortable companions. If your older dog can no longer play rough, make sure the younger dog has other dogs to roughhouse with instead. As health changes . . .
Both of our two senior dogs were still active, strong, and able to engage with seven-month-old Chance when we first brought her home. While both older dogs were experiencing some health issues, they were still vibrant in spite of their 13 years. Our senior cattle dog-mix, Jesse, played like a puppy with young Chance for the first several months. Blue, never one to enjoy a pup, set about teaching Chance to be respectful of her elders.
Within a few short months, though, the older dogs’ health problems really flared up. As their health declined, their relationships with our young dog changed. All had to learn new, gentler ways to interact. With an older dog, health changes are inevitable. And the relationships between dogs will change as health dictates.
When an older dog becomes ill, the management factor in the household is very likely to change. A successful coping strategy can be to simply cordon off the household. A good friend with two younger dogs and a very ill senior dog told me that she kept the younger dogs separate from the older dog in all but the quietest times of day. This was simply to keep the older dog safe and to allow the younger dogs the freedom to play and be active.
Putting Aside Guilt
For me, perhaps the hardest part of having two geriatric dogs with serious illnesses and one energetic adolescent dog is the guilt that comes from doing activities with one dog and not the others.
It’s hard to kennel a young dog so an old dog can sleep at your feet in peace. It’s equally difficult to leave an older or ill dog at home while you train and play with your younger friend. But by putting guilt aside and managing the environment, all dogs can enjoy life to the fullest, in safety and comfort.
Watching our older dogs become revitalized by the energy of the young dog was certainly a joy to see. Watching Chance seem to develop compassion as the older dogs have become frail has shown us a side of her we might otherwise not have witnessed. Very old and very young dogs living together are certainly a challenge, and not one I would lightly recommend. But like any challenge, when met head on, the rewards can be dramatic.
Mardi Richmond, MA, CPDT, is a writer and trainer living in Santa Cruz, California.
In the February 2008 article on dry dog foods, we incorrectly reported the manufacturer of Burns Pet Health’s dry foods. These products are manufactured by CJ Foods in Kansas.
Due to an editing error, in the March 2008 article on grain-free dog foods, we incorrectly reported the ash content of Taplow Feeds’ FirstMate Potato and Chicken with Blueberries food. The correct ash content is 7 percent.
We apologize for any inconvenience we have caused through these errors.
Regarding the article about canine anorexia (“Tales of the Lost Appetite,” March 2008): As an RN and 50-plus-year dog owner, I appreciated it very much. However I did notice a mention of one cause of anorexia that almost took the life of my Boston Terrier: grief.
I had two dogs at the time, the other being a 10-year-old Pug who suddenly became critically ill with a lethal brain tumor. We had gotten both dogs at the ages of eight weeks and they were very, very close. When the Pug did not come home from the veterinarian and her crate was put away, the Boston totally stopped eating and became very lethargic (she had always inhaled her food and was extremely active prior to this.) We were frightened that we were going to lose her too, and made numerous calls and visits to our vet to investigate.
To make a long, terrifying story short, we never found a physical cause for her inappetence; it was grief. I spent several weeks tempting her with various treats, human food, and finally baby food mixed with her dog food. I also took her to a local pet supply store for a change of scene. She picked out – on her own – a small latex ball slightly larger than a golf ball, proudly carried it out to the car by herself, and it became forever known as “Happy Ball.” That was what started her back on the road to health! Well, that and much loving care and snuggling from her human family.
It did take several months to get her totally back to “normal.” She lived many years after this but always had to have “Happy Ball” out to play with daily.
Just as we humans can suffer grief after the loss of a loved one, so can our canine buddies.
Barb Roehl Green Bay, WI
When I got my subscription today, I couldn’t WAIT to read “Tales of the Lost Appetite.” You see, I’m owned by a German Shepherd Dog with Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency (EPI), who wouldn’t eat, but does now.
My girl’s saga started when she was diagnosed with EPI about the same time we had to put down our other dog, a 14-year-old. Our girl completely stopped eating for weeks and barely ate for about a year. Her always-lean body went into an emaciated state for that year. I didn’t know whether it was the pancreatic enzymes we needed to add to her food for her survival, or whether it was that she missed a valued member of her pack. I tried everything mentioned in the article, but nothing worked. It was the most stressful year of my life.
We ended up adopting another German Shepherd Dog from a shelter and I think the woman must have thought I was nuts when I was mostly concerned with how this dog ate. Was she enthusiastic about food? Did she eat everything on her plate?
Providing another canine companion is what ultimately worked for us. My formerly anorexic girl is now a good healthy weight, although we need to take a few pounds off the rescue who really, really loves food – and who cannot believe we actually cook food for dogs!
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I’m glad this topic was addressed in Whole Dog Journal as most folks laughed at me when I told them my dog wouldn’t eat. They said she was just picky. I had actually put a filet of beef in her dish and she walked away from it. Thankfully, we don’t have that problem anymore! Please, let it stay that way!
Donna via e-mail
Just to add to the credits of Sue Ann Lesser, DVM, who was mentioned in “Chiropractors for Canines,” March 2008. My dog Baby was experiencing seizures on a regular basis beginning in April 2002. We tried acupuncture for a long time, until someone told me about Dr. Lesser. Baby had a seizure three days after her first adjustment – but that was Baby’s last seizure.
Baby now sees Dr. Lesser monthly. As far as I am concerned, chiropractic and Dr. Lesser saved my dog’s life. She is located in South Huntington, New York, and can be reached at (631) 423-9223 or AR18AR180@msn.com.
After resisting years of intense lobbying for a family dog by her two daughters, one of my friends recently brought home a rescue dog. Within the first two days, I fielded at least five requests for information from my friend, her husband, and her older daughter. The family had done a lot of research and preparation for the dogs arrival, but there is nothing like the nonstop, real-time activity of a new dog in your home to make you realize that there are many things you dont know about dog care and training.
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Most of the inquiries I received concerned behavior that I would consider fairly typical for a rehomed adult dog with an unknown background stuff like urine-marking in the house, jumping up on the couch, barking at every person who walks in the door, etc. But on the third day following the dogs adoption, I got a question that surprised me at least, once I understood what was going on.What should we do if he runs away from us? my friend asked. I started explaining how the family should keep the new dog on a leash or long-line (to prevent the dog from practicing the unwanted behavior of avoidance) and offer treats and praise every time the dog comes to them (to reinforce that coming to the family members is a good thing). No! my friend interrupted. Hes run away; we cant find him!
Yikes! Okay, I thought, I had better get more information before answering these questions. Alright, dont panic, I told my friend. Is your number or the rescue groups number on his ID tag?He doesnt have any tags on, my friend replied. We just got him a new collar and we dont have a new tag yet.After dispensing as much useful advice as I could (call all your neighbors, send all available volunteers out to look for him ASAP, put up signs, call animal control, etc.), I hung up the phone and sat in my office for a while, stewing. Days before, when my friend had called to tell me they were bringing home a rescue dog, why hadnt I told her to put an ID tag (with current phone numbers) on the dog and to make sure it was on 24/7? I guess because it would never occur to me not to!
In the past three months, Ive picked up four lost dogs. I found two of them, a month apart, in a far backwoods setting. Both wore collars; neither had ID. I took both to my local shelter. Very recently, I found two four-month-old German Shepherds running lost in a Bay Area city. Both wore collars; one had a tag, which turned out to be from the breeder of the puppies. Fortunately, this number led to the puppies owner, who had been meaning to buy tags but hadnt gotten around to it.
I know that three of these five dogs got home. My friend found her familys new dog and got a tag for him that day. The GSD puppies got new tags, too; I had them made on one of those great machines at a chain pet supply store and delivered them to the owner an hour after I brought her puppies home. I dont know the fate of the two backwoods dogs, but I pray their owners found them in the shelter.
This little terror – er, terrier – is friendly withhumans, but is not necessarily nice with other dogs. Likemany small dogs, she has an oversized confidence in her ability to run the show. Take NOTHING for granted about your new dog's social skills!
You’ve adopted a new adult dog into your family. Congratulations! As you search for information to help you help your new furry family member adjust to this difficult transition in his life (change is hard!), you may discover that there are lots of resources for new puppy owners, but for new adult-dog owners, not so much. Where do you begin?
We’ve compiled a list of suggestions to help make life with your new dog easier for all concerned. His first few weeks with you set the tone for your lifelong relationship. If you follow these time-tested protocols, you’re more likely to experience smooth sailing – or at least smoother sailing – with your recycled Rover, who may arrive at your door with some baggage from his prior life experiences. We hope you’ve made wise plans and decisions before your new canine pal sets paws through your door for the first time. But even if he’s already camped out on your sofa, it’s not too late to play catch-up with many of the suggestions that follow.
Adopting an adult dog can be incredibly rewarding – and challenging at first, while you are getting to know each other. Your new dog may have had little training or exposure to the world, so don’t expect a lot right away and stay positive!
First impressions Your relationship with your new dog starts forming the moment you first meet. As much as you may want to hug him to pieces, let him set the tone.
Canine social norms are significantly different from primate ones. The things we do naturally – approaching head-on, making direct eye contact, reaching out and hugging, patting on the head – can be very intimidating and off-putting to dogs. Canines are more likely to approach in a curving path, avert their eyes, and sniff flanks before deciding to offer and accept more intimate body contact.
If you want to gain your dog’s trust early in the relationship, let him set the tone for greeting and restrain yourself until you see if he prefers calm greetings or wildly enthusiastic ones. Suggested resource: The Other End of the Leash, by Patricia McConnell. (See page 24 for purchasing information for additional resources.)
I read you Even after your initial introduction, you can learn a lot about who your dog is by watching his body language.
Does he stand tall and forward in posture, taking everything in stride? If so, he’s likely an assertive, confident dog.
Does his tail wag gently at half-mast and his expression stay soft regardless of what – or who – is going on around him? Then he’s an easy-going, friendly kind of guy.
Does he tend to hang back, looking a little worried, letting someone else take the lead? He’s more timid, lacking in confidence.
Knowing who he is helps you know what to expect from him, and lets you take necessary steps to prevent him from being overwhelmed (or overwhelming others) in new situations. Suggested resource: The Language of Dogs, a DVD by Sarah Kalnajs.
A lost dog’s ticket home Proper identification is a must for all dogs, and especially for a new dog in your home, who isn’t familiar with the neighborhood and may take off for parts unknown if he manages to escape. Many shelters and rescue groups provide an ID tag of some kind when they hand over the leash to you. Be sure it’s on your dog’s collar from the moment you take possession of him, not in a folder with all his other paperwork.
It doesn’t matter if it’s a bejeweled, engraved tag or a temporary plastic one that you write on with a permanent marker, but every dog needs to wear an ID tag, 24/7, for at least the first few weeks. Put one on your new dog before you even take him home!
In addition to a tag with your current address, two telephone numbers, and his name, your new dog should proudly display a current rabies tag and/or license (required by law in most parts of the country). We also urge you to give him some form of permanent identification such as a tattoo and/or microchip.
Collars and tags can be lost or deliberately removed; permanent identification is a little harder to separate from the dog. Suggested resource: “What a Good ID,” Whole Dog Journal October 2001.
See Spot run Some dogs attach themselves to their new humans almost immediately. I knew on Day Two of Missy’s life as a member of the Miller family that it was safe to allow the eight-year-old Australian Shepherd off-leash on our farm. She had glued herself to me tenaciously; I couldn’t have lost her if I’d tried. However, most dogs take a little – or a lot – longer than that to be trusted with supervised unfenced freedom, especially if you live on a busy road.
Until you’re confident your new dog will come flying when you call even in the face of temptations such as bounding deer, fleeing squirrels, or speeding skateboards, use leashes and solid physical fences to keep the new love of your life close at hand. It could be just a few days to off-leash freedom if he already has a good understanding of coming when called or bonds quickly. It may take a lot longer if he’s never been trained to come, or worse, if he’s poorly socialized and fearful or has learned to run away as part of a delightful game of “Catch me if you can!”
If you’re trusting a solid fence to keep him contained, be sure to check it for holes and weak spots before turning him loose. When you first put him in the yard, watch discreetly from a distance to see if he tries to jump out, dig under, chew through, or otherwise test for weak spots in the fence – or barks nonstop when he’s alone. Don’t let him know you’re watching; he may inhibit his escape attempts until he thinks you’re gone. Note: I do not recommended leaving your dog home alone in a fenced yard; there’s too much that can go wrong without you there to rescue him. Suggested resource: The Really Reliable Recall, a DVD by Leslie Nelson.
Assume nothing To be on the safe side, assume your new dog has little knowledge or understanding of the mysterious rules of human society. He may or may not be housetrained. He may or may not understand that perfectly good, edible food left in a receptacle (waste can) on the floor of the food-preparation room (kitchen) is not intended for canine consumption. Or that the fresh water in a gleaming white porcelain bowl (toilet) in the little room off the hall (bathroom) is not for drinking. He might not know that stuffed squares of fabric on the sofa (pillows) are for leaning on, not dog toys for chewing, and you may need to teach him that animal skins in your closet (shoes and belts) have a very different purpose than animal skins made into rawhide chews.
Regardless of your new canine companion’s age, treat him like a puppy at first: provide good supervision and management in a dog-proofed home with frequent trips outside to appropriate potty spots until it’s obvious that he understands the quirks and complexities of living with humans. Suggested resource: New Puppy, Now What? by Victoria Schade.
Pawternity leave It really helps ease the transition for your dog if you can take a few days off work when you first bring him home. Plan ahead and schedule vacation days or personal time off. This will give you time to supervise his activities and find out how much house freedom he can handle, without risking serious damage to your personal possessions. It will also help prevent triggering isolation distress or separation anxiety, giving him a chance to gradually become accustomed to being left alone during a very stressful time in his life.
Dogs who are rehomed multiple times may be more prone to distress over being left alone, as anxiety-related behaviors can be triggered by stress.
During your days off, determine if your dog is comfortable being crated, then leave him alone (crated or not, depending on his response to the crate) for gradually increasing periods over a three-to five-day program, so it’s not a big shock to him when you do go back to work and leave him alone for the day. Make arrangements for mid-day visits, either on your lunch hour or from a professional pet-sitter, until you know he can handle a full day alone at home. Suggested resource: I’ll Be Home Soon, by Patricia McConnell.
House rules Everyone in the family must agree on house rules ahead of time, and the rules take effect as soon as the dog arrives. Inconsistency is the bane of dog training and management. Dogs do best when their worlds are predictable. If you allow your new dog on the sofa the first week, then Mom yells at him for getting on the sofa when his paws were muddy, and the next day Susie invites him back up to watch television beside her, his world is unpredictable. Unpredictability causes stress, and stress causes behavior problems. I suggest everyone in the family sit down – before the dog comes home – and agree on important questions like:
It’s irresponsible to just turn your new dog loose with your cat or other small pets. Their first interactions should be carefully orchestrated, with your dog on leash and with at least one other family member or friend available to help if things go south!
Is the dog allowed on the furniture? All furniture, or just some? If just some, which pieces?
Who will feed the dog? When, where, and what?
Who will walk/exercise the dog? When and where?
Who’s doing supervision and potty-training duty?
Where will the dog sleep?
Who’s the primary trainer (everyone should participate in training) and what methods and cues will everyone use?
Which other behaviors are going to be reinforced and which ones are not?
When everyone is in agreement, write down the house rules, make copies, and post them in prominent places throughout the house, for easy referral when questions arise.
Remember that training, too, begins the instant your dog walks in the door for the very first time. Every moment you are with your dog, one of you is training the other. It usually works best if you’re training your dog more often than he’s training you. Behaviors that are rewarded in some way will persist and increase. When you give your dog attention, a treat, offer a toy, or engage in a game that he likes, you’re reinforcing/training him to do whatever behavior just preceded that “good thing.”
In addition to your more formal good manners training, which should start within a couple of weeks of his introduction to the family, be sure that the entire family makes “good stuff” happen when your new dog performs desirable behaviors. Conversely, unwanted behaviors make good stuff go away. When he sits to greet you he earns your attention; if he jumps up to greet, turn your attention elsewhere. Suggested resource: The Power of Positive Dog Training, by Pat Miller.
Hello, kitty Since lots (dare I say the majority?) of animal lovers share their homes with more than one pet, there’s a good chance your new dog will need to get along with other furred, feathered, or finned siblings. Proper introductions will help ensure that those relationships are healthy ones, and that the rest of your nonhuman family members are as happy with your new pal as you are.
Dog-dog introductions are best conducted on safely fenced neutral territory (outdoors is better than indoors), with at least one other set of human hands to manage the other dog. If the dogs indicate a healthy interest in each other from a distance (on-leash) bring the dogs closer. If they continue to appear relaxed and cheerful when they are within 10 feet of each other, drop leashes, and let them greet. Leave the leashes on so you can separate the dogs easily if necessary, but don’t hold the leashes, so you don’t unintentionally create tension in the greeting process.
If at any point you see behavior that makes you think the introduction will be anything but amicable, seek the assistance of a knowledgeable, positive behavior professional to help with the process.
Because dogs are predators and a lot of other companion animals are potential prey (from the dog’s perspective), introductions to other species should be handled with extra care. Always have your new dog on-leash when allowing him to meet new animals, with a good supply of tasty treats on hand. When he notices a cat walk into the room, the fish in an aquarium, a bird chirping in the corner, or goats in a field, feed him bits of yummy treats so he learns to look to you for good stuff in the presence of other animals. If he decides that other animals make good stuff fall from your fingers, he’ll be happier about sharing his home with them.
If he shows any inclination to be predatory toward his nonhuman housemates – chasing or snapping at them – you will need to use scrupulous management to prevent tragedy when you’re not directly supervising, until you convince him that the other animals are more valuable to him as predictors of treats than as prey.
Until you’re completely confident that he won’t hurt them, your dog will need to be safely enclosed in his crate or his own room when you’re not there to observe. If you’re home but not directly supervising, you can use a leash or tether as an additional management option. Suggested resource: “Cats and Dogs, Living Together,” Whole Dog Journal June 2007.
The social scene An unfortunate number of adult dogs missed out on important socialization lessons. Until you’ve had the chance to observe your dog’s reactions in the presence of a wide variety of stimuli, err on the side of caution and assume that he’s not as well socialized as he could be. Otherwise you could be in for a nasty surprise when you discover that he’s never been exposed to people of other races, tall men with beards, babies in strollers, hikers wearing backpacks, or helmet-wearing bikers. Until you know him well, always have your new dog leashed whenever you’re in an environment where he could encounter something new and strange to him.
If you discover that he has an adverse reaction to novel stimuli, you need to embark on a behavior modification program using counter-conditioning and desensitization to help change his association with new stuff from “Oh no, SCARY!” to “Yay, good stuff!” This process involves keeping him a safe distance from the scary thing, where he’s alert and a little alarmed but not barking, lunging, or otherwise freaking out. The instant he notices “scary thing,” start feeding him a high-value treat (such as tiny bits of chicken), non-stop, until the scary thing leaves.
Keep repeating this until your dog is happy to see “scary thing” at that distance because he realizes that “scary thing” makes chicken fall from the sky. Now move a little closer and repeat the process, until ¡°scary thing¡± right up close still evokes a happy response.
It’s especially important to watch your new dog with children. A fair number of dogs who are otherwise well socialized don’t do well with children, and need either excellent management or extensive behavior modification to make them safe around kids. If your dog is extremely unsocialized or reactive to novel stimuli in general and children in particular, you may need help from a qualified positive behavior professional. Suggested resources: The Cautious Canine, by Patricia McConnell and Help for Your Fearful Dog, by Nicole Wilde.
A little help from your friends Chances are good that your dog-care professionals will become some of your best friends over the course of your dog’s lifetime. This will include your veterinarian, pet-sitter, groomer, and trainer/behavior consultant. Take the time to find professionals that you like and trust. Make a list of these dog-care providers before you need them – ones who are willing to communicate freely with you; and who share your philosophies of animal care, training, handling, and management. Interview them before you agree to entrust your dog to their care.
A veterinarian should be willing to sit down with you and talk about their perspective on vaccinations and other routine procedures, even if you have to pay for an appointment slot to do so. A trainer should welcome your request to watch one or more of her classes in action. If they’re not willing to be interviewed or observed, they’re not good enough for you and your dog.
Remember that you are your dog’s protector. Don’t ever let anyone talk you into doing anything to your dog – or letting them do anything to him – that you’re not comfortable with. Trust your instincts. Be willing to step forward and rescue your dog from the hands of an animal care professional who would do him harm in the name of training or management. Suggested resources: See “Resources,” page 24 for a list of organizations for training and health professionals.
So there you have it. The list may seem daunting, but it’s intended to prevent you from being overwhelmed by the actual arrival of your new canine family member. Prepare well, help your dog adjust to the overwhelming changes to his world, and get ready to enjoy the rest of your lives together.
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.
