Is Your Dog On Guard, Eliminating Unwanted Canine Behaviors

By

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September 11, 2007

Ever had a dog who won’t give you his bone or chew toy if you try to take it from him? Or one who gets uncomfortable or growls if you get close to him when he’s eating his dog food? Or snaps at you if he’s on the sofa and you want him off? Or lifts his lip in a snarl if your friend tries to get close to you?

Answer yes to any of the above, and you’ve successfully diagnosed your dog as having a guarding issue. The catch-all, technical term is “resource-guarding,” and can include guarding of dog food bowls (or food), places (dog crate, dog bed, sofa, etc.), items (rawhide, bones, balls, tissues, etc.) and less commonly, people.

Resource-guarding simply means that a dog gets uncomfortable when we (or other humans) are around him when he has “his stuff.” He’s nervous that we’re going to take it away, so he tries to warn us off in a variety of ways, ranging from simply consuming his food faster, to an all-out bite.

Although canine resource-guarding appears to be more prevalent in certain breeds or classes of dogs, it can appear in literally any dog, including that sweet Papillion that lives down the street, or the goofy Golden Retriever who greets you happily on your morning walks.

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It’s important to recognize, identify, modify, or at least manage this behavior because a dog who is repeatedly pushed or punished in these situations is highly likely to eventually bite. Sure, it might be you that he bites, but it could also be your child, your neighbor’s child, your boss, or your grandmother. Children are most apt to be at risk for a number of reasons. They tend to disregard warnings to “leave the dog alone” when he’s eating or has a toy; they frequently fail to notice the dog’s warning signs (stiffening, growling); and they are closer to the ground, so if the dog decides to bite, most likely the child’s face will bear the brunt of the attack.

Nature or nurture?
Resource-guarding “is a perfectly normal survival skill that allows smaller, weaker, and lower-status dogs to keep possession of a highly valued object even when that object is the target of a larger and stronger dog’s desire,” says Pat Miller, a trainer, Certified Dog Behavior Consultant, and Whole Dog Journal Training Editor. In her book, The Power of Positive Dog Training, Miller notes that, “Natural behavior or not, resource-guarding is a serious problem when it results in open aggression, especially toward humans.”

In the wild, “a group-hunting carnivore would have reproductive advantage over one who gladly relinquishes. It’s a good trait, like a well-developed immune system or legs that can run fast,” says canine behavior expert Jean Donaldson, in her highly educational book, Mine! (devoted solely to the topic of resource-guarding). Of course, she adds, “In a domestic environment, it is undesired.”

Sarah Kalnajs, trainer and Certified Dog Behavior Consultant, describes resource-guarding as having both nature (genetic) and nurture (upbringing) components. A dog might be genetically inclined to guard, but depending how much he is allowed to practice the behavior throughout his life also contributes to the severity of the problem.

Resource-guarding from other dogs is a much more “acceptable” or natural behavior in terms of a dog’s ability to cohabitate with humans. It can certainly lead to big problems, and should not be dismissed, but for the time being, our discussion will focus on guarding from humans. Note: A dog who guards from other dogs will not necessarily resource-guard from humans.

What’s your type?
“Food-guarding” seems to be the most common kind of canine guarding behavior, and is present if the dog “threatens” or bites when:

-Approached while eating from his bowl

-The owner tries to take back a food item the dog has grabbed

-Approached after he finds some kind of food item in the gutter or on the street

“Some dogs may be compulsive, guarding all food items and even an empty dish,” says Donaldson, but she also notes, “The majority will guard only when actually in possession of sufficiently motivating food.” The fact that a dog does not guard a particular food (say, a Milk Bone) does not rule him out as a guarder. It just might not be worthy enough to him as, say, a chicken wing. The only way to determine whether a dog will guard a particular highly motivating food item is to test whether you can readily take that item when the dog has it.

With “object-guarding,” the extent of guarding is dependent upon the value of the object to the dog. Items can include, but are certainly not limited to, bones, rawhides, pig ears, favorite toys/balls, laundry items, tissues, wrappers and other garbage, sticks, and/or any “forbidden” objects the dog happens to pick up – which are made more valuable by extreme owner reaction, such as chasing the dog around the room to get the item back, or screeching at the dog to give the item up. While some trainers classify bones, rawhides, pig ears, and edible garbage as “objects,” Pat Miller classifies them as food as the dog’s intent is to eat them; therefore, she classifies the dog’s behavior as food-guarding.

As with food-guarding, the dog may show signs of guarding simply when a person is in the vicinity, as the person approaches, and/or if the person tries to take the object from him. It is very common that a dog won’t want something unless you want it. “Location-guarding” is also common in modern, dog-loving households. This would describe the following:

-A dog who does not allow owner or spouse into the bedroom or on the bed once the dog is on the bed

-A dog who is grumpy if jostled while on furniture, or when someone tries to move him

-A dog who threatens passersby while he’s in his crate, car, or favorite rest spot

The severity of resource-guarding depends upon the value of the item, and who is approaching. In the case of location-guarding, the dog might allow “the wife” on the bed, but not her husband.

“Owner-guarding” seems to occur fairly frequently when other dogs are present. Occasionally, however, the dog will guard his person if the dog is on leash with the person, or near her. Some people interpret this as “protectiveness.”

Pat Miller differentiates these behaviors. “A good ‘protection’ dog recognizes a legitimate threat to his person and acts to deter the threat, or waits for instructions from the human to act. A dog who is ‘guarding’ his person – in the sense of resource-guarding – covets his owner as a possession that he’s not willing to share with other dogs, or sometimes other humans. He sees the approaching dog/person as a threat to his enjoyment of his resource, rather than a physical threat to the person.”

Owner-guarding can also become somewhat muddied if the owner has in his possession some resource – food or a bone, for example – that is valuable to the dog. He may react if his human carries treats or a bait bag. In this case, what, really, is the dog guarding: item or owner?

Trainer Virginia Broitman notes that many dogs who guard their owners are actually very insecure, and might feel empowered to act out because their humans are there. Or, the dog is on leash and cannot escape, so he resorts to an impressive display to keep the stranger away. Were he without his handler, or not on leash, we might see a different reaction.

Stay positive
You’ve shouted “No!” You’ve stomped your foot. You’ve used a physical correction. But your dog still freezes and growls when you get near him when he’s eating or when he has his “stuff.” What can you do?

First, you need to understand that shouting, stomping, and using physical corrections on the dog will only make matters worse.

I recently saw video footage of a trainer working with a large, young dog who had a history of guarding his food bowl. Over time, the owners had tried a variety of approaches: yelling at the dog, leaning over him while he ate and yelling, hand feeding, and petting the dog while he ate. Unfortunately, the owner reported that the dog had become reactive to the owner when the owner was at a greater and greater distance from the guarded food. And when the owner tried “dominance” — in which he stood over the dog while the dog ate and “made” him do things for his food, then physically reprimanded the dog for being aggressive – the owner got bitten.

While the footage was stellar – the camera caught all of the dog’s warnings superbly – the method that the trainer recommended for dealing with the problem was not. Instead of using behavior modification, which has the potential to make the dog safe around anyone, the trainer elected to use force and physical corrections using a choke chain to “show the dog that the people were in charge.”

The trainer advised the couple to approach the bowl with the dog on leash and physically correct the dog for lunging toward the bowl or showing any signs of aggression (guarding), then “make” the dog sit about a foot away from the food. Once the dog was “calm,” he was allowed to eat, remaining on leash with the owner. If the dog showed any aggression, the handler was to physically correct the dog and yank him away from the food bowl, wait for the dog to “calm down,” then start again.

There are several problems with this approach. First, the couple hoped to one day have children, and this “method” taught the dog nothing about interacting with someone who didn’t have a leash and the strength to make a physical correction. In addition, the trainer repeatedly triggered a reaction from the dog. Behavior experts agree that, in contrast to the approach used in the video, successful behavior modification works at a sub-threshold level, at a low-enough level of intensity to prevent the dog from reacting. Also, the trainer also did nothing to address the dog’s emotional state (nervous, insecure, and stressed) and instead intensified it; what was defined as “calm” was anything but.

It’s possible to suppress guarding behavior using force, says Pat Miller. “However, you haven’t changed the dog’s emotional response to a threat to his resource, just his physical response. It’s quite possible that the guarding behavior will return if and when he feels too threatened, or is approached by someone that he doesn’t perceive as capable of overpowering his desire for his resource.

“Any time you use force, you risk escalating the level of violence rather than modifying the behavior. You may not know until you’ve done significant behavioral damage that your dog is one who escalates, rather than shuts down, in the presence of violence.”

Here’s another dire scenario: If your dog growls at you over his food bowl and you punish or challenge him in some way, it might very well occur to him that his growl wasn’t sufficient to warn you off. He may resort to the next warning level – a snarl, snap, or worse – in an effort to more effectively protect his food.

Behavior modification:
Get to the problem’s root
Experts agree that the best route to take in dealing with resource-guarding is to use a combination of management and behavior modification.

Essentially, “management” entails intervening in (or anticipating and preventing) a situation so that the dog cannot repeat inappropriate behavior. For example, we keep food and toys picked up around a resource-guarder so that he cannot engage in guarding. Management does not necessarily or teach the dog anything; he simply has less opportunity to practice an undesirable behavior.

The most important tools in the behavior-modification toolbox, though, are systematic desensitization and counter-conditioning.

Desensitization involves exposing the dog to whatever it is that previously evoked his fear or anxiety, but at a distance and intensity that does not produce a response.

Counter-conditioning is a process in which we replace a dog’s involuntary, undesirable reaction (such as fear) with a more desirable response – one that is incompatible with the undesirable old response (such as the eager anticipation of a tasty treat). We create a positive emotional response by associating an event (your approach) with something good (a reward). This methodology has been proven to work, and is relatively easy and pleasant for both human and dog.

With counter-conditioning, you don’t exert your “control” over the dog in any way, but instead, transform your presence around the dog’s possessions into a signal that even better things are coming. One event becomes a reliable predictor of another event, and the subject develops an anticipatory response to the first event. By pairing good things (extra scrumptious treats) with the formerly bad thing (your approach or presence near whatever he is guarding), your proximity starts to become a better thing – a predictor of what is to come (treats!).

The goal is to transform a food-guarder who becomes tense or upset when a person approaches him while he’s eating into a dog who is happy to be approached while eating, as this reliably predicts the delivery of even more food or treats.

Donaldson stresses the need to work at a low threshold; if at any point the dog shows the original reaction, you have gone super-threshold, and it is necessary to back up and start at a point where the dog does not react. “No good comes of rehearsing the dog’s old, growly behavior by replicating super-threshold versions of the trigger. In fact, it can make the dog worse.”

Donaldson also makes it clear that when working with a guarder, we need to be sure that the first event (the “threat” to the resource) must come before the delivery of the counter-conditioning treat. For example, in a food bowl exercise, “the approach, bowl touch, or bowl removal must precede the addition of bonuses to the dish.” This means that we do not, for example, show a dog the bait in hopes of preventing a guarding reaction. Doing so will not condition the appropriate emotional response.

Doing the work
Ideally, you start with a young pup who doesn’t guard and teach him early on that your presence predicts good stuff, says Miller. “You do this by offering to trade something wonderful for whatever he already has – such as a toy of moderate value, to start with – working your way up to really high-value items. I teach a ‘Give’ cue by saying ‘Give,’ then offering a high value treat in exchange for his object. Repeat until he will happily give up any object when you ask him to ‘Give.’ ”

Trainers use different protocols; there is always more than one way to approach an exercise. The protocol you use should be tailored to your dog, depending on the seriousness of his guarding behavior. “Progress gradually to the next step, only when your dog is totally relaxed at the current step,” says trainer Virginia Broitman. “Some dogs will move quickly through the steps, while others may need weeks of work. Don’t rush! If at any point you are concerned for your safety or unclear on any step, discontinue the exercises and consult an experienced trainer/behavior counselor for personalized assistance.”

One example of a protocol for a dog who already guards objects begins with a good look at all the items in the dog’s environment and ranking them according to their value to the dog. For instance, a ball may be a low-value item, while a rawhide may be extremely high-value. A list might look like this:

• Stuffed squeaky toys
• Latex squeaky toys
• Rubbery flying disks
• Pig’s ears
• Rawhide chews
• Rope toys
• Balls
• Socks
• Newspapers and magazines

Once the items have been ranked, training begins with the items that the dog doesn’t especially care about and does not want. Initially, higher value items must not be available to the dog, because we want to prevent him from “practicing” his guarding behavior.

A session begins with the trainer presenting a low-value item to the dog and telling him to “Take it!” Almost immediately, the trainer gives a cue for “Drop it!” and gives the dog an extremely delicious treat.” The idea is that the dog is more than happy to “drop” the low-value item in favor of the treat. This exercise would be repeated dozens of times over a number of sessions.

Note: If the trainer is concerned that the dog may act aggressively in order to take the higher-value treat, she should have the dog on a tether, position herself just out of reach, and toss the treats in such a way to most safely reach for the low-value item. Again, in the case of a dog whose guarding behavior rates higher than a four on the scale found on page 5, the services of a qualified, positive canine behavior professional are recommended.

Only when the dog is comfortable with the first step would the protocol change, first by giving the dog the item and walking away, giving him a minute to enjoy the low-value item, and then returning to trade. As long as the dog continues to respond well to these exercises, you would work up to the more valuable items higher on your dog’s list. Training would occur in a variety of locations, and from then on, throughout the dog’s life, “spot checks” would be instituted to be sure that the dog retained what he learned.

Note: This example is a summary provided only to give the reader an idea as to what is involved in rehabilitating a guarder. If you have a guarder, you will need to follow a more detailed, structured protocol, and may require the assistance of a qualified behavior professional. See “Finding the Right Trainer,” below.

If your household includes children, you will need to take special precautions. Initially, only the adults should work with a dog who guards; kids should be a part of the guarding-rehabilitation program only after the adults have worked extensively with the dog, and only under direct supervision of an adult. Never assume that once your dog stops guarding with you, that he’ll stop guarding his items from the kids.

Similarly, you should never assume that once your dog no longer guards his cherished items from you or your family, he will no longer guard them from other people. Plan, manage, and supervise your dog’s interactions carefully, to prevent any possible harm to other people.

For location-guarding, follow a similar protocol. Start by using a place the dog does not guard and reward him for coming away from/off the place willingly. Donaldson likes to use target training as part of this protocol.

Manage in the mean time
Guarding behavior can be a daunting challenge to overcome, especially if it has progressed significantly. In this case, you must find an experienced trainer/behaviorist with whom to work. Until you are able to get help, management is a valid alternative. This involves avoiding the problem or trigger through environmental control. For example, if your dog guards pig ears, remove them from your home and do not allow him access to them. Keep the bedroom door closed to a bed-guarder.

If there is a “management failure,” and the dog gets on the bed, you can either ignore the dog and wait for him to come off the bed on his own, or, more proactively, redirect him to an alternative activity, such as calling the dog to the kitchen for a cookie or inviting him out for a brief walk.

If your food-guarder ever manages to pick up something that’s dangerous (such as a bar of dark chocolate) or valuable to you (like your prescription glasses), Donaldson advises trying a quick, calm, “bait and switch.” Bribe or distract the dog with anything you can think of. “Although bribery is totally ineffective for fostering actual behavior change, when you’re in a jam, anything goes,” she says. But remember, repeated management failures teach the dog nothing.

Rehabilitation of a resource-guarder takes time and requires patience. But the payoff in the end – for you, your dog, and your friends and family – is well worth the effort.

Lisa Rodier became interested in guarding behaviors through her volunteer work in shelters and Bouvier rescue. She lives in Alpharetta, Georgia, with her husband and two Bouviers, and serves on the Board of Advisors for Service Dogs of Virginia, Inc.

Frequently Used Canine Healing Methods for Injured Dogs

By

CJ Puotinen

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September 11, 2007

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We call it the spark of life for good reason. From birth to death, all living creatures generate and transmit energy.

Entire healing therapies, some of them thousands of years old, have been built around energy. Once dismissed by Western science as impossible or ridiculous – and still viewed with suspicion by conventional physicians and canine veterinarians – energy medicine is slowly gaining acceptance in the United States. Several energy therapies are taught in American universities or are used by a growing number of healthcare practitioners. Can canine energy therapies help your dog? The descriptions and resources provided here may help you decide.

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We’re electric
All living beings generate and transmit electricity. Medical doctors measure it with electroencephalograms (EEGs) and electrocardiograms (ECGs or EKGs). Scientists routinely describe the nervous system in electrical terms, referring to its transducers, transmitters, electrochemical potential circuitry, current, resistance, voltage, capacity, and charge. The brain contains billions of neurons, which are cells that communicate using electrical signals and chemical messengers called neurotransmitters. The connections between neurons (called synapses) measure electrical impulses and transmit the neuron-to-neuron messages that are the foundation of brain function. Everything about the physiology, chemistry, and electrical circuitry of the nervous system has become fodder for medical research!

But Western medicine only maps and measures the body’s electrochemical output. When it attempts to change, balance, or improve the system, it almost always does so with invasive procedures, prescription drugs, or devices like surgically implanted pacemakers. In contrast, energy healing techniques can detect and correct energy imbalances in a noninvasive manner. Practitioners perceive these energy imbalances as the root cause of disease and discomfort.

Some types of energy medicine require the use of special equipment, such as acupuncture needles or grounding technology; in other systems, energetically charged substances, such as canine homeopathic remedies and flower essences, are used to correct energy imbalances. In some systems, practitioners employ physical touch, such as acupressure, meridian tapping techniques, applied kinesiology, and the laying on of hands; in others, the practitioners work close to the patient but do not use physical touch; in still others, the techniques are performed at a distance from the patient.

Skeptics dismiss any benefits observed from energy healing as a result of the placebo effect – where any observable health improvements cannot result from treatment but are attributed to the patient’s beliefs, hopes, and suggestibility. Psychology is a powerful force, but when canine patients improve overnight, their belief in the benefits of a specific therapy is an unlikely explanation for their improvment!

Some critics warn that the use of energy techniques can delay diagnosis, interfere with proper medical treatment, or create complications. However, most energy practitioners consider themselves part of the patient’s therapeutic team, not the sole healthcare provider, and they recommend appropriate veterinary care. In fact, some energy practitioners accept new patients only if they have been referred by a veterinarian. And a growing number of veterinarians administer energy healing techniques themselves, or work with energy practitioners.

Energy techniques are often used as support therapies. Learning how to use one or more of these methods may help both you and your dog in emergencies, and they may improve the outcome of veterinary treatment. Best of all, if an energy technique doesn’t work – and nothing works for everyone – it’s extremely unlikely to cause harm.

Occasionally a study involving an aspect of energy healing, such as the power of prayer, will be published in a major medical journal, but for the most part, research into what science calls the paranormal receives little public attention. Yet in quantum physics and in the field of consciousness research, rigorous scientific experiments have led to fascinating discoveries about the nature of energy and its effect on everything and everyone.

Medical journalist Lynne McTaggart has spent years translating technical scientific literature for lay readers, and her books The Field: The Quest for the Secret Forces of the Universe and The Intention Experiment: Using Your Thoughts to Change Your Life and the World review and explain the findings of hundreds of scientists. “Hidden within the cautious, neutral language of experimental data and mathematical equations,” she writes, “is nothing less than the makings of a new world, which slowly takes shape for all the rest of us, one painstaking experiment at a time.”

Recent discoveries about the brain and nervous system, chemical changes in molecules, communication between neurons, remote healing experiments, the power of intention (thought focused for a specific purpose), and other scientific findings explain why so many physicists and medical researchers consider energy healing not only theoretically possible but a fact of life.

Acupuncture
The most famous of all energy healing techniques is acupuncture, developed more than 5,000 years ago and still a primary healing modality for millions, including dogs, cats, horses, and other animals.

The foundation of acupuncture is a system of invisible channels or meridians through which the body’s energy, or chi, flows. Each meridian is linked to a different organ or body part. Blocks or obstructions in meridian energy reflect imbalances or illness in corresponding organs. To repair both problem and patient, key points along affected meridians are stimulated, releasing energy blocks and restoring balance to the body’s energy flow.

Acupuncture points, or acupoints, can be stimulated by the insertion of needles, the application of heat (called moxibustion, in which burning herbs are held just above specific points), acupressure (finger or thumb pressure, massage, or tapping on acupoints), or techniques that utilize electrical or ultrasound stimulation, the implantation of substances such as small gold beads, the application of laser light, or the application of small adhesive magnets.

The acupuncture needles used for dogs are so thin that their insertion is usually painless, although when first experiencing acupuncture, many dogs soon shake their needles out. In some cases insertion causes a brief, sharp pain or discomfort. People receiving acupuncture have the same reactions. Dogs who receive acupuncture weekly or monthly become accustomed to the procedure and often enjoy it, especially when it relieves their chronic pain.

Stacey Hershman, DVM, who makes house calls in Rockland County, New York, and is certified by the International Veterinary Acupuncture Society (IVAS), uses acupuncture to treat many disorders, especially immune system problems, arthritis, and pain from pre- and post-operative hip and knee surgery. “It also helps with torn ligaments, muscle sprains, panosteitis, hip dysplasia, and partial paralysis due to slipped discs,” says Dr. Hershman.

Acupuncture can also be used to help treat behavioral disorders; skin problems such as allergic dermatitis, hot spots, or lick granulomas; respiratory problems; digestive disorders; reproductive problems; hormonal imbalances; burns and other injuries; and any chronic or acute condition.

The technique does not address symptoms the way conventional medicine does. Instead, it stimulates healing from within, allowing the body to repair itself.

Treatment time varies from 10 seconds to half an hour or more. For a simple acute problem, such as a sprain or infection, a single treatment may be all that’s needed. For established conditions, such as arthritis, one to three treatments per week may be necessary at first.

According to IVAS, “A positive response is usually seen after the first to third treatment. Once a maximum positive response is achieved (usually after four to eight treatments), treatments are tapered off so that the greatest amount of symptom-free time elapses between them.” Most dogs with chronic conditions receive two to four maintenance treatments per year. Canine athletes may benefit from one or two treatments weekly or monthly, depending on their activity level and condition.

Acupuncture’s results are often subtle but they can be dramatic. In his book Love, Miracles and Animal Healing, Alan Schoen, DVM, describes how, shortly after he gave an acupuncture demonstration at a veterinary clinic, technicians rushed into the emergency room with a 12-year-old German Shepherd whose heart had stopped after surgery. The veterinarians on duty inserted a tube down the dog’s throat, administered manual cardiac massage, injected the dog with epinephrine and bicarbonate, then wired him to electrodes and gave him electric shocks.

The dog’s EKG traced a flat line and he was pronounced dead. A technician was about to disconnect the oxygen when Schoen asked if he could try. He inserted an acupuncture needle at the center of the dog’s upper lip, halfway between nose and mouth, and gave it several short jabs. Within seconds, the dog began breathing and his heartbeat resumed.

Dr. Schoen wants everyone to know about this acupuncture point, called GV 26, a point on the Governing Vessel meridian. This emergency point can be stimulated with an acupuncture needle or fingernail to revive an unconscious animal.

Like all energy therapies, acupuncture can be used to alleviate, improve, or cure acute or chronic conditions and to help keep problems from developing when used as a preventive therapy.

Acupressure
Acupressure utilizes the same meridians as acupuncture, but instead of needles, pressure from the ball of the thumb, the tip of the index or middle finger, or the bent index finger’s knuckle (if nails are long) stimulates the meridians’ key points.

Acupressure is a versatile healing tool, one that can address obvious problems like sports injuries as well as more complex conditions, like auto-immune disorders or behavioral issues.

Frequent Whole Dog Journal contributors and acupressure experts Amy Snow and Nancy Zidonis, authors of The Well-Connected Dog: A Guide to Canine Acupressure and other books, offer introductory, intermediate, and advanced training in Traditional Chinese Medicine and acupressure for horses, dogs, and other animals at their Tallgrass Animal Acupressure Institute in Larkspur, Colorado. Graduate practitioners from Tallgrass span the globe.

In their Canine Acupressure workbook, Snow and Zidonis give step-by-step instructions for locating and stimulating about 150 major acupressure points, with treatment programs for commonly seen problems, such as lower back soreness, neck stiffness, and hip problems.

While acupuncture needles must be positioned precisely, acupressure is forgiving because fingertips cover a wider area. This noninvasive treatment can safely be learned and used by pet owners as well as by trainers and healthcare practitioners.

Acupressure performed mechanically can clear energy blocks and improve health, but Snow and Zidonis train their students as much in breathing and focusing their thoughts as in the location of meridians and pressure points. “Acupressure has the added benefit of contributing human intention and energy to the dog during the process of balancing physical and emotional issues,” says Snow. “In several ways, this makes the acupressure more powerful and effective.”

Acupressure sessions typically last 20 minutes to one hour, beginning with opening work (centering yourself, positioning the dog, and gliding the palms over the animal’s body), followed by point work (stimulating individual acupressure points), closing (all-over massage with a smooth, light touch), and 5 to 10 minutes of gentle stretching.

“The best part of acupressure,” says Snow, “is that it is always available. We have seen many who, even as novices, provided healing help for their animals after learning some basic energy balancing techniques. Not everyone wants to be a practitioner, but everyone can use acupressure to support their dog’s physical and emotional well-being.”

Tellington TTouch
When Israeli physicist and athlete Moishe Feldenkrais was hit by a bus and lost the use of his legs, he refused surgery and ignored his doctors’ pessimistic predictions. Instead, he re-educated his legs by bypassing the habitual ways in which he moved, utilizing every alternative motion he could discover, from gross muscle movement to the smallest and most subtle flexing. Within two years, he was walking again – and his discoveries improved the lives of those with obvious disabilities as well as dancers, athletes, and people who wanted to enhance their performance. He taught them how to walk, run, speak, think, and move in entirely new ways.

The practitioners he trained in Awareness through Movement or the Feldenkrais Method of Functional Integration spent hundreds of hours lying on the floor, studying and experiencing minute muscle movements.

One of Feldenkrais’ students was Linda Tellington-Jones, who realized that horses and other animals could, like people, learn new responses very quickly if their old habit patterns were disrupted in a non-threatening manner. Her method, Tellington TTouch (pronounced tee-touch), has transformed dogs, cats, horses, cows, goats, birds, reptiles, and zoo animals, as well as their owners, companions, and caregivers. Tellington-Jones describes TTouch as affecting living beings at the cellular level, thus activating the body’s potential.

TTouch borrows some of its procedures from auricular medicine, an acupuncture technique that stimulates acupoints on the ear to treat the entire body. Additional body touches, small circular movements, lifts, and slides are performed with the hands and fingertips, and dogs are wrapped in elastic bandages, stroked with wands, and walked through labyrinths, all in an effort to interrupt and permanently change their habitual thoughts, reactions, and motions.

TTouch practitioners and instructors use the technique to help dogs overcome fear, improve their coordination, prevent injuries, improve their focus and concentration, and reduce the stress in their lives. The technique has helped dogs overcome separation anxiety, improve obedience, reduce excessive barking and chewing, and diminish aggressive behavior.

Thanks to the many books, videos, DVDs, and training aids created by Linda Tellington-Jones, anyone with a love of animals can learn TTouch at home. More than 1,000 certified practitioners in the U.S. and 25 other countries provide in-person instruction and treatment sessions.

Now that TTouch has been helping dogs and other animals for almost 25 years, Linda Tellington-Jones has introduced something new – her latest TTouch method, called TTouch-for-You, is for people.

Therapeutic Touch
In the early 1970s, Dolores Krieger, PhD, a registered nurse and professor at the New York University Graduate School of Nursing, and her mentor, Dora Kunz, developed a secular, nonreligious form of healing that combined the laying on of hands – the world’s oldest healing method – with other traditional energetic techniques.

The result, which they called Therapeutic Touch, was first taught to nurses at NYU. Today Therapeutic Touch is taught in over 200 hospitals and more than 100 accredited colleges and universities in the United States, as well as in 75 countries around the world.

Best known for its ability to relieve stress and anxiety, Therapeutic Touch has been credited with reducing pain, improving immune function, speeding wound healing, and improving overall health. It has been tested in numerous research studies that document physiological changes within the body, including changes in brain wave patterns.

Despite its name, Therapeutic Touch is a hands-off healing method, for it doesn’t involve physical contact. The technique is performed in three main steps. First, the practitioner centers himself or herself by quieting the mind.

Next, with hands placed two to six inches from the patient, the practitioner scans the patient’s body using slow, rhythmic motions to locate energy blocks.

Last, the energy blocks are released as the practitioner visualizes and smoothes the patient’s energy field from head to toe. Sessions typically last from 20 to 30 minutes.

Carol Robin, DC, a chiropractor in West Shokan, New York, learned Therapeutic Touch as an adjunct to her professional practice. When she tried it on her dog and three cats, they responded as well as her human patients. She then began teaching Therapeutic Touch and Energy Balancing to pet owners.

“This method is a powerful tool for centering, relaxing, and grounding,” she says, “and it helps with behavior problems as well as physical ailments. If dogs are hyper or nervous, it calms them down. If they’re afraid of thunderstorms or strange noises, it can help them be less fearful. In cases of injury or illness, it helps them relax and gets their energy flowing more freely to speed up the healing process. I can’t think of any condition where Therapeutic Touch would not be helpful.”

Dr. Robin’s instructions are simple. After relaxing, grounding yourself, and focusing your attention on your dog, place one hand on the head and the other just above the tail at the base of the spine, over the sacrum. Touching lightly with the palms of the hands, or on a small or toy breed, with your fingertips, imagine energy flowing like water from the dog’s head, down the spine, and out the end of the tail. Hold the position for a minute or two, until you feel a sense of balance under your hands and the dog begins to relax.

Light strokes from head to tail and from spine to paws distribute the energy throughout the dog’s body, clear energy imbalances, and facilitate healing.

“The most important thing to do before you begin,” says Dr. Robin, “is to take a few deep breaths and center yourself. If you’re upset or distracted, you’ll only agitate the dog. If your intention is loving and healing, your efforts will assist your animal companion.”

To help those who are unfamiliar with the preliminary steps of Therapeutic Touch, Dr. Robin has recorded guided meditation and imagery CDs. “They’re for anyone who would like to relax and explore the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual levels of body, heart, mind, and spirit,” she says, “all of which enhance your application of Therapeutic Touch.”

Reiki
Reiki (pronounced RAY-kee) was developed in Japan in the late 19th century and is taught in an oral tradition of master-to-student instruction. The Reiki practitioner becomes the conduit for transmitting universal energy to the client’s energy field by means of an “attunement” from a Reiki Master. Practitioners usually describe their work as bringing the body into harmony and balance. Reiki is used for all types of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual healing. In addition to relieving physical symptoms, it enhances personal growth, speeds the healing of injuries, and reduces stress.

In Reiki, intention is everything. Practitioners agree that having the right mental focus is more important than holding your hand in an exact position. So long as your intention is to channel universal energy for the highest good of the person or animal you’re working with, the same positive impact will result.

Level 1 Reiki students practice being a conduit of healing energy for themselves and others at close proximity. In Level 2, students learn three ancient symbols that can be used to focus healing, intensify the energy flow, and transmit Reiki across greater distances. Level 2 Reiki is especially useful when working with dogs and other creatures, including wild, aggressive, abused, traumatized, and seriously ill animals. Level 3 produces Reiki Masters, who are the most advanced practitioners.

Only a few formal studies have examined Reiki’s effectiveness, and of these, most dealt with pain. Reiki has been shown to be highly effective in managing pain from various causes, including cancer, arthritis, and sinus infections. However, Reiki practitioners report the healing of a wide variety of illnesses. It is one of the world’s most widely used energy therapies. In Orange Park, Florida, dog trainer and behavioral consultant Elizabeth Teal was completing her Level 3 Masters training when she used Reiki to break up a dog fight.

“The two dogs were part of a recently combined family, so they knew each other, but not well,” says Teal. “One was a highly spoiled, resource-guarding terrier belonging to the client’s mother-in-law. The other was a territorial, defensively aggressive, recently rescued spaniel belonging to the client’s child. These dogs did not speak the same language. The kitchen was already crowded when the doorbell rang because both owners were trying to feed their dogs at the same time. Tensions were high. A third person, a visitor, entered the kitchen, and I came in last. Suddenly, all hell broke loose. Everyone was screaming, including the dogs, and blood was flying.”

Reiki treatments begin with the practitioner asking permission to proceed, which animals indicate with their posture, breathing, and body language, but this was an emergency. Reiki instructors explain that in emergencies, the higher self of all concerned directs the energy.

“The first thing I did was clear the room,” says Teal. “It took a minute to accomplish this, but as soon as the people left, I drew a power symbol and a relationship symbol over the area. The terrier still had a serious hold on the spaniel. I knew that if I put my hands near the dogs, I would be attacked.

“I held my hands to either side of both dogs and focused my mind. What happened next wasn’t like a jolt of lightning or an explosion, but I felt a whoosh, and a wave of quiet filled the room. At that instant, both dogs stopped, stood still, and stared straight at me. That gave me just enough room to grab their collars, toss them in their crates, and kick the doors closed.”

Teal and her client took both dogs to the nearest veterinary clinic, where the spaniel was treated for multiple bite wounds, requiring stitches. The terrier has since been re-homed.

“I’d like to add a note of caution,” she says. “Dog fights are very, very serious, and I’m not by any stretch of the imagination suggesting that you learn Reiki because it will break up dog fights. Also, dogs should never be put in situations where they have to use their weapons. This fight could and should have been prevented, but that’s a separate story.”

After she completed her Masters training, Teal began working with animals and their human and animal families. “I’m more interested in emotional healing than physical healing,” she explains, “and I may specialize in re-homed animals, who often have complex issues. Reiki is the best tool I can imagine for helping these special pets.”

For an excellent introduction to Reiki for pets, see Animal Reiki: Using Energy to Heal the Animals in Your Life, by Elizabeth Fulton and Kathleen Prasad.

Coming next month: Animal communication, applied kinesiology, flower essences, homeopathy, and more.

CJ Puotinen, a frequent contributor to WDJ, is the author of The Encyclopedia of Natural Pet Care, which describes several energy healing techniques.

Canine Stimulus Control Through Positive Dog Training

By

Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA

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September 11, 2007

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Students in my Level 2 class are learning the “stay” dog behavior. Some of the pupils are doing great with the concept of “stay in the position I left you in until I tell you to change positions,” but one Border Collie isn’t having much success.

Charlie willingly sits on cue, but when clicks and treats don’t come fast enough, he starts trying other canine behaviors in his repertoire – with rapid-fire offerings of shake, speak, down, and even a roll-over finding its way into the mix. He gets so excited about the training game that sometimes he doesn’t even bother to sit first when asked, but drops right into the down – his favorite position. Charlie, an eager worker who loves positive dog trainging reinforcement, has learned a lot of different behaviors and is anticipating his human’s cues for all his favorite tricks. He clearly doesn’t have his behaviors under stimulus control.

Stimulus control means your dog offers a specific canine behavior when you ask for it and doesn’t offer it if you haven’t asked for it. In reality, the only dogs on earth under total stimulus control all the time are robotic dogs, not living, breathing beings. At best, very well-trained dogs (through positive dog training methods) achieve that level of behavior when they are actively working. Otherwise, your very well-trained dog could never sit or lie down of his own volition, even when he was “off-duty.”

Before I explain how to get your dog to do what you want him to do, when you want him to do it, allow me to define some terms, and discuss the difference between a positive training approach – like I teach and Whole Dog Journal advocates — and a training program that uses aversive techniques.

Positive approach
A stimulus is something that causes a behavioral response. Some stimuli result in a response without training. Things like lights, sounds, scents, and things that cause physical discomfort (heat, cold, pain) are called primary or unconditioned stimuli. You don’t have to teach your dog to contract the pupils of his eyes if you shine a bright light in them – it just happens. He’s likely to jump when he’s startled by the clang of a stainless steel dog bowl dropping on the kitchen floor, and drift closer to the kitchen when you bake Italian meatballs, even if he’s never experienced those stimuli before.

A “secondary stimulus” is a signal that is meaningless to the dog until it is associated with a behavior that is then reinforced. The signal word “sit” means nothing to your dog until you help him connect it to the act of putting his bottom firmly on the floor, and until the sequence of “sit = bottom on floor” is repeatedly reinforced. With training, the initially meaningless “sit” sound becomes the cue for the desired behavior of putting bottom on floor.

In positive training, we first get the dog to do the behavior, then add the cue (secondary stimulus). We have a variety of techniques at our disposal to get the dog to do the behavior. We can “capture” the behavior – observing the dog, waiting until he does a certain behavior, and then “marking” it (with the click of a clicker or word such as “Yes!”) and rewarding him for it. Or we can “lure” the behavior, by using a food or toy that your dog moves toward, to get him to move into a certain position or perform a certain movement (which can then be marked and rewarded). Or we can “shape” the behavior, by marking and rewarding your dog for successively more “correct” approximations of the movement or behavior you want.

When we can reliably get your dog to do the behavior, we start adding the cue just before he does the behavior. This creates the sequence of “Sit!” = bottom on floor = treat happens (positive reinforcement).

The old-fashioned way of giving meaning to the word “Sit!” was to give the “command” first and then pull up and/or push down on the dog to get the desired behavior. The reinforcement in that case was negative; the sit behavior made the pushing and/or pulling go away. This also created the necessary sequence of “Sit!” = bottom on floor = bad stuff goes away (negative reinforcement). This old-fashioned way works, but positive trainers don’t use it; our preference is to help our dogs learn how to solve training problems and offer behaviors, rather than physically manipulating or forcing them into position.

Charlie the Border Collie understands that “Sit!” means to put his bottom on the floor – some of the time. He’s made the association, but doesn’t yet understand that it means “always and only.” Lack of stimulus control is a common occurrence in positive training. When we are good at reinforcing dogs for offering behaviors, dogs get really good at offering them. Plus, teaching new behaviors is often more fun and exciting – and more reinforcing for the dog, since we tend to use more treats and praise when a dog is learning a new behavior. In the beginning, we often reward successive approximations of a new behavior at a high rate of reinforcement . . . and the rewards may slow as we become more selective about what we choose to reinforce, in an attempt to “shape” the behavior and indicate to our dog which approximation of the behavior is the one we want.

We also deliberately slow our treat frequency to a variable pattern of random reinforcement when we put a behavior on an intermittent schedule of reinforcement to help the dog learn to keep working even if he doesn’t get a click and treat every time. This is done when a dog has become reliable at performing a given behavior – that is, he’ll do it at least 8 out of 10 times when you ask him to. A lack of stimulus control may be a common “side effect” among dogs and owners who use positive methods, but it’s (in our opinion) preferable to the most common side effects of coercive training methods.

Dogs trained by old-fashioned coercion usually learn that the safest thing to do, unless expressly asked, is nothing. Force-based trainers attain stimulus control with a choke chain, immediately squelching any unasked-for behavior with a sharp collar “correction” – a jerk on the leash. Of course, dogs trained with this method often become very reluctant to offer unasked-for behaviors, so valuable training techniques such as shaping, and a certain degree of trust, go out the window. (See “Fun Training Techniques for You and Your Canine!,” March 2006.)

Steps to stimulus control
The first step, getting your dog to offer the behavior on cue, is really the easiest part. Using capturing, luring, and/or shaping, you can elicit and reinforce pretty much any canine behavior you can conceive of, and then add the cue.

Now comes the more difficult part: not reinforcing behaviors that our dogs offer spontaneously. But if you want stimulus control, you’ll have to be consistent in this.

Of course, you can choose your venues. You can (and should!) still reinforce spontaneously offered default sits outside of your formal training session, especially if you’ve encouraged your dog to offer them – such as in a “Say please” program, where you teach your dog that the very polite and spontaneously offered deference behavior of “sit” makes good things (treats, praise, and other rewards) happen. But when you are specifically focused on training – if you want stimulus control – you’ll need to be very clear with your signals, reward markers (clicks), and reinforcement. So here’s the plan:

-Figure out how to elicit the behavior so you can reinforce it.

-When you can elicit/predict a behavior consistently at least 8 out of 10 times, you can add the cue just prior to the behavior, and begin fading (diminishing) prompts and lures – treats and body language that help the dog understand what the cue means. During this phase you may need to cue, pause, then prompt or lure, to help your dog transfer his association with the behavior from the lure to the cue. These first steps are the acquisition stage of learning; the dog is just figuring out how to do the behavior you’re asking for.

-When the cue will elicit the behavior at least 8 out of 10 times without a prompt or lure, you’re ready to tighten up your stimulus control; you will no longer click and reward the behavior (sit) if you haven’t asked for it, nor will you click and reward your dog if he offers a different behavior (down) when you ask for sit, even if you’ve been working really hard to get him to offer downs. Work on downs in a different section of your training session to avoid confusion, or in an entirely different session. This is “fluency”; the dog performs the behavior easily, on cue.

-If your dog offers an unsolicited behavior that is different from the one you are working on, or anticipates your cue for the one you are working on, remove all reinforcement. You want to extinguish unsolicited behaviors (cause them to go away). You may choose to use a neutral-voiced “no reward marker” (NRM) such as “Oops!” or “Time out!” or “Sorry!” as you turn away to remove your attention, or just turn away without a marker. Wait several seconds, and then resume training. Give your cue for the sit again.

-If several short time-outs in succession don’t seem to have an impact – if your dog keeps offering the wrong behavior – try a few longer time-outs, like a minute or two, where you actually go away and sit down before you resume training. If you are consistent about removing reinforcement, you should eventually extinguish spontaneous offerings.

Performance anticipation
Some dogs seem to share the same joy we do in practicing a wide variety of behaviors, as if the cue to perform one is an invitation to show off the entire repertoire. This can be frustrating when you’re doing an “onstage” performance for your friends and family, your son’s class at school, or the residents of the local assisted living facility where you do pet-assisted therapy. You ask your dog to “sit” and, lacking some of the critical elements of stimulus control, he’s halfway through his entire trick routine before you’ve even given him the cue to roll over.

A quick fix for this problem – while you work on stimulus control – is to teach him a solid “wait” behavior (easier than stimulus control), and then use your wait cue following each trick (see “Training Your Dog to Stay Using Cues, May 2001). Your performance might go something like this:

“Skippy, sit!” Click/treat. “Wait!”

“Skippy, shake!” Click/treat. “Wait!”

“Skippy, roll over!” Click/treat. “Wait!”

And so on.

Critical skill?
So, how important is stimulus control, really? Perhaps not very important, if you enjoy your dog as a companion mostly at home and don’t care if he offers random behaviors in the privacy of your own living room. It is probably more important to you if you like to take your dog out in public and want to be sure he will do as you ask in polite company. And it is very important if you have any plans or dreams of competing in any of the doggie sports that require precision in performance, such as rally, obedience, and freestyle.

It may be challenging to establish stimulus control. It’s worth it, however, if you want to wow your friends (and judges) with your dog’s training, and reap the rewards of the increased level of communication this builds between you and your canine companion.

The good news is that dogs seem to be able to generalize the concept of stimulus control; once you’ve established it with three or four behaviors, it tends to get easier and easier as you put more behaviors under stimulus control. Your dog comes to realize that each signal means a different behavior, and that being reinforced depends on recognizing the signal and giving the correct response. It’s good to know that your training will get easier as you go along!

Next month, I’ll discuss other ways you can make your dog’s performance more consistent and reliable.

Pat Miller, CPDT, is Whole Dog Journal’s Training Editor. Miller lives in Hagerstown, Maryland, site of her Peaceable Paws training center, with her husband Paul. Pat is also the author of The Power of Positive Dog Training and Positive Perspectives: Love Your Dog, Train Your Dog.

Thanks to trainer Sarah Richardson, of Chico, California, for demonstrating techniques for the photos in this article.

Download the Full September 2007 Issue PDF

By

Nancy Kerns

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August 15, 2007

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Whole Dog Journal

In Dog Food We Trust

Editorial

By

Nancy Kerns

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August 13, 2007

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How many dogs and cats died as a result of contaminated pet foods early this year? Its become clear that we will probably never know. Last May, Michael Rogers, director of the Division of Field Investigations for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), said in a telephone conference that the agency received as many as 18,000 calls about the recalled foods, with as many as 50 percent alleging an animal death. Certainly as part of a longer-term process, the agency is going to be evaluating this data, and well certainly come out with a final characterization of in total the number of confirmed deaths associated with these recalled products, he said.

However, our efforts to determine how many people are investigating the reports that FDA received or whether there are actually any people currently working on those reports at all led nowhere. Every FDA spokesperson we encountered told us, Well release the number as soon as we know it.

Information released by other sources suggests that the final number will be much higher than the 17 or 18 cases that FDA accepts as positively confirmed. The Oregon state veterinarian, Dr. Emilio DeBess, states that he has received reports 127 suspect cases of dogs and cats who experienced an adverse response to eating contaminated food; this number includes reports of 49 deaths 20 dogs and 29 cats.

Also, the 20,000 members of Veterinary Information Network (VIN, an online, subscription-based education and communication forum for veterinary professionals) reported almost 1,500 cases of dog and cat injuries and deaths related to contaminated pet food. VIN plans to investigate as many of these reports as they can, in an attempt to independently confirm links between contaminated foods and illness.There is a silver lining to this cloud. Pet food companies are doing more than theyve ever done to secure better ingredients, establish or enforce traceability of those ingredients, monitor their contract manufacturers (if they use one), and communicate with us, the people buying their products.

Of course, in some cases, more than theyve ever done isnt much. Makers of low-cost, low-quality foods will still buy bargain ingredients; theyll just be a tad more certain of the ingredients origin. But the companies who make products aimed at the top end of the market the so-called super-premium foods are pulling out all the stops to accomplish these tasks and earn consumer confidence. On page 14, seven executives from companies that meet the latter description discuss what they are doing (and what they had already been doing) to make top-quality, safe foods.

Many owners who have lost confidence in all commercial pet food makers have found comfort in our series on home-prepared diets, which concludes in this issue. Weve received many letters from owners who have made the switch to home-prepared diets for their dogs and couldnt be happier.

A Homemade Dog Food Diet

By

Mary Straus

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August 13, 2007

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When we first planned a series of articles for Whole Dog Journal on homemade dog food diets, Whole Dog Journal Editor Nancy Kerns and I had no idea that massive pet food recalls would erupt almost simultaneously with the publication of the first article, and continue to expand over the following months.

Throughout the aftermath of the recall, I saw a variety of recipes for home-prepared pet food diets, to be fed as a safer replacement for potentially contaminated commercial foods. Presented in newspapers, magazines, and online, most of these diet recipes provided incomplete nutrition, lacked any source of calcium, offered no variety, and were heavily laden with carbohydrates rather than the protein that dogs require to thrive.

As more and more owners made the decision to switch to homemade diets rather than risk feeding contaminated food to their dogs, I grew increasingly aware of the importance and urgency to supply appropriate guidelines that could help people create homemade diets that would meet the nutritional needs of their dogs.

Over the past five months, I’ve presented information on homemade diets, cooked and raw, with whole bones, ground bones, or boneless. During that time, I’ve learned about some new products, read a great new book, tried out some sample pre-mixes and freeze-dried foods, and responded to questions from people about issues raised in my articles and points that would benefit from clarification. I’ll discuss these topics in this final installment of our series.

New cooked diet book
There are an infinite number of cookbooks with recipes for human diets, and lately I’ve seen quite a few of them for dogs, too. But I just finished reading the first cookbook I’ve found with recipes for people to share with their dogs.

Carol Boyle, who discussed the diet she shares with her husband and her two Great Pyrenees in “Home Prepared Dog Food Recipes” (Whole Dog Journal July 2007), has published a book on the topic. Natural Food Recipes for Healthy Dogs: Everything You Need to Know to Make the Greatest Food for Your Friend is delightful, easy to read, and filled with recipes for dishes you can share with your dogs.

Boyle’s simple but thorough guidelines for how to feed a healthy diet to your dogs, as well as to the humans in your household, made me begin to think that maybe even I could learn to cook! While I haven’t yet gone that far, I have found myself making larger portions and sharing them with my dog when I feel the meals I’m eating are appropriate, rather than just offering a few tidbits as I’ve done in the past.

Be sure to get the newly revised version available from naturaldogfood.com (or 908-728-0010), not the older edition found elsewhere.

Supplements for limited diets
Two new supplements designed to balance out limited homemade diets were introduced to the market since I wrote about them, also in July’s article. Steve Brown, the creator of Steve’s Real Food for Dogs, has developed a new product called See Spot Live LongerTM Homemade Dinner Mixes. Designed to balance a meat-based diet, this product can be used by owners who are unable to feed their dogs the variety needed to create a complete diet, or those who simply feel more comfortable using a supplement to ensure that AAFCO (American Association of Feed Control Officials) and NRC (National Research Council) nutritional guidelines are met.

A second product, Vitamins & Minerals for Home-Cooked Dog Food made by Furoshnikov’s Formulas, is designed to balance out a diet that is higher in carbohydrates. This product is also guaranteed to make a diet meet the AAFCO guidelines for a canine diet when used according to directions.

Both of these new products, as well as the two mentioned in previous articles, Wysong’s Call of the Wild (designed for meat-based diets) and Balance IT (designed for high-carbohydrate diets), supply calcium as well as other needed vitamins and minerals, so there’s no need to add a separate calcium source when using any of them. Because of this, they are not appropriate to use with diets that include edible bone.

Green beans not toxic
Also in July’s article, I said, “Legumes (including green beans) should always be cooked due to a toxin they contain while raw (though small amounts would not be harmful).” Correction: This warning does not apply to green beans after all. It is only the mature beans, such as kidney, lima, and fava beans, that contain significant amounts of toxin prior to cooking. Green beans (also called string beans, snap beans, and French beans) are immature and are fine to be fed raw.

Grinders
I’ve discovered three new sources for electric meat grinders since writing about them in Whole Dog Journal’s May article on raw diets, “A Raw Deal.” Several raw feeders have recommended stainless steel grinders made and sold by Cabela’s, especially the 1 and 1½ horsepower models.

“My 1 HP Cabela’s meat grinder will grind up veggies, whole chicken parts, and turkey wings and backs (I haven’t tried legs as their bones are quite thick),” says Cary Branthwaite of Durham, North Carolina. “We grind and butcher quite a bit of venison, so we needed the 1 HP capacity, but a ½ HP grinder would be adequate also.”

Mary Waugh Swindell of Boyd, Texas, had a mechanical problem with the larger 1¾ HP model that she bought at Cabela’s in Fort Worth, but raved about the store’s customer service and willingness to take it back with no questions asked. She exchanged it for the 1½ HP model, which both her best friend and her dad have been happy with, and says, “It works like a dream. I needed something big and fast, as I’m feeding six large dogs. I would wholeheartedly recommend their grinder.”

These Cabela commercial-grade stainless steel grinders run $400 to $600, plus shipping (which is expensive on these heavy items) if you can’t find them locally. Cabela’s also sells lower-priced models, but I’ve heard no feedback about them.

Heather Smith, of Fayetteville, Pennsylvania, recently purchased a ¾ HP LEM stainless steel grinder from Bass Pro Shops (they’re also available directly from the manufacturer), and says, “It was about $350 and has worked great on chicken quarters, chicken wings and necks, turkey wings and necks, and oxtails. If you can fit it down the chute, this grinder will grind it.” LEM also makes smaller grinders, but I’ve not heard feedback about them.

Another recommended grinder is the 1.35 HP grinder from Gander Mountain, which costs about $150. Check with local stores specializing in outdoor gear and hunting and fishing equipment to see if any offer electric meat grinders, often used by hunters to process wild game.

In the past, many people recommended the Tasin grinders sold by Northern Tool, but, according to reports I’ve heard from dog owners, the quality of those has declined in recent years, so if you’re thinking about a grinder, you may want to try one of those listed above instead.

Commercial alternatives
My dog, Piglet, volunteered to test samples of the four different varieties of dehydrated diets made by The Honest Kitchen, and gave them high marks. I’ve been integrating them into her diet as part of her breakfast every three days, for variety and because she likes them so much.

Laura Fulton, who told us about the diet she feeds her two Weimaraners in last month’s article, “Reality Cooks,” also offered some samples from The Honest Kitchen to her dogs and reports that they love it. Her dog Violet, who is prone to gassiness and digestive upset, has had no problems with these foods. Fulton has fed all but the Verve variety, which is beef-based, as Violet is allergic to beef.

Another friend, Sheryl Matzen, of Gold River, California, tried Embark, the variety approved for puppies, mixed half and half with fresh foods, to feed her new German Shepherd moose . . . uh, puppy, Apollo, and she, too, reports that he loves the food and is doing extremely well with it. She wanted to feed him a homemade diet, though she was worried about getting it right for a large-breed puppy; happily, she feels comfortable using the pre-mix. Matzen was cooking the added meat, but a recent heat wave convinced her to try feeding raw instead. In fact, she even gives him meat that is still frozen, as he enjoys chewing on it, and it helps to distract him from the rocks that he otherwise wants to eat.

Piglet also tried some samples of Stella & Chewy’s Freeze Dried Steaks. This is a complete diet, which comes in both frozen and freeze-dried form. It is available in beef, chicken, and lamb flavors, using free-range meats and human-grade ingredients.

The company recently opened its own processing plant in order to maintain control and ensure the safety of their products. I rehydrated the patties with warm water before feeding, and Piglet whimpered pathetically while waiting for them to be served. The result was a complete success: she ate with enthusiasm and tried to convince me I had not fed her enough. Complete packaged raw diets are too expensive for most people to serve all the time, unless you have very small dogs, but they can be handy to have on hand for quick and easy meals, and freeze-dried foods can be great for traveling, especially camping and backpacking.

Elemental calcium
A question was raised about the amount of calcium in eggshells due to the difference between calcium carbonate and elemental calcium. “Elemental calcium” is just a way of saying pure calcium, and this is what you will find listed in the nutritional analyses of most supplements.

Eggshells are 95 percent calcium carbonate; calcium carbonate is 40 percent elemental calcium. A large eggshell provides about 5,500 mg (about 1 teaspoon) of ground eggshell. So, 1 teaspoon of ground eggshell provides about 5,225 mg of calcium carbonate, or 2,100 mg of elemental calcium. Thus, the recommendation to add ½ teaspoon ground eggshell per pound of food (when you do not feed edible bones) supplies about 1,000 mg of elemental calcium.

If a supplement says it contains 500 mg calcium, that means 500 mg elemental calcium, though the amount of the calcium compound used to make the supplement, such as calcium carbonate or calcium lactate, will be greater. That’s why it doesn’t matter what form of calcium you use, as long as you give the proper amount of elemental calcium as shown on the label.

Vitamin A
One of the sample diets described in July’s article mentioned limiting the amount of liver in the diet due to concerns about vitamin A, and this is a worry I’ve heard voiced by many other people as well. Vitamin A is fat soluble, so an oversupply of this nutrient can be toxic. The reality, though, is that you would have to feed huge amounts of vitamin A for many months in order to cause toxicity. A diet that was all or mostly liver could lead to vitamin A toxicity over time, but a diet that includes small amounts of liver on a daily basis will not.

Liver is one of the most nutrient-dense foods you can feed, providing not only vitamin A, but also all the B vitamins, choline and inositol, vitamins D, E, and K, and the minerals iron, zinc, copper, manganese, selenium, and potassium, as well as essential fatty acids and high-quality protein. Don’t skimp on this nutritious food due to an unreasonable fear of too much vitamin A. Around five percent of the total diet should be liver, if possible.

Whole food versus synthetic supplements
Whole food supplements use beneficial foods and herbs rather than synthetic vitamins. Examples include nutritional or brewer’s yeast (source of B vitamins, chromium, selenium, and trace minerals), cod liver oil (source of vitamins A and D), organic apple cider vinegar (provides some trace minerals), and garlic (offers numerous health benefits). Green blends are whole food supplements that include primarily green foods, such as kelp, alfalfa, and spirulina, which provide trace minerals and other nutrients.

It is hard to quantify the benefits of whole food supplements, as little in the way of measurable nutrients will show up on a nutritional analysis. Synthetic supplements generally offer much higher amounts of vitamins. If you want to give megadoses of vitamin C, for example, you will have to rely on synthetic supplements to do so. Whole foods may offer superior nutritional value due to the combinations of nutrients, which may act synergistically and which the body may be better able to utilize than isolated nutrients, and their structure, which may be more bioavailable than synthetics.

As with foods, it can be helpful to rotate among different whole food supplements rather than always using the same one. Different brands, even those with similar ingredients, each offer their own unique combinations of nutrients, so once again variety can help to ensure that all nutritional needs are met while nothing is given in excess.

Recipes versus diets
One criticism of my raw diet guidelines provided a spreadsheet analysis of a single recipe, and stated that it was incomplete. I don’t doubt that any single recipe derived from the guidelines I offered may be incomplete, due to the fact that the diets I recommend strive for balance over time, not in every single meal.

I cannot stress enough the need to feed variety, rather than feeding the same foods all the time. A diet that is half chicken wings will not meet all of your dog’s nutritional needs, and will be higher in fat than is desirable. A diet that includes meals of chicken wings rotating with meals of other types of raw meaty bones will have a reduced amount of fat and provide additional nutrients. In addition, of course, the other half of the diet should also include a variety of different foods such as muscle meat and organ meat of various kinds, along with eggs and dairy.

While fat is a good source of energy for dogs, too much can lead to weight gain, reduced nutrition (if the amount of food has to be limited to keep your dog at the optimal weight), and digestive upset in some dogs. Unless your dog is quite active and has trouble keeping weight on, the diet you feed should not contain an abundance of fatty meats and skin.

Menadione
There has been a lot of concern lately about the use of menadione, a synthetic form of vitamin K, in pet foods. Menadione has been banned for use in human over-the-counter supplements because it is toxic at excessive dosages. This problem was seen primarily in human infants when they were injected with vitamin K to prevent deficiency.

Since synthetic vitamin K has double the potency of natural vitamin K on a per weight basis, this resulted in toxicity. One nursing encyclopedia says that “prolonged consumption of megadoses of vitamin K (menadione) results in anemia,” and that “a daily injection of 10 mg of menadione into an infant for three days can kill the child.” It was this tragic discovery that led to its use being banned.

In comparison, the amount of menadione in commercial dog foods is extremely tiny. The Balance IT supplement, which is meant to supply nutrients at AAFCO recommended levels, contains 0.0774 mg menadione per scoop. One usage recommendation I’ve seen is to use 3 scoops for 900 calories (for a 35 lb dog), which would be 0.2322 mg daily. This amount is just over 2 percent of the dosage that would be considered toxic to a much smaller infant.

Many substances, even water, are safe in recommended amounts but toxic when excessive amounts are ingested. While I agree that the natural forms of vitamin K, phylloquinone (vitamin K1), and menaquinone (vitamin K2), would be preferable to the synthetic form, my feeling is that the risk presented by feeding foods or supplements that use menadione (vitamin K3) is minimal, and I would not avoid a food just because it contains this ingredient.

Fish and fish oil concerns
Many people worry about the amount of salt in canned fish. It is true that canned fish is salty, but dogs require a certain amount of salt, and a homemade diet is naturally low in salt, so the amount in canned fish that is fed once or twice a week should not be a concern. If your dog suffers from heart disease or needs a low-sodium diet for some other reason, you can rinse the fish to remove most of the salt.

Concerns also arise over possible contaminants in fish and fish oils, such as mercury, PCBs, and dioxin. Mercury contamination is mostly a concern in larger fish, such as tuna, swordfish, and king mackerel. Salmon, jack mackerel (not the same as king mackerel), and sardines are all low in mercury. Farmed salmon is much more likely than wild-caught salmon to be contaminated with PCBs and dioxin. Canned salmon is almost always wild-caught Pacific (Alaskan) salmon. Check the label if you’re unsure.

Both Consumer Reports and ConsumerLab.com have conducted tests on a variety of fish oil supplements and found that none contained a significant amount of mercury, PCBs, or dioxins. They also found that almost all, including the less expensive brands, were fresh and contained the amount of omega-3 fatty acids promised on the label.

If you’re still concerned, look for pharmaceutical-grade oils, as they are guaranteed to be free of all impurities.

Chicken, arsenic, antibiotics
Arsenic and antibiotics are fed to some chickens to encourage rapid growth. While the residual amount of arsenic left in the meat was considered too low to be a concern for human consumption, recent studies have shown that levels are higher than previously acknowledged. Adding arsenic to chicken feed also contributes to environmental contamination, while the indiscriminate use of antibiotics can lead to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

There are many brands, including supermarket brands, that do not contain arsenic or antibiotics. Organic chicken contains neither arsenic nor antibiotics as well. Check with the supplier to verify that the brands you use are both arsenic- and antibiotic-free.

Food weights There is often confusion between different ways of expressing amounts, such as cups vs pounds. While a cup is a measure of volume and a pound is a measure of weight, the general rule of thumb (and the way to remember it) is, “A pint’s a pound, the world ’round.” A pint is 16 ounces, which is two cups, so a cup of food will weigh around 8 ounces. This will vary depending on density, but it should give a good approximation for fresh food, which has a high moisture content.

Other measurements and conversions that may be helpful:

• A large egg weighs about 2 ounces, of which 2/3 is the white and 1/3 the yolk

• 1 fluid ounce is 6 teaspoons (2 tablespoons)

• There are about 28 grams per ounce, and 454 grams per pound. To convert ounces to grams, multiply by 28. To convert pounds to grams, multiply by 454. To convert grams to ounces, divide by 28. To convert grams to pounds, divide by 454.

Cutting up raw meaty bones
A few people objected to my advice to owners who are concerned about the risk of their dogs choking on raw meaty bones. I said that owners could cut up raw meaty bones into bite-sized pieces. Some argue that the way to prevent choking is to feed large pieces that are too big to be swallowed whole. They feel that cutting up raw meaty bones actually makes it more likely that dogs will choke.

In my experience with two dogs who have had problems chewing raw meaty bones, feeding large pieces doesn’t always help. If your dog’s teeth are too worn to be able to slice off pieces to swallow (as was the case with my dogs), it doesn’t matter how long they chew on the piece, eventually they still try to swallow it whole. Even if your dog is able to chew off pieces, that large piece then becomes smaller, and your dog may still try to swallow it when it is large enough to cause choking, particularly if you have a dog who tends to gulp his food.

It is important to cut food up into chunks that are too small to cause choking, even if swallowed whole. For example, turkey necks (or chicken necks for small dogs) need to be cut lengthwise rather than or in addition to crosswise, so that you don’t end up with short pieces that are still too thick to go down comfortably. When I cut up raw meaty bones for my dog, Piglet, she still chews the pieces, but has no problem swallowing them despite the fact that her teeth are too worn to chew a large piece into smaller pieces.

Another objection is that pieces of bone that are swallowed whole without being crushed by chewing are more likely to cause obstruction. In my experience, obstruction from raw bones is quite rare, and dogs have no problem digesting them, even if the bones are not crushed. However, if your dog swallows pieces whole and you see pieces of bone in his stool, you may want to invest in and use a grinder.

For those who do want to cut up their dog’s food, I’ll say once again that my Joyce Chen Unlimited Scissors work far better than any of a number of poultry shears that I’ve purchased over the years. They’re also great for cutting up gristly meat that is otherwise almost impossible to saw through.

Q and A: The following are questions that I received from readers about earlier installments in this series.

-Eden Le Bouton of Cleveland, Ohio, writes, “In May’s article on raw diets, you say, ‘RMBs should make up 30 to 50 percent of the total diet.’ Later in the same paragraph you say, ‘While a reasonable amount of raw bone won’t harm an adult dog, more than 15 percent is not needed and reduces the amount of other valuable foods that can be fed.’ My confusion is: should RMBs make up 15, 30, or 50 percent of the diet and is that the daily diet?”

The confusion lies in the difference between “bone” and “raw meaty bones” (RMBs). Raw meaty bones are, by definition, at least half meat, and so therefore no more than half bone. If you feed a diet that is 30 to 50 percent RMBs, the amount of bone in the diet will be 15 to 30 percent or less, depending on the ratio of meat to bone in the parts that you feed.

Dogs need no more than 15 percent bone, so if you feed the higher percentage of RMBs, you should try to use parts that are more than half meat. There is no need to feed an exact percentage of bone on a daily basis, though this is one ingredient that often works best when similar amounts are fed daily, as too much bone at one time can cause hard stools and constipation, while feeding no bone at all one day may lead to looser stools the next.

-David Logue of Allen, Texas, writes, “My wife and I have three rescued Maltese who have no teeth. We feed the dogs a home-prepared diet, but with little variety. What suggestions could you offer us?”

Most foods can be fed to dogs who lack teeth. The only real exception is whole bones. You can purchase products that include ground bone, or buy an inexpensive grinder that will grind softer bones, such as from chicken and rabbit, and do it yourself. Or you can feed a diet that doesn’t include bone, and use a different calcium source instead.

Remember that no more than half the diet should be raw meaty bones, so even if you can’t provide much variety in that area, you can still feed lots of different kinds of meats, organs, and other foods, including eggs, cottage cheese, yogurt, canned fish with bone (jack mackerel, pink salmon, sardines), and healthy leftovers in the other half (or more) of the diet.

-Brenda Stoner of Henderson, Arkansas, asks, “What is your opinion on giving vitamin supplements made for humans to dogs? Is it okay to use yogurt or cottage cheese and eggs every day as long as I use a variety of meats?”

Human supplements are okay to use, as long as the amounts are appropriate. Adjust as needed for the size of your dog. For example, a large dog could take an adult human dose, while a medium-sized dog would take half that much, and a small dog one quarter or less.

It is fine to feed yogurt, cottage cheese, eggs, or any other food on a daily basis, as long as the rest of the diet provides adequate variety. No one food should ever be more than half the diet, but there’s no problem adding the same healthy foods daily, particularly in small amounts. A medium- or large-breed dog could eat an egg every day with no problem, but a whole egg every day would be too much for a toy breed, as it wouldn’t leave enough room for a variety of other foods.

-Gerda Alexander of Newville, Pennsylvania, asks, “Can I use eggshells from boiled and uncooked eggs?”

Yes, eggshells from either cooked or uncooked eggs can be used. Just rinse them out and let them dry overnight before grinding in a clean coffee grinder. Ground eggshell will keep a long time if you remove the inner membrane before grinding. There’s no need to refrigerate it, as ground eggshell is just minerals.

-Winnie Laning of Toronto, Ontario, writes, “If I feed a home-cooked diet and add canned salmon, will this take care of the calcium requirement so that I don’t need to add a supplement? Also, is it beneficial to add sunflower oil to the diet?”

No, you can’t use a single form of meat with bones to provide all the calcium your dog needs. You would end up feeding too much canned salmon (not enough variety), and too little calcium. Canned fish with bones has far more calcium than plain meat, but it actually has more phosphorus than calcium, so it can’t be used to balance the phosphorus in the rest of the diet.

It’s easy to add ground eggshells or any other calcium supplement when you don’t feed edible bone, at a level that provides around 1,000 mg calcium per pound of food. It’s fine to feed canned salmon some of the time, maybe once or twice a week, but don’t feed it daily, unless you feed very small amounts.

I don’t recommend adding vegetable oils to dog diets, especially in large amounts. Vegetable oils such as safflower, corn, and sunflower oil are high in linoleic acid (LA), a form of omega-6 fatty acids that is usually plentiful in the diet, and that can lead to inflammation when too much is given. Fish body oil is high in the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA, which are anti-inflammatory and hard to find in food (other than fatty fish). Note that flaxseed oil and carmelina oil are not good choices to replace fish oil, as the form of omega-3 fatty acids found in plant oils (alpha linolenic acid, or ALA) must be converted in the body to the forms that dogs can utilize (EPA and DHA), and dogs are not able to make this conversion very well, if at all.

If you do add plant oils, the best kinds to use are borage oil and evening primrose oil, as the gamma-linoleic acid (GLA) they contain is preferred over the LA found in vegetable oils. Olive oil, which provides omega-9 fatty acids, is also okay in small amounts. Remember that you need to add some vitamin E when you supplement with either plant or fish oils (the tiny amount of vitamin E included in most supplements is not enough).

Note that some of the oil supplements sold for dogs are mostly vegetable oil. For example, Derm Caps are mostly safflower oil (up to 72 percent linoleic acid). Check the label before making a selection.

Final note
I hope that the guidelines in this article series help you start feeding healthy foods to your dog, whether you feed a raw diet with bones, a raw or cooked boneless diet, a diet based on pre-mixes, or just a commercial diet with fresh foods such as eggs, meat, and dairy added.

It’s important to realize that it is no more difficult to feed your dog a healthy diet than it is to do the same for your family, though there are differences in their nutritional needs. It’s not necessary or desirable to feed only “complete and balanced” commercial foods, nor that every meal be complete and balanced, as long as balance is achieved over time.

Just as with our own diets, fresh, wholesome, species-appropriate foods offer superior nutrition to processed, packaged foods. Remember the three basic rules – variety, balance over time, and calcium in appropriate amounts – and open the door to improving your dog’s health in the most natural way possible.

Mary Straus does research on canine health and nutrition as an avocation. She is the owner of the DogAware.com website, and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Get Your Puppy Enrolled Into Puppy Training School As Early as Possible

By

Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA

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August 13, 2007

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What’s the best age to start training? For most puppy owners, the answer is “Yesterday!” In fact, the optimum time to start a puppy’s education is as early as possible: about eight weeks of age. It’s hard to fathom that at one time many trainers insisted that puppies be at least six months old in order to enroll in a training class. Today’s positive trainer – and educated, progressive veterinarian – knows that the first four months of your dog’s life are the most important time for socialization, to lay the foundation for learning that will serve him (and you) for the rest of his life.

Of course, in “those” days we all trained with choke chains, using solid yanks on the leash (“corrections”) to get our training message across. And because choke chains can damage (or even collapse) a dog’s trachea, trainers were wise not to inflict that harsh punishment on the tender throats of eight-week-old puppies.

Today, with food treats and clickers as the primary tools in our training arsenal, puppy tracheas are safe, and we can help owners start educating their youngsters at a much more optimum training age, before pups have had several months of reinforcement for unwelcome and inappropriate behaviors.

Paradoxically, some veterinarians still counsel owners to wait until their new puppies are six months old and “fully vaccinated” to take them to training class. Unfortunately, this advice is just as outdated as the use of choke chains in puppy classes!

It’s true that you shouldn’t want only to expose your pup to high-risk dog populations; you should never take him to a dog park, or let him play with stray dogs on the street. But the risk of contracting an infectious disease in a controlled setting, with other healthy puppies, is quite low. In fact, there is probably a much greater risk of a dog meeting a tragic end due to behavior problems from lack of early training and socialization than from exposure in a well-run puppy class to some deadly disease.

The well-run puppy class
The caveat is that you find a “well-run” puppy class. You want an experienced trainer who uses gentle, effective training methods on her human clients as well as the dogs, and who conducts her classes in a safe and clean environment. She should have a good understanding of dog body language and social behavior, and know when to intervene if a puppy is being inappropriate with his playmates. She should also have knowledge of puppy diseases and parasites and require presentation of health records upon registration for class.

Ideally, you’ll find an instructor who teaches good manners behaviors in her puppy classes as well as providing puppy socialization (play!) time, and who will also address questions you may have about other topics, such as housetraining, crating, and puppy biting.

Sadly, there are still plenty of old-fashioned trainers who are apt to administer a physical correction to your puppy for perceived transgressions. Avoid those trainers at all costs. These trainers may call themselves positive, and in fact may be more positive than they used to be, but if they still use leash corrections, loud verbal reprimands, any kind of physical punishment, or restraints such as pinning a puppy on his side, they’re not positive enough!

You can find trainers from a variety of sources: the phone book, referrals from dog-owner friends or your veterinarian, dog clubs, business cards on pet supply store bulletin boards, the Internet . . . and any of these might be great – or not. (See “Internet Resources for Finding a Trainer,” below.) To be on the safe side, arrange to sit in on a class or two and watch the trainer in action. If the trainer doesn’t allow this, find another trainer.

When you are watching a prospective training class, look for these things:

• The trainer appears friendly, confident, and competent.

• She allows time for questions, and answers them willingly and thoroughly.

• Canine and human students appear to be learning, enjoying themselves, and succeeding at assigned exercises.

• Students receive individual attention and coaching.

• There is adequate concern for dog and human health and safety. The facility is clean, with no strong odors, and the floors have non-slip footing.

• The environment is well controlled to promote calm – no running children, loose dogs (except during playtime), loud noises, excessive barking, etc.

• Dogs are handled gently – without physical force, punishment, strong verbal reprimands, or forcible restraint of a struggling or vocalizing puppy.

• Trainer doesn’t do or require owners to do anything that conflicts with the owner’s training and dog handling philosophies.

• During playtime, puppies are separated into appropriate playgroups where they are closely monitored and inappropriate play is interrupted.

• The trainer is respectful of dog and owner individual needs and training goals.

What to expect
You’ve researched and selected the right class for your pup. If you’ve watched a class or two in session, you already have some idea of what to expect from the trainer you’ve chosen. What you encounter in the actual classes you’ve signed up for will vary, depending on the trainer’s or training school’s puppy class curriculum.

Some puppy classes focus primarily on socialization. A good part of the class may be dedicated to puppy play, with other activities included. A trainer might have owners encourage their pups to encounter new surfaces – walking across a board on the ground, stepping through scattered hula hoops, crossing a blanket, a box filled with sand or gravel, or a crinkly substance like aluminum foil.

There might be some time spent with gentle restraint, helping puppies learn that being held makes good things happen, and playing “pass-the-puppy” so baby dogs have good experiences meeting a variety of people. Pups might come nose-to-nose with nail clippers, hair dryers, vacuum cleaners, crutches, and other real-life potentially scary stimuli for the first time. Puppies aren’t forced, of course, but rather given a positive association with all these things, and are reinforced for any willingness to be brave.

Other classes may have a stronger emphasis on actual training. Since 8-week-old puppies are perfectly capable of learning all the behaviors that older dogs do, there is huge value in teaching them what to do at an early age, well before they have a long history of practicing and being reinforced for behaviors you want them not to do.

Some training schools offer both. Legacy Canine Behavior and Training in Sequim, Washington, is operated by longtime positive trainer Terry Ryan. Legacy’s Puppy HeadStart class includes socialization, confidence building, leadership exercises, and information on housetraining and other family living skills. The class is free with paid registration for Ryan’s “Pet Dog Manners” class, where pups 16 weeks and older (and their owners) learn important life skills such as walking on leash, polite greetings, coming when called, and more.

Many classes, including the ones at Legacy, require owners to come to an initial orientation class without pups, so course goals and expectations, training philosophies, equipment, training center rules, etc. can be discussed and questions answered without concern for restless puppies. This helps ease owner concerns about what to expect, and gives them and their pups a training head start. This way, they’ve already practiced and had success with some of the training exercises before they arrive in a new, sometimes overwhelming, environment the following week.

The traditional format then follows with six to eight weeks of classes. Often the last night of class is a “graduation” celebration of some sort, with certificates handed out to those who successfully complete the class.

A new format gaining in popularity is the “Levels” class. Each level covers only a few exercises, and when pup and human are competent at those, they move on to the next level. Level 1, for example, might include name recognition, sit, and down. One training team might master those in one short week and immediately move on to Level 2, while another may find the down to be challenging and take three weeks to reach Level 2. Level 2 might consist of stand, polite leash walking, and targeting.

The value of this format is that each team can move ahead at its own pace. Dogs and owners don’t become overwhelmed when new exercises are introduced each week (especially if they haven’t yet mastered the prior week’s assignments). Plus, if at any time the team needs a refresher on a previous level behavior, they can drop back and work there until they’re ready to move forward again. This format also allows owners who have missed classes to pick up right where they left off, rather than feeling that they’re way behind.

Attending class
Nervous, you arrive at class with your puppy in tow. You’ve purchased the equipment and books recommended by your trainer, and diligently practiced the first week’s exercises. Now what?

Expect chaos. If your trainer hasn’t already suggested it, you should have treats in hand as you walk into class, and use them to keep your pup focused on you instead of trying to greet other pups. This is a good time to teach your pup that just because he sees other dogs doesn’t necessarily mean he gets to go say hi. By the same token, if another owner allows her pup to rush up to yours, politely ask her to keep her pup away until a more appropriate greeting time.

Some pups are so overstimulated by all the other dogs and people that they bark, or act afraid. Your trainer should understand this arousal behavior, and prepared to help you manage it with high-value treats, and some kind of barrier (if necessary) to block visual stimuli and allow your pup to relax. It may take 5 to 15 minutes (or more) to get all the excited dogs and humans settled enough to begin class. Mammals who are highly aroused don’t think well, so there’s no point in asking your pup to respond to cues until you’re both ready to learn.

From there, class should progress more smoothly. Your pup will learn to focus on you and perform the behaviors he does so well at home, even in the presence of distractions. A good trainer will be patient with her students, willing to answer your questions, and able to help you and your dog progress in your training. Remember this exceedingly important point – training should be fun! As the weeks go quickly by and you’re astounded by your pup’s ability to learn – and your own ability to teach her – you should look eagerly forward to going to class each week because you both enjoy learning new behaviors and showing off your accomplishments.

Pat Miller, CPDT, is Whole Dog Journal’s Training Editor. Miller lives in Hagerstown, Maryland, site of her Peaceable Paws training center, with her husband Paul. Pat is also the author of The Power of Positive Dog Training and Positive Perspectives: Love Your Dog, Train Your Dog.

How Dog Food Has Changed Due to The Pet Food Recall

By

Nancy Kerns

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August 13, 2007

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There have been pet food recalls before, and there will be recalls in the future, but the event of early 2007 will probably be recorded as the costliest pet food recall in history. However, it’s my hope, and the opinion of many, that the lessons learned from this infamous event should prevent any similar large-scale pet food disaster from happening ever again.

Note that none of the companies whose executives are quoted below had products involved in the recalls. But every pet food company in the country was affected by the firestorm of inquiries from terrified pet owners who sought information about their pet foods.

I appreciate the seriousness, honesty, and commitment to providing quality foods that these executives exhibit here.

Phil Abreo, Breeder’s Choice
The recalls put the pet food industry on alert; we must be more diligent in assuring that all companies involved in the ingredient-sourcing chain are the most reliable and follow the highest food safety procedures.

Peter Atkins, Natura
Consumers are interested in more than just a pretty bag and are now reading – more accurately, scrutinizing – labels like never before. There is obviously a heightened state of consumer awareness about pet foods, pet food companies, and the ingredients that go into pet foods. Customers have a new expectation for transparency – where their food is manufactured, where ingredients come from, and the types of testing employed by the manufacturer to assure safety. Based on the dramatic spike in our sales, customers are obviously seeking products from smaller suppliers of holistic, organic, and natural products.

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Brian Connolly, Castor & Pollux
There have been several outcomes. One is the need for pet food companies to be more forthcoming with information as to where their products are made and where ingredients are sourced. From the first day of the first recall, we provided pet parents with information on who made our custom formulation canned products for us. This was done via our website, in the thousands of e-mails that Shelley (my wife and co-founder) personally answered and on the phone with our customer service team. Even though we are a small company (just 17 people), we are committed to being as transparent as possible – unlike some other companies that chose to hide behind automated answering services and answers like “I’m sorry, but I’m not allowed to release that information.”

The other outcome has to do with overall pet food safety. All manufacturers are paying much more attention to where ingredients come from and the quality/safety associated with those ingredients.

You can’t test your way to safety; you need to know that the ingredients are safe from the time the seeds are planted in the field, through the growing, handling, processing, storage, transportation, and manufacturing process.

With our Organix food, pet owners have the benefit of knowing that an independent third-party organic certifying agency under the mandate of the USDA’s National Organic Program has the responsibility of doing this. Each and every ingredient in Organix must be reviewed and approved for inclusion in our formula by the organic certifying agency. This third-party review and approval process does not apply to “natural,” “holistic,” or “human grade” pet foods. Certified organic pet foods and treats take safety to another level.

Deborah Ellinger, Wellness
The recall taught consumers how important it is to focus on the ingredient choices and quality standards of the brands behind the products. A positive outcome of the recall is that consumers are more aware of what is in their pet’s food, and are reading labels and asking more questions. The industry as a whole is responding, and this will ultimately improve all products.

John Marsman, Eagle Pack
The events made both pet food and human food companies more aware of food safety vulnerability. Companies have become more aware that the recalls have heightened pet owner awareness about ingredient quality, ingredient country of origin, where the brand is made, whether they make their own food in their own plant, best manufacturing practices, quality control, and company integrity.

It is no longer good enough (and it was never right), for a company to say ingredients are purchased from US companies when that company is a broker that may be importing, or is an importer. The brand should know the origin of ingredients. (Eagle Pack is EU certified, which requires disclosure of the country of origin of the ingredients.)

Lucy Postins, The Honest Kitchen
The industry has been forced to take a very close look at its ingredient-sourcing and manufacturing practices. Above all, pet food manufacturers (as well as the companies who are actually named on the labels) have been forced to become more accountable for their products and the ingredients that go into them. Ignorance and naiveté will no longer be tolerated.

Ultimately, the company whose name is on the bag is responsible to the customer. Contract manufacturers are accountable to their clients but it should be the responsibility of the company that takes the public’s money, to ensure their products are safe and that their labels are truthful.

Ron Rompala, Blue Seal
Pet owners [now] have a lower degree of confidence in commercial pet food. Owners are more likely to blame the food for problems that their pets may encounter and are less likely to hesitate to find alternative foods.

Have you changed anything about the way you operate your business since the recall?

-For example, have you changed the way you source or test ingredients?

-Made changes to the manner in which you utilize or oversee contract manufacturers?

-Developed a consumer-response plan in case of any future problems?

Phil Abreo, Breeder’s Choice
We continue to test all ingredients and have minimized the few ingredients we source from outside of North America.

We continue to require that every vendor certify all ingredients and provide us with a guaranteed analysis. We also test ingredients in our quality control lab and confirm results prior to being utilized during production. We now require the contract manufacturers that make our wet foods to provide us with manufacturing records for all production runs of our wet products.

Also, we have reviewed and updated our recall procedures and established a crisis management team to ensure 100 percent implementation of the plan.

Peter Atkins, Natura
We’ve always had quality management programs, validated by third-party certifications, that have enabled us to supply our customers with the highest quality and safest products in the industry.

Because of the recall we have made a huge investment in new testing protocols for melamine and cyanuric acid. We have also directed our buyers to source ingredients from domestic sources and, in the few cases where an ingredient is only available offshore, we have instituted an elevated level of control and testing.

We did make changes to the manner in which we utilize or oversee contract manufacturers [currently, Natura’s wet products are made by a contract manufacturer]. We have a heightened presence at their manufacturing facility and have instituted a rigorous quality management program which requires the contractor to prove their quality controls with detailed reports on each production run.

We have always had a consumer-response plan as part of our quality management program.

Brian Connolly, Castor & Pollux
The recalls caused us to really step back and evaluate all aspects of our business from ingredients to providing more information to pet parents.

The battery of tests that we run on all of our Organix and Natural Ultramix production has increased to include tests for melamine and cyanuric acid. We have established even tighter quality control standards and are working to augment our staffing in this area, too. We are posting even more information on our website to allow pet parents to make informed purchasing decisions. And we have changed a number of ingredient suppliers and have more detailed protocols related to our expectations of them.

Even though this was our first experience with a recall, we already had a consumer-response plan in place but were able to improve upon it as a result of this experience. Most important to us was staying accessible to pet parents and retailers that carried our products.

Deborah Ellinger, Wellness
We performed a full review of all of our practices, even though we were not impacted by the recall. We already had human-grade auditing processes and controls in place for our manufacturing, along with a robust ingredient sourcing approach, so we did not need to make significant changes to our processes or our manufacturing relationships.

However, like most others, we added testing for melamine and other contaminants that were identified in the recall, and we continue to look for improvement opportunities. We also expanded our phone center and added more product information on our website to help consumers get answers to their questions.

Since our products were not affected by the recall, we have attracted a lot of new consumers. We have had to step up our production dramatically, and are now spending a lot more time forecasting demand and trying to meet our customers’ increased needs.

John Marsman, Eagle Pack
Naturally we started testing ingredients and both dry and canned food for melamine (everything was negative) and reviewed our “best manufacturing practices” plan. Fortunately, due to our program and our EU certification, all safety procedures were in place. While it reaffirmed the way we do business, we also enhanced testing and reviewed sourcing procedures with quality-certified long-term suppliers.

We looked to eliminate any China-sourced ingredients, but this is not possible for taurine, glucosamine, and at least one vitamin. Virtually all brands must buy these ingredients from China; I strongly question any brand that states otherwise. Vitamin premixes are comprised of at least 13 vitamins. Of the two biggest vitamin makers in the world, neither one makes all of its own ingredients. They, too, outsource. A responsible pet food maker must know this if it is to be in control.

We make all our dry food here in Mishawaka, Indiana. For our contract can manufacturing, we specify high quality ingredients. We did review all procedures and ingredient sourcing with the maker. They will not add or substitute ingredients without asking, and we rejected substitution the times they asked.

Lucy Postins, The Honest Kitchen
Since our products are made in a human food plant – not in a pet food plant – many of the measures that conventional pet food manufacturers are now adopting were already part of our procedures and protocol. Our production is all under human food standards so ingredient substitutions and formula changes are simply not allowed. That is precisely why we chose a human food plant to make our products.

So, we have not really had to change much ourselves in the way of operations. Our company already takes responsibility for directly sourcing, ordering, and paying for 100 percent of its own ingredients; we do not allow the facility that makes our diets to buy ingredients on our behalf. We know our vendors directly and take direct responsibility for what goes into our foods.

Although we don’t buy or use any of the ingredients that were found to be contaminated (we use meats, not plants, as sources of protein), and we had no reason whatsoever to suspect that there was any risk to our products, we did realize that amid the state of panic that ensued, no company’s word alone was good enough. Therefore we decided to implement melamine testing immediately on all finished products.

We paid for overnight testing so that we could offer the peace of mind of melamine-free certificates to customers right away (and found it curious that FDA repeatedly stated they would not have results for two weeks). We also put new measures in place to have each of our raw ingredients screened for melamine prior to production. Going forward, melamine screening has been added to the list of routine screens we run on all finished products.

Ron Rompala, Blue Seal
We have increased our efforts to better know our suppliers. More stringent requirements are in place for new suppliers. We have accelerated establishing HAACP (hazard analysis and critical control points) plans and having plants in condition to be approved by AIB (the American Institute of Baking). We also have performed spot checks for melamine and increased the number of assays for other contaminants such as heavy metals and PCBs. We have increased the size of our customer service department.

We did not have any products affected by the recall but we were inundated by phone calls from current customers with concerns and from pet owners that had used products that were recalled and looking for alternatives.

We increased the number of people attending the phones and e-mail responses. We established an auto-reply to provide information via e-mail or telephone immediately to concerned customers. I met daily with the people in customer service to keep them updated on the situation and provide information to better answer questions. I also spoke directly with several customers to alleviate technical issues. As I mentioned earlier, pet owners were not hesitating to voice concern and wanted reassurances if their animals exhibited any perceived problems.

In your opinion, did consumers overreact? What do you think consumers should do differently in case of future recalls?

Phil Abreo, Breeder’s Choice
The consumer’s first concern or priority has to be the safety of their pet. Consumers diligently sought out information through the media, Internet, and in many cases, contacted the manufacturer for information. Consumers acted in a very responsible manner to seek out as much information as possible in order to protect their pets.

Peter Atkins, Natura
Absolutely not. Perhaps the media can be blamed for creating a panicked frenzy by running constant fear stories without a lot of specific substance in many cases. But one can’t really fault pet loving families for responding aggressively and seeking the truth for the health and safety of their companions. And if the end result is that hundreds of thousands of consumers have abandoned formerly trusted products that were perceived as “premium” for healthier and safer alternatives, can one really say that is an overreaction? In my opinion, it is an appropriate adjustment to the new realities of the market.

God forbid that there is another recall. But should it occur, consumers should gather good, accurate, and truthful information from trusted sources. They should measure very carefully all the information made available and apply this information rationally, without painting every pet food company with the same soiled brush. And consumers should not throw away food packaging until the food has been consumed so that if there is an issue, the proper date code numbers are accessible.

Brian Connolly, Castor & Pollux
I don’t think consumers overreacted at all given what they knew about pet food manufacturing, and given this entire experience was truly terrifying for them. Rolling recalls like these had never occurred before, and there was so much uncertainty as to what the problem was, what brands were affected, and what might be coming next. Certainly some of the misinformation on the Internet blogs didn’t help consumers at all. Most assumed that all pet food manufacturers had their own plants; even though this isn’t even true of human food producers, it was a shock to many to learn this.

I also don’t think that most people understood that you can’t run “one test” to prove something is safe. You need to know what you’re testing for and then run the test that is specific to that. And, I think the extent of our global economy was not fully understood. The fact that some ingredients in pet foods just aren’t available in this country came as a real surprise to many, too.

Our advice to consumers in the case of future recalls: Get to know – now – what the brand stands for that you are feeding your pet. Send the company an e-mail or give them a call to ask questions. Get a sense for how open and honest they are and how quickly they respond to you. See if they have a list that you can be added to for future notification.

Deborah Ellinger, Wellness
No, consumers did not overreact. They did everything they should have done, like watch the news, check the Internet, and call the 800 numbers. Our animal companions are an important part of our lives and they can’t advocate for themselves. Consumers did the right thing by looking out for the pets that depend on them.

John Marsman, Eagle Pack
No way. They had every reason to react quickly and strongly. They were fed misinformation. Correct information was delayed. And the recalls kept snowballing. Pet owners kept wondering if their food was next. This is a “perfect storm” scenario to generate concern and fear among pet owners.

Consumers should not wait for another recall. Just as manufacturers must establish ongoing trust with their suppliers, pet owners must establish trust with a pet food brand. Why ever do pet owners keep coming back to a brand that won’t tell you where it is made, or another that lies about it three consecutive times? If another recall were to occur, pet owners should get a vet report stating that whatever caused the recall issue was directly related to the problem with their pet, and send it to FDA.

Here are questions pet owners should ask in an effort to establish confidence and trust in a brand now, not when the next recall happens:

Who makes your food?

Will you disclose the country of origin of any ingredient or component? And include every vitamin and nutrient, including taurine and glucosamine?

Will you disclose the level of any nutrient in your food if that nutrient is listed in the AAFCO nutrient profiles?

Lucy Postins, The Honest Kitchen
I don’t think it was an overreaction at all. Particularly as things escalated, people just didn’t know where to turn next. I don’t think any industry has ever seen a recall of that magnitude and scope, with brand after brand being added to the list. People were shocked and disillusioned that the products they were buying were made with the same low-grade ingredients as many generic grocery brands – and then shocked all over again when other companies announced they didn’t even know what ingredients were being put in their diets. People found that absolutely absurd, and rightly so. If I didn’t have my own brand of pet food to feed my dogs and complete confidence in my finished products, I think I’d have been in tears, too.

In the face of a future recall, the most important thing is to know your dog. That way, it’s so much easier to spot when something’s up. Tune in to how he behaves at meal times. Does he have a voracious appetite or is it usual to eat more gingerly? What do his eyes look like when he’s healthy and happy? How do his eyes change when he’s under the weather? What are her normal urination and defecation patterns? Pick up poop frequently so you can identify any abnormalities right away; a weekly pickup routine might not reveal blood in the stool quickly enough.

The most important thing where the food itself is concerned, is to hold on to lot codes and manufacture dates. We’ll be launching some exciting packaging options that address this, in the fall.

We have never been proponents of feeding one diet exclusively; feeding a variety of brands and incorporating home-made food into your dog’s daily ration may possibly lessen the effects of consuming a contaminated product in the worst-case scenario.

The sheer volume of recalled products made this disaster almost impossible to keep up with. Make use of the Internet. Sites like Itchmo and Pet Connection may have saved thousands of lives with their up-to-the-minute recall info. Sign up for alerts right away if a recall strikes and please take responsibility for helping elderly relatives or neighbors, or others without Internet access, keep up to date on which brands are affected.

Ron Rompala, Blue Seal
Given the situation, owners did not overreact. The media did overreact and hyped the story. You couldn’t blame the customers for their concerns considering that they heard that pets were dying and a large number of companies recalled their foods for unknown reasons. To make things worse, the number of products and companies involved with the recall grew daily.

I don’t believe owners will act or are expected to act any differently if the situation presents itself again. However, you’ll see a difference in the response of pet food companies; they will be sensitive to complaints and not make any assumptions. Investigations concerning multiple complaints will be taken very seriously and handled more thoroughly and swiftly. I’m sure that pet food companies that did not have a team to handle situations of this nature before, do now.

Phil Abreo, Breeder’s Choice
While no Breeder’s Choice products were involved in any of the recalls, it is troubling that any pet would be exposed to harmful food. Our team of pet nutrition professionals continues to work hard and give maximum effort to provide our customers with the best nutritional and safe products that will provide their pets with a long and healthy lifestyle.

Peter Atkins, Natura
To buy or build a canning plant so that we can have control over all of our manufacturing. And to keep doing what has made us successful and kept us out of the recall mess – maintain the highest standards for ingredients, processing and quality control. Test, test some more, and then test again.

Brian Connolly, Castor & Pollux
Continue the work we started as listed above. We’ve further developed a program related to ensuring our products are safe. Although we’re a small, family-owned company, we’re committed to producing safe, healthy, natural, and organic products for dogs and cats. We’re all pet parents ourselves and take this commitment very, very seriously.

Deborah Ellinger, Wellness
To continue to raise the bar on all aspects of formulation, ingredient choices, ingredient sourcing, quality control, and doing whatever it takes to help pets lead longer, healthier lives. We want to continue to be a company that consumers trust because they know we will always do whatever it takes to provide excellent natural nutrition for their pets.

John Marsman, Eagle Pack
We have made a quality food and have been totally forthright with consumers. We have dedicated ourselves to continue on that path to earn the pet owner’s trust.

Lucy Postins, The Honest Kitchen
We have strengthened our resolve to be 100 percent accountable for everything we produce. We always try to put ourselves in the shoes of the customer, and going forward, every decision we make will be influenced by the question, “How would I feel if I were buying this food, and The Honest Kitchen did this . . . ?” We want to do only things we can be proud of. <

Never take anything for granted. Test, test, test. Partner even more with our vendors to ensure they continue to be committed to our values. Make lots of spot checks and have regular meetings at the manufacturing plant.

Ron Rompala, Blue Seal
Never feel that a company can do too much quality assurance. Although we did not have any products recalled, you can’t feel safe and think that it can never happen to you.

Bee Products Have a Special Meaning for Dogs

By

CJ Puotinen

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August 13, 2007

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Bees may sting, but they create some of the world’s most valuable, versatile products. Honey, bee pollen, royal jelly, beeswax, propolis, and even the venom from bee stings are all touted for their human health benefits – and many experts say that dogs derive the same advantages.

Feeding honey to dogs is nothing new. Juliette de Bairacli Levy, whose Natural Rearing philosophy has offered alternatives to conventional treatment for over 60 years, recommends honey in all of her animal care books.

“I believe I could not successfully rear domestic dogs without this remarkable antiseptic food,” she says in The Complete Herbal Handbook for the Dog and Cat. She adds that while honey is not a normal item of diet for carnivores, lions in the wild enjoy honey and it is considered a staple food of the omnivorous bear.

beekeeping with dogs — Photo by Joel Hollenberg.

“Honey is the greatest of the natural energizers,” Levy writes, “a nerve tonic and a supreme heart tonic . . . Predigested by its makers, the bees, it is absorbed immediately into the bloodstream of the consumer. A diet of only milk and honey can sustain life for months in humans and animals. It has been well and longtime proved that honey is also highly medicinal and will inhibit growth of harmful bacteria in the entire digestive tract and destroy those of a toxic nature.”

Levy recommends fasting animals who are ill to let their digestive organs rest and the body to heal quickly. In addition to water, the only food she recommends for fasting animals is honey.

An invert sugar, honey contains mostly glucose and fructose, which are monosaccharides or simple sugars. Monosaccharides are more easily assimilated than the disaccharides and polysaccharides found in table sugar, milk, grains, legumes, and starchy vegetables. A tablespoon of honey supplies 63 calories. Honey does not require refrigeration but keeps best in tightly sealed containers stored away from heat and light. Honey thickens when refrigerated.

Depending on the flowers harvested by the bees, honey is light or dark in color, and its flavors vary from delicate to complex. Raw honey contains vitamins A, B-complex, C, D, E, and K, plus calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, silicon, sulfur, potassium, manganese, copper, and iodine, with darker varieties such as buckwheat containing higher mineral levels. Vitamin C levels vary; some honey contains up to 300 milligrams of vitamin C per 100 grams (about 3½ ounces or 7 tablespoons).

Honey has been a medicine as well as a food for millennia. Ancient Greek, Assyrian, Chinese, and Roman physicians routinely prescribed it for health and longevity and for conditions such as indigestion, diarrhea, fevers, coughs, colds, flu, asthma, allergies, and ulcers, and as a revitalizing food for athletes, soldiers, and those recovering from illness or injury. Honey is said to increase the absorption of calcium consumed at the same time, help treat or prevent anemia, reduce arthritis pain, and work as a gentle laxative to help prevent constipation. It was also applied topically to treat open wounds, burns, cuts, abrasions, and skin infections.

Honey for Dogs

Most dogs love the taste of honey, so it’s usually easy to feed. Some dogs eat it right off the spoon, some get it in their dinner, and quite a few enjoy their daily honey on toast with butter. In Denison, Texas, 50 miles north of Dallas, beekeeper and companion dog trainer Michele Crouse considers honey the best medicine for her dogs Bonnie, a four-year-old Staffordshire Terrier, and Cracker, a five-year-old yellow Labrador Retriever.

“Bonnie has always had a hard time with allergies,” Crouse says. “Her symptoms used to be worst in the spring and early summer, but they continued through the fall ragweed season. She rubbed her face, licked herself, especially on her feet and the inside of her thighs, and scratched on her stomach like crazy, creating dime-sized sores. She itched so much that the vet prescribed Benadryl and prednisone.”

To prevent these attacks, Crouse feeds her dogs a tablespoon of honey twice a day. “I mix it with their food or feed it directly,” she says. “Sometimes I’ll give them berries as a snack, with the honey mixed in. Both Bonnie and Cracker love the taste. Otis, our mixed-breed, isn’t interested in honey or anything sweet. Fortunately, he doesn’t have allergy symptoms.”

Crouse uses raw honey which she strains through a single filter to remove debris. “Otherwise,” she says, “it’s straight out of the hive.”

As long as Bonnie receives her daily honey, she remains free of allergy symptoms. “But if I forget for a week or so,” says Crouse, “the symptoms come right back. I know several other dogs who have had the same response. They react to seasonal allergens until their owners put them on honey, and then they’re fine.”

Crouse agrees with beekeepers and health experts who have observed that local raw honey works best on allergy symptoms. “It makes sense,” she explains. “When you eat the honey, you ingest minute amounts of local pollen, and after your body adjusts so that it doesn’t react to the pollen, you can be exposed to larger amounts, such as when plants or trees are in bloom, without being affected.”

In addition to using honey as a food, Crouse washes her dogs with it. “I start with a clear, natural shampoo base from an organic supplier,” she says, “and mix it with an equal amount of honey to which I’ve added aloe vera and essential oils like lemon grass, orange, lemon, lavender, tea tree, citronella, and the Asian herb May Chang (Litsea cubeba). All of these plants have disinfecting, deodorizing, or insect-repelling properties. The essential oils make up about 5 percent of the formula, so it’s safe for adult dogs and older puppies. To dilute the shampoo and make it easier to use, I add about 25 percent water.”

Crouse says that the resulting shampoo doesn’t lather much, but it cleans the dog well and soothes the skin. “I let it stand for a minute or so, rinse it off, reapply, and then give a final rinse. I board dogs, and if a visiting dog is scratching and itching, I’ll give him a bath in honey shampoo, and that always helps.” In Jacksonville, Oregon, Natural Rearing consultant Marina Zacharias feeds her dogs honey and applies it topically to cuts and wounds.

“The high sugar content of honey is one of the factors that makes it such an excellent infection fighter and wound healer,” says Zacharias. “Glucose oxidase, an enzyme in honey, produces hydrogen peroxide, which helps kill harmful bacteria. In addition, there are yet-unidentified substances which bees collect from flowers that give their honey antibacterial properties. For best results, it’s important to use raw honey that hasn’t had its effectiveness destroyed by processing.”

Clinical trials of burn and injury patients show that the application of honey as a wound dressing rapidly clears infection, inflammation, swelling, pain, and odor while speeding the sloughing off of necrotic tissue (dead skin) and the growth of new skin cells. It remains moist, seals wounds – including skin grafts – and protects them from exposure to air, absorbs pus, reduces scarring, and prevents wounds from sticking to bandages. Unlike other topical antiseptics, honey prevents microbial growth without causing tissue damage.

Raw honey eventually crystallizes or solidifies, making it difficult to apply. In addition, honey crystals can feel sharp on tender or inflamed skin. For best results, apply soft or liquid honey. To liquify crystallized honey, stand the jar in hot water until it can be stirred or poured. Microwaving is not recommended because in addition to destroying enzymes and other nutrients, heating honey in a microwave increases its hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) content, which adversely affects its flavor.

In addition to applying honey to wounds, Zacharias has successfully treated wart-like growths with honey. “When honey is applied daily, they eventually soften and disappear,” she says. “Juliette recommends honey as a treatment for burns. I have personally seen this work, and the healing is remarkable. In one case, a young mixed-breed toy dog tripped his owner and the scalding hot coffee she was carrying burned his back. The skin did not blister but it was very painful and angry looking. Thanks to honey, the dog healed very well, and his hair grew back beautifully.”

The procedure Zacharias recommends is to wash the burned area with vinegar and apply honey thickly every 10 minutes until the pain subsides, then apply light bandages over the area. “Unfortunately, the hair will need to be clipped away,” she says, “and if the dog wants to bother the bandage, you will need to use an Elizabethan or cervical collar.”

On other wounds, Zacharias says, you can apply honey directly without bandaging. If the dog wants to lick it off, try distracting him for 20 minutes or so and give the honey time to be absorbed by the skin. You can reapply it this way three or four times a day.

“Honey applied twice a day healed an open cyst that wouldn’t close in one of my older Basset Hounds, Savannah. As soon as I started applying honey, her skin closed over the wound, it healed fast, and we avoided surgery.”

Herbal Honey for Dogs

Most dogs enjoy the taste of honey, which simplifies the administration of fresh or dried medicinal herbs. “Canine Allergies and Your Dog’s Health” (May 2007) described how the herb cleavers (Galium aparine) helped cured a dog’s allergy-related sores on its legs. Several readers who began feeding their dogs cleavers tea reported that the strategy worked for them as well. Brewing tea is one way to add cleavers to your dog’s diet, but another is to make an herbal honey.

Start by coarsely chopping enough fresh lemon balm, thyme, sage, oregano, lavender, basil, or other herbs to loosely fill a glass jar. Alternatively, fill the jar half full with loosely packed dried herbs. Fill the jar with honey, covering the herbs. If the honey is too thick to pour easily, warm it by placing the honey jar in hot water or heat the honey gently in a saucepan or double boiler just until it is liquid.

Seal the jar of herbs and honey and leave it in a warm location, such as a sunny window, for at least two weeks. For a double-strength herbal honey, wait a month or more, then fill another glass jar with herbs, pour the contents of the first jar into the second jar, and let the honey stand another month. If you’re in a hurry, heat the honey until it’s almost boiling and the pour it over the herbs. The honey won’t be raw any more, but it will still contain significant healing properties, and it can be strained and used the same day.

Before using herbal honey, filter it through cheesecloth or a strainer to remove plant material and store it at room temperature or in the refrigerator. Add the medicated honey to your dog’s food. In addition, keep a small jar of honey (herbal or plain) in your first-aid kit or backpack for use in emergencies.

Honey infused with the herbs mentioned above is an effective dressing for cuts, surgical wounds, burns, lick granulomas, abrasions, hot spots, and infected wounds. It can be given orally to prevent infection from viruses or bacteria, soothe a sore throat, help an anxious dog relax, improve sleep, and speed recovery from illness. Added to food, herbal honey helps reduce gas and other symptoms of indigestion.

Another way to feed herbs is to mix them with thick raw honey (refrigerate honey for a thicker consistency if necessary) and shape it into small balls that are easy for the dog to swallow. Use the same technique you would to pill a dog.

All honey, especially organic raw honey, has medicinal benefits, but the honey best known for its antimicrobial properties is manuka honey from New Zealand. More than 20 years of research have shown it to naturally destroy harmful bacteria such as Staphaureus and Streptococcus (including drug-resistant strains); Helicobacter pylori bacteria associated with stomach ulcers; vancomycin-resistant Enterococci; and Pseudomonas. The veterinary use of manuka honey includes its application as a dressing for burns, amputations, and wounds, and its internal use for gastrointestinal and digestive problems.

Can honey be given to dogs with diabetes? Experts disagree as to whether honey has all of white sugar’s harmful effects or has a slower blood sugar absorption rate, putting it lower on the glycemic index and making it less likely to disrupt the patient’s blood sugar levels. Some tests have shown honey to cause a significantly lower rise in blood sugar, but results vary according to the type of honey used. Discuss this with your holistic veterinarian.

Also, consider feeding dark raw local honey or raw organic honey. The safest way to feed a therapeutic tablespoon once or twice a day to dogs with diabetes is to start with smaller amounts and always feed it in combination with fats, which by itself lowers a food’s glycemic index. Coconut oil and butter are excellent honey partners. Observe your dog’s reaction before increasing the amount and discontinue use if he displays any adverse symptoms.

Bee Pollen for Dogs

As they collect nectar from flower blossoms, bees also gather pollen, a high-protein food, to carry back to the hive. While doing so, they spread pollen from flower to flower, fertilizing plants so that they produce berries, fruits, nuts, and vegetables. More than 100 crops grown in the US are pollinated by honeybees.

Bee pollen, which is collected from hives and sold as a health supplement, has long been prized for its proteins, amino acids, vitamins, enzymes, and other nutrients. Approximately half of its protein is made up of free-form amino acids, which require no digestion; they are immediately absorbed and utilized by the body. It is unusually high in the bioflavonoid rutin, which strengthens capillaries, protects against free radical damage and has anti-inflammatory effects.

Proponents claim that bee pollen improves energy, endurance, and vitality, speeds recovery from illness or injury, helps convalescents gain weight, helps the overweight lose weight, reduces cravings and addictions, fights infectious diseases, boosts immunity, improves intestinal function, increases fertility, and helps prevent cancer.

Bee pollen is also a widely used remedy for hay fever and allergies. As with raw honey, which contains small amounts of bee pollen, it is said to be most effective when derived from local hives and taken for several weeks prior to allergy season, then continued through the year. This desensitization process begins with tiny amounts, such as a single pollen grain or pellet, and continues in gradually increasing amounts until the maintenance dose, as much as a tablespoon per day for human adults, is reached.

Some canine athletes are fed bee pollen to improve their strength and stamina; some owners give it to their dogs as an all-purpose supplement or to prevent allergy symptoms. For best results, avoid inexpensive imported heat-processed pollen in favor of raw, unprocessed pollen from local beekeepers. Fresh bee pollen is slightly moist and requires refrigeration.

Like people, dogs can have allergic reactions to bee pollen, including wheezing, breathing problems, and even anaphylactic shock. Start with a single grain of bee pollen and carefully check your dog’s response. If he shows no symptoms of discomfort, give two grains the next day, and slowly increase the amount over several weeks to a maintenance dose of 1 teaspoon per 30 pounds of body weight per day, mixed with food. Bee pollen is often blended with honey.

Using Royal Jelly on Dogs

To appreciate the nutritional value of royal jelly – for bees, at least – consider that all queen bees begin life as worker bees. It is only because they are fed royal jelly and nothing else that they grow larger than worker bees and live far longer. While the average worker bee lives for five to six weeks during summer, queens live for three to six years, laying 2,000 eggs per day.

The queen bee’s longevity and fertility gave rise to royal jelly’s reputation as a miraculous rejuvenator, fountain of youth, and energy enhancer. Modern researchers have substantiated at least some of these claims, describing royal jelly as a metabolic catalyst, a substance that combats fatigue, increases energy, and supports the adrenal glands. Some of royal jelly’s components are natural antidepressants.

Royal jelly has become a popular supplement for humans and for some canine athletes and breeding dogs. Organic royal jelly is available in natural foods markets. Highly perishable, it requires refrigeration. Most labels recommend taking small amounts, such as ¼ to ½ teaspoon once or twice per day between meals on an empty stomach. Adjust the label dose for your dog’s weight, dividing it in half for dogs weighing 60 to 80 pounds.

Because of its slightly sharp, bitter, biting taste, dogs may not care for royal jelly. Blends of royal jelly and honey, which are also popular, may be more to their liking. Try mixing your own by blending 2 ounces (4 tablespoons) organic royal jelly with 6 ounces (¾ cup) of local raw honey. Keep refrigerated. Give your dog ½ to 1 teaspoon of this blend twice per day, morning and night.

Some manufacturers of human and canine grooming products add royal jelly to their shampoos and conditioners, claiming that it enhances hair color and increases volume. Those claims have not been scientifically tested, but royal jelly is certainly a luxury ingredient.

Propolis for Dogs

Few substances are as antiseptic as propolis, a sticky, resinous material also known as “bee glue,” which is gathered from the buds, bark, and leaves of deciduous trees. Bees seal cracks and holes in their hives with propolis to prevent the entrance of intruders and to disinfect or sterilize bees brushing against it. When a mouse or other invader is stung to death in the hive, bees seal the body in propolis, preserving it while keeping the inside of the hive sanitary.

Although propolis has been used for millennia to fight infection and improve health, it is unfamiliar to most Americans. However, it’s gaining popularity as a natural antibiotic that doesn’t disrupt beneficial bacteria or cause other side effects. Propolis, which is rich in bioflavonoids, is effective against viruses, harmful bacteria, yeasts, and fungi. It also has anti-inflammatory properties, helps prevent allergies, and speeds the healing of ulcers and skin problems such as acne, eczema, wounds, cuts, and burns.

The only down side of propolis, especially when it comes to treating dogs, is its awful taste. Freeze-dried propolis is sold in capsules, which can be hidden in food, and small amounts of propolis tincture (liquid extract) can be placed in empty two-part gel caps, which are sold in health food stores, just before using.

Propolis tincture can help protect dogs from canine flu, kennel cough, and other infectious illnesses. It can be applied to cuts, wounds, burns, bites, stings, hot spots, and lick granulomas (its bitter taste helps deter licking). However, its stickiness can complicate topical application. Mix propolis with a small amount of olive oil to create a less sticky disinfecting salve. Mix it with honey to help heal gum disorders.

Beeswax for Dogs

Bees produce wax to construct the combs that store honey. Beeswax contains more than 300 different chemicals. It’s best known for its use in candles and as an ingredient in cosmetics, floor wax, furniture polish, and salves.

The makers of herbal salves often use beeswax as a thickener. Michele Crouse makes body bars by combining beeswax from her hives with coconut oil, avocado oil, cocoa butter, and mango butter. “They’re the consistency of a ChapStick,” she says, “and they do a great job of healing sores, moisturizing dry skin, and soothing cracked paw pads.”

Bee Venom

Some people pay to get stung by bees or injected with bee venom in medical clinics. Apitherapy, or bee sting therapy, is common in China and gaining popularity in Europe and the US. It is said to alleviate arthritis, other symptoms of inflammation, and allergic reactions to bee stings.

Now dried bee venom is being added to some New Zealand honeys and topical creams to provide the benefits of apitherapy without the pain. The theory is that venom that is ingested or applied externally has the same health benefits as venom that’s injected.

Large-scale venom collection is made possible by a technology developed in Russia and New Zealand in which a bee venom frame is mounted on top of a hive’s honey frame. Bees receive a mild shock from the frame’s electro-stimulator and in response sting a glass collection sheet. Venom dries on the glass, which is taken to a nearby laboratory for processing. The dried venom is removed from the glass and mixed with honey or used in other bee products.

Arthritis is the human condition for which bee venom honey is said to be most effective, but bee venom honey success stories include the treatment of auto-immune disorders, shingles, tennis elbow, bursitis, lower back pain, ligament injuries, premenstrual syndrome, and other conditions. Bee venom honey is said to support the body’s natural coritsol levels, increase blood flow through affected joints, and inhibit the production of prostaglandins, which are chemicals that increase inflammation.

New Zealand honey producers have received testimonials describing dogs whose arthritis, hind end weakness, torn ligaments, and even hip dysplasia improved as a result of using bee venom honey.

Bees Are in Serious Danger…

For the past two decades, Juliette de Bairacli Levy has asked her followers not to use honey or other products from honeybees because these helpful insects are under so much environmental stress. Between pesticides, mite infestations, foulbrood disease, hive-damaging moths, and other problems, bee populations have dramatically fallen across North America. Now Colony Collapse Disorder is destroying entire hives. Bees look healthy one day and disappear the next, becoming too weak to return to their hives. In most cases, the victims have been raised for commercial crop pollination, given supplemental feedings containing white sugar, and exposed to chemical pesticides.

At the same time, organic beekeepers and beekeepers who feed their bees disinfecting essential oils report that their hives stay healthy even in areas where Colony Collapse Disorder has become common.

In her many years as a beekeeper, Levy prevented bee diseases by growing disinfecting herbs near her hives. “The bees themselves are natural herbalists,” she wrote, “and will gorge themselves on bitter rue or pungent lavender and rosemary. My bees enjoyed excellent health and possessed complete resistance to the many diseases afflicting the local white-sugar-fed bees.”

Local organic honey, if you can find it, can be an excellent addition to your dog’s diet and health care. A good second choice is organic honey from nearby states.

CJ Puotinen is author of The Encyclopedia of Natural Pet Care, Natural Remedies for Dogs and Cats, and other books. She lives in New York with her husband, a Labrador, and a tabby cat.

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Download the Full August 2007 Issue PDF

By

Nancy Kerns

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July 16, 2007

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Whole Dog Journal

Canine Lipomas

By

Denise Flaim

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July 12, 2007

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Lumps, bumps, canine fatty tumors – call them what you will, but nobody likes to see her dog develop lipomas, those persistent little foothills that can sprout up on older dogs – and sometimes, not so-old ones.

Often soft and squishy to the touch, benign fatty tumors are not a threat to your dog’s health. (The exception is infiltrative lipomas, which can invade muscle tissue, but these are relatively rare.) While lipomas can be unsightly, many vets opt not to remove them unless they are in a location where their growth impedes a dog’s mobility.

But many holistic veterinarians see lipomas as far from innocuous. Instead, they stress, lipomas are symptoms of a bigger problem.

Holistic view
“For conventional veterinarians, lipomas are just something that happens, just like cancer happens,” says Marty Goldstein, DVM, of Smith Ridge Veterinary Center in South Salem, New York, author of The Nature of Animal Healing: The Definitive Holistic Medicine Guide to Caring for Your Dog and Cat. “What they don’t get is that lipomas are a result of what we’ve done to depress the metabolic functions and immune system of the animal.”

Dr. Goldstein believes that lipomas are a sign of improper fat digestion and a haywire metabolism, and that they often result from the unnatural commercial dog food diets that have become the norm today. “We’ve laden dog food with 50 to 65 percent carbohydrates, even though in nature wolves eat perhaps 1 to 3 percent grains.”

While few (if any) conventional veterinary practitioners would agree with this assessment (see “Conventional Medical Opinion,” next page), consider the case of Tembo, a Rhodesian Ridgeback who had his first lipoma before the tender age of one. Fed kibble and then a homemade diet heavy in grains and carbs, Tembo had constant allergies – corn gave him hives, and wheat summoned forth blistering yeast infections on his feet and in his ears.

“For the first seven years, the lipomas popped up like mushrooms,” remembers his owner, Elizabeth Akers of Concord, California, who had about 20 lipomas surgically removed from Tembo’s rib cage, legs, and chest. Some of the growths were small, others were tangerine-sized. “One on his groin was growing faster than the speed of light.”

Then, at age 7, Akers switched Tembo to a raw diet – and the lipomas responded as if she had flipped an “off” switch. “By the time he died at age 12, the only lipomas he had were in four places where they had been removed and had grown back again,” she remembers. “He had no new ones.”

Holistic veterinarians are quick to note that diet changes are not miracle cures: As in Tembo’s case, they may slow or even stop the growth of existing lipomas, or cause them to “organize,” or shrink. But expecting a wholesale disappearance of them is likely unrealistic.

Success is relative, Dr. Goldstein says. “If a lump is growing three inches every six months,” and after you make modifications in your dog’s diet and lifestyle, “it still gets bigger but it’s only growing one inch in that time frame, then you’re moving in the right direction.”

Holistic medicine doesn’t see diseases as unrelated entities that swoop in to disrupt health like so many flying monkeys at Oz. Instead, disease – or any disruption of the body’s functioning, no matter how seemingly mild, like lipomas – is a manifestation of a weakness with the body itself. In other words, there’s a Wicked Witch of the West lurking in the backdrop acting as dispatcher. Simply put, lipomas are a sign that there are deeper issues behind the scenes.

Many systems of healing have a name for the life energy that flows through the body and maintains good health. In homeopathy, for example, it is called the vital force. But no matter what you label it, what’s clear to holistic vets is that lipomas are evidence of the fact that the vital force is weakened and perhaps blocked – and likely has been for some time.

“One sign of vitality is the expression of symptoms, because that’s the body’s attempt to bring itself into balance,” explains classically trained homeopathic vet Michael Dym, VMD, of Morristown, New Jersey. By contrast, “lipoma patients have very weak symptoms,” as the body struggles to externalize its internal conflict in a kind of slow boil. In this scenario, “the patient has been ill on a deeper level for some time – it’s just that they don’t have adequate reactions, and have a very weak development of symptoms.”

For that reason, lipomas are not easy to treat, because making changes on that deep and profound a level doesn’t happen overnight.

“From a homeopathic perspective, any sort of lump or growth is generally thought to be an outcome of vaccinosis,” or the adverse effects of vaccination on the body, Dr. Dym continues. “Animals that are ill from prior vaccinations can have chronic warts, skin tags – and fatty tumors and lipomas.”

That’s not to say that you will be able to draw a direct line from last month’s rabies vaccine to your dog’s new growths. Instead, “we look at them as an outcome of weakness in a patient who’s not in the best health,” Dr. Dym says, because the life force has been affected by vaccines or toxins such as pesticides.

You’re outta here – not!
Lipomas can be unsightly, and some owners might be tempted to remove them for pure aesthetics. But because surgery only treats the symptom of the problem, not its root, most holistic veterinarians avoid it, except for lipomas that are so large or awkwardly placed that they impede a dog’s quality of life.

“The risk of removing the growth surgically is that it leaves the uncured disease to manifest at a deeper level, in a different form,” Dr. Dym warns. And from a homeopathic perspective, “when you remove a growth, you stimulate the vital force to greater activity. You can’t cure an apple tree of growing apples by cutting off its branches.” In fact, you might spur it to blossom even more profusely. And most lipomas tend to recur anyway.

While Dr. Goldstein agrees, he has had to remove lipomas that were in a compromising position, such as behind the nasal cavity, where they could obstruct breathing.

“Lipomas have their own finite capsule – you just scoop them out,” he says. A technique he employs during such surgeries is to roughen the tissue area around the lipoma, creating an inflammatory response. “This creates scar tissue that prevents the lipoma from growing back” – on that spot, at least.

Individualistic treatment
The classic homeopathic remedy used to treat tumors – and, while they are benign, lipomas are tumors – is Thuja, which is also often used for vaccine reactions. But Dr. Dym cautions against such a paint-by-number approach: Because lipomas are a symptom of a deep-seated imbalance in the body, he suggests a consultation with a homeopath to find the proper constitutional remedy – one that takes into account your dog’s own individuality – and treat the dog over time. Taking the wrong remedy – even one that might seem to fit the picture – “might stimulate a reaction that could highlight or activate” the very things you are trying to resolve, he warns. Traditional Chinese medicine has a different name for this life force that animates us all: chi. But that ancient modality also interprets lipomas as symptoms of a deeper imbalance.

“In Traditional Chinese veterinary medicine, lipomas are a type of ‘dampness’ called ‘phlegm’ that has stagnated in a particular area, usually an acupuncture channel such as the Gallbladder channel,” explains veterinarian Bruce Ferguson, DVM, MS, a practitioner and instructor in traditional Chinese veterinary medicine based in Perth, Australia. “Issues of ‘damp’ are usually, in the case of lipomas, caused by improper diet leading to a damage to the gastrointestinal system,” which is governed by the Spleen/Stomach meridian.

In traditional Chinese medicine, this channel “is responsible for moving a type of post-ingestive fluid around the body,” Ferguson continues. When a dog is fed a grain-based diet high in refined carbohydrates – as opposed to a more natural, meat-based diet – the channel gets clogged, and “gooey.”

In addition to dietary change, Dr. Ferguson says lipomas can be addressed with herbal formulas that tonify the spleen and resolve phlegm and dampness; acupuncture to help restore the movement of chi through the body, particularly the Spleen, and reverse stagnation; and occasionally gentle, non-traumatic massage such as Tui Na.

For his part, Goldstein sometimes prescribes Chi- Ko/Curcuma, a Chinese-herb formula indicated for resolving masses, specifically lipomas.

He also considers nutritional supplements such as L-carnitine and chromium picolinate, which assist in fat metabolism, as well as a product called Mega Lipo-Tropic, which helps digest and burn fat. Ditto for digestives enzymes that contain ox bile, a powerful fat emulsifier.

Improve basic health
No matter what modality you choose to deal with the underlying imbalances that might cause your dog’s lipomas, all dogs will benefit from these commonsense basics: good nutrition in the form of a biologically appropriate diet; good mental health, with a lifestyle that provides stimulating play, problem-solving, and social interaction; and no exposure to unnecessary vaccinations or toxins such as pesticides. And don’t forget exercise, Goldstein adds. “The only way to burn fat is to get your body – and your dog’s – up to its aerobic potential,” he says.

In the end, then, the good news about lipomas is that they aren’t life-threatening. But they are a signal that something is askew in your dog’s body.

“When I was in veterinary college, lipomas were described as benign masses that merely had a statistical rate of occurrence and did not ‘mean anything,’ ” Dr. Ferguson says. By contrast, traditional Chinese medicine teaches that “anything out of the ordinary has meaning, and usually indicates some type of imbalance.”

The task of the practitioner – and the observant, committed owner – is to discover and correct it.

Denise Flaim is the companion-animal columnist at Newsday on Long Island, New York. She owns four raw-fed Rhodesian Ridgebacks and is the author of The Holistic Dog Book: Canine Care for the 21st Century.

Heat Stroke in Dogs

By

CJ Puotinen

-

July 11, 2007

0

[Updated July 16, 2018]

DOGS AND HEAT STRESS: OVERVIEW

1. Never leave your dog in a car parked in the sun.

2. Watch for symptoms of heat stress and if they occur, give immediate first aid and go to the nearest veterinary clinic.

3. When temperatures climb, provide extra drinking and splashing water.

4. Plan exercise and outdoor play when temperatures are coolest.

Hot weather spells trouble for dogs. Because they can’t release heat by sweating the way humans do, heat and humidity can raise canine body temperatures to dangerous levels. Heat stroke kills, and heat stress (a less severe condition) can take a serious toll on a dog’s health. Unfortunately, heat-related problems are among the most common summer canine ailments.

Conscientious caregivers plan ahead and do everything they can to keep their dogs safe in the heat. Here are some strategies and products for helping hot dogs chill out.

To reduce canine summer heat stress, let your dog become accustomed to climate changes naturally and gradually, the way animals adapt in the wild. Schedule long walks for the coolest time of the day but spend a few minutes outdoors during warmer hours, too. Unless your climate is dangerously hot, your dog can be comfortable for short periods.

Summer daytime temperatures are coolest at dawn and dusk. Just after sunrise and just before sunset are the best times to take your dog for a run or a long walk. Humidity matters as much as temperature; in fact, a combination of high humidity and moderate temperatures can stress a dog as much as mid-day sun. Always watch for signs of stress. Dogs pant to release heat, so if your dog pants more heavily than usual, slow down, stop, find shade, offer water, and rest for a while.

Ideal dog exercise locations are shaded parks or lawns near a pond, river, creek, or pool. Beaches are usually cooler than inland areas, and both lakes and oceans (assuming conditions are safe for swimming) allow dogs to cool off whenever they like. Whether your dog is a wader or swimmer, let him rest in the shade after playing in water. At home, a plastic wading pool can be a perfect place to dip and chill.

Whenever temperatures climb, provide extra drinking water. Your dog’s panting cools him by releasing body heat, but this process also can dehydrate his body.

To encourage a hot dog to drink on hot days, resupply his cold water. Some people fill a dog bowl or bucket and freeze it overnight. As it melts during the day, it provides a steady supply of refreshing, cold water (check to make sure it melts quickly enough to provide as much water as he might wish to drink).

Alternatively, or in addition, freeze or simply chill water in the refrigerator in a plastic water bottle and add the melting or chilled contents to your dog’s water periodically throughout the day. Change your dog’s water more often during hot weather and add ice cubes to your dog’s bowl.

Many hot dogs enjoy curling up with a nice cold ice pack. A frozen plastic water bottle stays cool for hours. Dogs who use frozen water bottles as pillows cool down quickly, since blood circulates close to the surface at the neck and throat.

For summer comfort, nothing beats the shade of trees, so as you plan the day’s activities, look for parks, play areas, picnic tables, and hiking trails that are sheltered from direct sunlight. At home, if your dog doesn’t have a dog door or easy access in and out, be sure he has shade to rest in and ample water supplies. The sun’s angle changes with the seasons, so be aware of shifting shade patterns. Providing shade is most important between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Ventilation and air circulation are crucial when dogs are confined to pens, crates, and kennels. Solid walls interfere with air circulation while chain link fencing, screens, or mesh fabric allow the air to move. Shade covers help reduce heat loads, and fans that circulate air have a cooling effect. Study the forecast as you schedule play dates and outdoor events. When heat and humidity are high, save outdoor activities for breaks in the weather or days with lower humidity.

As all Whole Dog Journal readers know, it’s never safe to leave a dog in a parked vehicle. The inside of a car parked in the sun, even with its windows down, can increase by several degrees per minute, quickly reaching 125°F or even 150°F.

Keep your dog well groomed, with frequent brushing to remove dead hair, especially the undercoat. Some long-haired or heavy-coated dogs feel much more comfortable with short summer cuts, keeping in mind that dogs whose coats are shaved or cut very short are at risk for sunburn.

Heat Stress Risks to Dogs

Heat stress, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke or heat prostration are increasingly severe levels of the same basic condition.

Any dog can suffer from heat stress, but dogs who are most susceptible include the very young and old; any dog with a history of heat stress; breeds with flat faces or short noses; and dogs who are overweight, physically inactive, have cardiovascular disease, or respiratory problems. Some prescription drugs may increase the risk.

Though dogs cannot sweat and humans do sweat, heat risk factors between us are quite similar.

The symptoms of heat stress include profuse panting, salivation, an anxious expression, staring without seeing, failing to respond to commands, skin that is warm and dry, fever, rapid pulse, fatigue or exhaustion, muscular weakness, and physical collapse.

The symptoms of heat stroke or heat prostration can include a warm nose and foot pads, glazed eyes, heavy panting, rapid pulse, a dark red tongue, fever, dizziness, vomiting or diarrhea, immobility, and unconsciousness. Brain damage occurs when the body’s temperature reaches 106° to 107°F. A dog’s normal temperature is 100.5° to 101.5°F.

If your dog experiences any of the above symptoms, provide immediate first aid. Your rapid response may save your dog’s life.

Reduce your dog’s temperature by moving her into shade and immersing her gradually into cool water, such as in a stream, pond, fountain, horse trough, bath tub, or wading pool. Otherwise, wet the dog thoroughly, pouring a continuous stream of cool water over her body, beginning with the head and extremities, from a hose, watering can, bottle, or pan. If possible, apply ice packs to her head and neck. Apply wet towels to her abdomen, groin, legs, head, and neck.

If you can, take your dog’s temperature and continue applying cool wet towels until it returns to normal.

As soon as possible, take your dog to a veterinary clinic. Even if she seems to have recovered, her body temperature could increase again; heat stress always carries a risk of brain damage; and depending on the dog’s age, physical condition, and the amount of time spent with an elevated temperature, complications can occur.

Cooling Vests for Dogs Available

There’s no shortage of special equipment to help keep dogs cool. Pet supply catalogs and websites sell everything from cooling crate pads to water-retaining scarves, battery operated or solar powered fans, mesh beds, solar shade sheets, special hats, and cooling mats.

Now cooling vests are becoming popular. Made from different materials and operating on different cooling principles, these garments are designed to keep dogs from overheating.

Do they work? To help us find out, we recruited Bridgeport, Connecticut, dog trainer Deborah Lee Miller-Riley and her Portuguese Water Dog, Skyler, to test some popular models. Miller-Riley competes with her dogs in water sports and runs Splash Camps and Splash Workshops across the country (see k9watersports.com for more information).

Skyler is an 11-year-old male who weighs 61 pounds and had a 3-inch-thick wavy coat until we finished our tests, when he got a short, cooling summer cut.

Each vest was tested on a sunny, warm day with some cloud cover, in temperatures ranging from 83 to 85°F, humidity near 45 percent, and very mild winds. The walks lasted 30 to 35 minutes for each vest tested, ending at a stream where Skyler cooled his legs before returning by the same route.

All of the vests come in different sizes, with size charts based on weight and measurements such as girth (chest at its widest part), neck, back length, or length from front leg to back leg. Skyler’s correct size, depending on the manufacturer, was medium, large, or extra large. Because his measurements often fell near a size change, we supplied all of his statistics when ordering, asking the seller to send his best size. Two had to be returned for size replacement, and one more should have been.

Miller-Riley’s observations apply to Skyler’s experiences with the vests. Several of the vests reviewed here were designed for or are used by military, search and rescue, police, and working dogs. Results may vary for smaller or larger dogs, dogs of different breeds, engaged in different activities, or in other climates.

RPCM Cooling Vest

RPCM stands for Glacier Tek’s Renewable Phase Change Material, which is made from food-grade fats and oils. RPCM cool packs recharge in 20 minutes in ice water. Inserted into the Vest, they are said to maintain a steady 59°F temperature for two to three hours, even in 100-degree weather. Glacier Tek also offers a Chilly Pad for dogs to lie on.

According to its manufacturer, the vest was developed for firefighters and adapted for military working dogs in Iraq. The black nylon vest comes in two sizes, Chilly Dog ($159) and Chilly Pup ($129). Skyler wore the larger size, which adjusts for chest girths of 28 to 46 inches.

Miller-Riley reports, “We tested this vest when the temperature was 82° and the humidity 56 percent. The cool packs cover the abdomen, and the vest is held in place with straps over the chest and back. There was no change in Skyler’s panting from start to finish. He did not go for a swim, just got his feet wet. His skin stayed cool under the rib cage covered by the vest.

“This product, which seems to be designed only for large dogs, is medium-weight and simple to use, but you have to cool or refrigerate the gel-like cells. I didn’t like its large plastic snaps resting on my dog’s spine, though he didn’t seem to care.”

Chillybuddy

A light-weight mesh jacket made of woven plastic with an aluminized finish (a fabric originally designed for greenhouse shade cloths), this highly reflective vest is lined with breathable cotton mesh.

Chillybuddy comes in seven sizes, from petite to extra-extra large. Using Skyler’s neck and girth measurements, we ordered size medium, which cost $33. We should have used the third measurement that

Chillybuddy uses to determine size; the length of the dog’s back. As you can see in the photo above, the size we ordered was too short to cover Skyler’s back, and we ran out of time to return this and order the correct size. A company representative belatedly suggested using the back length as the critical measurement, as the neck and girth straps are highly adjustable.

According to Chillybuddy’s maker, the vest can reduce a dog’s coat temperature almost 30 percent on a 90-degree day. Soaking it before use dampens the cotton lining, which holds water for evaporative cooling. Miller-Riley says, “It was slightly cooler (72 degrees) when we tested this product, so we walked for an hour rather than our usual 30 minutes. Skyler stayed comfortable throughout.

“This coat is easy to use, lightweight, and it folds up and packs well. The shade cloths I use for my tent and car are made of the same kind of fabric, which really reflects heat, and the mesh circulates air well. A full strap goes around the belly, anchored with belt loops, and Velcro strips allow further adjustment.

“However, both the front and back kept flipping up and always seemed to need adjusting. Perhaps this would not be the case if we had ordered the correctly sized coat.”

Beware of Cooling Your Dog in Bodies of Water: Blue-Green Algae Can Kill

Water is wonderful, but not if it’s toxic. When conditions promote the growth or “bloom” of toxic blue-green algae in lakes and ponds, animals can die. In the U.S. and Canada, blue-green algae blooms have claimed the lives of deer, elk, livestock, and dogs soon after drinking algae-infected water.

Get the full scoop on blue-green algae here.

Conclusions on Cooling Your Dog

At the end of their research, Miller-Riley concluded, “All in all, Skyler seems to be cooled best by jumping into a body of water or having a gallon jug of water poured over him. I am not sure I would put my money down for any of these coats. However, the Radic vest from Japan was affordable, easy to use, provided some cooling, and my dog didn’t have to get wet for it to be effective.

“Most wild canines do not venture forth in the hottest part of the day. They seek cool spots in the earth or under vegetation until the sun goes down. It’s wonderful that so many products are being developed to help working dogs in adverse conditions, but where pets are concerned, keeping them cool involves a certain amount of common sense. Why drag a dog out into the heat unless it’s to go for a swim or a wade?”

CJ Puotinen is author of The Encyclopedia of Natural Pet Care, Natural Remedies for Dogs and Cats, and other books. She lives in New York with her husband, a Labrador, and a tabby cat.

Whole Dog Journal reviews dog food, dog toys, and dog health and care products, and also teaches positive dog training methods.

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DOGS AND HEAT STRESS: OVERVIEW

Heat Stress Risks to Dogs

Cooling Vests for Dogs Available

Beware of Cooling Your Dog in Bodies of Water: Blue-Green Algae Can Kill

Conclusions on Cooling Your Dog

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