I am sure that nearly everyone has experienced grief over the death of a pet at one time or another. However, I want to digress from a focus on death and bereavement to address life, and its full enjoyment.
For some people, it can be as difficult (or even more difficult) to endure or reconcile the death of a dog as it is to deal with the death of a person. This isn’t a matter of displaced affections; today, we tend to be isolated from human death. Few people die at home in the arms of loved ones; most people die in hospitals. In contrast, people are much more likely to be personally involved with the death of their dogs. Many animals die at home, and often, owners are intimate with the anguish of making decisions regarding euthanasia.
Additionally, while no one would be embarrassed to admit they were upset about the loss of a human friend or relative, many people feel unnecessarily self-conscious and embarrassed when they get so upset about the death of ‘only a dog.’ But the loss of a good friend and companion is always upsetting, regardless of whether it was a dog or a person. It always hurts. It really hurts. In reality, it is part of the owner’s life that has died and the owner must now reevaluate and reconstruct.
As with the death of a relative or close friend, losing a dog can have long-lasting effect on the owner’s lifestyle. For example, I am surprised to realize that I have not been cross-country skiing or running (both previously major activities) since the death of my first Malamute, Omaha Beagle, well over 10 years ago.
Grieving is a painful, yet necessary process. At the time of the pet’s death, owners may lose perspective, tending to focus on all the bad experiences associated with the last few days, weeks and sometimes months prior to the pet’s demise. The bad experiences tend to become magnified and temporarily tend to obscure the many happy memories of years gone by. Each owner may experience different emotions, generally progressing through phases of denial, pain, anger and maybe depression. The goal, though, should be to get to the place where they can accept the death of their pet and remember the many good times along with the bad. It is essential to regain perspective on life. The loss of a pet is sad and unfair, but ultimately inevitable. We are all mortal.
And, most importantly, the loss of one life should not destroy another. The owner is still living and can have fun. The deceased pet would most certainly have wanted it that way. And when the time is right, there are other pets that are crying out for human companionship. There are so many unwanted pets that would be so lucky to have such a caring owner.
“I ask my (owner) to remember me always, but not to grieve for me too long. In my life I have tried to be a comfort to her in times of sorrow and a reason for added joy in her life’s happiness . . . One last request that I earnestly make. I ask her, for love of me, to have another. It would be a poor tribute to my memory never to have another dog. I would like to feel that once having known me, she cannot live without a dog!”
– from The Last Will and Testament of an Extremely Distinguished Dog, by Barbara Meyer
I would like to echo the above sentiments. Loved ones whose loss we may grieve tomorrow are presently alive and well and living with us today. Whereas no one can even remotely comprehend the full nature and magnitude of the feelings of the bereaved over the death of a loved one, nearly everyone can recognize, enjoy, and benefit from an overt display of love and affection for the living.
For those of you who are currently sharing their lives with a happy and healthy dog: watch him, be with him, play with him, talk to him, and train him. Let today be the excuse for a party. And tomorrow. And the next day. Listen to your kids, talk to your husband or wife, visit your parents, and appreciate your friends. Don’t wait for a day of grief to evaluate your feelings for those who are close to your heart. Tell them now!
Dr. Ian Dunbar is a veterinarian and dog trainer residing in Berkeley, CA. He is also the founder of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers, and is renowned for his Sirius Puppy Training program, which he describes in his popular books and instructional videos.
We know from innumerable modern research studies that a person’s immune strength and resistance can be improved through a positive mental outlook, and that people who are happy heal more quickly than emotionally depressed people. Stated simply: emotional states can affect the physical body.
Most veterinary health care professionals would probably agree that the principle is true for animals, too. For example, most healthy dogs are usually happy dogs – or is it the other way around? And have you noticed how, just as with people, very often an anxious or angry dog also tends to be prone to more injuries and illness than a content and cheerful dog?
We have proof of this today, but it was a radical proposition when English physician Dr. Edward Bach (pronounced “Batch”) posed a similar theory in the late 1920s. Bach started his medical career as a bacteriologist, but found fame as the founder of “flower essence therapy,” a healing modality based on the principle that addressing psycho/emotional imbalances can lead to improved health and function. Negative emotions, Bach conjectured, suppress healing, so he looked for elements that could positively affect people’s emotions and moods. His theory was that once a person felt better, he or she would begin to get better. Bach wrote, “. . . our fears, our cares, our anxieties and such . . . open the path to the invasion of illness. Remove the disharmony, the fear, the terror, or the indecision, and we regain harmony between soul and mind, and the body is once more perfect in all its parts.”
Familiar with the use and preparation of herbs through his study of homeopathy, Bach experimented with substances made from flowers, which he regarded as the most vibrationally powerful stage of plant growth, and ultimately developed 38 formulations of “flower essences,” each aimed at a specific emotional condition.
Curing or preventing disease may have been Bach’s ultimate goal, but the flower essences soon came to be valued by Bach’s adherents for their primary ability: positively affecting moods.
Bach’s goal was healing humans, but it didn’t take long for veterinarians who agreed with his theories to try Bach’s formulations on their animal patients. Indeed, for animals, the essences’ ability to improve mental and emotional states has proved to be perhaps even more valuable than for humans. (People, after all, can alternatively be helped by cognitive therapies such as discussion and analyses of thoughts and feelings – not a viable option with animals.)
Animals also provide us with an opportunity to determine whether any benefits experienced from flower essences are due to a placebo effect (where the patient expects the medicine to make him feel better, so he “makes” himself feel better). A dog who begins behaving in a more normal fashion after receiving the flower essences makes an ideal illustration of the flowers’ power!
Today, a growing number of veterinarians and complementary animal health care providers use flower essences on their animal patients. And because the remedies are safe, gentle, and available at most health food stores, many animal owners are trying the flower essences on their own, with remarkable results.
A Veterinarian-Tested Rescue Remedy
Without a doubt, the best-known and most widely used flower essence remedy is a combination of flower essences that Dr. Bach named “Rescue Remedy.” The remedy, a mixture of five different flower essences (Cherry Plum, Clematis, Impatiens, Rock Rose, and Star of Bethlehem), is indicated for anxiety, agitation, upset, terror, and shock. Many people give the remedy to their dogs to ease show-ring or field trial jitters, for calming dogs who get anxious in the car, or for trips to the veterinarian’s office.
A growing number of veterinarians also use the five-flower combination on their patients. The blend is not only useful for treating the panic that many animals experience when they visit the veterinarian, but also for treating the conditions that necessitated the animal’s visit!
Maggie Voorhees, DVM, of the Natural Animal Hospital in Sarasota, Florida, makes it a habit to administer Rescue Remedy to her clients before particularly frightening procedures. “I’ve seen amazing results at times,” she says. “Many animals that are pretty wild before being treated with Rescue Remedy calm down nicely afterward.”
Any animal that experiences fear or terror at the veterinarian’s office can benefit from Rescue Remedy, says Voorhees. She administers the remedy to her patients before and/or after surgery, and says it can be counted on to “calm them right down.”
Another veterinarian, Arthur Young, of the Stuart Animal Hospital in Stuart, Florida, says he gives Rescue Remedy to any dog who has been hit by a car or suffered any other kind of traumatic injury. He’ll use traditional emergency veterinary medicine on the dog in addition to a dose of Rescue every 10 minutes until the dog is out of shock.
Every Day Flowers
However, Rescue is not the only flower essence he uses. “I use Bach flower remedies in my practice every day,” he says. “When there is disharmony in the mind, body, or spirit, something will give, and that’s where we get disease. When you’re stressed, you’re sick, and when you’re sick, you’re stressed. Stress creates an obstacle to healing, so I use the Bach flower remedies to fill the emotional need created by stress or illness,” he explains.
Dr. Young can rattle off a number of useful applications for many of Bach’s original formulations. “An animal whose owner has died can benefit from Honeysuckle, which is specifically for ‘grief for the loss of a loved one,’ and Rescue Remedy, to relieve fear, anxiety, and to take away the ‘edge.’ I also prescribe Rescue Remedy for a dog who is going to be traveling, especially for flying. Rather than using a tranquilizer for air travel, I’d treat him with Rescue Remedy for anxiety, add Aspen for fear, and Walnut when the dog gets to where you’re taking him to help him make the adjustment to a new venue.”
Dogs can also be treated for problematic behavior that is caused by negative emotions. For example, a dog “who has a strong personality and feels the need to be in charge can be treated with Chicory to help him quit seeking so much negative attention,” says Dr. Young.
Young also uses flower essence remedies to help him resolve physical problems that are aggravated by negative emotion. “I’ve seen dogs that have developed skin problems from unrelieved scratching, who have been treated allopathically for flea allergies but just keep scratching. Typically, the dog will have been overdosed with pesticides, or cortisone, even antibiotics. I’ll prescribe Agrimony, to help relieve the crawly feeling or sensation of itching, and Crabapple, which can be used as a detoxifier. Within a few days, the dog will feel a lot better – physically and emotionally.”
“In short,” says Young, “I use flower essences extensively in my practice. One of the best aspects of this truly holistic therapy is that it is gentle and non-reactive with other therapies.”
In his house call practice, Russell Swift, DVM, of Tamarac, Florida, uses flower essence therapy alone and in combination with nutritional therapy. But he finds them especially useful for treating behavior problems.
“I have used the flower essences for several years to treat for a variety of pet health problems, and have found them to be very effective,” he says. “But they are great for behavior. I’ve prescribed Chestnut Bud for a dog that ‘failed to learn from experience,’ an animal that kept making repeated mistakes in an obedience training situation – and it makes a huge difference. I’ve found Walnut to be helpful for a dog who had difficulty adjusting to a new dog adopted into a household, and Larch for the new dog who is low in confidence, as he was low in the pecking order in the household.”
Dr. Swift says the availability of the essences, as well as information about them, makes them especially useful to dog owners. “In the past decade, there has been a significant increase in the number of essences available from around the world, and many books and courses available on the subject for anyone who would like to learn how to use these healing substances,” he says. The biggest challenge for most pet owners, he warns, is in selecting the appropriate essences. “Since we have to interpret our pet’s behavior patterns through our own eyes, it is difficult not to superimpose our own emotions and feelings on them.”
How to Use Flower Essence on Your Dog
Flower essences generally come in tiny bottles of less than one ounce. The already diluted contents is referred to as a “mother tincture,” which is usually (but not necessarily) diluted further before administration. The undiluted mother tincture can be administered directly to a dog (two drops at a time), but due to the high alcohol content, many animals object to its taste and smell.
Further dilution does not affect the action of the essence, and it saves money!
Most health food stores that carry flower essences will also sell small (about 30 ml.) dropper bottles and/or mister bottles to use for mixing and administering a “working stock.” Pour three parts water (well, filtered, or bottled water if possible; neither chemically treated tap water nor distilled water are recommended) to one part alcohol (vodka, brandy, or Purol) into the bottle. Most experts suggest adding two drops of each mother tincture to be used (up to a maximum of seven essences, with Rescue Remedy counting as one essence) to the water/alcohol mixture. Then, put the top on and shake the bottle vigorously. Administer four drops of this working stock to the dog four times a day for chronic symptoms, or every 10 minutes or so in emergency or critical situations. (The potency of the essences is best increased by more frequent dosing from the working solution bottle, rather than giving a mixture with a higher percentage of mother tincture.)
Commonly, the working stock is administered with an eyedropper and squirted into the dog’s mouth. Some people prefer to drop the mixture onto a treat and feed it to the dog. The mixture can also be sponged onto the dog’s face, softly massaged into his skin, and rubbed behind his ears. Sometimes a dog who is panicked or aggressive will calm down after being gently misted (through a cage door, for instance) with a mixture formulated for his condition.
None of the essences’ manufacturers claim that the products will heal specific conditions on a physical level. The essences should not replace medical treatment, and should your dog manifest any symptoms of illness before, during, or after treatment, consult your veterinarian as usual. All of the makers say that the essences may be administered by themselves or in conjunction with medical or other treatment; they won’t conflict with medication, including any homeopathic remedies.
That fact that you don’t have to (and shouldn’t) change anything about a dog’s other treatments when you administer the remedies makes it easier for many skeptical dog owners to give the remedies a try; since they cannot hurt a dog in any way, an owner has “nothing to lose” by giving them a try. And that’s often precisely when the flowers seem to work their subtle, wonderful miracles.
Relief for Megaesophagus
Do you know of any holistic cures or remedies for megaesophogus? I’ve been through everything known to help alleviate the horrible effects of this dreaded condition and now I’d like to try a holistic approach.
-Name withheld
New Jersey
We directed this question to Carolyn Blakey, DVM, of the Westside Animal Clinic in Richmond, Indiana. Dr. Blakey has been practicing veterinary medicine for 32 years, the last four in an all-holistic practice. She especially enjoys serving as a holistic veterinary consultant to clients all over the country.
Megaesophagus truly is a horrible condition, both for the dog, who really suffers, and for the dog’s owner, who can’t do very much to help. However, there are a couple of holistic healing methods that I’ve seen help dogs with megaesophagus.
I use a lot of homeopathy in my practice, so of course, my first suggestion is to use homeopathy, which is entirely dependent on the body’s ability to respond. Homeopathy is “energy medicine;” the purpose is to present the energy picture of a specific problem to the body so the body will raise a defense, a response to that trigger at both the physical and the energy level. When you give the correct remedy to a dog whose vital force is still able to respond, you’ll see improvement.
I would suggest having a veterinary homeopath conduct a complete homeopathic intake. To prescribe the correct homeopathic remedy for any given individual, you have to know what’s behind the condition – in this case, the megaesophagus – and what’s behind that. Every individual is different, so every prescription will be different.
That said, there are several homeopathic remedies that are indicated for megaesophagus, including Kali Carbonicum, and Lyssen, the rabies nosode (which makes sense, because a rabid dog can’t swallow, either). However, in order to know which remedy is best for your dog, the practitioner has to hear the whole history and put all the dog’s total symptoms together.
The other approach I would try for relieving megaesophagus is acupuncture, which would be great for stimulating whatever tonal ability the dog may have. With megaesophagus, the whole problem is a lack of innervation (sufficient supply and activity of the nerves). The messages are just not getting through to the esophagus to constrict and move food down; it gets all flaccid. But acupuncture can get those neurotransmitters working, or at least, get them working better than before.
In some cases of megaesophagus, the “cardiac sphincter” (which controls the opening to the stomach) spasms shut, so the food just can’t go in. Over time, with that spasm occurring again and again, the esophagus begins to stretch.
Acupuncture is especially helpful with these cases, because it can relieve the spasms and relax the sphincter, letting the food flow into the stomach. So I would definitely take the dog to a veterinary acupuncturist and ask if she would use these points:
Conception Vessel 23
Large Intestine 4 and 11
Stomach 36 and 45
Bladder 21
Pericardium 6 and 9
You could also help the dog with acupressure on these points, and with massage, to help condition and tonify the muscles. (For help finding the points mentioned above, ask your veterinary acupuncturist. You can learn the acupuncture meridians and points by consulting Dr. Cheryl Schwartz’ well-known book on Traditional Chinese Medicine for use on animals, “Four Paws, Five Directions,” or her “Circadian Clock and Meridians” poster.) I always encourage my owners to do acupressure, because it always helps. It may not be strong enough to cure a dog with megaesophagus, but it’s always helpful.
The practical, home-care things are very important, too. Feeding the dog with his food at head level, using gravity to help the food slide into his stomach, will be helpful. People have tried different diets on these dogs, including super smooth foods that would slide on into the stomach. But the current theory is to use high fiber diets, including brown rice, for instance, to try to stimulate whatever is still able to be stimulated in the esophagus, and I’ve had some success with this approach.
Most of these dogs have trouble their whole lives if you can’t get the condition under control. They have trouble maintaining weight, and they usually have other health problems because they can’t get the nutrients they need. I’d definitely recommend giving this dog a good-quality, daily multi-vitamin, mineral, and digestive enzyme supplement.
Jump Back, Jack!
My dog is a leaper and a jumper, displayed most predominantly when my husband comes home from work. She also does this to guests when they first come in the door. I have tried using a 10-foot lead on her collar and yanking down on it when she jumps, but she does not respond to this or scolding. Any suggestions?
-Frustrated in OH
Maggie Kallerud-Jurist
Sergeant Tibs, my four-year-old, neutered Collie/German Shepherd mix, is a wonderful dog, but he has a few behavior problems. His worst habit is jumping. He gets so wildly excited when someone comes he’s uncontrollable and doesn’t listen at all. I’ve never seen a dog get more wound-up when someone comes then he does. He jumps all over them almost knocking them over.
I’ve tried a “No Jump Harness” but that didn’t work. I’ve also used a “Pet Agree Ultrasonic Pet Training Aid,” which worked for awhile until he discovered when he ignored it, nothing happened.
I’ve heard of the techniques “knee in the chest” and “step on his hind feet.” But I know they are cruel and dangerous, so I haven’t used them. I prefer very gentle training techniques.
Sergeant gets a lot of attention, so it’s not as if he’s home alone a lot and lonely. He gets a lot more attention than the average dog, because I’m home almost 24 hours a day. He also gets plenty of exercise.
-Chavvah Frick
Cass Lake, MN
We gave these questions to Pat Miller, WDJ’s regular gentle training expert. Miller, a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers, pens her monthly contributions to WDJ from her home in Salinas, CA, where she offers private and group dog training classes.
Dogs must think we are the rudest creatures on earth. They greet each other by sniffing noses. But when they try to give us a polite greeting by jumping up to sniff a human face, they are met with bizarre behaviors. We yell. We bump them in the chest with a knee. We smack them on the nose. We grab their front paws and won’t let go. We squirt lemon juice in their mouths. We stomp on their hind feet . . . and these are just some of the coercive methods that have been used over the years to teach dogs not to jump on humans.
Too bad that we resort to violence when the solution is really a simple one. As in all positive-based training, all we need to do is to “reward the behavior we do want, and ignore the behavior we don’t want.”
The problem with jumping up is that a lot of it gets rewarded. When puppies are small we pick them up and cuddle them, teaching them that “up” is a very rewarding place to be. When they do jump up, someone often pets them or pays attention to them, rewarding the very behavior we want to extinguish. Dogs that get rewarded for jumping up keep doing it. For some dogs, even the coercive techniques meant to punish are perceived as rewarding – plenty of active Labradors view a knee in the chest as an invitation to a great game of body slam!
How do you ignore jumping up? You can’t just stand still, because the dog will reward himself by slamming his paws on your chest. But there are other effective exercises and management tools that can teach Aero that four-on-the-floor is far more rewarding than aerial maneuvers.
For starters, consistency is important. You must never reward jumping up, and you must convince your friends and family members to react appropriately to Aero’s antics as well. Behaviors that are rewarded randomly can become very strong, because Aero discovers that if he tries often enough, sooner or later a jump gets rewarded. While he may inevitably succeed in jumping on you occasionally, avoid having anyone actually encourage jumping by hugging or petting him when he does.
By the way, if you start doing these exercises with a young puppy, he will never learn that jumping up is a rewarding behavior, and you will never have to deal with an adult dog that is leaping and jumping.
Exercise #1
The on-leash jump
Start with Aero on leash next to you. Have your helper approach and stop just out of leash-range, holding a tasty treat high against her chest. Hold the leash tightly, and stand still. Now you wait. Aero will eventually get frustrated that he can’t jump on the helper, and he will sit to figure it out. The instant he sits, have your helper say “Yes!” and pop the treat in his mouth.
Repeat this exercise often. It usually takes a half-dozen or fewer repetitions for Aero to start sitting as the helper approaches. Now if he tries to leap up to get the treat when it is offered, have the helper whisk it out of reach and say in a cheerful voice, “Too bad, Aero!” When he sits again, say “Yes!” and offer the treat again. He will soon learn to sit tight in order to get the treat, instead of jumping for it.
In a variation of this exercise, you can say “Yes!” and pop the treat in his mouth when he sits. This way, he will start looking at you and sitting when people approach, instead of looking at the other people.
Repeat this exercise with as many different people as possible. When you are out walking and a stranger admires Aero and asks if she can pet him, toss her a treat and have her do the exercise. You will be amazed by how quickly Aero will start sitting as he sees people approach him.
Exercise #2
The off-leash jump
You come home from work, walk in the front door and see Aero flying over the back of the sofa. You know a brutal greeting is coming. What should you do? Turn your back on him! Watch him out of the corner of your eye, and continue to turn away and step away as he tries to jump on you.
Again, in a surprisingly short period of time Aero will sit in frustration to figure out why he’s not getting his ration of attention. The instant he sits, say “Yes!” in a happy voice, turn and feed him a treat. (Yes, you have to have a treat with you when you walk in the door. I suggest keeping a jar on the front stoop. Or have cookies in your pockets all the time!) If he starts to jump up again after he eats the treat, turn away and step away. Keep repeating this until he realizes that “Sit!” gets the attention, not “Jump!”
Exercise #3
Incompatible behavior
This works if your dog responds really well to the verbal cue for sit or down. When Aero approaches, ask for a sit or a down before he has a chance to jump up, and reward that behavior with a “Yes!” and a treat. With enough repetitions, he will learn that the sit or down gets rewarded, and he will start to offer them voluntarily.
Exercise #4
Putting the jump on cue
I recommend this only when someone in the family finds Aero’s aerobics endearing and wants to be able to invite him to jump up. In this case, you teach Aero to jump up on a particular cue such as the word “Hugs!” (not by patting your chest, as too many well-meaning strangers and children will likely invite the behavior), and teach him that the only time he can jump up is when someone gives the cue.
Tie down time-out
A “tie-down” is a 4- to 6-foot plastic-coated cable with snaps on both ends. One end can be secured around a heavy piece of furniture, or attached to a strategically placed eye-bolt. You will want to put a comfortable rug or bed at the tie-down locations. When Aero is out-of-control and jumping on the company (or you!), he gets a cheerful, “Too bad, Aero, time-out!” and a few minutes on his tie-down.
If you know in advance that he’s going to maul Aunt Maude the instant she walks in the door, clip him to the tie-down before you open the door, and release him once he settles down. If you release him and he revs up again, you can always do another “Too bad, Aero, time-out!” Remember, despite your frustration over his behavior, this should be a cheerful interlude, not a forceful punishment. He will learn to control his own behavior in order to avoid time-outs, and you won’t need to yell at him.
Jumping up is a normal, natural dog behavior. Like so many other normal dog behaviors that are unacceptable in human society, it is up to us to communicate to our dogs that jumping up isn’t rewarded, and to help them become more welcome members of our human pack by rewarding acceptable behaviors that can take the place of jumping. It’s easier than you think!
Car rides. Some dogs love them. Some dogs hate them. Some dogs race from window to window, barking at every passing kid, cat, skateboarder, and bicyclist. Some dogs leave their breakfast on your new seat covers. Helping car anxiety in dogs, and getting a calm passenger is a step-by-step process.
Widget, from the time she was a tiny puppy, had trouble with car rides. When the Lowchen puppy was first brought into their home, she was covered with throw-up, said Nicole Dubus, Widget’s person.
It was really terrible, said Dubus. For the first three years of Widget’s life, almost every time she went into the car, she got seriously sick. This is an example of motion sickness due to extreme car anxiety.
One time, we were all packed up to go to Yosemite, said Dubus, recalling the hours spent packing the car and the excitement she felt about the camping trip. We didn’t drive more than 20 minutes and Widget just kept throwing up and throwing up. Dubus said that they tried stopping and giving Widget some water, but the dog wouldn’t drink. She knew that if they kept going, Widget would get dehydrated. So they turned around, went home, and unpacked.
But today, Widget, who is now eight years old, has learned to ride without getting sick. Widget joins her people on around town travels, trips to the beach, and, yes, she can even handle long car rides and camping trips.
The reluctant rider
Carsickness, even extreme cases like Widget’s, is often the result of fear or discomfort. Why are some dogs afraid of cars? Here are the most common reasons:
• The dog sees the car as a big, bad scary monster. Dogs or puppies who haven’t been socialized to cars may be afraid of the noise of the engine, the feel of the car moving, or the sight of objects whizzing by outside the window. Plus, dogs are confined in a car. A dog that is already afraid may experience added stress from the sensation of being trapped within the scary moving monster.
• The dog knows the car will take him somewhere terrible. A dog whose main association with cars is trips to the vet, boarding kennel, or other unpleasant places quickly learns that cars equal bad things.
• The dog experiences physical discomfort. Some dogs (especially young dogs and puppies) have trouble balancing when the car moves from side to side. They may have trouble standing or suffer from motion sickness.
Five steps to a happy canine car passenger
Fear, bad associations, and physical discomfort often produce the same results hesitation to get into the car, carsickness, whining, or barking. Fortunately, you don’t have to know the cause of the problem to fix it. In fact, the road to a happy car trip may be just around the next corner.
Getting a dog used to riding in the car is a simple step-by-step process of desensitization and counter conditioning. As with any type of training, it’s easiest if you are able to start when your dog is a puppy, but even an adult dog can learn to love the car.
Your dog may fly through these steps in a few training sessions, or you may need a few sessions a day for several days or even weeks. But having a dog that enjoys the ride will be worth the time and effort. The key to a dog that is both physically and emotionally comfortable in the car is to take your time. Make sure your dog is happy at each step before moving on.
Step 1: Approaching the car
The first step is to help the dog feel safe around the car before you actually go out for a drive. Have your dog slowly approach the car. Some dogs will walk right up to the car without hesitation. If your dog happily walks to the car, Click! and treat. Then move him away and repeat a few times. This will teach him that going to the car is rewarding.
If he shows any hesitation or fear around the car, move as far away as you need to for your dog to be comfortable. Then start clicking and treating your dog for showing any interest in the car or for moving towards the car. If your dog is very nervous or afraid, walk in a large circle around the car. Gradually make the circle tighter, moving the dog closer to the car. Click! and treat for each step you take closer to the car.
Step 2: Getting in the car
Once your dog happily approaches the car, open the door and invite your dog to get in. Don’t force your dog into the car. Instead, make it his choice. You can encourage your dog by patting the seat or climbing in yourself and calling him to you. You may want to use a yummy treat to entice him into the car. Or, you can shape getting into the car by clicking and treating any movement towards the open door.
Once your dog gets into the car, sit next to him for a few moments. Leave the door open so that he doesn’t get worried about being confined. Then take him back out and repeat the process several times.
Step 3: Assigned seats
When your dog is happily jumping in and out of the car, it is time to help him learn where he will sit. Assigning your dog a place in the car can help him feel safer and know what you expect of him on car rides.
If you use a crate (and your dog is crate-trained), you can invite him into the crate. If you use a harness or another restraint system, or if you have your dog stay in the back of your car behind a barrier, you may want to place a towel or blanket in your dog’s “spot.”
Call your dog into the car, have him now go to his spot, and hang out together for a few minutes with the car door closed. Give your dog lots of praise, or Click! and treat him for hanging out calmly in his spot.
If you use a harness or restraint system, you can buckle your dog in. Click! and give him a treat for accepting the harness and sitting calmly in his spot. (If your dog is new to the harness, you’ll need to spend some time away from the car training your dog to the harness.)
Step 4: Start your engines
Once your dog happily jumps into the car, goes to his spot, and is comfortable with the door closed, you can move into the driver’s seat. Click! and treat your dog for remaining calm in his spot. Then start your engine. Let the engine run for a minute or two while you Click! and treat your dog for remaining calm.
If your dog is in a crate or behind a barrier, give him a chew bone or a Kong toy stuffed with something yummy to encourage him to stay calm.
After a minute or two, stop the engine and take your dog out of the car. Repeat this process several times until your dog is completely comfortable with the engine running.
Note: If your dog is prone to carsickness and you have just given him a bunch of treats while working through the first four steps, you may want to wait for another day to continue with step five. A belly full of treats may contribute to carsick problems!
Step 5: Start with short drives
Once your dog will happily get into the car, knows where to sit, and is comfortable with the engine running, it is time to actually go for a ride! Start with very short rides to happy places, such as the dog park.
For a dog that gets carsick, think about how far you have been able to drive in the past before your dog vomits, then drive less than that distance. For some dogs, you may need to start with only driving a half of a block. When your dog can go a half of a block without getting sick or upset, increase the distance to a full block. Gradually increase the length of your rides until you can take a short trip to the park or another fun dog place. When you stop the car (even if you’ve only gone a half of a block), get out and engage in a rewarding activity such as a walk or ball play.
While you are desensitizing your dog to the car, always make the rides end with fun activities. Avoid vet visits and trips to the kennel or groomer while you are working through this process.
More about motion sickness
For most dogs, the desensitization process will take care of carsickness, as long as you take it slowly. For some dogs, especially young dogs that may still be wobbly on their legs, confining them to a crate may help. The flower essence known as Rescue Remedy (or, depending on the maker, Five Flower Remedy or Calming Essence) may help calm a nervous dog, and cooled peppermint tea may help soothe his tummy. In addition, make sure that your dog has gone to the bathroom and that you have opened the windows a little for fresh air. Being too hungry or too full may also contribute to carsickness.
If your dog still has trouble with motion sickness after desensitizing him to the car, you may want to talk to your veterinarian. A physical problem may affect your dog’s balance and his ability to ride comfortably in a car.
Car manners
Dogs need good car manners for safety and the sanity of the driver. Because it’s pretty darned difficult to actively train while driving, the best solution to behavior problems in cars is prevention and management.
The most common behavior problems arise from dogs moving about the car freely. Running from window to window, barking as dogs or bikes go by, stepping on the driver, trying to climb out windows all of these behaviors can only be accomplished by a dog that is moving freely. In addition, a dog moving freely can create safety hazards and can be disastrous if you get into an accident. Having your dog in a crate or safety restraint is both more safe and more sane.
Dogs should also be taught not to jump from the car without your permission.
The open road
Once your dog has learned to love the car ride and mind his manners in the process you can set out for many adventures together. You can explore new areas in your city or town, take driving vacations, or head out for a serious road trip. You, your dog, and the open road. What more could you want?
Americans love their dogs and their cars, so it’s natural that you’ll frequently find them together. On any given day on any given highway across the United States you might see Fido in the Ford, Buddy in the Buick, and Chester in the Chevy. In fact, a whole branch of the pet supply industry has developed to help us make sure our canine pals are well cared-for as we cruise America. We checked out some car products so we could give you some hot tips on what’s cool in the car for Fido.
Safety first
Without a doubt, some sort of car restraint is the most important car accessory for a dog owner to buy and use. Many people think the use of canine seat belts (or some other restraint) is ridiculous; however, 20 years ago, many people thought seat belts for people were an unnecessary annoyance. Several thousand lives saved later, most people have gotten with the program and buckle up.
Besides, the use of restraints undeniably prevents canine injuries; who among us hasn’t, at some point in their driving career, had to slam on the brakes in traffic and had their dog flung against the seat, dashboard, or windshield in front of them? Restraints also save canine lives. Several years ago, my brother Bill lost his beautiful Australian Shepherd-mix in a horrible car accident. Lacy survived the impact, but, in a panic immediately after the crash, leaped through the shattered windshield and was killed moments later when she dashed under the wheels of a truck. Bill was fine – he was wearing his seat belt. What a tragedy that Lacy wasn’t.
While it’s true that one reason to crate or seat belt your dog in your car is to keep her as safe as possible in an accident, another is to keep you from being injured in a wreck. A free-flying dog body can become a deadly projectile, causing serious injury to you or other vehicle passengers if she hits them in mid-flight.
Finally, another good reason to restrain your dog in the car is to prevent her rambunctious antics from causing a wreck. (Did you all read the news accounts of famous author Stephen King being hit by a car, and seriously injured, by a driver who was reprimanding his dog while driving?)
Alternatives to crates
While a well-outfitted and well-secured crate would be our first choice for safe dog transport, we did not review crates for this article – that’s a product review all of its own! If you do use a crate to keep your dog safe in the car, it must be fastened down in some manner so it doesn’t become a projectile itself. And crates that shift and slide even in normal driving can be aversive to a dog and make him not like his car-crate.
But not everyone has room in their cars for crates, nor solid things to fasten them to. And the space required for multiple-dog households would certainly preclude each dog having his or her own transport crate, unless you drive a large van or school bus!
Fortunately, there are now a number of tethering devices on the market. Most interact in some way with your car’s seat belts, although there are some made to fasten to cargo hooks in trucks and SUVs.
For safety reasons, all restraint devices should be used with a harness, not a collar, so you’ll need to add the cost of a harness (about $3-15) to those products that don’t include one as part of the package. Also, dogs should always be buckled up in the back seat of your vehicle. Just like small children, they risk severe injury or death from air bags in the front seats of most newer cars. Remember: Air bags can be engaged in even very slow-speed accidents, but deploy with lighting speed and potentially dog-crushing force.
WDJ’s restraint selections
We’ll discuss the products we examined in descending order of our preference, beginning with the pet seat belts, and then discussing the car tethers.
We gave our top rating of four paws to only one product, the Doggie Catcher Pet Seat Belt, made by Smiling Dog Enterprises of Chattanooga, Tennessee (my own location, though I’d never examined this product before).
The Doggie Catcher is a simple and sturdy product that is fastened firmly in place with your car’s own seat belt. All the other canine restraints we examined were slipped over the fabric of the car’s seat belt, so they don’t prevent your dog from moving around. Also, all the other models rely on the locking action of the belt to restrain the dog in case of a sudden stop.
But the Doggie Catcher Pet Seat Belt is fastened right at the seat belt buckle – the stubby, fixed part – for maximum security. You actually slip the metal tongue of the seat belt through a slot in the Doggie Catcher’s molded plastic flange and then insert the tongue into the buckle as you normally would. A strong grey nylon strap is fastened to the Doggie Catcher’s flange; a snap at the other end clips onto the dog’s harness. Because it actually clips into belt latching mechanism, it secures the dog at a specific length of the restraint strap, adjustable from 12 to 18 inches. We especially like the extra plastic flap that covers the seat belt release mechanism and prevents the dog from stepping on it and accidentally getting loose.
We do have some very minor quibbles with the product. We support the efforts of animal control agencies, and have an aversion to the whole “Dog Catcher” image. We understand play on words, but we hate the phrase. We wish also the product was less expensive. At a suggested retail price of $20, this is a pretty high-priced item. Add another $3-15 or more for a harness, and you’re getting up there. Is your dog’s safety worth this much money? Of course it is. But not everyone will spend this much – and every dog ought to have one, in our opinion.
Three paws
Our enthusiasm for the next product has a lot to do with its exceptionally low price. The Kwik Klip Car Safety Harness is a harness and restraint device in one, so, at just $5-6.50 (depending on size), this is probably the best value of all the restraints we examined.
The harness is made of black nylon (not as heavy as the straps used by the Doggie Catcher), with a padded chest strap for comfort, and an extra loop protruding from the top of the harness, almost like a handle, but roomier. When the dog is harnessed and in his seat, the seat belt is passed through this loop and buckled closed.
Because the loop can slide on the belt, however, and because most seat belts lock only under sudden braking, the Kwik Clip does not hold the dog as securely in place as the Doggie Catcher does.
The plastic buckles on the harness appear sturdy, but are a little large and bulky for small dogs. Also, the harness straps slip through the buckles a bit too easily, so once you have fitted the harness appropriately for your dog you might want to sew the straps down to prevent them from loosening as your dog moves around.
Note: Many of the car restraint products contain valuable warnings about not leaving dogs in hot cars. The Kwik Klip does not, and it would be a nice addition to their packaging.
Two and a half paws
Here’s an incredibly low-tech (and low-cost) product: the Seat Belt Restraint made by Coastal Pet Products, Inc. This is a seven-inch black nylon strap with a snap at one end and a loop at the other. You simply snap it to the back of your dog’s harness, slip the car’s seat belt through the loop and buckle the seat belt closed. The strap can also double as a short leash in a pinch.
We’re a tad worried about the ability of the metal snap to restrain a larger dog, especially under the impact of a crash; it seems fairly lightweight. Also, as we’ve noted before, the loop-over-seat-belt design does not provide for optimum safety – the dog can still move around the car more than we would like.
Two paws
The Batzibelt Pet Seat Belt is similar in design to the product above, but gets a slightly lower rating from us, in part because it’s more than double the cost for essentially the same product.
The Batzibelt has a metal snap at each end, and uses a metal shackle (instead of a nylon loop) that slips over the seat belt fabric. We don’t see this as an improvement – the metal snaps are more likely to fail under pressure than nylon, so this product has two weak links instead of just one. The shackle is a separate piece – one of those small metal gadgets that we manage to lose all too easily.
Finally, the directions on the package suggest attaching the clip to the dog’s harness or collar – an instruction we find irresponsible, since a dog restrained by the collar in a sudden stop could injure or break his neck.
Tethers: fixed length
We’re using the word “tether” in this application to mean a product that restrains the dog and is fastened to something fixed in the car – not an adjustable seat belt.
Again, Smiling Dog Enterprises offers the product we liked best: the Doggie Catcher Pet Restraint. And again, we like this product’s sturdiness and simplicity. The same grey heavy-duty nylon strap is adjustable up to 24 inches in this permutation, with a strong metal D-ring sewn into each end. A “quick link” is linked to each D-ring, one that attaches to an anchor point in the back of a van or SUV; the other attaches to your dog’s harness.
However, we were dismayed to see promotional photos in the product’s brochure of the restraint being used on a dog’s collar (risking a broken neck in case of a sudden stop), and on a dog in the back of an open pickup truck. We would love to see safety products a little more consistent in the safety message they send!
The Travel Tether is another very usable product, losing a point in our estimation for being more complicated to put on the dog and install, and a little less sturdy than the Doggie Catcher. This product utilizes snaps (not as strong as metal links) to secure the dog to two anchor points of a van or SUV, effectively cross-tying him for maximum security. It is more expensive than the Doggie Catcher, but includes a harness.
We found the instructions for using the Travel Tether to be very poorly written. We finally put them aside and figured out how to get the harness on the dog ourselves. On the plus side, the fact that the tether clips onto a ring sewn into the bottom of the dog’s harness makes it harder for him to get tangled up. (The company also placed a ring on the top of the harness, to which a leash could be attached for walked the dog to or from the car – neat!) Finally, the tether appears to be well-made, and we love that it is not suggested for use in pickup trucks. We also appreciate the clear safety tips offered on the back of the package.
From tiny Pomeranians to huge Mastiffs, dogs love to play Tug ‘o War. There is an inherent canine joy in growling, grabbing, pulling, shaking, ripping and shredding that satisfies a dog’s basic predatory instincts. Owners also find it rewarding to roughhouse with their four-footed friends, and a Tug ‘o War game is a great way to take the edge off a high-energy pooch.
Many trainers caution against playing Tug ‘o War with canine companions, warning that it teaches a dog to be dominant and aggressive. I encourage my students to play Tug ‘o War with their dogs. If you play the game right, it’s a perfect opportunity to teach your dog deference and good manners and you can even resolve aggression problems. Only if it is done improperly does “Tug” teach your dog bad habits.
The first key to playing the game right is that you always win. At least almost always. At least in the beginning. The Tug Toy is a very special, cherished object. It is kept hidden in a special place, and only comes out when you want to play. Tease Woofie with the toy – shake it a squeak it, and use a word such as “tug” or “pull,” that you chose for your behavior cue. Let him grab one end, and have a great time tugging and shaking the toy with him for a few minutes, then offer him a very tasty treat.
If you’ve used a sufficiently tasty treat, Woofie will open his mouth for the treat. When he does you say “Drop,” or “Give,” since he must drop the tug toy to eat the treat. You just won the game. “Click!” a clicker or tell him “Yes!” to let him know he did a rewardable behavior, then hold the treat and let him nibble at it while you safely remove the tug toy. Now you can either play again (playing the game again is another reward for Woofie for giving up the toy when you asked) or you can put it away and play again later.
Before long, Woofie will be programmed to drop the toy on cue, and you can win whenever you want. Now you can let him grab it and run off with it every once in a while to make the game more interesting. Just remember to have him give it back to you when his turn is up – don’t start playing chase!
Some dogs want to play too aggressively with a tug toy, and some dogs get seriously aggressive. If Rambo plays too rough, and either jumps up on you or puts his mouth on your clothing or skin, it’s time for an instant “time out!” Just say “Too bad!” in an upbeat, cheerful, non-punitive tone of voice and put the toy away for a few minutes. If his rowdy behavior persists, use a tie-down, a crate, a puppy pen, or just step out of the room briefly. After a moment or two, resume the game. Every time he bites or gets out of control, it’s “Too bad!” and a time-out. Four time outs in a row ends the game for the day.
Rambo will learn very quickly that when he is too rough, playtime is over. In short order he will begin to control his behavior so that he can continue playing the game.
There are lots of different tug toys on the market. To some extent the ideal tug-toy depends on your own dog’s size, strength and chewing preference. Tug toys should be durable, safe, appealing to the dog, and affordable. WDJ tested several tug toys based on these criteria.
Solid rubber dog tug of war toys
Dogs seem to like these – the solid rubber gives them something to sink their teeth into, which is an especially enjoyable treat for young dogs who are still teething.
WDJ Approves
Cressite Solid Rubber Tug Toy Pet Supply Imports, Inc. South Holland, IL (made in England) $7.79. Available at most pet stores.
The Cressite Rubber Tug Toy is made of natural rubber and was very inviting to our test dogs. They got quite enthusiastic, to the point that I feared for the integrity of the toy. The price is reasonable, but given the somewhat flimsy construction (I have seen them snap under heavy use), I would reserve this toy for dogs 25 pounds and under.
Not Recommended
Cressite Solid Rubber Play Ring Pet Supply Imports, Inc. South Holland, IL (made in England) $7.29. Available at most pet stores.
Made of the same natural rubber, but thicker and sturdier, the Cressite Play Ring is a great fetch toy, as it promises on its label. However, the packaging also encourages its use as a tug toy, which we could not recommend. We found insufficient distance for safety, with your hand on the edge of the ring on one side and your dog’s teeth on the other. This could be a suitable tug toy for a well-behaved, trained dog, but it’s not one we would recommend for the “Rambo” who is just learning how to play politely.
WDJ’s top pick
Four Paws Rough & Rugged Four Paws Products, Ltd. Hauppauge, NY (made in China) $12.99. Available at most pet stores.
It’s more expensive, for sure, but the Rough & Rugged gets our rubber toy vote, paws down. It is also made of natural rubber, and is more than twice the thickness of the Cressite Tug Toy, which increase its durability substantially. It is a decent length to separate hands from jaws (13 inches), which should give Rambo the needed distance to differentiate rubber from skin.
Tennis ball toys
Most dogs love playing with tennis balls, so it was only a matter of time before they got incorporated into all kinds of dog toys. WDJ looked at two from a tug toy perspective.
Not Recommended
Tug Max PetSport USA Pittsburg, CA. $9.49
The Tug Max consists of two tennis balls tied five inches apart with a soft nylon rope. It appears well-constructed, although a little pricey. Our test dogs loved it, but even they had difficulty restricting their teeth to their end of the tug toy.
Also, having tennis balls on both ends invites teeth at both ends. This could be a great toy for two dogs to play tug with together, but it would not be WDJ’s choice for owner-dog “Tug” play.
WDJ’s Top Pick
Cassidy Big Tug/D Farlar Int’l., Camarillo, CA. (made in USA). 14.99. Available in pet stores.
This tug toy has a tennis ball securely attached to two ropes at one end of the toy. A full 22 inches away, a rubber handle encircles the rope, making it easy for the owner to hold on to the toy – and win the game! Rambo has plenty of room to chomp the ball or the rope, without getting too close to human skin at the handle end. This is the kind of toy that would be most useful to teach the rules of “Tug ‘o War” to your dog.
Braided rope toys
Dogs love to chew these colorful, heavy, cotton braided ropes for hours – which is exactly the problem; when swallowed, the tiny threads can wreak havoc in the intestines, sometimes necessitating major life-saving surgery. As a tug toy, though, they can be great. Just don’t leave them lying around – they should always be put away at the end of the game. We selected two of the almost infinite variety of knotted rope toys to demonstrate what you should look for.
Not Recommended
Booda Tug Aspen Pet Products, Inc. Denver, CO $5.99. Available at most pet stores.
This 20″ model is on the modest size (and price!), yet plenty long and sturdy for a good game of tug for a small to medium size dog. It was our Pomeranian’s favorite. We would not recommend it for bigger, stronger dogs, as there is no handle and it would be relatively easy for a large dog to pull the tug out of the owner’s hands.
WDJ’s Top Pick
Booda Wonder Tug (Twin) Aspen Pet Products, Inc. Denver, CO $15.49. Available at most pet stores.
A shade pricier, but this one comes with all the extras you need for a really safe tug toy with a larger dog. A soft rubber handle protects the owner’s hand, some 27 inches from the business end of Rambo’s teeth. Halfway down the rope the toy splits into two ends, giving Rambo a choice if he tends to bounce around with his teeth.
These are just a few of the many tug toys available. Keep in mind the importance of safety, durability, dog appeal and price, and you can find several more that can fill the bill. Have fun, and remember to win! -By Pat Miller
Recently I got a letter from a reader who complained that the most recent issue of WDJ had completely turned her off. The articles were “wonderful,” she said, but what left a bad taste in her mouth, so to speak, was the way we had singled out Rottweilers as bad dogs.
Where had we done that? I wondered, even as I read on. Fortunately, she explained. First, on the cover, we had a picture of two Rottweilers engaged in something that looked like a fight (they were actually playing) and was labelled, “Fear of Fighting.” True enough. Our second offense was also associated with the article about teaching dogs not to fight. The author of the article chose to use “a growling Rottweiler” as an example of something a person might want his dog to pass with a wide berth. The letter writer suggested that in the future, we consider using “generic terms” and not single out any one breed to represent the growling threat. It’s comments like these, she said, that make people fear Rottweilers more.
Well, yes and no.
People fear Rottweilers for a variety of reasons, and only a few of those reasons are due to the media. Some Rottie owners deliberately foster the intimidating look, fastening huge Gothic collars on their dogs and encouraging their dogs to be aggressive. Many Rottweilers are used for guard and protection work, a task they were bred for and excel at. And, face it, whether you want to blame nature or nurture (poor breeding or wrong-headed training), there are a certain number of aggressive, unpredictable, dangerous Rottweilers in the world.
Of course, there are a lot of aggressive, unpredictable, dangerous Toy Poodles in the world, too. But few people are frightened of Toy Poodles, even if they growl and snap.
Before I go any further, I guess I better explain that, as a generalization, I like Rottweilers. The good ones I’ve known outnumber the scary ones, and when you have a good-hearted Rottie, you have a friend who will follow you to the ends of the earth.
And I agree with the reader on one point: Selecting a Rottweiler to represent the prototype scary sidewalk hazard was indulging in a stereotype that is probably painful to friends of Rottweilers. We probably should have described the dog in generic terms that would be equally evocative of a threat one would instantly want to avoid, such as, “. . . a huge, snarling brute of a dog, barely restrained by its leering owner. . .”
So, I don’t want anyone to freak out when they see two MORE violent Rotts in this issue!
Pat Miller begins her article (“Does Your Dog Bite?”) about the best way to prevent an “at-risk” dog from biting people with a true story – a close encounter she had with a biting Rottweiler. After 20-plus years in dog-related professions, Miller has probably been bitten more than once, and yes, I suppose she could have used another one of her “war stories” to commence this article. But the Rott who bit her was the perfect example of a dog with potentially dangerous “risk factors” for biting, a dog who would have benefitted from some behavior modification training such as the kind she discusses in the article.
And the second aggressive Rottweiler in this issue is rehabilitated, a virtual poster dog for several positive movements: no-kill shelters who have the resources to rehabilitate dogs who come to them with serious behavior problems; for flower essence therapy, which offers a unique, safe, and effective way to help a dog regain his mental and emotional equanimity; and for thoughtful, caring owners willing to tailor their habitat and life-styles to accommodate the special needs of their beloved canine companions.
Both these dogs illustrate WDJ’s goals – how, with holistic care, even the scariest dog can transcend its stereotype.
While many trainers can readily observe signs of a dysfunctional relationship between dogs and their owners, not all feel comfortable addressing those issues with their students. Vermont-based trainer April Frost has made human/dog relationships something of a specialty. She teaches people how to get to the root of training troubles through the cultivation of a better relationship with their dogs. Once communication problems are cleared up, she finds, dogs readily comply with their handlers wishes.
Frost has 35 years of experience as a dog handler and trainer although she eschews the latter appellation in favor of animal communication facilitator. In her book, Beyond Obedience: Training With Awareness For You and Your Dog, she explains that teaching dogs to have good manners is just a small part of the human/dog relationship. According to Frost, learning, communication, and the cultivation of awareness and mutual respect between you and your dog will always be an ongoing process. Taking the time and energy to build a quality relationship, she says, has numerous and invaluable rewards, including and far surpassing the desired level of obedience.
Benefits of building
We gain tremendous emotional rewards when we improve our relationship with our dogs. Dogs let us experience a deep unconditional love. Many adult humans are aware of this, of course, but Frost believes that this gift has extraordinary value to children. “The relationship children create with dogs is a special one that helps them deal with peer pressure. It is a safe harbor for them to come back to. Their dogs love and accept them, and are non-judgmental,” says Frost. This unconditional acceptance that dogs extend to us is one of the nicest perks that this special relationship offers us.
Another benefit we gain from our dogs is a sense of expansiveness and ease. People tend to be more open around animals, and dogs in particular. Frost notes, We are often more open, tolerant, and kind to our dogs than we are to other people. Have you ever noticed what happens in a work situation when a dog comes for a visit? Suddenly everyone smiles and becomes more relaxed.
If we allow ourselves to open up to their reality and understand what they have to teach us, we gain a fullness and an expanded sense of self, says Frost. A wonderful example of this occurred when Frost’s dog Jessie lost most of her sight due to her advanced age. Jessie had always been Frost’s protector, and now the roles were reversed. When Frost and Jessie were out together she had to pay attention to Jessie’s world and the obstacles that might impact her. Frost became very aware of the cracks and bumps in the street that she needed to maneuver Jessie around. One day in front of a busy hotel Frost looked down and noticed a beautiful, delicate flower growing in the crack of the sidewalk. She was amazed that the flower had survived a constant flow of foot traffic and realized that she was probably the only person who had noticed and appreciated that little flower. Frost feels that this expanded awareness was a gift from Jessie.
Relationship rehab
In times of trouble, of course, a relationship with a dog can feel like more of a burden than a gift. Frequently, professional dog trainers are consulted when a person’s association with his or her dog has become strained or downright unpleasant. Rather than ignoring the currents of emotional distress she senses in her clients, Frost encourages her pupils to really examine what’s gone awry. It’s important to look at the emotional issues your dog brings out in you, says Frost.
In her book, she cites the example of a couple who seemed to have a stiff, unaffectionate relationship with their white Samoyed, Snow. When Frost questioned the couple about the dog and their feelings about the dog, they related that they had inherited Snow from their daughter, who had been unable to keep him which did impinge somewhat on the travel plans they had made since retirement.
More significantly, the couple felt overwhelmed by the amount of hair that the dog shedded. Unconsciously, this underlying resentment was interfering with their relationship. Frost directed them to more appropriate grooming tools; the brushes they had were not at all right for his hair, and made the flyaway problem worse. After a special lesson on grooming and getting the hair under control, the couple felt much more appreciative of the dog and enjoyed him more.
Facing your emotions
Sometimes, it turns out that the human partner in a relationship is actually the one behind some problem behavior of the dog. For example, a student once came to Frost after she became increasingly unhappy with conventional training methods. The more she trained her dog, the more dog-aggressive he seemed to become.
As a result of her consultation and conversation with Frost, this woman realized that she was nervous and tense around other dogs. Her dog responded to her fear of other dogs by being aggressive. Conventional training methods would have focused on correcting the dogs actions. However, once this woman realized and dealt with her own fears, the dog relaxed, and the aggressive behavior stopped.
This process helped the woman realize that she carried around a lot of fear in other aspects of her life. After working through this issue the woman said, I can’t believe how much fear I held in my life and how much it affected my dog. Frost comments, Dogs participate with us in looking at ourselves. This is one of the services they provide for us.
Getting in touch with our feelings is one way that we can begin to put our relationship with our dogs in order. Another is to try to get in touch with our dogs feelings. Frost often has her students participate in guided visualizations. She has them imagine what the world looks like from their dog’s perspective. For example, when they walk, what do they see? She asks them to think about what it’s like to have pads and to have a hundred times the sense of smell that humans do. She also asks people to think about what it’s like for dogs to meet their owner’s emotional needs.
A good use of this exercise occurred when a woman called Frost for help regarding her dog that barked throughout the day and trashed the house while she was at work. This woman was convinced there was something wrong with the dog. She wanted Frost to train the dog to be less destructive.
Instead, Frost says, I told her to imagine spending 10 to 11 hours at home with nothing to do. She could have the radio on, but that was it. I asked her to spend that time roaming from room to room with nothing to do for those long hours. Frost explained to the woman, Your dog does this five days a week. Do you think that you could do this for five days every week without getting stir crazy? The exercise immediately changed the woman’s perspective, and together they looked at creative solutions to the problem. The woman hired a dog walker to visit her dog during the day, and she left out more mentally stimulating toys.
“There’s always a reason behind why dogs act the way they do,” Frost says. When they are acting out in the owner’s eyes, they are actually trying to tell us something. Dogs often try out different behaviors because they’re looking for feedback. The owner’s job is to figure out what motivates a dog to exhibit certain behaviors.
Leader of the pack
While Frost sees a good relationship with one’s dog as key to living together in a harmonious way, she strives to teach her students the difference between a truly good relationship and one that is permissive and lacking in clear-cut roles for the dog and human partners.
People need to be good pack leaders, says Frost, describing that role as a person who is honest, consistent, and fair, and who establishes limits and guidelines for his or her canine friends. The most important element in setting up guidelines is consistency, she notes. For example, If you don’t intend to let your dog on the furniture when he is an adult, then don’t let him on the furniture as a puppy no matter how cute he is, she warns. Being inconsistent is extremely confusing for dogs and akin to playing mind games with them.
For some people, the biggest challenge of being consistent with their dogs is having to pay attention to their dogs! Many people are in the habit of tuning out their dog when they are not in obedience class or engaged in some other dog-centered activity. But the rules and requirements of behavior have to exist in all aspects of a dog’s environment. If you dont want your dog to pull on his leash, then it’s never an acceptable behavior whether you are at an obedience class or walking down the street. As a good pack leader you must always enforce this rule, says Frost.
Also, as good leaders, we should explain what we are about to put our dogs through before we actually do it, says Frost. Dogs need to know what’s going to happen to them, and can’t be expected to cooperate in situations that are over-stimulating or scary to them. Frost says we can let them know either verbally or by visualizing whats going to happen and then sending that visualization to them. Frost believes that dogs are telepathic and easily pick up these pictures.
Finally, good leaders are sensitive to the needs of their followers. Frost says it’s important to attune yourself to your dog so that you know what’s right for his individual personality. She sees too many people who are regretful after following bad advice from someone in authority even though it ran counter to their own feelings of what would be best for their dogs.
Holistic approach
Frost trained and showed dogs in a traditional way for many years, but has shifted her personal and professional focus with dogs and their people over time. She no longer attempts to solve a behavior problem with training alone, but uses an integrative approach, examining the whole dog and every aspect of its environment. Frost notes that everything contributes to the situation, including environment, background, genetics, overall health, other pets, and family members. Also, over the years, she has incorporated more and more holistic dog care methods. Today, she uses aromatherapy, color therapy, flower essences, herbs, Reiki, music, TTouch, homeopathy, and raw food nutrition as part of her canine husbandry.
One of the best things we can do for our dogs is stay educated, says Frost. It’s important to be informed on new developments in health, food, toys, and behavior issues so that you can make intelligent decisions on your dog’s behalf. This means not always doing what’s most convenient, but instead, doing what’s best for your dog.
-By Mary-Frances Makichen
April Frost offers classes and workshops through her Animal Visions Inc. in Vermont. Mary-Frances Makichen is a freelance writer from Sacramento, California. This is her first article for WDJ.
The baked versus extruded dog food debate has been slowly smoldering for a number of years. The original, and for a long time only, baked food was Flint River Ranch. However, Petsmart, Old Mother Hubbard, and Natural Balance have recently entered the fray, producing a few baked foods among their extruded foods, and the battle is heating up if youll pardon the expression.
A difference of degrees Most dry dog foods are extruded. Extrusion is a process that uses heat and very high pressure to create what is essentially an air-popped kibble. The temperature of the food mixture going into the extruder is in the 200-250° F range, but the pressure creates steam and an intense burst of heat. Extruded foods are subject to a quick trip through the extruder at a very high pressure and temperature from as little as 15 or 30 seconds to a minute or two.
The baked food folks, in contrast, extol the virtues of their slow baking process. In fact a number of these foods boast that they are twice-baked. The implication is that this process takes place at a low temperature and therefore the vitamins and other nutrients arent cooked out of the food. What they dont tell you is the baking temperature. I was amazed to find out that these foods are cooked at well over 500° F! Such high temperatures are needed to break down the starches as well as to obtain the hard, crunchy texture of the kibble, but they are not likely to be any less destructive to the nutrients.
Nonetheless, proponents of baked foods claim that baking makes the food more digestible. This is a matter of some debate. The key to digestibility in any dry food is the starchy grain and cereal ingredients. These are not digestible unless they are cooked to a sufficient degree to gelatinize the starches; in other words, to break them down into digestible units. (The digestibility of animal protein, however, is somewhat reduced by cooking.) If you think about it, you wouldnt eat raw rice, barley, couscous, quinoa or polenta. These grains must be cooked before you can obtain any nutritional value from them. Obviously, the starches and grains are cooked in both the baking and the extrusion process.
Search for a competitive edge Unfortunately for the consumer, it really is difficult to sort out the useful information from the hype, as each company tries to tell you why their product is superior and the other guys are second-rate. But one argument made by a baked food maker struck me as particularly far-fetched. The companys literature claims that extruded foods are more raw, and suggests that this is what necessitates the high amounts of preservatives used in extruded foods. In fact, the need for greater quantities of preservatives in extruded food is actually due to the fact that extruded foods usually have fats, digests, or other flavorings sprayed on after they are extruded and dried. These fats and flavors, which can make the surface of the food oily, are what necessitate the addition of more preservatives than a baked, uncoated food would need.
Baked food makers also like to say that the flavor is baked into rather than sprayed onto their foods, and therefore baked foods are more palatable. Actually, palatability studies generally show that dogs really like those sprayed-on fats and flavors.
Another baked food maker claims that extruded food expands in dogs stomachs when it gets mixed with the digestive juices. In fact, this particular manufacturer went so far as to say that this expansion of extruded kibble can cause bloat! However, there has never been any scientific proof that bloat is less common in baked-food-fed dogs than in extruded-food-fed dogs. True, weve all seen kibbles that have been dropped into the water bowl, and they do swell a little bit when they get wet. How big a factor this is, or whether it creates an actual risk for the dog, is unknown. There is no doubt that baked food is denser because it contains less air, and dogs can usually be fed about 20-25 percent less volume (but about the same weight) of a baked food compared to an extruded one.
The big question Since most baked food manufacturers also make extruded foods, one must certainly ask the question, if baked is so much better, why are they still making extruded foods? In other words, is it real or is it hype?
The only real difference I can see is this: Because baked foods are generally marketed toward the top end of the market (read: expensive, gourmet foods), they do tend to incorporate better quality ingredients (no by-products) and natural preservatives (rather than the synthetics like BHA, BHT and Ethoxyquin). Extruded foods that utilize ingredients of similar quality are probably not any better or worse than their baked counterparts.
That said, some dogs do seem to do better on a baked food (just as some do better on extruded). If nothing else, trying one of these foods may simply offer another avenue to explore.
-By Jean Hofve, DVM
Dr. Jean Hofve is the Companion Animal Program Coordinator for the Animal Protection Institute, located in Sacramento, California.
You come in from a jaunt in the woods with your trusty Labrador and notice, as you rinse the mud from his legs and feet with a hose, that he somehow got a cut on his upper leg. You could spray it with an alcohol-based disinfectant, or swab it with an antibiotic cream, in an effort to kill the bacteria that might infect the wound.
But, according to holistic healers, these modern wonder drugs may constitute a chemical overkill, going far past their intended purpose (killing harmful foreign bacteria) and killing the resident beneficial bacteria that live on the dog’s skin. And what sense is there in dragging out the heavy artillery when just a light protective force is needed? Especially when there are natural, effective, inexpensive, and synergistic alternatives: calendula and hypericum, herbs that have been used for centuries for wound care.
Calendula officinalis (also known as the Marigold plant, but usually called calendula) and hypericum (also known as Saint John’s Wort), are very safe, yet incredibly effective at cleaning the site of an injury and encouraging the body to heal. Homeopathic and herbal preparations of calendula and hypericum have proved invaluable in modern-day holistic dog care. In fact, it’s difficult to find an herbal wound preparation that does not contain some form of one or both of these potent plants.
Healing Your Dog’s Wounds with Calendula
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Calendula is one of the most effective remedies known to mankind for the treatment of wounds. Although it has no antibiotic properties (it does not have the ability to kill or slow the growth of living organisms), calendula seems to help prevent infection by somehow triggering the release of the body’s own antibiotic substances.
Calendula also helps stop bleeding and promotes tissue granulation so that cuts and burns can heal properly. It even helps prevent proud flesh (an overgrowth of granulation tissue, an angry red color, laden with tiny blood vessels that bleed easily). Because of these properties, any wound from a minor scrape to a deep, serious gash can benefit from the use of this medicinal herb.
Cleansing solutions made from calendula tincture can also be very useful. Whereas products like Betadine clean and disinfect wounds, they do not encourage healing. A solution made from calendula tincture cleans the wound, helps stop bleeding, stimulates the body to fight infection, and triggers the body’s own internal wound-healing processes such as granulation. Calendula also demonstrates a potent anti-fungal action and may be used externally to combat such infections.
To start the healing process, promptly rinse the wound with distilled (if possible) or tap water and then flush the site with calendula or a calendula/hypericum solution (see below).
The topical calendula products can be used liberally and frequently. Apply them once a day for minor or mostly healed injuries, or three to five times a day for more serious conditions. Continue using them until the cut, abrasion, or burn has healed completely.
Hypericum Helps with Nerve Damage
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Hypericum perforatum, usually called hypericum, is used for injuries to nerve endings. It is especially helpful for blows to the extremities like the toes and tail, where there are intricate clusters of nerves. It is also effective for spinal injuries where there is threat of damage to the spinal cord. Because of its ability to repair nerve damage, it helps to relieve pain from any type of blow such as a bruise from a kick or a painful cut. It also helps the body resolve abscesses and infections. In addition, it can be effective in preventing tetanus.
Hypericum works beautifully in wound care when applied topically along with calendula. Use the combination formula described below to flush wounds and promote tissue and nerve healing. For a wound that needs regular cleaning and dressing, use the solution every time you treat the injury.
Making a Calendula-St. John’s Wort Solution
To make a calendula/hypericum solution you will need to purchase a “mother tincture” of each remedy. A mother tincture is made from a mixture of the original herb and alcohol or glycerin. Unlike the homeopathic form, which is drastically diluted, a mother tincture is a concentrated form of the active element of the herb.
To prepare the solution, you need a jug of distilled water and a jar or bottle. Using very clean utensils, measure out the ingredients into the container in the following ratio: one part calendula tincture, one part hypericum tincture, and eight parts water. Do not contaminate the tinctures by touching them with your hands or unclean utensils. Once you have added the tinctures to the distilled water, close the container and shake gently to blend.
There are several ways to apply this solution. You can pour it onto sterile cotton balls which you use to clean the wound. You can also pour the liquid into a syringe and use it to flush the wound. This application is ideal for initial treatment of an open wound or daily flushing of a puncture wound. You can also pour the solution into a small spray bottle and mist it onto the skin.
Store the solution in a cool, dark place. Because the mixture has a limited shelf life (about one week), only make what you will need for the particular condition you are treating. If the solution becomes cloudy or fuzzy, dispose of it.
Mother tinctures will last a long time if they are kept in a dark, dry, cool location. Keep the kit for making and using the solution (mother tinctures, distilled water, measuring utensils, mixing jar, syringe, cotton balls, a copy of the directions) clean and available in a sealed plastic container in your medicine cabinet so they will be ready for an emergency. Calendula and hypericum are wonderful herbs to keep in your first aid kit.
Dog owners can readily find these herbal wound-care preparations in health food stores and some pet stores and catalogs. Purchase and experiment with them now, so you will be familiar with them if your dog suffers a skin problem or wound in the future.
About Puncture Wounds
No dog lover likes to see a wound on his or her dog, but puncture wounds — ones which are deeper than they are wide — should cause extra concern. A puncture wound can trap debris in its recesses and provide a perfect environment for bacterial growth. Bacteria of some kinds can cause a troublesome infection, but the worst kind of bacteria — tetanus — can cause a life-threatening disease. For these reasons, puncture wounds call for immediate attention and diligent ongoing treatment.
Unlike humans and horses, dogs possess natural resistance to tetanus, and for this reason are rarely vaccinated against the disease. Herding dogs and those who live around high concentrations of livestock are the exceptions, due to the high amount of tetanus bacteria found in horse and cow manure. Tetanus is relatively uncommon, but because it is a fast-moving, often fatal disease, dog owners need to treat its threat with respect.
Signs of tetanus include spastic contractions and rigid extension of the legs, difficulty opening the mouth and swallowing (giving rise to the infamous nickname, “lockjaw,”), hyperactive reflexes to any stimuli, and, sometimes, fever. (See below for more information about seeking help with your dog’s serious injuries.)
If your dog suffers a puncture wound — which can be caused by a porcupine quill, stepping on a nail, or a bite, to name a few – and he exhibits any of the above symptoms, he needs immediate veterinary care. If he has tetanus, he’ll need an injection of tetanus anti-toxin and an antibiotic to save his life, followed by injections of tetanus toxoid vaccine for future protection.
While herbal medicine and homeopathy offer alternatives to antibiotics for fighting infection and preventing tetanus in puncture wounds, it is important to discuss the options for care with your regular veterinarian before an injury occurs. It is not appropriate to interfere with an attending veterinarian’s treatment protocol (using antibiotics and tetanus anti-toxin) while he or she treats a serious wound.
When To Call A Veterinarian
Finding your dog in any of the following situations indicates a serious condition that should be treated by a veterinarian immediately:
1. Higher-than-normal temperature (normal is about 101 to 101.5; smaller dogs tend to be at the higher end of that range).
2. Unusually depressed or frantic behavior, particularly if the episode follows injury or illness.
3. Lack of usual appetite or failure to eliminate as usual.
4. Any wound where an item is still lodged within the injury site or there is potential damage to a tendon, bone, or joint.
5. Any wound that is bleeding profusely or drains thick cloudy pus.
6. Any time your dog is in tremendous pain or experiences any serious swelling, heat, or lameness.
7. Any wound that is non-sensitive at the time of injury but develops sensitivity in the days following.
8. With any illness or injury your dog experiences, ask yourself, “Do I feel completely comfortable treating this condition myself?” If you cannot answer YES with total confidence, call your veterinarian for assistance. The most important thing is to not overestimate your abilities.
Also, never put off calling the veterinarian solely to save money. Instead, consider the visit as an investment in your dog’s health and an educational opportunity. Ask your vet to explain his or her examination procedure and treatments and learn!
Most of us were exposed to “If,” the famous poem by Rudyard Kipling, when we were in high school. If you weren’t required to read it in a literature course, you probably saw it on a poster on a childhood friend’s bedroom wall. You know, it’s the one that begins,
“If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs, and blaming it on you . . .”
The poem goes on to list a number of things that the author suggests are prerequisites for being an honorable human. If you can do this and do that, he sums up, then . . .
“yours is the earth and everything that’s in it, And – which is more – you’ll be a Man, my son!”
Recently, a dog lover sent me the following takeoff on Kipling’s poem, by an anonymous author, and containing a surprise ending. He’s got a point. To wit:
“If you can start the day without caffeine, If you can get going without pep pills, If you can always be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains, If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles, If you can eat the same food everyday and be grateful for it, If you can understand when your loved ones are too busy to give you any time, If you can overlook it when those you love take it out on you when, through no fault of yours, something goes wrong, If you can take criticism and blame without resentment, If you can ignore a friend’s limited education and never correct him, If you can resist treating a rich friend better than a poor friend, If you can face the world without lies and deceit, If you can conquer tension without medical help, If you can relax without liquor, If you can sleep without the aid of drugs, If you can say honestly that deep in your heart you have no prejudice against any creed, color, religion or politics, Then, my friend, you are ALMOST as good as your dog.”
Ouch!
Did that zing you, too?
It stings because it’s so on target!
As I read it the first time, I couldn’t help but envision a human who exemplifies all the characteristics contained in the poem. In my mind’s eye, I saw a rather too-perfect, saint-like character. But then suddenly realizing that the author was actually describing a dog . . . It’s with shock that I re-read it and realized, my goodness, almost ALL dogs can fit this description, most of the time!
My favorite line is the one about ignoring a friend’s limited education and never correcting him. When you turn it around the way the author intended and realize that dogs accept our lack of knowledge about them rather calmly, it really points out how dramatic and demanding we can get when we want dogs to learn our ways.
Keep some perspective as you work with your dog – and your friends and family!
First, there was the box clicker a strip of steel encased in a small plastic box that makes a resounding CLICK! when pressed on the free end of the steel strip. The clicker, used to mark the instant of desired behavior and communicate to the dog that he has just earned a reward, has become a familiar training tool in the last decade. (See There’s More Than One Way, WDJ July 1998; Doggedly Clickin Chickens, December 1998; Tricks for Clicks, May 2000.)
These wonderful tools inexpensive, sturdy (although not indestructible they can rust) are incredibly powerful, though they don’t require even an ounce of force to be exerted on the dog. Massachusetts-based trainer Karen Pryor deserves thanks for this. It was she who launched the dog training industry’s interest in clicker-training with her unassuming and now-famous paperback book, Don’t Shoot the Dog, published in the late 1980s and re-released in 1999. The only drawback of the original box clicker was that it was hard to hold onto with hands that were covered in dog spit and hotdog slime. We can thank human ingenuity for solving that problem, and for the slew of clicker innovations that have been developed in the last decade, each better or more fun than the last.
If you are still struggling with dropping the original box clicker on the ground when you reach into your pocket for treats for your dog, you are in for a treat yourself. You are about to discover the wonderful world of clickers for the new millenium.
These clickers are unrated
Because of our extremely biased attitude about clickers we’ve never met one we didn’t like; we’ve simply met some we like more than others! We’re going to forego our usual zero-to-four-paws ratings for these products. We’ll simply present you with a chronological history of the clicker, which has evolved (and continues its evolution) with numerous helpful features; choose the models that suit your training style. You can’t go wrong only one of the clickers featured here costs more than $5; most are much less.
Clicker Basics
Like a beloved old workhorse, the original box clicker is still serviceably sound. It clicks when you push on it. In the beginning, that was all we asked from our clickers. Soon trainers began ordering personalized box clickers with their business information printed on the back.
Then someone solved the clicker-drop problem by drilling a hole in the corner of the clicker and running a string or elastic hairband through it, which could be slipped over the trainer’s wrist.
Next, an enterprising entrepreneur took the concept one step further and produced the tab clicker. At one end, the tab clicker has a little plastic tab with a hole in it. Two elastic hairbands made it a simple matter to dangle the tab clicker from your wrist, thus eliminating the clicker-drop problem. (Run one elastic band through the tab hole, then back through the band itself to secure it to the tab. Then take the second elastic band, run it through the first, and back through itself. Insert hand through second band. Presto!)
The tab clicker helped owners become more coordinated and improve the timing of their clicks and treats, since they could now drop the clicker with impunity in order to deliver the goods promptly to the waiting canine. When they needed the clicker again, it was right there on their wrist, instead of somewhere on the ground.
Humans, however, are never satisfied with make-do when a marketable product is inventable! Soon enough we had the wrist clicker and the finger clicker. Then someone realized that a metal split-ring fits neatly through the clicker-tab hole. That person threaded a plastic coil (like those used to hold keys) though the ring, and the official wrist clicker was born. Before you could say ponytail, trainers all over the country had abandoned their elastic hairbands and were leashing their clickers to their arms with bright, neon-colored wrist coils.
Gary Wilkes, an early clicker trainer from near Phoenix, Arizona, took this concept one step further, and added a whistle onto the coil of his Wrist-O-Click. The whistle can be used either as a long-distance attention getter or a long-distance reward marker. Wilkes came up with yet another variation the Redi-Click a box clicker with a small elastic loop attached to one end, just big enough to fit over the trainer’s thumb or finger. This keeps the clicker handily in the palm of your hand rather than dangling from your wrist.
Sometimes, however, the wrist or finger clicker gets in the way. It dangles freely from the arm or hand, and can thump your dog in the head at inopportune moments. There’s nothing more frustrating than accidentally punishing your dog by bonking her in the head with the clicker when you were reaching to pet, praise and reward her because she finally offered you that elusive behavior you have been working so hard to get.
Dedicated clicker thinkers quickly came up with a viable solution to the clicker-bonk challenge.
The next thing we knew, we had the clip-on clicker. Still incorporating the plastic coil technology, the clip-on clicker uses a straight coil rather than a loop. One end attaches to the split ring, the other to a small metal clip that fastens neatly to your belt loop or other handy ring. The clicker is still kept leashed and under control, but now resides at your waist instead of on your wrist. It takes a little bit of trainer adaptation to get used to reaching for your hip (Smile when you say that, Pardner!) instead of just grabbing for the wrist clicker hanging below your hand, but its a behavior change that’s relatively easy to accomplish if you put your mind to it. The no-bonking pay-off is well worth it.
But the inventors and entrepreneurs weren’t done with the clicker yet. Until very recently, all of the clicker innovations were relatively low-tech, with few moving parts. That changed in the year 2000, with the introduction of the Retract-O-Click.
The Cadillac of Clickers
By far the greatest leap forward in clicker technology to date, the Retract-O-Click comes attached to its own miniature retractable leash that coils itself up into a tiny round plastic case. The case is mounted on a small alligator clip that easily grabs onto your belt loop, pocket, or any other handy loop or flap of fabric. When not in use, the clicker zips itself neatly into its case and sits there snugly, just waiting for you grab it and pull it out again.
While the other changes that occurred over the years were pleasant improvements to the basic clicker, in our opinion, the Retract-O-Click is a must have. When they try it out for the first time, the reaction of most trainers is a huge grin and the comment, I love it!
Kermit’s contributions
The only clickers that we’ve seen that depart from the box design are metal or plastic frog clickers. The metal frog has a tiny hole drilled in his posterior and comes with a key chain and split ring attached. Froggie opens his mouth when you click his tail, and emits a click at a much higher pitch than the standard clicker, which makes it a nice option for dogs who are a little intimidated by the resounding CLICK! of the box clicker.
Plastic frogs are not always available, but when they are, they’re very inexpensive, and lots of fun as giveaways. Having a birthday party for Bowser, or taking Sheba to school for show-and-tell? The little frogs are great party favors, and make a huge impression on Bobby’s classmates. They are not very durable, so don’t expect them to last as long as your regular clickers. They do make a comparatively small click!, and are also useful with dogs who are afraid of loud clicks.
The best accessory
Finally, we would be remiss if we did not tell you about our favorite clicker accessory, Doggone Good’s clicker bait bag: This pet products maker (best known for its portable Cabana Crate) has created a well-designed and -constructed nylon bait bag (to hold your dog’s most beloved training treats) that has an added feature a clicker-sized pocket that your most beloved training tool can snuggle in when you aren’t using it. No more lost clicker woes if you can remember where you left your bait bag, you’ll know where your clicker is.
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