Dark clouds boil on the horizon, and a slow rumble of distant thunder delivers a slight vibration in the window panes. Jake, a large long-haired Chow-mix, is already nervous. He paces the living room, wild-eyed and panting, his body trembling with anticipation of the first dreaded clap of thunder. When it strikes, he tries to hide under the coffee table, and just like last time, he is too big to fit. The very same vase that was glued together after Fourth of July is reduced to a heap of jagged shards.
Jake’s problem is not uncommon. Millions of dogs have panic attacks, some quite severe – and each one is unique to the individual and the circumstances that trigger his or her fear.
Take the case of Mercury, a rescued Greyhound in San Diego. Terror comes whenever his people invite company over. He whines and barks, interrupting conversation, and sometimes getting so excited that he throws up his dinner, ruining the party for everyone.
Mitsy, a miniature poodle who lives in an upstairs apartment on Manhattan’s East side, has panic attacks, too. Although she is a show dog who enjoys meeting people, she is terrified of the groomer. And although each grooming ends with a tail-wagging romp around the salon with a gourmet cookie that she must dream of between visits, her anticipation of buzzing trimmers and squirting hoses is too much. With each visit she hides under the car seat, then leaves a trail of fear-forced urine between the car and the grooming table.
Although chronic behavior problems may be due to underlying nutritional, emotional, or physical health issues, most sudden-onset cases are caused by the fear or confusion of a stimulating event. Finding a lasting cure for your dog’s phobia can be difficult, and the stimuli that triggers your companion’s panic attacks might be impossible to avoid.
However, the intensity of her attacks may be safely minimized with the use of calmative herbs – those that promote relaxation and help take the nervous edge off exciting events.
One of the greatest advantages of using calmative herbs is the gentle manner by which they can promote relaxation without affecting mental capacity or physical performance. The medicinal effects of the herbs I mention in this article are very subtle; they help take the edge off nervous anxiety, but do not induce a state of sluggishness or impaired consciousness.
However, it is important to note that each and every dog is unique in what their bodies and behavioral traits require. Some herbs work well in some dogs but not others. Likewise, an herb that is appropriate for calming down dog A may be a poor choice for dog B. For example, valerian will sometimes make a hot, red-tongued, perpetually panting dog grumpy. For such a dog, passionflower, lemon balm, or skullcap may be better.
It also makes little sense to increase the dose of an herbal calming remedy that does not appear to be working well. Instead of running the unnecessary risk of nausea (the most common side effect of overdose), it is better to opt for a different herb – one that is better suited to the individual and circumstances.
It is also important to remember that calmative herbs should not be used within 24 hours of anesthesia or in combination with sedative or antidepressant drugs. Although safe and forgiving (especially when compared to most pharmaceutical drugs), most calmative herbs work their magic by acting upon the central nervous system. Therefore, they may add to the effects of drugs that work by similar means.
Following is a descriptive list of four calmative herbs that I frequently recommend for dogs. You will see that each one possesses one or more qualities that make it unique and especially useful in specific circumstances.
Any or all of these herbs can be combined to create a multi-purpose formula that will appeal to a broad variety of individuals and needs. For instance, I frequently use and recommend a liquid extract formula that combines valerian, skullcap, oat flower, and passionflower. This formula works well as a general-purpose herbal calmative in most dogs – even the aggressive, hot-blooded types for which valerian, if used alone, is not indicated.
Valerian (Valeriana spp.)
Valerian is, without doubt, the most widely recognized herbal sedative in existence. As a sedative, valerian works safely and gently to help calm the nerves and achieve physical relaxation. It does not induce an altered state like one would expect from a prescription sedative or from consumption of alcohol.
Herbalists use valerian for insomnia, nervous anxiety, and to help the body relax in the presence of physical pain. It is very useful for calming animals during thunderstorms, trips to the vet or groomer, or to help your companion rest after surgery.
When employed as a sedative, valerian is most effective fed in small doses, given several times daily over a period of several days. This is especially true when it is used in anticipation of a high-anxiety event, such as a planned interstate trip or a show. In these circumstances, dogs can be fed five drops of a low-alcohol valerian tincture, three or four times daily, starting three days prior to an anticipated fearful event.
In the digestive tract, valerian serves as an antispasmodic, making it useful in situations where nervousness is compounded by a spastic colon or an upset stomach.
Keep in mind, however, that valerian may have a reverse, stimulating effect in a small percentage of animals. If this happens, simply stop use and opt for another calmative herb. It also considered a “warming” herb, meaning that it may not be appropriate for dogs with a hot, aggressive disposition unless it is combined with other calmative herbs.
Skullcap (Scutellaria laterifolia)
For centuries, herbalists have recognized skullcap as one of the most effective nerve-calming herbs available. It is commonly used for acute or chronic cases of nervous tension or anxiety, and to help relieve pain from nerve-related injury or disease.
Skullcap is useful for general nervousness and excitability in dogs and cats, especially when the animal’s condition is characterized by jumpiness, trembling, or oversensitivity of the peripheral nerves. It is also useful for relieving nervous tension related to pain or a traumatic experience.
Skullcap acts to moderate an animal’s responsiveness to physical or non-physical stimuli, and helps alleviate general restlessness and nervous twitching. This makes it very useful in high-strung felines who are recovering from a frightful experience, but who need all of their survival mechanisms intact during their daily outdoor adventures.
Oat (flowering tops of Avena sativa)
The flowering tops of the oat plant are an excellent nervous system tonic for aging or debilitated animals. This herb contains considerable amounts of protein (gluten), vitamins, and minerals (especially calcium, manganese, iron, copper, and zinc) that are essential to the maintenance of health.
It also contains various alkaloid, sterol, and flavonoid constituents that act together to safely optimize nervous system functions while stabilizing the highs and lows between nervousness and mental lethargy.
For instance, when fed in moderation to animals with chronic nervousness, oat tends to have a calming effect, but when fed to debilitated animals, it tends to stimulate the nervous system. Oat flower tea or tincture is an excellent choice for animals recovering from exhaustion, or for those suffering from depression disorders.
It is known to improve nerve transmission, and can be useful in problems such as epilepsy, tremors, paralysis, and twitching. It is a very good tonic for nourishing the body and strengthening nerve function following periods of sedation or anesthesia.
Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata)
Passionflower is my first choice for fear-biters and other dogs who take on aggressive behavior during stressful situations. It is indicated where valerian is not – for hot-tempered animals or rare instances where valerian has a reverse, stimulant effect.
Passionflower is an excellent choice for taking a bit of the nervous edge off of jealous types who don’t want other dogs to visit their homes or who insist on being the grump of the toy party at doggie daycare.
How to feed these herbs
A number of calmative herb products manufactured specifically for use in dogs and other companion animals are available. Many come in the form of pills and capsules, while others are in liquid extracts. Some products also contain melatonin or other nonherb, calm-inducing supplements. Virtually all natural calming products are most effective when fed prior to actual need. By feeding the remedy to your companion 20 minutes to an hour before he will be exposed to his stress triggers, you allow the active constituents to be fully absorbed and working when chaos ensues.
– Consider adopting a deaf dog if you want a dog who does not bark at environmental noise.
– Teach your deaf dog a “look at me” or “watch me” signal first. This makes it easier to add hand signals to cue other behaviors later.
– Owners of elderly dogs should consider teaching their dogs hand signals; hearing loss is common in very old dogs.
Each year, as many as tens of thousands of dogs are born or become deaf. Unfortunately, given the number of hearing-impaired canines, there is a lot of misinformation promulgated about deaf dogs, even among dog lovers. Well-meaning but misinformed breeders and other “experts” commonly perpetuate myths about deaf dogs – that they are difficult to live with, hard to train, aggressive, and that they are only suitable dogs for a few “special” people. But the people who really know deaf dogs – those who live with and love them – tell a very different story.
“We got our first deaf dog when going to a pet fair ‘just to look’ at the cute dogs,” says Deb Sell, an animal chiropractor in Prunedale, California, and the proud guardian of four dogs. “We already had a 1½- year-old Aussie mix, Hawi (pronounced Ha-Vee; it’s Hawaiian), and really hadn’t planned on getting a second dog.”
But when Dr. Sell and her husband Stacey got to the pet fair that night, they saw one cute little white dog quietly watching everyone and became intrigued by her calm nature. They didn’t adopt Echo right away. Deb and Stacey went home that evening without her, but couldn’t stop thinking about her all week.
“We decided that if she was at the pet fair the following Friday night, we could consider adopting her. As fate would have it, she was there!” Echo soon came to live with the couple. Echo would begin for Dr. Sell what some might consider a “calling” into the world of living with and loving deaf dogs. The Sells now share their home and lives with three deaf dogs – Echo, Nefe, and Cooper – as well as their hearing dog, Hawi.
Suzan Mark and Gary Lomax of Santa Cruz also found their deaf dog, Cleo, somewhat through chance. They were visiting a local shelter, searching for a small dog, when they first met Cleo. Anything but a small dog (she is a Dalmatian), Cleo nonetheless caught their attention when in the midst of kennels full of barking, jumping dogs, she came to the kennel door and sat looking at them.
“It was as if she was saying, ‘OK, I’m ready to go home,’ ” says Mark. Not knowing Cleo was deaf, they went into an exercise yard to meet with her. It was then that one of the volunteers at the shelter mentioned that she might be hard of hearing. Gary experimented by clapping his hands over Cleo’s head. When he got no response to the sound, they realized that she was probably completely deaf.
Suzan and Gary also went away that day without Cleo. “We just weren’t sure about having a dog with a perceived handicap,” says Mark. They were also concerned that a Dalmatian might simply have too much energy for them.
The couple left the shelter with Cleo on their minds and in their hearts. Though they did look further for a small dog, they also did research to find out more about living with a deaf dog and living with a Dalmatian. They decided it just might be something they could do.
“We were still very nervous. We tried to think about all of the advantages – like she wouldn’t bark at the doorbell!” In the end, though, it was Cleo’s personality, not the fact that she could or could not hear, that won them over. “She is just a really sweet dog!” says Mark.
Why are Some Dogs Deaf?
Dogs are deaf for many of the same reasons that some people are deaf. Many deaf dogs are born that way – called congenital deafness – and there is often a genetic component. While the causes of genetically determined deafness in dogs are not completely understood, experts seem to agree that in many cases there is a relationship to a dog’s coat and eye coloring.
“I think that everyone agrees,” says Jack Edwards, Executive Director of the Deaf Dog Education Action Fund (DDEAF), “that the genes for merle patterning that affect the color of individual hairs, the spotting patterns (especially the piebald series) that overlay whole sections of coat color and even eye color, all carry a portion of the code that determines whether a dog can hear or not.” But there may be other, less understood, genetic factors involved as well.
Edwards also notes other reasons – not related to color or pigment – that may cause a dog to be born deaf. A malnourished mother dog, birth difficulties, illness during pregnancy, plus the normal occurrence of birth defects can all be factors.
Dogs, just like people, can also lose their hearing later in life. Illness, infection, or injury to the ear can cause deafness. Older dogs may also experience a sudden or gradual loss of hearing. Dogs can be deaf in only one ear (unilateral), in both ears (bilateral), or experience only a partial deafness.
Many people with deaf dogs know their dogs are deaf without having any special medical evaluation. Some people do “sound tests” at home, much the way Gary Lomax did with Cleo at the shelter – whistling, clapping hands, or making other noises to see if the dog responds. These are not foolproof testing methods, as a dog may respond to the vibration of a sound or the movement of the air caused by making the sound, and appear to hear a certain sound when she does not. However, home tests can be helpful indicators and are a way for people to confirm what they may suspect.
For dog guardians who want to know absolutely the extent of hearing loss, there is a procedure called a “brainstem auditory evoked response” (BAER) test that measures hearing loss through measuring brain responses. Electrodes are placed under the skin on the dog’s head and hooked up to a computer that records the brain’s response to sounds. The test does not appear to cause the dog any pain, but some dogs do become agitated because of being restrained and because of wires dangling about their faces. BAER tests are performed at some university veterinary schools, hospitals, and specialty clinics.
“Special Needs” Dogs
Sell, Mark, and Lomax all agree that living with a deaf dog, for the most part, is really not so different than living with a hearing dog – they are, after all, just dogs! Some are friendly, some are shy, some are cautious, and some approach life with gusto. Each dog – hearing or deaf – has his or her own personality characteristics and needs. Deaf dogs do not have “special needs” per se. Sell emphasizes that living with her deaf dogs has “taught me that deafness is such a non-issue when it comes to dogs.”
DDEAF’s Jack Edwards agrees that deaf dogs really don’t have “special needs.” He emphasizes, “Every dog needs food, water, shelter, and routine veterinary care. They need owners to love, exercise, and train them. They need protection from man-made dangers like household chemicals and street traffic and that nasty little boy down the street. Whether they are deaf from birth and unaware that something is missing or deaf from old age where the sounds of life slowly fade away, deaf dogs do not have any needs beyond those of every other companion animal.”
Edwards argues that “special needs” are those that take extra care or work. He cites examples of dogs with medical conditions that require specific diets or medications, dogs with allergies and skin problems that need special shampoo, or even dogs who have behavioral problems that require additional training or behavior modification as having “special needs.”
The exception may be a dog that experiences a sudden deafness later in life. “There are differences when working with dogs who became deaf at different times,” says Edwards. “Congenital and geriatric deafness are really not a lot different. One never heard anything and the other learned to compensate while the surrounding world grew quiet. The biggest challenge working with these dogs is getting the owners past the initial shock and ‘what do I do now’ stage.”
“In the case of sudden-onset deafness, whether from a trauma, a toxic reaction, or a surgery, it is a little more difficult,” Edwards says. “These dogs are used to getting information about their surroundings that is no longer available – and they have grown to depend on that input. They do have a special, albeit temporary, need. You may have to help them adjust the changes they are living through because of suddenly not being able to hear.”
But there are other considerations for a person considering adopting a dog who was born deaf. One in particular, Sell says, is that you have to be much more careful about letting your dog off leash in an unfenced area. In fact, many deaf dog guardians choose not to have their dog off leash at all unless the area is fenced.
Gary Lomax and Suzan Mark agree that the fear of losing Cleo, of her wandering off, is the one thing they consider significant and different about living with a deaf dog. A hearing dog, obviously, can also get lost or run away, but they believe Cleo’s lack of hearing would make it more difficult for them to locate her if she were to become lost. Because of their fear of losing her, they are careful to allow her off leash only in secured areas, such as a fenced dog park.
Deaf Dogs and Aggression
One of the predominant myths about deaf dogs is that they will become aggressive. To this day, some breed and rescue organizations recommend that all deaf dogs be killed as puppies, in part because of the belief that deaf dogs are aggressive.
Aggression is not caused by deafness. Aggression is linked to genetic predisposition and socialization. While there are no studies on the incidents of aggressive behaviors in deaf dogs as compared to hearing dogs, people who live with deaf dogs agree: a dog that has a sound temperament and is wellsocialized is much less likely to be aggressive, whether he can hear or not.
“I don’t believe there is any correlation between deafness and aggression. It’s a question of personalities and handling,” says Jack Edwards, Executive Director of the Deaf Dog Education Action Fund (DDEAF). He has come to this conclusion through sharing his home with five deaf Dalmatians, as well as through his experience as a trainer, and his extensive contact with other deaf dog guardians.
Edwards notes that through a deaf dog email list (with more than 1,100 members) the subject of aggression comes up periodically in regard to specific dogs (as it does on most email dog lists that discuss behavioral and training issues), but it is not a regular topic.
In addition, Edwards has helped plan and has attended six Florida Deaf Dog Picnics. These events are held in public off-leash parks and are open to everyone. Edwards says that these events have been attended by all sorts of dogs, from Boston Terriers, Dachshunds, American Pit Bull Terriers, and Catahoulas, to the ever-present Australian Shepherds, Border Collies, Boxers, and Dalmatians. “I have yet to see any problems or scuffles started by a deaf dog at one of these events.”
This of course does not mean that deaf dogs do not have aggression issues – they are, after all, dogs. But the incidence of aggression in deaf dogs does not seem to be any higher than among the general dog population. And specific training and behavior modification used to deal with aggression issues works just as well with deaf dogs as with hearing dogs.
Dogs Don’t Speak English
Of course, people who decide to adopt a deaf dog will need to be willing to overcome any reluctance they may have to communicating nonverbally. Dogs, whose primary mode of communication appears to be body language, don’t seem to have a problem with nonverbal communication; they don’t depend on English or any other spoken language to begin with! But some people do fear that they will not be able to adjust to using hand and visual signals rather than words to communicate.
Mark and Lomax said they had expected communication to be a problem, but discovered that it really hasn’t been. Cleo, Mark notes, is very intuitive about body language and picks up on hand signals very quickly.
“A slight flick of the wrist tells her to sit,” she says, “and using your whole arm is like shouting at her.”
People who live and work with deaf dogs do develop a whole series of nonverbal communication signals – including facial expressions, body postures, hand signals, and even high-tech devices such as vibrating collars. Some of the communication signals are intentional. Others happen naturally, for example when the dog learns what it means when people open a certain kitchen cabinet or reach for the leash. Of course, many people continue to talk to their dogs, too. When people speak, we incorporate a whole slew of facial expressions that may actually prove beneficial in communicating in spite of the fact that the dog doesn’t hear the words.
Do you have to learn special hand signals, like American Sign Language (ASL), to communicate with a deaf dog? Not necessarily. For some people, adopting signals from ASL means that they do not have to invent their own. Others use a combination of ASL signals and common obedience hand signals. Still others use whatever hand signals come naturally. One advantage to using certain ASL or “obedience” style hand signals is that other people may also know them and be able to communicate with your dog. For example, if you take your dog to a training class, the instructor is more likely to already know traditional obedience hand signals.
Isn’t Training More Difficult?
Deaf dogs, like hearing dogs, do not train themselves. Just as with any dog, your job will be to devote time and energy to their training and socialization in order to help them become well-adjusted members of the community. The principles of training apply to a deaf dog in the same way they do to a hearing dog. The main difference in the way you train a deaf dog is just in the way you communicate.
“I expected it to be difficult and it wasn’t. ‘Deafies’ (at least the deaf Aussies I have) are so tuned in to your hand signals and body language, they seem to stay more focused on me when I am training them than a hearing dog,” says Sell. “We have been involved in agility training and use only hand signals to do so. Echo buzzes around the course like a pro!”
Just as when training a hearing dog, you must first teach a deaf dog to understand when you want her attention. This is akin to teaching a hearing dog to understand her name. You can choose a signal for her name or teach a signal for “look at me” or “watch me.” In addition, you can teach a physical cue, such as a tap on the shoulder, for attention. Some people choose to use lights or vibrating collars (not shock collars) to get their dog’s attention.
In addition, you will need to teach a deaf dog one or more reward marker signals, and signals that are the equivalent to verbal praise. If this seems like a lot, just remember that we must also teach our hearing dogs what these things mean. No dog automatically knows his name, nor does he know the word “good” is praise.
Special issues around training do come up in regards to calling your dog at a distance – especially if she is not looking at you. Using a laser light (shined in front of a dog who is looking away, not at his eyes!) or a vibrating collar are two good solutions to getting attention at a distance, and thus being able to signal your dog to come.
“At the dog park,” Suzan Mark notes, “it is a little harder to get Cleo’s attention to call her back to us than it is with other dogs. Of course that does depend on who you are comparing her to – lots of dogs at the dog park don’t respond when they are called!”
Getting a Deaf Dog’s Attention
My students with deaf dogs frequently relate that their biggest challenge is getting their dogs’ attention, whether at home or out in the world. I watched one student, early in her training, do some incredible acrobatics to try and keep herself positioned in her dog’s line of sight. She seemed very happy when she realized she could teach her dog to look at her, instead. Here are some tips for getting a deaf dog’s attention (these tips work well with dogs who hear, too.)
• Reward “offered” attention
One of the most important ways to teach dogs to pay attention to you is to reward all “offers” of attention. This will encourage your dog to check in with you regularly, whether you ask for attention or not. At first, just for giving attention, you can offer a reward. In other words, if you are out on a walk and your dog looks up at you, give him a treat!
Once your dog starts to realize that checking in with you regularly earns rewards, you can start asking for additional behaviors before rewarding him. For example, if your dog looks at you expecting a treat, ask for a “sit,” then reward. Do continue to occasionally reward simply “checking in” with treats, play, or petting.
Jack Edwards from DDEAF suggests a game of “hide and seek” for teaching a dog to offer attention. “It starts out as ‘find me and get a reward.’ Then it turns into ‘whenever you see me, you get a signal to do something rewarding.’ Sometimes it’s a signal to go back to playing and sometimes it’s a ‘how fast can you get here’ recall. These games sure teach the dog to pay a lot of attention!”
• Hand signal for his name
Just as you teach a dog to respond to “Max” or “Spot,” you can teach a deaf dog to respond to a signal that means, “I’m talking to you now.” A simple finger point or a wave will each work and are easy to teach, but any signal will do.
To teach that the finger point or wave means “Max,” start by simply pointing or waving at the dog, then offering a reward such as a great treat. Throughout your daily life, use his “name signal” much as you would a verbal name. If you are about to feed your dog, point or wave in her direction, then walk to the kitchen and prepare his dinner. Before walks, point or wave to your dog, then get out the leash.
Soon the dog will respond to the hand signal just as a hearing dog would respond to the sound of his name spoken verbally.
• “Look” or “watch me” hand signal
Many dogs, hearing and deaf, need to be taught that they must pay attention at times. A “watch me” signal is a great way to teach them that they need to focus on you.
Take a treat between your thumb and middle finger. Briefly swipe the treat under your dog’s nose, then bring your hand up to your face and point your index finger to your eyes. As your dog’s eyes follow the treat to your eyes, give your “thumbs up” or other reward marker and give the dog the treat.
As your dog learns the game, begin to do the hand motion without having a treat in your hand. Do continue to give your dog the “thumbs up” and a treat for looking at your face.
Keep playing the game, increasing the length of time your dog “watches” you, before giving the thumbs up and the treat. One to three minutes of sustained eye contact is a good goal for a solid “watch me.”
Once your dog knows the signal from sitting in front of you in the living room, teach it with your dog in different positions. For example, ask him to watch you as he walks beside you as if walking on a leash. Then begin to practice in a variety of environments.
• Tap on the shoulder
In order to avoid the acrobatic antics of trying to make your dog see a hand signal, you can teach a physical cue that means “look” or “watch me” too. I like a tap on the shoulder or rear end as the signal for “Hey, look at me now.”
Start by tapping your dog on the shoulder when he is already looking at you, and offering a treat. Then move to tapping on the shoulder and treating when he is off to your side. Gradually move so that you are behind your dog. Tap him on the shoulder, and when he turns his head, give him a treat.
Once he knows that tapping means looking your way for a treat, you can add the other steps for “watch me.”
Clicker Training for Deaf Dogs?
Of course! Clicker training is simply a style of training that uses a “reward marker” to tell the dog when he “got it right!” With hearing dogs, people most commonly use a “clicker” or a word such as “Yes” as the reward marker. With a deaf dog, you can use the flick of a penlight or a hand signal such as a “thumbs up” for your reward marker.
To teach your dog that the flash of a penlight or a “thumbs up” signal means the dog just got it right, simply pair the signal with a treat. For example, first do a “thumbs up,” and then give your dog a great treat. Repeat 20 to 30 times in a row.
Now you can use your “thumbs up” the same as you would a clicker. For example, to shape a “sit,” wait for your dog to offer a sit or lure him into position just as you would a hearing dog. When he sits, give a “thumbs up” followed by a treat. As with a hearing dog, remember to get the behavior first, then put it on cue. When teaching the dog to sit, make sure your dog will, first, offer the sit reliably. Then give your hand signal for “sit” just before your dog sits. When he sits, immediately give him a “thumbs up” and a treat. He will quickly learn that your hand signal cue means sit, and the thumbs up means he did something right.
In addition to teaching a reward marker, consider teaching a signal such as a hand clap motion that means “good dog” or “keep going.” This can help bridge the communication gap when a dog is trying, but hasn’t quite hit the target for a “thumbs up.” A “reward marker” is a visual signal that alerts the dog that she has done the right thing and can expect a reward.
From here, it’s all up to you. You can teach a deaf dog as many behaviors and tricks as a dog who hears.
Using Technology with Deaf Dogs
High tech devices are not necessary when training a deaf dog; many people do without them just fine. But they do offer another alternative for getting a dog’s attention.
Consider a vibrating collar. (Not a shock collar. Be careful if you get a collar that doubles as both; you could accidentally shock your dog when you mean to vibrate.) The Deaf Dog Education Action Fund has a list of vibration collar manufacturers on its Web site (deafdogs.org). By itself, a vibrating collar will not teach a dog anything, but if you pair the vibration with great rewards like chicken or tuna, your dog will learn to look at you when he feels the vibration. This signal can work to get your dog’s attention when he is across the park from you.
You can use a laser light in a similar fashion to get a dog’s attention. Flash the light in front of the dog on the ground or another surface, and then give the dog a treat. (Be sure not to flash the light directly at the dog, as it could damage his eyes.) A laser light can be used in the daytime as well as at night and some lights can focus a spot up to 100 yards away.
Other Attention-Getters
Stomping your foot or banging a door can get your dog’s attention because they create a vibration that the dog may feel. Flicking the light switch or flashing a flashlight will attract their attention visually. Waving your arms in a wide circle over your head and out at your side can get a dog’s attention through his peripheral vision. Each of these will work even better if they are paired with a great reward.
“All Done” Signal
When you spend a whole lot of time teaching a dog to pay attention to you, you can end up with a dog who will never leave you alone. This can be trying for both the dog and the person!
By teaching your dog an “all done” or a release signal, you have a way to tell your dog when he is off duty and no longer needs to give you his undivided attention. This one is easy; simply pair a signal such as a flat hand or a “go away” motion with absolutely no attention from you! Your dog will soon learn that when you signal “all done,” the game is over.
Startling Myths About Dog Deafness
When I began working with my first student with a deaf dog, I did research trying to discover special issues that come up with deaf dogs. One of the “myths” surrounding deaf dogs that I saw repeatedly was that if you startle a deaf dog, they will bite.
“I think you can just take ‘deaf’ out of that sentence,” says Mark. In other words, if you startle any dog, he might bite. Hearing dogs can be startled too, and any dog who is frightened might react defensively. Deaf dogs aren’t necessarily startled more easily, just differently. And not all dogs react to being startled with aggression. Take Cleo, for example. “You can startle her and she reacts. But she thinks good things are going to happen!” Mark says.
The combination of Cleo’s good nature, possibly coupled with startle conditioning exercises shortly after they brought her home, has made startling a non-issue in their life. In fact recently, while playing at a local dog park, two young children ran up behind Cleo and grabbed her in a big hug. Cleo was obviously startled, but seemed to simply enjoy the experience. She greeted the girls, then happily received their pets and hugs.
Jack Edwards agrees. “It is my opinion that all dogs startle to unexpected stimuli – hearing dogs even more so because of the additional surprises. The phrase to ‘let sleeping dogs lie’ was not written about deaf dogs but has been passed through generations of people who know better than to startle a dog.”
Edwards does also emphasize, however, that dogs who have suddenly become deaf may be more likely to suffer all the negative side effects of being startled. “These are the dogs where you really do need to take the time to help desensitize them.”
Like hearing dogs, not every deaf dog will be as easygoing as Cleo about being surprised or startled. For example, Deb Sell’s Border Collie mix, Nefe, did have trouble with people suddenly “appearing” in the doorway at her office. (This issue may be more related to her being a Border Collie, than to her having trouble hearing – one of my herding dogs has had a similar problem when she accompanies me to work.) Through counter-conditioning, Nefe has learned that people appearing in a doorway is not such a scary thing after all.
Socializing any dog to lots of people, places, sites, and touches will help him learn not to be as startled by any one factor. In addition, people living with deaf or hearing dogs can consciously condition their dogs so that they actually enjoy being startled. By pairing the dog’s favorite treat with a “startle,” she can learn, like Cleo did, that being startled means good things happen.
Speaking Louder Than Words
I must admit that I wanted to write this article to help dispel myths about deaf dogs, and to help put a wedge into the shameful practice of killing deaf dogs simply because they cannot hear. But I had a second motivation: to share with other caring dog people that living with a dog that has a physical difference isn’t about being altruistic or noble. Rather, it’s about being open to sharing your life with an animal who comes your way – the one who is meant to be your companion whether she can hear or not.
Sell notes, “People shy away from adopting a dog that is ‘defective.’ Those people are really missing out on sharing their life with a very special animal. I truly believe animals come into our lives for a reason. I think mine are here to teach me that a ‘handicap’ is something that you need to look beyond, to see the real inner person (dog). If we had not adopted these three deafies, we would have missed out on one of life’s great gifts . . . an amazing and strong bond between people and their dogs.”
Suzan Mark and Gary Lomax began their journey with Cleo with some apprehension. They were understandably nervous about adopting a deaf dog. But now, after having shared their life with her, when asked if they would do it again, Suzan and Gary say, “For sure! She picked us.”
When asked if she would do it again, Sell just laughs. “Well, I think the fact that we have already adopted three pretty much answers this question!”
Mardi Richmond is a writer, editor and dog trainer who lives in Santa Cruz, California. She is grateful to Jack Edwards of the Deaf Dog Education Action Fund, Dr. Deb Sell, and Suzan Mark and Gary Lomax for sharing their experiences for this article.
Being married to a NASCAR fan means that I spend a number of Sunday afternoons watching precision-engineered stock cars and their steely-eyed drivers burn up a race track for 500 miles or so, pushing the limits of man and machine.
A few cars crash in catastrophic events that render the vehicle totally unfit for future competition. Other cars get “tight” or “loose” in their handling, receive a ding or lose a body panel, and limp to the garage under their own power, misaligned but still operational. The top finishing cars escape such misfortune, careening over the finish line in apparently good form, but having been supported before, after, and throughout the race by a professional pit crew.
The NASCAR races bring to mind my agility trials and other canine performance events. At these competitions, handlers from around the region converge on the site, offering their canine partners the chance to jump, twist, climb, balance, and run at high speed through obstacle courses, catch an airborne Frisbee, rocket over jumps with a tennis ball in their mouths, or herd flocks of recalcitrant farm stock. Here, too, a spectator may witness tragic “crashes” and temporary setbacks experienced by some of the competitors.
I have become resolute in my desire to do all I can to prevent my performance dogs from crashes, burns, and burnouts. As the pit crew chief for my canine athletes, I have decided to take the steps necessary to responsibly prepare my dogs for their active lifestyles, utilizing the best supportive and preventative therapies.
I enlisted the assistance of Chris Bessent, DVM, a Wisconsin veterinarian who uses chiropractic, acupuncture, and Chinese herbs in her canine and equine sports medicine practice. I asked her to help me develop a routine maintenance regimen – a sort of “pit stop” program – for my Border Terriers competing in agility. Both dogs have good conformation, solid working ability, and a clean record (so far, no injuries!).
Dr. Bessent explained to me how she performs a thorough maintenance evaluation of her athletic canine patients and then applies holistic therapies to support them in their active lifestyles: chiropractic, acupuncture, nutriceuticals, dietary supplements, pharmaceuticals, Chinese herbs, therapeutic massage, and warm-up stretching exercises. The program that Dr. Bessent outlined to me could actually serve as a model for any canine athletic health-maintenance plan.
Thorough evaluation
It goes without saying that every dog should undergo an annual health examination, complete with laboratory tests to evaluate blood chemistry and composition. Hard-working dogs – whether they are athletes or used for emotional therapy work – should be taken to the veterinarian for additional exams if their performance or attitude sours.
In addition to conventional veterinary examination techniques, Dr. Bessent employs an age-old practice, taken from traditional Chinese medicine: tongue and pulse examination of the dog. Dr. Bessent checks the dog’s tongue, looking for a nice pink color. Any indication of bright redness, purple, yellow, or paleness of the tongue suggests a disharmony or imbalance of the energy flow in the dog’s body.
Dr. Bessent immediately follows the tongue evaluation with a pulse evaluation. Other assessments or holistic treatments, such as chiropractic or acupuncture, release endorphins into the dog’s system that can change the dog’s normal pulse rate and affect the quality of Dr. Bessent’s initial appraisal, so tongue and pulse evaluations are the first order of business.
With the tips of her fingers, Dr. Bessent feels the dog’s pulse at the top, midpoint, and bottom of the dog’s right and left hind legs, checking both the “deep” and the “superficial” qualities of the pulse. She carefully monitors the balance and harmony of the energy flowing through the “meridians” or energy pathways of the dog’s body.
A “tight” pulse, for instance, may indicate a stagnation of the energy in the liver. A “slippery” pulse, or one that “feels like a pearl” flowing through the body, may indicate excessive phlegm in the body. A pulse that is too deep may indicate an energy deficiency. In order to promote the free flow of energy, or life force, in the dog’s body, Dr. Bessent corrects any of these imbalances with acupuncture treatments and Chinese herbs.
In many cases, especially in dogs who are active and do not have a diagnosed injury, the pulse is already well balanced. For these dogs, Dr. Bessent recommends two Chinese herbal combinations that support general good health and athletic potential:
• Liu Wei Di Huang Wan, also known as the “Six Ingredient Pill” with Rehmannia.
• Tangkuei and Rehmannia, which helps to tone the liver as well as the kidneys.
These herbal combinations, or decoctions, which Dr. Bessent calls “herbal Gatorade,” benefit the bones in the lower back and nourish the kidneys, thereby toning bodily fluids and rehydrating the dog. The kidneys, known in Chinese medicine as the “flame of life,” support the flow of energy and fluids in the body, which is helpful even for dogs that are not very athletic.
You can readily purchase these Chinese herbal combinations at Chinese pharmacies, Chinese pharmaceutical Web sites, and directly from Dr. Bessent (see sidebar, below). However, no supplement should be added to your dog’s regimen without some support and guidance from your holistic veterinarian.
Joint and muscle evaluation
After appraising the balance of the energy flow in the dog’s body, Dr. Bessent checks the dog’s joints in both his spine and limbs.
In a maintenance evaluation, the veterinarian watches the dog move, looking for any deviations from proper alignment or movement, like one hip placed higher than the other, pacing (walking with the two left legs and then the two right legs moving forward at the same time, rather than the normal diagonal movement of the legs), dog tracking (the two front legs moving on a different front-to-back plane than the two rear legs), roaching (a rise or hump in the dog’s back), or a visible limit in the normal range of any joint motion.
Then, while the dog is standing, Dr. Bessent feels each joint of the spine, starting at the atlas (the first vertebrae of the neck) and occiput (the back of the skull), and continuing all the way to the tail. She checks for a lack of normal motion, usually due to a subluxation (a vertebrae out of position), too much motion, sensitivity, or tenseness during the examination that may indicate discomfort in that area of the dog’s body.
With the dog lying on his right and then left side, Dr. Bessent examines each of the joints in the dog’s front and hind limbs, from shoulder to toes in the front, and from hip to toes in the rear. She checks for pathologies like crepitation, indicated by a cracking, creaking, or popping sound in the joints as they move. She notes any tendency of the dog to pull away when she manipulates his joints, or any reluctance to complete the full range of motion.
The causes of joint crepitation can be as simple as the presence of gas pockets in the joints or a decrease in the viscosity, or thickness, of the lubricating fluid in the joints. Healthy joint lubrication fluid is almost as thick as jelly, but can become more watery with age or overuse, thereby reducing its effectiveness as a protectant.
Dr. Bessent recommends a glucosamine supplement to help restore the joint lubrication fluid to a more normal viscosity. More serious and complex causes of joint crepitation include arthritis, tendonitis, and bursitis, which may benefit from regular chiropractic treatments, acupuncture, and a combination of supplements in addition to glucosamine.
Based upon her survey of the dog’s conformation, Dr. Bessent works with the dog’s owners to make training recommendations that will reduce wear and tear in areas of the dog’s body at risk for injury.
For instance, dogs who are high in the back end or straight in the shoulders will benefit from a training regimen that reduces stress to the dog’s front end. Handlers can limit the amount of jumping they ask of their dogs in their training sessions, or alternate training sessions at low jump heights with sessions at regulation jump heights. Handlers can also train their dogs to hit the flyball box straight on rather than at an angle that directs the impact at the same single shoulder joint each time.
Dr. Bessent says she sometimes notes obedience dogs, who are usually worked on the handler’s left side, may tend to curve their spines and necks up and to the right during heeling exercises. Dogs with a tendency to develop neck injuries, like Dobermans, benefit from performing their heeling exercises on both sides of the handler to balance the strain on their necks.
Supplements
One of the most popular nutritional supplements for the relief of joint and soft tissue pain and inflammation is MSM (methylsulfonylmethane), a natural substance found in food and in the body. MSM provides biologically active sulfur, a mineral that is deficient in many diets and certainly lacking in therapeutic quantities.
Taken orally in the form of a powder or in capsules, this substance provides excellent maintenance support, especially to dogs with an inclination to develop tendonitis and muscle strains. Most of the agility competitors I know take MSM for their own well-being in addition to including it in their dog’s diet. Dr. Bessent recommends the following maintenance dosages of MSM for her canine patients:
• For dogs under 45 pounds: ¼ teaspoon two times a day for seven days, then ¼ teaspoon once a day thereafter.
• For dogs 45-90 pounds: ½ teaspoon two times a day for seven days, then ½ teaspoon once a day thereafter.
• For dogs over 90 pounds: ½ teaspoon given as indicated above should be adequate, but more can be given, based upon the dog’s response, up to 1 gram per 45 pounds of weight per day.
MSM is readily available at health food stores, pharmacies, and from discount vitamin suppliers.
After several years of studying canine dietary supplements to find just the right ones to recommend for her active canine patients, Dr. Bessent personally favors Canine Platinum Performance® by Platinum Performance Inc. (Buellton, California), and The Missing Link® by Designing Health (Valencia, California).
Developed in 1996 by equine veterinarian Doug Herthel, Platinum Performance sped bone and tissue healing and reduced the swelling after orthopedic surgeries in thoroughbred horses competing on the racing circuit. Dr. Herthel found that the product aided in post-operative healing, and produced a decrease in allergic reactions and a boost to overall health and energy levels in the horses taking the supplement. He suspects that most horses have diets deficient in trace minerals and, especially, in Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids, a key ingredient in cell membrane repair. His investigations resulted in the Platinum Performance family of nutritional supplements for horses, dogs, exotic animals, and humans.
Canine Platinum Performance, a dry granular powder, is not a prescription drug, but is available only from a veterinarian or directly from Platinum Performance Inc. Although the company’s Web site states that an order requires a referral from a veterinarian, I purchased the product for my dogs simply by providing my primary care veterinarian’s name.
A one-pound canister contains a 60-day supply of the supplement for a 30-pound dog, and costs $15. Larger size containers are more cost-effective. The newest addition to the line is Canine Platinum Performance Plus®, with glucosamine added to the formula.
The Missing Link, also a granular powder, is more widely available from dog supply catalog houses and pet supply chain stores. It comes in a vegetarian formula, as well. A one-pound bag of The Missing Link costs $16 when purchased directly from Designing Health and will support a 40-80 pound dog for about 60 days.
Both supplements derive their Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids from flaxseed. If, at first, your dog develops stomach gas or other symptoms of not tolerating flaxseed well, Dr. Bessent suggests gradually building up the product in your dog’s diet or, if necessary, switching to a fish oil-based source of Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids.
Joint therapy
A less well-known but highly effective treatment for canine osteoarthritis and joint crepitation is Adequan® Canine (polysulfated glycosaminoglycan) produced by Luitpold Pharmaceuticals Inc. in Shirley, New York. Approved by the FDA and developing a following among small animal veterinarians as a preventative for highly active dogs at risk for developing arthritis, as well as a disease medication, Adequan Canine not only treats the pain of arthritis but also stimulates the cartilage repair processes.
Adequan has been used by large animal veterinarians on their athletic equine patients for many years. The drug is supposed to suppress the enzymes that eat away at joints, help to lubricate the joints, and reduce inflammation from overuse.
Adequan Canine is a prescription-only pharmaceutical administered by intramuscular injection. Many dog owners inject their own active and working dogs once a month, but others prefer that their veterinarians do the honors. Because of the route of administration, this drug is stronger and more effective than oral supplements like Cosequin®, but Adequan Canine also can be used in conjunction with these supplements. A single injection for a 45-pound dog costs about $20 – $25.
Physical therapy
Immediately before participating in a canine sport or performance activity, Dr. Bessent recommends working through some stretching exercises that take your dog’s joints gently through their range of motion. Here are a few exercises you can do with your dog:
• Straddle your dog behind his shoulders while he is standing, hold a treat in front of your dog’s nose and move the treat from side to side, encouraging your dog to bend his neck. Try to have your dog bend to touch your knee on each side.
• While your dog is standing, hold your hand against his chest and hold a treat in front of his nose. Encourage him to push against your hand and stretch his neck toward the treat.
• While your dog is lying on his right side, slowly stretch his left legs forward and back, holding each stretch for five seconds. Repeat with his right legs while lying on his left side.
• Teach your dog stretching behaviors like spinning in a circle left and right, bowing his head down, play bowing his entire front end on command, and “sitting pretty,” or “begging,” on his hind legs.
• Remember, never to force your dog’s body into any position or movement; just encourage comfortable motion.
After an agility-filled day, I enjoy giving my dogs a gentle rubdown. Indeed, therapeutic massage or hands-on soft-tissue work increases the flow of blood and lymph fluids to the large muscle groups of the body, carrying away the toxins and metabolic wastes produced by athletic activity. Massage also relieves tension, enhances muscle tone, and increases the flow of nutrients to the skin.
There are a host of different methods you can use, including direct pressure, stroking, kneading, compression, and cross-fiber massage. Dr. Bessent recommends enlisting the services of a professional canine massage therapist, both for therapy and to help you learn to perform the techniques that are most useful for your dog.
Some canine massage therapists offer massages at the site of agility trials and other dog sports events. As massage tends to relax muscles and sometimes makes dogs who are not used to having a massage “goofy,” Dr. Bessent suggests that handlers visit these massage therapists only after running their events. Actually, getting your dog used to a massage at home is the best way to gauge your dog’s reaction to a massage and to decide how to best incorporate it into your schedule. Stretching is the most appropriate warm-up therapy to engage in directly before participating in an event.
My new plan
After my consultation with Dr. Bessent, I have pledged to broaden the support therapies I offer to my dogs in order to sustain them both through many years of athletic activity.
In addition to the fresh, home prepared diet I regularly provide, along with pure, distilled water, my orders of Platinum Performance Plus and The Six Ingredient Pill with Rehmannia are on the way. I will begin sharing my own jar of MSM with my dogs in the future. After adding these supportive supplements to their diets I will consult with my veterinarian about incorporating Adequan injections into their healthcare routine when appropriate. And I’m committed to a monthly chiropractic adjustment and holistic evaluation for my dogs, rather than just the occasional visit.
As usual, I will retrieve my dogs out of their crates in plenty of time to stretch their muscles before an agility run. And they can both look forward to a rubdown when back at home or in the motel room, or perhaps enjoy a therapeutic massage at the site, after their events.
I hope to see you “in the pits” with your athletic, healthy canine companions.
My husband is a diehard catch-and-release fisherman, and my Border Collie is a tennis ball maniac, so when I first saw Reel Dog, a toy that combines the concepts of fetch, tug, and fishing, I thought we had a real winner on our hands. I snapped one up and brought it home to try out.
Examining its packaging, I noted that its maker, Happy Dog Toys, of Phoenix, Arizona (a division of Farnam Pet Products), has created a small line of innovative interactive dog toys. I tracked down two more products from the line – Bubble Buddy and Tug Master– and tested all three.
I have some good news to report and some bad news. First, the good news: Happy Dog Toys is really on to something. Their products are highly appealing to playful people, so much so that they can’t wait to go try them out with their dogs. The concepts behind the toys are novel, creative variations on old favorite human/canine play themes: fetch, jump, tug. The company’s marketing and distribution network seems very advanced; the toys can be found in most of the “big box” pet supply chains and in many small pet supply stores, too.
Finally, Happy Dog Toys goes to the extra effort to conform to the ASTM testing standards of the toy industry, ensuring that the toys are as safe for your dog as they are for your children.
The bad news? None of the three interactive toys I tested performed quite as well as their packaging suggested. Each had a fatal flaw (or two) that kept me and my test dogs from fully reaping the riches of fun promised by the product’s design.
It’s my sincere hope that Happy Dog Toys continues to develop products like these, but my fear is that the toys’ shortcomings will discourage repeat purchases. Will the line of toys survive long enough to improve? I’ll have to wait and see. In the meantime, I have a lot of (I hope) constructive criticism to offer!
While I don’t often publish product reviews that don’t include at least one item that garners WDJ’s top (four-paw) rating (see sidebar, below), I’m doing that very thing this month. The Happy Dog Toys products are so engaging and so promising . . . and maybe other dog owners will find them less problematic than I did. Fortunately, the toys are not prohibitively expensive, so buy one anyway if one of them seems pretty fun to you, despite my criticism.
Reel Dog
The first Happy Dog Toy I saw in a pet supply store, Reel Dog is built along the lines of a child’s play fishing rod, but with a tennis ball (rather than some sort of hook or lure) at the end of a 30-foot line. The “fisherman” pulls the crank out a notch to release the line, and then casts the ball in the direction they want the dog to go. Ostensibly, the dog grabs the ball and the “fight” is on, with the fisherman providing resistance by pulling on the rod and cranking in the line, and the dog enjoying a novel game of tug.
The biggest problem I had with this toy is that it took only two games of tug for my canine “fish” to realize that they could win much faster if they grabbed the line, rather than the ball. Each of my first two test dogs (the ball-crazy Border Collie and a tug-crazy Lab) snipped through the line with their teeth within minutes. The line appears to be a cotton/poly cord, which proved very strong when reeling in even a large dog, but is not at all resistant to sharp teeth.
Also, while it’s nice that the toy contains 30-plus feet of cord, so a dog can enjoy a good dash on his way to fetch the ball, the reel that brings in the line is relatively small, so it takes a long time to land that fish! In addition, I found it very awkward to turn the crank that reels in the line with my left hand (since the crank is positioned on the left side of the toy handle); I thought it was due to my own inept technique. But my husband had barely touched the Reel Dog when he blurted out, “The darn reel handle is on the wrong side!” It wasn’t just me! It’s awkward for all right-handed fishermen.
On the other hand, perhaps the designers at Happy Dog Toys thought it would be easier for the average right-handed person to “play” the dog with his strong hand, pulling the dog toward him with the right hand and using the left hand to quickly wind in any line that is gained. I don’t know if this was their thinking, but after a little practice, I got the hang of it.
Happy Dog Toys also makes a huge number of simpler tennis ball-based toys, such as Tennis Bones (two balls affixed to either end of a plastic “bone”) and Tennis Buddies (tennis balls that look like little cartoony animals, with little arms and legs and faces attached). All these toys are constructed with specially made pressureless and double-thick natural rubber balls, which makes them virtually impossible to pop and chew.
Tug Master
If you’re like me, you won’t be able to get this phrase out of your head, once you’ve heard the recorded voice inside this toy repeat its eponymous refrain, spoken in a deep superhero voice: “Tug Master!”
Again, this novel toy has some engaging features. It has two handles: a hard plastic handle for a person to pull in, and a softer plastic one for a dog to grip with his teeth. A spring or similar mechanism provides resistance, so the handles can be (with great effort) pulled in opposite directions to effect greater or lesser scores on the “Tug-O-Meter,” a gauge that records the strongest tugs. (This toy, I should note, is intended for big, strong dogs.) As the handles are pulled, an electronic voice barks, exhorts the contestants to “Get tough!” or suggests “You’re the dog; you’re the big dog!”
Unfortunately, I couldn’t convince even Paws, my rowdiest Labrador acquaintance who is a huge fan of tug o’ war, to take hold of the end of the toy intended for him. He didn’t appear to be either put off or encouraged by the recorded noises; he just didn’t appear to be comfortable gripping the semi-hard plastic handle.
As soon as I tied a rope toy around his end of the Tug Master, however, Paws was off to the races. He pulled and pulled with delight . . . but he does that with any old rope. I tried to get several other dogs to play Tug Master with me, but couldn’t find a single one that would grip the hard handle. Maybe your “tug master” would’t mind mouthing the toy. You won’t know unless you try it.
Even though I’m not getting much tug-time, I like to keep the toy around, mostly so I can press the button that makes it chortle, “You’re the dog!”
Bubble Buddy
Even after the first two disappointments, I was certain that I would be pleased with Bubble Buddy. Many dogs enjoy leaping about and chasing bubbles, and, incredibly, Happy Dog Toys has developed edible bubble solutions that smell like savory bacon, peanut butter, or barbecued chicken. Wowee!
Well, the odoriferous bubbles are impressive, but the plastic “gun” that is supposed to produce them is not. Only a tiny reservoir is provided to contain the bubble solution, and within just a minute of pulling the trigger more or less constantly to manufacture enough bubbles for the dog to chase, I had to stop and refill it. Plus, the reservoir is not only too small, but also difficult to pour the bubble solution into without spilling. And, once it’s full, it’s hard to walk with the gun without tipping the solution out of the reservoir.
My advice is to buy the Bubble Buddy Replacement Bubbles (sold separately, $3 for two four-ounce bottles) and use an old-fashioned bubble wand – the little plastic circle you blow through. That is, at least until Happy Dog Toys redesigns the Bubble Buddy with a big, deep, spill-proof reservoir.
Happy Dog Toys is on the right track; if they keep improving the design of these innovative toys, and we’ll happily buy ‘em all, and recommend them to all our playful doggie friends, too.
Every month, I receive anywhere from a dozen to several dozen dog-related books, sent by publishers who are eager for a published review or just a casual editorial mention. My home office is pretty small, and already jam-packed with piles of press releases and boxes of products, but I do my best to find room on the already overflowing bookshelves. About once every couple of months, I weed through the stack, holding onto the most useful books and donating the rest to my local library.
Only rarely does a book arrive on my porch that immediately compels me to open it and read it right away; only once in six years of publishing WDJ have I received one that was so good that I couldn’t put it down until I had consumed the entire volume.
It shouldn’t be surprising to hear that the book that brought an abrupt halt to my work day is a product of National Geographic Books. Dog Stories is a 128-page softcover book featuring text and photographs by Richard Olsenius, an award-winning photographer, filmmaker, and former photo editor for National Geographic.
Dog books produced by outsiders journalists from the mainstream press often present a skewed look at our world. They tend to exaggerate the most eccentric aspects of our obsessions and overlook the serious, useful ways we benefit from our association with our dogs. However inaccurately portrayed we might appear, these books tend to look attractive and professional.
In contrast are the many book offerings from dog-world insiders. These publications, written or edited by dog breeders, trainers, judges, or veterinarians, are usually factually accurate, but sometimes lack graphic appeal or professional appearance.
Richard Olsenius does all the right things, and none of the wrong, in Dog Stories. Yes, he shows dog owners at our obsessive extremes, with pictures of dogs dressed in zany outfits, dogs enduring excesses of grooming in preparation for the show ring, and people who spend fortunes on medical marvels to extend their dog’s lives. However, these portraits are not made in fun or to mock us, but as a continuation of Olsenius exploration of the range and depth of the human/canine bond.
Olsenius also includes lush, gorgeous portraits of dogs who work sheep, assist disabled people, provide emotional support, sniff out drugs and bombs, and rescue disaster victims. Perhaps the most moving portrayals, however, are his written and photographic depictions of the relationships between ordinary people and their beloved canine companions. I promise; youll love this book.
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All I can say about Training Editor Pat Millers article this month is that This stuff really works!
Like most dog owners over 15 years of age (younger owners have learned to train in a more enlightened time), I was taught to train dogs with a fair number of physical corrections and a certain amount of intimidation. Force-based training worked with all the dogs I ever lived with . . . except, of course, my parents tiny Yorkshire Terriers, who never learned a single desirable behavior, but they were dimwits. Punishment only made our Lab/Chesapeake-mix more aggressive, but he was pathologically angry, and had to be put down eventually. And it worked on Rupert, the 13-year-old Border Collie I still have today. Of course, hes sort of a soft dog, and still tends to freeze (and maybe even snap) when hes scared.
Im being sarcastic, of course. Before I was educated and exposed to positive training, I really thought I had done well with the dogs in my life. If the dogs didnt turn out, it was their fault, not how I handled them. Now I see how the force-based training methods I used failed again and again and again.
Today, I share my home with tiny Mokie, a young Chihuahua. Hes the first dog Ive ever trained completely without force or intimidation, and guess what? Hes turning out so great. Hes confident without being pushy. Hes friendly without being rude. Hes obedient in a cheerful and happy way. And best of all, when hes not sure what hes supposed to do, he sits down and fixes me with an intent stare, visibly willing me to tell him what to do.
Ill repeat: This stuff really works. Try it.
As a native Californian and lifelong dog owner, Ive probably spent thousands of dollars at various vet clinics, having foxtails removed from various canine orifices. Its taken me years to learn what author C.C. Holland passes along in her article on the noxious weeds in this issue.
My mom called me once at college, after her German Shepherd had been treated for an abscess (foxtail!) on his front paw. Our family vet gave my mother an Elizabethan collar and told her to put it on the dog if he started licking his paw, but she wasnt sure how it was supposed to go.
In her inimitably sweet and concerned tone, my mom asked, When I put the collar on him, is he supposed to look like a tulip or a prince? I laughed, considering both images. To this day, I can still see my mom in my minds eye, giggling as she dressed up her amiable Shepherd as a tulip, according to my instructions. Goodness knows what she would have made of all the alternatives to the traditional cones we review this month.
Dominance has become something of a dirty word in many dog-training circles, and for good cause. Behaviorists once used the word to appropriately define a relationship between two individuals in a social group. However, over recent decades, the word has been warped and twisted to inappropriately describe an assertive dog’s personality.
Sadly, “dominance” has often been used as justification to inflict a litany of punishment on dogs, especially those dogs who react defensively to force-based training methods. In the past, if a dog responded to compulsion-based training or punishment by defending himself with a growl or snap, this was interpreted as dominance and defiance. In addition, many natural, normal dog behaviors, such as the desire to sleep on soft surfaces (beds and sofas), jumping up in greeting, and an eagerness to dash through doorways to get to the great outdoors, were also interpreted by some people as “dominant” behaviors that needed correcting.
According to these outdated theories, a dog’s owners should be the only dominant figures in the household, and they were exhorted to establish dominance over their dogs by being forceful. We were cautioned by our trainers and by the dog-training books of the day not to tolerate any of our dogs’ resistance – and warned that if we failed to fiercely squash any opposition, disaster would ensue. We were urged to leap to the offense if a dog objected to our rough handling, and told to apply violent techniques such as scruff shakes and alpha rolls if our dogs dared resist.
Some trainers went even further, advocating extremely abusive methods such as hanging a dog by the choke chain and leash, “helicoptering” him in the air at the end of a chain and leash, or holding his head in a hole filled with water until unconsciousness, for behaviors ranging from something as mild as digging to as serious as aggression.
We’re past that
Fortunately for dogs, modern behavioral science has moved past the simplistic notion that a dog owner’s absolute dominance will solve all (or any) of a dog’s behavior or training issues. This is especially true in cases involving a dog who “fights back” when physically hurt or frightened. Severe physical punishments may force a dog to comply, but this can cause the dog to fear the person meting out the punishment, or become violent in return.
Today’s positive trainers recognize the importance of the relationship between dogs and their owners, and realize that, while force-based methods can effectively train dogs, they also risk damaging the relationship between dog and owner, sometimes beyond repair.
Gentle, humane training methods are as effective as pain-based techniques (if not more so) and can accomplish the same training goals without force and the attendant risk of negative reactions such as fear and aggression that are possible whenever force is applied.
Learning to lead
A good leader doesn’t need to be violent – she simply needs to create an environment where it is easy and rewarding for her followers to comply with her wishes, and difficult for them to make mistakes. She helps them succeed. Attending a positive training class with your dog is a good place to start establishing yourself as a benevolent leader to your dog. A training class helps you and your dog understand each other better, and your trainer can help the two of you problem solve if the road gets bumpy along the way.
A successful leader/owner controls valuable resources, and shares them with her dogs generously and judiciously. Appropriate behaviors earn rewards. Inappropriate behaviors do not. If resources are consistently awarded on the basis of desirable behaviors, and withheld in the presence of undesirable behaviors, what dog in his right mind would not choose to be well-behaved? It’s no different than teaching a toddler that he has to say “Please” to get a cookie rather than scream “Gimme!” at the top of his lungs while his face turns blue.
Dominance myths
When the “you have to dominate your dog” concept was in vogue, many trainers instructed their clients to establish “dominance” (used incorrectly here) over their dogs. This was supposed to be accomplished by, among other things, eating before the dog eats, going through doorways before the dog, and routinely rolling the dog on his back in a show of force.
Fortunately, current and more in-depth behavior studies have shown that in wild and domesticated dogs, it’s not true that the pack leader always eats first, goes through doorways first, or routinely rolls other pack members onto their backs to keep them in line. She may be able to do all those things if she wants, but it really is in the pack’s best interest – and hers – to be in a state of equilibrium that doesn’t involve a constant show of force.
When there is plenty of food to go around, there is no need for the pack leader to assert herself at the feed trough. If she is eager to go through a door, she may choose to go first, in which case lower-ranking pack members defer to her.
And anyone who has ever watched dogs greeting and interacting quickly realizes that a “belly-up” posture on the part of a subordinate dog is usually voluntary. In fact, this voluntary submission posture normally triggers a response in the more assertive dog to call a truce. If one dog violently forces another onto his back and/or ignores the subordinate dog’s voluntary attempt at appeasement, the “underdog” is probably fighting for his life.
Similarly, the dog who is gets alpha-rolled by an owner may fear for his life and, terrified by his owner’s inexplicable violence, fight back accordingly.
Lower-ranking pack members show their deference to the leader with a number of body-language behaviors. Our Scottie, Dubhy, has learned the fine art of appeasing our very assertive Kelpie by keeping his eyes averted to avoid Katie’s intense Kelpie glare. As long as he avoids eye contact, she lets him pass without comment. He has, in essence, learned to say “please.”
Teaching your dog to “ask”
Your dog need not physically submit to you by offering his vulnerable underside – he only needs to defer. There are a number of quick and easy exercises you can insert painlessly into your daily routine to remind your dog that you are in charge of the resources, and he receives them thanks to your benevolence.
Say Please for Meals: It is perfectly okay to feed your dog before you eat your own meal – as long as you remind your dog that you control the food bowl. For starters, there should be no free-feeding. If your dog can pick from his dish whenever he wants, you allow him to believe that he controls the very valuable food-bowl resource, and you miss a golden opportunity to reinforce deference one or more times a day. (I feed my adult dogs twice a day.)
Each mealtime, after preparing your dog’s food, lift the bowl off the counter with his meal in it, and hold it at your chest. Wait for him to sit. If necessary, move the bowl over his head to lure the sit, or ask him to sit verbally. When he sits, tell him he’s a good boy and lower the bowl toward the floor. If he starts to get up, cheerfully say “Oops!” and lift the bowl to chest level again. Keep doing this until you can set the bowl on the floor without him moving. Then tell him “okay!” and encourage him to eat.
This is actually engaging in a little friendly food-guarding, a concept his canine brain should grasp easily. You are saying, “This food is really mine, because as leader all things belong to me, but because I’m nice I’m letting you have some of my food.”
Say Please to Go Outside: Anytime you are going to open a door to the outside world, ask your dog to “Wait!” (See “Wait a Bit, Stay a While,” WDJ, May 2001.) Open the door a crack, and if he starts to go through, say “Oops!” and gently close the door. Caution: do not slam the door on his nose! Then tell him “Wait!” and open the door a crack again. If he stays still, tell him he’s a good boy and close the door again. Gradually work up until you can open the door wide and he doesn’t go through unless you tell him he can.
Sometimes you will release him with an “okay” so he can run out the door into his fenced yard; sometimes you will go through the door and then invite him out; and sometimes you will go through and close it behind you, leaving him in the house.
You are telling him, “This is my door. I get to decide who goes through, and when. Sometimes you can go first, sometimes I go first, and sometimes you don’t get to go through at all.”
If you have more than one dog, vary the order in which you release them so that each goes first some of the time.
Say Please for Treats: Take advantage of every opportunity to instill “sit” as a default behavior – the thing the dog will do when he’s not sure what to do. Instead of popping a treat in his mouth just because he’s cute and you love him, wait for a sit – then pop the treat in his mouth. You are telling him, “These are my treats, and I will share them with you if I feel like it. You can make me feel like it by sitting.” A gratuitous treat is a missed opportunity to reinforce “sit” as his default behavior.
Say Please for Greeting: When your dog runs up to greet you, all excited because he hasn’t seen you for at least three full minutes, watch him closely. If he gathers himself to jump on you, say “Oops!” and turn your back. Watch him over your shoulder, and when he settles solidly on all fours, or even better, sits (because that has become his default behavior) say “Yes!” and turn back to greet him. If he jumps up, turn away again. Keep repeating until he will sit politely to be greeted.
You are telling him, “I am the leader, and as leader, my greeting is a valuable resource that I only give to dogs who are sitting.”
Say Please for Fun: Does your dog like to chase the ball? Play tug-o-war? Visit with his canine pals at the park? Go for a ride in the car? A walk on the leash? A swim in the pond? Precede all his favorite activities with a polite sit. “Sit” makes the ball go. “Sit” brings the tug toy to dog-mouth level. “Sit” gets the leash attached for a walk, or removed for a romp in the park. “Sit” elicits the release cue for a dive into the lake. “Sit” makes all good things happen.
If you want to take it a step further, “sit” makes the ball go, but the dog can only go when you give him an “Okay!” or “Go” release cue. Similarly, “sit” lowers the tug toy to mouth level, but he can only grab it when you say, “Take it!”
You are telling him, “I control all these wonderful resources – you can have access to them at my whim and pleasure, when I decide you can, and not before.”
Say Please for Attention: Rather than allowing your dog to demand your attention, make him ask by – you guessed it – sitting. If he is a big dog and you are sitting in a chair or on the sofa, a “down” is an even better “please” for attention.
You are telling him that this very valuable resource (your attention) must be earned with a sit or a down; he doesn’t get it on demand.
Kindly controlling
You should be getting the picture by now. The more assertive your dog’s personality, the more important it is that you control as many available resources as possible, and are consistent about paying them out for appropriate behavior. Whatever your dog’s personality, the better you are at controlling resources and awarding them for desirable behavior, the better behaved your dog is likely to be.
The benevolent leader concept comes naturally for some people. These are the folks who always seem to end up with well-mannered dogs without appearing to think much about it – it just happens. Either they were born with good “animal instincts,” or they had good human models to imitate from an early age. If it doesn’t come to you naturally, don’t despair, you can learn! Just start asking your dog to say “Please!” for everything you can think of.
-Pat Miller, WDJ’s Training Editor, is also a freelance author and Certified Pet Dog Trainer in Chattanooga, Tennessee. She is the president of the Board of Directors of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers, and published her first book, The Power of Positive Dog Training, in 2001.
With the third twist of the vise handle, the bone held snugly inside splintered along its length with a sickening crunch. Splinters and fragments sprouted from the crack like thistle.
The scene of a gruesome torture chamber? Hardly. Rather, this was a common result during informal testing conducted by WDJ in an attempt to ascertain whether certain types of “recreational” bones pose more hazards than others to the dogs who chew them.
First, some background. Our plan was to create a companion piece to an article about rawhide chews that ran in our May 2002 issue. We decided to take a look at the wide variety of commercially prepared bones available to dog owners in pet supply stores and catalogs. We hoped to learn whether these bones originated from U.S. livestock (which tends to be better safeguarded and regulated than animal products from some foreign sources) and what sorts of chemicals – if any – were commonly used in the preparation or preservation of the products. On both these counts, we heard good news.
Production methods
All the manufacturers whose representatives were willing to be interviewed told us that their companies obtain raw products from American slaughterhouses, and some (such as Abbyland Foods) get bones from their own slaughtering plants. Bones either were received frozen and thawed for processing or were processed fresh.
Production techniques were similar among the four companies whose representatives we interviewed, including Merrick Pet Foods in Texas; Redbarn in California; Abbyland Foods in Wisconsin; MI Industries (Nature’s Variety) in Nebraska; and Jones Natural Chews in Illinois. (Gimborn Pet Specialties in Atlanta, which sells bones through the Petsmart chain, declined our requests for an interview.) In all cases, creating the final product pretty much consists of simply cleaning and drying the bones in industrial ovens.
Some companies go the extra mile to ensure a quality product. Nature’s Variety – the only one of these companies that also sells frozen raw bones – prides itself on strict adherence to food-safety guidelines.
“We work in very close cooperation with the University of Nebraska food processing center,” says company president Bob Milligan. “They help us with processing techniques, selecting oven temperatures, testing for bacteria, and upgrading sanitation methods, things like that.”
Creating the cooked bones is a no-frills process. “We slow-roast them and then dry them down to a moisture content of approximately 10 to 12 percent,” says Milligan. “That allows them to be shelf-stable without having to add any preservatives, chemicals, or artificial colors. Our opinion, and that of our nutritionists and vets we work with, is that the product doesn’t need to have a smoked flavor to be appealing to the dog. And many times smoking is used to cover up an ‘off’ odor or condition.”
Other companies choose to add flavoring to the bones, either for marketing appeal or, in some cases, to prevent mold.
“We dip them in a solution of liquid smoke, for smell, and a marinate solution that helps inhibit mold growth,” says Jane Langman of Abbyland, which sells bones through Drs. Foster & Smith. “It’s an all-natural product – there are no preservatives.”
Most of these recreational bone manufacturers say preservatives are not necessary for bone products.
“Typically, with products under 10 percent moisture, there’s no need for preservatives,” explains Garth Merrick, president of Merrick Pet Foods. “Lack of moisture means a lack of protein to degenerate to the point where you get bacteria.”
But that doesn’t mean every finished product is immune. All it takes is the right conditions – such as damaged wrapping and humid weather. We’ve seen shrink-wrapped meaty bones (not produced by any of the companies listed here) laced with mold on the shelves of a local Trader Joe’s grocery store. Once moisture content rises inside the packaging, green fuzz can sprout.
“Also, where there’s enough moisture for mold to grow, you can have elevated bacteria levels,” adds Milligan. “You can have concerns about salmonella and E.coli.”
These issues are more likely to affect consumers and their food-handling practices, since healthy, adult dogs are usually unaffected by bugs that would lay humans low. Hand-washing is always recommended after touching a dog’s chew bones.
Well-dried bones in a dry environment can last a very long time on a shelf or in your pantry, which explains part of their appeal. Some owners trade weekly trips to the butcher shop for a box of dried bones. Others don’t have access to butcher shops, but can get dried or cooked bones from local pet stores.
Laura Herr of Jones Natural Chews said her company labels its products with sell-by dates, but it’s more to give the distributor, retailer, or consumer a benchmark than to warn against spoilage. “They have a very long shelf life,” she says. “We put our (sell-by dates) two years out. But we’ve had some bones in our testing area for eight years, and they still look beautiful.”
Additives?
By reducing the moisture content of their products, most of these companies are able to forego the use of preservatives to keep the animal-based products from decomposing. An exception is Redbarn, which uses preservatives in its “stuffed” bones, which have artificially flavored and colored filling. The stuffing is either cheese-and-bacon, chicken, beef, or lamb flavored.
Jeff Baikie, co-president of Redbarn, defends the filling, which is mostly meat by-products with meat or poultry meal and lots of sugars, salt, and other flavor enhancers, on the basis that it’s meant as an occasional treat. “I’m not saying you’d want to feed this as a full diet, but two ounces once a week isn’t a big deal,” Baikie says.
Stuffing a bone creates added value for the consumer, Baikie told us, because a dog will remain interested in it much longer. And the processing of the bones Redbarn uses – stuffed or not – is minimal, he says; they are simply cleaned and dried.
At WDJ, we’re not wild about these filled bones. For one thing, with so many all-natural, unpreserved, and uncolored treats available today, we think owners can afford to be choosier about their dogs’ treats. Filling aside, we’re even more concerned about the bones themselves.
Dental dangers
There are two main knocks on dogs chewing bones: dental and gastrointestinal concerns.
Frank J.M. Verstraete, DVM, a diplomate of the American Veterinary Dental College and a professor of dentistry and oral surgery at the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, agreed to evaluate a variety of cooked treat bones with regard to dental health. We brought him a bag full of commercial recreational chew bones to examine – roasted, smoked, dried, meat-on, hollow, stuffed, and so on. From his perspective, he says, none are safe for canine consumption.
“Basically, the main rule that we use is that you should be able to make an impression in the item with your thumbnail,” he says. “If you cannot, it’s too hard.” All the bones in our bag flunked his test.
Dr. Verstraete explains that hard, dried bones present an opportunity for dogs to crack premolars while gnawing. (There are four premolars on each side of the upper and lower jaws, directly behind the canine teeth.) Fresh, raw bones are preferable, but once they dry out they also pose a problem. In fact, on the day we interviewed him, he’d treated two dogs – both described by their owners as non-aggressive chewers – who had broken teeth on desiccated raw bones.
Nature’s Variety uses a slow-roasting process they say makes the cooked bone less brittle and hard. According to company president Bob Milligan, the final products have a moisture content of about 10 to 12 percent. “It probably is softer and contains more moisture at the time of manufacturing,” allowed Dr. Verstraete when he looked over some Nature’s Variety bones. “But once this has been on a shelf for a while, it’s too dry.”
Whether certain types of bones – say, ribs or bones from younger animals – tend to be safer is an open question. Dr. Verstraete says all evidence either way is purely anecdotal. But the extra-hard bones sometimes designated as appropriate for “aggressive chewers”? Steer clear. “Much too hard,” he says. “Good for a hyena, but not for a dog.”
While he is very critical of cooked and dried bones, Dr. Verstraete doesn’t go so far as to proscribe bones entirely, especially if a dog has been brought up on bones and uses them regularly for recreational chewing.
“As long as it’s a fresh bone, and an appropriate size and shape for the dog,” he says, letting your dog chew is fine. Dr. Verstraete recommends condyles (the lumpy knobs at the end of bones) over the tubular, middle portions of leg bones, because they are softer. Those leg bones are cortical bones, which have a high resistance to bending and torsion.
Cathy Dyer, DVM, a colleague of Dr. Verstraete’s at UC Davis, says the size of the bone is also very important. “For those people who really want to give their dog a bone – because let’s face it, it does really clean the teeth – I’ve always said give a great big bone, like a beef knuckle bone,” she says. The idea is to provide a bone that’s too large for a dog to get between his jaws and bear down, which could lead to tooth damage.
Splinters
In addition to posing dental dangers, bones can also do something else: splinter. The reality is that virtually any bone, cooked or not, can splinter or break in the right circumstances. However, the manufacturers we spoke with said complaints about splintering were virtually nil.
Bob Milligan of Nature’s Variety says the secret to safer bones lies in the selection. “We try to select bones like the ham bone, which is the main femur bone of the pig,” he explains. “That is a medium hardness bone, either in the raw or roasted state. We found that the slow roasting helps soften that bone so splintering has not been a problem. We sell literally hundreds of thousands of those bones and have not had problems. I should add we always caution the pet caregiver to supervise the pet with bones, whether the bones are raw or slow-roasted.”
Jeff Baikie of Redbarn says his company has fielded “a few” complaints. “Any manufacturer who tells you different is probably lying,” he says. “But it’s very, very limited. What you’re worried about is splintering, and splinters getting lodged in the dog’s throat or intestines. But for the number of bones we sell, we might get three complaints a year, and we’re talking million and millions of bones.”
Then again, some said they were aware of problems with certain types of bones. “We have had requests from some customers to make a sterilized bone; they want it boiled, free of meat,” says Milligan, adding that Nature’s Variety does not make such a bone. “The problem we had, and why we did not pursue it, is the bones became very brittle, almost like glass. You could literally drop them and they would break or crack.”
Breaking bones
That was certainly our own experience in our informal test lab – the backyard of the editorial office of WDJ. Just for kicks, we decided to subject a wide range of commercial bones and some plain old “butcher bones” to some admittedly unscientific tests, to compare how the different products responded to various physical pressures. We included raw frozen bones, raw thawed bones, and a number of commercially prepared bones, including those with attached meat and tissues, sterilized bones, slow-roasted bones, joints, long bones, and even rib bones. Some of these commercial products were from the companies whose representatives we interviewed, while others were either not labeled or were competing brands.
While we did not attempt to exactly simulate the forces applied by a dog’s teeth and jaws, we did subject each of them to a couple of light taps with a hammer, as well as a brief session of squeezing in a large iron vise. What we found was disheartening.
Every bone yielded to our tests – some even shattered like porcelain, leaving behind razor-sharp shards, and others resisted several whacks and/or turns of the vise before cracking. The raw bones were marginally softer, as was a ham bone from Nature’s Variety; these cracked and flaked apart. Still, they yielded small pieces. If ingested, what havoc could these splinters wreak on a dog’s mouth, throat, or stomach?
In the vise test, we wanted to approximate the pressure caused by a dog’s jaws closing down on a bone. Once again our test bones gave way – although the Nature’s Variety dry-roasted ham bone (which included condyles) did best, changing shape but not splitting or breaking.
When the bones cracked in the vise, they splintered. Some, like Smokehouse’s roasted rib bone, lost small, crumbly chunks; others, like Redbarn’s plain white bone, split up their length and fell apart. Even the moist raw bones split off sharp shards.
At the end of our experiment, sitting amid the rubble of broken bones and needle-sharp shards, we had some decisions to make.
We decided that it would be courting danger to recommend giving any cooked treat bones to a dog with large, strong jaws and an aggressive chewing style. Any of the offerings could be reduced to a pile of potentially harmful pieces or could cause a broken tooth.
For moderate chewers or small dogs, we could see giving them an extra-large bone – one that they couldn’t fit between their back teeth – and keeping a watchful eye on their activity.
Garth Merrick responded to our concerns by acknowledging that dangers do exist.
“There’s no question, if you break one it’s going to have some sharp edges,” he says. “If the customer will use common sense, I really think the amount of risk is minimized.”
Proper sizing, he says, is most crucial.
“If the people who buy the bones will size the bone to the size of the dog’s jaws and keep it big enough so they cannot fit it in and bear down with their back teeth, they cannot put enough pressure on it to break it,” he says. “Even though there is a risk, there are millions of satisfied people whose dogs have never had a problem.”
Laura Herr of Jones Natural Chews agreed that owner supervision and sizing were important, but also took it a step further, noting that certain types of bones are less prone to problems.
“There are several bones that do not splinter,” she says. “If you put a shank bone or a knee cap from the knee joint to your test, neither of these bones will splinter even for the most aggressive chewer. Any knuckle bone does not present danger of splinters. The bones that do splinter for the aggressive chewer are the straight bones, which we call center bones.”
Should you avoid bones entirely? There’s no easy answer, and it’s an individual decision. Some dogs will do fine on just about any sort of bone, while others will make mincemeat of even bones that are considered very safe.
After collecting chips, shards, and sharp fragments of bone from our testing grounds, we can’t help but think that sometimes it’s better not to give your dog that bone.
– Ask your dog-loving friends about the location of dog-friendly beaches.
– Follow all posted rules at the beach, without exception.
– Call your dog back to you frequently, giving her a delicious treat each time she comes.
– There are many hazards at the beach, so keep a sharp eye out for sleeper waves, wildlife, and people who don’t like dogs.
Oh the joy of romping on a sandy beach! Splashing in the surf! Wind blowing in your hair, the smell of seaweed and wet sand and the cry of gulls! You and your best friend together regardless of weather.
Sounds romantic and it can be. Most dogs love the beach. If your pup is one of them, you certainly want to give him the opportunity. Besides, you can have a lot of fun, too.
But those of us who live near the shore know that there are also downsides and dangers to beachcombing with canine buddies. As long as you are aware of these, everything will be great. You’ll come home completely de-stressed, and accompanied by a thoroughly worn-out furry friend.
One of the reasons you go to the beach is because of the open space. You can walk and your dog can often run free. So, first thing, get solid ID tags. Even if your dog has an implanted identification microchip, make sure he is wearing easily readable ID tags on his collar. Dogs can get hypnotized by the endless rush of waves, blinded by the glare, and deaf to your calls.
Dogs have keen vision, but it’s better in dim light than bright light, which can nearly blind them. This doesn’t seem to bother them, as they also use their superior sense of smell and hearing to navigate, but it can make it difficult for them to see you if you allow them to get too far away, so keep them close.
Bright sunlight can also mean sunburn for eyes and pink noses and the skin of white short-haired dogs like Dalmatians, Staffordshires, or Boxers. “Doggles” are what you might guess (goggles for dogs), and offer excellent eye protection for the sandy bright beach and for riding in open vehicles. The maker also offers sunburn protection creme and other goodies for the outdoor dog; see www.doggles.com.
There’s no such thing as hearing enhancement for dogs, though. The wonderful susurrus of white noise caused by the surf can make your buddy deaf to your calls – another reason to keep your dog close by.
The beach and surf are chock full of alluring smells and if your hound is only an occasional visitor to the beach, these new smells are totally bewitching. Taking into account sight, sound, and smell, your dog can get high on the whole beach thing. It’s wise to have some ground rules before you go. This means doing some training.
Teach your dog to respond to hand signals (see “Teaching Hand Signals,” WDJ October 2002). Walking on the beach is much more relaxing once your dog knows to occasionally look back and watch you for the signals to come, down, or go play.
To entice your dog to return to you more quickly, keep doggie snacks in your pocket. I’d recommend the ones that don’t melt easily with heat or moisture. Just be ready to be the center of attention for every dog within scent range. You’ll be amazed at how many dogs you attract and how polite they can be if you offer treats.
Overcoming Irritations
Sand. That’s the biggest irritation at the beach. Regular beachgoers know they will never get all the sand out of their car, house, hair, and clothes. Dogs love to dig and roll in the sand and even throw it in the air. If your doggie will let you vacuum him when you get home, as my old Australian Shepherd did, that’s heaven. On hot days, you can rinse your dog with fresh water. Generally, though, you and sand will have to learn to co-exist. I draw the line at my bed.
Day-old seawater stinks, especially in the heat. An hour after you leave the beach your dog will reek. Luckily, when the coat dries, the smell usually goes away. The quicker your pup dries, the better. Keep a pile of old towels in your car to scrub the coat well. He’ll like this as dried salt itches.
Drinking seawater won’t hurt a dog if she just takes a lap or two. Bring plenty of fresh sweet water with you to the beach, and offer it to your dog frequently. Soon she’ll learn to come to you for a drink instead of trying the salt water.
Another good reason to keep your dog close by is to prevent them from rolling in dead things, which are abundant at the shore. Dead fish, birds, marine mammals, and even stinky dead sea plants are like perfume to dogs. GROSS!
Danger in the Dunes
At least reeking smells aren’t dangerous. Up to now, I’ve talked about irritations, but there are dangerous things on the beach – the tide being the first and foremost. You should always know the tide schedule before you go for a walk on the beach. Knowing the tide schedule is especially important if you’re walking along cliffs or undercut dunes where you wouldn’t be able to escape an incoming tide. One of the easiest ways to get the tide schedule for the day is to go online. Sports stores and marina offices will have booklets.
I personally love going to the beach on stormy days – wind, high surf – but keep your dog away from the water. Sleeper waves can snatch him away from you, and rolling logs can crush him. I’ve seen storm surges throw ton-weight stumps high up into the dunes like twigs. Very impressive. Very scary.
Dogs who are not used to ocean swimming should be introduced to waves on a calm day. Water that pulls and pushes is unsettling at first and the smallest waves can knock dogs off their feet and tumble them. Dogs who are natural swimmers learn to handle wave action quickly if given that easy time. My old Aussie became an excellent body surfer. That was his thrill. He turned into such a daredevil I’d put his life jacket on to keep him safe.
And, if the hot sand is too warm for your bare feet, it’s too hot for your pooch’s. His poor pads can burn and blister. Get him onto your blanket or into the water quickly.
You need to be the boss about where your dog can and can’t go. Be considerate and keep your pup out of tide pools. Like human kids left unmonitored, dogs will crush those fragile plants and animals. Often, tide pools are in rocky areas. Wet rocks are extremely slippery and razor sharp from barnacles. I always keep a first aid kit in the truck with a tube of antibiotic cream.
Dogs can be very destructive to wildlife. A dog on a mission can wipe out a dozen ground level nest sites in minutes. A quick Terrier can kill the fastest ground squirrel. Sea birds are safe unless they’re injured or sick. Don’t mess with sick critters. Keeping your dog away from them may be difficult because your pooch will want to investigate the smell, the movement, the sounds. But even an inexperienced city dog can draw upon his genetic heritage and do some serious damage to a “prey” animal, fast.
The opposite is true, too. A pair of Canadian geese will give way to a dog but a flock will turn and attack. It’s ugly to get pecked by a dozen big hissing geese. The one time my Dalmatian/ Aussie mix, Gryphon, met a black bear, thankfully, it was a second year cub and it ran. Talk about a heart stopping moment as I watched the black furry butt and the spotted white butt careening down the shore. Yes, the Oregon coast has a substantial population of black bears, most of whom avoid people and hate dogs.
A word about seals and sea lions. Early in the morning, at night, or during storms, seals will come into the surf line. On very isolated beaches, mother seals will leave the kids alone on the beach while they hunt. Even dogs who are calm and composed around “regular” livestock can go bananas when faced with the exotic sight, sound, and smells of marine mammals. This can be dangerous to the dog, of course, if the bull or protective mother attacks. It’s more likely that your dog will scare and even possibly wound a young seal, or frighten a mother into leaving her baby. If you see something that looks like a seal or sea lion off in the distance, head the other way, or put that leash back on, quick.
Leashes on the Beach?
For each dog owner who is overly obsessive about keeping his dog on a leash there is one who insists the dog run free no matter what. Both attitudes can get a dog and dog owner in trouble. Read and obey the signs at the trail head or beach entrance.
One note of advice: If you meet up with another leashed dog and there is acrimony, let the dogs off the leashes. For some reason, dogs on leashes will have at each other much more readily than free-ranging dogs.
Go ahead and leash your dog whenever you meet other people; never forget that some people have strong anti-dog attitudes. Offer your dog a treat every time you snap the leash on, and let him off again frequently; this way, he’ll learn that going on leash is just as enjoyable as getting let off.
Train your dog not to spontaneously jump up on people and to sit on command from a distance. That helps. Be wary of people walking along the beach without dogs. We have met vacationing individuals who are dog-lonely and love having a chance to catch up on dog smooches. Mostly though, people alone want to stay that way.
If a family with small children doesn’t have dogs with them, there’s a better than even chance that the little ones will be terrified of dogs. Then there’s the problem of the over-trusting child. If a child wants to romp with your dog, set rules and stick to them for the kid’s safety and for your legal protection.
All in all, just be aware. Not everyone wants instant friendship from an 80-pound Golden or even a 5-pound Peke. It’s no fun having a strange mutt rampage through your picnic. Practice those hand signals, or get your dog back on his leash.
After all these do’s and don’ts, if you’re righteously intimidated about exploring the shore with your doggie, that’s a good thing. Caution and care are important. Having a really good time is always predicated on feeling secure, being in control, and being prepared. Mostly, dogs on the beach just want to have fun.
Ann Fillmore is a freelance writer from Reedsport, Oregon. This is her first article for WDJ.
1. If you don’t know what foxtails look like, ask another dog owner to point them out to you.
2. Eliminate foxtails in your yard; organize a foxtail-pulling party at your local dog park.
3. At the height of foxtail “season” (when the plants are dry), avoid walking your dog in infested areas.
4. Thoroughly examine your dog after walks in foxtail areas.
One day in early May, my husband and I took Lucky, our 15-month-old Belgian Shepherd mix, for an off-leash hike at a regional park near our Oakland, California, home. Lucky was playing Fearsome Predator, stalking us in the tall grasses near the trail and then tearing off at full speed.
We were laughing at her antics when a fellow hiker stopped to watch.
“That’s really cute,” the woman said, “but you should watch out for foxtails when the weather gets warmer.”
Huh? Foxes?
“No, foxtails,” she repeated. “Those weeds over there. When they get dry the seeds can get in dogs’ ears or up their noses, which means an expensive vet visit.”
She was gesturing to a stand of green, fuzzy, tall grass that looked distinctly unthreatening.
“Is this your first dog in California?” she asked at our perplexed looks. We nodded; both of us had grown up on the East Coast. “Foxtails get to be a big problem out here,” she explained. “Starting in June, I won’t be walking my dog here again until fall.”
We thanked her and she hiked on. Foxtails? Interesting. I resolved to learn more.
Three weeks later I did – the hard way. During another off-leash hike, Lucky chased a lizard and got a mouthful of that fuzzy grass, which was now turning brown and sere. After that, she kept trying to eat grass – the regular kind, not the foxtail. And in the car on the way home, she began hacking and coughing alarmingly. I called our veterinarian and told her what happened.
“Foxtails? Bring her in immediately!” she ordered.
When we arrived, an assistant gave me a rapid-fire explanation of what they might have to do: sedate Lucky, reach into her mouth and throat and attempt to remove any lodged foxtails with a special instrument.
Just then, Lucky vomited. Up came the grass she’d eaten – along with six prickly foxtail seeds. The veterinarian and her assistant were thrilled. A subsequent exam of Lucky’s throat and mouth suggested the coast was now clear. She was still hacking occasionally, but the vet believed it was just from the irritation the foxtails had caused. Any that Lucky had actually swallowed, she said, should pass through without too much trouble, although I was to keep a close eye on her.
The storm passed – as did another four foxtails! – but it taught me a lesson: these subtle little seeds could cause big problems. And many dog owners aren’t aware of the potential dangers: irritation, infection, chronic illness, and in some cases, death.
Foxtail Facts
“Foxtail” is a generic term that’s often applied to several species of wild grasses, but is specifically associated with a type of wild barley (Hordeum jubatum) that is indigenous to the western United States.
Foxtail is common all up and down the West Coast but has also spread across the country, according to the U.S. Forest Service, populating all but seven states: Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. It’s also found throughout most of Canada, as well as in some areas of Mexico.
The weed tends to grow in grassland areas and is common along roadsides, trails, and areas that include human disturbance, such as dumps. It also grows well along the edges of salt marshes, on flatlands and Western prairies, and in irrigated meadows.
Foxtails grow quickly with winter and spring rains. As they mature, a seed forms at the top of the stalk. With its, soft, bushy appearance, the seed, which is comprised of numerous seed heads, looks like a fox’s tail – hence the name.
As the plant begins to dry out in the summer months, the seed heads, also known as awns, become brittle and fall off the plant. As they continue to dry, the long foxtail breaks into smaller and smaller segments, with each sharp-pointed awn sporting a few long bristles. Viewed under a magnifying glass, each bristle is covered with an infinite number of microscopic barbs. If an animal brushes by the dry plant (or steps on it, sniffs it, rolls on it, lies on it, ad nauseum), the microscopic barbs catch on its fur.
Sometimes the awn falls from the animal’s fur on its own. However, if the awn doesn’t fall out, or it hooks into another area of the animal, that’s when the trouble starts.
Foxtails are Designed to Burrow
Catherine Dyer, DVM, diplomate of the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners and a lecturer at the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, says it’s the barbs that make the awns so dangerous.
“Any kind of plant awn could potentially be a problem, but the classic foxtail seems to be the worst,” she says. “It has a point so it can penetrate and go up into little orifices, and it migrates in one direction – it doesn’t go backward.”
If you pick up a foxtail awn and stroke it with your fingers, you’ll quickly learn why this plant is so dangerous to dogs. The microscopic barbs facilitate the awn’s movement in one direction, following the sharp point of the seed. But you can’t rub the bristle the other way; the tiny barbs catch and prevent the backward movement of the bristle. If you force it, the bristle breaks off, leaving the rest of the awn behind.
Dogs often pick up foxtails between their toes; the flexing motion of the dog’s feet helps the foxtail work deeper and deeper between the toes, until it pierces the skin (and keeps going). It’s also extremely common for dogs to get foxtails in their nostrils as they sniff and smell in the grass on a walk. Other common foxtail sites for foxtails to embed include the dog’s ears, eyes, and throats.
“They can swallow them or actually aspirate them into the airways, which is very dangerous,” says Dr. Dyer.
Foxtails have also found their way into dogs’ anuses, vaginas, penile sheaths, or open wounds.
Once inside the dog, awns continue to burrow inward. If they’re not found and removed quickly, they can literally disappear, because they won’t show up on an x-ray. An awn that has crept into the dog will continue to travel throughout her body, often leaving a hollow tract behind it, until it either comes up against something it can’t go through (such as bone), or pops out through the skin.
Foxtails cannot be absorbed by the dog’s body, nor can they be broken down or digested, says Dr. Dyer, although if an awn is swallowed and reaches the stomach, it will probably just pass through. Foxtails that insinuate their way deep into the dog’s body can be there to stay. Autopsies have discovered foxtails in dogs’ glands, hearts, brains, lungs, livers, and other organs.
Detailing the Dangers of Foxtails to Dogs
The two main dangers posed by foxtails are foreign-body reactions and infections, says Dr. Dyer. The levels of the threat range from irritating, as when a foxtail invades the webbing between a dog’s toes and causes an abscess, to medical emergencies.
“What’s really dangerous is when they penetrate the body wall through the chest wall or the abdominal wall,” she says. “Those cases are life-threatening.”
Even if the body cavity isn’t penetrated, foxtails can lead to serious consequences.
Randy Acker, DVM, author of Field Guide to Dog First Aid: Emergency Care for the Outdoor Dog and owner of the Sun Valley Animal Center in Ketchum, Idaho, frequently treats dogs who’ve tangled with foxtails. He says even an awn lodged in the nose can be deadly serious if not removed.
“If foxtails get deep into the nasal passages, they can continue to travel into the brain and cause seizures or death,” he says.
Foxtails can also cause tissue necrosis.
“Then something like aspergillosis (a common fungus) can grow in dead tissues,” says Dr. Acker. “Once established, it’s pretty devastating; it can be as serious as cancer.”
Foxtails in the ears can rupture eardrums or cause chronic ear infections, while foxtails in the eye can lead to blindness. Inhaled foxtails can affect the lungs, causing infections and necessitating major surgery – including the removal of lung lobes.
Even if the foxtail doesn’t cause the problem, it can create a conduit for outside infection. Dirt-borne bacteria, such as Actinomyces bovis and Nocardia asteroides, can be introduced into the body cavity by a burrowing awn and can wreak havoc. Pneumonia is not an uncommon result when an awn enters a lung.
Discospondylitis, an infection of the spinal vertebra and intervertebral discs, can be introduced by foxtail migration, according to the Southern California Veterinary Surgical Group. Foxtails can cause conjunctivitis if they become lodged in the eye. And a number of other opportunistic infections, such as blastomycosis, can occur when an awn enters a dog’s body.
Which Dogs are at Risk?
Almost any outdoor dog can encounter foxtails. Dogs with long fur are more likely to pick up and retain foxtails than their short-haired brethren, although foxtails can latch on to the fur between any dog’s paws and are indiscriminate when it comes to nostrils and other orifices. Prick-eared dogs may be more likely to get foxtails in their ears than dogs with hanging ears.
At particular risk are dogs who spend a good deal of their time out in the field. Michael Guerin, a physician and hunting enthusiast who lives in South Dakota, discovered this firsthand a few years ago with his English Pointer, Tess. After a long and successful hunting season, he discovered a lump along the dog’s ribcage.
Guerin’s kept an eye on the lump, which he said felt rather hard, unlike a typical abscess.
“After a couple of days it was probably golf-ball sized,” he said. “English Pointers have a tendency to get rhabdomyosarcoma, so I thought, ‘Oh, maybe it’s cancer.’ ”
His vet removed the lump and a biopsy turned up no cancerous cells. The vet suggested there had been a foreign body in there but found no sign of it. But Guerin wasn’t satisfied and asked to see the pathology report, which included a reference to a tract. Something clicked in his mind.
“I’d never had a dog with foxtail, but I’d read an article probably 15 years ago about a dog that had a foxtail that came out the eye and it mentioned tracts,” he said. “So as soon as I saw that it said ‘tract’, I thought, I bet that’s what the dog had.”
Meanwhile, the wound wasn’t healing well. A small hole marked its center and it continued to drain fluid. Guerin brought Tess to another vet for a second opinion and shared his foxtail theory. Sure enough, in a five-hour exploratory procedure the vet discovered an awn lodged in the pleura of a lung – dangerously close to the lung itself.
The experience was a wakeup call for Guerin, and when one of Tess’s pups, Annie, developed a similar lump a year later, he didn’t hesitate.
“I found another vet who had had experience with foxtails,” he said. “So that dog was operated on by her and they got it out while it was still relatively shallow.”
Guerin has become far more vigilant with his hunting dogs as a result.
“As much as possible, I’ll avoid grasses that have awns,” he said. “But there’s always going to be some foxtail around there, and if they happen to be hunting in foxtail, I’ll check them over thoroughly afterward.”
How to Prevent Foxtail Problems for Your Dog
1. Avoid foxtail-infested areas in “foxtail season”- from early summer, when foxtails and surrounding grasses start to dry, until the fall or winter wet season eliminates the foxtail threat.
2. If you must walk your dog in areas where foxtails grow, keep him on leash and on the trail to help reduce his chances of encountering the awns.
3. To keep your dog from inhaling or ingesting a foxtail awn, don’t allow him to play fetch anywhere near foxtails. Don’t allow hunting or tracking dogs to sniff around foxtails.
4. If you have foxtails in your yard, keep the plants mowed while they are still green to help prevent them from going to seed. Better yet, pull the grasses up by hand and
deposit the whole plants directly into a garbage bag or compost bin.
5. If your dog is long-haired, trim all the hair between his toes, over the top of his toes and feet, from his legs, around his ears, his vent, and his belly. Short hair helps deny the foxtails the resistance they need to migrate deeper into the dog’s skin.
6. Keep your dog well groomed. Foxtails readily work their way into mats, but can be easily brushed out of a clean, untangled coat.
7. Most importantly, after every outdoor experience in a foxtail zone, check your dog from head to toe. Examine the space between each and every toe and underneath
his feet. Look in his armpits, groin, anal area, and ears.
8. Keep alert for suspicious lumps, bumps, or swellings on your dog. Look for limping or excessive licking of toes, head-shaking, sneezing, or a glued-shut eye.
9. If your dog exhibits any of the symptoms of having a foxtail, take him to a veterinarian as soon as possible – that day!
The Foxtail Reality Check
So how often does the worst-case scenario occur? While she has no hard-and-fast numbers on mortality rates as a consequence of foxtail-related illnesses, Dr. Dyer says the extremes are rare.
“Deaths would be the exception, although certainly we have them,” says Dr. Dyer. “Foxtails into the body cavity would probably be the least common problem we have.”
It’s much more likely for a dog to suffer a foxtail in the nose, ear, or paw.
“Depending on where it is in the body, many times you remove it and you’re done with it,” she says. “If it’s gotten inside and created an infection, then you often have to treat with antibiotics.”
However, when foxtails do dig deep, the consequences for a dog – and the veterinary bills – can become daunting.
The best way to eliminate foxtail danger is to avoid it completely. If that’s not possible, there are steps owners can take to minimize the risks (see sidebar, opposite page). But with even a minor foxtail incident, a quick response is the best medicine.
“Early intervention by your vet is important,” stressed Dr. Dyer – as is an awareness of the problem. Michael Guerin speaks soberly about what might have happened to his prized hunting dog if he hadn’t suspected a foxtail was behind her problems.
“In hindsight, I am so glad I had read that article about the awn,” he said. “And people should keep things like that in mind. If you have a little bit of an index of suspicion, that’s a good thing.”
C.C. Holland is a freelance writer from Oakland, California, who enjoys applying what she learns about canine health and behavior to her own mixed-breed dog, Lucky.
The lampshade, satellite dish, or cone – no matter what you call it, it is hard not to alternately laugh and feel sorry for any dog wearing one. Often used after surgical procedures, these cone-shaped collars are designed to keep dogs from licking sutures or wounds, potentially opening the wounds or tearing the stitches. They are also used to keep a dog with an injury or surgical site on his head from scratching it with his paws.
In most cases, dogs wear the protective collars for a few days post-surgery until the incision has healed. Other times, dogs wear them for longer periods to help with problems such as lick granulomas, excessive itchiness, hot spots, or other wounds that take longer to heal.
Some dogs are just fine with wearing these protective collars, and others go bonkers. My Boxer, Tyler, is one of those dogs that goes bonkers with a traditional Elizabethan collar. First he freezes. Then he starts pawing at it and fighting it until he threatens to hurt himself or someone else. It’s difficult to keep him quiet enough so that he can heal properly.
This past spring, after surgery to remove a growth on his elbow, we had the opportunity to try out a number of different types of collars and other products to keep him away from the incision. He came home from the surgery with the vet-supplied Elizabethan collar. But as soon as we unleashed him in the house, he started trying to remove the collar forcibly. Then we started exploring our options.
Following is a summary of the products we used to restrict access to his incision. We readily ascertained that all of the products were effective for certain purposes (thus our top rating for each), although Tyler was more comfortable with some than others.
When considering what to use for your dog, keep the location of his wound in mind (some products are better than others at preventing his access to different parts of his body). But also take into consideration his personality, energy level, and general ability to adapt to different circumstances. Consider, too, the other animals in the house, because some of these products can be helpful to the dog wearing them, but disruptive or “scary” to those around him.
Finally, if your dog has to wear some sort of collar for longer than a few days, you might want to try different products for different circumstances. For instance, one might work great when you are supervising him, another is better when he’s unattended, and another one might work best for sleeping. With a little experimentation, you’re sure to find a product that helps your dog heal in comfort.
Conventional cones
Veterinary clinics usually provide their clients with classic Elizabethan collars made of thick plastic. The cone-shaped collars fasten around the dog’s neck and are tied with a string or length of gauze. They can be made somewhat more comfortable by taping the sometimes sharp edges. Typically opaque, they limit the dog’s peripheral vision. Some dogs may bump into door frames or walls with the stiff collar, which can be jarring and noisy.
There are plenty of dogs that do just fine with a traditional Elizabethan collar. Unfortunately, my dog Tyler isn’t one of them. He fought this collar at every opportunity. It also upset our other dog, who acted wary of Tyler in the collar and startled at the noise it created when Tyler bumped against things.
The traditional Elizabethan Collar was provided by our veterinarian. On the advice of a friend, I looked for and found a very similar collar for less money at our local Petco.
The Pet Botanics E-Collar is a twist on the traditional Elizabethan collar. This version is translucent, so it does not limit the dog’s peripheral vision like the traditional opaque collars do. The E-Collar also comes in translucent colors such as blue and pink. It is padded with a layer of vinyl around the neck for increased comfort, and uses plastic snaps to close the collar at the proper size. The Pet Botanics’ collars are made of a lighter-weight (but still sturdy) plastic than the vet-supplied Elizabethan collars.
For some dogs, the E-Collar could be a good option because of the increased visibility and lighter weight. Tyler however, reacted to this collar much like he did the traditional model.
We purchased the E-Collar from a local Petco. They are also available from Petco’s Web site, where they range in price from $10.50 to $21, depending on the size.
Ring around the collar
A different take on the Elizabethan collar, the Soft-E-Collar™ looks more like a life preserver than a cone. It is a vinyl-covered foam pillow that prevents the dog from reaching his incisions or wounds. Because of its flat shape, it doesn’t obscure the dog’s vision the way a cone does, but does block access to his body and most of his extremities. This does depend somewhat on the flexibility of your dog and the length of his muzzle and tongue.
It is much easier for a dog to go about his normal business with the Soft-E-Collar. It doesn’t get in the way of eating or drinking. Your dog can still play catch, tug, and other games while wearing the collar. It also is less noisy and jarring if the dog bumps against anything while wearing it.
On the down side, the Soft-E-Collar, like traditional Elizabethan collars, ties around the dog’s neck with a string. When we tried this collar on Tyler, we made the mistake of looping the string around his regular flat collar. This nearly caused a serious problem when Tyler used both front paws to swiftly push the Soft-E over his head, which caused his regular collar to start to choke him. If your dog is really committed to trying to get the collar off, this is not the most secure choice.
Bracing difference
The Bite Not Collar closely resembles a cervical collar used for whiplash in people; in fact, its manufacturer says the collar can be used for a dog’s cervical stabilization. This well-padded plastic collar fits snugly around the dog’s neck, fastening with Velcro. It has a nylon chest strap that fastens behind the front legs to keep the collar properly in place.
The Bite Not collar works by limiting the extent to which the dog can bend his neck to reach various parts of his body. This means the collar works well to prevent dogs from licking their rear ends – back, rump, base of tail, flanks, chest, abdomen, genitals – but, depending on the flexibility of the dog and the length of his legs, he may be able to lick his feet. Also, this collar won’t keep a dog with a problem on his head (such as an ear hematoma or infected eye) from scratching or rubbing his head with his paws.
Tyler didn’t react negatively to this collar at all. He played tug with our other dog and even fetched his ball a few times while wearing it. The manufacturers say that the dog should be able to eat and drink while wearing the collar; Tyler couldn’t. He also was not able to lower his head much and therefore was not able to pick up anything from the ground. It’s possible that he would have more freedom of movement with a different size collar, although I’m not sure if a smaller size would sufficiently restrict access to his wound.
Bite Not Products sells its collars through veterinarians and through some catalog outlets. You can ask your veterinarian to order one for you; we ordered direct from the Omaha Vaccine Company at (800) 367-4444 or www.omahavaccine.com.
Something different
K9 Top Coat’s Lycra Bodysuit represents a totally different tack to take when trying to prevent a dog’s self-mutilation. As you might imagine, the Lycra Bodysuit is a full body suit made of stretchy Lycra, which completely covers the dog except for his head, paws, and between the legs (so it doesn’t inhibit elimination). It’s easy to put on and take off, machine washable, and very durable.
Given its design, the coat is not indicated for protecting head wounds or preventing paw-licking; the manufacturer recommends using it over dressed wounds and for allergy and hot spot control. An optional, detachable panel can be purchased to cover a spay or neuter surgical incision.
While we imagine that some dogs might chew themselves right through the fabric, this wasn’t the case with Tyler; even though he was obsessed with licking his wound when he was not wearing the coat, he seemed to forget all about it once the coat was on. What’s more, it didn’t irritate his wound, and Tyler was more comfortable, had complete freedom of movement, and looked cute!
The Lycra Bodysuit was the most expensive option we found, so it may be a better solution for long-term problems such as allergies than post-surgical healing.
In a few cases where the Lycra Bodysuit is indicated, a simple T-shirt might work, too. It depends on the location and type of your dog’s wound or problem. Many people use T-shirts on their dogs after spaying or neutering, and find it’s the only thing their dog needs to leave the incision alone.
We weren’t so lucky with Tyler. A T-shirt didn’t keep him from licking his post-surgery bandage. However, it worked for our Great Dane, Booker, after gastropexy (stomach tacking) surgery for bloat, even though the T-shirt covered only about half of his long incision.
Depending on the size of your dog, you might be able to use one of your own T-shirts, or use a child’s or infant’s T-shirt. People T-shirts fit best on dogs when they are put on so the tag is on the dog’s chest under his chin. Gather up the loose material around the dog’s waist and either knot it, or use a hair scrunchy to hold it gathered up on the dog’s back.
-Shannon Wilkinson is a TTouch practitioner who lives with two dogs, two cats, and a husband in Portland, Oregon.
I’ve had a number of older owners book lessons with me lately—more than half a dozen individuals and couples in their 70s and even 80s, all wanting some training help with their new dogs or puppies.
