I used to show my dogs in competitive obedience. In the beginning, the opportunity to earn obedience titles and show off my dog’s training appealed to me greatly. But as I evolved toward positive training methods and a more fulfilling relationship with my dogs, the military precision of the show ring lost its charm. I realized that it made no sense to have a relationship with my canine pals based on warm interaction and communication outside the ring, only to march in cold silence next to my dogs inside the ring. I stopped showing and turned my efforts toward family dog training and activities that were more fun and flexible, like agility and canine freestyle.
I’m not alone; lots of people have dropped out of competitive obedience events for similar reasons. But finally someone has done something to bring me and those like me back into the ring.
A Need for Competitive Obedience
Charles (Bud) Kramer is a long-time dog sport enthusiast who was instrumental in the introduction and promotion of canine agility in this country in the early 1980s. On December 5, 1998, he was munching a sandwich in his Kansas State University office while reading a dog magazine. The author of the article was fussing about the fact that fewer new dog owners interested in performance activities were pursuing competitive obedience. Traditional obedience was failing to win new followers because dog owners were increasingly drawn to other canine sports.
As Kramer thought about (and agreed with) the article, he speculated that the rigid format of competitive obedience was largely responsible for the decline in participation.
Rather than dismissing the issue, he did something about it! He invented Rally Style Obedience, a canine sport so new that there haven’t even been any official competitions yet. But there will be soon. Kramer has been in negotiations with the American Kennel Club, and it is anticipated that this sport will be available as an AKC non-regular class at dog shows in the fall of this year. While the AKC events will be restricted to purebred dogs only, there is nothing to prevent 4-H groups, mixed breed dog clubs, humane societies and other organizations from offering Rally Obedience competitions for all dogs. Want to get in on the ground floor of this exciting new activity? Read on.
Rally Excitement
Rally Style Obedience was created to provide a forum for obedience training that emphasizes fun and excitement for the dog, handler and spectator, by allowing for a more natural approach to the performance. Most of us talk to our dogs when we train. We work as partners, as a team. We praise and reward our dogs when they do well, and encourage them when they are unsure of themselves. The competition format for Rally Obedience closely mimics the real human/canine relationship by allowing natural interaction between handler and dog even in the ring.
“It was pretty simple,” says Kramer. “It took 10 minutes to come up with the idea, and another 18 months to put it all together. I just took all of the elements that make agility so popular – the fact that you can talk to your dog; that it’s fast moving and done on a continuous course without pauses for judges’ instructions and scoring; and that the course is variable, with different course outlines and variations in exercises. By the time I finished my sandwich the concept had gelled.”
The name “Rally” comes from the use of directional signs rather than a judge’s commands to prompt the handler/dog team to perform the next exercise, similar to the popular sport of Road Rally for cars.
The course designer selects from 45 different approved Rally exercises and creates a course using 25 to 28 of them. For readers familiar with equestrian sports, this is something like a Grand Prix jumper course. Like riders of Grand Prix jumpers, Rally handlers have the opportunity to walk the course before the class starts, to plan their strategy.
Seven of the Rally exercises may be used more than once in any given course, the rest cannot be repeated. Each directional sign gives instructions for that exercise, and when handler and dog have completed the exercise they move on to the next station.
For example:
• Sign #1: Fast Pace (dog and handle move at a faster-than-normal pace to the next sign)
• Sign #2: Slow Pace (dog and handler drop to a slower-than-normal pace and continue to the next sign)
• Sign #3: Normal Pace (dog and handler proceed to the next sign at a normal pace)
• Sign #4: About Turn Right (dog and handler make a 180 degree turn to the right and proceed back in the direction from which they just came)
• Sign #5: Right Turn (dog and handler make a 90 degree turn to the right)
• Sign #6: Spiral Left, Dog Inside (dog and handler make an increasingly large spiral around four orange cones, with the dog on the inside of the spiral) . . . and so on, until the course is completed.
There are two levels of performance. Level One (entry level) is done on leash. Level Two is off-leash, with more challenging exercises included on the course. Both levels are made up of exercises similar to those found in the Novice level of obedience competition. Kramer anticipates that down the road there may be additional levels that incorporate more advanced exercises from Open and Utility obedience classes.
Judging the Rally Course
Like competition obedience, the dog and handler team enters the Rally course with a perfect score of 200, and points are deducted as either member of the team makes mistakes. However, the similarity ends there.
The Rally handler may repeat verbal and hand signal cues without penalty, and may follow a cue with praise or encouragement. (In the obedience ring this would constitute a significant penalty.) The handler may continue to encourage and praise the dog throughout each exercise, and while the exercise must be performed satisfactorily, the dog’s attitude, attention and response are considered more important in scoring than is exact precision. Ongoing verbal reassurance is also allowed to help prevent a dog from making an error, for example, during the heeling and stay exercises.
The judge follows the dog and handler around the course, marking point deductions for minor to major errors. In order to earn a qualifying score, the team must receive at least 170 points and successfully complete each of the exercises on the course. Point deductions of one-half to three points are subtracted for most errors. If more than five points total are subtracted for any particular exercise, the team does not qualify. Major errors that would result in an automatic non-qualifying score include:
• Failure of the dog to remain in position on a stay exercise
• Failure of the dog to come when called in the recall and “front” exercises
• Knocking over a cone or being on the wrong side of a cone in the spiral and figure-8 exercises
• Failure of the dog to jump over the jumps during the jumping exercises
• Heeling performance in between exercises is also judged, but of course, talking and praise are allowed here too.
Can’t you just imagine it? You’re smiling, laughing, talking to your dog in the show ring, in an excited, happy voice, praising her for doing well. She prances by your side, eyes bright, tail wagging. You and your dog are winning titles and ribbons, and having fun doing it naturally; showing the whole world that the two of you enjoy being together, working, playing, communicating as friends and partners. What a concept!
Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA, is a freelance author and a professional dog trainer in Fairplay, Maryland.
Let’s be clear: In most cases, vaccines are miraculous, life-saving agents. The diseases they (usually) prevent in our dogs range from always fatal (such as rabies) to serious and sometimes fatal (such as distemper, parvovirus, leptospirosis) to the rarely fatal (such as bordetella and coronavirus). And even diseases that are not fatal can cause all sorts of grief for both the dog in question and his owner (and the owner’s pocketbook). Dog lovers the world over are eternally grateful for the gifts that modern vaccines have conferred upon our canine companions.
However, as with most medical breakthroughs, a long period of adjustment and modulation often follows the introduction of a powerful new therapy, as treatments are refined and researchers and practitioners learn how to best use their new tools. The strength of the radiation routinely used for x-rays, for example, is far lower today than it was when the diagnostic technique was first incorporated into hospitals. Birth control pills contain far lower levels of hormones today than they did 10, 20, and 30 years ago, without any loss of effectiveness. Due to new (and growing) concerns over antibiotic-resistant bacteria, doctors no longer gleefully prescribe antibiotics for every single infection (or suspected infection) a person may have.
There are parallel truths for veterinary medicine, as well. Initially hailed as miracle cures for flea infestation (and thereby, for its related diseases), organophosphorus and carbamate insecticides have proved to be fairly toxic, especially at the high relatively concentrations used in early flea control products. Most veterinarians prescribe lower doses of corticosteroids than they once did, due to the numerous side effects now known to be caused by these powerful medicines. And so on.
A growing number of veterinarians are concerned about modern vaccine use, and, from a medical history perspective, this concern is right on time. Veterinary vaccines have been around long enough that their use is considered absolutely routine and expected – so much so that few pet owners balk at the administration of annual vaccinations. Unfortunately, it could be that this overwhelming acceptance of the “standard” vaccine protocols recommended by the veterinary colleges has actually played a part in the increasing frequency of vaccine-associated disease.
A short history
Most dog owners are unaware that the practice of annual administration of most vaccines is, for the most part, based on vaccine manufacturers’ recommendations. Few studies have been conducted to determine how long vaccines are usually effective; after all, why should a company that makes its money by selling vaccines try to determine how many years a dog owner can safely NOT vaccinate?
Veterinarians, who are supposed to have our dogs’ best interests at heart, also have to make a living, and selling vaccination services traditionally represent a healthy share of a vet’s income. To be fair, the “annual vaccination visit” also provides vets with an indisputably valuable tool: The perceived need for yearly shots has provided the strongest tool for compelling dog owners to come to the clinic and allow veterinarians to examine their clients each year – one of the best ways to ensure prompt diagnosis and treatment of disease. And, for many years, most veterinarians found vaccinations to be relatively safe.
But as vaccine use has become more prevalent, so have vaccine-related problems, both acute and chronic. As is often the case, the so-called “alternative” or “holistic” veterinarians were among the first to sound the alarm, and implicate vaccinations in the etiology of disease. The veterinary establishment paid little attention to these claims until respected researchers began to confirm some of those suspicions.
In 1983, W. Jean Dodds, DVM, a veterinarian with a referral practice in hematology and immunology in Santa Monica, California, suggested that autoimmune disease was occurring in certain susceptible animals as the result of over-vaccination. Dr. Dodds’ subsequent research has suggested that the onset of immune-related problems in dogs often coincides with the administration of vaccines.
Defining over-vaccination
Few – if any – veterinarians advocate never vaccinating dogs. For individual dogs and the canine population at large, the benefits of vaccination clearly outweigh its dangers. But the goal is a healthy middle ground: enough vaccinations to confer adequate protection from disease, and not so much immune-system manipulation as to cause health problems. As such, defining and quantifying over-vaccination is the task for veterinary researchers and dog owners alike.
The practice of annual vaccination against all diseases is the first casualty in the war against over-vaccination. A 1992 article in Kirk’s Current Veterinary Therapy by Tom R. Phillips, DVM, and Ronald D. Schultz, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Pathobiological Sciences at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine, called the practice of annual vaccine boosters one of “questionable efficacy,” and suggested that there is no immunologic requirement for annual revaccination. The veterinary establishment is slowly beginning to agree.
For example, Colorado State University’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital recently published new vaccine protocols for dogs and cats. Specifically, the hospital no longer recommends yearly boosters for dogs, but suggests the standard series of three rounds of vaccines for puppies (parvovirus, adenovirus 2, parainfluenza and distemper, with rabies after 16 weeks of age), booster shots one year later, and then every three years thereafter.
The Colorado State Veterinary Medicine Biomedical Sciences website comments, “Our adoption of this routine vaccination program is based on the lack of scientific evidence to support the current practice of annual vaccination, and increasing documentation showing that over-vaccinating has been associated with harmful side effects. Of particular note in this regard has been the association of autoimmune hemolytic anemia with vaccination in dogs and vaccine-associated sarcomas in cats – both of which are often fatal.”
Vulnerable dogs
One of the most important avenues of research in vaccine technology concerns those dogs that are especially prone to vaccine-related problems. Obliviously, problems are more likely to crop up when dogs with immune system vulnerabilities are vaccinated. Dogs should not be vaccinated if they are sick (especially if they are feverish, since fever inhibits the body’s response to vaccines) or elderly (a condition that is relative from breed to breed, but includes animals whose immune systems are losing strength).
Similarly, dogs should not be vaccinated if they suffer from immune system problems – diseases due to overactive immune systems (such as allergies), autoimmune disorders (where the body’s protectors are attacking the body’s own cells), or immune-deficient disorders where the protective responses are either underactive or failed. (For a complete discussion of these classes of disorders, see “When They Are Not Immune,” WDJ January 2000.)
In addition, certain breeds of dogs – or, in some cases, certain families of dogs – seem to be at increased risk for adverse reactions to vaccines. According to Dr. Dodds, Akitas and Weimaraners are prone to specific problems with vaccines, as are dogs with certain coat color dilutions, including double-dilute Shetland Sheepdogs, harlequin Great Danes, and albinos.
Sensitive individuals can crop up in any breed or color, however. Owners should consult a knowledgeable veterinarian (or veterinary immunology specialist) before revaccinating any dog who has had a reaction to a vaccine.
Balancing act
So how do you vaccinate your dogs enough, but not too much?
The best tool currently available for achieving this end is called a vaccine titer test. A vaccine titer test (also known as an antibody titer test) measures the levels of a specific antibody in a dog’s blood. Antibodies are protective substances produced by an animal in response to stimulation by an antigen – in this case, a disease antigen that is engineered by humans to produce this protective antibody response: a vaccine. Antibody titer tests will also detect antibodies produced by the dog’s body if he has successfully withstood exposure to the disease in question.
Please note that the phrase “titer test” is frequently misused; many dog owners assume it refers only to antibody titer tests. But titer tests can also be used to detect disease antigens; these are generally referred to as “disease titers,” and are used to identify diseases when other signs of disease are confusing or undetectable.
To conduct a vaccine titer test, your veterinarian draws some of your dog’s blood and sends it to a veterinary school diagnostic laboratory or to a commercial lab. Costs vary widely, depending on the lab that tests the blood and the veterinarian who draws the blood and helps interpret the results.
Lab fees range from $15 to $40 per titer test, with a separate test conducted for each vaccine. Some veterinarians (especially if they are hostile to the idea of vaccine reduction or concern) charge a prohibitive price for drawing blood and arranging the tests. Others (especially if they are interested in reducing the use of vaccines) will charge nothing, or just a nominal fee for the blood handling, as part of their standard health examinations. Depending upon the lab and the specific test required, the results may be returned in as little as one day or as much as two weeks.
When the results are in…
Here’s where things get complicated. There are a number of methods that labs use to test antibody titers, but the basic process involves repeatedly testing greater and greater dilutions of the blood to determine the highest dilution that still causes a positive reaction. The results of a vaccine titer test are expressed in a ratio (for example, 1:5); 1 is always the first number. In this example, it means that the blood can be diluted to – at most – one part of blood to five parts saline and still cause a positive reaction. The higher the second number is (indicating a more highly diluted and positively reacting sample), the more antibody is present in the dog’s blood. Interestingly, antibody titers tend to be higher in dogs that have withstood exposure to a disease than in unexposed but vaccinated dogs. In other words, a dog who survived distemper will usually have a higher distemper antibody titer than a dog who never had the disease but was vaccinated against it.
Different labs, different methodologies
Our first complication? Because there are several techniques by which measure antibody titers, the values are different at every lab and can have different meanings. That makes it much more difficult to interpret the results, since you cannot compare values from one lab to another, says Edward Dubovi, MS, Ph.D., director of virology at the Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine Diagnostic Laboratory.
For example, Cornell’s 1:128 may be another lab’s 1:16. Of course, the labs send along interpretative data along with this score, indicating exactly where on the scale your dog’s vaccine titer falls, based on the standards and methods the laboratory has established. Most labs include a high and low range of values that they have seen result in protection from that disease.
No guarantee of “protection”
But for our next, and more complex complication, dig this: there is no ideal value that is guaranteed to confer protection from disease. According to Dr. Wynn, antibody levels may suggest, but not conclusively prove, how much immunity that a pet carries against a specific disease. For many diseases, antibodies are the prime source of protection against disease, and a high level suggests that an animal may adequately respond when exposed and be protected against the agent causing disease.
Conversely, low levels indicate that the pet may be vulnerable to contracting the disease in question. But antibodies (also known as humoral immunity) are only one of the body’s lines of defense against disease; the body is also defended by agents of cellular immunity, also known as T lymphocytes. (For more information about the intricate makeup of the immune system, see “Looking for Immunity,” WDJ December 1999.)
So, a dog with a low antibody titer but a fabulous T-cell army may well be adequately protected from the disease in question, while a dog with a high antibody titer but ineffective cellular immunity may be vulnerable.
In addition, it can’t be stated often enough that every animal is an individual, and each individual’s immune response to the same amount and schedule of vaccines will be different. A perfect illustration of this was provided to use recently, when a reader called the WDJ editorial office to discuss her dogs’ antibody titer results.
The reader explained that she owns two dogs, brothers from the same litter. She has had the dogs vaccinated at precisely the same time and with the same vaccines throughout their lives. One of the dogs has suffered numerous though minor health problems, and exhibited a reaction to his last vaccine a year ago, so the owner decided to have both dogs’ antibody titers tested before revaccinating them this year.
Interestingly, the sickly dog who had suffered a vaccine reaction last year had a quite high titer; the “healthy” dog exhibited a very low titer. Now what do I do? the owner wondered. Good question.
Researchers have yet to agree on what values can safely be considered “protective,” though some conservative lines in the sand have been drawn. “We’re in a very inexact science,” says Dr. Dubovi. ”We’re trying to provide something that people are comfortable with as a concept and not put any animals at risk.”
However, “Current thinking in immunology says that any positive titer means they have memory,” says Dr. Wynn. Dr. Dubovi concurs. “The feeling out there among people who do this type of stuff is that any positive value that you can come up with probably will prevent the development of significant clinical disease.”
Informed decisions
Though your knowledgeable and sympathetic veterinarian can help inform their dog-owner clients, the decision to revaccinate against specific diseases rests in the owners’ hands; they have to decide for themselves whether or not their dog’ titers indicate “adequate protection.”
This can be an easy decision when the previously vaccinated dog is young, vibrantly healthy, and possessed of a nice high antibody titer; this dog’s owner will likely feel quite confident is skipping Skippy’s boosters that year. It might be wise for the owner of a sickly dog with a nice high antibody titer to also skip the boosters, at least until the dog is in better health or has lower titers, in order to prevent vaccine-triggered immune system mayhem. The decision is more difficult when the dog’s health is poor and the titer is low.
“When [titer values] come back not sufficient, you do have to make a decision about whether it’s worth vaccinating,” says Dr. Wynn, who has been using vaccine titer tests in her practice for several years. Most of the time, Dr. Wynn finds positive test results in vaccinated dogs. But one dog, a Doberman, kept showing low parvovirus titers. Dr. Wynn recommended revaccinating the dog, then testing again in a month. The owner agreed. However, upon retesting – and in spite of revaccinating – the Doberman still didn’t show a sufficient immune response. “After you test them that way, actually challenge them with a vaccine, and go back and check that titer, if they’re not making a response to a vaccine there’s no point in continuing to stick them with the same vaccine,” says Dr. Wynn.
Dr. Herman has had similar experiences in her practice. “My gut feeling is – when I’ve picked the brains of immunologists because I’ve been concerned about this – that if the body recognizes the disease even if it’s positive at a 1:10 [a low positive], it’s probably how that animal responds protectively to the disease challenge,” she says.
And, if it’s any comfort, consider that vaccination is, in itself, never guaranteed to protect a dog from disease. There are numerous reasons why vaccines fail to stimulate a vigorous antibody response in any given dog, and NO vaccines protect 100 percent of all dogs.
To the future
To be sure, vaccine titer testing has made a name for itself in the ongoing vaccine debate, and the tool is already being utilized by owners to make informed decisions about re-vaccination. But the full potential of this testing is yet to come. Definitive protective values are still fuzzy, its use in clinical practice isn’t widespread, and more studies are needed.
One step forward is the large-scale study (discussed in the July 2000 issue of WDJ) conducted by Lisa Twark, DVM, and Dr. W. Jean Dodds, of the serum antibody titers for parvovirus and distemper. The study is ongoing, but initial results indicate that annual vaccination for parvovirus and distemper is unnecessary to protect most dogs.
Another step forward is the VAX program at the Cornell Diagnostic Lab that started up in March 1999 in response to increased interest in vaccine titer testing. The program provides vaccine titer testing to interested veterinarians who pay a one-time fee to enroll their practice; individual test fees are separate. Test results are sent to the veterinarian, and recorded by the lab with the hope of accumulating data on individual dogs to determine changes in immunity, if any, over several years.
Hopefully, as more veterinarians become aware of the risks of over-vaccination, they will begin to encourage their clients to order vaccine antibody titer tests. As more data gets added to the studies, we’ll learn more about the ideal administration schedule for all the vaccines currently available. And who knows? What we learn about safe vaccination schedules for animals may well contribute to increasing the safety and effectiveness of human vaccination programs.
Virginia Parker Guidry is a frequent contributor to WDJ. A freelance writer, she lives in San Diego.
For the last three years, Bailey (my six-year-old Chow/Shepherd mix) and I have been living with my boyfriend and Colleen (his eight-year-old Norwegian Elkhound). I am planning to move out and take Bailey with me.
I am sure I will overcome the change, but I am nervous for Bailey. She is attached to my boyfriend and has had Colleen’s constant companionship. For the first time in three years, she will be left home alone when I go to work. What precautions can I take to assure a smooth transition for her?
-Lori Spar
We asked our gentle training expert, Pat Miller, to handle this question. Miller, a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers, offers training classes from her base in Fairplay, Maryland.
You are right to be concerned. Any major changes in our lives can be stressful for our canine companions as well. Losing her pack mate of three years is certainly likely to have an effect on Bailey. The loss of a close companion can be a trigger for separation anxiety, and if not carried to that extreme, can certainly make Bailey sad and lonely. It’s always the children who suffer most from a divorce, isn’t it?
There are a number of things you can do to help make the transition easier for your girl. You don’t say how imminent the move is, but the more time you have, the better. Here are some possible options:
1. Get another dog before you move. The third dog will become an integrated member of the pack, and Bailey won’t be alone in her new house because the new dog will be with her. This is, of course, assuming that Bailey and Colleen will accept a new pack member, and assuming that you want two dogs. Finding a house or apartment to rent can sometimes be a challenge with one dog, much less two! This is only a viable option if you truly want a second dog – you should never get another dog “just” to solve or prevent a behavior problem.
2. Introduce gradual separations. If you have time before your move, start taking Bailey places with you and leaving Colleen behind, and encourage your soon-to-be-ex to do the same. Start with short periods, 10 to15 minutes, so that if Bailey is going to panic she doesn’t have time to do much damage or to hurt herself.
Gradually increase the length of time you leave her alone until you are up to your full workday. To lessen the likelihood of anxiety reactions, make your leavings and returnings very low key and unemotional. Five or ten minutes before you go, give her a Kong toy stuffed with treats and peanut butter or cream cheese, or an extra-scrumptious bone, so she is busy chewing when you leave.
When you return, give her a calm “hello” and go about your business, even if she overwhelms you – especially if she overwhelms you. When she settles down, go ahead and love her up.
3. If you don’t have enough time left to do gradual separations, see if you can borrow Colleen for a while, until Bailey adjusts to her new home. Then start the gradual separation process.
4. Take as much of the jointly-owned household furnishings with you as you can to your new residence. While you may have visions of a whole new decor to go with your whole new life, the more familiar things Bailey finds in her new home, the less unsettled she will feel. If you can’t take a lot, at least take a few dog beds and rugs or blankets that will have the scent of her old home on them.
5. Take some time off work. If you can take a week off, that gives you nine days to be with Bailey in the new environment, rather than rushing off your first day in. During that nine days, spend lots of time with her, and also do a gradual separation program as described above, to get her accustomed to being there without you.
6. When you do go back to work, try to come home on your lunch hour to give her a potty break and a play session. Stop the play in plenty of time for her to calm down before you leave to go back to work. If you can’t come home, see if there is someone trustworthy in your neighborhood who might be available to come in, for a reasonable fee, to play with Bailey at lunchtime. If necessary, you can hire a professional petsitter to do this.
7. Try doggy daycare. This is an increasingly popular solution for working dog owners. You might look for a professional dog daycare business in your community, or, again, find a neighbor who is home during the day who might love to have Bailey come and keep her company. A professional day care center will give her plenty of opportunities to socialize with other dogs. If Bailey is well-behaved, she might make a lovely daytime companion for a senior citizen who would like to have a dog’s friendship without the cost or long-term responsibility.
8. Exercise, exercise, exercise. A tired dog is usually a happy and well-behaved dog. Schedule several tongue-dragging sessions for Bailey every day (morning, lunch, evening) to use up any excess energy that might otherwise be directed toward inappropriate anxiety-induced behavior. Again, be sure to give her plenty of time to calm down after an exercise session before you leave.
9. Have a complete well-dog check-up for Bailey before the move, if you haven’t had one done recently. The healthier she is, the better her system will be able to withstand the stress of separation and moving. If there are any health problems lurking, it is better to find and treat them now, before she is stressed.
10. Remember all of your alternative resources. If you don’t already use them, learn TTouch and other massage and acupressure techniques that you can use to keep Bailey calm and relaxed in her new home. Many dog owners swear by flower essence remedies – especially “Rescue Remedy,” the Bach Flower Essence that is formulated for treating stress – for helping dogs through anxious times.
11. Don’t forget to take care of yourself, too. Our dogs are greatly affected by our stress, so the calmer you can be about your own forthcoming major life change, the less stressed Bailey will be.
Many of the recommendations I’ve made for your dog would probably do a world of good for you, too! Be healthy, get plenty of exercise, find new social outlets, treat yourself to an occasional massage and your personal equivalent of a stuffed Kong (mine is chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream), and give that Rescue Remedy a try!
Change is hard on all of us, especially when it means losing a close friend and companion. The good news is that you and Bailey will weather this together, and there are other friends out there for both of you to find. Take good care of each other.
For those of you just coming on board: In the July 2000 issue, we published an article called “Hidden Killer in Dog Food.” The article was inspired by a “case history” we received from a reader who had been through a harrowing experience with her dog. It took the reader several months – and a small fortune – to determine that the sudden onset of very strange and serious neurological problems with her dog was caused by a naturally occurring toxin in her dog’s food.
As we stated in that article, a number of toxins can arise in dry dog food during its production, storage, and transportation. Most of the toxins are produced by various molds that grow in the food, or in certain ingredients of the food, and are referred to generally as “mycotoxins.”
Some mycotoxins are highly dangerous to dogs; “aflatoxin,” the substance that made our reader’s dog ill, is one of these. Aflatoxin generally causes neurological problems in its victims, and it can kill dogs (and it has), though some dogs are more sensitive to the substance than others. It should be noted that aflatoxin is already present in the raw foodstuffs before they are made into food; dog food manufacturers generally test for the presence of aflatoxin in the foodstuffs they receive prior to making them into food.
“Vomitoxin” is another, more common mycotoxin. As the name suggests, it tends to cause digestive disturbances, and while it can kill vulnerable individuals, it usually only makes them sick for a short period of time following consumption.
Neither of these mycotoxins are necessarily visible or easily detected by smelling the food.
Visible Mold is Another Matter
Recently, we’ve had the unfortunate opportunity to learn that there are other molds that can grow on dog foods without being toxic. We say “unfortunate” because just as our article about mold and mycotoxins was being read by thousands of subscribers, a mold problem had raised its ugly head in the products made and marketed by at least two dog food companies: Natura Pet Products and Natural Balance. We heard the names of a few other foods as well, from one person apiece, which would seem to confirm what we stated in the July article: Under the “right” conditions, any dry dog food can mold, whether it is naturally or artificially preserved.
We need to stress this: Just because a food is moldy, doesn’t mean it contains mycotoxins or is toxic. However, ingesting the moldy food can cause temporary stomach upset in some dogs; other dogs seem to handle it without incident. Certain dogs who are allergic to molds may have an allergic response. But these responses are nowhere near as dramatic or dangerous as a brush with mycotoxins like aflatoxin or vomitoxin.
Prevent Mycotoxin Poisoning AND Problems with Mold
We’ve updated the following list of recommendations concerning dry dog food, mold, and mycotoxins:
• Check the date of manufacture on the food you buy. Try to buy foods that are as fresh as possible.
• If you discover mold on the food you buy, return the remaining product to the store where you bought it and ask for a replacement. If the store management is unwilling to replace your food, contact the food maker. They will undoubtedly wish to make things right and replace the food.
• Purchase smaller bags of food so you don’t have to store it for long.
• Keep your dog’s food in a dry place with a cool, stable temperature. Temperature swings from hot to cold can cause moisture to develop in a food bag or plastic tub. Moisture, especially in combination with heat, can trigger the growth of molds, and toxins may develop in the food.
• Experts suggest that you do NOT dump dry food out of the bag into a plastic container, as moisture and mold can accumulate on the plastic over time. And old kibble on the bottom of the barrel is more likely to mold and infect the newer food.
• Never feed your dog food that has gotten moldy or smells “off.” Never pressure your dog to eat food that he refuses, especially if he vomits after eating some of it.
• If your dog develops strange behaviors or signs of illness soon after eating – or shortly after you start feeding him from a new bag of food – immediately discontinue feeding him that food. Return the food to the store where you purchased it.
Inquiries About Foods
But we had dozens of reports about Natura’s Innova and California Natural, and a few reports about Natural Balance’s Ultra Premium food – all three of which, not incidently, we have included on our past lists of “Top 10 Dry Dog Foods.” All over the country, dog owners were ripping open bags of these foods, and discovering kibble that was covered with a powdery whitish or greenish mold. Some of these people were terrified by the fact that in their bags, the mold was not discovered until they were halfway into the bags; their dogs had eaten some of the moldy food. Suddenly we were getting inundated with calls and letters regarding these moldy foods: Were they dangerous?
Natural Balance Responds
We turned to the companies themselves. We had an immediate response from Frank Coch, the Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Natural Balance, who flatly stated that yes, indeed, they had some problems with mold on their food in May and June.
Coch stated that the problem originated at the plant that made the food, and was caused by an overly high moisture content in some of the food. When the moisture in a dry food exceeds 10 percent, he told us, mold can develop on the food in the bag, especially in warm weather conditions. “It can – and does – happen to any and every food occasionally,” Coch said.
Coch also stated that their tests indicated that the mold was not toxic, but it was unpalatable and unattractive cosmetically.
“What have you done about the problem?” we wanted to know. Coch stated that, fortunately, they had discovered the problem fairly early on, and had been able to isolate the problem to certain production runs and to pull most of the affected bags off the shelves before too many consumers had taken the food home. People who did purchase the moldy food were encouraged to return it for a new bag of food.
Most importantly, Coch said, Natural Balance had moved production of the food to a new manufacturing plant in another state. “We’re selling a high quality natural product, and if the manufacturer can’t do it right, we have to find someone who will,” he said.
We asked Coch whether this was a difficult decision to make; surely there were financial repercussions of such a move? “In that particular matter,” Coch responded, “we had to do the fastest thing possible, and that was to get the food into proper production so it didn’t happen again. The financial side of it we’ll address later.”
Our next question prompted an unexpected level of candor. “How is it,” we asked, “that you had the instinct to deal with this so quickly and with such force?” Coch responded, “Well, let’s see. About four or five years ago, when I was a vice president at Nature’s Recipe, we had a $20 million recall due to a problem with vomitoxin. That was probably the most serious recall I’ve ever seen in the pet food business – and I guess it taught me a few things.”
According to Coch, the problem with Nature’s Recipe bloomed into a bigger problem than it should have, as the company investigated the cause and extent of the problem, and, Coch says, released several different versions of the event to those who inquired. Coch admitted that it looked bad, even though it was not meant as a cover-up or a denial. “We thought at first that it was an isolated problem, and that we had it taken care of. And then it turns out that it was a global problem. We thought we had the problem solved, and then came to find out that, ‘Oh, guess what guys? It wasn’t just that run; it was the last 50 runs.’ It was a nightmare.”
While Natural Balance is not nearly as big as Nature’s Recipe was at the time of the vomitoxin incident (it has since been acquired by Heinz), and while the scale and seriousness of the current mold incident is not nearly as extensive, Coch says it’s just as unacceptable. “We (Natural Balance) are making a top quality food, and we want it to be the healthiest food possible. We ascertained that the plant that was making the food for us didn’t have the capability of correcting the problem, so we pulled out of there,” he says.
Natura’s Response…
At our request, Natura sent us a statement in response to our questions about the incidents of mold in their Innova and California Natural foods, and indicated their willingness to answer more of our questions. Unfortunately, this communication occurred on the very eve of publication. We hope to include their answers to our follow-up questions in the next issue.
We have some concerns, since we have learned that at the time of the mold incident, Natura’s foods and those made by Natural Balance were being made by the same manufacturing plant in New York. The powers-that-be at Natural Balance decided that the manufacturer could not remedy the problem to their satisfaction. We are eager to learn how (or if) that manufacturer satisfied the powers-that-be at Natura that the moisture problem was resolved.
I own a beautiful German Shepherd named Xeus. He comes from very well-known, healthy, wonderful lines. Xeus is sound, has personality galore and a wonderful temperament – he’s just an all-around great German Shepherd. One Saturday in late June 1999, a really nice, hot summer day, my entire family was hanging out in our back yard, enjoying our pool, as we watched Xeus enjoy his kiddie pool. All of a sudden, Xeus jumped out of his wading pool and made a bee-line for the house. I watched him go in, thinking he was just looking for another toy to bring out, but he didn’t come back out. After a minute or two I went in to see what he was doing, and I found him hiding in a corner of the bathroom, shaking like a leaf. I immediately assumed he had gotten stung by a bee, because chasing and eating bees is one of his favorite hobbies. I checked him over, but found nothing.
I tried to coax Xeus into coming back outside but he would have no part of it, so I figured he just got spooked by something and I would leave him inside until he was ready to come out. He has a dog door so he can come and go freely. However Xeus refused to come out the entire day. I kept going into the house to check on him, and though he wasn’t displaying any symptoms that made me feel it was necessary to rush him off to an emergency vet – this was a Saturday, after all – he was not himself and had me worried.
That night and the next morning Xeus seemed better. He woke up happy, anyway. The first sign that something was still wrong with him, however, was the fact that he refused to go out into the backyard to relieve himself. With some encouragement, he did go out into the front yard with me, but he ran right back into the house as soon as he had gone to the bathroom. I became convinced that whatever was wrong with him had something to do with the backyard – something spooked him when he weren’t looking, I thought. Inside, Xeus seemed better, and his temperature was normal.
As the day progressed and Xeus was still behaving strangely, I called my vet’s office and asked if I could bring Xeus in. My regular veterinarian was on vacation, but his partner examined Xeus, and took a blood and urine sample, but found nothing amiss. After hearing my story, the veterinarian was convinced something had spooked Xeus and he’d probably be fine in a day or two. Feeling somewhat silly, I took my German Shepherd home.
When we got home, I fed Xeus his usual bowl of kibble. It sounds crazy, but about 20 minutes after he ate, he got all weird again, shaking, hiding in a corner, almost like he was in a pre-seizure mode. I immediately brought him back to the vet’s office, but of course the trembling subsided and he just seemed very, very nervous. This time, the vet was more concerned – and I was scared to death! I was certain Xeus was having some kind of pre-seizure activity, and the vet thought the same. He suggested giving Xeus some Phenobarbital, but I have some knowledge about epilepsy and knew that unless we absolutely were sure that Xeus had epilepsy, I did not want to start messing with anti-seizure medications. Instead, we agreed to consult a specialist in neurology the next day.
Bringing in specialists
First thing on Monday morning I contacted a specialist and got an appointment to see a neurologist – three hours from my house! The neurologist did not feel Xeus had any kind of neurological disorder, and he sent me back to the veterinarian’s office with a list of two things to check for: a whipworm test and a bile acid test. Both were done, and both came back negative.
However, Xeus’ symptoms and total change of personality continued. He seemed to be really bothered by light, and would hold his urine all day, not going outside until the sun went down. He spent all day planted in a quiet corner, or with his head under the couch, and he had totally lost all his play drive. There was definitely something wrong, but what?
We made an appointment with another specialist who tested Xeus for all kinds of things, from tick-borne diseases to autoimmune diseases, to having all kinds of radiographs and ultrasounds, to continued blood work, but everything kept coming back normal.
Owner’s observations
In the meantime, I started to notice that Xeus’ worst clinical signs took place 20 to 30 minutes after he ate. I also noticed that he was his best when he had to fast for the tests. When I asked the vets if they thought Xeus’ food could be involved, they all thought that this was highly unlikely, since he had been eating the same brand of food for at least six months before this happened, without any problems. I had been very happy with the food and regarded it highly; in fact, it was a food that made WDJ’s “Top 10” list. Nevertheless, I decided on my own to change his food. It couldn’t hurt! I found a brand of food that had a totally different list of ingredients and began feeding it to Xeus. While I waited to see if there was a difference in his behavior, I got the idea of having his food tested. For what? I didn’t know! It just seemed like a good idea, although I admittedly did not know what kinds of things might be wrong with dog food!
I called my state health department to ask where I could have Xeus’ food tested. About this time, my regular veterinarian returned from vacation and I spoke with him, catching him up on all of the details of Xeus’ case. He suggested that I ask the lab to test the food for mycotoxins, explaining they were toxic substances that could grow in moldy food that can cause problems in some animals.
The State Department of Health referred me to the State Department of Agriculture, and I quickly found an interested person there. They actually sent a representative to my house and gathered up the dry dog food, the canned dog food, and even the biscuits Xeus had been eating. It was all very clinical and I felt confident in their work.
As we waited for the results to come back on the food, the veterinarians kept conducting tests on Xeus, to no avail. I, too, continued to examine my poor dog, and started to notice little strange things. For instance, the whites of his eyes seemed very yellowish to me. Also, I noticed that if I could coax him outside, he would still chase a ball if I threw it into the shade, but if I threw it into a sunny area, he would just stand there. His pattern of urine elimination seemed different than before, too. He would hold his urine all day, and then pee prodigiously at night. What these things meant, I had no idea.
Days crept by. Although Xeus seemed incrementally better, he was still not anything like his old playful, carefree self. My vet had scheduled an MRI and considered a spinal tap, but we kept postponing those tests as Xeus held his ground. He didn’t get any worse, but his improvement – if you could call it that – was so slow that it was almost imperceptible.
Given all the normal test results, one of the specialists we had consulted was beginning to think that Xeus’ problem was behavioral after all. He gave me a referral to a behavioral specialist, who sent me a long form to fill out, detailing all of Xeus’ behavior history. I wasn’t happy about all this, because I knew the change in my dog had happened literally in one day, and that nothing noticeable happened to Xeus that day! It wasn’t as if he had been attacked, or had run away, or had a trauma with fireworks or anything out of the ordinary.
Toxins in the food
Then the breakthrough came. The results of the food tests came back from the State Department of Agriculture. The canned food was fine, the biscuits were fine, but the dry food was found to contain a mold-based toxin called aflatoxin. I called my veterinarian with the news, but he was able to tell me little about mycotoxins – except that this indeed could have caused Xeus’ strange symptoms.
According to the results from the State Department of Agriculture, the level of aflatoxin found in Xeus’ food was 40 parts per billion (40ppb), double the amount generally considered to be tolerated by dogs. Needless to say, I was thrilled to have discovered the first possible explanation for Xeus’ problems, but it took several months’ worth of detective work before I was able to learn much more about this insidious toxin. I found it very, very difficult to find information regarding mold toxins in dog food.
Xeus slowly returned to normal as I spent my entire summer and fall researching the topic. I posted messages on the animal nutrition boards and the German Shepherd boards on America Online, and looked up everything I could about aflatoxins.
I found lots of information about the effects of toxin on livestock – this is apparently a much bigger and well-documented problem in livestock feeds – but the only reports I could find about aflatoxins in dog food were all related to cases where aflatoxin poisoning affected large numbers of dogs at once. There were a lot of reports about a case in 1998 where 25 dogs in the southern US died from aflatoxin poisoning. But I couldn’t find any documentation on sporadic incidents. I tried calling toxicologists at veterinary hospitals but they didn’t even have the correct documentation regarding aflatoxin in dog foods.
Finally, I called as many dog food companies as I could and spoke directly with their nutritionists. I explained what happened, and they were quite interested. Several food makers sent me information on who, what, and where to call for more information.
I was also given a number of Alltech, Inc., a Kentucky company that makes chemicals that helps preserve foods and eliminate toxins in animals feeds and Bingo! I finally got some answers. Alltech actually publishes a highly specialized newsletter for the feed industry called Mycotoxin Monthly, and several of their back issues were published on the Internet, including one that discussed mycotoxins and companion animals (see www.alltech-bio.com, click on “Technical Publications,” and look for the Mycotoxin Monthly).
Toxins you should know
I learned that aflatoxin is just one of more than 200 mold toxins commonly found in animal feeds. It affects different species of animals and animals of varying ages in different ways at different levels; dogs are more affected than cats, for example, and old and young animals are more seriously affected than middle-aged animals. However, one common theme is that aflatoxin affects the liver of all of its victims. Even though my veterinarians had conducted liver tests on Xeus, the specific damage caused by aflatoxin had gone unnoticed; I’m told this is rather common, unless one is looking for this exact effect. The most common signs of aflatoxin poisoning are lethargy, vomiting, heart problems, liver damage, and yellow discoloration of the skin and hair.
While some mold-originated toxins cause feed refusal and severe vomiting (such as one common mycotoxin known appropriately enough as “vomitoxin”), I discovered that many of the mold toxins found in animal food go unnoticed because the dog will continue to eat normally. Often the food will probably not even have a noticeably different odor. Indeed, Xeus had eaten the food with the same appetite he had always had, he never vomited and he never had diarrhea. But I did notice his worst neurological signs were always after he ate.
I also learned that aflatoxins often cause light sensitivity, neurological disorders, and can even kill a dog if the levels are high enough. While some dogs can tolerate a certain amount of the toxin, other dogs are highly sensitive to substance at any level.
Dog food manufacturers are constantly studying aflatoxin and other mold toxins and looking for new ways to try to eliminate this problem in all animal feeds. “Nearly all ingredients used in pet food, particularly corn and soybean meal, can be highly contaminated by aflatoxin, a potent carcinogen and immune system suppressant,” according the Mycotoxin Monthly. (Xeus’ food, incidentally, did not contain corn.) Most feed ingredients are tested individually – the grains, the meats, the fats – and the food is tested again after being mixed. The food manufacturers must concern themselves with testing for the molds at every level of production, how the food is packaged and transported, and even how it is stored in the pet stores. Anytime that moisture and/or heat (the combination of the two is the worst) can affect foods, molds can grow and produce their deadly toxins.
However, other foods that people feed to their dogs can also be infected with mycotoxins. Mycotoxin Monthly quotes Dr. John Richard of Romer Laboratories as saying he has heard of cases of mycotoxicosis in dogs who have eaten moldy walnuts, bread, or cream cheese.
While all breeds of dog are equally affected by mycotoxins, certain factors can influence the susceptibility of individual dogs. According to Mycotoxin Monthly, dogs in poor health are more likely to be affected, as are dogs with marginal nutrient deficiencies. Dogs that are already suffering from drug interactions or heat or environmental stress are more likely to have problems following mycotoxin exposure. And, obviously, dogs who were exposed to higher amounts of mycotoxins, or exposed for a longer period of time, are more likely to develop signs of poisoning.
Little-known problem
One thing that really bothers me is that, despite the ample opportunity for problems of this kind to crop up in pet foods, there was so little information available about the dangers of mold poisoning and prevention for the average dog owner. Never in my life had anyone warned me about the effects of mold toxins in dog foods, whereas the livestock people deal with this all the time and are constantly made aware of this problem. Livestock producers even have kits that they can use to check the feed before they give it to an entire herd of animals.
In my case, our bag of food was new; it had been open for just two weeks. I had bought the bag in early June 1999, and it had a “freshness date” of April 2000. Unlike many people, I always keep my dog food in a cool, dry place, but I didn’t know that preventing mold growth is why all bags recommend that you store the food in this way.
In a sense, we were lucky. As far as we know, Xeus had been exposed to the aflatoxin for just two weeks, and the amount in the food was not fatally high. However, there is a chance his immune system was affected. I do take special precautions now, minimizing his vaccinations, for instance. Instead of using all the regular booster shots, we have titer tests done to try to determine how necessary each vaccine might be.
Also, I now feed Xeus a dog food that comes directly from the plant to my home, to help ensure freshness. I buy smaller bags, and I supplement his kibble with a wet food mix that I cook. I have never used chemicals on our property, and I do not use any chemicals on his body. The only thing I still continue to use is heartworm preventative, since heartworm is deeply entrenched in the part of New York where I live.
If your dog has a major personality change, and the vets can’t find the problem, please consider having your dog’s food checked by either a veterinary college that has a toxicology lab, or your State Department of Agriculture. You will need a referral from your veterinarian, but ruling out the food is a must when trying to get to the bottom of a hard-to-diagnose illness.
Author’s note: I would like to thank all the vets and staff at Aqueduct Animal Hospital for their care, concern, and help. Thanks, too, to my friends on the German Shepherd message boards on America Online for their invaluable help and encouragement as I went through this crisis with Xeus.
Last summer, when my sister Sue was visiting from Colorado, she took Rupert for a walk around the block. I was in the shower and, not wanting to pound on the door to ask me where Rupe’s collar and leash were, Sue simply grabbed a couple of “poop” bags, whistled for Rupe, and they walked out the door.
As my longtime jogging companion, Rupert is perfect off-leash. He stays close without being nagged, has never developed a “pee on everything” habit, ignores other dogs and pedestrians, and waits at every curb in that classic herding dog crouch until he is given the command to cross the street. But if I had known Sue was taking him out, I would have told her to grab the leash anyway, since it was after 8 a.m. and the Animal Control officers were likely to be prowling for loose dogs. I live just around a corner from a park where noncompliance with the pooper-scooper laws is a real problem, and while I really do appreciate their efforts, I don’t walk Rupert off-leash during their work hours for one reason: Rupe wasn’t licensed, because his rabies shot was overdue, and I didn’t want to revaccinate him.
Long story short? Rupe got a ticket for walking off leash and for being unlicensed.
Had this been, say, a $40 fine, I would have simply paid it. But the fine was a whopping $271, and I had to get Rupert licensed or the fine would rise. And, of course, to get him licensed, he’d need a current rabies vaccination. We’ve explained in past articles on vaccination that, if you have a titer test done, and the results indicate that the dog has enough antibodies to suggest he has sufficient protection from the disease (and a letter from a veterinarian explaining this), sometimes an enlightened animal control officer will waive the rabies vaccination requirement for licensing. (Of course, this is not true in areas where rabies is endemic.) I had long planned to have Rupe’s rabies titers tested, so when he got busted, I kicked myself.
If I had been proactive, and had gotten the titer test done, and had gone to the city with a letter and the test results I feel certain that I probably could have gotten him licensed without the rabies booster. But given the new situation, I thought the easiest thing to do would be to get the shot, get the license, and hope the judge would reduce my fine after these corrections were made. Happily for me, he did.
Unhappily for Rupert, just a couple of months later, he broke out with severe itching.
As I explained last month, when Rupert started scratching, I thought a change in the formulation of his kibble was responsible. The more I think about it, the more I wonder about that last vaccination. Could it be that the booster triggered this wave of allergic self-destruction?
In his youth, Rupert was always itchy. Today I feel certain that all those booster shots (I always took him in to the vet promptly when I received the “boosters due” notices) and all that supermarket dog food was to blame. But for the last three years, Rupe’s allergies have been quiescent, and I came to feel that this was surely due to the change to a high quality kibble. Now that he’s itching again, I’ve changed his diet five times in the last seven months including a seven-week raw food trial but none of these foods have made much of a dent in his relentless scratching and chewing.
I’ve been giving him some herbs prescribed by a holistic vet, as well as some antioxidant supplements, with negligible results. I’m going to try consulting with a homeopathic veterinarian next. I’ve heard that homeopathy can sometimes “clear” the ill effects of vaccination on the immune system. But I’ll tell you one thing: Rupert is never going to receive another vaccination again.
Tucker, our six-year-old Cattle-Dog mix, loves to swim. Every morning when we walk the quarter-mile down our driveway with our four-pack of dogs to pick up the Chattanooga Times-Free Press, Tucker casts longing glances at the pond in our next-door-neighbor’s front yard. As long as we occasionally remind him to stay with us, he’s fine. But if we let our attention lapse for too long, especially if it’s a particularly warm day, a loud “Splash!” announces in no uncertain terms that Tucker has once again gone for an unauthorized swim. You would never know that Tucker used to hate the water, and that we had to make an effort to convince him to give recreational swimming a try.
Labrador Retrievers, Newfoundlands, and many of the herding dogs are among dozens of breeds renowned for their affinity to water. Newfie owners laugh about how their dogs drag them out of lakes even when they don’t need saving. (Newfoundlands have been bred for generations to do water rescue work.) Labs are commonly seen at parks, belly-slamming into ponds and lakes with spectacular spectator-drenching leaps as they dive into the water after sticks and tennis balls. And many Border Collies, Cattle Dogs, and Australian Kelpies like nothing better than a refreshing dunk in the livestock tank after a hard, dusty day of herding sheep, cows, or tennis balls.
It’s not always natural
Instinctive and genetically programmed as some of these behaviors may be, many dog owners are surprised to discover that, like Tucker, their future water-loving pals need some serious coaxing and coaching before they come to fully appreciate the joys of swimming. While some dogs are more inclined to water sports than others, most of them, even Poms and Chihuahuas, can learn to swim if it’s done properly. If your Retriever is a candidate for a class in remedial doggie paddle, take heart. It may be easier than you think.
One approach often used in the past to teach a dog to swim was to toss him into deep water and let him learn the hard way. While that method may work for some dogs, others are so badly terrified by their sink-or-swim experience that they never want to go near the water again. Obviously, we don’t recommend that approach. Like every other training challenge, we use a gentle method that invites the dog to offer the desired behavior voluntarily, and uses rewards to reinforce and encourage more of the same.
Swimming is a complex behavior, so we will use the process known as “shaping” to get Surfer in the water, rather than expecting him to offer the behavior all at once. Shaping consists of breaking down the final behavior into very small increments, rewarding small steps along the way to the final goal behavior. Rewards can be food, praise, playing with a ball or stick, contact with us, or anything else that our dog likes. In the case of swimming, we can often use balls and sticks to encourage Surfer to get brave about water – somehow swimming and fetching just seem to go together!
NOTE: Dogs, just like people, display varying amounts of aquatic ability. Many dogs swim well with little practice. Others bob in the water vertically like corks, unable to steer well and squinting their eyes against the splashing of their front paws. While some of these swimming-challenged canines improve with practice, some never learn a graceful doggie paddle. If your dog fits this description, you may wish to curtail his beach invitations, or consider buying a canine life jacket.
The training plan
It helps to write our plan down in advance when we are trying to shape a complex behavior, so we know where we are trying to go and how we intend to get there. When Surfer accomplishes one step of the plan we are ready to move on, without stopping to think about what’s next. Always keep in mind that a good trainer is flexible. Surfer may surprise us and leap ahead several steps in the plan, in which case you need to be ready to leap forward with him. Or he may need one or more steps broken down into even tinier increments. In this case, rather than getting frustrated and angry with his slow progress or trying to force him, use your brainpower and creativity to figure out how to make it possible for him to succeed.
Here’s one sample training plan for swimming:
1. Sit in a folding chair near the edge of the lake. (Always start your water-training with a very calm, shallow water source.) Toss Surfer a treat every time he goes near the water. (Define “near.” Depending on the dog, near could mean six inches, it could mean six feet, or it could mean 20 feet!) If you train with a reward marker, such as the Click! of a clicker or the verbal marker “Yes!”, mark the “near the water” behavior with a Click! or a “Yes!” each time just before you toss the treat.
2. Gradually raise the criteria. If you were rewarding for six inches, you will see Surfer starting to spend more time within six inches of the water. Part of that time he will be even closer. Start rewarding for four inches, then two inches, then only when he actually touches the water.
3. You can speed up the shaping process by luring (encouraging) Surfer into the water. If he loves tennis balls, place one just into the water, so he has to lean over the lake to get it. Click! and reward him by tossing the ball on dry land for him to run and fetch. Then try another in the edge of the water. (If he won’t give you the ball that he has in his mouth, carry several balls and toss a different one for him to retrieve. Work on his “give” behavior as a separate exercise some other time.)
4. When Surfer is eagerly and easily grabbing the ball out of the shallow water’s edge without stepping into the water, roll the ball a few inches away from the edge. With luck, he will take a step into the water to get it. Click! and toss the ball onto dry land. Repeat this step until he walks into shallow water easily to get the ball.
5. Now toss the ball a little farther out. Be patient. You can verbally encourage him, but don’t try to force or help him to get it – let him figure it out himself. If he won’t, you have taken too big a step. Toss another ball in the water, not as far as the first one. Make it possible for him to succeed. When he’s off chasing his reward ball on dry land you can retrieve the one he wouldn’t get.
6. Continue this process until he is moving deeper and deeper into the water, and eventually swimming. When he starts to look forward to going into the water after the ball you can start tossing the ball back into the water as a reward, and you’re home free.
Other training plans could include having you walk into the water and encouraging him to follow you (using yourself as a lure).
We overcame Tucker’s fear of the water by parking ourselves on lawn chairs in the middle of a shallow, slow-moving stream on 90+ degree days. Eventually his aversion to heat overcame his fear of the water and he joined us. Once he realized that the water cooled him off, he became a huge fan of swimming – the cooling factor of the water was the greatest reward we could have engineered!
You can also use a kiddie wading pool in your back yard, gradually increasing the depth of the water in the pool. Of course, this won’t get Surfer swimming unless he’s a tiny toy breed, but it will get him to start associating being in the water with fun times and rewards.
Puppy paddling
Even a young puppy can learn to swim. In fact, it’s easier if you start young. Puppies have a critical socialization period, during which time they learn what is safe in the world. This stems from their wild heritage, when, for survival purposes, after about the age of four to five months anything not known to be safe is assumed to be unsafe. The more positive experiences we can expose our puppies to during this early window of time – including swimming – the better. Because puppies also learn to make very strong negative associations with things that are not safe during their critical learning period, it is triply important to use positive methods when training a pup to swim.
A wading pool is a great starting tool for puppy swimming. Lots of happy play sessions in a gradually deepening pool can convince your pup that water is a very fun place to be. Then it’s an easy transition to deeper water in the lake – you’ve already accomplished the first five steps of our six-step training plan!
Safety first
As much fun as swimming can be, it’s important to remember that dogs – just like humans – can drown. In addition to all of the standard safety precautions that the Red Cross offers for human water safety, there are a number of things to keep in mind for canine water safety:
• Beware of fast moving currents, surf and undertow. I’ve spent many hours walking with my dogs on the California coast, and it always amazes me how cavalier some owners are about tossing sticks and balls far out into the surf for their dogs to retrieve. My dogs tend to be a bit leery of moving waves, and I encourage their caution.
Dogs have been swept out to sea and drowned, and in at least one recent case an owner was drowned trying to rescue his dog from the ocean. Rivers can also kill. It can be difficult to judge the strength of a current, and it’s easy for Surfer to get carried far downstream if you misjudge. Err on the side of caution, and avoid the temptation to test Surfer’s strength and swimming skills in swift water.
• Beware of unattended swimming pools. Once Surfer has learned to love the water, he may decide to leap into the backyard pool. Ideally, the pool should be fenced off to prevent unplanned swims by dogs as well as children. If that’s not possible (or even if it is and you want to teach Surfer to swim in the pool under supervision), it is vitally important to teach him out to get out of the pool. Show him where the exit is, and how to use it, by starting close to the steps and helping him find his footing so he can climb out. Gradually move him farther and farther away from the steps and reward him for swimming to them and climbing out.
Since all edges of the pool can look similar, it’s a good idea to mark the steps with an orange cone or flag so it’s easy for Surfer to find them if he is in trouble. Dogs can fall into swimming pools by accident, especially ones with pool covers, so it really is a good idea to fence them off to avoid tragedies if at all possible.
• Beware of ornamental garden pools. Many of these pools have steep sides with absolutely no way for a dog to get out.
• Check the beach or diving area for underwater obstacles. It is great fun to throw a ball off a dock or bank so you can watch your water-loving dog launch through the air and splash into the water below. Dogs love it, and we love watching them. No problem – as long as you make sure there are no rocks or sharp objects hiding under the water to impale your dog when he lands.
• Keep an eye out for poisonous snakes – they often can be found sunning themselves on the rocks around natural water sources. In some areas of the South, alligators are a serious threat to water dogs. Scope out the area carefully, and don’t risk Surfer’s life (or yours) in an area likely to be inhabited by large meat-eating reptiles.
• Choose water-fetch toys carefully. Anything you throw in the water for your dog to fetch should float well, so your fetch-obsessed dog doesn’t drown himself trying to retrieve something that has sunk under the surface. Fetch items should neither be too small (because a dog who snaps at the floating toy can accidentally swallow and choke on a small ball, for example) nor too large (because a heavy or awkward fetch item can interfere with a dog’s swimming).
• Keep a safe distance from your swimming dog. If you are using yourself as a lure to encourage Surfer into deeper water, be careful. A swimming dog has claws and strong front legs. He can scratch you badly, even push you under the water, especially if he panics in mid-swim. Until you know that Surfer can handle the deeper water, be sure to have a human buddy around who can help you if the two of you get into trouble.
• Know when to call it quits. Some dogs will naturally protect themselves from over-exercising by declining to fetch once they are tired. Obsessive/compulsive types will try to fetch until they are exhausted and sinking lower and lower in the water. Seize and put away all available fetch items and encourage your dog to take a break. If friends or beach acquaintances won’t stop encouraging your tired swimmer to “Get it!” put a leash on your puddled pooch and enforce some rest.
On the positive side
Don’t let us scare you. The benefits of swimming far outweigh the risks, and all of the hazards described above are avoidable if you use good common sense. Swimming is great exercise for your dog – and you! It’s low-impact exercise, and can be especially beneficial therapy for dogs with joint or arthritis problems. It’s a good survival skill for your dog to know. And water-fetch is a very rewarding game for both dog and human, that can help strengthen the bond between you and your canine companion. Maybe it’s time for the two of you to get in the swim of things!
I wanted to write you and tell you of an extraordinary experience that I had using homeopathy for my dog.
Last summer our seven-year-old Shepherd-mix developed a hard lump near her shoulder. It grew to the size of a large marble. We took her to our vet, who performed a needle biopsy. It came back as reactive lymph tissue – baffling because there should be no lymph tissue in that area. To be safe, he recommended surgery, since a needle biopsy can only test a fragment of the lump. The surgery would have to go deep because the lump was imbedded in her muscle.
I took a deep breath, listened to my own inner calm and immediately decided to boost her immune system using the herb astragalus and a maitake mushroom tincture. I also boosted her vitamins.
We wasted no time and took her to two natural-oriented vets. One gave us more supplements and recommended surgery. The next immediately sent us to a surgeon. The surgeon, of course, wanted to do surgery, telling us if there were any lumps in her lungs that there was no point in trying, it would be a death sentence. I sat in our car and cried.
But before we took action, I took another deep breath and again trusted my inner voice. The lump was still there. We went back to our original vet who did another needle biopsy. He sent it to a pathologist and it came back the same, except this time, interestingly, it had macrophages surrounding it – the “killer” immune system cells that go in to remove foreign substances from the body, which is exactly what astragalus is supposed to do. It was great to have scientific proof that it does have an immune bolstering effect.
Then I went to a homeopathic pharmacy. I told the pharmacist the problem and he recommended a homeopathic remedy called Silicea, 30c, which is for the lymph system. I gave her three pills, three times a day on an empty stomach and guess what? Within two weeks the lump was gone, much to the shock of the four vets that we saw. It has been months with no sign of the lump and our girl is as happy and healthy as ever. This is the third time that we have avoided surgery by listening to our inner voices and going the natural route. The other two times were for recommended knee replacement surgery on two of our other dogs. They have both completely healed. I always tell other dog owners, “Listen to your Spirit and keep on trying.”
-Janet Katz via email
From my experience, Doggie Dooleys (reviewed in the June 2000 issue of WDJ) are a great concept. What could be more convenient for disposing dog poo? No more bags, no more smell? Great! The only problem is they don’t always work. Their effectiveness is greatly influenced by the climate and soil type. When we lived in Tennessee, we had clay soil and it wouldn’t drain. In addition winters were cold enough to stop the biological processes necessary to break down the waste.
Now we live on the coast of Oregon (and I do mean on the coast, 300 yards from the beach). Our soil is very sandy, and summers and winters are mild. Now our soil is too sandy! In the summer, the pyramid-style Dooley drains too fast, so not enough water stays in to maintain the decomposition process even when I add five gallons of warm water each day. In the winter, our water table sometimes rises to the point where the water is standing in the yard for several days. Also the temperature still gets too cool in the winter and fall. So it still doesn’t work.
I have the larger model and only one dog. I also made the Dooley even deeper by adding a row of cinder blocks. Doggie Dooley suggested some “super start-up” enzymes to jump-start the process. I was adding water and enzymes each day as per their instructions. No luck. Very disappointing. Nine months after not adding any waste to the Dooley, there is still partially decomposed material in it.
While it is possible the “bucket type” (similar to the one we had in Tennessee and as opposed to the open bottom which we have now) might be more effective in our current location, I am reluctant to spend another $50 to try again.
-Patricia Riley via email
We admit that the Doggie Dooley worked so well for US, that we didn’t consider how it would work in challenging soils like hard clay or extremely sandy soil. Readers? Any other ideas for environmentally friendlier poop disposal?
Lately I’ve been wondering how I could use my talents to perhaps raise money for animal causes. I would like to find some way to reach an animal-loving audience who might be interested in purchasing artwork, knowing that most of the proceeds would go to such a cause.Where would I start?
Just Friday I dropped off two paintings to a framer and asked if he would give me a break on the frames as I am donating the pictures to our local Humane Society. He said he would. Our Humane Society has built a new facility and put a notice in their newsletter asking for art for their new walls. I’ll be bringing these pictures to them when they’re framed and asking them for any ideas as well. I got my Shepherd-mix from them last August and am eager to do more but need ideas.
-Susan Mandl Rochester, New York
Again, we put out a call to our readers: Who knows some creative ways to benefit their local shelters?
One of the greatest concerns many people have about switching their dogs to a raw diet is the fear of bacterial infection, either in themselves or their pets. News reports of people dying from E. coli and salmonella poisoning have no doubt fanned the flames of that fear. But most people who have successfully transitioned their dogs to a raw diet report no problems are delighted with their dogs’ health and appearance. The secret, advocates say, is in good food handling practices. Dog owners who neglect safe handling techniques are certainly more at risk of infection from any pathogens (a list of the usual suspects is discussed in great detail in “What Evil Lurks Within,” page 9) that happen to be present in raw meat. This is especially true of children, whose immune systems are immature and inexperienced, and people with compromised immune systems. But keeping your meat safe and your kitchen clean is not exactly rocket science, folks! Anyone can learn to do it. Keep it cool
Perhaps the most critical factor in handling raw meat is attention to refrigeration. Keeping foods refrigerated slows the growth of any organisms that happen to be present. “Huge numbers of bacteria can result from providing pathogenic bacteria ideal reproductive temperatures for only short time periods,” Dr. Dunn says. “Generally, as long as some moisture is present, and the temperature range is 50 to 90 degrees, pathogenic food-borne bacteria have a reproductive bonanza.” This means that frozen meat should always be defrosted in the refrigerator – NOT on the counter or in your sink. Defrosting at room temperature means that the outside sections of the meat are at an unsafe temperature while the inside sections are still defrosting. Read and follow the safe handling instructions on the meat’s label. Refrigerate or freeze raw food if you don’t plan to feed it immediately. Vegetable mixtures can be refrigerated for three to five days, but meat mixtures probably shouldn’t be refrigerated for more than 48 hours. “Safe length of storage time is highly variable because time, temperature, type of organism, moisture levels and numbers of organisms originally present all interact to impact the safety of each food item,” Dr. Dunn says. Larry A. Bernstein, VMD, is the owner of Natural Holistic Pet Care in North Miami Beach, Florida, and a passionate advocate of diets built on feeding raw meat. Dr. Bernstein recommends that all meats are kept frozen following purchase, and thawed on the day they are fed to the dog. Freezing is said to have a detrimental effect on the nutritional quality of meat, but the difference is not significant. And freezing is less detrimental to nutritional quality than the heat from cooking. “Feeding food fresh is great,” Dr. Bernstein says, “but if feeding it after it has been frozen allows you the flexibility to feed raw food diets more often, then the benefits far outweigh any deterioration that might happen in the freezer.” When thawing meats in the refrigerator, put them on the bottom shelf or drawer, so that any blood or juices don’t drip on any other food in the refrigerator. Many dog owners are under the impression that freezing can kill any potentially harmful organism that may be present in the meat. According to Dr. Dunn, “Freezing is not very effective in killing any pathogenic bacteria already present on the food product. Freezing will only impede any further growth of those bacteria already present. Parasites, if present, must be frozen at temperatures so low that household freezers probably will have no effect on killing any parasites such as Trichinella.” Keep it clean Safe handling practices recommended by experts include washing hands before and after touching raw meat; careful cleansing and disinfecting of dishes, utensils, cutting boards, grinders, and other equipment used in meat preparation; and proper storage of prepared food. “Almost all foods we purchase from the grocery store have bacteria present on or in them,” says T. J. Dunn Jr., DVM, director of veterinary services for PetFoodDirect.com and ThePetCenter.com. “Only specific strains of specific bacteria have the potential to cause disease and then only when their numbers develop to fairly high levels. If pathogenic bacteria are present when the consumer purchased the food and the consumer ignores safe handling procedures, those organisms may proliferate to a point where their numbers may cause disease in humans. The organisms may proliferate on utensils, containers, cutting boards, washcloths, anywhere there is organic material upon which to grow.” Thorough cleaning with hot, soapy water is the best way to prevent problems. It’s a good idea to use a disinfectant for items that are porous or difficult to clean, including cutting boards and food grinders. Dr. Bernstein recommends using a disinfectant compound or a little bleach in dishwater, or running items through a dishwasher. “And there are some new [disinfectant] wipes for the kitchen that we use to wipe down the cutting board,” he says. Be careful with knives, as well, Dr. Bernstein says. “You really need to clean them off well. You don’t want to put good knives in the dishwasher, but you want to soak them in something.” Be aware that chopped or ground meat is more likely to become contaminated than whole pieces of meat. That’s because bacteria such as E. coli generally contaminate the surfaces of a food product. Mixing, chopping and combining other ingredients can distribute the organisms throughout the food. Under certain temperature or moisture conditions, this could enhance the organism’s proliferation in the food. “I don’t recommend chopped or ground meat unless it’s done fresh – you grind it at home,” Dr. Bernstein says. “Grinding expands the surface area so there’s more room for bacteria to grow, and there’s more oxidation of the meat. When oxygen gets in contact with the meat, it causes deterioration, so the more you open up the surface area, the more you speed up the deterioration. So feed meat in chunks, little cubes, or cut it up and freeze it. And if you’re going to grind it, grind it right before you feed it.” Whose hands should stay off? If you want to be really careful, shouldn’t you wear rubber or plastic gloves when handling raw meat? Maybe, maybe not. If you have a cut or sore on your hands that’s open to infection, gloves could certainly be a good idea. Ditto for people with compromised immune systems. In general, though, healthy people don’t need to go to such extremes, Dr. Bernstein says. When raw meats are being handled and/or fed to the dog, a couple of types of people deserve special consideration: people who have any sort of immuno-suppressed condition and children (especially infants and toddlers). Since these people are at greater risk of infection with any pathogens, they must be prevented from coming into contact with the dog’s raw food and dirty dishes. This entails “following the trail” of any potentially harmful organisms far beyond casual cleaning. For instance, if you have a toddler in the house, it’s not enough to prevent her from touching the dog’s food bowl; you have to imagine that a dog who just finished eating a meal that contained raw meat might immediately drink from his water bowl, potentially transferring a certain amount of the theoretic pathogen to the water. Toddlers should be prevented from having any sort of contact with the dog’s water bowl, too. Some people feel that’s going a bit bit overboard. Nancy O. Johnson of Vancouver, British Columbia, suffers from a compromised immune system herself but says she doesn’t take any extraordinary precautions when it comes to feeding a raw diet to Harpo, her Chinese Crested. “I buy only from reputable butchers, and I wash everything with soap and water, although I use the dishwasher on occasion. Neither I nor my dogs have ever had a problem related to feeding raw meat.” But others say, “Better safe than sorry!” Among the safety precautions taken by Joanne Nash of Los Altos, California, are using separate cutting boards for the dogs’ raw food and for anything she and her husband eat. “We use antibacterial dishwashing detergent for all dishes, cutting boards and so on, with separate sponges for dogs and people. We always wash the dog bowls after a raw meat and bones meal. And I use disposable plastic gloves when I am preparing a batch of meat and vegetable mix. I’m also more conscientious about washing my hands after I’ve been mixing or feeding the raw food.” Cleaning the meat What about disinfecting the meat itself? A number of sources suggest using grapefruit seed extract (known for its disinfectant qualities) or food-grade hydrogen peroxide to kill bacteria before serving meat. It can’t hurt, but it’s not really necessary, say raw-diet advocates. “Over the years, people have advocated using grapefruit seed extract (GSE) or food grade hydrogen peroxide to sterilize or decontaminate the meat – you marinate it before you feed it,” Dr. Bernstein says. “I think you’re dealing with personal preference here. We’ve fed our dogs raw foods for years and hundreds if not thousands of patients have done it, and some use GSE or peroxide and some don’t, and across the board, I really can’t think of a problem.” Betty Lewis of Amherst, New Hampshire, occasionally sprays her counters and cutting boards with a dilution of grapefruit seed extract, but she doesn’t use the product on the meat itself. “Dr. Ian Billinghurst (a well-known proponent of raw diets for pets) feels that dogs are capable of dealing with a fair amount of bacteria that is normally present in their environment,” Lewis says. “If we sterilize their food, we do them a disservice by not fostering this natural capability. Then, if they’re exposed to a larger than normal amount of bacteria, they may not be able to overcome it.” Nash had trouble finding grapefruit seed extract or food-grade hydrogen peroxide when she first starting feeding raw food to her Cavaliers and Dalmatians. Determined to feed her dogs raw meat anyway, she experimented with another method of disinfection: Dipping raw meat in boiling water.This was so messy and time-consuming, Nash says, she gave up the practice after the first few times – and has had no problems with her dogs. Whether you detoxify meat is strictly a matter of personal preference, Dr. Bernstein says. “There’s a certain fear factor involved, so if you’re nervous, go ahead and use the grapefruit seed extract or the hydrogen peroxide. I usually recommend that with poultry anyway; for some reason I’m more cautious with poultry. If you’re really scared about feeding raw meat or if your animal is reticent to eat it, cook it a little bit. After you become a little less fearful, cook it a little less. After a while you find that it’s not worth bothering to cook it because they love it the other way, and then you’re well on your way.” Shelter from the stuff? All of these safety procedures help protect us from illness, but what about our dogs? They’re the ones eating the raw diet. What kind of protection do they need? Not as much as you might think. “I don’t have much concern about the dogs getting sick (from eating raw meat),” says Richard H. Pitcairn, DVM, Ph.D., of the Animal Natural Health Center in Eugene, Oregon and author of Natural Health for Dogs and Cats, one of the earliest books advocating a raw diet for pets. “Dogs are carnivores and they have experience for millennia eating raw animals. I haven’t seen any problem myself in my practice.” Pitcairn explains that dogs have much stronger stomach acids than people do, so they are far more capable of battling any pathogens that may be present in the meat. Their intestinal tracts are also quite a bit shorter than ours, giving bacteria less of an opportunity to take hold and flourish. “I think dogs are quite well adapted to handling meat; in the natural state dogs will eat meat that’s decayed,” Dr. Pitcairn says. “They bury it and dig it up days later, stuff that would probably kill us.” “The potential for disease is related directly to the individual idiosyncrasies of the organism, the numbers and types of organisms impacting the individual, and the individual’s physical state of health,” says Dr. Dunn. For example, he explains, a free-roaming dog that is accustomed to scavenging meals is usually more acclimated to the presence of potentially pathogenic bacteria in its digestive system than, say, an apartment-dwelling Poodle. That’s why it’s important to introduce a raw diet gradually, over a period of five to seven days. Don’t follow the example of one of Dr. Bernstein’s clients, who introduced her 18-year-old dog to a raw diet by giving him four different kinds of meat in large quantities. “The dog did get diarrhea, but that’s because the owner wasn’t being sensible or moderate,” Dr. Bernstein says. “I think that’s the only case where I’ve seen an older dog have a negative reaction, and we can understand why that happened.” Dogs that shouldn’t eat raw Can dogs with impaired immune systems eat a raw diet? Many holistic veterinarians believe that a raw diet can benefit the immune system, but they caution that such a dog should only eat a raw diet under veterinary supervision. Animals that are weak or predisposed to illness might have problems, especially if there’s an overwhelming bacteria load in the meat, Dr. Bernstein says. A veterinarian who has experience with raw feeding should help the owner supervise this dog’s diet. Dr. Bernstein finds that feeding raw foods can be very beneficial to such an animal, but stresses that in such a case, you have to be even more careful with the cuts of meat, the quality, and the freshness. Puppies, too, should be introduced gradually to a raw diet. Wait until they’re weaned, and then start mixing in small quantities of meat gradually. “Until they’re six or eight weeks old, I don’t think their guts are really competent to handle large quantities of meat, so I would be most cautious with a young animal,” Dr. Bernstein says. “After about eight weeks, it’s probably pretty safe.” Naturally, experiences vary. Australian Cattle Dog breeder Deb Casey of Dallas, Texas, starts feeding a raw diet to her puppies when they are four weeks old. “The puppies are the best I have ever raised,” she says. “They do not smell like dog food, and the poop is very small and firm.” Ruth Beetow of Springville, New York, also feeds a raw diet to her Norwich and West Highland White Terrier puppies and has never had a problem. According to Dr. Dunn, when problems arise with raw diets, it’s usually due to improper handling procedures on the part of the consumer. Good sanitation, in combination with modern processing methods and regulations, are the key to successful raw feeding.
Welcome to the premier of WDJ’s new monthly food review column! We have been reviewing dry dog foods in our February issue for three years running, and each year we’ve run into the same problem: We hear about all kinds of great new or newly reformulated foods following publication of our article.
In order to keep up with the arrival of superior new foods on the market, we’ll be taking an in-depth look at dry dog foods in every issue. We’ll repeat our selection criteria in each installment, so newcomers know why we like what we like in a dog food, and pan what we don’t. However, for our most exhaustive discussion of dry foods, please refer to the February 2000 issue.
We selected Natural Balance as a Top Dry Food in our February 2000 issue, but the food was recently reformulated and bears almost no resemblance to its former self. This incarnation is very impressive. The food now has three major protein sources – chicken (appearing first on the list of ingredients), duck (number third), and lamb meal (fourth), providing a nice complement of amino acids. The makers have also omitted corn, soy, wheat, eggs, white rice, dairy products, and sunflower oil from the food, in an effort to avoid many ingredients that allergic dogs have problems with.
Like many companies jumping on the nutraceutical bandwagon, NB has included glucosamine (beneficial for arthritic conditions) and extra vitamin C (for general immune health) in the food. However, without any information as to the amount present in the food, there is no way to say whether the inclusion is at all beneficial.
We sure wish all dog food makers would include the date of manufacture on all foods; like most companies, Natural Balance includes a “Best Used By” date, which doesn’t give you any idea of how old the food already is when you buy it. We also wish all food makers would include a figure for the kilocalories per cup of food, rather than just the suggested feeding amounts (a few commendable manufacturers include both).
Holistic veterinarians have long decried the annual vaccination schedule recommended by many conventionally trained veterinarians for all dogs. Many holistic veterinarians suspect that many of the complex ailments that plague our modern dogs – from allergies to digestive problems to aggressive behavior and so on – have their roots in immune system problems brought on by excessive and unnecessary vaccination.
However, many of us are convinced by our veterinarians that our dogs won’t be safe unless they receive these boosters every year. Fortunately, a recent study indicates that most dogs retain humoral antibody protection from past vaccinations for longer than previously thought.
The Journal of American Veterinary Medical Association (JAVMA) will shortly be publishing the results of a research study, conducted by Lisa Twark, DVM, and W. Jean Dodds, DVM, of Hemopet and Antech Diagnostics, that examined the serum antibody titers of 1441 healthy dogs brought to veterinary clinics for routine health checkups and/or revaccination. The titer tests were conducted at a time when most dogs would typically be given annual booster vaccines.
It was the authors’ intention that those results could be used by veterinarians as a guide for advising their clients about the necessity of annual revaccination of dogs against canine parvovirus (CPV) and canine distemper virus (CDV).
A very high percentage of the dogs had adequate titers – more than 95 percent for CPV and more than 97 percent for CDV– indicating that annual vaccination for CPV and CDV is unnecessary in most cases.
The CPV vaccination history was available for 444 dogs, and the CDV vaccination history was available for 433 dogs; the interval between the dogs’ last vaccination and serum antibody measurement ranged from one month to six years, with the majority (60 percent) being between one to two years. Age, breed (purebred or mixed breed), and sex of the dogs were not significantly associated with the adequacy of serum CPV or CDV antibody titers. The authors commented that in the presence of adequate serum antibody titers, there is little reason to introduce unnecessary antigen, adjuvant, and preservative, as well as to increase the risk of adverse events and client costs associated with administering booster vaccines.
Source: Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association
Pet health insurance offered to employees The national unemployment rate is at an historic low, and employers are looking for creative ways they can attract and retain quality employees. While on-site child care centers or gym memberships increase some employees’ loyalty to their companies, dog owners might get more excited about a new perk being offered to some employees: pet health insurance.
Veterinary Pet Insurance Inc., of Anaheim, California, has sold individual pet policies since 1982, but group plans for employers only began to take off in 1999, according to Rebecca Lewis, VPI vice president for marketing and communications. VPI offers a typical indemnity plan, with average premiums of $200 a year and a $40 deductible.
As great as this sounds for employees who can use some help with their dogs’ medical bills, the plans are not without the usual catches. Just as with human health insurance policies, you end up paying quite a bit more if you sign up for a plan that will cover extensive care for serious or long-term medical conditions such as diabetes or cancer treatment. Nevertheless, having an employer’s help with the monthly payments is welcome relief for many dog owners.
A slightly different type of health plan is offered to employers by Pet Assure, of Dover, New Jersey. Described as an “HMO for pets,” the plan lacks a traditional deductible and co-pay structure. Instead, members – or, in this case, the members’ employers – pay a small fee, generally taken as a small monthly payroll deduction and receive a 25 percent discount at network providers. Pet Assure enrolls all pets, regardless of age, infirmity, or species.
Source: Associated Press
New law makes airlines’ animal safety records available to consumers On April 5, President Clinton signed a comprehensive aviation bill that carried a provision to require airlines to begin reporting any incidents of animals being lost, injured, or killed during transport. The Department of Transportation (DOT) will begin to tally such incident reports, and make the results available to consumers, as well as notify the United States Department of Agriculture. In addition, the DOT will begin working with air carriers to improve employee training on air transport of animals.
According to the Air Transport Association, more than 500,000 animals are transported each year. The ATA has estimated that perhaps one percent of those animals encounter problems of some level of seriousness. Undoubtedly, that number will rise now that incident reporting is mandatory. Following publication of WDJ’s article on air transportation safety for dogs (“Leaving on a Jet Plane?” March 1999), WDJ received a number of letters from concerned airline employees who warned that flying is often dangerous for dogs.
Source: Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association
Adverse effects of arthritis drug spur changes in labeling, marketing Each year, the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine compiles and releases information about adverse drug experience (ADE) reports received from veterinarians and consumers. On December 1, 1999, the Center released figures for 1998, which indicated that one medication intended for use on arthritic dogs, Rimadyl (carprofen), was responsible for 39 percent of all the ADE reports made in 1998, “considerably more than that received for other drugs,” according to the CVM.
A recent “Update on rimadyl” released by the Center explained that for any one ADE report, there is no absolute certainty that the suspected drug caused the effect, and that the adverse effects seen in Rimadyl’s ADE reports were “consistent with those expected for NSAIDs (nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs)” which typically involve the gastrointestinal system, renal/urinary system, hematopietic (blood) system, neurological system, and the liver. Approximately 13 percent of the 1998 Rimadyl ADE reports involved the death of the dog.
Based on the ADE reports received since Rimadyl was marketed, a number of actions have been taken to update the safety information that veterinarians receive when they purchase the product, so they are well-prepared to discuss the risk and benefits of the drug with dog owners. At the CVM’s request, Pfizer also developed and distributed an information sheet to be given to owners at the time Rimadyl is dispensed. The CVM also insisted on “death” being added to the list of possible adverse reactions that appear on the drug label and in the advertising for the drug (a move that caused Pfizer to pull all of its television ads for the product).
Rimadyl has made a positive change in the lives of many arthritic dogs, but WDJ encourages dog owners to use medications cautiously and to try to use minimal dosages whenever possible. If you give your dog Rimadyl, you should immediately discontinue use of the drug and contact your veterinarian if your dog displays any of the following common adverse reactions:
• loss of appetite or loss of thirst
• unusual pattern of urination, blood in the urine, sweet-smelling urine, an overabundance of urine, urine accidents in the house
• staggering, stumbling, weakness or partial paralysis, full paralysis, seizures, dizziness, loss of balance
• jaundice (yellowing of the skin, mucus membranes and whites of the eyes).
Some dog flea-control products poison cats If you use “spot-on” flea-control chemicals that contain permethrin on your dog, watch out – you just might end up poisoning your cat.
The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) has reported adverse reactions by cats to concentrated, spot-on flea and tick products that contain permethrin and are intended for dogs. The AVMA has sent a letter to the EPA asking for the requirement that such products include a warning label that alerts pet owners to the dangers of incidental but potentially fatal exposure of the product to cats.
Any cat that has close contact with dogs that have been treated with the products can develop signs of toxicosis, says the AVMA, including seizures, depression, labored breathing, or discoordination.
Your cat can be exposed to enough permethrin to become ill if he and your dog so much as sleep in the same place (and not necessarily at the same time), such as your sofa or bed.
Cats are far more sensitive to organophosphates than most other animals. There are some flea-control products labeled for use on cats that contain permethrin, but these products generally contain less than 0.1% permethrin. A typical dog’s flea-control product may contain as much as 45-60 % permethrin, so the risk of unintentional high exposure to a cat roommate is high.
It is generally accepted that the practice of human and veterinary acupuncture had their beginnings in ancient China. According to legend, veterinary acupuncture was discovered when lame horses were used for battle and became sound after being pierced by arrows at distinct points.
Regardless of the accuracy of the folklore, there is evidence that veterinarians practiced acupuncture around 2000-3000 BC. The early use of the technique on animals was probably prompted by the economic importance of horses, camels, elephants, cows, pigs, and chickens as sources of transportation and food. Now, veterinary acupuncture is used worldwide to treat all types of animals including many exotics.
Acupuncture gets its name form the Latin words acus, which means needle, and pungare which means to pierce. Most of us can conjure up images of an acupuncture session, but few understand the reasoning behind needling – perhaps because there are several schools of thought that purport to explain the effectiveness of the practice.
According to practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine, there are channels of energy, called meridians, that run in regular patterns through the body and over its surface. The energy, called Qi or Chi, flows in these meridians just like water flows in a stream. If something blocks the flow of energy, it backs up, much as water would back up if a dam were placed across a stream. Disease results from disturbances or imbalances in the energy. Placing needles at specific points, called acupuncture points or acupoints, unblocks the obstructions in the meridians and reestablishes the free flow of energy.
The theory is that by restoring energy circulation through the meridians, acupuncture treatments allow the body’s internal organs to correct imbalances in digestion, absorption, and energy production. This is thought to encourage the body to use its own healing powers to correct imbalances and disharmony that manifest as disease or lameness. Acupuncture, therefore, is a means of balancing the energy in the body and allowing the body to heal. Because acupuncture helps maintain the body’s balance, it is also a powerful tool for preventing disease.
The Western perspective While it was clear that acupuncture has a long history of effective treatment of many injuries and diseases, scientists using traditional diagnostic tools have been unable, until recently, to explain how therapy works. In the last 25 years, however, Western scientists have made enormous strides toward understanding the curative mechanisms and the physiological basis of acupuncture.
For example, scientists have learned that the epidermis at acupuncture points is usually thinner than that of surrounding areas. Below the surface of the skin, each acupuncture point has a unique structure composed of a thin connective tissue column surrounded by thicker connective tissue. The column or acupuncture point contains a lymph vessel, arteriole, and vein that are surrounded by a network of nerve fibers.
Bruce Pomerantz, Ph.D., a neuroscientist at the University of Toronto, has done extensive research on the nerve pathways that are affected during acupuncture therapy. Dr. Pomerantz has published his research in numerous scientific articles and eight textbooks on acupuncture.
Dr. Pomerantz’s research has shown that when an acupuncture needle pierces the skin and underlying muscle, it stimulates some of the nerve fibers which carry messages to brain to release endorphins, morphine-like compounds that block pain pathways in the brain.
Endorphins are often referred to as “the feel-good” substances that are released naturally and account for feelings of euphoria such as the “runner’s high.” Only those acupoints associated with treating pain are involved with the release of endorphins.
Other acupoints provide effects such as the release of cortisol, a natural steroid. Research is ongoing to determine how stimulation of these acupoints affect the body.
Acupuncture and moxibustion Acupuncture therapy involves the insertion of very thin needles into precise anatomical locations or acupuncture points on the body to balance the body’s energy and produce a healing effect.
Acupuncture needles are solid, flexible, stainless steel needles with a smooth shaft that is rounded at the tip. At most, there may be a momentary sensation of pain as the needle is inserted. No pain should occur after the needle is in place. This is unlike hypodermic needles that are pointed and have sharp cutting edges surrounding the hollow barrel and may be painful when inserted. Both reusable needles that must be sterilized after each use and disposable needles are available. Both types are designed to stimulate the acupoints and produce a result such as the release of endorphins from the brain.
As noted above, other types of acupoints produce other types of physiological changes within the body. The goal of acupuncture therapy is to encourage the body to promote natural healing and to improve function.
Needling isn’t the only way to stimulate acupoints. As a matter of fact, the Chinese word for acupuncture is zhenjiu. It comes from zhen, which means needle, and jiu, which means moxibustion. In Chinese medicine, acupuncture and moxibustion are considered part of one therapy. Moxibustion is a method of heating or stimulating acupuncture points by burning an herb over them. Moxa, from the Japanese moe kusa or burning herb, refers to the herb mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) which is related to the chrysanthemum family. The mature leaves of the plant, which have a wooly underside, are harvested, cured by drying in the sun, and ground into a fine powder or “wool” that is shaped into cones.
Commercially available moxa sticks are 6-12 inches long and about a half-inch in diameter. The end is ignited and then blown out so that it burns much like the red tip of a cigar. This hot end is held about an inch to an inch and a half above an acupoint while being moved up and down or in a circular pattern for three to 15 minutes to stimulate the acupoint. Veterinary acupuncturists can include this technique when warranted by the animal’s condition.
Conditions commonly treated with acupuncture While acupuncture is not appropriate for all medical problems, it is used effectively to treat a number of disorders. Acupuncture is primarily used to treat functional problems such as paralysis, pain, and noninfectious inflammations including allergies. This encompasses a host of common canine complaints such as arthritis, spinal disc problems, many musculo-skeletal problems, lick granuloma, asthma, gastrointestinal problems and certain reproductive disorders.
Narda Robinson, DO, DVM, provides acupuncture therapy at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado. Dr. Robinson very commonly treats dogs with arthritis and disc disease, but she finds acupuncture important during postoperative recovery of animals as it maximizes the animal’s comfort level, promotes healing, and stimulates the immune system.
Acupuncture is one of the safest animal therapies when administered by a trained veterinarian. Rarely do side effects occur. You should know, however, that some animals may be sleepy or lethargic for 24 hours following a treatment while the condition of others may seem to worsen for up to 48 hours after therapy. These symptoms are indications that physiological changes are occurring and are usually followed by a noticeable improvement in the animal’s condition. The types of changes that you might see in your pet should be explained by the veterinarian at the time of treatment.
Choosing an acupuncturist Whether your pet is the victim of an accident or develops symptoms for no apparent reason, it is essential that you see a veterinarian to have the health of the whole dog evaluated. Signs that you interpret as minor may be indicative of a more serious condition that requires professional diagnosis by a veterinarian. A thorough physical examination and competent diagnosis of your pet’s general health and specific problem are key to successful treatment and recovery.
Therefore, it is imperative that you choose a licensed veterinarian who has had formal training in the field of veterinary acupuncture, such as that offered by the International Veterinary Acupuncture Society (IVAS), based in Longmont, Colorado.
Dr. Robinson believes that lay acupuncturists pose a serious threat to animal health. Lay practitioners can not provide the option of laboratory tests and certainly not a veterinary diagnosis of the animal’s condition. Cancers and other serious illnesses can be missed, allowing them to progress to untreatable states. At Colorado State University, Dr. Robinson and her colleagues often combine conventional veterinary medicine with acupuncture, herbology, and massage to affect the best course of recovery for each individual animal.
Most states consider acupuncture a surgical procedure and therefore require that a practitioner be a licensed veterinarian to perform acupuncture treatments on animals. You can check the International Veterinary Acupuncturist Directory (303-682-1167) to find acupuncture societies and qualified veterinarian acupuncture practitioners in your state.
Cost-effective treatments As you might imagine, the cost of acupuncture for an animal varies with the type of problem requiring treatment. Acupuncture for a simple problem (including a thorough initial examination) generally costs about $100, with additional visits costing anywhere from $35 to $80, depending on your location (areas with few practitioners and high demand often result in higher fees).
According to Dr. Robinson, treatment for something like severe hip arthritis might require three to four treatments. Sometimes the body becomes so entrenched in patterns that it need more time for the healing process to take place. Even though she frequently sees improvement in an animal’s condition after one treatment, she wants to see continue therapy for three to five sessions and then evaluate the progress. Then acupuncture treatments might be spaced several weeks or even months apart as a maintenance course. Dr. Robinson’s goal is to improve the animal’s quality of life and keep it comfortable while weaning the pet off of treatments.
Acupuncture is not a silver bullet that can mend all ills, but experienced veterinary acupuncturists such as Dr. Robinson say it’s common to see as many as 85 percent of their patients respond favorably. Consider this powerful and safe tool the next time you have an injured or ailing pet.
-By C. Sue Furman
Sue Furman is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology at Colorado State University in Ft. Collins, CO. She is also active as a free-lance writer and teaches equine and canine massage classes.
I have never owned a dog with separation anxiety, thank goodness. The condition is hard on the dog who suffers from the condition and hard on the dog’s caretakers, too, including owners, vets, groomers, pet sitters, and dog walkers. Care must be taken to prevent triggering the dog’s panic at being left alone—in severe cases, even just long enough for the person caring for the dog to use the restroom!
