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Dog Training Basics: How to Teach a Cue

By
Kathy Callahan, CPDT-KA, FDM
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A white dog on a leash looks intently at its owner for hand commands.
Using a food lure is an easy and effective way to first get a new behavior from our dogs. “Fade” (stop using) the lure and use an empty hand for the cue, feeding treats from the other hand, as soon as you can.

While our dogs are born with all sorts of natural canine inclinations – like searching out food, investigating scents, romping with friends – “listen to words from humans” is not part of their default program. That’s one they have to learn, from us. With the right kind of teaching, responding to your cues will become a dog’s go-to choice because it is the most reliable route to the things he wants.

Commands vs. Cues

Sometimes folks contact me saying their dog seems to be difficult to train. Then I show up and find that – with the best of intentions – they’re “commanding” their confused dog to DOWN! and LEAVE IT! in a big, scary voice. Rather than learning, the dog is intimidated and shuts down.

While old-fashioned dog training was driven by that kind of voice and a forceful “do it or else” approach, today we know that a more positive teaching style works better in the long run. To reflect that shift, WDJ along with much of the industry now uses the term “cue” rather than “command.” A cue is a signal to your dog that she has an opportunity to earn something she wants with the right response.

Teach Cues in This Order

 

Generally, the easiest way to begin teaching behaviors is by using a food lure. Here’s what that looks like. (Note that this stuff seems awfully complicated when it’s written out, but it’s really not.)

  1. START WITH NO CUE. Folks always want to start by saying the cue word, but if you keep repeating a word that’s currently meaningless to your dog, she might end up associating it with the wrong thing. (“Oh, I guess ‘sit’ must mean that kitty cat who just walked by.”)
  2. USE A LURE. Lure your dog’s body into position with a nugget of food that you keep just in front of his nose. Move s-l-o-w-l-y so the dog’s body can easily follow. (The most common mistakes are keeping food too far from the nose and/or moving it too quickly.) The moment the dog’s body is in the right spot, create a marker sound (more on that next) and pop the treat into your dog’s mouth.
    A woman teaches her dog the final step of the cue process without a lure.
    When she clearly understands this large hand signal, start reducing its size. Initially, our dog model, Luna, confused the smaller signal for down with a somewhat similar cue for “paw.”
  3. ADD THE VERBAL CUE. Once you can reliably lure the behavior, you can start saying the cue word as you do that. Now, the dog links that correct body position with the appropriate cue word.
  4. CHANGE THE LURE TO A HAND SIGNAL. Once this is all going swimmingly – your pup is offering that behavior about four out of five times – give the verbal cue as you mimic the luring motion with an empty directing hand. Ideally pup performs exactly as he has been, and you deliver that reward just as quickly, except from the other hand. The dog learns that following an empty hand works just as well. Now you’re using a hand signal.
    A woman uses a lure to bring her dog flat to the ground as part of teaching the dog a cue.
    When she’s following the treat to the floor nearly every time, try moving your empty hand to the floor. Feed her a treat from your other hand the moment she is in a “down.”
  5. MAKE THE HAND SIGNAL SMALLER. As the dog catches on, the hand signal that began as a replica of the luring motion becomes smaller and smaller. For example, where you previously used a dramatic finger moving all the way to the ground to signify a down, you can now just do a quick point.
    A woman teaches her dog the final step of the cue process without a lure.
    When she clearly understands this large hand signal, start reducing its size. Initially, our dog model, Luna, confused the smaller signal for down with a somewhat similar cue for “paw.”
  6. DROP THE HAND SIGNAL. Sometimes people tell me in a very impressed tone that their brother-in-law’s dog follows hand signals without him saying anything! I don’t want to break the spell, so I keep it to myself that yeah, that’s easier. Dogs naturally pay attention to body language; it’s much harder to teach them to respond to our verbal language.

To do that, once we have a very minimized hand signal, we use timing to remove it entirely. We say the cue, and rather than immediately giving the hand signal, we wait a second to see if pup processes what we’ve just asked. No? Then give that signal.

Try again, with that little delay between the verbal cue and the hand signal. One of these times, your pup is going to do the thing you asked with no extra help from your body language. (Now go brag to your brother-in-law!)

Choose Just a Few Cues to Teach Your Dog at First

Remember that what you’re really teaching at first is the whole concept of training. Once your dog gets the idea that this is a fun new game where you’ll be guiding her into doing things – and she gets prizes when she gets it right – she’ll be all in.

Here’s my first-week list of (usually) easy-to-learn things:

  • Name = Dog makes eye contact with human
  • Sit = Dog’s bum touches floor
  • Touch = Dog’s nose touches hand
  • Find It = Dog searches floor for kibble
  • Come! = Dog zooms to human for amazing treat

I encourage folks to spend a week getting those behaviors nice and solid, but it turns out that’s a big ask because humans are always in a rush. We all want to show off a 20-foot “stay” and a “leave it” in front of a mouth-watering bone!

Try to resist hurrying. Let’s show our dogs that it’s easy for things to work out well for them here on Planet Human. Let your dog feel like a superstar at the first five cues before you move onto the next tier of challenges.

 

Name = Dog makes eye contact with human Sit = Dog’s bum touches floor Touch = Dog’s nose touches hand Find It = Dog searches floor for kibble Come! = Dog zooms to human for amazing treat I encourage folks to spend a week getting those behaviors nice and solid, but it turns out that’s a big ask because humans are always in a rush. We all want to show off a 20-foot “stay” and a “leave it” in front of a mouth-watering bone! Try to resist hurrying. Let’s show our dogs that it’s easy for things to work out well for them here on Planet Human. Let your dog feel like a superstar at the first five cues before you move onto the next tier of challenges.

The Marker: Click Or “Yesss!”

If you’ve ever tried to learn something that feels very foreign to you – and you really had no idea if you were getting it or not – you’ll appreciate the beauty of what’s become known as “clicker training.” This is where you use a clear, concise sound to mark the exact moment your dog got it right.

The concept came from marine mammal training, where behaviorists used whistles to tell mid-air dolphins, “YES! That higher jump is exactly what we were looking for, and as soon as you swim to the side you’ll get a fish.” That whistle turned into a clicker for the dog world, and decades later, the Clicker Expo is the largest dog-training gathering in the world. Why? Because using a marker speeds learning.

Mind you, most of my beginning clients don’t love using the clicker, and I get it. We need a hand for the leash, a hand for the hand signal, a hand for dispensing treats, and now a hand for the clicker? It’s a challenge, and I don’t want that physical awkwardness to get in the way of a love of training, so I start with a different but almost as effective marker: the word “Yesss!” delivered in such a way that it is very distinct, clipped, and unmistakable.

Your mission is to learn to deliver that marker with perfect timing. Do it the very second your dog’s bum hits the floor in a “sit,” or nose bumps your hand in a “touch.” A treat always follows the marker. Soon enough, your pup is loving the sound of that marker, because it’s become a predictor of the reinforcer (the treat). At that point, the “Yesss!” has become what’s called a “conditioned reinforcer” and now carries power of its own. Now you can make your dog feel amazing the second he gets something right and hears that sound.

In contrast, if you didn’t mark that moment, you might be fumbling in your treat bag for a reward and by the time you deliver it (the moment the dog will remember) he’s no longer in that great sit.

It’s worth working on the timing of this; you’ll need to practice. I have a trainer friend who has his clients practice clicking (or saying “Yesss!”) the moment he bounces a tennis ball. You know what that teaches them? This is indeed something that needs practice! So practice your marker, and once you are great at giving instantaneous feedback, watch your dog suddenly seem like a genius.

For me, the marker technique is critical when I’m teaching something new, and I will drop the click or the “Yesss!” once the behavior is fluent. The point of the marker is to clarify exactly what’s being asked, and that kind of precision is no longer needed once the dog knows.

Moving to Intermittent Reinforcement

One of the big misconceptions about rewards-based positive reinforcement training is that you can’t ask your dog to do anything unless you have a cookie in your hand. That would be a legitimate gripe, if it were true!

But it’s not.

Once a pup is reliably succeeding at a certain cue, it’s important to move to something called “intermittent reinforcement,” which essentially means there’s no longer a treat every time . . . but there’s one often enough to keep your dog playing the lottery.

This is a critical step in training that first-timers sometimes miss. Folks get stuck in the mindset of Class #1 in Puppy 101, where in fact we give treats out with abandon, for every little look, touch, sit, and spin! In that earliest of phases we are seeking to build the strong “aha” moment where the pup deeply internalizes the idea that listening for a cue and responding with a behavior is the surest way to get stuff that makes them happy.

Once that light bulb has gone on, however, it’s time to move to the next big idea, which is essentially the lottery concept: You gotta play to win! We want to build into our pups the understanding that just because they didn’t get rewarded for one particular “down” it doesn’t mean the whole system is no longer in operation. It just means you have to keep trying and one of these times there’ll be a reward. Slowing the faucet builds resilience and turns your pup into one who will keep trying. He experiences an initial no-cookie moment, and comes out the other side to find . . . an eventual cookie!

I find the easiest way into this transition is to start asking for two-fers and three-fers. A puppy in her first training class gets a click and a treat for a sit, and right after that, a click and a treat for a touch. A week later, when the pup is now reliably performing both of those cues in class, we move into a two-fer: We ask for a sit and immediately after that ask for a touch. Pup gets a click and a treat after the second behavior. Or after the third behavior in a touch-spin-sit three-fer.

“Ack!” you’re thinking! “No click after that first behavior? But will my pup think she’s suddenly doing it wrong?” I promise if you group those cues together closely enough your pup won’t have time to be disturbed about that. However, this is where a new sound, an informative marker, could come in handy. You can use a quick “good,” or “mm-hmm” to confirm your pup did something right. It doesn’t promise a treat, but it gives affirmation.

Moving to intermittent reinforcement has the counterintuitive effect of making dogs more focused rather than less. When the faucet turns off a bit the learner will try a little harder to make it turn back on: more intense eye contact, a straighter sit, a quicker down. Essentially: “Huh. No treat? Let me try that again.”

At various points in your life with your dog, you’ll be at different reward schedules for different cues. Very quickly, you’ll be able to move to an intermittent schedule for a handful of the cues that are easiest for your pup. But it’s typical that you might be struggling with, say, “down” – so pup gets a click and a treat every single time those elbows hit the ground. Why? Because clear, consistent reinforcement of a behavior builds that behavior. Once it’s easy for your pup, there’s no longer a need to provide that bright neon sign.

When Can You Stop Giving Treats?

To Adjust Difficulty, Use The Three D’s: Distance, Duration, and Distraction

There are three factors that can either increase or decrease the difficulty of the behavior you are teaching your dog. Trainers often call them the three D’s: Distance, Duration, and Distraction.

If your dog seems to be having trouble learning something, ponder whether you can make one of the three D’s easier. Did you throw the treat too far away when you tried “Find It”? (Reduce the distance!) When you asked for a stay, did you wait so long to reward that your dog gave up? (Reduce the duration!) Were you surprised that your dog didn’t offer her usually easy sit when the neighbors were over? (Reduce the distractions!)

If you scale back your D’s, you’ll likely get to a place where your pup can more easily succeed. Start there, and build the skill.

On the other hand, if you are getting a little bored and think you have nothing left to teach, think about increasing one or more of the three D’s. There’s always a way to make a cue/behavior more challenging:

  • Try giving your dog a cue to sit when he’s on the far side of the room, or 50 feet ahead of you on a trail (increasing the distance).
  • Ask your dog to hold his down/stay for the length of your weekly call with a relative or while you answer an email or two (increasing duration).
  • Try giving your dog a cue while you’re lying down or doing jumping jacks (increasing distractions).

It’s nice to have a dog who always sits when you give her the cue while standing in front of her in the kitchen where you always train. But it’s far more helpful for your life (not to mention more interesting and fun) if you “proof” that behavior by gradually varying the 3 D’s. Imagine how cool it would be if your pup would easily listen in the middle of a crowded barbeque as you yelled “Stay!” from across the yard when a guest mistakenly left a gate wide open.

Using rewards-based, relationship-building methods isn’t brain surgery, but it’s also not as easy as you might think. Investing a little time in refining your technique will save you (and your dog) lots of frustration.

Don’t be surprised if your dog stares blankly at you when you first cue her from a greater distance (even just a step or two!).
Don’t be surprised if your dog stares blankly at you when you first cue her from a greater distance (even just a step or two!).
Distractions, too, will make it more difficult for her to succeed initially. Be patient! Generalizing the cues takes time.

Inevitably, this question arises: “So when can we stop with the treats altogether?” It is, in a certain sense, a logical question. After all, if we’re scaling back to intermittent reinforcement, it seems we’re heading in the direction of zero.

Ah, but we are not.

We often ask dogs to do things – for our own convenience – that:

  • They would not do on their own.
  • Are not intrinsically rewarding to them.
  • Are often, in fact, against their natural instincts and desires.

The science of learning theory says that none of us does anything for very long unless it is somehow reinforcing/rewarding/in our own best interest. Despite Lassie and the mountains of dog myths in the back of our collective mind, that is true for dogs as well.

A promise of a little morsel of food every now and then is not too much to ask to get our dogs – the puppies we’ve kidnapped from their own culture – to want to do the weird stuff that’s prized in our culture. Right?

So, nope. There’s never a day when we stop rewarding. As time goes on, you’ll find that it becomes second nature to incorporate powerful real-life rewards into your daily routine with your dog; for example, when the nice “sit” earns an open car door and a promise of adventure, rather than a cookie. Those, along with warm praise, may become your primary way of rewarding your dog once he’s learned the basics. But do the food rewards ever come to an end? No.

And honestly, as my dear old dogs have aged and moved onto the heavenly branch of our pack, I’m happy for every sweet moment where I gave them a dried liver cube just for that cute little spin they had learned long ago.

Dog Surrender Fees

By
Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA
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Espanola, New Mexico, United States. Rescue dog at animal shelter.
Surrendering a dog is never a happy decision, but there are countless reasons that explain why sometimes people have to do it – and its cost may affect where they end up taking the dog. Photo by Tetra Images/Getty Images

I was recently made aware that the term “where can I surrender my dog for free” is searched online thousands of times every month. That’s incredibly sad! It’s also a reality for people when they find themselves facing life circumstances that make keeping their dog impossible.

And, unfortunately, it’s also difficult to find a shelter or rescue to take in surrendered animals without charging a fee. Most (but not all!) do charge a surrender fee of some kind, ranging from $10 to as much as $250.

If you are reluctantly giving up your dog for financial reasons, these surrender fees may be a very real concern for you. There is a significant expense to care for each animal relinquished to shelters and rescues, and the surrender fee generally doesn’t even begin to cover the cost of caring for your dog during her stay with them. Your primary concern should be the care your dog will receive, so if you can pay the fee charged by a top-quality, caring facility to help support their work, do it for your dog’s sake. If you are unable to pay because you are facing financial hardship, explain this to them. Some will waive the surrender fee. Ethically, they should.

Some government-funded and -operated municipal shelters don’t charge a surrender fee, but while there are many very well-run government shelters around the country, sadly a lot are at the bottom of the shelter barrel due to lack of funds and community support. If you are thinking of going the no-surrender-fee municipal route, be sure to check out the facility very carefully to make sure you’re comfortable leaving your dog there.

Researching a place to surrender your dog

If you are considering this, the first thing you must do is make a list of possible options and research those organizations very carefully. If they claim to be a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, look them up on GuideStar – an organization that provides detailed information about non-profits. (Note that municipally owned and managed shelters will not appear on GuideStar.)

Talk to them and ask questions about their procedures and philosophies. They may also ask you questions about your dog and make suggestions or offer resources to try to help you keep her in your home. If you are able to take advantage of those resources, by all means do so!

Do not rely on online reviews. There are countless fronts for rescue-hoarders that can talk a good story, have a lovely website, and actually have passionate supporters but keep animals in horrendous conditions. Are they “no-kill at any cost,” keeping dogs in kennels for as long as a decade or more? (I would give my dog a gentle death in my loving arms before I would sentence her to a lifetime in a stressful prison.)

Visit each organization remaining on your list after you weed out the bad actors. Make sure facilities are clean and the dogs appear well cared for. If they keep their dogs in foster homes, ask if you can visit one or more of those, again to see how the dogs are kept and cared for. Ask if/how they assess the dogs that they take in, and what kind of screening they do of potential adopters. If you can’t visit the sheltering site, and they don’t assess or screen, cross them off your list of places to consider. Tragically, it’s become more and more common for “rescue” operations to descend over time into hoarding cases that make headlines.

Rehoming

Ideally, your dog is friendly and you have a friend or family member who knows and loves your dog with all her faults and foibles and has offered to give her a lifelong loving home. If your dog is prone to displaying problematic behavior, however, rehoming is often not a realistic option. If, for example, your dog has significant behavioral issues that present a real threat to the safety of others or will have a strong negative impact on the quality of life of anyone she lives with, it may not be ethical or realistic to rehome – and it’s possible you could still be liable if she goes off and mauls someone, even after rehoming.

Perhaps it’s not a safety issue – say your own health precludes you from caring properly for your dog, or you are truly in an economic and/or housing bind and can’t give her what she needs. Absent a workable friend or family member, rehoming to strangers is very risky. Once you hand your dog off, you lose all control over what happens to her – and there are a lot of very bad people out there who might do a lot of very bad things to your dog.

Surrender fees help support a helpful resource

Today’s shelters may impose fees, but there is more empathy in the animal protection and dog training industries for people who find themselves in difficult straits and sadly acknowledge that the best choice for themselves and their dog is to surrender their beloved four-legged friend to someone who is better able to care for her. If that is you, we wish you the best, and our hearts are with you as you make these difficult decisions.

Dry Dog Food Labels: How to Compare Fat, Protein, and Carbs

By
CJ Puotinen
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Photo of a canned dog food label with the protein and carbohydrates circled.
Have you ever wondered how canned foods, with seemingly so little protein and fat, are just as “complete and balanced” as dry foods, which seem to contain so much more protein and fat? And have you ever wondered about the carbohydrate content of your dog’s food? After all, dogs are carnivores (albeit ones with an adaptive metabolism). Wonder no longer; here’s how you can learn the answers.

Federal and state laws require pet food makers to put information about the protein and fat content of their products on pet food labels. Unfortunately, few people understand this critical information, making their purchasing decisions based on some of the most insignificant words or pictures on the label. Here’s what you need to know to understand what’s in the bag or can – and to compare one food to another.

Minimums, maximums, and actual amounts

Every pet food label is required to display a “guaranteed analysis” that includes the minimum percentages of crude protein and crude fat and the maximum percentages of crude fiber and moisture that are present in that food “as fed” – as they are in the food’s present form.

Protein and fat are the most important (and costly) nutrients in a dog’s food, so these are reported as guaranteed minimums; this ensures that dogs receive the minimum amounts necessary for health.

Moisture (water) and fiber, being empty of nutrients, are listed by their maximum amounts; this ensures that consumers know the maximum amount of the food’s contents that is without nutrients.

All these amounts are subject to surveillance, testing, and enforcement by feed control officials in every state where the product is sold.

It’s important to understand that the minimum and maximum amounts listed in the guaranteed analyses are just that: minimums and maximums. The actual amount of those nutrients may be significantly different. For example, the minimum fat guarantee on a label may be 8%, but the product might contain 15% fat or more. Similarly, a product with a maximum guarantee of 5% fiber may actually contain only 1%.

Some product manufacturers report more accurate numbers for their products’ nutrients in what’s usually called a “typical nutrient analysis.” These analyses may reflect nutrient levels that have been calculated by a computer analysis of the product’s ingredients and formula, or levels that have been determined by laboratory tests of the product. The most transparent, consumer-friendly pet food makers publish typical nutrient analyses for all of their products on their websites. Other companies make these available by request – and some companies don’t make them available at all!

If it’s critical to your dog’s health that you feed a very specific amount of protein (for a dog with diminished kidney function, for example), fat (say, for a dog who is prone to pancreatitis), or fiber (for a dog prone to constipation or diarrhea), we’d recommend considering only those foods with a readily available typical nutrient analysis.

Further, for the most precise comparison to other products and products of different types (canned, dry, etc.), it’s ideal if these analyses list their nutrient contents in two ways: “as-fed” (meaning, the food as it is presented in its package) and as “dry matter” (the nutrient levels in the food if all of the water were removed).

Why the “dry matter” values matter

Have you ever wondered about the disparity between the amounts of protein or fat listed on the canned (or fresh frozen) food you give your dog, and those on the bag of dry or freeze-dried food he eats? A good-quality dry food may have a minimum of 28% protein listed, while a comparable canned food may be labeled as having just 7% protein. How can a dog live on the (seemingly) paltry amounts of nutrients in canned and fresh foods?

Answer: A dog can subsist on those amounts because they are anything but paltry! In fact, high quality canned and fresh/frozen foods usually contain more fat and protein than high-quality dry foods – if you go by the dry matter values.

In order to directly compare the protein or fat content of one type of food (i.e., canned, dry, raw frozen, or freeze-dried) to another type, you need to consider them on a level playing field. Each of these types of food contains highly disparate amounts of moisture, which affects the “as fed” percentages. The nutrient levels in high-moisture foods are, in effect, diluted.

To compare the nutrient levels in products with disparate amounts of moisture, you have to remove all the moisture from each product. This is easy to do mathematically.

The first step in comparing any two products of different types is to convert the as-fed amounts on the label to dry matter (DM) values. Do this by subtracting the amount of moisture on the label from 100. The result is the food’s dry matter or DM factor.

100 − moisture % = dry matter or DM factor

Then you can divide any listed nutrient percentage by the DM factor to determine its dry matter percentage. For example:

Protein % ÷ DM factor = DM protein

Multiply by 100 to show it as a percentage

Example Label #1 (dry dog food)

Protein (min) 28%

Moisture (max) 9%

100 − Moisture % = DM factor

100 – 9 = 91

The DM factor for this food is 91

To determine the percentage of dry matter protein in this food, take the listed protein percentage (in this case, 28) and divide it by the food’s DM factor (91):

28 ÷ 91 = 0.31

This food is 31% protein by DM

Let’s look at a canned food. The math looks a little different, because the moisture content is so high in canned foods, which makes the dry matter factor number small. The high amount of moisture also makes the as-fed nutrient amounts small (they are literally diluted!). But you use the same formula – and you may be surprised by the result. Check it out:

Example Label #2 (canned dog food)

Protein (min) 7%

Moisture (max) 78%

100 – 78 = 22

The DM factor for this food is 22

To determine the percentage of dry matter protein in this food, take the listed protein percentage (in this case, 7) and divide it by the food’s DM factor (22).

7 ÷ 22 = 0.31

This food is 31% protein by DM

Did that surprise you? Notice that both the dry food in Example Label #1 and the canned food in Example Label #2 contain the same amount of dry matter protein (31%), even though the “as fed” numbers on their labels look very different. If you were trying to find a dry and a canned food that contained a moderate and consistent amount of protein for your dog, you’d do well to run these calculations, to make sure that both types of food offer an appropriate (and similar, if not matching) amount of protein.

What about carbohydrates?

Carbohydrates are not usually listed on a guaranteed analysis, but, if you’ve gotten this far, they are easy to compute. But in order to do so, we have to add one more “nutrient” to the calculation.

The “ash” content of dog food is rarely discussed, even though some pet food manufacturers list the maximum amount of ash in their products on the guaranteed analysis. This is not required, but it’s helpful for dog owners who know what ash is.

Ash is essentially what would be left over if you were to put the food in an oven and burn away everything that could burn; what’s left are all the minerals in the food. Calcium and phosphorus constitute the vast majority of these minerals (interestingly, you could use the ash total as a rough estimate of how much calcium and phosphorus are in the diet), but even the iron, copper, zinc, magnesium, selenium, and the rest of the trace minerals in the food contribute to the total amount of ash.

Though all dog foods need to contain some ash – as they all need to contain the minerals required by dogs – low-quality foods often contain fairly high levels of ash, as much as 10% or more. High levels of ash can impede a dog’s ability to absorb other nutrients – which is why you will almost never see the amount of ash reported by the makers of cheap, low-quality foods, but you may see low amounts of ash voluntarily included in the guaranteed analysis by makers of high-quality foods.

Back to carbohydrates: In order to calculate what percentage of a food is carbohydrates, add the as-fed (label) percentages for protein, fat, fiber, moisture, and ash, subtract their total from 100, and divide the result by the DM factor.

If you can’t find the ash content for a particular food, you can use an estimate of between 5% and 9% as the ash percentage of a canned or dry food. You can use an estimate of between 1% and 4% for the ash percentage of most fresh or frozen raw foods.

Let’s look at another example:

Example Label #3

Protein (min) 28%

Fat (min) 18%

Fiber (max) 3%

Moisture (max) 9%

Ash (max) 9%

To find the carbs in this food, add the label percentages for protein, fat, fiber, moisture, and ash:

28 + 18 + 3 + 9 + 9 = 67

Subtract this total from 100:

100 – 67 = 33

Divide this result by the dry matter factor (for this food, the DM factor is 91):

33 ÷ 91 = 0.36

This food is 36% carbohydrates by DM

Don’t be intimidated!

These calculations are not difficult, just a bit tedious. If you follow along through a few more, you’ll begin to see how easy it is – and how much more you can learn about your dog’s food by doing some math.

Example Label #4 (raw frozen food)

Crude protein 12% min
Crude fat 11% min
Crude fiber 1% max
Moisture 72% max
Ash 3% max

Find the dry matter factor by subtracting the moisture % from 100:

100 – 72% moisture = 28 DM factor
Find the dry matter protein percentage by dividing the label’s protein (12%) by the DM factor (28):

12 ÷ 28 = 0.43

This food is 43% protein by DM

To calculate its carbohydrate percentage, add protein + fat + fiber + moisture + ash:
12 + 11 + 1 + 72 + 3 = 99
Subtract that result from 100:

100 – 99 = 1

Divide that answer by the DM factor (28):

1 ÷ 28 = 0.035

This food is 3.5% carbohydrates by DM

This is a very low-carb food, typical of many raw-food diets. (Remember, dogs don’t have a nutritional requirement for carbohydrates; they can live on fat and protein alone. Dietary fiber offers some functional benefits – read “Dietary Fiber for Dogs” – but many dogs thrive on low- or no-carb diets.)

Ok, just one more. For fun, let’s look at a food that’s on the other end of the carb-content scale. This one is a brand every dog owner knows:

Example Label #5

Crude protein 21% min

Crude fat 10% min

Crude fiber 5% max

Moisture 12% max

Ash (not listed, so estimate) 6%

Find the dry matter factor by subtracting the moisture % from 100:

100 – 12% = 88 DM factor

Find the dry matter protein percentage by dividing the label’s protein (21%) by the DM factor (88):

21 ÷ 88 = 0.24

This food is 24% protein by DM

To calculate its carbohydrates, add the label’s protein + fat + fiber + moisture + ash:

21 + 10 + 5 + 12 + 6 = 54

Subtract that result from 100:

100 – 54 = 46

Divide that answer by the DM factor (88):

46 ÷ 88 = 0.52

This food is 52% carbohydrates by DM

The more you know . . .

When I first came across descriptions of how to calculate dry matter percentages, my brain would freeze. But with practice, it has become easy and even fun – especially when I can exclaim over the carb counts for most grocery-store kibbles. Carbohydrate-wise, we might as well just feed our dogs cinnamon buns! I hope you find this important subject as interesting as I do.

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What to Give a Dog for an Upset Stomach

By
Dr. Debra M. Eldredge, DVM
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0
Hungry dog food with a red empty bowl. High angle view.
The best thing to give a dog with an upset stomach and vomiting is nothing. Credit: smrm1977 | Getty Images

The simplest, safest, and best remedy for vomiting is one of the hardest: A fast. (Note: This does not apply if your dog is a puppy or diabetic.) Not feeding your dog when he looks at you with those big, beautiful eyes is hard to resist, but giving your dog’s gastrointestinal tract a rest can be all that is needed.

The total fast time should not exceed 24 hours. After about six hours of fasting, you can start adding water because you don’t want to risk dehydration. Just control his intake a bit. Offer small amounts of fresh water off and on over the day or put ice chips in his bowl instead of water.

Watch to be sure your dog is not getting dehydrated. Check his gums for pinkness and moisture. Also pick up skin near his neck and see if it folds right back down or “tents up.” If he is getting dehydrated, he needs to go to the veterinary clinic for fluids.

You can also offer bouillon to restore some electrolytes. Depending upon your veterinarian’s recommendation for your dog, you may begin feeding small amounts of bland food like chicken and plain white rice at the eight- to 12-hour mark. After 24 hours with no vomit, start back with increased amounts of the chicken and rice and slowly work in his regular diet.

Check the Vomit

It’s important to look carefully at the dog’s vomit before you clean it up (yeah, it’s gross, but you must). Just reaching for a home remedy for vomiting or diarrhea may not be wise in some case. Call your veterinarian, if:

  • There is blood – either bright red or a black coffee-grounds type appearance
  • You see pieces of a mushroom or any medications (as in your beloved puppy chewed into a medicine bottle)
  • The vomiting is accompanied by diarrhea
  • The dog may have eaten something he shouldn’t have, like a sock, a rock, or heaven knows anything else he might have found

OTC Vomiting Remedies for Dogs

For most vomiting cases, you usually can try a home remedy for 24 hours or so to combat an upset stomach with nausea and/or vomiting to see if it helps. If you’re concerned about anything, contact your veterinarian immediately. (You can also try the suggestions below for most diarrhea that is not bloody.)

Pepto Bismol (bismuth subsalicylate) can be used with dogs to safely reduce signs of nausea, heartburn, gurgling, uncomfortable stomach, and diarrhea. A generally accepted safe dose of regular-strength Pepto Bismol (or a generic) for dogs is 0.25 to 2 ml per kg of the dog’s body weight (0.1 to 0.9 ml per lb), for a maximum of three to four times a day. Be aware that use of Pepto Bismol may change the color of your dog’s stool to a gray or greenish-black.

Some dogs will drink Pedialyte, but it may not be the best choice. Because of Pedialyte’s high salt content, you should use caution giving Pedialyte to dogs with heart or kidney diseases, as sodium restriction is often part of managing these conditions. In addition, the level of sugar in Pedialyte is not appropriate for dogs.

Can dogs eat ginger? Yes. Just as your mother probably gave you ginger ale to drink when you were battling a stomachache, ginger can help dogs too (but not the soda!). You can make ginger or chamomile tea. Your dog may prefer a touch of honey added to entice him to drink. Do not give him straight ginger root to chew on.

 

My Dog Ate a Frog (or Was It a Toad?)

By
Megan Arszman
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Toad Swell on The Lawn After Meeting Siberian Husky
This toad is not happy the dog is nosing him, and he’s swelling up to make himself look bigger. Plus, just the dog nosing the toad can be dangerous to the dog. Credit: Wichatsurin | Getty Images

Chasing a frog or a toad can be exciting if you’re a dog. But what if your dog bites it? Licks it? Or, worse, eats it? Well, you better know a toad from a frog because it makes a big difference in your dog’s health.

“The difference between ingesting a frog and a toad can be quite massive, as toads can be very poisonous for dogs,” says Dr. Anna Robinson, a small animal veterinarian in New Braunfels, Texas.

“Frogs in North America mostly cause mild to moderate gastrointestinal issues with your dog. You’ll typically see some vomiting and diarrhea that’ll correct itself over the span of a few days many times without veterinary intervention required. For frogs, you just pretty much wait it out and just comfort your dog while he goes through the symptoms,” she says. “Just make sure he doesn’t become dehydrated. If so, then you need to call your veterinarian.”

If you can’t reach your veterinarian or an emergency animal clinic, call the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at 888-426-4435 or the Pet Poison Helpline at 855-764-7661. There will be a charge for their services, but it’s well worth the cost. If you call, be sure to also get your case number to follow-up with your veterinarian.

Toads Secrete Poison

Certain species of toads can secrete a toxin that can poison animals who attempt to ingest them. Whether a dog licks or completely ingests a toad, he can suffer from excessive drooling, vomiting and/or irritation in the mouth or worse.

More severe poisonings can happen with the cane toad and the Colorado River/Sonoran Desert toads. The cane toad is typically found in Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, Texas, and other tropical areas. The Colorado River/Sonoran Desert toad can be found in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas. Both toads can cause life-threatening poisoning.

Signs of Poisoning

Symptoms you may see:

  • Pawing at the mouth or vocalizing
  • Gums may become very red and irritated
  • Vomiting and diarrhea
  • Stumbling (progressive)
  • Tremors/seizures (progressive)
  • Abnormal eye movement (progressive)
  • Difficulty breathing (progressive)
  • Decreased heart rate and abnormal heart rhythms (progressive)

Whether it was a frog or a toad, immediately flush the mouth with large amounts of running water using a hose or garden sink sprayer. Doing so will decrease the amount of poison absorbed, which decreases the severity of the clinical signs. However, make sure you point the water out of the dog’s mouth, as you do not want him to swallow or inhale the water. And then get to the veterinarian’s office ASAP.

At the Vet’s Office

The veterinarian will prescribe treatment depending on the signs that develop as well as the type of toad and amount of ingestion. Treatment might include:

  • Intravenous fluids
  • Anti-nausea medication
  • Muscle relaxants
  • Medications to control the heart rate or seizures
  • Possible surgery to remove ingested toads

“It can be difficult for an owner to be able to distinguish between a frog and a toad, but it’s important to know your amphibians,” says Dr. Robinson. “It could save your dog’s life.”

Dog Tear Stain Remover: When and What to Use

By
Dr. Eileen Fatcheric, DVM
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Cute Maltese puppy dog close up head-shot of the eye detail with typical tear staining around the eye.
Rusty tear stains on a pretty white dog can reduce any dog lover to tears. Start by ruling out any veterinary problems. Credit: Environmantic | Getty Images

If the beauty of your dog’s face is marred by rusty red streaks caused by dog tear stains, schedule a veterinary examination before using a dog tear stain remover. Many eye diseases and conditions can cause dog tears and resolving the underlying issue is better for your dog’s health and comfort.

If your dog suffers from red eyes, eye discharge or any of the following conditions, getting treatment for them may resolve your tear-staining issue:

 

  • Conjunctivitis
  • Corneal ulcer or injury
  • Foreign bodies
  • Glaucoma (elevated intraocular pressure)
  • Distichiasis (extra eyelashes that rub on the cornea)
  • Entropion (rolled eyelids causing haired skin to rub the cornea)
  • Tear duct obstruction

Why Is My Dog Crying?

While widely believed not possible in the same sense as human tears, a 2022 study published in Current Biology may have changed that thinking. The researchers found that a dog’s tear volume increased when the dog felt positive emotions, such as during a reunion with their owner. The researchers believe “emotion-elicited tears can facilitate human-dog emotional connections.”

Tear Stain Prevention

If your veterinarian confirms your dog’s eyes are healthy, here are some simple things you can try to prevent and/or remove tear stains before trying a dog tear stain remover:

  • Keep long hairs on the face or near the eyes trimmed back. Long hairs rubbing on the eyes are very irritating. Long hairs around the eyes also wick tears down the face, worsening tear staining.
  • Cleanse your dog’s periocular (around the eyes) area at least once a day. Use a moistened cotton ball or cloth. Eye wash solutions containing boric acid can be safely used. Never use hydrogen peroxide near your dog’s eyes.
  • Rub a small amount of petroleum jelly onto the hairs near the inside corner of the eyes after cleansing. This helps keep the tear pigment from penetrating the hairs, which helps minimize staining.

Food Allergies and Tear Stains

Because food allergies can cause excessive tearing, you can try changing your dog’s diet. There are many hypoallergenic or limited ingredient diets out there to try. Probiotics, which are good for your dog’s gastrointestinal tract and general health anyway, have been purported to help minimize tear staining, so they are well worth a try.

Best Dog Tear-Stain Remover

The most popular and widely known commercially available dog tear stain remover for eliminating and preventing tear staining is Angel Eyes, currently manufactured by H & C Animal Health. Years ago, this product gained popularity because it really did work! The active ingredient was antibiotic, initially tetracycline followed by tylosin.

The FDA eventually cracked down on the use of these antibiotics for tear staining in dogs. Without tetracycline or tylosin, the product is less effective. The more recent addition of cranberry extract, which has bioflavonoids that alter bacteria’s ability to stick to body tissues, may help. It should help with any odor associated with tear staining.

Tear-Stain Home Remedies

There are many anecdotal reports of this or that helping with tear staining, such as adding buttermilk flour, parsley flakes, or apple cider vinegar to your dog’s food.

Before trying anything, including commercially available dog tear stain removers, always talk to your veterinarian. And remember, provided any underlying medical conditions have been ruled out, tear stains, while unattractive, are not harmful to your dog.

Home Remedies for a Dog Cough or Cold

By
Dr. Debra M. Eldredge, DVM
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0
Adorable sick beagle puppy cuddling with female owner
Severe dog coughs could lead to pneumonia, so don’t guess. Involve your veterinarian. Credit: Ocskaymark | Getty Images

A dog coughing should get your attention and not be ignored. The worst coughing comes with kennel cough, even mild kennel cough. The main symptom of kennel cough is that he sounds like he is “honking,” as if something is stuck in his throat.

Dogs with mild kennel cough sound terrible but feel reasonably OK. They tend to have a good appetite, want to be active (which, unfortunately, makes them cough more), and generally don’t act sick. These dogs can usually be treated at home.

In more severe cases, kennel cough symptoms may progress toward pneumonia and include lethargy, fever, and a loss of appetite. These coughing dogs need to see a veterinarian.

Do You Think Your Dog Has a Cold?

If your you see your dog coughing and he has a heart condition or a wet cough, the dog’s cough shouldn’t be treated at home without veterinary approval. It could be a cold or flu, which means the coughing dog needs to see a veterinarian. Symptoms include:

  • Purulent (pus) nasal discharge
  • Soft, wet cough
  • Increased respiratory rate (count how many times his chest rises in a minute – normal is 15 to 30 times)
  • Open-mouth breathing
  • Labored breathing

Your coughing dog could be diagnosed with bronchitis, and if so, he will likely receive medication from your veterinarian, possible including a cough suppressant.

Caring for Kennel Cough at Home

At-home care for kennel cough means easing the symptoms:

  • Limit exercise (exercise will increase the coughing)
  • Walk him in a harness, not a collar (if he pulls in a collar, the pressure on his trachea will make him cough more)
  • Let him share your shower – close your dog in the bathroom with you and let it get steamy, as this will help humidify his respiratory tract and provide some pain relief from the dry cough
  • Run a humidifier in his favorite room

Home Remedies for a Mild Dog Cough

Some foods may speed up your kennel-cough dog’s healing, such as adding a small amount of honey to his food. And, yes, chicken soup can help. Use homemade soup as a low-salt alternative to canned soup. Low-sodium chicken bouillon is another good option.

Hydration and rest will help your dog through mild kennel cough. If your dog needs cough medication, check with your veterinarian for the best options and correct dose for your dog.

Also, quarantine your dog, as kennel cough is contagious (there’s a vaccine for it!). There are many causes of kennel cough, and you don’t want your dog to be one of them, spreading kennel cough at daycare, classes, or the dog park.

Be Cautious About New Drugs

By
Nancy Kerns
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3
Dog vaccinated by veterinarian
Your veterinarian is an expert who you pay for advice, but ultimately, you must take responsibility for your dog’s treatment decisions. Photo by sestovic, Getty Images

In the November issue of WDJ, we published an article by a valued veterinary contributor regarding Librela, a new treatment for canine (and feline) osteoarthritis (“New Hope for Canine Osteoarthritis”), which became available for veterinarians to prescribe to their canine patients starting on November 1, 2023. The author has followed positive reports of the drug’s use since its approval for veterinarians to prescribe in Australia and in Europe about two years ago, and she’s used it in her own elderly cat with good results.

We’ve since received a few letters from readers who were concerned about our promotion of the drug, as each has been following reports in social-media groups from people whose dogs were given the drug. Some people report terrific results, but others report that their dogs experienced very bad and even fatal adverse reactions to the drug. I joined some groups I was able to locate on Facebook and have also been following some of these reports. These are my thoughts about the drug – and all new drugs that come onto the market:

I completely understand the enthusiasm of veterinarians for treatments that appear to offer benefits that exceed those of the competing treatments for painful, life-threatening conditions. Imagine feeling responsible for the well-being of countless patients who are in pain despite access to all the treatments currently available – and you hear about a new drug, one with a completely novel mode of action, with very good initial test results. You’d be excited and eager to hear more about it.

But I wouldn’t personally recommend jumping to be one of the first users of any new drug. Newly approved drugs may have been tested on relatively small numbers of animals – perhaps in the high hundreds or, at most, the low thousands – and the test subjects are unlikely to be afflicted with the number and variety of health problems (comorbidity) as the population of potential users of the drug. Often a drug needs to be given to a very large pool of patients before all the adverse side effects or contraindications – conditions under which the drug poses more harm than good – are discovered. And, personally, I wouldn’t be jumping to make my dogs these unwitting test subjects…. unless I was already using every other effective treatment, and they weren’t working. And unless my dog didn’t have any other serious health conditions, especially those that were being treated with other medications that hadn’t yet been evaluated yet for co-administration with the new drug. If my dog had Cushing’s syndrome, or cancer, or diabetes, or any other complex medical condition, forget it: I wouldn’t want to take a chance on something new and different.

That sounds selfish, I know. It is selfish. After all, unless someone is willing to try new drugs on their dogs, we’ll never find safe and effective (and better) new treatments.

But there has to be a balance. If my dog’s quality of life is poor, and the usual treatments are not working, heck, yes, I’d sign up to try a new and relatively untested but promising treatment. If it killed my dog, or made his condition worse, so that I ended up choosing to have him euthanized, I would feel terrible – and at the same time, glad that his life would have served to help other dogs. I’d want his adverse experience to be well-documented and reported to the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine; I’d pay for a necropsy (animal autopsy), so anything that could be learned about the drug’s safety or lack of safety would be learned.

But if my dog’s symptoms are mild, and I have not yet exhausted the range of long-proven drugs with good safety records, I’d hold off on agreeing to try the revolutionary new medicine that my vet just mentioned to me.

Which brings me to the topic of the responsibility of our dogs’ doctors and our own responsibilities as our dogs’ guardians:

We pay our doctors to give us their best professional opinions, but ultimately, it’s up to us to decide whether to administer any recommended treatments. No doctor is infallible – and not all doctors are equally skilled or informed. It’s their professional responsibility to offer informed treatment – and ours to determine, to the best of our ability, how well informed that treatment is.

Any time a doctor recommends a treatment, we should be asking about the product’s history and safety, its contraindications and risks. If your vet isn’t sure or can’t immediately produce that information, or makes it sound like the product has no risks or contraindications, take a pass for that visit and do some investigating yourself. All drugs pose risks, and advice from any doctor who suggests otherwise shouldn’t be heeded.

How to Find a Vet

By
Kate Basedow, LVT
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Happy young pet owner consulting with African-American male veterinarian in blue medical scrubs sitting on squats in front of her
Priority one in finding and choosing a vet is that the veterinarian’s expertise meets your dog’s needs. Credit: Seventyfour | Getty Images

With today’s national shortage, how to find the best vet becomes even more difficult. But, you can do it! Keep these criteria in mind when choosing a veterinarian:

  • Knowledge and interests
  • Location
  • Personality
  • Cost
  • Emergency services
  • Reputation

How to Choose a Vet

All veterinarians go through veterinary school, but some have gone on to earn additional certifications or are really passionate about particular areas of medicine.

For example, a large animal vet who focuses on horses is probably not going to be the best option for your dog. And if you have show dogs who you might breed, you will want a vet who is interested in reproduction.

Dogs with health conditions may need a veterinary team that includes specialists who focus on particular areas of the body as well as a general practice vet who covers regular care like wellness visits, vaccinations, and minor or routine surgeries. This team might be spread over several veterinary clinics and hospitals, or might all be under one roof.

Location Decisions

Consider how far you are willing to drive on a regular basis for veterinary care. Healthy dogs generally only need to go to the vet once or twice a year, but puppies who are starting their vaccination series and dogs with health conditions may need more frequent visits. And, in an emergency, the closer you are to your veterinarian’s office, the better.

Veterinarian Personality

It doesn’t really matter how brilliant your vet is if you just don’t like her. You don’t need to be best friends with your vet, but you should get along with him or her as a person and trust their judgment.

Veterinary Cost

No one likes making veterinary decisions based on money, but it is a reality for many dog owners. If you have financial concerns, talk to the front office staff about the clinic’s policies and if they ever do payment plans now so you can plan ahead of time in case your dog ever has a medical emergency, if you do not have insurance.

Emergency Services

Medical emergencies love to happen on nights and weekends. Some clinics will see emergencies for pets that are already established as patients, while others do not see any after-hours emergencies. Find out what a prospective clinic’s policies are, and if they recommend a local emergency vet.

Once you know the clinic’s policies, think about how that makes you feel. Are you OK with going to an emergency hospital if something goes wrong on the weekend, or do you absolutely want to be able to call your regular vet at all hours? This might impact your decision.

Veterinary Reputation

Ask trusted friends which veterinarians they recommend and why. If you are new to the area, contact a local dog club to see who their membership recommends. You can also browse online reviews.

Always take reviews with a grain of salt. Medical care decisions can be extremely stressful, and owners sometimes lash out at the veterinarian even if the situation was not actually the vet’s fault. But if every single review is negative that might be a red flag.

How to Choose a Veterinarian Post-Pandemic

There are a whole lot more pets in most areas now than there are vets to care for them. Because of this, your preferred veterinarian may not be taking new clients.

Don’t despair! Move on to your second or third choice so that your dog is established with a clinic and able to get any care that he needs. You can always check back with your first-choice hospital in a couple months to see if they are accepting new clients and make the switch at that time.

Can Dogs Get Sunburn?

By
Dr. Jennifer Bailey, DVM
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0
A cute brown and white mixed breed dog stares at the camera as it lays comfortably on the beach surrounded by beach chairs.
Dog on beach in sun: Short-haired dogs and those with thin coats, and especially dogs with white coats and pink skin, can easily become sunburned – and sunburns can lead to the development of skin cancer, so protection from the sun is needed. Photo by Heather Paul, Getty Images

Whole Dog Journal is reader-supported. If you purchase through links on our site we may earn a commission. Whole Dog Journal does not accept money for its food and product reviews.

Most dogs are covered from head to tail with a natural sunburn deterrent called fur. But despite this natural protective covering, dogs can still get sunburn on certain areas of their bodies.

Areas where their fur is thinnest or non-existent are particularly prone to developing sunburn. This includes the ears, nose, and the underside of the belly. And it’s not just dogs who like to lay on their backs in the sun that need protection on their bellies. The sun’s rays can be reflected up onto a dog’s belly from white sidewalks, beach sand, water, and snow, making this region vulnerable to sunburn during walks or water sports.

Naturally hairless breeds, like the Chinese Crested or Xoloitzcuintli, need sun protection for obvious reasons. But dogs with white, yellow, light gray, or tan haircoats typically have fair skin underneath, making them more susceptible to sunburn. Dogs with a thin haircoat or that have a condition causing patchy hair loss need protection from the sun’s harmful rays. Dogs who have been shaved, either as part of a grooming routine or because of a recent surgery, will need to be protected against sunburn.

There are a few ways that you can protect your best friend’s skin from the sun. These methods include using sunscreen made for dogs, dressing him in sun-protective clothing, and avoiding outdoor activities during the time of day when the sun’s rays are the most intense.

Sunscreen for dogs

There are several sunscreen products made specifically for dogs. Look for a product that has an SPF (sun protection factor) rating of at least 30 SPF and that provides protection against both UVA and UVB rays. Forms of dog sunscreens include both sprays and lotions.

Sunscreen sprays can be used on your dog’s body. Avoid using sunscreen sprays on or near your dog’s face as your dog could accidentally inhale the sunscreen during application. Use sunscreen lotion on sun-sensitive areas of your dog’s face, such as the nose and ears.

Sunscreen should be applied at least 15 minutes prior to going outside. Do not let your dog lick the sunscreen that has been applied to his skin. Reapply sunscreen every few hours and more often if he gets wet. Do not use sunscreen made for humans as these products may contain zinc oxide, PABA, or salicylates.

Sun-protective clothing for dogs

Provide your dog with sunscreen, sun-protective clothing, or a shade structure when visiting an especially bright, sunny environment. Photo by Giovanni Bortolani, Getty Images

Sun-protective clothing may be a good option for hairless breeds and dogs with thin hair coats or patchy areas of hair loss. There are a variety of clothing options available, including sun suits that provide excellent coverage of the body, neck, and limbs. Other options include t-shirts, neck gaiters, and hats.

Look for clothing that has a UPF (ultraviolet protection factor) of 30 or greater. Most sun-protective clothing has a rating of 15, 30, or 50 UPF. A rating of 50 UPF means that the apparel is capable of keeping 98% of harmful UVA and UVB rays from reaching your dog’s skin.

Wearing sun-protective clothing may impair your dog’s ability to keep cool. You may want to avoid using sun-protective clothing if the outside temperature is greater than 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21 degrees Celsius). During the summer months, avoid using sun-protective clothing if the dew point is greater than 65 degrees Fahrenheit (18 degrees Celsius).

If your dog is panting or moving slower than usual while wearing sun protective clothing, remove the clothing and move him to a shady area. See “Heat Stroke in Dogs” for more information about how to help a dog exhibiting signs of heat stroke.

Avoiding your dog’s sun exposure

The sun’s ultraviolet rays are at their greatest intensity between the hours of 10am and 4pm. Dogs who are the most vulnerable to sunburn should avoid outdoor activity during these hours.

Sunburned skin does not become painful until after the damage has been done. Dogs who are laying outside in the sunshine may not move to a shady spot unless they become too warm. Skin can become sunburned in as little as 10 minutes on a high UV-index day.

How to treat sunburn in dogs

If your dog develops a sunburn, do not despair! Skin that is pink and not painful can be treated at home by bathing with a soothing oatmeal shampoo. After the soothing oatmeal bath, you can apply a layer of aloe vera gel or spray that is made specifically for dogs, such as Frisco’s Aloe Hydrating Spray.

Skin that is red and painful or that has developed blisters and flaking are indicators of more severe sunburn and should be assessed by a veterinarian. It can take 24 to 72 hours for sunburned skin to declare its true severity, so closely monitor your dog to ensure that his sunburn is improving and not becoming worse.

Bright sunlight does not need to be a deterrent to being outdoors. Utilize sun protection for both you and your dog and enjoy your outdoor activities!

Black Spot on Your Dog’s Tongue?

By
Dr. Jennifer Bailey, DVM
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A cheerful dog displaying its tongue with pigmented black spots.
As long as the spots on your dog’s tongue maintain a consistent appearance, and are flat and the same texture as the rest of his tongue, they are nothing to worry about. Photo by Yosanon Yingyuenyong, Getty Images.

Most dogs have pink tongues. Chow Chows and Shar Peis are the exception; these dogs may have purple or black tongues. But some dogs have pink tongues with black spots.

Normal, healthy dogs can have pink tongues with black spots. This is part of their natural pigmentation, like freckles in people. These dogs may also have black spots on their gums, lips, nose, eyelids, and paw pads. The black spots have been present at birth or developed when they were young puppies.

More than 30 breeds of dogs are known to have black spots on their tongues. This does not mean that they are mixed with Chow Chow or Shar Pei breeds. It is merely just part of their genetics to develop these spots.

Black spots on the tongue that are part of the normal pigmentation will be flat. They will also have the same texture as the rest of the tongue.

When to worry about black spots on your dog’s tongue

Black spots that are raised, ulcerated, or have a foul odor are not normal pigmentation. These abnormal black spots can be a sign of certain types of cancer in the mouth, like melanoma or squamous cell carcinoma. They can also be the result of oral ulcers, such as those found in dogs with kidney failure.

If you have any concerns about the black spots you are finding on your dog’s tongue (or anywhere in his mouth), have your dog examined by his veterinarian.

Are There Restaurants That Allow Dogs?

By
CJ Puotinen
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0
Maremmano abruzzese sheepdog sitting near the table at italian cafe terrace. Adorable huge white dog with shawl
The best canine candidates for joining you as you dine al fresco are calm, relaxed characters who won’t leap to their feet every time a server approaches the table, or try to socialize with other dogs or people. Photo by RossHelen, Getty Images.

Americans are increasingly bringing their dogs with them when they go places, and to take advantage of this trend, many national chain restaurants have become known for welcoming dogs to join their humans for meals in their outdoor dining areas. Some even have special menus for dogs, or serve complementary treats or appetizers designed just for dogs.

The list of national-chain restaurants with dog-friendly outdoor dining areas grows longer all the time, but includes:

  • Applebee’s
  • Baja Fresh
  • Bruster’s Real Ice Cream
  • Cracker Barrel
  • Dairy Queen
  • Dunkin’ Donuts
  • In-N-Out Burger
  • Joe’s Crab Shack
  • Johnny Rockets
  • Lazy Dog Restaurant and Bar
  • Le Madeline
  • Noah’s New York Bagels
  • Olive Garden
  • Outback Steakhouse
  • Panera Bread
  • Shake Shack
  • Sonic Drive-in
  • Sprinkles Cupcakes
  • Starbucks

In addition to national chains, many local restaurants invite well-behaved dogs and offer amenities such as clean water bowls for their canine customers.

Is your dog restaurant-ready?

Sounds like fun, yes? But first, consider your dog. No matter how welcoming a restaurant, it won’t be a pleasant meal if you’ve brought the wrong date. If your pup is noisy, easily startled, unable to settle down, uncomfortable around other dogs, or needs constant supervision, make other arrangements. Your best canine dining companion is polite, quiet, relaxed, travels well, and responds appropriately to cues such as sit, down, stay, and leave it.

Most dog-friendly establishments are casual, informal, and spacious rather than crowded. To avoid last-minute disappointments, call ahead to verify the establishment’s pet policy in case it doesn’t match a recommendation or website description.

Bring a friend if you can, someone who understands dogs and can assist as needed. Try to visit early or late, when the restaurant isn’t busy, to minimize distractions. Park a comfortable distance away so that you can take your dog for a walk before entering and have pick-up bags ready to clean up after your dog. Use a well-fitting harness and short leash, not a retractable leash. Ask or look for a table that’s in a corner or out of the way. Even if your dog is well-behaved around small children, aim for a table near quiet adults rather than young ones whose excitement and interest may stress your pup.

Bring a mat for your dog to lie on plus a portable water bowl. To help your dog relax around food distractions, consider feeding her before leaving home, and bring treats. Have your dog sit or lie on the floor or ground, not in a chair, on the table, on your lap, or where he’s in the way of serving staff or other diners or where he might have his tail stepped on. Once seated, hold onto your dog’s leash by looping it around your wrist or use a hands-free leash that attaches to your belt. Don’t tie the leash to a chair, table leg, or gate that could get pulled over and cause mayhem if your dog spots a pigeon walking around the other outdoor tables. Last, don’t let your dog eat off of your plate, and don’t feed anyone else’s dog.

In other words, use common sense and good manners to ensure that you, your friend, your dog, and the diners around you all enjoy yourselves.

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