A dog who seems obsessed with licking his paws—even to the point of being red and raw—needs treatment. You can start with home remedies described in this article, but if they don’t work, you need veterinary intervention. Credit: Sandra Standbridge | Getty Images
Your dog is licking his paws red, obsessively licking. Possible reasons include everything from a yeast infection to anxiety. A dog licks to heal, whether the problem is injury, illness, or stress. Dogs who continually lick their paws often end up with reddish-brown staining. This occurs due to a component in saliva called porphyrin, which are iron-containing molecules (they cause tear stains, too).
Inspect the Area
With luck, especially if the licking behavior is new, the problem could be as simple as something stuck in the paw itself or the paw hair. It could also be an injury, such as he has worn off a paw pad running on a rough surface – even rough indoor/outdoor carpeting – or he may have a blister from walking on a hot surface.
Check carefully between the toes for injuries, plant material, and ticks. If you remove the offending debris or bug and treat the wound if needed, he may stop licking. Unfortunately, though, it is often more complicated.
Obsessive Licking
Dogs will obsessively lick their paws if they have a yeast infection. This can be related to atopy (allergies) or to yeast infections elsewhere on your dog’s body, like the ears and groin.
Yeast infections are common during hot, humid weather. For mild cases, you can treat with a home remedy. Soak the paw in Epsom salts and warm water for about five minutes, then rinse and dry the paw carefully. Once the paw is dry, sprinkle human foot powder in between the toes.
Most foot powders are anti-fungal (so anti yeast), antibacterial, anti-itch, and taste bad. Treat two to three times a day faithfully for five to seven days. If the licking doesn’t end, it’s time to see your veterinarian (licking can be a sign of more serious problems, like gastrointestinal disease).
Allergy syndromes such as atopy may also cause paw licking. A full verteinary workup is usually required to get to the bottom of a dog’s allergies.
Signs of Anxiety
If your dog is licking his paws due to anxiety, the foot powder remedy may help to break the cycle, but you really need to treat the underlying anxiety. Most dogs will have other signs of anxiety besides licking or chewing on themselves. They may be destructive, vocalize excessively, or may retreat and hide.
Increasing your dog’s exercise, spending some more time playing and training, and calming treats may help with mild cases of anxiety. Ideally, you want to identify what is causing the anxiety (a new person, pet, location?) and try to eliminate or at least manage that. If not, talk with your primary care veterinarian who may suggest that you consult a veterinary behaviorist for behavior-modification protocols and anti-anxiety medications.
Ticks prefer moist shady areas with shorter foliage over sunny locations. They can’t jump, so they crawl to the tops of leaves and grasses, waiting for a victim to venture close so they can climb aboard. Credit: Nicolas Jooris-Ancion | Getty Images
While Lyme disease tends to be the headliner when it comes to tick-borne diseases in dogs, ehrlichiosis is equally serious and common. It is transmitted by the brown dog tick, as opposed to the black-legged deer tick that carries Lyme. Bacteria known as Ehrlichia canis is the pathogen transferred by the tick that causes ehrlichiosis.
Ehrlichiosis was first found on military dogs returning from Vietnam, but it is now endemic in the southeastern United States. That said, brown dog ticks are present throughout North America.
Prognosis is good when ehrlichiosis is diagnosed early, with an estimated 95% survival rate. Note: German Shepherd Dogs and Siberian Huskies seem to be especially susceptible to Ehrlichia canis and may develop more severe cases.
Symptoms of Ehrlichiosis in Dogs
When a dog is acutely ill with ehrlichiosis, the symptoms include:
Fever
Swollen lymph nodes
Bleeding problems (subcutaneous hematomas, spontaneous nosebleeds, or tiny hemorrhages in the groin area)
Chronic ehrlichiosis signs include:
Lameness
Neurologic problems
Vision changes
Swollen limbs
Weight loss
Lethargy
Since these symptoms fit a variety of illnesses, including other tick-borne diseases, your veterinarian will need to do some bloodwork to determine the exact cause. Fortunately, ehrlichiosis is one of the four diseases – Lyme, heartworm, anaplasmosis, and ehrlichiosis – that can be caught by in-office rapid screening tests available at many vet clinics.
Treatment of Ehrlichiosis in Dogs
Because the disease is caused by bacteria, it is susceptible to antibiotics. Doxycycline is currently the antibiotic of choice, given for 30 days. Dogs with severe cases of anemia from this infection may need blood transfusions.
The best way to avoid ehrlichiosis is to use a tick preventive or repellant. If you live in an area with lots of tick activity, do a quick check of your dog daily to remove any ticks you find.
Shelters and rescues – and obviously, their canine wards – benefit from enriching activities and handling provided by volunteers. But some shelters are concerned about increasing their liability exposure from having volunteers in their facilities. Photo by Camille Tokerud, Getty Images
The potential for the loss of liability insurance is closing shelter doors to volunteers.
As many of you know from personal experience, volunteers in animal shelters play an enormously valuable role in helping reduce the dogs’ stress and increase their quality of life in innumerable small ways. The end goal is always to make the dogs feel any small amount better, in hopes of improving their chances of connecting with a human who will adopt them and get them out of the shelter! The most impactful thing these volunteers can do is to get dogs out of their small pens to exercise, de-stress, eliminate in a more comfortable setting, socialize with humans and sometimes other dogs, escape the loud noise in their kennels (if only for a few minutes), and perhaps receive some instruction on basic “good manners” behaviors.
Even volunteers who can’t physically handle strong, excited, and untrained dogs can assist other volunteers or staff when dogs are taken outside by providing some spot cleaning, freshening the dogs’ bedding, and preparing food-stuffed frozen toys (and washing the previous days’ toys) for the dogs to enjoy when they are returned to their kennels. They can also deliver treats to dogs from outside the dogs’ kennels, encouraging and reinforcing calm behaviors, or even just sit outside the kennels and read out loud.
So, imagine my shock and frustration when my own local shelter recently stopped allowing volunteers to do any of these things. WHY?
Because the director learned that two other shelters in our part of the state recently were dropped by their insurance companies after dog-bite incidents. Both of these shelters had to scramble to find different coverage – and were able to do so only at a much greater cost than before. The capper? Both shelters were previously insured by a company that specializes in coverage for nonprofit animal shelters – and my local shelter is currently covered by the same company.
I’m in the process of trying to track down some statistics, to learn whether this is a substantiated trend or just the fever dream of perennially worried and beleaguered shelter directors, based on a few isolated cases.
I’m also trying to find out what shelters can do to reassure its insurance providers that they are taking every possible action to mitigate risk to its volunteers (and staff!). What are the sheltering industry’s “best practices” that can protect humans – and protect shelters from possible litigation in case of accidents?
The one thing I know for sure is that reducing the amount of time that dogs can spend outside of their small, loud, stressful kennels is sure to increase their potential for aggression, as well as their potential to inflict accidental and unintentional harm. The less dogs are handled in the shelter will also increase the time it will take to find someone to want to take them home!
Shelter volunteers and staff: What is done in your shelter to protect volunteers and the interests of the shelter – while simultaneously serving the wellbeing of the dogs? I will be sharing more information as I learn what can be done to achieve a win/win/win for shelter dogs, shelter operators, and their insurance providers.
Start by rewarding your dog for being next to you on a loose leash. Make the area that’s next to you a “zone of awesome,” where the treats and praise are free-flowing. Photo by Evgeniya Kurilova, Getty Images
Loose-leash walking, historically known as “heeling,” is one of the more challenging behaviors to master, since most walks happen away from home, where distractions abound.
Here are six keys to teaching your dog to heel:
Keep in mind that it’s harder for your dog than it looks
Without a leash, most dogs would be well ahead of their (slow!) human counterparts. They’re built to go faster – they have twice as many legs! Not to mention a nose that can smell parts per trillion. Asking a dog to walk on a loose leash is asking a dog to choose to walk slower than their natural pace while largely ignoring most of the amazing smells and other distractions they’d love to pull toward
Be willing to pay well
If we expect our dog to walk slower than his natural pace, paying less attention to the environment and more attention to us, we must make it worth his while. Dogs repeat behaviors that are reinforced. If pulling gets him closer to the smell he wants to sniff, pulling has been rewarded. When I’m teaching leash manners, I reward so quickly and frequently, the dog doesn’t have time to think about pulling – he’s too busy earning rewards by walking with me!
Create a zone of awesome
Polite leash walking is built one step at a time. Start by rewarding your dog for being next to you. Make the area that’s next to you a “zone of awesome,” where the treats and praise are free-flowing. Your dog needs to be able to stand next to you on a loose leash before he can walk next to you on a loose leash.
Start small and don’t be greedy
As your dog realizes how well it pays to stand next to you, begin adding movement – one step at a time. Reward your dog in your “zone of awesome” before he has a chance to surge ahead of you and self-reward with the fun of moving forward or reaching an enticing smell. Talk to your dog as you walk. You’re on the walk together – be a team! Polite leash walking should not look like a precise military heel. A great goal is to create a zone of awesome within the radius of your 6-foot leash.
The early days of teaching leash manners will likely look like one step > treat > one step > treat – over and over! As your dog settles into this pattern, add a second step before the treat. Sometimes surprise your dog with a treat after a single step. You might feel like a Pez dispenser but stick with it. Remember: Your dog will repeat behaviors that are reinforced. You won’t need this many treats forever, but you’ll need them for a while – likely much longer than you think. If you’re worried about using too many treats, use your dog’s kibble. In my puppy classes, I challenge my students to feed their dogs’ entire morning meal as rewards while on a morning walk.
To really stack the deck in your favor, take that morning walk in your own backyard or up and down your hallway to minimize distractions and make it easy for your dog to be successful. Help your dog get it right and work your way up from there.
You can call it whatever you want!
There’s nothing magical about the cue “heel.” As a verb, “heel” originated in the early 1800s to mean, “to follow or stop at a person’s heels,” usually on the left side. This is because most people are right-handed, and, in the case of military and hunting dogs, it keeps prevents the ejecting shells and cartridge casings from hitting the dog as they fall to the ground. If you’re a right-handed pet owner, it’s likely easier to have your dog on your left and keep your dominant hand free.
When training most new behaviors, it’s better to not name it in the beginning. Learning can be messy, and it will take your dog a while to figure things out. Naming a behavior too early carries the risk of your dog associating the cue with the messy version of the behavior. If you need to encourage your dog to start moving, pat your leg and say, “Let’s go” as you take your first step. As it becomes easier for your dog to stick with you, even around distractions, you can name the behavior. “Heel,” “Close,” “With me,” – use whatever cue works for you!
Other things to consider
When asking for your dog to resist walking at his own pace and sniffing or investigating things that are interesting to him, make sure that you are paying attention to him in return! Talk to your dog in a friendly, happy, interested tone – and reinforce often for his polite attention! Photo by Black Factory, Getty Images
Remember that polite leash walking is unnatural for dogs. As such, it’s important that we give them ample opportunities to experience the world in a more natural – to them – way. While I teach my dog to walk politely on a leash, I also offer plenty of opportunities for “sniffaries,” (a sniffing safari!) where he’s free to mostly disengage from me and sniff to his heart’s content. To avoid a tight leash during such walks, we purposefully use a long ling or walk off-leash in appropriate areas. Different types of adventure walks are important to your dog’s overall wellbeing.
There will also be plenty of times where you just need to get from Point A to Point B long before your dog has mastered his polite leash-walking skills. For those times when you need the focus to be on getting somewhere rather than training, consider using a well-fitting front-clip harness.
If you’re struggling to teach or maintain your dog’s polite leash-walking skills, you’re not alone. The world is a distracting place! It can be a difficult behavior to achieve and maintain. A skilled, positive-reinforcement trainer can offer tips and tricks to help heal your heeling and get you and four-legged friend on the path to mutually enjoyable walks and more.
You can generally recognize the zoomies by the wild look in your dog’s eyes, as well as bursts of speed accentuated by butt-tucking turns. Photo by Robjem, Getty Images
Most dog owners call the behavior “the zoomies.” The scientific name for these often-entertaining random energy bursts is “frenetic random activity period,” or FRAP, and some people refer to the behavior as “frapping.” Whatever you call it, it’s a completely normal dog behavior and, under most circumstances, it’s nothing to worry about.
Why do dogs get the zoomies?
We don’t know specially why dogs get the zoomies, but based on when they tend to happen, experts believe zoomies are an attempt to quickly release pent-up energy. All breeds of dogs can experience zoomies. The behavior is more common in younger dogs, but you’ll often see it in older dogs, too. (My 11-year-old Golden still gets the zoomies sometimes.)
When are dogs most likely to get the zoomies?
The most common times you can expect to see your dog get the zoomies are:
During periods of high excitement – For example, when you get home from work and your dog is excited to see you.
During play – When the activity is especially stimulating, play can boil over into an innocent case of the zoomies.
Late in the evening – Some dogs are more prone to zoomies late at night. It’s as if they’re looking to burn some energy before an extended period of rest.
After a bath – Likely to release pent-up energy from tolerating the bath. It’s also possible they enjoy the feeling of a breeze on their wet coat, or even that they’re trying to dry off. Who doesn’t love a good air-dry cycle?
Zoomies can also be a stress response
It’s not uncommon to see a dog get the zoomies during a training session when a dog becomes over-stimulated or finds some aspect of the training to be stressful. Your dog isn’t being naughty – he’s letting you know he’s struggling with some aspect of the situation. You might be tempted to address the issue by drilling stays or recalls in a training setting, but if your dog is stressed by the environment (too many distractions) or the work you’re asking him to do (repeating an exercise he finds challenging), drilling obedience behaviors isn’t likely to help. You’ll want to take a few steps back to look for – and identify – the root cause of the behavior.
Alternatively, you might experience what feels like goofy, completely unfocused, class clown behavior, often accompanied with excessive jumping and mouthiness in social situations. This behavior is often misunderstood as excessiveness friendliness, when in actuality, the dog likely so over-stimulated, she has little mental or physical control of her actions. This “fooling around” behavior can be just as much of a stress response as the better known, “flight, fight, or freeze” behaviors, and it’s your dog’s way of asking for help.
Are zoomies safe for dogs?
In general, “fun zoomies” are totally fine – and even endearing! Be mindful of the environment to help prevent accidental injury from slipping on slick floors or crashing into things, and protect yourself and other humans in the area by staying out of the way of your dog when he’s wildly zooming. Obedience cues often go unheard during a case of the zoomies, so it’s best to let frenetic behavior burn itself out before expecting your dog to respond correctly to known cues.
If your dog frequently gets the zoomies around the house, it could be a sign that she would benefit from more physical or mental stimulation through additional exercise, training, enrichment puzzles or other types of brain games.
While there are a number of medical reasons that can cause a dog to chew his nails or excessively lick his feet – and these reasons need to be investigated and eliminated – some dogs chew their paws out of boredom or anxiety. Photo by Cheryl Paz, Getty Images
It’s normal for dogs to self-groom by licking their paws. But excessive licking or chewing of the paws or nails could be cause for concern and likely necessitates a vet visit.
There are several reasons why your dog might be chewing their feet or nails. The most common causes include:
Yeast Infection – Yeast normally lives on a dog’s skin without issue, and Malassezia pachydermatis is the most common species found on dogs. But it’s an opportunistic pathogen; when something else causes an imbalance, Malassezia takes advantage of the situation and rapidly multiplies, especially in warm, moist areas.
Yeast infections of the feet and paws are common and make the surrounding skin horribly itchy, causing the dog to lick and bite at her feet, which intensifies the overgrowth of yeast.
Pruritic Pododermatitis – This is an umbrella diagnosis related to itchy feet with a number of causes, including parasites such as mites, hookworms, or yeast, as well as a reaction to a variety of contact, food, or inhaled allergens. Finding the underlying cause of pruritic pododermatitis is an important step in providing long-lasting relief.
Toenail and Foot Issues – Nails that are too long can cause discomfort and cause dogs to bite at their feet to find relief. Broken nails – either due to disease or injury – will also lead to excessive licking and chewing. Monitor your dog’s nails and train your dog to cooperate with nail trimming or grinding to help keep his nails healthy and in good shape. Check regularly for foxtails or other grass awns between the toes and pads.
Behavior Issues – In some cases, behaviors like excessive licking and chewing begin for an identifiable reason – such as an irritation or injury – but persist even after the issue has been resolved medically. Sometimes, it’s because the behavior has become a habit. It’s also possible the dog learned licking is a great way to get attention from an otherwise preoccupied owner.
Stop the Paw Obsession
If you’re confident there’s not a medical reason for the licking and chewing, try to proactively give your dog something else to do during the times when she’s most likely to chew her feet. Boredom can also contribute to repetitive behaviors such as licking and chewing, so it’s always good to take an honest inventory of your dog’s day and make sure you’re providing enough exercise and enrichment to meet your dog’s physical and mental health needs.
This little puppy is right at the soft end where it is all too easy to chew off string and consume it. Never allow a dog or puppy to chew a string toy. Credit: Kinek00 | Getty Images
Overall, rope toys are not safe for your dog, especially if he’s an aggressive chewer who likes to consume what he pulls from the toy.
If you notice – or even think, based on missing pieces of the toy – that your dog ate some of his rope toy, schedule an appointment with your veterinarian immediately.
If you see part of the string, like it is stuck to a tooth or wrapped around his tongue, but you don’t see the other end, do NOT pull on the string. Just pulling on it could cause it to become entrapped in the digestive tract or severely worsen the problem.
When you take your dog to the vet, he or she may make the dog vomit or may recommend adding canned pumpkin to the dog’s diet to help him pass the string safely. Even then, however, if the string becomes entangled, you’re looking at surgery.
Supervise All Toys
It’s not just string, though. Chewing and swallowing part of any toy can quickly become a veterinary emergency. No dog should be unsupervised when chewing on any type of toy or chew toy.
A study from The Journal of Small Animal Practice looked at 499 cases where dogs had swallowed either a linear foreign body (in other words, string-like objects) or a non-linear foreign body (like anything else). They found that dogs with a linear foreign body had more severe clinical signs and an increased duration of hospitalization and cost of the procedure. Interestingly, however, the study found survival rates in both types of obstructions to be similar. Swallowing anything but food is a bad idea.
My Dog Doesn’t Swallow String
OK, whether your dog chews off some of the rope or not might depend a little on your dog’s personality. Some dogs chew more aggressively than others. And size matters. A little Shih Tzu or Pomeranian probably will take a lot longer to destroy a rope toy than a big Doberman Pinscher or a Rottweiler. Dogs are individual, creative chewers, and they all need to be supervised.
That’s why most veterinarians and dog trainers recommend something other than rope toys for dogs. If your dog loves to chew or play tug of war, Wendy Beatty, co-founder of Playology, a company that invents and makes dog toys, recommends malleable and bendable, hard rubber toys like a Kong, which also is highly rated by Whole Dog Journal to combat boredom and allow safer chewing.
What If My Dog Likes to Play Tug Of War?
Tug is fun for dogs! Don’t discourage him, says animal behaviorist and dog trainer Jody Epstein, because it’s good exercise for him when done right – and for you, too.
Whole Dog Journal Training Editor Pat Miller agrees: “Not all dogs enjoy tugging, but if your dog does, go for it!” She says the old belief that tugging will make your dog dominant is not true, but you do need to play safe.
For years, people have used a knotted rope or a rope toy to play tug with their dogs. Fleece tugs are the modern alternative to rope tugs, but with any tug you run the risk of material being swallowed if it is bitten off. Keep all tugs in good shape, replacing them if they become weak or shredding. An alternative to soft tugs is a hard rubber toy in the shape of rings that will suffice as a tug.
Note: If your dog isn’t a fan of tug, that’s OK, too. There are plenty of other games to play, like fetch a ball or a disk. Use the proper sized ball or disk, however, so your dog doesn’t accidentally swallow it and begin choking.
If you find a dog, putting up fliers that are bigger than this will be more effective. While a photo is good, it may be more useful to use bigger, bolder type to briefly describe the dog, such as, “FOUND: LARGE BLACK DOG, MALE” and your phone number. Photo by Goads Agency, Getty Images.
Are you one of the good Samaritans who stopped to pick up a dog you found running along a roadway, or offered the stray dog who has been spotted running around your neighborhood a square meal and a safe place to sleep? And now that he’s been saved from the street, you’re wondering who to call about that stray dog, and where you can take him?
Wonder no longer. Here are the steps you should take after you have found a lost dog:
Bring him to your local animal shelter to be scanned for a microchip, to check for a “lost dog” report, and to file a “found dog” report. If you are not sure where the correct shelter is located, call the closest veterinary hospital; they will always know where local strays should be taken.
In the best-case scenario, he’s in possession of a registered identification microchip, and a quick scan at the shelter gives the staff the information they need to quickly reunite the dog and his owner. Yay! If he has no microchip, however, or the one he has is not registered with current contact information for the owner (Boo!), then someone – either you or the shelter staff – will have to do some detective work, to see if the owner can be found.
Most shelters maintain a log of “lost dog” and “found dog” reports. At my local shelter, they allow people to look through the log themselves – and they try to make matches when someone at the front counter has time, which isn’t all that often. But if someone is making an honest effort to find their lost dog, this is one of the places they will look.
If he’s a super nice dog and you don’t want to leave him at the shelter – and if you have the space and ability to keep him safe at your home – most shelters will allow you to take him home, and will forward your contact information to anyone who comes to the shelter looking for him. But be aware that sometimes, people only search their shelter websites for pictures of their lost dogs, and if the dog is not at the shelter, his picture will not appear on the shelter website. Only an owner who comes to the shelter and looks through the found dog reports will learn that you have the dog. The odds of being reunited with his owner are better if he’s at the shelter than anywhere else.
But if you live in an area where unclaimed stray dogs get euthanized fairly quickly, and you have the ability to securely house and feed the dog, by all means, let the shelter know that you will care for him while you add the following steps to your “to do” list
Use social media to advertise the dog, and ask all your friends who are online to share the post. Take a good, clear photo of the dog and post a description on your own social media (make sure your posts are public, so they can be shared widely) and on the pages of any animal-welfare sites in your area. In my area, there are Facebook groups with names like “Oroville Lost and Found Pets” (serving my town), Butte County Lost/Found Animals (serving my county), “530 Lost and Found Pets” (serving a several-country area served by the 530 area code). Search for the term “lost and found pets” on Facebook and you should find several for your area. You can also ask other dog owners you know if they are aware of other groups like this. Nextdoor.com is another site where posts like this can be widely shared.
Be aware that some of these groups require people to be a “member” of the group before they can post, so there might be a delay of a day or two between finding the groups and being able to post in them. Post a good photo, describe the dog, and include your phone number.
Don’t forget about craigslist.org: You can post a description of the found dog there, too. Not long ago, the roommate of a friend accidentally allowed my friend’s dog to escape the house when my friend was not home. Dozens of his friends quickly shared his “lost dog” posts on Facebook, but he received a call from someone he knew who saw a “found dog” post on craigslist.org that sounded like it was about his dog (and it was). The finders were an older couple who eschew social media. Hedge your bets and post in every forum you can!
Make some “Found Dog” signs. There are lots of people who don’t have a computer or use social media. Posting some “Found Dog” fliers in well-trafficked areas near where the dog was found will reach those people. Use a big, clear photo and a large font with your phone number – preferably so large that it can be read from a passing car. Or, you can make a larger poster without a photo but briefly describing the dog, such as, “Found: Large black male dog, short tail.” That’s enough for someone who has lost their dog to recognize the possibility the dog you have might be theirs. Try to post them at major intersections within a mile or three of where the dog was found.
It’s also helpful to distribute fliers to local veterinary clinics, pet supply stores, groomers, and other animal-related businesses that have a bulletin board or other location for fliers.
Should you find the dog a nice home with someone you know?
I think you can answer this question by asking yourself whether you would want this outcome if your dog went astray. Say you were on vacation for two weeks and your dog got away from the dog walker or neighborhood kid you hired to care for your dog while you were gone. Someone found the dog, but because they didn’t get a response to their found-dog posts or the report at the shelter, they assumed the dog had been “dumped” and gave the dog to their brother-in-law (or someone else). That person, your dog’s new owner, might never be aware that “your” dog is very much loved and missed and wanted.
If you fall in love with the dog, and are tempted to keep him yourself, just keep in mind that there can be any number of reasons why a person may be unable to search for their beloved dog, or see and respond to “found dog” ads. There was just an article in the Washington Post about a man who was in the hospital, with a friend taking care of his little dog. His condition worsened, and his doctors put him into a medically induced coma for over three weeks. Sometime after he was reawakened, his friend came to tell him the sad news that his dog had run away weeks before. The dog had been picked up and taken to a shelter, where, after being unclaimed for weeks, he was put up for adoption – and was adopted by a person who fostered him for the shelter.
Fortunately, an intermediary who was familiar with the shelter connected the adopter and the dog’s original owner, and acted as an intermediary to convince the new owner that the little dog really did belong with his original owner, who lost the dog through no fault of his own. But the media is full of stories like this with more contentious endings, where the new owners won’t give up their newly adopted dog, and the shelter is unable to legally intervene.
It’s best if you can host the dog yourself while continuing to share occasional found-dog posts, at least for a couple months, before determining that no one is out there still looking for their dog. Ask your local shelter staff what the law in your state requires before you can consider a “found dog” your own, and when sufficient time has passed, get the dog licensed in your name and get microchipped – and make sure you register it as soon as possible.
To control bacterial infections on your dog’s skin, treat all wounds immediately, flushing them with water and then an antiseptic like chlorhexidine. And then keep an eye on them.
Bacteria are ever present in your dog’s world. Most are important to his overall health, but a bacterial infection that makes your dog ill may require a trip to the veterinarian.
Dog bacterial infections can happen in several ways:
An injury provides an opening for pathogenic (bad) bacteria to enter
Overzealous use of antibiotics wipe out the good bacteria, so harmful bacteria can take over
A trauma or viral/fungal infection opens the door for bacteria to set up shop as a secondary infection
Dietary problems, such as too quick a change in food
Skin allergies and infections
Hot spots – the classic hot spot on the dog’s neck or cheek is an example of a staph bacterial infection
Harmful Bacteria Invasions
Sometimes bacterial infections are due to the overgrowth of healthy bacteria. Remember, you can’t rid your dog of all bacteria, because most of these microorganisms are beneficial and important to your dog’s microbiome, which is a community of beneficial organisms that keep us healthy. If your dog has a bacterial infection, immediate intervention can bring the best prognosis.
When the ratio of good to harmful bacterial species gets out of whack, such as on the skin or the hair follicles, clinical problems or signs of infection can arise. This is one of the reasons the improper use of antibiotics is so dangerous. Overuse of antibiotics can lead to resistance developing in harmful bacteria that are normally well handled by your dog’s immune system.
Fighting Bacterial Infections
If your dog gets a cut or wound, clean it thoroughly. First flush with water, then use a cleanser such as chlorhexidine. Try to avoid using antibiotics. If the injury doesn’t heal, contact your veterinarian.
If bacteria gain access to the urinary tract, infections can set up. Be aware of the symptoms and contact your veterinarian.
Make diet changes gradually, so your dog’s gut microbiome can adjust to the change in nutrients.
Get treatment for yeast/fungal infections right away. Most infections can be treated topically and with appropriate systemic medications, if needed, to prevent any secondary bacterial overgrowth.
Use any prescribed antibiotics for bacterial infections exactly as prescribedand use up the entire prescription unless told otherwise. Your veterinarian may recommend a culture and sensitivity laboratory test if an infection recurs to help guide the treatment choices.
Remember, normal bacteria maintain a population on your dog’s skin and help your dog digest food. “Good” bacteria help to counter “bad” bacteria and keep your dog healthy. But when things get out of balance, infections can and do set in.
Not all dogs who are infested with intestinal worms are thin. Dogs with a minor worm burden may show no symptoms at al; however, the more worms they are hosting, the more weight and body condition they will lose. Photo by Mary Swift, Getty Images
Roundworms, whipworms, hookworms, and tapeworms are the most common intestinal parasites that afflict dogs. To eliminate these worms, there are currently six drugs available for use in dogs in the United States, and a myriad of choices of products that offer these drugs alone and in varying combinations.
The best dewormer for your dog is one that addresses your dog’s individual risk for contracting intestinal parasites, that is convenient to administer, and that addresses any breed-specific risks (see “The MDR1 Mutation and Milbemycin and Moxidectin,” below). The only dewormers that are not routinely recommended are ones that contain piperazine. Dewormers that contain piperazine have limited effectiveness against roundworms and do not address any other intestinal parasites. Your veterinarian can help you determine which dewormer is best for your dog’s lifestyle and risk factors for contracting intestinal parasites, but here is information about each drug that will help inform your decision:
Drug
Available forms
Effective Against
NOT Effective Against
Administration Frequency
Safe to Use
Do Not Give To
Milbemycin (pronounced mil-beh-MY-sin)
Oral tablet or chewable
Hookworm roundworm, whipworm (also heartworm)
Tapeworm
Once a month
Adult dogs, puppies as young as 4 weeks old and at least 2 lbs
Pregnant or nursing dogs
Fenbendazole (pronounced fen-BEN-da-zole) Note: A drug called febantel is available only in the dewormer Drontal Plus for Dogs. Febantel is metabolized in a dog's body to fenbendazole and has the same spectrum of activity as fenbendazole.)
Oral medication (as either granules to be mixed with food or as a liquid given by oral syringe)
Hookworm, roundworm, whipworm, and some forms of tapeworm
Dipylidium caninum (the most common tapeworm, which is transmitted by fleas)
Once a day for three to five consecutive days
Adult dogs, puppies as young as 6 weeks old, pregnant dogs
Praziquantel (pronounced pra-zi-KWON-tell)
Oral medication, either by itself or combined with other dewormer drugs that combat hookworm, roundworm, and whipworm; it also available in some once-a-month heartworm preventatives
Several species of tapeworm, including the most common tapeworm that is transmitted by fleas
Usually, just one dose. A second dose may be necessary if a dog is at risk of becoming reinfected by fleas. Reinfection with this species of tapeworm can be prevented by using a high quality flea preventative and treating the home environment for fleas.
Adult dogs, puppies as young as 4 weeks old, and pregnant and nursing dogs
Pyrantel (pronounced pie-RAN-tell)
Oral tablet or liquid
Adult hookworms and adult roundworms residing in a dog's small intestine
Tapeworm, whipworm, or larval stages of hookworm or roundworm
Three doses needed, given two weeks apart (this dosing regime is designed to kill all the adult worms; it takes about two to four weeks for the larval stages of hookworms androundworms to develop into adults)
Adult dogs, puppies as young as 2 weeks old, and pregnant and nursing dogs
Moxidectin (pronounced mox-ee-DEK-tin)
Topical
Oral tablet (Simparica Trio, which also contains two other drugs):
Injectable (ProHeart 6 and ProHeart 12)
Hookworm, roundworm, and whipworm (also heartworm)
Hookworm, roundworm (also heartworm)
Hookworm (also heartworm)
Once a month
Once a month
ProHeart 6 is given every six months; ProHeart 12 is given every 12 months
Adult dogs, puppies at least 7 weeks old and 3 lbs
Adult dogs, puppies at least 8 weeks of age and 2.8 lbs
Adult dogs, puppies more than 6 months old
Pregnant or nursing dogs
Pregnant or nursing dogs
Puppies less than 6 months old, dogs who are heartworm-positive.
Piperazine (pronounced pie-per-a-ZEEN)
Oral tablet, liquid, paste, and gel (piperazine is paired with a variety of salts; each combination contains a different amount of piperazine. Follow label directions for the product you select regarding age, weight, and safe use in pregnant or nursing dogs
Limited efficacy against adult roundworms residing in a dog’s small intestine
Larval forms of roundworm, and hookworm, tapeworm, or whipworm
Given in three doses, two weeks apart
Dogs with chronic liver or kidney disease
How to deworm your dog
The hookworm Ancylostoma caninum has been developing resistance to all of the dewormers currently authorized for use in the United States; this was first observed in racing Greyhounds but has been confirmed much more widely. Photo by Himagine, Getty Images
The easiest way to deworm your dog is to use an effective heartworm preventative all year long. Heartworm preventatives do more than just prevent heartworm disease. They also treat your dog for intestinal parasites. Some heartworm preventatives also include an insect growth regulator for flea prevention. Others include a drug that quickly kills ticks that become attached to your dog.
Each heartworm preventative product – with its particular combination of drugs – has a different spectrum of activity against intestinal parasites. For example, some preventatives are effective against hookworm, roundworm, and whipworm but not tapeworm. Other preventatives are effective against only roundworm and hookworm while some preventatives are effective against roundworm, hookworm, whipworm, and tapeworm.
The Companion Animal Parasite Council (CAPC) recommends that puppies be treated with a dewormer effective against roundworm and hookworm at two, four, six, and eight weeks of age. Puppies should be started on a monthly heartworm preventative as soon as they are old enough and weigh enough to receive the preventative.
According to the CAPC, if a puppy receives his first dose of dewormer at 6 to 8 weeks old, then the following deworming schedule is recommended:
Administer a dose of dewormer. Use a dewormer that contains pyrantel, fenbendazole, or a combination of pyrantel and febantel.
In two weeks, administer your puppy’s first dose of heartworm preventative.
In four weeks, administer a second dose of dewormer.
In six weeks, administer the next dose of heartworm preventative. Continue heartworm prevention all year long.
If you do not want your puppy or dog to be on heartworm preventative, then you should deworm according to the following schedule recommended by CAPC:
Puppies should be dewormed every two weeks starting at 2 weeks of age until they are 2 months old.
Puppies between 2 and 6 months of age should be dewormed once a month.
Adult dogs and puppies more than 6 months of age should be dewormed once every three months.
Use a broad-spectrum dewormer that is effective against roundworm, hookworm, and whipworm. If your dog is not on a flea or flea/tick preventative, then select a dewormer that is also effective against the tapeworm Dipylidium caninum.
The MDR1 Mutation and Milbemycin and Moxidectin
Dogs who have an MDR1 gene mutation are more sensitive to the effects of milbemycin and moxidectin. MDR1 refers to a gene called “MultiDrug Resistance 1” and is also known as gene ABCB1. A mutation in this gene allows higher levels of certain medications – including milbemycin and moxidectin – to enter the brain from the bloodstream.
Certain breeds of dogs are more likely to have the MDR1 gene mutation. According to Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine, these breeds include Collies, Shetland Sheepdogs (Shelties), Australian Shepherds, Old English Sheepdogs, English Shepherds, German Shepherds, Longhaired Whippets (also known as Silken Windhounds or Windsprites), and a variety of mixed-breed dogs.
When used at the dosages present in heartworm preventatives, milbemycin and moxidectin do not cause an adverse reaction in dogs who have the MDR1 gene mutation. However, milbemycin and moxidectin should be used cautiously in dogs with the MDR1 gene mutation who are also receiving certain cardiac medications, certain antibiotics or antifungals, or cyclosporine.
Testing your dog to see if he has the MDR1 gene mutation is easy and can be done at home. You can order a cheek swab test from Washington State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine (click here) or by calling (509) 335-3745. Your veterinarian can also submit a blood sample to WSU to test for the MDR1 gene mutation.
Drug-Resistant Hookworms
Within the past decade, the hookworm Ancylostoma caninum has been developing resistance to all of the dewormers currently authorized for use in the United States, including pyrantel, fenbendazole, and moxidectin. This phenomenon was originally seen in retired racing Greyhounds but has since been seen in a variety of dog breeds.
It is thought that A. caninum started developing drug resistance through the inappropriate use of dewormers at Greyhound race tracks. Dewormers labeled for use in large animals can often be obtained without a prescription. This gave trainers an easy route to obtain dewormers that may not work the same in dogs as it does in large animals. There may also have been instances where an inappropriately low dose of a dewormer was given to the dogs, thus eliminating some hookworms but allowing hardy hookworms to survive and thrive.
Other factors that are thought to have contributed to the development of drug-resistant A. caninum include the mild, temperate climate of the Southeast where the majority of Greyhound race tracks were once located. The eggs and larvae of A. caninum are killed by freezing temperatures that are not often seen in the Southeast region. The sandy surface of Greyhound race tracks also provided a perfect growth medium for A. caninum larvae.
Dogs who are suspected to be infected with drug resistant hookworms can be treated with a combination of fenbendazole, pyrantel, and moxidectin. Your veterinarian will determine the dose and frequency of each dewormer administered. A fecal egg count reduction test should be performed before and after treatment to determine the effectiveness of the drug combination.
There is evidence that a medication called emodepside may be effective at eliminating drug-resistant hookworms. This medication is licensed for use in dogs in Europe but not yet in the United States. Emodepside is one of the medications in the topical dewormer Profender licensed for use in cats, but only the oral formulation of emodepside is effective in dogs. Hopefully, this medication will become licensed for use in dogs in the United States.
Kate, the first puppy to show symptoms, was already underweight when she first showed symptoms of parvo, so her weight loss looks rather shocking. Fortunately, she’s on the road to recovery. Photo by Lisa Pound, Durham Doggie Posse + Kittens!
With just a couple of exceptions, every time I have fostered a dog or litter of puppies, I’ve done it for my local shelter. While sometimes I disagree with the shelter’s policies or am frustrated with the shelter’s limitations, if any of the dogs or puppies I am fostering for them has a medical issue, the shelter will treat the dog or pups at their expense – it doesn’t come down to my ability to pay an unexpected vet bill, and I’m grateful for that.
A friend in my area runs a small rescue organization, the Durham Doggie Posse +Kittens!, which she and one of her best friends operate out of their homes. Lisa and Melissa obtained a nonprofit charity status some years ago, and solicit for donations from their friends and people who follow them on social media – and frequently raise funds by doing things like baking and auctioning off cheesecakes and fruit pies, or jams made with fruit from their own fruit trees. (And I’m sure quite a bit of their own money goes into feeding and providing veterinary care for the dogs and puppies, cats and kittens they rescue and place.) They sometimes pull unclaimed animals from local shelters, but they also trap feral cats and get them spayed/neutered, and have also responded to pleas from local residents who found abandoned litters or injured animals.
Recently, they took on the job of fostering a litter of 11 puppies from a local shelter, with most of the puppies staying at Lisa’s home and a few fostered in friends’ homes. So far, all but four pups have been spayed/neutered and adopted into loving homes – but a few days ago, one of the puppies in the care of one of the foster providers stopped eating and drinking. Not wanting to burden her friend with caring for a sick pup, Lisa brought the pup back to her own home – and then took the pup to our local veterinary emergency room the next day. The pup had come down with parvovirus – and a day later, the second pup in the same home followed his sister’s symptom path.
This little organization cannot afford to pay for the gold standard of care for parvo – a couple days (at least) of hospitalization and IV fluids and medication – for one puppy, much less two. Lisa asked the veterinarian what she could do to care for the pup (now two pups) at home.
Fortunately, there is an alternative to the gold standard of care, which is hospitalization with fluids and other medicines administered via IV. (We published an article about this 10 years ago, here.) The College of Veterinary Medicine & Biosciences at Colorado State University’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital developed an outpatient treatment protocol a decade ago that has saved countless canine lives at a fraction of the cost of gold standard care. The protocol (available here) calls for the administration of subcutaneous fluids and doses of antibiotics and anti-emetic drugs, as well as anti-nausea and pain medication if needed. Once, it was common for veterinarians to suggest there wasn’t an outpatient alternative for puppies who were sick with parvovirus (it was hospitalization or euthanasia), but this protocol has shown an 80% to 90% success rate in pulling through these patients.
That doesn’t mean it’s cheap: Veterinary supervision, tests, the fluids and drugs – this all adds up. But it makes the cost of treating these shelter pups about $500 to $600 apiece, instead of $4,000 or more apiece.
And it’s not easy, or for the faint of heart! Providing all this care is a lot of work – especially since care must also be taken to keep the sick pups away from other animals in the household, and lots of cleaning and disinfecting goes into preventing the infection from spreading outside the care provider’s household. And administering sub-Q fluids – piercing the puppy’s skin with a fairly large-gauge needle – is scary at first. I’ve fostered only one puppy who needed the administration of sub-Q fluids several times a day, and I found it to be fairly nerve-wracking. If I had a dog who needed this care on a regular basis, I’m sure I could get used to it, but as a complete rookie, it was daunting! My heart completely goes out to Lisa, who is providing treatment for both puppies twice a day.
The good news is, the second puppy (who received treatment faster than the first pup, given that the diagnosis was all but ensured with the arrival of his very first symptom) bounced back very quickly and is able to eat and hold down food. And even the sicker first puppy, who had the burden of being more underweight even before they were sick, is starting to eat and is (so far) holding down her small meals.
Given my own puppy fostering experiences, and the fact that I know that these puppies may well have been euthanized if they had the bad luck to “break” with parvo while they were still in the shelter, I can only shake my head in admiration for these local sheroes. Toss them – or your own local shelter or rescue group! – a dollar or two if you can, won’t you? (Here is a link to Lisa’s Venmo account; ordinarily, folks bring checks to Lisa’s home, and while she has this Venmo account, she hasn’t yet set up one for the Doggie Posse.) This work is unrelenting and draining, and everyone involved could use a little help.
Dogs love sticks! They especially enjoy carrying them and gnawing on them, all of which could cause something to get stuck in their mouths, irritate them, and cause the dog to repeatedly swallow. Credit: Steve Clancy Photography, Getty Images
You notice your dog keeps swallowing a lot, acting like something is stuck in his throat. He may have drool leaking out of his mouth, in addition to swallowing repeatedly.
If your dog will let you, start by gently examining your dog’s mouth to look for a cause of the swallowing. Check the roof of his mouth for something a like a bone shard or short stick stuck across the hard palate. That can be a quick and easy fix if your dog will let you remove it.
NOTE: If you notice a string or thread stuck under his tongue, do NOT try to pull on that. That discovery should lead to a visit to the veterinarian. Your dog need surgery for a linear foreign body, like a string extending from the tongue into the digestive system.
Irritation Causes Excess Saliva
Anything that has irritated the tissues in your dog’s mouth can make him swallow more than usual and is usually accompanied by lots of saliva. This could be tissue damage from chewing on an electric cord or lapping up something hot like coffee laced with sugar and cream. Sneaking a spicy pepper from the garden or chewing on a mildly toxic plant can have the same result.
A dog who is swallowing repeatedly but does not appear to have anything stuck in his mouth may be nauseous. This type of abnormal swallowing is often accompanied by copious saliva, a “hangdog” look, and often some retching.
If you cannot positively identify and correct what’s causing the excessive swallowing, a visit to the veterinary clinic is required to determine the reason.
Dangerous Esophageal Blockages
Excessive swallowing with large amounts of drool and some gagging could indicate something stuck in his esophagus. If you can safely do so, open your dog’s mouth wide and look for a foreign object. You can also palpate his neck from the outside, but many objects are hard to detect and, even if you can see it, you may not be able to remove it yourself. A blockage in the esophagus is nothing to mess around with, and an urgent trip to the veterinarian is in order.
I’ve had a number of older owners book lessons with me lately—more than half a dozen individuals and couples in their 70s and even 80s, all wanting some training help with their new dogs or puppies.
