The odor was there. Not overpowering, but “off” and definitely not normal. My six-year-old Bouvier Atle’s breath simply never, ever stank. Yet here it was. Some kind of skanky odor emanating from his sweet little face. Was it time for a dental cleaning?
If you detect a stench coming from what you think is your dog’s mouth, and you chalk it up to dirty teeth, you may want to think again. While the bad breath could be the result of dental disease, the foul odor could be the result of another condition.
When Your Dog’s Mouth Smells
We often consider dental disease – the buildup of plaque and calculus on the teeth and inflammation of the gums (gingivitis) – as the main cause of bad breath in a dog. While the seriousness of dental disease shouldn’t be minimized, there are lots of other reasons why your dog’s mouth might smell off. Other causes of unpleasant odors include:
The tongue
Metabolic diseases, such as diabetes and renal disease
GI issues from excessive licking or swallowing, creating excess gas in GI tract
GI upset caused by megaesophagus, food allergy, bacterial overgrowth, neoplasia (cancer of the stomach or intestines), or a foreign body (bones, rocks, toys, socks)
Dietary (fish-based diets, oral fatty acids, coprophagia, consumption of other fetid foodstuffs)
Trauma (oral foreign bodies, damaged palate from stick chewing, electric cord injury, caustic agents)
Understanding the origin of the smell is your first assignment and may require the expertise of your veterinarian, or veterinary specialist, to pinpoint. T-cell lymphoma, for example, is a rare but deadly disease that can present on the face. It mimics many other conditions and can be difficult to diagnose without a specialist’s intervention.
Like most Bouviers, Atle (pronounced “OUGHT-lay”) has a lot of hair, facial and otherwise. The beard, his time at the beach, and an early-season exposure to a high pollen count all likely contributed to his lip-fold dermatitis.
Why Does My Dog’s Head Stink?!
I became obsessed with examining Atle’s face, closing his mouth, taking a whiff, opening his mouth, taking a whiff…
I thought maybe his beard was the culprit and became zealous about daily beard washing; this didn’t eliminate the stink.
He’s a dog who has allergies, and while I hadn’t noticed him excessively licking any body parts, he can be a “closet” licker; we tried a short trial of Apoquel (a prescription drug for dermatitis) but the odor remained.
Next, we experimented with a course of Pepcid, along with a probiotic, to see if mild GI issues were at the root of his ills, or if licking had thrown off the bacterial balance in the gut. Still no resolution.
Atle’s lip-fold pyoderma worsened when we traveled south, to the point where we finally able to see something, which helped solve the mysterious malodor!
We visited our veterinarian, who reported that his teeth and gums looked pretty good, with just a tiny bit of tartar buildup, but maybe a cleaning was in order. She mentioned that some dogs retain moisture on their faces, but didn’t pursue that issue; his face looked great.
The odor lingered for a few months without any noticeable pimples or growths on his face or in his mouth, until we took a road trip south to Georgia in April. The further south we got, the itchier Atle got. Within a day, there were hotspots on each side of his lower lip.
I sent a photo to his board-certified veterinary dermatologist, Tiffany Tapp, DVM, DACVD, and she quickly diagnosed “lip-fold pyoderma.” She told me how to treat it using topical products and – voila! – by the next day, the odor that had lingered for a few months was completely gone. We’d found our answer.
Dermatologic Causes of Bad “Breath” in Dogs
Lip folds, facial skin folds, and even a dog’s ears can produce odor that appears to be coming from the mouth – but isn’t. Skin folds and ears: I know what those are! But the lip fold completely escaped me. In many dogs, it’s a tiny, barely perceptible crevice on the lower jaw, on each side of the mouth, in the area where lip mucosal tissue meets haired skin.
Lip-fold pyoderma is a form of skin-fold pyoderma (intertrigo complex) and, guess what – it stinks! Wet and warm, lip (and facial) folds provide everything that pathogenic bacteria and/or yeast need to take up residence. The condition is more prevalent in dogs with loose jowls, droolers and slobberers, and those with deeper lip and skin folds on their faces, like brachiocephalic dogs. Spaniels, German Shepherd Dogs, Bulldogs, Mastiffs, and Newfoundlands are just a few of the breeds prone to the condition. But it may also present in dogs who swim or whose lip folds tend to stay wet.
That, evidently was Atle’s issue: daily beach trips and frequent face washes (without drying), combined with normal water consumption, set the stage for bacteria to thrive in his lip folds. When I pushed Dr. Tapp to tell me how, at six years of age, Atle could suddenly develop lip-fold dermatitis, she said he may have experienced cumulative changes in his skin barrier or an increase in allergen exposure. And, horrors – his lip could be getting droopier with age, or he may have undergone subtle anatomic changes, creating a lip-fold issue.
Likely, she thought, it was a number of things, with the most common predisposing changes being moisture and heat. Allergy produces inflammation which leads to heat; daily beach trips, every day slobber, and water bowls contributed moisture to complete the recipe for this stinky, unhealthy issue.
How to Prevent Skin Fold Pyoderma
This tiny little crease, the lip fold, is an oft-overlooked source of foul odors, caused by a bacterial infection and overgrowth.
If your dog fits into one of the above categories, prevention is your best friend for keeping lip-fold (and skin-fold) pyoderma at bay. Some dogs do well if the hair on their lip folds is kept trimmed short. For dogs whose lip and face folds retain moisture, daily wiping of the folds helps. Dr. Tapp likes a 50/50 solution of white vinegar and water or an over-the-counter astringent such as Domeboro (available over the counter in most pharmacies).
Dr. Tapp has had good success (and so have we) with veterinary-prescribed Vetericyn VF spray, a pH-balanced, super-oxidized hypochlorous acid (HOCl) solution that is non-toxic, non-irritating, and shows microbial inhibition. The spray is safe to use on the face, lips, and around the eyes; the product mimics the killing power of neutrophils (that produce HOCl during their “oxidative burst”) and works well for maintenance to clean, reduce odor, and kill bacteria without developing resistance since it isn’t an antibiotic.
Wiping with a chlorhexidine wipe or spray such as the pet product Douxo Chlorhexidine may work for your dog, too.
As with any kind of infection, advanced lip-fold pyoderma may require an oral or topical antibiotic and/or anti-yeast medication to treat. Your veterinarian can do a simple cytology test to diagnose whether an infection is bacterial or yeast-based and then prescribe the appropriate treatment.
As a last result, for dogs with chronic lip-fold infections, a fairly simple surgery (cheiloplasty) to eliminate the skin fold may be the best intervention, as it essentially makes the problem go away forever. Yep, your dog may get a face lift before you ever do!
Dog Has Smelly Ears?
I had a hard time believing that a dog’s ears could be the source of an offensive odor that could be attributed to a dog’s mouth. Dr. Tapp was quick to tell me that often, only more severe ear disease is visible to us; early ear disease may not be visible but can omit an “off” odor that’s hard to pin down. Dr. Tapp’s own Golden Retriever’s head sometimes smells, and she says, “Sometimes it’s yeast in his ears, sometimes something gross he ate, and sometimes an inflamed lip fold.” Good to know we are not alone!
Smelling is Believing
In Atle’s case, what was so mysterious was that I saw nothing that looked amiss on his chin or lip fold to indicate a problem. In hindsight, I now realize that the mucosa attached to his lip was inflamed and bright red at times, as opposed to a more subdued, quiet pink.
Atle most likely will continue to be prone to lip-fold dermatitis, but with dedication to keeping the area clean and dry, we’re less likely to see a full blown bacterial infection that would require oral medication.
If you smell “bad breath” there is a good chance that help from a general -practice veterinarian or specialist may be needed to locate and diagnose the problem. Serious signs such as bleeding, redness, oral discharge, unusual eating habits or anorexia are clear signs of a problem. But don’t discount the importance of getting to the root of subtler, stinky issues. Your dog – and your nose – will thank you.
Pawsh Dog Boutique & Salon
Groomer’s Advice: Shave and Dry the Lips
Amy Stempel (seen here) grooms dogs at Pawsh Dog Boutique & Salon in Boston. She has groomed thousands of dogs over her 16-year career, winning multiple awards in professional grooming competitions along the way. And she is familiar with lip-fold dermatitis!
Stempel says she tends to see lip-fold issues in the spring and fall, when allergy season is in full swing. Dogs whose faces tend not to ever dry out – those with hairy damp faces, those who swim a lot, excessive droolers – are the most likely to show up at the salon with lip-fold issues. Like me, most of her clients assume the dog has bad breath or a wet beard smell!
To help with prevention, she routinely shaves hair off of her clients’ lips and recommends keeping beards clean and dry.
Luring can used to teach the dog many fun behaviors, such as spin (seen here), “sit pretty,” and bow
Luring means using something the dog wants, most often a food treat, to draw her or guide her into doing what you want her to do. With her nose glued to the treat like a magnet, you can lure her to sit, lie down, jump up on a surface, spin or twirl, and perform a very long list of additional behaviors by slowly moving the treat in the appropriate direction. Hence the “allure of the lure” – you can use this training technique to easily entice your dog to perform a behavior that you can then reward and reinforce.
There are, however, a couple of potential hazards of using a lure to train your dog. The first is that both you and your dog can become dependent on the presence of the lure. If you don’t quickly fade its use (stop using the lure as soon as the dog learns the behavior), the dog may learn to wait until the lure is produced to perform the behavior, because that’s how she thinks it’s supposed to happen.
The second hazard can occur if you try to lure your dog to do something she really isn’t comfortable doing.
If you avoid these potential pitfalls, luring is a valuable and effective training technique.
Put the treat right under the dog’s nose, and move your hand in the direction you want her nose, head, and body to go.
Fading Away the Food Lure
Since you probably don’t want to go through the rest of your life having to stick a piece of cheese in front of your dog’s face to get her to do what you ask, how do you get rid of the lure? It’s easier than you might think. Here’s how to “fade” the lure so your dog will offer the correct behavior on your verbal cue, without a treat on her nose. Let’s say “down” is the behavior your want to teach your dog.
1. Just Lure
Without using a verbal cue, lure your dog into a down position from a sit, by putting a treat in front of her nose and moving it slowly toward the ground. Aim for her front paws; if you move it away from her, she might stand up to follow it. You may need to mark and reward (i.e., click a clicker or use a verbal marker, such as the word “Yes!” and then feed her a treat) your dog several times on the way down, until she figures out what you are asking of her. (We call this lure-shaping.)
If she stops following the lure, you may have to mark and reward (click and treat) her halfway there efforts to encourage her to keep trying.
2. Cue and Lure
When your dog will follow the lure easily into a down position with just one click and treat, add the verbal cue. With your treat out of sight (I put it behind my back), say “Down” clearly and happily, just one time. Pause briefly, and lure your dog down. Click and treat. Repeat this step a half dozen times. It’s as if you were saying, “Dog, the word ‘Down’ means the same thing as me putting the treat on your nose and luring you to the floor.”
3. Vary the Pause
Now, say “Down” as in Step 2, but vary the amount of time you pause before luring. This gives your dog more time to process what you are asking of her and more time to offer a response. In this step, you may see her look to the ground, or make a slight movement, as if she is saying, “I know I’m supposed to do something, but I’m not quite sure what…” Sometimes it’s almost as if she’s asking you the question, “Is this right?” If you see her do any of those things tell her, “Good girl!” and quickly lure her the rest of the way – then click and treat.
Mark (with the click of a clicker or a verbal marker such as the word “Yes!”) and reward her when she completes the desired behavior.
4. Getting Lucky
Some dogs will begin to offer the down on your verbal cue during Step 3. Woohoo! This is a nice shortcut; click and treat and keep practicing. (Just because she does it once doesn’t mean she’s got it; you still need to practice to make it a solid, reliable response.)
5. Fading the Lure
Most dogs need some additional steps before they really understand what you are asking of them and begin offering the down on the verbal cue alone. For these dogs, you need to fade the lure. Start by luring as in Step 3. As you move the treat to the floor, watch your dog closely. When she appears to be committed to lying down, whisk the treat quickly away parallel to the ground, and hide it behind your back. If she finishes the down, click and give her a treat. If she doesn’t finish, bring the treat back out and lure her the rest of the way. Click and treat.
To start fading the lure, give the cue, start the luring motion, but whisk the lure away when your dog will lie down without it.
Next time, lure her a little farther toward the floor before whisking the treat away. Continue to vary the amount of time you wait after giving the cue and before luring.
6. More Fading
Gradually whisk the treat away sooner and sooner, until you are barely luring at all.
7. Success
At some point your dog will begin to offer to lie down when she hears the verbal cue, without you luring at all. Congratulations, you are almost done fading the lure!
8. Generalization
Now you need to practice with your dog in other locations, and with you in other positions, until she will lie down on your verbal cue whenever and wherever you ask her to do so. Remember, even though she does it in the comfort of your own home, she is likely to need some additional coaching in new places and around distractions until she realizes she can do it anywhere. Anytime (for the rest of her life!) that she doesn’t do it when you ask, do a quick refresher session by returning to Step 3, until she is able to respond.
You will use the same procedure to fade the lure for other behaviors as well. Determine how to use your lure to explain to your dog what you want her to do. As soon as she will lure easily into position, begin fading the lure following the steps above, until she will do the behavior on just the verbal cue. Then generalize it so she can do it anywhere, anytime.
Notice that I don’t do any intermediate hand signal or other body prompt in this process, like pointing at the ground or using “air cookies” (where you pretend to have a treat in your hand). If you do, your dog still hasn’t learned the verbal cue, and you still have to go through the process of fading the hand signal or prompt. In my opinion, it’s easier to skip the extra step.
Don’t Lure Toward Frightening Things
This is where people get in the most serious trouble with luring, and all with good intentions: trying to use a lure to get a reluctant dog to do something she doesn’t want to do. The most common example is a dog who is afraid of scary strangers, men, kids, or anything else.
The owner thinks, “My dog is afraid of strangers, so I will give people treats to give to my dog so she will know that strangers make treats happen, and she will like them!”
It seems to make sense – associating scary strangers with treats, counter-conditioning – it should work, right? Wrong! At least wrong if it’s done this way. The problem with this scenario is that the scary person is luring the dog “over threshold” (too close) because the dog really wants the treat. But when the treat is gone and the dog looks up to see the stranger right there in front of him, he is way too close, and the dog may bite the person. If she doesn’t bite, she is still likely to be more sensitized, and more fearful of strangers in the future.
The same holds true for any situation where you try to lure the dog to do something that is fear- or anxiety-producing for her, like getting in the car. You may succeed in that moment, but when the car ride proves to be as unpleasant as she anticipated, she will just be more reluctant, more fearful, and less trusting of you the next time you need her to get in the car.
In general, shaping is a better process for getting a dog to willingly offer behaviors that she’s not sure about. True counter-conditioning – working below threshold, with you feeding the treats, not the scary person – is a far more successful (and safer) approach to helping her become comfortable with things that are scary for her.
Meanwhile, don’t let any naysayers get you down. Properly used, with attention paid to fading the presence of the treat, luring can be a very valuable and effective training technique. Just be sure you do it right.
Historic Bias Against Using Food Lures
Twenty-plus years ago, when positive reinforcement-based training was in its infancy, those of us who were committed to this style of training took a lot of heat from trainers who were still wedded to their choke, prong, and shock collars. We were accused of being “treat-slinging weenies” and were told that dogs were supposed to do what they were told because they knew they had to do it – or else. We defended ourselves staunchly. A group I hung out with at conferences even came up with a song, “I Wish I Were a Treat-Slinging Weenie” – proudly sung to the tune of “I Wish I Were an Oscar Meyer Wiener.”
Now, some 20 years later, using food as a reinforcer in training is widely accepted in much of the training world and supported by the scientific community. There are a number of studies that indicate that positive reinforcement training is not only highly effective, but also avoids many of the pitfalls inherent in coercion training, including a significant risk of eliciting aggression from dogs trained using force and pain.
There are certainly some challenges that we face in the force-free training world – and there are effective solutions for these challenges. We are far more likely to see “demand barkers” in our classes if we aren’t careful to inform our students how to avoid this undesirable behavior. (Hint: Don’t reinforce it, and instead, reinforce an incompatible behavior.) Some dogs who are on restricted diets may not have access to the higher-value treats often used in effective training programs. (A creative trainer can often find effective treats within the dog’s allowed food groups, and there are other reinforcers besides food.) A dog who takes treats too eagerly can bloody the fingers. (We can teach her to take treats gently or use other delivery methods, such as a camping food tube, or tossing treats on the floor.)
One of the challenges that can be more difficult to resolve is dependency on the food lure. We can avoid this problem by using the training technique called “shaping” instead of luring (see “Shaping Your Dog’s Sit” and “Shaping Your Dog’s Behavior“), but shaping requires more patience and very good timing and skill at observing the dog’s body language. Less-experienced handlers tend to get quicker, more encouraging success with luring – as long as they fade the lure as quickly as possible, as described in this article.
You just picked up your dog from boarding after a lovely vacation. Everything seems fine – and then your canine companion starts coughing. He has some nasal discharge. He feels warm, and he doesn’t want to eat. You remember that you just saw on the news that canine flu was causing problems. Oh no! You panic. Has he contracted the flu during his stay at the boarding facility?
It’s certainly possible; boarding kennels and other places where high numbers of dogs congregate are the most common place for dogs to come into contact with one of the flu viruses.
Currently, two strains of flu have been identified in dogs within the United States: H3N2 and H3N8.
The initial outbreak in 2003-2004, identified as H3N8, was restricted to Greyhounds in Florida and had a high mortality rate (38 percent). There was then a lull in cases until 2015; then, in Chicago, another outbreak occurred and was later identified as a new strain of canine flu: H3N2.
The most recent flare-up starting in mid-2017 and into spring of 2018 included both strains, though H3N2 was more prevalent and found to be more virulent. As of now, canine influenza has been reported in 40 states.
Dog Flu Symptoms
Symptoms of flu include sneezing, coughing, runny nose, fever, lethargy, and loss of appetite. About 80 percent of the dogs who are infected with the virus will have only mild symptoms, with about 20 percent of infected dogs showing no symptoms whatsoever (these dogs, however, are still able to spread the virus). Most dogs recover in two to three weeks.
In severe cases, however, the flu can progress to pneumonia. Symptoms of pneumonia are high fever; thick, purulent nasal discharge; and difficulty breathing. In severe cases, the illness can be fatal.
Unfortunately, flu represents a diagnostic challenge. The clinical symptoms cannot be distinguished from those of other common canine respiratory diseases such as bordetella bronchiseptica, parainfluenza, respiratory coronavirus, and distemper virus.
Further, there are no point-of-care tests currently available to veterinarians. Unlike in human medicine, where a quick bedside test can be conducted to diagnose flu, testing for canine flu can be difficult. Careful specimen collection and handling is essential, and tests must be sent to outside laboratories. Due to the expense and difficulty of this, often canine influenza is not definitively diagnosed; instead, it’s treated like other canine respiratory diseases.
How to Treat Dog Flu
There isn’t a specific treatment for dog flu; rather, general supportive care is given, especially if your dog is only mildly affected.
If your dog has more severe symptoms or evidence of pneumonia, he may be treated in the hospital with antibiotics (in case of secondary bacterial infection), intravenous or subcutaneous fluids, oxygen therapy, and fever-lowering NSAIDs. Your dog may also be isolated in a low-stress environment to prevent further spread and to help minimize his anxiety.
Canine Influenza Transmission
Influenza is highly contagious and spreads rapidly in social situations. Transmission is via aerosolized droplets (coughing, sneezing) and direct contact. It can also be spread on contaminated objects such as food or water bowls, leashes, and kennels. The flu virus can live up to 48 hours on these surfaces, so proper disinfection is a critical part of prevention.
The most common places for a dog to catch the flu virus include dog parks, grooming facilities, kennels, and daycares.
Dog Flu Vaccines
Could you have prevented your dog from contracting the flu? There are vaccines available that protect against both strains. All of the canine influenza vaccines contain killed viruses.
As with the human influenza vaccine, it is important to remember that the flu vaccine doesn’t always prevent your dog from getting sick. In the event that he does contract the flu, the vaccine helps lessen the duration and severity of symptoms, including pneumonia and lung lesions. Dogs who were vaccinated against the flu but still transmitted the disease will shed the virus into their surroundings for a shorter period of time than unvaccinated dogs.
Side effects of the vaccine are uncommon and generally similar to other vaccine reactions: lethargy, low-grade fever, a lump at the site of injection, hives, and itching. In very rare cases, severe reactions can occur.
Pregnant dogs should not be vaccinated against the flu.
The influenza vaccination has been described by the American Veterinary Medical Association as a “lifestyle” vaccination, not a “core” vaccine (core vaccines are recommended for all dogs). A lifestyle vaccine is recommended for dogs who are at a higher risk due to their increased exposure to other dogs – such as dogs who attend daycare, boarding, or group classes, or frequent dog parks or dog shows. The first vaccine can be given as early as six weeks of age, and in all cases, it is critical that a booster is received two to four weeks later.
Don’t wait until a few days before boarding to get the vaccine. The dog should not be considered protected from disease until two weeks after his second vaccination. After the initial series, the flu shot is given annually.
If your dog is not in social situations or flu has not been reported in your state, the flu vaccine is not necessary. If you’re uncertain whether your dog should receive the vaccine, your veterinarian can help guide you.
Want more information on vaccination protocols for dogs? Find it here.
Conclusions
Overall, while canine influenza can be serious, in most cases the symptoms are mild and self-limiting. Even in severe cases, the mortality rate is low – but some dogs do die from the illness. Vaccination is very effective and should be pursued for dogs in highly social environments.
Catherine Ashe graduated the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine in 2008. After a small-animal intensive emergency internship, she has practiced ER medicine for nine years. She is now working as a relief veterinarian in Asheville, North Carolina, and loves the GP side of medicine. In her spare time, she spends time with her family, reads voraciously, and enjoys the mountain lifestyle.
For the past 16 years, I have been teaching puppy kindergarten and adolescent-dog classes at The Canine Connection, my training center in Chico, California. The number of graduates of my classes is likely more than 1,000 puppies – but it feels like I’ve answered client questions about potty training at least a million times. What’s one more time, if it helps someone live more happily and harmoniously with their new dog or puppy?
Potty-training situations are of three types: (1) dogs who have never learned the appropriate place “to go,” (2) dogs who were once housetrained but are having a training regression, and (3) dogs who are pottying involuntarily – that is, they have no control over their urination or defecation. It just happens without any intent and often without the dog even realizing it is happening at all. Let’s look at these in order.
Housetraining For the Never-Housetrained Dog
Perhaps you have a brand new pup or a newly adopted teen or older dog. One thing that is vitally important to building a happy interspecies household is that your new dog becomes housetrained as quickly and reliably as possible. You should be equipped and ready to start housetraining your new dog from the moment that you bring him home.
Housetraining involves more than just learning where to potty; dogs and puppies must also learn to “hold it” until they get to an appropriate potty location and how to notify you to get them there. To help dogs build these skills and to help keep us on track with our housetraining responsibilities, I encourage people to think of housetraining in terms of C.R.A.P. Each letter of the acronym stands for an important part of the housetraining program: Confinement, Routine, Attention, Platinum rewards.
How to House-Train A Dog
Confinement
Preventing your dog from pottying in the wrong place is the first and most important housetraining task. Since most of us cannot keep our eyes on our dogs every minute, having a safe, comfortable confinement area is key to housetraining success. Most dogs naturally avoid going potty in their sleeping areas, so confining your dog in a small enough area that is more bed-like than room-like not only prevents unwanted accidents but also will help him develop bowel and bladder control.
What are appropriate confinement areas? I am a huge fan of crates, used appropriately, once dogs are comfortable with them. An area that is fenced off with a portable exercise pen or a smaller room (such as a bathroom or laundry room with a baby gate across the door) can also serve as a confinement area.
The key is that any confinement area should be small and cozy enough for your dog that he will choose “holding it” over pottying in it. When confinement is in place and used appropriately, there will be a decrease in potty accidents and an increase in bowel and bladder control.
As your dog enjoys continued success at pottying outdoors appropriately and not pottying indoors, you can increase the size of the area where he is confined when not being supervised. Don’t go too far, giving him whole-house freedom after he hasn’t had an accident for a few days. Instead, use an exercise pen to expand his confinement area by, say, 50 to 100 square feet more per week of success.
Routine
Both dogs and humans benefit from a predictable, consistent housetraining routine. This routine should account for confinement time, potty breaks, meal times, play time, training time, walks, and all the other enriching activities that are part of your dog’s daily life.
I recommend my clients create a written routine that includes potty breaks a minimum of every hour or two, depending on the age and situation of the dog. The general rule for “holding it” in a crate or pen is that dogs should have the ability to hold their bowels and bladder, in hours, the number of months they are plus one. So, a three-month-old pup ought to be able to hold his urine and poop for four hours. However, there are so many exceptions to this rule; most notably, that activity often makes a pup have to “go.” The best routines, then, are based on a solid understanding of your dog.
Some important notes about potty breaks:
1. You must go with your dog to the potty area so you can reward the deed when it occurs. By delivering an immediate reward, your dog quickly comes to understand that “Oh my gosh, going pee or poop in this location is nothing short of brilliant!”
2. It can be very useful to teach your dog a cue for pottying behavior. Some people use the simple phrase, “Go potty!” Others use a euphemism such as “Get busy!” Whatever phrase you use, say it once just before he starts to potty (don’t say it over and over again), and then reward and praise him mightily when he’s done. Soon, he will understand that the phrase is a cue – an opportunity to earn rewards for doing what he now knows it means: going potty. This will help him understand what you want when you take him to go potty in a new environment, or under distracting conditions he has not yet experienced.
3. If you expect your dog to potty on- and off-leash, your potty outings with your dog should sometimes be on-leash and sometimes off-leash. Why? From a dog’s point of view, pottying while on- versus off-leash can be a very different experience. Familiarizing him with both will pay off in the future.
4. While it might seem convenient to have a dog who will potty only in your yard (I call these private pottyers), it’s important that your dog learns to potty in other outdoor places, too. Indeed, I want dogs to be public pottyers (with responsible guardians who will clean up after them) so that day and even overnight outings are comfortable for all. I pity the poor dog who has learned to potty only in the privacy of his home when his family decides to bring him on a long vacation!
5. Also in the interest of adaptability to new environments, dogs should be exposed to different surfaces as part of housetraining. Dogs can develop “substrate preference,” the willingness to potty only on specific surfaces, such as grass or concrete.
While your dog’s inclination to develop a preference for pottying on certain substrates can be helpful in creating a defined toilet space in your yard, it can also limit your dog’s adaptability to new environments if he is not allowed the option to potty on different substrates.
6. Potty outings should be mission-driven. if your dog tends to fiddle and frolic prior to pottying, restrict your dog’s access to play until the deed is done. Fiddling and frolicking can then become part of the reward.
7. If you are away from your home for extended periods of time during the day, you must have a plan for getting your dog to his potty spot in your absence. Sometimes it takes a village to housetrain a dog, with friends, family, and neighbors, perhaps assisted by professional pet sitters, dog walkers, or trainers helping with the potty outing shifts.
Attention
The first question I ask when a client asks me a question about a difficulty with their dog’s housetraining is: “Are you catching your dog in the act of pottying inappropriately or just finding the evidence after the fact?” More often than not, people sheepishly confess that they usually find the mess after the fact – and this always means their attention needs to be improved.
There are two huge benefits to maintaining a laser focus on your dog when he is not confined. First, you can start to recognize and reward your dog’s “gotta go” signals. When your dog begins to pace, circle, and sniff, you can applaud his signaling (“Awesome doggie! Let’s go, go, GO!”) and rush him to his potty place. Rewarding “gotta go” signals will encourage your dog to become more demonstrative when he feels the urge – communication that is as helpful to us as it is to our dogs.
Second, when we catch him in the act we can provide immediate feedback. A simple “Hey, hey!” while hustling him to his potty spot will make the point that there’s a difference between the spot where he started and that special place you want him to go.
Platinum Rewards!
When housetraining a new dog (puppy or adult) I make sure I know what my dog considers “platinum level rewards.” Housetraining is a big deal, and it requires that we acknowledge our dog’s success with a fitting outcome for his or her achievement. High-value food rewards should be stored on a shelf or table by the door so you can grab them on the way out with your dog. And the rewards of praise and play should be abundantly part of the potty party that celebrates your dog’s success at pottying in the proper place.
Housetraining Regression
It is distressing when you believe housetraining has been achieved, only to find improperly located puddles or poops. Here are some reasons your dog’s housetraining might unravel:
Urinary tract infections or other medical concerns can result in potty accidents. If your fully housetrained dog begins to potty in the house, your first stop should be your veterinarian. Physical problems must be ruled out before assuming the problem is a behavioral one. Prior to your visit, assess your dog’s water and food intake so you can report any changes that might be part of the picture.
Recognize that a dog’s housetraining may not transfer to new environments. I have had many clients whose dogs’ housetraining fell apart when visiting the home of a friend, after a move, or even in a public place (how embarrassing!).
Just because a dog is housetrained in one environment does not mean he is housetrained in all environments. When you change environments, assume your dog is not housetrained until you have helped your dog understand that the habits learned in one place can also apply to the new setting. To do this, take your dog back to Housetraining 101.
Seasonal challenges. Just as your dog may need to relearn housetraining in a new environment, so may he need to relearn housetraining in different seasons. I have had many clients discover that their summer puppy’s housetraining unraveled at the first fall rain or winter snow.
I always advise clients to be proactive weather-watchers. If your dog’s potty place is outdoors, consider that potty habits can and might change with the season, and you may have to consider creative and proactive ways to keep your dog’s potty habits strong. For dogs who detest rain, the erection of a portable canopy might just ease the pain. A snow shovel goes a long way in helping small dogs deal with deep snow. Some indoor-outdoor carpet can buffer the heat of summer pavement.
Differentiate between relieving oneself and marking. Marking behavior can develop in dogs after their housetraining is concluded, as dogs mature and hormonal levels change. Marking is a natural behavior of both male and female dogs, though more pronounced in male dogs.
I approach marking like all housetraining problems, taking dogs back to Housetraining 101, with the emphasis on keen attention, since it is important to interrupt the urge to mark before actual house-soiling occurs. For dogs who are chronic markers, a belly band that prevents house-soiling may be a helpful management tool.
Consider the possibility of fear or anxiety being a contributing factor. One of my clients was dismayed when her Newfoundland started pottying in the house. As it turned out, the dog was pottying inside because he had become frightened of venturing into his yard following a neighbor’s home being re-roofed. The barrage of blasts from the nail gun had so traumatized the poor dog that he became housebound, leaving him no choice but to potty in the house, causing further anxiety.
In this case, we established an indoor potty area that was used while we worked on rebuilding positive associations with his backyard environment.
Potty Problems that are NOT Housetraining Problems
Involuntary urination and defecation can occur for a number of reasons with the common denominator to all being that the dog simply has no control over it. Here are some common reasons for involuntary pottying:
Excitement urination. Some dogs, especially young dogs, will involuntarily produce a puddle during happy homecomings and other joyful situations. Since most trigger situations can be predicted, the best way to reduce excitement urination is to downplay greetings and other emotionally charged situations by ignoring or only casually greeting your dog.
It also sometimes helps to give your dog something else to do in the moments when he is excited. For example, you might enter your home with one of your dog’s toys in hand, toss it away from you, walk past your dog while he retrieves it, then greet your dog several minutes later once the initial excitement worn off.
Because the trigger for excitement urination is a really big deal to the dog, it’s helpful to set up and practice mock greetings repeatedly so the trigger becomes less exciting – perhaps even a little boring.
Submissive urination. This form of involuntary urination is about social signals. It occurs when your dog’s emotional reaction to a trigger (e.g., a stranger or a family member) is one of appeasement, perhaps even fear. Submissive urination can be distressing to friends and family members who trigger it; they may think it suggests they have been threatening or unkind toward the dog, even when they have not. More often than not, the dog may be responding to the human’s body posture and size, voice volume and tone, or other characteristics that trigger an innate submissive response.
Submissive urination problems can be often be resolved by downplaying greetings, counter-conditioning the presence of the individual (building a positive emotional association with the trigger), coaching individuals who trigger the submissive urination to avoid provocative body language (such as direct eye contact with the dog, looming over or reaching for him, direct frontal approaches, and loud body language and voices).
I have also found that teaching the dog a cue that means someone is about to approach (such as, “Hello, I’m Here!”) can reduce submissive urination by removing the element of surprise from the interactions.
Incontinence. Age and illness can produce urinary and/or fecal incontinence in our dogs. Ill or elderly dogs may leak urine or expel feces while sleeping or may experience sudden urges to potty and be unable to make it out the door. Female dogs with hormonal changes may leak urine, too.
While many people accept incontinence as an inevitable part of their dogs’ health or aging, both western and eastern medicine offer remedies, so a visit to your veterinarian is a must. The use of belly bands, doggie panties, and potty pads in sleeping areas may help lessen the burdens of clean-up.
Essential Tools for Housetraining
It makes the whole housetraining task a million times easier if you are prepared in advance of your new dog or puppy’s arrival with all the things you will need to manage his whereabouts and support his progress. Here are the essentials:
A crate, portable exercise pen, or small room equipped with a baby gate, so you can create an appropriate confinement area for your dog. This will prevent unwanted accidents from occurring. Preventing unwanted accidents ensures our dogs don’t rehearse pottying in inappropriate places and keeps the non-potty places from becoming infused with those potty scents that can trigger a dog into making a mistake.
Some good clean-up products to eliminate potty smells from your home should an accident happen (as it might, since we’re only human and we do make mistakes). While there are many on the market and recipes for potty clean-up concoctions can be found online, my personal favorite is unscented Anti-Icky Poo by Mister Max (available in some pet supply stores and online). It contains enzymes that help destroy the odor-causing compounds in urine.
A ready supply of high-level (as defined by the dog) rewards to dole out to your dog when he or she gets it right. Appropriate pottying is not a minimum wage activity; consider it a canine act of genius when your new dog gets pottying right and reward with the stuff (food treats, toys, and play) that your dog really values.
In some cases, potty pads may be helpful, though I personally prefer to exclude them from my housetraining protocols (it’s one less step to fade out to get to the final goal of the dog pottying in a specific spot).
For some, it’s helpful to create an indoor toilet area – a litter box for dogs, so to speak. If an indoor toilet area for your dog would be helpful for you, the “litterbox” should be available as a potty destination from the get-go.
In cases involving urine marking, belly bands can be a very helpful tool. They don’t prevent marking but they do prevent house soiling, and many dogs seem to refrain from marking when the belly band is on. Belly bands are available in various sizes from pet supply stores and online.
Potty Pads for House Training?
I am not a fan of introducing potty pads as part of a housetraining regime. If the goal of housetraining is for your dog to potty outside, then potty pads create a middle step that must eventually be phased out as part of the overall housetraining plan. I would rather start focusing a dog’s attention immediately on the final destination. Why create an extra step if we don’t have to?
Some people, however, plan for their dogs to have an indoor toileting spot, with potty pads as part of their dogs’ lifelong scenario. This can be convenient, so you don’t have to make that trip outside, by giving a dog a legal potty place indoors. However, they don’t magically attract dogs to eliminate on them; dogs need to be taught to use them, just like they need to be taught to go outdoors. Either task can be accomplished by following the rules of house training 101.
People sometimes decide to use potty pads because they have to leave their dogs alone indoors for longer periods of time than their dogs can hold it. If this is the case with your dog, make sure you leave her in a larger long-term confinement area than the aforementioned crates or cozy confinement area. Make an area for sleeping and hanging out, and a separate space for eliminating on the potty pads.
Dog Doors: Yay or Nay?
As the proud guardian of both a brand new Aussie puppy and a “sudden urge” Greyhound senior, I am grateful for my dog door. My dogs go in and out at will, never needing to call on me to use my opposable thumb to turn the handle to open that door. At my house, there’s no need to find the attendant to get the restroom key; the bathroom door is always unlocked. My dogs go out, my dogs come in. There’s nary a potty accident or worry.
(Note: Some people worry about things that can happen to their dogs outside in their yards if the dog is unattended. The yard that is available to my dogs through my dog door is super dog-proofed and double-fenced. That said, there are more dangers to an unattended dog outdoors than indoors, but this is a risk I have taken with my dogs for many years without a problem. You may make a different choice.)
Without a doubt, my new pup has learned to go outside to potty and I am thrilled that she has learned to use the dog door. When nature calls she hops through and out. There hasn’t been an accident in weeks and I’m off the hook as door attendant. But is my new puppy fully housetrained? The answer is…no!
Besides learning where to potty, our dogs need to learn to “hold it” when they can’t get access to the potty place. And they need to learn how to inform us that they need our help to get from here to there. Without these lessons, housetraining is incomplete and potty mishaps are bound to occur when dog doors aren’t available – perhaps when the dog door is inadvertently left closed or when we’re visiting the home of a dog-door-deficient friend.
My new pup will be traveling with me soon and I don’t think the dog-friendly hotel has a dog door (that’s a bit too friendly). I’d better get going with Housetraining 101, rather than letting my dog door allow me take the lazy way out. And, as an adjunct to the basic training, I’ll be teaching my new pup to ring a “Hey, I gotta go!” bell. It’s pretty simple to train a dog to ring a bell (I think of this as a call for room service) and in terms of my learned response (jump up and attend to her), I’m a pretty quick study. (For instructions on teaching a dog to ring a bell on the door, see “Target-Train Your Dog to Ring A Doorbell“.)
Proper House Training is A Great Investment of Time
This might all sound like a ton of work; it isn’t necessarily so. If you observe the CRAP guidelines (Confinement, Routine, Attention, and Platinum rewards) from the very first day with your new dog or pup, he should quickly figure out when and where to “go” (perhaps on cue!), and how to “hold it” at all other times. His success at these tasks may make or break your happiness at living together, so give it your very best!
How to House-Train A Puppy: Problem-Solving
Amber was a darling Golden Retriever pup who had graduated from my Puppy Kindergarten with honors. She had a strong foundation in socialization and training, which had resulted in her having a happy and positive worldview and good puppy manners. Most importantly, Amber had mastered housetraining. At the time of her graduation, her parents proudly noted that Amber had not pottied in the house in weeks, and when she had to go, she let her parents know by whining at the door.
I next heard from Amber’s mom when Amber was a little over six months old. Completely unexpectedly, Amber had started peeing in the house! While the peeing was problem number one, a second problem was that Amber had started to ignore her owners and seemed generally more “out of control.” The appearance of these two behaviors together led her dad to one conclusion: Amber’s inappropriate peeing, along with her inattentiveness and unruliness, all coming at this teenage moment, was proof positive that she wanted to exert her dominance on her family. Oh, boy.
I had another thought that I shared with Amber’s mom: When a fully housetrained dog starts urinating and/or defecating in the house, one must get thee and thine dog to a veterinarian to rule out a medical cause! Urinary tract infections are a very common reason that a formerly housetrained dog might start urinating in the house; the painful condition causes an urgency that few dogs can resist.
Sure enough, Amber’s medical work-up showed just that. After a course of antibiotics – and her owners’ renewed training practice sessions – Amber’s “dominance problem” fully disappeared.
Sarah Richardson, PhD, CPDT-KA, CDBC, CSAT, is the owner of The Canine Connection, a boarding, training, and daycare facility in Chico, California. Over the past 12 years, she and some of her assistant trainers have often modeled for photos that illustrate articles in WDJ, but this is the first article that Richardson has written for WDJ!
Credit: Juana María Gonzalez Santos | Damedeeso/Dreamstime
Should dogs eat avocado? Not really. Avocados contain persin, which is a fungicidal toxin. It is a poison for horses and birds. Avocados hold the highest concentrations of persin in their leaves, thick skin, and pits, making those parts of the fruit toxic to dogs as well.
The avocado flesh, which is what most of us eat, contains lower levels of persin, so a few thin slices of fresh avocado may be fine for your dog, depending on the dog’s size, of course, and whether he has a food allergy to it. But, why do you want to take the chance? Limit your dog’s consumption of avocado to a slice or two, but that’s it. Too much avocado can cause gastrointestinal upset in dogs (and people), including vomiting and/or diarrhea, and you could wind up with a big veterinary bill.
Whole Avocados Are Extra Risky
Never give your dog a whole avocado. If there are avocado trees in your area, don’t let your avocado-eating dog scarf them down unsupervised. In addition to the persin, avocado pits present a serious choking hazard to dogs, and some dogs do try to chew or swallow them.
Is Avocado Healthy for Dogs?
One medium-sized avocado contains roughly 320 calories and 29 grams of fat. That’s a lot of calories for a dog and, because of the fat content – yes, even the “good” fat – too much could trigger pancreatitis.
Commercial Dog Foods
A few pet foods contain avocado oil and/or avocado meal. Neither avocado oil nor avocado meal (dried and ground avocado) contain persin, and both are safe for dogs, if your dog tolerates it. As with any new food, watch your dog’s response over a few days or weeks to determine if an avocado-based dog food is right for your dog. If you see diarrhea, vomiting, itching, or any other adverse response, switch back to a food he has previously tolerated well.
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I know, I know: we are first and foremost supposed to support our local pet supply store. Believe me, if I had one in my town, I would not be writing these words. The closest independent pet supply store is 30 miles from me, and believe me, when I go to that town for any reason at all, I also go to that store and buy stuff. (Shout-out to my friends at Trailblazer Pet Supply!)
In my town, we have a chain pet supply store, and I was super glad when they opened a store here a few years ago; it meant that there were at least a few foods I could pick up there, and at least a few toys, leashes, and other items that meet my standards for safety and quality.
When I want really cool, top-quality stuff made by U.S. manufacturers, I go to the independent stores. And I mean, any independent pet supply store I see open in any town in any state I travel to. My family members all groan when they see me spot a “pet supply” sign when we are on vacation, because they know we are going to pull over and they are going to have to amuse themselves for at least a half-hour while I walk the aisles and chat with the employees. (Independent store owners all stock different, unique stuff that grabbed them at one or two of the huge annual pet supply trade shows, and I think of them as curators; almost every independent store offers something that I’ve never seen before.)
But, guys, when I open the dog food container and all of a sudden it’s incredibly low, or I’m feeding a starving mama and her nine growing puppies and going through food at an unpredictably fast rate and I’ve been crazy-busy putting the magazine to bed and haven’t so much as taken a shower for a couple of days, being able to punch up my favorite online store and order food and have it on my porch in two days – you guys, that’s a blessing.
Mama is not keeping up with the demand, and I just ordered five pounds of milk-replacing formula to get us through the next couple of weeks. And the dry puppy food I like to soften in formula and feed to the growing pups is not one I can get in my very close chain store, OR my favorite independent store 30 miles away. Yes, I could have them order it, and wait a week, and drive a half-hour over there and a half-hour back… but no, placing an online order is just too easy. And when you are feeding four big dogs – Otto, Woody, my tenant’s dog (I don’t know exactly how this happened, but here we are…) and the foster mom – food goes much faster than my fractured attention span can keep up.
I imagine that everyone who works or volunteers in animal rescue, or human social services, gets overwhelmed at times with what seems to be a relentless tide of innocents in need of help. Intellectually, I know that there are FAR fewer unwanted pets being brought to animal shelters and fewer animals being in euthanized in shelters than when I was a young person, and yet at times the sheer volume of dogs I’m aware of who are in need of rescue, fostering, transportation, and medical help is just crushing.
I’m fostering a mama dog and her nine puppies. They were surrendered to my local shelter when the pups were about a week old. I’m glad someone brought them all to the shelter; they could have as easily drowned the puppies or dumped the whole bunch in the woods. The shelter was able to improve their chances immeasurably: They were all treated for the hideous flea infestation they had, as well as the intestinal worms AND a lovely case of coccidiosis. The very-thin mama started to put a little weight on immediately. And, in a couple of months, they will be well-started in housetraining and basic manners, well-started on life-saving vaccinations, get spayed/neutered and microchipped, and will be adopted to screened, qualified homes. Things are looking up – even though they were set back a tad by the kennel cough they picked up in the week they were at the shelter being treated for coccidia, before they came to my house for fostering. With good home care and treatment, we will pull them all through this, no problem.
But I can’t help but think: Who failed to spay the mama dog in the first place – or at the very least, failed to contain her so she couldn’t get pregnant? Who failed to seek out treatment for what had to have been several months of diarrhea caused by a coccidia infection? Or even as little as a flea preventative? Why do people who don’t care for their pets HAVE pets?
And I’m far from the only one. Friends from all over are dealing with similarly depressing situations. One friend who runs a doggie daycare has DOZENS of hounds in foster care in her facility. Another friend who fosters for her local shelter is in despair over the city government’s recent decision to award the shelter-management contract to a new organization, one without a track record of any kind, despite the current management’s accomplishment of achieving the best adoption rate in that shelter’s history. Another friend has been fostering a special-needs dog for over a year, and has been steadily improving this dog’s health and behavior while seeking an appropriate home for the dog – an admittedly difficult task, as the dog shouldn’t be kept with any other dogs or cats – but without a single lead.
On some days, like today, I am just a little overwhelmed by it all.
The best cure for this? Little bits of good news. Facebook photos of a former hard-to-place foster dog, depicted sleeping sprawled out on a beautiful sofa (indicating a loving owner and comfortable living situation) and romping in a grassy field with new toys in his mouth. Positive emailed reports from owners of the last puppies I fostered, who are now thriving in homes all over the state. And, just now, a few minutes spent sitting in a pen full of puppies, kissing their little heads and smelling puppy breath as they lick my nose and cheeks, and feeling those little tails wagging furiously. That will have to do for now.
My large mixed-breed dog, Otto, will be 11 years old in November. He is big-bodied, much thicker through the middle than my younger dog, Woody. And I have lost count of the number of middle-aged and senior dogs I know who have been lost to splenic tumors – dogs who seemed absolutely fine one day, and then hideously sick the next, and euthanized a few hours later due to a tumor that suddenly grew enough to rupture, or cause some other fatal problem in the dog’s abdomen.
Yes, I’m paranoid. Thankfully, I can afford the pet insurance that enables me to ask and pay for the advanced diagnostic tests to put my mind at ease that, at least so far, Otto is as healthy as he can be, and he is not hiding a potentially lethal mass somewhere in his thick body.
First, I had to make an appointment with a veterinary hospital where a board-certified internist whom I like very much practices – but not just any appointment. I left a message saying I knew it would likely take longer and require special consideration in scheduling, but that I wanted to make an appointment for Otto to have a senior dog wellness exam, as well as blood and urine tests (wellness panel, including complete blood count and chemistry, plus a test for tick-borne diseases, plus urinalysis), radiographs of his whole chest and abdomen, and an abdominal ultrasound – and I wanted to be with him the whole time.
Ordinarily, this clinic would ask the owner to leave the dog in either the morning or afternoon, and come back for him some hours later, so they could move him from station to station in the treatment area of the hospital as there was room and personnel available. He might be put into a cage to wait for various bits of time in between. I know, because this is how a similar visit was handled two years ago at the same practice – a visit that Otto came back from reeking of what a friend used to euphemistically refer to as “butt juice” (Otto emptied his anal glands in fear at some point).
For some dogs, it’s being handled by strangers that scares them about the veterinary hospital experience. For some dogs, it’s the restraint and discomfort of the procedures that they are subjected to. For some, it might be getting put into a cage or the smells – and of course, for some dogs, it’s the whole enchilada. I swear that for Otto, it’s mainly about being rushed along slippery floors! He likes meeting people, he doesn’t mind restraint (he loves hugging of all kinds), he’s fairly stoic about pain (needles and such), and he is comfortable in all types of crates and cages. But if you rush him even a teeny bit over a slippery floor, he starts panting and shaking and his legs go all wobbly and he turns into a hysterical old lady with legs like Bambi on ice!
I have done my very best to build a relationship with the veterinarian who would be doing the exam and ultrasound, and she is the medical director of this large practice (which turns into an emergency hospital after hours and on weekends). So she knows me, and knows that I am not a hysterical old lady myself, won’t take up more time than is necessary to help move Otto through the stations, won’t ask about any other dog or procedure I see taking place in the treatment area, and won’t ask her a million unrelated questions about Otto or my other dog – in other words, she knows I will be respectful of her time, given that I will be asking for more of her time than usual. So, when I left my request for this sort of appointment with her scheduler (a different person than the hospital’s usual scheduler), I got a call back a day later with details for an appointment about 10 days later. I was warned that emergencies could affect the timing of all the tests; I might have to wait with Otto for any amount of time if the ultrasound or x-ray equipment was needed for an emergency case. Of course!
Before we walked into the hospital, I sprayed Otto’s feet with a rosin-based spray, to help give him a little more traction on the floor, and while I’ve not seen this help him deal any differently with our floors at home, I do think the added stickiness gave him a little confidence in the clinic – that, and not being hurried at all. I let him have a fairly long leash and pick his own path more or less alongside me as we walked up to the front counter to check in, and then over to a seat in the waiting area. I smiled and answered politely when a lady with a cat in a crate on the other side of the waiting area kept trying to engage me in conversation, but kept my focus and attention on Otto, asking him to repeat his best-known tricks while we waited, to keep him distracted and happy: sit, stand, down, back up, high five, and his theatrical favorite, “bang!” (He gives a very realistic groan when he “dies” and lies flat.)
I was instructed not to feed Otto the morning of the appointment, so his stomach would be empty; it helps during the ultrasound, to see surrounding structures. So, I was super stingy with the treats I fed Otto in the waiting area; I gave him just one nugget of Stella and Chewy’s “Meal Mixers” for about every 10th behavior. The nuggets are puffed up like popcorn, not dense like dried meat; if you smush one between your fingers, you can see that each one is comprised of a pretty small amount of meat. Fortunately, Otto is used to working long chains of behavior in between treats, and he’s happy with praise and snuggles in between treats. (Woody is more motivated by food, and gets annoyed by petting while he’s working.) So he ate only a little while we waited.
Then a technician led us to an exam room, and I talked to her about Otto’s current health: good, but he is getting a tad stiffer upon rising and slightly protective of himself when jumping into and out of the car. She said they would start off with taking a blood sample for the blood tests, and I reiterated my wish to be with Otto at all times; could they take the sample in the exam room? She said that would be no problem. And, in fact, it wasn’t a problem. Another technician came in to hold Otto, and he greeted her warmly, and snuggled into her restraint; again, Otto likes being hugged. He was calm when the other tech drew blood from a vein in his neck, and happy for a treat when it was over.
While we waited for the room with the ultrasound equipment to be ready, I used my phone to show the technician a video of Otto at our old house, where he used to display all sorts of weird behaviors whenever I removed the carpet runners I usually had positioned the length of the hall. For some reason, his slippery-floor phobia was absolutely worse in the hall than any other place in the house – an eccentricity that has continued in our new house, which has the same flooring in the living room as the bedrooms and the hall, but he avoids the hall like the plague. Perhaps it’s the closed-in feeling, the lack of options for picking his own path? I don’t know – but I wanted to show the technician that it’s not just at the vet, and I’m not exaggerating: he really does get stressed out about slippery floors, and it’s one of the reasons I’m so protective of what goes on “in the back” at the vet. The technician thought the video was hilarious and sad. “Poor Otto!” she exclaimed, and assured me that we would let him pick the pace and path into the ultrasound room and elsewhere in the hospital. Mission accomplished.
Abdominal ultrasounds are performed with the dog lying on his back in a V-shaped, padded cradle. The cradle is secured to the top of an examination table that can be lowered and raised with an electric motor. Two technicians lifted Otto and sort of rolled him over into the cradle on his back, while I stood at his head and rubbed his chest, telling him what a good boy he was. I stayed there while the one technician shaved his tummy and the other lightly held his hind legs; once the doctor came in to perform the ultrasound, the second technician held his front legs while I alternated between taking pictures and rubbing his chest. At no time did he struggle or get over-concerned with the procedure. And the veterinarian saw absolutely no worrisome abnormalities.
After that, the veterinarian examined Otto (eyes, ears, mouth, abdomen, etc.) while the techs went to prepare the x-ray machine. I wasn’t allowed to stay in this area during the x-rays, which makes sense, but did walk Otto into the room and reassure him when I handed his leash over to the technician, and told him to “wait.”
About 10 minutes later, one of the technicians and the vet brought a very happy-looking Otto to me in the waiting room – no butt-juice aroma this time, hurray! I fed him a huge handful of the Stella and Chewy’s food while listening to the vet: Again, she saw no abnormalities on Otto’s radiographs, though they would be sent to a radiologist for a more thorough look, and she would call me the next day with results from the blood and urine tests.
Today I got that call: All his blood tests came back in normal ranges, negative for heartworm, the tick titers were all negative, and his urine looked good except it was slightly more dilute than she’d like to see. She asked me to capture a sample first thing in the morning, and bring that in for comparison, which I’ll do tomorrow, to make sure that Otto’s kidneys are capable of concentrating his urine properly.
All in all, I am breathing a huge sigh of relief. We got through a major appointment without scaring him and aggravating his fear of floors, and my older guy is as healthy as I can hope for at the moment.
While some first aid may be possible in the event of a foxtail wound, in almost all cases you should get your dog to a veterinarian as soon as possible. Delaying treatment allows the foxtail to do further damage; avoiding foxtail treatment altogether could lead to your dog developing a chronic illness or could even lead to death.
SYMPTOMS: Squinting, discharge, an eye glued shut.
FIRST AID: Some trail first-aid advocates suggest removing a visible foxtail in the dog’s third eyelid by hand, by using blunt tweezers, or with a damp Q-Tip. However, you risk not removing it completely or driving it deeper. Instead, keep the dog from pawing at the eye and take her immediately to the vet – ideally to a veterinary opthalmologist.
TREATMENT: With a calm dog, the vet will use a numbing agent on the eye and remove the foxtail. A panicked or excitable dog may need sedation.
FIRST AID: Squirting mineral oil into the ear to soften the awn is a common recommendation. But Dr. Randy Acker, author of Field Guide to Dog First Aid: Emergency Care for the Outdoor Dog, cautions against it; if the eardrum has been damaged, the oil will do more harm than good. Get to a vet as quickly as possible.
TREATMENT: The vet examines the ear with an otoscope and uses alligator forceps to extract the foxtail. Sedation may be necessary.
Foxtails in the Nose
RISK: Chronic irritation, infections, tissue damage; may migrate into brain.
SYMPTOMS: Violent, explosive, serial sneezing. There may be a slight bloody dischage.
FIRST AID: None. Get to a vet as soon as possible.
TREATMENT: The dog must be sedated, and a topical anesthetic may be needed to numb the inside of the dog’s nose.
Using a rhinoscope, the veterinarian will visually inspect the area and extract the awn using alligator forceps.
Foxtails in the Mouth or Throat
RISKS: Damage to periodontal pockets, the tongue, or throat; infection; can be inhaled into lung.
SYMPTOMS: Hacking, gagging, difficulty swallowing when eating or drinking.
FIRST AID: If the foxtail is visible, you may pull it out by hand or with blunt tweezers. Feeding the dog bread may force the seed to move through the throat and into the stomach. In any case, see a vet for follow-up.
TREATMENT: The vet will anesthetize the dog and remove any foxtails.
Foxtails in Your Dog’s Paws
RISKS: Abscesses, infections.
SYMPTOMS: Continual licking of the foot or pad, bumpy swelling between the toes, or a small hole.
FIRST AID: If you can see the foxtail, you can try to remove it by hand or by using blunt-tipped tweezers. For embedded foxtails, soaking the paw (plain, warm water, 15 minutes, two to three times a day for three days) may promote the formation of an abscess that will eventually burst and expel the awn. If this happens, continue soaking in antiseptic water for several days.
A veterinary checkup is necessary if the foxtail is not expelled or if you see bumps forming in other areas of the paw or leg – a sign that the foxtail is migrating. Follow up with your vet in any case.
TREATMENT: The vet will locate and remove the foxtail.
Foxtails Under the Skin
RISKS: Infections, irritation, migration through the body; if it penetrates the body wall, it may injure a vital organ or cause secondary infection and abscesses.
SYMPTOMS: A hard bump or lump; may include a small hole in its center.
FIRST AID: None.
TREATMENT: The vet will surgically explore for the foxtail and remove it when found.
A full report on how to introduce new dogs to your pack exists here. In addition to the instructions and precautions discussed in that article, here are some additional things you can do to increase your potential for successful introductions between dogs.
Here are some general suggestions on how to introduce dogs to each other:
1. Exercise the dogs before initiating introductions. Happily tired dogs are more likely to interact well than those who are bursting with energy.
2. Have tools within easy reach in case you need to interupt an aggressive interaction (for more on breaking up dog fights, see “How to Safely Break Up a Dog Fight“.
3. Be sure to remove toys and other high value chew objects from the introduction area to minimize potential for guarding incidents.
4. Use extra caution when introducing a puppy to adult dogs to avoid physical injury or psychological trauma to your pup. While many adult dogs recognize the importance of being gentle with baby dogs, some do not. Some will play too roughly, and some will be actively aggressive. A bad experience with an overly exuberant playmate or an aggressive dog can have a significant negative influence on a pup’s future social behavior.
5. Be careful, too, when introducing a new dog to senior members of your pack, especially if the new dog is an adolescent or a puppy. Protect your senior dog from being physically damaged—bumped, bruised, body-slammed, or knocked over by a rambunctious pup. Keep your pup on leash in the presence of Granny or use a baby gate to keep them separated until he learns to modulate his behavior around your fragile, sometimes grumpy senior. Your geriatric dogs shouldn’t have to defend themselves from the overwhelming attention of fractious youngsters.
6. Consider size. Jean Donaldson, director of the San Francisco SPCA’s Academy for Dog Trainers, recommends no more than a 25-pound difference in size between dogs in a household or play group. More than that, she warns, and you risk predatory drift, where the larger dog suddenly perceives a small running dog as a prey object, such as a bunny or squirrel, and shifts from play to food-acquisition mode, sometimes with tragic results. Know that if you choose to introduce a new dog to a situation where there is a large size disparity, you may be taking additional risks with your dogs’ safety during introductions and thereafter.
7. Be sure to reinforce both/all dogs for calm, appropriate behavior in each other’s presence. Your reinforcers should be calming: treats, massage, and verbal praise are good choices; tug and fetch are not. You can use tethers, if necessary, to create calm, and follow Norwegian dog trainer Turid Rugaas’ suggestions to have dogs approach each other in a curving line rather than directly, allowing them to sniff the ground and do other displacement and appeasement behaviors such as looking away, as they choose.
Note: Turid Rugaas coined the term “calming signals” for many of the social behaviors dogs display when interacting with each other and with us. You can learn more about her work through her book, On Talking Terms With Dogs: Calming Signals, and her “Calming Signals” DVD.
Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA, is Whole Dog Journal’s Training Editor. Miller lives in Hagerstown, Maryland, site of her Peaceable Paws training center. Pat is also the author of The Power of Positive Dog Training and Positive Perspectives: Love Your Dog, Train Your Dog.
This Elizabethan-type collar (the Foreyy Recovery Pet Cone) is a more comfortable example of the many alternatives to the classic clinic-issued “cone” that are now available in pet supply stores and online.
Dogs are naturally curious, physical, and exuberant, and while we love this about them, these characteristics can also lead to unintentional injuries. These can run the gamut from very minor to severe and life-threatening. How do you know the difference? When is it time to consult a veterinarian and when can you treat a dog’s wound at home? Here are some steps for assessing wounds and treating them.
1. Keep in mind that wounds are painful!
Even though your dog may have never snapped at you or bitten before, tender injuries can make even the most docile, sweet-natured dog snap or bite. Whenever handling an injured pet, make sure that someone restrains the dog properly while you examine and investigate the injury or wound for treatment.
2. All bite wounds should be evaluated by a veterinarian.
If your dog scuffles with another dog, cat, or a wild animal, immediate care with a vet is needed. This is true for several reasons:
First, animal teeth drive bacteria deep into wounds, even if they are only small punctures. Antibiotics are generally warranted any time that a dog is bitten by another animal.
Second, your dog might need to receive a rabies booster, particularly if he was bitten by a stray dog or cat or wild animal.
This doesn’t look like a very serious injury, does it? Despite the fact that the dog is standing and the wound looks small, it IS a serious injury: it’s a gunshot wound! A dog with any puncture wound of unknown cause or origin should be seen by a veterinarian as soon as possible.
Finally, bite wounds are often referred to as “tip of the iceberg” injuries. Though the external wounds may not look severe, there can be underlying trauma to the muscles and other tissues (particularly in the case of a smaller dog being grabbed and shaken), or even internal bleeding.
3. Any punctures that have an unknown source should be treated by a veterinarian.
Puncture wounds can represent several types of injuries including gunshot wounds, bites from other animals, or foreign-body penetration. It is not uncommon for a stick or other sharp object to penetrate a wound and become lodged within it. Though the wound may look small from the outside, foreign material trapped in the wound can lead to delayed or lack of healing, localized infection, and/or tetanus.
4. A veterinarian should treat a dog’ wounds if they are over an inch long, occurs on the chest or the abdomen, is contaminated, or has jagged edges.
These wounds look clean along the edges, but they involve most of the cranial ear pinna, an area that is rich with muscular, nervous, and vascular contributions; the dog will benefit from veterinary attention.
It is difficult or impossible to treat a dog’s wounds at home or to deeply clean a wound without risking injury to yourself or traumatizing the wound. It is also important to note that wounds on the body (thorax or abdomen) can be more severe than they initially appear and always need to be addressed by a veterinarian, whereas wounds on the face (away from the eyes) or small, superficial wounds on the limbs may do just fine with at-home management.
5. Use hydrogen peroxide to treat a dog’s wound only once, if at all.
Hydrogen peroxide can be used initially on a wound to decontaminate it, but it should not be used repeatedly – and, truth be told, there are better ways to clean a wound. Hydrogen peroxide on a dog wound is extremely irritating to tissue. It can impede healing if used repetitively. If you do use it on a wound, use only after the initial cleaning and do not repeat.
Avoid alcohol on wounds, as the sudden, sharp stinging may provoke an otherwise well-behaved dog to snap or bite.
6. If the wound seems relatively minor (less than an inch long with clean edges), here’s how to treat dog wounds yourself:
You can clean gently with a warm wet washcloth and apply a thin layer of triple antibiotic ointment to the wound. If your pet licks the wound, use an Elizabethan collar (aka “cone”) or cone alternative to prevent self-trauma. You can also lightly wrap the wounds.
The ear looks much better after debridement (removal of damaged tissue) and suture placement.
It is imperative that you are careful when wrapping. As an emergency-room veterinarian, I saw many complications related to improper bandaging of a dog’s wound.
To make a safe bandage, you should use three layers. Start with a sterile dressing square over the wound. Over that, you can place two or three layers of a cotton-gauze wrapping. The last layer should be a stretchy wrap such as PetFlex. Before placing it, unroll the stretch wrap to remove some of the tension and then rewind it. This will help prevent overly tight application. Place two to three layers over the cotton. You should be able to insert two fingers under all edges of the bandage. If you cannot, the bandage should be removed and re-wrapped.
Bandages that are too tight can lead to decreased blood flow to the limb below, as well as decreased blood flow to the wound itself. This will slow healing.
It is also imperative that a dog’s wounds receive oxygen to heal. Change the bandage every 12 to 24 hours. If the wound appears to be healing well after 72 hours, you can remove the bandage.
These wounds are a result of improper bandage placement. As you can see, complications from incorrect bandaging can be severe. The original wound on this foot was bandaged for several days by the owner. The dog was seen at a veterinarian’s office after the bandage became wet and had an odor.
Any wound, whether being managed at home or by your veterinarian, should be monitored for sudden changes. Acute redness, swelling, or discomfort, or discharge that is thick, foul-smelling, or copious merits an immediate trip to the vet.
Is Your Dog Licking the Wounds?
Wounds go through several phases of healing, and just like with our own wounds, each phase can cause the dog to feel a variety of sensations. These can include itching, burning, pain, and a tight, pulling sensation as the skin knits back together. Dogs will frequently lick or chew healing wounds in an effort to alleviate these feelings of discomfort, but all that moisture and pressure can increase the damage to the wounds themselves (especially if there are stitches or staples present) and promote infection.
If your dog tries to lick his wound, it’s important to use an Elizabethan collar or some alternative product to prevent him from further traumatizing the area. “Cones” can be bulky and annoying to your dog, and though most dogs will adapt to wearing one relatively quickly, there are many lighter and/or more comfortable options. For a wide selection of products that might suit your dog better, see “Best Dog Cone Alternatives“.
Whatever product you use, be patient, and keep it on your dog until the wound is healed and/or your dog is no longer paying any attention to it.
Better Safe Than Sorry
It is important to remember that when in doubt, all but the most superficial wounds should be evaluated by a veterinarian. Wounds can seem misleadingly slight, belying significant tissue trauma beneath. Hopefully, your visit with the veterinarian will be a quick evaluation, wound cleaning, and some prescription medications. If not, though, the sooner a wound is evaluated, the better the chances for healing and recovery.
A couple of days ago, I received a text from a dog-training client, wondering about a video she had just watched—and which she linked in the text. “Is meat meal bad for dogs?” she asked. She followed that message with, “I get that she’s selling her own pet food, but is it (meat meal) that bad?”
