Responsible service-dog handlers aim to keep their dogs as inconspicuous as possible, and are quick to take corrective action if the dog’s behavior becomes problematic. When they don’t, businesses are legally allowed to ask the handler to remove the dog. While many business owners are afraid to exercise this right, not doing so has created significant problems for the disability community.
“Many businesses aren’t asking handlers to remove their dogs because they are afraid of being sued and just think the problem will go away in an hour or so,” says Dailyah Rudek, executive director of The ProBoneO Program. “Then, unfortunately, they go and talk to their lawmakers.” This has led to attempts to draft tighter state service-dog laws. While states cannot enact service-dog laws that are narrower in scope than the federal law, they can draft laws that retract state-specific enhanced protections, such as removing access that had previously been granted to service dogs in training. Additionally, the increased public attention to proposed regulation changes often means that all service-dog teams are more harshly scrutinized. “Handlers have fought so hard over the years to get higher protections, and now we’re seeing more language that would potentially pull back some of those extra protections,” Rudek says.
To help combat this problem, The ProBoneO Program is launching a campaign targeting business owners with the goal of educating them about their rights and the responsibilities of service-dog handlers. When a dog is behaving inappropriately in public, Rudek says it’s important that business owners exercise their right to ask the handler to remove the dog. Doing so encourages legitimate service-dog handlers to maintain minimum public access standards for their dogs, while discouraging pet owners from attempting to “fake it” by bringing ill-mannered pet dogs into establishments that don’t ordinarily permit pets.
Rudek has the following recommendations for business owners who are concerned about risks to their establishments or other customers posed by ill-behaved real or “fake” service dogs:
– Know the legally allowable questions that can be asked: 1. Is the dog a service animal required because of a disability? 2. What work or task has the dog been trained to perform? Business owners should understand that the questions must be answered in a credible fashion.
– Consider compromising with the handler. Acknowledge that the team is struggling, and perhaps invite them to return on a less busy day when the business could offer a bit more leeway with the dog’s behavior. This is especially helpful for handlers who are trying to train through an issue while in public.
– Offer an alternate means of accommodation that does not involve the dog. For example, an employee can gather the items on the handler’s shopping list or otherwise assist the person in the absence of the dog.
– Seek out a witness or two who can attest to the dog’s inappropriate behavior; this could go a long way toward preventing a lawsuit.
– If the establishment utilizes surveillance video, keep any related footage for at least two years.
– Proactively call the Department of Justice ADA Hotline to report having to require that a dog be removed, and why.
I can’t tell you how many times someone has said to me, “I don’t give my dog ‘people food’ because I don’t want him begging at the table while we’re eating.” If this sounds like you, I’ve got good news for you, and maybe even better news for your dog!
Many people avoid offering their dog any type of food that they themselves might eat for fear that the dog will acquire a taste for it and develop an annoying and invasive habit of begging for food during family mealtimes.
While preventing “begging” is a good goal, it can be achieved no matter what you feed your dog. The type of food isn’t what will determine whether or not your dog will learn to beg at the table. Rather, his behavior will be shaped by where, when, and how he gets access to food. Luckily, this is entirely under your control.
How Your Dog’s Behavior is Built
To get a clear picture of how begging inappropriately for food can develop, let’s start from the beginning. We know that food can be an excellent reinforcer for a dog. Delivering food as a reward immediately following a behavior is likely to produce more of that behavior.
When you are sitting at the table to eat your meal, if your dog nudges your elbow, stares you down, barks, whines, licks his lips, or paws your leg, and immediately gets access to something yummy, he learns that this is an effective strategy to get food, and a beggar is born.
The same principle applies to dogs who hang around the kitchen while meals are being prepared and who are occasionally rewarded with tidbits of food. Their access to food in the kitchen might be intentional – like when the household chef shares a few ingredients with the dog who expertly offers a sad face – or it might be the result of simply acting fast enough to swoop in and gobble up food that is accidentally dropped to the floor from the counter. Regardless of how or why the dog has access to food, the bottom line is that the kitchen area has become very attractive (and reinforcing!) to him, and is now a location where he is likely to hang out in the presence of food.
It’s the fact that there was a reinforcement (rather than the specific type of food) that creates and maintains this behavior; understanding this is key to figuring out how to prevent it from developing in the first place, and how to change it if it already exists.
While not all of our foods are appropriate for dogs to eat, many of the foods we eat are just as suitable for dogs as they are for us. For those of you who do want to share some of your food with your dog, but choose not to for fear of creating a beggar, rest assured that there is a way to teach your dog good table and kitchen manners and allow him to enjoy some of the same foods as you. Those who prefer not to share “people food” with their dogs can just as effectively teach them polite manners around the dining room table and in the kitchen.
Nothing to See Here, Now Move Along
Remember the old joke that describes a patient complaining to his doctor about pain in his elbow when he bends his arm, only to be told by the doctor, “Then don’t bend your arm”? The same sort of logic can be applied here. If you don’t want your dog begging for food at the table, don’t ever feed him at the table. If you don’t want your dog begging for food at the kitchen counter, don’t ever feed him at the kitchen counter.
Management plays a crucial role in helping your dog figure out that there is no benefit to hanging around the table or kitchen. (If your dog has a history of stealing food off the table or kitchen counter, avoid leaving food unsupervised in these places at all times!) Set up the environment to make it easy for your dog to behave well, and to make it difficult – or impossible – for him to make a mistake. Make sure everyone in the family is on the same page regarding your dog’s access to food: No food delivered at the table means no food delivered at the table, from anyone.
You may want to feed your dog his meal before you sit down to eat. He won’t be as hungry, and therefore not as interested in the food on your plate as he might be, on an empty stomach.
Alternately, feed him at the same time as yourself. If his mealtime doesn’t coincide with your own, arrange for your dog to have somewhere to go, like a crate or a cushion, where he can get busy working on a bone or an interactive food toy filled with a light snack while you sit down to eat. Add an indoor tether if your dog has trouble staying put on his cushion and keeps coming back to you at the table. An indoor tether is an excellent management tool for young dogs, especially as they learn your household rules.
I mentioned earlier that it is possible to share your food with your dog, without creating a beggar at the table. I love to give pieces of various foods to my dog while I cook, and even while I eat. I simply deliver the food to her in a way that encourages her to stay far away from me while I cook or eat.
For example, while I work at the kitchen counter, I might look at my dog and show her a piece of whatever vegetable I’m chopping. She responds by sitting in the adjoined dining room, where I toss her the veggie bit. Through repetition, she has learned that the only way she’ll get food from the kitchen is if she sits 10 feet away in the dining room. That is where the food is delivered whenever I’m working in the kitchen.
If I’m sitting at the dining room table and want to share a piece of food from my plate with her, I’ll toss it a few feet away, into the living room. My dog has learned that her chances of receiving food while we eat at the table are increased if she sits far away, in the living room. She has never received food while sitting next to us at the table, and therefore has no history of ever being reinforced for this behavior. If she lurks close to the table, she may be ignored or she might receive a pat, but she will never receive food.
The same rules apply when we are eating food in the living room. There is a very good chance that snacks during movie time will be shared, but only if my dog moves into the dining room a few feet away. Because of our reinforcement history, and where and how food is typically delivered, my dog can snuggle peacefully next to me while I eat a snack on the couch, and if she is offered a piece of food – a bite of apple or a chunk of watermelon, for example – she will rise and head for the dining room, where I’ll gladly toss her a few pieces.
Just Once?
Keep in mind that your dog will not differentiate between official household rules and those “okay-then-just-this-one-special-time” occasions. If every member of your family adheres to the general rules, your dog will have an easier time understanding what is expected of him. Establish the rules and stick to them. As a guideline:
1. If you don’t want your dog to eat “people food,” don’t give him any. Ever. (Although it really is quite alright to do so, barring any dietary restrictions for medical reasons.)
2. If you don’t want your dog begging for food at the table, don’t give him any food while he is next to the table. Ever. Not even his own food.
3. If you don’t want your dog in the kitchen area while you cook, don’t give him food while he’s in the kitchen. Decide where you want your dog to be instead, and reward him for being in that spot (whether you choose to reward him using his own food or “people food”).
4. Decide where you want your dog to be while you eat. Make that area a great place for him to be by giving him something enjoyable to do while you eat. Manage his mobility while he learns this new rule by using a crate, tether, baby gate, or closed door to restrict his access to the table.
5. If you do want to share your food, decide where you want your dog to be while you eat, and deliver the food in that place. If you catch your dog spontaneously going to that place while you eat (without your having asked), go ahead and reinforce this by going to him and rewarding him, or by tossing some food to him.
It’s okay if the food is tossed from the table or the kitchen counter, as long as your dog is already where you want him to be before you toss the food. In other words, food being tossed to your dog is conditional on him being in a certain location. If your dog is already begging at the table, don’t toss the food in order to get him to move away from the table, as that would actually be reinforcing the wrong behavior.
Remember, you will get whatever you reinforce. As with all behaviors, decide what you want the dog to do, set things up to make it easy for your dog to choose that particular behavior, and then reinforce it!
Nancy Tucker, CPDT-KA, is a full-time trainer, behavior consultant, and seminar presenter in Quebec, Canada. She has written numerous articles on dog behavior for Quebec publications focusing on life with the imperfect family dog.
The game of leash-tug is encouraged by some agility competitors, as a reinforcer for their dogs at the end of an agility run. However, many dog owners (myself included), find it an annoying and sometimes even dangerous behavior. Here are five things you can do if you’re in the latter group and would like to get your dog to stop playing leash tug:
1. The Exercise Solution. Leash-tugging is often the function of too much energy. Exercise your dog (hard) before his walk and you’ll have a far less grabby walking companion. If you don’t have a backyard for ball- or disc-chasing (perhaps why you’re leash-walking him in the first place!), play ball in a long hallway, play “Find it” for hidden treats throughout the house, stand at the top of the stairs (anti-slip runners on the stairs, please), toss a treat to the bottom, call him back to you, toss another treat …
2. The Incompatible-Behavior Solution. If it’s your dog’s morning wake-up bathroom break and you can’t exercise him in the house first because he has to poop and pee, grab your highest-value treats on your way out the door and start reinforcing for polite leash walking. He can’t look at you in happy anticipation of the next bit of chicken and grab his leash at the same time. And/or carry a favorite non-leash tug toy in your pocket, and invite your dog to tug on it instead. Tugging on a toy is incompatible with tugging on a leash; he can’t do both at the same time.
3. The Two-Leash Solution. Part of the problem with leash tugging is that you have to keep hold of the leash so your dog doesn’t run off. You’re an unwilling partner in the tug, and meanwhile your dog is happily reinforcing himself at his end of the game. If your dog finds leash-tug more reinforcing than high-value treats, or happily swaps back and forth between leash and tug toy, the incompatible-behavior approach doesn’t work. Try attaching two leashes to his collar. When he grabs one, hold the other and drop the one he’s got. If he grabs the one you’re now holding, switch back to the other. If he grabs both, you’re back to square one.
4. The Choke-Chain Solution. My students’ eyes get very big when I say, “This is the one case in which I will use a choke chain with a dog.” I then reassure them by saying, “But not on the dog!”
Take a carabiner or a double-ended metal clip and use it to attach one end of the choke chain to the ring on the dog’s collar. Attach the other end of the chain to the clip on the leash. Now when your dog goes to grab the leash, he gets metal instead of soft cotton, leather, or nylon. For most dogs, a metal chain isn’t nearly as much fun to grab and tug, and the behavior extinguishes (stops).
If he persists in grabbing above the chain, you can invest in one of those wretched grocery-store chain leashes and use it until the leash grabbing behavior is extinguished. Remember, though: If you need to shorten up your dog’s leash as you pass another person, dog, car, or whatever, those chain leashes are really hard on your hands (which is why they are wretched), so be prepared (wear gloves!).
5. The PVC-Pipe Solution. Perhaps your dog is happy to tug on a metal chain, or the pain of the chain on your own hands is more than you’re willing to bear. Take a length (perhaps 3-4 feet)of PVC pipe (depending on the size of the clip on your leash, about 1-2 inches in diameter) and drop the clip though the pipe before attaching it to your dog’s collar (see photo above). Now, when he bites his leash he gets hard plastic, and won’t be able to get a grip on it to tug.
This has the added advantage of acting as a makeshift “control pole” (as used by animal control officers); if your dog grabs at your hands and clothing as well as his leash, you can use the pole to hold him away from you.
So there you go! Most of these are likely to be temporary solutions until you can positively convince your dog to keep his teeth off his leash, but feel free to use them as long as needed.
Here’s a bonus “thing” if you want a training challenge: Put the leash tugging behavior under excellent stimulus control, so your dog does it only when you give him the cue (the way the agility folks do). Then give the cue only when you’re prepared and it’s convenient to play a minute or two of leash-tug with him. In order to achieve this level of stimulus control you have to be ready and able to never reinforce it if you haven’t given him the cue. Ask your obedience friends if their dogs ever grab the leash when they aren’t invited to do so. (Personally, I’m sticking with the first five “things.”)
A dog exhibiting any of these symptoms needs immediate veterinary care as brain damage, kidney failure, seizures, and death can occur:
– Excessive panting (fast, wide, red tongue)
– Thickened salivation (drooling)
– Staring (appears to be looking at nothing)
– Warm skin and paw pads
– Rapid pulse
– Weakness
– Rectal body temperature over 103° (normal is 100°-102°F)
– Staggering (may be an early symptom)
– Extreme fatigue
– Anxiety
– Vomiting
– Diarrhea
If you suspect heat stress, take the dog’s rectal temperature. Your goal is to get the temperature down to 103°F and then transport him to a veterinarian. Repeat taking his temperature every five minutes.
Move the dog to an air-conditioned space, if possible. If not, get him in the shade. Offer water, but do not force it, as he may have difficulty swallowing it.
Apply gel ice packs, bags of frozen vegetables, or cold water (with a cold cloth, by pouring or gently spraying it) to the dog’s neck area. Use fans to increase air flow. Wet his groin, underbelly, “armpits,” throat area, and paws. Spray him with a water hose for one or two minutes or see if he will go into a kiddie pool full of water. As tempting as it may be, avoid using ice water. Yes, you want a quick, steady decrease of body temperature, but not another shock to the system. Frozen gel packs and cold cloths are recommended and work well if placed in the neck area. As soon as his temperature is back to 103°F, immediately transport him to a veterinarian.
The brachycephalic breeds – such as Pugs, Boston Terriers, Boxers, Bulldogs – are particularly at risk of heat stress, says Eileen Fatcheric, DVM, of Syracuse, New York. “The only way dogs have to thermoregulate their bodies is panting, which is air flow over the respiratory system. These dogs are particularly at risk for heat stress because of the shape and design of the dog’s throat.”
Awareness is important, Dr. Fatcheric says. “The early symptoms of heat stress are easy to miss – wobbling and increased body temperature. Owners of these breeds need to pay closer-than-average attention to their dogs’ behavior and body language.”
A dog’s primary means of cooling himself is through panting – and our goal is to make this process more efficient.
When a dog pants, air flows over the tongue and throat area and helps cool the blood sent to the tongue by the heart. That cooler blood then circulates through the rest of the body back to the heart, to start the process over.
The harder a dog’s working to stay cool, the bigger his tongue becomes in an effort to maximize that air circulation. That’s why a wide, red tongue indicates a dog is working hard at keeping his body cool.
However, as the temperature and humidity rise, the inefficiency of this system becomes apparent. The warmer it is outside, the warmer the air is that the dog takes into his body. When ambient temperatures become close to a dog’s normal body temperature, the system begins to fail.
While most dogs begin getting warm around the 80°F mark (depending on humidity), the out-of-shape dog may be stressed at much lower temperatures. Clearly, as the outside air temperature rises and gets closer to the dog’s body temperature, the effectiveness of panting decreases. A dog in warm weather needs your attention to avoid potentially deadly heat stroke.
To help avoid this, consider your dog’s condition. Keeping your dog well groomed, physically fit, and at his optimal weight will help him avoid suffering from heat stress. Just as in humans, too much fat and not enough exercise result in a decreased level of heat resistance. And, the more he pants, the more water he’ll need to consume – the cooler, the better.
But even fit dogs may need you to enforce limits during hot weather. “I try to acclimate them to exercising in warm weather so they can handle it at a trial, but if it’s extremely hot out, we will just stay home in our air-conditioned house!” says Linda Aloi, owner of K9 Capers Dog School in Baldwinsville, New York.
Some active dogs have been known to exercise to excess, causing major physical heat-related damage to themselves and possibly death. If you are playing fetch and your dog is barking at you to “Throw the ball again! Throw the ball again!” – but you notice his speed has decreased when running after the ball and returning to you – he’s probably had enough.
– Some of the most common causes of heat stress are:
– Being muzzled in a warm environment
– Leaving the dog in a car during warm weather (even in the shade or with windows cracked open); or leaving a dog in a hot room or garage with insufficient air flow
– Excessive exercise, or exercise in extreme temperatures
– Travel over hot pavement/concrete surfaces
– Lack of shade and/or fresh water
Keep That Coat On
Your dog’s coat is designed to protect him from weather extremes. Regular grooming is a necessity, especially for dogs with a thick undercoat, like Shetland Sheepdogs, Pomeranians, and Labradors. That hair needs to be fluffy to do its insulation job, so if it’s matted or dirty, get out the grooming equipment. Dogs who appear to have thick tufts of uneven hair throughout their coat definitely need the old undercoat brushed out. Single-coated dogs – think Papillons, Poodles, and Weimaraners – can actually be at a disadvantage. They may need more protection against sunburn and heat because they lack that protective undercoat.
Whatever you do, avoid the myth about shaving your dog’s coat to make him cooler. “Never shave down a double-coated breed,” says Mary Jo Johnson, an agility instructor Farmington, New York, who competes with her Shetland Sheepdogs. “It may seem counterintuitive, but that undercoat is a good thing.”
There are exceptions to the no-shave rule, of course. Hot spots and other dermatological issues may require spot shaving for treatment. Some dogs may need spots shaved for breed standards or cleanliness. Also, strategic shaving in specific areas (as opposed to shaving the whole dog) can help with the cooling process, especially in canine athletes. “I actually will clip the hair in the summer in the groin area, so my dogs can lie down in the baby pool and the water can reach that skin,” Johnson says, “but only the groin area.”
Keep Your Dogs Hydrated
At home, many dogs enjoy playing or lying down in a hard plastic kiddie pool containing a few inches of fresh, cool water. This is a much easier way to wet down your dog to cool him off than a hose.
“When I wet down my dog in a pool, I wet the belly, groin area, and under the ‘armpits’ of the front legs,” says Diane Eggleston, owner of Awesome Abilities Dog Training School in Skaneateles, New York. “You should not wet their backs because it can actually make them hotter,” as it can trap the heat closer to the skin.
A simple spritz with a sprayer might do the trick for many dogs. If Eggleston is away from home, she carries a sprayer with a mix of water and a little coat conditioner to help cool her dogs. “I use the type of sprayer used to spray weeds,” she says. “I use it to the wet the belly areas, like I do in the pool.” Of course, this sprayer should be designated and labeled for dog use only.
Make sure your dog always has fresh, cool water for your dog. On especially hot days, toss a few ice cubes in the water. You can also make an inexpensive treat by mixing water with some broth, freezing it in ice trays, and giving the cubes to him in a bowl. Don’t add these to his water, however; your dog needs constant access to plain water.
If you’re going for a walk or hike in hot weather, always carry along water and a bowl for your dog.
Shady solution
If your dog is going to be outside with you for an extended period – say, at your daughter’s soccer match – he’ll need shade, especially if he has a dark coat. A pop-up tent or umbrella can provide enough instant shade to really help.
People who attend outdoor dog shows or canine athletic events with their dogs almost always bring shade tents, plus sun shields that can be draped over a dog’s wire or soft-sided crate, to provide extra shade without impairing air flow.
Clean Run, the agility catalog and store, offers a great product called the Cool Puppy Shade Cloth Panel, made of a knitted, reflective aluminized fabric. Draped over a wire crate or exercise pen, it reflects the sun’s rays but doesn’t stop air flow. Clean Run estimates the result is a spot that is cooler by as much as 14°F and we would agree. The panels are available in a variety of sizes, from $45 for a 7′ by 6′ panel, up to a 14′ x 10′ panel for $108.
Cooling Aids
Fans get a big “two paws up” from most dogs. Portable fans, especially those designed for camping, run off of batteries. Most dogs will seek out the cool breeze and lie down right in front of the fans to keep cool. “At agility trials, my dogs are kept cool with a shade tent and fans. I also have gel cool mats for them to lie on,” Johnson says. These fans are available at most major hardware and discount department stores, like Walmart.
Commercial cooling mats or beds are based on a dog’s natural instinct to dig dirt holes during the summer; they give your dog a cool resting spot. You can also use a wet beach towel on the floor or ground. Frequently refreshed, clean and placed out of the sun, a wet towel can give your dog a cool spot to lie down, even on the kitchen floor. (Of course, the humans in the household will need to be careful not to step on it and slip!)
Many commercial cooling beds are filled with a gel designed to absorb the dog’s body heat. Some beds are filled with water that circulates heat away from the dog.
You can make your own ice-pack bed, too. When I attend a summer agility trial, I pack an equine leg bandage that’s been soaked in water and then frozen. It’s the perfect size for my Papillons to chill out on. My sister’s 80-pound Labrador has a pocketed blanket that she fills with reusable ice packs. Her dog pulls to get into the crate when he sees her arranging it for him. We use ice packs from Ice Horse, which stay cool for about two hours. They’re non-toxic and flexible, making a comfortable “ice bed.” We’ve found that with care, they can last for years. But they’re not cheap; the cost ranges from two for $17 to 12 for $95. They are available from icehorse.net (800-786-6633).
The Aspen Pet Gel Cooling Pad is a terrific alternative, as it is comfortable, self-cooling, and effective. In fact, in the cool early-morning hours at a trial, I watched my dog move the pad out of his way in his crate. Later that afternoon, he had pulled it back in place and lay down on it! This bed was 12″ by 16″ and portable, as it folds in half; it also comes in 16″ by 20″. The only complaint we heard was that large-dog owners want a much larger size. Both sizes usually retail for under $25. (This product is no longer available; here is a similar though larger and more expensive alternative.)
The K&H Cooling Bed III is filled with water and works on the concept that the water will become the same temperature as the air, which is usually lower than the dog’s normal temperature. It absorbs the heat, which circulates away from the dog. Most dogs enjoy the feel of the water. “I use water-filled cooling beds in my dogs’ crates in hot weather,” Eggleston says. “I slip them into a cotton pillow case.”
The Cooling Bed III is a great product for home use, but we’ve found it can be cumbersome if you’re away from home. Filled with water, it’s very difficult to carry. If you plan to fill it at a show or sporting event, you will need several gallons of water (depending on the bed size). These beds are available in large sizes, but they cost a fair penny: the 17″ by 24″ bed costs $70; the 32″ x 44″ costs $130. They do come with a two-year warranty.
Cool Clothes
You can find all types of dog clothing purportedly designed to keep your dog cooler, but be aware that anything you’re adding to your dog’s body has the potential to trap heat, too. Think about yourself. If it’s terribly hot out, do you want to add clothing?
That said, most coats for heat defense have some type of sun reflective element to them, and many are designed to be wet down. The caveat with wetting a coat, however, is that once it warms up to the dog’s body temperature or bakes in the sun, it ceases to be cooling to the dog. If you use these coats, keep an eye on its temperature and rewet it if it’s warmed.
We’re not very enthusiastic about coats or vests that have gel inserts or incorporate water into the design; they often trap heat against your dog. Also, many tend to run small, are too rigid, or too heavy to be comfortable for your dog. Find out what the return policy is before you purchase this type of coat for your dog.
It’s also wise to consider your dog’s breed and coat when choosing a coat. “I don’t use wet coats, since my dogs have a double coat and it would just trap the heat,” Aloi says.
A popular lightweight choice is the K9 Kooling Coat. Manufactured to standards designed to withstand stresses from a horse, these coats are made of bright white polyester mesh, which is cool, lightweight, and blocks UVA and UVB rays.
The Kooling Coat can be wetted before you put it on your dog (we dunk them in ice water when it’s really hot) or even frozen overnight (you’ll have to let it thaw a little before putting it on the dog, but it works) to help keep your dog cool. Although the manufacturer says you can spritz the coat once it dries out, it works best to simply totally re-wet it. While some dogs can’t wait to have their Kooling Coat on, we’ve seen others sort of cringe at the idea of wearing a wet coat all day. When dry, most dogs don’t even notice they’re wearing them, and you still get the reflective properties.
Though they resemble some sort of tinfoil costume, coats that are made of loosely woven aluminized fabric, similar to the material used in the sun shades we discussed above, are terrific for minimizing the sun’s direct impact while allowing maximum airflow. This is the kind of coat Aloi uses on her dogs. “I have the woven aluminum foil-type coats to reflect the sun, and these work well.”
The K-9 Cooler is a well-made coat that can be worn wet or dry. It’s lightweight, durable, and appears comfortable for the dog. The price ranges from $23 to $54, depending on size.
The Chilly Buddy coat has a similar reflective outer surface, but includes a mesh cotton underside that may be kinder to the dog’s coat. You can wet the lining to help with cooling, and it will hold the water longer than a coat without a lining. Perhaps best of all, the reflective outer layer means the wet inner layer will stay cooler longer as it’s protected from the beating sun. However, we’d like to see a more tight-fitting surcingle to help keep its place on the dog. Cost is $45 to $70.
Best Choices
Your No. 1 weapon against the heat is water – lots of cold, clean water – and lots of shade. Ice cubes are a fun treat that many dogs enjoy.
If your dog is forced to sit in a warm environment, he needs shade, a steady breeze from a fan, and lots of water. A cooling bed – as simple as that wet towel – is often appreciated.
For dogs who are going to spend a lot of time in the sun, we like the reflective coats, especially the Chilly Buddy bed. Its inner lining is actually a brilliant design, combining the best of both types of coats.
When using clothing, be sure you continually monitor the temperature of the coat, so your dog doesn’t become too warm. But be sure you’re not overdoing the cooling process either; locking him in a shaded crate, wearing a wet blanket, on a cold bed, with a fan constantly blowing directly on him, may result in a chilled dog even on a warm day. Your dog is your best indicator of whether he needs more – or less – help to stay a truly cool dog.
A “hot button” topic within the service-dog community is the availability of online prescription letters for emotional-support animals. It’s important to remember that an emotional-support animal is required to mitigate a disability. The legal definition of disability is when one or more of a person’s activities of daily life is severely impacted. If you are truly experiencing the impairment of a major life function, it’s reasonable to assume that you’d be under the care of one or more medical professionals, and would not need to turn to the Internet for a letter that purportedly documents your disability.
“The idea is that the letter is supposed to be written by a treating mental health professional who is familiar with your case,” says Dailyah Rudek, executive director of The ProBoneO Program. “I don’t understand how someone can talk to you on the phone for 30 minutes, and suddenly be familiar enough with your case to do that.”
We asked a representative of the American Psychological Association for a comment. “The APA Guidelines for the practice of telepsychology encourage psychologists to meet with the consumer first before providing services online as good professional practice,” says Luana Bossolo, associate director and practice directorate, public relations.
The APA also recommends that consumers consider the following issues before purchasing any kind of “prescription letter,” assessment/testing, or other health-related service online without the benefit of meeting in person with a clinician:
Is the clinician licensed to provide the services he offers?
Is the clinician licensed where the consumer is located? Healthcare licensing boards around the country take the position that providers need to be licensed where the patient/consumer is, as well as in the state where the provider is located. Otherwise, Bossolo says, that provider could be liable for practicing in another state without a license.
Is the testing/assessment designed to be conducted online? Most psychological test instruments are designed to be conducted in person.
According to Rudek, it’s highly unlikely that anyone would ever need to legitimately rely on a paid service in order to obtain a letter for an emotional-support animal. Why? Because to legally qualify for an emotional-support animal, one must meet the legal definition of disabled, in which case the person is most likely already under the care of a medical professional who would be able to provide a letter.
If you consider paying for a “prescription letter,” you probably don’t legally qualify for one. It’s no different than parking in a handicapped spot when you don’t legally qualify for the special parking. It’s dishonest, and potentially further complicates life for those who live with various disabilities.
We have published articles, blog posts (on the WDJ website), and posts on the WDJ Facebook page about service dogs and dogs who serve as emotional-support animals (ESAs) a number of times. In every instance, a number of people have commented that there is a scourge of “fake” service dogs appearing in all sorts of places where non-service animals are not permitted. The alleged phenomenon makes people furious – both on behalf of the genuinely disabled, whose hard-working “real” service dogs are sometimes rudely interrupted by bad behavior from dogs who have no right to be in the same place, and out of a sense of injustice.
Many (most?) of us who do not have disabilities and do have well-behaved dogs would love to be able to take our dogs with us into grocery stores, shopping malls, banks, restaurants, trains, planes, and so on. On first blush, we may feel angry toward those people who appear to be able-bodied but are accompanied by a dog in a place where dogs are not normally permitted, thinking they are “cheating,” but I bet our resentment is tinged with a fair amount of envy, too.
Maybe I should just speak for myself. I’d love to bring my dog with me when I’m running errands, meeting friends for dinner out, and flying to a vacation destination. I do envy people who can be accompanied by their dogs in all of these places.
But if I allow myself to experience that feeling of envy for just a moment longer – if I think about the situation more deeply for just a minute – I feel ashamed. Some of the things that those able bodied-appearing people are dealing with would flatten me with despair. Would it be nice for me to take my dog into the bank with me? Sure. Would it be nice for that pretty young woman to be able to go to the bank without having to procure, train, manage, care for, and pay for an assistive aid that enables her to go to the bank without fearing that she might pass out, fall, and not be able to get up? Yeah, I bet that would be far nicer.
It may be galling to suspect that the person you see with a dog in a place where dogs are not allowed is a faker, that she has no disability. But given the fact that the vast majority of disabilities are invisible, the odds are good that you are just plain wrong, that the person has a great reason to be accompanied by her dog.
Badly behaved dogs are another story. Anyone who brings a dog into a public place is responsible for that dog’s behavior. Disabled or not, no one should have a right to inflict a loud, aggressive, or otherwise inappropriate dog on the general public – not to mention, the small, young, frail, elderly, vulnerable members of society. Ask any disabled person if his or her service dog has ever been attacked or at least approached by an unleashed, out-of-control dog; I haven’t met any service-dog handler yet who hasn’t had at least one of these frightening experiences.
With the article, “Service, Please” trainer Stephanie Colman offers a wealth of information about assistance dogs, and what to do if you see a badly behaved one in public. Let us know what you think about it all.
Recently, I found myself with too many dogs who needed exercise, and not enough time to put in the miles that could have worked off all that excess energy. I rooted through the dog-toy baskets in my office, looking for things I could throw for the pack to fetch. I used to have a Chuckit! tennis ball launcher, but some puppy or other chewed up the part that holds the tennis ball, so I threw it away and hadn’t yet replaced it. Then I remembered that I had bought a very similar device that is used for launching small rubber discs for dogs to chase: the Winga.
The Winga is made by Kurgo, a company that I’m more familiar with as the maker and seller of travel-related products for dog owners. I wasn’t aware they had branched out into toys until I saw the Winga in a pet supply store and thought I would give it a try. The device had been sitting on my kitchen table for weeks; I hadn’t yet been inspired to take it to the large open space that I imagined was required to properly use it.
Sitting next to the Winga on my table was a product my husband had dug out of a trunk in the closet: a hand-held clay pigeon thrower. When he had seen the Winga, he commented that it looked similar to a device he used ages ago to throw clay pigeons into the air for trap shooting. (Please note that clay “pigeons” are small discs made out of clay.)
My husband has a good memory; the clay pigeon thrower was remarkably similar to the Winga – and the discs included with the Winga were near replicas (except for being made out of a rubbery material, rather than clay) of his old targets. It appears that someone at Kurgo had the idea that the clay pigeon thrower could be repurposed with very few design changes, and used to throw toys a long way for dogs to chase.
Flinging the Winga
I was a tad skeptical that the rubber discs could be flung out of the Winga with as much speed and distance as the clay pigeons; I was certain that the rubbery texture of the discs wouldn’t allow them to fly out of the thrower as cleanly or quickly as hard clay discs. I was especially skeptical after loading one of the discs into the Winga; they fit very snugly.
On the other hand, I have problems with my shoulder that prevent me from throwing a ball or disc very far, so I grabbed the Winga and the two discs it came with, and headed with the dogs to an open grass playing field.
My first throw or two seemed to confirm my suspicions that the rubbery discs wouldn’t be able to leave the thrower cleanly enough to make its use worthwhile. I said to the dogs, “Ready?” and I used a gesture similar to the one I’d used with the Chuckit!. The disc barely flew 10 feet. My dogs said, “Seriously? That’s it?”
I looked at the package for hints. Included in the directions (which of course I hadn’t read first) was this: “Swing your arm as if you were swinging a tennis racket . . .” Despite the fact that there are a lot of ways to swing a tennis racket (forehand, backhand, overhead . . . ), something finally did light up in my brain. I realized that I should be swinging my arm sideways, in a swing like a tennis player’s forehand. And it only makes sense, because if you think of the disc as a Frisbee, you would want to throw it from a position in which the disc was parallel to the ground, so it flies flat and fast. When you do it like that – Winga! – the little discs really fly far.
The discs
We’ve written about worrisome materials in dog toys before (see “Why Vinyl Stinks,” WDJ April 2008), so I called Kurgo to find out what the discs are made of (the package says only that they are “nontoxic”). A representative told me that the material is a BPA-free thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) – a safe rubber-like material. I looked for information suggesting that this sort of material is actually unsafe, and couldn’t find anything credible. But, as with any plastic or rubber toy that your dog will have in his mouth, I’d warn dog owners to use these discs just for games of fetch; don’t allow your dog to chew or consume pieces of the disc.
If you happen to have one of those old clay pigeon throwers laying around, buy some discs from Kurgo and use the thrower you have. If you don’t, buy a Winga with its two discs – and maybe some spares; they are small enough that they can be hard to find if your dog doesn’t see where they landed. Then, head out for a big, open field with your fetchaholic dog, and have a blast!
Adding a new dog to the family is always a significant event. I recently realized that there is a finite number of new dogs in my and my husband’s future, and it made adopting our latest new one take on even more significance. Plus, as a trainer, I’m under a certain amount of added pressure to “do it right.” People might be watching, and what if I mess it up? So, as we prepared to add an Australian Kelpie from a rescue group to our family, I reviewed the advice I’ve given to other new dog owners over the years, and made sure we applied it to our own situation.
First impressions
For starters, as I recommended in “How to Prevent a Bad Adoption” (WDJ May 2015), my husband Paul and I planned to wait until we found the right dog for us, and to meet the dog to confirm this choice before committing to the adoption. Paul and I had agreed that if, when we drove five hours to go meet the dog, we did not find him to be as represented by his rescuers (friendly, happy, outgoing), we would come home without him.
We also knew that we would have to temper our own excitement when meeting him so we didn’t overwhelm him with silly primate behaviors like direct eye contact, patting, and hugging.
We needn’t have worried on either count. He was just as wildly enthusiastic about greeting us as we were about meeting him. He looked confidently into our eyes, and welcomed any attention we offered.
Reading Canine Body Language
After our mutually enthusiastic greeting, we took a step back to observe Kai a little more carefully. Everything we saw confirmed what we had hoped. He stood tall and forward, taking everything in stride with a happy, swishing tail. He sought human interaction, both from us and the two rescue workers he was already familiar with, playing no favorites. He eagerly gobbled the treats we offered (dogs who are highly food motivated are easier to train than dogs who are not as interested in food), and lured to a down easily. He caught tossed treats in mid-air and easily leaped onto a raised surface when invited. He did not appear in the least concerned about the numerous other rescue dogs outside the windows on both sides of the room we were in. Confident and well socialized, slender, agile, and healthy – check!
Suggested Resource:
The Language of Dogs
by Sarah Kalnajs
(2006 DVD)
Proper Identification
It’s never too soon to equip your new dog with multiple forms of identification. Kai came with an ID tag from his rescue, but we filled out a Jiffy Tag we had brought with us and attached it before we even loaded him into the car. Jiffy Tags are handy, instant pet ID tags that you seal in plastic. You just write your information on the two-sided paper tag, then seal it between two pieces of clear, hard, adhesive plastic, and then use a regular metal ring to attach it to the dog’s collar.
Kai was already microchipped by the rescue, but we registered the microchip in our name online when we got home. We also added a current rabies tag and county dog license in short order.
Suggested Resource:
Jiffy Tags
from Animal Care Equipment & Services
(800) 338-2237; animal-care.com
Introductions
If you’re an animal lover like me, chances are your new dog isn’t your only animal companion. Proper introductions to the rest of your family members can go a long way toward a harmonious future. We may have more animal family members than most people; we have three other dogs, seven cats, six chickens, a pot-bellied pig, six horses of our own, and seven horses boarded.
When we were meeting Kai for the first time, we asked if the rescue staff could bring a cat into the get-acquainted room, to make sure our prospective family member wasn’t a dedicated cat hater. That introduction went well, so we figured we were on solid ground with the cats.
We had seen that Kai was good with other dogs at the rescue. It’s ideal to introduce a new dog to your current canine family in a neutral fenced area; absent this, we made do with our indoor riding arena. We started with Lucy, our 11-year-old Cardigan Corgi, who is the queen of the farm. Lucy can be inappropriately pushy and assertive, so we figured we’d get the hardest introduction over with first.
As is my custom, we first allowed the dogs to see each other, on leashes, from opposite sides of the arena. Then we approached to a distance of about 10 feet, and, when the dogs’ body language looked reasonable (interested, happy, alert, excited), we dropped the leashes and let the two dogs meet. All went well. Despite his confident personality, Kai immediately deferred to the Queen, and has continued to do so ever since, even when she rudely grabbed his chewie.
Even though he’s deferent when Lucy is being bossy, he’s also playful and irreverent. In fact, last week he grew so bold as to dash past her at top speed and grab a stick from her mouth! He was so fast, that by the time she realized it and launched after him he was far out of her reach. No dog has ever done that before and escaped unscathed.
It was a breeze to introduce Kai to 10-year-old Bonnie, a Scotti/Corgi/Poodle-mix; she pretty much loves everyone. She plays well with Kai, and even tolerates him nicely when his level of play is a little more energetic than she might like. She occasionally tells him to back off, and he does so.
In the past, our 13-year-old Pomeranian, Scooter, has suffered from hemorrhagic gastroenteritis when introduced to high-energy dogs. We were a little concerned, but we needn’t have been. Kai was very respectful of Scooter, and got the message immediately that Scooter was not going to play with him, so now he doesn’t even try.
Our cats are already pretty dog-savvy, albeit a little cautious due to Lucy’s proclivity to engage in cat herding from time to time. From the demonstration at the rescue, we expected Kai to do well with our cats, and we weren’t disappointed. We simply brought him into the house and let him meet the three house cats as they chose to make their appearance. (We have parts of the house baby-gated so the cats can come and go freely, with the dogs restricted to only certain rooms).
Kai showed a friendly interest in the cats, but no inclination to chase them, and they are already more comfortable with him than they are with Lucy. If we did not have prior information about Kai’s response to cats, we would have made the introductions with Kai on a leash so we could observe his behavior before giving him free access to the cats.
Dorothy the barn cat chose to greet Kai with head bumps (something she never does to Lucy). Kai hasn’t met the three feral cats that live in the lower barn, and we’re in no hurry to have that happen.
Our chickens live in fenced enclosures, so we don’t worry about the dogs (or visiting dogs) grabbing them. Kai shows some interest through the fence at the fluttering creatures, but he’s not intense about it. I’m doing a little counter-conditioning (chickens make chicken happen?) to keep his interest at a healthy level.
Kai is quite taken with Sturgis, our pot-bellied pig. Sturgis, on the other hand, has very little interest in playing with dogs, including Kai. He has quite effectively taught the other three to leave him alone with a couple of well-timed pig lunges, but Kai seems to think Sturgis wants to play when the annoyed pig charges at him. Fortunately, it’s easy to call Kai away from Sturgis, and I am consistently reinforcing incompatible behaviors (sitting for treats and “find it” are behaviors that are incompatible with playing with Sturgis).
So far, the horses have posed the biggest self-control challenge to our new little stock dog. Kai is having difficulty controlling his enthusiasm around the horses, and I am concerned that one might kick and injure him. For a while I was reinforcing an incompatible behavior while leading a horse (this worked well with our now-deceased Scottish Terrier, Dubhy), but Kai couldn’t resist barking and leaping at the large animals. For now, I am managing the situation by putting Kai in a stall when we move horses around during morning barn chores. I will be setting aside some time for more concentrated work on this in the near future.
Almost every new four-legged addition to the Miller family has, in the past, triggered at least one “What have I done?” moment. To his credit, Kai has not. I did, however, experience a reality check upon bringing him into the house for the first time, having just seen him leap straight into the air onto an eight-foot pile of hay bales in the barn. We had three-foot baby gates already in place that would clearly be no match for him if he wanted to sail over them, and our four-foot kitchen counter suddenly looked pitifully low and vulnerable.
We also had no idea if he was housetrained, having just fetched him from a rescue house that contained at least a dozen dogs and smelled strongly of urine. I knew there would be no house freedom for this Kelpie for at least a few days, until we got to know him better.
The leash stayed attached to Kai’s collar at one end, and to me at the other end, for the first two days, except when he was in the barn, the backyard, or crated (the umbilical cord method). Fortunately he was happy to tag along after me, or curl up on a blanket at my feet beneath my desk, and Lucy, who generally considers my office to be exclusively hers, was willing to share. Also fortunately, over those two days, Kai showed no inclination to lift his leg in the house.
At the end of two days I began dropping the leash, still keeping a close eye on our new boy. The drag line would enable me to corral him quickly if necessary. It wasn’t necessary. After a day with the drag line, I took the leash off, and Kai joined the family, a full-fledged free dog. Almost.
Because of his love affair with raised surfaces, we keep the door to the laundry room closed. We have a small freezer in that room, the top of which is cluttered with containers of dog treats, some of them open – no doubt too much of a temptation for our levitating lad. We don’t leave food unattended on kitchen counters, so there’s no temptation there, and we haven’t even seen him try to make that leap. He hasn’t tested the meager three-foot baby gates, thank goodness. However, we did discover that he likes to raid trash cans. Our kitchen receptacle is already covered, as is the one in my office, but we are keeping the living room off limits to Kai unless we are with him, until we get another covered can for that room. It’s already ordered.
Kai quickly fit into the rest of the Miller household routine. He was easily enticed into a crate for a few bits of cheese the first few days, and was soon running into his crate on cue. (He is crated at night and when we are not home.) He didn’t know the “Wait” cue, but with a just few repetitions on the first day he was waiting with Bonnie and Lucy on the stairway landing until I reached the bottom of the stairs and invited them to follow – our standard precaution to prevent the dogs from accidentally tripping us on the stairs. He very quickly generalized the “Wait” cue to doors (barn and house), his food bowl, and other useful opportunities.
He was pleased to discover that dogs are allowed on furniture in the Miller home. From the first day he waited politely for my invitation to jump up and snuggle next to me on the sofa (on my left side – Bonnie gets my right side). I love dog snuggling, so he gets invited a lot.
Suggested Resource:
Do-Over Dogs
by Pat Miller
(2010, Dogwise Publishing)
The Great Outdoors
The biggest challenge about the great outdoors is convincing your dog that he wants to come back to you when you ask him to. There are so many good things to sniff and chase! A solid recall gives you and your dog much more freedom and many more options when you venture out. I started practicing recalls with Kai his first day home.
Confession: I did fail to follow my own excellent advice about fences. I knew that our four-foot fence wouldn’t contain Kai if he decided to go over, but didn’t even think about the fact that most of the fence was in pretty poor repair.
During his first week with us, probably about the fifth day, I had stashed Bonnie and Kai in the yard after morning farm chores while I went to the lower barn to feed our chickens. Suddenly I heard a ka-thump sound, and a brown streak was racing across the yard. Kai was loose! I had several days of practicing recalls with him in the barn, but he was loose! Fortunately, he did one lap around the yard and then came directly to me. Of course I showered him with the treats that I always carry in my pockets.
I prayed he had found a loose board, and not jumped the fence. It would be much easier to fix the fence than raise it. Fortunately that proved to be the case. Paul fixed the fence that day, and Kai hasn’t escaped since.
I have, however, taken him on many hikes around the farm, to one field in particular that is surrounded on three sides by a healthy creek. I discovered that Kai doesn’t like to get his feet wet, so this field is effectively fenced on three sides for Kai. I started with Kai on a long line, doing lots of recalls, then worked up to dropping the long line while we hiked around this field, still keeping him close to me by calling him back frequently, and rewarding with high-value treats. Eventually I was comfortable allowing him free run of this field, off-leash. He is proving to have a pretty reliable recall, and we are about to take the next step: off leash in slightly less-protected areas of the farm. I am confident that in short order we will be comfortable having Kai accompany us off leash anywhere on the farm.
Of course I would enroll Kai in a training class . . . but where? We had a new seven-week Basic Good Manners Class starting here at Peaceable Paws with trainer Jill Friefeld, CPDT-KA, just a week after Kai came home, so I signed him up. We graduated last week, and earned honors for the “Fastest Recall.” A past Peaceable Paws trainer, Laura Nalven, CPDT-KA, PMCT, has just opened up her own training business in nearby Hagerstown, and we’re signed up for her first class starting June 3rd, at Atta Pup! Dog and Puppy Training. We’re also attending her Canine Games Night once a month, for added fun and social exposure. It’s far too easy for a farm dog, even one at Peaceable Paws, to lose sight of all the stimulation and entertainment the rest of the world has to offer.
After that, who knows? He has passed his first days with flying colors. Maybe we should do Herding. Or Rally. Or Freestyle. Or Agility. Maybe we’ll delve deeper into Imitation Training. It’s still early days (exactly two months since the little red Kelpie joined our family), and with a dog as brilliant and solid as Kai, the sky’s the limit. We’ll keep you posted. But even more important… even if he never does anything more than live on the farm, we are totally, completely and utterly smitten with our new boy. Which is how it should be.
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A short blog post today, to remind myself (and perhaps others) of something so simple I forget it all the time: When a dog is having trouble learning something, “pose the question” differently!
Case in point: I’m fostering a puppy, about six months old and about 40 pounds. When I brought him home from my local shelter, he was terrified of the car. A week later, he’s now much more comfortable in the car, but (until yesterday) he was still reluctant to approach it, even when being lured with treats and toys.
My office is in a house that’s three blocks from where I live, and I rent other rooms in the house to students. I drive my car back and forth in that three-block “commute” several times a day – ridiculous, I know, but when I’m toting my laptop and/or camera, my own two dogs and a foster dog or two, and a sandwich or coffee, it’s often easier to pile everything into my car and drive. (When I have time and nothing to carry, the dogs and I all walk from one house to the other, of course.)
My car is a hatchback, and there is ample space behind the seats for my dogs on this short drive. But the back bumper of the car is sort of high, and while I’m certain the puppy is capable of jumping into the back of the car (given that tiny Tito can do it), he is too daunted to even try. So, I have been lifting him up and place him in the car.
After five or six days of this commute, my current foster puppy learned that his fun quotient will drastically increase when the short car ride is over; all the dogs jump into the car, and about a minute later, we all get out and do something else. He will now approach the car with interest, but he absolutely wants nothing to do with hopping into the “way back” of the car with the other dogs, even when I’m waving his favorite treats or toys under his nose.
I was discussing this with a friend who has volunteered to foster him next, in the context of “he’s doing so great, but we have a thing or two to work on,” when she mentioned that she will have to get a ramp ready; she had back surgery not long ago and can’t lift a dog of his size yet. Shoot!, I thought, anticipating that it might be a challenge to teach him to walk up a ramp, too. And then it struck me: Why don’t I see if he would be more willing to get into the car from one of the side doors? The floor of the back seat is quite low, and perhaps he’d approach that spot more willingly.
It took ONE luring session to convince him that the floor of the back seat was a nice, safe space for him to jump up into and ride in. Now the whole troop, puppy included, runs to the car, and when I open the back hatch AND the side door, everyone jumps in on their own. Problem solved.
But why didn’t I think of that days ago? Because I was “set” on the way I usually do things: opening only the hatch, and having all the dogs jump in the way back. I wasn’t thinking like a dog trainer ¬- excusable, maybe, since I’m NOT a dog trainer, just an editor who writes about dog training. But after this much time of writing about dog training, seriously? Five days of not thinking outside the box with this puppy? Continuing to do something that wasn’t working all that well? It was only when my friend mentioned her specific needs for the puppy that I considered trying something different, and that something worked immediately. And why wouldn’t it? He’s a bright puppy! He’s learning all sorts of other skills daily.
Anyone who has ever studied a foreign language – or even higher math – knows that when you don’t understand a concept or phrase, it’s no good having the instructor repeat that concept or phrase over and over again. If you don’t get it, having the instructor repeat it verbatim (and perhaps louder) is unlikely to help you understand. But if the instructor puts the question a different way, shows you an alternate solution to the problem, uses a slightly different phrase to explain the concept, AH, RIGHT! Often the light bulb goes on in your head.
Dogs are no different; they can’t all learn everything in exactly the same way. As your dog’s “instructor,” be creative, and don’t “teach by rote.” If your otherwise smart (or at least willing) dog is stuck on some concept, look for a new way to teach it to him. Ask a dog-savvy friend or friendly trainer for ideas on an alternate approach. Just put the “question” to your dog differently, and see if the light bulb goes on.
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?”
