Subscribe

The best in health, wellness, and positive training from America’s leading dog experts

Home Blog Page 207

10 Ways to Make Your Old Dog Comfortable

By
Cindy Foley
-
4

Sometimes we don’t want to admit our dog is aging. We ignore the graying muzzle and scoff at the idea of a “senior dog food.” After all, we’re both still running and playing and having fun . . . who’s old? But the truth of the matter is that the best thing we can do for our dogs and for ourselves is look aging right in the face. We need to become highly tuned to the subtle changes in our dog’s behavior and receptive to ways to improve his life – and ours.

You can employ the following 10 management and lifestyle changes to help your senior dog live longer and more comfortably, so you can both thoroughly enjoy his remaining years.

old german shorthaired pointer

1. Increase your home’s accessibility to limited-mobility dogs.

We didn’t immediately pick up on one of the first signs of aging in our Papillon, Raven: his increasing reluctance to enter or cross through our kitchen. He’d always been happy to walk into it before! It finally occurred to us that his issue had to do with the flooring. We placed a non-skid carpet runner in the kitchen, and Raven again trots happily into and through the room. We hadn’t thought of his age as old enough for this to be the cause of his apprehension, but, clearly, it was!

Puppies seem to enjoy slipping and sliding on slippery floors, but any little slip may spell significant pain for senior dogs, so much so that they begin to avoid uncarpeted or especially smooth flooring. At this time in your dog’s life, it’s important to stop and address these potential sources of his discomfort.

Another typical problem involves heights, such as climbing stairs or hopping in and out of the car. If your dog has always enjoyed rides in the car in the past, but begins hanging back when you pick up your car keys, consider getting a portable ramp! There are a number of companies that offer dog/car ramps that fold or telescope out of the way when they’re not in use.

Before you purchase one, though, take the time to measure your car; don’t guess, because you could end up with a ramp angle that is too steep or difficult for your dog. Petclassics.com, an online source of ramps and steps for older dogs, provides a handy chart that shows how long a ramp needs to be in order to provide a navigable angle for cars of various heights. For example, it shows that if your car is 22 inches high, you’d need a 6-foot ramp in order to achieve a fairly easy 18-degree ramp angle for your older dog. Some of the far shorter ramps on the market won’t help matters at all.

2. Provide your senior dog with regular exercise.

This becomes more and more important as your dog ages. Moderation is key. Too much and problems can worsen; too little won’t support muscle development. “Regular walks and park visits help keep your dog’s muscles strong and supple, prevent obesity, or stimulate her appetite as needed, as well as improve her mood and prevent anxiety and boredom,” says Jenny Taylor, DVM, owner of the Creature Comfort Holistic Veterinary Center in Oakland, California.

3. Buckle up when riding in the car.

By the way, if you’re driving your dog to your favorite hiking trail or park, be sure to use a safe seat belt and harness when driving with your dog. “Many older dogs are mellow and used to car rides but still need protection in the car for even the shortest drives,” says Dr. Taylor. (See “Our Safety Harness Recommendation,” WDJ January 2015.)

4. Provide your dog with better protection from weather extremes.

Discomfort with extreme weather may surface in your dog’s senior years, even if he’s never had a problem with heat or cold before. In winter, he may benefit from a fleece blanket and dog boots (for snow or ice). Indoors, consider a Back on Track coat (see “A Healing Coat,” February 2015), which offers double the bang for your buck, helping to keep him warmer in the house and sending that warmth back into his achy body, helping with musculoskeletal stiffness.

In the summer, be sure your dog can get into shade and has fresh, cool water. There are cooling coats and beds on the market – many of which do a good job – but a simple hosing can be welcome relief when he’s hot (indicated by panting with a very wide tongue). Be sure to hose the dog’s underside, especially the groin area; wetting only his coat will do little to cool him and may even make him temporarily warmer. Kiddie pools can be great fun, too, especially for water-loving dogs like Labradors.

5. Provide a better bed for your aging dog.

Many young dogs happily sprawl out on the floor – even hardwood floors! – and dream away. As your dog ages, though, he’s more likely to become stiff from snoozing on such unforgiving surfaces. It’s time to consider a super-thick orthopedic dog bed. A thick, warm bed provides a lot of joint support and comfort to an aching body.

6. Spring for some supportive canine therapy.

“If your older dog is limping or seems stiff and painful, there are a number of effective, safe, natural alternatives to conventional pain medication for her pain,” says Dr. Taylor. The following alternative veterinary treatments are growing in popularity because they work without the side effects sometimes caused by prescription pain medications:

– Laser therapy is a cost-effective way to put the bounce back in your senior’s walk. With a class IV cold-laser device, your veterinarian can treat acute and chronic injuries, arthritis, muscle pulls, and other sources of pain. Laser therapy can also promote healing after surgery or an injury. As an overall therapy, the cost should is reasonable. Some clinics even offer package-session discounts. But shop around, as we’ve seen huge variations in cost among local veterinary clinics.

– Even dogs who don’t like water learn to love hydrotherapy, which may include swimming in a warm pool and underwater treadmill work. Benefits are widespread: relieving pain without stressing joints, building cardiovascular health and core strength, helping with proprioception and body awareness.

– Acupuncture can give the dog a better sense of well being, especially with chronic problems. Veterinarians see success with acupuncture in cases of neurologic disorders, musculoskeletal problems, respiratory ailments, gastrointestinal problems, and more. Only very fine needles are used in acupuncture, and most dogs take to it very well, some even sleeping during a session. (See “Using Veterinary Acupuncture,” Nov. 2013.)

– Veterinary physical therapy (PT) is an excellent choice – if you can get in for an appointment. The field is exploding as demand is huge. Animal PT is all about helping the patient regain body function, just as it is in human PT. Under the direction of a veterinarian, a good physical therapist will focus on your dog’s individual needs, offering a rehab program tailored to his problem. It may include physical therapy, hydrotherapy, therapeutic massage and exercise, joint mobilization, and more. With an active owner who maintains the required home therapy between sessions, PT can make a world of difference.

7. Add supplements to your senior dog’s diet.

There are a few supplements that are especially beneficial for senior dogs. Fish oil is widely recommended by veterinarians for its many benefits, including healthy coat and skin and joint support. (See “The Benefits of Fish Oil to Your Dog’s Health,” September 2012.) For moderate arthritis, use dosages that are at the higher end of label recommendations.

A combination glucosamine and chondroitin supplement is the most frequently recommended one for arthritic dogs. Don’t wait until your older dog becomes stiff before trying it, though; these products work better as preventives than as therapies. Note: If your dog is allergic to shellfish, check the label, as many of these supplements are sourced from shellfish.

The trick is to ensure your dog consumes enough of the active ingredients to get the job done. The dosage varies with the dog’s weight and the supporting ingredients in the product, but you want a generous “loading dose” (about twice the normal dosage) to begin with, at least about 500 mg glucosamine and 400 mg chondroitin per 25 pounds of the dog’s body weight, given twice a day. This jump-starts results, so you should begin to see improvement in a couple of weeks; at that point, you may be able to decrease the dosage and maintain the supplement’s efficacy.

Don’t count on your dog’s food to supply joint-support supplements, even if the bag label lists glucosamine or a similar ingredient. Compare the guaranteed dosage on the food label with the suggested dosage above; rarely do these foods contain enough of these ingredients to make a real difference to your dog.

Another supplement to consider is hyaluronic acid (HA), a major component of the lubricating fluid in your dog’s (and your own!) joints. It’s the new kid on the block for joint support, and one that many veterinarians are excited about. Originally used as a joint injection, an oral supplement of HA increases the presence of HA and the synovial fluid viscosity, making movement smoother. Some veterinarians find that liquid HA supplements, like Trixsyn, provide faster, more reliable relief than powdered products, although both produce results.

old german shepherd

8. Practice good grooming.

We all know our dogs need to be groomed regularly, but your geriatric pal may need some special help. If your dog comes in from relieving himself with debris remaining on his behind, consider a closer haircut back there the next time you clip him or have him groomed.

By the way, the most important part of a good grooming session may be checking your dog’s nails for excess growth and clipping them (or having them clipped, if you are unwilling or unable to do it). Even a dog who “never needed a nail trim” in his youth may need to be clipped. That’s because the nails get less wear with his naturally lower level of activity. Long nails can cause pain to your dog and make him reluctant to exercise, starting a downward cycle of health.

9. Do a lump-and-bump check when you groom your dog.

If you become familiar with your dog’s normal body, you will more quickly notice new growths. This is critical, as the incidence of growths increases as your dog ages. The sooner you catch a bump, the better. If it must be removed, the smaller the spot, the easier the surgery and the faster your dog will heal. Yes, a lump might be a harmless fat deposit, but it could also be a malignant growth.

10. Adjust his diet.

All aging dogs benefit from food that’s easier to digest, and many need you to reduce their caloric intake to maintain a healthy body weight. “Weight gain can make it more difficult for your older dog to walk, stand, or jump, and reluctant to go on walks,” said Dr. Taylor.

That said, if you have to feed your dog a lot less than the amount recommended on his food’s label, in order to limit his caloric intake, he may not be consuming optimal levels of vitamins and minerals, and a supplement may be needed to make up the difference. Discuss this option with your veterinarian, as adding something you don’t need is hard on your wallet – and your dog.

Your senior dog may also need you to wet his food to help avoid constipation, or to make it easier to chew. A switch from dry to canned food can improve matters greatly for many senior dogs, thanks to its increased moisture content (good for kidneys) and higher-quality protein sources.

Finally, if your senior dog’s appetite wanes, he’s probably not being “picky,” but suffering from a growing health problem. Report this to your veterinarian.

Freelance writer Cynthia Foley is an experienced dog agility competitor. She lives in upstate New York.

Striving to Stay Positive (in Dog Training)

By
Nancy Kerns
-
0

Whole Dog Journal editor Nancy Kerns

Did you know there are still “Nazis” fighting a war? Supposedly, the war is in the dog world, and it’s being fought for the hearts and minds of dog owners over training methods. Apparently, the Nazis – they are scornfully referred to as “Pozzie Nazis” – are on one side, and people who call themselves “balanced” – but who are derided as “brute force trainers” – are on the other. Well, folks, call us Switzerland, because we just won’t fight. Give peace a chance, shall we?

In this publication, we are openly biased toward so-called positive dog training, a.k.a. dog-friendly training, a.k.a. non-force training . . . you get the idea. We strongly believe that you don’t need force or pain to train a dog, and while we recognize that force and pain can be effective in training, in our opinion, it’s not moral, ethical, or defensible.

That said, we make it a point to refrain from denigrating those who use force and or/pain to train dogs. It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever to advocate training methods that stress respect, learning theory, and kindness, and then go out of one’s way to bash anyone who trains differently.

Some people enjoy discussion and debate about the pros and cons of various dog-training methods, and will gladly spend days composing long emails that attempt to explain or defend their favorite training techniques. We are not those people. We’d rather just promote the methods that we admire and recommend, based on their ease of use, effectiveness, respect for the dog, and low potential for unwanted “side effects.”

There are other publications and forums that explain, promote, and discuss other styles of training; there may even be some that publish information about all styles and schools of dog training in a sort of neutral way, with the goal of “letting the readers decide” which type of training they want to pursue or practice. That’s not us, either; we do have a mission, and that’s promoting training that occurs without pain or force.

At the same time, we want WDJ to be a “safe place” for people who train differently. We don’t criticize methods that employ force in these pages, on our website, or on our Facebook page, and we discourage our readers from disparaging them on our pages, too. After all, many people who subscribe to WDJ do so for the articles on health and safety and nutrition; they tolerate the articles that promote training methods they don’t like because they value our food and gear reviews and in-depth articles on effective healthcare solutions. Respect!

In our view, there is no reason to call names or fight; there is no war – and even if there were, who has time to fight? Not us! We’d rather spend that time taking our dogs for a walk, or sharing information with you about how we taught our dogs to be so fun and safe to walk with.

Whole Dog Journal editor Nancy Kerns

High Pressure Processing in Raw Dog Food

By
Nancy Kerns
-
0

Were you aware that, according to Federal law, it’s okay for a certain percentage of the chicken you buy in the supermarket to contain some Salmonella bacteria? The legally acceptable amount depends on the kind of chicken we’re talking about; if we’re talking about whole raw broiler chickens, up to 9.8 percent could be infected, but if we’re considering raw chicken parts, the number is even higher. In fact, up to 15.4 percent of the raw chicken parts may contain that pathogenic bacteria, without setting off any sort of recall or hysteria. In contrast, even a single positive test for Salmonella in raw dog food triggers a recall and headlines and a certain amount of hysteria among dog owners. What gives?

choosing raw meat for your dog

© Dmitrimaruta | Dreamstime.com

Let’s Start at the Beginning. All food-source animals (cows, pigs, poultry, etc.) are capable of harboring bacteria in their digestive tracts that can be pathogenic (capable of causing illness) to humans. The bacteria range in their ability to cause illness in humans who consume them; some are more deadly than others. The most common causes of foodbourne illness are Salmonella and Campylobacter; the most dangerous are Listeria and Escherichia coli.

The more animals that come into contact with each other as they are grown on a food-production facility, the more of them will become hosts to these bacteria. As infected animals are slaughtered and their digestive tracts are removed in processing of their carcasses, a certain amount of this pathogenic bacteria gets splashed about.

The farmers who raise animals take steps to reduce the amount of feces that the animals live in, and slaughterhouse workers strive to reduce the amount of feces that’s on the outside of the animals (as well as the stomach and intestinal content) from getting on the animals’ carcass. But it’s frankly impossible to keep all the poop and meat separate, especially at the fast rate of modern slaughter facilities.

Who Keeps the Meat Clean?

The United States Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA FSIS) is the government agency responsible for is responsible for verifying that “the nation’s commercial supply of meat, poultry, and egg products is safe, wholesome, and properly labeled and packaged.” FSIS regulations are constantly shaped and revised as inspections and tests made on samples pulled from the processing lines and stores gauge how well meat industry practices – from production to slaughter and on through processing, packaging, and sale – are performing in terms of delivering safe food.

Illness caused by the consumption of pathogenic bacteria on our food exacts a cost on society, in terms of everything from decreased production when workers are home sick and medical bills for sick people, to the death of the most vulnerable people who become ill. According to the Food Policy Research Center at the University of Minnesota, each year, an estimated one million illnesses, 19,000 hospitalizations, and more than 350 deaths are attributed to Salmonella in the U.S. Our government, then, has a vested interest in continually tinkering with the regulations that in place to protect its citizens.

Change in Federal Law

The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA, pronounced fizz-ma) passed into law in 2011 attempts to dramatically decrease the numbers of human illnesses caused by foodbourne bacteria via dozens of dozens of small ways. One of those ways was to institute a zero-tolerance policy for Salmonella in “ready to eat” foods – products that are presented to consumers as requiring no further cooking in order to make them safe to handle and eat.

A zero-tolerance policy means that presence of the bacteria on a food product (in any amount and at any point in time) is considered adulteration, which makes the product subject to immediate regulatory action. And this is why up to 15 percent of the chicken parts in your supermarket may contain Salmonella, but your dog’s food would be recalled for the same thing.

It’s well understood that you are going to take raw chicken home and cook it, thus killing any pathogenic bacteria that may be on it before you eat it. In contrast, dog food is presented to the consumer as “ready to eat” – even though most people understand that dog food is actually ready to serve, to dogs . . . . But since dog food is, in fact, meant to be served by humans in our homes (to dogs) without cooking, it must meet the rules for “ready to eat” products; it must not contain any pathogenic bacteria (of any kind, not just Salmonella) – which we have already established is ubiquitous in our nation’s food supply.

By the way, though the main focus of the rest of this article is dog food that contains raw meat, so far, everything that has been covered here so far applies to every type of dog food that is sold with a label indicating it can be served as-is to a dog. This is why so many dry dog foods have been recalled in the past couple of years since the “zero tolerance” rule took effect; previously, only cases of actual illness (human or canine) definitely caused by exposure to one of these pathogenic bacteria in food would elicit a recall.

Raw Dog Food

Cooking kills bacteria. Any pathogenic bacteria present in the raw ingredients of dry and canned dog food are killed in the “cook” step of the food (baking, extrusion, or canning). Bacteria may be inadvertently reintroduced after the cook step of dry dog foods, such as when the kibble is coated with oil or during the drying or packaging of the product, and this explains how dry foods have been recalled for the presence of Salmonella.

But the point of raw-food diets for dogs is that they contain raw meat – and again, though it’s tiresome to belabor the point, it’s been well-established that a certain percentage of even the highest-quality raw meat that you can buy in grocery stores has bacteria in it.

Remember, experienced raw feeders, as they are known, are not afraid that these bacteria will harm their dogs; canine have been eating pathogen-covered food for millennia. (As it is often observed, this is an animal that licks his own behind and still thrives.) Dogs have much sturdier digestive tracts than humans, and only very rarely have a problem eating food that is contaminated with these bacteria, such as when their immune systems have been compromised by illness or chemotherapy. And as long as you practice good basic kitchen hygiene and food safety practices, you really don’t have to worry about your family getting sick, either.

It sure seems like a set-up. How can any manufacturer of raw dog food avoid having to face any number of recalls per year due to positive tests for Salmonella?

Well, there are a couple of ways to kill bacteria that don’t require cooking the meat. One is irradiation; the other is high pressure processing (HPP). We’re not big fans of the first one, but we have begun to embrace HPP. Food manufacturers are divided about it; some consider HPP as the technology that is going to save the raw-foods industry, and others see it as a process that ruins the unique and beneficial qualities of raw food.

HPP, By Any Other Name

It’s interesting that while the initials used to refer to this process are always the same – HPP – the words they stand for are reported variably, as:

– High Pressure Processing

– High Pressure Pascalization (after Blaise Pascal, a 17th century French scientist who experimented with water pressure)

– High Pressure Pasteurization (after Louis Pasteur, a 19th century French chemist and microbiologist)

– High Hydrostatic Pressure (sometimes appears correctly as HHP, but sometimes HPP is used as an inaccurate acronym for this phrase)

Back up a second: A 17th century scientist was messing around with this technology? Sort of; it took a number of years and a number of people to put all the pieces together:

– Pascal conducted a number of experiments to increase our understanding of how water can be pressurized in sealed containers.

– The first person to understand the presence and role of microorganisms in food was another Frenchman, Louis Pasteur. In 1857 he demonstrated that the souring of milk was caused by microorganisms, and that killing the microorganisms present in food made it last far longer. Pasteur and first patented a method of killing microorganisms with heat – Pasteurization – in 1860.

choosing raw meat for your dog

© Dmitrimaruta | Dreamstime.com

– The first experiments into the effects of high pressure on microorganisms were recorded in 1884. B.H. Hite, an American scientist studying at the West Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station, published a study on “The Effect of Pressure in the Preservation of Milk” in 1899. In 1914, he published a comprehensive report on using high pressure to kill microorganisms in other foods.

– In 1990, the first commercial food products processed with high pressure used to inactivate bacteria came on the market. The technique gained popularity in Japan, where it has been widely used in the production of jam and jelly and seafood.

Modern Use

Today, HPP is accomplished this way: Big water tanks, built to withstand monster pressures, serve as the foundation of the process. Food that is either already prepared and packaged for sale in sealed, flexible plastic material, or sealed in an intermediary flexible package, is stuffed into a cylinder or a net that will be immersed in the center of one of the tanks. Whether a net or a core cylinder is used depends on the machine; in either event, it is stuffed with products and contains them while immersed in the tank. Water completely surrounds the sealed food packages.

Once the cylinder that’s holding the food products is in position, the tank is sealed. Then cold water is pumped into the tank at extreme pressures. The goal is to completely inactivate any live microorganisms that might be present in the food. This is partially accomplished by literally squishing the bacteria to death, but the sudden release of the pressure within the tank is also significant; some bacteria can withstand the high pressure, but not its sudden release.

Because the products are surrounded by water, neither the food inside the packages nor the packages themselves become deformed by the massive squishing. You can do a small-scale experiment yourself: Drop a grape into a plastic bottle of water and then re-seal the bottle. Now, squish the bottle with as much force as you can; you will find that the grape retains its shape and condition perfectly, because the pressure that it was subjected to was completely even on all its surfaces, thanks to the water.

Each type of food requires a customized combination of specific pressures and amounts of time in order to inactivate the bacteria potentially present in that food. However, some foods lend themselves to this process better than others; some have cell walls are damaged enough by the process that they become unattractive, and the taste of some foods is altered by the process. High-moisture foods fare best.

As it turns out, the ideal candidate for HPP is meat. It’s a relatively expensive product, so it’s worth the investment of an additional process. It often is contaminated with pathogenic bacteria that, left untreated, can lead to a devastating recall for a food producer, so, again, it’s worth the investment. The process inactivates any pathogenic bacteria in the food – even in the center of a tube of raw, ground meat – but doesn’t alter its appearance or taste.

Meats, both raw and cooked, generally have a relatively short shelf life, limiting how far these products can be shipped to market, and how long they can be offered for sale one they arrive. Meats treated with HPP look and taste fresh two to three times longer than untreated meats.

For this reason, and whether or not you are aware of it, many of the meat products you buy for your family have been treated with HPP. Costco is a huge investor in this technology; it uses HPP on most of its uncooked, marinated, and “ready to eat” meat products, including sausage and cold cuts. But many other “fresh” foods are now routinely subjected to HPP, including guacamole, hummus, salsa, “wet” salads like potato and pasta salad, oysters, soups, and sauces. The human food industry has widely and enthusiastically embraced this technology.

Raw Enough?

Some proponents of raw food diets – including some people who feed raw meat-based diets to their dogs, as well as some people who consume a lot of raw vegetable and fruit juices – are leery of HPP. These advocates of “super raw” foods are concerned that the process may damage nutrients in the food in potentially harmful ways that we don’t yet fully appreciate. They also decry the inactivation of beneficial microorganisms in food treated with HPP.

Most raw food producers get into that industry because they have strong beliefs about the benefits of a minimally processed, “evolutionary” diet. Most are incredibly resistant to subjecting their products to an added process. But the zero-tolerance war on pathogens in the entire raw pet-foods industry has taken a heavy toll on some manufacturers. The changes that they have had to make (in terms of sourcing and processing their raw ingredients) in order to decrease their odds of having a product test positive for pathogenic bacteria have been costly, difficult, and stressful. Even the largest and most successful among them are tiny in comparison to conventional pet food producers; few have the resources to withstand more than one recall of products that test positive for a pathogen they know is quite unlikely to cause illness. (There haven’t been any reports of illness caused by raw dog foods that were recalled due to bacterial contamination.)

But the fact is, historically, pathogens such as Salmonella have caused all sorts of trouble for humans (and a much smaller number of dogs). Many (if not most) conventional veterinarians are dead-set against raw diets, based on fears of pathogenic bacteria; HPP offers a preservative-free, radiation-free method of eliminating that excuse – I mean hazard – completely. And to date, no ill effects have been shown to result from food that has been subjected to HPP.

Raw Welcome

In late 2013, I toured the American Pasteurization Company’s HPP facility in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and have been invited to tour its new Sacramento, California plant. I was highly impressed by the company’s executives’ deep knowledge of, experience with, and enthusiasm for raw dog food diets. Some of the raw pet-food companies on our “approved raw foods” lists are just as happy with other HPP providers. Personally, I feel quite comfortable with the process for raw foods, particularly as an alternative to the potential of losing access to any raw commercial diets.

Nancy Kerns is WDJ’s Editor.

Download the Full April 2015 Issue PDF

By
Nancy Kerns
-
0
…
To continue reading this article or issue you must be a paid subscriber. Sign in
If you are logged in but cannot access this content, a) your subscription may have expired; b) you may have duplicate accounts (emails) in our system. Please check your account status here or contact customer service.

Subscribe

Subscribe to Whole Dog Journal

With your Whole Dog Journal order you’ll get:

  • Immediate access to this article and 20+ years of archives.
  • Recommendations for the best dog food for your dog.
  • Dry food, homemade diets and recipes, dehydrated and raw options, canned food and more.
  • Brands, formulations and ingredients all searchable in an easy-to-use, searchable database.

Plus, you’ll receive training and care guidance to keep your dog healthy and happy. You’ll feed with less stress…train with greater success…and know you are giving your dog the care he deserves.

Subscribe now and save 72%! Its like getting 8 issues free!

Already Subscribed?

Click Here to Sign In | Forgot your password? | Activate Web Access

Proud of my Grand-Dog (and his owner)

By
Nancy Kerns
-
0

Last weekend, I was in the San Francisco Bay Area for a quick overnight trip, taking care of some family business. I didn’t have time on this trip to hang out with my son; we were both very busy and so we only had time to have breakfast together. He suggested we meet at a breakfast spot that has tables outdoors; it was a lovely morning and he wanted to bring his dog, Cole, as he wasn’t going to have much time to spend with Cole later in the day.

I got to the restaurant first and selected a table that is in the middle of the sunny sidewalk in front of the restaurant. A few minutes later, my son parked across the street. I watched him and his dog stroll calmly across the street, but I didn’t call out to either of them; I wanted to see how long it would take Cole to recognize me.  I was the one who pulled him out of my local shelter a year and a half ago, and he’s spent lots of time at my house when my son has been traveling with his sports team.

It was clear that Cole registered only the sight of “people” sitting at the table that my son was leading him toward, and his tail wagged in a friendly, relaxed way as they approached. I sat perfectly still and quiet. He casually sniffed in the direction of my shoe as my son stopped by the table and suddenly, his head came up and his entire demeanor changed. “Oh, it’s you!!” His whole body wagged and he whined and tried to lick my face as I rubbed his shiny shoulders and caressed his silky long hound ears. My son complained, joking, “He was good until he saw you!”

The cool thing was, once past his surprised and enthusiastic greeting, he was good, the entire meal. He lay quietly on the sidewalk behind my son’s chair, and never once begged for food or attention. Several times, people walked by our table, twice leading dogs of their own, and each time, Cole watched them go by but never acted as if he might get up. Instead, he glanced at my son, and seeing no sign that he might be invited to greet the other dog, he looked away from the other dog, indicating clearly that he wasn’t going to interact. My son takes Cole to work with him a few days a week, and it’s obvious they have been practicing this behavior, which is vital for an “office dog” to know. My son occasionally reached down to rub the top of Cole’s head, and even gave Cole a bit of ham a time or two, reinforcing Cole’s calm, composed “down-stay.” He’s just done a bang-up job with this dog, his first “own” dog, and I could not be prouder of both of them.  

(Kennel Cough #1) Kennel Cough and Colds

By
Nancy Kerns
-
0

The two most common afflictions of the respiratory system are the “common cold” and kennel cough. Both of these ailments are usually instigated by any of a number of viruses, often followed by secondary bacterial invasion. The severity of the symptoms varies widely, but in most “colds” they are mild and include wheezing, coughing, reluctance to move, and perhaps a mild fever.

Kennel cough (a.k.a. infectious tracheobronchitis), on the other hand, can produce symptoms that appear extreme, with a dry, hacking cough accompanied by frequent, intense gagging. I’ve had caretakers rush their kennel-coughing dog in to see me, thinking he has a bone caught in his throat. Despite its appearance, a typical case of kennel cough is not life-threatening, and it tends to run its course in a few days to a week or so. But it is a disease that is frustrating for pet and caretaker alike.

Kennel cough results from inflammation of the upper airways. The instigating pathogen may be any number of irritants, viruses, or other microorganisms, or the bacteria Bordetella bronchiseptica may act as a primary pathogen. The prominent clinical sign is paroxysms of a harsh, dry cough, which may be followed by retching and gagging. The cough is easily induced by gentle pressure applied to the larynx or trachea.

Kennel cough should be expected whenever the characteristic cough suddenly develops 5 to 10 days after exposure to other dogs – especially to dogs from a kennel (especially a shelter) environment. Usually the symptoms diminish during the first five days, but the disease may persist for up to 10-20 days. Kennel cough is almost always more annoying (to dog and her caretaker) than it is a serious event.

For advice on preventing kennel cough as well as natural and effective ways to soothe the symptoms, purchase Kennel Cough Prevention and Remedies from Whole Dog Journal.

(Kennel Cough #2) Bordetella Vaccination

By
Nancy Kerns
-
0

Most boarding facilities require proof of Bordetella vaccination for dogs who will be visiting. However, because there are many strains of Bordetella, and because no vaccine protects every patient, some immunized dogs contract tracheobronchitis despite being vaccinated. Veterinary recommendations range from vaccinating every four months to not at all.

“There are two kinds of Bordetella vaccine,” says Stacey Hershman, DVM, a holistic veterinarian in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. “The intranasal vaccine is highly effective and very safe since it is not systemic but goes down the nose into the throat. I do not recommend the injectable vaccine since it can cause negative side effects like lethargy, fever, vomiting, or diarrhea.

“I never vaccinate animals more than once a year for kennel cough, and then only if they are going to a boarding kennel. Kennel cough is not fatal in adult dogs, who usually board, therefore it would be over-vaccinating in my opinion to do it more than once a year. Healthy, strong immune systems are resistant and do not catch it, which is another reason not to vaccinate unless the dog is going to a kennel that requires it.”

No matter what your dog’s vaccination status, a few natural preventives can’t hurt, especially whenever your dog is exposed to dogs with active or recent infections.

For advice on preventing kennel cough as well as natural and effective ways to soothe the symptoms, purchase Kennel Cough Prevention and Remedies from Whole Dog Journal.

(Kennel Cough #3) Clearing the Air

By
Nancy Kerns
-
0

When Faith Thanas, an aromatherapist who lives in Leicester, Massachusetts, adopted a Doberman Pinscher from Louisiana one year after Hurricane Katrina, Sasha arrived in a van carrying 20 rescued dogs. A few days later, she started coughing.

To help soothe Sasha’s throat, Thanas mixed a blend of essential oils to spray in the air around the dog. She started with Ravensare (Cinnamonum camphora), one of the “must have” essential oils listed by Kristen Leigh Bell in her book Holistic Aromatherapy for Animals. As Bell explains, this gentle and tolerable antiviral, antibacterial essential oil supports the immune system and has tonifying effects.

Thanas then added Eucalyptus radiata, the gentlest of the many eucalyptus varieties available. It is known for its antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and expectorant properties. Bell writes, “Due to its gentleness, it is very appropriate for use in blends for animals for congestion, and it makes an excellent room air cleaner, deodorizer, and flea repellent.”

Eucalyptus globulus, the next ingredient, is the eucalyptus commonly found in chest rubs, cough drops, and cough syrups. It has a fresh antiseptic fragrance and, when inhaled, acts as a decongestant.

Thanas added Spike Lavender (Lavendula latifolia) for its powerful antibacterial properties.

After diluting the essential oils, Thanas used a spray bottle to mist the air around Sasha. “The results were instantaneous,” she recalls. “She stopped coughing, she was able to breathe, and she was so much more comfortable.”

For advice on preventing kennel cough as well as natural and effective ways to soothe the symptoms, purchase Kennel Cough Prevention and Remedies from Whole Dog Journal.

(Vaccinations #1) Vaccine Titer Tests

By
Nancy Kerns
-
0

The use of vaccine titer tests can help you decide whether or not your puppy is completely protected from disease after her “puppy shots,” or if your adult dog really needs any more core vaccines.

It’s a similar situation with annual or semi-annual so-called vaccine “boosters” – not many people know much about their dogs’ vaccination status, so they take their veterinarians’ word that their dogs are “due” for more vaccinations.

The truth is, there is no single vaccination protocol that will protect all dogs for all things, without over-vaccinating most of them. Vaccination really ought to be determined on a case-by-case basis, because each dog’s risk factors are unique, based on his age, genetic inheritance, current health, geographic location, and lifestyle.

That said, there is a very useful tool that can help an owner gain solid information about whether her dog is likely to be protected against the most common infectious diseases: the vaccine titer test. Positive test results can also give a dog owner some solid ammunition for countering those who blindly promote (or require, in the case of some boarding or training facilities) so-called “current” vaccinations, which can mean many different things to different people.

To read more about vaccinations, purchase the Whole Dog Journal ebook, Vaccinations.

(Vaccinations #2) What are Core Vaccines?

By
Nancy Kerns
-
0

Core vaccines include:

  • Canine distemper virus (CDV, commonly referred to as distemper)
  • Canine parvovirus (CPV, parvo)
  • Canine adenovirus (CAV, better known as canine hepatitis)
  • Rabies

Among healthy dogs, the first three “core” vaccines are expected to induce a protective immune response lasting at least five years. However, much longer protection from these vaccines has been demonstrated in dogs in many studies – some- times, even as long as the dogs’ lifetime.

Rabies is a slightly different case. Because the disease poses a significant risk to human beings, it’s the only vaccine that is required by law to be administered to dogs. Each state has its own legal requirements for rabies vaccination. Some require annual rabies vaccinations; the rest require the vaccination be given every two or three years (depending on the state). There is ample evidence that rabies vaccines confer protection from rabies for longer than three years, but given the public health risk to humans, there is considerable push-back from public health officials to the idea of ex- tending the legal requirement for rabies vaccines.

To read more about vaccinations, purchase the Whole Dog Journal ebook, Vaccinations.

(Vaccinations #3) How Antibody Titer Tests may Affect? your Decisions?

By
Nancy Kerns
-
0

Antigens are any substance that the immune system identifies as an invader and responds to by producing a chemical defense: antibodies. When everything is working as it should, your dog’s immune system will recognize disease antigens that were introduced to his system via a vaccine (weakened or killed) or by natural exposure to the antigen that causes the disease (viral or bacterial).

A “titer” is a measurement of how much antibody to a certain antigen is circulating in the blood at that moment. The result is usually expressed in a ratio. A positive titer test result is strongly correlated with a good antibody response to either a recent infection or vaccination. A dog who has received “core” vaccines and who displays a positive antibody titer test result should be considered protected from the diseases for which he was vaccinated (meaning, he doesn’t need vaccines at that time).

Your dog must undergo a blood draw in order to have an antibody titer test. Labs such as Antech, IDEXX, and most veterinary college laboratories offer these tests. Antibody titer testing is typically run for parvovirus and distemper, since the dog’s antibody response to these two antigens is highly predictive as to the dog’s immunologic competence in dealing with any other antigen to which he has been exposed.

To read more about vaccinations, purchase the Whole Dog Journal ebook, Vaccinations.

Advice for a First-Time Dog Owner

By
Nancy Kerns
-
0

My son was lucky enough to land his first job out of college working for a company that allows employees to bring their dogs to work. The company has about 140 employees, and my son tells me that on any given day, about a dozen or so dogs can be found around the office.

He brings his dog to work one or two days a week. Cole, an American Black and Tan Coonhound-mix, is very well behaved, but he’s also about 1½ years old ­- an adolescent – and not ready for “office work” all day, every day. On the days he’s planning on bringing Cole to work, my son gets up early and takes Cole for an extra-long run before work, to help ensure that Cole is relaxed and calm all day, not looking for other dogs (and people!) to play with, or whining with boredom.

I am proud to say that my son reports that he has been told a number of times that his is the best-behaved dog at the office, and that several co-workers have asked for his dog-related advice. One such co-worker went so far as to ask my son for advice on choosing his first-ever dog! While my son is a gifted dog handler – having had to handle dogs for modeling for WDJ since he was five! – he felt a little over his head with this request. So he asked me to help his friend 😉

Via email, I asked his friend/co-worker what he was looking for in a dog; his first response was that he wanted a really friendly dog who enjoys being petted. He’d prefer a dog with a short coat, medium-sized . . . but these were not deal-breakers in the right dog, and he had no breed or sex biases. He did emphasize that he’s never had his own dog before – so what that tells me is that he needs an easy dog, preferably an adult, with either some training or highly trainable, and very well-socialized. He is hoping to be able to bring his dog to work, too, so the dog must be really good with other dogs.

I think I found a good candidate for him at my local shelter; I took some pictures and video of the dog and sent them to him, and he’s interested. We’re planning for them to meet this weekend. I’ll keep you posted on how it goes.

In the meantime, he asked me one more question via email: “Do you have any suggested readings on preparing for a dog?” And I thought I would put that question to you! If a person had time to read ONE book before bringing their first-ever dog home, what book would you recommend?

And, to take things one step further, if you had ONE piece of advice to share with a first-time dog owner, what would it be?

1...206207208...389Page 207 of 389

Latest Blog

An old fashioned TV pitch man tries to sell a box of something.
Blog

Informing? Or Selling?

Nancy Kerns 4
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?”
© Belvoir Media Group, LLC. All rights reserved.