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How a Mother’s Stress Can Influence Unborn Puppies

Can stress in pregnancy affect dogs?
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Can a highly stressful environment during pregnancy affect how puppies turn out? Imagine this: A young dog goes stray and lives on urban streets for two months, in almost constant fear. Kids chase her down a street, throwing rocks at her; she is attacked by another dog; and she struggles every day to scavenge enough to eat. At last she is apprehended by an animal control officer and brought to a shelter. Here she finally gets enough to eat, but she’s still not able to relax; the shelter is full of strange smells and loud noises, her run is small, and the floor is hard. After she’s been at the shelter for a few weeks, a shelter staff member realizes that she is pregnant and due very soon. The shelter puts her on the waiting list for a foster home, knowing that puppies don’t do well when they grow up in shelters.

A few days before her puppies are born she gets into a foster home with an experienced dog owner, and her life suddenly improves tremendously. Her puppies are born small but healthy, and her new foster mom does everything right for them, exposing them to lots of positive experiences. When they are two months old, they are put up for adoption and are quickly adopted into new homes.

But a few months later, reports come back to the shelter that the puppies are all skittish and easily alarmed by new situations. The shelter staffers conclude that the problem must be with the puppies’ genetics, because their early environment was superlative. But the puppies’ tiny brains were already developing before birth, and their hormonal systems were being tuned to make them ready to face the world that their mother had been experiencing.

Such hormonal tuning may be an important survival tactic. For animals born into harsh environments full of threats, where fearfulness is justified, a highly reactive stress response is critical and may make the difference between life or death. But a highly reactive stress response is also energetically very expensive, so for animals born to gentler environments with less to fear, energy is better spent on other systems, like growth or reproduction. In such environments, extreme fearfulness may actually be a bad strategy, resulting in the loss of opportunities to find food or mates. Mammal mothers pass information to their offspring about what sort of world to expect – and they do so as early as possible, to provide maximum time for appropriate development.
When our shelter dog was harassed and hungry on the street, her stress system would have activated strongly, increasing her cortisol level. This hormone tells the different tissues in her body to prepare to deal with a threat, tamping down luxury systems like digestion and reproduction and pulling extra energy from storage.

Normally, an enzyme inactivates cortisol at the placenta, protecting the fetuses from the level of cortisol that the mother is experiencing. But when the cortisol level is extremely high, some passes through the placenta to the developing puppies. They receive the extra cortisol as information: The world is scary. We should be prepared. This message is thought to inform the puppies’ bodies about what to expect from life, and allows them to develop an appropriately tuned stress system and metabolism.

Dog Studies Lacking

The effects on babies who were born to mothers who experienced psychological stress have been well studied in laboratory rodents. When pregnant rats are subjected to acute stressors (such as restraint in a clear plastic tube for an hour a day), their offspring grow up to be less resilient to stress themselves.

Rats normally avoid open areas where predators can find them, and this preference is even more pronounced in rats who were stressed prenatally.

Moreover, the rats who were born to the stressed mothers possess stress systems that are more reactive than average; their cortisol levels increase more in response to stress and take longer to decrease than do the cortisol levels of rats born to mothers who were not deliberately stressed. Essentially, these fearful rats have a stress system that is tuned higher, as if they are prepared for stressful events that never come.

This effect has been observed in humans as well, most famously in the Netherlands after a winter of famine at the end of World War II.

The effect of the intra-uterine environment hasn’t been studied in dogs, but there is no reason to think that it works any differently in dogs than in humans or rodents. We have to assume that canine mothers also pass along information about their environment to their pups in utero. And sometimes that information is wrong, predicting a life of stress and hardship when the puppy instead ends up loved and coddled. Such a puppy would be tuned to react strongly to stressors. This programming could save an animal’s life if she lived on the streets, but it’s less appropriate for life as a pet – and it could result in an anxious or fearful dog.

How often does this happen? We don’t yet understand all the things that affect a dog’s adult behavior, and research studies to piece out the different mechanisms are hard to do without subjecting dogs to aversive situations. So it’s impossible to say, but I don’t think it’s that unusual.

Preventing Stress When Possible

We can take preventive measures, though; we can do our best to make sure that mom’s environment while she’s pregnant predicts the environment in which her puppies will be raised. So, avoiding extreme stressors in pregnant dogs is a good idea.

Normal life stressors, including going to the veterinarian for checkups, are probably just fine; after all, this is the sort of thing the puppies are going to encounter in their own lives. A shelter situation, however, is probably something to avoid for a pregnant dog. Many shelters do an excellent job of getting moms and newborn puppies into foster care, and could extend that protocol to pregnant dogs before they give birth. It may also be a bad idea to transport pregnant dogs long distances, such as shipping pregnant females overseas.

We don’t know how strong the effect of the intra-uterine environment is, but if we are going to work so hard to properly socialize puppies after birth, why not before birth as well?

Too Late to Avoid Stressors?

What if you don’t know anything about the environment that was experienced by the mother of the puppy you are thinking about adopting? Should you pass on that pup? No! That would rule out far too many (if not most) adoptions. Go ahead and adopt – but make a point to provide the growing youngster with as many positive social interactions and as much low-stress, safe exposure to the world as you can. Keep in mind that your pup may have this unseen impediment to developing normal confidence, and take it upon yourself to “super-socialize” him, just in case.

By the time most people adopt puppies, there are only a few weeks left in the ideal period in which to socialize them, so you may not be able to entirely make up for any deficits. You can, however, be alert to signs that your pup is going through a “fear period” (which can happen multiple times throughout his puppyhood). Make extra efforts to protect him from overwhelmingly scary experiences and address his fears with behavior modification during those times. And seek the assistance of a qualified positive behavior professional sooner rather than later if you notice unusual fear or reactivity in your adoptee.

Finally, keep in mind that shelters are always looking for competent foster homes. Fostering a pregnant dog allows you to help contribute to building the solid temperaments of her puppies!

Jessica Hekman, DVM, MS, completed her shelter-medicine internship at the University of Florida’s Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Program in 2013. She now studies the genetics of dog behavior in Illinois, where she lives with her husband and three dogs. Check out Dr. Hekman’s blog, dogzombie.blogspot.com, a blog about dog brains and behavior (and sometimes shelter medicine), or follow her on Twitter @dogzombieblog.

The Effects of Male Womb-Mates

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If a mother dog’s hormones can affect her fetuses in-utero, what about the hormones of their siblings? The effects of in-utero testosterone on females with all male siblings are well documented in rodents and cattle, and debatably exist in humans. These females undergo physical and behavioral masculinizing effects.

This effect is not believed to extend to dogs. The likely explanation?

There are three types of mammalian placentas:

-In primates (including humans) and rodents, blood exchange occurs directly from sibling to mom to the next sibling, allowing the indirect transfer of blood-borne testosterone between siblings.

-In ruminants (including cows), there is no direct blood exchange between mom and fetus, but blood vessels within an inner membrane can connect siblings to each other, allowing direct exchange of blood-borne testosterone.

-In carnivores (including dogs and cats), there is neither direct blood exchange between mom and fetus nor directly between two fetuses.

Therefore, there is no known mechanism for hormone-exchange between fetuses in dogs. However, anecdotal reports exist of masculinized female puppies in otherwise all-male litters. Is there some other mechanism we haven’t discovered? Or is this due to the post-natal environment of growing up with a bunch of brothers? We don’t know!

The First Week with a New Puppy

Puppy in play pen

It’s one of the best feelings in the whole world — those first few hours with your new puppy when everything is perfect and anything is possible. It doesn’t take long, however, for that bubble to burst. It could be the very first day, when you step in that pile of puppy poo on your Persian carpet, or find deep puppy tooth gouges in your treasured pair of Jimmy Choo shoes. It might be that first night, when you pop your pup into his crate for the first time and crawl into your bed, only to be treated to a few pitiful whimpers, then a chorus of cries, and finally a non-stop serenade of screaming as your pup broadcasts to the world how lost and lonely he is.

The better prepared you are to do things right from the start, the fewer “What have I done?” moments you’ll have, and the more possibilities you and your dog will be able to realize as you travel together through life. Here’s a guide to getting off to the right start with your new pup.

Pre-Puppy Prep

If you would like to prolong that initial warm, fuzzy, oxytocin-rich, “anything is possible” period, set the stage before your puppy’s arrival so you are setting up him, and yourself, for success. One of the basic tenets of positive reinforcement training is that you put in place management measures so your dog can’t find reinforcement for unwanted behaviors. That goes triple for puppies. Put the following management measures in place before you bring your puppy home, and you’ll be miles ahead of the game.

1. Crate.

This will be your puppy’s bedroom. I recommend crating him in your own bedroom so he has the comfort of your presence; it will help to ease the pangs of loneliness he’s likely to feel upon separation from his mom and litter mates. Although you will both be sleeping (I hope), it still gives you valuable time together. It also enables you to hear him so you can take him outside when he wakes up and cries at 4:00 a.m. because he has to potty, until he’s able to hold it all night.

Your pup’s crate should be just large enough for him to comfortably stand up, turn around, and lie down. Some wire crates come with a divider that you can move as the pup grows, to give him only as much space as he needs. Otherwise, plan on getting a series of increasingly larger crates as your pup grows.

2. Exercise Pen.

Like a playpen for a young child, an exercise pen gives your puppy more room than a crate but still keeps him safely confined and out of trouble. You will use the exercise pen if you have to be gone longer during the day than your pup can be expected to “hold it,” as well as times when you are home and can’t supervise him as closely as you would like. Use pee pads or newspapers to create a potty corner in the exercise pen so your pup has a “legal” place to go to the bathroom.

3. Supervision.

Plan on lots of “eyeballs on the pup” time – direct supervision – so you can reinforce desirable behaviors and prevent reinforcement for undesirable ones. You can use the “umbilical-cord approach,” in which you leash the puppy to your person to prevent him from wandering off and getting into trouble, or you can close doors to keep him in the room with you and make sure you keep a very close eye on him so you can intervene as needed.

4. Tether.

Another way to keep your pup close and out of trouble is to tether him in the room with you, so he can share your company without being directly under your feet.
An excellent resource for cable tethers is BADDogsinc Family Dog Training and Behavior (pettethers.com or 951-283-2101). Their cables come in 2-, 3-, 4-, and 6-foot lengths with snaps at both ends for easy securing around the leg of a heavy piece of furniture or clipping to an eyebolt screwed into the wall. They also have lighter-weight tethers for very small dogs, and tethers with a PVC cap attached to one end that you can slide under a door to hold the dog.

5. Puppy-Proofing.

Having a puppy in your home is a lot like having a toddler. He may not be able to stick his fingers into electrical outlets, but he can and will get into everything within reach of his teeth. Puppy-proofing keeps him safe from things like chewing on electrical cords and keeps your valuable possessions safe (like shoes or prescription glasses).

Puppy-proofing also prevents your pup from having the opportunity to learn that undesirable behaviors are fun (reinforcing). You never want him to have the chance to learn, for example, that if he chews up a sofa cushion, he will get to play with the stuffing. Put all your possessions up and away. Keep closet doors closed. Put electrical cords out of reach or, alternatively, run them through PVC pipe. Put baby latches on cupboard doors. Don’t leave food on surfaces that he can reach, lest he learn to counter surf. And supervise, supervise, supervise.

6. House Rules.

Consistency is a linchpin of successful puppy raising. If one family member invites your pup to share the sofa while another yells at him for getting on that piece of furniture, your puppy will be stressed and confused. Sit the family down and agree on house rules before those first puppy paws hit your kitchen floor. It’s fine to let your dog on the furniture if everyone in the household is comfortable with that. Sleeping on someone’s bed is fine if everyone approves. Resolve differences before your pup arrives so he doesn’t suffer from family conflict.

7. Professional Service Providers.

Research and select your pup’s veterinarian, groomer, pet sitter/walker, and training professional well in advance. If you’re scrambling at the last minute, you’re likely to settle for someone who doesn’t necessarily share your philosophies of dog care and handling. If you want to feed raw and take a holistic approach to your dog’s veterinary care, find a veterinarian who will support you in that. If you are committed to positive-based training, find a trainer who not only claims to be positive, but also can define “positive” to your satisfaction. (Some trainers who claim to be positive use shock collars!) Your groomer and veterinarian should allow you to be a full participant in your dog’s procedures, and not insist on whisking him away to a back room. Don’t settle; find the best for your pup.

First Weeks with Puppy

The stage is set. You’re ready for the exciting event. You’re headed to the shelter or rescue facility to pick out a puppy, or to the breeder to pick up the pup you selected long ago. Your first days and weeks with your new pup will greatly influence the next 10 to 15-plus years you share with your new family member. Your goal is to make those the best years possible. Here are some very important pieces of the foundation to make that happen.

Socialization.

Let’s assume you’re adopting an 8-week-old puppy. Five of the dozen or so weeks of his prime socialization period (three weeks to fourteen weeks) are already water under the bridge, so your first assignment is to take full advantage of the remaining six to eight weeks.

In the best of possible worlds, whomever he was with for the first eight weeks took the time to begin the socialization process. If the pup you choose is happy, friendly, and outgoing, you’re on the right road, and you just need to continue normal socialization efforts.

Here’s a pro tip: specifically look for a puppy like this to adopt. If your heart gets the better of you and you fall for the shy puppy hiding in the back of his kennel, you will need to begin work immediately to help your timid puppy learn to be brave. It won’t happen just because you love him, and it won’t be easy. Adopt this puppy only if you are prepared to invest a lot of time and possibly money into doing behavior modification with your pup. (See “Trials of the Timid,” WDJ August 2008.)

The term “socialization” means exposing your puppy to a lot of people, places, and things, and making sure he has good experiences with them. All too often, puppy owners miss the “good experiences” part and end up creating fearful puppies. To avoid this critical mistake, control the environment around your puppy. For example, don’t let your son’s entire soccer team rush up and overwhelm him; do calm, one-at-a-time greetings. Make a commitment to give your puppy at least one new away-from-home positive socialization experience every day.

Housetraining.

Notice we are not “breaking” anything; we are training our puppy to eliminate where we would like him to. To have that happen, you must prevent him from eliminating where you don’t want him to go. This means taking him outside to his designated potty spot more often than he has to go (start with every hour on the hour, then increase the time between potty sessions when he shows you he can hold it longer); waiting with him until he does go; reinforcing the behavior with a click (or “Yes!”) and treat; and then spending some fun time together outside so he doesn’t think eliminating gets punished by going back inside immediately after.

If he doesn’t go potty when you take him out, don’t play; take him back inside and keep him under tight supervision (for example, leashed to you or in his crate) until his next potty break, so he can’t wander off and soil the carpet. (For more information about potty training, see “Potty Time,” June 2013.)

A general rule of thumb is that a puppy can hold it (crated, for example) for about one hour longer than his age in months, so, for example, your two-month-old puppy can possibly be crated for up to three hours at a time. That means at least two trips outside while you are gone during a normal workday. If you can’t arrange for someone to get him outside during the day, keep him in an exercise pen with a bathroom in the corner.
Be prepared to get up at least one time at night, at least for a few weeks. Some pups can hold it longer overnight sooner, because they aren’t as active as they are during the day.

Important note: Do not punish your pup for accidents in the house. If you find one after the fact, it’s far too late to do anything, and you will only frighten your pup if you drag him back to the spot and yell at him. If you throw a fit when you “catch him in the act,” you will teach him to go eliminate where you can’t see him. Simply interrupt him with a gentle “Oops, outside!” and take him out to the proper spot to potty. Reward him if he resumes his “business” in the right place.

Training.

You will have already located the positive-training professional with whom you would like to work. Get your pup into a puppy training and socialization class as soon as possible.

Some veterinarians unfortunately still advise owners to wait until their pup is fully immunized to attend class, but those vets are far behind the times. (See “Veterinary Behaviorists Agree: Get That Puppy into a Class,” on right.)

A good puppy-class instructor can help guide you through the challenges of house-training, puppy chewing, mouthing, and other baby-dog issues, as well as offer a well-managed venue for socialization with other puppies and humans. Additionally, she will help you teach your pup his basic good-manners behaviors, such as sit, down, walk politely on leash, come when called, and much more. This is the foundation of your pup’s education, and will open the door to a fascinating array of training options that could include rally, agility, scent work, herding, dock diving, Treibball, and much, much more.

Whether you train with a clicker or not, make a commitment to use force-free training and handling methods with your dog throughout his life. If any training professional tries to convince you that pain and coercion are necessary components of training, or that “electronic” (shock) collars don’t hurt, run away fast. You are your dog’s advocate and protector; don’t let him down. He will thank you for it.

Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA, is WDJ’s Training Editor. She lives in Fairplay, Maryland, site of her Peaceable Paws training center, where she offers dog-training classes and courses for trainers.

 

How To Crate-Train Your Puppy

[Updated October 3, 2017]

Most puppies are crate-trained with relative ease. Remember that the crate should be just large enough for your pup to stand up, turn around, and lie down comfortably. If you want to get one large enough for your puppy to grow into, block off the back so he has just enough room, and increase the space as he grows. Cover the floor of the crate with a rug or soft pad to make it comfortable and inviting, and you’re ready to begin training.

Start with the crate door open, and toss some irresistibly yummy treats inside. If your pup hesitates to go in, toss them close enough to the doorway that he can stand outside and poke his nose into the crate to eat them. Each time your pup eats a treat, click your clicker (or say “Yes!” if you are using a verbal marker).

Gradually toss the treats farther into the crate until he’s stepping inside to get them. Continue to click each time he eats a treat. When your pup enters the crate easily to get the treats, click and offer him a treat while he is still inside. If he’s willing to stay inside, keep clicking and treating. If he comes out that’s okay too, just toss another treat inside and wait for him to re-enter. Don’t force him to stay in the crate.

When he’s entering the crate to get the treat without hesitation, start using a verbal cue such as “Go to bed!” as your pup goes in, so that you’ll eventually be able to send him into his crate on just a verbal cue.

When he’s happily staying in the crate in anticipation of a click and treat, gently swing the door closed. Don’t latch it! Click and treat, then open the door. Repeat this step, gradually increasing the length of time the door stays closed before you click. Sometimes click and reward without opening the door right away.

When your pup stays in the crate with the door closed for at least 10 seconds without any signs of anxiety, close the door, latch it, and take one step away from the crate. Click! Return to the crate, reward, and open the door. Repeat this step, varying the time and distance you leave the crate. Don’t always make it longer and farther; intersperse long ones with shorter ones, so it doesn’t always get harder and harder for him. Start increasing the number of times you click and treat without opening the door, but remember that a click or a “Yes!” always gets a treat.

Leave the crate open when you aren’t actively training.
Toss treats and favorite toys in the crate when your pup’s not looking, so he never knows what wonderful surprises he might find there. You can even feed him his meals in the crate – with the door open – to help him realize that his crate is a truly wonderful place.

Many puppies can do the whole crate-training program in one day. Some will take several days, and a few will take weeks or more. If at any time during the program your pup whines or fusses about being in the crate, don’t let him out until he stops crying! This is one of the biggest mistakes owners make when crate training. If you let him out when he fusses, you will teach him that fussing gets him free. (The exception to this is if you think your pup is panicking in the crate. If that’s the case, do let him out and seek the assistance of a qualified positive-behavior professional.)

Instead, wait for a few seconds of quiet, then click and reward, and let him out. Then back up a step or two in the training program. When your pup is doing well at that level again, increase the difficulty in smaller increments, and vary the times rather than making each repetition more difficult.

Once your pup is crate-trained, you have a valuable behavior-management tool for life. Respect it. If you abuse it by keeping him confined too much, for too long a period
of time, or by using it as punishment, he may learn to dislike it. Even though he goes to bed willingly and on cue, reward him often enough to keep the response happy and quick. Keep your verbal “Go to bed!” cue light and happy. Don’t ever let anyone tease or punish him in his crate. (Kids can be especially guilty of this. Watch them!)

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The Complete Healthy Dog Handbook tip #2

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GETTING RID OF GOO

Sooner or later, your dog will get chewing gum, tar, tree sap, burrs, or some other sticky or tenacious substance in her fur. To get rid of sticky stuff without cutting the hair, work some vegetable oil into the goo with your fingers. The oil will help break up the goo into smaller pieces, which you can gently pull out of the fur. When you’re done, bathe your dog with a mild dog shampoo to remove the vegetable oil.

Never use paint thinner, turpentine, nail-polish remover, or other solvents to remove messes from your dog’s fur: they are toxic if licked off or absorbed through the skin.  

For answers to all your canine health questions – big and small – buy The Complete Healthy Dog Handbook by Betsy Brevitz, D.V.M from The Whole Dog Journal.

Foster “Failures”

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Do you know this expression, “foster failure”? It’s meant as a humorous term, meaning someone who was fostering a dog – one who was being prepared for adoption by a shelter or rescue group – but who fell in love with the dog and decided to adopt the dog herself.

And no, I’m not yet a foster failure, though many of my friends think it’s about to happen, because I’ve been fostering a litter of the most adorable puppies for almost a month. I tell them all, “Blech! I hate puppies! Who in their right mind would want a puppy?” – another joke.

I’m a member of several online groups that rescue various types of dogs, and I see the “foster failure” term bandied about quite frequently. Many people sheepishly announce themselves as foster failures, and other people congratulate them for finding a great dog. And of course, they should be congratulated; it’s terrific when a dog finds a forever home – it’s the goal of every good shelter and rescue group, to find good homes for dogs. But people like myself who foster regularly probably also experience a twinge: crap, another good foster family lost to the group!

Ask any shelter or rescue: It’s really hard to find people who have homes with solid, dog-proofed homes and yards, and who possess enough experience with dogs to improve just about any dog’s behavior, confidence, and emotional connection to humans. It doesn’t do the rescue group much good to foster dogs in homes with people who don’t know how to properly help a dog learn to sleep in a crate, or who panic if their foster ward starts resource-guarding high-value items, chases their cat, or growls at their guests. Good foster guardians need to have enough experience to be able to deal with these behaviors calmly and guide the dog to better behavior in a positive manner. It helps if they already have well socialized, well-behaved, friendly dogs, as well as reasonably secure fences and homes and yards that can take some exuberant (or anxious) dog play.

It’s the same thing I tell people I meet when I volunteer at my local shelter: Yes, it’s hard to see all these dogs here, but no, I don’t want to take them all home; I want to SEND them all home! The most dogs I can legally have living in my home (as per my town’s codes) is three; but honestly, that’s also the number I can properly afford, when you take everything (routine and emergency costs) into account. I have two dogs already; if I had just one more, I probably wouldn’t be able to afford to ever foster. But if I limit myself to owning two dogs, I can foster and (I hope) place five or six well-behaved dogs per year in homes with family members, friends, and friends of friends. And this year, perhaps even more (given the fact that I hope to be able to place all six of my foster puppies in homes with friends or friends of friends. (Friends, you’ve been warned!)

So while I can’t say I won’t ever fall in love with a dog I foster and become a “failure” myself, I hope it won’t be soon!

 

(Remedies for Canine Arthritis tip #2) – Proactive Arthritis Prevention

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Recently, Dr. Chris Bessent, a Wisconsin-based veterinarian, advised Whole Dog Journal readers to take a proactive approach to joint maintenance and injury prevention by starting when an athletic dog is one to two years old. This is a far-sighted approach that may not be appreciated by most dog owners, especially when they see the price tag on some glucosamine supplements.

Selling people on preventive maintenance is difficult, unless they have had a dog with a promising competitive career cut short by osteoarthritis. This is the point at which most veterinarians will mention glucosamine to their clients, but much of the damage has already occurred. However, even in late-stage osteoarthritis, the supplement may improve matters enough to make it worthwhile.

For more on your dog’s joints, ways to improve their health and prolong an active lifestyle, please refer to Natural Dog Arthritis Treatments.

Puppy Personalities: How Much Is Inborn?

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Before I became a mother, when I met difficult children, I imagined their unpleasant behavior was a result of how they had been parented. In other words, I usually blamed the parents – and credited parents with doing a great job when I met kids I liked.

Then I became a parent, and through close observation of my son and his closest friends, gradually realized that actually, kids are largely “who they are” when they are born. Sure, you can mold them to a certain extent, and teach them good manners (or bad). But many aspects of their personalities transcend basic behavior modification.

For example, even as a toddler, my son was careful – he had a highly developed self-preservation instinct – – and even though today he’’s a world-class athlete, and no stranger to physically demanding (and sometimes pain-inducing) feats of athleticism, he’’s still danger-averse. I think he’’s always has been and always will be a careful person; I’’ve never worried about his driving recklessly or diving into shallow rivers or drinking too much alcohol. And I had nothing to do with encouraging or discouraging this trait.

I’’ve spent almost four weeks with a fostered litter of six puppies, and the experience has confirmed what I’’ve long suspected: that the same phenomenon is true of dogs, too. These pups all have different “personalities” – a controversial word in animal behavior circles, but the only word that seems apt to describe the individual quirks and traits that the pups display.

I can now tell my puppies apart, but when I first got them, I ordered a set of Velcro-fastened color-coded collars, so I could keep the pups straight. The collars were also a useful tool for the shelter vet tech, so she could keep of the individual puppies’ weights and medication (they have been receiving antibiotics for a respiratory infection). This is what I know about the puppies now:

Red-collared puppy: Highly confident and curious. Pays more attention to what humans are doing than to what his brothers are doing, and if he has to choose, will follow the human. Always wants to be in your lap, or on your shoe, or touching you somehow, and he’’ll kick up a fuss for the longest when all the puppies are locked in their pen. (By the way, this is the puppy who I accidentally kicked a week ago, and thank goodness, after three days of holding up his right back leg, he started putting more and more weight on it, and now he seems perfectly fine again.) I think this puppy is going to do best if he’’s placed with people who want a close relationship with their dog.

Blue: Another very confident dog, but less curious about humans than Red. He dives into any game of tug-of-war, grabs for any toy that any other puppy has. He isn’’t one to dive into your lap, but if you pick him up, he cuddles and seems to really enjoy attention and petting. He quickly accepts his situation, whatever it is: confinement in the puppy pen, immersion in a bath, the end of a meal. He seems like he’’s going to thrive in any type of home.

Teal: The most independent puppy, and perhaps the smartest – but not necessarily in a way that is likely to result in being “well-trained.” He was the first to figure out that if he followed humans or the other puppies to the puppy pen, he was going to get locked up, so he stopped following anyone to the pen. When I call all the puppies, he never just runs to me like the others do; he watches to see why I’’m calling. He totally gets the concept of the potential for not-fun consequences. He’’s also the bravest, though, and perhaps the toughest. He is super mouthy, and if I feel a puppy latched onto my shoe or pants leg – a puppy who won’’t let go – I don’’t even have to look to know it’’s him. I think he’’d make a heck of a military or law enforcement dog.

Purple: This puppy is into absolutely everything. If he hears a novel noise, he drops what he’’s doing to immediately seek out the source of the noise. If he hears a squabble between the other puppies, he runs to jump into the fray. If he sees another puppy with an interesting-looking item, he grabs it to investigate it with his mouth. Usually, his brothers seem to be more interesting to him than humans are, but he’’s not averse to being picked up and held and cuddled, for a minute or two, anyway. Then he’’s off to the next adventure. He’’d thrive in an environment that was active and stimulating; his owners are going to need to be interesting if they hope to capture and hold his attention.

Green: Absolutely the most affectionate, human-centered puppy. He actively seeks out eye contact with people, and wags his tail with happiness when a human’s gaze falls on him. He watches humans constantly and will always choose human attention over a game with his brothers. He’’s just so, so sweet with humans. If I watch him out the window, however, I see that he plays nicely with the other pups, unlike the next puppy, and the one that most resembles him: Pink.

Pink: This puppy is almost always off doing his own thing. Like Teal, he’’s independent, but not in a bold, brave way, more in a “”Leave me alone, I’’m happy by myself”” way. He’’s shorter and fatter than the other pups, and not as physically rough-and-tumble. He will play tug or wrestle with another puppy, unless the other gets too intense; at the first bit of pain or discomfort, he abruptly quits and waddles off to find something else to do. He neither seeks out nor avoids human cuddling and petting; he’’s sort of indifferent about us, except at meal times. I wouldn’’t worry about this puppy developing separation anxiety if his people worked long hours; I think he’’s a content kind of guy who can find things to fill his time.

Maybe this is all hopeless anthropomorphizing –– but I don’’t think so. And I think that good breeders are highly aware of the differences in their puppies’’ personalities, and take pains to match puppies to families or individuals where the pups’’ traits will be appreciated and perhaps even well-utilized, as opposed to resented or punished; they don’’t send just any puppy to any person with a check for the purchase amount. Although I’’m not a dog breeder, I hope to do the same! Although each of these pups will be officially adopted from my local shelter, I hope to find adopters first, without having to actually send the pups to the shelter kennels. If you know someone in Northern California who is looking for some sort of hound/perhaps Beagle-mix, let me know! I’’ll do my best to match them with a puppy that would best suit them.

(Holistic Remedies tip #7) – Pellitol Ointment

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Nine years ago, we described a smoky-smelling pink ointment that worked wonders for seriously infected ears: Pellitol. Pellitol contained zinc oxide, calamine, bismuth subgalate, bismuth subnitrate, resorcinol, echinacea fluid extract, and juniper tar. These ingredients are both disinfecting and adhesive, so that as the ointment gradually dried and shrank (a process lasting several days), it healed ulcers, dried pus and debris, and reduced bacterial growth. In addition to being effective, this apply-it-and-leave-it approach spared patients the discomfort of repeated ear-cleaning treatments.

We learned about Pellitol from holistic veterinarian Stacy Hershman of Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, who became interested in ear infections while working as a veterinary technician in her teens. “This is a subject that isn’t covered much in vet school,” she told us. “I learned about treating ear infections from the veterinarians I worked with over the years. Because they all had different techniques, I saw dozens of different treatments, and I kept track of what worked and what didn’t.”

Chronic ear infections are the bane of long-eared dogs, swimming dogs, recently vaccinated puppies, old dogs, dogs with an abundance of ear wax, and dogs with allergies, thyroid imbalances, or immune system disorders. In other words, they are among the most common recurring canine problems.

Dr. Hershman’s maintenance program for healthy ears involves gentle cleaning with cotton balls, cotton swabs, and room-temperature green tea or an alcohol-free acidic ear cleaner. Mild ear inflammation can be treated with careful flushing.

But if the infection is serious, she takes a different approach. When she began her veterinary practice, Dr. Hershman met dogs who wouldn’t let anyone touch their ears. “I knew that nothing I’d learned in vet school was going to help them,” she says, “so I thought back to all the treatments I’d seen over the years. The one that seemed most effective was a combination of boric acid and a thick, old-fashioned ointment that looks like pink toothpaste. I couldn’t remember its name, but I never forgot how it smelled – really peculiar, like burnt embers.”

The ointment was Pellitol, and as soon as she tracked it down, Dr. Hershman combined it with boric acid. “Like the ear powders I learned about from groomers,” she explains, “boric acid dries and acidifies the ear. Yeast and bacteria are opportunistic organisms that die in a dry, acidic environment. They thrive where it’s moist, dark, and alkaline.”

Because boric acid is toxic (note warnings on the label), it should not be inhaled or swallowed. Shielding the face is important and usually requires a helper, someone who can hold the dog’s head steady while protecting the eyes, nose, and mouth.

Experimenting with her own dogs and dogs at the animal shelter where she volunteered, Dr. Hershman placed two or three pinches of boric acid powder in each infected ear unless it was ulcerated, bleeding, or painful. “Being acidic,” she explained, “boric acid might irritate open wounds. In that case, I would use the Pellitol alone. Otherwise, a pinch or two of boric acid was an effective preliminary treatment.”

After applying boric acid, she would fill the ear with Pellitol and let it work. Within a week, the dried ointment would fall out of the dog’s ear, leaving it cleaner and far less inflamed.

For more alternative and holistic remedies for your dog, purchase and download the ebook Holistic Remedies from The Whole Dog Journal.

Accidents Happen…

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Accidents happen but that truism doesn’t make it feel any better.

I feel HORRIBLE. I hurt a puppy on accident, true. But still. I honestly feel sick.

The six puppies I’m fostering (until they are old enough and healthy enough to be brought back to the shelter to be put up for adoption) were running around my backyard; I had just cleaned out their pen, and was bringing a freshly cleaned and filled pan of water to the pen. I looked around, making sure my path to the pen was clear of puppies; they tend to run toward human feet. I was about six steps from the pen when my shoe made contact with a puppy. I heard a puppy shriek as I leaped/dodged as best as I could, flinging the water and the pan clear, but when I turned around, the puppy I had made contact with was still shrieking and was holding up one hind leg. My heart sunk.

I picked him up and held him to my chest, trying to simultaneously comfort him and try to see what the problem was. It didn’t feel like my shoe came down on him; it felt more like the toe of my shoe kicked him. So I was certain I didn’t crush any tiny bones; I was honestly worried that I had dislocated his hip or something. Even after a few minutes, he didn’t want to put any weight on it.

I called the vet tech from the shelter at 6 pm on a Saturday night and she’s amazing, she answered. (She knows I am fostering the puppies, and she would have certainly known I was calling about them. But after working at the shelter for probably 60 hours that weeks? She’s terrific.) She invited me to bring the puppy over to her house so she could take a look at him. I was there within 10 minutes. But on the way, I called the closest emergency clinic, to ask about their rates. Would it be any more expensive to bring him in on Saturday night than on Sunday morning? Yes, it would be more than double to walk in the door, and there would be additional surcharges for just about every possible service, including xrays. Of course, if the vet tech thought he should go right in, I’d pay whatever I needed to. I’m lucky to have a well-appointed and well-staffed emergency clinic about a half-hours drive away.

The vet tech felt all of the puppy’s bones and joints in the affected leg and couldn’t feel anything obviously wrong. She thought it could wait until morning to take him to the vet, especially since he fell asleep on her lap as she palpated his tiny legs and rubbed his tummy. (I insisted he was in shock; I know I was.)

I took him home and kept him with me on the couch until bedtime. Then I put him back with his brothers to sleep in the puppy pile.

I was up at 6 am; he was still not putting any weight on that leg, though he was cheerful and wagging his tail as he ate breakfast with the other puppies. I hung out with the puppies until 7:30, then drove him to the clinic.

The radiographs didn’t show any fractures or dislocations, and the attending veterinarian thought the problem was in his tiny hock. He could just barely visualize some inflammation (fluid) in the joint, and thought the injury involved the tarsus bones and the calcaneal tendon roughly analogous to our Achilles tendon. The toe of my shoe must have made contact right there, and while nothing was broken, the tiny little bones could have been pushed around enough to cause pain and inflammation. We discussed the pros and cons of splinting the leg so the puppy doesn’t put too much weight on it, but settled on a plan to simply keep the pup separate from his five brothers for a week or two, and keeping his activity strictly curtailed. The vet also gave me some pain medication for the puppy, to administer as needed to keep him comfortable.

As I write this, its been 24 hours since the accident, and while I am less prone to burst into tears about what I accidentally did, I still feel just awful. Puppy kicker! I keep reliving the moment. Did I not look carefully enough before I started walking with the pan full of water? Was I hurrying too much, or too distracted? I’m certainly going to be even more careful, and in the moment with these pups from now on.

Have you ever accidently hurt one of your dogs? How did you get over it?

Hereditary Dog-Loving

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I suspect I’m not alone in having a childhood filled with dogs as my primary companions and emotional “security blankets” – I’ll bet that an awful lot of you experienced that, too. Or you came to love and lean on dogs for friendship and comfort at another challenging time in your life. How do I know? Because it’s been my observation that people who are committed to their dogs to a degree that inspires them to subscribe to magazines tend to be highly emotionally invested in their canine companions.

Wonderfully, in my family, I wasn’t the only one who cried in my dog’s coat on a bad day, and who expressed great joy by running and racing around with our pack of family dogs; all of us were dog-lovers, including my parents. I wasn’t made fun of for considering our dogs as my best friends; each of my siblings had a special dog of his or her own. I challenge anyone to find a family portrait taken at our home (as opposed to one taken at a larger family gathering in one of our more urban aunts’ and uncles’ homes) that doesn’t have at least one dog in it. Some may contain four or five dogs!

I have a hunch that this is also true of all of WDJ’s dedicated contributors. I know it’s true of Training Editor Pat Miller; I’ve seen her childhood family photos, and they contain as many dogs as mine! And I would bet good money that it’s also true of trainer Laurie Williams, who has contributed a deeply personal story to this issue. Her story, about how she was saved from a life-threatening illness by a fellow dog trainer, demonstrates how the shared love of dogs can sometimes bind us humans together and inspire us to do good, selfless deeds.

Speaking of emotional dog-related experiences, my family recently lost a beloved canine: Hannah, my brother’s dog. Though Hannah grew a tad rickety toward the end of her 12-year lifespan, her warm and loving soul shined more and more brightly through her large, beautiful eyes as she aged. Hannah was dubious about the arrival of my niece Ava five years ago, but (with the help of a lot of treats in the first couple of years), she matured into Ava’s most devoted, protective companion – thus carrying on our family tradition for at least one more generation. Rest in peace, sweet Hannah. We miss you.

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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?”