I’ve toured half a dozen dry pet food manufacturing plants, and to date, three wet pet food plants. In most cases, to secure the invitation for a tour, I am asked to sign a nondisclosure agreement, promising not to disclose anything that may be proprietary in nature for the owner of the plant or any information about which company’s products are made there. In the cases in which I was not asked to sign a nondisclosure agreement, I have been asked for my word about these issues anyway – which is fine by me. I’m not looking to become a pet food detective and spill company secrets; I’m looking for things that would be of some use to owners who want to know how to identify and purchase the best foods for their pets!
This is one of the reasons it was such a pleasure to be invited to a pet food plant with no strings attached. The owner and CEO of Lotus Pet Foods extended an invitation for me to tour their new (launched in February 2011) plant in Torrance, California. Could I bring my camera? Yes. Could I take pictures and video of anything I wanted? Yes. Could I go through any door and see any label of any ingredient I wanted? Yes. Did I need to sign something? No.
One reason that the principals of Lotus are able to be so open: they do not yet produce pet food for other domestic pet food companies at their facility, so they don’t have to secure permission from anyone else.
Nevertheless, it was great to get to walk through a pet food plant and confirm that everything there looked exactly like how it’s described on the Lotus Pet Foods canned dog food label and on the company website.
Growling is a valuable means of communication for a dog – something that dog owners should appreciate and respect rather than punish. Of course, we don’t want our dog to growl at us, but neither do we want him to fail to growl if something makes him uncomfortable; that’s very important information in a successful canine-human relationship.
It’s very common for dog owners to punish their dogs for growling. Unfortunately, this often suppresses the growl – eliminating his ability to warn us that he’s about to snap, literally and figuratively. On other occasions, punishing a growling, uncomfortable dog can induce him to escalate into full-on aggression.
So, if you’re not supposed to punish your dog for growling, what are you supposed to do? The next time your dog growls at you, try this:
Stop. Whatever you’re doing, stop. If your dog’s growl threshold is near his bite threshold – that is, if there’s not much time between his growl and his bite, get safe. If his growl doesn’t mean a bite is imminent, stop what you’re doing but stay where you are. Wait until he relaxes, then move away, so you’re rewarding the relaxed behavior rather than the growl.
Analyze the situation. What elicited the growl? Were you touching or grooming him? Restraining him? Making direct eye contact? Taking something away from him? Making him do something?
If you need help to create and implement a behavior modification protocol, contact a qualified behavior professional who is experienced and successful in modifying aggressive behavior with positive, dog-friendly techniques.
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I’ve always wondered how wet dog food gets made – but it took a long time to find out. It seems like it’s more difficult for a journalist to get into a pet food cannery than into a factory that builds spy planes.
I’ve been in three. The first was Evanger’s Dog & Cat Food Company, located in Wheeling, Illinois, about six or seven years ago. A couple years later I was invited to tour American Nutrition, Inc. (ANI), in Ogden, Utah. Most recently I toured a brand new facility that was built, and is owned and operated by Lotus Pet Foods, in Torrance, California.
Evanger’s has operated on the same site since the company was founded in 1935. Fred Evanger, a breeder of Great Danes, originally operated the facility as a horse slaughter plant/pet food supplier. The plant has been renovated and additions built to accommodate modern machinery – and of course, no animals have been slaughtered on site for decades. It’s a small operation, owned and operated by a family. The plant was not being operated when I was given a tour, so I didn’t get to see canning in action, though I was able to view the ingredients used by Evanger’s and their storage and manufacturing facilities.
ANI has pet food production facilities in five states. I toured its Utah plant; the facility produces several types of pet foods: wet food, extruded dry food, andbaked treats and food for dogs. The plant dates to the early 1970s and is quite large. The size and sprawl of the plant made it difficult for a complete newbie like myself to follow and fully comprehend the flow of ingredients through the plant. At the time of the tour, I was primarily interested in the various safety checks that had to do with mixing various formulas for a variety of customers. The manager of the plant showed me all the various steps that the employees took to make sure that only the specified ingredients made it into each batch of food and in the specified amounts.
I got the clearest picture of how a batch of food is made from my most recent tour, of the very new Lotus Pet Food facility in southern California. The plant was put into operation in February 2011, so it’s still spotlessly clean – and without any “off” odors. It was built with plenty of room for expansion, so even very large pieces of equipment looked relatively small in various rooms in the gigantic warehouse-style building.
As a result of travel delays, I didn’t get to see the day’s very first steps in the making of a batch of Lotus’ Beef & Asparagus Stew. The production crew was waiting for us to arrive so they could complete the mixing of the food and start canning the batch. We did some backtracking through the plant, however, so I could recreate the process.
Wet Dog Food Ingredient Preparation
The batch actually gets started a day ahead. The meat used for the recipe that will be made the next day is moved from the deep freezers in the plant – where the temperature is kept between 5 and 10 degrees F. — to a refrigerated room, where the temperature is about 40 degrees F., to begin the thawing process at food-safe temperatures.
Lotus uses all USDA-inspected and -passed meats – what people commonly refer to as “human-grade,” although that term is not legal. (Any meat that is brought to a pet food plant is automatically considered NOT human-grade, even if it washuman grade, the moment before the truck was opened at the plant.) Lotus’s meat is in packages – shrink-wrapped in plastic in the case of the beef shoulders, and packed in heavy-duty plastic bags in the case of turkey or chicken – and boxed in cardboard. The boxes are stacked and placed on pallets in the refrigerated room.
Mixing Canned Dog Food Batches
Early in the morning, the crew will begin taking the still partially frozen meat out of its packages and feed it into a machine that subjects it to both grinding and steam. When this process is complete, the meat appears shredded and roasted. It’s packed loosely in tubs and taken to the “kettle” to await its next step.
The water that is used in this process – meat broth, at this point – is collected and transferred to the kettle where the final “stew” is mixed. This is a giant vat, with a capacity of 6,500 pounds of food. The kettle is heated, bringing the broth to 180 degrees as blades spin slowly through the mixture, stirring and combining the ingredients into a “gravy.” A number of ingredients are mixed into the broth; in the case of the Lotus Beef & Asparagus Stew that I saw made, these ingredients were egg whites, potato flour, the vitamin/mineral premix, flaxseed, kelp, and some healthy fat sources: wild salmon oil, olive oil, and chicken fat.
Unlike many pet food makers, Lotus does not use any “gum” ingredients to thicken its wet foods: no guar, carrageenan, or xanthan gum. (Each of these gums are somewhat controversial; they are “generally recognized as safe” [GRAS] by the FDA, but some people have different concerns about each type of gum.) Lotus’ dog foods are all “stew” types, which have a higher moisture content (about 80 percent) than the “loaf” style foods, which are about 78 percent moisture; the stews don’t need to be as thick, so gum is an easy thing to omit in these formulas.
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After the gravy is well mixed, the final ingredients — meat, fruits, and vegetables — are added to the kettle. The meats are shredded; the carrots and asparagus are chopped into small chunks; the blueberries are whole. In the Lotus formulas, there are no “restructured” meats ( a mixture of ground meats and powdered proteins that are mixed, pressed into shapes, and held together with gluten binders and/or pork plasma) or powdered fruits or vegetables, although these ingredients would be added at this stage in a food that contained them. Lotus is somewhat wary of powdered ingredients, due to the ease with which they can be adulterated.
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Dog Food Quality Control
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Again, the food is brought up to 180 degrees F. and well-mixed. A sample is taken to the laboratory so that the elements in the “guaranteed analysis” can be checked: protein, fat, fiber, and moisture content. The level of “ash” in the food (in a wet food, this is comprised largely of the mineral content) is also checked. Before a sample of the food can be poured onto the plate for the near-infrared analyzing unit, the sample is ground in a food processor, so the nutrients in the chunks of ingredients can be integrated in the food’s average values. With a good formula and ingredients that have all met the company’s quality inspections, there shouldn’t be any surprises.
Filling and Sealing Cans of Dog Food
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With various pumps, the food is now moved through pipes out of the kettle, through a metal detector (which would dump that portion of the food out of the system if it detects even a tiny fragment of metal in the food, both ferrous and non-ferrous), and into the can-filling machine, where it will be dispensed into cans (or in other companies, into pouches). The cans have been transported into the can filling room through a small opening in one wall near the ceiling, arriving on a conveyer of their own that whisks them through a quick wash in boiling water, turns them upside down (to let the wash water run out), and then into the queue for filling. An operator watches the control panel to make sure the computer detects no errors in the can-filling process.
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The cans pass out of the filling machine and proceed directly to a can seamer, where the lids are positioned onto the cans and sealed. Immediately following is a machine that checks the amount of food in the can; if the can has not been filled properly (too much or too little), the can is whisked by the machine off of the line and into a tub for disposal.
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A quality control technician also inspects a number of cans at this point, randomly selecting a number from all points in the run. He checks the temperature of the mixture inside the cans, to make sure the food is still above 100 degrees; it needs to maintain this temperature until it’s placed into the retort (cooking and sterilizing) machine.
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He inserts a device into some cans (which are then thrown away) that checks the vacuum pressure inside the can, to make sure there are no defects in the seal. (Before any of the cans are filled with food, some empty cans are run through the seamer, and the technician “tears down” these cans, visually inspecting the seal to make sure the seamer is working perfectly. The vacuum seal must be perfect to preserve the food and maintain its safety.
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The bottom of the cans are stamped with a batch code and “best by” date as they pass through another small opening into the retort room. Here, the cans are gathered by a machine and organized onto baskets with dividers. The baskets are stacked with layers of cans (each layer is separated by a divider) until the basket is filled. Then the baskets are moved into the retort machines.
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The “Cook” (Retort)
A retort is a large chamber into which steam is pumped under high pressure. Computers monitor the “cook” – the combination of time, temperature, and pressure needed to sterilize the food in the cans. The process also cooks the vegetables and fruits, increasing their digestibility. In “loaf” type foods, the retort can activate certain ingredients (like carrageenan or xanthan gum) to gelatinize into a meatloaf form.
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As workers carry out these tasks, others are busy scrubbing down all the machines that were used in the process of mixing the food. The steam cookers that were used to prepare the meat are scrubbed and sterilized with steam, as are the mixing kettle and can-filling machines. Steam is also used to flush out all the pipes that transported the mixture from machine to machine.
I’m going to have to ask for forgiveness ahead of time: This post may well offend some of my friends, neighbors, and readers. I’m sorry – and conflicted.
I’ve been asked a number of times for my opinion about breeding dogs. Do I know a good male Jack Russell to mate with their female; would I suggest buying a puppy from that breeder who advertises puppies on the billboard by the highway; how long should they wait until they breed their German Shepherd Dog?
In each case, I probably initially appeared to be having a heart attack, what with the sudden paleness, dry mouth, sweat on my brow, and an enlarged artery throbbing at my throat. In every case in which my opinion has been solicited, my answer was that a truly responsible dog owner would find the puppy or dog of his or her dreams at a shelter or rescue group.
But oh!, my friends have unwittingly replied, we want to keep this bloodline alive, and all the puppies are spoken for already. We really want a dog who is related to all these other dogs we admire in the field. And we are looking forward to making some money on these puppies!
In none of these cases have I thought the person I was talking to had a valid reason to breed their dog.
Don’t get me wrong: I love, admire, and respect well-bred, purebred dogs – dogs whose parents were healthy, sane, sound, well-researched and thoughtfully selected (and scrupulously prepared for producing a healthy litter).
Unfortunately, these are in the minority, and more amateurs getting into breeding aren’t going to increase their numbers. There are many, many purebred dogs – “AKC registered! With papers!” – that have been produced by genetically, physically, and/or mentally flawed parents at the hands of ill-informed owners. Other people buy or adopt these “registered” pups when they are darling, and their defects are not yet apparent . . . and many, many of them wind up euthanized in shelters and vet clinics all over the country.
I don’t know a single person who has spent a significant amount of time in an animal shelter who condones anything but the most stringent, selective, limited breeding of purebred dogs. There is something about seeing piles of dead pets, day after day, that pretty much turns off the desire to deliberately see more pets get produced.
What about people who work in rescue, or the very rare shelter that doesn’t kill (or transfer away) ANY dogs or cats? (Remember, most “no-kill” facilities do kill animals; they just label these ones “unadoptable” or they transfer the “unadoptable” ones to facilities that do the killing.) Folks I know in rescue work or “no-kill” shelters are also against breeding – not because they’ve seen so many dead animals, but because they are so completely overwhelmed with the oversupply of difficult-to-adopt living animals.
Look, I tell my friends and neighbors: At my local shelters, I can find a dog of any breed, size, age, color, and temperament that you want. It might take a little time to find that young make merle long-haired Dachshund or adult apricot toy female Poodle – but it can be done without breeding. I yearn for the day that this is different, when the shelters are well below capacity and every dog can find a home within days of losing another one.
In the meantime, unless you are one of those special few, who can recite bloodlines and honestly assess their merits, who produces just a few dogs each year and is prepared to take each and every one of them back, for the life of the dogs – please don’t ask me about breeding.
A recent headline for an article on petfoodindustry.com read, “Thank goodness for the humanization of pets.” The article discussed how industry sales data and recent surveys of pet owners suggest that pet foods that are made to appeal to human appetites are responsible for most of the growth in the industry.
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This isn’t the first time the phrase “humanization” has appeared in the pet food trade press. It’s used a lot – by industry analysts and pet food companies themselves. It’s just that the phrase isn’t often used in front of the shills – sorry, consumers – themselves. Pet food companies don’t make shelf displays that proclaim, “Now designed to appeal to your appetite, you silly dog owner!” even if that’s exactly what they are doing. Instead, they use the phrase only when they are talking among themselves.
For example, during Colgate-Palmolive’s second quarter earnings conference call for shareholders (held on July 28, 2011), the Senior Vice President of Investor Relations said, “Natural pet food is the fastest growing segment within the category as pet humanization and the inclusion or exclusion of specific ingredients are increasingly driving consumer behavior.”
Another example: Next month, there is a two-day conference presented by The Packaging Group, Inc. (“the world’s largest organization of targeted packaging conferences”), which “targets the emerging field of pet food packaging.” One of the two courses on the first day of the conference is devoted to “humanization of the pet food package.”
One could be insulted by the presumption that dog owners will buy a certain pet food just because its ingredient list sounds delicious, or because its package makes the food look perfectly scrumptious. But the truth is, it’s proving to be simple to manipulate many consumers by doing just that.
That’s why it’s so critical to inform yourself about your dog’s food. You have to go deeper than the pictures or words on the front label to determine whether a product is actually steak or just the “sizzle.” We try to teach dog owners about the ingredients panel and the guaranteed analysis – the only places on the label where one might gain meaningful information about the food. (Not that the ingredients panel is completely BS-free; there are plenty of tricks used there, too, to maximize the appeal of some perfectly ordinary ingredients.)
In the best possible world, ingredients that sound like real food items would appeal to educated dog owners because those ingredients are real food items – fresh, wholesome, and unprocessed. And that shouldn’t be a marketing strategy; it should be a basic pet care precept.
Because the diagnosis and treatment of Cushing’s disease can be confusing, expensive, and fraught with adverse side effects, many caregivers turn to alternative or complementary therapies.
For those who prefer treatments that have been proven in double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials, unconventional therapies are themselves fraught with peril. Product testimonials and anecdotal reports don’t prove anything, and by turning first to an herbal preparation or glandular extract, one might deny the patient an opportunity for effective treatment. Online reviews of nutritional supplements or herbal preparations range from reports about dogs that appear to be cured to heartbreaking stories of dogs whose condition deteriorated rapidly. Success stories are often not documented by laboratory test results, leaving readers to wonder whether the dogs that improved so dramatically actually had Cushing’s.
At the same time, the cost of veterinary tests, surgery, or prescription drugs for a dog is sometimes simply prohibitive. Because drugs can only relieve symptoms and cannot cure Cushing’s disease or slow its progression, there is little harm in trying alternatives if your dog’s quality of life is not impacted.
For some, the decision to pursue nutritional and alternative treatments is philosophical. Holistic veterinarians look at Cushing’s disease and every other canine illness from a different perspective than do conventionally trained veterinarians. They are likely to try holistic or natural treatments first and turn to symptom-suppressing conventional therapies later instead of the other way around.
Phosphatidylserine (PS), a phospholipid derived from lecithin, has been demonstrated to have a natural cortisol-suppressive effect on the adrenal glands. It can also help with cognitive dysfunction. Oral PS is available both by itself and in many combination supplements.
Elizabeth Knight, of Portland, Oregon, had some success using PS to treat her Welsh Corgi, Jasper, who was diagnosed with Cushing’s at age 11 and lived for two more years. “Two substances worked very well for us. For quite a while phosphatidylserine helped him a great deal with restlessness. And a Chinese herbal formula, Si Miao San, also helped with his restlessness and thirst. His polydispia and polyuria (excessive drinking and urination), pacing, and panting were controlled fairly well. I would say they helped about 80 percent.” Knight suspects that Jasper also had canine dementia.
In their book, Herbs for Pets, Greg Tilford and Mary Wulff recommend herbal therapy to support organs and systems that are subjected to additional stress because of the disease. “Dandelion root, burdock, garlic, and nettle are good choices for supporting an overtaxed liver and digestive system and to help replace potassium that is lost as a result of increased urination. Adaptogenic herbs such as Siberian ginseng or astragulus help buffer adrenal response to stress.” They also recommend avoiding licorice, borage leaf, and other herbs that stimulate adrenal activity.
Susannah Blanchard of Wilmington, North Carolina, turned to holistic treatments when her 10-year-old Shih Tzu, Bandit, was diagnosed with pituitary-based Cushing’s. “At that time,” she says, “the conventional treatment was Lysodren [mitotane], but I had a really hard time putting him on something that could induce Addison’s disease and was almost restrictively expensive. So I researched and found Cushex, a blend of homeopathic and herbal ingredients from PetAlive/Native Remedies. We moved around some, and every new vet who saw Bandit was amazed that he had a Cushing’s diagnosis. I credit the Cushex for keeping his coat rather thick with none of the thinning that generally accompanies Cushing’s disease. Bandit lived another five years and passed away last June at age 15. Only in the last few months of his life did his coat and tailfeathers start to visibly thin out.”
(Editor’s note: Bandit’s initial diagnosis was never confirmed by later testing; it’s possible that his original symptoms were caused by something other than Cushing’s.)
Another plant-based product is Canine Vitex Plus (formerly called Cush X) from the English company Hilton Herbs. Medical herbalist Hilary Self, the director of Hilton Herbs, created the formula nine years ago for dogs with Cushing’s caused by adrenal adenoma. “However,” she says, “a virtually identical product formulated for equine Cushing’s disease, which is caused by pituitary adenoma, has proved to be equally successful. I would anticipate that it would work equally as well in dogs with pituitary adenoma.”
The formula is added to the dog’s meals. “Symptoms usually respond within three weeks,” Self says. “The supplement is by no means a cure, but it has proved to be beneficial to many dogs. It has enabled many owners to either delay having to use the conventional drugs or even reduce a drug’s dosage over a period of months if the dog is already on it. If the dog is on medication, it is vital for the dog’s veterinarian to carry out regular blood tests to measure the response.”
Glandular supplements can also support the adrenal glands. “I think highly of Standard Process glandular products,” says Anita Moore, DVM, of Anne Arundel County, Maryland. “SP Canine Adrenal Support contains ‘functional foods,’ which are ingredients that have shown to benefit various organs and tissues in the body. It helps normalize adrenal function, making it appropriate for dogs with both Cushing’s and Addison’s disease. It doesn’t cure either illness, but it may help improve symptoms, as it has done with some of my patients.”
Diets for dogs with Cushing’s disease should be high in protein, which can help to combat muscle wasting; high-protein diets are also good for the skin and immune system. Fat should be moderately low, as Cushing’s predisposes dogs to hyperlipidemia (elevated cholesterol and triglycerides) and pancreatitis.
There is a lot of outdated information on the web about Cushing’s dogs needing a low-fiber, low-purine diet. It all appears to come from a single source, which references the third edition of Small Animal Clinical Nutrition (Lewis, et al, 1987). The newer fourth edition (Hand, et al, 2000), however, has no reference to purines, nor does it make any sense to restrict purines for dogs with Cushing’s.
The newer edition of Small Animal Clinical Nutrition also suggests that a diet “lower in fat (less than 12 percent dry matter) and moderate in crude fiber (8 to 17 percent DM) . . . may aid in weight loss and control of mild hyperglycemia . . . in dogs with glucocorticoid-induced carbohydrate intolerance” as well as hyperlipidemia. Some of this reasoning is questionable, but the point is that it no longer recommends a low-fiber diet.
Dogs with Cushing’s are predisposed to the development of calcium oxalate bladder stones, due to elevated calcium in their urine. Avoid giving excessive calcium, which might be a contributing factor. Feeding a low-oxalate diet with other modifications, such as avoiding vitamin C, might be helpful (see “Stoned Again?” WDJ May 2010). Keeping your dog well-hydrated and allowing frequent urination can also help prevent stone formation. Make sure fresh water is available at all times.
It is not unusual for dogs with Cushing’s disease to graduate from holistic therapies to conventional treatments or to take both at the same time. Three years ago Stacy McDaniel of Kingman, Arizona, noticed that her Husky/Malamute, Mascara, was gaining weight, drinking, and panting more than other dogs. In addition, Mascara had a voracious appetite and was greedy and protective of her food. (She lives with four other Husky/Malamutes.)
“The closest holistic vet I could find was 100 miles away in Las Vegas, Nevada,” says McDaniel. “Mascara was placed on Energetix BioBalancer [no longer available], Rehmannia (a Chinese herb), melatonin spray, and essential oils. I also used selegiline [Anipryl]. Most Cushing’s dogs have a thyroid problem, and Mascara was placed on thyroid medication. This combination seemed to work, and every follow-up test was within the appropriate range until she was tested in February 2011.”
That’s when Mascara’s medication was changed from Anipryl to Lysodren (mitotane). “What a difference,” says McDaniel. “Mascara even acted different. She was like a puppy again, playing and jumping. I was initially terrified of Cushing’s, but I now understand it and have respect for the treatments that are available.
“Mascara will always be on her medication. Without it she would die an early death due to the havoc excessive cortisol wreaks on the body. I am all about the quality of life for my dogs, and right now, she has an amazing life.”
What if your dog has all the symptoms of Cushing’s – excessive drinking, urination, and appetite; pot belly; skin problems; elevated alkaline phosphatase; etc. – but the tests say no?
Veterinary endocrinologists at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville (UTK) have been investigating this phenomenon. They found that many dogs have elevated steroid intermediates (also called steroid precursors or “sex steroids”) with normal cortisol. They call this condition “atypical Cushing’s disease,” or “adrenal hyperplasia-like syndrome.” It has been suggested that cases of atypical Cushing’s disease may be caused by a problem in the steroid production pathway. Elevated steroid intermediates have been linked to sudden acquired retinal degeneration syndrome (SARDS), which causes sudden blindness in dogs.
These steroid intermediate hormones include 17-hydroxyprogesterone (also called 17-OH progesterone or 17-OHP), progesterone, androstenedione, estradiol, and aldosterone. UTK developed a steroid hormone profile test to measure these hormones both before and after ACTH stimulation. Steroid hormone profiling is indicated when other tests of adrenal function are negative (ACTH stimulation and LDDS), but the dog still exhibits signs of Cushing’s.
One or more of these steroid intermediate hormones are increased in affected patients, both before and after ACTH stimulation. Estradiol does not respond to either ACTH or dexamethasone, while 17-OHP shows an exaggerated response to ACTH administration in cases of both atypical and typical Cushing’s.
Atypical Cushing’s can be either pituitary or adrenal. Dogs with pituitary-dependent atypical Cushing’s usually have an enlarged liver, hepatopathy (liver abnormalities), and enlargement of both adrenal glands, along with increased levels of endogenous ACTH. Dogs with the adrenal form will also have an enlarged liver and elevated liver enzymes, but in this case only one adrenal gland will be enlarged (the other may be atrophied), and endogenous ACTH levels will be decreased.
Both forms cause the usual clinical signs of Cushing’s disease, including bloodwork changes and haircoat problems. If aldosterone is elevated, it can cause hypertension (high blood pressure), high sodium, and low potassium leading to muscle weakness.
In some cases, adrenal tumors can secrete other steroids besides cortisol, and cortisol levels may be normal. Ultrasound is recommended to confirm whether a tumor is present before beginning treatment. If a tumor is found, surgical removal is recommended, especially since noncortisol-secreting adrenal tumors are almost always carcinomas. If that is not possible, mitotane (Lysodren) is the next choice, although it will not affect estradiol levels, and these types of noncortisol-secreting adrenal tumors tend to respond poorly to medical treatment. Trilostane is not recommended, as it can cause increases in intermediate steroid hormones.
Elevated estradiol, called hyperestrinism or hyperestrogenism, causes many of the same signs as elevated cortisol does. In dogs with hyperestrinism, ACTH stimulation and LDDS tests are usually normal for cortisol, thyroid function is normal or controlled, and liver problems are frequent and typical (very high alkaline phosphatase, enlarged liver, and other liver abnormalities). Symptoms frequently include excessive drinking and urination, along with haircoat problems. Panting may also be present. A skin biopsy will suggest endocrine abnormalities.
Veterinarians at UTK advise treating atypical Cushing’s and hyperestrinism with melatonin, which decreases cortisol and sometimes estradiol levels as well, and lignans, a type of phytoestrogen, which may also inhibit enzymes involved in the production of estradiol. Lysodren (mitotane) can be combined with melatonin and lignans to help lower sex steroid levels other than estradiol, along with suppressive effect on cortisol level.
A very small percentage of Cushing’s cases result from medical treatments for other conditions, such as the use of prednisone or other corticosteroid medications to control allergies, arthritis, or autoimmune conditions. This is called “iatrogenic” (doctor-caused) Cushing’s. In these cases, the Cushing’s is treated by gradual discontinuation of the corticosteroid drugs (if the drugs are withdrawn too quickly, an Addisonian crisis can result). Patients can take as long as three months to recover after corticosteroid drugs are stopped.
Also known as Alopecia X, pseudo-Cushing’s is identified by symmetrical alopecia (hair loss) on the trunk of the body, thighs, or neck, along with darkening of the skin where hair is lost. The coat’s color may change as well. The condition does not cause itching.
Pseudo-Cushing’s is seen in young dogs (ages 1 to 5) with plush coats, such as Pomeranians, Poodles, Samoyeds, Alaskan Malamutes, and Siberian Huskies. Pseudo-Cushing’s is thought to be a mild form of pituitary-dependent hyperadrenocorticism.
Dogs with this disorder may respond to castration, methyltestosterone, melatonin, growth hormone supplementation, or one of the drugs used to treat Cushing’s disease. One study showed that 90 percent of dogs with pseudo-Cushing’s treated with trilostane responded within eight weeks.
1. Don’t dismiss changes in your dog as normal aging. Your veterinarian may find an underlying, treatable cause.
2. Treatment for Cushing’s can improve quality of life for your dog. Don’t be afraid to try drugs when needed.
3. Watch closely for signs such as lack of appetite that may indicate drugs need to be stopped or dosage adjusted.
4. lf your dog has all the signs of Cushing’s but tests are negative, consider atypical Cushing’s or adrenal exhaustion as a possible cause.
Sometimes life-threatening illnesses develop so slowly that no one pays much attention. An older dog who’s always thirsty drinks huge quantities of water. He’s hungrier than usual and has developed a thin coat and pot belly. He pants all the time, and now his hind legs are losing muscle tone and getting weak. Many owners dismiss these as normal signs of aging, but they are classic symptoms of Cushing’s disease, which affects an estimated 100,000 dogs in the U.S. every year.
Also known as hyperadrenocorticism, Cushing’s is the opposite of Addison’s disease. Both illnesses involve the adrenal glands, which produce cortisol – a stress hormone that helps prepare a dog for fight or flight by breaking down muscle and fat to convert into glucose. While Addison’s disease results from insufficient cortisol, Cushing’s disease results from too much – and prolonged exposure to cortisol can have negative effects on the entire body. Cushing’s puts dogs at increased risk for diabetes, pancreatitis, calcium oxalate bladder stones, pulmonary thromboembolism, hypertension (high blood pressure), urinary tract infections, protein-losing kidney disease, hair loss, skin problems, and congestive heart failure.
Cushing’s disease affects primarily middle-aged and older dogs. The majority (about 85 percent) of Cushing’s disease cases are caused by tumors of the pituitary gland; these are usually benign (adenomas). About 15 percent of Cushing’s cases are caused by tumors of the adrenal gland; about half of these adrenal tumors are benign and about half are malignant (carcinomas).
In pituitary-dependent hyperadrenocorticism (PDH), tumors cause the pituitary gland to overproduce adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), which signals the adrenal glands to release cortisol. The average age at diagnosis with PDH is 10 years, and the most commonly affected breeds are Poodles, Dachshunds, Beagles, German Shepherds, Boxers, Boston Terriers, Labrador Retrievers, and terriers, with 75 percent of patients weighing less than 44 pounds.
With adrenal-dependent Cushing’s, the adrenal tumor itself secretes excessive cortisol. The average age for diagnosis with adrenal tumors is 11 years, with Poodles, German Shepherds, Dachshunds, Labrador Retrievers, and terriers predominating. About half of all cases occur in dogs weighing more than 44 pounds, and females may be more commonly affected.
Kris Hackleman
Pituitary Cushing’s Disease in Dogs
Girl, a Miniature Schnauzer, has lived with Cindy Bright of Indiana, Pennsylvania, since her first owner passed away in 2006. Girl is famous for eating anything (including dehydrated or living toads); at 27 pounds, she was seriously overweight.
By February 2008, Girl’s symptoms included excessive thirst and urination, overeating, urinary incontinence, and occasional hyperexcitement or aggression. She was diagnosed with PDH and was given Vetoryl (trilostane), a drug that was not approved in the U.S. until 2009 for the treatment of both pituitary- and adrenal-dependent Cushing’s, but which has been used in the U.K. since 2001. Bright imported the drug from the U.K. (something that could be accomplished with a prescription and by filling out a form to obtain permission from the FDA).
Today Girl is doing well, and her weight is a normal 19 pounds. Her occasional health setbacks tend to follow dietary indiscretions, such as her consumption of a 6-pack of English muffins that someone set outside the basement freezer and her indulgence in wild rabbit droppings, which Bright describes as Girl’s “caviar.” Girl suffered a serious bout of pancreatitis in 2010. “Life is like walking the tightrope,” Bright says. “One slip and it’s difficult to get everything back on course.”
Like Girl, all dogs with Cushing’s disease require careful monitoring. Depending on the drug used to control symptoms, even minor changes in condition or behavior can signal major problems, and conscientious caregivers keep a close eye on anything that seems unusual or different.
In Springfield, Vermont, Kathy Mason’s Beagle, Chance, was diagnosed with PDH at 8 years old. He was treated with Anipryl, which was not effective, and then switched to Lysodren (mitotane). “After about two years of good bloodwork,” says Mason, “Chance went into an Addisonian crisis. We thought we were going to lose him, but he survived and stayed Addisonian for the rest of his life. It was so much easier to treat. He passed away in January, five years post diagnosis, at the age of 14 years old.”
While most pituitary tumors are microscopic, 10 to 20 percent are larger than 10 millimeters (3/8 inch) in diameter. Called macrotumors or macroadenomas, almost all of these pituitary tumors are benign, but about half are large enough to compress the brain and cause neurological symptoms such as listlessness, poor appetite, confusion, walking in circles, or seizures. Most dogs are diagnosed with Cushing’s at least six months before neurological symptoms develop. Breeds with short noses, such as Boxers and Pugs, tend to have the largest pituitary tumors.
Most dogs with pituitary tumors are treated with medication because their tumors are considered inoperable. However, a rather new surgical technique allows some tumors to be removed.
Another option for large pituitary tumors is radiation therapy, which is expensive ($3,000 to $5,000 in the Los Angeles area) and can have adverse side effects such as skin and hair loss, hearing loss, or problems with tear production in the eyes. Although successful in 70 percent of cases, further treatment for Cushing’s is usually required, and tumors treated with radiation are likely to recur. Survival time is not increased if neurological problems are severe.
Adrenal Cushing’s Disease
hree years ago Maggie, a 12-year-old black Labrador Retriever/hound-mix in Atlanta, Georgia, developed a voracious appetite, drank incredibly large amounts of water, and began raiding the trash. Her owner, Kristin Boggs, took Maggie to their veterinarian, who suspected Cushing’s. “Usually Cushing’s is pituitary-based,” she says, “but instead of assuming this, my vet ordered an ultrasound test. He had once before seen a case of Cushing’s that was caused by an adrenal tumor. Sure enough, Maggie had a large tumor on her adrenal gland.”
The solution was to remove the entire gland. Maggie’s surgery took place at a special internal medicine veterinary clinic, where a post-surgical nurse attended her through the night.
“Maggie came through with flying colors, despite an incision almost the full length of her belly,” says Boggs. “She’s a tough old girl. Thankfully the tumor was benign. After a few weeks of medication to balance her cortisol levels, she was back to normal.”
In Toledo, Ohio, Linda Boyle’s Springer Spaniel, Cody, was diagnosed with Cushing’s disease at age 11 after developing a ravenous appetite and gaining weight. Cody’s ultrasound exam revealed tumors on both adrenal glands.
“A bilateral adrenalectomy is very risky,” says Boyle, “but it worked well for Cody. He became an Addison’s dog because his body no longer produced any cortisol at all, but he lived another two years with good quality of life before passing away from what we believe was pneumonia.”
Because Cushing’s patients tend to have high blood pressure and poor healing ability, several months of medical therapy may be needed to strengthen the patient prior to surgery. After surgery, prednisone or other corticosteroids may be required for a few months until the dog’s ability to produce cortisol recovers, and some dogs may need mineralocorticoid replacement as well.
In a survey of 63 dogs who had surgery, 4 (6 percent) had inoperable tumors and were euthanized; 18 (29 percent) died during surgery or soon after because of complications; and the average post-surgical life span for the remaining 41 dogs was 46 months.
As this article goes to press, Maggie’s Cushing’s symptoms have returned, caused by a new tumor on her remaining adrenal gland. “I can’t believe this has happened to us again,” says Boggs. “It’s an exact repeat of what we went through three years ago. We don’t know if the tumor is malignant or benign, as we don’t feel extensive surgery at her age (15 ½) is reasonable. My vet and I have decided to treat her with trilostane and see how she does. My priority now is that she is happy and comfortable.”
Diagnosing Cushing’s Disease in Dogs
Cushing’s disease isn’t always easy to diagnose. Routine test results that can point toward Cushing’s include:
High or very high alkaline phosphatase (ALP, ALKP, SAP). Although this is a “liver enzyme,” marked elevation is associated with cortisol. It does not indicate liver disease if other liver enzymes such as ALT (alanine aminotransferase) are normal.
Increased neutrophils and decreased lymphocytes (stress leukogram).
Elevated cholesterol and triglycerides due to abnormal fat mobilization.
Fasting hyperglycemia due to insulin resistance.
Liver enzymes may be mildly elevated.
Dilute urine (low specific gravity) due to excessive drinking.
Protein in urine (microalbuminuria or proteinuria).
X-rays may show an enlarged liver and occasionally calcium deposits in the skin (calcinosis cutis, which feel like rocks and cause itching).
Dogs with Cushing’s are prone to bladder, skin, and other infections due to the immunosuppressive effects of cortisol. About 20 percent of dogs with Cushing’s have an inapparent bladder infection, requiring a culture (not just urinalysis) to detect.
Confirming a Cushing’s diagnosis can be challenging, especially as false positives are common in dogs with nonadrenal illness. The following tests are commonly used:
Urine Cortisol:Creatinine Ratio (UCCR) is a screening test only. A negative result rules out Cushing’s, but anything that increases stress can cause a positive result, necessitating further testing. Use urine samples caught at home for this test so that the stress of a vet visit doesn’t influence the results.
Low Dose Dexamethasone Suppression (LDDS), considered the most accurate for diagnosing Cushing’s, takes eight hours in the hospital. A baseline blood cortisol level is measured, then a tiny dose of dexamethasone (corticosteroid) is injected. In a normal dog, blood cortisol levels drop after eight hours. Blood samples are sometimes checked after four hours, as this can help classify the form of Cushing’s. About 95 percent of dogs with Cushing’s test positive, but false positives are also common, and the more severe a nonadrenal illness, the more likely a false positive result. This test is preferred if an adrenal tumor is suspected.
ACTH Stimulation: No longer recommended for diagnosis, as its sensitivity is poor, its cost is high, and it cannot differentiate between pituitary and adrenal forms. This test is more specific than LDDS, however, meaning that strongly positive results definitely indicate Cushing’s disease, and false positives are unusual, but false negatives are common.
This test is useful for monitoring treatment, and it is the only test that can be used for dogs currently being treated with corticosteroids. A low-normal or blunted response indicates iatrogenic Cushing’s (see sidebar, facing page). This may be the preferred test if symptoms are mild, for it is better to miss the diagnosis than get a false positive.
Test results must be considered in combination with symptoms. A dog with at least three of the typical signs plus a positive test is considered to have Cushing’s, but a dog with no signs but maybe high ALP and a positive test may not, in which case it’s best to take a wait-and-see approach. If signs are present but test results are negative, consider retesting in three to six months or test for atypical Cushing’s.
Different Types of Cushing’s Disease
Classifying the type of Cushing’s disease as pituitary or adrenal helps determine which treatment is best. The endogenous ACTH level is felt by many to be the most accurate method of identifying the type of Cushing’s, but this test is difficult to run, as serum must remain frozen during transport to the lab. Dogs with pituitary tumors have high ACTH levels, while those with adrenal tumors will have low or no measurable ACTH.
LDDS may be used for classification when a 4-hour sample is drawn. If the 8-hour sample is > 30 nmol/L and the 4-hour sample is < 30, or both are less than half of the baseline sample, the pituitary form is likely.
The high dose dexamethasone suppression (HDDS) test is similar to LDDS, but a high dose of dexamethasone is used. This test is done only on dogs already known to have Cushing’s. Dogs with a pituitary tumor will show suppression in circulating cortisol levels 75 percent of the time, but those with adrenal tumors never show suppression.
Adrenal tumors can be seen on ultrasound 30 to 50 percent of the time. An adrenal tumor is suspected whenever one adrenal gland is observed to be enlarged while the other is not visible. If they have not spread, adrenal tumors should be removed, if possible, but surgery is difficult and usually requires a specialist.
Two normal or large adrenal glands indicate the pituitary form of Cushing’s, although enlarged adrenal glands are also often seen in cases of nonadrenal disease due to the chronic stress of the illness. An MRI or CT scan can detect pituitary tumors and determine their size. Two-thirds of dogs with tumors greater than 10 millimeters initially will develop neurological signs and may benefit from immediate radiation therapy, even before signs are seen.
Medical Treatment for Cushing’s Disease in Dogs
The best treatment for Cushing’s disease depends on the severity of symptoms, type of Cushing’s, risk of adverse effects, and cost factors. Medical therapy is used to control clinical signs, but it does not cure the disease. It is not likely to prolong life but does improve the dog’s quality of life. Not treating is also a viable option, particularly if symptoms are minimal. In this case, complementary care may be especially useful.
If the dog suffers from a concurrent medical condition, it is important to treat and stabilize that illness if possible before treating for Cushing’s. Treatment for dogs with concurrent nonadrenal illness, such as diabetes, is complex and beyond the scope of this article.
Mitotane
Mitotane (Lysodren®), which is used for both pituitary and adrenal Cushing’s, was the only treatment available until recent years. Mitotane is convenient and relatively inexpensive, but it has potentially severe side effects. A chemotherapy drug, it works by selectively eroding the two inner layers of the adrenal cortex that produce cortisol while tending to preserve the outer layer that makes aldosterone. If too much is eroded, the result is a cortisol deficiency.
About 30 percent of dogs treated with mitotane develop short-term reactions. If this happens, mitotane is discontinued and the dog is treated with prednisone until the adrenal glands recover. The destruction may be permanent, requiring treatment for atypical (or sometimes typical) Addison’s. Mitotane’s risk of a permanent or life-threatening Addisonian reaction is considered 2 to 5 percent.
Mitotane is given once or twice a day during the “induction” phase, during which adrenal erosion is induced. The drug must be given with food or it will not be absorbed. Mitotane should not be used for dogs with a poor appetite; inappetence indicates that something else is going on that must be diagnosed and addressed prior to beginning Cushing’s therapy.
During the induction phase, caregivers should notify their veterinarians as soon as their dog experiences any appetite reduction, decrease in water consumption, diarrhea, vomiting, lethargy, or listlessness. It is important to watch for these signs starting around the third day of treatment. These symptoms indicate that the end of the induction has been reached and it’s time for an ACTH stimulation test.
The induction time is variable, usually between 7 and 14 days, but some patients require just two to three days and others can take as long as six weeks, especially if they are being given other drugs that interact with Lydsodren, such as phenobarbital or insulin. If there is no response, dosage can be increased or mitotane can be reformulated in an oil base to increase absorption, or the drug trilostane can be used instead.
When the ACTH test and clinical signs indicate that sufficient adrenal erosion has taken place, daily use (induction phase) is stopped and lifelong “maintenance” treatment once or twice a week is begun. The ACTH test can be repeated after about a month, then one to four times a year thereafter.
If vomiting, diarrhea, appetite loss, or listlessness occur at any time during treatment, the dog may need a prednisone “antidote” pill, which should produce improvement within 30 minutes to two hours. Your veterinarian will probably prescribe prednisone and discontinue mitotane for a couple of weeks after that, before resuming at a lower dose. If there is no improvement, something else is causing the symptoms.
About half of the dogs treated with mitotane relapse at some point and require a second round of induction, and their maintenance dose may have to be increased.
Marked improvement should be seen within six to eight weeks of starting the maintenance dose, with a full reversal of clinical signs after four to six months of treatment. Usually the first improvements are more normal water consumption, urination, and appetite, and the last is hair regrowth. Muscle strength and exercise tolerance improve over the first three to four weeks.
Mitotane can be used to treat adrenal Cushing’s, but a higher dosage is needed, resulting in more adverse reactions. The average survival time in this case is 16 months.
Trilostane
Trilostane (Vetoryl®), used to treat both pituitary and adrenal Cushing’s disease, inhibits the enzyme 3-beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase, which is involved in the production of several steroids, including cortisol.
Because trilostane can block aldosterone as well as cortisol, it can cause side effects such as dehydration, weakness, and electrolyte changes (low sodium and high potassium). In this case, the medication must be stopped temporarily; some dogs may also require fluid support.
For reasons that are not understood, trilostane occasionally causes acute adrenal gland necrosis, which can occur within days of starting the drug or after several months. The condition is unpredictable and is not dose-dependent. It requires prompt treatment with fluid therapy, glucocorticoids, and mineralocorticoids or it can be fatal (Addisonian crisis). This complication is permanent and irreversible, and lifelong supplementation of both mineralocorticoids and glucocorticoids will be necessary (i.e., treatment for typical Addison’s).
Trilostane is given once or twice a day with food. Side effects may be less common when given twice a day. Starting dosage is 1 to 3 mg per pound of body weight daily. Starting at the low end of that range is safest, even though the suggested starting dosage in the product brochure is higher.
Close monitoring in the beginning and after any dose adjustment is essential. Discontinue trilostane and contact your veterinarian immediately if signs of intolerance are seen. Common side effects include mild lethargy, vomiting, diarrhea, and appetite reduction, especially in the beginning. Most reactions are minor and are reversed by decreasing the dose or discontinuing therapy, but serious or fatal Addisonian reactions are also possible. Side effects should be followed by electrolyte and ACTH testing. Once symptoms resolve, the drug can be restarted at a 50 percent dose reduction.
Most dogs show decreases in drinking, urination, and appetite within one week, but some may take two months or longer. Trilostane controls clinical signs in dogs with adrenal tumors, but will not slow tumor growth.
Trilostane may be safer than mitotane, as side effects tend to be less severe and most are reversible. The risk of a permanent or life-threatening Addisonian reaction from trilostane is considered to be 2 to 3 percent.
Cost is trilostane’s main disadvantage, though monitoring costs may be less than with mitotane. Baseline cortisol levels measured 4 to 6 hours after trilostane administration may provide adequate monitoring without the need for ACTH stimulation tests.
Trilostane seems to predispose dogs to increased adrenal toxicity from mitotane, so it’s best to wait at least a month in between if switching to mitotane. When changing from another drug to trilostane, wait a couple of weeks or until clinical signs recur. This drug is not recommended for dogs with liver or kidney disease.
Ketoconazole
Ketoconazole (Nizoral®) is used to treat both adrenal and pituitary Cushing’s. This antifungal medication suppresses adrenal hormones in about 80 percent of dogs as a side effect.
A low dose is used for a week; then, if no side effects are seen, a higher maintenance dose is used. It is not possible to induce Addison’s disease with ketoconazole, so monitoring tests aren’t needed, other than after a month or so to determine if the medication is working.
Side effects can include vomiting and diarrhea, but no “antidote pill” is needed. Just discontinue until side effects go away, then restart at a lower dose.
Ketoconazole’s disadvantages are that it must be given twice a day indefinitely and its effect may be mild or temporary. This drug may reduce clinical signs in up to 30 percent of dogs with adrenal tumors, but side effects are common.
L-Deprenyl
L-Deprenyl (Anipryl® or selegiline) is used to treat pituitary Cushing’s only. It is also used to treat canine cognitive dysfunction.
L-Deprenyl works by inhibiting ACTH secretion via high dopamine levels in the intermediate pituitary area, where 30 percent of pituitary tumors are located, and may work only for dogs with such tumors. This drug has no serious side effects, but approximately 5 percent of patients experience minor nausea, restlessness, or reduced hearing. It cannot induce Addison’s disease, and no monitoring is required.
Because it’s difficult to determine whether the drug is working, and it may take considerable time to take effect, few veterinarians report good results. However, because some dogs improve and its safety margin is high, it may be worth trying in dogs with mild symptoms that are progressing slowly. L-Deprenyl can be combined with mitotane or trilostane for dogs with cognitive dysfunction, and it may increase the dog’s activity level and quality of life.
Anipryl is not recommended for dogs who also have diabetes, pancreatitis, heart failure, renal disease, or any other serious illness.
Freelance writer CJ Puotinen lives in Montana. She is the author of The Encyclopedia of Natural Pet Care and is a frequent contributor to WDJ.
Mary Straus is the owner of DogAware.com. She and her Norwich Terrier, Ella, live in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Properly used, the dog crate is a marvelous training and management tool. Improperly used, it can be a disaster. Overcrating, traumatic, or stimulating experiences while crated, improper introduction to the crate, and isolation or separation anxieties are the primary causes of crating disasters. If, for whatever reason, your dog is not a fan of the artificial den you’ve provided for him, and assuming he can’t be trusted home alone uncrated, here are some things you can do regarding his dog crate anxiety:
1. Find confinement alternatives
Every time your crate-hating dog has a bad experience in a crate, it increases his stress and anxiety and makes it harder to modify his crate aversion. Your dog may tolerate an exercise pen, a chain-link kennel set up in your garage, or even a room of his own. A recent Peaceable Paws client whose dog was injuring herself in the crate due to isolation anxiety found her dog did just fine when confined to the bedroom when she had to be left alone.
2. Utilize doggy daycare
Many dogs who have dog crate high anxiety are delighted to spend the day at the home of a friend, neighbor, or relative who is home when you are not, or at a good doggie daycare facility – assuming your dog does well in the company of other dogs. This is not a good option for dogs with true separation anxiety, as they will be no happier with someone else when they are separated from you than they are in a crate.
3. Teach him to love his crate.
Utilize a combination of counter-conditioning (changing his association with the crate from negative to positive) and operant conditioning/shaping (positively reinforcing him for gradually moving closer to, and eventually into, the crate) to convince him to go into his crate voluntarily. Then, very gradually, work your way up to closing the door with your dog inside, and eventually moving longer and longer distances away from your crated dog for longer and longer periods of time. (See “Dog Crating Difficulties,” WDJ May 2005). Note: If your dog has a separation/anxiety issue, you must address and modify that behavior before crate-training will work.
4. Identify and remove aversives.
Figure out why your dog has dog crate high anxiety. If he was crate-trained at one time and then decided he didn’t like it, what changed? Perhaps you were overcrating, and he was forced to soil his den, and that was very stressful for him.
Maybe there are environmental aversives; is it too warm or too cold in his crate? Is there a draft blowing on him? Is it set near something that might expose him to an aversive sound, like the washing machine, buzzer on a clothes dryer, or an alarm of some kind? Perhaps his crate is near the door, and he becomes overstimulated when someone knocks, or rings the doorbell, or when mail and packages are delivered. Is someone threatening him when he’s crated – another dog, perhaps? Or a child who bangs on the top, front, or sides of the crate? Maybe he’s been angrily punished by someone who throws him into the crate and yells at him – or worse. All the remedial crate training in the world won’t help if the aversive thing is still happening. You have to make the bad stuff stop.
If he’s a victim of generalized anxiety or separation anxiety and the crate aversion is part of a larger syndrome, or his stress about crating is extreme, you may want to explore the use of behavior modification drugs with your behavior knowledgeable veterinarian, or a veterinary behaviorist, to help reduce stress enough that he can learn to love his crate. Note – if your vet is not behavior knowledgeable, tell her that many veterinary behaviorists will do free phone consults with other veterinarians.
5. Take him with you.
Of course you can’t take him with you all the time, but whenever you can, it decreases the number of times you have to use another alternative. Some workplaces allow employees to bring their dogs to work with them; you don’t know until you ask. Of course you will never take him somewhere that he’d be left in a car, unattended, for an extended period of time, or at all, if the weather is even close to being dangerous. A surprising number of businesses allow well-behaved dogs to accompany their owners; if it doesn’t say “No Dogs” on the door, give it a try! Your dog will thank you.
1. Don’t punish! It may (or may not) suppress barking in the moment, but is unlikely to modify the behavior in the long run. In fact, it may actually make the barking worse or cause new behavior problems.
2. Teach your vocal dogs a positive interrupt so you can minimize their barking behavior.
3. Learn how to apply operant and counter-conditioning protocols to modify your dogs’ barking when you can’t or don’t wish to manage the behavior.
4. Have reasonable expectations: accept barking is normal and appropriate for dogs. Identify times when you can allow your dogs to vocalize.
It’s feeding time at the Miller household. All is calm until I pick up Scooter’s bowl to carry it to the laundry room where the little Pomeranian can eat without harassment from the larger dogs. As I lift the bowl from the counter, Scooter erupts with high-pitched barking and spinning, and Lucy the Corgi joins in with her deeper-but-still-sufficiently irritating vocals. It’s more of an annoying bit of ritual than a dangerous or disturbing one, but it’s annoying just the same, and one that would be nice to extinguish.
But how does one modify behavior if the protocol requires the offering and removal of reinforcement based on the subject’s behavior, when there are two subjects, and reinforcement for one automatically reinforces the other? Stated in plain English, how do I get two (or more) dogs to stop barking when rewarding the quiet one also rewards the barking one?
When One Dog Starts Barking, the Rest Follow
If I set the bowl back down on the counter when both dogs bark, I’m using negative punishment; the dogs’ behavior of barking makes the good thing – delivery of their meal – go away. When the dogs stop barking I use positive reinforcement; the dog’s quiet behavior results in a good thing: I pick up the bowl and proceed with delivery of dinner.
Now, here’s the dilemma: When I pick up the bowl, Lucy stays quiet, so I should positively reinforce that by continuing with dinner delivery. But Scooter starts barking again; I need to abort delivery so I’m not reinforcing Scooter’s barking. But if I set the bowl back down, I’m punishing Lucy for being quiet. Get it?
The answer to the dilemma is this: I can modify the behavior of only one dog at a time. I need to select which dog I want to work with first, and figure out how to manage the other dog’s behavior until I’m ready to work with her. In this scenario, I might change my dog-feeding routine by putting Lucy in my office before I begin food preparation so I can work with Scooter’s barking behavior. After he gets his dinner, I can let Lucy out to join the rest of the group, and feed all of them.
When Scooter no longer barks at food delivery time, I can try reintroducing Lucy to the mix. If her barking re-triggers Scooter’s barking, then I might need to put Scooter away while I work on modifying Lucy’s barking. When each can handle dinner delivery without barking, then I can try them together.
Counter-Conditioning Multiple Dogs at Once
Many multi-dog training programs break down because owners, understandably, aren’t always willing to work with the dogs separately. The prospect of implementing multiple behavior modification programs for multiple dogs can be quite daunting. We’re lucky only two of our five dogs bark at dinnertime. If all five joined in, the cacophony of barking would be overwhelming, not to mention the prospect of working with each of five dogs to modify barking behavior. They might never get fed!
Yet, individual modification work is almost always necessary for success with behaviors that involve multiple dogs. One dog’s barking just sets the other(s) off if the other’s barking hasn’t been solidly modified. Perhaps the two most common examples of multi-dog barking are when an owner walks two or more dogs on leash at one time, or when multiple dogs in a home (or in the yard) are aroused by some stimulus, such as someone at the door, someone walking past on the sidewalk, a squirrel or cat running across the yard or up a tree, a car going by . . .
I see the pained expression on my clients’ faces when I suggest to them that they need to walk their dogs individually, or at least with separate handlers. In many households, one person is in the habit of taking both (or all) dogs for a walk at the same time. I can see them doing the math in their heads; a 30-minute walk per day with three dogs has suddenly compounded into three 30-minute walks, or 90 minutes per day. That equals 10.5 hours per week instead of 3.5 hours. Wow. Who has that much extra time to devote to dog walking?
Still, it’s important. When dogs-on-leash are barking at an outside stimulus, such as another dog or a passing car, my favorite approach to modification is counter-conditioning. The instant your dog sees another dog (or the approaching vehicle), feed bits of chicken (or other very high-value treat), preferably before your dog begins barking. Pause, let him look at the approaching dog (car), and quickly feed more chicken, again before he barks. Continue with your pause/look/treat procedure until the dog (or car) has passed. Then resume your walk until the next dog (car) comes along.
Over time, your dog will learn that the appearance of another dog/car makes you feed him chicken, and instead of barking, he’ll look to you for chicken. This works whether the stimulus causing him to bark is a dog, a car, a kid on a bicycle, or anything else. In time, as his “stimulus/chicken” association becomes very strong, you’ll be able to gradually – and significantly – reduce the amount of chicken you have to feed. In time, you’ll be able to leave the chicken home and just use his regular everyday treats to reinforce his looks at you when a target passes.
As simple as this process is, it’s virtually impossible to do it with two dogs at the same time. The timing of your treat delivery is critical; it must happen the instant after your dog sees the stimulus but before your dog starts to bark. You simply can’t manage two potential barkers and get the timing right for both. Hence the mandate to walk one dog at a time – or at least one dog per handler – if you’re serious about getting the barking under control. When you have solidly established the conditioned emotional response (CER) – the “where’s my chicken look” – for each dog separately, you can begin to walk them together.
Multi-Dog Training: Positive Interrupt
You can modify multi-dog “someone’s at the door” barking in a similar fashion – but it’s harder because all the dogs are usually in the home. You could do a lot of one-at-a-time set-ups with the other dogs out of earshot. (See “Knock, Knock,” WDJ February 2010). Still, chances are when someone comes a-knockin’, at least one of your multiple dogs may bark, which just might set everyone off. The same is true with outside/backyard stimuli. Despite your best efforts to counter-condition, the arousal behavior of multiple dogs is likely to cause mutual escalation or arousal, and barking will happen.
For those times, a positive interrupt is a powerful tool. I use a voice cue (“Over here!”) as a positive interrupt for an individual dog, but in the chaos of multi-dog barking, a louder signal is called for. If you are blessed, as I am, with the ability to give a shrill mouth-whistle, that can work. If not, there are wonderful whistles for sale that are so loud you’ll need to cover your ears when you blow them, or risk damage to your hearing. My favorite is the Storm Whistle. You might want to buy several, so you can stash them in strategic locations around your house and yard.
You’ll want to “charge” your whistle in the same way you charge a clicker, to give your dog a very positive association between the sound of the whistle and something wonderful. I tend to fall back on chicken as my favorite “something wonderful” – dogs usually love it, and it’s relatively low-fat, low-calorie, so you can use it generously without adding too many pounds to your dog, and with a low risk of tummy upsets.
Charge the whistle one dog at a time. With one dog close to you and the others put away out of earshot, blow the whistle (not too loudly) and feed a treat. Blow the whistle, feed a treat. Repeat many times. When your dog makes the connection between whistle and chicken, you’ll see his eyes light up at the sound, and he’ll be looking for the treat. Next, go out in the yard where he can be farther away from you, and repeat your whistle/treat routine, until the sound of the whistle brings him running for a treat even when he’s some distance away, sniffing the ground. Now put him away and try it with the next dog. When all dogs are “charged,” try it with two dogs at a time, gradually adding dogs to the group until your entire pack will interrupt what they’re doing and come running to you at the sound of the whistle. (By the way, this doubles as a great recall tool as well!)
Now you’re ready to try it for real. If you’re confident your dogs will respond, give it a try with the whole pack. If you think that’s too much for your canine pals, start your real life trials one, or maybe two dogs at a time, just like you did with charging the whistle. Arrange a set-up that you know will trigger your dog(s) to bark. Have your whistle handy. When the barking starts, blow the whistle, and reward your dogs generously when they stop barking and come running to you. Then pat yourself on the back.
Continue practicing with set-ups for as many different stimuli as you can think of. The more you practice, the better your dogs will respond when real-life stimuli trigger a bout of barking. If you’re really good, your dogs may start running to you in anticipation of the whistle/treat game when they see or hear stimuli that used to cause barking. When that happens, you deserve to reinforce yourself with dinner and a movie.
Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA, CDBC, is WDJ’s Training Editor. Author of numerous books on positive dog training, she lives in Fairplay, Maryland, site of her Peaceable Paws training center, where she offers dog training classes and courses for trainers.
Thanks to Sarah Richardson, CPDT-KA, CDBC, Chico, California, for modeling for this article.
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?”
