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There were so many losses this winter. In December, I lost my beloved pal, Rupert. But I know several other people in WDJ’s extended family who also experienced loss. I was very saddened to learn that holistic veterinarian Carolyn Blakey, a very early supporter and warm contributor to the magazine, succumbed to breast cancer in October. Herbalist Greg Tilford’s mother passed away at Christmas. In February, our good friends Claudia and Cameron, at BARK magazine in nearby Berkeley, lost their precious old dog, Callie, in a serious car accident.
Perhaps there is no connection to the season. It sure feels like there is, especially after losing my mother a year ago at Christmas.
But here comes spring, and news of new lives on their way. One of our regular contributors, C.C. Holland, is expecting a baby next month, and is busy acclimating her rescue dog, Lucky, to cribs, baby backpacks, and strollers. She says she’s gotten some funny looks, walking her dog while pushing an empty stroller, but she’s the kind of reporter who researches hard and deep, and applies what she’s learned to her own life, and we applaud her efforts. If the work she’s done with Lucky is any indication, she’s going to be a great mom.
Another of our longtime writers, CJ Puotinen, has a new puppy, Chloe, and is thrilled to have the opportunity to do everything right, right from the start: a modified vaccination program, home-prepared diet, socialization, puppy kindergarten, etc. So many of us, myself included, learned about enlightened dog care, training, and feeding too late in our dogs’ lives to benefit them fully; what a joy it is to have the opportunity to apply everything you have learned to a new companion, still bursting with vitality from a healthy mother.
For my part, I’m embarking on a new start, too. I realized, too late, that I allowed the March issue to go to print last month without remarking on the fact that it represented WDJ’s seventh birthday. Since I made that realization, I’ve been thinking a lot about the direction I’d like to see WDJ take this year.
I’ll discuss it more in the next few months; for now, I’ll give you just a hint: Dog food. Food ingredients, food production, and food selection. Home-prepared, raw and cooked, kibbled, canned, and all sorts of new “just add this or that” formulations . . . I’m going to step up the pace of our food coverage, so hold on to your hats.
My brother sent me this photo recently, taken of me and one of my Poodle’s (accidental) puppies when I was seven. It felt like it was too soon to replace the picture of me and Rupert with a picture of me and my young dog, Mokie. So, on the (belated) occasion of WDJ’s seventh birthday, I thought I’d run this instead. Here is to new beginnings, with love and gratefulness to those who have helped us get where we are today.
1. If your dog is just beginning to display barrier frustration, take steps immediately to eliminate his opportunities to practice the behavior. The more opportunities he has to practice the behavior, the more difficult it will be to control it.
2. Build a solid fence to prevent your dog from being able to see the things that arouse him and trigger his barking. If you already have a solid fence, keep him in the house unless you are supervising him.
3. Counter-condition your dog to the stimulus that sets him off. If bikes trigger his fence-running and barking, sit in the yard with him and toss delicious treats to him as a helpful friend on a bike approaches and passes by.
As I sit here writing, I hear a ruckus from my backyard. Leaning forward, I look out my window to see Dubhy the Scottie running the fenceline and barking madly at two black Labs who have wandered over from a distant neighbor’s house, still sporting the highly ineffective shock collars that are supposed to keep them home.
As I cuss under my breath yet again at my irresponsible neighbors and get up to call Dubhy in, I have a sudden epiphany. Three years ago when Dubhy’s on-again, off-again dog aggression erupted for the first time, it was directed at a black Lab. I have always wondered why . . . and suddenly I see it. There’s a good chance that Dubhy has a strong negative classical association with black Labrador Retrievers as a result of his irregular but frequent encounters-of-the-fence-kind with our neighbor’s wayward dogs. Duh!
In his famous poem, “Mending Wall,” Robert Frost starts out by saying, “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall.” We could revise that slightly to say “Something there is that doesn’t love a fence.”
That “something” is our dogs.
Fence-running, and its close cousin, fence-fighting, are manifestations of barrier frustration, also called restraint frustration. The frustration that a dog feels when he can see – but not reach – his objective can (and often does) give rise to canine obsessive-compulsive disorders (COCD) and aggression, both of which are serious behavior problems caused by stress.
Fence-running can quickly become a COCD. I see a mild version of it with Dubhy – stereotypic running along the fence line, accompanied by aroused barking, and spinning at the corners. He has a path worn around the interior of our large yard, which wasn’t there prior to his joining our family.
I have no doubt that if Dubhy were a (shudder) backyard dog, he would have serious problems. Instead, he’s only outdoors when we are home, and if he starts his fence-running behavior we interrupt it and bring him in. We are fortunate that our fence doesn’t conjoin any of our neighbors’ fenced-in dogs, or we would have to take much stronger steps to manage or retrain the behavior.
Restraint frustration also quickly turns into aggression. Aggression is caused by anxiety and stress, easily triggered by the arousal of fence-running. Some dogs who fence fight are fine if they meet the same dog sans barrier. Others, like Dubhy, may generalize their aggression to some or all dogs even when there’s no fence present.
As dog owners become more and more responsible about keeping their dogs safe at home, the incidence of fence-related behavior problems rises. Even the unfortunately popular underground electronic (shock) containment system fences can give rise to the problem. The barrier is there, even if the dog can’t see it, and the intense punishment of the shock the dog receives if he breaches the invisible barrier can intensify the resulting aggression.
Tying a dog outside also poses restraint frustration problem, and shares a drawback with electronic fences: neither prevents trespassers (human or otherwise) from invading the dog’s territory, putting both the trespasser and the dog at serious risk.
Preventing Fence Aggression and Barrier Frustration
It sounds like you’re damned if you do, and damned if you don’t! If not confining your dog isn’t safe or responsible, and confining him causes behavior problems, what are you supposed to do with him?
This is a case where prevention and management are much easier solutions than training. There are a number of things you can do to reduce the likelihood and opportunity for fence running and fighting. You can:
1. Install a solid fence
This is the best solution, albeit expensive, and in an increasing number of shortsighted communities, prohibited. If you block your dog’s visual access to the stimuli outside his fences, he’s not likely to get aroused enough to begin the undesirable behaviors. If you live in a no-fence community, you might want to consider moving.
2. Keep your dog indoors
Dogs who are permanent outdoor residents are at high risk for fence-related behavior problems. There are many reasons it’s not wise to leave your dog outdoors when you’re not home; this is just one of them. If he’s out while you’re away, he’ll get lots of opportunities to practice fence-running and -fighting. The more he practices, the harder the behavior is to modify.
Do like we do with Dubhy: let your dog out in the yard for limited periods only when you’re home, and bring him in immediately if he starts the unwanted behaviors.
3. Eliminate the stimuli
Dubhy’s fence problems are triggered by stray dogs and itinerant cats. We eliminated the majority of Dubhy’s fence running by adopting (with the neighbor’s blessing) the neighbor’s cat who had taken up residence in our barn. We had Barney vaccinated and neutered, and brought him indoors, solving a good percentage of Dubhy’s problem. (See “Barney Morphs Into Housie,” next page.) We’re still working on the black Labs.
4. Modify your existing fence
If you have a see-through fence, like the ubiquitous chain-link enclosures common here in Tennessee, do something to make it more solid. There are slats available that you can slide into the chain link to block some of the visual stimuli. This will work with mild fence problems, but won’t deter a dedicated fence-runner or -fighter if he can still see through the gaps between the slats.
You can try the slats to see if they work, and if not, line the inside of the fence with something to block his view completely. FRP (fiberglass reinforced plastic) is probably the most durable option, also the most expensive and least visually offensive. Other options might be plywood, or tarps, at least temporarily.
5. Install an “airlock,” another fairly costly option that can discourage fence-fighting
An airlock is created by building a second fence inside your existing one to create a “no-dog’s land” between your dog and your neighbor’s.
As an added benefit, this protects your dog from neighbor children sticking fingers and potentially harmful objects through the fence. While a double barrier can reduce actual fence-fighting, I am confident that this option would not have put a dent in Dubhy’s fence-running behavior.
Retraining a Fence-Aggressive Dog
If you have a dog who already manifests fence-related behaviors, you can do some training that will help you get a handle on the problem. You have probably already discovered how difficult it can be to call your dog to you when he is in a state of high arousal, racing along the fence in futile, frustrating pursuit of his adversary.
Your first challenge is to find a way through the fog in his brain so he can even acknowledge your presence. With Dubhy, I found that standing directly in his path didn’t work. He simply darted around me and continued on his mission. I know better than to try the lunge-and-grab method, which would only serve to make him wary of me. Tossing something like a treat or a ball to try to break his focus was equally ineffective.
I began a two-pronged training program, one to counter-condition him to the presence of the arousal-causing stimuli, and the other to improve his recall response, even in the face of high distractions.
Recall Training and Counter-Conditioning
The recall training was easiest to implement, as I could do it any place, any time. Dubhy already had a rock-solid and speedy recall in the training center, but it was somewhat less reliable in the backyard, and even less so in wide open spaces. I was already fed up with his “maybe” recall, after being forced on several occasions to go out and get him in the dark when he declined to come back indoors after the pack’s bedtime bathroom break.
We embarked on backyard and long line recall training. Several times a day I would play with Dubhy in the backyard, calling him, giving him a high-value reward (such as canned chicken or fish), and letting him go again. Especially since Dubhy prefers outdoors to indoors – the first dog I have ever had who exhibited this bizarre preference – I didn’t want his recall to be a predictor of “outdoors is over” by bringing him indoors every time I called him.
I would also call him to the back deck and cue him to do several of his tricks for high value rewards, since he likes to do tricks. And I called him and had him do several pieces of agility equipment; he loves his agility stuff. Gradually his recall responses improved.
I even used a little negative punishment on one occasion, when he failed to come for dinner call. Rather than trekking out to get him, I let him stay out, and didn’t serve him his meal when he finally did deign to come in. He hasn’t missed dinner call since.
In addition, we worked on recalls in wide open spaces on his long line, until I started getting snappy responses, even spinning on his heels if he was heading in the other direction. We now take a chance on our five acres and occasionally let him off-leash to practice recalls outside the yard. Most of the time, he comes when called. Every once in a while his Scottie brain takes over, and I have to retrieve him before he wanders off the property.
I also did counter-conditioning work with him. Whenever the opportunity presented itself – with the neighbor dogs or Barney – I went out in the yard and waited for a brief lapse in Dubhy’s fence-focused attention, then offered him yummy treats. At first he would grab a treat and go right back to his running and barking. My ability to keep him focused on me and the treats was in direct proportion to the distance to the stimulus. If the neighbor dogs appeared to be just passing through, Dubhy would stay more attentive to me as they moved away. Over time, as we worked on it, he would turn his attention to me and keep it there with the dogs in closer and closer proximity.
Barney, who loved to tease Dubhy by rolling around on the driveway six feet from the fenceline, was more of a challenge. But with time and practice, I could even call Dubhy away from his feline nemesis.
A Cure for Canine Fence Aggression?
What I have accomplished with Dubhy is a compromise, not a cure. He still “goes off” when neighbor dogs pass by; it’s just easier for me to interrupt his behavior and call him into the house. If I were to leave him in the backyard unattended he would continue his arousal behavior and the COCD nature of his actions, especially the spinning, would probably worsen.
I’m still dealing with the collateral damage of his fence behaviors; specifically, his aggression toward some dogs, especially black Labs. When we are out in the world and he sees another dog he will go on alert – tail up, ears pricked, eyes bright, leaning forward. Then, unless it’s a Lab, he’ll swivel his head toward me to ask for his treat – the positive result of lots of counter-conditioning. With Labs, I still have to draw his attention to me; he doesn’t offer it on his own. I can gauge how aroused or relaxed he is by the amount of pressure from his teeth when he takes the treat from my fingers. With Labs, his teeth definitely hurt.
It would be a very large challenge to counter-condition a dogs’ fence-running or -fighting behaviors to the point that the behavior goes away. Even if you succeed in habituating your dog to the presence of the arousal-causing stimuli, the chances of spontaneous recovery are very high; the behavior is likely to resurrect itself with additional exposures to the stimuli.
Prevention is your best course of action, by not putting your dog in a position to develop the behaviors in the first place – not leaving him fenced and unattended. If it’s too late for prevention, management is your next best bet – putting up a solid fence and/or not leaving in him the yard alone.
If at any time you feel that you and your dog are not making progress, or your dog is exhibiting signs of a serious COCD, contact a good positive behavior consultant or veterinary behavorist. She can evaluate your training and help you investigate the possibility of using behavior modification drugs to control obsessive behaviors that may be interfering with the success of your program.
The property we are hoping to purchase in Maryland is in the middle of 80 rural acres, and the backyard is fenced with a solid wooden fence. Sounds like a great management plan to me!
Robert Frost’s neighbor was right; good fences do make good neighbors, and especially better neighbor dogs!
A Challenge for a Former Cat-Chaser: “Barney” Morphs Into “Housie”
Although my husband and l are strong advocates of indoor-only cats, after we adopted Barney it was our intention to allow him to continue his life as a barn cat until we moved. and then transition him into the house. It can be difficult to turn a full-time outdoor cat into a house resident, and we were reluctant to upset the equilibrium of our four-legged family while we were trying to sell the house. Stressed dogs and cats can find ways to make a house less marketable, if you know what I mean.
Barney, however, had other ideas. On a frigid rainy night just after Christmas, Barney sat outside our den windows and cried for an hour. Clearly, he wanted to come in. I tried to ignore him, but when he took to hanging on the window screens and meowing, I couldn‘t stand it. Barney came indoors.
One of the things that worried me about bringing him in was Dubhy’s reaction. The feisty Scottie had developed a strong animosity toward Labs as a result of his fence running: would he generalize the same reaction to an indoor Barney? I had done scads of counter-conditioning with Dubhy when I brought home a kitten 18 months prior; would that help?
Armed with stick cheese, I let Duhhy into the den with Barney. As I’d feared, Duhhy’s radar was instantly on high alert. His tail went up, ears pricked, eyes bright, leaning forward…l held my breath – and he swiveled his head back toward me for his treat. The crisis was over. Counter-conditioning wins again.
Interestingly enough. Barney’s life as an outdoor cat made him fairly pugnacious. If a dog gives him a hard time, Barney holds his own – lunging at the dog and swatting with claws that are now kept clipped. Barney and Dubhy have invented a game that they play together. Dubhy will tease Barney into leaping at him, and then do puppy rushes around the dining room table, occasionally deliberately passing close enough to Barney to elicit
another lunge. They both seem to derive great enjoyment from the game.
And I was worried.
Pat Miller, WDJ’s Training Editor, is a Certified Pet Dog Trainer, and past president of the Board of Directors of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers. She is also the author of The Power of Positive Dog Training and Positive Perspectives: Love Your Dog, Train Your Dog.
by Randy Kidd, DVM, PhD There are many easy-to-grow herbs that are also good medicine for dogs (and their people). But first, a disclaimer: When I say “easy to grow,” in my case I mean that they are easy for my wife, Sue, to grow. Sue is the family gardener; I help pick out the good-medicine herbs from the seed catalogues, and it is my strong back that does the autumn tilling and the forking of donkey dung over the beds. (I actually do some of the day-to-day watering and weeding throughout the summer, but so far, I’ve been able to claim a lingering football injury that lets me avoid the worst of the chores.)
If Sue has her way, I suppose she will eventually transform me into a true dirt farmer (although in 40+ years of marriage it hasn’t happened yet). Sue, as the real gardener in this family, claims she absolutely needs to get her hands in the dirt to feel healthy. I am the gardener-thinker, and I hope some of my ideas on gardening for pets will help you as you plan this year’s garden. Dirt farming It is Sue’s “paws in the dirt” concept that I think is perhaps the most important when we are thinking about gardening for the health and healing of our dogs. I believe that all of us (two- and four-leggeds) absolutely need to “ground” ourselves with Mother Earth. What’s the first thing a dog does when you let him out of the house? Roll on the ground! Unless, of course there’s a cow pie nearby; then he’ll roll in it. Give a dog enough free time on the ground, and (as Elizabeth Marshall Thomas observed and reported in her book, The Hidden Lives of Dogs) she will eventually dig a hole – a place to lie in throughout the day. A place to reconnect with the essence of the land. A place to be cool and calm and to bathe her skin with the healing elements of the soil. Digging in the dirt, grounding, connects us with the soul of the earth, brings us to the calming resonance from the core of our true center. There’s more, especially for the organic gardener: Soils, at least those unharmed by herbicides and pesticides, contain a medicine chest of chemicals produced by the plants, beneficial bacteria, worms and bugs, and a thick weave of healing fungal mycelia. Volatile oils, substances that are used in aromatherapy for healing, are also dispersed by many herbs and are wafted over the garden in abundance. Garden plants utilize all these to help maintain their own healthy integrity, but the hands and paws that work the soil also benefit. Sue and I also believe it is important for our pets to share the healthy aspects of being in the garden, and so far we have been able to train our dogs so they don’t destroy our plantings, just by being there when they have access to the garden, interrupting inappropriate behavior and encouraging good. When Rufus was still alive, he would simply pick a place nearby wherever we were working to lie down for the day. Our new puppy, Pokey, is understandably a bit more of a challenge, but we have been able to limit his diggings to the edges of the garden beds where he insists on burying his bones. Mining the earth Gardening is a way of mining vital minerals and other essential elements from the depths of the soil. Roots from the plants in the garden reach many feet into the dirt, spreading little rootlets throughout a vast expanse of mine-able soil. If we could see below ground level, we’d discover that the extent and mass of a plant’s root system far exceeds the greenery and flowers visible above ground. This entire mass of root system is actively bringing up the essential elements that the plant transforms into the nutrients and micronutrients that ultimately become vitamins, minerals, and medicinally active biochemicals. When it comes to their ability for mining the depths of the earth, it turns out that weeds, with their extensive root systems, are some of the best miners around. Dandelions and burdock come to mind as especially proficient dirt-miners, but the key is to check out your yard and look for the weeds that want to grow there; these will be the weeds doing the work for you for free. Since many of the common herbs are such efficient mineral miners, they also make an excellent material to add to your compost. Medicinal weeds Native Americans (and other traditional healers) thought that plants were sent here to be our healers, and some even believed that you could tell what disease was about to afflict someone in the family by which plant species were growing nearby. (This is one of the “myths” I always tell the folks in my workshops, and invariably I have someone in the group who has a dramatic story to tell about how this has proven true for their family.) Whether or not you believe the myth, it can’t hurt to give a little respect to the weeds growing in your backyard and to harvest them for use as preventive medicine. Conversely, you can do plenty of damage to your surrounding environment and to the critters who walk on that land whenever you apply herbicides to kill weeds or pesticides to kill bugs. Examples of medicinal weeds worth harvesting include: • Chickweed (Stellaria media) – For joint conditions and diseases of the blood or lymph systems. • Cleavers (Galium aparine) – Used for urinary infections, constipation, and dermatitis. • Dandelion root (Taraxacum officinale) – A potent diuretic, used for some kidney conditions. Also good for liver and gallbladder complaints. • Lambsquarters (Chenopodium alba) – Leaves are a nutritious lettuce substitute; the seeds, left on the plants, make a good autumn wild bird seed. • Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca) – Used for cardiac problems and conditions of the female reproductive system. • Mullein (Verbascum thapsus) – For respiratory condidions. • Plantain (Plantago spp.) – Used externally as a poultice to draw out infections and/or foreign bodies from abscesses. Leaves are used internally to calm intestinal upset and decrease inflammation. • Purslane (Portulaca oleracea) – A mild medicinal for many conditions: asthma, skin conditions, and infections; also reputed to have anti-aging properties. Interestingly, we’ve tried to grow many of the above weeds, planting seeds or transplanting plants and then giving them the full benefit of Sue’s best garden care, to no avail. It seems Nature is once again telling us to leave her alone; she knows best how to handle things. Grow what you love The best gardening advice I ever received came from Kansas State’s sustainable agriculture specialist. She was looking for people who would grow various species of herbs and then scientifically evaluate the plant’s yields in measured plots, to see what plants might be commercially feasible in Kansas. When I volunteered (actually I volunteered Sue), the ag lady asked me, quite seriously, “What plant do you really love?” I thought that was a strange question, especially from a scientist. She explained: “We’ve found that if a person really loves a plant – maybe they think a particular plant is especially beautiful, or they just love the smell of it, or the way it looks in a garden, or they may have a fond childhood memory of it – then that plant has the best possibility to grow to its full potential on that person’s land. Love of the plant seems to be the most consistent variable we can measure for the eventual success or failure of the plant’s growth.” From my perspective as an herbal medicine man, it is not the most important thing to select the exactly correct herbal plant for the patient. Almost all herbs have a wide range of medical effectiveness, able to enhance and assist many organ systems at once. I’ve told my clients many times: “The most important thing about herbal medicine is to use it. Don’t worry so much about learning the thousands of plants with known medicinal value and then trying to learn what each plant is specifically used for. Concentrate on finding an herb that appeals to you and your dog, and you will likely have found the correct herb.” According to the research reported in Cindy Engel’s book, Wild Health, animals have the ability to keep themselves well by selecting the plants they need for healing at any particular time. I’ve found that most, if not all, our dogs can do likewise, and it is easy to give them the chance to do this. Simply give them a selection of several herbs (either by sprinkling herbs over their food or by letting them walk through the garden and observing which herbs tend to attract them), and they will often select the precise herb that should apply to their current condition. Chemicals here and there As a holistic veterinarian who recommends herbs for pets, I am a stickler for using only organically-grown herbs. There are several reasons for this. Herbicides and pesticides are chemicals that have been manufactured and sold because of their ability to kill (or inhibit the growth of) plants and little critters. They are supposedly safe to use, when used as directed. Perhaps . . . But to my way of thinking, any amount of residual herbicide or pesticide is unacceptable and entirely unnecessary on a medicinal herb. Whenever I think about the supposed safety of herbicides and pesticides, I am also reminded of the Big Environmental Mess we have gotten ourselves into by believing that antibiotics are perfectly safe. (See “Dangers of Antibiotic Misuse,” WDJ March 2004.) As with antibiotics, it can’t be good for the long-term ecology of the land that pesticides and herbicides indiscriminately kill a wide variety of the bugs and plants in the field, many of them actually beneficial. Besides, when we grow medicinal herbals (and weeds) there is little, if any, reason to use herbicides or pesticides. Herbs (and the medicinal weeds) are typically resistant to almost all buggy pests. Pests thrive when we plant a large field of one type of a (typically hybrid) plant (monoculture) – the usual way commercial plants are grown. In contrast, herbal gardeners usually grow their herbs in small patches, oftentimes hidden in the midst of a bigger garden. These small patches of herbs avoid the problem of attracting a population of plant-eating pests, and in fact, organic gardeners often plant small herb patches throughout their garden as a holistic means of pest control. About weeds: Remember that many of the so-called weeds are medicinal, so harvesting them simply adds to the overall yield of the garden. Other weeds can be controlled by altering the chemical composition of the soil with organic soil amendments or by applying heavy layers of weed-inhibiting mulch. Finally, if the main reason to garden is to get our hands in the dirt, aren’t the weeds and the time we spend removing them by hand actually helping us achieve this objective? Good organic gardening simply substitutes labor- and brain-intensive methods for the ease (and expense) of using commercial herbicides and pesticides. Any good organic gardening book will describe an abundance of nontoxic techniques to keep weeds and pests to a minimum. Organic gardening techniques from the books will also demonstrate how to adequately fertilize the garden. Composting is the mainstay here, with weeds and leftover table scraps and garden produce often providing plenty of organic matter (humus) for the entire garden. It is important to realize that healthy soil creates its own balance of minerals, and humus is the essential component that allows this balance to occur. It is also important to realize that a healthy soil balance allows plants to produce the bioactive chemicals (medicinals) they are meant to produce. If you alter the balance, the plant may not be able to manufacture those medicinals. Any time we alter the balance of the soil (by adding synthetic fertilizers, for example) we may temporarily increase the yield of green matter, but we will also alter the basic biochemistry (and thus the potential medicinal value) of the plant. A few more tips When picking out the plants or seeds for your herb garden, I suggest going for the wild. Many of the plants recommended for today’s gardeners are hybrids – plants that offer more flower, more smell, different colors, etc. The problem with these hybrids is that, while we have altered some showy aspect of the plant, we may have also altered its ability to produce medicinal substances, or its specific medicinal qualities may have been altered. I’ve heard herbalists complain, for example, that the newer, fancy-colored varieties of yarrow (pink and blue, for example) don’t seem to have the medicinal qualities of the white variety typically found in the wild. When buying seeds or plants, insist on species with the Latin name that you will find in the herbal medicine books. Here’s a hint to help you avoid hybrids: If the Latin name in the seed catalogue looks something like this: Lavendula x intermedia or Plantus officinalis v non-officinalis, then you are probably dealing with a hybrid. In these examples, the x and the v are the tipoffs. Food is medicine; medicine is food. Don’t forget this when you are planting your garden (nor when you are feeding your dog). Tomatoes, for example, contain lycopenes, which have antioxidant properties, protect against cancer, and stimulate the brain. Carrots are a wonderful source of carotenoids, a potent source of vitamin A and antioxidants. Many purple-colored berries contain anthocyanidins, strong antioxidants that fight cancer and allergies and aid the immune system. One final piece of advice: when it comes to gardening, small is beautiful. There’s nothing more discouraging than looking at an acre of garden that is choked with weeds because you didn’t have the time to properly tend it. The best part of growing herbs is that you can harvest pounds of plant medicine on a very small plot. Even a window planter or a few flower pots of herbs can yield lots of herbal medicine. Some failsafe (almost) herbs While the following list represents herbs that are typically easy to grow, how well they will grow in your backyard depends on your climate, the condition of your soil, and the love you have for the plant itself. • Calendula (Calendula officinalis) – Most commonly used externally for wounds; has broad spectrum antimicrobial effects and speeds wound healing. Also used internally for gastrointestinal conditions. • Cayenne (red peppers) (Capsicum annum) – Used internally and externally for joint conditions and muscular tensions. When used internally it is said to enhance the efficacy and distribution of other drugs. • Culinary herbs – Most of the culinary herbs have a wide range of medicinal properties: antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and multi-organ system enhancement. In addition, they have high antioxidant values, often higher than better-known antioxidant vitamins C or E. Finally, they add spice to a dog’s typically bland diet and can thus enhance a lagging appetite. Culinary herbs of note include: basil (Ocimum basilicum); lemon balm (Melissa officinalis); marjoram (Origanum majorana); oregano (Origanum vulgare); parsley (Petroselinum crispum); peppermint (Mentha piperita); rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis); sage (Salvia officinalis); and thyme (Thymus vulgaris). • Echinacea (Echinacea spp.) – A medicine chest in one plant. Balances the immune system, fights infection, helps heal wounds, and decreases inflammation. • Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) – Used both internally and as an aroma to calm restlessness and insomnia. • Marshmallow root (Althaea officinalis) – Used to treat irritation of the oral, pharyngeal, and gastric mucosa. • Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) – Used externally to stem bleeding and to help heal old wounds; known as “warrior’s wound wort.” Internally used to treat colds and flu and as an aid to liver problems. Using herbs you’ve harvested For using herbs internally, my advice is to use herbal “sprinkles” from the garden whenever possible; that is, fresh or fresh-dried herbs crumbled on the dog’s food. Use herbs routinely (at least several times a week) for their nutritional value as well as their medicinal components. I consider them as preventative medicine rather than cure, and when a cure is needed, I suggest that you rely on a qualified herbalist to help with the herbal selection, the dosage, and method of application. Using a sprinkle of dried herbs gives your dog a small amount of the herb in its entirety, providing herbal medicine that is most likely to enhance your dog’s healthy whole-body balance. At the same time, this method of administration is highly unlikely to contain enough bioactive substances that could potentially be toxic. Sprinkles also activate the oral component of the immune system, which in turn enhances whole-body immune function. And perhaps most important of all, by giving sprinkles, you promote your dog’s innate ability to select what is best for him. Use fresh herbs whenever possible. Simply let your dog be with you while you work in the garden. Let her absorb the healthy vitality of the entire garden through her pores and nasal passages. Then, take some of the fresh herb and sprinkle it over her food. If you think you must, brew a mild tea from the fresh herb (about a teaspoon to a tablespoon per cup of water), cool to room temperature, and pour it over her food. Or, put the tea into a dish and simply let her decide if she wants to drink it straight. The easiest (and I think the best) way to use herbs topically for dogs is to brew up a tea of the herbs you have selected, let the tea cool to room temperature, then, using a plant sprayer/mister, apply the tea to the affected area as a mist. This way you get the full benefit of the herb without worrying about your dog licking off oily or greasy stuff from ointments or salves. The problem with this method (a problem I actually think may be an advantage) is that the effects of the herbal tea may not last long; you’ll need to repeat the spray several times a day. While fresh herbs are best for either internal or external use, you can dry your excess herbs for storage and wintertime use. Dried herbs are used the same way as fresh, remembering that you only need about one-third to one-half as much of the volume of the dried herb to equal the same amount of fresh herb. You can, of course, produce your own tinctures or capsules from your garden-grown herbs. I recommend using only the non-alcoholic tinctures (glycerine or glycerol) for pets. And, while tincturing is relatively easy to do, remember that no matter what method you use to extract the herbal essence, you have altered the basic biochemistry that the plant offered in its wholeness. This alteration has likely changed the medicinal potency and possible toxicity of the plant, so you need to know what you are doing before you proceed. Summary Let nature do your gardening work for you (or find a good mate). Harvest the weeds first (and educate the neighbors while you’re harvesting). Get your hands and your dog’s paws in the dirt, and enjoy the health-giving aromas coming from the plants. Grow what grows best in your area. Grow what you love. Plant and tend small, manageable plots. Stay away from chemicals. But finally, and most importantly, use your gardening time to reconnect your and your dog’s body and soul with nature. When you give herbs to your dog, think health first, disease prevention second, and lastly, think about curing a specific condition or disease. Keep it simple – use fresh or dried herbal sprinkles whenever possible. If you want to move on to the next step – tincturing or encapsulating your herbs, do some research first. Also With This Article Click here to view “Whole Herbs: A Holistic Look at Dog Care”-Dr. Randy Kidd earned his DVM degree from Ohio State University and his Ph.D. in Pathology/Clinical Pathology from Kansas State University. A past president of the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association, he’s author of Dr. Kidd’s Guide to Herbal Dog Care and Dr. Kidd’s Guide to Herbal Cat Care.
Chewbacca is, in most ways, a normal, happy, seven-year-old Golden Retriever. He loves to play with the other dogs. Like most Goldens, he enjoys a good game of fetch. He joyfully embarks on daily off leash romps with his guardian, Jenny Alt, and her three other dogs. Chewbacca has one trait that makes him just a little different, however. He cannot see.
Alt and her husband share their home in Lena, Illinois, with Chewbacca, another blind dog named Iris, and two sighted dogs named Honi and Bear. The Alts adopted Chewbacca in 1997 when they were looking for a companion for their older Golden Retriever. As soon as Alt saw Chewbacca on a Golden Retriever Rescue Web site, she knew Chewbacca was going to be her dog. Alt’s experience with Chewbacca has been so positive, that several years later she adopted Iris, a chocolate Lab pup who was born blind.
Chewbacca, a blind Golden Retriever, and his blind pack-mate Iris, a chocolate Labrador, don’t seem to suffer in any way from their visual impairment. As long as their owners make a few small adjustments to their environment for safety, blind dogs can and do enjoy normal lives.
While some dogs, like Chewbacca and Iris, are blind from birth or a very young age, others develop vision problems later in life. Blindness can be caused by a multitude of genetic disorders, diseases, or traumas. In some cases, dogs gradually lose their vision. In other cases, dogs may lose eyesight overnight. Depending on the disease or condition, a dog can lose partial vision, lose sight in one eye only, or become completely blind in both eyes.
Though a dog losing sight can be traumatic for both the dog and the dog’s owners, in most cases the dogs do adjust to life without sight. “They are so adaptable,” says Alt. However, a variety of factors can influence how well and how quickly a dog adapts.
According to Caroline D. Levin, the author of Living With Blind Dogs, dogs who are born blind seem to have the easiest time of it. “They don’t miss seeing,” said Levin, “because they have never had it to miss.”
Dogs who lose their vision slowly also seem to adjust well, maybe because they have time to adapt gradually. In some instances, dogs adapt so well that the people don’t notice the dog is losing vision. They may discover their dog is blind only when they move furniture or make other environmental changes, and the dog suddenly can’t find his way around.
Dogs who become blind suddenly or traumatically, however, may have a more difficult adjustment, said Levin. The dog’s age, personality, position in the pack, overall health, family life, and previous training will all impact how well the dog handles the transition from seeing to life without vision.
Levin was inspired to write Living With Blind Dogs when she managed a veterinary ophthalmology clinic. She witnessed people grieving their dogs’ loss of vision and realized that they desperately needed resources to help themselves (and their dogs) through the transition. Levin emphasizes that you can do a lot to help dogs adjust and live a full, happy life. “With training and time, it does get better,” Levin says, even for dogs who are initially depressed or frightened. “They can go on to have good lives.”
In fact, according to many people who have lived with a blind dog, after the initial adjustment the dog’s life becomes relatively normal. Many dogs who have lost their sight still can, and do, play with dog friends, splash in wading pools, romp off leash in safe places, and even chase squirrels. They learn to negotiate a home, stairs, yard, and regular walking routes with little or no assistance. They can retrieve toys, play tug, learn obedience, and generally be happy family members.
Discovering the lay of the land
All dogs – sighted or not – possess a skill called cognitive mapping. This same instinct allows them to find objects they buried weeks ago. Blind dogs use this skill to develop a mental map of the home and yard allowing them to race through the house looking very much like they can actually “see” where they are going.
Alt notes that someone who saw her dogs romping in their home or on their property may not know that two of them are blind. “They just run everywhere.” She says that it took Chewbacca only a day to learn the layout of their home, but Iris took a few months to learn how to navigate the stairs and other trickier aspects of their farmhouse and property.
Levin emphasizes that while dogs may map the layout of the home through trial and error, helping them is kinder and may make their transition easier. You can “show” dogs where things are and provide cues to help them navigate using their other senses. Alt agrees and says that when the environment changes, like a piece of furniture is moved, she needs to let the dogs know. “As long as I show them by touching it and saying, ‘See, this is here,’ they learn.”
Along with “showing” the dog where things are, certain aids may help them navigate the home. For example, you can use carpet runners to mark a clear path inside the home. The dogs can follow the path by noting the differences between its surface and the surrounding flooring. Doorways and steps can be defined using mats or rugs. Outside, you can mark paths for the dogs to follow using a simple mulched trail.
In addition to providing cues to the layout of the house, make sure the home is safe for the blind dog. In a way, this is very similar to puppy proofing a home. Levin suggests blocking off any stairways with a baby gate until the dog has learned to navigate them on his own. Keeping the furniture in the same place, pushing in chairs, and keeping pathways free of obstacles may all be helpful, but it’s also okay to move things around on occasion as long as you let the dog know. Blocking access to unsafe areas such as pools and ponds is essential.
For dogs who have limited vision or are blind only in one eye, using nightlights may provide visual cues to help the dog find his way around. Marking edges of steps and corners of furniture or walls with a contrasting tape may also help the dogs find their way safely through the house. In Living With Blind Dogs, Levin says that even dogs who cannot see the contrasting tape may actually find it beneficial, as the scent of the tape may help them locate the edge of the stair.
Heightened senses
Vision is only one of the many senses that dogs employ every day. Other senses include hearing, smell, and touch. Many experts believe that when a dog (or any other animal) loses one sense, his other senses become heightened. You can learn to communicate better with your blind dog and help him live a fuller life by taking advantage of these other senses.
Blind dogs most definitely learn to orient to sound and respond more to verbal cues. A dog’s sense of hearing is probably the easiest sense for people to take advantage of; most of us naturally talk, whistle, and use other sounds with our dogs. In fact, some of us have trouble not talking to our dogs. When you have a blind dog, you now have an excuse to talk nonstop to your furry friend. The sound of your voice can be reassuring and help orient her to your location. Of course, our voices can be used more directly to give a verbal cue for a desired behavior, too.
You can also take advantage of your dog’s sense of hearing in other ways. Wind chimes, for example, can be placed near the back door to help your dog find his way inside. Bells or noisy tags on your other animals may help your blind dog know who is where in the home. A tabletop fountain can be put in or near a water bowl to orient the dog to the bowl through the sound of running water.
Scenting specific objects in the home can also be very helpful, says Levin. She suggests “scent marking” the three most important pieces of the dog’s environment. For most dogs, those parts of the environment would be their food and water bowls; their beds, crates, or other safe spots; and the dog doors or other access routes to the outdoors. She says that if you mark each of these places with a different scent – using, for example, scented oils (like lemon oil) or cooking additives (like vanilla or almond extract) – the dog may be able to find these places with greater ease.
Alt notes that her blind dogs seem to crave physical touch. They enjoy lying across her feet or cuddling on the couch. Touching your dog may also become an important communication tool, and may be especially important for a dog who is deaf as well as blind. You can teach a dog that a “tap on the shoulder” means pay attention, or that a gentle touch to the rear means “sit.” In addition, teaching your dog to “touch” and follow your hand by scent may help you guide him, for example, through an unfamiliar gate or doorway.
Some dogs may startle if touched unexpectedly, especially if they had this tendency before they lost their eyesight. Just as you might condition a puppy to accept being startled and touched, a dog who has recently lost his vision may need to be conditioned to like unexpected touch. By pairing “touches” with great treats, you can easily teach a dog to accept the unexpected contact. Many dogs can actually learn to enjoy being startled.
Train for everyday activities
Training a dog who cannot see is similar in many ways to training a dog who does see. Luring a dog into position, for example, capitalizes on the dog’s sense of smell. He doesn’t need to see the treat to know it is in front of his nose.
Capturing behavior using a reward marker, such as a clicker or verbal “yes,” can be very effective with blind dogs, as this method depends on the dog’s hearing rather than vision. As with a sighted dog, learning basic cues like sit, down, stay, and come not only improves the dog’s manners, but also helps develop his confidence. In addition, a few specific behaviors can be particularly useful for a blind dog to learn.
• “Careful” or “easy” may be the most important behavior to teach a visually impaired dog. Teach your dog that the cue “careful” means, “Slow down or stop. There is something in front of you.” It may be easiest initially to teach this cue indoors, with your dog on leash. Start by walking with your dog, say “careful,” and assist your dog in stopping through a gentle pressure on the leash or by putting your hand across his chest. Reward him when he has stopped.
Once he has the idea and is visibly slowing or stopping on your verbal cue, you can practice “careful” as you approach an object such as the couch or a wall. Once he has stopped, you can let him move forward enough to discover the object in front of him, but don’t let him actually walk into the object. With several repetitions, your dog will learn that “careful” means that something is directly in front of him. Levin notes that this cue is also helpful if your dog becomes disoriented or confused, as stopping can help him to reorient.
• “Run” or “go” lets your dog know that he is safe to run and may be an especially important cue for a young or high-energy dog. You can practice this in your yard or a safe open area. Just before releasing your dog to run, say the word “go” or “run.” Your dog will soon learn to associate the word with a wide-open space, free of obstacles and dangers.
• “Right” and “left” can be helpful for directing your dog around people or obstacles on walks, or for directing your dog toward a toy or ball. Levin suggests using a slight pressure on the leash to help your dog learn directional cues.
You may also have success with moving a treat past your dog’s nose and giving it a gentle toss. Your dog can orient both to the scent of the treat and to the sound of it landing on the floor. Or if you enjoy clicker training, you could “shape” a turning away or toward you behavior.
• “Step up,” “step down,” and “stairs” can be essential cues for a blind dog to understand. You can use “step up” or “step down” as you approach a step or curb, or as a cue for getting in and out of the car.
Consider teaching a separate cue like “stairs” for a full flight of stairs. When training a dog to navigate steps or stairways, Levin recommends starting on a single step or a small stairway, helping them to master the mini version before moving on to a full set of stairs.
Putting some type of physical clue, such as a rug or mat, at the top and bottom landing may also help dogs identify where the stairs start and end. Some blind dogs learn to take steps and stairs with little trouble; a little coaxing and a trail of treats can motivate them to take a step up or down.
“With Chewbacca, I just tapped the next step, physically helped him move one paw, then he would bring his other paw down,” says Alt. Chewbacca learned to go up and down stairs in a few tries. “But it was very different with Iris,” Alt confesses. Iris was timid, even afraid of the stairs. Going up wasn’t as bad, but teaching her to go down on her own took a couple of months, a lot of patience, and the aid of a non-skid surface. Both Levin and Alt emphasize that patience is key in teaching a blind dog to take stairs.
Games blind dogs play
Blind dogs, like all dogs, need to be active. Walking, running, and playing will help them maintain their health and live a longer, happier life. And, with a little modification, you can encourage your dog to participate in many of the same activities he enjoyed before losing his sight. For example, if your dog is a ball fiend, you can continue to play retrieving games with him. Many dogs will continue to find their toys and balls by sound and scent. If your dog has trouble retrieving a regular tennis ball or toy, however, you can use a ball with a bell, a scented ball, or a retrieve item that can be stuffed with a smelly treat.
Scent discrimination games are a great option for blind dogs and Alt says that these types of games seem to be second nature for her dogs. When Alt plays fetch with Chewbacca, she can toss a toy into a pile of like toys, and Chewbacca will have no trouble finding the current play object every time. For people and dogs who enjoy a more formal training experience, consider teaching the scent discrimination exercise used at the utility level of formal obedience competition.
Other toys and games that seem to be particularly attractive for dogs who cannot see include tug games, food balls (the type the dog noses around a room, dropping treats as it goes), squeaky toys, “Wiggly Giggly” balls, and food-stuffed toys such as Kongs or Toppls.
Many blind dogs, especially after their initial adjustment period, will also enjoy adventures outside the home. On-leash, neighborhood walks are a safe bet for most dogs. But can blind dogs also enjoy off-leash romps? With supervision, some can, depending on the dog and the specific environment. For example, Alt is able to walk her dogs off-leash near her home.
“Walking in the same direction each day helps,” said Alt. Her blind dogs remember the path much the way they remember their way around the house. “If we go the other way though, they will be a little more confused,” she says. Having a warning word is essential, Alt adds, and her dogs know to stop and take a different route if she says, “careful.” Alt also says that a click of her fingers or clap of the hands will help orient her dogs and bring them running back to her if they do get confused.
In less routine environments, however, letting a blind dog off leash may simply be too dangerous. “You do need to protect them more than other dogs,” said Alt.
Social lives
Can blind dogs live happily with other dogs? Absolutely – if they get along with other dogs and are generally a candidate for a multi-dog household. Several owners of blind dogs told me that not only did their blind and sighted dogs do well together, but that the sighted dogs become, in some ways, “seeing eye dogs” for the blind dogs. One woman reported that she could send her sighted dog into a field after her blind dog if the blind dog became confused. Another said that her newly blind dog began following her sighted dog around the home and seemed to find a sense of security in knowing his canine pal was just ahead.
The Alt family pack relaxes at the end of a long, adventure-filled day. Visitors to the Alt home may not be able to quickly identify the two blind members of the pack (the dogs on either end of the sofa).
Levin mentioned that it might be important to use caution around other dogs with a newly blinded dog in the home. Shortly after losing his vision, a dog may be insecure or frightened and behave differently with the other dogs at first. All of the dogs may need an adjustment period, and Levin emphasized that strong leadership on the part of the person is very important at this stage.
Levin also noted that puppies born blind may initially have a difficult time with dog-to-dog interactions because they cannot see and respond to another dog’s body language. For example, an older dog may rebuff an overbearing puppy through body language first, before escalating to a more severe reprimand. If the puppy cannot see and respond appropriately to the older dog, he may get a harsher correction than he deserves. In addition, a blind dog may not see another dog send a friendly signal, such as a play bow. If the dogs’ interactions become confused, it may be necessary for the person to step in and help the dogs interact appropriately.
Not all blind dogs – even those born blind – have trouble with dog to dog communication. Alt is in the unique situation of not only sharing her home with four dogs, but also of providing rescue work for other dogs and for some wild animals. She doesn’t know whether her two blind dogs “learned” body language, or just instinctively knew how to respond to other animals, but both do very well with the family dogs and visiting dogs. Alt says that while the blind dogs may initially be afraid of a new or strange animal in their home, they do adjust quickly.
Dogs who live in the same home or who have regular play sessions seem to learn to communicate in ways that work for both the sighted dog and the blind dog. A sighted dog may adjust his communication style to better engage a blind friend. For example, when Iris wants to play with her dog friend Bear, she picks up a toy and entices him with normal canine body language. When Bear wants to play with Iris, he may initially try to engage her with common play signals such as the play bow. But because Iris can’t see his play antics, Bear has learned to paw her as an invitation to play.
Heart connections
Alt says that she really identifies with the saying, “Blind dogs see with their hearts.” To her, living with blind dogs is a very special experience, and one she cannot imagine living without. According to Alt, the relationship with a blind dog can go to an even deeper level than with other dogs. Perhaps it is the blind dog’s desire for contact and physical touch (a quality most people are drawn to) or our very human desire to be needed. Whatever the reason, for many of those who share their lives with blind dogs, the relationship is very rewarding.
Causes of Canine Blindness
The causes of blindness in dogs include blindness from birth defects; complications during pregnancy or birth; hereditary problems; complications from diseases like diabetes and Cushings disease; and loss of vision from trauma or injury. Some of the more common causes of eye problems in dogs include:
■ Cataracts. A cataract is a cloudy change in the lens of the eye. Cataracts are classified according to the age of onset and can appear from birth (congenital), up to about six years of age (developmental or juvenile), or as the dog grows older. Cataracts can be inherited or caused by diseases such as diabetes. Some forms of cataracts do not seriously affect vision, but other forms can lead to blindness. The only treatment for cataracts is surgery, which is often successful in preventing blindness.
■ Progressive Retinal Atrophy (PRA) or Progressive Retinal Degeneration (PRD). PRA and PRD are a “family” of seven genetically inherited diseases. In PRA and PRD, the retina gradually shrinks and the dog loses vision over time. This condition is not painful, but usually causes vision loss in both eyes. It can occur as young as six months or later in life at five or six years of age.
■ Glaucoma. Glaucoma causes a build up of pressure inside the eye. It can be very painful and is a frequent cause of blindness in both people and dogs. Treatment can sometimes save the dog’s eyesight, but if glaucoma becomes more advanced, the dog may lose vision. Surgery can relieve the pain caused by glaucoma.
■ Sudden Acquired Retinal Degeneration Syndrome (SARDS). While this condition is not as common as some eye problems, the incidence of SARDS, first reported in 1980, may be increasing. SARDS causes sudden and complete blindness, but the exact cause of SARDS is not known.
If you suspect your dog has a vision problem, consult with your veterinarian right away. As noted above, treatment can often reduce the symptoms of eye problems, and sometimes even save vision.
The last time we reviewed dog hair removing tools, I missed out. I bought the products, photographed them, and sent them off to Pat Miller, our training editor and regular product reviewer. I ended up with only one tool, a duplicate that I ordered accidentally.
Well, the Millers needed them more than me, I suppose; at the time, Pat and her husband owned four dogs and two cats. I had only one dog and one cat. But I wear black a lot, and my dog had a lot of white in his coat. So I used the heck out of that tool – pretty much wore out the stickiness. And now I’ve got a little yellow and white dog, who has to be picked up and cuddled, dozens of times a day. It was way past time to review hair removers again – only this time, I didn’t let them out of my sight.
It’s been fun, hugging my little dog with impunity, since I’ve got hair removers all over my house and in my car.
Different strokes
A few of the 10 products I tested are tape-rollers; you roll them over fabric until the tape is no longer adhesive; then you pick off the outermost sheet, discard, and begin again. A few use an electrostatic charge to attract loose hair from your clothes or upholstery; then you pull the collected hair off and dispose of it. One uses a “one-way” fabric, so if you brush your clothes in one direction, it wipes lint and hair off (and if you inadvertently wipe the wrong way, you load your outfit with even more hair and lint). The last one, my personal favorite, uses a bizarre sticky substance that securely picks up hair, and can be rinsed off under a tap to start over, good as new.
Looking back over the comments made by Miller in her review of some of the same and some similar products a few years ago, I realized that this is one of the instances when it’s impossible to be completely objective; our regard for products that work almost equally well depends on our personal needs and preferences. Despite the different approaches to the task, most of these products excel at picking up hair (and lint and dirt and other dog-related debris); some are simply better suited to certain applications than others. I’ll take a shot at rating each product, but don’t hesitate to buy a lower-rated product if it is perfectly suited to your needs.
Note: I found these products offered for sale in many catalogs and pet supply stores. I’ve listed just two sources for them, outlets that sold the products for the lowest price – not including shipping. Include shipping costs when you compare prices between catalogs and local pet supply stores.
Top products
The Tacky Pick-Up, made by Classic Products, is my personal favorite hair and lint remover because of its effectiveness, economy, and longevity. It works well on any fabric, strongly attracting any loose hair and debris, but does not require the purchase of refills, like the tape-based rollers. Instead, the lint and hair rinses off the roller under a tap. Using this tool is more time- and labor-intensive than using a tape roller, because it is so effective; it picks up so much debris that completely cleaning a hair-covered coat or sweater, for instance, might require four or five rinses. But you don’t ever have to buy refills!
I’ve had one of these rollers for years, and the sticky material only recently quit rinsing clean, compromising its effectiveness. Unfortunately, in anticipation of the new products’ arrival, I threw it away. The package on the new model says that when the product becomes less effective, the roller can be cleaned with alcohol to restore its stick. D’oh!
Years ago we reviewed a similar product that utilized a sheet of plastic to cover the roller when not in use, and we found it quite difficult to tear the cover off the sticky material each time. Classic Products solved that problem by including a hard plastic case that covers but does not touch the tacky substance. We love it.
Here’s the only drawback: You have to be close to a faucet to use it for more than one pass over your outfit. That would do the trick if you had just a few stray hairs on you, but wouldn’t do at all if you were more liberally covered. So, I’d have to say this is my favorite at-home hair pick-up tool.
For removing hair from my clothes while I’m in my car, at the gym, or on a business trip, I’d carry one of the tape-based devices. It wouldn’t be cost-effective to use one of these tools all the time, but they are perfect for situations where you have to be hair- and lint-free (and there is no sink).
My favorite tape-based roller is Evercare’s Pet Hair Pic-Up. Its label boasts “37% stickier than the leading competitor.” I giggled at that claim – how could that possibly be verified? – until I grabbed both rolls with my bare hands. Well, gosh, the Evercare product is stickier than one competitor I compared it to, Hair Busters; I just don’t know if it’s “37%” stickier. I do know that it’s easier to remove hair-covered sheets from the Pet Hair Pic-Up than from Hair Busters. For these reasons, I’m giving the Evercare product a half-paw higher rating.
Refills for the Pet Care Pic-Up cost us $2.70 each; Hair Buster refills are $2.60. Each contained 60 sheets.
Evercare also makes the Large Surface Pet Hair Pic-Up, utilizing a similarly sticky tape on a 10-inch roller, perfect for cleaning the couch. It cost $10 with a short handle, or $14 for a kit with the short handle and a 50-inch extension handle. Refill rolls cost $5.50 for 25 sheets, or $7.50 for 50 sheets.
At this point I have to mention a new product, the Lint Card. This business card-sized packet encloses four business card-sized adhesive sheets that are clearly not intended for major hair removal, but are perfect for quick, final sweeps over your outfit, say, just before a job interview. The packet fits neatly in even the slimmest wallet or skirt pocket, and the sheets are easy to peel away and dispose. The small size of the product makes it uneconomical to use every day, but I’ve found it to be well worth the price to have a couple in my purse for outfit emergencies.
The Lint Card’s manufacturer sells directly to consumers, but is seeking retail outlets, so ask your local pet supply store to buy them in bulk and carry them for you for a break in the price.
Look back on past articles in the Whole Dog Journal archives, and you’ll see a wealth of information on basic training and management – two vitally important topics. There comes a time, however, when dog and owner need to move past the basics to more advanced concepts of learning and behavior if they want to develop and enjoy their relationship to the fullest. Let’s explore a few of the concepts that can take you and your dog beyond “Sit happens!” to the hallowed halls of higher canine education.
Generalization in Dog Training
You will often hear trainers say that dogs don’t “generalize” well. This means that just because Buddy learns to sit beautifully in your living room, he may not necessarily sit when you ask him to at the checkout counter of your favorite pet supply store. He thinks “sit” means “sit in the comfort of my own living room.” You think he’s being stubborn because he “knows” how to sit, when in fact he really only knows how to sit on cue at home; he hasn’t learned to generalize the behavior.
The statement that “dogs don’t generalize well” is actually only a half-truth. Most dog owners can tell stories of “one-trial” learning, where a single experience taught a dog to fear men with beards and hats, or to chase cats that run, or instilled some other high-arousal, strong behavioral response.
For the most part, behaviors that don’t generalize well are those that involve operant conditioning, where the dog acts on the environment. Fido has to learn that he can make good things happen by sitting. Behaviors that involve a strong emotional response such as fear or the chase instinct are quite often learned in a single incident, say, a man with a hat and beard tripped over him and startled him, or a cat jumped out in front of him, hissing and spitting, tantalizingly close, and he gave adrenaline-pumping chase.
In these cases of classical conditioning, where the environment acts on the dog, Fido doesn’t have to learn an emotional response, it just happens. It’s easy for the response to happen the next time Fido sees a man with hat and beard or a cat, even if the man doesn’t trip over him or the cat doesn’t jump up and run.
So how do you help your dog learn to generalize operant behaviors (where the dog acts on the environment)? By doing exactly what your trainer told you to do: practice with your dog in as many different places as possible. In line at the bank. At the dog park. On your walks around the block. In the waiting room at the vet hospital. In the aisles of the pet supply store. In addition, if a dog has truly generalized his “sit” cue, he will sit if you whisper it, yell it, if you’re standing next to him, sitting on a chair, or lying on the floor across the room.
The more behaviors you help him generalize, the easier it becomes for him to generalize each new behavior. Before long, you’ll have a dog who is as well-behaved in public as he is in the comfort of his own home.
Developing Your Dog’s Discrimination Skills
Ah, the “D” word – a very bad word in employment or politics, but a very useful one in dog training.
In training, discrimination has nothing to do with skin color. It has to do with teaching your dog to differentiate between one or more relevant stimuli from all the other stimuli in the environment at the time. That means that he sits when you say “sit,” and doesn’t sit when you say “down.” He may learn to bark when he hears your doorbell, and generalize that to all doorbells, including the one on your favorite TV show. You could, if you wanted, teach him to discriminate, and only bark when he hears your doorbell, not any others.
In more complex discrimination exercises, you can teach your dog to distinguish one object from another. In Utility (upper level) obedience competitions, each dog must do a “scent discrimination” exercise. Using his nose, he must find the object that his handler touched amidst a pile of similar objects not touched by the handler, and bring the correct object back to his human.
There was a lovely example of discrimination on Pet Starz recently. A small, elderly Beagle correctly retrieved a half-dozen items from a bag, one at a time, after being cued each time by his owner to get the item by name. The dog was letter-perfect.
You can teach your dog discrimination with objects by asking him to bring you his toys, one by one, as you name them. This skill can be extended to your slippers, portable phone, car keys, etc. This is a vital skill for assistance dogs, and would be a useful thing for the canine companions of any person who has limited mobility.
You can also teach your dog discrimination with locations by teaching him to go to different designated spots. For example, “Go to bed” might mean you want him to lie down in his kennel, while “Go settle” might mean you want him to lie down on his bed in the corner of the dining room.
You can even teach him discrimination with people, by teaching him the names of all your family members, and then asking him to “Find Timmy,” “Find Susie,” “Find Dad,” etc.
How to Use Targeting to Build Your Dog’s Discrimination Skills
Targeting is very useful when you are teaching your dog to discriminate. If you have not already taught him to “Touch!” on cue, you’ll want to start there. If he’s already targeting to your hand, you’re all set to teach him to identify – and find – family members.
Remind him of his “Touch!” behavior by having him target to your hand several times for clicks and treats. Now add another family member to the exercise. Have the person (we’ll call him Timmy) stand next to you, and instruct him to offer his hand as a target immediately after you say “Touch.” With your dog on leash facing you both, say “Timmy, touch!” It will be tempting to say “Touch Timmy,” since this makes more sense to our human brains. Remember, to avoid blocking, the new cue must precede the known cue. If your dog’s targeting is strong – and most dogs love to target – he will recognize Timmy’s body language cue when the boy offers his hand, and bump his cold wet nose into the offered target.
Repeat this several times until you’re confident that your dog is targeting well to Timmy. Then have Timmy take a step away from you and continue your “Timmy, touch!” cues, with your child offering his hand as the target. At this point, have Timmy make a less noticeable gesture with his target hand, until he can stand with his hands at this side and the dog will still target to him. You can also drop the “Touch” from the cue, since the word “Timmy” should have gained salience by now.
Gradually move Timmy farther and farther away from you and continue the exercises, starting each time with your dog next to you. Remember, the goal is to have him move away from you to the designated target – Timmy. Have Timmy treat him when you click, and then you click and treat when you call him back to you.
Note:It will probably take several sessions to accomplish this whole exercise. Remember to always stop the training before your dog’s enthusiasm (or yours) starts to wane.
When your dog will target to Timmy from across the room, have your child step out of the room, so the dog has to search for him. Add “Find” to your cue, so you are now asking your dog to “Find Timmy!” If you continue to increase the difficulty level, your dog will eventually be able to find Timmy when he’s hidden in closets, behind trees, or even if he’s really lost!
But back to our discrimination exercise. When your dog targets well to Timmy, do the same thing with another family member, perhaps your spouse. (Of course, now you will use your spouse’s name instead of “Timmy!”) When your dog will target well to at least two family members, you can try your first discrimination exercise.
Have both family members with you, on opposite sides of the room. Stand in the middle with your dog by your side so you are both facing more toward Timmy, and say “Find Timmy!” If he targets to Timmy, click! (or use whatever marker you use, such as the word “Yes!”) and give your dog a treat. If he targets to your spouse, everyone should ignore him until he decides to try Timmy. Then, he gets the click! and treat. If he loses interest in the challenge before he gets to Timmy, call him back to you and try again, but this time move closer to Timmy and face him more clearly.
Play with this step for a while, alternating randomly between your two family members, gradually using less of your own body language to help your dog make the right choice, and gradually moving your two targets closer together. When he can make the right choice eight out of ten times with Timmy and your spouse standing five feet apart, you’re ready to add a third person.
Yes, it takes some work, but it’s fun work. It lets you enjoy the captivating experience of watching your dog think, while at the same time teaching him a useful skill. When he’s good, you can have him carry messages to your family, like “Dinner’s ready!” or “Five minutes until the school bus arrives!” And if Timmy ever falls down a well, your dog can find him!
Salience in Dog Training
When we say something is salient to a dog, we mean it has noticeable significance to him. Your dog can learn to sit even in the face of distractions because the hot dog you hold in front of his face is very salient. When we associate the hot dog with the verbal cue (“sit!”), the cue itself becomes significant. The salient stimuli in the environment – you, your hot dogs, and the sit cue – are more significant than the distractions. They overshadow the dog barking across the street, the skateboarder whizzing by on the road, the slamming of a car door down the block.
If your dog is too distracted to respond to the sit cue, then the distractions are more salient than you and your hot dogs. You either need to move your training to a less distracting environment, or find a way to make you, your treats, and your cues, more significant to your dog.
Blocking Cues for Our Dogs
This term refers to a phenomenon that occurs when the use of a known cue overrides the dog’s ability to learn a new cue for the same behavior. Keep in mind that, while dogs can only learn one response to a particular cue (“sit” must always mean sit, it can’t sometimes mean lie down), they can learn several cues that all mean the same behavior.
Dubhy, our Scottie, can lie down in response to the “down” cue in English, French, Spanish, German, and two different hand signals. This happened as a result of his role as a demo dog in some of my classes.
I use the “down” exercise to introduce my students to the importance of teaching their dogs to respond to verbal cues without body language assistance. We start by having the handlers lure the down, and as soon as their dogs will lie down easily by following the (treat) lure, we introduce the verbal cue; any new cue you teach must always precede the known cue. I use a demo dog to show them that the dog doesn’t initially understand or respond to the word “down” until we associate it with the luring motion that means “down” to the dog. The motion is salient to the dog; the word is not.
I explain that in order for the dog to hear the word and learn that it also has significance, they must say the word first, then lure the dog down.
If they give the verbal cue at the same time or after they lure, the lure blocks the dog’s ability to learn the new cue.
With enough repetitions of the sequence – verbal cue, followed by lure and click! (or another marker), and treat when the dog performs the behavior – the dog will learn that the verbal cue also has salience, and you will no longer need to lure him down; he will lie down when you give him the verbal cue.
As to Dubhy’s multilingual talents? As soon as he learned a new verbal cue for “down,” I could no longer use that cue to show my students what to do when the dog hadn’t yet learned the word; Dubhy would go down too quickly. I had to keep switching to new verbal cues in order to show them how to avoid blocking when adding a new cue for a known behavior.
Chaining and Backchaining in Dog Training
These are two important concepts that come into play when teaching your dog a complex sequence of behaviors. The behaviors are linked together so that each behavior is the signal for the next behavior in the chain. When a musician learns to play a piece by memory, she is chaining; each note or chord draws her forward to the next note or chord in the piece without her having to stop and think about what comes next.
The show ring obedience retrieve is an example of a chained behavior. With her dog sitting at heel, the handler tosses the dumbbell, then gives the cue to “Take it!” Without any further instructions, the dog runs out to the dumbbell, picks it up, returns to his handler, and sits in front of her, still holding the dumbbell until the handler gives the cue to release it and return to heel.
The “retrieve over high jump” is performed in the same manner, except the dog knows to sail over the jump in both directions, going out and coming back, again without further cues from the handler.
With backchaining, you begin by teaching the last behavior in the chain, and then add each step in reverse order, until the dog performs the complete behavior. The theory is that when you teach the last thing first, your dog always moves toward the thing he knows best, so he gains confidence as he learns the new links in the chain.
The song, “Twelve Days of Christmas,” is a classic example of backchaining. You may forget how many “lords a-leaping,” or how many “maids a-milking” but I’d bet you never forget that partridge in the pear tree, and you get faster and more confident in once you get to the five golden rings.
We recently placed a ramp over the three steps from our deck to our backyard so Dusty, our aging Pomeranian, could go up and down more easily. Dusty was afraid of the ramp. I tried luring him up, but he refused to set more than his front two feet on the surface. So we backchained. I set him on the top of the ramp, one body-length from the deck, and lured him up to safety. He did that easily, and after several repetitions I placed him a little farther down the ramp and lured him up to the deck. It took less than 15 minutes to get him confidently running up the ramp. Then we reversed it, and in just a few minutes he was running down the ramp as easily as he was running up.
The Premack Principle
No, there is no Mack or Postmack, as one of my interns wondered recently. Premack is the scientist (first name David) who in the mid 1960s demonstrated that you can use a more rewarding behavior as the reinforcer for a less rewarding behavior, thereby improving the performance of the lesser behavior.
This principle is also sometimes called “Grandma’s Law,” as in, “You have to eat your vegetables before you can have dessert.” If your dog would rather chase a squirrel than come when you call, you can use the Premack principle to teach him that he will get to chase a squirrel (sometimes) if he comes to you first. Start by applying Premack indoors in a controlled environment, and move outside when he’s doing well.
Leave your dog on a sit-stay and walk across the room. Position a helper with a plate of smelly treats halfway between you, slightly off to one side. The helper should have a bowl to cover the treats with if your dog tries to eat them. Now call your dog. If he stops to investigate the treats, the helper covers the bowl, keeping him from having a taste. Keep calling your dog cheerfully and enthusiastically. When he comes to you, say “Good boy!” and “Go get it!” Race with your dog back to the treats, now uncovered, and let him have some. Then cover the bowl and try again. Eventually – quickly, for some dogs – he will realize that he gets the treats if he comes to you first, and he will fly past the uncovered plate as fast as he can.
There are a couple of drawbacks to using Premack in real life: If the vegetables are too unpalatable, dessert may also lose its appeal; and you can’t control squirrels.
Habituation and Learned Irrelevance in Dog Training
These two concepts are quite similar. Habituation occurs when a dog learns to ignore an environmental stimulus, such as a startling noise, like the ringing of the telephone, or a disturbing sight, like a realistic statue of a dog. A dog who has never lived indoors may discover all sorts of disturbing stimuli if he’s brought into a household.
Dubhy, the multi-lingual Scottie, was six months old when we found him as a stray and brought him home to join our pack. He had clearly never lived in a house before, and when he saw his reflection in a full-length mirror he spent several minutes, on several occasions, peering behind the door to try to find the other dog. Eventually he habituated to the sight of the elusive Scottie and stopped looking.
Habituation is useful for training because dogs can learn to adapt to stimuli that are initially quite startling and distracting.
However, sometimes the opposite effect occurs – sensitization. Some dogs, rather than habituating to a sound such as the telephone, become more and more reactive each time the stimulus occurs. Thunder phobia is a perfect example of this.
Learned irrelevance, while similar to habituation, applies to a dog who has learned to ignore a cue, rather than becoming accustomed to a startling stimulus. This is not deliberate defiance on the dog’s part, but simply his response to a cue that has failed to have consistent and sufficiently strong significance attached to it. The cue becomes meaningless if it doesn’t have a consequence. It’s not salient.
“Come” is the most common example of this. Many dog owners use this word to call their dogs long before they ever take the time to actually train their dogs to come on cue. By the time they try to teach the dog to come, the dog has already learned that the word has no meaning.
The insidious thing about learned irrelevance is that once it has taken place, it’s very difficult to instill salience to the cue. If your dog has learned that the word “come” has no meaning, it will be easier for you to train him to come with a new cue than to try to make the old one significant. I have heard people use “Close,” “Let’s Go,” and “Here” in place of an irrelevant “Come!”
Applying the Principle of Parsimony to Dog Training
This scientific principle applies to situations beyond dog behavior and training, but it’s very applicable here too, and one of my favorites. It says, “Unless there is evidence to the contrary, you must account for a phenomenon with the simplest explanation available.” Or, as one of my favorite radio personalities likes to say, “When you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras.”
If your adult dog has a single housetraining accident, the simplest behavioral explanation is that he had to relieve himself. Stress, bladder infections, and tumors are lower down the list, and “spite” doesn’t even merit consideration. The appropriate response is to monitor his water intake and bathroom trips for a week or so to make sure he gets ample potty opportunities. If he continues to have accidents, then a more complex behavioral or medical cause would be suspect.
If your dog often pulls on the leash, the simple behavioral explanation is that he wants to go faster than you do. Dominance and defiance aren’t even in the picture. If he normally walks politely on leash but suddenly starts pulling, simple explanations would be that something frightened him and he’s trying to get away from it, or something very enticing is in front of him and he’s trying to get to it. Again, dominance and other complex motives are unlikely.
As you can see, training can be a little more complicated than the basic “sit,” click!, and treat. The more you learn about the workings of your dog’s brain, the better you’ll understand how and why he does what he does, and the better prepared you are to respond appropriately. It can only enhance your already wonderful relationship with your best friend.
ADVANCED DOG TRAINING CONCEPTS: OVERVIEW
1. Use advanced training concepts to achieve your goals: modifying an inappropriate behavior or teaching a desired complex one.
2. “Backchaining” can be used to teach your dog a complicated series of behaviors on just one cue.
3. Use the Premack principle to teach your dog to pass up an opportunity to chase squirrels.
1. Consider hawthorn as a supplement for a dog with heart problems – especially high or low blood pressure, and arrhythmia.
2. Use hawthorn as a tonic for older dogs, in conjunction with an improved diet.
As a traveling, lecturing herbalist, I often hear the question of whether herbs might be helpful in treating old or debilitated dogs with chronic disease.
My answer: Yes – especially when used to supplement a good, natural diet and to strengthen or “tonify” the body’s natural healing functions. When used in this capacity, we refer to herbs as herbal tonics.
Unlike most conventional drugs, tonic herbs do not suppress or replace natural functions in the body. Instead, they serve to improve the body’s efforts to stay healthy. Tonic herbs are neither drug-like remedies nor foods, but stand somewhere in between, providing supplemental measures of support that help bridge the gaps between what a body needs from diet and what it needs in terms of specific, added support.
Most tonic herbs do their work by providing special nutrients, enzymes, and other chemicals that the body needs to bring deficient or overtaxed organs and systems into higher levels of efficiency.
Hawthorn (Crataegus species), a tonic herb that has been used for centuries to improve cardiac function and output, is a classic example. Hawthorn does not initiate any immediate changes in heart function, but does so very gently over time, without adding stress or interfering with other body functions. Hawthorn helps support the heart and cardiovascular system in ways that no food or drug can.
Hawthorn is a Preventative Heart Tonic
Hundreds of scientific studies have validated hawthorn’s usefulness as a heart tonic.
It is well known that hawthorn dilates both coronary vessels and vessels of the brain, helping to increase circulation and the transport of nutrients and oxygen throughout the body.
It accomplishes this in a very effective and unique fashion: while it acts to dilate major vessels, it also increases blood flow from the heart to compensate for any reduction of arterial blood volume. In other words, it helps the body push more blood around by increasing cardiac output and decreasing blood flow resistance in the arteries, i.e., more blood flow at less pressure. This has been shown in studies performed with dogs, especially when used in small doses over an extended period.
Hawthorn also serves as a blood pressure regulator. Although the mechanisms of this activity baffle herbalists and scientists alike, the herb tends to gently elevate low blood pressure, and decrease high blood pressure. This is really quite amazing, especially when we consider the fact that hawthorn does this while increasing cardiac output. By helping with dilation of coronary arteries and strengthening heartbeat, hawthorn improves blood circulation without adversely effecting blood pressure.
Another well-documented benefit of hawthorn is its ability to steady and strengthen a weak or erratic heartbeat – such as that of elderly or energetically challenged dogs. In human applications hawthorn has been used as an alternative to antiarrhythmia drugs like digitalis, and to improve the effects of that and other cardiac drugs.
Hawthorn is also a great antioxidant. It scavenges free radicals that rob the blood of oxygen and may lead to various forms of vascular disease. Herbalists also use the herb to lower blood cholesterol.
All of these activities are largely attributed to a vast assortment of flavonoid constituents held within the berries, leaves, flowers, and twigs of hawthorn. Although flavonoids are also found in many other kinds of fruits (especially raspberries, blueberries, and other red or blue fruits), hawthorn is an especially rich source.
Studies have shown that flavonoids are essential in maintaining disease resistance and the integrity of smooth muscle tissues throughout the body. Some studies even suggest that hawthorn may help prevent myocardial damage in situations where the heart muscle is subjected to physiological stress. This means that animals such as race horses or working dogs who are constantly under cardiovascular stress will likely find preventive benefits from daily supplements of hawthorn.
And to top everything off, hawthorn is very, very safe. In fact, in the hundreds of animal studies that have been conducted with this herb over the past 100 years, hawthorn has shown extremely low toxicity in every animal tested. I place the risk of hawthorn berry toxicity on about the same level as that presented by rose hips, raspberries, or blueberries. In other words, I consider them all as medicinal foods.
Daily Hawthorne Use Shows Cardiac Improvements
It stands to reason that this cardiovascular tonic is useful in the daily care of any older dog, but especially those who suffer from chronic heart problems such as arrhythmia, congestive heart failure, postsurgical dysfunction, or other cardiac anomalies that have weakened the heart’s ability to pump blood.
I consider hawthorn to be strongly indicated in virtually any case where damage to the heart muscle has resulted from heartworm infestation, bacterial or viral infections, or protracted chemotherapy.
I also find hawthorn useful in cases of renal failure, especially in early stages of the disease. When combined with ginkgo biloba (for small capillary circulation) and herbs that improve urinary function, hawthorn may be useful for getting more blood and oxygen into renal arteries and smaller vessels of the kidneys. This, in theory, is thought to slow degeneration of whatever healthy tissue remains in the diseased organs.
What is Hawthorn, Anyway?
Hawthorn is small deciduous tree or large shrub (up to 16 feet tall) that is easily recognized and quickly remembered by its nasty one- to three-inch curved thorns, which are strategically spaced along the branches – often at eye-level! The alternate leaves are narrowly fan-shaped or ovate and are presented on short petioles. The margins of the one- to two-inch-long leaves are toothed, with tips all pointing distinctly forward.
Blooms appear on the hawthorn plants from around April through June. The white, quarter-inch flowers are presented in flat, terminate clusters; each blossom with five petals and numerous stamens. When in full bloom, the blossoms often have an unpleasant “dead” odor. In late summer the flowers are replaced with clusters of red to black berries, each containing two to five seeds.
The Crataegus genus is large and varied, with hundreds of species (all of which readily hybridize) in North America. Most species are found in riparian thickets, where they serve as important forage and nesting habitats for birds and other wildlife. While Crataegus oxyacantha and C. monogyna are the primary hawthorns of commerce, C. douglasii is one of the most common and widespread wild species of North America. While very little study has been done to ascertain which species are most useful, most herbalists will agree that all of them hold therapeutic value.
How to Feed Hawthorn to Your Dog
When combined with a good natural diet and other tonic herbs, hawthorn will act exactly as an herbal heart tonic should – to fill the special cardiac needs in the golden years of an animal’s life.
Other tonic herbs can be used in combination with hawthorn to round out the supplemental needs of older animals. These might include ginkgo or yarrow (for strengthening capillary walls and improving blood supply to the kidneys and extremities); garlic (for added antioxidant and immune system support); alfalfa and red clover (to nourish the blood, increase appetite, and raise energy levels); dandelion leaf (to assist in the removal of excess water); and oat tops (as a nervous system tonic).
In the natural pet product industry, the berries of hawthorn are the most commonly used part of this plant. This is probably because they make such palatable medicine. However, the flowering branch ends (leaves, flower buds, twigs, thorns and all) are fine medicine too, and can be clipped into small pieces and brewed into a decoction (a simmered tea). However, unlike the berries, the “twig tea” tastes awful!
If you are lucky enough to have a hawthorn tree near your home and a dog that likes red fruit, you can pick the ripe berries and feed them as tonic treats.
Or, when the berries become fully ripe, they can be picked, dried on a clean sheet of paper, and ground with a mortar or pestle (be forewarned that they burn out small coffee grinders!) into a coarse powder. The powder can then be added to your companion’s diet at a rate of one teaspoon per pound of food fed each day.
If your pup won’t eat the berries either way, try making a tea (with about a teaspoon of dried berries and a cup of hot water) and pouring it over his food. If that doesn’t work, you can use gel caps wrapped with expensive, imported Brie cheese (just kidding!). Better yet, you can use a liquid hawthorn tincture (one-half tsp. for small dogs; one-half to one tsp. for larger dogs). Alcohol-free, glycerin-based tinctures are quite sweet and easiest to feed.
Greg Tilford is a well-known expert in the field of veterinary herblism. An international lecturer and teacher of veterinarians and pet owners alike, Greg has written four books on herbs, including All You Ever Wanted to Know About Herbs for Pets (Bowie Press, 1999).
For those of us who share our homes with companion animals, trying to understand the news about “mad cow” disease is what’s truly maddening. The newspapers and newscasters told us that a cow with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) was slaughtered and its meat distributed to food stores, but we shouldn’t worry, because the tissues that are capable of carrying the infective matter never made it into the human food chain.
But what about a pet food chain? There is no law prohibiting pet food makers from using the cattle tissues (mostly, the brain and spinal cord) that can be infected with the agent that causes BSE in cattle and can cause variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) in humans. Are our dogs vulnerable to “mad cow” disease?
According to all reputable research: No. There has never been a confirmed case of a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) in dogs. Cats, however, can develop a form of the deadly disease, feline spongiform encephalopathy (FSE), from eating food that contains certain tissues from an infected animal. And pet food that contained infected tissue could pose a threat to humans – if they were to eat it. Don’t scoff; you’ve never known a baby or toddler who tried some of Fido’s kibble?
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) have put rules into place that take aim at nearly all the ways that BSE is known to pose a concern – rules that address the BSE-testing program, slaughter practices, cattle feed, and more. A risk assessment study conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health, published in 2001 (and revised in late 2003) credits the FDA and the USDA rules for reducing the risk for infectious tissues to contaminate human food to nearly zero.
However, the Harvard study also speculated that any new cases of BSE in this country would result primarily from lack of compliance with the regulations enacted to protect animal feed. Central to those rules is the 1997 FDA ban on feeding most mammalian proteins to ruminants – the practice thought to be responsible for the proliferation of BSE in Europe. Also enacted in 1997 was a rule stating that animal feeds containing mammalian proteins must carry a cautionary statement that reads “Do not feed to cattle or other ruminants.” Pet foods, however, are not required to carry the caution.
Long shot, but still… According to some experts, the current rules don’t close every gap in human and animal safety. For example, it is theoretically (if not statistically) possible for a person to develop vCJD or a cat to develop FSE if a symptom-free but BSE-infected cow was slaughtered, its high-risk tissues (such as the brain and spinal column, which are known to contain the infectious agent) were rendered into “meat and bone meal,” which was then used in pet food, and the pet food was eaten by a human or a cat.
The scenario described above presumes the U.S. is home to cattle who are infected with BSE but are as yet undetected. While the FDA and USDA continue to insist that our meat supply is safe, the report from a subcommittee of international experts on BSE, convened by the USDA in late January 2004, speculated that BSE should now be considered to be “indigenous” to North America – a statement that the USDA does not support.
Also contained in the subcommittee’s report was the recommendation that “specified risk materials” (SRMs) – the tissues that are known to host the infectious agent that causes TSEs – be banned from all animal feed, including pet food.
So far, the FDA has not moved to ban SRMs from pet food or feed for non-ruminant animals like swine and poultry. Linda Grassie, an FDA spokeswoman, told us, “Although we will examine the International Review Subcommittee recommendations carefully, at this time we remain convinced that the many new safeguards we announced (in late January) provide the most comprehensive and scientifically justified firewalls available to protect animals and the public health against BSE.”
Feed control officials want more controls Ben Jones, president of the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), thinks there is ample room to strengthen the current regulations to further protect humans and animals, including cats. AAFCO is supportive of SRMs being banned from all animal feeds and requiring the caution statement on all pet foods containing prohibited proteins (the ones that can no longer be fed to ruminants), such as meat and bone meal.
“Many consumers have not keyed into the fact that the product sitting in their homes and on their shelves contains prohibited material,” Jones says. “Children sometimes consume pet foods out of their companion animals’ bowls. I saw my daughter do that, years ago when she was young. I have no evidence to support it, but I’ve heard reports that indicate certain segments of the U.S. population utilize dog food as a source of nutrition.” Cat owners, too, are also generally unaware that cats can develop FSE, and that the materials that can transmit the disease could be in the cat food, says Jones.
While the FDA was fast to recall all the meat that came from the BSE-infected cow found in Washington, experts say it would have been safe to eat, even for humans and cats. This is because the agent that causes transmissible spongiform encephalopathies is not found in the cows’ muscle tissue. Products containing prohibited materials such as “meat and bone meal” are another story, and we recommend avoiding them altogether – for your cats and your kids.
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Recently, we published promotional materials for WDJ (a pamphlet titled “Top Dog Foods for Total Wellness”) that contained information from an article published in our February 2000 issue concerning a food made by Eagle Pet Products, of Mishawaka, Indiana. At that time, the label of Eagle Pack Natural Formula indicated that it contained an ingredient we did not approve of (animal fat), and for this reason, we did not recommend the product. Shortly afterward, Eagle changed the label to reflect a species specific fat source (chicken fat), which improved our opinion of the product. Eagle Pack Natural Formula meets all our selection criteria for a “WDJ approved dry dog food.”
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Immediate access to this article and 20+ years of archives.
Recommendations for the best dog food for your dog.
Dry food, homemade diets and recipes, dehydrated and raw options, canned food and more.
Brands, formulations and ingredients all searchable in an easy-to-use, searchable database.
Plus, you’ll receive training and care guidance to keep your dog healthy and happy. You’ll feed with less stress…train with greater success…and know you are giving your dog the care he deserves.
Subscribenow and save 72%! Its like getting 8 issues free!
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?”
