One of the reasons I feel so much for the readers who send us Case Histories about the trials and tribulations they have been through with their dogs is that I’ve also “gone through it” – and I’m still “going through it” – with my 10-year-old Border Collie, Rupert.
A typical overachieving, restless, slightly anxious representative of his breed, Rupe has on-and-off problems with itching and scratching his whole life. About three years ago, I thought we had the problem whipped. I found a food that agreed with him for the first time in his life! He liked it, and he stopped itching.
But about six months ago, Rupert started itching again. I got out the old flea comb and started looking for pests. He’s always been oversensitive to flea bites; if we have ONE flea in the house, I swear, he goes nuts. But I didn’t find a single flea.
I don’t know why it took me about three weeks to look at the label of the bag of food I was feeding him. When I looked, I saw that the ingredients listed on the bag had changed. Argh! Well, I had been talking about changing Rupe over to raw foods; this was a good excuse to give it a try. After all, I had to change his food anyway.
Rupert loved his new food, a combination of a commercial raw-frozen chicken diet and an oatmeal-based “just add meat” diet. His energy was good and his eyes were bright. Amazingly enough, the sebaceous cyst that had been on his side for a year or more went away. But my oh my, how his itching got worse!
I’d been told by virtually every “raw feeder” I know that, usually, the dog’s symptoms get worse before they get better, because the body needs to flush out all the stored toxic residue from years of eating grain-laden kibble. I’d heard people say that a dog switching to raw sometimes loses almost his entire coat – and that then it grows in much more lustrous and thicker than ever. So I didn’t panic – right away, that is.
I’m not going to bore you with all the details; I’ll save them for when, like some of our readers, we finally get all of Rupert’s problems solved for good. Right now, I’m still in a flailing stage. I’ve tried several different foods and supplements, chiropractic (more to address Rupe’s mild arthritis, brought on by years of crashes caused by overenthusiastic and unauthorized fetching), and special shampoos (I’ll be reviewing these soon – I think we have about a dozen in the shower as I write this).
Frustratingly, Rupert has good days and bad days. On some days I think we finally have a handle on his allergies. On other days I think it’s hopeless, he’s just going to scratch himself to death. But he looks kind of pathetic every day. He’s got bald patches around his ears and eyes where he’s rubbed his head on the carpet and on the lawn when no one was looking. His paws are cracked and dried and red where he has been chewing them. And his skin everywhere else is red and irritated. Not long ago, after a couple of especially itchy days, I actually begged the vet for some Prednisone. I just had to give Rupert something to make him stop scratching – for my sanity.
I understand that health is a process; it might take a while to get Rupert stable again. I’m trying to keep my senses alert, to key into whatever I can to get Rupe comfortable again.
The difference between my approach now and, say, five or six years ago, is that I have perfect faith that there is more to the problem than a “flea allergy” and more to the solution than just Prednisone. Knowing that there are a lot more tools available in the healing toolbox helps, and so do your success stories. Keep them coming, and I’ll keep you posted about Rupe’s progress.
Recently, I had the great fortune to meet Dr. Ian Billinghurst, who may be described as the modern father of the “bones and raw food” diet for dogs. Dr. Billinghurst was kind enough to take time away from a vacation in San Francisco to talk over lunch. I had a lot of questions for the Australian veterinarian, given that I had just finished editing the article about feeding bones that appears on the previous pages. Dr. Billinghurst was patient, helpful, and full of encouragement for me and all other dog owners who are “sitting on the fence” of the bones issue.
Dr. Billinghurst, I have to ask you about the fear of feeding bones. It seems this is one of the major problems that people have with the BARF diet.
If anyone is afraid to feed their dog bones, then they should grind the bones. No one should turn his back on BARF because they are afraid of bones. It is far better to have the bones crushed up and mixed in with the meat, than have the dog go back to dry dog food. Grinding them into little bits is the perfect compromise.
I often see people discussing grinders on the BARF discussion lists. Do you have a favorite model of grinder or method of grinding?
Actually, when we feed ground bones, we have the meat and bones ground for us at our butcher’s shop. The most important thing is to keep grinding the meaty bones until the bone fragments are tiny and absolutely harmless.
But then you must lose the benefits to the teeth? Because the dog isn’t having to chew and grind the food himself?
Surprisingly enough, no. There is no doubt that the physical action of the bones scraping the teeth is important. However, it has been my observation that the dogs who are fed BARF-type diets – where all the bones are fed ground up – so there is no chance of physical cleaning by the bones, and there is no addition of grains or processed food, have tartar-free teeth with no periodontal disease. I have also seen reports from long-term raw feeding at zoos – where the meat and the bones are fed in a ground up state – which support this view. It would appear that it’s not just the physical chewing action that is responsible; there is some biological action at work as well.
I think I’ve heard that it has to do with enzymes in the saliva?
That might have something to do with it. I’m not aware of any studies that have been done on this. We have to speculate: It definitely relates to a low-sugar diet. I suspect it is also related to the absence of artificial calcium. Loads of soluble calcium – as found in processed foods – may well be one of the most important contributors to dental calculus. The BARF diet also contribute in a major way to strong local immunity in the mouth. The presence or absence of periodontal disease also involves the pH produced in the mouth by the diet. In other words, mouth health depends on a complex of factors – the healthy factors stemming from an evolutionary diet.
What kind of bones do you like to feed most?
We feed mostly chicken. That is, wings and necks, and a lot of backs. We steer clear of thighs, mostly because they are more expensive and because they have a very high meat-to-bone ratio; it’s more meat than you need to feed. The ratio of meat to bone in chicken wings and necks is perfect. But I always tell people to look for young chickens and young animals in general. Young animals have had less time to store toxins in their bones, and the bones are softer and therefore safer. However, we feed bones from lamb and pork and beef as well. Variety is important.
Is it true that it’s not necessarily the bone, but the food that the bone comes wrapped in, that is beneficial to the dog?
It is a nonsense to attempt to make that distinction. It has to be the lot. It’s both the bone and the meat and the soft tissues it comes wrapped in and the vegetables and eggs and kelp and other fresh foods that make the dog healthy. But, I agree with you about the value of the soft tissues, For example, the cartilage that the dogs consume with the bones is a major contributor to health. Cartilage has anti-cancer properties, as well as beneficial effects on arthritis. There are all sorts of expensive supplements being produced for dogs that contain glucosamine and chondroitin. They are being used to either prevent or treat those diseases; it’s just another example of something that bones have been doing for so long that we have not been aware of.
I often have people say to me, “You can’t feed a dog like a wolf; dogs are not wolves!” Have we manipulated the dog so much that the “wolf diet” is no longer appropriate?
That’s a myth that was designed to sell dog food! It’s true that we have changed the appearance and mindset of the dog over thousands of years. But commercial foods have only been around for, maybe, 7-10 dog generations. It’s a biological impossibility for the dog’s digestive system – the dog’s basic physiology – to have been altered to such a degree in such a short period of time that it cannot deal with real food. The truth is, the dog is having major problems dealing with processed foods. That is why we see so much degenerative disease in modern dogs.
When the dog food industry tries to sell you that sort of nonsense, you have to ask yourself, “What did people feed their dogs before there was dog food?” And, more importantly, “What were dogs like before the advent of the commercial dog food industry?” Dogs were doing fine before the dog food industry came along. There is epidemiological evidence showing that prior to “dog food,” there were occasional instances of a limited number of diseases due to nutritional deficiencies or excesses. These were diseases that are simple to diagnose and simple to fix. Today we have a vast number of exceedingly complex degenerative diseases that are difficult to diagnose, difficult to treat, and very dangerous to the dog. These modern degenerative diseases, which are a direct result of a lifetime being fed cooked and processed foods, are exceedingly common.
We have paid an enormous price for exchanging an ad hoc, home-produced, human-type diet for the commercial, “scientific” diet. These modern diets are cooked and totally lacking in the protective nutrients. They are almost always based on cooked grain. That is, full of starch, a carbohydrate that is totally inappropriate for dogs. These foods either totally lack essential fatty acids, or have excessive Omega 6 fatty acids. Any fatty acids that are present are heat-damaged fatty acids. At best these damaged fatty acids are useless, and at worst, highly toxic. In combination, these problems are a potent recipe for diabetes, arthritis, auto-immune disease, renal failure, and the enormous levels of cancer currently seen in pet animals. We know that cancer is due to mutations; the question is, what’s causing the mutations? I suggest most strongly it is the biologically inappropriate commercial food.
As long as we’re trading pet peeves . . . Consider the nutritionists who say that dog owners are not smart enough to figure out how to feed their dogs a complete and balanced diet. We somehow manage to feed our kids – not to mention ourselves!
Feeding our pets is simple. All we have to do is figure out what dogs and cats ate in the wild, and mimic that, using foods that are available to us today. Dog food manufacturers believe it is hard because they make it hard on themselves! They attempt to make a product suitable for feeding dogs and cats from totally inappropriate foods. Their job is not only hard, it is impossible!
Are you aware of any large clinical trials for studying the benefits of BARF over commercial pet food?
Not as yet. It would not pay the pet food companies to undertake such trials for obvious reasons. However, I am aware of thousands of small, in-home trials! These consistently demonstrate that when pets are switched from commercial food to BARF, their health improves dramatically.
There are plans afoot to unify raw feeders – including the raw food manufacturers – as members of a world-wide BARF organization. This will enable us to gather data from our members – the troops in the trenches. We are going to ask them to do blood work pre- and post-BARF. We will ask them to gather any radiographic results, we want to know what sorts of foods they are feeding and what kinds of dogs are being fed BARF. We want to gather sound, verifiable, scientific data to back what we’re saying. The data is available. All we have to do is talk to our members. There are lots of people doing this and they have exceptionally healthy dogs.
However, as more people adopt this method of feeding, there is going to be less and less disease for the vets to treat. This has the potential to make large numbers of vets redundant. This would not be a good outcome for pet owners because there will always be some problems that only a vet can fix. The solution is for the veterinary profession to switch to preventative mode. That is, change their emphasis from diagnosis and treatment to spending more time assessing and preventing problems, in much the same way that dentists have gone from “drill and fill” to adopting a more preventative approach. It should be noted at this point that when the dentists made this switch, they increased their incomes dramatically.
That is why it is important that BARFers with (apparently) healthy dogs make it their habit to visit their vets, often, for checkups and blood tests. It is important that their own vets draw the blood and interpret the results. This way the vets can not only remain solvent, but also, they will see the improvements for themselves. What better way can their be for BARFers to earn their vet’s support? And at the same time, we are gathering invaluable data.
Are you aware of any cases of dogs dying from impactions or intestinal perforations?
We see intestinal perforations almost never. The ones I have seen have always involved cooked bones. I have seen one case in the last five years. We saved her. She had eaten a cooked T-bone which became lodged in her esophagus above her heart. If she had not been panicked into swallowing it by her owner, she would have chewed it up just fine. Large bowel impactions are relatively common – one every couple of months. These almost always involve either cooked bones or old dogs or both. These do not involve fatalities, just enemas – an unpleasant job for the vet and the patient.
Bones caught in the mouth – both cooked and raw – are relatively common, maybe one every three or four months. No fatalities here, of course. Often we do not even charge for removing them. In our practice, large numbers of our patients are fed raw bones at least three or four times weekly. This should give readers an appreciation of how rare these problems are. Well worth any small risk – in my opinion. We encourage owners of dogs that have had impactions to only feed ground soft bones in small amounts with plenty of healthy oils and vegetables. We never discourage people from feeding raw bones.
One of my own clients had his dog die shortly after being fed a chicken wing. We took radiographs and there they were: you could see fragmented bits of bones sitting in the dog’s stomach. Did the chicken wing kill the dog? There was no evidence to suggest that. The autopsy certainly did not support that view. However, after closely questioning the owner, I suspect that what actually killed the dog was an anaphylactic reaction to one of the new combined flea, tick, de-worming products that had also been given just a few minutes before the dog’s death.
Another person rang me to tell me her puppy had died shortly after chewing a chicken neck, and that the vet who had attended the puppy told her that the bones that the puppy had eaten had pierced its lungs and killed it. I asked, “Was a necropsy performed? Were radiographs taken?” The answer was no to both questions! I then asked, “So how does this vet know that the wing had pierced the lung?” She said, “I don’t know.”
I suggested that she go back and ask a few more questions. It turns out that the vet had just made up that explanation, based on what he assumed had happened. An autopsy returned an open verdict with cause of death unknown. The point is, sudden deaths are not uncommon in the veterinary world. It is easy to make bones the scapegoat. Not only that, many needless operations are performed because a radiograph – taken for some other problem – revealed the presence of bones in the intestinal tract: a normal piece of feces with pieces of bone in it, happily working its way through the dog’s system. Also, I am aware that there are some vets who say, “I see X number of these perforation/impaction/fatalities due to bones every week.” They say these things with the best of intentions, but they are not necessarily telling the truth. Their good intention is that they assume they would see X number of cases if a lot of people fed bones. And they are trying to discourage this in a misguided attempt to do what they think is in the dog’s best interest.
However, the facts are that I rarely see these problems in my practice – and, more than any other vet, my clients feed whole raw bones! Furthermore, there are thousands of us who have always fed our dogs this way, and we’re not experiencing problems, only fantastic health.
Dr. Billinghurst, thank you so much for taking time out to talk to us. Our readers are certain to benefit from the information you’ve shared with us, and we look forward to presenting more information about BARF diets in time.
You’re welcome. In the meantime, I invite WDJ readers who BARF-feed their dogs to register with us for our planned study.
Last month, we looked at how homeopathy works to help a patient’s body heal itself. In this article, we’ll explore how you can use homeopathic remedies to help your dog – and suggest when your dog would be better off in the care of a veterinary homeopath.
In the hands of a skilled practitioner, homeopathy can bring amazing cures of deep-seated illness. But it can also be used by the layperson to treat minor acute problems.
What kinds of ailments can you tackle at home? “You can always treat injuries,” says veterinary homeopath and author Richard Pitcairn, DVM. The best candidates for at-home treatment include bite and puncture wounds, insect bites and bee stings, minor burns, and digestive upsets. Homeopathic remedies can also be extremely helpful if your dog has an emergency (shock or collapse, for instance) if given while you are on your way to seek veterinary help.
But don’t try to treat an illness or injury that seems serious or life-threatening, or is interfering with your animal’s eating, cautions Don Hamilton, author of Homeopathic Care for Cats and Dogs: Small Doses for Small Animals. Specifically, Hamilton says, veterinary assistance is required if your dog refuses to eat for more than two days, has difficulty breathing, vomits more than once every few hours, has diarrhea or is weak or listless for more than two days, is unable to urinate or defecate, or has any condition that is worsening.
A good rule of thumb, Hamilton says, is that you can safely treat a problem of “short duration, where the animal is generally relatively bright and alert.”
Articles on homeopathy often recommend stocking up on a few major remedies, and suggest one remedy for each ailment. This approach is simple and convenient, but it ignores the reality of how homeopathy works.
Homeopathy treats individuals, not symptoms. So for an upset stomach caused by food or garbage poisoning, Hamilton’s book lists five separate remedies; for bites and stings, he lists seven. He then tells you how to decide which one is right for your dog. This article can help you understand what you can and can’t treat, but to choose the right remedy in each situation you’ll need to consult a reference work (see “Resources for Further Information”) or a trained veterinary homeopath.
How remedies work
As you prepare to treat your dog homeopathically, keep in mind that these remedies are very different from the allopathic, or Western, medicines you’ve always used. First, they’re given one at a time; every remedy you give “cancels out” the previous one. Also, when you administer the medicine, you must wait and observe your dog’s response rather than blindly giving dose after dose for a predetermined period of time. When you see improvement, you generally decrease the potency or stop giving the remedy. Despite the common claims that you cannot possibly make a person or animal ill with homeopathic remedies, many homeopaths feel that if you overdose your patient, you will begin to cause him harm.
A second key difference is that the potency level of a homeopathic remedy is not analogous to the strength of a Western medicine. With allopathic drugs, two 50-mg. tablets equal one 100-mg. tablet. But in homeopathy, two 6C doses do not equal one 12C, since the numeral and letter combination stand for how many times the remedy has been diluted, and the greater numbers represent greater dilution. (It’s one of the apparent paradoxes of homeopathy: that the more a remedy has been diluted, the more powerful effect it can have on your dog.)
Finally, homeopathic remedies have special storage and handling requirements, since they can be “antidoted” or neutralized by a variety of forces. Homeopaths recommend that all homeopathic remedies are stored away from exposure to sunlight, electromagnetic fields, and the strong odors caused by camphor, mothballs, mint, and spices. Even food particles in the mouth can antidote remedies, they say, so withhold food and treats for 15 to 30 minutes before administration.
How to use the remedies
You can find remedies at your local health food store or order them by mail. They most commonly come in the form of small pellets. How many pellets should you give? Hamilton offers this guideline: for small dogs, two to three; for medium dogs, three to four; and for large dogs, four to six. For particularly weak animals (who should be treated only under a veterinarian’s supervision), the pellets can be diluted in filtered or spring water and dripped with an eyedropper into the dog’s mouth. Remedies are also available in liquid form.
The next question is how strong a potency to use. Your lowest choice will probably be 6X, and veterinary homeopaths agree that home prescribers should not go above 30C. “If there is any question about the correctness of the remedy, it is best to start with a low potency,” Hamilton stresses. (Professionals typically use potencies ranging from 6C to 1M, reports veterinary homeopath Christina Chambreau, DVM, of Baltimore, Maryland.)
Once you’ve given the remedy, should you repeat it, and if so, how often? “Waiting is almost always preferable to repeating or changing the remedy,” Hamilton advises. “It may take time for the body to respond.” Higher-potency remedies are usually given only once if there’s improvement, but lower potencies often require some repetition. The goal is to keep the animal improving by giving an additional dose when it seems likely the previous one is about to wear off. If the symptoms worsen, it’s likely that the potency you’ve given is too high, or that it’s the wrong remedy altogether.
“The main factor,” Hamilton writes, “is that your patient should be improving in all aspects, especially her behavior . . . . As she improves, reduce the frequency of administration until you can stop the remedy . . . . You will usually know within two or three doses if your companion is responding . . . Don’t repeat the remedy more than a few times if you are not seeing a good response.” If you have any doubt about whether you’re on the right track at any point, seek professional homeopathic attention.
The remedy should be placed directly in your dog’s mouth. Homeopathic pellets are sweet-tasting, and most animals accept them quite readily. Your dog does not need to swallow the pellets as long as contact is made with the gums. Most homeopaths advise that you try to avoid handling the pellets, as contact with your skin may neutralize them as well. Some pellets come in containers designed for direct administration from the bottle cap into the mouth; you can also pour the pellets onto a fold of paper and slide them into your dog’s mouth.
Since homeopathy works by effecting change in the vital force, most homeopaths recommend that it is not combined with other modalities that also alter the vital force. Acupuncture and most herbs shouldn’t, therefore, be used concomitantly with homeopathy. Holistic therapies that can safely be used alongside homeopathy include Bach flower remedies, chiropractic, massage, and nutritional therapies. Most veterinary homeopaths believe acupressure is also acceptable. A natural, healthful diet is essential to success, they agree.
A risk-free system?
If you’re going to treat your dog at home, you need to understand that this system of healing is very powerful. The common belief that homeopathy is absolutely safe is absolutely untrue, homeopaths warn.
According to Dr. Pitcairn, the highest risk comes when a patient receives a remedy that’s very close to the correct one but is still off base – and novices are more likely to miss the mark altogether. “If you have some knowledge and you use medicines that are similar to the case, especially if they’re used inappropriately, like repeating them, you can cause serious reactions, even life-threatening ones,” Pitcairn says.
More commonly, the home practitioner ends up complicating his dog’s condition by treating it unsuccessfully before deciding professional help is required. This muddied-waters predicament is familiar to homeopathic veterinarians and points up the need to restrict your at-home prescribing to the simplest, most straightforward complaints.
Homeopaths speak regretfully of the fact that homeopathic treatment is often a last-ditch, desperate attempt to save an animal who is deathly ill and has already been subjected to virtually every other treatment available. The case is then difficult to sort out – and the animal’s vital force has been weakened. Worst, Pitcairn says, are “cases that have been through the hands of what are called eclectic practitioners . . . where they’ve used homeopathy, acupuncture, herbs, Prednisone, antibiotics, all together in the same animal.” Homeopathy can still sometimes help such an animal, but the task is far more difficult and success less likely.
Even when homeopathy cannot cure an animal, it can still help by ameliorating his overall well-being during the time he does have left. “If the quality of life improves, even if the quantity of life doesn’t, haven’t I helped?” asks homeopathic veterinarian Christine Crosley.
Homeopathy can also be used in a preventive way. “It should be primary treatment,” says Dr. Pitcairn, “so that when you get a young animal, you start out treating the signs of chronic disease which are so prevalent now in young animals and eliminating them before they get established and cause damage to the body.” The majority of puppies and kittens born today “already show signs of chronic disease that are inherited,” Pitcairn says – something that wasn’t the case 20 or 30 years ago.
The health problems induced by over-vaccination and poor-quality commercial diets are compounded by the short generation time of animals, Pitcairn explains, allowing quick deterioration within the species. But with early homeopathic treatment of chronic illness – manifested as skin disorders, ear and eye discharges, inflamed gums, and the like – the trend can be reversed.
“Homeopathy should be primary care and it should also be used as a preventive program,” Pitcairn says. “If that’s done, and if people look at the vaccine question and don’t overdo that, and they get [the animals] on good food, then they’ll have healthy animals, and the next generation will be healthier yet.”
Dogs can never have enough toys, and here at WDJ we are always on the lookout for creative new toys to help you enjoy your canine companions.
Good toys are crucial for several reasons. First and foremost, bored dogs are far more likely to engage in behaviors that – while perfectly natural and reasonable activities for a dog with time on his paws – are not the sort of things that will please you. Things like barking at anything that moves outside the windows of the house, attempting to dig out the source of a trail of ants in the kitchen, or chewing on the table legs. If occupied with toys that are engaging (at least more so than the windows, the ants, and the table legs) and enjoyable (satisfying to chew, say, or so exciting as to be self-reinforcing), your dog is much less likely to redecorate your home when you’re at work.
Speaking of reinforcement, new toys are often even more attractive than old favorites. If you use a toy as a lure or toy-time as a reward, you might find that bringing out an unfamiliar toy increases your dog’s initiative and willingness to deliver the behaviors you ask for.
New and exciting toys also give you and your dog something fun to explore together. Current events don’t interest Fido as “conversation topics,” but new toys do! And watching your dog’s response to the latest, greatest toy is great fun; you never know how your dog is going to respond. One dog’s “Wow, totally cool!” toy is another dog’s “Ho-hum, boring.” While it’s helpful to know your dog’s temperament and preferences in play-toys, these canine guys and gals will often surprise you. That Frisbee-addicted Poodle just might turn out to have a new-found fascination for balls that squeal.
Unfortunately, the fact that you can never be sure what your dog will and will not enjoy means that our test dogs’ favorites may do nothing whatsoever for your pooch. (But don’t dispose the ones that your dog deems duds; consider trading them with other dog-loving friends, or donating them to your local animal shelter.)
In addition to the elusive and variable “dog appeal,” the toy’s cost, safety, and durability are critically important elements of toy selection. Taking all of this into account, we rate a number of new toys on a scale of one to four paws.
Every so often, at a training demonstration or event promoting positive training methods, a skeptical spectator will ask me whether positive training methods can be used for preparing dogs for all types of careers. I know where they are usually going with this question. Their real question is, “I know you can teach dogs to do cute little tricks with treats and stuff, but what about when you want a reliable dog, like an obedience competitor, a protection dog, or a police dog?”
Their assumption is that in order to teach a dog to respond without fail, to sharply execute the handler’s every command, you will have to use force- and fear-based methods at some point in the dog’s education. When circumstances dictate that the dog has to do what the handler wants, you’re going to have to train that dog to be afraid of what might happen if he doesn’t do it, right?
Wrong, wrong, wrong.
Why “protection” dogs are no different
Police and military dog training are just two of several applications of protection dog training. Others more likely to be encountered by the average dog owner include personal protection, plant security (guard dog), and protection dog sports such as Schutzhund and Ringsport.
Some dogs are taught to simply detect an intruder and sound an alarm (barking). These dogs are useful in situations where biting, or even the threat of biting, could not be permitted. Some dogs are trained to give alarm and offer some physical threat to the intruder. A threat dog must be willing and able to stand his ground after barking at an intruder. Other dogs are trained as true “man-stoppers,” willing and able to win a fight with a human, if necessary.
Dogs trained for protection sports must also demonstrate a high degree of competence in basic obedience training. All of these disciplines traditionally use a significant amount of compulsion and punishment in their training programs.
It’s taken a while, but the fun and effective positive training methods that have produced untold thousands of happy, confident, and obedient pet dogs are finally finding their way into the hands of the trainers who produce police and protection dogs. Increasingly, these enlightened trainers are realizing that positive training not only produces a dog who is just as reliable as a dog trained with old-fashioned force-based methods, but also builds a strong and deep relationship between dog and handler.
“Old school” dog trainer learns new tricks
Interestingly, some of the most vocal advocates of the positive methods in police and protection work are veterans of the “old school,” where dogs are physically forced to comply with the commands given them. That is definitely the case with Seattle, Washington, trainer Steve White, who used to “string up” dogs with the worst of them. But not anymore. In a law-enforcement world populated by tough men and women who use harsh training methods on even tougher dogs, this energetic, fast-talking police officer is a beacon of enlightenment.
Like many positive trainers of today, White got his first dog training experience by attending an obedience class with his own dog, in 1974. The perceptive instructor of that class recognized White’s natural talent with dogs and invited him to become an assistant. White did so, then subsequently joined the military and attended patrol dog handler’s school at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas.
It was in the military that White perfected his punishment-based training methods. From the beginning, he was taught to never back down from a dog, under any circumstances. The first dog assigned to him tested the limits of this type of program. “Astro” was distrustful and aggressive with his handler from their first encounter.
The pair had an armed truce until week four of the training program, when the “Down” exercise was introduced. The military’s method of teaching the down was to tighten the choke chain and drag the dog to the ground. Astro resisted, and the battle was on.
“There was a horrible melee of snarling, teeth, saliva everywhere . . . I felt the choke chain slipping in my hands and knew I was losing ground. So, as per instructions, I strung him up to near-unconsciousness, yelling ‘No! No! No!’ all the while, then tried to down him again when I felt him weakening from lack of oxygen. Meanwhile my Air Force instructors were screaming expletives at me that impugned my manhood, my intelligence, and my family tree.
“I got the same results with my second attempt. I strung him up again and spun around, doing what is known as a ‘Touch and Go.’ I tried another down. This time, amid the saliva, teeth, and snarls, I felt a distinct ‘Oh, that hurts!’ pain sensation. When I went to string Astro up the third time, blood flew everywhere. My instructors quit yelling. Once Astro quit fighting I quit stringing. I got a reprieve from the training program while my wound healed.”
When White got back to the training program two weeks later, he had a new dog, new instructors, and he completed the course without further incident as a Distinguished Honor Graduate. Meanwhile, Astro was finally certified – after biting both subsequent handlers – and shipped off to Morocco, where his fate is unknown.
Seeking other methods
White was highly successful by the standards of his military unit, but he was dissatisfied with his military dog training experiences. While both the Koehler method he had learned from his first instructor and the military methods were effective for some dogs, White realized that they certainly didn’t work well for all of them, as Astro had demonstrated.
Post-military duty, White went to work for the Kitsap County (Washington) Sheriff’s Department. He was assigned another tough dog, and started dabbling with food and toys as part of his training program. He soon got a reputation for having dogs who could do tricks. However, he says that when push came to shove, and when he had to get a dog to do something, he fell back on the use of force.
White continued in that way for some time, using non-compulsive methods for the stuff that didn’t “matter,” and having a lot of fun with it, and using more serious methods for more serious work. Then he began to realize that there was some bleed-over into the work aspects of his training. His trick-trained dogs seemed to have a better attitude about their work.
Positive principles
White continued to search for a method that would work for all dogs, amassing a huge library of training and behavior books in the process. One day in the early 1990s, while working for the Seattle Police Department as a part-time narcotics-dog handler, part-time trainer, and teaching seminars around the country, he found a small tan paperback book that changed his life. While searching for reading material for a flight home from a seminar, he found Karen Pryor’s landmark book, Don’t Shoot the Dog, in the self-help section of a bookstore. When he got on the plane he settled into his seat, opened the book, and was immediately and totally absorbed. The book deeply resonated with him.
“Karen Pryor showed me that while I thought I was looking for a perfect method,” says White, “what I really needed – what every good trainer needs – is an understanding of principles – simple principles that apply to all learning.”
Pryor’s book included three lists of training principles: “The 10 Laws of Shaping,” “The 4 Conditions of Stimulus Control,” and “The 8 Methods of Getting Rid of a Behavior.” White had these 22 sentences printed on a card that he carries (and gives to students) to serve as his guide to handling any training challenge.
Spreading the positive word
Since his Don’t Shoot The Dog epiphany, White has moved and started his own company, Professional Training Services in Seattle. He now spends much of his time providing handler and animal training and consultation services to government, industry and private parties around the country.
White works with a lot of law enforcement agencies, and has credibility where other positive trainers might not, because of his background in and understanding of police work.
As can be expected, he still meets with resistance from force-based training traditionalists, although he reports that it’s getting better. The fact that White can get great results training police dogs with positive methods plays a key role in his increased acceptance. An almost universal problem with trained police dogs is their frenzied barking behavior in the police car.
“I recently returned from the United States Police Canine National Seminar in Boulder, Colorado,” says White, “where we did a lot of work on problem solving with the barking-in-car behavior. Traditionally, police officers have tried to eliminate this behavior through punishment – pulley systems to drag the dog to the floor of the car when he barks, electric shock collars . . . Often this results in a more frenzied barking response from the dog that escalates to spinning and yelping.
“We worked with shaping the absence of the behavior in the dogs – using a ‘Good!’ and a treat when the dog was quiet. If the dog’s threshold (the distance at which the barking was triggered) was 150 feet we started at 160 feet and gradually worked closer and closer. We made progress with every single dog there using this method. By the end of the week, I had given away all my shaping cards and the 500-plus clickers I had brought. Some handlers commented that we had accomplished more in a half-hour of positive reinforcement than they had in years of punishment.”
The ultimate challenge
While most dog owners spend a lot of energy convincing their dogs not to bite, police, Schutzhund, and other protection dog work encourages the dog to bite; it’s a requirement of the job description. As it turns out, the hardest part of this training process is not training the dog to bite – most dogs enjoy the bite work! The most difficult and critically important part of bite work is convincing the dog to let go on command. Because a protection or police dog finds the bite work highly self-reinforcing, the release (or “out,” as it is usually called in the trade) can be a difficult behavior to obtain on cue.
Traditionally, the “out” has been taught using force. William Koehler, a highly respected trainer in his day, describes these methods in his book, The Koehler Method Of Guard Dog Training, published in 1962.
Koehler’s first approach to the “out” involves the use of a throw-chain and sharp jerks on a choke collar. If these fail, he advocates using a wooden dowel that has been slipped inside a rubber hose with which to give a “good clean chop midway across the top of the dog’s muzzle should he fail to ‘out’ immediately on command.” If that fails, he gives happy approval to the use of the electric shock collar. Koehler’s methods are still followed by many compulsion trainers doing protection dog work today. Even many trainers who concede that positive training can work in some areas often insist that you cannot train a positive release.
White disagrees. He teaches students how to train dogs to “self-out,” a positive method that puts emphasis (like all positive methods) on rewarding the dog when it lets go. White says the self-out has an excellent history of success for people who use it correctly, but adds that he doesn’t often see it used correctly.
“The self-out has gotten a bad rap because people have tried to use it who don’t understand the importance of positively reinforcing the release and working with the dog and his level,” he says.
Technical notes
In a number of past WDJ articles about positive training methods, we have described how any behavior can be “put on cue” if a trainer is observant, patient, and swiftly offers the dog an irresistible reward at the very moment the dog performs the desired behavior. Even though teaching a dramatic behavior like biting (and letting go) seems like it would call for more dramatic methods, the self-out can be taught in the exact same way as “garden variety” tricks.
First, White establishes that the dog is thoroughly prepared in the preliminary steps of training. He especially wants to see that the dog is equipped (so to speak) with what he calls a “default behavior,” a requested activity that the dog is highly likely to comply with. His favorite is “Down.”
Using food and play with the dog’s favorite toy, White spends as much time as it takes to ensure that the dog responds with the Down behavior with a high ‘probability of occurrence’ – meaning that the dog is very likely to execute the behavior under even difficult circumstances, or when he doesn’t know what else will pay off.
Then the dog is sent to engage the training assistant’s protective sleeve. Once the dog bites the sleeve, White simply waits. He gives no commands and offers no encouragement; neither does the assistant resist the bite. They just wait for the dog to let go, or to begin to let go. The dog is rewarded instantly if she does happen to let go, but this often takes a while on the first few tries, says White.
“The first time I did this with my dog I waited 18 minutes with her hanging on my arm, until I could see her start to waver,” he says. “At that moment I took out her favorite toy – a piece of fire hose – and gave her the ‘down’ cue. High probability of occurrence – at that point in time she was willing to down, and since she couldn’t comply with down and keep the sleeve in her mouth at the same time, she let go.”
White immediately cues the dog that she has done the right thing by making a “Click!” sound with his mouth (it’s hard to do all this and hold a clicker, too!), and giving the dog her toy. He also adds an additional positive reinforcement by giving her a cue and allowing her to take a new bite.
White follows the same procedure with each successive bite, reinforcing each self-out with a Click!, her toy, and another opportunity to bite. Eventually, he adds a verbal cue for “Out” to the mix, as the dog makes the connection between the new cue and the desired behavior. As long as the reward for the Out behavior is appropriately timed and just as (if not more than) enjoyable as the biting behavior, the dog will quickly and reliably learn the behavior – without stress and without violence.
A word on punishment
Most of the people who train dogs for police work – even the ones who use positive methods, like White – feel that there is a time and a place for the use of punishment.
“Cops are results-oriented,” White explains. “If there’s a problem they want to fix it right then and there. They are also professional fault-finders, who spend their working lives trying to catch people doing something bad. We often have a hard time getting them used to the idea of catching the dog doing something good. To make matters worse, punishment is also reinforcing to the punisher – we get an instant response and that makes us feel good – which is why punishment-based training sticks around even when, like shocking the barking dogs in police cars, it frequently doesn’t give us the long-term result that we want.
“By far the best approach to training is the positive one,” White continues. “Still, on the street, we must have a way to stop the dog who makes a wrong decision if he doesn’t respond to our command. Otherwise people, or the dog, can get hurt.”
For these reasons, White uses what he calls a “conditioned punisher,” that he varies depending on the individual dog. He might use a throw chain for one, a bonker (rolled up towel), a verbal reprimand, or leash correction, but what they all have in common is that he uses the punishment very sparingly. “If you use a punisher too often you create a punishment ‘callus.’ If the dog becomes inured to the punisher and you have to use it harder and harder for it to be effective, it’s a clear indication that you are doing far too much punishing and not enough reinforcing,” he says.
Changing training traditions for the better
White reminds us that a dog’s basic philosophy of life is “What’s in it for me, now?” The rest of us, including cops, aren’t all that different. If we can show law enforcement that the “what’s in it for me” in positive police dog training is a better-trained, more effective, better-behaved police dog – a more reliable and valuable partner for them in the field – police dog trainers will flock to the positive training camp.
Thanks to Steve White and the growing legions of positive dog trainers, as more officers realize the value of having a positive relationship with their K9 partners, the lives of police dogs across the country will be greatly enhanced, until we see “positive police and protection dog training” become more widely accepted and even less of an oxymoron than it is today.
I used to show my dogs in competitive obedience. In the beginning, the opportunity to earn obedience titles and show off my dog’s training appealed to me greatly. But as I evolved toward positive training methods and a more fulfilling relationship with my dogs, the military precision of the show ring lost its charm. I realized that it made no sense to have a relationship with my canine pals based on warm interaction and communication outside the ring, only to march in cold silence next to my dogs inside the ring. I stopped showing and turned my efforts toward family dog training and activities that were more fun and flexible, like agility and canine freestyle.
I’m not alone; lots of people have dropped out of competitive obedience events for similar reasons. But finally someone has done something to bring me and those like me back into the ring.
A Need for Competitive Obedience
Charles (Bud) Kramer is a long-time dog sport enthusiast who was instrumental in the introduction and promotion of canine agility in this country in the early 1980s. On December 5, 1998, he was munching a sandwich in his Kansas State University office while reading a dog magazine. The author of the article was fussing about the fact that fewer new dog owners interested in performance activities were pursuing competitive obedience. Traditional obedience was failing to win new followers because dog owners were increasingly drawn to other canine sports.
As Kramer thought about (and agreed with) the article, he speculated that the rigid format of competitive obedience was largely responsible for the decline in participation.
Rather than dismissing the issue, he did something about it! He invented Rally Style Obedience, a canine sport so new that there haven’t even been any official competitions yet. But there will be soon. Kramer has been in negotiations with the American Kennel Club, and it is anticipated that this sport will be available as an AKC non-regular class at dog shows in the fall of this year. While the AKC events will be restricted to purebred dogs only, there is nothing to prevent 4-H groups, mixed breed dog clubs, humane societies and other organizations from offering Rally Obedience competitions for all dogs. Want to get in on the ground floor of this exciting new activity? Read on.
Rally Excitement
Rally Style Obedience was created to provide a forum for obedience training that emphasizes fun and excitement for the dog, handler and spectator, by allowing for a more natural approach to the performance. Most of us talk to our dogs when we train. We work as partners, as a team. We praise and reward our dogs when they do well, and encourage them when they are unsure of themselves. The competition format for Rally Obedience closely mimics the real human/canine relationship by allowing natural interaction between handler and dog even in the ring.
“It was pretty simple,” says Kramer. “It took 10 minutes to come up with the idea, and another 18 months to put it all together. I just took all of the elements that make agility so popular – the fact that you can talk to your dog; that it’s fast moving and done on a continuous course without pauses for judges’ instructions and scoring; and that the course is variable, with different course outlines and variations in exercises. By the time I finished my sandwich the concept had gelled.”
The name “Rally” comes from the use of directional signs rather than a judge’s commands to prompt the handler/dog team to perform the next exercise, similar to the popular sport of Road Rally for cars.
The course designer selects from 45 different approved Rally exercises and creates a course using 25 to 28 of them. For readers familiar with equestrian sports, this is something like a Grand Prix jumper course. Like riders of Grand Prix jumpers, Rally handlers have the opportunity to walk the course before the class starts, to plan their strategy.
Seven of the Rally exercises may be used more than once in any given course, the rest cannot be repeated. Each directional sign gives instructions for that exercise, and when handler and dog have completed the exercise they move on to the next station.
For example:
• Sign #1: Fast Pace (dog and handle move at a faster-than-normal pace to the next sign)
• Sign #2: Slow Pace (dog and handler drop to a slower-than-normal pace and continue to the next sign)
• Sign #3: Normal Pace (dog and handler proceed to the next sign at a normal pace)
• Sign #4: About Turn Right (dog and handler make a 180 degree turn to the right and proceed back in the direction from which they just came)
• Sign #5: Right Turn (dog and handler make a 90 degree turn to the right)
• Sign #6: Spiral Left, Dog Inside (dog and handler make an increasingly large spiral around four orange cones, with the dog on the inside of the spiral) . . . and so on, until the course is completed.
There are two levels of performance. Level One (entry level) is done on leash. Level Two is off-leash, with more challenging exercises included on the course. Both levels are made up of exercises similar to those found in the Novice level of obedience competition. Kramer anticipates that down the road there may be additional levels that incorporate more advanced exercises from Open and Utility obedience classes.
Judging the Rally Course
Like competition obedience, the dog and handler team enters the Rally course with a perfect score of 200, and points are deducted as either member of the team makes mistakes. However, the similarity ends there.
The Rally handler may repeat verbal and hand signal cues without penalty, and may follow a cue with praise or encouragement. (In the obedience ring this would constitute a significant penalty.) The handler may continue to encourage and praise the dog throughout each exercise, and while the exercise must be performed satisfactorily, the dog’s attitude, attention and response are considered more important in scoring than is exact precision. Ongoing verbal reassurance is also allowed to help prevent a dog from making an error, for example, during the heeling and stay exercises.
The judge follows the dog and handler around the course, marking point deductions for minor to major errors. In order to earn a qualifying score, the team must receive at least 170 points and successfully complete each of the exercises on the course. Point deductions of one-half to three points are subtracted for most errors. If more than five points total are subtracted for any particular exercise, the team does not qualify. Major errors that would result in an automatic non-qualifying score include:
• Failure of the dog to remain in position on a stay exercise
• Failure of the dog to come when called in the recall and “front” exercises
• Knocking over a cone or being on the wrong side of a cone in the spiral and figure-8 exercises
• Failure of the dog to jump over the jumps during the jumping exercises
• Heeling performance in between exercises is also judged, but of course, talking and praise are allowed here too.
Can’t you just imagine it? You’re smiling, laughing, talking to your dog in the show ring, in an excited, happy voice, praising her for doing well. She prances by your side, eyes bright, tail wagging. You and your dog are winning titles and ribbons, and having fun doing it naturally; showing the whole world that the two of you enjoy being together, working, playing, communicating as friends and partners. What a concept!
Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA, is a freelance author and a professional dog trainer in Fairplay, Maryland.
Let’s be clear: In most cases, vaccines are miraculous, life-saving agents. The diseases they (usually) prevent in our dogs range from always fatal (such as rabies) to serious and sometimes fatal (such as distemper, parvovirus, leptospirosis) to the rarely fatal (such as bordetella and coronavirus). And even diseases that are not fatal can cause all sorts of grief for both the dog in question and his owner (and the owner’s pocketbook). Dog lovers the world over are eternally grateful for the gifts that modern vaccines have conferred upon our canine companions.
However, as with most medical breakthroughs, a long period of adjustment and modulation often follows the introduction of a powerful new therapy, as treatments are refined and researchers and practitioners learn how to best use their new tools. The strength of the radiation routinely used for x-rays, for example, is far lower today than it was when the diagnostic technique was first incorporated into hospitals. Birth control pills contain far lower levels of hormones today than they did 10, 20, and 30 years ago, without any loss of effectiveness. Due to new (and growing) concerns over antibiotic-resistant bacteria, doctors no longer gleefully prescribe antibiotics for every single infection (or suspected infection) a person may have.
There are parallel truths for veterinary medicine, as well. Initially hailed as miracle cures for flea infestation (and thereby, for its related diseases), organophosphorus and carbamate insecticides have proved to be fairly toxic, especially at the high relatively concentrations used in early flea control products. Most veterinarians prescribe lower doses of corticosteroids than they once did, due to the numerous side effects now known to be caused by these powerful medicines. And so on.
A growing number of veterinarians are concerned about modern vaccine use, and, from a medical history perspective, this concern is right on time. Veterinary vaccines have been around long enough that their use is considered absolutely routine and expected – so much so that few pet owners balk at the administration of annual vaccinations. Unfortunately, it could be that this overwhelming acceptance of the “standard” vaccine protocols recommended by the veterinary colleges has actually played a part in the increasing frequency of vaccine-associated disease.
A short history
Most dog owners are unaware that the practice of annual administration of most vaccines is, for the most part, based on vaccine manufacturers’ recommendations. Few studies have been conducted to determine how long vaccines are usually effective; after all, why should a company that makes its money by selling vaccines try to determine how many years a dog owner can safely NOT vaccinate?
Veterinarians, who are supposed to have our dogs’ best interests at heart, also have to make a living, and selling vaccination services traditionally represent a healthy share of a vet’s income. To be fair, the “annual vaccination visit” also provides vets with an indisputably valuable tool: The perceived need for yearly shots has provided the strongest tool for compelling dog owners to come to the clinic and allow veterinarians to examine their clients each year – one of the best ways to ensure prompt diagnosis and treatment of disease. And, for many years, most veterinarians found vaccinations to be relatively safe.
But as vaccine use has become more prevalent, so have vaccine-related problems, both acute and chronic. As is often the case, the so-called “alternative” or “holistic” veterinarians were among the first to sound the alarm, and implicate vaccinations in the etiology of disease. The veterinary establishment paid little attention to these claims until respected researchers began to confirm some of those suspicions.
In 1983, W. Jean Dodds, DVM, a veterinarian with a referral practice in hematology and immunology in Santa Monica, California, suggested that autoimmune disease was occurring in certain susceptible animals as the result of over-vaccination. Dr. Dodds’ subsequent research has suggested that the onset of immune-related problems in dogs often coincides with the administration of vaccines.
Defining over-vaccination
Few – if any – veterinarians advocate never vaccinating dogs. For individual dogs and the canine population at large, the benefits of vaccination clearly outweigh its dangers. But the goal is a healthy middle ground: enough vaccinations to confer adequate protection from disease, and not so much immune-system manipulation as to cause health problems. As such, defining and quantifying over-vaccination is the task for veterinary researchers and dog owners alike.
The practice of annual vaccination against all diseases is the first casualty in the war against over-vaccination. A 1992 article in Kirk’s Current Veterinary Therapy by Tom R. Phillips, DVM, and Ronald D. Schultz, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Pathobiological Sciences at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine, called the practice of annual vaccine boosters one of “questionable efficacy,” and suggested that there is no immunologic requirement for annual revaccination. The veterinary establishment is slowly beginning to agree.
For example, Colorado State University’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital recently published new vaccine protocols for dogs and cats. Specifically, the hospital no longer recommends yearly boosters for dogs, but suggests the standard series of three rounds of vaccines for puppies (parvovirus, adenovirus 2, parainfluenza and distemper, with rabies after 16 weeks of age), booster shots one year later, and then every three years thereafter.
The Colorado State Veterinary Medicine Biomedical Sciences website comments, “Our adoption of this routine vaccination program is based on the lack of scientific evidence to support the current practice of annual vaccination, and increasing documentation showing that over-vaccinating has been associated with harmful side effects. Of particular note in this regard has been the association of autoimmune hemolytic anemia with vaccination in dogs and vaccine-associated sarcomas in cats – both of which are often fatal.”
Vulnerable dogs
One of the most important avenues of research in vaccine technology concerns those dogs that are especially prone to vaccine-related problems. Obliviously, problems are more likely to crop up when dogs with immune system vulnerabilities are vaccinated. Dogs should not be vaccinated if they are sick (especially if they are feverish, since fever inhibits the body’s response to vaccines) or elderly (a condition that is relative from breed to breed, but includes animals whose immune systems are losing strength).
Similarly, dogs should not be vaccinated if they suffer from immune system problems – diseases due to overactive immune systems (such as allergies), autoimmune disorders (where the body’s protectors are attacking the body’s own cells), or immune-deficient disorders where the protective responses are either underactive or failed. (For a complete discussion of these classes of disorders, see “When They Are Not Immune,” WDJ January 2000.)
In addition, certain breeds of dogs – or, in some cases, certain families of dogs – seem to be at increased risk for adverse reactions to vaccines. According to Dr. Dodds, Akitas and Weimaraners are prone to specific problems with vaccines, as are dogs with certain coat color dilutions, including double-dilute Shetland Sheepdogs, harlequin Great Danes, and albinos.
Sensitive individuals can crop up in any breed or color, however. Owners should consult a knowledgeable veterinarian (or veterinary immunology specialist) before revaccinating any dog who has had a reaction to a vaccine.
Balancing act
So how do you vaccinate your dogs enough, but not too much?
The best tool currently available for achieving this end is called a vaccine titer test. A vaccine titer test (also known as an antibody titer test) measures the levels of a specific antibody in a dog’s blood. Antibodies are protective substances produced by an animal in response to stimulation by an antigen – in this case, a disease antigen that is engineered by humans to produce this protective antibody response: a vaccine. Antibody titer tests will also detect antibodies produced by the dog’s body if he has successfully withstood exposure to the disease in question.
Please note that the phrase “titer test” is frequently misused; many dog owners assume it refers only to antibody titer tests. But titer tests can also be used to detect disease antigens; these are generally referred to as “disease titers,” and are used to identify diseases when other signs of disease are confusing or undetectable.
To conduct a vaccine titer test, your veterinarian draws some of your dog’s blood and sends it to a veterinary school diagnostic laboratory or to a commercial lab. Costs vary widely, depending on the lab that tests the blood and the veterinarian who draws the blood and helps interpret the results.
Lab fees range from $15 to $40 per titer test, with a separate test conducted for each vaccine. Some veterinarians (especially if they are hostile to the idea of vaccine reduction or concern) charge a prohibitive price for drawing blood and arranging the tests. Others (especially if they are interested in reducing the use of vaccines) will charge nothing, or just a nominal fee for the blood handling, as part of their standard health examinations. Depending upon the lab and the specific test required, the results may be returned in as little as one day or as much as two weeks.
When the results are in…
Here’s where things get complicated. There are a number of methods that labs use to test antibody titers, but the basic process involves repeatedly testing greater and greater dilutions of the blood to determine the highest dilution that still causes a positive reaction. The results of a vaccine titer test are expressed in a ratio (for example, 1:5); 1 is always the first number. In this example, it means that the blood can be diluted to – at most – one part of blood to five parts saline and still cause a positive reaction. The higher the second number is (indicating a more highly diluted and positively reacting sample), the more antibody is present in the dog’s blood. Interestingly, antibody titers tend to be higher in dogs that have withstood exposure to a disease than in unexposed but vaccinated dogs. In other words, a dog who survived distemper will usually have a higher distemper antibody titer than a dog who never had the disease but was vaccinated against it.
Different labs, different methodologies
Our first complication? Because there are several techniques by which measure antibody titers, the values are different at every lab and can have different meanings. That makes it much more difficult to interpret the results, since you cannot compare values from one lab to another, says Edward Dubovi, MS, Ph.D., director of virology at the Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine Diagnostic Laboratory.
For example, Cornell’s 1:128 may be another lab’s 1:16. Of course, the labs send along interpretative data along with this score, indicating exactly where on the scale your dog’s vaccine titer falls, based on the standards and methods the laboratory has established. Most labs include a high and low range of values that they have seen result in protection from that disease.
No guarantee of “protection”
But for our next, and more complex complication, dig this: there is no ideal value that is guaranteed to confer protection from disease. According to Dr. Wynn, antibody levels may suggest, but not conclusively prove, how much immunity that a pet carries against a specific disease. For many diseases, antibodies are the prime source of protection against disease, and a high level suggests that an animal may adequately respond when exposed and be protected against the agent causing disease.
Conversely, low levels indicate that the pet may be vulnerable to contracting the disease in question. But antibodies (also known as humoral immunity) are only one of the body’s lines of defense against disease; the body is also defended by agents of cellular immunity, also known as T lymphocytes. (For more information about the intricate makeup of the immune system, see “Looking for Immunity,” WDJ December 1999.)
So, a dog with a low antibody titer but a fabulous T-cell army may well be adequately protected from the disease in question, while a dog with a high antibody titer but ineffective cellular immunity may be vulnerable.
In addition, it can’t be stated often enough that every animal is an individual, and each individual’s immune response to the same amount and schedule of vaccines will be different. A perfect illustration of this was provided to use recently, when a reader called the WDJ editorial office to discuss her dogs’ antibody titer results.
The reader explained that she owns two dogs, brothers from the same litter. She has had the dogs vaccinated at precisely the same time and with the same vaccines throughout their lives. One of the dogs has suffered numerous though minor health problems, and exhibited a reaction to his last vaccine a year ago, so the owner decided to have both dogs’ antibody titers tested before revaccinating them this year.
Interestingly, the sickly dog who had suffered a vaccine reaction last year had a quite high titer; the “healthy” dog exhibited a very low titer. Now what do I do? the owner wondered. Good question.
Researchers have yet to agree on what values can safely be considered “protective,” though some conservative lines in the sand have been drawn. “We’re in a very inexact science,” says Dr. Dubovi. ”We’re trying to provide something that people are comfortable with as a concept and not put any animals at risk.”
However, “Current thinking in immunology says that any positive titer means they have memory,” says Dr. Wynn. Dr. Dubovi concurs. “The feeling out there among people who do this type of stuff is that any positive value that you can come up with probably will prevent the development of significant clinical disease.”
Informed decisions
Though your knowledgeable and sympathetic veterinarian can help inform their dog-owner clients, the decision to revaccinate against specific diseases rests in the owners’ hands; they have to decide for themselves whether or not their dog’ titers indicate “adequate protection.”
This can be an easy decision when the previously vaccinated dog is young, vibrantly healthy, and possessed of a nice high antibody titer; this dog’s owner will likely feel quite confident is skipping Skippy’s boosters that year. It might be wise for the owner of a sickly dog with a nice high antibody titer to also skip the boosters, at least until the dog is in better health or has lower titers, in order to prevent vaccine-triggered immune system mayhem. The decision is more difficult when the dog’s health is poor and the titer is low.
“When [titer values] come back not sufficient, you do have to make a decision about whether it’s worth vaccinating,” says Dr. Wynn, who has been using vaccine titer tests in her practice for several years. Most of the time, Dr. Wynn finds positive test results in vaccinated dogs. But one dog, a Doberman, kept showing low parvovirus titers. Dr. Wynn recommended revaccinating the dog, then testing again in a month. The owner agreed. However, upon retesting – and in spite of revaccinating – the Doberman still didn’t show a sufficient immune response. “After you test them that way, actually challenge them with a vaccine, and go back and check that titer, if they’re not making a response to a vaccine there’s no point in continuing to stick them with the same vaccine,” says Dr. Wynn.
Dr. Herman has had similar experiences in her practice. “My gut feeling is – when I’ve picked the brains of immunologists because I’ve been concerned about this – that if the body recognizes the disease even if it’s positive at a 1:10 [a low positive], it’s probably how that animal responds protectively to the disease challenge,” she says.
And, if it’s any comfort, consider that vaccination is, in itself, never guaranteed to protect a dog from disease. There are numerous reasons why vaccines fail to stimulate a vigorous antibody response in any given dog, and NO vaccines protect 100 percent of all dogs.
To the future
To be sure, vaccine titer testing has made a name for itself in the ongoing vaccine debate, and the tool is already being utilized by owners to make informed decisions about re-vaccination. But the full potential of this testing is yet to come. Definitive protective values are still fuzzy, its use in clinical practice isn’t widespread, and more studies are needed.
One step forward is the large-scale study (discussed in the July 2000 issue of WDJ) conducted by Lisa Twark, DVM, and Dr. W. Jean Dodds, of the serum antibody titers for parvovirus and distemper. The study is ongoing, but initial results indicate that annual vaccination for parvovirus and distemper is unnecessary to protect most dogs.
Another step forward is the VAX program at the Cornell Diagnostic Lab that started up in March 1999 in response to increased interest in vaccine titer testing. The program provides vaccine titer testing to interested veterinarians who pay a one-time fee to enroll their practice; individual test fees are separate. Test results are sent to the veterinarian, and recorded by the lab with the hope of accumulating data on individual dogs to determine changes in immunity, if any, over several years.
Hopefully, as more veterinarians become aware of the risks of over-vaccination, they will begin to encourage their clients to order vaccine antibody titer tests. As more data gets added to the studies, we’ll learn more about the ideal administration schedule for all the vaccines currently available. And who knows? What we learn about safe vaccination schedules for animals may well contribute to increasing the safety and effectiveness of human vaccination programs.
Virginia Parker Guidry is a frequent contributor to WDJ. A freelance writer, she lives in San Diego.
For the last three years, Bailey (my six-year-old Chow/Shepherd mix) and I have been living with my boyfriend and Colleen (his eight-year-old Norwegian Elkhound). I am planning to move out and take Bailey with me.
I am sure I will overcome the change, but I am nervous for Bailey. She is attached to my boyfriend and has had Colleen’s constant companionship. For the first time in three years, she will be left home alone when I go to work. What precautions can I take to assure a smooth transition for her?
-Lori Spar
We asked our gentle training expert, Pat Miller, to handle this question. Miller, a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers, offers training classes from her base in Fairplay, Maryland.
You are right to be concerned. Any major changes in our lives can be stressful for our canine companions as well. Losing her pack mate of three years is certainly likely to have an effect on Bailey. The loss of a close companion can be a trigger for separation anxiety, and if not carried to that extreme, can certainly make Bailey sad and lonely. It’s always the children who suffer most from a divorce, isn’t it?
There are a number of things you can do to help make the transition easier for your girl. You don’t say how imminent the move is, but the more time you have, the better. Here are some possible options:
1. Get another dog before you move. The third dog will become an integrated member of the pack, and Bailey won’t be alone in her new house because the new dog will be with her. This is, of course, assuming that Bailey and Colleen will accept a new pack member, and assuming that you want two dogs. Finding a house or apartment to rent can sometimes be a challenge with one dog, much less two! This is only a viable option if you truly want a second dog – you should never get another dog “just” to solve or prevent a behavior problem.
2. Introduce gradual separations. If you have time before your move, start taking Bailey places with you and leaving Colleen behind, and encourage your soon-to-be-ex to do the same. Start with short periods, 10 to15 minutes, so that if Bailey is going to panic she doesn’t have time to do much damage or to hurt herself.
Gradually increase the length of time you leave her alone until you are up to your full workday. To lessen the likelihood of anxiety reactions, make your leavings and returnings very low key and unemotional. Five or ten minutes before you go, give her a Kong toy stuffed with treats and peanut butter or cream cheese, or an extra-scrumptious bone, so she is busy chewing when you leave.
When you return, give her a calm “hello” and go about your business, even if she overwhelms you – especially if she overwhelms you. When she settles down, go ahead and love her up.
3. If you don’t have enough time left to do gradual separations, see if you can borrow Colleen for a while, until Bailey adjusts to her new home. Then start the gradual separation process.
4. Take as much of the jointly-owned household furnishings with you as you can to your new residence. While you may have visions of a whole new decor to go with your whole new life, the more familiar things Bailey finds in her new home, the less unsettled she will feel. If you can’t take a lot, at least take a few dog beds and rugs or blankets that will have the scent of her old home on them.
5. Take some time off work. If you can take a week off, that gives you nine days to be with Bailey in the new environment, rather than rushing off your first day in. During that nine days, spend lots of time with her, and also do a gradual separation program as described above, to get her accustomed to being there without you.
6. When you do go back to work, try to come home on your lunch hour to give her a potty break and a play session. Stop the play in plenty of time for her to calm down before you leave to go back to work. If you can’t come home, see if there is someone trustworthy in your neighborhood who might be available to come in, for a reasonable fee, to play with Bailey at lunchtime. If necessary, you can hire a professional petsitter to do this.
7. Try doggy daycare. This is an increasingly popular solution for working dog owners. You might look for a professional dog daycare business in your community, or, again, find a neighbor who is home during the day who might love to have Bailey come and keep her company. A professional day care center will give her plenty of opportunities to socialize with other dogs. If Bailey is well-behaved, she might make a lovely daytime companion for a senior citizen who would like to have a dog’s friendship without the cost or long-term responsibility.
8. Exercise, exercise, exercise. A tired dog is usually a happy and well-behaved dog. Schedule several tongue-dragging sessions for Bailey every day (morning, lunch, evening) to use up any excess energy that might otherwise be directed toward inappropriate anxiety-induced behavior. Again, be sure to give her plenty of time to calm down after an exercise session before you leave.
9. Have a complete well-dog check-up for Bailey before the move, if you haven’t had one done recently. The healthier she is, the better her system will be able to withstand the stress of separation and moving. If there are any health problems lurking, it is better to find and treat them now, before she is stressed.
10. Remember all of your alternative resources. If you don’t already use them, learn TTouch and other massage and acupressure techniques that you can use to keep Bailey calm and relaxed in her new home. Many dog owners swear by flower essence remedies – especially “Rescue Remedy,” the Bach Flower Essence that is formulated for treating stress – for helping dogs through anxious times.
11. Don’t forget to take care of yourself, too. Our dogs are greatly affected by our stress, so the calmer you can be about your own forthcoming major life change, the less stressed Bailey will be.
Many of the recommendations I’ve made for your dog would probably do a world of good for you, too! Be healthy, get plenty of exercise, find new social outlets, treat yourself to an occasional massage and your personal equivalent of a stuffed Kong (mine is chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream), and give that Rescue Remedy a try!
Change is hard on all of us, especially when it means losing a close friend and companion. The good news is that you and Bailey will weather this together, and there are other friends out there for both of you to find. Take good care of each other.
For those of you just coming on board: In the July 2000 issue, we published an article called “Hidden Killer in Dog Food.” The article was inspired by a “case history” we received from a reader who had been through a harrowing experience with her dog. It took the reader several months – and a small fortune – to determine that the sudden onset of very strange and serious neurological problems with her dog was caused by a naturally occurring toxin in her dog’s food.
As we stated in that article, a number of toxins can arise in dry dog food during its production, storage, and transportation. Most of the toxins are produced by various molds that grow in the food, or in certain ingredients of the food, and are referred to generally as “mycotoxins.”
Some mycotoxins are highly dangerous to dogs; “aflatoxin,” the substance that made our reader’s dog ill, is one of these. Aflatoxin generally causes neurological problems in its victims, and it can kill dogs (and it has), though some dogs are more sensitive to the substance than others. It should be noted that aflatoxin is already present in the raw foodstuffs before they are made into food; dog food manufacturers generally test for the presence of aflatoxin in the foodstuffs they receive prior to making them into food.
“Vomitoxin” is another, more common mycotoxin. As the name suggests, it tends to cause digestive disturbances, and while it can kill vulnerable individuals, it usually only makes them sick for a short period of time following consumption.
Neither of these mycotoxins are necessarily visible or easily detected by smelling the food.
Visible Mold is Another Matter
Recently, we’ve had the unfortunate opportunity to learn that there are other molds that can grow on dog foods without being toxic. We say “unfortunate” because just as our article about mold and mycotoxins was being read by thousands of subscribers, a mold problem had raised its ugly head in the products made and marketed by at least two dog food companies: Natura Pet Products and Natural Balance. We heard the names of a few other foods as well, from one person apiece, which would seem to confirm what we stated in the July article: Under the “right” conditions, any dry dog food can mold, whether it is naturally or artificially preserved.
We need to stress this: Just because a food is moldy, doesn’t mean it contains mycotoxins or is toxic. However, ingesting the moldy food can cause temporary stomach upset in some dogs; other dogs seem to handle it without incident. Certain dogs who are allergic to molds may have an allergic response. But these responses are nowhere near as dramatic or dangerous as a brush with mycotoxins like aflatoxin or vomitoxin.
Prevent Mycotoxin Poisoning AND Problems with Mold
We’ve updated the following list of recommendations concerning dry dog food, mold, and mycotoxins:
• Check the date of manufacture on the food you buy. Try to buy foods that are as fresh as possible.
• If you discover mold on the food you buy, return the remaining product to the store where you bought it and ask for a replacement. If the store management is unwilling to replace your food, contact the food maker. They will undoubtedly wish to make things right and replace the food.
• Purchase smaller bags of food so you don’t have to store it for long.
• Keep your dog’s food in a dry place with a cool, stable temperature. Temperature swings from hot to cold can cause moisture to develop in a food bag or plastic tub. Moisture, especially in combination with heat, can trigger the growth of molds, and toxins may develop in the food.
• Experts suggest that you do NOT dump dry food out of the bag into a plastic container, as moisture and mold can accumulate on the plastic over time. And old kibble on the bottom of the barrel is more likely to mold and infect the newer food.
• Never feed your dog food that has gotten moldy or smells “off.” Never pressure your dog to eat food that he refuses, especially if he vomits after eating some of it.
• If your dog develops strange behaviors or signs of illness soon after eating – or shortly after you start feeding him from a new bag of food – immediately discontinue feeding him that food. Return the food to the store where you purchased it.
Inquiries About Foods
But we had dozens of reports about Natura’s Innova and California Natural, and a few reports about Natural Balance’s Ultra Premium food – all three of which, not incidently, we have included on our past lists of “Top 10 Dry Dog Foods.” All over the country, dog owners were ripping open bags of these foods, and discovering kibble that was covered with a powdery whitish or greenish mold. Some of these people were terrified by the fact that in their bags, the mold was not discovered until they were halfway into the bags; their dogs had eaten some of the moldy food. Suddenly we were getting inundated with calls and letters regarding these moldy foods: Were they dangerous?
Natural Balance Responds
We turned to the companies themselves. We had an immediate response from Frank Coch, the Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Natural Balance, who flatly stated that yes, indeed, they had some problems with mold on their food in May and June.
Coch stated that the problem originated at the plant that made the food, and was caused by an overly high moisture content in some of the food. When the moisture in a dry food exceeds 10 percent, he told us, mold can develop on the food in the bag, especially in warm weather conditions. “It can – and does – happen to any and every food occasionally,” Coch said.
Coch also stated that their tests indicated that the mold was not toxic, but it was unpalatable and unattractive cosmetically.
“What have you done about the problem?” we wanted to know. Coch stated that, fortunately, they had discovered the problem fairly early on, and had been able to isolate the problem to certain production runs and to pull most of the affected bags off the shelves before too many consumers had taken the food home. People who did purchase the moldy food were encouraged to return it for a new bag of food.
Most importantly, Coch said, Natural Balance had moved production of the food to a new manufacturing plant in another state. “We’re selling a high quality natural product, and if the manufacturer can’t do it right, we have to find someone who will,” he said.
We asked Coch whether this was a difficult decision to make; surely there were financial repercussions of such a move? “In that particular matter,” Coch responded, “we had to do the fastest thing possible, and that was to get the food into proper production so it didn’t happen again. The financial side of it we’ll address later.”
Our next question prompted an unexpected level of candor. “How is it,” we asked, “that you had the instinct to deal with this so quickly and with such force?” Coch responded, “Well, let’s see. About four or five years ago, when I was a vice president at Nature’s Recipe, we had a $20 million recall due to a problem with vomitoxin. That was probably the most serious recall I’ve ever seen in the pet food business – and I guess it taught me a few things.”
According to Coch, the problem with Nature’s Recipe bloomed into a bigger problem than it should have, as the company investigated the cause and extent of the problem, and, Coch says, released several different versions of the event to those who inquired. Coch admitted that it looked bad, even though it was not meant as a cover-up or a denial. “We thought at first that it was an isolated problem, and that we had it taken care of. And then it turns out that it was a global problem. We thought we had the problem solved, and then came to find out that, ‘Oh, guess what guys? It wasn’t just that run; it was the last 50 runs.’ It was a nightmare.”
While Natural Balance is not nearly as big as Nature’s Recipe was at the time of the vomitoxin incident (it has since been acquired by Heinz), and while the scale and seriousness of the current mold incident is not nearly as extensive, Coch says it’s just as unacceptable. “We (Natural Balance) are making a top quality food, and we want it to be the healthiest food possible. We ascertained that the plant that was making the food for us didn’t have the capability of correcting the problem, so we pulled out of there,” he says.
Natura’s Response…
At our request, Natura sent us a statement in response to our questions about the incidents of mold in their Innova and California Natural foods, and indicated their willingness to answer more of our questions. Unfortunately, this communication occurred on the very eve of publication. We hope to include their answers to our follow-up questions in the next issue.
We have some concerns, since we have learned that at the time of the mold incident, Natura’s foods and those made by Natural Balance were being made by the same manufacturing plant in New York. The powers-that-be at Natural Balance decided that the manufacturer could not remedy the problem to their satisfaction. We are eager to learn how (or if) that manufacturer satisfied the powers-that-be at Natura that the moisture problem was resolved.
I own a beautiful German Shepherd named Xeus. He comes from very well-known, healthy, wonderful lines. Xeus is sound, has personality galore and a wonderful temperament – he’s just an all-around great German Shepherd. One Saturday in late June 1999, a really nice, hot summer day, my entire family was hanging out in our back yard, enjoying our pool, as we watched Xeus enjoy his kiddie pool. All of a sudden, Xeus jumped out of his wading pool and made a bee-line for the house. I watched him go in, thinking he was just looking for another toy to bring out, but he didn’t come back out. After a minute or two I went in to see what he was doing, and I found him hiding in a corner of the bathroom, shaking like a leaf. I immediately assumed he had gotten stung by a bee, because chasing and eating bees is one of his favorite hobbies. I checked him over, but found nothing.
I tried to coax Xeus into coming back outside but he would have no part of it, so I figured he just got spooked by something and I would leave him inside until he was ready to come out. He has a dog door so he can come and go freely. However Xeus refused to come out the entire day. I kept going into the house to check on him, and though he wasn’t displaying any symptoms that made me feel it was necessary to rush him off to an emergency vet – this was a Saturday, after all – he was not himself and had me worried.
That night and the next morning Xeus seemed better. He woke up happy, anyway. The first sign that something was still wrong with him, however, was the fact that he refused to go out into the backyard to relieve himself. With some encouragement, he did go out into the front yard with me, but he ran right back into the house as soon as he had gone to the bathroom. I became convinced that whatever was wrong with him had something to do with the backyard – something spooked him when he weren’t looking, I thought. Inside, Xeus seemed better, and his temperature was normal.
As the day progressed and Xeus was still behaving strangely, I called my vet’s office and asked if I could bring Xeus in. My regular veterinarian was on vacation, but his partner examined Xeus, and took a blood and urine sample, but found nothing amiss. After hearing my story, the veterinarian was convinced something had spooked Xeus and he’d probably be fine in a day or two. Feeling somewhat silly, I took my German Shepherd home.
When we got home, I fed Xeus his usual bowl of kibble. It sounds crazy, but about 20 minutes after he ate, he got all weird again, shaking, hiding in a corner, almost like he was in a pre-seizure mode. I immediately brought him back to the vet’s office, but of course the trembling subsided and he just seemed very, very nervous. This time, the vet was more concerned – and I was scared to death! I was certain Xeus was having some kind of pre-seizure activity, and the vet thought the same. He suggested giving Xeus some Phenobarbital, but I have some knowledge about epilepsy and knew that unless we absolutely were sure that Xeus had epilepsy, I did not want to start messing with anti-seizure medications. Instead, we agreed to consult a specialist in neurology the next day.
Bringing in specialists
First thing on Monday morning I contacted a specialist and got an appointment to see a neurologist – three hours from my house! The neurologist did not feel Xeus had any kind of neurological disorder, and he sent me back to the veterinarian’s office with a list of two things to check for: a whipworm test and a bile acid test. Both were done, and both came back negative.
However, Xeus’ symptoms and total change of personality continued. He seemed to be really bothered by light, and would hold his urine all day, not going outside until the sun went down. He spent all day planted in a quiet corner, or with his head under the couch, and he had totally lost all his play drive. There was definitely something wrong, but what?
We made an appointment with another specialist who tested Xeus for all kinds of things, from tick-borne diseases to autoimmune diseases, to having all kinds of radiographs and ultrasounds, to continued blood work, but everything kept coming back normal.
Owner’s observations
In the meantime, I started to notice that Xeus’ worst clinical signs took place 20 to 30 minutes after he ate. I also noticed that he was his best when he had to fast for the tests. When I asked the vets if they thought Xeus’ food could be involved, they all thought that this was highly unlikely, since he had been eating the same brand of food for at least six months before this happened, without any problems. I had been very happy with the food and regarded it highly; in fact, it was a food that made WDJ’s “Top 10” list. Nevertheless, I decided on my own to change his food. It couldn’t hurt! I found a brand of food that had a totally different list of ingredients and began feeding it to Xeus. While I waited to see if there was a difference in his behavior, I got the idea of having his food tested. For what? I didn’t know! It just seemed like a good idea, although I admittedly did not know what kinds of things might be wrong with dog food!
I called my state health department to ask where I could have Xeus’ food tested. About this time, my regular veterinarian returned from vacation and I spoke with him, catching him up on all of the details of Xeus’ case. He suggested that I ask the lab to test the food for mycotoxins, explaining they were toxic substances that could grow in moldy food that can cause problems in some animals.
The State Department of Health referred me to the State Department of Agriculture, and I quickly found an interested person there. They actually sent a representative to my house and gathered up the dry dog food, the canned dog food, and even the biscuits Xeus had been eating. It was all very clinical and I felt confident in their work.
As we waited for the results to come back on the food, the veterinarians kept conducting tests on Xeus, to no avail. I, too, continued to examine my poor dog, and started to notice little strange things. For instance, the whites of his eyes seemed very yellowish to me. Also, I noticed that if I could coax him outside, he would still chase a ball if I threw it into the shade, but if I threw it into a sunny area, he would just stand there. His pattern of urine elimination seemed different than before, too. He would hold his urine all day, and then pee prodigiously at night. What these things meant, I had no idea.
Days crept by. Although Xeus seemed incrementally better, he was still not anything like his old playful, carefree self. My vet had scheduled an MRI and considered a spinal tap, but we kept postponing those tests as Xeus held his ground. He didn’t get any worse, but his improvement – if you could call it that – was so slow that it was almost imperceptible.
Given all the normal test results, one of the specialists we had consulted was beginning to think that Xeus’ problem was behavioral after all. He gave me a referral to a behavioral specialist, who sent me a long form to fill out, detailing all of Xeus’ behavior history. I wasn’t happy about all this, because I knew the change in my dog had happened literally in one day, and that nothing noticeable happened to Xeus that day! It wasn’t as if he had been attacked, or had run away, or had a trauma with fireworks or anything out of the ordinary.
Toxins in the food
Then the breakthrough came. The results of the food tests came back from the State Department of Agriculture. The canned food was fine, the biscuits were fine, but the dry food was found to contain a mold-based toxin called aflatoxin. I called my veterinarian with the news, but he was able to tell me little about mycotoxins – except that this indeed could have caused Xeus’ strange symptoms.
According to the results from the State Department of Agriculture, the level of aflatoxin found in Xeus’ food was 40 parts per billion (40ppb), double the amount generally considered to be tolerated by dogs. Needless to say, I was thrilled to have discovered the first possible explanation for Xeus’ problems, but it took several months’ worth of detective work before I was able to learn much more about this insidious toxin. I found it very, very difficult to find information regarding mold toxins in dog food.
Xeus slowly returned to normal as I spent my entire summer and fall researching the topic. I posted messages on the animal nutrition boards and the German Shepherd boards on America Online, and looked up everything I could about aflatoxins.
I found lots of information about the effects of toxin on livestock – this is apparently a much bigger and well-documented problem in livestock feeds – but the only reports I could find about aflatoxins in dog food were all related to cases where aflatoxin poisoning affected large numbers of dogs at once. There were a lot of reports about a case in 1998 where 25 dogs in the southern US died from aflatoxin poisoning. But I couldn’t find any documentation on sporadic incidents. I tried calling toxicologists at veterinary hospitals but they didn’t even have the correct documentation regarding aflatoxin in dog foods.
Finally, I called as many dog food companies as I could and spoke directly with their nutritionists. I explained what happened, and they were quite interested. Several food makers sent me information on who, what, and where to call for more information.
I was also given a number of Alltech, Inc., a Kentucky company that makes chemicals that helps preserve foods and eliminate toxins in animals feeds and Bingo! I finally got some answers. Alltech actually publishes a highly specialized newsletter for the feed industry called Mycotoxin Monthly, and several of their back issues were published on the Internet, including one that discussed mycotoxins and companion animals (see www.alltech-bio.com, click on “Technical Publications,” and look for the Mycotoxin Monthly).
Toxins you should know
I learned that aflatoxin is just one of more than 200 mold toxins commonly found in animal feeds. It affects different species of animals and animals of varying ages in different ways at different levels; dogs are more affected than cats, for example, and old and young animals are more seriously affected than middle-aged animals. However, one common theme is that aflatoxin affects the liver of all of its victims. Even though my veterinarians had conducted liver tests on Xeus, the specific damage caused by aflatoxin had gone unnoticed; I’m told this is rather common, unless one is looking for this exact effect. The most common signs of aflatoxin poisoning are lethargy, vomiting, heart problems, liver damage, and yellow discoloration of the skin and hair.
While some mold-originated toxins cause feed refusal and severe vomiting (such as one common mycotoxin known appropriately enough as “vomitoxin”), I discovered that many of the mold toxins found in animal food go unnoticed because the dog will continue to eat normally. Often the food will probably not even have a noticeably different odor. Indeed, Xeus had eaten the food with the same appetite he had always had, he never vomited and he never had diarrhea. But I did notice his worst neurological signs were always after he ate.
I also learned that aflatoxins often cause light sensitivity, neurological disorders, and can even kill a dog if the levels are high enough. While some dogs can tolerate a certain amount of the toxin, other dogs are highly sensitive to substance at any level.
Dog food manufacturers are constantly studying aflatoxin and other mold toxins and looking for new ways to try to eliminate this problem in all animal feeds. “Nearly all ingredients used in pet food, particularly corn and soybean meal, can be highly contaminated by aflatoxin, a potent carcinogen and immune system suppressant,” according the Mycotoxin Monthly. (Xeus’ food, incidentally, did not contain corn.) Most feed ingredients are tested individually – the grains, the meats, the fats – and the food is tested again after being mixed. The food manufacturers must concern themselves with testing for the molds at every level of production, how the food is packaged and transported, and even how it is stored in the pet stores. Anytime that moisture and/or heat (the combination of the two is the worst) can affect foods, molds can grow and produce their deadly toxins.
However, other foods that people feed to their dogs can also be infected with mycotoxins. Mycotoxin Monthly quotes Dr. John Richard of Romer Laboratories as saying he has heard of cases of mycotoxicosis in dogs who have eaten moldy walnuts, bread, or cream cheese.
While all breeds of dog are equally affected by mycotoxins, certain factors can influence the susceptibility of individual dogs. According to Mycotoxin Monthly, dogs in poor health are more likely to be affected, as are dogs with marginal nutrient deficiencies. Dogs that are already suffering from drug interactions or heat or environmental stress are more likely to have problems following mycotoxin exposure. And, obviously, dogs who were exposed to higher amounts of mycotoxins, or exposed for a longer period of time, are more likely to develop signs of poisoning.
Little-known problem
One thing that really bothers me is that, despite the ample opportunity for problems of this kind to crop up in pet foods, there was so little information available about the dangers of mold poisoning and prevention for the average dog owner. Never in my life had anyone warned me about the effects of mold toxins in dog foods, whereas the livestock people deal with this all the time and are constantly made aware of this problem. Livestock producers even have kits that they can use to check the feed before they give it to an entire herd of animals.
In my case, our bag of food was new; it had been open for just two weeks. I had bought the bag in early June 1999, and it had a “freshness date” of April 2000. Unlike many people, I always keep my dog food in a cool, dry place, but I didn’t know that preventing mold growth is why all bags recommend that you store the food in this way.
In a sense, we were lucky. As far as we know, Xeus had been exposed to the aflatoxin for just two weeks, and the amount in the food was not fatally high. However, there is a chance his immune system was affected. I do take special precautions now, minimizing his vaccinations, for instance. Instead of using all the regular booster shots, we have titer tests done to try to determine how necessary each vaccine might be.
Also, I now feed Xeus a dog food that comes directly from the plant to my home, to help ensure freshness. I buy smaller bags, and I supplement his kibble with a wet food mix that I cook. I have never used chemicals on our property, and I do not use any chemicals on his body. The only thing I still continue to use is heartworm preventative, since heartworm is deeply entrenched in the part of New York where I live.
If your dog has a major personality change, and the vets can’t find the problem, please consider having your dog’s food checked by either a veterinary college that has a toxicology lab, or your State Department of Agriculture. You will need a referral from your veterinarian, but ruling out the food is a must when trying to get to the bottom of a hard-to-diagnose illness.
Author’s note: I would like to thank all the vets and staff at Aqueduct Animal Hospital for their care, concern, and help. Thanks, too, to my friends on the German Shepherd message boards on America Online for their invaluable help and encouragement as I went through this crisis with Xeus.
Last summer, when my sister Sue was visiting from Colorado, she took Rupert for a walk around the block. I was in the shower and, not wanting to pound on the door to ask me where Rupe’s collar and leash were, Sue simply grabbed a couple of “poop” bags, whistled for Rupe, and they walked out the door.
As my longtime jogging companion, Rupert is perfect off-leash. He stays close without being nagged, has never developed a “pee on everything” habit, ignores other dogs and pedestrians, and waits at every curb in that classic herding dog crouch until he is given the command to cross the street. But if I had known Sue was taking him out, I would have told her to grab the leash anyway, since it was after 8 a.m. and the Animal Control officers were likely to be prowling for loose dogs. I live just around a corner from a park where noncompliance with the pooper-scooper laws is a real problem, and while I really do appreciate their efforts, I don’t walk Rupert off-leash during their work hours for one reason: Rupe wasn’t licensed, because his rabies shot was overdue, and I didn’t want to revaccinate him.
Long story short? Rupe got a ticket for walking off leash and for being unlicensed.
Had this been, say, a $40 fine, I would have simply paid it. But the fine was a whopping $271, and I had to get Rupert licensed or the fine would rise. And, of course, to get him licensed, he’d need a current rabies vaccination. We’ve explained in past articles on vaccination that, if you have a titer test done, and the results indicate that the dog has enough antibodies to suggest he has sufficient protection from the disease (and a letter from a veterinarian explaining this), sometimes an enlightened animal control officer will waive the rabies vaccination requirement for licensing. (Of course, this is not true in areas where rabies is endemic.) I had long planned to have Rupe’s rabies titers tested, so when he got busted, I kicked myself.
If I had been proactive, and had gotten the titer test done, and had gone to the city with a letter and the test results I feel certain that I probably could have gotten him licensed without the rabies booster. But given the new situation, I thought the easiest thing to do would be to get the shot, get the license, and hope the judge would reduce my fine after these corrections were made. Happily for me, he did.
Unhappily for Rupert, just a couple of months later, he broke out with severe itching.
As I explained last month, when Rupert started scratching, I thought a change in the formulation of his kibble was responsible. The more I think about it, the more I wonder about that last vaccination. Could it be that the booster triggered this wave of allergic self-destruction?
In his youth, Rupert was always itchy. Today I feel certain that all those booster shots (I always took him in to the vet promptly when I received the “boosters due” notices) and all that supermarket dog food was to blame. But for the last three years, Rupe’s allergies have been quiescent, and I came to feel that this was surely due to the change to a high quality kibble. Now that he’s itching again, I’ve changed his diet five times in the last seven months including a seven-week raw food trial but none of these foods have made much of a dent in his relentless scratching and chewing.
I’ve been giving him some herbs prescribed by a holistic vet, as well as some antioxidant supplements, with negligible results. I’m going to try consulting with a homeopathic veterinarian next. I’ve heard that homeopathy can sometimes “clear” the ill effects of vaccination on the immune system. But I’ll tell you one thing: Rupert is never going to receive another vaccination again.
Tucker, our six-year-old Cattle-Dog mix, loves to swim. Every morning when we walk the quarter-mile down our driveway with our four-pack of dogs to pick up the Chattanooga Times-Free Press, Tucker casts longing glances at the pond in our next-door-neighbor’s front yard. As long as we occasionally remind him to stay with us, he’s fine. But if we let our attention lapse for too long, especially if it’s a particularly warm day, a loud “Splash!” announces in no uncertain terms that Tucker has once again gone for an unauthorized swim. You would never know that Tucker used to hate the water, and that we had to make an effort to convince him to give recreational swimming a try.
Labrador Retrievers, Newfoundlands, and many of the herding dogs are among dozens of breeds renowned for their affinity to water. Newfie owners laugh about how their dogs drag them out of lakes even when they don’t need saving. (Newfoundlands have been bred for generations to do water rescue work.) Labs are commonly seen at parks, belly-slamming into ponds and lakes with spectacular spectator-drenching leaps as they dive into the water after sticks and tennis balls. And many Border Collies, Cattle Dogs, and Australian Kelpies like nothing better than a refreshing dunk in the livestock tank after a hard, dusty day of herding sheep, cows, or tennis balls.
It’s not always natural
Instinctive and genetically programmed as some of these behaviors may be, many dog owners are surprised to discover that, like Tucker, their future water-loving pals need some serious coaxing and coaching before they come to fully appreciate the joys of swimming. While some dogs are more inclined to water sports than others, most of them, even Poms and Chihuahuas, can learn to swim if it’s done properly. If your Retriever is a candidate for a class in remedial doggie paddle, take heart. It may be easier than you think.
One approach often used in the past to teach a dog to swim was to toss him into deep water and let him learn the hard way. While that method may work for some dogs, others are so badly terrified by their sink-or-swim experience that they never want to go near the water again. Obviously, we don’t recommend that approach. Like every other training challenge, we use a gentle method that invites the dog to offer the desired behavior voluntarily, and uses rewards to reinforce and encourage more of the same.
Swimming is a complex behavior, so we will use the process known as “shaping” to get Surfer in the water, rather than expecting him to offer the behavior all at once. Shaping consists of breaking down the final behavior into very small increments, rewarding small steps along the way to the final goal behavior. Rewards can be food, praise, playing with a ball or stick, contact with us, or anything else that our dog likes. In the case of swimming, we can often use balls and sticks to encourage Surfer to get brave about water – somehow swimming and fetching just seem to go together!
NOTE: Dogs, just like people, display varying amounts of aquatic ability. Many dogs swim well with little practice. Others bob in the water vertically like corks, unable to steer well and squinting their eyes against the splashing of their front paws. While some of these swimming-challenged canines improve with practice, some never learn a graceful doggie paddle. If your dog fits this description, you may wish to curtail his beach invitations, or consider buying a canine life jacket.
The training plan
It helps to write our plan down in advance when we are trying to shape a complex behavior, so we know where we are trying to go and how we intend to get there. When Surfer accomplishes one step of the plan we are ready to move on, without stopping to think about what’s next. Always keep in mind that a good trainer is flexible. Surfer may surprise us and leap ahead several steps in the plan, in which case you need to be ready to leap forward with him. Or he may need one or more steps broken down into even tinier increments. In this case, rather than getting frustrated and angry with his slow progress or trying to force him, use your brainpower and creativity to figure out how to make it possible for him to succeed.
Here’s one sample training plan for swimming:
1. Sit in a folding chair near the edge of the lake. (Always start your water-training with a very calm, shallow water source.) Toss Surfer a treat every time he goes near the water. (Define “near.” Depending on the dog, near could mean six inches, it could mean six feet, or it could mean 20 feet!) If you train with a reward marker, such as the Click! of a clicker or the verbal marker “Yes!”, mark the “near the water” behavior with a Click! or a “Yes!” each time just before you toss the treat.
2. Gradually raise the criteria. If you were rewarding for six inches, you will see Surfer starting to spend more time within six inches of the water. Part of that time he will be even closer. Start rewarding for four inches, then two inches, then only when he actually touches the water.
3. You can speed up the shaping process by luring (encouraging) Surfer into the water. If he loves tennis balls, place one just into the water, so he has to lean over the lake to get it. Click! and reward him by tossing the ball on dry land for him to run and fetch. Then try another in the edge of the water. (If he won’t give you the ball that he has in his mouth, carry several balls and toss a different one for him to retrieve. Work on his “give” behavior as a separate exercise some other time.)
4. When Surfer is eagerly and easily grabbing the ball out of the shallow water’s edge without stepping into the water, roll the ball a few inches away from the edge. With luck, he will take a step into the water to get it. Click! and toss the ball onto dry land. Repeat this step until he walks into shallow water easily to get the ball.
5. Now toss the ball a little farther out. Be patient. You can verbally encourage him, but don’t try to force or help him to get it – let him figure it out himself. If he won’t, you have taken too big a step. Toss another ball in the water, not as far as the first one. Make it possible for him to succeed. When he’s off chasing his reward ball on dry land you can retrieve the one he wouldn’t get.
6. Continue this process until he is moving deeper and deeper into the water, and eventually swimming. When he starts to look forward to going into the water after the ball you can start tossing the ball back into the water as a reward, and you’re home free.
Other training plans could include having you walk into the water and encouraging him to follow you (using yourself as a lure).
We overcame Tucker’s fear of the water by parking ourselves on lawn chairs in the middle of a shallow, slow-moving stream on 90+ degree days. Eventually his aversion to heat overcame his fear of the water and he joined us. Once he realized that the water cooled him off, he became a huge fan of swimming – the cooling factor of the water was the greatest reward we could have engineered!
You can also use a kiddie wading pool in your back yard, gradually increasing the depth of the water in the pool. Of course, this won’t get Surfer swimming unless he’s a tiny toy breed, but it will get him to start associating being in the water with fun times and rewards.
Puppy paddling
Even a young puppy can learn to swim. In fact, it’s easier if you start young. Puppies have a critical socialization period, during which time they learn what is safe in the world. This stems from their wild heritage, when, for survival purposes, after about the age of four to five months anything not known to be safe is assumed to be unsafe. The more positive experiences we can expose our puppies to during this early window of time – including swimming – the better. Because puppies also learn to make very strong negative associations with things that are not safe during their critical learning period, it is triply important to use positive methods when training a pup to swim.
A wading pool is a great starting tool for puppy swimming. Lots of happy play sessions in a gradually deepening pool can convince your pup that water is a very fun place to be. Then it’s an easy transition to deeper water in the lake – you’ve already accomplished the first five steps of our six-step training plan!
Safety first
As much fun as swimming can be, it’s important to remember that dogs – just like humans – can drown. In addition to all of the standard safety precautions that the Red Cross offers for human water safety, there are a number of things to keep in mind for canine water safety:
• Beware of fast moving currents, surf and undertow. I’ve spent many hours walking with my dogs on the California coast, and it always amazes me how cavalier some owners are about tossing sticks and balls far out into the surf for their dogs to retrieve. My dogs tend to be a bit leery of moving waves, and I encourage their caution.
Dogs have been swept out to sea and drowned, and in at least one recent case an owner was drowned trying to rescue his dog from the ocean. Rivers can also kill. It can be difficult to judge the strength of a current, and it’s easy for Surfer to get carried far downstream if you misjudge. Err on the side of caution, and avoid the temptation to test Surfer’s strength and swimming skills in swift water.
• Beware of unattended swimming pools. Once Surfer has learned to love the water, he may decide to leap into the backyard pool. Ideally, the pool should be fenced off to prevent unplanned swims by dogs as well as children. If that’s not possible (or even if it is and you want to teach Surfer to swim in the pool under supervision), it is vitally important to teach him out to get out of the pool. Show him where the exit is, and how to use it, by starting close to the steps and helping him find his footing so he can climb out. Gradually move him farther and farther away from the steps and reward him for swimming to them and climbing out.
Since all edges of the pool can look similar, it’s a good idea to mark the steps with an orange cone or flag so it’s easy for Surfer to find them if he is in trouble. Dogs can fall into swimming pools by accident, especially ones with pool covers, so it really is a good idea to fence them off to avoid tragedies if at all possible.
• Beware of ornamental garden pools. Many of these pools have steep sides with absolutely no way for a dog to get out.
• Check the beach or diving area for underwater obstacles. It is great fun to throw a ball off a dock or bank so you can watch your water-loving dog launch through the air and splash into the water below. Dogs love it, and we love watching them. No problem – as long as you make sure there are no rocks or sharp objects hiding under the water to impale your dog when he lands.
• Keep an eye out for poisonous snakes – they often can be found sunning themselves on the rocks around natural water sources. In some areas of the South, alligators are a serious threat to water dogs. Scope out the area carefully, and don’t risk Surfer’s life (or yours) in an area likely to be inhabited by large meat-eating reptiles.
• Choose water-fetch toys carefully. Anything you throw in the water for your dog to fetch should float well, so your fetch-obsessed dog doesn’t drown himself trying to retrieve something that has sunk under the surface. Fetch items should neither be too small (because a dog who snaps at the floating toy can accidentally swallow and choke on a small ball, for example) nor too large (because a heavy or awkward fetch item can interfere with a dog’s swimming).
• Keep a safe distance from your swimming dog. If you are using yourself as a lure to encourage Surfer into deeper water, be careful. A swimming dog has claws and strong front legs. He can scratch you badly, even push you under the water, especially if he panics in mid-swim. Until you know that Surfer can handle the deeper water, be sure to have a human buddy around who can help you if the two of you get into trouble.
• Know when to call it quits. Some dogs will naturally protect themselves from over-exercising by declining to fetch once they are tired. Obsessive/compulsive types will try to fetch until they are exhausted and sinking lower and lower in the water. Seize and put away all available fetch items and encourage your dog to take a break. If friends or beach acquaintances won’t stop encouraging your tired swimmer to “Get it!” put a leash on your puddled pooch and enforce some rest.
On the positive side
Don’t let us scare you. The benefits of swimming far outweigh the risks, and all of the hazards described above are avoidable if you use good common sense. Swimming is great exercise for your dog – and you! It’s low-impact exercise, and can be especially beneficial therapy for dogs with joint or arthritis problems. It’s a good survival skill for your dog to know. And water-fetch is a very rewarding game for both dog and human, that can help strengthen the bond between you and your canine companion. Maybe it’s time for the two of you to get in the swim of things!
I took my two dogs—Woody, age 9, and Boone, age 3—to see their vet a week ago. I wasn’t looking forward to being chided for allowing him—nay, facilitating him—to gain a few extra pounds this winter. But I wasn’t at all expecting the health problems that my vet found.
