My son and I were late getting him to school one morning, so, even though we live only about six blocks from his elementary school, we hopped into the car. When we drive, rather than walk, its usually an effort to try to make up for lost time time spent looking for his shoes or my keys, as the case may be. But a small event on the way to school delayed us further one morning, a few weeks ago.
About a block away from our house, a small ball of fluff caught my eye. I couldnt make out what it was at first, since it was backlit with the rising sun, which shone directly in my eyes. But, judging from the blaring horns and brake lights all across the intersection in front of us, I gathered that it was an animal of some sort, panicked and running through the cars.
As I inched up to the intersection, I saw the fluffball, now on the sidewalk and running straight away, fast. I said to my son, Oh shoot, Eli. Look, a little dog. We looked at each other for about a tenth of a second in my rearview mirror, and we decided the same thing: Lets get it. I turned to follow the dog, and told Eli to look in the back of the car for a bag of liver treats I knew was there.
It took a little doing, catching the little dog. I drove past its fleet form, stopped the car, jumped out, and casually kneeled down on the sidewalk well ahead of it, holding out some treats and calling cheerfully. The dog, a beautifully groomed tan and white Shetland Sheepdog, took one look at me and reversed direction, running down the sidewalk in the opposite direction. The only reason we ended up catching her (for the dog proved to be a sweet little female) was because she stopped to vomit clearly out of great distress. I made a grab for her and Eli stepped up with a leash. Once she was captured, she resigned herself to our control, trembling.
We wiped her off, put her in the car, and I dropped Eli off at school now, very late, but with a better excuse! I examined the Shelties collar, and thank goodness, she was wearing an ID tag with her name, address, and phone number on it.
As it turned out, the Sheltie had escaped from a dog sitter hired to care for her and the other two dogs in her family while her owners were on vacation. With two other dogs in tow, the walker wasnt able to pursue her quickly enough when she slipped out of the slip collar/leash she was wearing, and she disappeared into traffic. I turned her back over to the sitter, and when her owners returned from vacation the next day and heard the whole story, they immediately came over with flowers and dog biscuits for thanks.
The little episode reminded me of how much Ive learned from the dog training and dog care experts Ive had the good fortune to work with over the past three years. I know from reading WDJ articles that your dog should ALWAYS wear ID, whether a tag, tattoo, microchip, or all three; that limited slip collars are a must for every dog that has ever tried to slip its collar; that socializing your dog to accept friendly strangers just may save his or her life at some point. I hope our readers are getting as much out of WDJ as I am!
But it also reminded me of how bereft a dog is when hes lost his home, whether its for minutes or months. The smartest dog in the world loses his mind pretty quickly when he loses his connection with someone he trusts.
If your dog is sitting nearby, go ahead and give him a hug from us; were glad hes home for the holidays, and every day. If youre currently dogless, do yourself and the world a favor, and go get a new canine friend from your local shelter. Neither one of you should be alone at this time of year.
Each year as the holidays approach, we review the long list of products we’ve evaluated during the year in order to highlight the best and the brightest for you. You might find some that would make perfect gifts for your hard-to-shop-for dog friends, a few to add to your own list for Santa, and several that you can stuff into your favorite canine companions’ stockings. Just remember that the best gift you can give your dog, after all the shopping and wrapping is done, is a lifelong loving home.
Quick: What’s the number one canine disease complaint heard by veterinarians? That’s right, it’s itching and scratching. “My dog is ripping himself to shreds!” “She’s almost bald from chewing herself!” “He’s rubbing himself on the carpet, the furniture, and even the walls!”
Many people seem to think that all dogs scratch themselves. Of course, pretty much every dog will scratch for a moment if they get a little itch, but that’s not what we’re discussing. The scratching we’re discussing – the scratching that is of real concern – is not occasional or casual. We’re going to talk about real scratching: the urgent kind that makes your dog stop walking in mid-stride to scratch, the frantic kind that makes him whine and moan while he strives to put out the flames under his skin, the single-minded kind that causes him to traumatize his skin (often initiating secondary bacterial infections), ruin his coat, and wear down his incisors.
Hair loss is most often, but not always, associated with self-trauma caused by itching. This happens in one of two ways: Either the hair follicles themselves become physically damaged when the dog scratches or chews himself, or the trauma-induced inflammation in the skin around the hair follicles causes the hair to fall out. Hair loss not associated with itching or scratching can be caused by drug reactions, endocrine, metabolic, systemic diseases, or nutritional factors, but these conditions are in the minority. It is far more common for hair loss in dogs to be associated with self-trauma due to pruritis (itchiness).
Severe pruritis can also change a dog’s behavior, causing a lack of usual tolerance, aggressive behavior, or increased anxiousness. The dog may become frantic and easily distractible, compulsively engaging in a frenzied fit of scratching and chewing.
Some environmental conditions can amplify the itching, including heat, cold, and low humidity. Boredom or anxiety (especially separation anxiety) can trigger a fit of itching, too.
Allergies are the most common cause of itching, scratching, chewing, and any other sort of self-inflicted skin trauma, but these problems can also be triggered by internal diseases such as hypothyroidism, hyperadrenocorticism, liver, pancreatic, or renal disease; bacterial, fungal, or parasitic infections; immune-mediated disorders such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), a drug reaction, or a contact dermatitis from exposure to a caustic agent. For this reason, if your normally non-itchy dog suddenly begins losing hair in patches and scratching himself, your first course of action ought to be making an appointment with your favorite veterinarian.
The veterinary examination
To determine the cause of your dog’s itching, a veterinarian will need to take a thorough history and conduct a thorough physical examination. She may also want to take some tests, and will probably suggest trying at least a short-term course of corticosteroids and/or antibiotics, avenues of treatment which is also somewhat diagnostic (food allergies are less responsive to corticosteroids than atopic dermatitis or flea allergy dermatitis, and pyoderma diminishes with antibiotics).
To compile your dog’s health history, the veterinarian will ask about the dog’s diet, environment, and past history of skin conditions. Where does the dog sleep? How often does he get a bath (too-frequent shampoos can dry the skin and make it pruritic)? What sort of heating system warms your home (non-humidified forced air and wood stoves can dry the skin)? She’ll also want to know about the presence of any other pets in the household (some dogs are allergic to birds or bird feathers, for instance), and she’ll probably ask whether any person in the household has allergies or itching of any kind (scabies infections can be transferred from people to pets and vice versa).
Then she’ll need information about the onset of the condition your dog currently exhibits. Have there been any changes in the dog’s life? Diet changes? A new bed? A new cat in the house? A new shampoo? A different floor or carpet cleaner used? She’ll want to know when the dog seems more or less affected by itching (when it’s hot? cold? indoors? outdoors? morning? night? spring? fall?). All the answers to these questions may be indicative of certain diagnoses.
In building a diagnosis, your veterinarian will also take your dog’s age into account, since some skin diseases, such as mange, are more common to younger dogs, and some are more commonly seen in older dogs, such as food allergies and pyoderma. She will also consider the dog’s breed, since some skin diseases are more common to some breeds than others, for genetic reasons.
And, obviously, the veterinarian will also examine your dog’s skin, from nose to tail, including a careful look at the dog’s ears, genitals, and paws (which are often inflamed with certain allergies). She’ll look in the dog’s mouth (worn teeth are often indicative of a dog who chews himself chronically), and check the dog’s lymph nodes for swelling. She’ll look at the dog’s pattern of hair loss and quality of the skin, including any skin lesions.
Laboratory tests for a pruritic dog may include skin scrapings (which are examined under a microscope), smears or tape preparations (in which any skin exudates are smeared and stained on a slide and examined microscopically); or skin biopsy (contraindicated in lesions are present). Dermatology specialists are generally best qualified to conduct intradermal skin testing, in which the dog is deliberately exposed to minute amounts of various antigens and any resulting reactions are noted.
General recommendations
for an itchy dog
We can’t possibly comment on every treatment for every cause of canine itching and scratching, but we will offer our opinion of some traditional medical treatments, as well as some general recommendations for holistic complementary and alternative treatments for an over-itchy dog.
Keep this important concept in mind as you deal with a pruritic dog: An intense itching sensation is a serious symptom of ill health; it’s not a disease in itself. Your goal with any course of treatment – traditional or alternative – should be to determine and solve the underlying health problem that caused the itching, not to simply “stop the itch.” Eliminating the only obvious expression of ill health that the dog’s body is making will not make his health any better. It might make his coat grow in and let you sleep at night, uninterrupted by his fits of scratching, but the basic imbalance that caused the pruritis will still be present, and it may well find an even more noxious outlet in the dog’s body.
Ridding your dog of fleas
Fleas are one of the leading causes of canine pruritis. They can make a dog itch through two mechanisms: through an allergic reaction to flea saliva, and from chemical and mechanical irritation. Flea saliva contains an anticoagulant substance that keeps the blood in the tiny bite wound from clotting, thus permitting the flea to take a nice, long drink, at the dog’s expense. The flea saliva also contains other substances that can irritate the dog’s skin. Flea bite dermatitis is the name for the condition characterized by inflammatory papules (a small, raised, pimple-like skin bump) at the site of the flea bites. The amount of irritation with this condition is directly correlated to the size of the dog’s flea population.
On the other hand, a dog that is allergic to flea saliva – one who is said to suffer from flea allergy dermatitis – may have a response that is completely out of proportion to the severity of the flea infestation; the dog may react as badly to the bite of a single flea as it would to an army of the tiny insects.
The dog owner’s first priority, no matter which type of reaction his dog may be exhibiting, is to eliminate fleas in the dog’s environment. Frequent vacuuming (to get rid of flea eggs), routine washing of the dog’s bedding (water destroys flea eggs, too), and the use of a non-toxic flea killer such as diatomaceous earth in your carpets will help you keep the upper hand in the battle. (See “Flee, Evil Flea,” WDJ June 1998 for a complete discussion of non-toxic methods of ridding fleas from your home.)
Should I “Spot” the dog?
As for the “miraculous” new chemicals used for flea control (the ones that are applied to the dog’s back, once a month), we’ll just comment that among holistic practitioners, the advent of the new substances is not generally considered an altogether positive development. While these treatments have demonstrated an admirable effectiveness in wiping out resident flea populations, many holistic veterinarians are concerned with the long-term effects that these powerful chemicals may have on dogs, and some dog owners and vets have seen dogs who have suffered serious reactions following their application.
Like all toxic treatments, these chemicals ought to be used sparingly; some people use one-quarter the recommended amount, and only when fleas are seen in the environment (as opposed to once a month application, whether needed or not, as suggested on the labels!) with good results.
Corticosteroids
There are almost as many opinions among veterinarians concerning the use of corticosteroids as there are veterinarians. Some feel that these drugs – prednisone, prednisolone, methylprednisolone, and dexamethasone foremost among them – are invaluable to every dog who itches; some feel that corticosteroids ought to be used only as a last resort, and only for short periods and in small amounts. Still others, most holistic practitioners among them, regard them as verboten.
Corticosteroids, also known as glucocorticoids, are used mainly for their anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive effects. They have been modeled on the substances manufactured by the adrenal cortex, and can be administered in an indictable, oral, or topical form. These are powerful drugs that exert amazing effects on pruritic dogs – sometimes overwhelmingly positive, and sometimes negative. They can halt inflammation and itchiness within just a day or two, and, thorough a complex process, interrupt the out-of-whack cycle of allergic overreactions to environmental triggers (pollen, dust, fleas, mold, fungi, etc.).
However, due to their immunosuppressive action (which is responsible for quieting the allergic cycle), they can also leave a dog vulnerable to infections, and can cause a host of other metabolic imbalances. They affect water and electrolyte balance (making many dogs excessively thirsty, and thus, excessively in need of “going outside”); they can cause extracellular fluid retention (some dogs will take on a puffy appearance); and they often increase the dog’s appetite (and without owner awareness of the potential for problems, resultant gain of unhealthy pounds). The long-term use of these drugs also prompts the adrenal glands to stop producing its own corticosteroids, effectively ruining the dog’s ability to produce a natural and appropriate supply of these substances by himself.
Some veterinarians, frustrated with a lack of willingness on the part of some owners to engage in a multi-pronged, active course of therapy for their itchy dog, will prescribe the drugs in order to – at least temporarily – stop the dog’s itching and increase his quality of life, at least in the short term.
In general, it makes sense to regard these drugs as “heavy artillery,” even if your own veterinarian is casual about prescribing them on an initial visit. Holistic veterinarians generally advise using them as a last resort and just for a short time (two weeks or so), to help halt the itch/scratch cycle plaguing a severely pruritic dog. This, in turn, can give his skin time to heal, and other therapies time to begin working.
Antibiotics
Antibiotics are sometimes recommended in cases of severe trauma to the skin, and when there are indications that a secondary infection is overwhelming the dog’s ability to heal itself. Again, these drugs are generally considered by holistic veterinarians to be a last-ditch approach, and only when the dog appears incapable of mounting an appropriate response when supported by more natural therapies. Holistic practitioners often recommend that a course of antibiotics is always supplemented and followed with a course of oral probiotics, to help beneficial bacteria killed by the antibiotics re-colonize in the dog’s digestive tract.
Antihistamines
Histamine blockers can be beneficial in the treatment of allergic pruritis, by inhibiting the excessive histamine that causes most of the signs commonly attributed to allergy: itching, watery eyes, and runny nose. However, in order to be most effectively prescribed, the veterinarian should have conducted enough tests and observed the dog’s signs over enough time to have a high degree of confidence that the pruritis is allergic in origin.
The usefulness of antihistamines – even in dogs known to be allergic to a certain substance – is reduced by the fact that studies have shown that only about 30 percent of any given group of allergic dogs will respond to any given antihistamine. In other words, a veterinarian might have to try several drugs before one is found to be effective for a given dog.
Just because many people use antihistamines on a very casual basis should not lead one to believe that their use in dogs can be similarly indiscriminate. Antihistamines are contraindicated for dogs with glaucoma, cardiac arrhythmia, disorders of the central nervous, gastric, urinary, or hepatic (liver) systems, and pregnant dogs.
Diet considerations
Dog foods can contribute to skin problems in two major ways: through food allergies, and through poor nutrition. We’ll deal with food allergies first. When veterinarians begin to pinpoint food allergies as contributing to a dog’s pruritis, their usual recommendation is to feed the dog what is called an “elimination diet,” a food consisting of just one protein source and one carbohydrate source that are not present in the dog’s regular food.
Elimination diets, whether commercial or homemade can be a fantastic tool for determining which foods your itchy dog should avoid. If the dog’s itching seems to decrease on this diet, then other ingredients may be added to the dog’s food one at a time until the dog reacts with increased itching. Whichever ingredients were most recently added are then suspected of causing the allergy.
Several commercial food makers have developed foods consisting of simple combinations of offbeat ingredients (duck and potato, for instance, or venison and amaranth) in order to assist the dog owner in identifying a specific food allergy, so the owner can avoid the implicated food ingredients in the dog’s food forever after. It should be noted that these foods are not “hypoallergenic” as some people think; they simply contain foods that the dog is not likely to have encountered before in the usual dog foods. Some dogs may be allergic to these offbeat ingredients, too.
People should also be aware that it is possible for a dog to be allergic to some small, overlooked component of commercially prepared foods: a certain preservative, for instance, or a specific source of certain vitamins or minerals. For this reason, there is a distinct advantage to homemade elimination diets, in which you can control every ingredient.
Few people like to hear that many problems of the dog’s skin are related to poor nutrition and/or poor quality foods. The most common retort to this accusation? “I spend a lot of money on dog food – I get the most expensive one at the grocery store!”
As we discussed in “Top Dry Dog Foods,” (on page 3 of this issue), only a tiny percentage of the commercially prepared dog foods sold today are as healthful as these foods could and should be. Most foods are laden with artificial preservatives, colors, flavors, and other chemicals that can trigger allergic reactions in dogs, or create extra work for the dog’s hepatic (liver) system to filter these chemicals out of the dog’s system. Over years of eating foods that are laden with these unneeded substances, the body’s toxin-removal systems get overworked and “backed up;” toxins begin to accumulate in the body. Since the skin is, among other things, an organ of elimination, the toxic backup may result in poor skin health.
Holistic practitioners recommend switching any itchy dog to a home-prepared, “real foods” diet in order to decrease the dog’s exposure to unnecessary chemicals and to give his body the opportunity to utilize the higher-quality nutrients present in fresh foods. While some advocate diets consisting mostly of raw meat with some vegetables and grains (see “The Meat of the Matter,” WDJ January 1999 and “Getting a Raw Deal,” WDJ September 1999) others prefer home cooked foods. Whether the food is cooked or not, the increased nutrient quality and availability of real, fresh meats, vegetables, and grains will improve the health of any dog who is currently receiving even the “best” dry or canned foods.
Herbs
Renowned herbalists Mary Wulff-Tilford and Greg Tilford, co-authors of the incredible 1999 book, All You Ever Wanted To Know About Herbs For Pets, characterize herbs as being one of the most useful complementary therapies for pruritis and all other canine maladies, due to their unique, gentle, synergistic action within the body. In the book’s section on skin problems, the authors write: “The function of the herbalist is not to substitute the body’s natural methods of treating disease with new methods, but to assist the body in healing itself naturally.”
To this end, the Tilfords suggest first improving the pruritic dog’s diet, and then attempting to rule out certain allergens, before adding herbs to your therapeutic regimen. This will set the stage for success with herbs such as horsetail and gotu kola to help regenerate and strengthen the skin structure; nutritive herbs such as spirulina, nettle, alfalfa, and red clover to provide trace minerals and antioxidant vitamins, and fresh burdock root as a blood cleanser.
An entire issue of WDJ could be devoted to herbal remedies for various skin problems. Those who are inclined to use herbs should seriously consider the purchase of the Tilford’s book, which offers detailed instructions on sources, dosages, and preparation of herbal remedies for animals. (See “Resources for Healthy Skin,” below, for ordering information.)
Acupuncture
Scientific studies are revealing what holistic practitioners have seen for themselves for ages: This ancient Chinese art has unlimited gifts for dogs. Chief among them is the ability to somehow trigger the dog’s own healing process from a variety of illnesses.
Following acupuncture for allergies or other causes of pruritis, practitioners of this traditional Chinese medicine would attribute improvements in the dog’s health to the ability of acupuncture to restore the healthy flow of internal energy, known as qi or chi.
Western practitioners of this 3500-year-old practice might prefer to credit the improvements to the ability of acupuncture to increase circulation, and to reduce pain and inflammation by increasing the production and release of the body’s own pain-killing, mood-elevating chemicals.
Either way, it is certain that acupuncture is an important part of many formerly itchy dog’s ongoing therapy (see “Hard Work, Huge Rewards,” the case history of a chronically pruritic dog).
To locate a qualified veterinary acupuncturist near you, see “Resources for Healthy Skin,” below.
Reducing exposure to toxins
Anything you can do to lessen the detoxifying burden placed on the dog’s liver will help the dog in the long run. Keep your vaccination program to the safest minimum. Try to eliminate any unnecessary chemicals that your dog might be exposed to in your house and garden, including toxic flea killers, chemical insecticides of any other kind (fly, ant, or cockroach killers, fertilizers or weed killers, floor polishes or carpet cleaners, disinfectants, deodorizers and “carpet fresheners,” fabric softeners, medicated shampoos, etc. In many cases, non-toxic yet effective alternatives exist for these substances.
Recording changes
Perhaps the most valuable thing a dog owner can do is to keep track of all the changes in his dog’s life in an attempt to correlate the problems with a cause. Keeping a “canine health diary” is the best way to do this. Record any changes in his appearance and behavior, and note any changes in the household that might affect him: Are you using a new floor wax in the kitchen? Did you baby-sit a friend’s dog for a few days, one that might have brought in a new flea population? Did you leave your dog in the care of a petsitter while you were out of town on a business trip, triggering a major episode of separation anxiety?
In particular, you should note any changes in the dog’s diet. Indicate when you may have added or subtracted something from his diet, or even when you brought home a new sack of the same kind of dog food. (After two weeks of my dog’s unexplainable itching, I finally looked at the label of the sack of the “same old food” I had bought two weeks before . . and discovered that the maker had added ONE new ingredient, and one that old Rupert apparently could not handle.)
Hopefully, this sort of health journal will yield a clue as to the identity of any substance that aggravates your dog’s allergy or hypersensitivity. It may also help you determine which treatments are not improving his condition. At the very least, it will make it a lot easier to report your dog’s history to any veterinary practitioner you consult.
Don’t give up!
Perhaps the worst experience of preparing this article was my visit to my local animal shelter to look for dogs with skin problems that I could photograph.
Out of the 30 or so dogs in the shelter on the day I went, I was able to find at least 10 or so that exhibited some scratching or chewing, and three that had fairly major skin problems: A stately older Dalmatian with red, inflamed feet and bumpy blemishes all over his back, a young, sweet but frantically active Chow with several large bare and bleeding patches of skin that she attacked with her teeth every few minutes, and a very old Springer Spaniel who was, as the shelter staff described him sympathetically, “a total mess.” When compared to their blemish-free shelter companions, their chances of making it out of the shelter and into a home were pretty slim.
The old Spaniel had been, in fact, released to the shelter by his owner, who had been either what I would regard as criminally negligent in attempting to help his dog, or, perhaps, completely unable to find (or afford) treatments that helped the dog. With pus-filled eyes and goopy, painful infected ears, hideously inflamed and thickened skin, and an odor that could knock you over, this poor old dog was scheduled to be humanely euthanized as soon as the state-mandated “hold period” had passed.
I spent almost an hour with the dog, holding my breath as I petted and fussed over him, but he was so distracted by his own frantic attempts to relieve his itching that he seemed to hardly notice me. After I had photographed him, I had to go home and throw all my clothes in the washing machine and take a shower, the smell was so bad. I wept with sadness for the poor dog, who had to live in that skin. He was a living illustration of the fact that allergies and skin problems caused by other conditions only get worse as dogs get older, as their immune systems grow weaker and less able to respond appropriately.
Treating skin problems can be a long, slow, costly experience, but, as I saw at the shelter, “stopping the itch” is not just a matter of making the dog more comfortable, and making you more comfortable being around him, it may actually be a matter of life or death. But no matter how frustrating the process is, don’t give up: a calm dog with a shiny coat may be just one more treatment away.
Caper was a Spuds McKenzie-style Bull Terrier mix – white with a rakish black eye. She spent the first 18 months of her life running free in the small California coastal community of Bolinas, where resident dog owners eschewed leashes and threw bottles at trucks driven by animal services officers. As happens all too often with dogs who are given too much freedom, the energetic terrier got into trouble – she nipped a small child who tried to play with her on the beach. I adopted Caper upon her release from bite quarantine at the Marin Humane Society more than 20 years ago, and immediately enrolled her in an obedience class.
Caper excelled in class despite the fact that in those days I was still using compulsion-based methods. It seemed to me at the time that the vigorous yanks that I applied to her leash and choke collar didn’t dampen her enthusiasm for training in the slightest. When we ventured into the obedience competition ring she was always in the ribbons.
Her recall in the ring was superb. On the judge’s instructions, I would leave her in a sit-stay, march to the opposite side of the ring, wait for the judge’s signal, and then issue the clarion call, “Caper, come!”
Caper would rocket across the ring and slam her compact, muscled body into an unerringly straight sit at my feet, gazing into my eyes with adoration and anticipation. My next command invariably sent her into another faultlessly straight sit at heel position to complete the exercise – a picture-perfect show-ring recall.
Outside of the ring, however, the picture wasn’t quite so perfect. If Caper was within 40 to 50 feet of me, my “Caper, come!” command worked – a good 98 percent of the time. If she was farther away, however, the word “come” more often than not served to lend wings to her heels as she fled directly away from me on some compelling Bull Terrier mission. Was it a coincidence that our show-ring recall was also performed at a distance of about 40 to 50 feet? I doubt it.
I stumbled over a solution to Caper’s recall problem totally by accident. I acquired an Australian Kelpie – a breed with intensely strong herding instincts. Whenever Keli the Kelpie heard the note of hysteria in my “Come!” command that meant Caper was running off again, she would charge after the errant terrier on her lightning fast Kelpie legs and forcefully herd her back to me. Problem solved.
This, however, is not the solution I would use now, and it’s certainly not the one that I can offer my clients today for teaching their dogs a reliable “Come.”
Still a four-letter word
“Come” is perhaps the most important behavior we can teach our dogs – and the most difficult one. The average dog owner spends far too little time teaching “Come” as an exercise. We tend to use it mainly in real life, in situations when we really need the dog to respond, and then we get upset if he doesn’t. When does the average dog owner usually call her dog? When the dog is doing something he’s not supposed to do – something that is infinitely more fun and rewarding than returning to his human.
“Let me see,” ponders Rover for a tenth of a gigasecond. “Chase the deer or go back to my person, who sounds like she’s mad at me, and who is probably going to put me in the car and take me home? Roll in the dead squirrel or go back to my person? Eat horse poop or go back to my person?” The person loses every time! To make matters worse, she starts to use an angry tone of voice when she calls Rover, and “Come” quickly becomes a four-letter word. Rover learns, like Caper did, to run away from people when they use the bad “Come” word.
There is a much better way. If we condition Rover respond to a “Come” cue that means “wonderful things are happening here!,” even if the “wonderful thing” isn’t really as good as eating horse poop, prior positive conditioning can triumph over the allure of tasty horse poop, chasing deer, and perfuming oneself with dead squirrels.
We want our dogs to think that “Come!” is the best thing in the whole world. We do this by teaching a positive association with the come cue, and by making sure that the consequences of coming are ALWAYS positive. We NEVER punish Rover for coming to us, and we never resort to intimidation and threats to make Rover come to us.
Punishment is anything that Rover doesn’t like. This means that if Rover doesn’t like having his nails trimmed, don’t call him to you, evil nail clippers in hand, then nab him for a manicure when he arrives. If you do, you’ve punished him for coming, and he will be a bit more leery about coming to you the next time he is called. If Rover stays in the back yard while you are gone all day at work, but he’d really rather be in the house, calling him to you and tossing him in the back yard just before you leave for work is punishment.
Of course, you do need to trim his nails, and perhaps you do need to put him in the yard when you leave, so what are you supposed to do? You have several choices. You can call him to you, do something very fun for 10 to 15 minutes, and then say, “Oh, by the way, as long as you’re here, let’s trim your nails.” This way, the “bad thing” is far enough removed from being called that he won’t make the association between the two. If you do this too often, however, there is a danger that he may start to realize that bad things often follow being called, especially in a certain context, such as your preparations to leave for work.
You can also walk up to Rover, wherever he happens to be, feed him a treat, take hold of his collar and proceed to trim nails – although if you do this too often with negative things he will learn to move away when you approach. The most elegant solution is to convince him that nail trimming and going in the back yard are wonderful things, so that calling him to you to do those things is a good thing, not a bad thing. If you make it a point to go out in the yard and play with Rover before you leave, he will think going in the yard is wonderful. If you gradually desensitize Rover to the nail clippers with yummy treats, he may never love having his nails trimmed, but at least it will seem more good to him than bad. Meanwhile, you need to teach Rover to come on cue as a fun game, totally separate from doing negative things. Here’s how:
Short-distance, low-distraction come
Start with short-distance recalls in a low-distraction environment – a quiet room in the house – where you are by far the most exciting thing happening. Have a handful of over-the-top tasty treats that Rover doesn’t get during regular training sessions, such as squeeze cheese, string cheese, bits of ham or roast beef, baby food, or anything else that will really make Rover’s eyes light up. With Rover just a few feet away from you, say his name in a cheerful tone of voice. When he looks at you in response to his name, run backwards several steps and say the word “Come!” – also in a very happy voice. The message implied by your tone should be, “Hey, we’re having a party over here, and you’re invited!” Be sure to run backwards. Running triggers a dog’s chase instincts and increases your attraction potential to Rover severalfold over standing boringly still.
As soon as Rover starts moving toward you, use a reward marker that has already been paired with food, such as the Click! of a clicker, or the word “Yes!” You are marking the behavior of coming toward you, and letting Rover know that moving toward you has earned him a reward. This will also enhance the “Come,” since Rover is likely to hurry faster toward you to get his treat after he hears the clicker.
As Rover approaches, stop moving, and tell him what a wonderful dog he is. If he sits easily for you, lift the treat as he arrives at your feet. (Do not ask him to sit.) If he sits, great! Feed him the treat and tell him he’s fantastic. If not, go ahead and give him the treat anyway, and tell him he’s wonderful. It’s nice if our dogs sit when they come to us. It parks them briefly, so we can restrain them if necessary, and it is also much better than coming to us and jumping up. If sitting is a challenge for Rover, however, and we get into a sit-struggle when he comes, then we are punishing him for coming, and come is no longer positive and fun. If Rover doesn’t sit easily, give him the treat just for coming, and make a mental note to work on sit as a separate exercise.
Medium to long distance, low-distraction come
When Rover is happily playing the short-distance come game with you, gradually start increasing the distance between you and Rover when you call him. Remember to mark the desired behavior – coming toward you – with a Click! or “Yes!” as he is coming toward you, to encourage him to keep coming for his treat reward. Be sure to use lots of enthusiastic praise as well, to keep the party attitude.
The “round-robin” come
Now that Rover thinks that “Come” is a fun thing, you can include friends and family in the training game. Have several people in the room, each with a clicker and a handful of equally tasty treats. Take turns calling Rover, in no particular order. Each person Clicks! and treats Rover as he arrives, then another person calls him.
Note: If one person in a group calls Rover, the other people must ignore him if he comes to them instead. No eye contact, no petting, no treats, no talking to him. He’ll quickly learn that only the person who called him has any rewards.
Adding mild distractions
Here’s where most people start to lose the training game. Rover comes beautifully in the house, therefore, he knows what “Come” means and he is trained to come when called – right? Wrong! He is beautifully trained to come when he is called, in the house, if there is nothing more interesting around. Now we have to teach him to come in other places, even when there’s other good stuff happening.
For this exercise, put Rover’s leash on. You are not going to jerk him with it, you are just going to use it to prevent him from being rewarded for going somewhere else when you call him. Start small. Have a friend moving around in the room while you practice short-distance recalls. (Each time you change the rules of the game, go back to short recalls and gradually increase the distance.) Instruct your friend to ignore your dog if he approaches her instead of coming to you. When Rover responds to your “Come” cue even with mild distractions, drop his leash and start increasing the distance, until he will romp to you across the room, even with another person, a ball, a cat, or a child in his path. When he will do this, you’re ready to take the show on the road.
Adding major distractions
Until now, we’ve been working indoors. Outdoors is a whole new ballgame. There are all kinds of wonderfully enticing things for Rover to pursue outdoors – great things to smell, eat, see, chase, roll in – you are going to have to work very hard to make yourself more interesting than the nearest dead squirrel. Arm yourself with your tastiest treats, and go back to square one – short distance recalls on-leash. If you’ve done your homework well in less distracting environments, Rover will catch on quickly, and your progression to longer distance and Round-Robin recalls will happen much faster than your initial training. As you increase the distance, use a long-line to prevent Rover from getting rewarded by getting to run off and enjoy an unanticipated distraction.
Advanced recall challenges: The “Premack Principle”
The greatest challenge of “coming-when-called” is the reality that there will always be something out there that is more enticing than whatever we can offer Rover. In order to overcome this challenge, we use the Premack Principle, which teaches Rover that in order to get the wonderful thing at location “B,” he has to come to us first at location “A”. That is, if he wants to chase the squirrel up a tree, he comes to us first when we call him, then we let him go chase the squirrel.
You can teach your dog the Premack concept through controlled exercises. Start by having a friend stand with Rover, 20 feet away from you. The friend has a handful of yummy treats, and lets Rover sniff and lick her hands, but does not give him any treats. Call Rover to you. It may take a while for him to decide that he’s not going to get any treats from your friend. That’s okay – just keep calling him in your happiest party voice. If necessary, squeak a squeaky toy, jump up and down – do whatever you need to do to get Rover interested in you. When he starts to come to you, Click!, and feed him treats when he arrives. Your friend should follow behind him, and give him her treats after he eats yours. He gets a double reward for coming to you – your treats and her treats. When he will do this exercise easily, he’s ready for the advanced Premack challenge.
Empty a can of canned food (or something equally smelly and attractive that is not his normal food), and set it off to the side. Have your friend stand behind the plate with a bowl that she can use to cover the plate. Show Rover the plate of cat food, then put him on a sit-stay about 20 feet from the plate. Walk 20 feet away from Rover in a different direction so that you, the plate (and your friend) and Rover form the points of an equilateral triangle. Now call Rover. If he comes to you, great! Good boy, Rover! Mark that behavior (Click! or “Yes!”), give him a treat, and then run with him over to the bowl of special food and let him have a healthy mouthful.
But if he heads for the plate first, have your friend quickly cover the plate with the bowl to prevent him from eating the food. Keep calling him until he gives up on the cat food and comes to you. Good boy, Rover! Click!, treat, and run back with him to the plate for a mouthful of food. Keep practicing until he figures out that the onlyway to get the cat food is to come to you first. Now you and Rover are starting to achieve a really reliable recall!
A few final recall tips
If you are working with a dog like Caper, who already has a negative association with the word “Come,” you might want to switch to a new recall word. Some dog owners use “Close” or “Here.” You can use any word you want – it doesn’t have any meaning for Rover until we associate it with the “come” behavior. Just be sure to keep the new word positive, or you’ll be looking for yet another one.
Make a real commitment to teaching your dog a positive “Come.” It doesn’t happen overnight. In fact, it can take two or three years to teach Rover to come reliably in the face of his most enticing distractions – if you work at it; it doesn’t happen all by itself.
Meanwhile, don’t put your dog in a situation where his lack of reliable recall can endanger his life. That is, don’t take him off leash in places where he can run away and get into trouble, like I foolishly did with Caper. I was extremely lucky that Caper never got into serious trouble when she ran off, and I was fortunate to find a serendipitous solution to Caper’s recall challenge.
Caper has long since died – of old age, not from a failed recall, thank goodness. I would love to have her back again, to show her how much fun “coming when called” can be, but of course, I can’t. I’ll just have to make it up to her through all of my current and future dogs, through all of my clients’ dogs who come to me for training, and through you, the WDJ reader who can teach your dogs positive, reliable recalls. Let the recall games begin.
“I just set eyes on Gracie and I knew.” That’s how Mary Ellen Grimaldi describes first seeing the approximately two-year-old Beagle-Shepherd mix at the New York state animal shelter. Not surprisingly, her first impressions held true. “She has been an absolutely wonderful dog,” says Grimaldi.
Wonderful, but allergic. Gracie, a mid-size dog with a smooth, short coat, soon began showing signs of allergies. “She was licking her feet constantly, rubbing her face, rolling, generally itchy,” says Grimaldi. “And I didn’t know that licking feet was the typical manifestation of allergies.”
At Gracie’s next routine veterinary exam, Grimaldi learned that the dog’s itchiness was due to inhalant allergies. The veterinarian recommended a fatty acid supplement and an over-the-counter antihistamine. “That really helped her,” says Grimaldi.
But only for a while. Gracie’s itchiness worsened and she developed skin lesions, believed to be hot spots or lick granulomas. A hot spot, or pyotraumatic dermatitis, is a bacterial skin infection that results from a pet’s constant licking and chewing. Hot spots are painful, swollen patches filled with pus. A lick sore, acral pruritic dermatitis, is caused by a dog’s constant licking. As the dog licks, the hair is rubbed off. The skin becomes red and begins to itch. Eventually, the skin becomes raised, thick and hard. To treat the lesions, the veterinarian recommended a topical cream, oral prednisone, and an Elizabethan collar to prevent licking and chewing. This approach worked only temporarily, says Grimaldi. “The lesions never got horrible, but it was only because we kept on top of it. At the first sign, we treated her and kept her away from them. However, when we’d take the collar off, she’d be right back at it.”.
Introduction to acupunture In June 1998, Gracie developed a stubborn lesion inside her left elbow that wouldn’t heal despite treatment. Gracie’s veterinarian gave Grimaldi two choices: psychotropic drugs or acupuncture. “I was pretty skeptical about acupuncture, but my husband didn’t want to go with tranquilizers,” says Grimaldi. They chose acupuncture.
For the acupuncture treatments, Grimaldi was referred to Nina Caires, DVM, of Parkside Veterinary Associates in Albany, New York. Dr. Caries has been practicing veterinary medicine for 20 years, but in the last three years has integrated her Western medicine practice with traditional Chinese medicine. Dr. Caires is certified by the International Veterinary Acupuncture Society. First, Dr. Caires took a detailed history, and, not surprisingly, the holistic veterinarian’s first recommendation was a diet change, from Kibbles and Bits to a better quality food. Dr. Caires recommended that Gracie continue on the antihistamine and fatty acid supplement. She also recommended weekly acupuncture treatments.
Traditional Chinese medical practitioners consider a hot spot to be caused or aggravated by “stagnation of chi,” chi being the energy that flows through the body along energetic pathways or “meridians.” Obstructions in energy flow are thought to cause disease. “In doing acupuncture,” says Dr. Caires, “what we’re trying to do is balance the body, open the meridians up to allow the chi to flow more smoothly.”
In addition, holistic practitioners would tend to regard Gracie’s traditional treatments as suppressive and shallow, treating only the symptoms of an underlying problem. The goal of acupuncture is not “to stop the itching and scratching,” but to stimulate the body to solve the imbalance that is causing the itchiness.
Initially, Dr. Caires found treating Gracie to be a challenge due to the dog’s intense nervousness. “At first Gracie was very sensitive,” says Dr. Caires. “It took me a while to gain her confidence because she is – or, at least she was – very nervous and afraid. As we were treating her for the lick granuloma, we talked about her behavior and the fact that she was a timid dog, very wary of new people.”
In fact, Gracie’s licking, itching and chewing got worse when she was alone. This led Dr. Caires to believe that Gracie’s itchy condition was compounded by separation anxiety, which can be defined as increased fearfulness of the dog after the departure of the owner. For example, after their owners leave for work, anxious dogs might bark or howl, have bowel or bladder “accidents” or destroy things. Dogs that form intense attachments with their owners are more likely candidates for separation anxiety. Gracie missed her owners during the day, but says Grimaldi, “Instead of destroying the house as so many dogs do, she just turned it on herself.”
To help calm Gracie before her acupuncture treatments, Dr. Caires recommended Rescue Remedy. The flower essence (see “Flower Power,” WDJ March 1999) remedy helped Gracie relax at the clinic, but didn’t help much at home. Dr. Caires then tried other Bach flower essences to treat Gracie’s emotional needs: a combination of Heather, Star of Bethlehem, Aspen, and Mimulus. Additionally, Dr. Caires suggested obedience training – not because Gracie was a disobedient dog, but to address her early socialization and training, which are questionable due to her history as a shelter dog. Positive training can also boost the confidence of a dog who is not quite sure and apprehensive of what is expected of her.
Multi-layered approach Today, Gracie is a changed dog. She is less nervous, more accepting of new situations and her allergies are under control. She continues to take an antihistamine daily and receives acupuncture treatments every two or three months. “I’m sure that her progress here was a combination of all of these things: the acupuncture, the Bach flowers, the diet change,” says Dr. Caires, who also credits the training work that Mary and Ellen and her husband are doing with Gracie. The couple decided to start Gracie in agility work, something they (and Gracie) find enjoyable. “We’re competing, but it’s pretty laughable,” says Grimaldi. “Mostly she runs off the course at the public venues. But if we go to the course she’s used to when we practice she does really well.”
Grimaldi is thrilled with Gracie’s progress. “People remark now when they see her that she’s calmed down,” she says. “Her basic nature will probably never change; she’s still a timid dog. But in new situations she’s a lot less anxious than she used to be. She’s happier, bouncier, a spring in her step, more confidence.”
Even though she was reluctant to try acupuncture, Grimaldi now wholeheartedly recommends it to others. “I think whenever you have the chance, you should consider an alternative treatment before a more drastic approach,” she says. “I would definitely go this route again with a different dog.”
-By Virginia Parker Guidry
Virginia Parker Guidry is a freelance writer from San Diego, CA. This is her first article for WDJ.
Watching the smooth, even gait of a happy dog as it trots or gallops across a field is pure delight. It is obvious that all of the muscles and joints are working in harmony.
We don’t often stop to think about the importance of muscles as a dog stands quietly at our side, but the same muscles that act antagonistically to move joints as the dog runs must cooperate to stabilize those same joints and change the limb into a rigid support when standing. It’s really an amazing relationship.
In the forelimb, the triceps muscle is critical to maintaining the elbow in an extended position while the dog stands. As a matter of fact, three of the four parts or heads of the large, strong triceps muscle group are concerned with supporting the body weight against the pull of gravity. In a normal standing posture, the elbow is maintained in an extended position by isometric contraction of the parts of the triceps muscle that attach to the point of the elbow.
Isometric contraction means that tension is maintained in the muscle without actually shortening the muscle. The triceps works against the resistance provided by the dog’s weight which tends to flex or bend the elbow. If the muscles and/or tendons of the elbow are injured or not functioning efficiently, the dog may be unable to accept weight on that limb and will stand or move abnormally. Maintaining the suppleness of the triceps and associated muscles of the shoulder and upper arm is important for proper gait and posture.
Cross-fiber friction massage
The cross-fiber friction techniques employed in sports massage are very effective in working on the large muscle groups of both the fore- and hindlimbs. The term “friction” comes from the Latin word frictio which means “to rub.” In general, friction techniques are brisk, often heat-producing techniques. Remember that skeletal muscles are composed of many thin muscle fibers that run parallel to each other and parallel to the long axis of the muscle. Cross-fiber friction techniques work across the grain of these fibers in the muscle. These techniques increase blood flow to the area, are effective in treating many muscle injuries, and aid in breaking down adhesions by coaxing apart the adhered tissue.
Because the triceps and associated muscles are working to some degree whether a dog is moving or standing still, cross-fiber friction massage can have a positive effect by relieving tightness in the muscle.
Muscle texture
Before you begin the massage, take a few minutes to assess the general texture of the dog’s muscles. You can learn to test for muscle texture on your own forearm. Most adults have tight forearm muscles that feel like stringy ropes. Check out your muscles by resting one forearm and hand on a table. Place the pads of the fingers of your other hand on the fleshy part of the resting arm, about two or three inches below the elbow. Gently and slowly move the skin and underlying muscle back and forth. Continue working your way toward your wrist.
Some areas may feel fairly uniform in texture but you will probably find hard strings or ropes of muscle that are ¼ inch to perhaps ¾ inch or more in diameter. Since your arm muscles are not actively contracting or working, they should not be hard. The hard stringy texture indicates that the muscles are “resting” in a partially contracted state. Use digital circles or gently massage back and forth over the cords for a brief period. You should feel the cords relax and the muscle attain a more uniform texture.
Now check the texture of your dog’s muscles. Start with the triceps, which is very easy to locate. Place your hand on the dog’s elbow and move straight up toward his withers (above his shoulders). You will feel a prominent large shoulder muscle about half way between the elbow and the withers. This is the triceps. A relaxed muscle should feel firm but supple and elastic. Your dog’s muscles may have ropy cords similar to those you probably felt in your own arm or he may display a more generalized muscle tightness. A muscle should only feel tight or hard if it is contracting. Tightness in a “relaxed” muscle (not actively contracting) indicates the muscle is semi-contracted.
Angel wing technique
Now that you have located the triceps and assessed the muscle texture, you can use a cross-fiber friction technique called the “angel wing.” To perform this technique, hold your hand out and bend your fingers at approximately a 90-degree angle to your hand. Place the flat surfaces of your fingers against the dog’s shoulder. Now rotate your hand just as if you were “thumbing a ride.”
As the fingers follow the upward movement of the thumb, they make an angel wing pattern on the muscle. This works across the grain of the triceps to spread and separate taut muscle fibers. Tight muscles may be tender to the touch, so work gently, with light pressure at first. You can increase pressure as you assess the dog’s comfort level. Repeat the angel wing technique, moving over the entire shoulder and upper arm area. Avoid direct massage on any bony areas.
Don’t forget the massage techniques you have already learned. You can now give your dog a very relaxing whole body massage. Start by setting your intentions to benefit the dog. Ask the dog for permission to massage and proceed. Begin at the head and work toward the tail. Open each region of the body with effleurage (discussed in the December 1999 issue), continue with digital circles (January 2000) and/or the angel wing technique as appropriate. Close each region with effleurage and continue by opening the next region with effleurage. Remember to massage both sides of the body and thank your dog when you finish.
What about the little guys?
Mick, the Irish wolfhound in the photos on the opposite page, is a perfect candidate for the angel wing technique since he is big enough to accommodate the large areas covered by the back or four fingers. But what about the little guys?
A four-finger span can cover much more than the triceps area of one of the toy breeds like a Chihuahua or Toy Poodle. Yet small dogs can benefit from cross-fiber friction techniques just like their larger counterparts. Simply modify the angel wing to fit the dog. Instead of applying the entire back surface of all four fingers, use only one or two fingers to perform the angel wing. If that still covers too much territory, bend the fingers to use only the first two joints to make contact with the dog. Keep in mind that small dogs require much less pressure than a large fellow. Adjust your touch accordingly to stay within the dog’s comfort level.
Whether the dog is large or small, relieving tightness in the triceps and other shoulder and upper arm muscles will yield a smoother gait, a more comfortable standing posture, and a happier dog.
Author Sue Furman is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology at Colorado State University in Ft. Collins, CO. In addition to her academic career, she is active as a free-lance writer and teaches equine and canine massage classes. This article is adapted from material in her new book, Canine Massage, that will be available in spring 2000.
When dog lovers switch their pets from commercial food to a well-balanced, raw diet, they typically report improved health, brighter eyes, a shinier coat, calmer behavior, and easier yard cleanup chores. A puppy’s first eight weeks set the stage for a lifetime of health or illness, so it isn’t surprising that puppies weaned on raw food grow up to out-perform dogs weaned on kibble or canned food, even if both are fed raw food as adults. Raw-weaned puppies nearly exhaust their breeders’ vocabularies, for these are the healthiest / strongest / liveliest / calmest / smartest / most wonderful pups that ever lived.
What is the best way to introduce raw food to infant puppies? And what is the best age for starting the weaning process? A survey of raw-food breeders shows that there are no hard and fast rules. Raw-food puppies seem to thrive on all kinds of “first foods” and weaning schedules.
Following the leader
Many breeders follow the guidelines Juliette de Bairacli Levy has published for half a century in her books on natural rearing. “A properly weaned puppy is a joy to see and possess,” she wrote in The Complete Herbal Handbook for the Dog and Cat. “It is each puppy’s right that it be fed foods which will not damage or degenerate its new body, but improve and safeguard its health.”
De Bairacli Levy believes that slow rather than rapid weaning is necessary, because the intestines and stomachs of infant carnivores cannot deal with solid food until after four weeks. She warns that grain-based “weaning foods,” such as commercial kibble, are especially likely to distend the stomach and create an ideal environment for worms and infectious bacteria.
De Bairacli Levy’s preferred weaning food is raw, unpasteurized goat’s or cow’s milk. To one quart of raw milk, she adds one tablespoon raw honey. Each four-week-old puppy receives a serving of honey-laced milk plus one teaspoon “Natural Rearing Tree Bark Gruel,” a blend of slippery elm tree bark, barley flour, dill, marshmallow, and other herbs that provide nourishment while soothing the digestive tract. This gruel is served lukewarm, at body temperature. Gradually, small amounts of shredded poultry or meat, pureed or finely minced vegetables, and other ingredients are added, and portions increase in size as the puppies grow.
Marina Zacharias, of Jacksonville, Oregon, distributes Natural Rearing products, raises Basset Hounds and is an honorary godmother to countless litters from other breeds. Following de Bairacli Levy’s guidelines, she introduces raw meat toward the end of the puppies’ fifth week, feeding early morning and noon meals of milk and gruel, then afternoon and evening meals of meat, green vegetables, and whole-food nutritional supplements.
“As the pups get a little older,” she says, “they receive fundamentally the same components I feed to my adults. The milk/gruel meals become the basis for the grain meal (I gradually reduce its milk content and thicken the gravy component), and the meat meal is changed as they grow and adapt from a ‘mushy’ meat to small chunks to normal adult-sized chunks.
“Then, at approximately eight weeks, raw bones can be introduced after the meat meals as a treat, not as a replacement for the meat. Chicken wings or necks work well for this purpose. Please remember, these bones are soft when raw. Never feed cooked bones.”
New leaders
Wendy Volhard developed her Natural Diet in 1973, based largely on Juliette de Bairacli Levy’s recommendations. Volhard says she tested the results on dogs at all stages of life for more than 12 years. “The testing consisted of complete blood work using serum chemistry profiles as well as feces and urine analysis,” wrote Volhard. “We are now on the fifth generation of dogs raised this way, and some breeders are on their seventh generation of Natural Diet dogs. From time to time we have tried other natural diets or combinations of commercial foods and natural feeding, plus one experiment where all the dogs were put on commercial food. Nothing comes close to producing the health, vitality, and longevity of the Natural Diet.”
Together with veterinarian Kerry Brown, Volhard wrote a book, Holistic Guide for a Healthy Dog, which was first published in 1995 and recently released in its second edition in softcover. The book offers detailed instructions for introducing raw food to four-week-old puppies, starting with four feedings per day of raw milk, honey, slippery elm powder, baby cereal, vitamin C, and, with the evening meal, cod liver oil. Volhard recommends separating the mother dog from the litter during meals, feeding each puppy from an individual bowl, making fresh water available, and letting the pups play in fresh air and sunshine after feeding. The puppies continue to nurse after meals until they are fully weaned.
At 36 days, the puppies eat morning and noon meals of raw milk, honey, slippery elm powder, baby cereal, and small amounts of vitamin/mineral and homeopathic supplements. In the afternoon and evening, they eat small amounts of fresh, raw meat, brewer’s yeast, bone meal, herbs or greens, kelp, wheat bran, wheat germ, cod liver oil, and nutritional supplements. The puppies continue on this diet until they are seven months old.
Experiment and adapt
Christine Swingle, who raises West Highland White Terriers in Bristol, Connecticut, followed the Natural Rearing method for several litters with good results. “Then I read various books about wolves,” she says, “and I thought about how the wolf mom and even some domesticated dogs regurgitate food to start the weaning process. Baby wolves don’t get goat’s milk and powdered barley flakes; they eat a partly digested serving of whatever their mothers had for dinner. Domestication, starting the weaning process too early, and other factors have silenced some of our dogs’ natural instincts, so the modern brood bitch doesn’t regurgitate to feed her pups. But why couldn’t I mimic the process? After doing more research, I began to look at weaning differently.”
Last June, Swingle let three-week-old puppies play with chicken necks after cutting them with scissors between the vertebrae to loosen the meat. “It was a good first exposure to raw food,” she says. “The pups didn’t have any teeth, so they weren’t really eating anything, but it was fun watching them gum the necks. Their mom assumed the necks were for her, and when the pups were finished, she got their leftovers.”
Swingle continued to give each pup a raw chicken neck every day, and just before they turned five weeks old, she introduced what she calls “mama BARF.” (The acronym BARF was coined by Australian veterinarian and raw foods advocate Ian Billinghurst, and stands for either Bones And Raw Food or Biologically Appropriate Raw Food.) To guide her puppy food preparation, Swingle says she tries to “keep in mind what might be in the stomach of a lactating wolf.”
Using her Vita Mix blender, Swingle combines ¼ cup lean, organic, free-range turkey or chicken, a few drops of Willard Water extract, a drop or two of flaxseed oil, one teaspoon alternating organ meats (chicken gizzard, chicken or beef liver or heart), and one teaspoon NR Treebark Gruel. After pureeing these ingredients, Swingle adds a sprinkle of Prozyme digestive enzyme powder and enough water to turn the sticky paste into a liquid soup, then lets it stand at room temperature for 15 minutes. Swingle started her four-week-old Westies on a teaspoon of the mixture three times a day, gradually increasing to six daily feedings of two or more teaspoons each by the end of the week.
“The pups dove right in,” she says. “At first I made the mistake of making the mixture too thick, and it stuck like peanut butter in their mouths. Once I diluted it with a little more water, all was fine. I allowed them to nurse as long as Hannah (their mother) wanted them to. I wasn’t concerned about the calcium content of their first solid food because they were getting the best possible calcium from Hannah’s milk.
“I kept this up, using lean chicken or turkey as the muscle meats and adding a variety of organ meats. The pups continued to nurse and, once a day, gum their chicken necks. By the time they were almost six weeks old, their teeth were beginning to bud through, and they were able to pull some of the meat from the necks.”
When the puppies were six weeks old, Swingle began adding ground chicken necks to their diet. “I bought an electric meat grinder,” she says, “which made my life much easier. I also began adding a different pureed vegetable every day, starting with ¼ teaspoon and increasing daily, and I added a small a amount of vitamin C.”
Soon the puppies were alternating between raw beef and poultry. Once they had teeth, they were given recreational bones to work on, such as lamb shank, beef rib, and veal neck. “These they relished with all the vigor of wolf pups,” says Swingle.
During the eighth week, the mother put an end to nursing, and the puppies were fully weaned. They ate the same variety of muscle meats, organ meats, raw meaty bones (small chicken necks work best for this breed), pureed vegetables, and supplements that Swingle feeds her adult Westies, only in smaller proportions. The supplements include natural vitamin E, vitamin C, Natural Rearing Seaweed Mineral Food, and a variety of oils.
“Hannah’s babies thrived and never had loose stools. They are solid, well-muscled, alert, intelligent, well-socialized, and never missed a beat. I think I’m onto something. Every day that goes by, I’m in awe of the condition and overall vitality of these Westies, all thanks to their natural diet.”
Works for big dogs, too
Janet Klapac, who raises Bernese Mountain dogs in North Lima, Ohio, researched researched diets before she raw-fed her dogs. “I planned to breed my female when she was two,” she says, “but I just wasn’t sure about feeding during pregnancy or introducing food to weaning pups. None of the diets I studied seemed quite right. I had real misgivings about the bone meal and grains that they called for.
“Then I read Give Your Dog a Bone by Ian Billinghurst, and everything fell into place. I put both of my dogs on the Billinghurst diet, and they thrived.” When they were four weeks old, Klapac quartered chicken backs and gave each puppy a piece. “They were just amazing!” she says. “They dug right in, grabbing and chewing. It was great to see them take to raw bones so easily and happily. Each day they ate more and more of the bones, not just the meat. A bit later, I introduced ground chicken and veggies. I make a frozen convenience food (Three Cheers Raw! Raw! Raw!), so this became the puppies’ lunch. At bedtime we called them into their big cage to gnaw on pork or beef bones. These pups were beautiful. They had gorgeous coats and solid muscle. Their stools tested clean, so we never even wormed them.”
Klapac also gives raw chicken necks to her puppies when they are about six weeks old. The enthusiastic pups sometimes swallow the necks whole, but have no problem digesting them. “Every now and then a pup would eat too much too fast or swallow a piece that was too large, but every single time, the piece came right back up and the pup would chew it again,” she says.
To help keep the puppies healthy, Klapac educated their buyers to the advantages of feeding raw. “I would not sell a pup to someone who was not open to trying raw food,” she says. “I gave them Billinghurst’s book and many reference lists as well as food to get them started. Young animals need the strongest immune systems possible. They are going through tremendous stresses – rapid growth, both mental and physical, weaning from mom, new sights and sounds, in some cases vaccinations, and the serious distractions of moving to a new home. They need the support of a natural, species-appropriate diet. And the best part is that natural rearing is the easiest way to go.”
Comparing raw-fed and traditionally fed siblings
Shelley Fritzke, who raises German Shepherd Dogs in British Columbia, has raised two litters on a raw, natural diet. One of them gave her a dramatic opportunity to compare puppies on home-prepared raw food with kibble-fed pups. “There were 10 puppies,” she says, “all of which were uniform in size and weighed the normal amount for this breed. For the most part, the delivery was very easy, but the mother began panting very hard the following day, and we took her to the vet. As a result of her medical treatment, she stopped nursing. The puppies did not belong to us because we had leased the bitch to a breeder who had asked us to whelp the litter. When we started bottle-feeding the four-day-old puppies, their owner decided to help out. She took six of the pups, and we kept four, including three of the smallest.
“Both of us bottle-fed the pups with a homemade formula. I decided to wean my four pups at 3½ weeks. Had the pups been on their mother, I would not have weaned them so early, but under the circumstances, it seemed like the right thing to do. I started them with pabulum and goat’s milk, just to ease into the raw, natural diet. I also fed their mom at the same time. She stayed close to the pups even though her milk had dried up.
“By the second day of weaning, the pups ignored their pabulum and ran straight to Mom’s bowl. They dove into it and she let them. I took her food and watered it with a bit of goat’s milk and fed them that. The pups loved it, and that is what they ate for the next two weeks, with less and less goat’s milk added to it.
“These pups had shiny coats, were very active, were very content, and their stools were perfect. At 10½ weeks, we brought all 10 pups back together so they could spend the next two weeks with Mom. I believe it is important for puppies to be with their mother during this time as she teaches them a lot of important things.
“When the owner arrived with her six pups, I was shocked. These puppies were half the size of mine, their coats were dull, they had little pot bellies, their eyes were runny, and they all had the runs.
“She had weaned them at four weeks onto puppy kibble soaked in water. They were still getting the puppy formula in a saucer. She said they would not drink plain water, while mine had been drinking water since three weeks of age. All the pups were checked for worms, coxidiosis, and giardia, and the results were negative.
“Before she saw my four pups, the owner said that hers were doing well and that they looked normal, like her eight previous litters. She had told me that 3½ weeks was way too early to wean the puppies and she did not approve of the way I was feeding them, but even she was surprised at the difference between the two sets of pups. I was so shocked that I had another breeder come to look at them. She has since switched her dogs to a raw, natural diet. I also videotaped the pups.
“Meanwhile, the puppies’ owner decided that the difference was due to the mom dog feeding the puppies that stayed with her. This was not the case, which my vet can verify, for she saw the pups and their mother every two days for the first three weeks of their lives. The owners’ pups had an extremely hard time digesting any kind of food. Her vet says that is because they were not on their mother, who would have given the pups digestive enzymes and other nutrients through her milk. I do not doubt that this is true, but my pups did not receive her milk, either, and they thrived on their raw food.”
While the two groups of puppies lived together, Fritzke tried to feed them separately, because the owner wanted her kibble-fed pups to continue eating kibble. “It was nearly impossible to keep them in their separate bowls,” she says, “so I gave up. For the next two weeks, all the pups received some raw food and some kibble. By the end, they were all eating mostly kibble, and the six smaller pups were looking much better and catching up in size. Unfortunately, I could not get their stools stabilized before they left again. They had some good days, but then their diarrhea would return.
“To keep a long story short, by the time the pups were five months old, all six of the kibble-weaned puppies had cataracts, including some in both eyes, while the four I weaned on raw food are fine and healthy. I asked to take back the pups with cataracts because I believe that this condition can be cured 100 percent with the right nutrition and supplements, but the owner refused. When I looked into juvenile cataracts, I found that the main cause in puppies is malnutrition and a lack of B vitamins. My four pups got an abundance of these vitamins in their raw meat, and earlier, when they were being bottle-fed, I gave them a liquid vitamin called Vitamino. The owner had refused to give this to her pups.”
Recently, Fritzke has been working closely with a friend’s six puppies. “They are bigger than kibble-fed pups and, like my raw-weaned puppies, they’re very content and alert,” she reports. “Pictures of them at two weeks show them looking like four-week-old puppies. At three weeks of age, they go right away to Mom’s dish of food to join in. They are allowed to have a bit of her food along with their nursing. My friend has decided to use a commercially prepared raw diet as the concept of natural feeding is new to her and she does not feel comfortable making it up for the puppies herself.”
Fritzke follows Ian Billinghurst’s diet and the suggestions in his book Raise Your Pups with Bones. “I usually start the weaning process with raw, green tripe (cow’s stomach) as the protein source,” she says. “It is full of digestive enzymes and many other good things, and I feel it gives the pups a boost as their bodies learn to digest solid food. From there I move to beef, then to chicken. I also feed the pups ground chicken necks and backs.”
No health problems
In Dacoma, Oklahoma, Asian Shepherd breeder Pril Zahorsky follows the Billinghurst diet fairly closely. “I do not breed very often,” she says, “so I have weaned only one litter of this giant-sized farm dog on raw food. After that litter, which was about two years ago, I will never use commercial food again.”
These puppies did not have to be “introduced” to raw food, says Zahorsky. “They already know raw food and bones. When they got their first taste of raw, meaty bones, they began a series of almost wolf-like, satisfied vocalizations. It was like sitting in the forest and hearing a wild, natural litter.”
Zahorsky started her pups on raw food at about 2½ weeks. “I buy chicken necks, which I beat with a hammer a la Billinghurst, so they are mushy,” she says. “Then I stand guard to watch as they attempt their first meals. Sometimes I have to pull a chunk out of one of their mouths, for they don’t have enough teeth as yet. They literally chew off more than they can bite. My tiny puppies growl when others get too close, and some of them roll and tumble to a secluded corner, where they can gnaw on their chicken necks in peace.”
The raw-weaned Asian Shepherds controlled their bowels and kidneys sooner and better than other litters, says Zahorsky. “Cleaning up after them was sooo much easier. To protect their joint health, we do not put our puppies on any slick surfaces and use only old, soft blankets in the whelping box so their little feet do not touch hard or slippery surfaces. I have to do a mountain of laundry to keep those old blankets clean, but it is much easier dealing with BARF feces. This was a charming, easy litter, full of fun and really easy to care for. The puppies are almost two years old now, and we have had no reports of any health problems at all. Their dispositions are partially the result of good parents, and partially, I suspect, a result of their raw food. All of the puppies’ owners are feeding the BARF diet.”
Improving the wild diet
In the wild, infant wolves, coyotes, foxes, and other canines are weaned on whatever food their mothers regurgitate and whatever game they have access to after the rest of the pack has eaten. There are no hard and fast rules about the puppies’ age, serving portions, or the contents of their first meals.
This flexibility enables generation after generation to survive in times of scarcity and abundance. Although different experts propose different schedules and formulas for the weaning of domesticated dogs, raw-fed American puppies, like their cousins in the wild, seem to thrive no matter when and how they are introduced to the food they will eat as adults.
We’ll admit it: We’ve been sleeping on the job. Our test dogs – and their test families – have been trying out dozens of beds, seeking to discover the qualities that contribute to a pooch’s good night’s sleep . . . and which construction details help us keep the beds clean and in one piece. We’ve identified a list of features that a good bed’s gotta have, and a few things that make some beds hard to live with.
We’ve also developed some favorite products. (You know a product is a winner when you can’t seem to get it back from the testers. “Well, how much IS that one? Maybe we could just keep it?”) Over the next few pages, we’ve pictured our top picks, and described what exactly it was about them that we (and our dogs!) liked so much. When one of our selections had faults, we discussed them, too; few things in life are perfect, but you alone are qualified to determine which flaws you are willing to live with.
We weren’t being egotistical when we had just one model (Rupert, our 10-year-old office dog/resident tester) pose on each of the beds for our photos. We thought it would be funny, plus, we rationalized, this way you would have some sense of scale, comparing the size of each bed with the same-sized dog. What that dog won’t do for the Whole Dog Journal! Thanks, Rupie.
Consider your dog, first
It goes without saying that before you select a bed, you have to know what sort of sleeping style is preferred by your dog. Does she like to stretch out in a flat sprawl? Curl up in a cozy ball? “Dig” and shape her nest? Be surrounded by a comforting wall? It’s no good buying a flat futon for the dog who likes to dig, or a dished-out nest for a sprawler; you’ll just see your money go to waste. Know your dog, keep the “princess and the pea” in mind, and buy accordingly.
Also, you might want to measure your dog before ordering. Some beds are available in only a few sizes, and you want to make sure that the one you order is not too small. “Not quite big enough” seemed to be one main reason our test dogs rejected certain models.
How to select a bed
The first rule of dog-bed buying is: don’t buy the cheapest beds. Shoddy workmanship, and paper-thin fabrics abound in the realm of inexpensive beds. This is one place where you definitely get what you pay for. Most dogs are fairly hard on their beds – scratching and digging at the fabric, and maybe, taking an occasional nibble. Plus, you just have to wash these things fairly frequently, so the fabric has to be able to hold up. Don’t skimp; you’ll regret it after the third washing.
Speaking of washing, if you’re battling a flea problem, you have to wash your dog’s bed at least once a week, cover and all. Water kills flea eggs, which fleas habitually lay in the dog’s bed. It’s no good washing only the cover; these tiny specks can sink right into foam rubber and through seams. So, to fight fleas, choose a bed that can be dried, so you will wash it as frequently as you need to, without putting Fido out for the night. In our estimation, a bed must also offer the following:
• Covers that are easy to take off and put on after washing. Sincerely, we’ve known beds that literally had us in tears, trying to get the covers back on. Look for beds with covers that have the zippers on the long sides.
• Ability to replace or refill the stuffing. Many dog beds are stuffed with polyester filling, sometimes supplemented by cedar shavings or other loose material. With these beds, which are frequently popular with dogs who like to nest, the inner pillow should always have a zipper or other closure, enabling you to replace or refresh the stuffing when it gets compressed.
• Quality foam (in foam beds). Most beds deemed “orthopedic” are made with eggcrate foam inside, but the quality, density, and thickness of this foam varies a LOT. Many beds dubbed “orthopedic,” we found, had foam so thin that we could squish it between our fingers to paper thinness. What’s that going to do for an arthritic dog? The manufacturers that label these products thusly should have to sleep on them for the rest of their lives! If you decide to buy an orthopedic bed, look for one with the thickest, most dense foam available; it has to be thick enough that your dog’s weight doesn’t crush the foam to the floor.
• Cedar for just those dogs that like it. You can’t assume, just because a catalog tells you it’s true, that your dog is going to love the cedar scent; some dogs hate the scent. Cedar was first introduced to dog beds for its reputed ability to repel fleas, and to cover doggie odors.
We’ll just say this: If your dog has fleas, cedar won’t make them go away. And if your dog smells, give him a bath, and consult your holistic veterinarian! A healthy dog should smell good; if he doesn’t, something is wrong. (Why should a dog be any different from a person? If someone you knew smelled terrible, you’d automatically think they had an endocrine disorder or something. The same goes for dogs.)
• Ability to be returned. Sometimes, no matter what, our dogs just don’t like what we buy. That’s a dog’s preogative. Place your dog’s new bed on a clean sheet, and cover it with another one for the first few days. If you don’t find your dog snoozing on the bed every morning, uncover it, brush it off, send it back, and try again.
• Attractiveness. You’ll note that this is last on our list; “matching the decor” is no reason to buy, just a nice bonus. Nor is the bed’s resemblance to Cleopatra’s velvet couch, or other nonsense. When people choose dog gear based on that criteria, they get what they deserve: a big credit card bill, an untouched dog bed, and a dog who sleeps on their bed. Wait a second, that last one is not so bad, after all! But it does defeat the purpose . . .
In the last issue, we discussed the importance of effleurage for increasing circulation and preparing muscles for deeper work. Effleurage is often followed by one of several petrissage techniques. Petrissage is another French term that means “to mash or to knead.” Unlike effleurage, the hands do not slide over the tissues. Instead, the tissue is lifted from underlying structures or compressed against them. Also known as “digital circles” or “digital kneading,” this is a very common and useful petrissage technique.
To perform digital circles, hold the hand in a loose cupped position with fingers spread. Contact the coat with finger pads (not finger tips) and make a slow clockwise circular motion. Your touch can be firm, but do not pinch the tissues. The technique increases circulation, relaxes muscles, and loosens adhesions.
It is also an important technique for learning about your dog’s muscles. Go slowly and listen to the messages your finger pads send concerning the texture of the muscle and the presence of spasms, knots, tight spots, depressions, and cool or hot spots. Special attention to these areas with slow gentle digital kneading should help relieve these conditions.
Hands-on how-to
Putting it all together takes a little planning, but can provide a massage session for your dog that may address some problems like sore muscles or spasms and will certainly promote relaxation and reduce stress.
Start by preparing a place for the massage. A small dog can be placed on a sturdy table that is at a comfortable height for you. Be sure the table has a nonskid surface or cover it with a rubber-backed throw rug so the dog doesn’t slip. Large dogs are usually most conveniently massaged on the floor. You can place a large, clean, rubber-backed throw rug in a quiet, comfortable part of your home. This gives the dog a sense of the area that you have set aside for the massage, and it provides a cushion for your knees as you kneel to work. Some folks like to use gardeners’ knee pads for comfort.
Continually be aware of the position of your body. Keep your back straight and your legs in a comfortable position. Don’t get so involved with working on the dog that you finish the session with a stiff back or a cramp in your legs.
When you are ready, greet your dog and let him know that a special treat is in store. Set your intention for the good of the dog and begin. Your dog can remain standing if that is most comfortable for him or he can stretch out. Even dogs that start a massage session on their feet often melt to the floor as they relax to your touch.
Opening act
You should “open” each body region with effleurage. Start with the face and head and stroke gently to increase circulation and bring oxygen and nutrients to the tissues. Three or four effleurage strokes are sufficient to open the area. Using gentle pressure, make a number of digital circles on the large masseter or jaw muscle. Most dogs find this very relaxing – but if your dog is uncomfortable with this or any other area of her body, move along to the next area; don’t feel compelled to correct her in any way. Remember, this is about her comfort.
Then move on to the ears. Continue with a series of slow, gentle digital circles starting in front of the ear and move on in a path around the entire base of the ear. Both sides of the head can be done or you can wait and massage the other side when you move to the other side of the body. When you have completed working on the face and head, “close” the area with effleurage to move toxins out of the area.
Continue the effleurage along the neck and the length of the spine to open this area. One-handed effleurage is fine for a small dog while two-handed effleurage is probably better suited to a large dog.
Next, locate the vertebral column. Work on the muscles to the side of the vertebrae (never on the vertebrae!) and begin a long series of digital circles starting at the neck and continuing to the tail. This is more than a mechanical exercise. Your finger pads should be like eyes searching for spasms, knots, cool or hot spots, depressions, or bumps in the muscles. GO SLOWLY! It takes time to really “see” what is going on in the muscle you are touching. Always keep your second hand on the dog to monitor changes in general muscle tension or changes in the body. Using light pressure, gently continue digital circles in problem areas. Once you have reached the tail, you may wish to move a half inch farther from the spine and make a second series of digital circles. On a large dog, a third pass of digital circles slightly farther out is appropriate. Complete the work along the spine by closing with effleurage.
Now you can use effleurage and digital circles on the limbs. First effleurage up the front leg. Digital circles on the large muscles of the upper limb can relieve tightness there. Around the elbow joint, digital circles can identify swelling or tenderness and may reduce stiffness by relaxing the muscles around the joint. Support the limb with one hand if the dog is lying down. Close the forelimb with effleurage from the toes toward the shoulder.
Massage of the rear limb is similar. Open with effleurage from the toes toward the hip, than use digital circles to relax and relieve any spasms or knots in the large hip and upper leg muscles. Support the limb with one hand and massage the stifle. Close with upward effleurage.
With massage on one side complete, it is time to ask the dog to roll over so you can repeat the moves on the other side. It is often necessary to coax a large dog to stand so you can reposition him to work on the other side. Once the massage is complete, be sure to thank the dog. He may express his appreciation with kisses and a tail wag or he may show it by taking a long snooze.
By C. Sue Furman
Author Sue Furman is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology at Colorado State University in Ft. Collins, CO. She is also active as a free-lance writer and teaches equine and canine massage classes. This article is adapted from material in her new book, Canine Massage, that will be available in spring 2000.
Help! My dog has the most disgusting habit: eating feces! She’ll eat her own, that of other dogs, cat poop, you name it. It’s gotten to the point where I can’t take her off leash at the park; she spend her whole time trying to find some to eat, and scarfing it down greedily when she sees me running to stop her. What is UP with this?
-Name withheld
I’d really like to feed my Bouviers a diet of meat, however, several already have the really gross habit of eating fecal material. I know that if they were on a mostly meat diet, the problem would be even worse. I’ve tried all the home remedies suggested by other dog owners without success. The manufactured remedies sold through the catalogs worked, but are very costly if you have more than one large dog. What do you suggest?
-Name withheld
We directed this question to Dr. Ian Dunbar, a veterinarian and dog trainer residing in Berkeley, CA. A native of England, Dr. Dunbar is the founder of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers, the creator of the K9 Games, and is well-known for his renowned Sirius Puppy Training program, which he describes in his popular books and instructional videos.
Funny how the people who wrote in with this problem withheld their names! I’ve heard many, many discussions about whether this problem is related to a vitamin or mineral deficiency, and whether it indicates a health problem with the dog. I’ve never seen this to be the case; most dogs who eat stool are as healthy as the next dog.
I prefer to deal with this horrible habit as a training issue. I like to demonstrate my answer to this question when I do lectures. I take a bunch of money out of my wallet, and put it down on a table. I say to a person sitting 20 feet away, “If you grab this money, you can have it, and it’s yummy. Then I pick it up, put it in my pocket and walk away. I say, “OK, go ahead, get the money.” And they say, “But it’s not there.” And I say, “Precisely, I picked it up. And that is what you should do when your dog poops, for a number of reasons.” First, it’s a great idea to look at your dog’s poop every day. Feces that is runny, bloody, gelatinous, or full of worms is the first sign that your dog is off-color. This can give you a big head start in treating what ails him. Second, picking up the poop is the easiest way to prevent coprophagia (the proper term for eating poop). I suggest that every person go out with his or her dog when the dog goes to the bathroom. You should always reward your dog when he goes; it helps maintain his housetraining. You can’t reward your dog if you are not there, so, as much as possible, go out with your dog. When he eliminates, pick up the feces, and reward the dog.
What about the dog that runs to find and eat poop that he finds when he goes out on walks? I had a dog who would try to eat any feces we came across in our walks, and I solved the problem by having her carry something in her mouth on walks. The deal was, if she dropped the object, I’d immediately say “Home,” and the walk would end. She learned very quickly not to drop the item.
What about the dog who tries to eat every poop at the dog park? Again, I see this as a training issue. Any time that your dog is off the leash, you should be able to control his behavior, just by telling him to sit. Simply train the dog to do that one thing.
If you can teach the dog to perform this behavior very reliably, you will be able to eliminate 99 percent of its potential behavior problems. If your dog is sitting down, he can’t eat poop or trash, chase a cat, chase a child, knock over elderly people, run out the front door, dash out of the car, or jump up!
And if you can’t get your dog to sit on cue, then what the heck are you doing with your dog off leash? One day you will find that it is not dog poop that interrupts your dog’s good behavior, it will be a car or truck. I am a great believer in making sure that you can control your dog at all times. And a simple “Sit” prevents about any behavior problem that you can think of.
I wanted to commend you for your response to the letter regarding your “bias” (December 1999). I’m glad you said that WDJ is biased toward positive training methods! (I don’t know what kind of training that woman does, but if she needs to force or inflict pain on her animals that is in no way, shape, or form positive and motivational.) I also feel that positive training is the only way to go.
I have a 19-month old Rottie and from the age of eight weeks she was participating in an off-leash socialization class where she was allowed to play freely with other puppies, no matter what the size or breed. At nine weeks, while also attending socialization class, we started teaching her the basic commands (sit, down, stay, etc.) using positive motivation. Any other form of training couldn’t be started until six months of age and by this time she would have already started to develop her bad habits.
We taught her all of the basic commands, and many neat tricks. For instance, she can clean up her toys on command. I can’t say enough about the results I have gotten from positive motivation training. Just because the majority of trainers use some kind of training collar (choke, pronged, electronic, etc.) that does not mean it is the best or most humane method.
-Danielle Wint Bethlehem, PA
The letter from the Vizsla owner (December ) brought back memories. I have a six-year-old neutered male that displayed some of this dog’s tendencies, but not to that extreme. The similarity lies in the use of a gate that allows the dogs into the kitchen only.
I allowed my dogs in the kitchen also, and kept them out of the house by using a baby gate. “JoJo” is highly obedience trained, yet I always had to keep a close eye on him in public. He wasn’t accepting of strangers, didn’t like children, and heaven forbid should another dog approach us. He acted aggressive, but if you really knew body language, you could see that a lot of it was fear-based.
About two years ago, I decided to allow the dogs to become a part of the household. The gate is still used occasionally, mostly for the cats to be allowed to finish eating. Then the dogs are let loose in the house.
I quickly saw an amazing difference in JoJo. He was more relaxed, happier, and I didn’t have to use as much caution in public. He was more accepting of strangers, including children and puppies. Three weeks ago, a little girl walked him in a local dog walk. He was fine as long as I was close by. But my heart went into my throat when the child draped herself over his rump and gave him a hug. Again, he was fine.
Another surprise that resulted from this was his weight. He never got huge quantities of food, but always seemed to need more than the others. I considered him to be a “hard keeper”. But with having 20 acres to run on, nothing seemed out of line. As soon as that gate came down, JoJo began putting LOTS of weight on and his food was decreased by about 1/3. This is what made me realize what that seemingly minor separation was doing to him mentally.
The Vizsla in the article has a problem when his owners leave the kitchen. Is this the key to his behavior? Does he desperately just want to be with his pack? To us, this seemingly minor thing can mean a lot to a dog. This would be my starting point.
I agree with Pat Miller’s responses in regards to finding a positive rewards based trainer. This type of training will give the dog confidence. I also think the owners need to look at their own behavior when they have the dog out. Are they conveying tension to the dog? Do they tighten up that leash when a stranger is approaching? Are they anticipating aggression? If we expect a dog to do something, he will rarely disappoint us. Any time we’re having a problem with our dog’s behavior, we must look at our own first.
I would also like to recommend that the owners find a behaviorist in addition to a trainer. You may find a trainer that has behavioral knowledge, but if there’s ANY doubt, go to an expert. As Pat Miller pointed out, nothing can be accomplished immediately with this behavior. But the similarities between the Vizsla and my own dog tell me that they should give this option a try.
-Name withheld
I love WDJ, but was dismayed with the article about the aggressive Vizsla. There is a very obvious reason why the male Vizsla is aggressive that was not discussed. I have had Vizslas for over 12 years and they are a most lovable and loyal breed. The reason he is probably aggressive is that he has been very stressed over his lifetime due to his environment.
Vizslas are extremely pack- and people-oriented. In fact, they think they are people. Mine follows me everywhere. The dog in this article has been confined to the family room and kitchen. He becomes aggressive when family members leave the room because he cannot follow them and thus he has become separated from his pack. Vizslas do not do well under these conditions and can become very stressed.
I suggest that this family not put the dog down, but give it to a family that will treat it properly. They need to let this dog have free roam of the house or give it to someone who will. Otherwise this dog’s problem will not get better. They need to research different breeds and find one that will tolerate separation and confinement; the Vizsla is obviously not for them. I feel sorry for this dog.
-Dr. Donna Wolosin via email
Congratulations on your excellent article about the Monks of New Skete (November). It struck a special chord for me.
First of all, we’ve always had German Shepherds, so the Monks have always held a special place in my heart. When their first book came out, I dreamed that someday we’d have one of their dogs. At that time, I was not doing much with dogs, and I knew very little about training. It was their philosophy that appealed so much to me – just as it did to you.
You probably know that Job Michael Evans wrote the Monks’ first book and later recanted his views about alpha rolls and much of the other physical “dominance” stuff. But, by the time the monks wrote their puppy book, he was long gone and in private practice in New York City.
Interestingly, it was Job who first connected me with Jack and Wendy Volhard with whom I studied for six years – until I discovered clicker training and found my real home as a trainer and instructor.
Your article is so important, especially now that the Monks’ videos are out. I still hear people talk dreamily about the Monks, and I try very hard to honor what was good about their work and to make sure that people avoid what was wrong with it. Your article will go a long way to helping.
Recently, I attended the annual conference for the Association of Pet Dog Trainers. Our lead writer on training, Pat Miller, has been an active member of the Association for some time, and the founder of the organization, Dr. Ian Dunbar, has been a generous contributor to WDJ. Both Pat and Ian have encouraged me to attend the conference; they said it would be right up WDJ’s alley.
Of course, they were right. The APDT promotes the use of positive reinforcement in dog training, and encourages its members to minimize the use of aversive training techniques, and its educational seminars featured some of the best-known dog trainers and animal behaviorists in the world. The lectures and demonstrations were fascinating.
I was particularly interested in the discussions among the trainers as they shared the gentlest and most effective ways to teach dogs and people how to get along safely and enjoyably. One person would bring up a particular training challenge – for instance, how to train a family dog to be safe around a new baby, if the mother is blind – and 10 people would offer suggestions that would help the family cope. It was a great reminder that with dogs (and people!) there are usually dozens of ways to solve any problem.
I have to apologize to our readers about an ongoing typographical error that has appeared just to the right of Rupert’s and my photo on this page. I have accidently reported several erroneous versions of the email address that a person can use to either subscribe to WDJ, or to change their mailing address. Today, I definitely determined the correct address. It is:
Why is there a “d” at the end of palm coast? I just found out: It stands for Palm Coast Data, the name of the company that provides our subscription services. Why is “Journal” shortened to just a small letter “j” and a small letter “l” – the latter which looks like the number “one” in every font in the world? I don’t know. But I can tell you how many ways I have messed this up in the past three months (three), and tell you again how sorry I am for any inconvenience this may have caused.
While I’m at it, I may as well explain all of our contact numbers and addresses. As I said above, to buy or renew a subscription, problems with subscriptions (billing errors, magazines not received, etc.), or to let us know about a change in your mailing address, you should contact Subscription Services at (800) 829-9165 or wholedogjl@palmcoastd.com.
To purchase back issues, you should contact our Customer Service department at (800) 424-7887 or customer_service@belvoir.com.
For editorial questions, you can contact me at (510) 749-1080 or wholedogj@aol.com. I can’t help you with either your subscription or back issues (nor, I should add, can I help you with health or training problems with your dog – I’m not a vet or a trainer!), but I can refer you to people who can do all these things.
However, if you do have a problem with your dog, you should know that my first advice is always the same! For health problems, contact the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association (AHVMA) for a referral to a holistic veterinarian near you. The contact numbers for AHVMA have been listed on page 24 of every issue of WDJ since its inception.
And for training issues, consider contacting APDT for a referral to a non-force-based trainer near you. I’ll list APDT’s contact numbers in ‘Resources’ in every issue of WDJ from now on.
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.
