If your dog is reluctant to, or refuses to eat from a bowl, he’s likely got a good reason for his apprehension: pain, fear, or past trauma related to a mealtime. Photo by Fresh splash / Getty Images
Animal behaviorists are familiar with dogs who refuse to eat from their bowls and prefer to be hand-fed. Here are some reasons why your dog might not be eating out of their bowl:
Underlying health problems like arthritis, nausea, gingivitis, or other painful conditions can make eating uncomfortable.
Separation anxiety and the stress of being alone or in unfamiliar surroundings can cause a dog to seek the reassurance of close personal attention.
Your dog may associate her bowl with a traumatic or negative event that took place while she was eating.
Your dog’s bowl may be in a noisy or uncomfortable location. Bowls that slide across a tile floor may frighten your dog.
Your dog might be overfed and not hungry or may be bored with the same food all the time.
Your dog’s bowl may be the wrong shape (too deep), wrong height (too high or low), or wrong material (plastic or metal) for comfortable dining. Tags on the dog’s collar may clang unpleasantly against the bowl or a long-eared dog may dislike having her ears in her dinner.
Other animals in the home can generate competition for attention or disturb your dog while eating.
How to help your dog eat from a bowl
Some experts discourage consistent hand feeding, saying that it interferes with the development of a dog’s self-sufficiency and creates problems for the dog when circumstances change, as they invariably do.
If there are physiological reasons for your dog’s hand feeding preference, they deserve attention. Address underlying health problems with a visit to your veterinarian and correct environmental problems such as the feeding bowl’s height, shape, material, and physical location. Remove a noisy collar at dinner time. A snood or ear wrap can protect long ears from falling into food bowls.
In multiple-pet households, feed animals separately. Adjust feeding time to when your dog is most relaxed and hungry. Add variety and interest to your dog’s dinner by alternating dog foods, protein sources, and add-on ingredients. If your dog simply isn’t hungry, reduce the number of meals per day or the number of snacks you offer.
The fastest way to break an otherwise healthy dog of the hand feeding habit is to feed him once a day in a bowl placed in a safe, quiet place where he can eat uninterrupted. After 10 to 15 minutes, remove the food and don’t feed him again, including snacks, until the next evening. When he eats from a bowl, reward him with praise and a special treat, also offered in a bowl.
A final reason some dogs insist on hand feeding is that they love the bonding and intimacy it provides. With patience and imagination, you and your dog can enjoy emotional closeness without your having to be an on-demand food dispenser.
Dogs who are the most integrated into our lives – and beds! – probably get bathed most frequently than dogs who sleep only on dog beds and are never allowed on the human furniture. But no dogs should smell bad, leave your hand greasy after petting, or appear dirty; if any of those statements are true, the dog needs more frequent bathing! Photo by Sabena L / EyeEm, Getty Images
How often should you bathe your dog? Depending on which expert you consult, the answer could be every day, once a week, once a month, every three or four months, every six months, whenever the dog is muddy or dirty, whenever he smells bad, or never. The correct answer for you and your dog is probably somewhere in the middle.
How often can I bathe my puppy?
A puppy who truly needs a bath, such as to remove dirt, flea infestations, or fecal matter, can be bathed whenever necessary. Use a gentle shampoo that’s formulated for puppies, rinse thoroughly, dry the pup well, and keep her warm. Too-frequent bathing or the use of a harsh shampoo can result in dry white skin flakes or itchy scratching.
Again, it depends. Obviously, you’ll want to keep your dog clean, but you can accomplish part of that goal with daily brushing. For best results, use a brush that matches your dog’s coat or is recommended for your dog’s breed.
Your dog’s activity level is a factor because dogs who spend hours outdoors may need a weekly bath while more sedentary indoor dogs might need a bath only once a month.
How frequently should I bathe my short-haired (or long-haired) dog?
The length of your dog’s coat isn’t as important as its density. Some breeds, like Weimaraners and Greyhounds, have single-layer coats that don’t shed much and are easy to wash, rinse, and dry. Bathing is more time-consuming for dogs with dense, wiry, or curly coats. Consult with a groomer to learn what products work well for your dog, everything from shampoos and conditioners to detangling sprays, medicated rinses, or finishing sprays, and follow label instructions or advice from your groomer or veterinarian regarding their use.
How can I make my dog smell fresh between baths?
Dry shampoos, also known as waterless or no-rinse shampoos, are powders, mousses, or sprays that absorb excess sebum, an oily substance secreted by glands near the paws, chin, back of neck, and tail. Dry shampoos are recommended for dogs with itchy skin or skin allergies, to provide a quick touch-up with spot cleaning, to clean dogs whose healing wounds should stay dry, and to clean dogs and puppies who don’t like to be bathed. Look for natural ingredients and avoid products that contain parabens, alcohol, sulfates, or synthetic fragrances.
Warm water rinses between baths can help keep your dog smelling fresh between baths. A deodorizing grooming or freshening spray can be applied after or instead of a plain-water rinse.
Pet wipes designed for dogs remove dirt and dust and they help deodorize coats. Should your dog have a skin or paw infection, check with your veterinarian about antibacterial wipes and other options.
Most dogs will chase chickens if not properly introduced and trained to leave the birds alone – and some dogs will chase chickens even after training, if given any opportunity to do so. Dogs should be securely contained and unable to chase a neighbor’s chickens. However, free-range chickens are at risk of being killed by many animals and birds of prey, not just dogs, so chicken owners who value their birds beyond all measure should have them safely contained. (NOTE: This is not the dog involved in the incident described in this article. Stock photo by Danita Delimont, Getty Images.
The rural/suburban interface contains no end of potential conflicts for the humans who choose to live there and the animals they own, and perhaps no animals are more commonly at the center of neighbor disputes than conflicts involving uncontained dogs and livestock. Many people like living on large lots, but fencing is costly, so loose dogs are a frequent concern in areas where people keep chickens, rabbits, goats, sheep, and other animals.
A friend forwarded a January 3, 2023, article to me from a newspaper that serves the semi-rural community where I went to high school. The article tells the story of a tragic event that occurred in mid-September 2022, about a family whose dog was accidently let loose by the owners’ grandchildren, who tried in vain to call the dog back. Within minutes, the dog wandered to the unfenced yard of a next-door neighbor, where he began chasing the neighbor’s chickens, catching and killing two of them.
As the dog raced about, chasing the squawking chickens, one of the dog’s owners, a woman in her 70s, pursued the dog with a leash, calling his name – and then, seeing him actually grab one of the chickens, began screaming at the dog in horror. She has limited mobility, however (she had hip replacement surgery the previous month), and fell at several points in pursuit of the dog. Hearing the hubbub, one of the owners of the chickens ran outside and began screaming at the dog’s owner in anger – and was quickly joined by her husband, an off-duty police officer, who emerged from his house with a gun and began chasing the dog, yelling. The owner of the dog manages to grab him, and fasten a leash to his collar, but he was still fixated on the chickens and managed to pull away from her, and she fell hard on the ground again.
At that point, the couple that owned the chickens were both screaming, with the wife yelling at her husband, “Shoot it! Shoot the f***ing dog!” With the dog’s owner still on the ground, and the dog about 20 feet away, the husband shot the dog three times, angrily yelling, “That’s my right! That’s the law! F*** this!” as the dog’s owner sobbed.
All of this was captured by the chickens’ owners’ home security cameras, and submitted to the newspaper by the chickens’ owners. The newspaper released the footage in a link. (Warning: Though you hear but do not see the dog get shot, the footage is extremely upsetting.)
As the newspaper article said, “Not surprisingly, the [families involved] don’t agree on what happened before, during or after the shooting.” The shooter claimed that the dog had previously menaced him on other occasions when it was loose, and that the dog turned and lunged toward him. The dog’s owners say the dog never moved toward the shooter, and was shot in the back, and that the shooter’s children had played with the dog previously. Whatever the facts are, the most indisputable is that the dog is dead. His dog’s owners transported him to a veterinarian, where they made the decision to have him euthanized due to his extensive injuries.
To make tensions between the neighbors even higher, two weeks later, the owners of the chickens set up a macabre “Halloween” scene in their front yard approximately where their neighbor’s dog was shot: a plastic skeleton of a dog sitting up, in a howling-at-the-moon pose, and a plastic human skeleton lying the ground next to the dog, with a leash in its hand, in their front yard. Woof.
Lessons, but only for those who will learn them
I’m sorry for everyone involved here: the dog, his owners, their grandchildren, the chickens, and even the chicken owners, despite the violence of their act and the needless and insensitive display in their yard. The anger and bitterness between all the surviving parties is sure to last years – and it was all avoidable. Here’s how:
If a dog has escaped his enclosure even once, serious steps must be made to prevent this from happening again. This is especially true if there is livestock in the area and/or if the dog has shown any interest in chasing birds or other animals in the past – or if the dog has ever chased a human or another dog with aggression. The dog owners had a fenced yard where the dog is ordinarily secure, but something happened when the grandchildren were outside with the dog. Keep gates securely locked – like, with a padlock – if there is anyone present who may be unable to prevent the dog from slipping out, or is not 100% able to manage the gate. Or install an “airlock” – a system of two gates that prevents an accidental escape. If the dog climbs or jumps over, or digs under, fences, he needs to be secured in a small covered pen on concrete when he’s not on leash.
Train your dog! In my opinion, teaching a dog a reliable recall, “proofed” under conditions that are made progressively more difficult for the dog as he learns and succeeds, should be the responsibility of every dog owner. No dog is perfect under all conditions, but a decent recall saves lives.
If someone (especially someone you know) is chasing their loose dog in obvious distress, help them catch their dog or chase it away! It’s highly upsetting to lose your chickens or any other pet or livestock, but the lack of empathy shown to the dog’s owner (shooting her dog in front of her, while obviously injured, she sobbed helpless on the ground) in favor of protecting the chickens, is absolutely inhumane. Once the loose-dog incident was over – had the owner of the chickens helped the dog owner catch or chase away the dog – all of the humans could have made a plan to keep everyone safe in the future. Surely, a peaceable relationship your next-door neighbor is more important than acting rashly on your righteous anger.
It’s much better to prevent dog-related disasters than to deal with their aftermath. Owners need to take full responsibility for damage inflicted by their loose dogs – and this can involve far more than dead chickens. Any rancher in California will tell you that they lose more sheep, goats, and even cattle to loose dogs than to coyotes or mountain lions. I read one account where a human lost their life in a car accident, swerving to avoid hitting a loose dog. Please, do everything in your power to contain and train your dogs!
Using a rubber bathtub mat in the bottom of the tub will make your dog feel much more secure and calm in the bathtub or shower stall. Dogs who slip in the tub never look this comfortable! Photo by Manu Vega, Getty Images
Don’t wait until your dog needs a bath to create a comfortable, relaxing routine for this important ritual. Plan ahead by organizing the products and equipment you’ll need, and if you’re new to dog bathing, rehearse the steps, which are:
Dry brush your dog
Wet with water
Shampoo
Rinse
Apply conditioner
Rinse
Dry your dog
Brush while drying
What bath products do I need?
The best dog shampoos and conditioners are made with gentle ingredients that remove dirt without irritating your dog’s skin. Depending on your dog’s coat, you may need a detangling spray, a rubber bathing brush for working shampoo through the coat, fast-drying towels, a hair dryer that dries dog hair quickly without feeling hot, and the right brush for your dog’s coat. Consult a groomer if you need help getting started.
It’s important for the health of the dog’s skin that he’s dried thoroughly after a bath (especially for long or thick-coated dogs). To dry a dog thoroughly after a bath, groomers use special dryers that provide a cooler and more powerful jet of air than human hair dryers. The strong air flow forces the moisture away from the dog’s skin and out of his coat; the cooler air ensures that he doesn’t get overheated. If you use a human hair dryer on your dog, use it on the coolest setting possible. Photo by Siro Rodenas Cortes / Getty Images.
Where to bathe your dog
The best place for your dog’s bath might be your sink, bathtub, walk-in shower, outdoor wading pool, or back yard. Your water supply should be lukewarm, not hot or cold. If you’re using a bathtub, be sure your dog can climb in and out, and place a rubber bathtub mat (or at the very least, a towel) in the tub to keep your dog’s feet from slipping.
You’re probably going to get wet, so wear appropriate casual clothing. Use treats and encouragement to position your dog.
Start with a dry brush on your dog’s coat
Begin by brushing your dog’s coat to remove loose hair, burrs, sand, dried dirt, and other debris. If there are mats in your dog’s coat, save the brushing for later as a bath may loosen the matted hair. In that case, spray or apply a detangling product to the hair mats following label directions and then shampoo.
Dilute your dog shampoo
We, humans, are fond of frothy bubbles, so we tend to over-soap our dogs. While that may look efficient, it’s better to use fewer bubbles and more water. Grooming experts recommend diluting equal parts water and shampoo to blends as dilute as 1 or 2 tablespoons shampoo in 2 cups water. The dilute solutions reach all parts of the coat quickly and rinse out faster and more thoroughly than full-strength shampoo. Dilute your conditioner, too.
Step-by-step dog washing
Use a gentle stream of water to thoroughly wet your dog’s coat. Keep shampoo out of your dog’s eyes and ears as you apply it from neck to tail, then gently massage the shampoo into every part of your dog’s coat.
After that, rinse and rinse and rinse some more. Apply a diluted coat conditioner, if you’re using one, and rinse again. Use a finishing spray or other products as needed, then blot your dog’s coat with towels. If you have one, dry your dog with a dog blow dryer. Finish by brushing your dog’s hair while it’s still slightly damp.
It’s generally easy to determine if your dog is shivering due to happy anticipation or something less positive. If his body language is tense and hunched as he’s shivering, he needs some help! The context can help you; in a crowd like this, the shivering is likely related to fear and apprehension about the crowd. Photo by Javier Zayas Photography, Getty Images.
You are right to be alarmed if you see your dog shivering. It is not normal for a dog to tremble and shake; it can mean something is significantly wrong. There are several reasons why your dog might be shivering or shaking, and some of them need to be addressed quickly.
Cold Shivers
The simplest explanation—and easiest to fix—is that your dog is cold. The answer—warm him up! If bringing him indoors near a heater and covering him with a blanket doesn’t quickly stop the shivers, he may be hypothermic, and a prompt call to your veterinarian is in order. (Next time you take him outside on a cold day, put a jacket on him!)
Medical Reason for Shaking
Dogs can also shake or shiver due to a number of medical conditions including:
Pain
Seizures
Neurological disorders
Nausea
Muscle fatigue or weakness
Illness
If you suspect one of these is the cause, again, it’s time for a prompt call to your veterinarian. There are effective medications for pain and seizures, and your vet will be able perform diagnostic tests to determine if there are internal medical conditions causing this level of distress.
Anticipation Shivers
Sometimes dogs shiver because they are very happily anticipating something—like going for a walk, greeting a loved friend who is approaching, or chasing a ball that you are about to throw. No response (on your part) is called for unless they become more exuberant than you like. If that’s the case, you can employ behavior modification to tone down their happy excitement.
Behavioral Shivering
Behavioral shaking is most likely caused by stress and/or fear. Begin by calmly comforting your stress-shaking dog. No, you won’t be reinforcing his fear; you cannot reinforce emotion. While you comfort, try to determine what’s stressing him and implement management to reduce or eliminate his exposure to the stressor(s). Then seek the assistance of a qualified force-free behavior professional to help change his association with stressors that can’t be eliminated. Your behavior professional may also suggest you talk to a veterinary behaviorist or behaviorally knowledgeable veterinarian about anti-anxiety medications to help your dog cope with his stressful world.
Whatever the cause of your dog’s shaking, you can and must help him. Figure out the cause and do the right thing as quickly as you can!
Some dogs use pawing in order to get humans to pay attention to them, and if their nails need trimming, they usually succeed in getting that attention! If this is a behavior you don’t care for, try to anticipate when your dog is about to paw and turn or walk away, or ask her for a behavior that is incompatible with pawing, such as “Down!” Make sure you reinforce the behavior you have asked for when she does it. Photo by Vedrana Sucic / EyeEm / Getty Images
Many dogs get satisfaction from touching their humans with their paws. Some of us like it, some of us tolerate it, and some of us prefer dogs keep their paws to themselves. Why do dogs want to touch us with their paws? What’s in it for them?
Why Dogs Give You Their Paw
We know that behaviors that persist are somehow being reinforced. If your dog insists on touching you with her paw, she’s getting something out of it. It could be:
Someone taught her. “Shake” is a popular trick, and if you – or someone else – taught her this, it was probably done using treats (or something else your dog likes) as her reward. Now she thinks the way to get treats is to offer to shake!
Attention-seeking. Just like we might touch someone to get their attention, your dog learns that pawing you gets you to pay attention to her.
Reassurance-seeking. If your dog is worried about something, touching you with her paw could be her way of saying, “Please comfort me.”
What Should You Do About Paw Touching?
If you like it, you can continue to reinforce the paw-touching behavior when your dog offers it. If you find it annoying, you can teach her that she gets reinforced for “Shake” only if you’ve asked her to do it, and that, in contrast, attention-pawing will make your attention go away. (You can even use a cheerful “Oops!” as a no-reward marker to say, “That behavior made the good stuff go away.) Alternatively, you can reinforce her for touching her paw to something other than you.
Comfort-seeking is another matter. Anytime your dog seeks comfort from you, the best response is to give it to her, and determine why she needs comforting. Bottom line? If your dog is paw-touching you to communicate, value her communication efforts and try to figure out what she is trying to tell you.
There’s no room for misinterpretation here. This dog is having a grand time, shown by his relaxed face, open smiley mouth, and overall zest for fun. Credit Brighton Dog Photography | Getty Images
Dogs have the emotional capacity of a 2- to 3-year-old child. They can feel emotions (happy, sad, angry, fearful), but they can’t express them in words. It’s up to the adults around them to interpret their actions and body language.
Signs of happiness vary from dog to dog – but here are seven behaviors most dogs exhibit when they are happy:
Tail relaxed or body wagging, relaxed ears, relaxed body: A stiff body or tail with ears facing back means an unsure dog. It could signal aggression or worry. A wagging tail and relaxed ears means interest and comfort. A tail that’s low and wagging is more likely an indication the dog may be stressed.
Happy, relaxed face: Dogs “smile,” usually with their mouth open and showing some teeth. Snarling or curling back the lips means aggression. A hard stare is a clear indication the dog is not happy.
Happy dance: It’s usually from side to side, and they usually do it before a favorite activity, like eating, walking, hunting, or playing.
Play bow (bottom up, head and chest down): It almost always means they want to play, and it often precedes happy zoomies.
Happy barks: Usually shorter and higher pitched than regular barks.
Eating: A happy dog eats well because he’s not worried.
Good behavior: A happy dog usually doesn’t misbehave by chewing things or having accidents in the house.
Other signs of happiness can include being excited about activities and friendly toward other dogs and people. Again, though, many factors can cause a dog to be unfriendly, too. It’s a vital part of having a dog, so take the time to watch your dog and learn to understand his tail and other body language, so you can react to him appropriately.
This sled dog is showing the characteristic sign of snow nose. Note the pink coloration on what should clearly be a brown nose. Credit: Evgeny Kharitonov | Getty Images
Is your dog’s normally dark colored nose turning pink or tan? If it’s winter, and everything else about your dog is normal, this discoloration on a dog’s nose is likely a benign phenomenon called snow nose or Dudley nose. It is a seasonal loss of pigment in the nose, thought to be genetically linked to liver-colored noses. It can involve the whole nose, just a center stripe, or come in random patches. Dog breeds that commonly get snow nose include Siberian Huskies, Malamutes, American Eskimos, Golden Retrievers, Labrador Retrievers, Bernese Mountain Dogs, and Cocker Spaniels.
Nobody knows for sure why it happens, but it is thought to be associated with shorter daylight length and lack of sunlight that results in decreased melanin production. Melanin is the pigment in skin that makes you look tan in the summer. Many dogs, although not all, regain their darker nose color in the spring and summer. Some experts think this aspect of the syndrome may simply be due to the direct tanning effect of UV rays. Either way, your dog’s nose color will likely cycle with the seasons.
How to be sure it’s just snow nose and not something worse? Snow nose is just a color change, basically fading from dark to beige or pink. There are no other changes to the surface appearance, texture, or architecture of the nose, and the dog is not bothered by it.
If your dog’s nose has raised lesions or bumps; ulcerated or raw areas; crusting, scaling, scabbing or bleeding; or it seems uncomfortable, then it’s time to get to the vet. These symptoms do not happen with snow nose. They are more likely to be indicative of autoimmune disease, infectious disease, or cancer.
Snow nose has no known treatment or prevention. Some people have tried vitamin E (an antioxidant which stabilizes cell membranes so may slow down depigmentation) and kelp supplementation (high in iodine to aid thyroid hormone production, which is involved in the pigmentation process) has been suggested, although neither of these are likely to make a difference. The best thing you can do for your dog’s snow nose is to apply sunscreen to protect it, especially when it’s pink.
Sunscreen for Dogs
Look for a sunscreen made specifically for dogs. They are available as lotions, sprays, sticks, balms, ointments, and clothing. Look for a product that matches your dog’s lifestyle. Some must be applied 15 to 20 minutes before sun exposure, while others offer instant protection. Waterproof products may best suit swimming dogs.
Dog-safe sunscreens do not contain zinc oxide or para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA), which are commonly found in human sunscreens and are toxic to dogs. If your dog has sensitive skin, test new products for allergic reactions by applying sunscreen to a small area of bare skin. Check it after 24 to 48 hours for signs of irritation and if it causes a reaction, try a different product.
Dogs enjoy rolling in grass, but the spot they choose often has something to do with the scent. Rudi Von Brief | Getty Images
Dogs Roll in Grass Due to Scent
Rolling in grass is all about scent – either covering it up, adding scent, or picking it up to himself. Dogs’ noses are up to 50 times more sensitive than ours, depending on the breed, so they can smell lots of gross things that they think are perfect for rolling.
An older study with wolves, published in the Canadian Journal of Zoology, found that wolves were most likely to rub in an odor not usually in the wolf’s environment or a familiar scent that is slightly different. And, not surprisingly, they found that some wolves seemed to roll in scents believed to have a strong aversion or attraction.
Your dog’s hunting instinct makes him roll in the grass, makes him roll where another animal has urinated or defecated, and makes him roll in a dead animal. It is speculated that rolling covers up his own scent so he can get closer to prey before they sense him.
What Does It Mean When a Dog Rolls in Grass?
Rolling is also a way to communicate with other pack members (including you!), telling them he’s nearby or to stay away from this area because it’s his.
And remember too that what smells good to us usually doesn’t smell good to them – and vice versa. So don’t be surprised when, as soon as you bathe your dog in that expensive, sweet-smelling shampoo, the first thing he does is roll in the grass or something else that stinks. That may well be because he thinks that he smells horrible!
Now, rolling can be a sign that something’s wrong, that he has fleas, an allergy, or a skin irritation. That’s when you have to note the rest of his behavior:
Does his rolling look manic?
Is he scratching where he rolls?
Is the skin red or irritated?
This behavior will help you decide if you should investigate further and maybe call the veterinarian.
And sometimes your dog rolls just because it feels good and makes him happy. And that’s just as natural as rolling in something due to scent.
Some dogs don’t miss a beat when wearing protective dog boots. Pawson the Run Photography | Getty Images
Most of the time, dogs don’t need shoes, boots, or socks. Their pads are tough enough for almost any surface and in all but extreme temperatures. There are times, however, when a set of well-fitting dog shoes will be welcomed by humans and canines alike.
Dog Shoes for the Winter
According to a 2011 study from Yamazaki Gakuen University in Japan, a dog’s feet can withstand freezing temperatures due to the dog’s unique circulatory system. In dog feet, veins and arteries are set close to each other and the blood in the arteries warm the cooler blood in the dog’s veins, helping to keep the body temperature in the paws balanced.
But there are limits, and dogs vary with what cold temperatures they can handle. A dog who is starting to lift a paw, alternating paws, keeps looking at his paw, or simply sits down so he can lift all four paws off the ground is experiencing discomfort.
The problem could be snowballs forming between his pads (clipping the hair in that area can reduce the chance of that happening), freezing temperatures, injuries from rough terrain, or irritation from crusty ice or snow, or ice-melt products, all of which may be prevented with boots.
Dog Shoes for Summer
In warm weather, stinging goats’ heads, foxtails, and other burrs can stick to the hair between the dog’s pads and make walking painful. Similarly, if the dog is walking over hot surfaces like sidewalks or blacktopped surfaces, his paws can get burned. A protective boot may help.
Getting Dog Shoes to Fit Properly
Finding boots that stay on and fit well can be a challenge. Follow manufacturer instructions carefully to obtain an accurate measurement of the dog’s paw length and width to get the right fit. You may need to experiment with different types and brands to find the one just right for your dog. If you can, go to a local store where you can try the boots on the dog.
Be prepared that your dog may take time to adjust to the boots because boots, even socks, affect dogs’ proprioception, his ability to “read” the ground under them. In addition, a study in the July 12, 2022, issue of Frontiers of Veterinary Science found that wearing dog boots does orthopedically impact the dog’s ground reaction forces (the force from the ground when a body contacts it) and center of pressure (load distribution in the dog’s paw). The researchers concluded that more research was needed, but there is an effect.
We know there are differences between big and little dogs in terms of exercise, tolerances for cold, and feeding, so adding in when to spay a female dog should come as no surprise. Buffy 1982 | Getty Images
The best age to spay a female dog varies depending on the breed and size of your dog. Studies have shown a possible link in large dogs between early spay/neuter and certain joint disorders (hip dysplasia, elbow dysplasia, injuries to the cranial cruciate ligament) and cancers (lymphoma, hemangiosarcoma, osteosarcoma, and mast cell cancer). This may be because the hormones associated with growth and development come from the gonads, so leaving the ovaries in place longer enhances the dog’s musculoskeletal health.
If you have a small breed dog or a mixed-breed dog less than 42 pounds, the timing of spay has not been linked to any of these diseases. Additionally, small dogs are not prone to developing spay incontinence (hormone-associated urinary incontinence after spay), which is also mainly large breed dog problem. What all this means that if you have a small dog, you can have her spayed whenever you want. (The exception is if you have a Shih Tzu. In one study, Shih Tzhs had a significantly higher risk of cancer if spayed before 1 year of age, so you’re better off waiting until she is 2.) Most veterinarians will spay small dogs as early as 6 months of age, before they have a heat cycle.
Risks of Spaying Too Early
Unnecessary tissue trauma due to fragile juvenile tissues
Scar tissue adhesions developing in the abdomen
Development of spay incontinence in big dogs
Large Dog Spays
The general recommendation for large breed dogs is to wait until at least 12 months to spay, as many of these breeds have shown an increased incidence of joint disorders and cancers if spayed earlier. This is especially true for Golden Retrievers, Viszlas, and Rottweilers. Cancer is so prevalent in Golden Retrievers, and so much higher in spayed Golden Retrievers, that some experts suggest not spaying Golden Retrievers at all. Spaying large breed females later also reduces the risk of hormone-associated urinary incontinence.
Overall, there are more pros than cons to spaying your female dog if she is not intended for breeding. Spaying means no messy heats, no unwanted pregnancies, less chance of breast cancer, no chance of ovarian or uterine cancer, and no chance of uterine infection (pyometra), which is a very common surgical emergency in older, intact (not spayed) female dogs.
When to Spay a Dog After a Heat Cycle
Remember that dogs come into heat approximately every six months. So, if you’re planning on having your dog spayed later, schedule the surgery so it is around two to three months after a heat. This allows time for everything to quiet down inside and the blood vessels that became enlarged during heat to get smaller, making the surgery a little safer and less complicated than when she is in heat.
Wave after wave of puppies are arriving at the shelter. While puppies are more readily adopted than adult dogs (in most cases), they often require more time at the shelter before they can be adopted, and more medical care. Each needs to be vaccinated and spayed or neutered – and they often end up with kennel cough, requiring time and treatment.
The difficulty in obtaining routine veterinary care may have contributed to the surge in pet overpopulation – but since that’s a long-term problem in itself, what can we do about all these dogs and cats right now?
I haven’t been volunteering at my local shelter lately; I’ve had my hands full with work stuff, family stuff, and my own three dogs. But I was running errands the other day with a little bit of time on my hands and decided to stop by and say hello to the director and the head RVT (registered veterinary technician) – the folks I’ve worked with and have known for the longest time, all 16 years I have lived in this town.
When I walked in, I could see that the director was absorbed in conversation with the front counter staff. I took a walk through the adoption kennel while waiting for her to be free. In the month of December, in an effort to get more pets “home for the holidays,” the shelter had waived the cost of all dog and cat adoptions, and I had been happy to see lots of photos of newly adopted pets and their new owners on the shelter’ Facebook page. Given all the photos I had seen, I hoped the adoption kennel would be only lightly populated.
I couldn’t have been more mistaken. Every single one of the 28 kennels contained at least one dog, and several contained two or even three dogs. As I walked along the kennel row, dismayed, another RVT on the staff, whom I’ve known for at least seven or so years, came into the adoption kennel through another door. We greeted each other, and I told her I was just killing time, waiting to say hi to the director. She said she was just taking a momentary break, and she joined me on my walk around the perimeter of the kennels, which are arranged in the center of the room. She gave me details about at least a dozen of the dogs as we walked – some of the hardest-luck cases and some of her favorite wards. There were a lot of sad stories.
While some dogs are more comfortable sharing a kennel with another dog, most shelters have numerous dogs who guard their food or a preferred resting place in the kennel, or who redirect aggression on their kennelmates when they get aroused as people walk through the shelter. Those dogs should be housed individually, but when the shelter is full, it becomes more difficult to provide individual kennels.
We did a similar walk around the perimeter of the “isolation” part of the building – a mirror version of the other room, also with 28 kennels. These pens were even more full, with two to three dogs in every kennel but the ones that had large “DANGER” signs on them – indicating dogs who have proven to be dangerously aggressive to other dogs and/or humans.
There was also one pen with a single dog in in who did not have a “danger” sign on his door. He looked to be an elderly Labrador, very thin, with a hind leg that he could not put weight on and which stuck out at a crazy angle. I read his cage card; it indicated he was “seized” – a police case of some kind – and that he was 19 years old. I raised my eyebrows at my friend. “That’s what the owner told police. We think he’s more like 12 years old or so. But we’re not sure what we’ve going to do with him. He is such a sweet boy.”
As we talked about that dog, we walked into a hallway in the office part of the shelter building, and ran into the shelter director. I told her how disappointed I was to see how full the shelter was. She said, “TELL me about it! I waived adoption fees all December, just to try to get some animals out of here. But it feels like for every one that left the building, five more came in!”
My friend the RVT joined our conversation. She had just been on the phone with the police discussing the cruelty and hoarding case that involved the skinny, crippled old Lab. “We had to seize 24 animals the other day, cats and dogs both – and it’s been quite a job, making room for them!” she said. “It’s crowded and stressful here,” she said, “But at least the poor animals will be fed and receive medical care!”
I asked her about the plan for the old Lab. She said, “You know, that’s exactly the kind of dog that we like to splurge on – to spend extra money to make sure he gets the time and medical care he needs to recover and find a happy home for the rest of his life. But it’s very hard to justify the time and money right now, with so many other needy animals. There is an 8-month-old Boxer with a broken leg who needs surgery, too – and we just spent a fortune treating a bunch of parvovirus cases.”
“And in the meantime,” the director added, “I have people coming in screaming at the front counter staff because we can’t take their dogs. We’re not taking any owner-surrendered animals right now; we have no room for them! This lady came in the other day mad because we wouldn’t take her three dogs. She was screaming, ‘This is your job! Why don’t you do your damn job?’ I wanted to tell her, ‘Why don’t you come in the back with me and tell me which dogs I should kill to make room for yours!’ ”
The RVT said, “Even the shelters and rescues that we’ve been working with for years, who take some of our excess animals from time to time – they are maxed out, too. At the moment, we’re hearing, ‘Sorry, we’re full!’ from every group we know.”
I asked my friends, “What do you think is happening? Why so many stray and surrendered animals right now?”
The RVT said, “I think that since COVID started, and so many veterinary practices were either shut down or taking only emergency or reduced caseloads, a lot of animals didn’t get spayed or neutered – and now we’re a couple or a few dog and cat generations into a population boom. We’re just drowning in puppies and kittens – more than ever – and also taking in a lot of 1-year-old dogs and 2-year-old dogs that people say they ‘just can’t keep anymore.’ I think there are a ton of ‘accidental litters’ that have been born over the past couple of years, due to the fact that people haven’t been able to get into a clinic and get their animals sterilized. And each litter of unneutered pups or kittens that are given away tends to create another!”
We didn’t talk for much longer; I didn’t want to keep them from their work. I made a donation – every little bit helps – and told them I’d be thinking about anything I could do to help with the limited amount of time I’ve been finding myself with lately.
Solutions: What can be done?
Being a writer, my go-to is to try to generate some buzz by writing about the plight of shelters everywhere, in an effort to get the word out to the animal-loving community: Please help your local shelters in any way you can! They are struggling under the weight of too much to do, and too little funding (almost always) to do it with. Fostering, donations, asking friends and family for donations – these things help a lot. Also, setting your Amazon account to an AmazonSmile account and choosing your local animal shelter as its charitable beneficiary helps, too. Amazon donates a tiny percentage of your AmazonSmile purchases to the charity of your choice, but if enough people in your community select your local animal shelter as their charitable recipient, it adds up!
While donations can’t add up to an immediate increase in the amount of space a shelter has, it frees up funds for buying food and medicine for treating animals (yes, some shelters have to balance their funds for food against funds for medical treatment). Above all, regular donations give shelters the ability to hire more help. It takes a lot more time to keep kennels clean when they are holding two and three dogs apiece than just one, and this alone translates into better health for the wards.
I wish I lived in a community with a low-cost spay/neuter clinic that I could support; I’d fund-raise for them year-round. I do believe that almost any cost for spay/neuter services is a barrier for many of the people in the relatively low-income community where I live.
On social media, I follow a rescue group in a nearby county – one that focuses on what they call “home to home” adoptions. They try to help people find qualified new homes for pets that people can’t keep (for whatever reason), by providing foster care, training, medical help, and grooming and then screening prospective new owners, so that the dog doesn’t end up in another home that might not work out. This keeps many dogs out of their local shelter – and also out of the arbitrary and often sketchy world of Craigslist rehoming. The fact that it’s a private organization, with no obligation to take on more dogs than they can handle, helps the group maintain financial stability (though I know that emotionally it can be hard to turn away needy dogs when the demand for placement is high).
What works best in your area for helping homeless dogs and overcrowded shelters? Any and all good ideas are welcome; you never know what solution might work perfectly for another shelter.
A couple of days ago, I received a text from a dog-training client, wondering about a video she had just watched—and which she linked in the text. “Is meat meal bad for dogs?” she asked. She followed that message with, “I get that she’s selling her own pet food, but is it (meat meal) that bad?”
