Gone to the Dogs

Reverse sneeze...not as bad as it sounds!

2012-01-25T19:11:00.001-05:00

One of our most frequent calls from clients goes something like this: "Help! My dog has been making this awful noise and he sounds like he can't breathe. He wheezes and wheezes, but then after a minute he seems fine. He's done it twice today!".

This is a typical description of a dog with a reverse sneeze. No one has identified one specific thing that causes this, although there are a number of different triggers that are thought to be involved. In our area, I think most of the dogs I see have some post nasal drip that is probably allergy related which causes the episodes. We tend to have clients report it in clusters, which supports the allergy theory. Also short faced breeds seem to have this problem more frequently, which may be related to a longer soft palate which can become entrapped over the epiglottis and contribute to the problem. In some areas of the country, nasal mites may be a factor but I have not seen this in our area.

Below are a few videos which demonstrate typical reverse sneeze episodes. All dogs are a little different, but if your dog looks like this, seems fine after the episode is over, has pink gums and tongue during the episode, and shows no other evidence of disease, reverse sneeze is the most likely answer. If the problem is frequent or seems to be causing your dog distress, contact your vet to make sure there are no other problems going on. In some cases, antihistamines may help decrease the symptoms. During the episode, sometimes stroking your dog's throat gently or even sticking a finger down his throat may help to stop a prolonged episode, though in most cases the dog is probably best left alone (note- several places on the internet recommend holding the dog's nostrils closed. I would not suggest using this technique).

Sanibel

2012-01-24T21:52:00.000-05:00

Several years ago my parents bought a place on Sanibel Island in Florida and started spending half the year there. I love going down to visit, but it can be really tough to get away from the clinic and this summer it didn't happen. Around Labor Day my cousin Chip and his wife Krystal moved to Big Pine Key near Key West...and I had the idea that maybe Thanksgiving on Sanibel would be doable. The clinic is only open a half day on Weds, would be closed on Thurs for Thanksgiving, and we usually come in and work a half day or until we run out of clients on Fri and are closed on Sat. I figured I could leave Tues night or Weds morning and come back Sun night and only have to close 2 extra half days. Luckily my parents, Chip and Krystal thought it was a good idea as well. Mom and Dad drove down, I flew down Wednesday morning, and Chip and Krystal drove up with their Lab Vader. The only one who DIDN'T think it was a good plan was Mom and Dad's cat Spooky. It's hard to say if he was more annoyed by Vader or by me, his least favorite person on the face of the earth.

Vader, on the other hand, thought it was a GREAT idea and wasted no time investigating the pool. It did take him just a little bit to figure out how to get IN, but once he had that down he was in heaven.

And that was before we took him to the beach. He was in seventh heaven...their new house on Big Pine Key is on a canal, but he hasn't tried to jump in there yet. And the beach is at the end of their street, but it is private access there so I don't think he's spent much time in the ocean yet.

The next day we went back to the beach; it was about 80 degrees but the water was COLD! Krystal and Vader braved it for a little while and Dad and Chip took out the kayak. Mom and I were wimps and watched from our beach chairs!

Vader looks very handsome, but it is hard to catch a Lab NOT looking goofy! The one below is my favorite goofball shot.

But my favorite place on the island is Ding Darling Wildlife refuge, which takes up a huge percentage of the island itself. Ding has about a five mile drive through the refuge; you can drive through at your own pace (usually barely rolling for me), stop and get out as you like, walk the trails and climb the viewing towers, or just watch from the car. I usually try to be there every morning as soon as the gates open and often make another run through in the afternoon or evening.

This time of year the white pelicans were very visible- they have not been there when I have gone down in the summer. The more common brown pelicans are around most of the time, but they tend to spend their time on the ocean rather than the bay side where the refuge is.

This particular tree must be a favorite spot for the osprey to bring their prey to eat, as I've found them there several times. If you look closely, you can see this one has a fish in his talons.

My very favorite "Florida birds" are the Roseate spoonbills. I didn't see many of them this year at Thanksgiving, so most of these shots were ones I took last summer when I went down. They were very much in evidence that time and I got many good views. They always remind me of the goons in the old Popeye cartoons.

This shot always makes me think of a choir director!

Aaargh! Blogger STILL won't let me manipulate photos to my liking, so sorry about the annoying arrangements. Next time I make a trip down I think I am going to rent a big lens for my camera, as I was definitely suffering from "lens envy" comparing myself to the REAL photographers down there! My quest for a good in flight shot continues...they are really hard to get and I think I am going to have to figure out how to use a tripod and still get the right angle.

Sorry for those of you with a slow connection- I know this one was really picture heavy but I always have fun shooting in FL!

How much should I feed him, Doc? Part One

2011-11-14T15:30:00.000-05:00

One of the most frequent subjects I am asked about on a daily basis is feeding your pet. What, how much, when, etc. And by far, the MOST common problem I see in pets in my practice is obesity. I would venture to guess that 75% or more of the pets I see are above their ideal weight; it is not unusual to see both dogs and cats who weigh more than twice what they should. By contrast, I very rarely see pets who are too thin, and when I do it almost always indicates a medical problem.

Lets talk a little about cats first. Cats are true carnivores, or meat eaters. For many years, most of my clients have fed primarily dry cat food; I did too. However, in recent years we are finding that the dry foods are quite high in carbohydrates. Have you ever eaten a huge pasta dinner, felt so stuffed you had to unzip your pants, and yet woken up in the middle of the night with hunger pangs? That "carb crash" is similar to what happens to our cats fed high carb diets; the result being they eat more and more and get fatter and fatter. Feeding a predominantly canned diet has been shown to promote proper weight regulation; in addition, the increased water intake (most canned foods are 80% or so moisture) helps to maintain urinary tract health, which is important since lower urinary tract disease is one of the most common problems we see in our housecats. Obese cats are at much higher risk for diabetes, among other disease, and interestingly we are finding our diabetic kitties also are much better regulated on low carb diets.

With my current cats (Stevie, the clinic cat, who is prone to be chubby, and my two young cats who are two years old) I am now feeding predominantly canned food, though I do give a little dry in the mornings to keep them accustomed to it so that if I need to be gone overnight I can leave out dry food for them to have while I'm gone (although in practice, leaving a reasonable amount generally results in it all being eaten before I am out the door!). Since making this change Stevie is finally at an appropriate weight (though he will probably never lose his "paunch" unless we can convince him to do ab crunches!), my young cats are at an appropriate weight, and their coats look the best of any cats I have had. Best of all, the shedding is markedly less. On the down side, canned food is more expensive, messier, and smellier (but the expense may be offset by savings on medical care).

In an ideal world, cats are best "free fed", which means allowing them to nibble throughout the day. My cats would interpret this as "being allowed to nibble ALL day without stopping", so for chow hounds I recommend splitting the recommended feeding into a morning and evening portion. For maintainence, on most foods, about 1/2 cup per cat per day of dry or 1 5-6 oz can usually is a good starting point. You can always increase or decrease as needed depending on how your own pet maintains their weight on this amount. (Frequently the recommended feeding amounts on labels are WAY higher than what is needed to maintain an appropriate weight in both dogs and cats- I usually recommend looking at the bottom end of the range they give and subtracting 25% for a good starting point).

One thing to remember with cats is that, unlike dogs, there is never a place for fasting them when trying to get them to lose weight. When cats go without food for a period of time (and the fatter the cat, the shorter the time it takes for them to get into trouble- sometimes even less than a day in extreme cases), they begin to build up fatty deposits in the liver. This is called "hepatic lipidosis" and is an extremely frustrating disease in which the cats literally become unable to eat. It can be a primary problem or occur secondary to other disorders which make the cats stop eating in the first place. Once the cat starts eating again, the disease is generally reversible, but GETTING them eating again can be an incredibly difficult process, involving appetite stimulants, force feeding, and even placing feeding tubes. If your cat is not eating for more than a day, ESPECIALLY if it is a fat cat, that is an indication that you need to see a veterinarian.

Part 2 to follow later, when we will talk about dogs and how NOT to create a picky eater!

Industry and laziness

2011-05-31T17:49:00.010-04:00

This past Memorial Day weekend I forgot until too late to enter the agility trial I had intended to go to; so for the first time in probably 20 years, I had a three day weekend with nowhere to go, nothing to do, no dog shows, no family obligations, nothing. It was WONDERFUL. I spent most of the weekend working in the yard, cleaning the training room in the basement, lugging my agility tunnels to the car wash to clean, and training the dogs.

Here are a couple of pictures of my project that I finally got done. Last summer I bought a fountain which has been sitting waiting for me to get to it; and even before that I had bought a kit called "poetry stones" which let you pour your own bricks and press words into them. I used them to make a brick for each of my pets who has died, with their names, dates, and titles for the dogs who had earned them. I wanted to make a little memorial garden, or really a memorial flower bed, with the fountain to double as a bird bath and hopefully backdrop for bird photos.

My dad had put the lattice up for me last summer, so I could plant more clematis which seems to love my backyard and will provide a good place for the birds to perch and hide. I had to put down weed blanket, try and level the area with sand, and put paver sand between the bricks, as well as put in a few plants. I planted two clematis which hopefully will take off and grow as well as the ones I put in last year; pickings were slim at the garden stores but I did find one coneflower and put some shasta daisies behind the fountain- hopefully they will grow tall enough to provide a backdrop there.

I put my little curled up kitty garden statue in the corner. I am not very happy with how the bricks turned out- they are not at all level and not very stable, so I may have to figure out a better way to redo them. But at least for now they are in. I need some more plants too, but I think I put it off a bit too long for this year. I did pick up some creeping phlox and a couple dianthus yesterday to add in.

All of my pets are represented, starting with my old dog Winky who I got when I was 3 and was with me until my freshman year of college. I will have to lug the kit out again and make stones for Harley to add in; though he was my parents' dog he deserves a place here as well. I did not include my many many wild critters from my years of wildlife rehab- that would have required a whole patio!

After I was finally finished, I took the pictures (mostly to send to my parents in FL so they could help me come up with what other types of plants to add) and was sitting relaxing in my chair listening to the fountain and watching the birds. I needed to go up and lug my agility tunnels down from the van through the backyard and put them back in the basement, but was struggling to find the motivation. The dogs got hot, so I had put them back inside. A pair of Carolina wrens had been very much in evidence all weekend, flying back and forth between the woods and the deck, and I thought they must have a nest under the deck but hadn't gotten around to looking for it. I see them around occasionally, but they are not usually such a constant presence. As I sat there trying to talk myself into finishing up my last chore, they really started to get annoyed by me and kept landing on the lattice, looking at me and scolding, then making their rounds again from deck to woods and back to deck again. So of course I put the zoom lens on the camera and took a few shots.

This is not the face of a pleased wren! How DARE I occupy his backyard- he obviously had important things to do and had not planned on company!

Suddenly I heard a tiny, higher pitched peep and it became apparent what the adult wrens had been distressed about. Apparently there WAS a nest under the deck, and number one son had decided it was time to strike out on his own. I looked down and there was fluffy, awkward looking baby wren perched on the lattice down near the ground.

By this time Papa and Mama Wren were fit to be tied. I can just see her nattering away at him: "Oh, you HAD to have the nest here. Right by the birdfeeder, you said. Right by the birdbath. Easy access to all the takeout we need. Too close to the house, I said. But noooo... you insisted no one is ever home here and it would be fine. So guess when they decided to be home! Next time you'll listen to me!".

Meanwhile, number one son has hopped over onto the deck steps and is looking at me very curiously, but not at all afraid. He is so close that I actually can't get him in focus with my zoom lens, and I am almost out of space on my CF card! But what are the odds that I would be sitting there with a camera in my hand in the first place?

Even a little out of focus, isn't he just the cutest thing ever? He looks like a little old man with his wild tufts on the top of his head.

I filled up my CF card and had to take a quick break to change it and the lens. NOW I could get sharper shots. Number one son made a brave attempt to fly and landed in the middle of the lily bed, hopping from plant to plant.

I couldn't believe my luck when he flew up and perched right in the middle of a full, bright red lily blossom. I love this shot! Sometimes laziness is rewarded- if I'd lugged my butt up and finished my chores, I would have missed the whole thing.

Here is the little gourd house where the nest was- my aunt painted it for me and I hung it under the deck thinking I would find a better place for it later. Summer before last it hosted a wren family and I never got around to moving it; if anyone used it last year I didn't see them. I had just looked in it a couple of weeks ago and didn't see anything, so didn't think it was in use.

If you look closely, you can see one of the three other babies still in the nest. The other three elected not to make their first flight that evening; but when I came home from work the next day the nest was empty. Good luck, little fledglings! Good thing you didn't come out while the dogs were lying under the deck- you would have landed right in front of their noses and I'm not sure about Cory but I know darn well Robbie would have pounced on you in an instant- he LOVES real feathers and fur. Stay safe from the other critters and I will keep the feeders full for you!

Veterinary medicine in an information age

2011-05-26T14:19:00.000-04:00

This month marks the twenty-first year I have been a veterinarian, and August will be twenty years since I bought my practice and became a solo practitioner. The changes in the profession during that time have been amazing. In my class at Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine, the class of 1990, we were the first class where the women outnumbered the men-just barely. Now there has been a huge shift towards women in the profession. I remember going to visit colleges during my senior year of high school and the inevitable comment from faculty and advisers when they heard I would be a pre-vet major was "Oh, I hear they're starting to let lots of women in!". At the time I bought my practice, I believe there were two other female practice owners in Northern Ky. Guess that makes me a bit of a dinosaur!

And in more ways than one! When I was a high school student, we went to the NEW high school- Scott High, in Taylor Mill. We were the only group to go on the "five year plan"- we started as eighth graders so the seniors could stay and finish out their time at Dixie. One of the big exciting things about the new school was that it would be the first one to offer computer math. Now, I was definitely on the biology/science track so I didn't take it, but I still remember my friends carrying their cassette tapes that they wrote their programs on around! It was REALLY new technology when 5 inch floppies came along! During vet school, the school had one computer and the only time I remember using it was for some sort of self taught program in our respiratory physiology class. I did sometimes help out over the years at a business my family owned for a while, and spent a little time on one of the old original Apple computers that was in use there.

After graduation I went to work at a practice in Indianapolis and shortly after I arrived they computerized. At that time very few practices had computers, and those that did used them mostly for invoicing, but we went with a system called PSi where all of our medical records were computerized as well. I had NO computer experience, but did have a semester of typing in high school and ten years of piano lessons, so I got to be quite quick on the keyboard and figured my way around the program pretty easily.

When I bought my own practice the following year, I really missed our computer system and in late 1992 I purchased the same system for my own clinic. I had never owned a computer before and was excited when boxes and boxes of equipment came- all with strict instructions NOT to open them until the trainer arrived for three days of staff training. Yeah, right! I opened them up and managed to figure out how to set one up because I just couldn't wait to install a computer game I had bought called "Life and Death". (if you want a good laugh, click on the link for a short video to show you what this game looked like! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5azQdQR35E). It involved running tests on (human) patients, making a diagnosis, and taking them to surgery. The graphics were EXTREMELY crude-black, white, red and turquoise were the only colors, but it was a fun game. The only problem was, after I loaded it on the computer ALL of the clinic software vanished. Uh Oh. The night before the trainer arrived, I uninstalled the game, put everything back in the box, and feigned ignorance (ok, not a good plan, but it was a plan!). It took him half a day to figure out that somehow I had created a new partition on the hard drive (the game ran on DOS, while the computer system was Xenix based- which all was Greek to me). He did manage to get it fixed and up and running and I must have confessed my transgressions at some point, because he set up a separate DOS partition for me to run the game and a few other programs. At that time, we were using the old monochrome monitors with green type, there was ONE store in Northern KY that sold a little bit of software and computer supplies, but otherwise you had to drive to Comp USA up in Tricounty-45 minutes away, at least. Windows 3 or 3.1 had just hit the market and a lot of programs still used plain old DOS.

Around this time, the news was full of stories about the "information superhighway" and how it was going to revolutionize everything we did; but like most everyone I knew the whole concept made little sense to me and I could not visualize WHAT it would do, much less how it would work. One of the employees at that tiny little N KY computer store told me that you could get FREE internet access through Northern KY University and told me how to get set up, which I promptly did- free dial up access! I wasn't exactly sure WHAT to do once I had it, on my lovely little green and black monitor, but I had it! (and I had to shut the whole system down and restart it to open the DOS partition each time I wanted to use it as well!). Somehow I found out about email lists about obedience training and soon I was staying at the clinic until the wee hours of the morning reading posts from big time and little time trainers all across the country about various training issues. I learned a TON from those early lists. But soon I wanted more...people were starting to talk about "web pages" and my computer just didn't have the capability to look at those, so I ended up buying an ingenious little invention called "Web TV" that hooked up to my TV at home and allowed me to surf the internet on my giant old console TV from the comfort of my couch. Wow.

Before too much longer, I upgraded at work and was able to join Compuserve and make use of a new program started by the AVMA. NOAH, or the Network of Animal Health, was one of two veterinary computer networks that started about the same time. NOAH had various forums including those for canine and feline medicine and general chat, and was mostly populated by general practitioners. I was soon hooked and as a solo practitioner found being able to go to my colleagues, sometimes thousands of miles away, was invaluable. It was the beginning of a new era, and I read each and every post and learned a lot of information, both practical and academic.

Eventually NOAH was outdone by its competitor, VIN, the Veterinary Information Network, which I believe initially was started on AOL if I remember correctly but now is an independent entity. It is a privately owned enterprise started by Paul Pion, a boarded veterinary cardiologist and the man who discovered the link between taurine deficiency and dilated cardiomyopathy in cats- a disease I have never seen in my practice career thanks to his discovery which enabled the pet food industry to begin supplementing all cat food with taurine.

I have been a member of VIN since 1995. VIN is more formally organized than the old NOAH, with a separate "folder" or forum for just about any specialty you can imagine, as well as general chat, veterinary issues, humor, and even politics. Each specialty folder has its own staff of board certified consultants, which read and answer each post, usually within 24-48 hours. It is possible to post radiographs, photos, and videos. For a solo doc, the ability to get input on a case quickly is invaluable. Whether the consultants help to steer you towards a totally different course than what your first impression was ,or just comfort you with the input that they think you have covered all of the bases, it is a great relief at times not to have the feeling of going it alone. However, it's actually not even necessary to post your own case in many instances because you can often find the answer first by simply searching the board archives and the rest of the VIN resources.

In addition to the message boards, there is also a current drug formulary where I do almost all of my checking on drug doses and contraindications; an extensive searchable database that includes not only the board messages but many journals and conference proceedings, and a nifty little program called the Associate. How I wish I had had that when I was a new grad! The Associate allows you to plug in breed, clinical signs, and lab abnormalities and generate a list of possible diagnoses along with what percentage (and exactly which ones individually) of your symptoms fit the diagnosis, and then gives you a brief, thorough summary of that disease, how to diagnose it and treat it. This is a GREAT program to have when you feel like you're missing something, you have an oddball case that doesn't fit the profile, or your clinical signs and labwork are just not adding up. It helps to remind you to think of the less commonly seen diseases or those that you may not see in your area.

Vin has made me feel like I'm no longer flying solo; at times I have gotten input at 3 am on a case going bad from one of the best emergency clinicians in the country logging on during downtime hundreds of miles away. In an age of information explosion, there is no way to stay on top of every development in every field and be able to pull the best option for my patients straight from my head every time. However, with VIN and other technology, even if I don't know the answer, I can find it and find it more quickly, with less effort, and a more thorough result than ever before.

Despite all this technology, though, my BEST tools in practice are still my eyes, ears and hands. The art of a good physical exam and a knowledge of what "normal" is, both generally and for each individual patient, will never be made obsolete by progress. I still try to keep in mind what Dr. Cheryl Harris, one of our local, very skilled veterinary oncologists once told me;
"When I see "WNL" (abbreviation for "within normal limits") on the chart, I know that an awful lot of the time it stands for "We Never Looked". I try to keep that in mind and remember to do a good, thorough and thoughtful physical exam and history on each patient; after all, "garbage in, garbage out"- the technology is only as good as the information we feed it and our observation skills!

"Cold Tail"

2011-05-11T19:41:00.003-04:00

Meet Jasmine, one of our "frequent flyer" patients (luckily for mostly routine care!). Jazzy came in on Monday with a complaint that her tail seemed painful and was hanging somewhat limp and slightly tucked. The day before she had been on a three hour hike which included wading in some creeks, and when she arrived home she had a bath to get rid of the accumulation of mud (we had 12 INCHES of rain in April with more this past week- FINALLY we have strung together a few sunny days!). When I examined her, she was a little more subdued than usual. Her tail hung straight down for the first 4-5 inches with the remainder tucked slightly between her legs. She was painful when I manipulated the tail, especially at the base, and showed some sensitivity over the root of the tail as well. She has a history of some anal gland issues, so we checked those out and found no problems. She showed no abnormalities in gait and was more than willing to relieve us of a few cookies.

Jasmine was suffering from a malady known as "cold tail", "limber tail", "rudder tail", or "swimmers tail". I was never taught about this in school, but luckily years ago before my first case I read about it on VIN, the Veterinary Information Network- a computer network for veterinarians to discuss cases and get advice from specialists. This is definitely NOT a specialist type case- it's more the type that "Old Doc" can spot in the waiting room but might have the new grad scratching their head! (I guess it is somewhat of a bummer that I am far closer the the "old doc" than "new grad" category these days!). Most hunting dog trainers are quite familiar with this condition as well.

Jazzy's tail had a little more tone than most; in most cases the whole tail will hang limp or the first few inches will be held out straight behind with the rest of the tail hanging limp. The dog still can move it normally and has normal neurologic responses. Many of these dogs are extremely painful. It occurs almost exclusively in short haired sporting breeds, and the most common history is that they had heavy exercise which most likely involved swimming or bathing and/or cold, wet weather. I did find a couple reports (in labs, of course!) where it occurred the day after a prolonged party or family gathering, where the dog's tail never stopped wagging all day! Occasionally prolonged cage rest has been associated as well.

This wasn't the easiest thing to demonstrate in photos but hopefully you can get the idea. Sometimes the hair on the top of the tail will be raised; Jasmine did not demonstrate this symptom.

So what causes it? A study was actually done on several Pointers by Dr. Jan Steiss at Auburn and found that there was damage and inflammation in the coccygeal muscles (which connect the pelvis to the first few tail vertebrae). When swimming, these dogs use their tail as a rudder and in effect pushing against the water is similar to isometric exercises. Any exercise which emphasizes this "rudder" function of the tail has the potential to produce the problem. Most dogs will improve within a few days to a week, and anti-inflammatories can help to make them much more comfortable.

In Jazzy's case, she had had what sounded like a prior episode while vacationing in Florida and swimming in the ocean. Dogs who have one episode have a 50/50 chance of having future episodes. We sent her home on NSAIDs and expect her to make a full recovery in no time. Should she not recover as expected, we will look further for more serious issues but I 'm pretty confident that cold tail is our answer!

Here's a link to an article that gives a little more info if you are interested:

www.thelabradorclub.com/subpages/coldwatertail.php

2011-05-11T00:48:00.004-04:00

Harley
Kohinoor's Baby Boomer

April 21, 1998- May 10, 2011

Harley was my parents' Springer Spaniel; though my sister and I always thought of him as our dog too. When our old family cocker died unexpectedly, my dad lobbied for a bigger dog...when they decided on a Springer, I immediately thought of a dog that Levi and I used to compete with in obedience. Raven had her CH and UDX and was an absolute sweetheart; given that Springers sometimes have temperament issues I decided that if this was what Mom and Dad wanted that I had to convince them we needed a dog from this kennel. We tracked down Raven's breeder, who didn't have puppies at the time, but had bred her stud dog and put us in touch with the owner of the female, who had a large litter of puppies. The three of us drove down to Lexington to pick him out, and a short time later "Grisham" became Harley and came to live with my parents in their new house backing up to a lake- seemed like the perfect place for a sporting dog.

But despite the above picture, Harley was not impressed with the lake and other than a couple of falls into it he was content to stay on the shore. When my parents bought a place in Florida with their own pool, he ventured in a few times but quickly decided he was more of a sunbather instead.

Harley ended up having a sweet, loving temperament just as I had hoped. He was a lot more dog than we had anticipated- he grew to be quite a big boy! But my dad took him through obedience class and he ended up being very nicely trained, including some really snappy cute utility signals and a great "reverse" or run backwards command. I don't think Harley's head was particularly outstanding, but he had a fabulous body and I used to love to watch his beautiful floating trot with such reach and drive even as an old dog.

Harley didn't come to us until he was about three months old; by then he already outweighed both of my shelties, Andy and Levi, and did not particularly respect them after weeks of roughhousing with his littermates. Andy and Levi were not Harley fans until the days they died, though they tolerated him. But when Cory came along, Harley found out about karma and Cory pestered him in much the same way Harley had tormented his predecessors. They ended up being good buddies, though as Harley got older it was harder for him to deal with Cory's exuberance.

When he was less than a year old, Harley had his one and only "bad dog" episode...and it was a doozy. Both of my parents had had the flu and felt terrible. They called me and said Harley was vomiting as well and thought he had the same thing...with viral issues this usually isn't the case and when I took them over some medicine I was worried because he didn't look so good. The next morning he was still no better (though Mom and Dad were) and they brought him in for radiographs. Visible in his stomach were two pieces of metal that ended up being twisty ties; I decided to go in after them and it was lucky I did. In addition to those metal ties which showed up well on the x-rays, he also had eaten cellophane wrappers, plastic bottle caps, the finger of a glove, all kinds of stuff. Wound tight around them wrapping them into one giant hard wad were many individual strands of sissel rope. He had taken one of those stuffed toys with rope arms and legs and strand by strand pulled out and ate pieces of sissel. He survived that episode with no long term effects except that forever after he hated coming to the clinic!

Several years ago Harley started spending his winters and springs in Sanibel with my parents. He was content to visit the beach only occasionally, but he loved his walks with my dad and was constantly on the alert for lizards and iguanas- even more fun than the squirrels and bunnies at home.

Harley was diagnosed with Cushings disease in 2009, but he was the easiest Cushings dog to treat ever, with his lab values quickly normalizing and not even requiring long term medication. His symptoms had very sudden onset- massive increase in drinking and urinating (with accompanying secondary urinary tract infection), changes in his coat, and seeming to age almost overnight. Up until then he looked like a vigorous teenager. He still looked pretty good, but his hard shiny coat got a little softer and fuzzier, his vision was not what it had been, and his legs were not as strong as they once were though he still had that beautiful floating trot.

The picture above was taken at Christmas this year, Robbie's first Christmas and Harley's last.

Last Easter Harley and Cory had a great day playing in Mom and Dad's backyard. Harley still could romp and play and keep up, but boy did he pay with stiffness and soreness afterwards. He was really starting to show his age though he had looked like a teenager until he was 11 or so. The rest of these pictures were all taken that day. Just a couple of weeks later, back in Florida, Harley was not acting right one day and didn't seem to be breathing well. A visit to his Florida vet, Dr. Denise Kalliainen at Gulf Coast Veterinary Clinic in Fort Myers followed by an ultrasound at the specialty referral center showed a mass in his chest which appeared to be wrapped around the big vessels near the heart. An aspirate was unsuccessful in identifying exactly what type of cancer it was; but after talking with his oncologist it was obvious what our choices should be. It was unlikely to be a type of cancer that responded to chemotherapy and the next step would be surgery to attempt to remove as much of the tumor as possible; but it was unlikely given the location that they would be able to get it all. With an older dog with one major health issue already, putting him through such an invasive procedure with our best hope being of only gaining him a few weeks to months would have been counterproductive. We treated him symptomatically and hoped we would have a little more good time with him.

Harley surprised us all and made it out a year after his original diagnosis. His repeat chest films were pretty ugly, but he didn't seem to know it and his quality of life was pretty good all summer and into the fall. As winter came on, he developed some neurologic symptoms and I was pretty sure the cancer had spread. It became harder and harder for him to get up and down and maintain his balance.

So tonight we sat on the screened porch with Harley, overlooking his lake with the birds singing in the background, and let him move on. He had a great life and was well loved and he will be missed by his buddies Cory and Robbie (the obnoxious puppy he loved playing with, who would have guessed the old man would tolerate his behavior?) and his cat Spooky. I know his old buddy Boo the cat was waiting to greet him joyfully; Levi and Andy perhaps not so enthusiastically!

Rest well sweet Harley, you were a good dog and a great friend. I hope you enjoyed the dance.

How to make an emergency muzzle

2011-05-09T13:02:00.000-04:00

One important lesson to remember is that ANY dog will bite if he is frightened or fearful enough. Here's a quick, easy way to muzzle a dog in an emergency; you can use any number of items from around the house including a thin leash or rope, pantyhose leg, even a cord from a window blind. Have a pair of scissors on hand so you can cut it away quickly in an emergency. Remember, a dog who is muzzled cannot pant to cool himself so watch for overheating, and never muzzle a dog who is at risk for vomiting as it puts him in danger of aspirating. However, if your dog is injured and you need to transport him to a vet, this video may just give you the information you need to enable you to get everyone there safely. It's also important to remember that if the dog is determined enough, he CAN bite you through the muzzle (especially if you are a novice at placing them), so NEVER trust the muzzle completely and keep your hands out of harm's way. It should give you the advantage in getting out of the way if the dog does decide to try and bite. Don't be afraid to tie the muzzle as tightly as you can- remember, this is generally going to be an emergency, we are worried about safety, not long term comfort, and if you didn't tie it considerably tighter than you probably were comfortable with, odds are the dog can get out of it. It won't be on long, a muzzle that's too loose is more dangerous than no muzzle at all as it gives you a false sense of security.

Top Dogs and Westminster

2011-02-10T17:43:00.004-05:00

AKC recently published their statistics for the most popular breeds (by numbers registered) for the past year. For the 19th year in a row, Labrador Retrievers top the list. It's understandable why these dogs have remained popular for so long; they are hard to beat as an all around family dog. Labs tend to have a reasonably high pain tolerance (great for dogs around young kids- they're not going to mind if their tail gets pulled or their foot gets stepped on); they are smart enough to be trainable but not "doggy einsteins" that are hard to stay one step ahead of, and are reasonably wash and wear (though NOT low shed- I always laugh when my clients tell me they picked a Lab because they wanted a short haired dog that didn't shed. HAH! Short hair does NOT equal no shedding- it just means they shed every day of the year, instead of seasonal coat blows like some of the coated breeds).

Downsides to Labs for some people are that many of them during their younger years are very high energy; couple that with a "goofy" personality and some of them can be exhausting at times. Highly food motivated means you have a great training tool, but you will never be able to leave ANYTHING on your counters (I have had some clients whose Labs ate through cans and opened refrigerators). Young male retrievers are our number one dogs to have intestinal foreign bodies- these dogs put EVERYTHING in their mouths and this can sometimes cause problems, so be prepared to "Lab proof" your house for the next few years. Be sure to buy from breeders who screen their breeding stock for hip dysplasia by certifying them through OFA (Orthopedic Foundation for Animals)- this ideally means that ALL, or nearly all, of the dogs in a 5 generation pedigree with have OFA numbers- one parent or grandparent with a certification and no info on the rest is not sufficient. This is not a guarantee of hip health, but it sure helps. Keeping these guys very lean is the other part of the equation- they are much less likely to develop hip problems as well as other problems if kept just a bit on the lean side; easier said than done as this breed tends to be "easy keepers" and gain weight just by looking at food! In our area of the country, we also see a high incidence of seasonal and food allergies in Labs.

Number 2 on the list was the German Shepherd. I find this a little surprising, as in our practice we see many more Labs, Goldens, Boxers, Yorkies, and Dachsies than GSDs (short for German Shepherd Dogs). There is good reason for this...a good GSD is a hard dog to beat, but also very hard to find. GSD have traditionally been bred and used for many practical working applications, often involving police and protection work as well as search and rescue. They are very well suited to this work. However, one of the things that makes a good guard dog is that they have a low threshold to stimulate an aggressive display- that is, it doesn't take much to make them fire off and show threatening barking and growling behavior. This is desirable in a guard dog. In a GOOD guard dog, there is a common sense element involved- the dog learns what is appropriate to react to and what is not, and the best of these dogs have an incredible sense of when something is wrong. However, in many dogs, the basis of this reaction is rooted in a fear response. When breeding stock is not evaluated and selected carefully, this response can get out of balance. The result is that we see a lot of fear aggression in GSD. Sadly, many of the GSD who come through my clinic that were bought as pets do not come from reputable, knowledgable breeders, and the unfortunate result of these circumstances is that I see poor temperaments more frequently than correct ones. In addition, we see quite a few major health issues in this breed. Orthopedic problems are extremely common, including hip dysplasia, elbow dysplasia, spinal issues, and juvenile bone/developmental diseases. We see a disease called degenerative myelopathy, which at first can look similar to hip dysplasia, but is actually a disease of the nerves rather than the bones. Unfortunately the current treatments for this problem are of limited effectiveness. Many of these deep chested dogs have a tendency to bloat, which can be life threatening.

That being said, a GOOD GSD can be one of the most versatile, talented working dogs around. However, be prepared to do your homework and spend some time looking; look at parents and as many other relatives as you can find and evaluate temperaments, and screening for health is an absolute must in these dogs. A good GSD is not cheap and is probably not advertised in your local newspaper.

In the number 3 spot is the Yorkshire Terrier. These are one of the most common breeds we see at our practice, and in recent years the toy breeds have been outstripping the Labs and Goldens in our new puppy population. There are lots of reasons for this, varying from the ease of keeping a smaller dog compared to a large one, to the popularization of dogs as accessories by celebrities such as Paris Hilton. Yorkies can make nice pets, though we typically recommend them for households without children (or at least, with older children, say junior high and up). They are small enough that they are just not hardy enough to tolerate the handling that most kids will give a pet, and we see many, many injuries secondary to accidents such as being stepped on or dropped. Common health issues include retained deciduous (baby) teeth which must be removed, frequent dental and gingival issues which may require more attention than average, and luxating patellas (kneecaps) which can result in arthritic changes and, in severe cases, require surgical repair. Their low shed coat is an advantage, but does require regular grooming appointments. Temperament can vary in these little guys; but MANY of the problems I see are created by the owner. These are dogs, not Gucci purses. They need to be treated like dogs. They have feet which actually function and do not need to be carried everywhere (though for their safety using a carrier when traveling or taking them places where larger dogs are present is wise). Biting and growling during grooming or nail trims are no more appropriate in a Yorkie than a Rottweiler, but the Yorkie owners are much more likely to tolerate it or think it's cute. IT'S NOT; and failure to teach these dogs everyday doggie basic manners such as tolerating restraint can significantly impact on the length and quality of their life. I am much more likely to have a Yorkie owner whose dog will not allow them to medicate their ears or trim their nails than the giant breed owners. It is very hard for us to help them when they have medical problems if the owners cannot touch any part of their body that they don't like, etc. So remember, basic obedience training and manners are JUST as important for these dogs as the big guys! And let them stand on their own four feet and face the world- clutching them to your breast and protecting them from every possible or imagined fear only results in an unhappy, neurotic dog. Confidence and mental stability are a gift and your pet will be much happier if you allow them to function normally and independently.

Dog #4- the Golden Retriever. Similar in many ways to the Lab, the Golden tends to be mentally a little softer, a little more motivated to work to please their owner, and a little smarter. They also can have the same high energy level which can be difficult to live with in their younger years. Goldens (and GSD) are a little more prone than Labs to some of the obsessive/compulsive issues such as lick granulomas (chronically licking an area until it becomes thickened and inflamed). They have similar issues with hips and allergies; chronic ear problems are a frequent complaint in both types of retriever and often have underlying allergy as the root of the problem. Sadly, we also see a high incidence of cancer in this breed, with lymphoma and hemangiosarcoma being all too frequent (Labs and GSD are our other two breeds we see hemangiosarc in very commonly, however, and I see a pretty good number in mixed breeds as well). Goldens are one of my favorite recommendations for family dogs. They are the favorite of competitive obedience trainers as they are so willing, bright, and driven to work. Of course, these things can all backfire in a dog who is not kept mentally stimulated! To me they have just a little sweetness of temperament that is often lacking in the harder headed Lab.

#5-The Beagle- another great family dog that can do very well with kids. Beagles are a nice managable size; the "offical" standard calls for two sizes, 13 inch tall or 15 inch tall; we see the beagles sold as pets range from the tiny end at under 15 lbs, all the way up to the giant economy size occasionally approaching 60 lbs, but most typically end up in the 20-25 lb range (or at least, SHOULD- this is a breed that gains weight easily so we often see them weighing much more than is ideal!). Beagles tend to be hardy and generally healthy dogs. Their short coats are low care (but again, not really low shed!). One big drawback is their big voice- these dogs were bred as hunting dogs, and they tend to bay while on the hunt. A bored beagle will bay A LOT. Due to their voice, they are not always the best choice for condo or apartment living. Beagles are a bit independent and, once the nose gets to the ground, all other brain functions shut off, so they are not a breed to be trusted off leash without a LOT (that means, probably years) of training. They tend to be very tolerant of children, particularly the females, and are often a good choice for young families.

The number 6 dog is the Boxer, a breed that is very popular in our practice. Boxers have great appeal and charming personalities; almost all boxers I have met will turn themselves inside out wiggling with pleasure to meet you. They tend to be high energy as young dogs, but frequently morph into couch potatoes in middle age. Boxers have a great sense of humor and will make you smile. Like most large breeds, check for hip clearances; but the major issues in this breed are heart problems (we see several congenital heart defects with some regularity, but most concerning is a tendency to develop cardiomyopathy, a disease which is frequently not symptomatic until the sudden death of the dog). Boxers are also prone to several types of cancer, with the most concerning being a high rate of brain tumors. Despite this, this is a nice breed and a good choice for many families.

Bulldogs have made the number 7 position on the list. I think this calls for all veterinarians to designate a national holiday; because this could be a great practice builder! I always joke with my clients who buy bulldogs that they obviously did not think they were spending enough at the vet. Bulldogs have the advantage of a great and loving personality; I have only met a very few who had temperament problems. Their face is hard to resist and the reason that many people fall in love with them. However, I could write a whole series of books, much less a blog post, on the wide variety of health problems that plague this breed. It is not unrealistic to advise people that their annual expenses for medical care for this breed could easily be a couple of thousand a year or more, and that's just for the typical, expected bulldog problems- nothing unusual. Sadly, this is one of the cases where the breed standard is not compatible with health. (luckily, in most breeds this is not true). Bulldogs have been bred for extreme physical features which we find appealing, but ultimately are mutations that carry a physical toll. Their short faces, prominent eyes, and skin folds make them prone to eye injury and a problem called entropion which is when the eyelids roll inwards and rub on the corneas (this usually requires surgical correction, in some cases MULTIPLE corrections through the life of the dog). Breathing problems abound, soft palates are often long and obstruct the trachea (this can need surgical correction as well). Heavy skin folds compounded with a tendency towards allergies result in chronic issues with dermatitis and skin odor, and we see demodectic mange commonly in these dogs as well. I sadly have to say I have never radiographed a bulldog who did NOT have hip dysplasia, and frequently other joint issues as well. Bulldogs generally cannot breed without artificial insemination and almost all need to be delivered by C section. We also see many congential heart problems in this breed....I could go on, but you get the picture.

Bulldog lovers don't mind the snoring, skin odor, and vet bills, and we can see why because almost without exception these are sweet, sweet dogs. However, this is one of those cases where I really feel our breeders must work to moderate the standard to make their dogs' quality of life better. I honestly do not see them remaining on the top ten list for long, particularly in this economy.

#8 is a breed we are seeing a lot of in our practice, the Dachshund. Dachsies come in three varieties- smooth, long haired, and wire haired- as well as standard and miniature sizes. Most people think of the smooth, miniature version. One thing I have noticed about Dachshunds is that their owners tend to have more than one and have many generations of them- they are very loyal to the breed! Dachsies are often a good choice for empty nesters and older folks; they are not always the best with children. My experience is the long haired variety have a significantly mellower temperament. With their long back, weight control is a must and we see many back issues. Dachsies also have a higher than average incidence for endocrine problems such as diabetes and cushings disease. They can be great dogs for condo or apartment living (although some of them can be barky, especially if kept in multiples).

Rounding out the top ten we have the Poodle at #9 and the Shih Tzu at #10. Poodles come in three sizes- toy, mini and standard- ranging from the tiny toys who may only weigh 5 lbs up to the standard who can be quite tall- as tall or taller than some of our retrievers, though significantly lighter in bone and weight. Poodles are very, very bright dogs, though they often can be a little independent and frequently can outmaneuver their owners! In general, many of my poodle patients are very hardy and healthy, though we can see some health issues. I tend to see more serious issues more frequently in the standards, including occasional endocrine and autoimmune problems. The smaller versions can be more prone to diabetes and other endocrine disorders, and frequently develop heart problems in old age, but overall many of these dogs are fairly healthy. They do require frequent grooming, but on the plus side don't generally shed when groomed appropriately and are low dander so often tolerated well by folks with allergies. Shih Tzu are one of my favorite recommendations for families looking for a small dog. They are one of the hardier, sturdier dogs in the toy group. Shih Tzu are not brain surgeons, but they tend to have sweet, forgiving personalities and are quite easy to live with. Like the poodle, they will require regular grooming and you will almost never see a pet kept with the full show coat you see in pictures- it is far too hard to maintain. Kept in the typical pet cut, their shedding is minimal and they are another good choice for the allergy prone. I tend to see eye and skin problems in this breed, and yeast dermatitis secondary to allergies is a common complaint. If you are looking for a lapdog without the shrill bark that many of the toy breeds have (Shih Tzu have more of a hoarse throaty gurgle and they aren't prone to doing lots of it), with a bit of a mellower temperament than the typical Yorkie or Chihuahua, this might be the dog for you.

(As an aside- the dogs pictured above are friends from our training group or patients. I am happy to say that ALL of them embody the best of the temperaments of their breeds- which is probably how I ended up with each of their pictures- their personalities are as cute as their appearance, so they have all been memorable!).

When talking about the pros and cons of the various breeds, it is inevitable that the health problems of each come up. Without going into too much detail (that's another whole series of posts), I just want to point out that I see ALL of the conditions mentioned above in mixed breed dogs as well. For example, I would estimate that the proportion of my allergic patients who are mixed breeds is similar to their overall proportion in my practice. I can frequently predict what diseases a mix may be prone to by guessing what breeds are in the mix; but by virtue of being mixes they are NOT conferred any particular protection. "Hybrid Vigor" is touted a lot as being a big advantage in mixed breed dogs. The thing no one tells you is that some traits are greatly affected by hybrid vigor, and others are highly heritable (that is, depend on the traits of the parents). Things that improve with increase hybrid vigor tend to be things that involve ease of reproduction (bigger litters, ease in getting pregnant, increased survival of puppies, etc) and faster, larger growth. This explains why the neighbor's mix gets out, gets bred once, and has a litter of 10 pups, while the Westminster champion has might have a litter of 2 with ovulation timing! For most pet owners, the reproductive advantages are a non issue and the growth rate effects may or may not be desirable. There are some other issues with immune system involvement that are a little more complex, but in my experience it is primarily the very tightly inbred individual that has significant issues related to this. "Inbreeding", or, the non-word "Overbreeding", is often touted as the reason many purebreds have problems. What is really funny, is that the people touting this generally have no idea how to read a pedigree and often have as their example a typical pet store quality pup, who is so outcrossed that it is suspect as to whether or not they are truly purebred. To shorten this up, for now, suffice it to say that your BEST shot at health is choosing a puppy from stock that has had appropriate health screening and selection for normal parents and grandparents. I see allergies, hip dysplasia, and cancer as frequently in my mixed breed patients as I do in my purebred patients. I simply have an easier time PREDICTING in the purebreds which problems may (or may NOT!) be an issue, whereas with mixed breeds it's more of a crap shoot. We'll delve into that in more detail in another post someday.

On a related note, this coming Mon and Tues Feb 14/15 Westminster Dog Show will be broadcast on USA (switching from USA to CNBC for the last two hours on Mon). It's always entertaining to watch and see the incredible variety of breeds, and is one starting point for "shopping" for what your next dog might be. However, REMEMBER that looks are only what get your attention- make sure you chose a dog whose characteristics fit your lifestyle and who has the appropriate health screening, not just an impulse buy based on appearance! Have a good time watching!

Happy Holidays

2011-02-05T17:40:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas! Hope things are calm and enjoyable at your house. I am way behind on Christmas this year. I am so far behind, in fact, that I started this post in mid December and am just now coming back to it in early February! But I figured, what the heck; most of the tips are still valid, plus I had already loaded the pictures of Christmas past and pets gone ahead (except for my puppy Robbie's Christmas Elf shot) and I didn't want to wait till next year to use them. I'm sure no one who knows me will be surprised that, as I write this, I still have wreaths on my windows and stockings on my fireplace mantle! At any rate , read on, use what you can now and remember for next year!

With all the hectic activity at Christmas, it's easy for our pets to get lost in the shuffle. Already we are seeing some of our common "Christmas cases". Remember, it is important to make your house as safe and "pet proof" as possible. If you had a two year old, you wouldn't wait to see if they were going to fall down the steps before you bought a baby gate, would you? NO! Not only would you invest in baby gates, but you probably would get electrical outlet covers, make sure book cases were secure so they can't be pulled over, place hot pots far back out of reach on the stove, etc. It's no different with pets, especially puppies and kittens under a year of age. Take a long hard look at your home (especially now with all the holiday decorations in place) and take steps to prevent problems before they occur.

Since I have a six month old puppy and two 18 month old "kittens", I have taken the easy way out this year and skipped a Christmas tree- since I'm not hosting any formal Christmas get togethers it seemed easier. However, you don't have to forgo a tree, just use some common sense. Make sure electrical cords and extensions are placed safely so that they can't be reached for chewing or tugging (and pulling over trees!). If you have a puppy going through that intense chewy period, you may want to use something to protect the cords. Ikea sells cord protectors, I'm not sure if they are commercially available elsewhere but quick and easy alternatives are shower curtain rod covers (for smaller less aggressive chewers) or running the cords through lengths of PVC which can then be tucked under the couch or along a baseboard.

Cats find strings and ribbons irresistable; particularly kittens. "Icicles" on the trees have fallen out of vogue, but in case you are tempted and have cats, skip them! Be cautious with tinsel though this does not seem quite as appealing. Ribbons on gifts, particularly the skinny ribbon you curl with scissors, can be tempting; either put gifts out of reach or consider using stick on bows instead if you have a playful kitty. And don't forget the strings on balloons- as the balloon loses it's helium and starts to sink, the string can come into reach for the cat. In everyday, non-holiday life, thread (with or without needles) is quite appealing- the cats bat the spools around and as the thread unravels they end up swallowing some. Hair bands and scrunchies are another irresistable item with similar consequences. Why are strings such a problem? As the cats play with them, they often swallow an end- and then more, and more...sometimes and end ends up wrapped around the tongue with the rest in the stomach, sometimes there is just a wad in the stomach. As the string starts to pass through the intestine, frequently part of it will "hang up" somewhere- often the part wrapped around the tongue or the other, wadded up end in the stomach. As the intestines contract and push part of the string through, if an end is caught the string makes the intestines start to bunch up, like curtains on a rod. This can cause an obstruction so nothing else can pass; and in some cases the string starts to saw through the intestinal walls resulting in leakage of the contents into the abdomen and setting up a peritonitis. String foreign bodies are very common and VERY serious; they can easily be fatal. Many of the cases we see could have been prevented if the owners were aware of the problem and took steps to limit the cat's access. My own cats are OBSESSED with my hair bands; so the rule at my house is a)only one at a time "out" and in use- any extras are stowed safely in a drawer b) band is NEVER left on a counter or table- it goes from my hair to wrapped around the handle of my brush, and back to my hair again. It takes my cats about 30 seconds (not exaggerating!) to hone in on it if I should forget and leave it on my nightstand. I have to admit my pets have trained me to be a MUCH better housekeeper than I was a few years ago!

Be careful with any gifts wrapped by someone else and brought to put under your tree until Christmas! Don't hesitate to ask if there is anything in them that might be edible or even SMELL like it might be edible. It is a pretty common occurrence for us to have dogs brought in who have eaten packages containing candy or cookies, sometimes unbeknownst to their owner. And their definition of edible is pretty relaxed- I remember years ago when big candles scented like various cakes were very popular and someone had wrapped one and given it to my mother. She put it under the tree to open later; however, our cocker had other ideas. She was sure that the package contained a REAL double chocolate cake, unwrapped it, and ate a pretty good amount of the candle that was as big as her head! Luckily it did no real damage (though I no longer remember, I suspect she probably had a pretty good case of diarrhea for a while though!). Also remember if you buy and wrap treats or chews for your pets for Christmas, DON'T put these under the tree- stow them in the pantry until time to open them!

Also remember if you have overnight guests for the holidays, make sure to check with them about anything edible (or edible smelling, like toothpaste) they might have in their suitcases, and ask them to keep any medications either in their purse (stowed appriately in a closet) or in a cabinet out of reach of children and pets. Another place where I speak from experience!

Finally, not a warning but a funny family story that has reached legendary proportions at our house. Years ago, we had a cat named Ziggy and for Christmas we bought him a toy that was common at the time; it was a little plastic "punching bag" shaped toy. The top of the punching bag unscrewed so that you could fill it with fresh catnip, and the other end had a suction cup so you could attach the punching bag to the floor or the wall. We wrapped it and put it under the tree. I was in college and my sister probably in high school at the time. One Sunday just before Christmas we were upstairs getting ready for church when I heard my mother WAIL from the living room "Thom (my dad), there's MARIJUANA under the Christmas tree!". My sister and I fell over laughing; we didn't know what she had found, but we were pretty sure it wasn't pot! As it turned out, the cat toy had a little zip lock baggie of catnip that came with it to fill the bag; Ziggy apparently had smelled it and decided to unwrap it in the night and have a little pre-Christmas celebration. My mom, not being the most hip and happening chick around, found the baggie with the green "herbs" the next morning and made her own conclusions...25 years later, thinking about it can still make me laugh till I cry!

Hope you all had a great holiday and that you are ahead of me in taking care of the aftermath! Just think how far ahead I am of the game- you can consider this post my contribution for Christmas 2011!

Pictured in this blog, and always missed especially at Christmas time, shelties Andy and Levi, cat Grouch, and cocker Mandy...my own Christmas angels.

Still alive and kicking...

2010-12-09T12:58:00.008-05:00

No, I haven't disappeared off the face of the earth...I've just been sidetracked with taking care of a puppy and other "real life" things! So, no surprise, I kept the boy puppy from the litter. He reminded me so much of his Grandpa Andy and I loved his enthusiasm, speed, and drive. The little girl, who was prettier, I thought had the better body overall, had more focus and was smarter but not quite as busy went to a great home that hopefully will let her try all kinds of fun activities. Here's my little "ugly duckling" boy child. I couldn't quite live with "Rodney" (after the guinea pig in Dr. Doolittle- see previous posts) but he came so nicely when called that I wanted to stay close, so it kind of morphed into Robbie.

Things you forget when you haven't had a puppy in a while...THOSE DARN EARS. For those of you lucky enough NOT to have ever had to fuss with sheltie ears, getting that perfect tip is a royal pain. When puppies go through teething, their ears tend to do all kinds of weird things- stand up, flop over, one of each, etc. It's a safe bet that if you want them to stand they will flop and if you want them to fold over they will go prick. So for shelties, we have a myriad of techniques for getting them to stay folded over like they should. None of which I am especially good at. And ALL of which this particular puppy objects to strongly.

If you look at his ears in these pictures, you can see they look a little odd. On this particular day, he was sporting glue...we use one called "Tear Mender" that works well (except for me). Actually this is the method I have had the most success with, which isn't saying much. You pull the ears up over his head, take a little of the fur from the edge of each ear and twist it together and put on a dab of glue to pull the ears into the correct "set", then fold the ear over and glue it down (always hair to hair, not to skin). For most puppies this will stay in for quite a while.

Robbie, however, has other ideas. He works and works until he gets the ears undone, in the process pulling out a fair amount of hair so that when you reglue you have progressively less and less to work with. At one point, it occurred to me I might end up with a dog with perfectly tipped ears who was permanently bald on top of his head from pulling all the hair out with the glue...In these pictures he is pretty close to getting the rest of the glue out totally and letting the ears fly again. But at least he has somebunny to commiserate with!

In between going back to the glue, I have tried a wide assortment of just about every method I have ever heard of. The "japanese tape" which is the latest and greatest method everyone is using, lasts about 90 seconds with him. Maybe as much as five minutes if I use ostobond too and make him wear an elizabethan collar.

In these pictures above and below with his dad Cory (who, as you can see, I did not do a stellar ear job on either!) he is wearing an ear brace made of moleskin (but not the plain Dr. Scholl's you can buy at the drugstore, oh, no! The special more expensive stuff that has to be ordered from California), and treated with ostobond. Ostobond is a glue type product used to attach things like colostomy bags to skin. That was our second product; the first, Dr. somebody-or-other's spray that was supposed to make the moleskin stick better, irritated the heck out of his ears. So we ordered the ostobond as well as the "skin prep" that is used to coat the skin first and prevent irritation (as well as the unisolve which is used to remove the glue when it needs to come out, did we mention THAT'S $20 a pop in addition to the zillions already spent?). Skin looked better but the puppy still managed to get the moleskin off; I applied it the morning of these pictures and made him wear the elizabethan collar for several hours till everything dried and he (theoretically) got used to it. He pulled out THIS brace maybe half an hour after we stopped shooting the pictures.

I also in desperation bought the little velcro circles and attached those in his ears with the ostobond, one on the tip and one deeper in the ear to attach to. The first time that actually worked pretty well- I think it stayed in for 3 or 4 days. When I tried it again he had it out in a couple of hours though. Oh well, he's now six months old, he lost has last baby tooth a few days ago and hopefully maybe his ears will settle down soon and we can stop messing with them!

In the meantime, here is his sister Saffron (above and below); she has stayed much fluffier and, at least last time I saw her, was not going through the puppy uglies as much as him. She has been going to some UKC shows and puppy matches and has a couple of UKC Best Puppy In Shows and group placements to her credit.

Oh well. At any rate, we have been hard at work trying to teach all the things puppies need to know. Somehow I seem to have less energy with each successive puppy! But he has finished his first agility class, though I think we will repeat it as he does the exercises pretty well, but still has great difficulty focusing on me if anything involving motion is going on nearby. He has made a good start on tracking, despite not having ANY fall this year- we went straight from dry hot summer to cold and snow with hardly a hesitation between. We are working on obedience exercises mostly lately; although last weekend we were supposed to go and try herding on ducks for the first time, but unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate and we had to cancel. There is SO much to learn and so many foundation exercises, and a limited amount of time and energy. Well, HE has unlimited time and energy but I do not!

He's also had his first obedience lesson with Laura Romanik, who comes down to Cincinnati a few times a year and helps us out. In this case, it was Halloween weekend at Starhaven shelties, where there is an indoor horse arena we use for lessons. Afterwards we all stayed, had homemade chili and a firepit, and long walks through the fields with the dogs- I think we had at least 15 shelties, maybe more, running loose together including several puppies and at least three intact males. One of the things I love about shelties are that they are generally amiable with other dogs. Below is Robbie playing with one of his best buddies Recess.

And here he is running with his dad; we were losing the light and my zoom lens was maxed out
so the focus wasn't good, but I still thought it was a cool sequence. Cory is far from a slow dog, but I think Robbie is going to leave him in the dust soon- at 5 mos in these pictures he's already coming close to matching him stride for stride.

Well, hopefully I will not be so negligent- I have a number of veterinary topics in mind to post about when I have both the time and the inclination, I will try and do better!

Happy Holidays to all! Remember, Santa keeps a "naughty and nice" list for puppies too! I think there are going to be lumps of coal at my house!

New puppies at my house :-)

2010-07-17T15:38:00.003-04:00

The puppies' breeder had to go out of town for a while, so they came to me for a week or so. What a sacrifice!

In the first 48 hours, they experienced six new environments (my house, my basement, front yard, back yard, clinic, Maryann's yard); went on six car rides (two of them an hour long), walked on 8 different surfaces, met 14 new people, 3 cats, and about a dozen friendly dogs. It was a busy couple of days! When we had to do a long day at work on Thursday and they had to sleep in the expen all day, they were VERY disappointed that nothing exciting was going on!

The video is of their first introduction to the kitties, the basement training room, and Wednesday agility at Maryann's.

My Dog: An Unconditional Love Story

2010-07-01T20:13:00.000-04:00

I just finished watching a documentary I rented on Itunes called "My Dog: An Unconditional Love Story". It consisted of interviews with various celebrities and their dogs. It was quite interesting (and touching) that all of these people of various backgrounds and lifestyles had the same emotional response when talking about their pets...I think all of us are a little goofy about our animals. I was struck by Isaac Mizrahi talking about how he thought every day about losing his dog, but he never thought about losing his human partner. Having a dog in many ways is like having a child that you know you will outlive- it is a constant shadow in the back of your mind.

Look for it- you might enjoy it. In the meantime, here is a poem from one of the artists featured in the movie, poet Billy Adams. I really liked this one.

A DOG ON HIS MASTER

As young as I look,

I am growing old faster than he,

seven to one

is the ratio they tend to say.

Whatever the number,

I will pass him one day

and take the lead

the way I do on our walks in the woods.

And if this ever manages

to cross his mind,

it would be the sweetest

shadow I have ever cast on snow or grass.

Zoo days

2010-06-25T02:42:00.000-04:00

Those of you who have only known me as an adult may not know of my "previous life". It probably comes as no surprise to those who know me that I was always an animal lover; I started out as the typical horse crazy little girl who also loved dogs, but early on broadened my horizons to encompass the entire animal kingdom. My birthday always meant either a trip to the zoo or to the Kentucky Horse Park. When I was still in grade school I talked my parents into a zoo membership so I could take some of their classes (for those who have not taken advantage of it, the Cincinnati Zoo has a long history of GREAT educational opportunities. The best part is the education is disguised as fun!). Eventually I learned of their Children's Zoo volunteer program. I believe at the time you were supposed be be 15 to volunteer; however somehow, by luck, omission, or a downright lie I got accepted to the volunteer program when I was 12 years old. That was the beginning of half a decade of intensive involvement (dare I say obsession) with the zoo, eventually culminating in getting hired on as an "official" Children's Zoo employee until I had to leave for college. The picture above is with "Zot", a long time CZ resident and a very affable giant anteater. And let's just say from the beginning, NO comments from the peanut gallery about my hairstyle or as always impeccable sense of fashion!

Here's a picture with me and my beloved "DJ", an arctic fox who was a resident of the CZ (children's zoo). DJ definitely had "his" people, but when you were one of his inner circle he would greet you with a big toothy grin, eyes squinted in delight, bushy tail swishing, and an earsplitting yodel of joy. He was such a beautiful boy, one of my favorites to work with for the entire five years I worked at the CZ. Sadly, when they shut down the old CZ to build the new, fancy Children's Zoo he was sent to a zoo in Rochester New York and I lost track of him without getting to say goodbye (lesson learned; don't give your heart to an animal that you do not own).

Initially my responsibilities as a volunteer including staffing both petting pens (walk in with deer, goats, and other barnyard type animals, and sit-down, with small exotics and native wildlife such as raccoons, opossums, guinea pigs, ferrets, etc). In those days where threats of a lawsuit or OSHA were distant unlikelihoods, there were LOTS of hands on opportunities for the general public, and we didn't think much of taking a bunch of teenagers and putting them in charge of a zoo full of wild animals without so much as a signed permission slip. I am SO glad I grew up in that world rather than today, though sometimes I look back and shake my head at some of the risks we took without even blinking an eye. The CZ volunteers provided much of the hands on animal contact and one-on-one interaction with the public. It was a lot of fun, and for someone who was painfully shy it was an excellent experience in teaching me how to talk to strangers.

The luckiest (read, hardest working and most gullible!) of the volunteers were invited to stay on and work weekends over the winter. Winter was great fun, as the number of visitors dropped dramatically and there was much more time for one on one interaction with the animals, and usually opportunity to work with some more interesting and exotic animals than we were allowed to as part of the general volunteer population in the summer.

Eventually I was hired and worked full time during the summers as well as on Saturdays in the winter. Not only were the animals lots of fun, but I also made an interesting and eclectic set of friends. Some of you may recognize the girl below...you may know her now as Dr. Kathy Wright (Huff), our veterinary cardiologist at the CARE center. Kathy and I worked together for a number of years at the zoo, doing lots and lots of wildlife rehab together (her mother was MUCH more lenient than mine when it came to sheer numbers of cages full of wildlife in the backyard) and ultimately she was the one who got me hooked on dog shows. This picture below is of Kathy and one of the grey foxes she raised as part of the Raise and Release program. I believe this one was named Pumpkin and ended up on display in the Woodlands exhibit when the new Children's Zoo opened.

Below is another friend, Rachel Perlstein, and Kubla Kahn, our baby camel that we bottle raised one winter. Rachel also worked in the CZ for several years and was so much fun! I have lost track of her over the years but I'm sure she is doing something interesting and unique! Kahnie grewup to be part of the camel rides at the zoo. He was one of my favorite babies that we raised.

One year the zoo somehow ended up with a surplus of lion cubs and we ended up raising several in the CZ. I believe the two below were called Bo and Solo; how lucky was I to grow up playing with lion cubs, raccoons, and camels? They were SO much fun, though I did have a few bumps, bruises and scars to show!

We also were responsible for the Frisch's Discovery Center, which was a hands on lecture area with its own group of demo animals. At that time, the zoo maintained a tiger cub who was the Bengals mascot ("Benzoo") and attended the games. He lived in the Discovery Center and we were responsible for his care part of the time. The big cats were some of my favorites to work with.

Somewhere during this time frame, I was at the education center one day when a special delivery arrived...a 12 week old cheetah cub from, I believe, the Columbus Zoo, who was to live with Cathryn Hilker and be the first of her demo cats in a new education program. "Angel" started a whole new era at the zoo. I remember this was the first time I saw someone using a clicker to train with and I was very intrigued, but there was not much opportunity for me to get involved at that time.

However, Cathryn was good friends with Kathy Wright and her family and so I was included in an invitation to go out to Cathryn's farm and play with baby Angel. Another experience of a lifetime...I am so lucky to have had pages of my life taken from a Disney nature film!

Below is "Whistles", a Moluccan cockatoo who was another of my "special" babies. Whistles was truly a devious and evil bird; she HATED volunteers and definitely could recognize the signature red shirt. However, she delighted in tricking them into THINKING that she liked them- she would sidle closer and closer, cooing and muttering to them the whole time, and when they finally couldn't resist and reached out to pet her she would nail them with lightning speed. Then she would screech and laugh and dance around with her feathers all standing on end- she thought it was the best game ever! Luckily she loved me and would ride around as I did rounds with my pooper scooper either on my shoulder or on the handle of the dolly I lugged my trash can full of poop around on. Birds can live to be quite old, I suppose it's possible she is still living at the zoo, though I haven't seen her since a few years after I went away to college.

At that time the children's zoo was run by a crew of mostly teenagers in the summer, high school and a few college students who consisted mostly of pretty bright, motivated kids from all walks of life. We had amazingly little supervision at the time- one of our supervisors would typically check in once or twice a day, but otherwise unless there was a problem we handled most everything else on our own. That included care of all of the animals there as well as handling hordes of zoo visitors on a daily basis in the summer. (Working at the zoo gives you a whole new appreciation for the IQ of the animals as compared to the average zoo visitor- the animals come out way ahead!). We had all kinds of animals ranging from typical barnyard animals, to native wildlife, to exotic babies too large for the nursery, and then anything that didn't really fit anywhere else.

Working at the zoo also led me to some other interesting opportunities. I got very involved with wildlife rehab through their old "Raise and Release" program (more on that in a future post). Also, at that time one of the nocturnal house keepers, Paul Strausser, was involved in starting up a Red Wolf Sanctuary on his land in Dillsboro, IN. There was much work to be done and so any and all hands were welcome. In exchange for building fences, digging post holes, feeding birds from their raptor rehab program, and taking care of the feeder rats in the "rat room", we got the opportunity to interact with some of the animals at the wolf sanctuary.

Red wolves were quite endangered and it was going to take quite a bit of work to prove that the sanctuary was an appropriate placement for them, so in the meantime a number of other animals found homes there and served as goodwill ambassadors and fund raising stars. Above I am pictured with one of the grey wolves.

At that time, four grey wolf cubs arrived and there was much work to be done to accomodate them. We helped to build a huge enclosure with 15 foot tall walls. At the time of these pictures I think the wolves were going through a "teenage" stage. There were two males and two females; Bridger, Sierra, Aspen, and the fourth name escapes me...

While not exactly tame, the wolves did enjoy interacting with people though you had to exercise some caution and obey some basic rules. In addition to these babies, there were three red wolf/coyote hybrids, a cougar, and numerous birds of prey.

I have pictures of the other animals and birds but have not scanned them yet; I will save them for another post some day. Our overnight camping trips to the RWS, sleeping out in the woods with just a sleeping bag and listening to the wolves howl, were some of the most fun experiences I had as a teenager. We worked HARD but the trade off was worth it! It was a beautiful place and I was terribly jealous- who WOULDN'T want to live there?

The zoo provided so many of the area's youngsters with a unique opportunity to learn hands on about the world around them. Thanks to the efforts of people like Barry Wakeman (then curator of education), Thane Maynard (now zoo director, then I believe assistant curator of education) and Randi Mohn, who mentored the volunteers and interns, as well as my long suffering boss Frank Hoffman and his "second in command" Carol Schottelkotte who ran the nursery and Children's zoo, a whole generation of kids got to grow up knowing what it sounded like when a cheetah purrs, what it's like to get up every three hours to feed a litter of baby raccoons, and how to handle work responsibilities with your pockets full of baby possums. I might have missed some birthday parties and trips to the mall, but I wouldn't trade my zoo days for ANYTHING!

If any of my old zoo friends, coworkers and volunteers happen to find this post, I would love to hear from you again!

Thunderstorms and fireworks...

2010-06-21T14:18:00.001-04:00

Tis' the season! In our area we are enjoying a bumper crop of thunderstorms lately; plus at my house at least it seems that we are hearing fireworks more and more. At my previous house, I lived near the riverfront and we had fireworks almost nightly from the Reds and Bengals games and various fireworks displays; my dogs got very well socialized to them and so they and thunderstorms were never an issue. However, it has been almost 4 years since we moved; and since Andy has been gone Cory has suddenly decided that he is worried about fireworks. Great.

These phobias often times seem to worsen with age (though eventually as the dogs get quite geriatric they often get hard enough of hearing that they start sleeping through them). I thought it was good timing to post a few tips for how to deal with the early or milder cases.

Firstly, a word towards PREVENTING problems. When I got both Andy and Cory as new puppies at my old house, I took advantage of the frequent fireworks exposure. EVERY time we heard fireworks I would jump up from the couch, run into the kitchen calling them excitedly, and it would start to "rain cookies"- I grabbed a handful of small treats and literally threw them up in the air so they showered down and the dogs wer diving and gulping them as fast as they could. This created a GREAT positive association with the noise, pretty soon as soon as the dogs heard the fireworks they were running for the kitchen. You can do this at home with new puppies (or even adult dogs- it never hurts!) every time you hear thunder rumble or a neighbor starts firing bottle rockets. It also may work for dogs who are mildly anxious but not in full fledged phobia mode.

For dogs who already are showing signs of anxiety, there are several things that may help. CDs of thunderstorm sounds are not difficult to find; I believe they are even sold at Target; but googling them should provide lots of options for ordering. Start out playing it at a low enough level that you see no reaction from the dog; play it at night just at dinner time or if you prefer, play it and offer special treats and games. Gradually increase the volume until (over probably several weeks) you can turn it up to full, window rattling volume without bothering the dog. This often works; but for some dogs can take a LONG time; also there is more to the phobia than just the noise, so dogs may acclimate to the CD but still show fear during actual storms.

One relatively safe, inexpensive, and benign option to try is melatonin. Melatonin is available over the counter without a prescription as a nutritional supplement; people often take it to counteract jet lag or help them sleep. In dogs there are several uses but one is to help with mild anxiety. Most dogs can take one standard size tablet (usually 3 mg) at bedtime- check with your vet as there are a few contraindications but in general it is safe and has few interactions. Particularly if you catch the problem early, before it is deeply ingrained, this can be helpful.

Another product I have found useful for anxiety issues in general is the DAP collar. DAP stands for Dog Appeasing Pheromone. Pheromones are chemicals that are secreted by the body in order to stimulate a response from other members of the species. It is thought that pheromones function in "chemistry" between people or the "love at first sight" response (though the pheromone colognes do not seem to have any magical powers!). In animals they may serve to help mark territory, send an alarm message, or even guide bees to a new hive. The DAP is the pheromone secreted by bitches when they are nursing their young, and is thought to be a stress relieving substance. It is available commercially as either a spray, or a collar. The collar is similar in appearance to the old flea collars. It lasts about a month; it must be fitted snuggly as the heat from the dogs' body activates the release of the pheromones from the collar. I have used one on my own dog for mild stress related issues and found it to be fairly helpful. It may be one useful tool for dogs with thunderstorm phobias as well. I plan to make sure my dog is wearing a fresh one when he boards by himself for the first time in a few weeks; and also have one for my potential new puppy to wear when he makes his trip to his new home and also begins to travel with us to various dog shows. While I have not found it to be a "miracle cure", I definitely have noticed a calming effect when I have used it on my own dogs and would definitely give it a try.

I often am asked about "thunder coats" or anxiety wraps; these are wrap or jacket type products designed to wrap snuggly around the dog and advertised as helping to decrease anxiety associated with storms. I have not tried them myself and initially was pretty skeptical of how effective they would be; however, in light of some recent studies about how confinement and pressure can relieve anxiety in autistic children I would not totally discount the possibility that they could have some effect. I think it also is possible that many dogs when fitted with such a product will simply refuse to move- don't know that it necessarily means they are less anxious, but may just interrupt the pacing/escape type response. In any case, I think they fall under the category of unlikely to hurt so give it a try.

Some dogs have serious enough phobias that they truly become difficult to live with and may even be destructive or injure themselves. Those dogs may need prescription medications in order to help them cope with their stress. Many of the medications we use take some time to become effective, so it is best to talk to your vet well BEFORE the season starts if you think your pet may have serious enough issues to warrent medical intervention. I am not a fan of tranquilizers for these dogs, as I think it does nothing for the underlying anxiety and may actually accelerate the dogs' fear. In most cases we need anti-anxiety or behavior modifying medications. Talk to your vet about whether or not this may be appropriate.

Finally, a word of warning; July is often a month in which many pets get lost because they are outside in the yard or, even worse, on an invisible fence and panic and bolt during a storm or fireworks. PLEASE remember to supervise your pet closely and not leave him outside unattended this time of year if he tends to have anxiety in response to loud noises, and make sure that he has appropriate identification (collar tags and/or microchip) on at all times. It may save you a lot of grief in the long run!

Your daily cuteness quota!

2010-06-15T22:26:00.012-04:00

Cory and Zoe's babies are three weeks old today. I went to visit them last night and they are SOOOOOO CUTE! They are starting to move around and be really active and they definitely have minds of their own. The boy has the wide blaze and white muzzle and the girl has the narrower blaze. If you have a slow connection, you are going to just hate me.

The two above are the boy; below is the girl.

Boy.

Girl, above and the next five below.

Oh. My. God. I could just snatch them up and steal them (and I generally consider myself to have a pretty good immunity against cute puppyitis!).

Girl on left, Boy on right.

Poor baby boy...being a puppy is exhausting!

Remember when you only had to dodge your annoying friends with endless pictures of their grandkids at the grocery store? Now you even have to look at their grandDOGS clogging up your email boxes! But I just can't help myself!

OK, little guy, you are a DEAD RINGER for Rodney the guinea pig in the Dr. Doolittle movie with Eddie Murphy!

More girl below.

Last little boy shot above. And for those of you who haven't had quite enough cute yet, we have live action cute in the video below.

THE END!

Early puppyhood enrichment

2010-06-13T22:53:00.006-04:00

Cory's babies are thriving and doing well. I visited them when they were one week old; fat, happy and nursing well, but eyes and ears still not open. However, that didn't stop us from giving them their first agility lesson!

Above is the little girl; she is so fat I was afraid her head would get stuck in the tire.

In the tunnel is the little boy. At 7 days old, already he is the mouthy one who complains loudly about everything and barks and cries in his bed. Sometimes you just can't fight genetics....!

Here's the boy again on the A-frame. In case you haven't caught on yet, this isn't REALLY an agility lesson, just a cute photo op! Though it's never too early to get them used to lots of new sensations! And of course, we expect them to be VERY advanced ;-).

Boy on the left, girl on the right. Boy was born first, but girl has been a bit bigger and quicker to mature all along.

And as long as we are on the shameless brag wagon, I will just add that on Sunday June 13 Cory finished his CD (AKC Companion Dog) title. He earned all three legs in a row with a 1st, 3rd, and 4th place in classes with some very nice competition. We still have a LOT of work to do to get him working like I think he can, but I didn't want to get in the same position I was in with his father, of racing the clock trying to finish advanced titles on an older dog. Plus, novice is BORING- now we can move on to open and utility and do the fun stuff!

Gee Doc, do you think he's in pain?

2010-06-12T04:04:00.004-04:00

"Gee Doc, do you think he's in pain?". I hear this question countless times each week. In some cases, it is code for "Is treating him going to be expensive? Because he's getting to be more trouble than he's worth and the kids are bugging me for a puppy". After 20 years I have gotten pretty good at reading between the lines and separating out the folks who are looking for an excuse to euthanize their dog, and those who are really concerned about their pets wellbeing.

It always surprises me just how BAD people are at interpreting signs of pain in their pets. When their 8 week old puppy decides to scream bloody murder when someone tries to look in his mouth almost every owner is convinced that the puppy MUST be in agonizing pain. In reality, the puppy screams because a) puppies are dramatic and have exaggerated reactions b) he's never been asked to tolerate any restraint before and c) every time he screams like that his owners stop whatever it is that he doesn't like so it works for him. On the other hand, very commonly owners will bring in an old, overweight, large breed dog who has to work really hard just to get up once he lies down, and tell me they are sure he isn't in any pain "because he never cries".

Dogs (and cats) RARELY will cry out or whimper when they are in pain, unless there is something sudden and traumatic that occurs to cause that pain (usually the crying even in that situation is related to a fear response as well as pain). Animals tend to bear their pain much more stoically than we do; when you think about it, it makes sense that they often show few outward signs because in the wild, animals who show signs of weakness often end up as lunch; or at the very least, vulnerable to challenge for status by lower ranking pack members.

Determining if your pet is in pain is easier if you know your pet well, but sometimes still can require close observation skills and a little detective work. If your pet limps, is stiff and/or has difficulty rising, or shows reluctance to jump up or climb stairs when they previously had no issues, it is very likely that they have significant pain. Most of us have no trouble observing these signs (though it is amazing how many owners discount them and still do not believe their pet is painful). However, more subtle, early signs of pain can be an elevated heart rate, increased respiratory rate or panting, shifting weight frequently from limb to limb while standing, or slightly decreased willingness to exercise (however, MANY pets will still chase balls, squirrels, etc even if they are quite lame and painful at other times- I can tell you from personal experience that adrenalin is a GREAT pain reliever! I never hurt when I run my dog in agility, but my knees will pay the price later!). Look at your pet's expression; are his lips tight, tense, and slightly downturned at the corners? Does he have a sad, uneasy, or glazed expression in his eyes? Pets have a wide repertoire of facial expressions, and if you know your pet well or are accustomed to reading animals' body language, you can often recognize signs of distress quite easily. Lastly, dogs who are painful can often show increased aggression, so if your pet is suddenly exhibiting behavioral issues, be sure to consider a physical cause. Also, be aware that dogs who have suffered an injury and are painful WILL bite, even if they normally are quite gentle; if you need to move a dog who is injured it is best to muzzle it in order to protect yourself. If you don't have a muzzle on hand, you can cut the leg off of a panty hose; tie it over the top of the dog's muzzle (tightly), then underneath the dog's muzzle, then behind the dog's ears.

Thanks to Michelle Ragsdale DVM for the beautiful photo of her beloved "Popper".

Fortunately we have many options for pain control. One very useful product that is available and may help to slow progression of joint disease as well as decrease stiffness and discomfort is glucosamine. This product is considered a nutroceutical or dietary supplement, so it is not FDA regulated and is available without a prescription. There are many, many products available with glucosamine in them, both veterinary and human. In many cases there are other active ingredients as well, such as antioxidants. Because they are not FDA regulated, there is a wide variation in the quality of product available and, not surprisingly, in price as well. I personally like the products made by Nutramax; Cosequin is the veterinary version, Cosamine is the human version which is identical to the double strength veterinary product. The veterinary version is available in a capsule (can be sprinkled on the food if preferred), a chewable tab, or a tuna flavored sprinkle for cats. This product is a "pharmaceutical quality" supplement and is the one used in many/most of the studies that have been done. I generally suggest my clients start with this; after 3 months they probably have seen what type of response to expect, and if they would like to try a cheaper product I usually suggest visiting a site called http://www.consumerlab.com/ which reviews dietary supplements and determines if their actual ingredients correspond to what is on the label. They would like to sell you a report, but will provide a short list of supplements which have passed their testing and is a good place to start. I start my dogs on glucosamine supplements when they are about 3 years old, to help protect their joints from wear and tear since we do a lot of different canine sports. You may notice that some diets also contain glucosamine; however in my opinion they generally don't contain enough to negate the need for a supplement.

Fatty acid supplements can also help to decrease inflammation in the body (and usually are good for coat as well). It is important to choose a supplement that has the proper ratio of omega 6 and omega 3 fatty acids; and ideally to feed a diet that has an appropriate ratio. Talk to your veterinarian about what fatty acid supplements may be appropriate for your dog.

One of the major groups of drugs that are useful for chronic pain control in dogs are the NSAIDs- non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. This includes veterinary drugs such as Rimadyl, Deramaxx, Metacam, Etogesic, Zubrin, and Previcox. Human drugs in this category include aspirin, tylenol (acetominophen), and ibuprofen. Because all drugs in this category have the potential for side effects, it is important to use them only under the direct supervision of your veterinarian. NEVER give your pet a human NSAID unless specifically directed by your vet- failing to heed this advice can have disastrous results. For example, a relatively small dose of tylenol is likely to kill a cat; ibuprofen in dogs has a very high rate of gastrointestinal ulcers and potentially kidney failure as well. The veterinary products generally are very safe when used properly. This includes routine monitoring of blood panels to ensure that liver and kidney values remain normal, watching for signs of GI distress, and NEVER, NEVER mixing drugs in this category with each other or with steroid medications. We require our clients to have at a bare minimum a 48 hour wash out period between stopping one medication and starting another. When these precautions are followed, the vast majority of pets tolerate these medications quite well and their quality of life can be dramatically improved.

In recent years other medications have come into popular use for pain control either alone or in conjunction with the above medications. These include such drugs as tramadol, gabapentin, and amantadine. Injectable medications such as a drug called adequan can greatly help many arthritic pets, while having very, very few side effects. And, just very recently, stem cell therapy is becoming commercially available. This involves harvesting the animal's own fatty tissue, extracting the stem cells, and injecting them either into the joints or the circulatory system. While pricey, this technology appears to hold great promise for treating many diseases in the future.

So if your pet is getting older and showing signs of slowing down, and you think he may be in pain, talk to your vet! There are many options which can make his remaining years as comfortable as possible.

Important Iams recall info and a little brag...

2010-06-11T12:56:00.007-04:00

Important recall notice- Proctor and Gamble has issued a voluntary recall for canned cat food which does not meet quality control standards for thiamine content. This recall involves only North America and is for Iams Proactive Health all varieties of cat and kitten food in both the 3 and 5.5 oz cans. Affected lots have expiration dates stamped on the bottom from 9/2011 to 6/21012. Pet owners may call 877-340-8826 for more information.

Apparently, cats at highest risk for problems would be eating canned food exclusively (and presumable, would be more likely to see problems in young kittens or older pets, particularly those who might have compromised kidney function). Signs of thiamine (a type of B vitamin) deficiency include lack of appetite, weakness, drooling, incoordination, tremors, and seizures. We occasionally see this in kidney failure cats who are losing B vitamins in their urine, and the classic symptom is the "wet daisy on a stem" appearance- they cannot lift their heads normally and kind of peer up at you just by moving their eyes. This is due to muscle weakness which seems to particularly affect the neck muscles. Again, this is primarily an issue of a nutritional deficiency with chronic consumption of the affected foods, NOT a toxicity issue.

Since my two younger cats eat predominantly this food with a little dry mixed in, and all EIGHT of the cases of various flavors they have been eating from are affected by the recall, I tried to find unaffected cans last night. At the two pet stores I tried, their shelves were totally empty with notices of the recall, so I suspect it is going to be hard to impossible to find any of this food not affected by the recall until they can begin shipping new lots. We will have to either use another brand or they will have to make do with mostly dry for a while.

I KNOW that I have seriously neglected this blog for a while, and will be making every attempt to store up some blog posts this weekend so I can be a little more regular in posting. I have posted numerous "mental blogs" over the past few months, I just need to get them transferred to my keyboard!

And on a slightly off topic personal note, I'm sure you noticed the picture of the two absolutely perfectly adorable sheltie pups at the top of this post. Cory is proud to announce that on May 26 he became the father of a boy (left) and a girl (right) who were 7 days old in the above picture (they still DO look mostly like guinea pigs, but I think they are gorgeous!). Both are fat and thriving and we may have extra incentive to post about new puppy issues in the near future...congrats to breeder Tamara Jones and mom O'Sure Grace Like Rain (Zoe). Zoe is OFA prelim Good, CERF, and VWD clear by parentage. She is by CH Belmar's Joker's Wild x O'Sure Educating Rita. You can see more info about Cory at www.edgewoodanimalclinic.org/coryspage.htm. (Neither puppy is likely to be available, at this point we have more interested homes than puppies).

(And if anyone knows how to keep blogger from getting rid of my paragraph breaks please post and let me know. GRRR!).

Spring hike

2010-04-16T12:34:00.006-04:00

Last week on my afternoon off it was a beautiful day; I got my errands run early and decided that Cory and I needed to go find a place to take a walk.

One of my favorite drives is out Middle Creek Road in Boone county. This time of year the wildflowers are beautiful, and it is always a good bet for seeing good birds. At the end of the road is Boone Cliffs, a little used park which is popular with birders but a bit steep for me with my bad knees (I have plans to make it to the top, but it will be on a day with no agility trials right afterwards and I will definitely need my walking stick!). So we started with a drive out Middle Creek.

Of course, I forgot my camera so these pictures were all taken with my Blackberry (whose camera is terrible). The detail is not great, but the drive was beautiful.

The entire ground was carpeted with wildflowers of many types. Wild phlox were prevalent, as were blue-eyed marys. Bluebells, larkspur, and a dozen other varieties I don't know the names of were all visible.

After driving down Middle Creek Road, I decided to head over to Middle Creek park. I had never hiked there, but had checked it out on the internet previously. A group of my dog training friends tries to get together on non-show weekends and find different places to hike with the dogs, and this was one possible site that we hadn't gotten to yet. There are about six miles of trails shared with horseback riders, and the overall traffic in the park seems fairly low.

Here's Cory in the midst of the wildflowers along the trail. The trails are very wooded and follow the creek; it was an absolutely beautiful walk.

Cory HATES being America's next top dog model ;-).

Here's a closeup of the blue-eyed marys. Aren't they pretty?

And here's some wild phlox, one of my favorites.

Here's Cory in the larkspur; can you tell he's had about enough of this posing business?

Here is a picture of the trail we followed; it was so pretty it was like being in a movie set. We had the whole park just about to ourselves that day. Unfortunately, wildflower season is also tick season. Yuck. I had found a tick two days in a row attached to Cory before the hike, but had forgotten to put his Frontline on before we went.

So I tried an experiment when we got home that night; I gave him his Comfortis, which is the once a month flea pill. We just started using it the end of the season last year and so far have had excellent results for fleas. It is not labeled for ticks; however initial reports seem to indicate that it has some effect on ticks but probably doesn't last a whole month. So I figured it would be a good experiment to see if I could observe any effect. (As of this weekend, I found one dead, attached tick on him 10 days post pill; I have found live ticks that he apparently carried in that crawled off of him and onto me or the floor, but no live attached ticks since giving it). Yuck. I hate ticks!

The trail meandered along the creek and eventually I realized that we were walking in the woods I could see from the road when I was driving. I wish I had known long ago there were trails there!

There were ample dead fallen logs to sit on and relax along the way. Cory gets impatient with my rest stops!

Even he was pretty tired though, it was quite warm (above 80) that day and after a long winter we weren't used to it! No gradual warming this year!

If you look closely at the picture below, you can see Cory in the creek. He was very happy when we found a spot where he could get down to it easily and promptly jumped in and laid down. Fabulous. He had just had his bath and groom out for a seminar that weekend...luckily he has a wash and wear coat, a quick rinse of his legs with the hose when we got home and a three minute brushing was all it took to get the creek stink off of him.

Spring is really here! My red headed woodpecker was back on Friday, much earlier than previous years! They didn't show up until May 16 last year, though they came back on May 4 and 5 the two years prior. Unfortunately I have not been home to watch my feeders much lately.

If you haven't started your flea prevention, it is getting to be time and if you have tick exposure you are LATE!

Showin' off at the Pet Expo

2010-04-15T21:53:00.006-04:00

Last weekend Cory and I went to the Everything Pets Expo downtown at the convention center. We had never been before. Parking was a bit tight especially as there was a Reds game going on at the same time, but we eventually were able to find a spot, drag all our stuff through the parking garage and down the street, and made it on time. Cory was unfazed by the sights and the sounds of the city- except he thought it would be fun to chase the pigeons.

The Pet Expo goes on for three days and includes agility, flyball and dock dog demos, booths selling every kind of pet product imaginable, and lots of rescues with animals available for adoption. There were auditions to be on David Letterman's "Stupid Pet Tricks" and America's Top Dog Model. The dog below was one of my favorite sights of the weekend; his owner was participating in one of the "creative grooming" demos. Being a big Bengal fan, this one has to go in my keeper file!

He was not the only dog all dolled up for the event. The general public is not allowed to bring their pets, but between all the demos and the rescue booths there were LOTS of animals there. Between the Bengals dog and the poodle below, Cory was starting to feel underdressed!

One of the booths was manned by the CARE center of Cincinnati, one of the referral centers we use frequently. They offer 24/7 critical care abilities as well as specialists in a multitude of disciplines and we are very lucky to have them so readily available.

For those like Cory who came underdressed, no need to fear. You could fully outfit your dog in one of many appropriate outfits for the day. Cory decided on general principles that he would continue to appear "au natural".

The expo was aimed at ALL types of pets, not just dogs. Some people were a bit startled by the appearance of the critter below right next to them.

Looking at all the displays of cool collars always makes me so jealous of people who can put them on their dogs and actually SEE them. My dogs are so hairy that it's a waste of money. But that doesn't keep me from window shopping....

There were also booths selling all kinds of animal art and neat gifts. A new store called "Indigenous" in O'Bryanville is owned by the people who used to have "A Show of Hands" at Kenwood and is art done by local artists. They brought a terrific selection of their animal related items and I can see I am going to have to make a trip there soon.

One of the big exhibits is the Dock Dogs demo. It is a huge crowd favorite and lots of fun to watch. In addition to the experienced dogs, they allowed some of the other dogs who wanted to to participate. I think Cory might actually like this- he likes the water, unlike my two previous shelties. However, in the interest of keeping him looking good for his own demos we elected to pass this time.

I didn't want to use a flash, so my action shots are not the best, but I thought they were still kind of fun even if blurry.

It reminded me of the dolphin shows in Florida- if you stand too close to the pool you're going to get wet!

If you look closely at the picture below you can see a big open mouth going for the bumper in the middle of the splash!

Hamilton County SPCA had their van there with animals available for adoption.

A horse rescue had three week old foals on display.

The Cincinnati Police brought some of their mounted units in. They were corraled right next to the main demo ring and watched the agility with interest!

There were demos with frisbee dogs as well; my action shots of these were just no good with the slow shutter speed due to the low light.

The purpose of Cory and I attending was to participate in the demos put on by Queen City Dog Training Club. We did mostly agility demos throughout the weekend. It was a great chance for the dogs to get in a little practice with a high level of distraction, but without the pressure of a real trial.

Maryann and Edge below did a great job in the relay races.

Connie and her dobie helped to keep her team in the thick of it.

Mary Jo and Jamie were flying!

Cory and I both really enjoyed the agility relay races. We set up two identical, side by side courses consisting of jump-weave-jump-tunnel and back and had teams of four run each course simultaneously. The dogs had a BLAST- we typically don't run head to head in real trials, the courses were short with all the emphasis on speed, and Cory thought he had died and gone to doggy Disneyland. I was very happy with his weave pole entries which are still a work in progress, but he did fairly well hitting them at speed.

Sharon and Baylin enjoyed themselves as well- they are Cory's favorite tracking buddies.

Linda and Freya were zooming too!

We thoroughly enjoyed our Pet Expo experience. If you have a chance to go next year, come on down- especially if you have any interest in finding some fun activities to do with your own dog. All of the dogs demoing there are primarily pets; those of us who are addicted do pick our next dog with competition in mind, but these dogs are for the most part every day dogs who snooze on the couch all day and get to play at this one or two nights a week and on weekends. There is something fun for everyone, no matter where your interests lie. Your dog will love it!

I have not fallen off the face of the earth...

2010-03-29T18:05:00.005-04:00

Yes, I KNOW I have been remiss in keeping up with the blog; but it's the kind of thing where either you're in the mood or you're not. Plus, if you're in the mood, you have to have the time. And something going on to write about. So here is a quick shortie post until I have time do do something more informative (and because Diane asked for more bird pix!).

Sunday was Queen City DTC's spring tracking test. This year it was at a new location, Valley View nature preserve in Clermont County. We had one TD entry which PASSED for a new Tracking Dog Tibetan Terrier from Kingsport TN. Sadly, none of the three Tracking Dog Excellent entries were successful. The pass rate for TDX is daunting- all the stars really must be in alignment!

There was an elementary school right next to the first track and we were watching from the sidewalk. This absolutely INFURIATED a killdeer who had "built" her nest right next to the walkway. "Built" is stretching it a bit, since it isn't much more than a depression in the dirt.

First Mama Killdeer shrieked at me, puffed up, and (quite bravely I thought) ran right up to me doing her best to look terrifying.

When I did not reward her with the proper reaction of terror and hasty retreat, she tried tactic #2; fake an injury.

See, she drags a wing and tries to draw me away from the nest thinking she is easy prey. However, killdeer for lunch was not on my agenda and I still refused to vacate the area.

Oops, Mama K, you forgot that you started out with your OTHER wing hurt. You need to take your acting class over again.

Finally she retreated back to her nest where she ranted and raved at us through the whole time we were observing, and when we started back to the car she tried dive bombing us just to hurry us along.

You know, Mama Killdeer, not to point out the obvious, but if you had decided to lay your eggs in, oh, say, the 200 acres of grassland nature preserve 50 yards away instead of next to the sidewalk, you could have been relaxing and eating bon bons instead of doing sidewalk patrol. I'm just sayin'. You might want to think about it next time.

One of the tracking dogs also flushed up this deer as she ran her track; the deer took off running TOWARDS the sound of gunshots from the nearby firing range, which makes me not feel very optimistic about her long term survival odds.

She did look pretty and was fun to watch though. I had the pictures cropped down a little better, but somehow when I uploaded them they reverted to the original and I'm too lazy to fix it.

I have several posts written in my mind and I will try to get them up and be more regular again; I am doing my best to shake off the winter blahs and get motivated to do something productive!

Teaching a puppy to tolerate restraint

2010-01-14T18:28:00.004-05:00

One of the most important lessons you can teach a puppy, if not THE most important lesson, is how to tolerate restraint. It is relatively simple and quick to do if you start it young as a puppy and it will make your life SO MUCH EASIER not to mention save a lot of stress on the dog and potentially save his life. Despite this, I would estimate 95% of my clients never teach this important tool. My puppies learn this as our number one priority, WAY above teaching sit, down, contact behaviors, or focused attention.

I discuss with EVERY new puppy client (usually at every visit) how to work on this. Five minutes a night is all it takes; if you start by 8 weeks it is a whole lot easier but it can certainly be started later. First, if this is not your own puppy we spend some time making friends with the puppy,
cuddling them and feeding them cookies, so they are feeling comfortable and good about us. I like the puppies to wear a buckle collar and I put them on a table, washer, top of a crate, whatever- but off the ground and out of their comfort zone. I frame the puppy's chin with my thumb and pointer finger and slide my other three fingers through his collar under his chin. ((I am right handed and usually do this with my left hand so my right hand is free). If the puppy elects to struggle, all pressure is on the back of his neck from the collar- roughly where his mother would put it. He cannot bite or mouthe me because of the way I am holding him. I flip back each ear and examine them, look at eyes, lift lips and look at teeth, open mouth, run my free hand down his back, and pick up and handle all four feet- all things you as an owner might need to do in the context of basic everyday grooming or handling as well as part of the veterinary exam. I EXPECT the puppy to struggle and probably whine and squeal a little bit. Puppies are dramatic- they put on dramatic displays and exaggerate their responses. Most pet owners see this, freak out and think they are hurting them, and stop- so the puppy has learned that throwing a temper tantrum gets them what they want. All I do is wait until they are done wiggling and vocalizing and then I praise and go on with my business. I DO NOT try to distract them with treats- I want them to think about and be aware of what I am doing, realize that it is NOT the end of the world and that struggling does not get them the desired result, and then reward the behavior I am looking for- standing calmly- by releasing them and THEN giving cookies as well as kisses, butt rubs, etc. If you use the cookies to distract them from what you are doing, they never learn the most important part of the lesson- they are bribes, not rewards in that situation. 90 % of puppies started at 8 wks or younger (ideally I would start at 3-4 wks) will cry once or twice, wiggle for about 10 seconds, and then settle down. On night two you will get about half that much before they settle. The other 10%, and older puppies, will put up more of a struggle; I like to do this while I am watching TV so if they decide to have a prolonged tantrum I can distract myself and keep from getting frustrated by focusing on the TV show while I wait them out. Cory as a singleton was one of the tougher ones- I find singletons in generally to be very possessive of their bodies, very intolerant of restraint, and somewhat bratty, and he was no exception. I am happy to report that by 10 wks old he was very good and I can now do just about anything I need to to him with no one to restrain him, including having him lie on his side for up to 2 hours while grooming or reach down his throat to pull out whatever he stole from the neighbor's trash.

Part two is teaching that lateral down; I slide the puppie down my body with his back against me and his legs away from me so that he is lying on his side; on hand holds the front leg closest to the table and my wrist rests lightly over his neck, the other hand holds the rear leg closest to the table. Again, as long as he wiggles I do not respond, as soon as he relaxes I praise, rub his belly, and release. Gradually you stretch out the time and add in brushes, etc. This should be CALM and relaxing, you should not be flipping the puppy over like an alpha roll.

Part three is foot handling/nail trims. I like the puppy to stand on the table while I hold a foot; I DO NOT want anyone else holding him as I want HIM to learn the responsibility for holding still. I will pick up a front foot and hold it gently. Most puppies will cry and wiggle, some will start to twist all around to try and get away. Whatever; not recommended but your choice; I DO NOT LET GO but wait until they hold still and then praise and release and move onto the next foot. I will only correct for aggressive biting but I will not let go, even if they twist themselves in circles. Too bad, so sad, you might not want to do that next time. 80% of the reaction usually occurs on the first foot, by the time you get to the third foot they usually are getting the idea. Once they tolerate that I introduce nail trims one or two nails per night. Again, if started early most puppies are tolerating the handling in just a minute or two. If you wait until 12 wks to start, expect to wait out the struggling longer as this seems to start a more oppositional age, but it still can be done! I will not let the puppy fall off the table, but I will let him get a foot off so he realizes there is an edge and standing still is worth his while. I also recently saw an idea on Susan Garrett's training blog that I thought was excellent- use a metal spoon to tap on the puppy's toenail tips to acclimate them to the sound and sensation before going to regular adult nail trimmers (we also use human nail trimmers for the smaller puppies- much easier to use on the tiny nails, less likely to hit the quick, and quieter).

Timing your praise is critical- we all are tempted when the puppy is uphappy to croon to him and comfort him. SHUT UP! This sounds just like praise and reinforces the behavior you want to eliminate. Keep your mouth shut until you feel that first instant of relaxation and then praise like crazy. It makes a HUGE HUGE difference.

Although I do not use treats until I get the behavior I want, I usually use a fairly high value treat like squirt cheese once I do reward so the puppies find it is very worth their while to cooperate. It is very important that while you are doing this you do your best NOT to have to do anything that is painful or any scarier than what I have described above; I want the puppy to learn that restraint may not be their favorite thing, but it is a necessary evil and no big deal; they learn to trust me in a mildly stressful situation. By teaching your dog to tolerate this handling it will save them SO much stress through their lives! Nothing is more frustrating than an owner whose dog pitches an absolute tantrum because he has never had to tolerate any restraint until he has to go to the vet and have something unpleasant done, and the owner is unhappy with US. Um, YOU did not do your job to prepare your dog for a basic part of life, so now WE have to deal with it as quickly and atraumatically as we can- but it won't always be pretty. I can't even tell you how many patients I have who have suffered needless discomfort literally for years because the owner cannot treat them at home, and 99% of them could have avoided it by five minutes a night from 8-16 wks old.

My old cocker was one of those dogs that took three people lying on her to do her nails, and ended up with everyone covered in poop, pee, and anal gland juice. I swore I would NEVER have a dog I had to do that with again and I never have :-). I run up against maybe 1 puppy a year in my practice that, started at an approprate age will be really and truly difficult to teach this too- and boy, I wouldn't take that puppy home on a bet! Those puppies do better using the operant conditioning techniques I would use with a wild animal to teach them to allow handling- but I think they have missed the important point of the lesson in learning to tolerate restraint in many instances. Essentially it has been trained around rather than through. Virtually all of the rest do great with it, if only as many of the owners would do the necessary follow through at home! With adult dogs and older puppies you may be better off to use the operant approach as well (see my post with a good video on the subject by clicking on nail trims in the index to the right of this page) as they are likely to resist more and we don't want to turn this lesson into a huge conflict. In general I prefer to teach almost everything I can by shaping and positive reinforcement, but this is one situation where I want to work THROUGH the puppy not liking what I am doing rather than around it- he doesn't have to learn to love every bit of it, but he does need to learn that he MUST tolerate it, it is not optional, and he does have the power to make the situation be short and non-traumatic if he cooperates. I think dogs taught this way are much less likely to decide to stop cooperating when the time comes that we DO have to do something particularly unpleasant; plus, they have learned how to deal successfully with stress in small doses, which makes for a much more mentally balanced dog who deals with life in general much better.

The video below goes through this process rather quickly with Poppy, a 12 week old Maltese puppy. This is Poppy's second visit, so she had experience with this at her first visit when she was 8 or 9 weeks old. You can see she wiggles a little, but settles down pretty quickly and is not especially upset by the experience. This is pretty typical for what I see, although certainly many puppies will resist a little more, especially on holding that first foot the first time. I think Poppy has decided that playing by our rules is well worth the cookies and cuddles!

2009-12-31T10:53:00.003-05:00

Happy New Year and happy blue moon! Cory, the kitties (Tyler is pictured above since he did not cooperate for his Christmas pictures) and I are looking forward to our second long weekend in a row. Last weekend, of course, was spent doing family things and enjoying a visit with my sister who lives in Taipai. This weekend is mine, all mine, and we are entered in an agility trial starting as soon as we get out of here at noon today and every day through the weekend. Plus we'll probably enjoy dinner with friends to celebrate the New Year tonight, although we'll all be in bed early so we can be back at the show at the crack of dawn tomorrow! I figure it IS a blue moon, so maybe Cory will do well!

This blog is now officially a year old and I must apologize for my lack of postings of late, and my laziness when staying on topic. I promise to do better and do more veterinary and training related posts this year. I am working on a couple coming up but am trying to wait to get some video to go along with them. My New Year's resolution is to do better!

So on to a new year and a new decade; Happy New Year to all!

An exercise in futility....

2009-12-17T17:00:00.006-05:00

Two cats, one dog, three Santa hats, three jingle bell collars and a camera, plus a little fresh turkey for treats...seems like that SHOULD be all you need to get good Christmas pictures. The truth is that I needed at least half a dozen helpers and a staple gun to have had any hope of success!

Here's the best we could do; I'm not thrilled with any of them but maybe we'll try again later. Pictured are Cory and Toby; Tyler declined to be photographed.

Why didn't we take the pictures in front of the tree, you ask? Given that I have two 8 month old kittens this year who climb the door frames and the posts in the basement, I thought this might be a good year to skip a tree...we made due with outdoor lights and half a dozen poinsettias instead and left the rest of the Christmas decorations boxed up in the garage this time.

When Pigs Flu.....

2009-11-09T16:26:00.007-05:00

You can't turn on the news these days without hearing about "flu" of one sort or another. Swine flu, avian flu, dog flu.......it makes the head swim! Here is a brief synopsis of the significance of influenza to your pet. I have no flu pictures, so I decided to belatedly post some halloween pictures instead!

This is my very favorite Halloween costume ever- our beloved "Grouch" who passed away last December dressed as him namesake, Oscar the Grouch. You have to admit there is a distinct resemblance! (note: green Kool Aid does NOT come out of the fur. For a very long time).

Back to the flu. Type A influenza viruses can affect many different species. In GENERAL, influenza virus is species specific- that is, dog flu affects only dogs, not humans. However, type A influenza viruses are known to mutate and cross species, which is why a while back we had a big concern about avian (bird) flu and this year's hot topic is swine flu. In the case of canine influenza (H3N8), it is thought to have mutated from the equine flu virus. Canine flu first showed up about five years ago in groups of racing greyhounds. It is common practice to feed these dogs raw horsemeat and it is thought that that may have been a factor in the virus jumping species (just one of many reasons we do NOT recommend feeding raw meat). The outbreaks at greyhound tracks have occurred in clusters and seem to have a higher incidence of severe disease than the cases we see in the general canine population. The largest number of cases have occurred in Florida, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Colorado, but cases have been reported in more than 30 states including Ohio and Kentucky.

Here is Cory's costume for this year- Peter Pan, which seemed appropriate! Unfortunately I forgot my camera and had to make due with my cellphone, so the quality is not the best!

Because canine influenza is a relatively new virus, very few dogs will have any natural immunity and the morbidity (rate of infection) may approach 100%. Approximately 20% of dogs affected will show no clinical signs, but will be contagious to other dogs. The vast majority of dogs will show mild symptoms similar to "kennel cough" syndrome- initially sneezing and nasal discharge followed by a cough which is characteristically a softer cough than the "goose honk" we hear with kennel cough. Fever may be present (rarely seen with kennel cough). A small percentage of dogs may develop the severe form of the disease which presents as rapid progression to severe, often hemorrhagic pneumonia. Racing greyhounds seem to be much more likely to develop the severe form. Less than 1% of dogs who are exposed will die of the disease. Dogs may be contagious BEFORE developing symptoms, which can make controlling spread of disease difficult.

Stevie, our clinic cat, dressed as "The Little Mermaid" this year. His costume is a little difficult to appreciate (sadly the bikini top and tail are hard to see!) but the expression on his face says it all!

Last spring a vaccine for canine influenza was given conditional approval. At this time we are not recommending its use for our patients. In general, we try to avoid using new products such as this the first year it is available, particularly when it does not have full approval as is the case with this vaccine. Locally canine influenza does not appear to yet be presenting a significant threat. In addition, it is important to know that this vaccine does NOT prevent your dog from developing symptoms; it decreases the severity of the symptoms and lessens the length of time the vaccinated dog is contagious to other dogs.

At this time, canine influenza does not appear to pose a significant health threat to our patients as the overall incidence in our area is low, and the vast majority of dogs who do become sick will have relatively mild symptoms. It is important to keep in mind however that some dogs do develop more serious symptoms; our recommendations for vaccination may change if the disease becomes more prevalent. It is likely that dogs who are most at risk would be dogs who attend dog shows and training classes, stay at boarding kennels, or go to the groomer or dog park. If more cases of canine influenza begin appearing, our recommendations for these dogs may change.

This is Boris Wedig, one of our patients who sends us pictures of his Halloween finery each year. Boris and Stevie seem to share a similar opinion of dressing up...they think it is more trick than treat!

Canine flu has not been reported in people and is not considered a health risk to humans. However, in the news last week it was reported that a cat had been diagnosed with swine flu (H1N1) which it appeared to have contracted from its human owners. This appears to have been another case of a type A influenza virus jumping species. Also within the past few weeks there have been a handful of cases of H1N1 reported in pet ferrets. Ferrets in general are more susceptible to the influenza viruses than dogs and cats, and so it is not totally surprising that this could occur. At this time, it is not believed that cats or ferrets (or other household pets) will harbor the swine flu virus and serve as a source of infection to humans- it actually appears that the opposite was true and the humans transmitted the disease to the animals.

Based on our knowledge of influenza viruses, it is wise that if you are experiencing symptoms of flu that you avoid close contact not only with human family members but with your pets as well (no sleeping on the bed!) and wash your hands frequently. The same holds true if your pets are the ones with symptoms. The risk of transferring infections is very, very low, but not nonexistent. Also, it is more important now than ever that if your dog develops respiratory symptoms such as sneezing or coughing that you see your veterinarian to ensure that any evidence of severe disease is caught as early as possible. Our diagnostic lab is now offering a panel which tests for the eight most common causes of canine upper respiratory disease. This panel is not inexpensive and is not something we would necessarily recommend for every dog with symptoms, but for dogs with more serious evidence of disease or who may serve as a source of infection for large numbers of other dogs it may be a valuable source of information.

Natasha Wedig, Boris' "sister" in her Minnie Mouse outfit. She doesn't look any happier than Boris and Stevie!

So follow the common sense advice above, be vigilant and observe your pets closely for respiratory symptoms, and stay tuned for new developments. We hope both you and your pets stay healthy and happy this flu season!

Deja vu all over again...

2009-10-19T14:53:00.003-04:00

Cory and I went to Zanesville OH this weekend for the Parkersburg Obedience Training Club's agility trials. It was an absolutely BEAUTIFUL weekend to drive and the leaves were much more changed there than here. We had a great time although Cory was in "butthead" mode most of the weekend. We had no Qs, but he did try very hard for me on the standard course. We were 100% in all three classes for startline stays, contacts, and no knocked bars, so we are getting there...

The first video is of Cory's standard run this weekend and the second one is of his dad Andy almost 10 years ago when he was still a young green dog. It is amazing how little has changed! (including my hairstyle and my handling; you would have thought I'd have learned something in that time frame. And I think I still have that shirt in my closet). I HAVE apparently done a better job of training contacts as Cory doesn't creep down the contact like his dad (although I have no complaints because Andy was pretty reliable on his contacts, though he would push if I let him). When I watch video of them running though they are SO alike in so many ways. Not all of them good!

Sorry about the quality in Andy's video; I stopped taping our runs because I was tired of seeing my big butt and now I regret hardly having any video of him!

I am so lucky to have had two dogs with such drive and enthusiasm. They truly are a joy to train and live with. Even if I do gripe about Cory all the time :-). That's half the fun!

Off to the Smokies Part 2- agility trial!

2009-10-09T12:39:00.006-04:00

My pictures finally came so I can finish telling you about our North Carolina trip! To pick up where I left off, we drove down to our cabins on a Tuesday night and spent Wednesday and Thursday relaxing with the dogs and doing just a little sightseeing. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday we were entered in the Blue Ridge Agility Club's trials. Prior to this, Cory has been entered in standard only 3 or 4 times primarily to practice his startline stays and contacts. The last time I ran him was last December at our club's trial in the FAST class, where he did come close to Qing. In fact, that was the last trial I had been to and the last time I ran Andy. I knew Cory still wasn't ready, but time was catching up with us and I had to get motivated to start really training again. Since we were there, and this club had absolutely the BEST entry fee package, I figured what the heck and gave it a shot. I didn't really expect to qualify but thought we could sort of see where we were and evaluate. I was a little worried about running him in jumpers as stringing together long jump sequences is where we start having problems (he is way too handler focused and doesn't send well yet, especially to jumps), but we needed to see how bad the issue would be on a full course with a full head of steam.

My roomates Kathy and Sharon did not have to be to the trial until later, so I was first up and on the road from my cabin. You guessed, it, more rain. Luckily this trial was held at a really nice, outdoor covered horse arena with near perfect footing for me. Driving through the mountains that morning was really beautiful, and I was zooming along in quite a good mood when suddenly it occurred to me that this was the first agility trial I had been to since Andy died. Not only that, but other than Levi's very first agility trial at the sheltie national way back in 1997, it was the first agility trial I had EVER gone to without Andy- he came along just a couple of months after Levi got that first leg and went with me to every trial from then until he died. I admit I got a little teary; I still miss my boy every single day and one of the reasons that I haven't really worked Cory in agility much is that I just get a heavy feeling in the pit of my stomach running without Andy. As I was driving and sniffling a little bit, I noticed the song on the radio- it was an old country song by Ricky Van Shelton called "Wild Man". That was what I would always call my Andy at the agility trials- when we headed over to line up for our turn in the ring I would always tell him "Come on, wild man" and he knew that it was his turn to run. The words of the song kept repeating "I'm a wild man, that's what I am"...almost like Andy was letting me know a little piece of him would be with me at every trial for the rest of my life. I'm not really one to believe in "signs" so much....but I don't believe much in coincidence either and what are the odds that that particular seventeen year old song would be playing on the radio?

I miss you, my little wild man. I'm glad I have a piece of you in your son, but it still will never be the same.

But on to Cory! I have to say that, despite the LONG days this club's trial was very nice, the facility was great, the setting was beautiful (when we could see it through the pouring rain!), the food was EXCELLENT and the courses were without exception flowing and fun. Plus we had real indoor bathrooms! I wish I had pictures of the mountains surrounding all four sides of the arena to show you, but sadly the weather was just too icky to get any. We definitely could appreciate WHY they're called the Smokies, though! At times it was like something out of a Tolkien novel.

I was SO proud of Cory- all weekend, through 8 classes, he had intense focus and energy; he NEVER lost it and ran amuck, and he tried very hard 100% of the time to play by my rules. His startline stays were solid (well, ok, he blew one but it WAS partly my fault), his contacts were great, and he even hit both weave pole entries the first day on the first try! The rest of the weekend we had almost all right sided poles and I think he got them all on at least the second try. It took his dad a LONG time for me to be able to say that! He does need to learn to drop his head and drive through a little more- he still has a lot of wasted motion, but that will come with experience.

I was especially pleased with his jumpers runs. We have definite issues with stringing together more than 2 or 3 jumps- he gets very revved up and starts to spin back and bark at me. He is VERY sensitive to my body language which is not at all precise, and way too handler focused. He sends to the weaves or contacts much better than to jumps. The course the first day was really a good one for us with "bowtie" loops so I didn't have to run too hard to keep up and he did much better than I expected. Day two we had to sit on the startline for about an eon while some course adjustments were made; the course was not so good for me and I needed to do a long lead out pivot which he is not really solid on to keep myself in position. He held the startline stay for a lead out long enough that we didn't both fit in the frame of the video camera even zoomed out all the way, but missed the pivot and got stuck in a spin cycle we never recovered from. Day three he broke his only startline stay of the weekend; I broke my cardinal rule of NEVER allowing my dogs to continue (I can honestly say I don't think I have ever failed to carry my dogs off if they broke their stay). I hesitated long enough to pull him off his weave pole entry, but ultimately decided we needed practice running full courses more than startline stays. I think in this case it was a good decision- we worked the stays separately afterwards, he held both of them later in the day, and he actually had a MUCH better run than I expected with only two places we got sticky- one due to needing more training and one due to me just being too slow. The improvement from Saturday to Sunday was immense, and I was so pleased.

I was really happy with our standard runs; I think he will Q in standard soon. We came very close on Sunday. He had great runs on Friday and Sunday; on Sunday I forgot which dog I was running and didn't support his contact sends well enough and he ran by each one- very unusual for him. BUT we didn't have a single spin until we got to the very last jump- a tough for us sequence of tunnel-jump-chute- jump and out, so you can imagine how far behind I was when we got to the last jump. His contact performances were very solid. On Saturday I pushed it just a little too far; we had a dogwalk-tunnel-aframe sequence and when he came out of the tunnel he wanted to "buzz" by me once before hitting the aframe; I held him on the frame contact a LONG time thinking I would settle him down (and also to let me cross in front and get into position) and after a LONG time he did pop off before I released him and I carried him off. I really regretted that after I thought about it though, as he probably waited 10-15 seconds- an ETERNITY in agility time- on that contact while I strolled into position- that's a lot to ask of a green dog! I shouldn't have pushed it.

But the best part of the weekend was Cory actually Q'd and placed second in FAST on Friday! FAST is a "games" class; you have 30 seconds to accumulate points. Each obstacle is worth a certain point value. To qualify you have to accumulate a certain number of points AND successfully complete the "send", which is a sequence of obstacles where you "send" your dog across a line and handle the sequence from a distance without crossing the line. Once the 30 second whistle blows, you lose one point for every second it takes you to jump the "out" jump and stop the timers. It is great fun and nice for novice dogs as you can reattempt obstacles if you need to, or avoid obstacles your dog isn't ready for (as long as they aren't in the send).

He SHOULD have qualified in FAST on Saturday as well, if his dumb handler had paid more attention when she walked the course. FAST and standard ran in the same ring, and in standard both days before running fast the course started with jump-dogwalk. I set him up for the opening in FAST on Saturday with jump- teeter- not even thinking that he was pattern trained to expect the dogwalk, and being a greed dog, would have difficulty telling the teeter and dogwalk apart when approached straight on. You guessed it, he flew off the teeter quite spectacularly- I don't think it dropped at all and he ran right off the end; "yelled" at me by barking with teeth showing that it was all my fault but did a great job when we reattempted it; I think this may have been the reason we had the contact run bys the next day too- he wanted to get a good look at them. Sadly he knocked the bar on the double in the send or we would have had Q number two. Oh well, c'est la vie. I learned an important lesson about looking at things from my dog's perspective and in the context of the whole weekend.

Running Cory was like deja vu in many cases- he is SO like his father in so many ways, especially when Andy was young and first starting out. I guess that means I haven' t learned anything and have made the same training mistakes! He does care a lot more about playing by my rules and he tries REALLY hard to do things right though- Andy played by my rules only because I'd carry him off if he didn't, he always thought he had a new and improved way to do things! This weekend was a great bonding experience for Cory and I- we had just started to come together as a team when Andy died, and left alone together we kind of had to redefine our relationship. I think Cory had the best time of his life all week with the agility trial being the cherry on top of the sundae.

Since getting my new laptop moving pictures and video around in blogger is a pain- not sure why, same software and OS but that's Vista for you- so I'm not going to post any video here, but maybe I'll post one of Cory running and one of Andy when he first started for comparison later. Now I have the bug again, we are entered in Zanesville next weekend and at our club's trial next month and are back in class again. I have set up the longest send I can manage in my basement (about 50 feet- he bounces most of the jumps) and as of last night Cory can now send over 5 jumps to the table OR call off after 4 to the tunnel on the left, all while I am sitting on the couch in front of the TV. We haven't quite managed to direct him off to the side to the baby dog walk after the table without me getting up though. Maybe by next week!

Our fun was not dampened in the least by the weather nor the fact that I-75 was closed on the way home and it took the better part of an hour to detour around it (a few members of our group were stuck sitting there for FIVE OR SIX HOURS! YIKES!) . Nor by the amount of red dirt ground into Cory's white furnishings; we actually borrowed a hose at a gas station on the way home and blasted the worst of it off of him! We also really tried to take his picture in front of "Flealand" which has billboards all over down in southern KY, but their directions weren't very good and I couldn't find it! I really wanted that shot!

Thanks to VW Perry and Furry Fotography for the great pictures!

Premium Edge by Diamond Cat food recall

2009-10-03T10:31:00.002-04:00

Diamond foods has announced a recall of their Premium Edge cat foods. Several cases were posted in the past 1-2 weeks on our veterinary computer network, and thanks to some astute detective work and a little bit of luck, a rash of cats with severe neurologic symptoms was tracked down to food that was deficient in thiamin, most likely due to poor quality control during processing.

My personal opinion in this case...Diamond is involved WAY too often in recalls with fairly serious implications. This is something I worry about with many of the specialty "boutique" type foods, typically sold only through pet stores, generally at the high end of the price range, but often from smaller companies who just don't have the resources to maintain the safety and quality control of some of the larger companies. Often they are rated quite high on lists produced by companies such as the Whole Dog Journal; but their ratings seem to be based only on label comparisons which tell only a small part of the story. As a matter of fact, WDJ's top rated food was involved in a huge recall several years ago in which a number of dogs died; the actual source of the problem was never identified to my knowledge but a number of problems and deficiencies with the diet were identified in trying to track down the source of the problem.

I think also you have to be aware of and differentiate between industry wide issues, such as the big melamine problem a couple of years ago; recalls for minor issues to be on the safe side, and recalls in which serious illness or death occurred due to quality control and processing issues. The latter issue is one that I look at when evaluating food quality. Buyer beware!

Announcement
Diamond Pet Foods has withdrawn from distribution the following date codes of Premium Edge Finicky Adult Cat and Premium Edge Hairball cat: RAF0501A22X 18lb., RAF0501A2X 6 lb., RAH0501A22X 18 lb., RAH0501A2X 6lb. The calls from pet owners or veterinarians regarding this issue have been centered in the Rochester, NY area. All retail outlets shipped the above lots were contacted, asking them to pull the product from the store shelves. The retailers were also asked to contact their customers via email or telephone requesting them to check the date code of the food. However, if you or anyone you know has these date codes of Premium Edge cat food, please return them to your retailer. Symptoms displayed by an affected cat will be neurological in nature. Any cats fed these date codes that display these symptoms should be immediately taken to a veterinarian.Product testing proved no contaminants were discovered in the cat food; however the cat foods were deficient in thiamine. Diamond tracked the vitamin premix lot number that was utilized in these particular cat foods and have performed testing on another lot of Premium Edge cat food that used the same vitamin premix, and it was not deficient in thiamine. No other neurological signs have been reported on any other product manufactured by Diamond Pet Foods.

How Tyler ruined my laundry room floor....

2009-09-28T15:05:00.004-04:00

I kept coming in and finding huge amounts of water on the laundry room floor, and thought that the waterer I had bought the cats must be leaking. After only a day, my linoleum started to warp and bubble; turns out there was a small cut in it under the dryer (presumably from the dryer feet) and the water got under it there. So now I may have to have my linoleum and subfloor replaced....all because of the @#$%*! kittens- because it turns out there WAS no leak, there was just mischief afoot. Remind me again why I wanted kittens?

WHOOOODEEEEYYY!!!!!!!

2009-09-28T12:56:00.004-04:00

WHHOOOOOODEEEEEEYYYY!!!!! A big whoodey to my Bengals for beating the Steelers at home yesterday. It's been a LONG time coming! The satisfaction I got from the looks on the Steelers faces is indescribable.

Here's a picture of one of my patients, Darla Sparks, that her owners brought me on Saturday. Darla is trying out for "linebarker" for the Bengals! Isn't she cute?

And here's Cory after the game with his Bengals bandana on . You can't see it with all the fur, but it says "Whodey" too. He is not allowed to wear it until AFTER the game because every time I put Bengals gear on my dogs it jinxes them. Cory has decided he is NOT a football fan; I do a lot of yelling and he's just not sure I might not be mad at HIM, so he spends most of the game in the bedroom. The bandana is not his personal favorite either.

Part two of our Smokies trip is on hold waiting for the pix from the agility photographer, so I thought we'd take time out for this little bit of gloating.

Now on to Cleveland!

Off to the Smokies part I

2009-09-22T10:01:00.013-04:00

Last summer some of my "doggy friends" planned a fall vacation in the Smokey Mountains in North Carolina. Several of them went last year and had a great time; they rented several cabins, took the dogs, and had a great week of hiking and sightseeing. My friends Kathy and Sharon had rented a three bedroom cabin and were encouraging me to come along; initially I didn't think I could get away. However, after thinking about it a while I decided that I hadn't had a vacation in several years; even the three and four day show weekends that I used to go to once or twice a year I had skipped lately as Andy got older. So I decided we deserved it and called and told Sharon that, barring any disasters, I would come along. It was about 15 minutes later that my work computer started making a siren noise, and that was the beginning of the great computer crash of 2009; but despite THAT disaster I decided to go anyway and we got the system up and running again in time.

The rest of the crew left on Sunday morning; I planned to work Monday and Tuesday and drive down Tuesday night. We only are open a couple of hours on Wednesday anyway so that left me with only two full days of work that we were closed (we usually close one Saturday a month on average anyway) and I could have five days of vacation (well, driving back the afternoon of the fifth day). I actually got away about 10 minutes early and was on the road with an ETA in Bryson City NC of 11 PM. I made great time and got through the mountains north of Knoxville before dark. Around 9 PM I got off I-40 at the Sevierville exit to get dinner; my original plan had been to take 40 all the way down to 74 and then go back west to Bryson City; it was longer than going through Gatlinburg but I had been told the traffic on the more direct route would be terrible. It sure LOOKED shorter on the map though, so I went back inside Wendy's and asked the cashier. She told me there was construction along the route, but at that time of night it should be fine. So I headed down 441 and got my first glimpse of Pigeon Forge and Gatlingburg. Interesting. Pirate ships, castles, and upside down building that looked kind of like the Parthenon....I definitely wasn't bored. I didn't hit a red light all the way through Gatlinburg and was making great time when suddenly the road narrowed, the trees closed in, and I was, apparently, in the Smokey Mountain National Park. What the girl at Wendy's had failed to tell me was that the end of the route turned into a narrow, windy road that went right up and over the mountains at their highest point. A narrow and windy enough road that, at one point, I passed gates that said "road closed for winter"- open, of course, at that point. Yikes. It was pitch black and I couldn't see more than six feet off the side of the road...not that there WAS anything six feet off the side of the road because, near as I could tell, it was a sheer drop off. No cars ahead of or behind me, only the occasional car passing, and no cell phone service. But it WAS more interesting than highway driving and we had no particular schedule to keep, so what the heck. I kept driving, it kept getting blacker and blacker, and the road kept getting steeper. Eventually I was going in and out of either mist, or clouds, and my average speed was probably 30 mph at best. I passed Clingman's Dome which I learned later was the highest point in the park; and let me tell you, though I couldn't see, I KNEW it was high because my ears were popping the whole time. As I started the descent on the opposite side, I felt like I was landing a plane- we went in and out of the clouds, ears popping, and I could hear that same cushiony silence outside the car that you hear when a plane lands. Weird. I was a happy to exit the park and find myself in Cherokee, a mere stone's throw from Bryson City AND my cell phone worked again. We arrived at the cabins just outside of Bryson City, down another steep, windy road at 11:30 with only one wrong turn.

HOWEVER, as I was unloading the car I kept noticing a burnt smell and eventually I noticed that my passenger side rear tire was nearly flat. Great. I think when I had missed that turn and pulled into a graveled area to turn around I must have picked up a nail. Someone was watching out for me though because I made it all the way to my destination before it went flat- if it had happened in the park I would have been in serious trouble.

The next morning I got up early to check out the status of my tire. Cory was ecstatic to see his buddy Baylin, Sharon's welsh springer, and Kathy's three poodles. We headed out to the parking area in front of the cabins and the dogs ran and ran to their hearts content. It's good to be free! However, the news on the tire was not so good. It was now totally flat. Ooops. (did I mention I was driving my dad's car, as I didn't trust the van to make it through the mountains?).

We walked down the road a little ways and Cory's day kept getting better. There was a small clearing; it normally was inhabited by the old fire engine above (I'm not sure why; bet you thought it was my car with the flat tire, didn't you?!) and a little log cabin that actually was originally someone's home years ago. However, it now also included weave poles, jumps, a tunnel, and a contact trainer. Waahoo! We played a little agility for a few minutes; it wasn't hot but the HUMIDITY was incredible. Then we headed a little further down the road and over a bridge to the two cabins where the rest of our friends were staying. At that point, Cory REALLY couldn't believe it- this was like Disneyland! All told we had eight people and 15 dogs (5 shelties, 3 border collies, 3 poodles, 2 GSD, a Brittany, and a Welsh Springer) in three cabins. Quite a crew!.

After meeting up with the rest of the group, I headed back to our cabin to wait for AAA to change my tire (and to unload all the junk in the trunk so we could GET to the tire). The plan had been to go rafting that day; I was a little leery of how I would manage with my bad knees (especially getting in and out) so when AAA still hadn't arrived and it was time to go, I sent the rest of the group on and elected to relax at the cabin with Cory for the day.

Here's our cabin with a nice front porch along the front. And below is the creek that runs right in front- you could actually sit on the porch and fish, probably, if you wanted to. There is a fire pit between them and a little deck with a hot tub. The pictures aren't the best because our entire trip was very overcast alternating with pouring rain; because we were both down in a valley AND had trees totally blocking out most of the sky, the lighting was not very good for photos. And sadly, I didn't see a single bird the whole trip, though I did hear a pileated woodpecker several times. I would have thought the place would be teeming with birds. I'm sure if I'd left my binoculars at home it would have been.

Here's our porch which worked perfectly for a "buffer zone" before the house when the dogs were wet and muddy. Unfortunately, before the group left for the rafting trip we found out the gate did NOT latch securely. How did we find this? When we came back to the cabin Cory was a bit muddy and I left him on the porch to dry while I went in to put a sheet over the bedspread and get a book; I planned to sit on the porch with him and wait for AAA. When I came out less than 5 minutes later...no Cory. I wasn't TOO worried as I figured he had just headed straight back up the road either to the agility field or to see who would play with him at the other cabins....but when I retraced our steps, everyone had gone inside and Cory was nowhere to be seen. I was getting a little panicky but I figured he MUST have followed me back in and gotten shut in the bedroom- he wasn't one to go running off in the woods, he would go looking for people. So back to the cabin for a quick search and still, no Cory. Ok, NOW I was panicked. He was dragging a six foot lead on a choke collar and if he had gone into the woods he was sure to get tangled and stuck. I started back down the road calling and calling and then, thank God, I heard him bark. A few minutes later I could see him coming down the road with Sharon. He had indeed, apparently, headed up to the other cabins but when no one was outside to play with him he just kept going up the road where, surely, someone ELSE he knew would be just around the corner- that seemed to be how things worked around here! He went back a private drive (frighteningly close to the main road and WAY farther from our cabin that I ever thought he would have gone) where he found the owner, a permanent resident, on his porch. The man told me later Cory gave him quite a start as he had owned three shelties and when he first looked up he thought it was his first dog who had been dead for years. He called him and Cory being Cory (he is NOT one of those shelties who would have to be caught with a live trap!) he launched himself straight at him wiggling and kissing. I think we were lucky he was willing to give him back! Trust Cory to find a sheltie person! We found a bungee cord to secure the gate for the rest of the week and headed back with a BIG sigh of relief!

"Gosh mom, I was just trying to be neighborly"!

On Thursday six of our group took a train ride on the Smokey Mountain Railroad. It was a good time; you could ride in the "indoor" cars or in the open cars, which we opted for as they had a much better view. The train went through the mountains, around Fontana Lake (which apparently is a manmade lake which was created when a dam was built; a number of people were apparently forced off their land and the land was flooded- remember the scene in "Oh Brother Where Art Thou"?). We ended up parallelling the river where the rafting expedition had occurred the day before- the Tuckaseegee I think (although I couldn't quite understand the train conductor and in my head I kept calling it the Suckapeepee!). When we got to the end of the line, we dropped off a group who were rafting that day, then the train made a stop at the outfitters store where there was a restaurant. Most people got off to eat there, but we decided to be different (as well as lazy and safe, as it kept raining off and on and it was quite a walk down the tracks to the store). We ate in the train's dining car. I was quite disappointed when I wanted to reinact the scene from "White Christmas" and NO ONE else had seen it- for crying out loud, I'm the youngest one there! It was interesting although the food was pretty mediocre.

Our group- Sharon, Maryann S, Kathy, Maryann C, and Erica.

This looks like a shot the Brady Bunch would have done!

This cabin was built in 1866 by five brothers who all served in the civil war; only one came home. (although in thinking about it, the timing seems suspect to me- didn't the civil war start in 1863? If they were all serving who had time to build a house? At any rate, it made a good story).

Views of Fontana Lake. I was really disappointed in my photo ops this trip; the lighting was terrible generally and my technical abilities to capture the mist and cloud formations were nonexistant. I need to take a photography class!

This is why they call them the Smokies!

Rafters on the Tuckaseegee. Or Suckapeepee. Or whatever.

Sharon made a new friend at the model train mueseum after the trip. I'm not sure his intentions are honorable, though!

Stay tuned for part two, our last half of the trip spent at the Blue Ridge Agility Club trials. And keep Erica's sister Chris in your thoughts and prayers. She was to have gone on the trip with us, but has gotten some tough health news that kept her home.

Pony Penning...realizing a childhood dream Part 2

2009-09-03T11:35:00.002-04:00

So...we arrived on Chincoteague in the early morning and found the tiny island absolutely packed with cars and tourists. We had arranged to park at the local high school and take a bus to the site of the pony swim. So, armed with bugspray and cool drinks we arrived at Memorial Park just across the channel from Assateague. We had considered the possibility of watching the swim from a boat, but the boats involved were mostly small fishing type boats, the wait could be half a day long, and our bladders were not up to the task...so we opted to watch from the shore.

After what seemed like hours (and actually WAS several hours) finally a cry went up and we could see the pony herd in the distance approaching the channel.

If you look closely, you can see tiny figures in the pictures that are horses. These shots were taken with a 300 mm zoom lens. Your view here is actually MUCH better than our view from the beach...you had to use your imagination quite a bit.

See, those are ponies heads in the water swimming the channel. Somehow I had pictured a more intimate experience....

Once the ponies emerged on the Chincoteague side of the channel, they were driven through town to the fairgrounds where they were corralled to wait for the auction of the colts the following day. The first foal out of the water was raffled off; I of course bought a ticket and then found myself wondering what in the world I would do if I won. Wouldn't the ultimate irony just be to win a pony FINALLY, then have to think like an adult and realize I had nowhere to keep a pony, no time to spend with one, and was way to big to ride one! Thankfully I didn't win and wasn't faced with any tough decisions.

Here are some of the foals in the paddock; it actually started to rain around the time that they reached the fairgrounds and the whole area was generally hot, steaming and muddy. We didn't spend a ton of time at the fairgrounds as it seemed kind of anticlimactic.

All in all, the pony penning and swim was the least interesting part of the trip but I'm really glad I went. It definitely brought me back to my childhood and was something I'm so glad I got to do. I spent so many hours dreaming about going as a kid, I just couldn't pass the opportunity by! Next time, I would stay at the Maryland end of the island and spend more time there and get in some birdwatching (although I would like to see the Misty Museum, although I don't think the stuffed Misty is still there-not sure I need to see that!).

So mark one thing off of my list of "things I want to do before I die"!

Pony Penning...realizing a childhood dream Part 1

2009-09-02T15:05:00.000-04:00

I confess...I was a horse crazy child. I also always had my nose stuck in a book. So it is no surprise that one of my absolute favorite books as a child was the classic Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry. If you have a kid who loves animals, or loves to read, and they haven't read this book, shame on you! They need a copy yesterday. (if I hadn't been a veterinarian I probably should have been a children's librarian...I love children's books!). I actually had two copies, the hardcover "good" copy that I kept in good condition, complete with full color, beautiful paintings by the great Wesley Dennis; and my paperback copy which was very "well loved" (read tattered) and probably survived at least several dozen readings. I of course had all the other Misty books as well. One vivid memory from my childhood was taking my Christmas money to the after Christmas sales downtown at Shillitos (subsequently Lazarus and now Macy's) to their book department and buying "A Pictorial Life Story of Misty" which was a beautiful, full color, hardcover book with pictures of Misty and her babies that told the true story of her life. Of course, I couldn't wait to start reading it so I pleaded a need for a bathroom break while my parents continued shopping and locked myself in a stall to browse through my new treasure. I opened it near the end and the first picture I saw was a picture of Misty...STUFFED in a museum in Chincoteague! I was absolutely devastated- Misty was DEAD! I remember sitting in the bathroom crying my eyes out.

Every year, along with multiple wish lists that started "a horse" for every Christmas and birthday, I lobbied hard for our summer vacation to be to Chincoteague for Pony Penning. My parents, killjoys that they were, preferred to sit on the beach in Florida. No doubt this had a lot to do with them NOT auctioning off ponies at the Florida beaches so they didn't have to listen to me whining. One summer I even saved all the clippings when I mowed the lawn, stowed them in giant trash bags, and lugged them back behind the garden shed over the hill way at the back of the yard near the woods. My plan was to convince my parents to go to Pony Penning, WIN the colt that was raffled off so they would have no excuse not to let me keep it, and have it live in the shed and eat the leftover grass clippings- after all, when my parents started objecting on the basis of feed bills I reasoned it would be good to have that base covered already. This little project came crashing to a halt when my mother discovered that she had no trash bags left and coerced the truth out of me. Do you know how bad grass clippings in trash bags smell after a few weeks in the summer sun? Somehow they were not impressed with my industriousness. So no pony, and no pony penning for me...ever...in my whole childhood. Sniff.

A few years ago, at our Tuesday night potluck and agility practice, we got on the subject of Pony Penning. As I mentioned in another post, my friend MaryAnn owns the farm at which we practice, which is actually a good sized boarding stable. She also until last year when she retired owned the coolest tack store in the area (the Tack Trunk in Lebanon, if you need horse supplies or a REALLY good selection of horsey oriented gifts) and was at one time very involved with eventing and riding (until she started spending more time showing her dogs). We started talking about how we had always dreamed of seeing Pony Penning and had never gotten there. "Well", said MaryAnn, "Why don't we just go?". Wow. I had never actually thought of that. I guess we WERE grownups and there was nothing stopping us. So ok! We planned our trip- not an easy task when you are a solo veterinarian; getting away for a full week in the height of summer is definitely a challenge and a rare pleasure, but I was determined- I owed it to my childhood self.

Of course, having graduated from horse crazy kid to certifiably dog show addicted adult, we couldn't take a whole week's vacation and not include a show! So we planned to drive to Maryland; show at an agility trial over the weekend, then go to Dewey Beach in Delaware where MaryAnn had a relative who was willing to let us use their condo and the dogs were allowed on the beach. From there, we would drive down to Chincoteague for the day to see Pony Penning, as well as visiting the northern end of the Island in Maryland and seeing the wild ponies on the beach there. One of MaryAnn's employees from the tack shop, Gidget, would meet us in Delaware with her little terrier Jasper and enjoy the beach and pony penning with us.

I picked MaryAnn up at her place in my van and we managed to fit all our stuff, three of her shelties, and my Andy all in (this was the summer when I had just lost Levi and before I had Cory). Of course, being somewhat of a sentimental fool, I HAD to bring along my Breyer model of Misty that my grandmother had given me for Christmas somewhere around third grade. How could I finally make it to Chincoteague and leave her behind? She was getting pretty elderly and had survived some of my earlier surgical attempts to repair her broken legs (those of you who collected Breyers as children know that when you make them "gallop" and clunk their feet on the floor, those hooves tend to snap off...luckily Misty's rehab had been mostly successful!). So I got some of those gummy dots you use to stick pictures in scrapbooks and we put them on the bottoms of Misty's hooves and stuck her to the dashboard as our mascot for the trip. Of course I also brought all my Misty books AND my three (THREE!) personally signed and written notes from Marguerite Henry who had answered my fan mail when I was a child. Yes, I was a weird kid. And apparently a somewhat abnormal adult since I still had all this stuff.

Above is a picture of Andy and his harem poolside at the condo in Delaware. We had a great weekend at the agility trials in Maryland and then headed for Dewey Beach. The dogs were able to be on the beach in the mornings and the evenings and they enjoyed it immensely. Andy was not crazy about getting wet, but he took the job of chasing the waves back out into the ocean very seriously. It was very hard work- no sooner did you chase them out and come back for a breather than here they came in again! Once in a while he would get caught and be up to his shoulders in water much to his disgust. The best part about the beach though was that you could bark to your heart's content and no one cared because it was drowned out by the crashing of the waves.

But back to Pony Penning...for those of you who did not have the pleasure of growing up with Misty stories I will recap briefly for you. Years ago, legend has it that a Spanish galleon transporting ponies to work in the mines went off course and was shipwrecked off the coast of Virginia. The ponies swam ashore on Assateague, one of the barrier islands and remained wild there for generations. Assateague is now a wildlife preserve, while the adjacent island, Chincoteague, is inhabited by humans many of whom make their living in the oyster industry. Every year in July, the volunteer firemen round up the ponies, swim them across the channel from Assateague to Chincoteague, and drive them through the streets of town to the fairgrounds. A weeklong festival culminates in the swim and the colts are auctioned off with the proceeds going to the volunteer fire department. This helps to keep the population under control. The northern end of Assateague is part of the state of Maryland, not Virginia, and has its own population of pony herds which are not included in the roundup.

So Maryann, Gidget and I set out for Chincoteague leaving the dogs behind at the condo for the day. We stopped for lunch on the way and found a great chicken restaurant with an outdoor patio complete with gliders with canopies and swamp misters. We could have sat there all day, but we had ponies to see!

Of course, we had a little fun with the name of the restaurant as well!

So first stop was the Assateague wildlife preserve on the north end of the island in Maryland. We should have allocated more time to spend here as it was absolutely beautiful. The campgrounds were right on the beach and the ponies wandered through the campsites. There were signs all over asking you not to pet or interfere with the ponies, but they didn't give you too much choice- they were quite tame and we found them in several instances standing around watching campers cook and looking for handouts.

As you can see, the pony wasn't at all bothered by Gidget's presence, except that she didn't bring him anything to eat. The wildlife preserve was beautiful; if we had had more time we could have rented a canoe and gone out in the bay, which was quite shallow; there were tons of shorebirds to see as well. If I ever go back I think I will plan to spend most of the trip here.

But pony penning was calling and we were back in the car and off to Chincoteague which was absolutely jam packed with cars and tourists in town for the festivities.

To be continued...

AWOL

2009-08-10T13:03:00.003-04:00

Sorry for the lengthy time without posts, but July was the month from hell! We suffered through a total crash of the clinic computer system; lost a couple of weeks worth of data but thankfully NOT our whole database, and are now using our new upgraded computer system (wouldn't you know the system crashed the day they faxed me the final contract for the new system?!). As if that wasn't enough, my personal laptop died as well. I can't seem to get one where the connection to the power cord doesn't go bad, this one was only a year old.

I have a couple of posts I have been working on but am still getting used to the new system and having a little trouble moving pictures around (thankfully I think I was able to recover all of my data from the laptop, including all my pictures- would have hated to lose them!).

In the meantime, a quick brag; Andy's son Fred who lives with Kaylyn Young is tearing up the 4 H rings. After winning their obedience and junior showmanship classes at the county fair under AKC judges who were very complimentary, they went to the Ohio State Fair where they WON the huge Novice B class of 57 dogs, got a gold medal in Rally, and finished a State Fair Championship. They hope to compete in AKC this fall. Cory is going to have to get his act together or his little brother is going to show him up!

Do dogs feel guilt?

2009-06-30T16:27:00.000-04:00

Here's an interesting blurb that has been making the rounds lately:

ScienceDaily (June 11, 2009) --- What dog owner has not come home to abroken vase or other valuable items and a guilty-looking dog slouching around the house? By ingeniously setting up conditions where the ownerwas misinformed as to whether their dog had really committed an offense,Alexandra Horowitz, Assistant Professor from Barnard College in NewYork, uncovered the origins of the "guilty look" in dogs in the recently published "Canine Behaviour and Cognition" Special Issue of Elsevier's Behavioural Processes. ( http://tinyurl.com/mpkmpk ) Horowitz was able to show that the human tendency to attribute a "guilty look" to a dog was not due to whether the dog was indeed guilty. Instead, people see 'guilt' in a dog's body language when they believe the dog has done something it shouldn't have -- even if the dog is in fact completely innocent of any offense.During the study, owners were asked to leave the room after ordering their dogs not to eat a tasty treat. While the owner was away, Horowitz gave some of the dogs this forbidden treat before asking the owners back into the room. In some trials the owners were told that their dog had eaten the forbidden treat; in others, they were told their dog had behaved properly and left the treat alone. What the owners were told,however, often did not correlate with reality.Whether the dogs' demeanor included elements of the "guilty look" had little to do with whether the dogs had actually eaten the forbidden treat or not. Dogs looked most "guilty" if they were admonished by their owners for eating the treat. In fact, dogs that had been obedient and had not eaten the treat, but were scolded by their (misinformed) owners, looked more "guilty" than those that had, in fact, eaten the treat. Thus the dog's guilty look is a response to the owner's behavior, and not necessarily indicative of any appreciation of its own misdeeds.This study sheds new light on the natural human tendency to interpret animal behavior in human terms. Anthropomorphisms compare animal behavior to human behavior, and if there is some superficial similarity,then the animal behavior will be interpreted in the same terms assuperficially similar human actions. This can include the attribution of higher-order emotions such as guilt or remorse to the animal. The editor of the special issue, Clive D.L. Wynne of the Department of Psychology, University of Florida, explained, "this is a remarkably powerful demonstration of the need for careful experimental designs if we are to understand the human-dog relationship and not just reify our natural prejudices about animal behavior." He pointed out that dogs arethe oldest domesticated species and have a uniquely intimate role in the lives of millions of people. Recent research on dogs has indicated more human-like forms of reasoning about what people know than has been demonstrated even in chimpanzees.

I thought this was a great study! This is something I hear from my clients everyday, ESPECIALLY when talking about housebreaking puppies.

Think of it from the puppy's point of view. You go off to work and leave them at home and they go about their business for the day, which, naturally, includes pooping and peeing. DUH! Their owner comes home and they are so excited because they've been BORED; they run over to greet them and maybe even are excited enough that they pee on the floor a little bit right there. Suddenly they look up and realize their owner's face looks like a thundercloud...uh oh. Somebody must have peed on mom's wheaties today! So puppy tries his best to show placating and submissive behavior which includes lower head, slinking, not making direct eye contact...all of which convinces the owner that the puppy knows what he did wrong, when in fact, the poop occurred several hours ago and is the farthest thing from the puppies mind. What he HAS learned, however, is to scan your face and body language carefully when you walk through the door and react accordingly.

So here a very important rule in training, especially when you start housebreaking your pup. If you didn't see it happen, it doesn't count. So if you catch the pup in the act, you can take action to interrupt him and get him outside to where he SHOULD be going; this can be a clap, a verbal no, etc; but should NOT be overwhelming for a couple of reasons. Firstly, if you scare him the most likely thing he's going to do is urinate submissively- just what you are trying to stop! Secondly, he will learn that eliminating in front of you is a BAD thing and he should only do it while you're not watching- so instead of going when you take him out on leash (you are going out with him on leash, aren't you, so you can reward right away when he goes??!), he waits to sneak off into the dining room when you aren't looking. And finally, harsh corrections for housebreaking mistakes I firmly believe are a big factor in dogs who are fearful as adults. This is a big imprinting time in their lives and we do not want any big scary associations with humans that will last a lifetime. (I also believe that housebreaking mistakes are so upsetting to us because they involve a violation of OUR territorial rights...but I digress).

Another common scenario is the dog who is bored and chews up the sofa cushion while you are at work. You come home, flip out, and punish him; he starts to feel anxiety as the time approaches when you come home each day and to alleviate the anxiety he finds something to chew...pretty soon we have a full fledged separation anxiety dog who may require medication to break the cycle.

Ultimately, while it is very interesting to contemplate how are dogs are feeling and what feelings motivate certain behaviors, when it comes to changing those behaviors the emotions behind them are mostly irrelevant. If you don't like a behavior, you reinforce an incompatible behavior- for example, if you don't like a dog who barks like an idiot at guests when they come in, you teach him to go to his mat, lie down, and wait for a cookie when the doorbell rings. It really doesn't matter much if he is barking because he is excited, scared, or protective; you just pick another behavior to reinforce.

Don't take this to mean that I don't think dogs experience many of the same emotions that humans do- I think in many instances they do! They certainly feel fear, joy, and anger; I am not sure that the majority of dogs feel guilt as we would interpret it but I would not rule it out. BUT (and it's a big but) I think that humans are much better at projecting their own emotions onto their dogs than they are at interpreting accurately what the dog is really feeling. And I can't tell you how often I hear the whole saga of "I KNOW he knew that peeing on the floor was bad by the way he acted"- at least daily. I can think of very few instances where I thought the client's assessment was accurate- puppies don't know that peeing on the floor is wrong until you teach them- hopefully using rewards for going in the RIGHT spot rather than punishment for the wrong spot. It's like me coming in and punishing you for breathing- it would be the last thing that would occur to you I was upset about because for you it is a very natural behavior. But I think hours analyzing each tiny detail of the dog's emotion from a training standpoint is not helpful and can be counterproductive- just change the behavior and quit making excuses for it.

Tuesdays at MaryAnn's

2009-06-21T22:20:00.000-04:00

Every summer, for more years than I can remember, from roughly Memorial Day to Labor Day Tuesday evenings have been reserved for a trip to my friend MaryAnn's farm. This year we had to break with tradition and change to Wednesdays, but in my mind it will always be "Tuesdays at MaryAnn's". I make the drive, over 100 miles round trip, often through rush hour traffic, to MaryAnn's farm in Warren county Ohio. There anywhere from half a dozen to as many as twenty of us meet with our dogs for training, relaxing, and a potluck dinner.

The farm is actually the home of a large boarding stable, complete with indoor arena; but nestled just beyond the pastures and paddocks and the dressage rings is MaryAnn's house, with a large fenced backyard and an open field in front full of agility equipment. These pictures show the fields behind her house. After we are done training and before we go in for dinner, most weeks a group takes their dogs (usually around a dozen people and upwards of 20 dogs, all running free) and walk down through the fields.

We often see deer in the fields; sometimes have to chase dogs chasing various wildlife, and my friend Joann has been known to have to retrieve her terriers from the pond where the frogs prove irresistable. This summer we have the added excitement of multiple black bear sitings in the area, some right on the road the farm is on.

There is a small airfield just beyond those fields, so in addition to getting to proof our dogs against horses we often also see low flying planes, including stunt planes doing all kinds of spins and dives, and at least a few times a year we see hot air balloons. We couldn't ask for a better training opportunity!

A kiddie pool is kept full of water for cooling off after agility runs. Somehow though it never seems as humid at the farm as it is everywhere else, there's always a nice breeze, and often the rain totally misses it. Supposedly it is the highest point in Warren County, so that may have something to do with it.

Just behind the house there is another small barn and a couple of small paddocks, often empty but sometimes used for horses who have special needs. This year there are two mares with foals. This week it was particularly hot, we were particularly lazy, and the back yard was nice and shady under the walnut tree, so most of us skipped the agility equipment and set up our chairs back there to let the dogs run and watch the foals.

They were so cute! And the grey filly is quite the social butterfly- she really enjoyed all the attention. The little bay is a bit more of a mama's boy.

Izzy enjoying her lobster after a satisfying attempt to tunnel to China.

Cory doing his best Gene Simmons immitation.

Casey is obsessed with balls...any ball....any time!

We are so lucky to have a friend who shares her place so generously! Our Tuesday nights (and now Wednesdays) have greatly enriched my dogs' lives, giving them a chance to run free, play with their friends, and enjoy the beauty of such a wonderful place. A little piece of Levi and Andy live on there still, as well as many of their friends who have gone ahead of us.

Thanks MaryAnn! See you Wednesday!

Cory's thoughts on "Marley and Me"

2009-06-20T23:20:00.004-04:00

Only an idiot would have two kittens

2009-06-20T16:26:00.011-04:00

I must be nuts. Did I say everyone should have kittens? Put me in the asylum. The kittens are about 3 1/2 mos old now and are going through the terrible teens. Last night they knocked over my lamp and broke the bulb, pulled the runner off the piano and broke the music box my sister brought me from Europe years ago when we were in college (luckily it's fixable), pulled all the strings out of the tassel on one end of the runner...and on and on. Even Stevie was getting fed up with them.

I finally got around to buying some of those styrofoam swim noodles to use as padding around the poles in the basement training room...the kitties think I put them up especially for them and now the poles are kitty climbing trees...I can see the noodles will need replacing before too long at all! And that's with nail caps on! Even Stevie was inspired to try and haul his gargantuan butt up the pole after watching the kittens.

Today they are sweet as sugar and all innocence...but I know they are just waiting for when I am most tired and least patient for their true selves to surface!

Here is video of Cory and the kitties playing on Wednesday. I have to admit, they are entertaining!

Happy Birthday

2009-06-17T13:13:00.003-04:00

Today would have been Andy's 12th birthday. How I still miss my boy!

The pictures below were taken two years ago; five of the dogs who were "regulars" in our tuesday night agility/potluck group all turned 10 years old that summer and we had a party for them complete with cake. Of those five, three are gone now; Tux, the tri sheltie in the middle passed away just a few weeks after Andy and Riley, the Wire Fox Terrier left us last week. Just the girls, Trixie and Breeze, the bookends in the picture below, are left.

I'm so glad you boys got to have the chance to enjoy our Tuesdays at Mary Ann's; I know it was Andy's favorite place in the world and it was one of his greatest pleasures to be able to do agility as well as run and play with the other dogs in the fields. The cake was just an extra bonus!

Happy Birthday, my sweet boy.

Must see TV

2009-06-15T14:00:00.004-04:00

Tomorrow Karen Pryor, one of the pioneers who helped to make the use of operant conditioning widespread in dog training (better known as "clicker training") will be on Good Morning America to promote the release of her new book "Reaching The Animal Mind". If you are familiar with Karen I'm sure it will be an interesting bit (although probably pretty basic and short, given the show's format).

If you aren't familiar with Karen, and you have any interest in dog training whatsoever, then get thee to a bookstore and buy her classic "Don't Shoot The Dog". This is NOT a cookbook approach to how to teach sit, stay etc, but a really good treatise on the theory behind operant conditioning. Before you say yuck, it is also very easy to read and quite entertaining. This little book will give you the tools to solve almost any training problem there is, you just have to practice using them and then use your imagination a little bit. Oh, and then put in the WORK to get the job done (that's where I usually fall down!). Karen also has a website, http://www.clickertraining.com/, which has lots of good resources as well as carrying all of her books and related topics by other authors for sale.

I saw Karen give a seminar at the Ohio Veterinary Medical Assoc. annual conference way back in the early 90's, probably around 1992. At the time, it was double billed under animal behavior AND staff management as her techniques applied equally well to training either! At the time, I think my first dog Levi had his CDX and was training in utility; I had already listened to some poor advice (and probably some good advice that I implemented poorly) and had caused some stress related issues. Her approach totally changed how I trained my dog. While she is not a competition obedience (or other sport) trainer, I think she has done more to advance dog training than anyone in the past 25 years, certainly.

Karen started as a dolphin trainer and a follower of BF Skinner many years prior to becoming involved with dog training. Her methods have gained popularity in horse, bird, and even cat training as well and are used in zoos all over the world, both to train animals to perform but also to teach them basic behaviors which make caring for them so much easier on a daily basis.

I do not claim to be a "pure positive" trainer, but my relationship with all of my dogs has definitely benefited from using some of her techniques. Learning together how to "free shape" behaviors actively got my dogs involved in the training process; instead of being something I would do TO THEM it became something we did together. Training became all about communicating with my dog...some days better than others, of course! Even my cats come running when I get out the clicker and vie for their share of training time.

So please, turn off the Dog Whisperer and check out Karen- your dog will be so glad you did!

Keep your pet safe while traveling!

2009-06-15T14:00:00.000-04:00

A couple of incidents last week have brought safety when traveling with our pets to the forefront of my mind.

When riding in your car with your pet, make sure they are safely restrained. Ideally this means in a crate; if your car will not accomodate a crate large enough for your dog, using a seatbelt/harness is an option. Crates are by far preferable however.

Just as your two year old should not sit in the front passenger seat next to you, neither should your pet! The same air bag that presents a danger to a child is no less threatening to a dog or cat. Uncrated pets should be restrained in the back seat; crates should be securely fastened so they do not become a projectile and should be placed ideally in an area that would be appropriate for a car seat. For smaller crates, you can just place them in the back seat and run the seat belt around them.

Here's my set up in the back of my van for my dog and equipment (of course, my dog typically spends at least an hour a day in the car with me and we travel to shows frequently on the weekends, so we are a little more "permanent" than my typical client. This is a very typical set up for those of us who show, though). The crate is on a raised platform made of pvc and plywood and covered with carpet, and both are attached to the metal rings on the floor of the van with heavy duty cargo straps to secure them in place. This is quite important; a few years ago a fellow agility competitor rolled her RV; her dogs, who were crated, all survived, but one of the crates was not secured, became a projectile, and struck her in the head killing her. So make sure everything is securely attached!

Last week I had a 3 1/4 pound chihuahua transferred to me from the emergency clinic. He had been traveling with his owner and riding in the backseat (good) but loose in the car (not so good, but I am guilty of this occasionally as well when I drive my mom's Mini!). She made a stop and got out of the car and the dog decided just as she started to shut the door to try and dart out from behind the back seat. His head was shut in the car door and he had some pretty serious resulting injuries. He spent the next three days transfering between us and the emergency clinic as he needed critical care and was lucky enough to survive, but will have some long term issues as a result of the accident.

Just two days later, a couple was traveling with their nine border collies in their Suburban from Pittsburgh to a show in the Columbus area. They were sideswiped by a semi resulting in a serious accident and the dogs all were loose on the highway. Someone had the presence of mind to call the show secretary, who put out a call for help on our agility email list and I understand that nearly 50 fellow competitors showed up to search for the dogs and all were found that same day. One of the owners however was not so lucky and sustained serious injuries. Most show competitors travel with their dogs crated, in this case due to the number of dogs in the vehicle it was not practical and it was only due to very good fortune and good friends that all the dogs were recovered.

When choosing a crate, the two main issues are ventilation vs protection. Plastic crates such as varikennels may provide more protection than some wire crates, but significantly less ventilation which can be a big factor when traveling in warm weather. For short trips and when the crate is not left in the care between trips, the ventilation is less critical. I use a wire crate both for my ability to see out my rear window and for ventilation, but I am less than satisfied with its sturdiness. I reinforced it with cable ties for strength to help, but I am still looking for one of the old style, heavy gauge wire crates similar to those with square mesh made by TF Scott, now out of business. Central metal makes a similar, but size options are very limited.

For those of us who do long trips and time frames in the car, protection from heat is essential. If you look closely at the pictures, you can see the fan on the back of Cory's crate; I have a golf cart battery powered generator which will run it for the better part of a day. You can also buy smaller vans that run off of the cigarette lighter attachment, but I like this bigger one as it puts out far more air. I also use a product called a "hatch latch" available from http://www.cleanrun.com/ which is a solid bar that attaches to the latch of the van hatch and allows me to leave it slightly open, but still locked to no one can get into the car. Attached to the front of the crate is the monitor for a product from Radio Shack called a wireless thermohygrometer, which has a remote reciever I can carry with me that transmits information about the temperature in the crate up to 300 feet away (far enough that I can run into the grocery for short stops and feel confident that I know if the car is starting to get too warm). Mesh aluminum tarps which block the sun but allow airflow can be attached to the van with heavy duty magnets or bungees, and are also available at cleanrun as well as many other sources. Between all of these, I can keep the van comfortable for several hours even on a day in the mid nineties; OF COURSE I check every few minutes even with these safeguards because nothing is more awful than a dog who has overheated in the car. These mostly allow me to make short stops on the way home from work, or to crate out of my car at shows for longer periods when the doors can be opened up for ventilation.

I also try to keep a leash clipped to the front of the crate at all times in case the dog needs to be removed in a hurry; I also used to keep wire cutters attached to the crates just in case, but will admit they have disappeared and need to be replaced! Especially when traveling long distances it is important to have ID tags on your dog with a phone number where someone can be reached- ideally your cell and an alternate contact in case of an accident where you are incapacitated. For years I had emergency info laminated and attached to the front of my crates; I never added one for Cory but Andy's contained all the info. Since he passed away I've removed his crate and need to do a new sheet for Cory. I included their picture (for easy ID and in case they were lost I had one readily at hand to use to make flyers), age and health info, several emergency contacts both for the dogs and me, and a statement in red asking that in an emergency they be taken to a veterinary hospital or boarding kennel, not a shelter, and the numbers for someone who would guarantee their bill. I also included information on vaccine dates.

But probably the most important thing I've done to ensure my dogs ride safely is to teach them they are not to leave the car until I clip on a lead and give the ok. Even when we are at a show and Cory is at fever pitch and ready to explode he will wait in his crate with the door open until I am ready for him to get out. This can save a life if you are stuck by the side of the road on a busy highway. The best thing is, I taught Levi many years ago and have never had to teach it since! Levi taught Andy and Andy taught Cory- no way is the older dog going to allow that young whippersnapper to beat them out of the car- they make that clear from the beginning!

Hope I have given you some food for thought; even if your dog only makes the short trip to the vet once a year, if he is smaller beg or borrow a crate for safety and even Biggs is now carrying harness type seat belts. For cats it is especially important to confine them as they can escape very easily, and also can become frightened and bite their owners severely if they are held on a lap or loose in the car. No one ever thinks their cat will do this until it happens, but I am here to tell you ANY cat will react this way under the right circumstances, including my own. So err on the side of caution!

Bureaucratic nonsense just in time for the boarding season

2009-06-12T11:20:00.003-04:00

Fair warning to those of you who plan to board your dogs, especially in the fast approaching Fourth of July season-

Kentucky just passed an amendment to their veterinary practice act making it mandatory for veterinarians to have a signed release prior to releasing any medical information on their patients. That means that this has to be done prior to us giving vaccine information to boarding kennels, groomers, etc- even if you are leaving town today and don't have time to come in and sign it! We are trying to make sure everyone who comes in signs a release to keep on file to allow us to give out vaccine info; if you need full medical records however you will need to sign one specifying who to release them to at that time.

If you plan to board or groom in the near future, stop by and sign a release form or call us and we can email one to you that you can fax back.

We're doing our best to make sure people aren't caught unawares and stuck trying to fix this at the last minute. Remember, this isn't OUR rule, it's the law so there's not much we can do about it!

Everyone should have kittens

2009-06-12T10:41:00.003-04:00

The kitties are doing great and are so cute ;-). Stevie loves them, especially Tyler who is his special buddy. If I don't have all three curled up on my lap, then Toby is with me and Tyler and Stevie are snuggled together on the couch cushion.

Most nights they sleep in my room with me now and are getting to where they almost make it all night long; sometimes around 5 or 6 they start getting a bit wound up and get booted into the laundry room and basement. The basement training room is their favorite place- all that space to run and tunnels to hide in, as well as the windows looking right out at the bird feeders!

At their last trip to the clinic two weeks ago, they both weighed about 3.25 lbs; I suspect they are about 4 lbs now and starting to lose their kittenish look. Now they are looking more and more like little cats. Bummer!

Who could be in a bad mood when you have two kittens purring in your lap, or making you laugh with their antics?