Your Pet's Best Friend

Dogs Need Something to Do

Today a client brought in this list of all the things their dog has chewed up... in the last 3 days.

The thing is, their dog is a 4-months old Labrador Retriever puppy.  He's eating a high quality puppy diet (read "rocket fuel"), so he needs a place to blast off and burn up some of that energy.  He's also getting his first permanent teeth in, so he has an even greater urge to chew than usual.

They do have a big fenced yard and another dog to play with, and they tell me after the play sessions he's tired enough that he's ready to plop down and sleep for a while, so that takes care of the exercise requirement -- most behaviorists recommend at least 30 minutes of hard, aerobic exercise every day as the first prescription for puppy behavior problems.  He's getting that.

He needs to chew right now, and in addition to all their worldly goods listed above, they have provided some rawhides and chew toys.  They don't last very long with this guy, though.  They might do better with tougher toys, like the Kongs.

The biggest thing, though, is that the puppy needs something to DO all day.  When they are home with him, he doesn't destroy things.  When he picks up something that is not on the approved chewing list, they can easily redirect him. 

The problem is that they are setting him up to fail.  He is left indoors, unsupervised, for most of the day.  They haven't provided him with something constructive to do, and no matter what they left for him, it wouldn't be enough.  With access to the whole house, they haven't prevented him from inventing his own games.  His inventions so far are pretty destructive,  not to mention dangerous: some of those things he's eaten could require a surgical remedy.

So don't set your dog up to fail.  If you can't interact with and supervise him, you need to confine him so that he cannot develop destructive and dangerous habits.  It seems a little tough to leave him in a crate or pen, but not as tough as getting exploratory surgery, or booted out of his happy home.

And give him something to DO.

National Dog-Bite Prevention Week

If National Pet Week was too warm and fuzzy for you, the merry month of May has more in store for the pet-lover (and the not-so-pet-loving public, as well). 

After all, who has not had a nervous moment when meeting a dog of unknown temperament?  Especially a BIG dog of unknown temperament?  Or a dog that you KNOW is a bad actor?

The American Veterinary Medical Association put together some reading material, plus a cool podcast for you.  Stay safe out there.

Sally the cat needs a special home.

Sally has always been a bit diffident.  Like many cats (or people for that matter), she prefers to take life on her own terms.  Unlike most people, she isn't doing so well at concealing her disappointment at the way life has turned out.  Lots of us know that we are really royalty, accidentally placed with the wrong parents.  Here we are in the workaday world when we should be living in a castle somewhere.  We'd have beautiful clothes, servants, 5,000 pairs of shoes.  If only someone hadn't broken the magic wand...  Yet, we carry on.

Sally is in this "Kitty-Porn" pose because she's zonked out at the moment.  She's always had to be sedated for a proper exam -- just can't stand me or the stress of being here or the carrier, or all of the above.  She really is a beautiful cat, though not always this cooperative.  Better living through chemistry.   We can't keep her sedated the rest of her life, though [no matter what the makers of Prozac, Zoloft, Cymbalta, Paxil, etc. say].

She did great when it was just Mom and Dad.  When  sister came along, that wasn't too bad.  Now we have Mom, Dad, seven-years-old sis, and four-years-old brother, and one-year-old brother.   Things have just gotten too loud, too rambunctious, too confusing.  At  night, when all is calm, she is her old self, interacting affectionately in the quiet of the bedroom.

In the daytime, she may growl or bite if approached too closely.  If there's too much random action between her and the litter-box, she might just make an alternative toilet arrangement (maybe once a month).

She needs a quiet home with fewer people.  I've got a call in to the behavior specialists, but I'm not too optimistic that we'll find the feline equivalent of the ruby slippers.  If you can think of the perfect place for Sally, drop me a line.

News Flash: Dogs may be empathic.

In the August 30 issue of Science News, they report on a study by Atsushi Senju of Birkbeck, University of London. They sat around with 29 dogs of various breeds. When they caught the dog’s eye, they either gave a big, sighing yawn, or made other less dramatic mouth movements.

Of the 29 dogs, 21 yawned at least once when the investigator yawned, and none of them yawned with the other mouth movements.

So, most people have observed that yawning seems to be "catching" between people. These guys observed that dogs catch it from people, too.

Here’s the funny thing: Gordon Gallup, Jr. of the Sate University of New York at Albany reviewed the study and says, "If the study can be replicated, it strongly suggests that dogs may have a primitive empathic capacity."

IF somebody else can get dogs to yawn, then MAYBE dogs can sense how people feel and react to it?

I guess it would be too easy, too oversimplified to just ask why people have selected dogs as their companions for ages. Is there a dog-owner out there anywhere who does not find his dog reacting to his moods?

I’m just glad it was British tax dollars at work there and not mine.

Super Puppy: How to raise the best dog you'll ever have!

Any time of year is a good time for a new puppy, but this time of year will see a larger number of new puppies getting homes. More pertinently, there will be a lot of new puppies who are suprises for their lucky new owners. That's great, except that it may mean that the new owner is not really prepared for the challenges of a new pup.  They just don't understand the "nuts and bolts" of raising a dog. The generous giver failed to include an owner's manual.  Consequently they can become frustrated when the playful puppy doesn't grow up to be the wonderful family pet they envisioned. 

There are many hurdles to be overcome in a raising a puppy, such as: control in your absence, discipline, house-training, chewing, barking, and jumping up on people.  Coincidentally, those just happen to be chapters in this little book.   Peter Vollmer is a behavior specialist, and in each of the chapters, he tells you what your dog is doing and thinking and why.  No matter what your puppy looks like on the outside, he's a wolf on the inside.  He has hard-wired instincts in his brain, and reflexes in his body.  Dr. Vollmer explains these, and, better yet, gives you a step-by-step program to USE what's already there instead of trying to over-ride nature.  You have the understanding to be a good wolf parent instead of trying to make the dog into some kind of weird, hairy, little kid.  The buttons are already in there and he teaches you how to push them.

You gain an understanding of how your dog is relating to the family as a pack, and you learn how to be the leader of the pack (as least as far as the dog is concerned).  Your puppy is looking to you for leadership, and if you don't give it, he will begin testing you to see how far he can go.  It starts out as play, true enough, but it's play that's designed to see how high he can rise in the pecking order.  There are a lot of reasons why you should be the leader instead of your dog. For one thing, you pay the bills, and for another, you look both ways before crossing the street.

These methods are so well explained, and they work so well.  I cannot say enough good about this book.  I used the first edition back in 1981 to train my Rottweiler, Anna.  At nine weeks of age, she would growl, snarl and try to bite you if you reached for her food, or tried to pick her up.  Without "Super Puppy", I would have had to get rid of her.  Using the book (plus some formal obedience training later), we completely turned her around. When our children came along later, they were able to take food from her mouth and walk off with it.  Instead of a snarl, she just gave a kind of goofy, grinning, "Okey dokey" type reaction.

Anna was a pushy pup, as many are. The methods work faster for a more cooperative dog, like our Golden Retriever, Buster.  He was a doormat, just dying to please. The body language we learned from "Super Puppy" helped us show him what we wanted.  He could find his niche faster.

Behavior problems are the number one reason dogs are relinquished to shelters.  All puppies are cute, but many need some education to stay that way.  When I worked at a shelter back in '73,  I got pretty tired of hearing "He was so cute when he was a puppy, but now we don't like him anymore."  Using the "Super Puppy" book methods between the ages of 7 and 16 weeks of age will head off most any behavior problem you can think of. 

I love this book so much that we don't mark them up to suggested retail cost.  We want people to have them.  Each section is short and concise.  Here's what your dog is doing and why.  Here's your step-by-step program to get him to do what you want to him to do.  The longest section in the book is four pages, and that's the best discussion of house-training I've ever seen anywhere.  Check out the Super Puppy website and get this book if you have a new puppy. If you know someone with a new puppy, get this book for them.  I know you can order them on-line, and we always have a stock of them here at KVC. 

These first weeks with your new puppy are the critical time in establishing your relationship with the puppy and molding his future behavior.  He can be just as happy with you as leader of the pack, and you will be a lot happier if you are the leader instead of your dog. GET THE BOOK! Read it.  Use it.

Ban Pit Bull Dogs? Maybe Not.

"Man mauled by Pit Bull still critical" read the headline.  I visualized someone in his hospital bed, telling the nurse "Hey, you need a shave.  And look at the cobwebs in the corner.  You call this a hospital?"

Of course, the headline referred to a much more tragic situation: a man who had been savagely mauled by his own dog.  There were no witnesses to the attack.  There was no previous history of the dog showing aggression.  The family understandably had the dog destroyed.  Was there some unknown provocation? We don't know, and probably never will.  Even if there were some provocation, it's hard to imagine a justification for such an attack. It seems to be a genuine case of the "dog that turns on his master".

Every breed has certain general tendencies with respect to being dominant or subordinate.  Golden Retrievers are natural followers, while many Rottweilers are natural "leader of the pack" types.  The only breed that seems to me to have a disproportionate number of bad actors would be the Chow Chow.  The Pit Bull dogs that I have seen have been generally even-tempered and easy to get along with.  I  have certainly had some difficult patients in the breed, but not a large percentage at all.  Admittedly, the dogs that I see are family pets, not the ones belonging to drug dealers and dog-fighting enthusiasts.

Which brings us to the reason why I don't feel that breed-banning ordinances are particularly helpful.  My colleague Dr. Jim Parks once remarked, "I can't necessarily tell by looking at a dog if he will bite you.  I can come more near to telling whether the dog will bite by looking at his owner."  Years before I ever even heard of a Pit Bull, I worked in an animal shelter.  Never a week went by without some unsavory character asking if we had any "Bad German Shepherds" or "Bad Dobermans".  There is a certain group of people who have the perverse idea that the ownership of a "bad dog" will somehow enhance their personal mojo.  Any large dog has the strength to be dangerous if mistreated.  Take Pit Bulls away from these folks, and they will get a Presa Canario, or a Rottweiler, or a big mutt, or a weenie dog with a bad attitude.

I feel that  it is much more effective to have a "vicious dog" ordinance that puts substantial penalties where they belong: on the irresponsible owner.   Breed-banning ordinances have little effect in this regard, and penalize responsible owners and their dogs.

Note to readers of our daily paper:  we are concerned here with VICIOUS DOGS.  In two different articles, our hometown paper has had headlines and numerous references to VISCOUS DOGS.  Possibly spell-check is letting them down.  On the other hand, I like to envision these high-viscosity, gelatinous dogs oozing slowly over the streets and terrorizing the populace.  No viscous dogs for me -- give me a thin, soupy, runny dog any day.