People products on pets

My sister and her family came out to my house over the weekend. When I pointed out my dog’s “medicine cabinet” to my sister, she looked at the many human products I had in there and said: “At this point in my dog’s life, I am beginning to realize that most things you use on your kids you can also use on your dog.”
What’s unfortunate is that it took nine years for her to begin realizing this, thanks mostly to a veterinarian who kept her in the dark because it was more lucrative for the vet.
I told her that and added: “Really, that’s why you should start going to my vet. He’s honest about that kind of stuff.”
For instance, rather than pay top-dollar for dog-specific glucosamine tablets — which come in such small dosages that I would’ve had to have given like 10 of them to my dog every day — my vet wrote me the dosage Sensi needed on a piece of paper and recommended I pick up a bottle of the for-human-consumption kind at Meijer. It was a huge savings.
I also keep Benadryl handy in case Sensi has a severe allergic reaction to something. I learned about this when he did have a severe allergic reaction to something and we had to take him to the emergency vet, where they gave him a shot of Benadryl and then directed us to pick up a box of the pills on our way home and give him one every three hours until the swelling subsided.
There are lots of products and medications out there that can be used on both people and dogs.
For instance, I’m putting Neosporin on the incision to Sensi’s ear to help it heal. I’ve long used hydrocortisone cream in different situations, and I’m using a little rubbing alcohol on a cottonball to help dry out his acne (an allergy-related thing).
In my opinion, a good veterinarian will suggest things like this to you because it helps you be equipped to respond to emergency situations and can help you better the overall health of your dog.
There is one BIG caveat to all this, though.
Don’t start playing doctor yourself and picking and choosing products to use on your dog without consulting with your veterinarian. There are lots of things in our households, like Tylenol, that can kill a dog. Before you use a human product on your dog, ask your vet.
If you’d like to keep Benadryl in stock for your dog, ask your veterinarian when you would use it and what dosage is appropriate for your dog. Same thing for glucosamine and any other products.
If your veterinarian is suggesting you start giving something to your dog daily, like glucosamine or another supplement, you may want to ask them if there’s a human alternative that could be lighter on the pocketbook.
Your veterinarian can also tell you the pros and cons of certain products. For instance, hydrocortisone is a form of a steriod and steriods can cause long term damage to a dog, so it’s something you want to use sparingly.
Moral of the story: Be wise to the fact that many human products can be used on our pets, but NEVER use something on your pet without first asking and getting some directions from your veterinarian.

Stop it with the stereotypes

If you hate all pit bulls, I ask you to read through the pages of this blog.
You may find that you have to remind yourself I’m blogging about a dog who is 75 percent pit.
And for all those people who stereotype my dog’s breed and the type of people who own pits, I hope these pages also serve as reminder as to why stereotyping is ignorant.
I am sick and tired of hearing people say that all pit bulls are inherently blood thirsty killers and that the only people who own pit bulls are low life thugs.
I am a proud pit bull owner. I am a responsible young woman. I have a college degree. I have a full time job. I am married to a good man who also works a full time job. We are homeowners. We are taxpayers. We are good people and by God, we are pit bull owners too.
Reading some of the comments to stories on our Web site, like the some of ones on the dangerous dog ordinance being considered in Rochester Hills, just make me sick.
I am not ignorant and I will not defend the pit bulls nor the owners who allowed this atrocity in Rochester Hills to occur. Without a doubt, it’s owners like that who are responsible for the reputation the breed has.
I feel terribly for the owners of the little dog who was killed. I wish them not just healing, but justice. I hope that justice involves someone taking a serious look at whether the owners of the pit bulls are fit to own more dogs in the future.
If I ran the world, you’d have to have a lick of common sense to be an animal owner. Of course, I feel the most important lick of common sense to have is the one that tells you to keep your pets in your yard.
Unfortunately, I think the majority of dog owners out there don’t subscribe to that, so to those of you who like to let your dogs run loose, be grateful I don’t run the world.
There is nothing good that comes from letting your dog run. Nothing at all. Your not-dog-friendly neighbors get angry because little Fluffy poops in their yard, your dog risks its own life and limb each time it darts out into the road, your dog can also get into roadkill and other dead animals and I have known at least one dog who died after eating from a rotting deer carcass, and the worst of all is the risk that your dog could hurt or kill another person or pet.
Even if you think your dog is super friendly, that is only how you know your dog to behave when you are around. By itself, having to make decisions for itself and take leadership for itself, your dog could behave entirely differently. A little fear can turn into a lot of aggression very quickly.
And for the sake of good sense, if a fence doesn’t hold your powerful breed dog, modify. Find something that works.
Working on training too, and that goes for everyone and all the breeds out there.
But please, stop it with the stereotypes. Me and my dog deserve better.

E-collar alternatives

The owner of Maddie, a 5-year-old Yorkie/Silky mix, e-mailed me after my last blog with this photo of her darling dog sporting an inflatable collar.
“This isn’t the answer for all issues, depending on where the injury is, but for my small dogs it works well,” writes Debbi Lowry, owner of Maddie.
As the recipient of a couple different pet product catalogs, I have seen a variety of alternatives to e-collars that are on the market.
In addition to this inflatable type, there are also “comfy cones” where the cones are made out of a soft material and other alternatives. Another e-collar alternative, called the Bite Not collar, isn’t a cone at all, but rather a wide, stiff collar that extends from the dog’s shoulders to head, limiting the movement of the head.
A quick google search for “e-collar alternatives” turns up a variety of options, articles about them, and links to where they can be purchased.
While I only spent a cursory amount of time searching the web, I did not find any alternatives that would work for my dog’s situation, though.
Here’s the deal: The collar Maddie is wearing in the picture to the left, as well as the other collars I mentioned, are perfect for after spay/neuter procedures or any other time that you need to prevent your dog from turning around and reaching areas like their stomach, legs, tail, etc., with their mouths.
When the situation is reversed, though, these collars don’t work as well.
For instance, I am not trying to stop my dog from using his mouth to lick a wound on his back leg, but rather am trying to stop him from using his back leg to itch his ear.
Just about any time you have a facial injury, my initial thought is that the plastic e-collar is going to be necessary.
Small dogs may be an exception to this, though it probably depends heavily on the individual dog and type of collar used.
For Debbi, however, I think the inflatable collar will probably work in just about any situation. She’d know better than I would, but it looks to me like Maddie’s little legs might not be able reach beyond that inflatable ring.
The moral of the story?
There are options other than the e-collar out there — many of which are far more comfortable for the dog, but not all the options may work for preventing a dog from scratching his head or facial area.
But the most important thing to remember is that no matter what collar you use, introduce it to your dog in advance of any surgical procedures so he or she can get used to it.
Debbie — thanks for the e-mail and great photo!

Sensi update
He got his bandage off on Saturday and has been doing very well. We left the e-collar off for the bulk of Sunday while we were home and he didn’t mess with his ear at all.
Of course, we’re not taking any chances — the e-collar still goes on for each potty run, during the night and during the day while we’re gone.
The ear appears to be healing really nicely, though it’s not the most appealing sight with all those stitches. The stitches will probably come out this Saturday and I’m sure I wouldn’t be wrong to say that Sensi can’t wait!

Introducing the e-collar

As I thought about putting the elizabethan collar on my dog the other night, it struck me that I really didn’t have enough time to properly introduce him to it.
For those who may be unfamiliar with it, the elizabethan collar — commonly called the e-collar — is that plastic cone-shaped thing usually used on pets after surgeries to prevent them from scratching or licking their wounds.
Almost all pets will have an e-collar strapped around their necks at some point in their life, be it for a spay or neuter procedure or for a plethora of other reasons, like emergency surgeries.
The first time we put an e-collar on Sensi was when he was neutered at nine months old. I remember that he came home from the veterinarian’s office with it on. We quickly took it off and, because the dog had 24-hour supervision back then and he never tried biting, licking or scratching at his stitches, we never put it back on him.
That is, until this January.
His allergies were acting up and he was scratching and licking at himself like crazy, creating open wounds on his legs and muzzle. While we were able to stop him when we were around, it was whenever we were gone or asleep that he’d really tear into himself.
I kept that e-collar all these years and, before leaving to visit some relatives for a belated Christmas function, I decided he should wear it.
Five hours later it, I returned home to find my sleeping dog positioned on the other side of the room from the badly mangled e-collar.
Sensi had managed to fold over the e-collar’s edges with his paws, grabbed hold of it with his teeth, pulled it over his head and ripped it up. I’m guessing, obviously, but I think it’s a pretty good guess.
About a month later, Sensi has had surgery on his ear and the ear is now wrapped up in a big bandage. If he were to scratch it, there could be some very serious damage. It is now imperative that he wear the e-collar.
My first concern was ensuring that the e-collar was a good fit and I urge everyone who will have to use an e-collar to talk with their veterinarians and make sure the collar you’re bringing home is the appropriate size.
If the collar is not put on at the veterinarian’s office, you should ask them to show you which setting you should use (like a regular collar, there are different options to make it tighter or looser around the neck) and to demonstrate how to put it all together.
Sensi’s new e-collar is shorter than the last one and the vet encouraged us to use a tighter fit than we would’ve chosen on our own. Fortunately, the snug fit has kept the collar on and prevented any further injuries to his ear.
Rather than just throwing it on your dog one day, though, I encourage people to be proactive about this one.
The fact is, your dog is probably going to have to wear one these collars at some point in his or her life. Why not introduce your dog to it slowly and properly?
This might mean you pick-up the e-collar from the vet’s office a week before your pet is scheduled for surgery. I’m sure your veterinarian would be glad to give it to you in advance (though, these collars are not free, so don’t expect that).
Use treats to introduce it to your dog. Make it a positive thing. Teach your dog that he can go for walks, chew on bones, play tug-of-war and do all his normal and fun activities with the collar on.
Then, when he’s hurting from surgery and feeling downright miserable, you won’t be adding something unfamiliar and scary on top of everything else.

Hold me, Mom!

There’s nothing quite like anesthetic to make your dog behave like a wounded child.
When we brought Sensi home after his surgery yesterday, all he wanted was hugs.
For as long as I can remember, Sensi has periodically sought out “hugs” from us. A hug from Sensi means that, once we’re seated, he lowers his head so his muzzle is pointed at the ground and then walks right into us, burying his head in our chest. He fully expects us to then wrap our arms around him.
While Sensi was feeling good to be home last night, he was still very discombobulated from the anesthesia. He’d forget what he was doing and would wind up just standing in one place, staring at nothing until his legs began giving out on him. We had to remind him to sit and lay down.
Because I believe in spoiling my dog at least where comfort is concerned, I brought out his big dog bed from the bedroom and put it in front of the wood stove where he likes to lay and soak up the heat from the fire.
I invited him over, tried to get him to step on the bed but instead, he just scooted up next me and leaned in for a hug. He stayed put until he was falling into me, his eyes closed and breathing relaxed while he fell asleep.
It was about as endearing as endearing gets.
He did the same thing to both my husband and I as often as he could last night and again this morning.
If you think you feel bad leaving your dog at home every day, imagine trying to pull yourself away from a dog who just wants to fall asleep in your arms.
Here’s a photo from last night — note the cone-shaped bandage on his left ear.
I took the photo while getting dinner ready. Sensi always wants to be near me when I’m in the kitchen but doesn’t like to sit or lay on the hard surface of our wood floors. He meandered out there to watch me cook dinner, but when I turned around and saw his legs leaning precariously to one side, I figured I had better grab his bed before he fell over and broke a leg!

Another allergy side effect

The term cauliflower ear isn’t all that rare — you’ve probably heard it used at some point in your life.
It’s most general use is in describing a human ear and usually, that human is a wrestler who has sustained some sort of trauma to the cartilage in his ear.
So, what is cauliflower ear and how does it apply to dogs?
Cauliflower ear appears as a sac of fluid in the dog’s outer ear. It can begin looking like a puffy spider bite but can get larger and larger, until you’re feeling quite sure that this requires the attention of a veterinarian.
This injury is the result of a trauma to the cartilage in the ear — hence why it’s most closely associated with wrestlers whose ears are at the risk of a lot different ways to be injured during a match.
The way it was explained to me is that the blood vessels, once broken, can put a lot of pressure on the blood vessels around the affected area, causing those blood vessels to rupture as well, which then causes the pocket to fill with more fluid and expand in size.
Left untreated, the ear can eventually become completely disfigured — as is the case with many wrestlers.
The disfigurement, of course, is where the term “cauliflower ear” comes from in the first place. Apparently, the disfigured ear can look a bit like cauliflower on a person. I personally have seen this on at least one person in my life and I have to admit, the term “cauliflower” is quite appropriate.
The medical term, at least for dogs, is “hematoma.”
Anyhow, wonder how a dog can get this type of injury? Think it’s probably something extreme? Think again.
My dog gave himself cauliflower ear by scratching.
Of course, it wasn’t your run-of-the-mill scratch. No, it was the type of persistent scratching that is caused by allergies.
As my regular readers already know, I’ve been dealing with a particularly bad bout of food allergies since the beginning of the new year. Allergies in dogs most often result in compulsive licking and scratching, which is exactly what Sensi went through, tearing up his skin and ripping out his hair in the process.
At first, it appeared this pocket of fluid in his ear was going to go away. After filling to be a little larger than a quarter on the inside of the ear, the fluid levels seemed to decrease and later seemed to almost disappear completely.
But then it filled up again. Who knows why — maybe he scratched the ear again or shook his head just hard enough to rupture those blood vessels again.
Either way, our luck wasn’t so good this time. The pocket continued to grow every day until it was clear that we’d have to get our veterinarian to operate.
Sensi went in for the operation today at Oxford Veterinary Hospital, where he’s been going for years now. I have to say, if anyone is having a hard time finding a good veterinarian, you might want to try this place. There are two doctors at the hospital; we see Dr. Stephen Steep. There are lots of things that make him a great veterinarian — the fact that he’s quite knowledgeable of animal behavior happens to be my favorite.
And no, just because someone is a veterinarian does not automatically mean they know animal behavior. I’ve come across lots of veterinarians who are very good at what they do but appear rather clueless when it comes to the behavior side of things.
Anyhow, they let me to stay to watch the procedure. There are different procedures to correct the problem, but the one Sensi had began with a incision straight down the center of the fluid pocket.
After the mostly-blood fluid mix drained, Dr. Steep began stitching the skin back to the cartilage. This, I’m sure, required some finesse. The incision was left open so the wound can continue to drain.
After it was done, the ear was wrapped up like a cone.
Sensi is still recuperating at the vet’s office and I’ll be heading in later today to pick him up. It sounds like there is a substantial amount of aftercare to ensure he heals well — the hardest of which might be getting him to leave his ear alone.
That may just be the topic of my next blog — is it possible to train a dog not to shake his head?

Too many firsts for an old dog

Like having a child, a dog gives you so many of those heartwarming “firsts.”
I remember my dog’s first bark, the first time we walked around the block, the first time he successfully completed a “roll over.” I remember his first swim, his first birthday and first Christmas and so many other “firsts” too.
Not all firsts are quite so endearing.
For instance, I remember the first time he learned that leashes can be pulled on — after all, who can forget being pulled through a snowbank and smacking into an icy, wire fence?
I also remember the first time he broke out of his cage and left a path of destruction in his wake.
Or, how about the first time he thought he’d try out a gel pen as a chew toy and left ink stains in the form of paw prints on every piece of new carpeting we’d just purchased?
After a certain point in your dog’s life, though, firsts become rare. It happens so slowly you don’t realize it’s happened, but it has.
Your dog becomes incredibly predictable. A tail wag before breakfast, licks when you get home, barks by the front door to signal that it’s time to go potty. And of course, that way he always curls up by your feet and lets out a big sigh once he’s comfortable and settled in.
Through this whole allergy ordeal, I caught myself saying “for the first time ever” far too often. It felt strange and weird coming out of my mouth. It’d been such a long time.
And reflecting on all that’s transpired, none of it was good.
For the first time ever, he refused to eat his food.
For the first time ever, it took me longer to prepare his breakfast than it did to prepare mine.
For the first time ever, he refused to open his mouth so I could shove more pills down his throat (OK, to be honest, I can’t believe that one took as long as it did to happen).
For the first time ever, my dog tried to eat dirt and swallow wood chips.
For the first time ever, he didn’t spit out wood chips in his mouth when we said “drop it!”
For the first time ever, I was awoken at 4 a.m. by my dog, who whined and whined until I finally opened my eyes.

I’m ready to go back to the way things used to be. I want my healthy, predictable old dog back.

Dreams of dog sledding

As a fifth grade student, I remember learning about the Iditarod.
My teacher was definitely a smart lady. The Iditarod is intrinsically interesting to kids — think: the many kid friendly dog-sled movies out there, especially the 1995 cartoon movie Balto depicting the heroic beginnings of the Iditarod race.
Balto is the famed dog credited with saving the Alaskan town of Nome in 1925 after its residents were stricken with Diphtheria and there was no way to get the life-saving medicine to the town except for dog sled teams.
Dog sled teams covered the 1,150 miles between Anchorage and Nome to deliver the supplies. The event is now memorialized every year by the Iditarod race (this year’s race starts March 6), where dog sled teams from all over the world come to compete.
A dog lover even without a dog at home to love, my fifth grade self was mesmerized by dreams of traversing the cold tundra on only a sled led by a team of dogs.
These are dreams I have not quite given up.
No, I have no plans to ever become seriously involved in dog sledding nor do I wish to ever partake in such an arduous journey like the Iditarod. I don’t really like cold weather and as such, I don’t think it’d be a good event for me.
Also, I don’t really want a whole team of Huskies. Maybe a Malamute or two, perhaps one Husky, but definitely not a whole team of them.
I do tend to think that one day, though, if I can just make my dreams of living on a large piece of property in Northern Michigan come true (isn’t that everyone’s dream around here?), I can teach my own eclectic group of dogs to pull me on a sled.
Perhaps it would be better to say my one or two Malamutes and Husky can teach the rest of my dogs to pull me on a sled.
Anyway, I just think it’d be fun to ride around on a sled being pulled by my dogs and at the same time, it’d probably be great exercise and a great outlet for the dogs.
But you’ve got to start somewhere and I haven’t ever even seen a real dog sled in person before.
That’s why you might just find me this weekend in downtown Rochester at E. Third and Water Streets, checking the dog sled demonstrations and maybe even taking a ride on a dog sled.
The demonstration is part of this weekend’s Fire & Ice Winter Festival. The festival is taking place Friday and Saturday but the dog sled teams will be out only from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday.
A coworker told me he took a ride on one of the dog sleds one year and it was pretty cool. I can only imagine and I hope to find out!
Read a story all about the Fire & Ice Festival by clicking here. To visit the county's Web site for more information about the festival, click here.

Tuna breath and still starving

That’s it. I’ve reached my breaking point. I’m at my wit’s end. Any suggestions, send ‘em my way.
My dog is starving himself.
Last week, I wrote that I was pretty darn sure my dog was manipulating me — starving himself with the ultimate goal of having something new added to his daily food dish.
This week, I am less sure of what is going on.
He’s eaten about a quarter cup of food a day now. That’s like two and half cups less than his 85-pound physique needs.
He loved oatmeal, then hated it. Loved pinto beans, then hated it. Loved tuna and now — as of this morning — hates that too.
Without a doubt, the tough love path is in use. If he refuses what’s in his food bowl, he gets no food.
And day after day after day now, he’s refused his food bowl and skipped on one meal after another.
He’ll refuse a fresh dish of tuna and oatmeal, but yet he tries to eat dirt outside.
On Saturday night, he ate a bunch of wood that was stacked indoors for our wood stove. How do I know this? It was regurgitated on the floor by the time we awoke on Sunday.
What really stinks about all of this is his breath.
He’s been predominately eating tuna for the past week or so. His breath smells about as strong as a freshly opened can of tuna does — it really adds an element of disgusting to those dog kisses.
By the way, if anyone’s looking for a good deal on tuna, try Kroger. I bought 5-ounce cans of tuna for 65 cents on Friday.
I bought 20 cans of the stuff — 20 cans of tuna which I now have no use for, like the 4 pound bag of pinto beans I also have no use for and 5 pounds of cooked pinto beans taking up valuable real estate in my fridge.
I have a feeling the local food pantry will benefit the most from this whole allergy ordeal.

Take it or leave it

I think my dog is trying to manipulate me.
This goes back to his whole allergy thing we’re going through and my last blog about oatmeal.
We’ve now switched entirely to a home diet and sparing the daily play-by-play of our food-related drama, I’ll just say he’s learned that if he refuses to eat, something new might get added to that food bowl before it hits the floor.
First, he loved oatmeal. A week later, he hated it.
Same with the pinto beans. In the beginning, he couldn’t get enough of them. Now, he eats around them if he’ll even touch a bowl of food with pinto beans in it.
We’re on to tuna now. He loves it and readily eats it plain as treats. At first, he had no problems eating a bowl of tuna mixed with oatmeal. A few days later, though, he’s refusing that too.
I’m beyond bewildered. Add in the fact that Sensi is still vomiting here and there without much of a logical pattern and figuring out what he’s actually allergic to is even more mind boggling.
I am, however, becoming quite sure that he is trying to manipulate me.
In the past three weeks, there’s been changes to his diet every three to four days, probably. At this point, I believe he has caught on to the fact that if he refuses to eat what is given to him, something new will be given to him instead.
After a lifetime of eating dry and boring dog kibble and subsisting only on that and a few vegetarian dog treats, who can blame him for trying? I won’t, but I also won’t tolerate this behavior.
First off, my pocketbook cannot support the eating habits that Sensi is so desperately trying to develop with his hunger strikes.
Secondly, this well-fed dog of mine will not guilt me into cooking better for him than I do for myself.
If a meal of hot oatmeal, fresh pinto beans and tuna isn’t good enough for him, nothing will ever be again.
And so, the dog will starve until he decides this meal is indeed good enough.
I took this attitude last night after I spent a half-hour trying to get him to eat — coaxing him with all sorts of stupid stuff and looking a million times more silly than a mother playing airplane with her baby.
Finally, I set the food bowl down by his water dish and walked away. It was getting late and my husband and I still hadn’t eaten dinner ourselves.
What do you know? While I went to work cooking a human dinner and ignored my dog, Sensi snuck over to his food bowl and licked up everything that was there.
He pulled the same crap this morning. I’m hoping that when I get home, the food bowl is empty.
And if it’s not, I’ll just toss out the old, put in some new and set it down on the floor.
It’s take it or leave it from here on out.

Oatmeal and your dog

Looking to spice up your dog’s dinner every now and again? Perhaps add an extra carbohydrate here and there?
Look no further than your favorite (or not-so-favorite) breakfast food — oatmeal.
Oatmeal is, admittedly, not my favorite choice for breakfast. In fact, I’m not much of a breakfast person. Coffee does me just fine until lunch.
Lucky for my dog, though, I happened to have a large package of oatmeal in the cupboard left over from when I made no-bake cookies for my husband’s birthday late last year.
Here’s what happened:
Last week, I blogged about my sick dog in this space. He has food allergies and things were getting pretty bad for him. We switched his food, suspecting that to be the culprit, and put him on a new food.
On the first day of eating the new food, he began vomiting after eating. A few days of that and he just decided he’d quit eating all together.
Mind you, I’m shoving nine pills down my dog’s throat every day. I think we all know how miserable medications on an empty stomach can make you feel.
So, on Saturday after Sensi had been on his food strike for more than 24 hours, I pulled out the papers my veterinarian gave me about food allergies with the list of home diets that can be fed to a dog temporarily until food trials are completed. One side of the list includes proteins, the other includes carbohydrates. You’re instructed to pick one of each.
Under the carbohydrate heading, I saw the word “Oats” and thought of that box of oatmeal in my cupboard.
“Honey, I’m giving the dog his pills in oatmeal tonight,” I told my husband.
He laughed. “Oatmeal? Good luck with that.”
“What, you don’t think he’ll like oatmeal?” I asked him.
“No. Why would he? Oatmeal is so bland and gross. Like I said, good luck,” he said.
“Well, I guess we’ll find out tonight,” I said, and we did.
The dog loves oatmeal. In fact, I’m pretty sure he thinks it is the best thing he has ever eaten. He likes it hot, he likes it cold, he likes it baked and he even likes it when it’s covering up all those pills he has to take.
I’ve been videotaping him before meals the past few days because I’m just astonished at his behavior. His whole body quivers and shakes with excitement as he sits nicely, waiting for his food bowl to set down for him. The other day, he was shaking so violently that his teeth even began chattering. I’ve never seen my dog like this before.
Sensi is so fixated on his meals now that I’m not sure he thinks about anything else. I’m beginning to worry that this could become an obsessive fixation. And I’m definitely worried that he’ll never eat regular kibble again.
Whatever struggles lie ahead of us, I’m confident we can conquer them. For the time being, though, I’m enjoying how much my dog is enjoying his oatmeal.

Update on Sensi’s health
I did take photos of how great my dog is looking over the weekend, but I keep forgetting to put them on a memory stick so I can upload them to this blog.
Truly, though, Sensi looks and feels fantastic. Even the hardest to heal parts — those nooks and crannies between the toes and underneath the paws — are dry with white skin (which means the yeast infection has subsided).
He was bathed last Saturday with a medicated shampoo and medicated leave-in conditioner. His coat is shiny and soft in a way I haven’t felt since he had puppy hair!
This doesn’t at all mean the struggle is over — Sensi will be on medications for a couple months yet and a special homemade diet for probably the bulk of this year. He is still a little pink here and there and scratching every now and again, but even so, the improvement is dramatic.
The bad news: all the hair he scratched off his face has grown back in white. He’s gone from looking like a prematurely aging 7-year-old dog to very senior canine citizen.

What do food allergies look like?

Determining whether your dog has food allergies is not an easy task.
The same physical symptoms you see are not specific to food allergies — plenty of things can cause a dog to scratch or lick excessively. Plenty of things can be responsible for rashes and ear infections. And certainly, what the skin looks like can, in some cases, look an awful lot like other issues, especially mange.
In fact, when Sensi began having skin problems years ago, our first guess was that he had either some form of the mange or some sort of mite problem.
So, it’s not as easy as catching your dog licking himself and saying: “Yep, he’s got food allergies all right.”
In fact, once you’ve begun wondering what is causing your dog’s skin problems, it can get even more difficult to determine that.
Allergy tests on dogs are not reliable. A good and thorough veterinarian, in my experience, will recommend food trials. After several months of food trials, you will have a good record of what your dog is allergic to.
We’ll be starting food trials again with Sensi as soon as he is healthy, and I’m sure I’ll blog in greater detail about what goes into conducting a proper food trial.
This blog, though, is supposed to be about what food allergies can look like in a dog. And lucky you, I just happen to have pictures.
The photos below were taken on Wednesday, the day after Sensi went to the vet and his second day on medications. Believe it or not, these pictures show a dramatic improvement compared to what Sensi looked like the day before they were taken.
Sensi continues to improve on a daily basis. His face is almost completely back to normal, with the exception of some scabbing, which I consider to be Mother Nature’s path to healing. The backside of his foreleg and a faint and fading rash on his underside are all that remains of this allergy episode now.
After a good bath this weekend, I’ll take some more photos to post on a blog update next week.

For now, though, here’s what food allergies can look like:Sensi's swollen & scratched eye, closed because of the camera's flash.Backside of forelegs are very red, but this photo shows scabbing developing. This is a great improvement over the open wounds that were there the day before.Here is a good example of why we need to focus on body language and eye contact to communicate with our dogs. Does Sensi's facial expression and eyes not clearly say, "I am sick, Mom. Why are you taking pictures of me?"

One sick pup

My dog peered up at me through his swollen eyes this morning as if to say, “Are you really leaving me? Can’t you see how sick I am?”
And he is.
I came home from the vet’s office yesterday feeling good about being on the right track to get him healthy again, but there was no denying I had one sick pup to take care of.
He’s got four prescriptions — an antihistamine, a steriod and two other pills to help his body combat the secondary infections he created through his persistent itching and licking. Plus, I picked up an anti-itch leave-in conditioner. Sensi needs to be bathed twice a week until his skin is healthy again and this time of the year, that’d dry him out for sure. With the conditioner to use, it will make sure his baths are the most beneficial they can be for him.

Well, let’s try to learn a thing or two from Sensi’s state. Here’s what you need to know about a dog who is licking excessively.

Stop that!
All dogs scratch and lick themselves periodically, just as we humans often scratch an itch. When the scratching and licking is not excessive, don’t worry about it.
However, an excessive licker or scratcher needs to be examined by a veterinarian.
Dogs who lick their paws for hours on end, day in and day out, can easily contract yeast infections. On the front of the paws, dogs have spaces in between each of their toes. On the back of the paw, there is another space between the large pad and the individual toe pads.
These spaces are havens for yeast infections. They are semi-closed environments lined with skin and fur that keep the spaces warm.
Add in the moisture from excessive licking and these spots become the perfect storm for nasty yeast infections. How can you tell if a yeast infection has developed? If the skin in these spaces is abnormally red and moist, there’s a good chance you have a problem. Dogs have a more difficult time licking their rear paws, so comparing the spaces in the front paws to the same spaces on the rear paws can often be a good indicator of what healthy vs. nonhealthy looks like.
If you find the rear paws to have white, dry skin but the front paws have moist, blaring red skin, you have a problem. If both sets of paws have blaring red skin, definitely make a vet appointment or at least call your vet to get some professional advice.
Most dog owners have combated yeast infections in a dog’s ear, but the paws are a whole different beast. Once yeast infections have taken root in the paws, a vicious cycle is created where the inflammation from the yeast infection intensifies the dog’s desire to lick.
Yeast infections can also spread easily and, worst of all, with the dog’s immune system working hard to stave off the yeast infection, the immune system becomes strained and leaves the dog open to contracting even worse infections.
There are medicated shampoos that can help a chronic paw licker, but these need to be ordered through your veterinarian.
It is important to have your veterinarian examine your paw licker because the licking is often just a symptom of an underlying problem, like food allergies, and oftentimes, prescription pills are needed to get rid of the yeast infection.
One last note: If you examine your dog’s paws this time of the year, remember to wait until he’s been inside for several hours. A dog coming in from the cold, wet snow will have red paws until they warm up and dry out!

Merry Christmas and a crappy New Year

How quickly things go from wonderful to terrible ...
I was really looking forward to blogging about our happy, wagging-tailed dog opening his gifts merrily on Christmas morning — which he did. It was really cute and he was really happy and blah blah blah.
But now, there’s just bigger fish to fry.
Brent and I awoke on New Year's Day to find our dog red and swollen. The tell-tale signs that he'd spent all night scratching himself raw were all over his body.
From time to time on this blog, I’ve mentioned that Sensi has food allergies. He was about two years old when we found out, and we found out the hard way. More than $2,000 in vet bills later, we thought we had it all figured out.
My husband and I spent the bulk of one year doing food trials — this means the dog spends one week on a special anti-allergy food formula followed by one week where you mix in other foods, like beef or corn, to see if the dog has a reaction.
One food source after another Sensi reacted to. It’s just easier to say that Sensi is not allergic to a few items, including lamb, chicken, potatoes and green beans, than to list the multitude of things he is allergic to.
For years, Sensi has been on a very strict diet and because of this, we’ve been able to enjoy a very healthy dog. Selecting a dog food brand was a challenge at first.
The key, for us, was to find a food that had no “animal by-products” listed as an ingredient. Generally, this means the “by-products” of any animals could be part of the food. It’s a safe guess that anything that says “animal by-products” contains beef. Beef is Sensi’s biggest allergy.
We settled on Pro Plan Lamb & Rice after the allergy debacle. For years, it’s kept his coat and skin healthy, given him a reason to be excited at feeding time and kept him allergic-reaction free. I’ve recommended this brand of food to countless people over the years.
If any of you who I have recommended this brand to are reading this now, take heed that I am pulling my endorsement of this dog food.
As I was trying to figure out what could possibly be causing Sensi’s allergic reaction, I thought of how careful I am to always check the ingredient list on treats before I purchase them, even if it’s a brand I’ve bought before. Right then, I realized that I hadn’t checked the ingredients on Sensi’s dog food in years. I also remembered that last year, the formula for his food changed — softer, tasty morsels were added and Sensi was just thrilled about it.
Well, perhaps that’s when Pro Plan changed its ingredients too. On Saturday night, my frantic and worried self discovered “Animal Fat Preservatives (mixed with tocopherals)” and something which I think was called simply “Animal Digestive” added to the mix.
I left right away for the pet store to scour the shelves for a Sensi-safe food. Much to my chagrin, I found that Purina, Iams — even the Science Diet formula — and Pro Plan as well as some bags of Natural Choice contain some form of either animal by-products, animal fat preservatives or animal digestive.
I did find a few safe brands and chose Dick Van Patten’s Limited Ingredient Diet, the Duck and Potato kind, to try out.
It’s day two of the new diet and so far, the improvement has been so slight that I’m not favor of calling it an improvement at all. We’ve also taken away all of his toys and are keeping him on Benadryl.
It's definitely too early to tell what was causing the problem for Sensi, but my money's on the dog food.

What do food allergies look like in a dog?
Scratching and licking.
A dog who is allergic to something he eats regularly may react slowly or quickly. In Sensi’s case, I believe it took a lot of time for his symptoms to rear their ugly head.
Dogs will react to their allergies by itching and licking themselves, often profusely. Think this isn’t a big deal? Listen to what Sensi’s done to himself in the space of the last four or five days:
• Possibly broke the cartilage in his ear
• Given himself a fat lip
• Made rim of eye swell and bleed
• Scratched his armpit so profusely he gave himself raw, open and heavily swollen wounds
• Yeast infections in his front paws and most likely on his forearms too

Don’t blow off your dog’s allergies — it’s not at all like a human who sneezes during ragweed season. By the time we could visibly see the affects of allergies on our dog the first time around, he had been suffering for almost two years. His immune system was worn down and his body opened up to a multitude of infections, a couple which were very hard to shake.
Sensi is going to the vet tomorrow. I just hope we’re on the right path with the food.
And so, it was a very Merry Christmas at my house — and then, as we awoke on New Year’s Day to a scratched raw and swollen dog, a rather crappy New Year.

Beggin’ by the Christmas tree

When I arrived home from work last night, my husband had finished most of our Christmas wrapping and so, I sat down next to the tree and looked at all the beautiful gifts.
Sensi was, as always, at my side. However, while I picked up and admired all sorts of different presents, he was interested only in a few — his.
No, we didn’t point them out to him. We didn’t say anything to him. We’ve kept everything very low key because there’s no point in getting him all excited when Christmas is still about a week away.
It doesn’t matter though. He knows which ones are his gifts.
He went around to each box, sniffed it, wagged his tail, cocked his head and gave me that look.
“It’s for me. I know it’s for me,” he seemed to say, his eyes glistening and barely audible whines coming out of his mouth. “So can I open it? Huh? Huh? Can I open it?”
Keep in mind that my husband and I took great care to ensure that Sensi never saw any of gifts ahead of time — he was put in a separate room while I brought them into the house and all his gifts were kept hidden behind closed doors.
When he realized there would be no opening of presents, he laid down beside the tree, rested his head on the carpet and let out a big sigh. He laid by the tree for quite a while like that.
I’m reading this new book called “Power of the Dog: the things your dog can do that you can’t” by Les Krantz and it led me to reflect for a moment about how Sensi knew which gifts were his.
The book goes into detail about great powers of the dog, their incredible scent included. It also talks about a dog’s eyesight being different than humans.
You’ll have to read the book for a better explanation than I can recount here, but basically, the same physical elements that allow dogs to see movement in the dark also restrict them from being able to clearly pinpoint objects in their immediate vicinity — things like toys, no doubt.
So if your dog can’t really see that bone he’s chewing on or stuffed animal he carries around, how can he so clearly identify it? Scent is the answer for this one, folks.
My guess as to how Sensi knew which gifts were his, then, is by their scent. Certainly, the Nylabone dental chew bone I got him may have been easily identifiable — perhaps it smelled similar to Nylabone toys he’s received in the past.
But what about the stuffed animals I picked out from Salvation Army? These items probably belonged to unknown children before him. Perhaps they sat around in attics or basements for years before being donated to the store. There were probably hundreds of scents associated with these items — kid smells, house smells, store smells and more — none of which would be familiar to him.
As the book explains, dogs are able to smell the tiniest of molecules. The book uses, for example, walking into a bakery. We smell the scents of baking bread, muffins and icing while our dogs would instead smell the yeast, eggs and different types of sugars used to make the products.
Amazing, right?
On that note, perhaps what Sensi was smelling and recognizing as something for him was not the objects’ most recent scents — human handling, house smells, store smell, etc., — but instead the fibers used to make the stuffed animals, the different felts used to make a nose or plastic materials commonly used in making stuffed animal eyes.
Who really knows. All I can say, without a doubt, is that Sensi was able to identify the four boxes that were his and showed no interest in the dozens of other boxes, despite the fact that they all had pretty much the same outward appearance.
I often say on this blog that if we only knew more about our dogs, we could stop buying into all these warm and fuzzy but vastly untrue myths about our four-legged companions. If we really took the time to learn the truth about dogs, we could simply appreciate them for being the amazing animals that they truly are.

Sensi with his favorite all-time gift from a Christmas a couple years ago, a Jolly Pets Teaser Ball.

A dogless night

The emptiness in my house was overwhelming.
There was no tail-wagging, smiling dog to greet me as I walked in the door. No pit-patter of paws down the hallway. No big eyes beggin’ to secure a spot on the couch. No four-legged creature to jump up from a deep sleep just to accompany me as I walked to the fridge.
It was a dogless night at my house.
Oh, the emptiness. I don’t know how those non-dog owners handle it.
It wasn’t exactly like we were worried for our pooch, thinking of his loneliness as he spent the night in a cage at the vet’s office or something. In fact, it was exactly the opposite — our dog was out having a doggone good time, getting lots of love and special attention from my Dad.
It was Thanksgiving when my Dad, who just adores my dog, made his request.
“It gets kind of lonely at the house, ya know,” he told me. “I was wondering if I could borrow Sensi for the night — he’s good company. I can talk to him, play with him, even just take a nap with him.”
I was touched. My Dad and my dog really do have a special bond. I have this picture of my Dad hugging my dog and Sensi is clearly hugging him back, his big ol’ pit bull head nestled right into my Dad’s neck.
Of course, I said yes. But even as I said it, I knew it wouldn’t be an easy night.
My husband and I coped in an odd, somewhat comedic manner. He’d call out Sensi’s name, perhaps just to say it like he normally would, and I’d do the same.
Perhaps the worst was when I grabbed my keys to put them in my purse. It was a strong reminder of the associations I’ve made in my life. When I grab my keys, I expect to hear the jingle of my dog’s collar as he leaps up and makes his way to my side to figure out what’s going on, if I’m leaving and if, just if, there’s the possibility I might want some four-legged company on my travels.
But last night, there was no jingle of the collar. No dog at my side, peering up at me with great hope in his eyes that I might just take him on a little trip in the car. I looked at my keys for a moment, sighed and then, with a heavy heart, put them away and went back to what I was doing.
“He’s having a blast with your Dad, Karen,” I told myself. “Don’t be such a loser. It’s not like he’s gone for good.”
Truly, though, his absence last night made both my husband and I think about those awful days that will come after he is gone. As I’ve said before on this blog, my dog is getting into his senior years and what will inevitably come is not lost on me.
“We better have a replacement lined up,” I told my husband last night, half-joking but more serious than I’d like to admit. “I just can’t handle all this emptiness. I need a dog underfoot.”
There was one upside to Sensi’s absence and that was the good night’s sleep that both my husband and I got, considering no 90-pound dog had climbed up between us on the bed to stretch out and steal all our covers.
Which made me think: the next dog will be crate trained. No doubt.

Don’t unwrap that!

We enjoy watching our dogs unwrap gifts, with a couple caveats — it’s got to be their toys and it’s got to be on our terms.
That means no sneaking under the Christmas tree one week beforehand and stealing arbitrary gift boxes to unwrap.
Think about what the ideal situation would be. On Christmas morning, you pull out your dog’s gifts from under the tree and create a little pile especially for him just as you do for your other family members. You hold one up to him and say, “Open it up, pal, this one’s for you!”
When he’s done unwrapping and everyone’s had the opportunity to coo over how cute and human-like he is, he runs around with the new toy in his mouth, his tail wagging and chest protruding with pride.
Then you say, “Come ‘ere boy, I got another one for ya,” and he trots excitedly back to you, ready to do it all over again.
Keep this entire image in your head and do not stray from it. This is important.
The dog will quickly start making associations, usually “wrapped gift equals toy for me.” After the second or third unwrapping experience, he may completely lose interest in the toy that’s inside and instead move on to the next box, ready to do it all over again.
This is not good. If the dog quickly discards the toy and heads for another box, stop him. You may even give him a correction command, like “No!” or “Bad!” to stop him in his tracks. If you have to, put the remaining wrapped boxes up and out of his reach.
Tease him with his new toys and try to get his attention with them. If he’s determined on unwrapping more gifts, he may move in on the next person and their pile, whether it’s your 2-year-old, 15-year-old or yourself. If he does this, be swift with the correction.
“Bad dog!” as soon as sniffs out a box. “Go lay down!”
Let him sulk for a moment, then tease him again with one of his newly unwrapped toys. Once he appears to have forgotten about those magical wrapped boxes, you are free to give him another one.
The key is in the giving, literally. You want your dog to make the association that he may open gifts once you or another human hand has given them to him and encouraged him to open them, and only then.
This means he may not select his own boxes to open. He may not start unwrapping random boxes on the floor. In order for Fido to unwrap, there must first be a hand extending a gift to him. Not even the slightest of deviations should go unnoticed or without a simple “No!” correction.
By setting up the game this way, your dog has parameters by which he can understand the whole ordeal. Otherwise, how would he know that he can’t open any ol’ gift that’s laying around?
Think about a 2-year-old for a moment. If we never took the time to teach them that gifts can only be opened at certain times and that only certain gifts were meant for them, don’t you think they’d be going around, opening up any wrapped box they laid eyes on?
Dogs are the same.
My sister, by the way, used to put a baby gate around the bottom of the tree for a couple years. Bubba did enjoy stealing gifts every now and again and the baby gate proved to be an effective solution for her.
With time and as the number of children in the household grew (hence meaning there were more birthdays for children where there were not gifts for the dog, providing the dog with many experiences where he was told “No!” when he went to open gifts that were not his), Bubba learned that not all gifts were meant for him. Nowadays, she doesn’t have to worry about him sneaking off with a gift.
So, enjoy an unwrapping experience with your dog this Christmas. Just make sure the only gifts he opens are the ones you hand directly to him.

Dogs can unwrap gifts too

Not like this is big news to dog lovers. Most dog owners, I think, probably have discovered and regularly enjoy watching their dog unwrap gifts.
Before having a dog of my own, I really had no reason to give any thought to the issue. It was while celebrating Christmas with my sister and her dog, a Boxer named Bubba, that I realized watching a dog unwrap gifts can be as rewarding as watching kids unwrap gifts.
At the time, it was just her and her husband and the dog. Bubba really ripped into that wrapping paper and, just like a Boxer, used his forelegs and paws to bang the toy around and aid him in the unwrapping process.
Once the wrapping paper had been crushed under his paws and the toy was in his mouth, he pranced around the room like he was king of the world. He wasn’t just happy to have a new toy — he was also very proud of himself for “discovering” it.
The following year, I had my own dog at Christmastime and I was determined to have him unwrap his gifts. That first year, much like a child’s first year, he wasn’t very good at it. He took small bites at the paper and then spit it out. Once we got the item partially unwrapped, I’d finish the job and hand the prize over to him.
Again like a child though, by the time his birthday came around months later, he had greatly improved his gift unwrapping skills. And by his second Christmas, he was a pro. He went straight for where the wrapping paper had been taped together, carefully punctured the tape and paper with his teeth and peeled back the wrapping — often exposing the gift in one very talented unwrapping maneuver.
I love watching him unwrap gifts and I’m continually amazed by how good he is at it. Sensi tackles a wrapped box in a practically scientific manner — personally, I think it has a lot to do with their sense of smell, but that’s another topic for another day.
Teaching your dog to unwrap gifts comes with great challenges, though.
First, how do you ensure the dog won’t decide to open up all those gifts under the tree while you’re gone at work one day, or sleeping comfortably in bed one night? And just imagine how horrible that would be — iPods ruined by teeth marks, mauled Barbie dolls, toy trucks missing wheels, etc.
And secondly, what if that exuberant unwrapper of yours decides the wrapping paper is quite tasty?
Well, there’s a few things you can be sure of — Gifts will be gone or damaged, Christmas will be ruined and you may wind up paying for an expensive emergency surgery to remove Joey’s iPod or Jessica’s Barbie from Fido’s tummy.
In my next blog, I’ll give some tips on how to make sure you’re canine unwrapper doesn’t ruin Christmas.

Puppyrific presents

I have no kids and so, like many people out there, Christmas morning at my house is all about the dog.
Through the years, I’ve found that the packaging of the gifts can be as much fun for my dog as the toys inside them. I’ve also found that I can get my dog an abundance of gifts for a very small cost. So, now on my seventh year of dog-centric Christmases, here are my tips to make the morning a merry one for your four-legged pal:
Just one quick disclaimer — My dog has been trained to rip apart, shred and otherwise destroy things without eating them. If your dog is a shred-it-then-eat-it type-of-guy, some of these suggestions may not be healthy for your dog, as emergency room visits are often the result of dogs eating things they shouldn’t.

1) The (empty) 12-pack of beer gift.
No, I don’t allow my dog to drink alcohol. I have, however, found empty 12-pack beer bottle boxes to be perfect for wrapping. A quick stop by a thrift store or dollar store with anywhere from $5 to $10 will fill the box with those types of toys that your dog loves — you know, the cheap squeaky toys and stuffed animals that they rip apart in a matter of minutes and then you have to crawl around to pick up the remains and throw them away. But hey, it’s Christmas. Why not let your dog shred enough stuffed animals to make it look like it snowed on the carpet? The added bonus of the 12-pack of beer gift is that you can let the dog go nuts ripping into the box to get his toys because, who cares if an empty 12-pack gets shredded?

2) The you’ll-never-get-me puzzle gift.
I like to go all out on these gifts. Take a tasty, very smelly morsel — a stinky rawhide, pig’s ear or lamb’s ear or something of that sort, and wrap it up in an old but clean rag which you have no intentions of keeping. Wrap it up really good. Tie those knots as tight as you can. Maybe use a second rag to create a double layer, or even a third. Then, maybe put it in an old margarine bowl or something that you wouldn’t mind being ruined. Finally, put it in a box (another empty 12-pack?) and wrap it up. Your dog will be entertained for hours as he works his way through the puzzle to get the treat! (He may need some encouragement from you if he’s never worked his way through a puzzle before.)

3) The good-luck-getting-these-tennis-balls-out gift
My mother actually deserves the credit for this gift. Years ago, she began stuffing tennis balls in anything she could find — those long 12-pack pop can boxes, empty Capri Sun boxes, cardboard tubes, partially-ripped open stuffed animals, etc., etc. Just look around your house. My favorite is the partially-ripped open stuffed animal. Up the ante on this one by getting him a new stuffed animal, cutting a small hole that’s just big enough to squeeze some tennis balls inside of it and then give a few cursory stitches to close up the hole enough so that the balls don’t drop right out, but not so well-closed that you can’t see the tennis balls. When your dog finds the stuffed animal, point out the tennis balls to him and encourage him to get them out. He’ll love the challenge and the reward!

4) The where’d-your-present-go gift.
Who said all gifts have to be placed under the tree? Take one of your dog’s smelly gifts — bones work well for this, so do Kongs stuffed with peanut butter and rawhides, pig’s ears, etc. — wrap it and hide it. Unless you and your dog regularly practice games of hide-and-seek, I wouldn’t hide it too well. An obscure corner of the room, behind the magazine stand, underneath a desk or table or partially covered by a blanket are some good examples of dog-friendly hiding spots. Once your dog has opened all his gifts, tell him he has one more and get him all pumped up about it. You may need to help him look around a bit but don’t totally give away the hiding spot. Get him close enough so his nose can smell the bone or Kong, but let him find it on his own — his reaction will be worth it!

The chase game: a dog’s perspective

My belief is that games of chase, just like tug, can be a very rewarding energy-outlet for your dog, if played properly.
Of course, I have to preface this blog by stating that you need to know your dog. The game of chase stems from the wolf’s hunting of prey in the wild, and certainly, it is not a good idea to let your dog chase a child, other small animals, or even you if you think such a game could inspire your dog to move from the act of chasing to attacking.
Secondly, it’s always good to train your dog that there’s a difference between chase and keep-away. I don’t like keep-away. It’s pretty simple to nix the keep-away aspect; just stop playing whenever your dog insists on keeping the toy away from you and more than likely, he’ll learn and learn quickly that keep-away is a surefire method to stop the fun.
No dogs like to stop the fun!
When I began playing chase with Sensi, it was generally in small, indoor areas. I’d chase him around a bit, then ask him to bring the toy to me and drop it, then throw it for him and switch the game to retrieve for a little while.
He likes to do the circle thing, where both parties end up doing half-circles because they keep meeting each other and having to turn around and go in the opposite direction.
The half-circle thing gets boring quick, so every once in a while, I’d head off in the opposite direction, running into a bedroom or down a hallway or just somewhere else to give the game some diversity.
What did I find? That even if my dog is the one with the toy and I have nothing, if I turn around and run in the opposite direction, he will follow.
The other day, I even picked up a toy and took off running from him. He had a toy in his mouth too and never dropped it. We were just two idiots running around together while hanging on to dog toys.
So here is what I think — Chase does not necessarily mean that the dog is prey and you are chasing it, or that you are prey and the dog is chasing you. As I warned before, if you think your dog may assume you are prey if you run, then don’t play this game and even better, address this behavior and change it before your dog attacks someone.
My thought is that to the dog, the game of chase is more about you and the dog working together like a pack to get the prey. It doesn’t really matter who has a toy or if you both have a toy or who’s leading and who’s following, it’s simply about the action of running around chasing something like members of the same pack.
Many behavior experts have the same view of tug — it’s not you verse the dog, but rather you and the dog working together to rip apart “dinner,” which, in this case, is a tug rope.
I can’t stress enough that you really need to know your dog, though. Many dogs will move from chasing prey to attacking prey. If you’ve got one of those dogs, I recommend working with your dog to establish what is an acceptable prey to chase (the ball) and what is not (humans, cars, etc.).
If not, chase is more than just a game to your dog and is instead a behavior that could eventually lead to injuries, both for the human and the dog.

Giving me the run-around

I’ve said before that dogs are always studying us closely, picking up on things we don’t even notice about ourselves to help them determine if “good things for dogs might happen.”
Here’s a cute example of how my dog turned the tables on me, using his observant manners to train me and modify my behavior.
I call it the run-around.
This might be a topic for another blog, but I enjoy two games with my dog that most people hate or say shouldn’t be played at all — chase and tug. (I can just hear the jaws of the anti-pit bull peoples’ mouths hitting the ground, thinking about my defenseless, girly-self playing such dangerous games with a pit bull, at that!)
Think what they may, I look at the games as another good outlet for my dog. Plus, they make him smile and I love seeing him smile and look all happy.
Anyhow, the chase game has been going on for years. In the old house, he used to run circles around the couch. I’d run half way in one direction, then turn around and head in the other. He’d do the same, and we’d repeat this for a couple minutes until I tired out and sat down.
He signals the start of this game by running up to someone with a toy in his mouth, doing a play bow and then taking off in the opposite direction as fast as he can.
At the new house, the couch is against the wall so he chose a new circle — around the TV. This is a very small circle, and from very early on, he’d sometimes bolt down the long hallway toward the bedrooms and see if he could get me to follow.
I usually did not.
Sensi is most playful after breakfast and again after dinner, but the morning play routine is definitely more energy-packed. On the weekends when I’m home in the morning, I put forth a good effort to play with him and try to relieve some of his extra energy.
Also on weekend mornings, I do laundry.
Sensi began following me back to the bedroom, where I generally sort, fold and hang up all the laundry, with a toy in his mouth. Once or twice, with laundry basket in hand, I’d chase him back down the hallway.
He really liked this.
In fact, he liked it so much that he began making sure whenever I walked down that hallway, he was at my side with a toy in his mouth, ready to be chased back down the hallway. He’ll sit and wait patiently for me to finish whatever I’m doing, be it hanging up clothes, folding towels, etc.
A few months ago, he tried something new on me — instead of running straight back down the hallway, he went into the bedroom across the hallway from ours, through the jack-and-jill bathroom connecting it to a second bedroom, then back out in the hallway and towards the living room.
This has now become a daily routine, beyond just laundry-time.
Once, twice or more times a day, I chase him from the living room to my bedroom, then from my bedroom through the other bedrooms, back out into the hallway and again to the living room.
It truly is the run-around because it circles pretty much our entire house.
I have to laugh at the thought that Sensi totally created this game, shaping my behavior from first getting me to jog after him while returning from the room with laundry basket in hand to what has now become a multiple-times-a-day jog around the house.
The funniest thing about this chase game is, it really doesn’t matter who is chasing who or whether one of or both of us have a toy in possession.
In my next blog, I’ll explain why this really doesn’t matter and perhaps, just perhaps, I can change some peoples’ opinions regarding the merit of chase and tug games.

Can you train an old dog new tricks?

Can it be done? Can you really a train an old dog new tricks?
My answer is an emphatic yes.
The degree of work involved in doing this varies, however, depending on the amount of positive-reward training the dog has gone through in the past.
A dog that has a lot of experience with positive-reward training will be super-adept at learning new things regardless of his age. It is, effectively, because the dog has a set of expectations when that cookie jar or fannie pack full of treats comes out; he expects that will be asked either 1) to do something he already knows how to do, or 2) will be asked to figure out what new behavior you want from him.
Positive-reward training is, from your dog’s perspective, a game of trial and error. He tries to figure out what you want from him and when you reward him, he is closer to understanding what it is that you want.
A dog with a long history of positive-reward training will instantly click into trial-and-error mode when all the signs add up that you’re playing this game — signs being things like treats in hand, or in pouch, and vocalizations coming out of your mouth that perhaps he doesn’t understand.
I’ve never met a dog who, with a history of positive-reward training, didn’t fall in love with what the dog perceives as a very fun game that brings him lots of goodies. And so, the dog — young or old — is usually thrilled and fully engaged to be playing this “game” where he learns new things.
Take my dog, for instance. I don’t know if a week has ever gone by in his life where he didn’t do some kind-of positive-reward training, be it for learning something altogether new, reinforcing old commands or for behavior modification.
He’s almost 8-years-old now — an old age for his size — and yet he can figure out what new behavior I’m asking of him within a matter of minutes after we start a training session. He’s been playing this “game” for so long that he knows how to read and follow my body language for hints of what I’m asking him to do. Training him new tricks is so easy that it’s hard not to do it.
Right now, Sensi is honing his tracking abilities through a simple game of hide and seek, learning to crawl on command and we’re perfecting the command that asks him to go get a toy from his basket and bring it to us.
I am constantly seeking out new ideas of things to train him specifically so I can keep that positive reward training going, and my reason — it is such a healthy outlet and stimulus for my old man, and likely his most favorite “game” of all.
So, if you practice positive-reward training with your dog — and remember, dogs do best with short training sessions of 5 to 15 minutes, so it’s low-impact on you too — you get a dog that learns to love learning and will become a pro at learning new tricks, even into old age.
If you haven’t done positive-reward training with your dog, now is a good time to start. It doesn’t matter the age. But the less experience the dog has with the “game,” the slower you need to move.
Start with something simple, like a sit-stay or, depending on his current repertoire of tricks, a paw shake or even just a sit, if it’s not something he’s already mastered.
I’ve seen older dogs that have no experience with positive-reward training be very slow starters to catch on to the game. The best thing to do is to keep the training sessions short and upbeat. Inexperienced dogs can get frustrated and bored easily, which is why it’s important to start with something they’ll have an easy time picking up on, keep the session short and end on a good note.
Lastly, this note is very important — don’t ask your dog to do more than he’s ready to. Move slowly, one small step at a time, and if your dog is really having a tough time, take a step back and make the game a bit easier and more enjoyable for him.

Doggie dental health

We’ve all had the experience of being around a dog with such wretched breath that it turns your stomach from even a few feet away.
Generally speaking, when a dog’s breath smells that bad, it’s a more serious problem than a dental chew bone can take care of. Usually, it’s a sign that the dog’s teeth have begun rotting.
If the bad breath smell and the fact that your dog’s teeth are or may begin rotting isn’t enough to encourage you to take care of your dog’s canines, then perhaps knowing that regular dental care can add years to your dog’s life is.
Sensi is now approaching his senior years and his breath has begun to get a bit smelly. For years, I relied upon brushing his teeth with doggie toothpaste and a regular toothbrush every once in a while.
Nowadays, I brush his teeth more than just once in a while — once a week, is more like it. If I can prevent that smell from worsening, it’s worth the five or ten minutes it takes to give his teeth a good brushing.
Plus, God knows I want to keep him around for as long as possible. If a weekly brushing can add a year or two to the time I get to spend with him, I’ll do it.
Even if you regularly brush your dog’s teeth, there’s still an extra measure you may want to consider.
Your veterinarian can perform a full dental cleaning service on your dog’s teeth. Think of it in terms of people — we get our teeth cleaned once a year, why not do the same for our dogs?
And just think of how much more useful the service is to our dogs, who don’t brush their teeth twice a day, floss to get out all that kibble stuck between their chompers or use a mouthwash to keep things fresh in there.
Let me note here too — don’t use human toothpaste, mouthwash or even flavored floss (if you think you might actually be able to floss your dog’s teeth anyhow!) on your dog. It can be poisonous for them. Buy doggie-specific products.
Back to the teeth cleaning service at the vet’s office though — it’s expensive. It usually runs around $300.
Why so expensive? One word: anesthetic.
Think about it. In order for vet to do a thorough cleaning of your dog’s mouth, he or she has got to be able to get that mouth open and get it to stay open without that wagging tongue trying to lick those human fingers away.
So, anesthetic is needed to put the dog out for awhile so the cleaning can be performed. And the anesthetic is pricey, pricey, pricey. Generally, it’s well over $100 just for the sleep-inducing drug.
Even so, it's well worth the price.
I encourage everyone — if you can afford it — to make this investment in your dog's health.

My farting dog

I love that on this blog, I can stray from all the seriousness of newspaper articles and have a little fun with less-than-tasteful topics.
Farting dogs are no big surprise to any of you, I’m sure. Anyone who’s owned a dog knows of their ability to empty a room. We all share our stories — inevitably, you run into the person who’s dog appears to scare itself when it toots.
“He jumped up and looked back at his butt like, ‘What the heck was that?” says an adoring and laughing dog owner.
My farting dog story goes back to when Sensi was a puppy. Years later, it’s still funny.
Brent was living with a friend at the time and his friend used an automatic feeder for his two dogs. Sensi, about four months old, was still getting puppy chow in a bowl a couple times a day.
We knew that Sensi couldn’t figure out how to work the automatic feeder. It was an antique-looking kind of feeder where the dog pushes in the door to access the food. Sensi never seemed to bother with it. He was always happy enough with his puppy chow delivered via doggie food dish.
We never had any sort of concern about him learning to use it either. We figured that at some point, he’d just start eating out of it.
I was at work — back then, working as a waitress — one night when Sensi first figured out how to use the automatic feeder.
I remember getting there at about 10 p.m. and my eyes went directly to my dog, who was splayed out on a pile of laundry and looked fatter than I’d ever seen him before. He didn’t even get up to greet me, just smiled and panted while I crouched down to pet him.
“What is wrong with him?” I asked Brent. “He looks bloated.”
Brent and his friend began cracking up.
“I didn’t think it was that noticeable!” Brent said, laughing.
The guys filled me in on how Sensi had learned to use the automatic feeder. By the time they realized he was standing there eating from it, only God knows how long he had been gorging himself.
They let him continue eating for a while, at first a bit proud that he’d learned how to use it. But then, they realized he wasn’t stopping and eventually they had to pull him away from the food trough.
It was all over for Sensi by then though.
Brent said Sensi had gone to the bathroom several times that evening, but it wasn’t enough. Sensi was bloated and he retired to laying on the laundry pile, as stretched out as can be, and hadn’t moved much since.
As they were filling me in, Sensi ripped a huge fart, sighed as if he were relieved and rolled over to lay on his other side.
The guys started cracking up and I was laughing too.
“He’s been doing that all night!” Brent told me. “Ever since he finished up going to the bathroom, he’s just been laying there and he farts, sighs and rolls over. Wait 10 or 15 minutes — he’ll do it again.”
And he did, like clockwork. Fart, sigh, roll over. Fart, sigh, roll over.
Not so different from us humans, I suppose.
It was a long and smelly night, but Sensi was feeling a world better by the morning.
He continued to eat out of the automatic feeder, but never again did he overeat.

Speaking the same language

I write a lot about communication in this blog. I’m often angry at us humans for not making better use of our brains to understand our dogs and communicate more effectively with them.
I’m not angry today.
In a recent blog, Capitalizing on common phrases, I wrote about using common phrases with consistency and how doing so can aid your dog in understanding you. I also wrote, verbatim, “The problem is, we just don’t speak the same language.”
To clarify, I should write that we don’t, and we do.
Very clear statement, huh?
Here’s the deal. Humans use a highly developed vocal language to communicate. Dogs use vocalizations as well, but it’s not the same or even close to being the same language we utilize.
Both humans and dogs, however, rely heavily on body language to communicate. Like our vocal languages, the body language used by both species is very different.
For a dog, body language may well be the primary mode of communication with other species. Dogs are very, very adept at reading body language.
In fact, dogs usually catch on to our hand signals and other body language cues in their training before learning our vocal command. Eventually, they associate the hand signal with the vocal command.
To test this, I’ve gone through all of Sensi’s commands without speaking a word. I relied upon the hand signals and body language that I wasn’t even conscious of before, and it worked like a charm.
Read more about that topic by going back to my blog Hand signals.
While a dog’s body language may be entirely different from ours, their great ability to learn and read our body language coupled with the fact that some things, like our eyes, convey a nearly universal language makes body language a great tool in communicating with our dogs.
I encourage everyone to do a little experimenting with their dog.
Out of the blue, catch your dog’s eyes and smile, a big toothy smile, at him. Dogs are quick to learn that smiles on human faces are indicative of good moods and good moods equal a better possibility of good things happening to dogs.
When I smile at my dog, he smiles and wags his tail. See what happens with yours.
One of the neatest ways my dog and I can effectively communicate is when I tell him where to go.
Most of us have had the experience of pointing at something and assuming your dog will follow your pointing finger to an object or place only to watch the dog fixate on your finger or perhaps begin running around the entire house with no clue as to where you want him to go or what you want him to do.
Obviously, finger pointing is not one of those universal communications.
What about your eyes, though? Ever noticed that if you look out at the window at something, your dog comes up beside you and tries to follow where your eyes are looking?
Eyes, I believe, are universal.
Here’s a scenario that didn’t work for me until I starting using my eyes.
My husband and I have a sectional couch with an ottoman on one end, which is “our spot.” And the dog thinks it is his spot too.
To be more specific, he thinks his spot is on the ottoman between Brent and I. He is a 90 lb. pound dog, and our ottoman is not some extra-large thing. As Sensi gets comfortable and starts stretching out, our legs get pushed to the edges of the ottoman, suddenly we’re sitting on angles to accommodate him and it’s just a little ridiculous.
Especially when there’s two other very large sections of the couch sitting empty.
So, I would tell Sensi, “Get up, pal, get up.” This is a command he knows means to stand up.
And then, pointing with my finger toward the empty section of the couch, I’d say, “Go over there and lay down.”
He used to jump off the couch and lay down on the floor, sighing like a grump. And I was not asking him lay on the floor; I just wanted him to go to the large, empty space on the couch.
One day, rather than pointing, I turned my head and directed my eyes right at the open space on the couch.
I watched as he turned his head and looked at where I was looking.
Then it happened.
Standing up on the ottoman, he didn’t even bother to get down. He stepped carefully over Brent on the couch and walked right over to where I had looked and laid down.
It was that easy. All along, it was that easy.
Let this be a lesson to explore how much we can use our body language, especially our eyes, as a communication tool with our dogs.

Are certain breeds more dangerous?

On my recent blog, Culture at fault, someone recently posted this comment.

"If the most popular breeds in America are Retrievers, Shepherds, and beagles why are the majority of dog related mauling deaths blamed on pitbulls, bulldogs and the mixes?
You say: stay away from all dogs but the truth is not all dog breads are as dangerous as others. Are you are truly unaware that certain dog breeds are more likely than others to do harm to humans?"

First, let me clarify one thing. I did not say to stay away from all dogs. The point of the blog was to state that all dogs have the propensity to bite or maul and that society does nothing to prevent this, as the popular views on dog behavior and dog ownership are a world different from what science has told us about what makes a dog tick.

In short, if we knew more about canine behavior, we'd have less bites and maulings.

I tried to post a rebuttal comment on the blog, but I think it may have been too long. So, I'm going to post it here.

Statistics kept on dog bites are no longer kept by the CDC; the latest report on dog bite fatalities (from the 1990s) was the last report to be produced by the CDC because of the way it was misconstrued by breed ban proponents. In fact, the cover letter attached to the report says this, verbatim: "In contrast to what has been reported in the news media, the data contained within this report CANNOT be used to infer any breed-specific risk for dog bite fatalities (e.g. neither pit bull-type dogs nor Rottweilers can be said to be more “dangerous” than any other breed based on the contents of this report). To obtain such risk information, it would be necessary to know the numbers of each breed currently residing in the United States. Such information is not available."

This is in area in which I have done a lot of research, and even interviewed one the people who led that study.

I think it is slightly unfair to say pit bulls are more dangerous than other breeds, especially based on statistics that even the CDC found unreliable enough to stop collecting data.

A Lab was responsible for the England woman who had to have the first face transplant. A Pomeranian fatally mauled an infant. Golden Retrievers and other popular breeds, like Cocker Spaniels, have failed canine good citizen tests at a greater percentage than pit bulls. German Shepherds used to be thought "more dangerous" than pit bulls and other breeds in the 1970s.

Saying that one dog breed is more dangerous than another is discrimination. Dogs are individuals too. They have inherent characteristics, which mesh with their environment and socialization to create their behavioral patterns. I know the argument here, from the anti-pit bull crowd, is that the breed is full of inherently bloodthirsty, aggressive maneaters. This is very untrue. Pit bulls, by breed standard, are supposed to be extremely human-friendly, regardless of the situation. The breed may inherently have a high prey drive or exhibit aggression toward other animals, but they are far from the only breed — big and small — to have this trait. And, it can be effectively combated with proper socialization.

What I'm trying to say with this blog is that until we start using our highly intellectual human brains to understand and utilize the vast amount of information available on canine behavior, we are putting all dogs at a disadvantage as far as bites and maulings go. Many bites and maulings could be prevented if only we humans knew more about our dogs.

Unfortunately, whenever someone tries to talk about canine behavior, we're written off as spewing crazy-talk "doggie psycho-babble."

The idea that if we just got rid of pit bulls, rottweilers and bulldogs the world would be full of rainbows again is a crock of crap, and I will stand by that.

Let's remember a couple neat facts too — aggression was successfully bred out of the English Bulldog as an inherent characteristic at the time the breed was rescued from near extinction. The Doberman was the pit bull of the 1980s, when many untrue myths about brain swelling and turning against its owners circulated. The German Shepherd got the same treatment in the 1970s. Now, because these two breeds are not the popular choice of breeds amongst shady criminals and is instead owned by responsible, regular folks, no one mentions them in breed bans anymore. And, even if we did eradicate the pit bull completely, there are breeds that have similar histories. What about the Tosa Inu, the Dogo Argentino, the Cane Corso, the Canary Dog, even the wrinkly and much-loved Shar-Pei has a fighting history. And since Mastiffs are big and scary, are we just going to eliminate them too? There goes a dozen breeds or more if we decide to do that. Also, the Rhodesian Ridgebacks were bred to hunt lions — they have a high prey drive and they are big, strong animals. Should we get rid of them? Chihuahuas are bred to exhibit aggressive tendencies. Should we mark them off the list too? Huskies and Malamutes have strong prey drives and need just as much socialization and exercise as pit bulls. Ban them too? St. Bernards have big jaws and if they bit or attacked, they could inflict nasty wounds. Other dogs are big too, with big jaws. Do we get rid of all big dogs? Where does it stop?

I do advocate the right owner for the right breed. Grandma who lives alone and has little interaction with others, people and dogs, and is unable to provide daily, strenous exercise should probably not own a pit bull, huskie, Jack Russell terrier or even a Viszla. Do your research and pick a dog that fits your lifestyle. Pit bulls and Rottweilers are not the best fit for many people.

My point is, all dogs can be dangerous in the hands of an uneducated owner. Banning breeds won't stop dog bites or fatal attacks. The best thing we can do to circumvent attacks is learn more about canine behavior. We are the more intellectual species, after all. Why is it that as a society, we just kind-of expect our dogs to learn how to live with us and we do next to nothing to learn about them? It's backwards.

Capitalizing on common phrases

Think about your daily interactions with your dog. Are there things you usually say during certain situations?
There probably are.
For instance, do you tell your dog to be good while you’re gone before you walk out the door to work every morning? Do you ask your dog if he’s hungry before dinner time?
Becoming aware of the vocabulary you already use with your dog is one big step toward improving the communication between you and your dog.
I have a lot words and phrases that I use with Sensi that, nearly seven years later, Sensi has learned to understand without me having put in any active training to teach him.
Here’s a few —
“Let’s go” for any sort of forward motion when I desire that he be moving with me.
“Be good, we’ll be home later,” for when he is left at home alone.
“Breakfast?” and “Dinner?” for obvious situations.
“Go potty” for urination.
“Lay down over there” for when we want him to move to a different section of the couch, eye-contact and some hand gestures are also part of this one.
“Other side” for when I want him to switch the side of his body he is laying on — this is especially handy for and grew out of ear cleaning.
“Get back” for when I want him to take a few steps back from an area.
If you use the same phrases with consistency in the same situations, your dog will make associations with those phrases over time. For instance, when you say “Dinner” your dog knows food will be put in his bowl.
Or, when you say “Go potty” your dog will know you want him to relieve himself.
Be sure to make the distinction that this is not training. You cannot say phrases to a dog and expect him to react just how you had planned, nor should you punish a dog for not reacting how you thought it should.
If you want the dog to take exactly three steps back each time you say “Get back” then you need to do some active training to teach the dog exactly that.
So then, what is the purpose of recognizing and re-using the same phrases with your dog?
Communication.
If your dog has a set of expectations that go along with a phrase which is commonly used by you, that’s a good thing. It’s communication.
Our dogs, I believe, want to communicate with us and try to communicate with us just as much as we try to communicate with them. The problem is, we just don’t speak the same language.
But, dogs are perfectly capable of making associations between our vocal phrases and situations. In fact, they’re always making those associations.
I’m just advocating that we help them make those associations by becoming aware of phrases we commonly use and using them with consistency in the same situations.
It’s a bit like giving them a road map to navigate around our households with, and who doesn’t want to know where they’re going?

Should helper dogs be allowed everywhere?

We have a dog in our newsroom, a Golden Retriever and Labrador mix named Norton. He was trained by Paws with a Cause to help one of our reporters who uses a wheelchair.
Norton is great. He helps pull his human, Jerry, in the wheelchair and picks up pencils and papers Jerry drops. If Jerry were to fall, Norton not only is trained to help him get up, but he’s also trained to seek out another human and lead them back to Jerry.
Norton’s training was a process that went on for probably about three years. The puppy stages were spent with a foster family who had instructions on socialization and general training and then highly experienced trainers worked with him daily for about a year. After he began living with Jerry, the training continued for perhaps another a year or so.
As a helper dog, Norton is legally allowed to go everywhere Jerry goes. And generally speaking, I’m OK with that.
I know Jerry and I know the types of places Norton goes to with him — auditoriums where Jerry gives speeches, on various assignments Jerry gets here at work and to family functions, etc. That's all fine and dandy in my book.
I think, though, that we tend to forget these helper dogs are still dogs. They’re still on the lookout for a treat, a squirrel still catches their eye — even if they don’t chase it, and they still like to chew on a good bone. I could go on and on.
Back in the summer, I wrote a blog about a dog parade that was led by bagpipers. It struck me that this is the level of discord we humans have with dogs — that we would actually place the most loud, siren-like, ear-piercing noise a foot in front of a large group of dogs.
Remember learning that dogs’ hearing and smelling abilities are crazy-better than ours? That also means their ears and nose are far more sensitive than ours.
And if you stand a foot away from a bagpiper going full-tilt, I bet your ears are going to be feeling incredibly sensitive. Just imagine what a poor dog would be going through.
Some of the dogs in the parade looked so nervous and on-edge. Can you blame them?
This brings me to the point of this blog.
A co-worker shared with me that she spotted a helper dog, a mastiff, in the pit area of a rock and roll concert at The Palace a while back. The dog was limping as he pulled around his owner and looked uncomfortable, surrounded by a wall of human bodies and just feet from some of the loudest sounds we humans create.
A staunch advocate for the underdog, my co-worker confronted the dog’s owner, who seemed to shrug off all her concerns as, “The dog is fine, he’s already been to 22 concerts this summer.”
Twenty-two concerts? I don’t think we humans instituted helper dogs to help their owners navigate a mosh pit at AC/DC. For goodness’ sake, this person couldn’t even have taken a seat further away from the stage to save the poor dog’s ears? Can you just imagine how quickly this dog will be going deaf?
This I would classify as borderline animal abuse or extremely irresponsible and uncaring ownership, at the least.
My problems don’t stop there. My co-worker found out this dog is not a certified therapy dog.
Believe it or not, a lack of certification does not take away any of the legal privileges given to a helper dog. And while the dog certainly had training, here’s another issue I have — there are no mandatory certifications or educational requirements for a person to call themselves a professional dog trainer.
Anyone can call themselves a pro. This means we allow anyone-who-calls-themselves-a-professional-dog-trainer to train helper dogs to go anywhere-humans-are-allowed.
Even mosh pits.
What a world we live in.