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How To Fit Training Time Into A Busy Life

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Most of the owners I talk with try their best to get in some kind of training with their dog at least a few times a week. While this is really better than ignoring your dog or pup’s training needs, it may not be enough for the goals you’ve set in getting your best friend up to a level where the two of you are on the same page.

A simple solution is to incorporate training into everyday actions that you perform with your dog. Examples of this are going in and out of the house, something I am positive gets taken for granted. Instead of ignoring your dog when this is done, just put the animal in a sit before entering or exiting the house. You can release with a treat or just praise, then open the door. Doing this every day will reinforce the sit command like nothing else and actually help with the dog’s overall obedience around the house.

I’m sure you can think of other ways to do this using the ‘sit’ and other commands. This handles the excuse that you don’t have the time to do ‘formal’ obedience training. If you can’t do it this way, then you probably are too busy or disinterested to own a dog.

After all, real world application is why you do obedience training on your dog in the first place, isn’t it?

Bob

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A Quick Start Guide To Crate Training

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

The basic idea behind crate training is that the pup will not go to the bathroom where he eats and sleeps. Using this as the rule, you need to train the pup for a week or two with this method until he gets the idea. Don’t deviate from it as it will confuse him. Be consistent.

So, you put the pup in his crate. Use some kibble or a treat and tell him to load up into his crate. Being in a crate is a reward, not a punishment. Never punish a pup by putting him in a crate. After a while of doing this, he will want to enter the crate because he knows he will get a reward from you. Now that he is in the crate, he can chew on a bone, sleep, whatever.

Always position the crate in a place that is near human activity. This helps to reinforce the fact that he is being rewarded by being near his humans,etc. Never leave him off in an isolated part of the house.

Now, being a pup, he will only last a couple of hours in the crate before he needs to go, so keep an eye on the clock for this and after around two hours, let him out of his crate and take him immediately outside to go potty. Give him the command ‘Go Potty’ and when he does that, praise him “Good Boy Potty’ and then spend time playing, exercising, socializing, etc.

When you are done with the pup, load him back up in the crate with a treat, praise him for loading up and let him take his nap. Repeat throughout the day.

This is not a permanent set up. This routine only goes on until the pup is crate trained. Then, he will get the idea that your house is like his crate and he won’t mess in the house. You just have to keep your timing there, because even a crate trained pup will only last a couple of hours in the house before having to go outside.

Don’t mix other housebreaking methods with crate training. It will work on its own if done correctly.

Remember to cut off his water intake after around eight pm. If you don’t he will pee all night long.

Also, do not put toys in his crate. Toys are for play with humans. Bones are for dogs to work on themselves in a crate, ete. Otherwise you will have a dog that destroys his toys and won’t play with them.

Bob

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How To Successfully Imprint Your Pup In Two Hundred Easy Lessons

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Sometimes a person takes ownership of an eight week old pup and begins training and socialization immediately. This is correct and should be continued throughout the life of the dog.

There are other instances where the owner does very little with the pup during the 8-16 week period and then wonders why the pup is taking so long to train later on. This whole theory of not starting training on a pup until they are six months old is not valid, in my opinion. I mean, the pup is there, in your house, waiting to learn what his duties are and how to interact with the family, and you just leave him there to figure it out for himself. I’m not just talking about housebreaking here. I mean, the pup needs to be imprinted during this time for an optimum life as an adult.

Imprinting means the learning and socialization that the pup absorbs during the critical 8-16 week period. If you want your pup to chase a ball, you should probably start making it fun at eight weeks or otherwise at two years it’s not going to do it. Period. Please don’t blame the breeder for this, people. It’s handler caused and totally environmental. I’m not saying every pup can be titled in competitive obedience or Schutzhund – what I’m saying here is that you must bring out the as much of the pup’s working potential early in life for that potential to become active throughout life. It’s very important to know that a working attitude must be established for the pup to do work. This also holds true for the handler – if the handler does not have a working attitude, please don’t expect the dog to enjoy working.

As an example, recently I took a six week old pup with excellent nerves, food drive and overall great temperament and began imprint training.  The downside of the pup was that there was very little prey drive and lots of independent activity, which included ignoring the handler unless food was involved. I knew this was going to be a disaster later on, especially with an inexperienced handler taking him. A strong willed dog with no idea of obedience or play is not a good thing, especially at adulthood.

I began by introducing toys, which were ignored, as expected. I then, patiently, brought out another pup with high prey drive along with this pup and introduced a toy to both at once. As soon as the high prey pup went after the toy, the other pup began to follow suit, would wrestle to toy away,  then would get bored and go about his business. I did this about fifty times until, one day, this pup grabbed the toy and ran with it. Success! From that point forward, exciting prey drive has been a gradual, improving situation to the point where the pup will chase after a ball on a string while on leash and grip a rag as well.  In this instance, I had to bring out, through patiently imprinting, the prey drive that the pup had. This same pup will do a sit, sit/stay, recall and has begun basic tracking and heeling (all done with food and some ball release). He is now very connected to humans and although he will always be a strong willed dog, he will also continue to be extremely trainable and valuable to whoever eventually adopts him.  This pup can now walk onto any training field or into any household and do work. I know this because I helped put it there.

The moral of the story is: IMMEDIATELY BEGIN IMPRINTING, SOCIALIZING AND TRAINING YOUR PUP. Write down a list of all the things you want your pup to be able to do, in order of importance. Then, begin work on each, one at a time, until the pup is doing well with that thing. Then go on to the next one, remembering that you will need to go back and continue work on all of these things, every day, every week, until they are simply part of the dog.

Then you will be a real handler and your dog will live up to its expectations as a true working dog.

Best,

Bob

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Size Doesn’t Matter As Much As You Think..

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

I’d like to take a moment to clarify something regarding genetics and dogs, specifically Rottweilers. When a prospective owner asks me how big the parents of a pup are, I shudder. Mostly, I am expecting the person to tell me the ‘ My last dog was a 160 pound Rottie’ story, during which I will have to painfully sit through and try not to open my mouth.

Otherwise and surprisingly, most of the time, the people are simply curious and perhaps concerned that their dog will not be undersized or oversized. That’s a reasonable enough concern, but to be honest (and I’m speaking as a breeder, not a geneticist) the size of the parents does not always have a direct bearing on the size of the offspring. This is not a breed where we are dealing with a wide variety of different sizes or variations, but a single breed standard. More appropriate might be to perhaps ask what the sizes of the grandparents were (as many times genetic reproduction skips a generation), but even then the following rule applies:

THE RELATIVE SIZE OF THE PUPPY AT EIGHT WEEKS MAY HAVE VERY LITTLE TO DO WITH ITS FINAL SIZE AS AN ADULT. THE SIZES OF THE PARENTS MAY ALSO HAVE LITTLE TO DO WITH THE FINAL SIZE OF THE PUP. WHAT YOU WANT ARE CORRECT PARENTS AND GRANDPARENTS AS PER THE ROTTWEILER BREED STANDARD. THEN YOUR PUP SHOULD BE CORRECT.

I have more than one instance of offspring being as big or bigger than the parents. By the way, we’re talking about a half inch of height and eight pounds of weight. Not a big deal, just something that happens. Maybe they’re on a different food or the stress levels are different. Just like you may not be the same size as your parents.

Here’s rule number two:

IF YOU ARE SO TERRIBLY, TERRIBLY  CONCERNED ABOUT THE SIZE OF YOUR ROTTWEILER, THEN MAYBE YOU NEED TO FIND ANOTHER BREED THAT FITS YOUR SIZE ISSUES. LIKE A GREAT DANE OR A BULL MASTIFF OR A SMALL PONY.

There are other things I could say about guys (that is usually who asks) and size as relates to dogs, trucks, boats, etc, but I would be travelling way off subject.

By the way, in Germany there is not so much of a concern about large size, but working ability, health and good nerves. One of the greatest German Born Rottweilers of all time, Benno Von Der Schwarzen Heide, was around 80 pounds.  Anyone who thinks their Rottweiler needs to weigh in at 140 pounds is sadly misinformed.

Don’t worry. Your pup is just fine.

Enough said, for now.

Best,

Bob

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Diet Upgrade

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

I received a great email from Sandy in Virginia, about a dietary handling she did on Riesling (King/Gwen). Here is an excerpt from her message:

“I just wanted to drop you a quick note to share my latest “dog-owner-proud-moment”.  I have recently switched Riesling over to a grain free food, Orijen Adult.  I’m not sure if you’re familiar with it but I know how seriously you take the dogs diet so I had to share my latest discovery with you.  I need you to know how much I absolutely love it!!  It is 42% protein & 16% fat.

She’s had some problems with her ears (build up & nasty yeast stuff, ewww) and any rottweiler owner can relate to the gas these pups have, hehe.  Since the switch, no ear troubles, the gas is almost non-existent and she never has loose stools anymore.  She has adjusted to this new food with such great ease, it’s unbelievebale.  The cost is comparable to any other high-quality food, which makes it even better.  I think I remember you doing a blog post some time ago regarding food choices which is why I wanted to drop you a line.” – Sandy.

The link to the manufacturer’s site is:

http://www.orijen.ca/orijen/products/adult.aspx

The ingredients are exceptionally good and with that great protein to fat ratio, it warrants looking into if you have any doubts about the food you are currently feeding your dog, or if they have similar issues to Riesling’s .  A lot of the high end foods just do not deliver in the protein/fat content and in my opinion, spending a bunch of money on low fat, low protein food is just a waste.

And no, I am not a sales rep for Orijen!!

Best,

Bob

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When In Doubt, Hydrate

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Sometimes a pup or adult gets sick from one thing or another. Could be that your animal has loose stools or some other symptom. Maybe it’s worms, enteritis, giardia, etc. Aside from obviously treating the cause so the animal is right side up again, there is one effective thing you can do, right then and there, usually overlooked by owners who insist on panicking instead of stabilizing the animal.

Remember, if you take your pup to the vet, the first thing they will do is take the animal’s temperature and hydrate it to stabilize the vital organs until they can discover what is wrong. So, if your animal isn’t doing well and is not taking in food or liquid, then the two things you can do are: take its temperature and hydrate.

So, you either have Pedialite on hand (it goes bad, so you have to have unopened bottles) or make your own. There are recipes all over the internet on making your own, with purified water, salt, sugar and baking soda. Mix up a batch and feed a bit to the animal, either in a bowl, or if they are not taking liquids, orally through a syringe. (Okay, please remove the needle first – this is for feeding, not injecting). If you don’t have a syringe, use a straw or something to drip the liquid into the animal’s mouth so it goes down.  Don’t over do it, maybe 20 cc or so for a pup, etc. in tiny applications.  Just stabilize the animal, don’t drown it. Remember, small amounts.

Next, take the temperature. You should have a digital thermometer on hand with some plastic covers, and so on. Just lubricate the tip and you know, take its temperature rectally. It should be between 99 and 102.5 degrees Fahrenheit.  If the temp is, let’s say, 103, you have a sick animal and need to get to the vet.

Okay, at least the animal is stabilized and you know whether you have a seriously sick dog or not.

Now, you can call your vet and take it from there.

Best,

Bob

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How Important is Socialization and Obedience?

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

If anyone has adopted a puppy from my kennel, they know that I always insist, and probably more than once, that the owner repeatedly socialize and obedience train their pups, even into adulthood. Aside from the obvious advantages a program such as this would have with a pet owner, it is a bit more involved than that.

In other words, socialization and training exist as the core, underlying element in the dog’s future relationships with humans, other animals and the environment in general. It’s important to understand that what the owner does is going to take the pup further than if he were just left alone, to figure things out for himself or worse yet, to learn from another dog in the household. I know, every prospective owner asks the breeder, ‘How is the temperament?’, when inquiring about a particular pup. Well, of course, a well bred dog needs to have a stable temperament, decent nerves and some basic socialization as of eight weeks old. This is vital, but that merely gives the new owner a blank slate from which to work with.

What now? Why does the owner  need to do something else with the pup, since it’s a pure bred dog with an AKC registration number and all of the correct markings? That is really asking too much, isn’t it? It’s all genetic, isn’t it? Not really. That’s like expecting an eight week old working dog to go out on patrol with a police officer with no training and actually assist in apprehending criminals, sniffing drugs, doing live bites, etc. Pretty ridiculous, huh?

Here is the rule: Socialization and Obedience Training enable the dog to become neutralized as regards stresses from the environment and its interaction with people, animals and things within its scope of existence.

Without this neutralization (which just means a condition where the dog is not reacting unusually to a stimulus in the environment – this is what is meant by the term ‘conditioning’), the dog is being stressed by its own lack of experience and confidence with life. Look, you cannot take a pup and throw it into your life, your world and expect it to adapt to everything without your help, exposure, guidance or repetitive training in relationship to that particular thing.

Want the dog to not freak out every time you vacuum? Try introducing the pup to the machine slowly, gradually and allow it to gain a level of confidence about that particular object, both on and off, until it is fully neutralized on it as a thing. Does the pup get stressed when travelling? Well, instead of drugging the animal, why not try to take it on short, fun trips to the park, with lots of treats, praise, etc making it an experience that the pup will have imprinted as a good thing. Do this enough times and you have a dog that can travel and actually wants to do so.

I find that, more often than not, the owner will simply cave to the reaction of the dog or pup and try to adjust to the complication. For example, if the dog cannot load into the car, you have to train the dog to do so. Contrary to popular belief, dogs were not born with the ability to jump into a car. I know to some of you this may sound silly, but there are those of us who were trained in the art of training our dogs by parents, friends, etc. and then there are others who were not that lucky.

Given the demands by the culture to receive instant results for everything, it isn’t surprising to me that owners are sometimes impatient with their dog’s training. When I say it takes time and lots of repetition, I get nods of agreement, but in truth, not enough actual agreement on this. Dog training takes time and lots of repetition, period. That includes socialization, as that is a form of training. Please remember that when you take home your pup. He or she is very willing to please, but needs to be shown, directed and trained properly in order to actually do so.

Best,

Bob

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Dealing With The Squirts!

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Sometimes pups and even adults can get an upset stomach or develop some other issue that can result in (ugh..) loose stools. We all know that dogs can get into all kinds of things when they’re unsupervised: the garbage, things in the ground, things above the ground, standing water, and so on. Most of the time the canine digestive tract can handle it. Some times, it can’t = diarrhea.

Over the years I’ve become pretty familiar with some of the causes for this condition and through discussions with my vet, other breeders, and research have found some effective remedies.

First of all, you need to understand that a dog’s natural immune system, along with a healthy stomach and intestinal condition, will normally absorb and work through foods and liquids, leaving what is known in the business as a ‘solid waste product’. So, when the dog maybe gets stressed out or its immune system is somehow compromised, full digestion is prevented. When this happens, the liquids are not absorbed through the intestines and voila, you have loose stools, or ‘liquid waste product’.

CAUSES

Causes can include, but are not limited to the following:

1. Drinking standing water, water containing large amounts of harmful bacteria = Giardia

2. Ingesting parasitic worms and worm eggs, such as roundworms, hookworms, whipworms, which reproduce inside the dogs GI tract.

3. In puppies, developing coccidiosis, a harmful bacterial condition causing loose stools that MUST  be handled immediately.

4. Over eating dog food. Can happen with both puppies and adults. Even overeating dry kibble can cause this.

5. Eating foods that the dog is not used to. This can include table scraps, whatever it finds in the garbage, parts of dead animals, you get the idea. It can even include eating a different type of kibble than the dog is used to. If you switch ‘cold turkey’ to a new food, you may get this.

6. Suddenly switching from a high protein food to a low protein food will also cause loose stools.

7. Stress. Changes in kennel environment, location, food types, schedules, anything that is a change can sometimes, in some dogs, cause stress. This may upset the dog’s GI tract.

8. Other medical issues. Obviously this cannot be ruled out. Things such as colitis, viruses and other conditions can exist that should be treated with the help of a veterinarian.

Most of the time I have found that the causes are 1-7 and when treated properly, take care of the dog’s digestion issues. Contrary to popular belief, diarrhea in pups is not just a sign of parvovirus, although you should never rule this out as a possibility, especially with pups under a year old. However, in most cases that I have personally handled, the problem was taken care of with proper worming along with a preventative treatment for coccidiosis.

REMEDIES

So, here are the remedies that I have found for each of the above. Again, I am not dispensing medical advice, but giving you my own experience in handling this issue. You should certainly cross check my data and continue researching for yourself!

IMPORTANT NOTE: Obviously, the first thing you need to do is TAKE THE DOG OFF OF THE FOOD HE IS EATING. It can do no good to continue feeding a dog when he has diarrhea (see remedies, below). A dog can survive for days without food.  However, YOU MUST KEEP THE DOG OR PUPPIE HYDRATED. The best treatment for hydration is Pedialite. You can research online how to make your own and it works just as well as the store bought stuff.

1. The treatments for Giardia are dosing the dog with metronidazole (Flagyl) as per your vet’s instructions; dosing the dog with fenbendazole (Safeguard, Panacur) as per your vet’s instructions; dosing the dog with Neomycin Sulphate (Biosol) as per your vet’s instructions, or per the approved dosages as given by the manufacturers of these products.

2. Treat with an effective wormer. I have found Panacur (also known as Safeguard) to be the most effective wormer on the market. Remember, a one day dose is usually not enough. Three days in a row will handle any of the above worms.

3. Treating the pup with Sulphadimethoxine (Albon)  is the only way to handle this condition. Dose as per manufacturer or vet instructions. It can take up to two weeks to get all of the cocci to stop reproducing.

4.  Cut back on the dog’s food. Use an actual measuring cup so you can monitor the dog’s intake of food.

5. Wean the dog onto a new food, starting with a 75% to 25% ratio of old to new food. Then slowly move it over until it is fully on the new food. Try to avoid switching from chicken to meat based foods as that can cause stomach upsets as well.

6. I always recommend staying with a higher protein food anyway, but if you must, do it slowly as in #5.

7. Uh, get the dog out of the stressful environment as soon as possible and back to what you know is its normal situation.

8. Okay, take the dog to the vet, already.

OTHER REMEDIES AND ADVICE

Now, I also have learned some good natural remedies for this condition. They should be used ONLY to mitigate the condition, not cure it. You want to limit the amount of irritation to the GI tract while you are treating the cause of the condition, so here is where these dietary tips come in:

1. The Pumpkin Cleanse-  This is one of the most amazing treatments for loose stools that I have ever witnessed. You get a few cans of raw pumpkin from the grocery. NOT PUMPKIN PIE MIX. Just raw pumpkin, no suger, nothing else in the can. You feed the dog a can of this a day (split it into two portions each day) and you do this for three days. You don’t feed the dog anything else but the pumpkin and water. This will harden its stool and allow you to treat the dog without its GI tract continuously getting upset with kibble. Remember, when a dog has loose stools, you TAKE THE DOG OFF OF KIBBLE RIGHT AWAY. The dog won’t die, as long as you keep it hydrated, okay?

2. The Cottage Cheese-Rice-Boiled Chicken Diet – This is a very bland, very easy to digest formula. Simply, cottage cheese, boiled white rice and boiled white meat chicken. Feed moderate portions twice a day. It will help bind up the dog. You can add some pumpkin to this diet as well.

3. The High Fiber Supplement -  One of the things that will benefit a dog with GI tract issues is added fiber. You see, the liquid in his large intestine is just not getting absorbed adequately by the intestine. Adding a mild fiber to the diet will help. I would NOT use psyllium husk, but rather the white powdered type that dissolves in water, like Benefiber, etc. Dose as per the instructions.

4. The Probiotics Treatment -  I did some research a while back and found that a probiotics treatment has actually helped  human colitis patients. It appears that when the immune system is compromised, the GI tract will lose the beneficial bacteria, you know, the ones that help digest food? When the intestines are overrun with bad bacteria, proper digestion cannot occur. I recommend an enteric capsule probiotic,  mostly because you need the bacteria strains to make it past the stomach and into the large intestines and if you use other types of probiotics, this may not happen.

5. Pepto Bismol – In mild cases you may be able to treat with a product like Pepto Bismol. You can use the liquid or tablets and give a child’s dose as per the package.

Okay, that should do it. Hopefully, you won’t have to deal with any of the above situations. But if you do, maybe some of this will help.

Best,

Bob

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Don’t Let Your Vet Let You Down

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Without exception, each and every conversation I have with a new owner includes the following, from me:

“Do you have a vet? Are you happy with their care of your last dog? If not, please find a vet through good word of mouth, who can correctly diagnose and treat your pup as needed.”

The reason I do this is obvious. Veterinary medicine is a practice, just like human medicine. As such, the quality of the practitioner is the key to success. The mere fact that someone went to vet school does not qualify him as a good veterinarian.

I’m writing this post as I just wrapped up witnessing another sad, frustrating and costly adventure in the world of less than competent veterinary practice. I’ll relate the story, but first, please let me clarify that I am not against vets helping animals. I use a vet all the time. Vets have a distinct and vital role in the care of all animals. What I am against is the foolish, money motivated, dangerously amateurish and unprofessional practices of individuals who call themselves vets, yet who are obviously not qualified to claim that title.

Okay, here’s the story:

A wonderful family picked up a pup from my kennel recently.  They knew enough about dogs and were more than willing to learn anything additional that would help their new, healthy pup. They were  familiar with Rottweilers and had owned two before this pup. Unfortunately, they had also become aware that mis-diagnoses could occur, when their last vet diagnosed one of their previous dogs with a broken leg when in fact it had a bone cancer. So, they started going to another vet, at one of the largest vet hospitals in their area.

I had not heard anything from them for a little over a week before receiving a phone call on the weekend. It was the pup’s ‘mom’. She was obviously upset and when I asked her what was wrong, she simply said ‘We have a very sick puppy on our hands here’ .

After letting her tell me what that meant, I found that the pup had developed some sniffles about five days after pick up. I immediately knew this was a probable reaction to the bordatella vaccine, which is not uncommon. After all, it’s a live vaccine and that’s how the pup develops an immunity to kennel cough. Remember now, bordatella is also known by its medical name ‘infectious tracheobronchitis’ (hey, doesn’t the trachea swell up when it’s infected?).

Now, she initially did the right thing and took the pup to her vet, who was housed in this very large, seven day a week vet hospital. That’s when things went wrong. The vet misdiagnosed right off the bat and even ignored the fact that the health cert listed the bordatella vaccine as having been administered. No, you see, he knew better. So, he prescribed clavomox, which might be okay for other upper resp issues, but really is not effective for this particular case. But, what do I know. I’m only a stupid breeder, right?

So, from Tuesday until Friday night, the pup is not getting better, because he’s not on a decongestant and he’s not on the right meds for a bordatella reaction. So, the owner does what she has to do when the pup develops a full blown cough and takes him back to the big vet hospital.

There, the ‘vet’ who had been treating the pup earlier, gets xrays done and determines that the pup has pneumonia as well as a genetically caused condition called a ‘hypoplastic trachea’ – a congenital (present at birth) condition, in which the dog is born with a narrow or underdeveloped trachea. By the way, this condition is predominant in bulldog breeds. You know, dogs with short muzzles that ARE NOT ROTTWEILERS.  The vet knows these conditions are correct because he outsources his xrays to vet students at a local university, who help in the misdiagnoses. Yes, that’s correct, a practicing vet who can’t read his own xrays. So, now we have not only a misdiagnosed health condition, but a misdiagnosed genetic condition.

So, now, the owner is paying three or four hundred dollars a day for a sick pup who is mostly sick due to an initial misdiagnoses and ensuing incorrect medication. Now, these doctors have to be totally right about their poor veterinary practicing skills. The put the pup in the oxygen room, with a nebulizer, on an intravenous feeding tube. They take more xrays and tell the owner that the trachea is worse than they initially saw on the first xray and that the pup would never be able breathe normally, blah, blah.

As an aside, bloodwork was done, and showed completely normal levels of white blood cells. The pup had normal temperature and was eating and drinking normally. Yet he had pneumonia. How odd is that.

I was pretty sure that this pup had been misdiagnosed and that the meds were wrong and that the dog’s trachea was probably not hypoplastic, but I called my own vet just to cover all the bases. It was a Monday morning, around seven thirty and he had just arrived at his clinic.

After explaining the events that had transpired so far, his first response was ‘These vets are idiots. Do they think this is a Pug or an English Bulldog? There’s no way that pup has a hypoplastic trachea.”  I then told him my theory about the Bordatella reaction. “Of course. Any first year vet student would know that. The pup should be on Doxycycline and Mucinex.”

So, after an entire weekend of this  madness, including several incidents where the owner was not allowed to talk to the vet on the case, even though she was led to believe that her pup was dying, and after my fourth or fifth pep talk to her,  she decided to take matters into her own hands and demanded to see the new attending vet (the original one was probably off playing golf) and that vet’s superior, at the hospital. After explaining the outnesses to them and to the office manager there, the pup was miraculously put onto the correct medications – doxycycline and mucinex. Again, miraculously, the pup recovered in three days.

Also, sort of mind blowing – the vet now told the owner that the ‘hypoplastic trachea’ had magically reduced and was no longer there as a condition. How can that be? I mean, five days earlier they had told this woman that the pup she had just purchased was a genetic mess. You see, THEY KNEW BETTER.

I had asked the owner to pull all of the pup’s medical records, including the xrays and mail them to my vet. After looking at them, he told me the following:

“I looked at the film, and I’m not impressed (with their diagnoses)…. They keep talking about pneumonia and I don’t see that…  On the very first day, they have (per the written medical records) that his lungs are normal. Not a thing about pneumonia. Nothing relating to pneumonia. Then, three days later, they have a ‘problem’…. Also, that thing about the trachea, is a bunch of bull. I wish I had this dog here (to treat).”

So do I, Doc, so do I.

Okay, so everything ended well, sort of. The pup is back home and will lead a normal life. I have agreed  with the owner that she follow up and discuss this issue (along with her bill, which was in the vicinity of a few grand) with the owner of the hospital. In my opinion, she should also notify the State Board of Review for veterinary and professional practices and tell them this wonderful story.

That does it for now. I hope this has helped in some way.

Best,

Bob

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Injuries in Puppies and Adults – Rush to Judgement?

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Sometimes a pup or an adult gets an injury while playing or training. It happens. What I have noticed is that the first thing, the very first thing an owner suspects when he sees his dog limping is that he has hip dysplasia or elbow dysplasia.

While this is something that you cannot rule out, there are a few other things to take a look at. By the way, I am not dispensing medical advice or diagnosis here, just giving you my viewpoint as a breeder and handler on how to take care of your dog. I train and trial working dogs and prepare them for these trials, so I know a few things. Okay, so you notice that your dog has a limp or is favoring a paw or carrying his weight differently.

1. The first thing I would do is get the dog calm, cooled down and relaxed.

2. Then you palpate the dog. You feel around where he is limping and see if there is a spot where he reacts when you touch or put pressure on it. Pull out his limb and let it come back, see if the leg is coming out or drawing in more than usual. Watch for any signs of pain or reaction in the dog or pup. Feel for any swollen area, broken skin, or any other abnormality on the surface. Check his pads, as sometimes they can split or crack. Make any notes for your vet if you spot something that is obvious or out of the ordinary. If there is a broken bone, get the dog immediate medical attention.

3.  Then, instead of rushing to the emergency vet hospital (unless there is a valid medical emergency), take your dog and put him up in a crate. Yes, a crate.  The reason I am saying this is that, more often than not, it is a soft tissue injury. This is especially true of very young dogs, younger than seven months. The chances of a dog developing a debilitating, arthritic limp prior to seven months are rare, although they cannot be ruled out. Even so, the odds are in your favor that the dog has sprained some muscle or ligament. You must crate the dog and keep him from running around. That’s right, you keep him from running around. Why? because every time he starts to heal the injury, he will re-injure it by running around. If you do not do this, then you will allow this dog to do more damage to himself. So you do what a human would do who has injured himself – give him rest. Take him out for walks on the grass, on the leash, give him a hug and put him back up. No running. At all. You think I am being silly for repeating this, but owners sometimes do not listen because they are being selfish and want to play with their dog or they think it’s cruel to keep their dog in a crate for two weeks.  I think it’s cruel to allow a dog to re-injure itself for no good reason.

4. Do this routine for at least two weeks. Yes, two weeks, minimum, every day, no exceptions. Find other ways to bond with your dog that do not include him blowing out his ACL. After two weeks, if he is no longer limping, wean him off of the rest with light exercise, more walks on the leash.If he’s getting better, but still off a bit, keep him on the routine until he’s 100% better. Remember, it takes time to heal muscle and ligaments. Just ask a human who has had to go through this stuff. It can take months, so do not be impatient.

5. Try to figure out what might have been stressing him out physically. For instance, jumping on concrete, sliding around on tile floors, jumping out of a truck, jumping over tennis nets, heavy running with no warm up or cool down. See if you can discover what, in his daily routines may have led up to the injury. Then, stop him from doing that particular physical activity and when he is healed, get him doing something that is not so stressful physically.

5. Give the dog natural anti-inflammatory supplements right away and continue through his healing stage. MSM is cheap and can be dosed orally. Vitamin C is also a good supplement. DO NOT GIVE THE DOG ANY PAIN KILLERS. Pain killers only mask the cause of the injury and will allow the dog to re-injure. Sometimes owners don’t listen and have to learn the hard way.

It costs about fifteen hundred bucks to repair an ACL on a dog, just so you know.

Best,

Bob

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