Relieving Stress in Dogs

After last night's storms I heard many stories about anxiety and thunder and all the attempts to calm your dog. Did you know that some dogs feel static charges before a storm? There are many capes, wraps and shirts on the market that can possibly help ease some anxiety. Here is a great article about what is available and what is in the works as far as research to help our dogs!


To read the article, please click the following link:

Putting the Squeeze on Doggy Anxiety

Chicken Jerky From China May Harm Your Dog!

FDA records show that three big brands may be tied to chicken jerky illness in dogs. To read the article, please click the following link:

Warning - Chicken Jerky Dog Treats

Bottom line, do not buy food or treats that are made in China. This would include the dog foods sold in grocery stores and Walmart. That is why you can get a 40 pound bag for $20, if it is even that much. There is nothing in the ingredients but fillers, by products of animals and if it says animal by products it could be from any animal. It also contains glutens and if it has grains it is not the whole grain that we eat but the hulls and unedible part of the food. Your dog's body is not absorbing any nutrition which is the cause of scratching, extra shedding, runny eyes, chewing on paws and 5 piles of poo everyday. That is why you have to feed 3-4 cups a day! Spend the extra money on quality food such as Wellness Core or Nature’s Variety at Petco or buy from Doggiefood.com. When feeding high quality food, large dogs will eat around 2 cups a day and your dogs will have fewer potty problems and skin and coat issues! Same applies with quality treats. In the long run a bag of food will last twice as long and you are not feeding junk that could harm your pet.

Oh No Banjo! Not the Corn Cob!

Ended the evening with an excellent set of classes, came in to eat dinner, and had just sat down when we realized that Banjo had eaten some turkey and unfortunately one cob of corn! The problem - the cob from corn does not digest well. As soon as we realized what he had done off to the emergency vet we went. One stomach surgery and four hours later, Banjo's stomach was empty and we had the cob. It was broken into a couple of pieces but still large enough to have caused a blockage in his intestine. He is now asleep and we may be able to pick him up tomorrow. He will be on bland food and in the "cone" for two weeks!

I wanted to share this story so that everyone would be aware of how dangerous corn on the cob can be for dogs. If they are in the trash it is wise to take the trash out immediately. If they are on the counter, remove them from the counter or place them where you dogs cannot reach them.

I have seven dogs and two are trash eaters and counter surfers! If you have a counter surfer, management and training is the key. Banjo is two and just started surfing off and on about 2 months ago. Remember, everytime they get something off the counter it reinforces this behavior. We have helped Banjo's behavior by picking up and making sure nothing is in his reach in the kitchen, however last night we let our guard down. We will continue to work with Banjo and his surfing but wanted to give you some incentive to manage and train if you live with a dog where food is a level 10 distraction!

Below is a picture of Banjo's stomach contents. The pink thing is a Valentine's Day dog treat that is still in the shape of a heart! The rest is turkey and the cob that the vet removed from his stomach.  Little man is doing well and resting at the vet's office, hopefully he will come home later today!

A "Normal" Trip to the Store? Not Hardly!

It was a normal Thursday afternoon, a sunny clear day with a 107 degree temperature. I had a two hour break in the middle of the day and I thought I would take that opportunity to run to Petco, 15 minutes from my home. I also thought it would be a great opportunity to get Glacier, my newfie mix, out of the house, so I took him with me. I parked, picked up a few things, let Glacier visit a bit and then headed home.

I pulled out of the parking lot and noticed traffic was backed up a bit on my normal route, so I decided to try and take the back way home. I pulled up to the red light, I was in the left lane against the median and had four lanes of traffic to the right of me. As I was waiting for the light to turn to green, I noticed that the rotation of the light skipped us. It not only skipped us once, but four times. Now I had been in the car stuck in traffic for about 10 minutes, which is not terrible, but on the third skip of the light my air conditioning began to blow out hot air and it is still 107 outside. I rolled the windows down because it felt like it was 120 degrees in the car. I looked over at Glacier and he is panting extremely hard now. I look around the car for a bottle of water which is sometimes on the floorboard left over from all our hikes and walks - the typical "I will bring it in later". Unfortunately, this time I had taken all the bottles in the house. No water. I look around and the traffic is still not moving and I am boxed in. I am beginning to get very nervous about Glacier, I look over again and his head has dropped, eyes squinty, a little sunk in and now strings of drool are coming out of his mouth. I raised his lip, and pushed on his gums until the spot I was pushing on turned white, when I released my finger, his gums turned back to pink very slowly. I knew he was in trouble. I looked to my left, the median was a hill that was too high for me to drive over. The only way out was to the right. I began to lay on my horn, wanting the attention of the cars around me. I also began to rock my car back and forth, I did not care that I looked like a crazy person, I was. I waved at everyone to move their cars. If I could just get one person to try and move, the traffic in the far right lane was getting through on right hand turns. I had to get to that lane. The lady next to me looked at Glacier and I think she figured out what was happening. She also began to inch her way back, then before I knew it, other cars were inching back creating a domino effect, three lanes made a spot for me to cut across and I was on my way. Once I got the car moving the air kicked back in, I put all the vents on Glacier and in a second we were home. I gave him water and patted him down with cool cloths. I turned on the living room fan and he laid on the tile floor. He was ok.

I wanted to share this because I never dreamed a short car ride could be so dangerous. I know people that live up north and deal with extreme winter weather take precautions when they travel. It never occurred to me that our summers, especially this one, is just as extreme. A twenty minute trip to the store could have been very tragic due to a red light. From now on, when my dogs go anywhere with me, I will always have water for them to drink and a spray bottle to mist them. I also knew what to look for in Glacier as far as dehydration. This is how I knew he was in trouble. He did not vomit, if he had we would have went straight to the vet. Please learn from my experience!


What you need to know about dehydration:

Dogs lose fluid through: breathing, panting, elimination, diarrhea, vomiting, fever, evaporation through the feet and other body surfaces.

Dogs replenish fluid by drinking water or other liquids and by eating moist foods. A relatively small drop in body fluid (4-5%) can result in visible signs of dehydration.

Signs of dehydration:

1. The skin loses elasticity as it loses moisture. This can be somewhat misleading since younger and fatter dogs will have more elasticity than older, thinner dogs. It is important to have an idea of what your dog's skin looks and feels like on a normal basis. Pinch a little skin between your thumb and forefinger on your dog's back. When you release it, it should pop back into place immediately. (You can try this on the back of your own hand as an example) As the tissue under the skin loses moisture, the skin moves back more slowly. In extreme cases, the skin doesn't pop back.
2. The eyes appear sunken and lack moisture.
3. The mouth appears dry, the gums and nose are dry.
4. Delayed capillary refill time. Pull up your dog's lip and look at his gums. Place your index finger firmly against the gums so that they appear white. Remove your finger and see how quickly the blood returns to the gums (they will become pink in that area again). This is called capillary refill time. If you do this when everything is normal, you will have a basis upon which to compare. The gums of a normal dog refill immediately, the gums of a dehydrated dog could take 3 seconds or so to return to their pink state.

If your dog shows visible symptoms of dehydration, he may need a trip to the vet for immediate replenishment of fluids. In serious cases, your veterinarian may administer fluids under the skin or directly into the blood stream.