Dog-Dog Greetings: You never get a second chance to make a first doggy impression...

No, I'm not about to tell you that your dog needs Head and Shoulders Shampoo.  Today, we're talking about doggy introductions.  Some doggy introductions are two strangers passing on leash on the street (we'll discuss this type of greeting next time), and other times it's high stakes: you're trying to establish a great relationship between your dog and your friend, neighbor, or family member's dog.  If you have a dog who doesn't always make best friends with every passing pup on a walk, you're not alone.  The good news is that a little knowledge goes a long way toward making your dog's introductions a pleasant experience for everyone.

The way humans naturally greet strangers and the way dogs naturally greet are incredibly different.  We humans like face to face greetings with direct eye contact and a hand shake.  Your dog prefers a face to rear greeting with lots of sniffing.  When your dog is off leash, he probably handles this nicely on his own, but on leash is a different story- often because, like Will Smith said, "(pet) parents just don't understand".  Just as your dog respects the fact that you are a different species and for some reason don't appreciate the gift of his poop on your living room floor ("I thought you'd want to get to know me better!"), you should respect that he is a different species and empower him to greet new dogs the dog way.  So what does this mean?

Ideally, and this is especially important for those dogs whom you're desperate for your pooch to befriend, your dog should meet his new dog friends off leash, in a large outdoor space which is neutral territory.  On leash greetings are often problematic for more reasons than I can name in this article, one of which is because the leash changes the body language of your dog in a way that may be threatening or domineering to other dogs.  (For example, your dog excitedly pulls you toward another pup, and you instinctively pull back on the leash jerking his head up high and erect- not the friendliest dog greeting).  Neutral territory is incredibly important for any dog introduction.  You do not want you dog to view his potential new friend as an invader from which you and yours should be protected.  What is neutral territory?  Any place but the home, yard, or car of either dog.  The space should be large enough that your dog feels that he can run away if he is uncomfortable- we want them to choose flight over fight.  If your dog really likes to guard, you should not introduce the animals anywhere near your home or even on your regular walking route.  Meet up at the off leash park nearby, or on a walk in a lovely park that you don't frequent. 

If your dog is a little timid about meeting new dogs, you can use scent as a social bridge.  You and the other dog's parent should plan ahead and swap an item to your home which would have much of your dog's scent on it before the dogs meet.  Let your dog spend some time with it.  This is the doggy equivalent of getting to see a photo of someone you're going to meet before you meet them.

If you must have your dogs meet on leash, you should take your dog for a walk in the same neighborhood at the same time as the soon-to-be friend; and you and your dog should casually begin to walk along side your friend and her dog (you should approach from the side- not from the front of the other dog.  Think 90 degree angle).  Allow the dogs a brief sniffing greeting (2-4 seconds) and keep walking.  Don't stand around like an audience for a full sniffing session- get them moving to break the tension.  Walk together for 10 or twenty minutes, and if all goes well you can proceed to less neutral locations together.

While it seems like a whole lot of work to handle these greetings the "right way", it's a whole lot more work to try and undo a bad impression.  You can begin some beautiful doggy friendships this way, and your dog will thank you for respecting his nature.

Seth the Golden needs a new forever home!

Seth is a four year old neutered male Golden Retriever who lives to run, swim, and fetch!  He is high-energy and needs an active home without young children.  In his current home, he is not getting along with the special needs child in his family and he has begun growling at the child.  In an active home without young children, Seth will thrive, and likely become your personal trainer!  He loves to run, and would move mountains for a game of fetch.  He's also a very smart dog who enjoys games and learning new tricks.  He has had lots of training, and he even comes with a free month of Monday through Friday walks or dog park days should you adopt him!  Please email Alisa at alisa@lepouf.com if you think you could use a smart, energetic new friend who will keep you moving.  His ideal home is one where he spends the day with an adult who is able to exercise him several times daily and love him like the little king he is!  We will require an interview with all humans residing in the home and home check.

Facts about Seth:

Age: 4 years
Color: Red Golden
Weight: 65 lbs
With Dogs: Seth is indifferent to adult dogs (he prefers tennis balls!),  He dislikes puppies.
With Cats: Unknown
With Children: Older children are okay, no young children for Seth.  He has begun growling at a special needs 3 year old in his home.
Medical:  Seth has food and environmental allergies.  This is easily managed by keeping him on an allergen free diet and bathing him frequently.

Sheba's massive allergic reaction...to our backyard!

(The pack on our way to the Ranch- Sheba is the blonde!)

It was a normal Friday night and I was just about to leave the house to meet my hubby for a late dinner at Joey's.  The pooches went out to our backyard for once last potty and playtime before I left.  When I called them in, Sheba didn't follow my "wait" command- she just barged right into the house, running around like a maniac.  She started running around the living room with her face on the ground and her rear up.  I told her she was silly, and assumed that perhaps she was excited from an especially fun playtime outside.  Then she started frantically licking her nether region, ran around, then she started scratching her nose, then she she ran around...you get the picture- doggy behaving very strangely.

I got on the phone with my husband, Eli.  "I don't think I can leave to meet you just yet- Sheba's acting really wierd and I can't figure out what wrong...," I said.  He replied, "What do you mean?  What is she doing?".  "Well...," I started looking around for her to give a better visual description of what was happening, and then I saw her.  "Oh my gosh! oh my gosh! she's swelling up, she's swelling up everywhere.  I need to find the Benedryl NOW!"  I put down the phone and began to claw through my medicine cabinet in a frenzy.  Sheba's face was swollen to three times it's size and it became appearant to me that I needed to get her to the emergency vet immediately- faster than I'd be able to locate my Benedryl. 

We ran to the car and began our drive to Animal Emergency East...I was watching Sheba in my rear-view mirror and she just kept swelling larger, her panting became shallow.  My thoughts were racing.  If I pull over and give her CPR, she'll still keep swelling.  No, we have to get the vet as quickly as possible.  Just get there Alisa, just get there.  We sped into the parking lot at full speed.  I had taken off her collar due to the swelling so I wrapped her leash around her nack and we ran inside.

The contrast between the calm of the office and my complete and utter panic was palpable.  "Hi, how can I help you today?"  I was handed a clipboard.  "This is Sheba, I called you on the way, she's, she's having some kind of allergic reaction," the doctor walked up mid-sentence. "Oh she's a little swollen...do you mind if I take her back for a few injections while you fill out that form?"  "Listen, I know you don't know my dog, but that's three times her normal face and she's extremely swollen..."  "Yes, I see.  Can I take her back right now while you fill out the form?" the doctor asked again, in a slightly less patient voice than the last time.  "Yes, Please.  Now."  I replied.  Boy they don't seem to be taking this seriously, I thought.  They are way too calm to be taking this seriously.

As I filled out her intake form the doctor came back out.  She had given Sheba cortizone and benedryl injections to stop the process.  It turns out she took it very seriously, but didn't want to heighten my obvious state of panic.  She began to inquire what Sheba had gotten into.  I told her she'd simply gotten into our backyard!  She expressed extreme concern.  "Her swelling is so extreme and so generalized- and it's a good thing you got her here as quickly as you did, because that swelling eventually goes to the lungs..."  a few hours after her injections, Sheba's swelling had stopped increasing, but had not begun to go down as quickly as it should have.  We agreed to keep her there for medication and observation overnight.

The next morning I went to pick up my pumpkin who was still quite puffy, but much improved.  The vet told us that they had no idea what caused this reaction, but from this day forward we are to carry Benedryl and Prednizone everywhere Sheba goes.  "now that you know she's capable of having this type of a massive inflamitory reaction, you need to have these meds on you at all times.  If this starts again, give her one of these, two of those, and get her into the vet asap". 

Before this event, 5.5 year old Sheba had never had an inflamitory allergic reaction.  To this day, we still have no idea what in our backyard caused her reaction.  It could have killed her had I ignored her strange behavior and just left for dinner.  There are three takeaway lessons for every pet owner here:

1.  Be aware of, and sensitive to, strange behavior from your animal.  Just because you can't tell what's wrong doesn't mean nothing is wrong.  I'm guessing you'd rather be our a vet bill than lose your beloved pet.

2.  Always have Benedryl on hand in case your pet has a massive allergic reaction- and "on hand" means somewhere you can find it in 30 seconds or less!  It could save their life.  Call you vet for dosage recommendations specific to your animal's weight and breed should a massive attack occur.

3.  Just because your dog has lived with you for several years without a massive allergic reaction doesn't mean they can't have one in the future- and the threat can literally be in your own backyard!  Be prepared- not only with Benedryl, but with the location and phone number of your local emergecy vet on hand- I shudder to think what would have happened had I not lived 5 minutes from the emergency vet, known almost exactly where they were located, and had their phone number ready to get directions while I drove there (it's funny how panic clouds the mind).  There was no time for Google Maps.

Sheba is all better now, and she and I hope that you and your pet never have to experience the fear and discomfort we did.  But if you do, now you can be prepared.  Your pet will thank you for it.

AB

Feeding your Dragon...

So there's hope for Rex.  But is there hope for us, his broken and terrified humans?  We have to start by reorganizing our home environment.  The trainer laid out the plan...it includes completely unlearning everything we learned with Rex's previous trainer, an absurd amount of human food treats, an one other little detail...feeding him exclusively by hand?!?

"One of the worst things you can do for your dog is to feed him from a bowl, twice a day, at the exact same times everyday."  My eyes widened in disbelief.  I had long measured my daily good mom/bad mom quotient by, in part, my ability to feed my dogs at predictable times, from bowls (didn't think about that bowl part much to be honest...).  While I furrowed my brow, lips purssed in the "w" shape for "Whaaaattt???", he explained.  In Rex's new world, nothing is free.  Rex should have to work for every single bite of food, and everyone and everything should control access to food but Rex.  This means hand-feeding, feeding through training rewards, and feeding through food puzzles only.  Okay, I get the logic.  But a 100lb dog needs a lot of little pieces of food per day...and that's a lot of drool to contend with.

At first Rex was not interested in being hand fed his kibble.  He snubbed me several times, which I was warned about.  Appearantly in order to eat from my hand, Rex has to accept that he's not in charge.  After one day and a grumbly tummy, he broke down.  My hubby and I quickly realized the need to invest in rubber gloves for feeding...the drool is unimaginable.

The other change in our home circumstance was that all toys and bones are 'up', and Rex only gets to play with a tennis ball or chew a bone when I give it to him.  Before he tires of the toy or bone, I am to take it away.  For your average dog this may not be a big deal, but Rex has a psychotic obsession with tennis balls.  When he has one in his mouth you can almost hear him saying,"my precious..." a la Lord of the Rings.  We started out having the tennis balls and bones on the top shelf of a book shelf, but having his 'precious' in sight but unreachable proved to be doggy torture of the highest order.  So now they all reside in a little lock box...and WOW.  Rex is suddenly listening much better to our verbal commands in the house, and does so with less protest.  This has been the most powerful change we've made so far, although it's really hard to take his precious away after we play, due to the well documented ability of dogs to be super duper cute when they want something that you have.

Next on the agenda?  Rex's new protocol required us to put away the prong collar and clip on the harness...but walks are a little trying.  I don't know how to keep him from walking out in front of me without correcting him, and I'm having a heck of a time getting treats through his muzzle on our walks.  No to mention, we're now charged with finding a "high value treat?, ostensibly one that Rex prefers to biting people...

How to Train My Dragon: My Dragon's Backstory

Fall of 2006, just months after our wedding and a couple years after adopting our 'practically perfect in every way' dog Sheba, my husband Eli and I began the search for our next dog.  After all, if one dog is good, two dogs will be awesome, right?  We were bright eyed and bushy tailed- highly committed to rescuing a dog that no one else would want.  I work with animals for a living so I was pretty confident that I could work a rescue dog through the behavioral issues that might otherwise make it un-adoptable.

Blurry-eyed after tens of hours on petfinder.com, and numerous evenings searching through our Dog Breed Encyclopedia, I found a Shiloh Shepherd breed rescue and a handsome 2.5 year old male Shiloh named Rex* was up for adoption in Maryland.  The trouble was, Rex had bitten someone and his family had turned their backs on him.  Something in his photo touched Eli and I, and I was on the next flight out to Maryland to take Rex home.

I did my homework.  I met his breeder (I actually stayed with her!), I met his doggy mom, I had dinner with the human dad that was giving him up.  I took a detailed history and decided this was going to a challenge, but one that I was up for.  We had a plan; careful management of Rex's interactions with strangers, lots and lots of exercise, and an all raw, organic home-made diet.  If this dog was a project in which  you put in effort and get out progress, we would have hit the jackpot.  But...

Within three days of his arrival home, Rex had bit a friend in our home, sending him for stitches.  Within two months he had bit many others, many stitches, and we were going broke paying for it all.  99% of people would have put Rex down, and maybe we should have, but were touched by how gentle and loving he was with us and our dog, and by how much he seemed to trust us.  We couldn't betray that trust without exhausting every possible option.  We explored every possible medical cause.  We explored every possible behavioral cause.  Everytime we were sure we had identified his triggers and were avoiding them and working on them, a new trigger revealed itself, a new disaster took place.  By January of 2007, I found myself skulking, tail between my legs, into the office of one of the two dog training facilities in the Seattle area that would even return my phone calls (I called about twenty-five trainers).

After a brief conversation, the owner of the facility looked at me point blank and said,"Why is this dog still alive?".  I swallowed hard...good question, I thought.  But then I answered,"This may not make sense to you, but I am not willing to take his life if the real problem is that I haven't bucked up to become the owner he needs me to be.  If his biting is because of my short-comings, I can't put him down for it.  I'd never have peace."  She was quiet and taken aback.  The silence was strained.  I continued,"That's why I'm here.  I am here so that you can tell me if he has a chance with the right training and structure.  If you think it's just his nature, we'll consider putting him down, but if there's any chance it's not, we'll try to work through it."  Quiet again.  "Okay," she said,"in that case, yes I think you have a chance but you have a whole lot of work to do."

Rex went to bootcamp that week, for six weeks.  We came to work with him once a week on Fridays, and we saw that progress was being made in his obedience.  This trainer used aversive techniques with prong collars, and when we voiced our reservations we were told,"If you want this dog to live, you better stop feeling sorry for him, because feeling sorry for him will get him killed."  Okay then.  Rex graduated the program with a some well ingrained obedience, a steel basket muzzle for prevention, and we had high hopes.  Unfortunately, after all of that and excessive modifications in the way we run our home, Rex still wanted to attack people in our home.  Only now he would wait on a rug for 5 minutes before ramming them with his muzzle.

It was too late.  We were already in love with this dog.  Discouraged, we resigned to changing our lifestyle.  No more visitors in our home.  He could never leave the house without a muzzle.  He would never be offleash outside of our yard again.  He would never be within 6 feet of anyone but my husband, myself, or our vet, ever again.  For 3.5 years we lived like this.  With a dragon in our house.  With us, in our home, Rex was sweet, charming, entertaining, gentle, and never even looked at us sideways- he was our adoreable little secret- a beautiful part of our lives that we couldn't share with friends and family.  We began to live our lives around his problems, with the singular goal of preventing any possibility that Rex could get himself into trouble and get put down.  And just when we had resigned Rex and ourselves to this life...the wheels started turning.

What if the approach had been all wrong?  There has to be a better way.  What if a different method of training could give Rex, and us, a chance at a normal life?  I had a chip on my shoulder because the 'all positive' dog trainers I had contacted earlier in Rex's life had refused to work with us and told me to put him down.  Not to mention my personal experience of meeting several dogs who were 'all positive trained' which seemed to translate to 'positively not trained'.  But we had trained our perfect princess Sheba using all positive, and she was, well, perfect.  The real question was, is there such a thing as 'all positive behavior modification'?  I did a little research and contrary to what I had been told, the answer was yes.  I started reading Patricia McConnell books and got a good feel for positive behavior modification...and it seemed logical to me: slowly changing your dog's response to stimuli through gradual, thoughtful, counter-conditioning.

So I made a call.  May of 2010 we met with Jim Ha, PhD, from Companion Animal Solutions.  The objective of our meeting was as follows: I'm concerned about Rex's quality of life, but I have to keep him and others safe.  I just want to know, after meeting Rex and taking his history, if you think there's hope that we can get past this.  If not, I'll just resign Rex to living out his life as he has been...but if there's hope, I'll pursue it.  Jim met Rex.  And the verdict was...

"There's hope...there's lots of hope...".  OMG YIPPEEEE!!!  Umm...now what?

Check in next week to follow our journey through all positive dog training with one of the toughest possible cases.

Alisa B.

*Name changed to protect the sweet but not so innocent pooch

Worried about your pet's carbon footprint? Learn how to reduce it today.

There's been much ado in the press lately about a recent study which claims that the carbon footprint of a medium dog is twice that of an SUV, and the footprint of a cat is similar to that of a small Volkswagen, much to the horror of many eco-conscious pet parents. So before the green guilt sets in, let's talk about the myriad options you have for dramatically reducing your pet's environmental impact.
 
The bulk of the average pet's carbon footprint is a result of the amount of meat that our pets consume.  Meat farming puts a tremendous strain on the environment because of the amount of land required, the amount of feed required, and the amount of energy required to produce farmed meat.  So what is a good uptight Seattlite to do?  One option is to feed your pets wild-caught fish based diets.  My two dogs eat a grain free, 70% wild caught fish based food and love it- they eat Orijen Six Fish.  My cat eats a grain free chicken and fish food (a little less eco-friendly due to the poultry)- he eats Wellness Core Feline.  Potential Pitfall:  Watch out for farmed fish!  Most farmed fish are very hard on the environment and not as nutritious as their wild counterparts.

Another environmental burden created by pets is their poop.  Lots, and lots, of poop.  Those of us with yards have the option of using a Doggie Dooley for pet poop- it's a mini septic tank for animal poop that you can put in your own backyard.  As long as you use enzyme based additives rather than chemicals, you're still behaving squeaky green.

As for kitties, all that clay clumping litter is an eco no-no, because the clay is sourced by strip mining and the clumps never biodegrade.  In my house we deal with the kitty litter challenge by using a U.S. grown 100% corn litter (yes it does clump!) called World's Best Cat Litter.  It's biodegradeable and works just as well as the clay for clumping, and you "can" flush it...but the jury is out on whether or not flushing it is eco friendly.  Now, all that corn takes up land and has to be watered, so you're not carbon neutral here, but definitely making a big reduction in your kitty's footprint.

So now you know.  You have lots a great green pet care options that can allow you and your best friends to hold your sustainable heads (and tails!) high.  For an additional boost to your peace of mind, you should know that the pet/vehicle comparisons considered only the manufacturing, and not the fueling of, said vehicles.  Now get out there and be a good Northwesterner by living with enough eco-consciousness for you and your beloved pets.

Why not doggy daycare?

We've all seen the short spots on Evening Magazine and articles in your local paper about doggy daycares.  The concept seems to really resonate with pet owners who love their animals.  We think of them as our children, we love them like they are our children.  Who wouldn't want the kind of care we give human children for their dog?  Dogs.

What dogs and children have in common is their need love and affection, mental stimulation, physical exercise, and social interaction. A doggy daycare satisfies the need for social interaction, and leaves the rest up to the dog.  Your dog can and will likely be a couch potato at a doggy daycare.  Your dog can and will likely be bored at a doggy daycare.  Your dog can and will likely be starving for human affection at a doggy daycare, since the staff are busy mopping up urine and feces (see below).  The problem with doggy daycare concept is that while it is enormously profitable for the company, most doggy daycares do not provide a great environment for a pet dog. While we love our dogs just as much, dogs are not human children. They have other distinctly different needs and desires.

Potty training: dogs often un-potty train themselves at doggy daycares, and poor potty training is the number one reason that dogs are surrendered to shelters.  The drive to 'mark' gets stronger with the scent of so many dogs around, and all it takes is one dog in the building without solid potty training, and that dog creates spots that are too tempting to resist adding their own urine.  Now your dog has lost his inhibition to pee inside.  Don't believe me?  Check the craiglist adds for 'dog wranglers' at dog daycares- in the job description "your job will consist of constantly mopping up pee and poop.  If you are squeamish about either, this is not the job for you".  Enough said.

Chaos: putting twenty or thirty, or more 'free roaming' dogs in any contained space is flat out dangerous.  If a fight breaks out it will be a completely unmanageable situation for at least thirty seconds to a minute at best, and by that time it may be too late.  In addition, some dogs are bullies, and they can bully other dogs in ways that are imperceptable to the untrained human eye.  The uncontrolled environment sets up bullies with the opporunity to menace other animals and cause them fear and discomfort all day.  Not exactly in line with the warm-fuzzy idea of a dog daycare is it?

Before I knew better, I thought that Le Pouf should consider creating a doggy daycare to compliment our other services.  Then I toured some daycares and talked to people who have worked in doggy daycares, and my mind was quickly changed.  For awhile we even walked the dog of a doggy daycare owner who felt that her own daycare wasn't safe enough for her dog.  Please know that I am taking an educated position on the issue.  It may be profitable, but it's not doing right by the animal, and Le Pouf will have nothing to do with it.  I should note that I feel there are exceptions; there are a few daycares with extensive outdoor space, who walk the dogs, and who break the group up into small manageable sizes, etc.  These daycares are the minority, but they do exist.

AB