Happy Doggies Make Happy Humans

My Dog Takes Care Of Me--I'm Smiling

Sometimes when I'm out walking Krystal, people ask me what happens to her when I'm sick. They really want to know if she's still a happy dog. How do I handle giving her long walks every day. And do I let her do her business in the house.

I'll answer the last question first. Doing her business in the house is not an option. Krystal knows she always goes outside. She gets lots of positive "good girl" reinforcement along with "good potty" and "good poop" every time she does her stuff. No matter what the weather--rain, sleet, snow, hotter than blazes--we go outside. 

Krystal's now 4 years old, so she's developed the ability to hold on and wait if there's a thunder and lightening storm, or a heavy downpour. Sometimes the weather is so bad that she absolutely doesn't want to go outside. Since I'm the one who knows the weather report, or how long it's been since the last potty breatk, I may insist. Luckily, she's small, so I can lift her up and carry her outside and stay put until she does her stuff. Then we both race back inside.

If I'm not feeling well, Krystal is a flexible dog. She'll go for a short walk, and we can go back inside quickly. Some dogs (I'm thinking of Border Collies) couldn't handle being deprived of their long walks. But, I'm blessed with Krystal, who keeps track of my health and well being, and will go along with whatever I need. I'm filled with gratitude.

But mostly, what I want to say is that when I'm not well, Krystal steps up. She's right there for me, making sure to be extra gentle, and generous with her hugs and kisses. She's my guardian angel, and she watches out for my needs. And she does it happily. I am blessed to be living with a compassionate happy loving dog.

She smiles and I smile.

How to Get Rid of Fleas in Your House Using Natural Products

This is the story of how 20 Mule Team Borax re-entered my life. I didn't know the product was still on the market. My grandmother used it. My mother thought it was a waste of money because you had to use laundry detergent plus 20 Mule Team Borax (just laundry detergent was fine with her.)

I remember those wonderful commercials with the 20 mule team wagons crossing Death Valley to deliver the Borax to market. My grandmother loved those commercials. I looked on You Tube, but the commercials aren't there, so I thought I'd show you a short video of the annual Mule Days in Boron, California with the original wagons.

20 Mule Team Borax re-entered my life because fleas are thriving in North Carolina. My dog Krystal has been on standard veterinarian prescribed anti-flea medications, and she still got fleas. The owner of Harmony Farms Health Food Store told me the flea situation was so bad he had put his dog on veterinarian prescribed anti-flea medications, while still applying his herbal flea remedy.

I was a bit flummoxed when the groomer informed me that fleas were the reason Krystal was so itchy. Glad to know the reason, but not sure what to do. I did a home inspection and discovered a bunch of dead fleas in one of Krystal's favorite lounging places. These fleas must have bitten her, and the veterinarian prescribed anti-flea medications killed them. With that one bunch of dead fleas, I decided I had to de-flea the whole house.

I searched the Internet and discovered all sorts of products that were probably very effective against the fleas, but were of questionable value for dog and human health. You have to wonder when the instructions tell you to wear a mask and to put a mask on your pet while applying. (I admit I did giggle at the thought of Krystal wearing a mask.) We're sensitive folks so I'm careful about introducing pesticides in our house.

Finally I remembered the www.Care2.com healthy & green living site. This site has a great search box, and at least a zillion articles on natural pest control, and each article has comments--which can sometimes be very helpful (I found out about the 20 Mule Team Borax from a comment on one of these articles.) There are many choices on how to approach this problem, the one that I'm describing here is based on using citrus products for households with dogs only.

Luckily I've got a great health foods store nearby. When I walked in with my list of products, the owner knew exactly what I wanted, and had personal recommendations on how to go about de-fleaing my house because he'd already been through this with his dog.

Here's what I spent my weekend doing:

• Washing my dog's bedding, leash & harness and personal items: 20 Mule Team Borax. (Borax is often used in pest control.)
• Washing human clothes, bedding, towels, throw rugs, kitchen dish towels: 20 Mule Team Borax.
• Between upholstered furniture cushions: 20 Mule Team Borax.
• Spraying on backs of upholstery cushions, dog beds, bottoms of human shoes/sandals, and all over outdoor door mats: Citrus Magic Natural All Purpose Cleaner. 
• Counter top & sink cleaning, dog crate cleaning: Citrus Magic Natural All Purpose Cleaner.
• Carpet cleaning: Citrus Magic Carpet & Room Odor Eliminator. Guess what? It's got Borax in it. I vacuumed the carpets first, then sprinkled this on the carpets in the living room & the office and left it on for 24 hours before vacuuming again. The bedrooms & hallway were only 12 hours, because I wasn't sure I could sleep with all that dust in my bedroom carpet. Important: after each vacuuming, remove the vacuum bag, wrap it in a plastic bag and deliver it to the outdoor trash immediately. If you've got live fleas or flea eggs in there you want them out of the house immediately.
• Washing floors, bath tubs, etc: CitraSolv Natural Cleaner & Degreaser.

The owner of the Harmony Farms Health Food Store also recommended a natural anti-flea spray for Krystal to help repel fleas and augment her anti-flea meds. So she's now using Flee, Flea! by Dancing Paws .

So far so good, I've got a very clean house, not a flea in sight. Each day I search Krystal for fleas, and only found a few on the first 2 days. Flee, Flea! seems to be helping her repel them. I've got a whole new set of cleaning products, and 20 Mule Team Borax is once again in my life.

I'll keep you informed on how this works out over time. Please comment and let everyone know how you have dealt with fleas on your pets and in your house.

Walking Your Dog--It's Time for the Summer Schedule

I love this YouTube video of The Dog Song by Nellie McKay. It's so soft and upbeat. She really expresses the best part of our lives with our dogs--companions who bring out the best in each of us.

When I'm out walking Krystal, I sometimes sing this song to her, "I'm just a walking my dog..."

Since I work from home, I get to walk Krystal throughout the day. Our spring schedule has been:

• A 15 minute walk when we get up in the morning.
• A long walk, at least a mile, beginning around 11:30am
• At some point in the day we play fetch inside the house.
• A 20 minute walk around 5:30pm.
• A 10 minute walk at bedtime.

We are now in the midst of changing our dog walking schedule with the arrival of summertime heat and humidity here in Raleigh. Our summer schedule is changing things around quite a bit. We get up earlier:

• Our long walk is now early in the morning, before the heat sets in. (Right now it's actually pleasant then.)
• Our 11:30 walk is now a 20 minute walk. When the heat really sets in, it will go down to 10 minutes.
• During the afternoon, we have several games of fetch, so she can run around the house like a wild and crazy dog.  
• A 20 minute walk around 5:30. When the heat really sets in, it will go down to 10 minutes.
• More fetch games.
• A 20-30 minute walk before bed.

During this transition period, Krystal is a bit disoriented. In spite of that long walk in the morning, she's raring to go for another long one at 11:30. So when I cut the walk short, she's disappointed and a bit confused. I've started taking treats on our walk to reward her for transitioning to shorter walks.

I usually sing songs while we're walking, she knows them and has a different walking style to go with each song. To help her during these intense summer months, I've started singing in the house as well. And, I've added Nellie's song to our repetoire:

"I'm happy because I'm just a walking my dog, singing my song, strolling along. It's just me and my dog catching some sun. We can't go wrong!"

TTouch Massage for Senior Dogs

Here's a second Tellington Touch video for you, focusing on techniques for senior dogs and dogs recovering from surgery.

I particularly like the body wrap for the senior dogs, and will suggest it for my dog Krystal's BFF Winnie the Pooch. Winnie's got all sorts of aches and an injury to the muscles of her right hind hip. She's had physical therapy and meds, so I'm thinking adding that body wrap might just help her feel a little more comfortable in her own skin.

I'm guessing this body wrap might also be helpful for a fearful dog. Swaddling can be powerfull.

This video shows several different massage movements (called TTouch) to go along with the body wrap as well as injury recovery. I'm delighted to see these additional TTouch methods so I can add them to my repetoire of body work techniques with Krystal.

If you've tried TTouch on your dog (or even on your cat), it would be great to hear about your results.

(To view the first video demonstrating the basic TTouch method, see my previous blog post TTouch for You and Your Dog.)

TTouch for You and Your Dog

I love You Tube. Finally, I get to see what this Tellington TTouch is all about. I've heard it's a wonderful way of touching your dog to help relieve tension and even heal emotional and physical conditions.

This demonstration shows the basic TTouch method that internationally respected animal expert, Linda Tellington-Jones has used with horses, dogs, cats, birds, and other companion animals.

According to her website,

"The intent of the TTouch is to activate the function of the cells and awaken cellular inteligence--a little like "turning on the electric lights of the body.

"The TTouch is done on the entire body, and each circular TTouch is complete within itself. Therefore it is not necessary to understand anatomy to be successful in speeding up the healing of injuries or ailments, or changing undesirable habits or behavior...

"TTouch helps to release tension and increase body awareness. This allows the animal to be handled without provoking typical fear responses."

I'm glad she used a horse on this video, that way we can really see what she's doing, and how she's doing it. No scruffy fur to get in the way.

I spent some time TTouch-ing with my dog Krystal. You'll not be surprised to hear that she took a breath just like that horse in the video. She then looked around and settled down for more relaxing TTouching.

I'm going to watch this You Tube video several more times and practice those soothing circular movements so they come naturally. This is one of those methods that feels like it's as good for me as it is for my dog--a way for us to increase our mutual respect and compassion.

If you're interested in learning more, Linda Tellington-Jones has a number of publications, including this DVD,The Tellington Touch for Happier, Healthier Dogs, and this book entitled Getting in TTouch With Your Dog.

(You can a second TTouch video on my next post, TTouch for Senior Dogs.)

Vaccinating Our Loved Ones

by zmxncbv.com 

I'm sure most folks have heard of the controversy regarding the necessity of vaccinating children. The question under debate is whether those vaccines are the cause of a number of childhood diseases that  have apparently increased significantly since widespread vaccinations began (for example, autism.)

You may not be aware there is a lot of questioning in the pet world over the same issues.

People are questioning whether their veterinarian prescribed flea and tick medications are doing more harm than good, and whether the heartworm medication is truly helpful. Home remedies, both time tested and new, are either appearing on the market or being mixed up in home kitchens.

I regard all this questioning as goodness. It makes us better protectors and providers for our pets. Questioning also helps the vets and researchers include new ideas and medical concepts into their work.

One set of questioning focuses on the rabies vaccine. The argument goes that the initial rabies vaccination produces the desired antibodies in the pet's system--so why are there required booster vaccinations throughout a pet's lifetime?

I have heard there is a small but growing movement of people who are not submitting their pets to booster rabies vaccinations.

What are the factors that go into a decision like this?

These days it's sometimes hard to know whether to follow accepted medical/veterinarian procedures, or to walk an independent course. Wellness and alternative medicine practices can sometimes be difficult to evaluate.

One very important decision factor was recently brought to my attention while I was at a North Carolina Natural Sciences Museum gathering that included a number of veterinarians, vet students and members of the public.

Toward the end of the evening there was a short discussion on rabies vaccinations. A vet student asked this very question:

If the protective antibodies are already in a pet's system, why should that pet be required to submit to booster rabies vaccinations every few years?

The unscientific answer was surprising.

If your dog has not had the required vaccinations, and your dog is exposed to rabies, your dog will most likely be put down--by law. You will probably have no say in the matter.

Without required vaccinations, groomers can refuse to clean your dog, boarding facilities can refuse to care for your dog if you need to leave town. And, if there were an emergency evacuation, your un-vaccinated dog may have a hard time being sheltered (reminder: be sure to carry a copy of your dog's vaccination records in your disaster kit.)

I was fascinated how quickly the issue moved from the science of rabies vaccinations to the laws protecting people from this dreadful disease.

I'm interested to hear your thoughts on this matter.

Who Is That Dog?

by Greg Westfall

Thanks to Melanie, for sending me to NPR to hear this delightful story about doggie DNA test results, Got a Mutt? Labs Will Test Your Dog's DNA.

It seems to me that mutt owners and folks who found their dogs at shelters will probably experience the most happiness from the results of these doggie DNA tests. With these dogs there's always the question of the dog's ancestry and what life was like for your beloved dog before coming into your home.

I remember when Krystal and I went to obedience school, one of the first questions the trainers asked us was the background and lineage of our dogs. The folks with purebred dogs had ready answers. The rest of us had answers peppered with speculation on lineage, behavior, and how the original owners might have treated their dogs.

During obedience training, Krystal's dominant West Highland White Terrier characteristics were definitely in evidence--so much so that at one point, one of the instructors held me after class for almost an hour explaining the special personalities of Terriers, and how to live with them. She had 4 Terriers, so she knew what she was talking about.

I've always been grateful for that special attention from the instructor. Hearing her tell me that Terriers demand "fairness" above all else, truly helped me develop a stronger more compassionate relationship with Krystal.

So when someone tells me they've got a mutt, and haven't a clue to their dog's ancestry, I'm respectful and  amazed. I admire the dog, and how creative the dog has to be to communicate important lineage characteristics like "fairness." I admire the human for developing that special flexibility to have a companion animal in their household with no guide to the special characteristics and needs of their dog.

I can just imagine how fun it it might be to receive part of the "back story" of your dog. Filling in some of the gaps can open new vistas on personality and health characteristics, providing endless hours of conversation, speculation and delight.

Please let me know if you've learned your dog's DNA lineage, and what you think about the results. Have any personality or health characteristics suddenly been "explained?" I'm curious to hear your experiences. It sounds like fun.

Call of the Wild

by My_Boy_Dodger

Recently, Anne found herself in the midst of an interesting conversation while at a dog park event here in Raleigh with her large furry Bearded Collie, Winnie.

A number of owners of large furry dogs expressed very strong opinions that large furry dogs should NOT be clipped in the summer.

Their argument was, "nature knows best." If large furry dogs needed less fur in the summer, they would have evolved to shed that unnecessary fur in the hot seasons. Some owners went so far as to to describe a theory that the summertime fur acts as a cooling insulator for these dogs.

This type of thinking flies in the face of logic and experience--which is probably part of its attraction.

Acknowledging this attraction, I did a little web search just to make sure. I found a great article from an Irish vet that details the importance of making sure our furry friends have less fur in the warm summer months.

"Nature knows best" is an argument that needs to be used carefully with dogs. Thousands of years of domestication and specialized breeding has created vastly different results than actual natural selective breeding would have produced.

Let's face it. Large furry dogs probably would not willingly locate themselves in the hot humid summers of the southern United States. My recollection is that we spent most of last August in temperatures averaging over 105 degrees Fahrenheit!

It's a pretty good bet that the Husky down the street would most likely prefer Alaska to North Carolina. (If only his human would move the household!)

Nonetheless, there's a certain romance, a certain cache to having a "wild" animal in the house. I certainly felt it a few months ago when I was talking with someone who had grown up in a household with a cookie stealing half Malamute / half Wolf.

Perhaps that's what these folks are yearning for when they bring in the argument that "nature knows best." In the natural world, the world of actual wild animals, forests, rivers and streams, I'm the first one to talk about "nature knowing best."

But, in the world of dogs and humans, I think more along the line of harmonious relationships between two different species that have lived together for thousands of years.

What are your thoughts on this matter. Do you think of your dog as a wild animal? Another species? What are your experiences with treating your dog as a "wild" animal? Have you observed others treating their dogs in this way? What happened? Please comment, or send me an email.

Adventures in Dog Food

from MShades

Krystal and I have been on a dog food adventure lately. As often happens with these kinds of adventures, there's been more confusion than fun.

Krystal has a tender digestive system, which has been ably taken care of over the last year by her wonderful vet.  A major element of that care includes a "low residue" food, which is easy for Krystal to digest. Once Krystal started eating this food, life improved significantly.

There's an interesting industry practice in the US veterinary universe whereby these types of special foods (low residue, urinary etc) are only available for purchase from vets by prescription. It appears that this is one way the pet food companies support the vets--by giving the vets unique products to sell that are not competitively available at PetSmart or on the web.

We've spent the last month dealing with this particular issue.

A little over a month ago, it was time to buy more food. I went to the vet's office to pick up a new 30 lb. bag, and was informed that in the time since my previous purchase the vet had changed food providers.

This meant I was no longer able to feed Krystal the low residue food she had been thriving on. We'll call this Food #1.

Because her food is only sold by prescription, I now had to purchase Food #2. I was assured there would be no difficulty transferring Krystal onto this new food. With reservations, I purchased Food #2.

For several days I presented her with a half-and-half mixture of both foods. Krystal gobbled down Food #2. For a dog on a restricted diet, new food was like manna from heaven.

Within 48 hours Krystal was a bundle of new energy. While she previously sat in my lap all day while I worked on the computer, she now was jumping up and down all day long and moving throughout the house at a brisker pace. She was increasingly distractible.

I mis-interpreted this as an energy burst that came from the new food--probably she was able to digest the food better, and was truly receiving more nutrients that with Food #1. I figured her metabolism would sort itself out.

At the end of the third week, with an increasingly distractible dog who barely visited my lap during the work day and who was doing her Terrier best to test several well established house rules, I was lonely and confused. To be honest, I had lost the connection between Food #2 and her changing behavior.

It wasn't until Krystal got car sick for the 4th time that I started making connections. She's always loved car rides, and has always been glad to accompany me on errands and take walks outside our neighborhood. Getting car sick just wasn't in her repertoire.

While I was cleaning out her travel crate it dawned on me--Food #2 had brought a lot of changes, and throwing up in the car was only one of them.

What to do?

1. Go find Food #1.
2. Once Krystal was back on Food #1, watch her behavior carefully.
   
   1. IF she returns to her previously lovable self, then there would be happiness and joy for all of us.
   2. IF her new behavior continues, we would go to the vet and see what's causing this behavior change.

Thankfully, my neighbor's daughter has a white boxer, Annabelle, who was being fed Food #1. I went to her vet and purchased Food #1. (FYI, Annabelle's vet had to call Krystal's vet to confirm there was a valid prescription.)

The results are amazing. Within 24 hours of returning to Food #1, Krystal was moving out of her distractible-ness. It was wonderful. My sweet lovable dog was returning to her former self. Over the next week she sat in my lap for increasing amounts of time, remembering it was her favorite perch. She began to behave much better on our walks. And, it was clear she was enjoying herself much more. We could play games and walk through the park. Her former glee was finding it's way back into her emotional repertoire.

One of the things we've learned over the last few years is how little understanding there is about:

1. The ingredients in dog food.
2. The actual nutritional needs of dogs.
   

We also need to add to our lack of understanding, how much the ingredients in dog food can affect a dog's behavior. Perhaps when a dog is misbehaving or has difficulty being trained, a change in food might be in order?

I would love to hear your observations and stories on the relationship between dog foods and their behaviors.

T-Shirt Therapy Does the Trick

Who would think something so simple as a snug t-shirt could take care of a serious skin condition?

It's been a tough 2 years for my friend Lori and Mister Kennedy, her Jack Russell Terrier.

I want to share their healing story to encourage those of you who are engaged with unusual health issues. Persistence and out-of-the-box thinking can sometimes bring pleasant surprises.

Here's their story.

For the last 2 years Mister Kennedy, an 8 year old Jack Russell Terrier, has been suffering from a painful skin condition that caused him to continuously scratch areas of his body, and expose his scratched sensitive skin to the open air.

With no fur covering the skin, Mister Kennedy just kept on scratching, causing infections and extreme discomfort. These open sores were all over his body. Just looking at this photo makes me wince.

His human, Lori, spent countless hours over the last two years taking Mister Kennedy to vets and specialists, acupuncturists and dietitians. There were special diets of raw food, organic food, doses of benedryl, medications and herbs, special soaps and treatments.

No stone was left unturned. Most treatments would help Mister Kennedy for awhile, but sooner or later this painful condition would reappear. As you can imagine, each flare-up brought increased distress and frustration to both Lori and Mister Kennedy.

Out of the blue, about 3 months ago, Lori's sister came up with the idea of putting a snug t-shirt on Mister Kennedy. Maybe, her sister said, it would help those sore skin spots heal easier. And, maybe, Mister Kennedy might feel better with the snugness against his skin.

Lori seriously doubted  anything about a t-shirt could in any way make Mister Kennedy feel the least bit better. Mister Kennedy was one of those dogs who could not stand to be dressed in fabric. Every time Lori tried to put something on him he would quake and shake.

Out of desperation, she tried it. Mister Kennedy was not at all happy about that t-shirt.

But, something amazing began happening. Mister Kennedy stopped scratching. Within the first week his sores began to heal.

Miraculously, within two weeks he really looked wonderfully different. His sores were truly healing, his disposition began improving. His old-self began returning.

He's grown to like his snug t-shirt. Just take a look at him now!

No one knows why that snug t-shirt works. I'm sure glad it does.

I would love to share other healing stories, so please tell your story either in the comments below, or send me an email using the contact form.

Socializing Your Puppy for Health and Happiness

I've got some important new information that updates my previous post Puppy Love.

In that post I had seen a number of new puppies being walked in public parks by their humans. I was concerned for the puppies' health, since their immune systems are not yet fully developed. I researched on the web, and didn't really find anything specifically telling folks to keep their pups away from public places. So I consulted a vet who gave some clear directions.

• A puppy should have its full set of vaccinations before being socialized--that is usually completed by around 16 weeks of age.
• Any social benefits derived from earlier socialization are offset by the risk of catching a potentially life-threatening illness.

This weekend I attended a workshop conducted by the Animal Behavior Service at the College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University.

Dr Barbara Sherman, Director of the Animal Behavior Service, gave a presentation on Living in Harmony with Puppies, which brought together several important pieces of scientific information.

The period of 3-16 weeks marks a puppy's prime learning period for socialization. This means it's the most important time in a puppy's life for developing socializing skills with their mom, other puppies, dogs, children, human adults, and other animals.

In fact, this is a critical period of the puppy's life.

• A rich social life during this critical period immeasurably helps the dog in all social aspects of its future life.
• A lack of socialization during this critical period can handicap a dog for its entire life--including  behavior problems whose effects can multiply over time.

The seriousness of this situation is that behavior problems are the leading cause of death for dogs, with millions of them being euthanized every year for that reason--they never developed the social skills to get along.

So how do you balance socialization needs with physical health needs?

You provide play opportunities and contact with friendly well-vaccinated dogs and puppies. Be selective. Don't go to the park for puppy socialization.

• Friendly, easy going,calm adult dogs who allow puppies to explore and play in their adorable puppy ways.
• Puppy classes that ensure all participants are vaccinated are excellent ways for pups to learn to play with one another in positive environments.

Additionally, during this socialization period,it's important to provide positive experiences by having your puppy gently handled by your children. If you don't have children in your household, you can import them from your neighborhood.

I'll provide more information on puppy socialization in future posts.

Head Massages Make the Difference

We were all cranky on Saturday. It was spitting rain all day, and the dogs weren't happy (Winnie the Pooch was visiting for the weekend.) It was cold, damp, and becoming even colder as the day progressed.

To make matters worse, there was a freezing rain/snow storm that was supposed t hit at 10am, but didn't arrive in Raleigh until around 5pm. (This is as bad as it gets in Raleigh, and I'm extremely grateful.)

All morning long I'd been sitting at the computer writing articles on dog massages. In the afternoon I decided to try out my work on the dogs.

I gave both of them head massages--top of the head, behind the ears, the sweet spot...

I'll say this, giving a massage is almost as good as getting one. Our crankiness dissipated. I won't go as far as saying we magically became happy campers, but we were calmer and able to better enjoy the afternoon.