I've Moved!

This is the last post on this blogging page. My blogs have moved and will continue on my website at http://www.besseyspositivepaws.com.  Please follow me there where you will find the latest class start dates, registration forms and of course the most recent blogs!

Tongue happy?

I recently commented in a discussion on this video on Patricia McConnell's blog about do dogs "kiss to dismiss" This is the link to her thoughts about it and then below is my response to the video. (http://www.patriciamcconnell.com/theotherendoftheleash/kiss-to-dismiss#comment-1680199).

I watched this video several times before commenting and then again & again & again. As I watch, I think this dog is using the lick as a distancing behavior. I feel the dog is guarding the bone but not to the degree that most people think of as resource guarding. All the calming signals are stacking up. The intensity of the lick increases the more invasive the child gets and when the child backs away or stops the licking also stops. I would say the dog had been trained to have great tolerance when items are taken away, either through R+ or through means of reprimand.
The reasons why I see guarding. The ears are never forward, but one time that I noticed, but always back in a slightly stressed fashion. The dog is very fixated on the bone when not licking the child's face; when the kid is waving it around the dog is following it with his eyes. The licking happens when the child is very involved with the bone or has possession of it. While the dog isn't growling and does seem to be very gentle, he uses his feet several times to stop the child's hand & he moves away from the kid like giving the cold shoulder (calming signal). After moving, and the kid comes back in closer, the licking goes to the most extreme and he licks and licks and licks. Could it be the tongue flick calming signal but making contact with skin? The lick isn't going from chin to the forehead, they are quick repetitive licks. Tongue flicks  are another distancing signal. Around 1:25 after regaining the bone the dog becomes quite still & starts intently sniffing the bone, another displacement/distancing behavior. After the kid reaches for the bone again the dog gives a direct stare, although maybe not a hard stare. In the dog world, direct eye contact or direct staring should lead the other dog to respectfully move away or increase distance. To then make his point more clear, the dog gets up and licks a lot, almost as to say enough is enough. It would have been interesting to see if left uninterrupted would the dog have licked until the kid crawled away and then the dog taken his bone and relocated?
 I would be interested to see other footage of this "Kiss to Dismiss". In this case, I feel strongly it is a distancing behavior based off of all the other calming signals the dog is giving.

Abuse or Lack of socialization?

Rescuing a dog is one of the greatest things that a person can do in the animal world. There are so many dogs in need of a home. It can certainly be a challenge obtaining a rescue because we don't know what there previous life was like. A lot of time if a dog is shy, timid or fearful of a particular situation or object they are quickly labeled as having been abused. But is that really the case?
While we are quick to assume the worse, like physical abuse, I feel that lack of socialization plays a bigger hand in how these dogs developed. Dogs have a very small socialization window, the critical period being between ages 3-14 weeks, and most of that time is spent with the breeder. When we acquire the puppy the window shrinks substantially. During the critical period of development you want to expose your puppy to everything and anything that could be a part of their life. Just as quickly as they can form positive associations to people, places, things during this time they can for negative ones too. It is important to keep socialization short and sweet! If you properly socialize a puppy they can adapt quickly to situations or items that may not have been exposed to them in that critical period. They start to generalize that weird objects, people or loud noises are nothing to be afraid off, if exposed in a positive manner.

http://www.pawzforhealth.net/fearful-puppy-behavior/

What about the puppy who doesn't get the proper socialization. Puppy mill dogs are a perfect example.
A puppy who is kept in the barn stall with his other litter mates and never meets anyone except the "breeder" until the day he's purchased it likely to be a very shy, timid puppy. Any object would be new and scary, to be touched or handled would be very invasive. Any quick movements towards the puppy would likely make it back away and cower. A puppy who is cast aside with the mother and pups to live on their own might be more comfortable outside than in a home. These puppies might grow to be 4-5 months or older before they find their first home. While nothing physically abusive happened to these puppies someone might believe they were abused because the way they act.
Socializing a puppy or a dog is such a vital part of owning a dog, if not the most important. It is important for mental stimulation and to continue to build a confident, stable dog. If you have a dog that is older or a puppy that is just beyond the critical period doesn't mean you can't socialize them. It will be a slower process but you can still do it! If you have a dog that you believe to have been abused or maybe now you think they might have been undersocialized you can still teach them and condition them daily to gain confidence. It isn't fair to have dogs go through life fearing weird objects, or particular types of people because we've accepted that is how they are. We need to work to help these dogs and rehabilitate them.
Have you ever rescued or know a dog that is scared of a particular situation or object?

Photo Friday

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." Mahatma Gandhi

Confessions from a Dog Trainer

When people find out I'm a dog trainer conversations often lead to talk of dogs and owner confessions. Fortunately, I love talking about dogs and helping people better understand why their dogs behave the way they do. It isn't uncommon though for people to look ashamed when they tell me about their dogs and supposed bad behaviors. "I let my dog sleep with me, I know I shouldn't."  "I feed my dog people food". The truth is these behaviors aren't frowned upon by all trainers. In fact, I do a lot of things with my dog that people think leads the dog to be *gasp* dominant. Well here are my confessions.

*I let my dogs sleep on the bed....and the couch.

        Both my dogs know an "off" cue and when given will get off the bed or couch. If they ever growled at me I would not allow them there.

*I feed my dogs from the table.

        I like to reward good behaviors. When my dogs are lying down quietly next to my chair I reward them for it. They are not jumping on the table at any point in a day looking for food. 

*My dogs go out the door before me.

        It is easier for me to send both dogs out the door or down the stairs in front of me. I can make them wait but it doesn't make them dominant to go first. If they were pushing past me and knocking me down we would do training to change that.

*I don't always make my dogs heel.

       I allow my dogs to sniff on walks. On a crowded street they would heel. 

*I play tug with them, there are rules.

      If my dog misses the toy or bites me, they game ends. Tug teaches your dog good self control and impulse control. If your dog continually bites or lunges for the toy I would recommend a different game.

The fact that my dogs get to do these things does not make them dominant. It is how I have trained them. At any point if I don't like how the behavior has developed a new training protocol will take place. If you find your dog doing any of the bad behaviors, growling, stealing food, pulling on leash, then I would recommend training. The training will help you strengthen your relationship with your dog and allow you to still enjoy your dog for who they are. 

Happy Holidays

Best wishes and happy holidays to you. May you have a safe holiday and I'll see you in the New Year with a tip a day in honor of National Train Your Dog Month!

Scout and Henry love posing for their annual Christmas Card.

Discount Opportunity

January is National Train your Dog Month! For the remainder of December, anyone that registers for a 6 week session in January will receive 10% off the registration fee! Don’t miss out on this great opportunity and spread the word! Contact me at besseyspositivepaws@yahoo.com or at 207-485-0851 for more information.

Class includes topics such as loose leash walking, coming when called, jumping, sit, down, & leave-its. Imagine being able to take your dog with you anywhere you went...

A Useful Tool

When I take my dogs out in the morning it is dark out. When I get home from work it's dark out. It is the season when it seems exercising the dogs is reduced because of the darkness that surrounds us. I found a very useful tool to aid in the darkness and allowing my dogs to exercise. I do allow Scout and Henry to go outside without a leash. I do, however, go with them. We have a large field where they often go and wonder about following the smell of deer and other walks of life. While I am not concerned so much that they will run away, I do like to be able to see where they are.

http://www.ruffwear.com/The-Beacon_4

Henry wearing his beacon. Taking the photo at night creates some nice side effects with a moving subject.

Ruffwear makes a product called the Beacon. I love it! It has 3 settings, a quick flashing, slow flashing and a solid light. In theory you can set each dog to a particular light setting so you know which dog is which. I just put both lights on solid as I don't care for the flashing setting.  Now after work, I come home, put their collars on with the Beacon and we set off for a walk around the field. I can keep tabs on the dogs and they can stretch their legs after a long day. I would highly recommend it to anyone that has a free ranging dog, anyone that walks there dog in the dark on busy roads, or anyone that just wants a little sense of security in the dark.

Bad Behavior and the Veterinary Practice

As a dog trainer I often work closely with veterinary practices. If I have a house-training case or a problem presented to me that is newly developed I will first ask the client to rule out a medical condition. When a dog has a lapse in house-training and begins having accidents throughout the house I will often ask what is different? If the answer is nothing, I encourage the client to take a urine specimen to their veterinarian to rule out the possible urinary tract infection. If a dog is presented with snapping at children, other dogs, or when you handle him, it might be that the dog is painful. Once the medical avenues have been ventured and the results come back good, then we start trouble shooting and breaking down the scenario in which the incident occurred.

The other way in which I work with veterinarians is helping their clients build a confident puppy or dog. It is less stressful for owner and dog when the dog is comfortable entering the veterinary office. Besides training dogs, I also work as a receptionist at the Windsor Veterinary Clinic. I can attest to the amount of dogs that come into the clinic fearful and shy as well as the ones that couldn't be happier to visit us. So how do you get that dog that wiggles and wags instead of shaking and whining as soon as you walk through the Vet's door?

The answer is start when the puppy is young but these tips can work for an adult dog too!

How do you go from this to a dog happily walking through the vet clinic door?

• From day one always do your best to make your puppy's visit exciting and positive. Always bring tasty, high value treats to feed your puppy for the exam and vaccinations. For every scheduled visit you have you should try and take your dog a handful of times for no reason.

• Bring your puppy or dog in "just for fun". Call ahead to make sure the lobby isn't overflowing (especially if you have a shy dog) and ask if you can bring Fido in to eat a few treats while standing in the lobby.
• The more you do this the more effective it will be, but once a month will still make a difference 

• As your puppy or dog becomes more comfortable in the lobby encourage the Veterinarian (if available), the Technicians and the Receptionists to feed your puppy. 

• Repeat these steps until your dog happily walks into the vet.

Tips for the dog that is shy or fearful. 

• Probably the most important, Go slow! 

• Try and schedule your appointment for a time when there will be less "traffic" at the office. First thing in the morning, after lunch, or end of day so that you can decrease the amount of triggers for your dog.

• If you dog is not taking treats find a point where he will, which might mean in the parking lot or starting in the car.

• If your dog is really fearful you may have a long road ahead of you and your conditioning may have to start in the parking lot with high value treats. Unfortunately the employees will be less likely to partake in the treat giving in the parking lot. You could even go as far as coming before or after hours and feeding your dog his meal outside. 

• A dog that is shaking in the car in the parking lot may not be ready to enter the building the first few sessions. Rehearse pulling into the parking lot, waiting for some signs of calm behavior, such as sighing, sitting, or a shake off, and reward with a treat and leaving. 

• Bring your dogs favorite toy and engage in a game in the parking lot, on leash of course, and then leave. 

• Practice walking to the lobby door, treating, entering and treating and then turning around and leaving. Do Not treat your dog for leaving the vet clinic. Leaving is a reward in itself and we want the dog to want to enter the clinic so that he can get his high value treats

When you have no choice and need to get your dog to the vet for an unforseen visit always try and leave on a positive note. Don't rush your dog right out the door from the exam room. Wait again until you see the slightest means of relaxing behavior, even if that means your dog offers or responds to a behavior cue like sit and then exit the building. And then go through the above steps as often as possible to ensure that your dog has more positive visits than negative! Remember this is a PROCESS you are not going to get overnight results.

Crate Training

A crate or kennel is a wonderful tool to utilize when bringing a new puppy into the home. It will help you quickly housetrain your puppy or manage your dog with inappropriate chewing. There are a variety of crate styles available, which one is right for you and your dog? I personally prefer the plastic crates, aka airline crates. They provide a visual barrier to your dog as they can only see out the door and a couple of slots on the sides and back of the crate. Dogs like to feel secure and will often seek out a place that may feel den like. This style kennel will do just that. There are collapsible crates, which make for easy storage, and they are either all wire or fabric with zippers. The downside to these crates; the wire crate provides no sense of security as it seems that anything in the dog's environment could come at the dog from all sides & the mesh crate could easily be torn or chewed through by the bored, adolescent dog.

The crate is good to utilize when you can't devote your attention to your puppy. If you know that left to their own they will find a sock to chew on or surf the counter then a crate would be a good place to stick him.

Henry will often put himself in his crate for a nap or at bed time. 

 The crate should always be a positive place for your dog to go. Even if you are using it for your dog as a "time out" it is all in the context in how you put your dog in there. If you snag your dog by the collar and drag him partially lifted from the ground and then sling him into the crate and slam the door all the while yelling at him then it will be perceived as a very negative place to go. Your dog will likely run from you the next time they know they have to go in the crate. If you interrupt the behavior and send your dog to the kennel with a Kong or toy and simply give him a time out with little fuss then you will maintain your sanity and your dog will still enjoy going to his crate.

Crates are not meant to be babysitters for our dogs. Plenty of exercise and mental stimulation should be provided to a dog who has to be crated, especially for a long work day.

The crate should be in a location in the house where your dog spends time but is out of high traffic areas. You wouldn't want to place the crate in the basement if you never spend time down there with your dog. Even if properly introduced, a dog would likely be reluctant to go to his kennel if it is located somewhere that doesn't feel safe to him. Yet you wouldn't want the crate where kids may be running back and forth in front of it and teasing the dog.

Crates help to teach our dogs how to be alone. In this day and age we can take our dogs with us to many places that they haven't learned how to function without us. I like to use the crate for short periods of time when I am home with my dogs. It isn't that they can't be loose in the house but I do it so that if I have to separate them or put them away while I have company they know how to rest quietly in there. A dog that knows the routine of "I'm crated while you are at work but no other time" often will pitch a fit, whine, or bark if they are placed in the crate but still can have visual access to you. I will also utilize it to take one dog with me in the car and leave the other dog home. This teaches the dogs how to "survive" when their buddy isn't with them.

While crate training, a crate should be large enough for the dog to stand up, turn around, and lay down in. As your dog becomes reliably housetrained and crate trained you can upgrade to a more spacious crate.

Ways to help your dog enjoy his crate:

Feed every meal in the crate

Provide a stuffed Kong with peanut butter, banana, plain yogurt, kibble, or cheese, the sky is the limit on stuffing these hollow toys.

If your dog won't eat it, you could put bedding or a blanket in the crate. Not recommended if you are working on housetraining.

Here is the APDT (Association of Professional Dog Trainers) steps to introducing a dog to the crate:

Introducing the crate

The following steps are general guidelines to ensure your dog is happy to go into the crate. It may take several days, or just a few moments to progress through these steps.

If you are consistent, the dog should quickly learn that the crate is a nice place to be—he gets to lie down in a soft spot and gets to chew on something he enjoys. Once you have successfully trained your dog to accept the crate, you can leave the crate open in your house. You may find that your dog will go into the crate and lie down there on his own with the door open, and enjoy a nice cozy place they can snuggle into and retire from the world.

1. Toss a few treats into the back of the crate. If your dog hesitates at all, go to the next step. If he eagerly enters the crate without hesitation, skip to step 8.

2. Feed the dog his meal next to the crate until you see no hesitation in response to the crate.

3. Place the dog’s meal just inside the crate until you see no hesitation in response to the crate.

4. Place the dog’s meal about halfway inside the crate until you see no hesitation in response to the crate.

5. Place the dog’s meal all the way into the back of the crate until you see no hesitation in response to the crate.

6. Place the dog’s meal all the way into the back of the crate, and gently close the door behind him while he eats. When he is finished, let him out.

7. Place the dog’s meal all the way into the back of the crate, and gently close the door behind him while he eats. Wait for a few minutes to pass after completing the meal, and let him out.

8. Toss a food toy or chew toy into the back of the crate. Close the crate door (but don’t try to “trick” your dog inside! Let him see you.). As long as he is relaxed and enjoys the chew item, allow him to stay in the crate for up to 5 minutes. If he panics at all, contact a professional.

9. Repeat step 8, and increase the amount of time by 5-10 minute increments. Keep repeating until you get up to an hour with a calm, happy dog inside the crate. If the dog panics at all, contact a professional.

10. Set the crate up with some toys near where you will be. For example, if you are sitting down to read the newspaper in the kitchen, set the crate in the kitchen where the dog can see you, and then sit down and read. If you planning on watching a TV show, set the crate up near the couch and proceed to watch your show. Intermittently talk to your dog in a calm, happy tone of voice and occasionally toss a treat to let him know he’s being a good boy for calming lying in the crate.

11. Repeat step 10, and increase the amount of time by 5-10 minute increments. Keep repeating until you get up to an hour with a calm, happy dog inside the crate.

Even if you don't intend to utilize the crate for anything it is still good to condition your dog to like one. There will be times in your dog's life when he will need to be in a crate. Perhaps your dog has to visit a boarding facility, a veterinary clinic, or groomers. Let's say you have a family emergency and need to go out of state and can't take your dog. All of the family and relatives are going to the same place so no one can watch your dog at home and you have to kennel the dog. I have worked at a dog boarding facility before and you can always tell the dogs who have never been in such an environment. It is sad to see. They won't eat, they often lay quietly in their kennel run and are overall just stressed. A dog that has visited a boarding facility or doggy day care at some point in its life just because or has been crate trained is more likely to have a smoother transition.
I like the crate. I don't use it every day but it is so handy to have as a tool. If introduced correctly most dogs will put themselves in the crate voluntarily and will adapt well to any situation requiring kenneling or crating.

Photo Friday

"The greatest pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself, too." Samuel Butler

"Can't Teach an Old Dog New Tricks"

It seems like every time I turn around I am being asked questions pertaining to the age of one's dog for training. Questions like, "Is she too young to start training?", "Is she too old to be trained?" Or statements like "You can't teach an old dog new tricks."
It is a misconception about dogs that they can't learn new tricks once they are older but they most certainly can. Every day a dog is learning, regardless of age. It is more ideal to start working and training your dog at a younger age because habits are less formed.

Dogs learn every day whether you directly teach them a trick or interact with them as you go about your day. The thing with a dog who is older is he has had more time to have developed habits. Habits are hard to undo but it can be done. Think of someone who smokes, chews their nails or a kid who sucks his thumb, it takes many weeks or months to break those habits and to redirect the behavior to something else. The longer the habit is exercised the longer the process will be to change it. It takes consistency and patience.
With a puppy we work on preventing unwanted behavior. We work on teaching a puppy bite inhibition, how to sit instead of jumping on us, what are appropriate items to chew on and what are not. If a puppy grows into adolescence not having learned these behaviors at a young age just means you will spend a bit longer working on teaching behaviors that are more desirable. If you don't like the path your dog is on, start now to change the ending.
The same steps for preventing behaviors in puppies can be applied to treating the same behaviors in older dogs with established habits. In the end, even old dogs can learn new tricks.

Photo Friday

Shaping your Dog

Sometimes when training our dogs, less is more. Less talk that is. We talk to our dogs A LOT. We tell them how adorable they are, how good they are, and we tell them what they aren't doing correctly more often than not. When it comes to problem solving, concentration with little background noise is best initially. Overtime we want to work on proofing behaviors as the distractions increase. When our dogs are learning it is important to try and keep quiet.

That being said, when you like what your dog has done let him know. A smile, an exuberant "Good Dog!" and a treat will communicate that to your dog. Those type of acknowledgments can be lost on our dog if we are constantly talking to them. "Sit, sit, sit down Fido, why aren't you listening, sit, si..."Good Dog", stay, stay, no sit, sit sit..." You get the picture. If you are quiet and patient, and give your dog a chance to respond you will likely see a decrease in stress and a higher rate of attention.

 

Shaping is using a series of small steps to achieve a final behavior. It is done without manipulating the dog in any way whether with physical corrections, voice commands or pointing. Shaping encourages the dog to make decisions and we get to watch and mark the right decisions. Think of it as playing the childhood hiding game, "Hot and Cold". As you get closer to the hidden item you keep getting reinforced by a verbal marker hot, hot, hotter, or if you are steering off on the wrong course you hear cold. With shaping, the equivalent to being "hot" is the sound of the clicker and a treat. The absence of a click is the indicator to the dog that he is cold. The more clicks he gets, the more correct decisions he is making towards the final behavior. You want to keep your body still and quiet so that your dog makes all the decisions.

Below are two videos. One is me shaping Henry to put his feet in the laundry basket. Henry is pretty new to shaping and takes longer to think things through. The second video is to show the difference between dogs who have done a lot of shaping to those that haven't and is of my older dog Scout, also being shaped to put his feet in the basket. Take notice that in both videos I'm overall quite still and I don't talk to the dogs at all except when they make a breakthrough towards the final behavior.

 

 

Photo Friday

"Animals are such agreeable friends – they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms." George Elliot

Photo Friday

"You can say any foolish thing to a dog and the dog will give you a look that says, 'My God, you're right! I never would've thought of that!'" Dave Barry

What's in a food?

All dog foods are created equal.
What is good for one dog must be good for another.
If it costs more, it must be a good quality food.
100% complete and balanced!

Yikes! Look at all the artificial coloring, it holds no nutritional value for our dogs.

These are some of the most common pet food myths that will be touched upon today. Nutrition is such a vast subject and is a topic of great debate and extensive conversation. I will touch on the key components of nutrition as it relates to our dog and get you started on understanding what is on a dog food label.

Extensive research has been done on the diet of wolves, coyotes and foxes. Dogs and wolves are biologically the same. The dog descended from the wolf and shares some of its similarities. For instance, wolves are carnivores. Their primary diet consists largely of meat with minimal fruit and grasses. While our dogs are not wolves, it is still evident that they require large amounts of protein. In fact, it should make up the bulk of their dog food.

When you look at the ingredient list on your dog's food, it is mandatory for the manufacturer to list the ingredients in order of descending weight. That means the first ingredient in the list weighs the most. Because dogs require protein, it is encouraged by many, those who have done extensive research in canine nutrition, that within the first 5 ingredients there be at least 2 protein sources. For instance:

Innova Large Breed Adult (first 5)
Turkey, Chicken, Chicken Meal, Whole Grain Barley, Whole Grain Brown Rice

It is pretty evident what Turkey and Chicken are, the birds, no confusing words around it. What about Chicken Meal? What is the meal component? According to the AAFCO, (Association of American Feed Control Officers - they regulate what goes into dog foods), a meal is the protein source free of all moisture content. It is pure protein. When you look at something like turkey or chicken, the bulk of the weight is actually water weight. Similar to humans, aren't we about 70% water weight? While a whole protein source like chicken is good, chicken meal is almost better in the sense that if it is first that weight is all protein not protein and moisture. Now, what about some of the other protein sources. There are some companies that opt to use by-products. Here are some of the definitions food companies need to abide by when selecting their ingredients.

Definitions: 
Meat: is the clean flesh derived from slaughtered mammals and is limited to that part of the striated muscle which is skeletal or that which is found in the tongue, in the diaphragm, in the heart, or in the esophagus; with or without the accompanying and overlying fat and the portions of the skin, sinew, nerve, and blood vessels which normally accompany the flesh. It shall be suitable for use in animal food. If it bears a name descriptive of its kind, it must correspond thereto.

Meat By Product: is the non-rendered, clean parts, other than meats, derived from slaughtered mammals. It includes but is not limited to, lungs, spleens, kidneys, brains, livers, blood, bones, partially defatted low temperature fatty tissues, and stomachs and intestines freed of their contents. it does not include hair, horns, teeth and hoofs. It shall be suitable for use in animals food. If it bears a name descriptive of its kind, it must correspond thereto.

Poultry By-Product - must consist of non-rendered clean parts of the carcasses of slaughtered poultry such as heads, feet, viscera, free from fecal content and foreign matter except in such trace amounts as might occur unavoidable in good factory practice.

Poultry By-Product Meal - consists of the ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcass of slaughtered poultry, such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs, intestines, exclusive of feather, except in such amounts as might occur unavoidably in good processing practices.

Why would a company use by-products? They are often a cheaper substitute for the real thing. There may be some that claim by-products have their place and are very high protein sources. This may be partially true but the "high proteins" are often in a form that a dog can not easily digest, therefore, not getting the appropriate nutrients from it.

Here are two ingredient lists, one which I would consider a high quality food and the second, one you would get at your grocery store, a place that typically carries the lower quality dog food.



http://blog.barknpurr.com/2012/11/14/brand-profile-orijen/

There is such a difference between these two food. One uses "people" food, whole vegetables and fruits and the other a variety of synthetic flavors and artificial coloring. One is likely to be more expensive than the other but there are other low quality brands out there that are quite costly. Why? They need to make money somewhere for all the marketing and commercials you see. Often the higher quality foods aren't as well known as some of the lower quality foods and this is likely due to the fact that they take the marketing money and put it towards the higher quality ingredients.

Also the cheaper food actually end up costing you more than the higher quality food. What goes in must come out. The cheaper foods have more waste so you need to feed more to actually get your dog a reasonable amount of the nutrients. The higher quality food has less waste within the kibble so you can feed less because more is absorbed. So of the above examples, food A you may only need to feed 3 cups/day and the food B you would have to feed 6 cups/day.

Things to look out for in ingredient lists - vague descriptions. In the bargain brand food listed, it doesn't specific what meat is used for the meat and bone meal or what animal fat is being used. This leaves wiggle room for the company to always be able to shop for the cheapest ingredients while staying "true" to the ingredient list. As noted about, avoid artificial colors, as well as preservatives BHA and BHT, these are known carcinogenic preservatives used in foods, human food too, and in packaging.

It is a continuing debate on what is good for dogs. Your dog may do just fine on a lower quality food but that doesn't mean that is what is best for them. Think of yourself or your child. Just because they survive and can live on McDonalds doesn't mean they should eat it every day forever, does it? Eventually you are going to notice health problems.

The thing with dogs and puppies, are that they are relatively resilient. You may not see problems until they are big problems. For dogs it may be fatty tumors, cancerous tumors, organ failure, or joint problems to name a few. Feeding a higher quality food can help prevent the onset of some of these
problems. Your dog will develop better physically and mentally. Provide your dog with a high quality food and supplement with fresh whole fruits and vegetables and you will add a lot to their commercial dry dog food.

Photo Friday

Sensitivities vs. Allergies

Did you know that if your dog has a sensitivity to food one of the first things you should notice is your dog's skin changes? They may become more itchy, they could start shedding more, the coat may dry out and you may see more dandruff or they might develop an odor and a greasy coat. Dogs may develop an ear infection, a rash or discoloration of their coat (usually on lighter dogs).

For the first 2 years of Scout's (my 5 year old yellow lab) life he had chronic, although mild ear infections. He would itch some but not to a degree that would earn any concern. The ear infections I chalked up to the fact that he was a lab and labs always had ear infections. It wasn't until I switched the brand of dog food that it made me question a food sensitivity. What prompted the switch was that the manufacturer of the food I was feeding had sold out to a company that makes everything from cosmetics to shampoos to food. Often in the dog food world, once this happens, the quality of the ingredients start to change. So before that happened I switched foods. It was unintentional the first food I switched Scout to, but it was a high, novel protein (bison, venison), free of rice and full of pro and prebiotics. Within a span of 3 weeks, Scout's ears, untreated with medications, cleared. I had never seen them so clean. While he never had a raging infection he always had that greasy, yeasty debris. It was at this point that I became aware that he had even been itchy. Because when he used to jump up and start scratching his armpits after laying on carpet, I would think, he has little hair there and the fiber of the carpet must irritate him. After switching foods, he hardly ever itched. That it is when the light bulb went off! 

It took many months, close to a year, of trial and errors to narrow down the ingredients which were irritating to him. In the end it came down to Rice and/or Chicken. I am more certain that it is chicken because once it came down to the two, I picked a chicken grain free diet which had about 6 different chicken ingredients within the first 10 listed. At the end of 1 week being on the food, his ears started to get that greasy debris. Scout can still eat things with chicken in it, but just not an overabundance and every day for a month or more. I have no problem with grains in a dogs diet, I find it just as easy to pick foods that are chicken and grain free. Scout who will be 6 in a couple of short months has been ear infection free for 4 years. 

You may have noticed that I keep calling it sensitivities verses allergies. The difference between a sensitivity verses an allergy is that with allergies they are acute reactions; swelling, can't breath, overall, severe issues that need attending. Think of people who are allergic to bee stings and need immediate assistance. Sensitivities are an intolerance. They can occur anywhere 2-72 hours post exposure, like after eating something. According to Dr. Jean Dodds, Veterinarian and one of the foremost experts in pet healthcare, onset of sensitivities occur between 6 months to 4 years for most animals. Largest complaints when it comes to sensitivities, itching, otitis externa (ear infections), and seborrhea (dry skin flakes like dandruff ). 

There are definitely other reasons dogs can itch. Food sensitivity actually falls third in the list of many things. Number 1 = Flea bites, Number 2 = atopy, or inhalant allergy, and then Number 3 = food sensitivity. 

If you think your dog has an intolerance to something in particular, like food, it is important to give the trial 4-6 weeks if not 6-8 weeks of eliminating that particular ingredient. Then if there is no improvement you can try eliminating more ingredients. There are a number of companies out there that offer a limited ingredient formula which is often one protein source and one grain which is extremely helpful when doing food trials.

 

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"All of the animals except for man know that the principal business of life is to enjoy it." 
Samuel Butler