All posts by Suzanne

Halloween Safety for Your Dog

General Dog Topics

Halloween Safety for Your Dog

Before you begin reading this page, write your veterinarian’s phone number and the 24/7/365 ASPCA Poison help line (888)426-4435 where you can find it again. When you’ve finished reading this page, make a copy of those phone numbers for every telephone in your home. Put a copy into the cell phone’s contacts directory for each of your family members (I have mine under “ICE Dog Emergency” along with my family’s emergency numbers).

Halloween can be a fun time for your family, but not necessarily for your family’s pets. In fact, Halloween can be deadly to pets.

COSTUMES:

Bulldogs in chef hats
English Bulldog puppies in chef’s hat

One of today’s less attractive pet fads is dressing up your dog (or cat) in those cutesy Halloween costumes. Please resist the urge to outfit your dog as a ghost, a witch, or a chef. Avoid anything that causes him to stumble, get tangled up in yards of fabric, or choke from something you or your children tied around his neck. I once declined to place one of my Standard Schnauzer puppies with a family who showed me photos of their previous dogs decked out in holiday attire hat could entangle them. Your dog would much rather look like a dog than “Yoda” from the Star Wars saga. Instead of a costume, why not get him a Halloween-themed collar or a Halloween toy he can enjoy safely at home?

FOODS:
Halloween treats are not good for your dog; they could even kill him. Grapes and raisins contain toxins that can cause kidney failure. Chocolate, especially dark chocolate, also can kill your dog; chocolate comprises both caffeine and theobromine, which can seriously damage the nervous system, urinary system, and heart muscle. Beware of any baked goods made with nutmeg, which affects the nervous system. Especially watch out for candy or gum with xylitol as an ingredient; xylitol causes severe liver damage or death in dogs. If he goes trick-or-treating with your kids, make sure the children know not to share their loot with him–and why. It’s better, however, to keep him home so the kids don’t fall prey to his beseeching eyes and give him “just one” of the treats on his forbidden list.

FEARS:

Standard Schnauzer in Red Hat
Standard Schnauzer in Red Hat

Animals get stressed out when their routine is upset, just as humans do. Travel, dog shows, or parties will do it. The hustle and bustle of Halloween goblins and ghosties in strange costumes can scare your dog. The noise and commotion from trick-or-treaters may frighten him as well. Make sure your dog has a safe, quiet place with food and water so he can withdraw if the excitement becomes too much for him. Some people have had good luck calming their nervous dog with a Thunder Shirt, a calming shirt that works like swaddling on a baby http://amzn.to/2y6cH6h  . My advice is to avoid tranquilizers because they sometimes exacerbate the nervous behavior you’re trying to avoid. Instead, you might try NaturVet’s Quiet Moments Plus Melatonin  http://amzn.to/2yUMnLO. I’ve been pleased with all the NaturVet products I’ve tried, Friends and family say Quiet Moments also works well to calm their dogs before grooming sessions. My dogs think their NaturVet Digestive Enzymes Plus Probiotics  http://amzn.to/2i7vHGM soft chews are a treat—they each get three chews plus a segment of an orange every morning.

GENERAL HAZARDS:
Often in the commotion surrounding a holiday such as Halloween, we forget to consider the needs of our dogs. Put those Halloween treats in sealed dog-proof containers, preferably containers that keep enticing aromas from tempting your dog. Avoid scented candles, particularly when unattended, both because of the often-poisonous ingredients and because of the fire hazard they represent if your dog should drag or knock them off the table. Liquid potpourris or sachets that smell like pumpkin pie or baking cookies, while pleasant to you, can cause heat and chemical burns and welts to your dog’s skin and oral damage if ingested. If you enjoy decorating for autumn, be sure whatever you put in your home is safe for your pet; be careful if you decorate with cornucopias and the like that the fruits and nuts are safe for your dog. No grapes, raisins, macadamia nuts, or other unsafe fruits.

If you have guests who smoke, ask them to do so outside, and impress upon them to be careful disposing of their cigarette or cigar butts. E-cigarettes are even more hazardous to pets (and you and your kids!)–they emit toxic fumes that stay on furniture, flooring and clothing; the toxins are absorbed into the body when those surfaces are touched or licked, and can be absorbed into your dog’s pads or your family’s bare feet from residue on flooring. Nicotine poisoning is a fast killer for dogs, and chewing on (or swallowing) cigarette filters isn’t good for them, either.

Your trash can is an enormous source for things hazardous to your dog’s health:
* bacteria such as E. coli and Salmonella;
* small bones that could cause choking or intestinal puncture;
* wads of used aluminum foil that, if chewed, can block your dog’s intestines;
* string used to tie meat or poultry;
* peelings or rinds that can have gone bad.

POISON:
If you suspect your dog has ingested a poisonous substance, call your veterinarian and the ASPCA Poison Control Help Line at (888)426-4435; it’s attended 24/7/365, so you can always reach help (https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control). The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA, http://www.aspca.org), founded by Henry Bergh in 1866, is both the oldest animal humane society in North America and the largest in the world. You can find resources such as lists of dog-safe and dog-toxic plants for your home and yard, lists of safe foods for your dog, and lists of unsafe foods–for example, a list of people foods your pet should never eat: https://www.aspcapro.org/resource/people-foods-pets-should-never-eat

SYMPTOMS OF POISONING: Look for blue, purple, white, brick colored or extremely bright red gums or tongue. Seek immediate medical attention for a heart rate over 180 beats per minute. Take your dog’s temperature, which should not be over 102.5 degrees Fahrenheit (39.2 Celsius). Notice if your dog is losing its balance or appears disoriented. Look for vomiting and diarrhea. Be alert to heavy panting lasting longer than 30 minutes or wheezing. Notice any sudden appetite loss. Take your dog to a veterinarian if you suspect poisoning. See further instructions at  https://www.wikihow.com/Recognize-Poisoning-in-Dogs.

Cooking for Your Dog

General Dog Topics
Cooking for Your Dog

© 2017 by Suzanne T. Smith

This post is a modification of my Standard Schnauzers column in the AKC Gazette, July 2013.

Hippocrates said, “Let food be thy medicine.”

I wrote a cookbook, Cooking for Your Dog [1], especially for a historic event  for the three Schnauzer breeds—Standard, Miniature, and Giant.  Held at Purina Farms west of St. Louis, Missouri, Schnauzapalooza was the first time the three breeds’ parent clubs joined their National Specialty dog shows at the same place and time. I sold the book as part of one of the event’s special features, The Art of the Schnauzer. In addition to lots of canine nutrition information and over 60 great recipes for dog food and treats, the book included more than 400 photographs of puppies ranging in age from shortly after their birth to a year old. The book’s cover graphic is the Chinese Zodiac symbol for The Year of the Dog.

Dog food manufacturers claim only they can provide a dog’s “complete and balanced” diet. Domestic dogs have thrived on their own scavenging for over 4000 years, but the commercial dog food industry has existed only since about World War II. Healthy dogs can eat what we eat—their diet, balanced over time like ours, is more complete with home-cooking. Commercial foods, even those touted and sold by veterinarians, often lack elements crucial to your dog’s health. Continue reading Cooking for Your Dog →

Using Cell Phone Cameras at Dog Shows

General Dog Topics, Good New Product

Using Cell Phone Cameras for Dog Show Photos

StdSchnauzer, man, woman.
Ivory (GCH CH Wüstefuchs Ivory Mesa CGC RATI RATN RATO) finishing her GCH under Yvonne Savard (ABQ 5/14). Handler: Ron Smith.

Recently, husband Ron and Ivory (GCH CH Wüstefuchs Ivory Mesa CGC RATI RATN RATO)  participated in four days of dog shows at the Washington County Fairgrounds in Lake Elmo, Minnesota.  The show grounds and RV parking, covered with neatly mowed grass and shade trees, had an adequate selection of vendors and food trucks nearby on-site.  With the cool weather and friendly people (and dogs), we couldn’t have asked for a better show experience or better conditions for photos.

The Thursday and Friday shows were sponsored by the St. Croix Valley Combined Specialties Association. On Thursday, Ivory participated in the North Star Working Breeds Association’s show, restricted to Working Breeds only. On Friday, the Heartland Standard Schnauzer Club of the Greater Twin Cities held its Regional Specialty Show, where Ivory won 2nd place in Veteran Sweepstakes Ages 9–11. Her prize was a check for $6.40 and a set of cute stone magnets hand-painted with paw prints. An informal dinner and raffle followed the HSSC show. The St. Croix Valley Kennel Club’s all-breed dog shows were held on Saturday and Sunday, where Ivory supported the club <grin>.  In the four shows, 20–30 Standard Schnauzers competed, depending on the day—a lovely weekend for taking dog show pictures of our breed.

Ron and I had upgraded our cell phones in July to Samsung Galaxy S8 (http://amzn.to/2wKdEjp), partly because the improved camera capabilities enabled me to  take photos of our dogs both at home and at dog shows without my losing track of the action in the ring. In addition to its photo capability, e-mail is a breeze. Several other useful apps make our new Samsung smart phones a great improvement over my old voice-and-camera-only LG.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 phone is both lightweight and easy to use for quick snapshots, but the photographer (me) couldn’t hold the phone steady enough while pressing the button to take a non-blurry photo (what was that about walking and chewing gum at the same time?). So I hunted around on Amazon.com and found a lightweight (less than a pound) tripod for me to carry to dog show rings.

The Peyou  aluminum 50-inch tripod with a universal smart-phone holder-mount (http://amzn.to/2x6Gf27) works perfectly for my purposes. It’s easy to tote it in my wheelchair from our RV or grooming area to ringside. It’s also easy for me—mechanically all thumbs—to set up. The smart-phone holder for mounting the phone on the tripod is adjustable enough to fit just about any smart phone. It’s easy to attach to the tripod; a regular camera will fit on the tripod mount as well. Another nifty feature included in the tripod package is the wireless remote control for the smart-phone camera’s shutter. The tripod and shutter control fit neatly into the carrying case for over-the-shoulder (or over-the-wheelchair-handles) transport. This compact, lightweight tripod package is great for hikers, backpackers, skiers,  travelers, or RV campers like us.

I’m a novice when it comes to photography. Ron  is the photographer of our family. He has a few of those cameras you have to fiddle with to get them to focus, and he has a bunch of special-effects lenses, too. For me, just being able to capture an image quickly with a minimum of fuss is ideal, and a real bonus is being able to figure out what the image represents afterward (too many of my photos are of the ceiling or the inside of my fingers). To this end, I highly recommend the Samsung Galaxy S8 (http://amzn.to/2wKdEjp) and the Peyou tripod package (http://amzn.to/2x6Gf27). If it works for a rank amateur like me, it will work for anyone.

At the same time, I also bought a clip-on microphone for when I learn how to make videos with a voice-over, but I haven’t become tried that yet. I’ll tell you about the microphone another time, so stay tuned!

Dealing with Dog Fights

General Dog Topics

How to Deal with Dog Fights

Cartoon: Dog and Cat Fighting
Dog and Cat Fighting

When I began showing Standard Schnauzers in 1967, another exhibitor warned me that if ever a dog fight broke out in a nearby ring or ours, I should run in the opposite direction. Not long after that warning, I saw what he meant when two St. Bernards began to fight in the next ring. To this day, the sound of a dog fight strikes terror to my heart. Cat fights, dog-cat fights, any animal fights—all ugly sounds.

Over the years, it has been my displeasure to break up an assortment of dog fights. Most were little tiffs about treats or a favorite toy. Some, however, were fairly serious, usually about territory, food, or a love interest. The higher the value a dog places on the object of the fight, the more intense the dog fight will be.

Dog Fights Injure Dogs and People

Dog fights can seriously injure both dogs and people. Most dog breeders I know have assorted small scars on hands and arms from breaking up dog squabbles—not because the dog meant to bite a person, but because in the heat of the moment, the dog isn’t thinking clearly. Years ago, one of my dogs was ranking high in national competition when he got into a fight with his son over food. The resulting injuries made him unshowable for the remaining four months of that year.

One such dog fight happened around midnight after I returned home from breeding Daisy (Ch. Wüstefuchs Ellen-of-the-Dale CDX, a lower-on-the-pecking-order female). I dropped her into our fenced yard with her mother, senior lady dog Frosty (Ch. Tru-Lov’s Frosty Lace CD). Frosty took great exception to the idea that anyone other than herself was permitted sexual frolicking. She attacked Daisy vigorously. My scolding and yelling at them didn’t stop the fight. I was bitten when I foolishly stuck in my hands to separate them. Although I got them apart with help, I ended up at the local emergency room to tend multiple bites on my hands.

I was alone for my worst dog fight ever. My hostile father-son duo, Charley (Ch. Wüstefuchs Karl) and Hoodlum (Ch. Wüstefuchs Robin Hood UD), who had lived separately in animosity for years after a previous skirmish, somehow got into the same sub-yard at the same time. Canine Armageddon erupted! I don’t know where my superhuman strength came from, but I managed to grab two 60-pound, snarling, fighting male Standard Schnauzers by their neck scruffs, one in each hand, and hoist them on opposite sides of a 6-foot fence. They hung there for seeming eternity, teeth into skin. Finally they tired at about the same time. Both sets of teeth unclamped, and the dogs dropped to the ground. The worst part of the event was herding into a separate pen all the other dogs, who were biting at the feet of the combatant hanging on their side of the fence.

Dog Fights in Training Classes

A recent online discussion about breaking up dog fights, specifically in the dog training environment, reminded me of this. In the class environment , assuring the safety of both dogs and people is paramount.

• If your dog is one of the fighters, running away isn’t an option. Get yourself and your dog far away from the dog fight, and keep your dog under control.

• If you are teaching the class, begin each class by instructing the owners not to rush in to “help” if a fight breaks out. Instead, tell your students to get their dogs and themselves to safety.

• As an instructor or assistant, get the non-combatants and their owners to safety, preferably outside the classroom or building. Only when uninvolved dogs and people are safe should you try to break up the dog fight.

I have no advice, however, about how to deal with quarreling people in the class.

Methods for Breaking up Dog Fights

• Late Standard Schnauzer owner/breeder, Mel Doerr, DVM, a veterinary epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control, claimed that dog fights between females usually could be halted by a loud scolding voice, but serious fights between males often are to death. I have never found scolding to be effective with females, much less with aggressive males.

• Some claim that dog fights can be stopped by dumping or hosing water on the fighters, but I’ve found this method results only in wet fighting dogs. This is a poor option.

• In my experience,  the best way to break up fighting dogs with minimal injury to all is to get a stout barrier between them (NOT your hands!), such as a sheet of plywood or even a dog bed. Eventually, either the dogs can be separated or they will cool down of their own accord. However, cooling down spontaneously isn’t likely if dog tempers are running high, so separation is your best option.

Unfortunately, dogs have long memories, especially for doggy insults, so you may have to maintain the separation for a long time. The antagonism between my father-son duo lasted for years with them separated by at least two closed doors at all times—not a pleasant way to live.

Apocalypse Now! Evacuating with Your Dog.

Dog Safety

Apocalypse Now?

In July 2011, I wrote: “2011 marked one of the West’s driest summers ever. Temperatures and winds are high, forest fires have broken out around the Southwest, including one in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains across the Rio Grande Valley from us, and there’s a new one just starting in the Jemez Mountains behind us. In 2000, our town was evacuated for three weeks from a fire started in about that same area. Satellite images showed the heavy smoke plume crossing hundreds of miles into Kansas and beyond.  A friend sat in his car in his driveway for two hours after the evacuation order was given, trying to back into the street amidst all the traffic from panicked citizens…. We returned from the three-week evacuation to find scorch marks on our deck where chunks of charred timber had fallen, and whenever the wind blew, we caught the scent of burned wood from the ash that had accumulated on the roof. I shudder to think of going through that again….”

The article begun in the paragraph above is modified below from a column I wrote in July 2011, published in the October 2011 issue of the AKC Gazette, and republished in both Pepper ‘n Salt, the magazine of the Standard Schnauzer Club of America, and the SSCA Newsletter.

Fire in Jemez Mountains 2011.
Fire raging down Pajarito Mountain behind Los Alamos NM USA, looking west from the town’s entrance. Photographer unidentified.

As I wrote this column, I saw a thin trickle of smoke a few miles away in our mountains. By the time I was ready an hour later to hit the “Send” button to ship the column off to my editor at the AKC Gazette, the fire was raging and smoke was pouring out over the mountains and canyons surrounding Los Alamos and the Los Alamos National Laboratory, situated high above the Rio Grande on the Pajarito Plateau.

The fire started deep in the Jemez Mountains when a tall ponderosa pine, blown over by high winds, fell across an isolated power line and generated sparks that instantly ignited the tinder-dry grasses and brush below. In mere minutes, the fire had burned a swath of over 60 miles of the mixed-conifer forest, killed wildlife and some domestic animals, and destroyed many of my friends’ homes in the mountains. It spread to the neighboring Santa Clara Pueblo, where it continued to burn and smolder for months. The town of Los Alamos where I live was evacuated completely, this time for only a little over a week—but my worst fears once again were realized.

In the 21st Century, the world has seen a plethora of apocalyptic natural and not-so-natural disasters, some seasonal and some not. Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast in 2005, and some areas have not yet recovered. The eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington in the 1980s blanketed the Pacific Northwest in ash and left huge swaths of the volcano bare of vegetation even now. Los Alamos’s 2000 and 2011 fires demonstrated how quickly a large house can burn to the ground—a little over five minutes from an intact standing house to a pile of smoldering ashes, with only the chimneys left standing.

Mother Nature has a way of striking out at us when we least expect it, causing untold and often immeasurable destruction. As the cartoon character Pogo once said, “We has met the enemy, and he is us”—war, riots, civil unrest, and man’s inhumanity to man can also plague us. Preparation is the key to surviving catastrophes yet to come.

Your disaster plans should have preparations in the event of:

  • catastrophic fires;
  • house, apartment, or condominium fires;
  • catastrophic floods;
  • hurricanes;
  • tornadoes;
  • earthquakes;
  • tsunamis;
  • mudslides;
  • drought and famine;
  • volcanic eruptions;
  • disease, plagues,pestilence, and epidemics;
  • rioting and military intervention;
  • war.

Having a disaster plan prepared and an emergency kit already assembled well in advance of a disaster can mitigate the effects of the disaster for you, your family, and your furry companions. If you must evacuate, take your pets with you—despite the heartwarming stories shown on post-disaster television, most animals left behind during disasters are never reunited with their families, and many die.

  • Designate a family member to be responsible for each dog or cat.
  • Pack an emergency kit for each family member and for your dogs and cats, and keep them near your exit door so you can grab them quickly.
  • Specify a meeting place for people, pets, and gear both at home before a possible evacuation and after arriving at the evacuation destination.
  • Choose another outside the danger zone in case of separations.
  • Include a safe place to leave your pets in the event you must go to an emergency shelter: most shelters don’t allow animals.
  • If  possible, shelter with friends or in pet-friendly hotels well away from the disaster area.
  • Be sure to take sheets for covering beds or furniture in your shelter destination if your pet isn’t trained to stay on the floor.
  • Prepare your family well in advance of any emergency.
  • Make sure each pet has been microchipped and registered in a national database, and have him wear a collar with both current rabies tags and your ID and contact information.

In addition to microchips, we also have ID tattooed on the inside of each of our dogs’ right thigh. For our own dogs, each dog has his/her AKC registration number because most veterinarians and shelter workers recognize the format of AKC numbers; the AKC has a database with breeder and owner information (be sure to let the AKC know if your contact information changes). If your pet does not have an AKC registration number, select a single word or number for all your pets’ tattoos that is both easily recognizable by rescue workers and is likely to remain unchanged for the life of the pet (phone numbers or addresses often change, for example, but social security numbers do not).

Your dog’s (or cat’s) emergency kit  should include the following:

  • his medical records and vaccinations in a waterproof zippered bag;
  • food and water for a week’s stay, a water bowl, and food bowls for each animal
  • necessary medications, with instructions for use;
  • written prescriptions from your veterinarian for any prescription medications your dog is taking; remember that your source for these medications could be destroyed in the ongoing catastrophe;
  • a first-aid kit including a muzzle, antibiotics, bandages, thermometer, etc. (see http://www.akc.org/pdfs/clubs/template_evacuation_kit_for_pets.pdf);
  • warm blankets in case your dog goes into shock;
  • treats and toys to reduce your dog’s anxiety level;
  • leash, tagged collar and/or harness, and crate with bedding;
  • towels, blankets, disinfectants, odor controllers, plastic pick-up bags, paper towels, other sanitation supplies, and large plastic bags for general disposal;
  • several recent photos of you with your pet(s)  in a waterproof container for identification if your pet gets lost;
  • combs, brushes, waterless shampoo, towels, and other interim grooming supplies;
  • a list of contact numbers outside the disaster area for veterinary facilities, kennels, animal shelters, pet-friendly hotels, and friends and relatives with whom you might stay during the emergency;
  • a list of national emergency help information, such as poison control centers, veterinary hot-lines, and so on.

Include in your own emergency kit:

  • clothing, food, water, and whatever else each of your family members need for at least a week away from home—and remember that in some disasters, your home may be destroyed;
  • all medications, including prescription bottles;
  • written prescriptions from your doctor for refilling your prescription medicines elsewhere;
  • cash, credit cards, checkbooks, bank books,negotiable securities, and other financial account information so you have access to funds in case of a long evacuation;
  • a laptop computer, power cord, and recharging cord;
  • cell phone and recharging cord;
  • a hand-cranked or solar recharger or power supply for your laptop, cell phones, and other electronic devices;
  • a hand-cranked and/or solar flashlight;
  • a hand-cranked and/or solar radio for current information about the emergency.

During an emergency or disaster,

  • Keep your dogs close at the first sign of trouble.
  • Don’t let them roam your property–do leashed potty breaks.
  • If you have time, call ahead to make necessary arrangements away from the danger area for you and your dogs.
  • Assemble pets, family, and gear at the designated place in preparation for evacuation.
  • If evacuation looks imminent, head out before the official order is given—traffic will be lighter, drivers will be less frantic, and you will be safer.

What will happen next? When it happens, will you be ready? And what about your family and your pets? Will you all survive the disaster? The Boy Scouts have the right idea: “Be Prepared.”

Are you ready for Apocalypse now?