Just when I thought my 70-pound, 8-month-old puppyBen had stopped chewing everything in site, I came home the other day to find an almost half eaten twenty dollar bill.  Stunned, I stared at the green paper remnant on the floor and couldn’t believe my eyes.  It had finally come to this.  Not only was Ben costing us a fortune in chewed rugs and shoes, he was now going right to the source.

Speechless, I scooped up the remains of the Hamilton and let out a breath.  There was, I thought, at least 55% of the bill intact.  Perhaps all was not lost and the bank would honor the chewed evidence and reimburse me.  I felt a little better.

As for Ben, well he and Tucker (his dad, 7 years his senior) both looked up at me with innocent eyes, and indeed, there was nothing I could do to scold or train them not to eat cold hard cash. In all honesty, it probably smelled really good.  Who knows where it’s been? Maybe I should spray my money with NOse offense.  It works on everything else!

Anyway, after this money incident, my husband and I felt a good long walk was in order, for us as well as for them.  We proceeded with our walking ritual, which we learned long ago, because the electric fence was not to be breached.

The first step – load the dogs into the car. Next, remove their electric fence collars (they always wear two collars, one with the electric battery and the other with their tags always removed at night for safe sleeping).  Then we drive off the property and park in the street, attach their leashes and begin our walk.  As silly as this sounds, driving off and ultimately past the electric barrier, really works.  They know the “car” can pass through without getting zapped.  Whatever you do, don’t forget to remove their electric collars and don’t keep them in the car with you!  They not only freak the dogs out with their high-pitched whine, but it runs the battery down.

When choosing an electric fence company (we went with Freedom Fence), there are differences to consider.  One of the features I like about Freedom Fence is the dog’s ability to return through the fence without that lightning bolt reminder, should they get through. Their battery senses where it is and turns off upon returning.  They don’t get through often. It happened only a couple of times, once during an intense down pour.  I’ve since “turned up” the fence charge which seems to be working.

As for our “walk,” it’s more like an attempt to walk a wild lion, than a dog.  At least it’s that way with Tucker.  My bad as I didn’t know what I was doing when he was a puppy and didn’t train him properly.  Between the very large yard, a doggie door they can access at will, and an electric fence, I never really just walked Tucker on a leash. He really didn’t need a leash at the dog park either, but I am determined to be better this time around. As for our walk together,  my husband ends up way ahead of me, keeping a fast pace with our 85 pound animal. I hold tight to the reins, trying my hardest to walk at my pace with Ben. It’s hard work, definitely not your casual stroll through the neighborhood. But hey, I chose two loving, wonderful, loyal Golden Retrievers and can’t expect them to walk the walk of a poodle (nothing against poodles. I grew up with one).  Anyhow, refreshed after our walk and happy to be back home and off the leash, I had one more errand…off to the bank…to be continued…

Just like people, pets can find winter weather both invigorating and challenging at different times.  Watching a dog frolick in fresh powdery snow is a heartwarming sight that reminds all of us how much fun winter can be.  Unfortunately, the cold and snow of winter can be responsible for a variety of problems that occur in our pets.

Many pet owners ask me for advice when considering winter hazards and maladies. It is important to use common sense when you are out outdoors with your pet.  Pets get cold just like we do and the temperature, wind and precipitation all factor into their comfort.  Your dog should be healthy to spend time in harsh weather and you should have your dog checked by a veterinarian if you have any health questions.

Do dogs need coats in the winter?  It seems that pet boutiques selling outerwear are opening all over the country.  Sweaters made of all materials and shapes are the raging fashion in some cities.  Although some owners want their dogs to be as fashionable as they are, most dogs do not need coats.  Many dogs have been bred to work in the winter and their long coats and foot pads prevent injury.  Some of these heavy coated breeds thrive in the winter and seem to be less active during hot summer days.   Can you imagine an Alaskan sled dog wearing a coat and boots?  I don’t think that they would be able to pull their sleds too far with that kind of dress.

Walking in the streets of Manhattan I have seen many small dogs wearing coats in 40 degree F weather.  I can say with certainty that the coats are not comfortable for these dogs.  I would only consider a coat necessary in short coated breeds on the coldest and windiest day.  If you go outside with your Greyhound or Whippet and you find the cold biting, a coat would be appropriate. But any healthy long coated breed doesn’t need one.

To help you decide if a coat is necessary watch the reaction of your dog when he goes outside on a cold day.  If he is walking with you and seems happy, then he doesn’t need a coat.  If your dog goes outside and starts to shiver and refuses to walk, try a coat and see if he is more comfortable outside.

Snow presents another challenge.  Ice can get trapped between the toes of dogs and cause discomfort.  Also snow melting salt can cause irritation between the toes.   After a walk in the snow it’s always a good idea to check the feet of your dogs. If ice is present gently remove it.  If your dog has walked through melted ice, dry their feet and rinse them off with warm water.

Dogs can slip on the ice and injure themselves.  I see more torn ligaments, lacerations, and even toenails ripped off during snowstorms.   It’s a good idea to keep your dog close to you and on a leash in the snow.  If you live in a wide open section of the country away from traffic your dog would love running in a field, but make sure that  he is well trained and will come back to you when called.  Dogs can get lost and run away if not trained properly and it can be very difficult to track a runaway dog in the snow.

Before long spring will be upon us, but until then winter can be a great time to have fun and bond with your dog.  Remember to use common sense and good judgment and you and your pet will enjoy fun times in the cold weather.

“Mud! Mud! Mud!” by Leonore Klein was my favorite book when I was little, BUT THAT WAS THEN! All I have is mud, mud, mud all over my house! Big paw prints on my newly washed rugs and muddy tail spots on my walls! My new favorite book should be…”Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.”

About 35 years ago veterinarians started seeing cats that were losing weight but had voracious appetites.  The cats were all over 8 years old and were in good health otherwise.  Veterinarians performed thorough physical examinations, blood tests, stool analysis and radiographic examinations and all results were negative. In the past, cats with these signs had either worms or diabetes.  The diagnosis to this new condition was elusive.

Then one day an astute veterinarian was carefully feeling the neck of a cat and he felt a small lump right were the thyroid gland is.  Could this be the source of the new constellation of symptoms?  A simple thyroid test was run, and to everyone’s surprise the levels were elevated, and a new disease in cats was discovered.  It is called hyperthyroidism.

Luckily hyperthyroidism is usually caused by a benign tumor of the thyroid gland.  No one knows why this condition suddenly occurred.  There are many theories, but iodine levels in the food have been implicated.

In 1979, I remember a professor in veterinary college showing me how to feel for enlarged thyroid glands in cats. When I graduated and went into practice I was so excited when I saw my first case. I gathered all of my colleagues and was thrilled to teach them about this new condition. Unfortunately hyperthyroidism does much more to the body than cause an excessive appetite and weight loss.  The thyroid helps control the metabolism and high levels of thyroid hormone can cause high blood pressure, heart disease and kidney disease.  Left untreated, hyperthyroidism will cause problems that lead to death.

In the early days, treatment consisted of giving medication three times daily.  Eventually a surgical procedure to remove the affected thyroid gland was perfected.  Unfortunately, both methods of treatment had side effects.  Not all cats could tolerate the medication and sometimes fatal blood or liver problems occurred.  The surgery was difficult because surgeons had to preserve the tiny parathyroid gland which sits on the thyroid. If all of the parathyroid tissue was lost during surgery cats lose the ability to control their calcium levels.  Low calcium causes seizures and even death.

In recent years radioactive iodine treatment has been developed. An injection is given and the radioactive iodine travels to the thyroid gland and destroys all of the tissue.  The only disadvantage of this treatment is that the treatment has to be done in a specialized facility and cats have to be hospitalized isolated away from you for three to five days. Recently a new food has been developed to treat hyperthyroidism.  The food has low iodine levels and therefore lowers the amount of thyroid hormone the body can make.  Some veterinarians question the long term safety of this food.  We will watch the research carefully and after a few years we will know if the new food is the best treatment for hyperthyroidism.

For cat owners, it’s important to take your cat to your veterinarian yearly for checkups.  Your veterinarian can feel for an enlarged thyroid gland and take a blood test for high thyroid levels.  It’s important for you to observe any changes in your cats eating habits or weight.  Cats that develop hyperthyroidism can lead normal lives and have a normal lifespan if treated early.

First I will tell you that blogging about having a puppy and having the time to blog about having a puppy, or doing anything else for that matter while training a puppy, is challenging.  That cute, portable butterball of a puppy can grow over night into a furniture chomping, rug wetting piranha!  And just as an older human sibling might resent a newcomer, so it can be with the four legged variety. However, having said that, our 4-month-old golden retriever, Ben has admittedly brought laughter and love into our home.

My older dog, Tucker-age 6, (Ben’s real dad) was never this mischievous as a puppy, so I wasn’t prepared for the onslaught of chaos brought upon our home. But determined to do what is necessary to train little (27 pounds!) Ben, I am proud to say I have now mastered many death-defying feats such as: gate opening and closing, gate hopping, shoe warden, bathroom patrol, and meal-time negotiator.   Ben eats three times a day but he acts as if we are starving him – the poor thing. I know this because, despite what the vet says is the right amount of food, he bee-lines for Tucker’s food the millisecond he finishes his own dish.  My solution was to feed Tucker upstairs at the same time I place Ben’s dish down.  I encourage him to use the outside for the bathroom and he is getting the hang of it pretty much.  I crate him after lunch for his nap which he goes in willingly.

Tucker, happily has warmed up to Ben and plays with him a couple of times a day. As for the gates, I have two long gates which protect my living room from any more offenses and, of course, when he does have an accident in there, I use NOse Offense right away and it does the trick!

I also keep a vigilant eye on all shoes left on the floor which I readily place on counters or in closets.  I have dog toys everywhere and have kept after him whenever he chooses something else to chew like my: carpets, my son’s Rainbow sandals(albeit too late), towels, furniture legs and basically anything he can get his mouth around.  One of my saving graces has been the limitless supply of sticks from my yard. He can spend half an hour ripping a piece of a maple branch to smithereens. My reward for all this hard work are Ben’s kisses and the look of love in his eyes when I play with him. He only wants to be adored and paid attention to.  He loves eating and loves being clean. I love keeping him washed and have trained him well by getting him used to the shower from the start.  My daughter has slowly begun to take over some of my jobs and I have happily passed the baton to her.  She now feeds Ben breakfast and dinner, brushes him, plays with him, crates him at night and gets him (and herself) up and out in the morning.  She also made her first attempt at bathing him the other night but A WORD OF CAUTION…when your young teenage daughter offers to give your new puppy a bath…MAKE SURE SHE ISN’T SITTING IN THE TUB WITH HIM! Oh well…gotta keep on laughing…Until next time…

It’s NOse Offense appreciation week!

Here is our President, Marvin Rembo, donating samples to the Stark County Shelter in Canton, Ohio.

“The Stark County Humane Society is a private, charitable organization.  We are not a county agency and we do not receive funding from the United Way.  Our continued existence and success depends upon the support of the community through membership fees, gifts, and contributions.”

I realize I haven’t blogged in a while but that’s because of Ben, the new puppy! OMG in the mornings I race out of bed at about 6:30am to let him out of his crate before he has an accident.  Then he goes into zippy mode and races around like he’s insane.  He’s like  a piranha on four legs at this ungodly hour.  So just after I let him out I go make a cup of coffee and sit outside in a fog in my pajamas not caring even a little if the neighbors see me or hear me say “make outside” and “good boy”.  Then after this first turbo charged session,  he calms down a bit. He really is the cutest little thing except he’s not really so little.  At eleven weeks he’s weighing in at 19, yes 19  pounds! I was carrying him around but now i’m trying to train him to just follow me and walk.  It’s working, however, it’s hard to get him to yield to Tucker.

Tucker is completely blown away by our new addition.  I guess the sweet, docile personality that makes Tucker such a wonderful dog, isn’t helping him establish who is king of the castle.  Ben has been chopping on poor Tucker and he just takes it or runs away.  Tuck even got out of the electric fence twice (well his collar was off) but gratefully I found him right away playing with a neighbor’s dog.  He hasn’t run through the fence in years whether his collar was on or not.  Now I won’t let him out if I’m not home and I’ve been praising Tucker and trying to always greet him and give him attention first.   I have gated off part of my yard which can be accessed right from my door which has a doggie door opening.  Ben learned how to go through the doggie door really fast.  I was thinking, wow,  he’s really smart although he did chase his tail today for about two whole minutes. What can I say? House training is working and I’d say he’s about 70 percent house trained already.

NOse Offense has been helping me with the other 30 percent. I use it on the carpets, floors and even in the garbage pail.   A friend recommended I pick up my area rugs until Ben was trained but since I didn’t really want to live like that I guess I’ll have to have the rugs cleaned when he’s trained.  Meanwhile it’s really amazing the way dogs have moods just like we do. Poor Tucker is so completely bummed out that his territory has been invaded.  He’s not himself and mopes around when he’s not running away from Ben’s jaws! I gently squeeze Ben’s nose and mouth when he does this and yell “no” but, gee Tucker, man up will ya.  My friend’s dog Charlie, (my life saver friend who helps me so much)  just gives Ben a growl and maybe a nip and, boy, does Ben back off.  But with Tucker it doesn’t work that way, it’s like two siblings. You love them both but it’s exhausting trying to negotiate proper behavior.  I also wonder if we waited too long to add a puppy to our home.  Tuck’s almost 7.  My friend’s dog, Charlie, is only two and likes playing with Ben.  Aside from the training part, I have had to puppy-proof the house! Did you know dishwashing detergent is poison?! So is sugarless gum which can be immediately fatal.  Also very dangerous is chocolate, especially baking chocolate and many plants.  In my garden are azaleas, hydrangeas and rhodedenroms.  All poisonous. Fortunately my gated area doesn’t have any of those except for one bush which I gated off.  I do allow Ben to chew sticks made of maple or pine which he really likes but mostly I have puppy toys everywhere, giving him lots to chew and avoiding saying no every minute.  So life is crazy right now and sometimes I think I should have my head examined but when Ben looks up at me and licks my face and puts his little paws around my neck and then falls asleep on me and I can feel and hear his breathing, I just fall in love all over again.  Stay tuned…