Two Days Post-Op!

Yesterday was Day 2 of recovery after Brisbane's big surgery, and he is starting to feel a bit more like himself. He is perky is enough to get grumpy with the vet for messing with the IV catheter in his leg, but doesn't mind having his face cleaned. Since the mass extended into his nasal cavity, the surgical sight can drain through his nose and he doesn't need an icky surgical drain in his head. The surgery was done through his mouth, so he won't have any scars on his face.

The pain meds are really good, you guys.

Poor Briz is still lumpy and swollen after his facelift, but his cheek is already much closer to normal than it was before surgery. He had 200 cubic centimeters of mass removed, and we're not quite sure what he'll look like when fully recovered. His jowls are still quite puffy, but the swelling has improved dramatically since yesterday and should continue to get better rapidly.

The most exciting news today is that Brisbane is tracking objects with his left eye. The pressure from the tumor had reduced the function of that eye significantly, and before surgery we couldn't be sure he could see at all with it. The assumption was that he had lost vision entirely on that side, and we were not expecting it to return.

How is he feeling? Not so great yet. We went for a tiny walk outside when I went to visit him today, and then he was ready for a long nap. I was relieved to see that he was resting comfortably and sleeping peacefully. His kennel at the veterinary hospital is usually left open, and he has been getting up and exploring a bit today.

I was hoping to bring him home yesterday, but Briz still needs injectable pain meds to stay comfortable. Today the vet is starting him on oral pain medication to see how he does, and if he continues to improve he can come home tomorrow.

Brisbane has not recovered his normally spectacular appetite yet, which is incredible. He did eat a tiny bite of Fromm Shredded Pork for me, but I'm sure his mouth is still very sore. He'll be eating soft foods for a while, so we'll be checking out some new squishy foods during his recovery. I'm not too worried about him eating yet, he was a couple of pounds heavier than normal before the surgery so he's got a little extra padding in there.

Please share Brisbane's GoFundMe campaign if you can. Our amazing vet has used a number of different treatments to help slow down the spread of the hemagiopericytoma, and we're hoping she will be able to write up a case study to help other vet treating dogs with this type of tumor. Though this was not a curative surgery, we're hoping this palliative treatment will get Brisbane a lot closer to the end of his expected cancer-free lifespan. There is also a fund set up for direct donations at Valley Animal Hospital in Goleta, California.

Could a Hawk Eat My Chihuahua?

"I have a very small dog, do I need to worry about hawks trying to eat him?" I do educational outreach with a friend and her marvelous birds, and this is a question that comes up quite often. Chihuahuas are very popular around here, and tons of people have a dog that weighs well under ten pounds.

Photo by Erin Koski

Do Hawks Eat Small Dogs?

Short answer: No. Though they look formidable, that bird on my fist weighs about two pounds. He eats mice, and sometimes rats. There is absolutely no way he is going to lift and fly off with my 6 pound dog. He's the same size as the most common hawk species in North America, the redtail.

If your dog weighs less than 5 pounds, they might look slightly more delicious to a very hungry bird. While there are some news reports of redtail hawks attacking small dogs, I've so far only been able to find a couple where someone actually claims to have witnessed such a thing. This one was widely reported, but the details reveal that the dog had blunt force trauma and the hawk was seen on the ground, so it's possible he could have been hit by a car before the bird found him, and it may have been defending a nest site. Several other stories involve a dog either disappearing or being found injured without anyone actually seeing a raptor.

At any rate, any sort of report like this inevitably comes with a mention that this is highly unusual. Unlike a small dog being devoured by coyotes or raccoons, a hawk attacking a dog is so unusual it makes the news. Has it happened before? Yes. Is it still bizarre? Definitely.

Owls, on the Other Hand...

Photo by Erin Koski

Great Horned Owls will happily eat your tiny dog. They are the apex predator of the skies, weighing as much as four pounds and capable of lifting and flying with three times their own body weight. They are also found all over North America and South America. They are the only natural predator of the skunk, not because they can't smell but because they Do. Not. Care. 

The good news is that Great Horned Owls are crepuscular, meaning they are active primarily at dusk and dawn. They're not particularly crazy about people, either. They generally avoid us unless they are really starving. I either keep my chihuahua inside at twilight, supervise him closely, or send him into an enclosed area with my larger and less delicious dogs to potty. 

Eagles, Too...

Eagles are not normally found in urban or suburban areas. There are rare reports of them grabbing small dogs in rural areas. Very rare. 

What Do I Do About It?

Let's say you have a super tiny dog in a rural area, and you keep seeing raptors. How do you keep your dog safe? I've heard people recommend shooting the birds, which is both illegal and highly ineffective. Seriously, these are birds. They have large territories and they can fly. Getting rid of one raptor just sort of invites more of them to your area, and there's no guarantee the one you eliminate is the one you saw circling overhead the day before.

It's best to just keep an eye on your toy breed dog when they are outside. Period. Really, if your have a three-pound dog, hawks should be the least of your worries. Supervise your wee dog to make sure they aren't stolen, lost, or picked off by a hungry coyote.

Like Seeing a Unicorn

All that said, last week at the sheep ranch, a redtail hawk did take a good look at little Ru. It made a couple of passes less than 30' overhead before departing. Being a good tiny dog owner, Ru was close enough that eating him was not worth the bird's risk. Knowing all of the above information, I was able to just appreciate this unusual encounter with a majestic animal.

Yup, It's Cancer.

Well, Brisbane's suspected carnassial tooth abscess did not respond to antibiotics at all. In fact, it may have gotten bigger. The vet numbed his face down and stuck the bump with needles and sent whatever she got out to the cytology lab.  We were expecting results back within a few days, but I was told that the initial report was not particularly detailed or helpful. Our wonderful vet spent the next two weeks chasing down the pathologist who did the report and shaking them down for answers. Here's what we learned:

It's Definitely a Mesenchymal Cell Tumor.

Mesenchymal cells are undifferentiated stem cells that can turn into all sorts of things. Sometimes they get a bit messed up and start turning into the wrong things. This is a very big category of tumors though, and encompasses the entire group of soft tissue sarcomas. I believe this was all that came back on the original cytology report

It's a Soft Tissue Sarcoma.

Again, this is a great big group that encompasses things as benign as those fatty lipoma lumps old Labradors tend to grow, and as horrific as the deadly and aggressive hemangiosarcoma. That's basically the entire range of severity when it comes to bumps on dogs. Could be something completely harmless and painless, could be acutely fatal cancer-of-the-everything that's undetectable until it's in the late stages. Again, not that helpful an answer.

It's Likely a Hemangiopericytoma.

This is a type of peripheral nerve sheath tumor. Without doing a major surgical biopsy we can't be sure, but the pathologist said there is a very good chance that's what we're dealing with. These tumors are usually localized, but also aggressive. They don't spread to other parts of the body or hostilely take over the lungs most of the time, but they do tend to grow and bother the structures around them. Typically these are treated by removing them surgically and then using radiation to make sure they're really gone. If not completely obliterated, they tend to grow back even more aggressively.

The Good News.

Brisbane has a low-grade tumor, the type that is least likely to metastasize to other parts of the body. He doesn't appear to be in any pain from the tumor, he is still behaving normally and gnawing bones and bully sticks with that side of his mouth.

Not exactly devastating, but not great either.

The Bad News.

The location means it is unlikely the tumor could be removed completely enough to prevent regrowth. Surgery and radiation treatment would be a long, painful process that would ultimately do very little for Briz besides make him miserable. 

Where We Go From Here.

So, at the recommendation of my vet, I am doing nothing about Brisbane's tumor. Well, actually I'm monitoring and measuring it and researching stuff and my vet is also casting far and wide for other treatment options. Mostly I'm just not going to put him through surgery. There is the possibility that the vet can inject the tumor with something to help shrink it whenever it finally starts to bug him. I first noticed the tumor a little over a month ago and in that time it has grown to 4x3.5 cm as of Saturday. It might keep growing steadily until it impacts his quality of life, or it might not even shorten his lifespan. For now he is a happy dog with a full and joyful life, and I'm going to enjoy him for as long as I have him. We have a sheep herding trial coming up in a couple of weeks, and we're ready to get his next Trick Dog Title and start looking into Dog Parkour and Cyber Rally. 

Corn is in Everything

Brisbane recently tested positive for a corn allergy, which didn't seem like a big deal at first. I already feed mostly grain-free foods, and high-quality dog treats tend to be corn-free and wheat-free anyway. I would just have to stop playing catch with popcorn, right?

Cornstarch.

Wrong. I already read ingredient labels for everything, and almost immediately I discovered that corn is in everything. It may not be in the form of "ground yellow corn" or "corn gluten meal" as found on the labels of low- and mid-quality dog foods, but corn has many forms. Some flavors of Starmark's Everlasting Treats contain cornstarch. PetSafe's Busy Buddy no-rawhide treat rings are also made from cornstarch.

Corn Has Many Names

I have heard people complain that nearly all processed human food contains corn, and that the word 'corn' is not always part of the name of a corn-derived ingredient. With this in mind, I googled "corn allergy" and immediately found www.CornAllergens.com. From there I learned that seemingly-innocuous ingredients like alcohol and citric acid can be derived from corn. Food manufacturers are not required to disclose the ingredients of their ingredients though, so nearly anything can contain corn. Zukes Genuine Jerky contains natural flavors, those might be corn-derived. Their Lil' Links contain glycerin, citric acid, and sorbic acid, any of those could be made from corn too! Zukes Z-Bones contain lecithin, which is also in a whole bunch of dog foods. Lecithin can also be derived from eggs, soybeans, sunflower seeds, and quite a lot of other things. 

When a dog food manufacturer says their products are soy-free or corn-free, does that include lecithin? I'm not sure. I do know that Brisbane isn't nearly as sensitive to corn as the person who made the Corn Allergens site, thankfully. I can't imagine going through life worrying about sneaky corn in my shampoo.

Paw Spa: Zymox Enzymatic Rinse

Zymox, owned by Pet King Brands, markets enzyme-based health products for veterinarians to sell to their clients. Their offerings include ear cleaners, oral care products, and various skin treatments. Our vet recommends Zymox Enzymatic Rinse when Brisbane has major skin issues. The rinse can be used along with a number of different shampoos, and can be rinsed or left on.

How Does It Work?

The whole point of the Zymox products is that they use a proprietary LP3 enzyme system against microbial organisms. The company's FAQ page cites several peer-reviewed articles published in the International Journal of Applied Research in Veterinary Medicine. 

I was extremely impressed with this until I read the entire citation and realized that every single paper was about an in vitro study. This *basically means they proved that their enzymes kill bacteria and other nasties in a petrie dish. Since these are topical products, in vitro studies are very promising. However, I would like to see some controlled double-blind studies demonstrating actual clinical efficacy because I am a science geek.

It Totally Smells Like Coconuts

We've been through several bottles of this stuff, and I love the way it smells. I hate the way coconut tastes, but the scent is lovely when I'm smearing it on my dog.  Zymox Enzymatic Rinse can be used diluted or full-strength, and can be rinsed off or left on without causing problems. When Brisbane is just a bit itchy, I dilute it and rinse it off a bit but not very thoroughly. After the dramatic shavedown, I slathered on the full-strength product, put on his bathrobe, and sent him off to spread the coconut-scented love. It left him feeling slightly dirty for a bit, but once dry his coat felt normal.

Zymox stuff is apparently effective against fungus as well as bacteria, and along with a medicated shampoo helped Brisbane beat his massive bacterial and fungal infection. My vet is a skeptic and sticks to science-based medicine, so I trust her recommendation as more than an attempt to sell a product. It seems to have worked for us, though I'm not sure how much of that to attribute to the Zymox Conditioning Rinse and how much to the medicated shampoo we used.

Happy New Year!

Tonight I'll be snuggling with Brisbane, Sisci, Ru, and also Ranger and Annie who have come to escape their neighbor's scary fireworks. In 2016 I'm hoping for fewer skin issue for Brisbane now that we've begun allergy shots and identified more food sensitivities. I'm not sure what else the year will bring, as we had a followup on Brisbane's face bump today. Two weeks of abscess-targeting antibiotics did nothing at all, so today our vet took three different needle biopsies and sent them to the cytology lab. I'm hoping to get results on Monday, and we'll decide what to do from there.

Product Review: ZenPet Procollar

The ZenPet ProCollar is an inflatable alternative to the traditional big plastic lampshade collar for dogs that have just had surgery or otherwise need to be prevented from chewing or scratching themselves. The inflatable core is surrounded by a washable cover that attaches to a regular quick-release buckle collar. Replacement for the inflatable part are available from ZenPet. The ProCollar is available in size sizes to fit pets with necks smaller than 6" and up to 22" around.

Photo by Erin Koski

Our Procollar is a size large, for 13-18" necks. Brisbane has about a 16" neck and the collar looks and feels a bit big on him. I bought it when we did the dramatic shavedown and I was worried about Briz chewing up his delicate naked skin.

We didn't end up needing the inflatable donut collar, but I did lend it to a friend for her dog. Penny is just about the same size and Brisbane, and she had to have a back toe amputated. Unfortunately, Penny had no trouble at all chewing her bandages off while Wearing the ProCollar.

I've had dogs come into daycare wearing ProCollars and have had similar experiences. For some dogs it's a big enough deterrent to keep them from chewing their bodies or scratching their faces, but most figure out how to work around it before long. ZenPet says to try the next size up for the dogs that work around it, but I'm sure there's a limit to how much bigger a collar you can use before you can't make it work right.

Photo by Erin Koski

The ProCollar is a C-shape that opens up, and closes with a long strip of velcro. On the inner edge there are loops through which the dog's regular buckle collar is passed. The regular collar is then buckled around the dog's neck and the velcro fastened to keep the ProCollar shut. On a donut several sizes larger than the recommended size, the regular collar will not be able to pass through all the loops to keep it on securely.

Pros: Comfortable for extended wear. Does not trap moisture against a drooly dog's chin and neck. Does not obstruct vision. Does not alter hearing or make everything sound weird. Does not make you curse wildly when an over-exuberant dog smashes it into your knees. Washable.

Cons: Is not as effective as a giant plastic Elizabethan collar. Unlike the Cone of Shame, many dogs can bend around it, making chewing their feet or tails pretty easy still. It's inflatable so it can pop.

Bottom Line: Part Cone of Shame, part air mattress for your dog's neck. This will probably work on Brisbane because he is easily deterred from hurting himself. So far all the determined dogs I've used them on have just gotten more flexible and/or creative.

A Briz-Face Update

We went to see our favorite vet today, and she poked around at Brisbane's face and said the bump was very likely a tooth abscess. However, she couldn't rule out cancer without tests. She decided that the most cost-effective test would be a two-week course of a type of antibiotics that target abscesses well. From there, one of three things will happen.

Brisbane and Sisci hunting gophers, just because.

1. The bump will go away for good.

If this happens we will know it was an abscess that resolved with conservative treatment.

2. The bump will go away temporarily, and then come back.

If this happens, we will know it is a dental abscess that did not resolve with conservative treatment, and Brisbane will need a full round of x-rays and a tooth extraction.

3. The bump will stay the same.

If this happens, we will know that the bump is not an abscess and can begin doing biopsies to figure out what exactly it is and how to treat it, without having spent a ton of money on unnecessary dental care.

So now we wait and see what happens. Ideally the bump will go away forever, but I think we can handle a dental extraction if necessary. Brisbane has lovely clean teeth, but I guess sometimes the roots of a tooth can just go bad.

Vet Time: My Dog Has a Bump On His Cheek

Brisbane has a big bump on his cheek, and it's probably an abscessed tooth. Poor Briz! At first I was worried it could be cancer, but several of my internet friends have suggested that it looks like an abscessed carnassial tooth. Those are the biggest back teeth in the upper jaw. Of course we're going to the vet later today. I noticed the bump on Friday night, when all veterinary issues arise around here, but Brisbane's doctor doesn't think this is an emergency situation so we're waiting for an available appointment.

What are the Symptoms?

The bump on Brisbane's face is very hard, it feels just like the other side of his face except for the shape. It doesn't feel warm to the touch, and he doesn't mind me poking at it so it doesn't seem to be causing him pain. He is still gnawing bully sticks happily on both sides of his mouth and basically acts like he is fine.

The bump has actually been there for about two weeks, but it has been slowly growing and wasn't big enough for me to really identify it as a problem until Friday. I didn't think it was an abscess at first because it isn't hot or painful. Brisbane actually has beautiful clean teeth, another reason I didn't suspect an abscess.

Is this an Emergency?

According to my vet, the probable-abscess is an urgent problem, but not an actual emergency. As long as Brisbane is eating normally, drinking normally, and breathing normally, he can wait a few days for an appointment with his regular vet. Given his various health issues, I'm comfortable waiting to see the doctor who knows him best. I did call the clinic that did Ru's dental a few months ago, but they were unable to see Briz before today either.

Why I'm Not Spaying My Dog and Why That's Ok

Sisci is almost a year old and she still isn't spayed. This has come as a shock to a number of coworkers and acquaintances, as common practice around here is to spay or neuter puppies at six months. All the reputable shelters and rescues fix puppies and kittens before adopting them out, which often means pediatric spays and neuters. The general rule for "old enough and big enough" is two months and two pounds.

Photo by Erin Koski

The Case for Spaying

The current practice is a very good thing, as early and extensive spaying and neutering helps prevent unwanted puppies and kittens. I am absolutely on board with the general public thinking that altering their pet before it is capable of breeding is just "the right thing to do". I think 'oops!' litters and poorly-planned breedings may be the primary source of unwanted pets.

Spaying female dogs is particularly important because they tend to go into heat for the first time before they hit one year old. Heats are weird. A girl puppy in season for the first time doesn't really know quite what's going on, so she feels weird. The hormones fly, and any other dogs in the household also act weird. Even the spayed and neutered dogs act weird. Also, dogs in heat dribble discharge which is gross. The easiest way to avoid all the weirdness is to spay the dog before she goes into heat.

The Case for Not Spaying

So why wait? I am planning to do dog sports with Sisci, and the case for spaying versus not spaying is a little different when it comes to canine athletes. Altering a dog changes their hormones, specifically it delays the closure of the growth plates in their long bones. This is a very interesting phenomenon, as the result of the extended growth period is longer and more slender bones. Dogs that are fixed before they finish growing end up taller and lankier. This makes me wonder just how short and thick Brisbane, neutered at three months, would have been had I waited. 

I'd like to let Sisci finish growing and maturing before spaying her in order to reduce her risk of injury. Australian cattle dogs are particularly well-known for injuring the anterior cruciate ligaments in their knees, and Sisci's mother was recovering from a knee repair when she became pregnant. There is some evidence that spayed and neutered dogs are more prone to ACL injuries. It's not as big an issue for the average pet dog, but for a high-level canine athlete it may be worth it to delay spaying. 

Handling Heats

We've already been through Sisci's first heat cycle and it wasn't too hard on any of us except for Ru who was determined to sire some cattlehuahuas despite having been neutered five years ago. I am not concerned about an unplanned litter because I am careful to the point of maybe being a little crazy about keeping Sisci away from potential suitors. I do not own an intact male dog, so I can't have an accident with an unlatched crate or baby gate. I usually walk my dogs on leashes, and always kept Sisci leashed when she was in heat. I do not leave my dogs unattended outside, so I am not worried about a roaming male digging under or jumping over my fence. 

It feels a bit weird to not be doing "the right thing" and getting her spayed right away, but this is a choice I'm comfortable with. I still think that pretty much everyone should get their dogs fixed to help avoid accidental litters, and I'll willingly state that most people including Sisci's breeder aren't prepared to handle the challenge of owning intact dogs of opposite sexes. I'll be looking into spaying Sis when she's closer to two years old.

In Which Brisbane is Allergic to Even More Things

I've known for several years that Brisbane was allergic to poultry and eggs. We did an elimination diet when he was still raw fed, and determined that he reacted very reliably to chicken, turkey, duck, and eggs. Environmental allergies were also suspected, so he has been getting Benadryl and Zyrtec to help keep those under control. Still, he has ongoing skin issues that we just can't seem to beat.

A nice sunset picture just because.

I finally took the big (and expensive!) step of getting his allergies tested so he can begin allergy shots. This involved a really horrendous amount of blood being drawn from his neck. I guess for most tests they just need 3-4cc of blood, but for this one they needed 12cc of just plasma so they had to take way more than that. Poor Briz needed needed some time to recover after that. Then the vet had to send his plasma off to the allergy testing lab.

Several weeks later, we finally have the results. Some of them were expected, he tested positive for egg and flea allergies. Some of them were sensible, he is allergic to a variety of trees, weeds, and grasses. 

And some of the results were just plain annoying. Brisbane is apparently allergic to corn, barley, and sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes. They're in most grain-free foods. I feed him baked sweet potatoes on a regular basis. Also popcorn. He can no longer share a bowl of popcorn with me.

It's annoying, but between the new food restrictions and the allergy shots, hopefully he will eventually be much less itchy. This is exactly the reason I made the Dog Food Wizard.

Product Review: Medical Pet Shirt

The Medical Pet Shirt was developed in the Netherlands for pets recovering from surgery, injury, or skin problems. It's basically a dog onesie. It can also be used for females in season, and incontinent pets. This shirt features a snap closure that covers the anus and genitals, and a turtleneck collar. It is available in ten sizes to fit dogs measuring 8.5-36" from base of neck to base of tail. Medical Pet Shirts are also available for cats and rabbits.

Photo by Erin Koski

I found this shirt at a thrift store, and I bought it because it was weird. I've since discovered that these are only available from veterinarians. This is not something that Brisbane needs at the moment, but it certainly would have been useful several times in the past.

The Medical Pet Shirt is something that just...makes sense. It is unique and does things I've never seen another dog product do. All this time, we've been improvising with t-shirts, baby clothes, diapers, and wraps.

Photo by Erin Koski

What we really needed was a dog onesie. You know those baby bodysuits that snap at the crotch? This is the dog version. It snaps and also velcros at the crotch to cover up all the important bits. The back underside is also lined with a sort of pocket, which allows for absorbent material to be held in place for incontinent dogs or bitches in season.

The Medical Pet Shirt solves a lot of problems that I and my friends have experienced. Dog scratching himself bloody? Licking her lady bits raw? Slithering out of his bellyband and going on a pee-spree? Diaper just won't stay on? Here is a comfortable and ergonomic solution.

Pros: Fitted turtleneck does not stretch or slide down, and can be pulled up under a cone to protect the neck. Snap-and-velcro closures stay on securely even through scooting on the floor, and are easy to undo for potty breaks. Machine washable. Fits really well. Protects everything but the head, tail, and legs.

Cons: Not available for retail purchase in the US. Only come in one color.

Bottom Line: Now I can get rid of the collection of childrens shirts I have for keeping Brisbane from scratching himself up when his allergies are terrible. I will be sure to tell my friends and coworkers that these exist so they can do the same.

EzyDog Checkmate Collar Update

My original EzyDog Checkmate collar is a size large, which turned out to be too big for Brisbane. I recently acquired a medium Checkmate collar, and it's a much better fit for us than the large. The Checkmate is a limited slip with a quick release buckle. It has a short slip section, so it gets just tight enough to keep Brisbane from backing out and doesn't hang too low when it's loose.

Oh Briz, the stretchy leash isn't that bad.
Photo by Erin Koski

The large Checkmate fits necks 17-26"  around, so it just barely gets small enough for Brisbane. It's also 1" wide, which makes it a bit heavier than it really needs to be.

The medium Checkmate fits necks 13-18" around. It's only 3/4" wide, and without all the extra length it's much lighter. This makes the collar easier on Brisbane's coat.

The picture I'm using for this post is a silly one, we caught Brisbane making an uncertain face and cocking an ear in the direction of an interesting sound behind him.

You can also see that his eyes are starting to get just a bit hazy. My cocker spaniel developed cataracts in her old age, but this isn't the same thing. Brisbane has a normal sign of aging called lenticular sclerosis, or nuclear sclerosis. The slight clouding does not affect his vision noticeably and is not a precursor to cataracts. It's just one small sign of the fact that he is ten years old now. Half of dogs over the age of 9 years have them, and by the time they pass 13 years every dog is getting at least a little cloudy.

Couch to 5K

Brisbane and I started the Couch to 5K running program last week. For those unaware, this is a fitness training program designed to gently ease the most sedentary person into the world of exercise. The idea is to go from "running makes me feel like I'm going to die" to "I can run for 30 minutes straight without passing out" in 9 weeks. In theory.

I've always been a fairly active person, and to be honest I really like running. I'm just terrible at it. Really, really terrible. In my defense, I have a whole lot working against me.

My knees are genetically horrible in a way that wasn't fixed by surgery, so they balloon up if I run in sneakers on pavement like a normal person.

Last year my pulmonologist decided I don't actually have asthma after all, and instead I have something called "restrictive lung disease" that is probably related to my autoimmune issues. This means my lungs are operating at about 60% capacity.

I also have exercise-induced acid reflux, which is without a doubt the stupidest health problem ever. Instead of getting massive heartburn and reflux symptoms when I lay down, I get them when I move around. Sometimes it gets bad enough that I end up puking stomach acid. There are not enough antacids in the world to mitigate this, and none of the other meds I've tried have helped.

At the age of ten, Brisbane needs to stay active in order to remain as comfortable as possible for as long as possible. Light jogging on unpaved surfaces is really good for conditioning, but most surfaces tear up his feet. The paw pad issue is part of the reason he has gained so much weight, waiting for them to heal made for some very sedentary weeks.

The only surface that doesn't damage Brisbane's paws or offend my touchy knee cartilage is deep, dry sand. Coincidentally, this is also the most labor intensive running surface ever. Hence the Couch to 5K plan. Ideally we should be running three days a week for longer intervals each time.

Last week we did Week 1: Day 1, which consists of a five minute warm up walk and then alternating 60 seconds of running with 90 seconds of walking. This set off my reflux so bad I started to wonder if I was actually having a heart attack (I do have medical clearance to run around on the beach like a total dork in case anyone was wondering. Brisbane does, too.) Then we took a few days off for various reasons, and today we did...Week 1: Day 1 again. Briz seemed to enjoy it more this time. Ru ran circles around us and flitted across the sand like a little pixie because he has almost no bodyweight to move around. I am slightly less refluxy than I was last time, so I think we'll move up to Week 1: Day 2 for our next run.

I don't know if we'll ever run marathons, but I'm going to celebrate any sign of improvement because I have a lot I'm working against. We may not ne running 5K in nine weeks, but we'll definitely have made some progress by then.

What sort of activities do you do with your dog?

In Which Brisbane Gets a Haircut

Brisbane has been itchy since we returned from Lake Tahoe, and none of the antihistamines were helping. He had been getting progressively more scabby, and last week when I gave him a bath I realized he was losing hair all over the place.

This morning we went to the vet. The doctor asked if it would be ok to shave some of the worst areas to get a better look at them.

Shaving hot spots is not usually necessary for healing. Normally, they heal up just fine when kept clean and dry. For dogs with thick fur, impacted undercoats, or stubborn sores, shaving can help get air to the skin.

Hairless areas are also significantly easier to treat with topical remedies like shampoos. The stuff can really be scrubbed down into the skin where it can be most effective.

So we started shaving Briz. We started with the red oozy areas, and kept uncovering older, darker spots from lesions that had healed up a little. In a few minutes his entire belly was hairless, and there were still more oozy spots trailing up his neck and shoulders.

My herding instructor really wants me to get Brisbane registered as an Australian cattledog with the AKC so we can do herding trials. We have been tossing around plans that involve slicking his floof down with hair gel, or cutting his hair. Knowing that he was likely covered in sores, and that I wanted to cut his hair anyway, the vet and I agreed that shaving him down would be a good idea.

Dr. Rugg said she started out with a longer comb on the clippers, intending to leave him with mostly longer hair. She was only going to shave the sore spots down super-short. Before long though, she realized that he was basically covered in sores.

See those dark spots all over Brisbane? Each of those is a sore or lesion. There are quite a few red ones as well. The vet said that his skin started looking better within an hour of the big shave though. Hopefully he's on the way to feeling much better.

Does you dog have skin issues?

Brisbane Goes to HydroPaws

For Brisbane's tenth birthday, I booked him an appointment at HydroPaws Animal Rehabilitation and Performance Center. He didn't have any specific injury, but he has developed some hip arthritis in the last year and I want to keep him as flexible as possible. This was an initial consultation appointment, so the physical therapist spent most of the time evaluating Brisbane.

The first thing Karen the physical therapist did was assess Brisbane's range of motion. We did this mostly with treats to begin with, luring his nose around to the side to see how far he could stretch it towards his hip. Karen gently probed his muscles while watching for signs of discomfort.

Next we had Brisbane lay on a cushy pad on the floor so Karen could measure his flexibility. This was highly technical. There were tape measures. And protractors.

What we learned is that Brisbane's entire back end is very tense and sore in a way that indicates chronic lower back pain. Given that I've been pointing to a problem spot on his lower back since he was a puppy, I'm not at all surprised.

Knowing that Brisbane is always tense and ouchy is pretty sad, but I'm pleased to be able to do something about it. Karen showed me some stretches and exercises I can do with him.

Stretch 1 is to extend his knee while preventing him from rotating it outward. He likes to swing his hind legs out when he walks. Stretch 2 is to gently pull the base of his tail and then very slowly release the pressure. We're supposed to do these stretches five times each.

We're also going to do some exercises to help Brisbane engage his core muscles. This should help him better support his back. For now we're just working on balancing, I need to get him a FitPaws peanut for this part.

Choke Chains: Not Actually for Strangling Your Dog

The choke chain, or check chain, is one of the most commonly used training collars, and one of the most abused. It is my least favorite training device because it is the only one I know of that causes harm when used both properly and improperly.

Photo by Erin Koski

How to Use a Choke Chain
A properly used choke chain is almost always loose. Unlike a prong collar, which should be adjusted to fit snugly, a choke chain should be several inches larger than the dog's neck.

The correct way to use a choke chain is to give a correction when the dog is not performing the desired action. A correction is given by giving the leash a sharp jerk, pulling the chain tight to hurt the dog's neck. Dr. Sophia Yin describes the proper technique here in more detail, it requires quite a bit of leverage and actually twisting the body to apply enough force. During a proper choke chain correction, some of the dog's feet may actually leave the ground. Once the dog has experienced this sort of pain, a light collar pop is often enough of a reminder.

Using a choke chain on a dog that pulls on the leash should look like this: dog walks to end of leash, handler gives almighty yank of doom, dog walks to end of leash, handler gives almighty yank of doom, dog becomes wary of hitting the end of the leash and learns to walk nicely OR ELSE. Next time dog becomes excited and hits the end of the leash, the handler can give them a light snap to see if they remember how to walk nicely, before resorting to the almighty yank of doom. Overall, the dog should experience a small number of hard yanks, and a lot of small pops while learning how to walk on leash.

Photo by Erin Koski

A thinner choke chain is more severe than one with big fat links, in general the thinner-is-more-severe rule holds true for everything but prong collars. A wider collar distributes pressure across a larger area, while a thinner collar concentrates and magnifies any force exerted. Thin choke chains are popular in the conformation show ring because they are subtle and don't draw attention away from the dog, and at the same time look a bit like elegant jewelry. Big fat chains are easier on the dog's neck, less severe when popped, and scream "THIS IS A CHAIN!" for those who like to accessorize.

The most effective way to use a choke chain is to keep it high on the dog's neck when tightened. This is where there is the least muscle, and the most sensitive nerves along with important things like arteries. It guarantees that the chain will hurt the most when yanked, and most effectively cuts off the dog's air supply when lifted up. I never use choke chains, I bought these at a thrift store specifically for this blog post.

How Not to Use a Choke Chain
One of the reasons people use choke chains is because this type of collar tightens up when pressure is applied, and prevents the dog from backing out. More importantly, the collar remains loose when no pressure is applied. A flat collar must be very tight indeed to prevent the dog from backing out, and some dogs can back out of anything that doesn't tighten. Martingale collars and harnesses also prevent dogs from escaping, but without causing the same type of damage to the neck as an ever-tightening noose.

Photo by Erin Koski

The average pet owner isn't using a choke chain to prevent escape, though. Most seem to be using it as a bandaid for pulling on leash. The choke chain is simultaneously the least effective and most damaging way to try to stop dogs from pulling on walks. No-pull harnesses and head collars are both fairly effective bandaid solutions for pulling. The Easy Walk front-clip harness is currently my favorite no-effort solution for dogs that pull. It causes little to no discomfort, minimal harm so long as it isn't being used for running or by canine athletes, and can be effectively used just by clipping it on and walking without training. It can be a great training aid too, but it makes a decent bandaid for people who just want to take a damned walk without getting dragged down the street.

The average dog owner seems to think choke chains work by causing discomfort when the dog pulls. The vast majority of the ones I see on dogs are either much too long or much too short. The chain is always resting around the base of the neck, and the wearer is pulling like a sled dog. Choke chains are terrible bandaids for pulling because they just aren't that aversive when used like this. Most dogs don't really mind, or even notice that they are being strangled. The sensation is of a slow, gradual squeeze rather than the sudden pinch from a prong collar, and many dogs are perfectly willing to pull through that feeling. There's nothing to help them connect between leash pressure and not being able to breathe because these don't happen at the same time.

Photo by Erin Koski

Why Not to Use a Choke Chain
When used correctly, a choke chain is used to inflict pain as a method of training. When used incorrectly, a choke chain is used as an ineffective deterrent to pulling on leash. Unlike most training tools out there, a choke chain also causes harm no matter how it is used. Those sharp collar corrections high on the neck damage tracheas and glands and other delicate structures. The chronic strangulation of the choke chain sitting low on the neck of a dog allowed to pull causes eye damage. Using a choke chain to deliberately strangle, drag or hang a dog like a certain TV dog trainer can cause brain damage severe enough that the only kind solution is euthanasia.

There just isn't any reason at all to be using a choke chain in 2014 when we have all sorts of other options for communicating with our dogs and solving behavior problems. Just about every other training tool on the market is safer, more effective, less aversive, and easier to use.

Allergy Alert! Taste of the Wild Has Changed!

I was discussing dog food with a friend, and mentioned that foster dog Uly was eating Taste of the Wild Sierra Mountain kibble because it was egg-free as well as poultry-free. She asked if it contained flaxseed, so I looked up the ingredients on the Taste of the Wild website. I read ingredient labels constantly because poultry and eggs are in pretty much everything, so I was very surprised to find egg listed in the ingredients. All of the Taste of the Wild canned foods have egg in them, so I checked and double-checked that I was looking at the kibble ingredients and not the canned Sierra Mountain label. Finally I went and checked the bag I have here, and there was no mention of egg in the ingredients.

I emailed Taste of the Wild asking if the food had changed. They apparently added egg recently, so I will no longer be able to consider Taste of the Wild in the purple bag to be Briz-safe. Such a disappointment, but I'm glad I caught it now. I have updated my list of Brisbane-safe foods to reflect the change. The Pacific Stream and Pacific Stream Puppy foods are still safe. I do wish that dog food companies would make it a standard practice to inform the public about changes like this.

My Vaccinated Dog Has Kennel Cough?

Last week a puppy at work went home with kennel cough, and Monday afternoon Brisbane started coughing. Like all dogs at daycare, Brisbane and the puppy were both current on their kennel cough vaccine. So how did they catch it?

This has nothing to do with bordatella. Photo by Erin Koski.

Kennel cough, or infectious tracheobronchitis, is caused by the bordatella bacteria, but dogs that catch it usually have canine parainfluenza virus as well. The disease is spread through the air, and is highly contagious. Kennels, veterinary clinics, and doggy daycares use special cleaning products to kill viruses and bacteria on surfaces, but even the cleanest places see an outbreak of kennel cough occasionally. The disease can also be contagious before the dogs begin showing symptoms, so breaking the cycle of transmission is difficult.

The kennel cough vaccine is a lot like the flu shot for humans. Getting a flu shot will protect a person from certain strains of influenza, but it will not necessarily prevent them from getting the flu that year. What the vaccine will do, however, is help prepare the immune system response so that the disease will be less severe if the person does catch it. Kennel cough can be caused by a number of different agents, and vaccinating against it is a bit like trying to vaccinate against the common cold.

Brisbane is a magnet for kennel cough, this is the fifth or sixth time he's had it, and he was current on his vaccine each time. I stopped getting him vaccinated against kennel cough for a couple of years because we were not taking any classes or doing any activities that required it. He had the nasal vaccine almost a year ago, but still caught a very mild case last summer, while Ru had a much longer and more severe case.

According to the Merck Veterinary Manual, kennel cough usually improves after around 5 days and the coughing normally stops after 10-20 days. I will be waiting until the weekend to see if Brisbane is improving, if not he may have a secondary bacterial infection and need antibiotics. Because kennel cough is so contagious, veterinarians often prefer that dogs with upper respiratory infections not enter the building. For Brisbane's first case of kennel cough, his vet at the time came out to the car to hear him cough.

We were supposed to begin agility classes this week, but it looks like we'll have to postpone that for a while. We won't be making any more trips to the dog beach until Brisbane is no longer coughing, but we will still be visiting some of our favorite on-leash walking spots. It should be easy to keep Brisbane from sharing airspace with everyone but out-of-control off-leash dogs with rude owners. Instead of warding them off with "my dog isn't friendly" or "my dog needs his space", I can announce "my dog has vaccine resistant kennel cough, and now yours does too!"

Scraped Nose?

Brisbane has a tendency to scrape his nose on certain chews. I have no idea how he manages this exactly, and am open to suggestions. It has happened with large rawhide bones, and also with dried beef tracheas, but not with bully sticks of any size, or rawhide retriever rolls.

Long suffering dog patiently suffers.

I could understand if Brisbane was scraping up the front of his nose, or the sides. I could understand is he was accidentally clawing his own face. I keep watching him while he chews, but I absolutely cannot figure out how Briz manages to scrape the top of his nose.

Ideas?

Eight Years of Tooth Wear

In 2006, I bought Brisbane a big fat rope tug toy. During a particularly vigorous tug session, Briz suddenly yelped and quit playing. Turns out he snapped the tip off one of his upper incisors, fortunately just the tip and not enough to expose the pulp.

That tooth in front of the upper canine tooth is not as pointy as it should be.

Eight years later, Brisbane's teeth have seen a fair amount of wear and tear. For several years a raw diet kept his teeth bright and clean, and he still gets raw meaty bones to chew. He doesn't chew non-edible stuff, but he does love to bite tennis balls and I think that has worn down his canines quite a bit.




When Brisbane opened his Kurgo Wander Pail recently, he did some superficial damage to his teeth.

After eight years, Brisbane's teeth still look pretty good. That incisor is still missing the tip, and his lower canine has been worn flat. The top canine was also flat, but he also chipped the tip on the Kurgo pail.

I think his teeth look pretty good after all this time.