Considerations Impacting if and when to Surgically Neuter Male Dogs

Oct 092021
 

There are many articles on the internet about neutering: pros, cons, optimal age, etc.… And there have been many interesting studies worth perusing, and considerable research about the physiological factors including joint issues and cancer. (I am not including links because this is an ongoing area of research and new studies appear regularly) I do not think there is a single correct, or incorrect, answer, but here are a few of my thoughts that may be helpful to anyone contemplating this question:  

First, let me separate, absolutely, the question of neutering from breeding: I am going to assume that most of my readers are able to keep their dogs under their control and avoid unintended reproduction. If you are not able to keep your male dog from getting to females, or from wandering, or from fighting, you probably should not have a dog… And if you want to let your male play with intact bitches and not have to be extremely vigilant, you should neuter your dog.

The single biggest point I would make is that while this decision often feels huge and overwhelming, it ought not be: there are several important factors to consider, but the total differences between neutering at various ages, or not at all, are fairly minor. We have had many neutered dogs and many intact dogs, and their ability to work and do pretty much everything is similar. This decision is unlikely to make or break anything, and is quite low risk, so relax and quit worrying that you are going to make a “wrong” decision and catastrophically damage your dog! Research, discuss with your vet, make the best decision you can, and feel good about it…

That said, here are a few key points to consider:

In most cases, I advocate waiting until an individual is mature. Usually this means around two years old, but some individuals it might be a bit younger or older. The various roles hormones play in controlling, and stopping, growth, are important enough that, in general, I prefer to leave testicles until I am sure that vertical growth has stopped and maximal muscle development has occurred. I believe this ensures the greatest likelihood that the dog will be healthy later in life, and I also believe male hormones help them be more confident during puppyhood. I rarely neuter a dog before two or three years old, unless there is a compelling medical or behavioral reason to do so.

Many male dogs will develop prostatic hyperplasia later in life, and surgery on senior dogs is generally less advisable, so if I believe an individual dog is nearing the end of his physical prime, I often consider neutering before they are “too” old.

Neutering will not make your dog fat, but it may decrease his basal metabolism, so you absolutely do need to keep a close eye out for weight gain and adjust caloric intake as needed. 

Neutering will not make your dog lazy, but it may decrease his energy levels slightly, so you absolutely do need to make sure he is still getting plenty of exercise.

Neutering will not make your dog magically stay home, but it may decrease his tendency to wander, but that should not be relied upon, and your dog should be securely contained when not under your immediate control.

Neutering will not make your dog magically unaggressive, but it may diminish certain types of aggression, but that should not be relied upon, and you should socialize, train, and manage your dog so he is not fighting with others.

Neutering may diminish marking, roaming, aggression, mounting, and other masculine behaviors to some degree, but generally will not once they are ingrained, so if you are seeing these behaviors more than seems normal in a young male dog, you may want to consider neutering before they are established habits. It does tend to be easier for neutered dogs to focus on their handler and be less distracted by odors and other stimuli.

Neutering likely will somewhat alter a dog’s coat and appearance. In general coats will become a bit softer and longer, and in general muscle mass and tone will become slightly less.

Early neutering (before physical maturity) will generally increase height and decrease muscularity and seems to often diminish breadth of skull.

While neutering is not a magic bullet for any behavior, I do feel compelled to articulate that if you and your dog are having problems around any of the above behaviors, neutering generally is worth considering–it may make enough of a difference that you and your dog can have a much happier life, so absolutely do discuss neutering with your vet–it is possibly a better alternative than other options.

So, think about all the variables, look at the most recent studies, talk to your vet, and make the best decision you can and then get back to focusing on the fun stuff with your puppy!

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 October 9, 2021  Posted by at 6:52 pm Tagged with: , , , ,

But My Vet Said…

May 282020
 

Your veterinarian is a crucial part of the team keeping your pet healthy, and they have extensive knowledge and expertise that should be heard and incorporated diligently if you want to do what is best for your animal. However, many people seem to imagine that vet school or a few years of practice has rendered veterinarians as experts on all things animal, and so people often accept advice given to them by a veterinarian without thinking or questioning.

Vet school covers a lot of information in 4 years, so many topics, particularly those that are peripheral to medicine, are covered very quickly and superficially. For the most part, vet school focuses on ailments that impact animals: pathogens and injuries, diagnostic tools, pathology, pharmacology, etc. and less on animals per se.

Your veterinarian MAY have expertise in other fields—may be a fabulous expert in all sorts of additional animal fields! But if so, that knowledge came from somewhere other than vet school…

Even within their field of expertise, if you ask ten vets the same question, in most instances you will get ten different answers. Sometimes the answers will be incompatible. Bodies are complicated, medicine is inexact, there are very few questions in medicine to which there this a single correct answer, particularly those that involve balancing objectives or applying judgment…

Topics about which veterinarians are often imagined to be experts but seldom are:

Behavior TrainingBreeds
NutritionWeightSaddle Fit
EthicsReason and LogicAnimal Sports
ThermodynamicsEquipmentWhen to euthanize
Optimal age to spay/neuterOptimal age to start riding your horseMeaning of life

Topics upon which your veterinarian likely did receive a reasonable degree of education depend a bit on where they went to school and what they focused upon, although if they are not an expert in a particular field the education may have been limited, and unless they make a real effort to stay current their information may not be current, but in general:

BacteriologyImmunology SA Critical Care
Cardiology Integrated Problem Solving SA Primary Care
Imaging Intro. to Animal Care SA Medicine
Oncology LA Medicine SA Surgery
Pathology LA Surgery Toxicology
SA Medicine LA Emergency Care Clinical Nutrition
SA Surgery Microscopic Anatomy Theriogenology
SA Emergency Care Diagnostic Services Special Animal Medicine
Neuroscience Parasitology Anesthesiology
General Medicine Diagnostic Pathology Veterinary Ethics
Epidemiology  Physiology Virology
Pharmacology Practice Management Pathology
Gross Anatomy MycologyVM & Public Health

Some may hear this as being a refutation of expertise—as suggesting that vets do not know anything, and you should listen to your cousin or some stranger on the internet. ABSOLUTELY NOT! I am close friends with many veterinarians, and almost without exception they are intelligent, informed, educated, rational people who know a GREAT deal about their field of expertise, and I am incredibly grateful to have their help in keeping my animals healthy!

You are the captain of the team caring for your animal, and you need to make the ultimate decisions, and in order to do so effectively, you need to gather the right input from various sources, weigh it appropriately, and then integrate that information into the best possible decision. There are few better sources of information about the health of your animal than a good veterinarian; just be mindful that the questions you are asking them are the right ones and that you are listening to their answers carefully, critically, and in balanced concert with other expert advice…

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 May 28, 2020  Posted by at 7:24 pm Tagged with: , , , ,

Restraint

Apr 252019
 

I hear often from people whose pets “hate” baths, or having their nails done, or some other activity, and when I ask them to show me or tell me more, it is immediately obvious that the animal is not objecting to the activity per se, but to being restrained.  So I wanted to discuss restraint…

Please take a few minutes to genuinely consider restraint from the animal’s perspective: for millennia restraint has meant injury or death.  An animal’s ability to fight or flee is one of its most basic instincts, and restraint means the loss of these defense mechanisms.  Most animals naturally fear this loss of control, often to the point of near hysteria, and they do not understand what is coming next.  You may know that no harm is going to come to them, but they do not—they do not know if you are about to kill them or maim them, and they are literally afraid for their lives. Imagine someone dangling you off the roof of the Empire State Building… So if you are restraining your animal, and telling them to hold still, or that it is going to be okay, and they are resisting, they are not being bad, they are being remarkably good in that they are not biting you when really it would be well within their behavioral rights to do so!

Once you authentically understand what an animal is feeling when being restrained, it becomes fairly easy to empathize and address their fear. Restraint needs to be worked on without any secondary component—no bath, no nails, no shots, nothing else. And no frustration, impatience, or anger on your part. It needs to be trained and conditioned.  Restraint is all about trust—and the more you work on building your animal’s ability to handle restraint, the more you will build trust; however, the reverse is also true—you want to avoid having to force the issue of restraint if at all possible, as doing so fundamentally violates his trust in you and sets the process back.  

There are many exercises you can perform to work on restraint, but they are all somewhat similar.  Essentially, you start gradually and build up, and you stop and release the restraint only when they are relaxed and accepting.  Your goal is to start with essentially no restraint but in a position that mimics restraint, and then gradually begin restraining them and letting go before they fight against you. Timing is everything in this pursuit—go a moment too far and a struggle begins which you cannot really win. Patience is key—you do not need to get there in one session, or in twenty. If they are doing well, stop, do not try to go one step further, take your time!

I generally avoid using commands when working on restraint—sit, down, stand, and especially stay.  I do not want to create a scenario in which their nervousness makes it impossible to succeed.  I may use a command to get them into position, but then I release them before I begin restraining so that they are not conflicted and stressed while trying to do what I asked.  

Once they can remain relaxed during easy restraint, you can start making it more demanding, and you can begin to push a tiny bit too far—the new goal becomes letting them bump into the fact that they are restrained, react just a bit, and then relax again. You want them to learn how to soothe themselves when they feel restraint. The key here is always the timing of the release—you want them to learn that relaxing is the path to release, so you always release when they find that relaxation.

It is important not to push too far—if an animal shuts down and gives up, it may seem to solve the problem in the short term, but the anxiety has just been tamped down where it will cause physical, emotional, and behavioral issues, and will in all likelihood resurface explosively at a later date. Perhaps even more importantly, you will have decreased your animal’s trust in you instead of building it. Expect to spend on average 10-20 hours working on this, over the course of a month or two, and you will have an animal that can completely relax when being restrained, and then you can begin very gently adding other elements like nail trimming or bathing or whatever, always being mindful not to panic or injure.

Always be mindful that it is a very big deal for an animal to relinquish control of its body, and go slowly with maximal empathy, and you will do great…

Note: this post is about teaching an animal to be comfortable with restraint, which is a worthwhile lesson. It is not intended to imply that restraint is always the best solution. In many circumstances, you are better off training your animal to hold still without needing restraint–to place its foot where you want for nail trimming, or rest its chin statically while you perform many grooming or veterinary procedures. By doing this you can also teach your animal to move when not comfortable, so that he become an active and willing participant, but that is an entirely different process which is also worthwhile and I will discuss in a subsequent post…

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 April 25, 2019  Posted by at 1:13 am Tagged with: , , ,

One Perspective on the TMZ video from filming “A Dog’s Purpose”

Jan 192017
 

 

TMZ recently released a video showing a German Shepherd being forced into the water for a scene in “A Dog’s Purpose.” While we had nothing to with this production, we have received numerous requests for comment:

Let me start by saying this: I am very proud of the work I do, and would wager my soul that virtually every animal I have worked with has had a great time. The animals I know in film and television are some of the most loved and pampered on the planet, with lives rich in comfort, joy, play, adventure, health, and fun. They live longer, healthier, and happier lives than 99% of pets or wild animals.

What I “saw” on the video, taken at face value, is unacceptable. However, I do not know much about the events portrayed in the TMZ video, and neither do you. We were not there, and watching a snippet of video can be so misleading that I am reluctant to offer any thoughts because we do not know context, we did not see what happened before or after, and we have not heard the other side, so drawing any conclusions is problematic. Of course, this video looks awful, but it is a few moments edited for maximal impact. I am absolutely not defending, or attacking, the trainers involved, as I just do not know enough.

What I can tell you is how this scene would “normally” be handled:

Normally, this scene would have been prepped long in advance.  The dog would have been running into water, dock diving, swimming across rivers with more and more current. If the dog did not love swimming, a double would have been found who did. A few weeks before filming, the dog would start rehearsing on the actual set, first with no current, then gradually increasing the current as the dog became confident and comfortable. By the time this scene filmed, the dog would not merely be willing to get into the water, he would love getting in and swimming in the current. This is how it is normally done because it is what is best for the animal, and because it is what is best for the production!

As I said, I am not going to defend what happened, but here are a few ‘mitigating’ thoughts about what I observed in this video:

  1.  The guy narrating is not, so far as I can tell, part of the animal team and is not speaking for them, and what he is saying is silly and objectionable but irrelevant.
  2. I do not fully understand what I saw–no sane trainer would show up with an unprepared animal and expect to shove it into that water. Why was there no ramp in or out, what was the plan, what information are we missing?
  3. Forcing an animal to do something is almost never the best technique.  However, there are moments when pushing a dog to get into the water and realize that no harm will result can be a viable alternative to consider.  Millions of loving pet owners have enacted scenes like this trying to get Fido into the bath, or into a pool for the first time, and in 90% of those cases the animal has not suffered physical or psychological damage. When to “push” is a judgement call, and sometimes people get it wrong, or it looks wrong from the outside… Some animals, or children, pitch a remarkable fit about having their nails trimmed or getting into a crate or not getting a treat at the store, and while force is almost never the best response, one also needs to recognize that without lots more information these fits can look much worse than they are…
  4. There was a trainer in the water near the end when the dog was pushed under by current.  Why she was so far away is unclear, but it was likely a mistake —the dog had always veered to the other side before, or they misjudged the current and thought he would get more across. But again, how awful this was is questionable—many dogs love playing in the waves, even though from time to time they get dunked and rolled, but thirty seconds later they are back at it.  I used to have to drag Tillie away from the Rio Grande because she found the current exhilarating and would seek out the rapids, often getting far more submerged than this dog.  None of which makes it ok—that dog clearly did not want that experience, and it was a mistake not to avoid it—but it was likely just that: a mistake, and the dog was likely fine ten seconds later.
  5. Animals working on set are incredibly scrutinized. Not only are there trainers and AHA, but every moment we are watched and filmed.  There are millions of hours filmed every year of every single thing we do—every animal lover with a cell phone films every walk, every crate, every training session. 99% of those moments are great and never end up on TMZ.  No matter how great a job someone does with animals, there will be few moments that, without context or explanation, could be edited together to give a bad impression. The same is true for anyone who has ever owned an animal—things occasionally go awry and look awful.
  6. Sometimes, an animal can be prepped and trained and ready in every way, and things can still go wrong.  All the practice in the world does not change that these are sentient beings with moods and feelings, and sometimes an animal suddenly behaves very differently than expected.  Of course a skilled trainer recognizes this and steps back to reevaluate, but sometimes it may take a few minutes to recognize, and by then accidents may have occurred.
  7. This is not at all an excuse, but by way of possible explanation: movie sets can be almost unimaginably high pressure.  With huge financial and temporal pressures, and a powerful production team pushing and demanding, it is sometimes difficult to say “no” when one ought to.  This is why people die in stunts, or on train tracks, or driving home at hour twenty. It is perhaps the most important job of an animal trainer to stand between this pressure and their animals–to shield and protect them from production demands; and while it is not ok, sometimes people agree to ‘try’ things that they should not.

As I stated, I do not know enough about this particular situation to offer an explanation for what decisions were made or why. I do not know the dog, or the prior training, or even how the rest of the day went. I do not know what schedule snafus occurred, I do not know if American Humane was present. I do not know what shortcuts were taken or what unexpected events occurred.

What I do know, after thousands of hours on set with countless animals and other trainers, is that this video does not at all represent what usually happens on set. Virtually every trainer I have worked with is unwaveringly committed to the welfare and happiness of their animals.  In our industry, as in every corner of the world, there are undoubtedly a few bad seeds, people who are not strong enough, moral enough, or kind enough to protect their animals at all times. And certainly accidents, misjudgements, or mistakes do occur. But most of us do this because there is nothing we would rather do than spend every day playing with animals we love, and it is vital to our success that the animals also enjoy the work because our reputation hinges upon them working well which depends upon their being happy and enthusiastic.

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 January 19, 2017  Posted by at 6:33 pm Tagged with: , , , , , ,

Independence Day

Jun 272016
 

IndDaySlate

The Fourth of July signifies American independence, barbeques, celebration, fireworks, and unfortunately many frightened dogs. In addition to the obvious refrains about keeping your pets safe and secure, let’s talk a little about what you can do to help minimize your pets’ distress.

First, let me point out that each individual is different, and you need to figure out what is best for yours.  For some there may be little choice other than heading out of town, for some pharmaceuticals may be effective, for others a Thundershirt may be useful.  There is no single right answer, so you need to try a few options and find a combination that is most effective for your pet. And if you have a great technique, by all means share it in the comments below!

That said, here is the technique I have found to be most effective with many dogs:

A couple of nights a week, for the next several weeks, go into whichever room in your home is most soundproof, and turn up a stereo as loud as you can without causing your dog any stress, introduce a strong scent (peppermint perhaps), and then play a rip-roaring game of fetch, tug, race, wrestle, rollover, etc. Play to all of the dog’s strongest drives and make the game fun.  Try to make it the most upbeat, engaging romp possible, although not so over the top that it becomes frenetic or stressful. Have a very high rate of reinforcement—lots of treats, praise, cheering, throwing, tugging… If possible, have a colleague set of a few small noisemaking fireworks outside a distance away, or have someone in another room play a recording of fireworks. Have a container of super-treats sitting nearby, and periodically make a show of running to the treats and giving one, or more, to your dog, so that the act of running over to the treats becomes reinforcing as well. You should be laughing, dancing, sweating, and generally all having a blast.

On the Fourth, and in some places a few days earlier, before the fireworks start, go into the same room, crank the stereo, introduce the scent, and repeat the same exercise.  Your dog will be somewhat trained to the desired behaviors, but even more he will be conditioned to a state of exuberance. Whenever you hear a boom over the loud music, do not react, but make sure a fun action occurs and run for a reward, so the booms start to seem like a precursor to the fun stuff.

The underlying notion here is that wild exuberance is a more immersive state than calm. Calmness tends to be fairly passive and fragile and easily interrupted by the first loud noise.  Conversely, energetic play has great inertia and is difficult to interrupt.  Exuberance also utilizes more similar chemical and neural pathways to fear, and so is more feasible when faced with frightening stimuli. And of course, the aural, visual, and olfactory cues that you have conditioned will all serve the secondary role of dampening the frightening stimuli.

Do not stress about the Fourth.  Your dog will detect your anxiety which will compound his.  Come up with a plan, ameliorate the noise as much as possible, and do everything you can to keep them safe and happy! Oh, and Happy Independence Day!

Note: before you panic about the image at the top, two things: one, do not try this at home, and two, it was shot in pieces and was very safe–there was one firework behind me when I was working the dog, and we were a safe distance and he was well acclimated. The angle makes it look closer, and then the others I photographed separately and composited in afterwards!

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 June 27, 2016  Posted by at 6:51 am Tagged with: , , , , ,

The Day the Music Died

Mar 242016
 

athena1

The recent announcement that SeaWorld is ending their orca program and forging an alliance with HSUS sparked widely diverse emotional responses, from joy to despair, but most serious animal people were deeply hurt and furious.

I am not going to address the specific orca question: despite my tens of thousands of hours working with hundreds of species, I do not possess sufficient knowledge or experience with marine mammals to know whether or not orcas can thrive in captivity. This determination belongs in the hands of dedicated, knowledgeable, caring experts, and not abandoned to weekend activists, anti-animal fanatics, pre-occupied politicians, or casual animal lovers. And I am not privy to what happens at SeaWorld, so I cannot speak to the details of their care.

Nor am I going to attack those at SeaWorld for this decision.  We are all struggling to find best and most effective paths in the current world, and I do not have access to all the information they had.  I suspect it was a serious mistake for SeaWorld to become a publicly traded company, but even if they had not, no institution can long survive what SeaWorld has been facing, so they did what they believed was necessary to survive in the short term, even though doing so may well have sacrificed the future.

I want to discuss some of the broader realities and process failures that got us to this point:

It is profoundly saddening that SeaWorld has been unable to persuasively communicate the core truth that responsibly managed captivity is a great alternative in parallel with protection of wild animals. That animals can do better living with people than in the wild.  That they can be happier, healthier, and longer-lived.  That man has today claimed every inch of the planet and that the only future for most species inexorably includes human involvement. That most animals care not about the idea of freedom, but about survival, comfort, and happiness.

It is devastating that SeaWorld partnered with an organization that has shown repeatedly that it will not rest until every single animal living with man has been removed or eliminated.

It is flabbergasting that a filmmaker with no relevant knowledge, education, or experience, and a woefully lopsided, sentiment-based agenda, could produce false and misleading propaganda and raise up an army of well-meaning-but-utterly-misinformed do-gooders who—in the name of orcas—set about destroying the greatest ally orcas have ever known.

It is gravely disappointing how many excellent animal facilities have seen no choice but to die with a whimper, or hand over their soul to the devil and betray their colleagues and the truth.

It is crushing how close we are to a world in which all animals have been shoved out of our homes and lives and banished to an illusory “wild.”

It is depressing how little SeaWorld, and other animal professionals, have been able to educate the public that good animal training is not cruel, coercive, or exploitative.  That animals need, and love, to play the game, figure things out, and perform complicated behaviors.

It is unfathomable how many people embrace an agenda that they have not bothered to fully grasp, and do grievous harm to animals while passionately believing that they are helping.  How many people are certain they know best, even when they know nothing at all.

But the most frightening and saddening truth is this: science and reason surrendered to a mob of pitchfork-brandishing villagers.  Knowledge and thoughtful pursuit of truth abandoned the field to ignorance, hatred, and frenzy. However you may feel about SeaWorld, you should be very afraid of a world in which the mob can control such decisions.

Make no mistake: animals and those who love them are losing badly. Sea World’s capitulation was a grave defeat for Earth’s animals. But perhaps even worse, it was a devastating blow for mankind. Watch the responses to SeaWorld’s decision, and relentlessly you will hear people with inadequate knowledge repeat the tautological assumption—“Wild animals belong in the wild because they are wild and yearn for freedom.”  No matter how much logic and data are presented to them clearly demonstrating the fallacy of their position, they will simply repeat their impenetrable certainty.  Reason, knowledge, and discourse are little match for sentimentality, unabashed ignorance, certitude, and zealotry.

Some may not recognize the enormity of this event: SeaWorld, after all, is but one organization, and we are only talking about a few orcas. But we are not really talking about SeaWorld as a brick-and-mortar institution.  SeaWorld is an icon, a metaphor.  SeaWorld is a manifestation of the notion that enterprise, entertainment, education, and animal care can synergistically coexist. SeaWorld, until recently, generated a great deal of revenue and profit, but its managers directed a significant portion of those profits into the welfare of their animals, aiding wild animals, conducting groundbreaking research, educating the public, and generating interest and affection for marine mammals.  It is cruelly ironic that the only reason people care enough about orcas to be attacking SeaWorld is because SeaWorld brought the charismatic mammals to our focused attention, and made them into the icons we treasure so deeply.  SeaWorld was the principal global institution with the resources and commitment to stand toe-to-toe with the Animal Rights groups and say, “No! We will not capitulate to misguided sentimentality no matter how loudly you yell.”

SeaWorld was one of the last citadels protecting the ideal that animals and people can live together, and that both can be the better for it. I do not know if there is hope left, but if there is, it lies with every single person who loves animals banding together right now and saying with one voice what I wish SeaWorld had said: Enough. We will not be intimidated; we will not let you eliminate animals from our world.  We will not let you distort responsible care and love and stewardship and call them exploitation. We will not let your simplistic fanaticism crush truth. We are the true lovers of animals, the people who dedicate our lives to caring for them and learning about them. With immense devotion and immeasurable reflection and action, we have learned what is humane, what is ethical, what is best for the animals.  And while we will always welcome thoughtful, informed input into how we can do better, we shall ceaselessly strive to ensure that the animals we love always have homes in the wild and with us.

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 March 24, 2016  Posted by at 11:01 pm Tagged with: , , , , ,

Leaving Your Pet at the Vet

Feb 252013
 

TIMG_0717his post is not a judgment of anything you may have done!  I do not know the details or variables of your decisions, nor do I believe there is a single right answer to this complex question.  I am only addressing it in the hopes that everyone will consider it:

In recent years it has become an accepted and even expected practice to drop one’s dog at the veterinarian’s office in the morning and return later that day or later that week to retrieve the dog after appropriate veterinary procedures have been completed.  Similarly, when owners are present, dogs are routinely taken to a separate room in back for actual procedures and then brought back into the exam room.

In some cases, leaving a dog is unavoidable or the only realistic option. But in many cases, I think owners fail to seriously consider their animal’s perspective, or are simply carried along by inertia and simply do it that way because that is how their vet does it.  In many cases, I believe these practices are contrary to the best interests of the animals. So I thought it might be worth enumerating some of the key considerations in deciding whether to leave an animal or stay with them.  There are tangible advantages and disadvantages that warrant consideration:

Advantages to leaving your animal at the vet office:

  1. Convenience for the owner: it is certainly easier to spend a few minutes dropping your animal at the vet than it is to spend all day sitting on the floor with them…
  2. Convenience for the vet: with animals that are left, vets can get to them when it fits into their schedule, can have techs and students perform tasks they might otherwise do themselves, can spend less time calming worried owners.
  3. Fewer distractions for the vet: even for the most skilled and experienced vet, having an owner in the room is a distraction.  The vet is thinking about perception, how to answer questions, etc.
  4. Vet not made nervous: vets are human, and having someone looking over their shoulder can make them perform less well than they would if they were alone.
  5. Some animals are better behaved when their owner is not present. Nobody likes to admit this, but oftentimes animals are much more tractable when their owner is not there to bolster their confidence.
  6. Many owners are stressed at the vet and communicate this stress to their dogs.  Particularly when needles, scalpels, blood, pus, and other medical realities are present, many owners are not relaxed.
  7. Some procedures can be better and more efficiently performed in a manner that may not appeal to owners.  Sometimes what is best for a dog may look bad, and well-intentioned but inexperienced owners may be upset by all sorts of best practices.
  8. Space is sometimes at a premium, and there just is not room for every owner to be present.

Disadvantages to leaving your dog at the vet office:

  1. Emotional support: a vet’s office is a strange and stressful place to most animals.  Being “left” alone adds to this stress. Having a skilled owner present is the single biggest thing that can be done to provide consistency and continuity. This is hugely exacerbated if the animals is sedated, anesthetized, or otherwise altered–when an animal wakes from anesthesia, it is disoriented, frightened, and generally in pain.  It has no idea what has just happened or why, and it does not understand the after effects of anesthesia. It has no way of knowing its owner will return given that this situation is so outside normal events. This is extremely stressful, and extreme stress is not only harmful to animals, it can be extremely deleterious to healing.
  2. More attention: In the post-op hours, the veterinary staff will check on each animal periodically.  If there is an emergency with another animal, an individual may well go unchecked for a long time.  With an owner present, the animal will get uninterrupted vigilance. There is simply no way any vet can provide this level of care. Even in the operating room, another set of eyes can help—on at least two occasions, my presence averted a serious mishap.
  3. Superior baseline knowledge of animal: The vet just does not know the individual as well as the owner does.  We are more able to recognize aberrant behavior.   We know which of our animals have had a paradoxical response to propofol, which has a heart murmur that is evident only when sedated, which are sound sensitive, which are reactive to other dogs, etc.
  4. Informed advocacy: Decisions may need to be made on the fly, and if the owner is not present, who will make them?  In my view, it is a team effort—the vet is the medical expert, but the owner is the team captain who knows the animal’s history, personality, and future plans.  Removing the team captain during a critical procedure weakens the team hugely.
  5. Animal handling skills: Owners are often more knowledgeable and skilled than most of the people working in a veterinary office.  More experienced with animal behavior, more aware of spinal consequences of poor lifting techniques, etc.
  6. Veterinary knowledge: much though we want to assume our vets know everything, they do not.  Particularly when we know our animal has a particular issue, we may have read every study and talked to every expert and be FAR more current than our vet.  I cannot tell you how many times I have educated my various vets on latest research on a topic.
  7. Ethical obligation: many owners simply feel an obligation to be there—we made an absolute commitment to our animals that we would take care of them, and we cannot do that if we are not present.

 

Every case is different.  The best answer depends upon many variables, in particular the abilities and attitude of the owner, the vet, and the techs; the temperament and experience of the individual animal; and the procedure being performed. If you are going to leave your pet, get him ready for it: leave him several times with a friend for a fun afternoon, leave him in a crate in a strange place for a few hours, arrange with your vet to leave him there on days when nothing happens except they give him a few cookies and pats throughout the day.  Get him used to being there, apart from you, and to the strange smells, sights, and sounds….

Before you leave your animal anywhere, including the veterinary hospital, think carefully about the risks associated with doing so.  Think about it from the animal’s perspective— what are his past experiences, how will he feel, what will be going through his mind? Do not simply follow protocol—do what is right for your animal.  At the end of the day, you are his advocate, his owner, and you are the one who must make the best possible decisions!

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 February 25, 2013  Posted by at 6:35 pm

Carpe Diem

Jan 102012
 

A few weeks ago, I had one of the worst experiences of my life: my dog Sequel disappeared while we were hiking in the woods around our home, and he was missing for several days and nights.  Each moment he was gone was devastating, but daytime was more bearable—there was so much to be done running the search that it was easy to set aside any thoughts about him being injured or dead.  We had multiple teams searching the woods and updating the search map, people driving the roads and putting up signs, people going door-to-door, people calling all the shelters, vets, daycares, etc.  Busyness can be a real friend in times of anguish! Long after night fell and the searchers had gone, I would force myself to try to get a few hours of sleep, but how can you lie in a warm bed and fall asleep knowing that your dog may be lying somewhere near death hoping you will find him soon…

And so, instead of sleeping, during the long, dark hours agonizing about all the worst things that could be happening to my dog, I wracked my brain about what I should have done differently, what I would do differently when—if—I found him and brought him home.  And I returned time and again to the same surprising answer: nothing.

I love my dogs with every fiber of my being.  I love them enough that while it sometimes might make me feel better to wrap them in cocoons and cloister them away safely, I force myself to always try to make the best decision for them.  Insofar as it is possible, I try to give my dogs the lives I believe they would want, with the balance of safety and adventure that they would chose if they could fully understand the issues. Most of my dogs would absolutely prefer to run in the woods, to swim in the ocean, to wrestle and leap and herd and play, even if these things come with some risk.

Of course, judgment is required-knowledge of your dogs, their personality and fitness and training (I would stake my life on Sequel’s recall if he could have heard me, and as soon as I got on the right side of the creek where he could, he came immediately), and the area and all the hazards so you can make an informed decision about whether to keep your dogs on leash or a long line or a GPS collar or have them loose but call them back frequently. And no matter how careful you are, there will be some risk!  But for nearly 20 years we have taken many, many animals out to run, play, hike, and camp in our woods, and the tens of  thousands of hours of joy, health, enrichment,  fitness, and fun it has brought is more than worth the risks, and really the worst that has ever happened is a few scrapes, a few porcupine quills, and some lost sleep…Those are pretty excellent odds, and even if Sequel had died, I am certain I would feel the same.

Please understand, I am not advocating recklessness: I am amazed at how often I watch people let their dogs out of a car in a parking lot and then pay no attention, or whose dogs are left unattended in homes full of hazards, or whose dogs are meeting groups of large, intense dogs while the owner is 100 feet away. Vigilance and mindful awareness are almost always to be advised with animals…

My dog is at risk in a moving car. He is at risk fetching a stick or a ball or wearing a collar. He is at risk at home that my house could catch fire. He is at risk on a dogwalk, or running in a field that might have a mole-hole. He is at risk chewing on a toy or meeting other dogs at a park. He is at risk that some lunatic will put poison on a sidewalk. Heck, I knew a dog recently who was run over while walking on leash in town… The risks from wildlife to a healthy, medium-sized dog in most areas are statistically very, very low. (of course if you live in an area in which risks are greater, you would need to behave accordingly!)

There are undoubtedly a few dogs that die from wildlife encounters each year in this country, or that get lost while out playing in the woods, or slip and fall down a cliff, but there are millions and millions of dogs that die each year obese and bored and with their bodies, minds, and spirits atrophied.  And while you can never perfectly protect your pets from risk, you absolutely can save them from boredom.

Being a good dog owner is not about avoiding risk-it is about balancing risk with richness.  Life is full of adventures, opportunities, and experiences that make our dogs’ lives wonderful, but we must not be so afraid that we avoid them.  I certainly cannot tell anyone else how to find their perfect balance point, but I can say that for me and my dogs, we would rather be injured or die living a rich full life than sit safely at home growing old.

One last happy thought: pursuing a full and rich life, will often have the magical side-effect of also maximizing health and longevity.  Our dogs spend their lives sprinting and swimming and leaping and playing as hard as possible, and they virtually all live well into their teens. Flint, our Belgian/Border Collie mix, lies at my feet as I write this, 18 years old. And I can hardly remember a day in his life that he did not fling himself into the unknown with utter abandon and sometimes crazy disregard for any potential risk…

I could probably write more about this topic, but Sequel wants to go for a hike now—back into the same woods, to his favorite swimming hole, and to the meadow to play a fast game of chase with Fig. We may die while playing our favorite games, but first, for sure, we are going to live…

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 January 10, 2012  Posted by at 10:13 am

Maximize Pet Longevity

Nov 222011
 

This past week our Mal-n-Collie “Flint” turned 18, and several people asked me a question that we hear fairly often, so I thought I would address it here: what are we doing that is allowing our dogs to consistently exceed, or at least push the upper limits of, the expected lifespan for their breed?

Of course, the answer is that I do not know—we do many things, and without conducting a careful study it is impossible to know which of these things are significantly contributing to our pets’ longevity. But here, in roughly descending order of importance, are the things I believe are most important:

 

Low stress: this is perhaps the single most important ingredient in keeping your dog young.  Nearly every time I spend time around other people and their dogs, I can feel my anxiety climbing—so many unclear rules, so much correcting, nagging, yelling.  So many conflicting requirements, or vague paths to success that change depending on circumstance or mood. Be mindful of your dogs stress level.  Use good management techniques to avoid stress.

Exercise: not walking on leash, or running for a minute around an agility course, but real exercise.  Exercise that gets their heart rate to 80% or more of max for prolonged periods several times each week.  Exercise that pushes their muscles nearly to the point of failure repeatedly. Sprinting up sand dunes, swimming hard, pulling weights, tugging for all they are worth, work their hearts and lungs and large muscles and small muscles and…

Weight: study after study has demonstrated that calorie restriction is one of the greatest prolongers of life, health, and comfort. Honestly, I get so frustrated when people say their dogs are fat because they love them too much to feed them less.  Grow up and quit feeding your dog too much. Keep them lean and they will live years longer and be more comfortable.

Diet: we feed a very carefully planned natural diet with minimal grains.

Minimal vaccinations: not only are multiple vaccinations implicated in many ailments, but also the adjuvants contained in most vaccinations are detrimental to health.  This is not to say that you should not vaccinate, but you should utilize the fewest number of vaccinations that is likely to provide adequate protection in your circumstances.

Minimal toxins: we are very mindful of toxins.  We live way out in the woods away from urban poisons, our dogs drink well-water, we use almost no herbicides or other toxins on our property, we almost never put topical flea or tick treatments on our dogs, we feed from inert bowls, we use least-harmful cleaning products and do not let our pets near them.

Diverse Enrichment: have you ever noticed that some people as they age just get bored and lethargic and sit in their comfortable chair waiting to die, while other people are still active and engaged?  And the lethargic people generally wither away, while the engaged people stay younger longer…  A similar phenomenon seems to occur in animals.  I often go over peoples’ homes and their dogs are lying in the same spot, going on the same walk, essentially experiencing the same day over and over and over.  Sure, they are still eager to go for a walk or get dinner, but there is very little novelty or excitement. Give your dogs new experiences, new treats, fun games.  Give them challenges to overcome and puzzles to solve. Maintaining neural plasticity protects youthfulness.

Joy: being happy is a powerful energizer.  Play with your dogs, wrestle with them, have them chase you.  Laugh and smile and be happy together.

Temperature/climate: in general it seems that dogs who spend most or all of their time outdoors age more quickly. So I would suggest keeping them inside, particularly when the temperature or weather deviates more than a little bit from ideal.

I genuinely believe that quality is more important than quantity when it comes to life.  However, for the most part, pursuit of either results in an increase in both.  So give your pets low-stress, healthy, rich, and happy lives, and they will live the longest they can…

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 November 22, 2011  Posted by at 7:14 am

Spring is here! And so are fleas and ticks…

Mar 252010
 

Parasite prevention is a very circumstantial endeavor.  What works perfectly in one situation may fail completely in another, so it is  impossible to offer universal advice.  Furthermore, we have been fortunate enough, or perhaps wise enough, that we have always lived in a part of the world where these parasites are a mild nuisance, not a plague, so our advice may not be valuable for people who live in southern states or other parasite-friendly climates. Each person needs to reach their own conclusions concerning insecticides, and I am in no way judging anyone else who has come to a different conclusion!

That said, every spring we stock up on our chosen weapons to do battle against these little buggers, and I thought it might be beneficial to some of our readers to share what we have found most effective in case you have not thought of some of these tools.

There is one misconception that I find troubling: many people seem to believe that topical pesticides are essentially unavoidable given the fact that not using them allows for the transmission of lethal diseases and therefore obviously insecticides are a better choice than death, even if they cause some degradation of overall health.  These people (and institutions) simply douse every pet with Frontline, Advantage, Revolution, or a similar product every month because they are afraid that otherwise their animal might get a flea or a tick. In my opinion this is misguided, although it certainly makes the companies selling the products quite happy! The truth is: depending on where you live, there is a chance that your dog might contract from fleas or ticks a disease that might be serious or lethal and using insecticides reduces but does not eliminate the risk of these diseases.

No question, fleas and ticks are undesirable and can carry disease, so I am not suggesting that anyone simply live with them.  I am suggesting that in many parts of the country, topical insecticides can be used far less often or eliminated altogether by using some less harmful tools as a first line of defense. Constantly applying toxins to avoid fleas or ticks is a last resort to be utilized only when less harmful alternatives have failed.

You must balance two unknowns: how much damage will be caused to your animal by administering toxins versus how likely it is that your dog will contract a disease and how damaging that disease will be.  You need to research your region, and your dogs’ lifestyle and make the best possible decision, and you need to refine that decision over time to make sure it remains the healthiest all around solution for your pets.

Here are the main tools we use to keep parasites at bay:

Swimming is great for less traditional pets too!

  • Swimming—there are a few things in life that are genuine wins, and swimming is certainly one of them.  During the warm months, we swim most of our dogs several times a week.  This cools them off, exercises them, and removes the majority of external parasites.  We vary between fresh pond water, salt water, and pool water, but most days we swim some and delight in knowing we are reducing parasites without harming our pets!
  • Borax—another truly wonderful tool.  We sprinkle borax on our floors, let it sit overnight, and vacuum it up, and we do this several times a month.  Borax has very low toxicity to mammals, but is extremely effective at eliminating fleas.
  • Food grade diatomaceous earth—this is sprinkled in the area around our house, and essentially performs the same purpose outside that the borax performs inside.
  • Vacuuming: do not forget this simple piece of the puzzle.  Frequent vacuuming (and either immediate bag disposal or inclusion fo some borax or flea toxin in the bag) can be a hugely effective tool in eliminating fleas.
  • Laundry: wash dog bedding and any other fabrics often.
  • Guinea fowl/peafowl/chickens—these guys all eat ticks, what could be better?  Depending on your circumstances, if you can populate your property with some of these, you can reduce the tick population.
  • Sheep/goats with frontline: these help to eliminate ticks in two ways.  First, by eating down the brush they reduce the appeal of the environment for ticks, and second if you apply a topical insecticide to your livestock, they are out there all day attracting and killing fleas and ticks.
  • Combing—frequent grooming of your pet will not only help eliminate fleas and ticks, it is also essential to your knowing whether or not your tools are succeeding.
  • Bathing—in addition to swimming, the occasional soapy bath obviously helps.
  • Herbal repellents—there are many concoctions of essential oils that can be misted onto your dog before walking through the woods to help discourage ticks.  Some of these seem to be very effective.  Remember that herbal does not mean non-toxic, so research the ingredients and make sure that whatever you are applying is not harmful.
  • Flea traps—commercial flea traps, or a bowl of soap water under a light, are another useful way to eliminate fleas, and also another diagnostic tool that lets you know when fleas have circumvented your control methods.
  • Nematodes—so far we have never needed to add these to our arsenal, but they are certainly a viable option, and some people have reported excellent results. It seems that soil conditions play a significant role in determining nematode efficacy, and I am not nut sure if the nematodes can survive diatomaceous earth.
  • Carpet spray: I try to avoid using pesticides, but in case of a bad infestation where none of the other options are proving effective, spraying a long lasting IGR type spray along baseboards and in other nooks and crannies around the house can be helpful.

If the above are not adequate, there are of course many environmental and topical insecticides that you can use as needed…

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 March 25, 2010  Posted by at 11:46 pm
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