Pet food link

Still can't get enough on the raw versus kibble debate?  Here's an interesting article here.

Tess pics!

FYI  - these are all pre-spay, a least a couple weeks old!

Tess trying to get my attention while studying

Tess at the hotel room in Reno at the AERC convention - off duty!

Literature update (and a Tess update)

In preparation for an upcoming post on purebreds, I've added some papers to the Mendeley Journal Club group (see side bar) on mortality in dogs based on size and breed.

As a follow up from the "spay" post, I've added a couple papers on pain in animals.  Update on Tess - she's doing well.  Still uncomfortable this morning so I popped her a tab of Deramaxx (spelling?) which is basically a NSAID (works similarly to ibuprofen in humans) and it seemed to help a LOT.  The plan is to give her Deramaxx daily until she doesn't show any sign of pain, I don't think she needs any more Tramadol.  Pain is a HUGE quality of life issue for me when it comes to animals and is one reason I get the CBC blood work done pre surgery.  Yes, it will reassure me that she is fit for surgery - but it also gives me the peace of mind that her organs such as kidneys and liver are functioning and can handle pain medication like NSAIDs post surgery if they are needed.

A spay, of compliments, and a tooth

I just returned from picking up Tess - she is officially “Spayed”.

It was part of the agreement with her breeder that she would be spayed. It was the right thing to do. No matter how good of a performance record, or temperament she has, she will never be the color she needs to be to excel in the show world. And you know what? That’s OK. One thing I REALLY like about the Brittany breed is the focus on “Dual Champions”. While so many breeds have split  into “show lines” and “working lines”, Brittany’s have continued to focus on a breed that can excel at both. And while that wonderful dogs like Tess don’t get to contribute to the breed genetically, there’s plenty that she’s doing for the breed’s reputation locally - even spayed. And now, when someone approaches me and asks if I’ve ever considered breeding my dog, I can say, a bit regretfully, that she is spayed, but that I know of a breeder that does breed incredible Brittany’s that excel both in the field and as companions in the home. (There’s a whole debate about purebreds, and breeding - a debate that I’ve actually switched sides on recently - but that’s for another post. ). And apparently, most Brittany’s that people see in public and in vet clinics aren’t nearly as “companionable” as Tess is.

I’ve had many people tell me over the last couple weeks when they see Tess out in public how “calm” she is. I kind of brushed the comments off since I’m fully aware of her athletic capabilities and attributed it to her wearing her vest, or that we had done nose work or agility earlier in the day. She has certain mental and physical needs that I understand need to be fulfilled before she is capable of being obedient and fit to be in public. I think it finally clicked that maybe Tess IS unusual for a Brittany when the vet’s office told me in the morning how calm she was, and then when I picked her up in the afternoon remarked how utterly “un-stressed” she was about being in the clinic. They told me the joke is when they get a Brittany in that they never-ever stop moving and spinning.

It’s more than just the “fulfillment of physical and mental” needs. A large part of it is good breeding - the breeder I got her from breeds field trial dogs that are foremost companions in the home. I may have programmed the “off” button, but the button had to be there in the first place! It’s also the fact that she gets to be my almost constant companion every day. Going to school is a lot like being in a vet clinic - there’s a ton of other people, dogs, smells, and CONFUSION. In the home room where she’s kenneled there’s dog barking and playing and being crazy right outside her kennel. Thus, going into a strange place, being put into a kennel, and asked to hang out for a day wasn’t any big deal. I’m very lucky in my situation that allowed me to socialize and habituate her to a wide range of situations, but I’m also very lucky that I chose the breeder I did!

So, I’m going to start accepting those compliments! Tess is a special girl - I just didn’t know how special - and being my first dog, we really can’t chalk it up to any kind of superior training or some sort of perfect socialization program. Nope, I just got lucky and ended up with EXACTLY the dog I was suppose to!! Looking at her, I can’t believe I was “suppose” to end up with one of her brothers, or that when I looked at the puppy pictures I was so glad the white one was a girl so I didn’t have to worry about ending up with the ugly one.


Or that after cautiously agreeing to take her once we knew she wasn’t deaf, shortly before I was going to pick her up breeder was afraid that personality-wise this maybe wasn’t going to work with what I wanted to do after all - that she was too independent. But then she started to be sweet and a little more people-focused so I got her after all.



Back to the Spay. I admit that I’ve been a bit worried about the whole spay thing. I do consider it major surgery, even it it’s routine. I paid an extra $100 to have a blood panel done before hand - the orange/white color and the excessive white are both recessive, and there’s a whole host of nasty organ diseases and platelet disorders that would be a not-so-wonderful-surprise to find out about during  spay (everything was just fine). I couldn’t remember my phone number when I dropped her off in the morning (fortunately they had it in the computer). It went just fine and when I picked her up she was dopey but alert enough to walk out to the car, recognize me etc. Once I got home I felt that she was really uncomfortable. Kept getting up, couldn’t find a position laying down, would refuse to lay down until she was swaying with grogginess, and making little grunting, whining sounds when she moved when she was laying down. Finally I couldn’t stand it and I gave her Tramadol I had left over from her whole tooth thing earlier in the year. She much more drugged now and I’m much happier. :)

Ah yes - the tooth thing. I was suspicious of the permanent tooth that come in after the baby tooth had been knocked out - but wasn’t’ sure if the discoloration I could see was because of the antibiotic use during that time frame or something more sinister. While Tess was out, I asked the vet to recheck it. The discoloration on the inside of the molar is a slab fracture that doesn’t go into the pulp or the gum. The vet said that most dogs have no problems with it - the most common cause for slab fractures is chewing on something really hard. Apparently, when Harley knocked out Tess’s baby tooth, she also applied enough force to crack the adult tooth coming in. It’s also possible that Tess did crack it chewing something since she’s a HUGE chewer, but if so it’s a huge coincidence that she cracked the same tooth, as it was coming in, as had been injured…..

My friends in the classes above me assure that animals bounce back from surgery amazingly fast and I will be very happy tomorrow - but for right now it’s hard to see Tess miserable (less so since I drugged her to the gills!). It’s the first time I’ve left the room and she hasn’t gotten up to follow me.

You’ll have to excuse me if this post is a little sickly-sweet. My girl has turned one year of age, had a major surgery, and proved herself yesterday during her first ever execution of her service dog duties in a “real” situation. Seriously - 10 months of puppyhood was TOTALLY worth the dog I got out of it!!!!!!!

Mendeley

I've created a Mendeley group for this blog.  I will periodically post papers on dog behavior and training that I find interesting or thought provoking.  Many of the articles are available for free by searching on google scholar, others your library will have, and the remaining ones will usually have a free abstract on online somewhere.  For more information on Mendeley, check out today's post on Boots and Saddles!

A day in the life of Tess

 There is a danger of teaching a smart dog to problem solve and offer behavior! 

Tess turns 1 year old in about a week, and while she's definitely calming down, there are afternoons (like this one) where she has been ignored for most of several days (I had an exam this morning and had to put in some heavy duty studying).  To get my attention she runs through all her tricks and then starts offering new ones.  Most of the time the lack of attention is the lack of a reward, but every once in a while she discovers something so self rewarding that I have to take action....

Showoff - Yoga

I taught this in order to stretch her back out after doing a handstand.  Which yoga position is it?  Down-ward facing dog of course!

Showoff moment - roll over

Sorry for the “clicking” noise - I’ll take my camera strap off next time. 

I love how she brings me the toy.  We have really been working hard on making the association between toy and high value treats.  The messing around she’s doing in the beginning up close is her trying to get at the toy - which is GREAT. 

I trained this in 3 stages with a clicker -

1.  lay on your side with your head on the ground.

2.  go completely on your back

3.  flip over. 

I didn’t intend on this to be a roll over trick.  I was teaching #1 as a “relax” cue when I was using her in public and she was in a down stay.  A couple of days ago she was really excited and she started offering her “relax” trick, and then rolled over - which is adorable and I could totally use for a “bang” trick (play dead: fall on to side and roll over with feet in air).  Yesterday I decided to see if she would actually roll over. 

A couple of notes

This is the second session I've had on this trick, so it's fairly recent. 

In the beginning if you want closely, you can see she offers me at least 2 other behaviors that she has been previously rewarded for, before going into the roll over sequence.  BEcause this trick is not yet named (see later notes) and I’m waiting for her to offer it, she’s trying a few other things first that she has been strongly rewarded for in the past - when no treat or verbal praise comes, she moves onto another behavior, which I immediately reward her for because she’s on the “right track”.  The behaviors she offers in the beginning are: nose tap and freeze with her head at the ground, and she thought about doing a trick called “yoga”, which I’m also working on (more on that later). 

I’m rewarding each stage right now because I’m going to be getting 3 separate tricks out of this: relax, Bang, and roll over.

You will notice that there isn’t any verbal cue for any of these - I name tricks only AFTER they are learned.  I wait until she’s offering the behavior ~80% of the time, then I’ll start saying the word, right before she does it, to associate the word cue. 

Although I trained this behavior with a clicker, you will notice that once she offers the behavior consistently, I don’t necessarily need a clicker to reinforce it.  When I start using a word cue, I’ll go back to a clicker for a session or two so I can help her understand the exact moment she completes the behavior. 

I managed to get this behavior with luring - which is nice because I don’t have a physical cue to fade out, and it will be easier to get her to do it just on the verbal cue later. 

I’m rewarding with random kibble.  She just had breakfast (a raw patty), but since she’s VERY food motivated it isn’t  problem :)

After the camera was turned off, I had a good fetch/tug session with the giant rope toy - shaping and training a behavior is a lot of mental work and it’s good to give the pup a release from the stress in a physical way (Tess tends to EXPLODE with energy and delight after a training session and be very bouncy because she’s so proud of herself). 

A good way to visualize how hard the dog must work mentally doing a shaping session is to imagine you standing in front of someone with a handful of m&m’s.  You really want the candy.  The person waits.  You have to do something.  But they aren’t giving you any kind of lure.  You sit down.  “good” - and you get a treat.  So you stay sitting.  No more treats.  It has something to do with sitting……..you put your hands on the ground - no treat.  You put your knees to your chest - no treat.  you lay down - “good!” - and you get a treat.

You get the idea. 

Nosework Intro

Tess has been learning a new sport - nosework.

Today we had an EXCELLENT session with just odor, and blind hinds (meaning a friend hid the odor and I didn't know where it was).

As nosework is a fairly young sport, I'm assuming that you are as unfamiliar with it as I was a few months ago.

(sorry - you have to copy and paste the addresses - it's late, it's a Friday, and it was a long day at school - THREE Pharm/tox autonomic lectures in a ROW)

Here's a few websites and resources:
http://www.dogstardaily.com/blogs/getting-started-nose-work
http://www.clickertraining.com/node/3276
and of course....the organization website: http://funnosework.com/

Youtube videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAH4FD6xKoI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkXtAup14Sg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2WvN5dijt0&feature=related


I find it difficult to find good online instructions on how to get started, but fortunately a classmate is willing to teach me.  (I'm finding out that in vet school, if you want to do something animal related, SOMEONE in your class has probably done it and is willing to share knowledge). 

A quick introduction
It was a couple of weeks until my friend and I were able to meet for the first time, so I decided to play a modified nosework game with her with a toy.  I starting hiding a hunting bumper (one of the canvas) after playing a game of fetch with it.  I hid it in all sorts of places - high, low, buried under objects, behind the cat box and in the dryer.  On top of objects that she had to climb on other objects to get to.  Outside, inside, in a vehicle.....You get the idea.  She didn't get the treat until she had found the toy and brought it to me.  In summary, I taught her several bad habits according to the rules of competition.   I think I'm lucky that Tess has a good nose on her and seems to instinctively understand the game, even though I changed the rules once I learned the more formal nosework training.   Retrieving the toy is NOT good, and you are suppose to keep the hides easy and off of grassy areas in the beginning......oops.  Apparently you aren't suppose to constantly challenge your dog - you are suppose to train them using consistent hides that aren't too hard.  It's hard to not see whether the puppy can find the toy inside of the spare tire of the 5th wheel when she just managed to dig the toy out of the recliner hidden under 2 blankets.......And apparently handing the toy off to the boyfriend and telling him to hide it somewhere in the house and not to tell me where it is, also isn't the "approved" method or progression for this sort of thing. :)  But - it was a LOT of fun and I begin to suspect that Tess was going to be really REALLY good at this.....

 The start of formal training
*FYI - I'm not intending this as a full "how to" summary so I haven't gone into some of the detail of how we fully trained each step.  However, if this sounds like fun and you want to give it a try, check out the websites and feel free to comment!

First Tess was introduced to boxes - lots and lots of cardboard boxes - one of which had food in it.

Once Tess had the idea of "see box, look in box because something yummy might be there", we started hiding the boxes out of sight.

It's very important to get your dog out of "obedience mode" when playing this game.  The dog is the star and she should NOT be getting direction from you.  Tess, being the independent little puppy she is had NO problem with this.

After Tess was actively looking for boxes and was excited about food in boxes, we put a little metal tin (~1" in diameter) that contained cotton swabs soaked in the first official scent, "birch".  The metal tin had holes in the top of it so the odor could get out.  This is called "pairing".  When she smelled the food, she was also smelling the odor, and the food was where the odor was the strongest.  Because I knew that Tess would search on odor more efficiently than food (because of my experience with the toy prior to doing the formal nosework) I asked my friend if we could go to odor sooner rather than later.  Because "food" is such a general search criteria, in my opinion, Tess was less focused than if she had a specific object/odor that she was searching for.  My hunch was correct and Tess's focus for the search increased after being exposed to the odor (she makes a "whuffing" noise with her nose when she's searching for something, and because extremely focused and almost impossible to distract from searching). 

At first I paired odor and food in boxes and objects, and then I started mixing in some hides that weren't in boxes - I would put the odor on the floor with a pile of food next to it, so that when she ate the treat, her nose would be on the odor.

It's very important to reward AT the odor.  Meaning, their nose should be pushed against the odor container (metal tin) as they get the reward!!!!

The next step was to remove the food.   The odor is still put into a box (mostly) and the box/hide is kept at nose level or lower.  At this point, I would always do ~1 hide out of the box during a session, just to mix it up and remind Tess that while searching inside of objects is important, she needed to look at the entire picture.  Finally, the odor tin is hidden out of a box for the majority of the hides during the session. 

Finally, some blind (meaning the handler does not know where the odor is) hides were done by someone who understands how odor travels and understands where the dog is in the training process (ie - my friend).

For the last 2 weeks or so, I've been working with Tess to "stick" to the odor - meaning when she thinks she's found the source (the spot where the odor is strongest) she stays next to the odor and signals me in some way.  The formal "signal" comes later, but for now I want her feet to stay still and for her to look at me and stay next to the odor until I come to her.  I have to be careful because Tess's inclination when she thinks I don't understand that she's found it is to paw at it or grab it with her mouth to show me.  VERY NAUGHTY!!!!!  There's a limit to how long I can have her stick to the odor before I find that she's turned into a retriever.  Today, after 3 blind hides and Tess giving me fairly clear signalling behavior, my friend decided that it was time to really work on her "stickiness".  It's practically impossible to put the tin in such a way that she can't retrieve it (our hides are still nose level or lower) when I make her frustrated by waiting for her to clearly signal.  But with a cotton swab I can wedge it somewhere... I get to take the cotton swabs (soaked with the odor) out of the tin!!!!!! 

Thoughts
I'm not sure how much of my "pre" nose work has influenced Tess, but here's my thoughts so far.
- She has a really good search pattern, probably because she doesn't look for the obvious first based on the difficulty of hides in the beginning.  I was probably lucky in that it was difficult to make it "too hard" for her and she has a streak of persistence that I may curse for some of our other activities.....but is good for this.
- She's really adament about getting to the source of the odor - probably because of the retrieves that I required in the beginning.  If she didn't get to the toy and bring it to me, she didn't get the treat.  While that's causing me issues with her wanting to mouth the odor if I delay the reward, I think that's fixable, since I've never allowed her to retrieve odor - only the toy.  Once she learns a formal alert once she finds the odor, she won't be frustrated and tempted to try a retrieve. 
- It's possible that it wouldn't have mattered WHAT or HOW I did this.  Tess, is a Brittany with strong hunting lines in both her sire and dam.  She is bred to work a field, and find bird scent.  The difference of working an urban setting with birch scent is negligible. 
- She has an incredible work ethic and focus when doing this job - something I'm working on harnessing for our agility activities - my guess is it's a function of using her for what she was bred to do. :)

Training:
I typically do nosework 1-2x a week on my own.  Every 1-2 weeks I work with 2 friends - one of which is experienced and one that has a dog starting out just like Tess and we have a instruction session.  I find that doing a training session on any one thing more than 1-2 times a week is too often for Tess and she loses motivation so as a rule I limit the number of sessions of any particular activity, even for something that she loves.  I take boxes and odor with me and we have sessions in novel places, going back to an earlier stage or making the hides really easy if the location is really distracting.  If the location is not safe to work off leash, she works on a long line. 

Why I like Nosework

1.  This is Tess's favorite game.  It's a hands off game where she's the star and taking very little direction from me.  She's good at it, and she knows it.  I do nosework at least once a week as her reward for being a very special puppy. 

2.  It caters to her strengths - her nose, persistence, independance, and focus.  It's nice to see those traits as "strengths" in their natural element, instead of "training opportunities".  (During fall migration, I had to discontinue all outside training sessions because she was so "birdy" and focused on flying birds we couldn't get ANYTHING done - she's better now, but WHEW! Definitely tried my patience when I wanted to get a jump bump obstacle session done and she wanted to be out in the field pointing birds....)

3.  It puts her in "work mode".  Things that would normally be VERY distracting such as other dogs, mittens and socks on the floor, stuffed animals etc. are completely IGNORED because she's using her nose.  It's fascinating to watch because she completely transforms from a rather boisterous puppy to a 100% focused adult dog on a mission.

4.  It's a fun activity she can do off leash that is completely positive.

5.  It's an excellent activity to balance out agility training.

I'll post some videos of Tess doing nosework soon - as well as some of her new tricks.  Some of her tricks - such as the handstand - have to be appreciated in movement, not just as a picture!

Valentine's Day

Matt greeted me with a big red See's candy heart and a box of truffles.

Tess greeted me with the remains of the red velvet cupcake she snagged off the counter.

Guess which present I liked more?

So, at 5:30a I'm trying to decide whether 1/24 of a box of red velvet chocolate cake mix contains enough chocolate to poison a 35 pound dog, instead of curled up with coffee and a See's chocolate, planning my 40 minute run.

Here's some Tuesday morning math.

Box of cake mix = 18.25 oz

Tess ate 18.25/24=.76 oz

If we assume worst case scenario - the entire .76 oz was solid dark chocolate (and you and I both know that a prepackaged red velvet cake mix is a far cry from solid dark chocolate).

0.76 oz = 21.55 mg
35 pounds = 15.88 kg

Tess ate 1.36 mg/kg of cake mix, that we are calling "dark chocolate".

According to a paper I found on the internet (quality sources you know...) mild clinical signs are seen when an animal ingests 20 mg/kg of the chemical in chocolate (plus caffeine).

According to the same paper, dark chocolate contains 150 mg/oz of the "bad stuff".  (I am staying away from big words at 5am).

That means that in 0.76 oz Tess got 114 mg.

That means that Tess ate 3.26 mg/kg of bad stuff.

As that is a far cry from 20 mg/kg, I think she'll be OK.

Although, she's pretty sure she's going to die locked her in kennel in the dark bedroom.  And I don't particularly care right now.

What a failure at the "Yer Choice" game!  I'm pretty sure the synapse went "see cupcake, want cupcake", instead of the preferred - "see cupcake, want cupcake but if I wait and don't take it, she will give me something better".

7 tricks in 7 days

For some reason when it's been a couple of days since I've blogged, I find it easier to post here than on boots and saddles.  Perhaps because boots and saddles has so much history and I feel an obligation to produce quality, entertaining pieces for that audience.  I feel less pressure here - and freer to just write. 

At the end of last week it became apparent that Tess was showing signs of over-training - lack of motivation, lack of relationship, and just generally "checked out".  I have a tendency to focus on a list of 5-6 things every day and when I get "focused" on something, to do it every day until we have it down.  I'm just a little OCD (just a little I swear!) and feel the most comfortable when I work through something in a very methodical, systematic way.  However, I have a dog that enjoys spontaneity and new things! 

Tess is very good for me. 

So....I set a challenge for myself.  In the next 7 days I would teach Tess 7 new things.  No repeats, no practicing what we learned the previous day, and no drilling what we already know.  Just 7 brand new tricks and skills in one week. 

At the end of the day, even if that particular "trick" isn't finished - IT'S OK!!!!!!  We can go back to it at a later date (days or weeks later) and finish the behavior.  This works for Tess much better than drilling.  I have to keep reminding myself how damn good she was after the 3 week winter break.  Not only did I take a break from school, I took a break from any serious training. 

Sometimes giving Tess time to think about a task is better than any drills I could devise.  The handstand trick is a perfect illustration.  I introduced the handstand by having Tess back up onto text books, and after 2 days quit before going to the next step:  transitioning her to placing her back feet on the wall (higher than her head).  Ten days later I was at school with a friend picking up some supplies and on a whim I asked her to back onto some books against a wall......and BAM! she totally avoided the books and hit the wall with both back feet!  She had transitioned to the next step.  For the last couple of weeks Tess has consistently performed a handstand with a wall for support every where and anywhere - against trees in the park, lightstands in the parking lot, walls at school, the xpen in the house.  It's been about a week since we've worked on the handstand trick (I'm senstive to the fact that doing a handstand if a fairly strenous trick and I don't want her to over do it physically).  Yesterday I was shaping a different behavior and she started offering a handstand without any support of an object! 

I think much like our muscles get stronger after exercise during the rest and repair phase, Tess's mind makes new connections when she is allowed some time to connect the dots.  So many of the behaviors I want for agility and our other activities require her to figure out how to synthesize information and training for the task at hand.  I can't do it for her, I can only make sure she has the foundation training for task, support her while she tries to figure it out, and let her know when she's close, and then go wild when she nails it. 

We are on day 4 of "7 new things in 7 days".
-Day 1 she learned how to go through a cavelleti grid of irregularly placed poles.  (Agility foundation behavior, paw awareness.  She was so excited by the site of poles on the ground she was bouncing 5 feet in the air trying to get to the poles while I was setting up.  It reminded me how much she LOVES new things and figuring stuff out for herself). 
-Day 2 she learned how to go around an upright pole (agility foundation behavior)
-Day 3 I shaped her putting her head between her front legs and her forehead on the ground.  (Trick, stretching, flexibility behavior.  The start of a yoga position trick....downward facing dog of course!)
-Today I'll be teaching her to bounce in and out of a PVC square (foundation behavior for running an A-frame in agility)
-Day 5 plan is to shape her to put 2 paws (hind and fore on the same side) against the wall.  This will eventually turn into a waltzing behavior of us dancing together.  
-Day 6 plan is to shape her to jump over my leg
-Day 7 plan is to teach her to shake (she knows how to high 5, but everyone who says hello wants a shake)

I've been so impressed with Tess over the last 3 or 4 days.  I had forgotten how smart and engaging she is.  Her focus is incredible when suitably motivated.  It doesn't' take more than 10-15 minutes for her to pick up any of the tasks listed above.

The training principles that I HAVE to remember with Tess are:
1.  It needs to be her idea
2.  Drilling does not work with Tess
3.  Hands off approach works best (see number 1)...
4.  She may be stubborn and willful, but paradoxically is very sensitive to any sort of negative reinforcement - But it won't show up right away.  It seems to slide right off her without any sort of impact.....but over the course of several days I will notice a deterioration in the relationship.  Is positive training more work? Yes - it requires me to have patience and make sure there aren't holes in the foundation work.  BUT, in the end it's LESS work because Tess ends up training herself, with my support, rather than me trying to lecture her on the proper way to use her body. 
5.  When teaching a multi-step behavior, Tess does best with several days off between introducing new stages. 

An approach to training and behavior

I came across this quote when researching behavior problems that have as their basis a medical issue:

"Regardless of the time commitment you can make and the route you want to take, it’s essential to remember that animal behavior is a science, not a religion. It’s important to learn from others but to also observe and evaluate with a scientific eye. This takes practice and generally requires actual class or book study.

Don’t do what you’ve always done just because you and others have always done it, or blindly follow someone else’s advice without being able to evaluate whether it makes sense or the outcomes are truly beneficial. Learn from everyone you can, even if you disagree with their overall approach. Always look for ways to improve, and always question whether what you are doing is really the best way, or whether there is a better way."

I STRONGLY believe in this.  This statement sums up the way I approach endurance, dog training, or anything else.  I touched on this subject when discussing the importance of "continuing education" over at Boots and Saddles.

~Quote came from this website  

Now there's talent....

...Or stupidity.

Did you know that I can ride a bike, eat a bag of popcorn, AND feed popcorn kernals to the puppy running beside me on a leash?

Me neither. 

Dog Food continued!

The power of an anecdote.......and the bias of the anecdotal experience.

And let's not forget the tendency to put more emphasis on evidence that supports an existing belief framework!

I'm very aware of this, which is why I decided to put my personal experiences in a separate posts.  This is the post where I name brands and explain what my current feeding routine is.

I would be a lier if I said I wasn't influenced by what I've seen personally and thus tend to critically evaluate the literature coming from a position in favor of high end kibble/balanced raw diets.

But I wasn't always this way.

Until a few years ago I firmly believed that it didn't matter what you fed, as long as it was an AAFCO certified food - specific ingredients didn't matter, protein source didn't matter, etc.

What changed my mind?

A friend got a German Shepherd puppy.  This puppy scratched, and had a "sensitive stomach" (ie - very soft stools, diarrhea).  Although I scoffed at the notion, this friend started doing some research on diets and eventually, after working through most of the big brands (Purina, Hills etc.) he decided to switch to Taste of the Wild when the dog was ~1 year old.  I saw this dog every 2-3 weeks and I was AMAZED at the difference.  Harley looked GREAT - an amazing coat, the scratching dissapeared, and she begin to have more normal stools.   

My conclusion was - the dog had some sort of allergy, possibly grain related, that made it necessary to switch to a more limited diet.  I wasn't ready to generalize the need for a high quality diet/grain free for all dogs.....

Over the next couple of years I started reading more nutrition literature, both for humans and pets and became convinced that grains such as corn and wheat may not be the best thing for human or dog digestive systems - even if there wasn't a confirmed allergy.  I experimented with cutting processed grains out of my diet and saw differences in my health......and started to seriously consider how much including the entire real FOOD mattered - not just the components of what was once food.

So......I switched my cat over to Taste of the Wild.  Mickie is a middle aged cat that was feral before I adopted her from a ranch I worked at.  She's always been skinny and scruffy - even with free choice food and an indoor lifestyle.  I was buying the cheap cat food - not the cheapEST (the feedstore refused to sell the cheapest stuff to me because they knew she was an indoor cat and they said it would make her stools too stinky).  After a month on Taste of the Wild I was amazed - she was sleek and shiny, and now, a year later is actually starting to get chunky.  She sheds less and just looks absolutely amazing.  She's always "looked her age" but now looks like a 3 year old and people can't believe she's probably closer to 12 years old (I've had her for 8 years).  I'm still really really really impressed. People who knew her "before" always exclaim about how good she feels and looks now - even without knowing the only change was a diet change. 

About this time, friends and family started switching their animals to Taste of the Wild or similar products (grain free, but not necessarily top shelf, high protein food) - and I saw the same story over and over.  Each of the 4 or 5 animals switched to this type of diet looked better, smelled better, had less stool problems, and had positive behavior changes.

By the time I got Tess in May 2011, I was convinced that most dogs would do better if fed a diet low in grains, with a focus on whole foods.  I wasn't comfortable feeding an "all stages" diet, so I fed a Blue Buffalo puppy diet.  Most days, she got some fresh fruits and veggies, as well as the occasional chicken neck.  After a few months, because she is a medium sized dog, I decided to switch to a Taste of the Wild fish diet, and kept her on it until she was ~8 months.  At that point I switched to Nature's Variety "Instinct" duck and turkey meal kibble.  About 2 months ago, I read that rotating brands/proteins/and types of food might be beneficial.  There's nothing definite, and most of the "research" and information is being done by a single company (Nature's variety) so I'm a bit skeptic - HOWEVER - I'm not comfortable putting 100% of my puppy's nutrition in one company's hands, so I like the idea of "covering my bases" by rotating between brands.

I'm currently rotating my proteins, but I think if I had a dog that seemed prone to food allergies, I might reserve a couple of proteins so I could introduce a "novel" protein later if I needed too.

I started adding a raw diet about a month ago and I've been really happy with it - it's easy, her stools are even easier (she's with me all day in public so I get to see them a LOT). 

My current feeding routine is this:

Raw: up to 50% (AAFCO certified, rotate between proteins and Nature's logic brand and Nature's variety)
Kibble: 50-100% of the diet (Rotate between high quality grain free brands that are lower in protein - no more than 80% - and rotate between proteins.  Currently feeding Nature's Variety, will rotate between Taste of the Wild and others)
Canned: up to 25% (rotate between high quality grain free and different proteins, mostly use this as a high value reward during training.  I like "Evo" brand, but will probably switch to a different brand for my next set of cans). 

I believe that variety, rotation, and whole foods are a key component for dog diets.

Sorry this post is a little disjointed.  I have a HUGE lab this afternoon (4 hours) and writing this during a potbelly pig behavior lecture - so a little distracted :)

An outing

 Some of you might know that I am working towards developing Tess into my service dog.  Up until this point I've limited our outings to places and events that are dog friendly and I don't have to "declare" her. 

Recently she's been showing that she's ready for the next step beyond school meetings and family events - I felt she was ready for her first outing.  A club I belong to had it's meeting today.  I explained host of the building (the meeting was upstairs in the business) that I had a in-training service dog and got permission to take her.  Assistance and in-training dogs do not automatically share the same privileges as service dogs, and while I normally wouldn't ask - I thought it prudent since it was her first outing and wanted to make sure everything went well. 

She behaved herself perfectly.  During the 4 hour meeting she slept at my feet, didn't fidget, and showed herself to be ready for this step. 

In some ways this was a difficult first outing - it was a meeting among friends and so questions were asked that I felt obliged to answer.  And of course, they wanted to meet Tess. 

I got so many compliments on her behavior and her looks (she's very striking because of her oddly colored eyes, two toned nose, and her "whiteness" (even her eyelashes are white!).  I'm so proud of my puppy, and yes - I'm proud of myself.  Tess is *my* first dog, and even if that's a grey area - I can honestly state she's the first dog *I've* trained.  I absolutely love this dog and I'm already looking back fondly on the adventure (and education!) of puppyhood with her, even if she is too-smart-for-her-own-good. 

We still have a ways to go, but milestones like this one tell me I'm on the right path!

Dog food

*Deep Breath*  I should have a ton of references for this post, but unfortunately I’m 6 days away from a huge final of a very disorganized block.  If you have papers to share or links, please post them in the comments.  If you have questions, or have found a study you think I might be interested in, I will respond!

There’s a couple of subjects that real Really REALLY make me vault onto my soap box, even while my good sense tries to drag me off.

The raw food debate is one of them. 

Let’s get a couple things straight. 

This post is NOT advocating that you go out and prepare your own dog food.  There are those people who do this and do it successfully - but it can be tricky to get everything right especially if you are feeding a large breed or growing dog.  I don’t have any experience preparing my own dog food and although I know people who do it, and do it well, I completely understand vets’ position on these homemade diets - especially if the dog is having a medical issue.  The vet doesn’t know for sure what is going into the diet, how educated (or not) the client is, and may be dealing with a disease that has a nutritional basis.  HOWEVER (and you knew there would be a however), what annoys me is this:

The overwhelming amount of vets that advocate switching to a kibble (specifically AAFCO certified), upon hearing that client is feeding a commercial raw diet - a recommendation that isn’t based on real facts - even though we vets (or in my case - vet students) are lectured day after day about the importance of practicing “evidence-based medicine”. 

Argument 1 - Your dog or kitchen will make you sick

During one of my rotations, the dog was obese and the vet’s recommendation was to switch from the raw food diet to a kibble diet.  I asked why she didn’t recommend just feeding less of the current diet - it was an AAFCO certified, the dog was generally healthy even at a relatively old age and the client was very well educated about nutrition. 

Her response - “because of the Salmonella risk to the owner associated with feeding a raw diet”. 

REALLY???!??!?!???

I challenge you to find a study that demonstrates that dogs fed raw diets shed pathogenic salmonella at a higher rate than dogs fed kibble. 

You weren’t successful?

Ok Ok Ok…. Find me a documented case where a human developed Salmonella illness from a dog fed a raw diet……or a kibble diet. 

Another strike out? 

To the best of my knowledge, there are NO DOCUMENTED CASES where a dog gave his owner Salmonella. 

Assuming that we aren’t getting Salmonella from our dog’s bums (maybe because we have a strange aversion to ingesting fecal material or having it in our house? Or the fact that not all species of Salmonella are pathogenic?), the next argument is usually related to food prep areas.  The argument usually goes something like this: the raw meat has pathogens in it that can make us sick.  Preparing raw meat for our dogs in our kitchens will contaminate counters, utensils, and containers. 

They are right - raw meat DOES have pathogens.  That’s why you don’t cut your veggies on the same board you cut your chicken up.  You don’t serve your cooked chicken on the same platter you defrosted it on.  I’ve been cooking raw chicken since I was 9 and have yet to poison myself.  I very much doubt that defrosting the raw dog food patty in my fridge contributes to the overall bacteria load in my kitchen and if I DO get the urge to reuse the defrosting bowl for my breakfast cereal, I’ll try to restrain myself and get a clean one from the cupboard instead. 

Of course, there’s always the dog that eats their meal and immediately licks your face, however I don’t see vets advocating for letting kibble-fed dogs lick your face either…..

Let’s not forget that kibble based foods are not exactly salmonella free either…..but we’ll save that for the “recall” argument. 

Bottom line - there is no good research that feeding your dog raw food will cause it to become a shedder of pathogenic organisms, and if you’ve managed to feed yourself on a partially meat-based diet, you can probably manage to survive preparing raw meat for your dog in your kitchen. 

Argument 2 - AAFCO and meeting the nutritional standard

AAFCO is a minimum standard.  AAFCO is a starting point for making sure you are meeting your dog’s minimal nutritional needs.  BUT - just like you COULD get your daily requirement of energy and nutrients by eating McDonald’s and taking a multi-vitamin……SHOULD you?

I tok a variety of upper division nutrition classes as an undergrad.  The biggest point in all of them was that nutritional needs are met by the most basic dog foods (i.e. cheap) sporting that the AAFCO label (which is like….ALL the kibble you see in the grocery store) - and you are throwing your money away by buying high end dog food. (by the way, most of the high end kibbles are AAFCO certified, just like the lower end kibble, and there is raw food that is AAFCO certified as well....)

In summary, my professors taught that it doesn’t matter how you get the required nutrient and energy, as long as it’s there. 

What’s interesting is even though this is what they still teach in vet school (so far….) - on the human side there’s a real shift.  You can’t hardly throw a piece of kibble without hitting a new piece of research or recommendation that you get your vitamins and other nutritional essentials by eating REAL food.  Like veggies and fruit, and lean protein.  Turns out there’s a whole lot more in those wonderful structures we call “WHOLE FOOD” than we thought.  A tomato may have calories and minerals and vitamins, and fiber……but it also has all these other things in it that may contribute to health. 

Here’s something to remember.  WE DON’T HAVE IT ALL FIGURED OUT WHEN IT COMES TO NUTRITION.  Seems like the human side has figured out this much out.   Why can’t the vet profession admit it?  That perhaps there’s more to real whole foods than the components we can currently measure?  That perhaps dogs, like humans, have a need for other substances other than the established carbs, protein, fat, minerals, vitamins etc?

Dogs have a digestive tract that is remarkably similar in many ways to an adult human.  This should come as no surprise as dogs domesticated in our refuse heaps, eating our scraps.  I think the notion that dogs are wolves have perhaps hurt the raw food movement - dogs and wolves may share some characteristics, but dogs are not wolves.  In fact, it’s not technically correct to refer to dogs as domesticated wolves - wolves and dogs have the same ancestor.  Modern wolves and dogs are the product of that wolf-like ancestor.  However, I think that the unfortunate wolf-dog comparison is a marketing tactic that works for the general public and the smart owner and vet will set that image aside and evaluate the diet on it’s own merits, not on a marketing scheme. 

Bottom line - Human nutrition believes it’s important how you get the nutrients, not just that you get them, why are dogs different?  AAFCO is a starting point, not the definitive answer, and YES-THERE ARE RAW DIETS THAT ARE AAFCO CERTIFIED.

Argument 3 - Recalls

Real life scenario - a vet, hearing that the client fed a top end grain-free kibble, along with that company’s raw diet, looked it up on line.  “Ha! - they had a recall for Salmonella a couple years ago”, and then total dismissed food. 

Ummm….because none of those other brands that are regularly recommended by vets have EVER had a recall related to Salmonella or other food safety issue…..

The pet food in question had a recall.  As part of their corrective actions, their pet food is now HPP processed - a very cool technology that is used in the people food industry.  It involves time and pressure to kill any bacteria in the food, including pathogens, that may have gotten there during processing, either because the food is raw or because of cross-contamination post-cooking.  HPP processing is cutting edge technology and expensive.  The fact that this particular company has taken their recall seriously and implemented REAL corrective actions (i.e. process change), comforts me.  Is it fair to dismiss this pet food because of a recall several years ago and not also include Hills, Eukanuba and others that are regularly recommended (and sold) by veterinarians, and have much more recent recalls?  and no discernible corrective actions? 

Bottom line: Kibble has salmonella.  Raw food has salmonella.  Numerous companies have had recalls, both recent and historical - how many recalls, how recent the recalls, and what corrective actions were put into place after the recalls should be the criteria we judge the companies by. 

Summary

Why is there no good, controlled, non-biased (i.e., not paid by Purina) research on dog food?  Why do vets continue to use the arguments above to convince clients to switch to a low-grade kibble?  Could it be because Purina/Hills/Eukanuba/Royal Canine all sponsor huge projects at vet schools, give students free food and free stuff, and push their prescription diets at the hospitals?  What incentive is there to perform real research?  Who will fund it?   (speaking of research…..Is the vet community even aware raw diets exist beyond BARF?  It’s like doing all kibble research on a single, non-AAFCO kibble.)

When I started vet school I was upset that I would no longer get free pet food because of the new health vendor policy that doesn’t allow vendors to give free stuff to students, like pet food, backpacks, and books.  After seeing how much money these pet food companies have in our schools, and how much say they have on the direction of the research, now I think it’s a good idea to try and minimize the vendor’s impact.  I see students attending lunch presentations for purina or hill’s food, learning about a research study on Royal Canine’s Dalmation diet, and looking up nutrition information and feeding information in Eukanuba/Hill’s/Royal Canine nutrition books. 

Much like we as humans can get along just fine putting atrocious things in our bodies, dogs can do much the same.  If you think that feeding a high end kibble, or an alternative diet is a bunch of hogwash, that’s fine.  Continue to feed the lower end kibble.  There’s plenty of people that feel the same because of their pocketbooks, or other personal reasons.  However, I think it is a mistake for vets to discourage those of us that do believe it makes a substantial difference if they base it on the arguments above.  Design a controlled study, not paid for by a pet food company, and lets find out some answers.

"10 is the most wonderful number"

10 months.

I LOVE 10 months.

At 10 months, Tess LIKES playing with me.  Actually SEEKS attention in an appropriate manner.  Keeps half an eye on me even when she's DISTRACTED.  Is physically MATURE enough to be a lot fun - hiking, running, biking, tricks that require muscle strength ( don't worry - we aren't over doing any of these activities).  Sees ME as the source of all things fun. WANTS to please me.

I'm torn between wanting to say:

1.  my hard work over the last 8 months is finally paying off.....

OR

2.  she's finally mature enough at 10 months that the most recent training has finally sunk in (and all those hours in the last 8 months didn't make a damn bit of difference)....

OR

3.  I've finally turned into a competent trainer (only took 8 months....) that can finally be effective with Tess. 

Probably a combination of the 3.

Whatever the magic of 10 months, it seems I'm not the only one to experience the miracle.  I've been told over and over that (in dogs of this medium size - obviously doesn't apply to really big dogs!), 10 months is when it starts being REALLY fun.  It's like this switch in their brain turns on and they become these thinking beings that are capable of being companions and partners, instead of just really cute puppies that can do a few tricks.

Tess is still bold and independent, but I matter to her now and she's not as likely to wander afar.  She recently went through her second fear period, and while she's still unafraid and confident, I've noticed that she came out of it more like an adult and less like a puppy.  She doesn't always greet people with unadulterated delight, she has a smidgeon of self of control when it comes to birds, and only goes into "puppy zoomies" if under a large amount of stress.

For those of you with young puppies, or not so-young-puppies....DON'T GIVE UP! It gets better.  I promise.  Even if you puppy is willful, stubborn, and seems to have their own agenda :).  The time and effort you put into them now WILL pay off.  Don't get me wrong - I loved Tess-the-puppy every step of the way - she was endearing even when doing something especially naughty and she enriched my life in too many ways to count.....but I did wonder whether I would ever get that dog that could go off leash on a trail, or that I could trust in the house without constant supervision.  It seems like puppies grow up in leaps and bounds - not necessarily in an ordered progression.

I love my puppy, but I have a feeling I'm going to love my dog even more.....that may be a good thing since puppyhood lasts a year and I'll have the dog 10-15 years!

This morning Tess gave me....

Ulcers!

Essay - Dog Training

I recently completed my scholarship application for next year and decided to complete a supplemental essay for a shot at a dog training scholarship.  I very much doubt I'll get it, as my experience is so limited and recent, and I'm not a small animal focus - but it was fun to write.  In bold is the prompt, followed by my response.  If you have a story to share - feel free to comment!

Concisely describe your interest and experience with dog training.  Include the activities, your role and date(s) of the activities. 


In theory, I have been a dog person my entire life.  When faced with the real thing, I wasn’t sure.  

I grew up with outside dogs that occasionally slept in the bed and went running with me, but I craved that mythical relationship like the ones I have read about in Terhune’s books.  After working in a small animal veterinary clinic as an undergraduate, I saw dogs that jumped and whined and barked, destroyed things, were not housebroken, and thought leashes were to be tested for tensile strength.  I decided that I was mistaken - I wasn’t a dog person after all. 

Eventually, I decided I was ready.  I had watched a close friend raise two puppies into well-behaved house dogs and companions, and I felt the childhood longing of a dog of my own.  I did my breed research, read all the puppy books, and interviewed breeders.  On May 14, 2011 I brought home a cute little Brittany pup.  When Tess was 6 months old I realized that the traditional way of training - “no”, “leave it”, focusing on commands rather than games - wasn’t going to work.  She was smart, inquisitive, and about to turn into something naughty.  A classmate introduced me to positive training and clickers and I haven’t looked back.  Tess is my constant companion and a role model for people who thought clickers and positive training was too permissive and only for the wackadoos. 

I found out that training isn’t about creating a robot that will sit/recall/down/ or stay on command - instead it’s about building a relationship, about communicating with another species and learning something about yourself. 

I’m new to owning a dog and to training, but I’m so excited about this type of training.  Tess is quick to learn new things and to build on skills taught at earlier sessions.  She’s so focused and enthusiastic during our lessons that people walking by often ask if I’ll train their dog.  I love sharing my experiences, and I hope that others are inspired to explore and enjoy positive training and being with their dogs. 

 Before Tess I had trouble understanding the human-animal bond that inspired veterinarians to go into small animal practices, and the lengths people went to interact and provide for their dogs and cats.  Actively training my dog and becoming a student of dog behavior and their interactions with people has made me a better person, and I know it will make me a better veterinarian.

Tess's advice about stuffed animals

My name is Tess and I love stuffed animals.

Especially the one she has in the corner of her closet - the ones she planned on giving to to her cousin’s kids.  There’s a ballerina that I love tearing the tutu off of, and a cow that moos when I chew down to the crunchy center. 

I wait until her back’s turned.  Perferably when she has some sort of shirt over her head, or one foot in her pants and then go for it! 

I don’t always have the time to pick and chose and go for the one closest to the front. 

I think she on to me though, because I’ve noticed all the good ones are in the back. 

I must admit that those things are a bit like crack cocaine - I can’t really remember, but I’m told that my eyes dilate and I run around with puppy zoomies once I get one. 

She’s trying this training method that involves her pretending that it’s no big deal - but I can tell.  I can smell her body language and she warring with how cute I am with the the stuffed animals and how much joy I get….versus how very naughty I’m being. 

I’m faster than her - although it’s fun to see her try.  Lately she she’s been playing less chase and pretending that whatever *I* have that *She* wants is a game of fetch and if I bring it right to her I get a treat. 

Sometimes I feel like playing…..sometimes I want to play my own game.  Like rip the tutu off the bear and see how many times I can sail over the bed before getting her attention. 

It isn’t like she doesn’t know I like soft fuzzy rip-able things.  For xmas I got a stuffed purple teddy bear.  For New Years I got an “indestructible” soft penguin. 

For my fellow dogs that end up with such a puzzle as a really tough soft toy in the shape of a penguin, here’s my suggestions.

1.  Go for the tag.  They’ll probably notice and cut it off but at least you tried.
2.  Rip off the fuzzy horns.
3.  start at the feet - you can generate the most force by pulling there. 
4.  After destroying the feet, you will have access to the body cavity.  Quick!  before the notice pull out all the stuffing and pretend to eat it!
5.  they will probably defluff it for you at this stage.  Now turn it inside out.  This gives you better access to the head and beak and make it more vulnerable. 
6.  Destroy the beak so that when they turn the toy right side out, they are traumatized by the sight of a ravaged bird face - with only the beak gnawed out.
7.  give it to the German Shepherd to finish off.