heatherwitt.com Blog

If you don’t like the excitement level of your dog then STOP. If you open that door, or clip on that leash, put down that dinner dish, or throw that ball, then you have reinforced the behavior you are seeing at the moment of reward.

Some dogs jump around when you prepare for the walk, and then drag you out the door and down the street. If you attach the leash only when the dog is calm, stopping as needed during the process, you will be rewarding a calmer dog. Just mark the inappropriate moment with a calm, quick “oops” and withdraw attention. Resume when dog is calm, and “oops” when they start to err. With patience on your part, you will be creating a more relaxed companion. Better for everybody!

Maple, and every dog before her, loves ice cream. What dog doesn’t? But chew bones are expensive and Frosty Paws, while more readily available, are getting more expensive too and barely last long enough for you to close the freezer door. So I decided to experiment came up with my own yummy recipe:

Put in a blender:
1 banana
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 cup plain yogurt
1 cup water

Blend thoroughly and then pour into paper bowls and freeze. Makes about 6 servings. If your dog is likely to eat the bowl too, then consider using edible rice paper as the liner for your container. Pull out paper and treat and let ‘em at it.

It was mentioned here on a February 15th post that the rights for beach access for dogs to Fairfield Beach were at risk. Now there is a petition to charge a $400 to $800 permit fee as well as shortening of the season by two months.

There is a petition to oppose these new rule changes being considered by the Fairfield Parks and Rec. which I’ve linked on this site (right under my logo on the left side nav. bar). If you don’t want to lose your beach priviledges you need to print it out, sign it, and mail it to the address on the bottom of the form, because if this goes through it will just be a matter of time before the rest of the Fairfield County beach towns adopt similar legislation….

Maple and I achieved the 2007 Top Leo obedience award (2nd Place). That means only one other Leonberger who is a memeber of the Leonberger Club of America (the parent club for the LCA is the AKC), accumulated more points. It’s been so much fun competing Maple in Obedience. We plan on continuing, with two trials scheduled for next month.

There are a lot of lists on what to do and not to do when getting a dog. I thought this one published by Real Simple was worth posting. It nailed some common mistakes to avoid to keep your four-legged friend happy, healthy and mentally stimulated.

Channel 8 picked up an interesting AP story about a Trumbull animal shelter that spend $200 trying to prove a dog is not a pitt bull to increase its chances for adoption:

Trumbull (AP) - Animal lovers have spent $200 for DNA testing to prove that a dog resembling a pitt bull is instead a boxer.

They hope it will perhaps increase her chances of finding a home. Mindy has been living at the Trumbull animal shelter for six months. The 6-year-old pooch suffered from the stigma often associated with pitt bulls, which are seen as aggressive and ferocious.

Volunteers at the Trumbull Animal Group, which works at the animal shelter, and the Friends of the Bridgeport Anmial Shelter paid for the DNA test to refine Mindy’s image. Volunteers and shelter officials say it’s a first in the area.

A volunteer at the Trumbull Animal Group says Mindy, who is 70 percent boxer-bull terrier and 30 percent English cocker spaniel and bulldog, may now have a better chance being adopted if visitors know she’s of a breed that’s good with children.

Dr. Candace Benyei of Schulhof Animal Hospital in Westport has sent out another letter with an important update about pet insurance, specifically VPI’s WellCare Protection program. If you have any interest in pet insurance this new program appears quite comprehensive and affordable, as far as pet plans go. This WellCare program even includes treatment for cancer–the number one cause of death in dogs and cats.

I don’t know why it is that no matter where you walk or hike your dog, Winslow Park, Lake Mohegan, the beaches, people don’t pick up after their dogs. Is it that horrible of a task? Are people really that lazy? Do people think it’s the town’s responsibility to remove their dog’s waste? Do people think it will just wash away with the tide? Whatever the reason, there is no excuse for not picking up after your dog.

When the town has to get involved, and when the newspapers start talking about the waste being an environmental issue, you know your doggy’s freedoms are about to be stripped away. It wasn’t too long ago that dogs were allowed anywhere off-leash at Winslow Park; now only half is an off-leash area. Lake Mohegan used to have dozens of doggy watering holes but because of all the uncollected poop washing into the lake they had to close off much of it.

It’s a simple principal, and for the most part it’s based on the honor system….pick up after your dog. And if you see someone not picking up after their dog, say something, because those are the people who are going to ruin it for all of us.

A lot of people know that chocolate is toxic to dogs, but do you know that raisins and grapes are dangerous, too?  They can cause renal failure.  Onions, tomatoes, and peppers are not great for our canine friends either, so be careful of that leftover pasta added your dog’s food.  I like to save the leftovers and use them as training treats rather than waste the opportunity by just mixing with their daily fare anyway. Here’s an email that came my way about the toxicity of raisins and grapes:

This was written by Laurinda Morris, DVM
Danville Veterinary Clinic
Danville, Ohio

This week I had my first case of raisin toxicity ever seen at MedVet. My patient was a 56-pound, 5 year old male neutered lab mix that ate half a canister of raisins sometime between 7:30AM and 4:30PM on Tuesday. He started with vomiting, diarrhea, and shaking about 1:00AM on Wednesday but the owner didn’t call my emergency service until 7AM.

I had heard somewhere about raisins AND grapes causing acute Renal failure but hadn’t seen any formal paper on the subject. We had her bring the dog in immediately. In the meantime, I called the ER service at MedVet, and the doctor there was like me - had heard something about it, but….Anyway, we contacted the ASPCA National Animal Poison Control Center and they said to give IV fluids at 1 1/2 times maintenance and watch the kidney values for the next 48-72 hours.

The dog’s BUN (Blood Urea Nitrogen) was already at 32 (normal less than 27) and creatinine over 5 (1.9 is the high end of normal). Both are monitors of kidney function in the bloodstream. We placed an IV catheter and started the fluids. Rechecked the renal values at 5PM and the BUN was over 40 and creatinine over 7 with no urine production after a liter of fluids. At the point I thought the dog was in acute renal failure and sent him on to MedVet for a urinary catheter to monitor urine output overnight as well as overnight care.

He started vomiting again overnight at MedVet and his renal values have continued to increase daily. He produced urine when given lasix as a diuretic. He was on 3 different anti-vomiting medications and they still couldn’t control his vomiting. Today his urine output decreased again, his BUN was over 120, his creatinine was at 10, his phosphorus was very elevated and his blood pressure, which had been staying around 150, skyrocketed to 220..He continued to vomit and the owners elected to euthanize.

This is a very sad case - great dog, great owners who had no idea raisins could be a toxin. Please alert everyone you know who has a dog of this serious risk. Poison Control said as few as 7 raisins or grapes could be toxic. Many people I know give their dogs raisins or grapes as treats including our ex-handler’s. Any exposure should give rise to immediate concern.

Confirmation from Snopes about the above: http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/raisins.asp