Sunday Confessionals of a "Bad" Owner #2

I use a prong collar on one of my dogs. He was a puller when I got him, he still can be, he has high prey drive and an awful attention span (doggy ADHD anyone?). Walking him was horrible, training was miserable. I opted not to use a Halti/Gentle Leader as he absolutely abhorred it and I couldn't be bothered to go through the adjusting period of it as we were both miserable. So I bought a prong and guess what? He did wonderfully on it from day one, our walks are enjoyable now and it helps get his attention back when he zeros in on something.

I am a collar addict.

I have a collar obsession. I’m not going to deny it, never have and never will. I have spent ridicules amounts of money of the years on collars, not one of them every getting the chance to become well worn and tattered. It’s a silly obsession because frankly the dogs don’t care if they have them or not but a fun one. But I noticed today I also have a leash obsession.

I was going through their collars, taking out the ones that I really didn't care for anymore or that they hadn't worn in the past year to donate to rescue when I realized I have twice as many leashes than collars. That is a lot of leash when I don’t use them very often; Boone is hardly ever on leash unless we are walking on the highway or in town around people. Ranger pretty much the same thing. Woof is the only one who uses them daily and the majority of these leashes I’ve had before I ever had Woof or Ranger. Even more surprising is that a majority of them are well worn and some even broken. Apparently I can let go of collars that have nothing wrong with them but can’t let get of broken leashes.

Now back to leash/collar shopping since I’ve cleaned out my horde. I’m thinking a little internet trip to Collar Mania is in order this time. This would be perfect for Woof, it explains him so well. 

Talk Big Tuesday - Overweight Dogs

People with overweight dogs and are blind to it are really starting to aggravate me. How can you not see that your Dachshund looks more like a stick of baloney with toothpicks for legs? How can you look at your Border Collie and not see that it resembles the good year blimp instead of the fine tune and sleek working dog it’s supposed to be? I don’t care if it’s “only” a house dog and doesn’t need to be at “working weight”, fact is it is incredibly unhealthy and unfair to your dog. This is a man made problem and completely unavoidable. You want to know why your 2 year old baloney stick dog is limping and has a has constant back issues? Because it is morbidly obese, you are killing your dog. Why does your 3 year old dog have issues with stairs and can’t even get up off the floor some days? Because it is overweight, the body of that dog was never designed to carry that much weight, you are hurting your dog and you are killing your dog. The "it's only a few pounds", don't try to down play it, even as little as 5lbs extra on a Beagle sized dog can cause issues, that's like an average sized person packing on an extra 20lbs.

It is not “more to love”, it is not “all muscle”, they are not “fluffy” or “big boned” and it definitely isn't cute. They are overweight, obese, fat unhealthy and dying. I look at a picture of a dog that is grossly overweight and I don’t think it’s cute at all. I can’t even bring myself to comment or like it. That saying of if you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say anything at all is put to work and I just scroll past it. If I happen to encounter an overweight dog I seriously want to cry, I look at that poor dog and feel so bad for it. I don’t doubt the dog isn’t loved, so don’t pull the “well we love our dog so don’t make us out to be bad owners”. I’m not saying you’re a bad owner, I’m saying your dog blind, you can’t see that your own dog, that furry little member of your family you love is suffering silently because you are killing it with kindness. It needs to stop, up the exercise, stop the extras, decrease the amount of food, change the food and get a check up at the vet to rule out a medical problem or side effect of a medication causing the weight and do something to address it.

If you love them you’ll get them back on the road to a proper weight, so they can be happy, healthy and around for a long time.

Talk Big Tuesday – The Frequency of Bathing

So I decided that every Tuesday I’ll do a little entry about something that has bothered me at some point in the week.

Only bath your dogs twice a year, less is better. That was the common belief once, these days most people bath their dogs more often than that. At least I’d like to think so. I came across an article on the internet about how often you should bath your dog and yes it’s more than twice a year.

Think about it, does your dog sleep in the bed with you, lay on the couch, snuggle? Now think about what your dog has done lately, have they been outside, rolled in dirt, swam, been used as a drool rag on at the dog park? Most likely yes, to everything. They’ve likely licked a butt or two and maybe even eaten poop. I don’t know about anyone else but considering all of that and then they want to snuggle or sleep on my bed… kinda gross. Do you really want all that dirt, drool, even insects where you lay your head or plant a kiss? Nope.

Dogs coats are pretty good at repelling nature’s “fun” but get real, they DO get dirty and smelly much to your “mine don’t even smell like dogs, you guys are idiots for bathing your dog more than once a year” argument. You want to sleep next to a dog that has rolled in god knows what on that hike or swam in lake water that very likely has shit and piss in it be my guest. But if that were a person you wouldn’t be caught dead spooning them if they only washed once a year. You can’t tell me that you’re once a year bathed dog isn’t dirty. I’ve bathed once a year dogs, even once every 5 year dogs and the water is like coffee and grits that comes off them. The difference in the feel and look is astounding. But to be honest I was in the twice a year camp for a long time, now knowing and seeing the difference I want to go back in time and slap my old self then wash my poor past dogs. Seriously, your dog is dirty, I can smell it and feel it despite you boasting about it.

Frequent bathing even helps pets with itchy, problem skin. Dogs absorb allergens through their skin as opposed to us who usually absorb it through our mouths and noses. So by upping the bath routine to a weekly deal you can wash off the irritants before they have a good chance of settling in and causing your dog discomfort and likely the discomfort of your wallet due to vet visits.

Overall your dog should be bathed anywhere from once a week to every 8 weeks. Personally mine get bathed every month unless they have gotten into some particularly “fun”. You have to look at a few things though, breed matters. Coat texture really, those dogs with harsher coats (like Terriers, Retrievers and Collies) will repel the “fun” better then those with soft coats (like Shih Tzus, Yorkies and Havanese). The harsher coats I like to see done at LEAST every two months if not every 4-6 weeks, the softer coats even more every 1-2 weeks. If you have someone in the home or family that drops by who has allergies bathing and grooming can make a huge difference, especially the frequency of it, the more the better, it’ll remove the dander and saliva that is causing the allergy. That all being said shampoo matters too. A lot of shampoos in big box stores are pretty low quality, they will strip the coat of the natural oils, create dry skin and some even leave a gross residue. Do yourself a favour, put back that $5.99 bottle of shampoo and pick up a $12.99 bottle from your local pet store or grooming salon. And for goodness sake STOP using human shampoo on your dogs! Mild, high quality shampoos don’t strip or dry out the skin and coat, don’t leave a residue and leave your pet smelling and feeling great.

Now get up and go bath your dog with a quality, mild shampoo and quit talking twice a year nonsense.

Indestructible you say?

Maybe it’s just me, maybe because I have never had a dog that has been a heavy duty chewer and made out like their mission in life was to show up all those companies that claimed to have an indestructible toy. But when I see posts or hear people say they need a toy that is durable as their dog destroys every toy they have ever tried even those toys that were guaranteed tough and indestructible I can’t help but think that the reason your dog destroys these toys is because the majority of toys aren't made to be chewed, if you want a chew get a bone. The majority of these toys are made for play and then to be put up until next time.

I know there are toys out there that say they are for hard chewers, are designed for chewing and are guaranteed or we replace/refund. But my common sense says “hey, at the end of the day that is a rubber/nylon toy, any dog with a good amount of strength and determination could more than likely tear it up.” If I want my dogs to have long lasting, durable chew without spending a ton of money, I get them a bone, rawhide, bully stick etc and I am aware that even those things will be eventually be gnawed to death and eaten and I don't want to be out $40 for 10 minutes of fun. I am thankful for my non-aggressive chewers, I can leave all kinds of toys around and years later they are still around. I've had one particular toy for 5 years now and while filthy it’s still a fully intact stuffless toy, we have a kong that has been around since my first dog back in '99 and a nylabone for several years. We go through balls quite a bit but I expect that, there is only so much mouth those poor things can handle, especially when they squeak and are squeaked to death, the rubber just can’t hold up but even they last months before being tossed.

But if I had a dog that that was an aggressive chewer and known to rip toys apart in minutes I for damn sure wouldn't be leaving them around to be destroyed. I’d bring them out for play and when done put them back up because common sense and experience tells me to or else I’m going to have a heck of a mess and at worst a vet trip. But maybe I’m just naive because I’ve never had an aggressive chewer like I said, I know it’s a common want for us to be able to leave toys out for our dogs to play with when ever they want but if they are proven to be so destructive that a brand that is known to have durable, long lasting toys can’t stand up then it’s likely nothing will and you shouldn’t be leaving toys or even bones around to be shredded, unsupervised and for the dog to end up with a possible obstruction or even choke to death. I think the answer to the question for me is, no. There is no one toy that is 100% indestructible for every dog.

Do I dare get excited?

It's been 6 days since I started Boone on Zylkene and dare I say there seems to already be an improvement? I don't want to get too excited just yet, it could be nothing but he seems to be a little bit calmer in situations where he would normally be upset. The other day I even caught him in a sound sleep under an open window with kids outside screaming, quads going and music blaring. He was even dreaming, something I have never seen him do since he doesn't let himself relax enough to get to that state. My other half even said this morning he seemed calmer as dead set against "drugging him up" he thinks it's working and that Boone seems happier. It's a 30 day trial period so still some time to go before we know for sure but it looks promising.

In other news duck hunting is open! Ranger and my other half were beyond excited on Saturday that they could go hunting unfortunately it was a stormy day and they didn't get to go, poor Ranger was quite put out by this. He kept whining and going over to the hunting gear, even this morning. This morning would have been good but somebody was lazy and didn't get out of bed and it definitely wasn't Ranger who was being lazy! Poor Ranger, soon my boy, soon you'll get your ducks.

I put my dog on anxiety meds, I'm not killing him.

I'm honestly super surprised at the reactions from people since I have shared that I have put Boone on anxiety medications. It's been a mix of positive and negative. The negative accusing me of killing my dog with drugs, not putting in any effort, wanting a quick, easy fix, lowering his quality of life and being an unfit owner so I should give him up. So quick to judge when they don't know how the past 6 years have been, they only see and hear what I choose to share, they don't have the full story.
I have dealt with his anxiety for 6 years, his whole life. We have done the behaviorist route,, we've done the conditioning to build his confidence, we've done the OTC natural remedies similar to Rescue Remedy, we've considered the Thundershirt, we've even said let things be. A vet once told me dogs with his type of anxiety tend to get worse as they age, this was 4 years ago and is holding true unfortunately. I do not like the idea of drugging my dogs but after 6 years and watching him get worse I felt I owed it to him to at least try the medication route. 

He barely sleeps, always on edge and ready to react to any sound/movement. When he actually does sleep and gets woken up he is in that much of a blind panic he doesn't recognize us, our other dogs and acts aggressively before peeing himself and hiding. He runs in circles to the point he not only wears down the grass to dirt, he actually makes ditches in the yard, he'll circle in the house running around a kitchen island, or pace the entirety of the house even though he is clearly tired and even stumbling. He pants, paces and circles in the truck, something he used to love and be very rellaxed with, he even pees all over the truck. We change crate blankets pretty much every day sometimes up to 3 times a day because he pees himself. It is a constant battle to keep weight on him. Having people over is stressful for all involved, thunderstorms, quads going by the house, dropping something on the floor all sends him into a fright. All due to his anxiety. How is this a happy life for a dog? When at the vet this week we decided to start with Zylkene and Ace.

Zylkene is a more natural medication, it's a food supplement made from a milk protein that has the active ingredient of peptide which helps the brain to relax, but not make them drowsy. There aren't any known side effects to it since it is a natural product. It, like most things doesn't work on every dog guaranteed but we're willing to give it a try before going to something stronger. 

Acepromazine (ace) is a sedative. I have a few clients that use it on their dogs for grooming as a last resort before having their pet fully sedated. It does make them drowsy of course and what I call zombie like. It can take a hour to take effect (Boone took 3 hours) and generally last 6 - 8 hours. It can be given daily but we've decided to only give it to him during high stress events such as long travel, thunderstorms, fireworks, and especially in our case rock blasting as they are blasting just up from our house, it feels like an earthquake every time, holy smokes. There are side effects unfortunately, vomiting, seizures, lowered blood pressure and constipation to name a few. But having been checked over and being a healthy dog and with using it only for certain things we are going to take the risk.

Apparently posting pictures of my drugged up dog and finding it a little funny is awful and humiliating to him. And how awful it is to try out such a serious drug for fun. No I didn't not try it out for fun. Instead of writing it over again I'll just copy what I wrote back. 

"I see nothing wrong with trying out the effects of the ace ahead of time before I really need it. Not every dog will react the same to it and when we travel this week I wanted to be sure what to expect from him, how long it would take to effect him, how he would react to it. I didn't do it for shits and giggles I did it to be on the safe side. To wait until the day of, have him stress out the way he does or even have a negative reaction while on the road and not have any vet accessible for up to 8 hours would be dangerous and unfair.And yes, I found some of it funny. Humiliation is a human emotion, not canine, feeling bad for my poor dog is unnecessary. He wasn't feeling bad, he had the most sound sleep I have ever seen and was a different dog this morning because of it I figure. But yes, I laughed, my husband laughed, my parents laughed at some points. Just like they laughed at me when I was coming to after surgery, just like I've laughed at family and friends coming to from anesthesia or under laughing gas. It's funny, and it's OK to laugh. He was in no harm and we were there with him to make sure he didn't fall down the stairs, it wasn't malicious."

I am doing what is best for my dog in this situation. it may not be what you choose to do but it is what I feel needs to be done right now after everything we've tried and what I see he is like on a daily basis. It doesn't make me a bad owner, my dog is not humiliated, I am not looking for an easy fix or any other stupid reason I was accused of. I am doing what I feel is best for my dog right now. I love him and want what is best for him.