Tuesday 22 September 2009

The lowdown on lungworms

D for Dogs has recently published this important update on lungworm infection in the UK:

Lungworm infection in dogs, caused by the parasite Angiostrongylus vasorum, is spreading. A recent nationwide survey of UK vets has revealed that over 25 per cent of those questioned had either confirmed or suspected a case of this potentially fatal condition, yet as few as six per cent of dog owners had even heard of the disease.

Dogs become infected with the lungworm through eating slugs and snails which carry the larvae of the parasite. Infections were most common in parts of Ireland, Wales and southern England. However, recent outbreaks as far north as Scotland mean the parasite is now a nationwide threat.

With this in mind, Bayer Animal Health has launched a ‘Be Lungworm Aware’ campaign to help raise the profile of this parasite amongst dog owners. The initiative aims to make a wide range of advice available, including signs of infection and how to obtain treatment, and to promote the benefits of a parasite control programme that takes into account the risk of dogs becoming infected.

Lungworm is a particularly dangerous condition as if left untreated, it is often fatal. Signs to look out for include coughing, reluctance to exercise, depression, weight loss, fits, vomiting, diarrhoea, weakness, paralysis and persistent bleeding from even small cuts. Dogs known to eat slugs and snails should also be considered candidates for a check up with a vet, even if they are showing no outward signs of infection.

“The condition has become a nationwide threat to the canine population, however awareness of this particular lungworm is low,” commented Bayer Animal Health. “The ‘Be Lungworm Aware’ campaign aims to educate owners on the risks associated with infection and encourage them to visit their vet for further information and to discuss their dogs’ parasite protection plan.”

 

Lungworm Background - Killer disease of dogs

The lungworm Angiostrongylus vasorum is a potentially lethal parasite that can infect dogs, and is spreading across the UK.

Sometimes referred to as the French Heartworm, left untreated this parasite represents a very serious risk to a dog’s health and can kill. On a positive note, increased awareness amongst vets of the condition and the availability of an effective spot-on flea and worm product means that vets are well placed to manage the disease.

Dogs catch lungworm through eating slugs and snails which carry the larvae of the parasite. While most dogs do not habitually eat slugs and snails, they may do so by accident e.g. when a slug or snail is sitting on a bone or a favourite toy, or when drinking from a puddle or outdoor water bowl.

Some dogs take great pleasure in eating these miniature ‘treats’, and should be considered at risk from infection.

Foxes can also become infected, and the increase in urban fox populations might be a reason for the spread of the parasite across the country.

In addition, global warming has been suggested as a factor for the movement of the lungworm to the north of the UK, with warmer weather allowing the parasite to survive in areas seemingly too cold in the past.

There are many signs to be aware of, although an infected dog may appear totally healthy. Coughing, reluctance to exercise, depression, weight loss, fits, vomiting, diarrhoea and persistent bleeding from even minor cuts are all possible signs. Dogs under the age of two appear to be more susceptible than older dogs, though dogs of all ages and breeds can be affected. The wide range of signs can easily be confused with other illnesses so contacting your veterinary practice is important. Early diagnosis by a vet, followed by appropriate treatment, will usually lead to a full recovery.

If you suspect your dog may have eaten a slug or a snail or is exhibiting any of the signs of lungworm, it is important that you make an appointment at your vet for a check-up. Your vet can perform a relatively simple test that can help determine whether your dog is infected.

 

Hints and tips to help prevent lungworm adversely affecting your dog 
Lungworm is now being reported by vets across many parts of the UK, including Scotland. However, there's no reason why this potentially fatal disease should present your dog with any particular problems.

A little extra vigilance and a few simple precautions could avoid any suffering should your dog come into contact with this particularly nasty parasite.

Be vigilant 

• Watch to see if your dog likes eating slugs and/or snails, particularly in spring and autumn when these molluscs are more prevalent

• Know your dog – signs of the disease are varied and can easily be confused with other ailments, so keep an eye out for anything unexpected. Signs of the disease include:

- reluctance to exercise
- coughing
- depression
- weight loss
- fits
- vomiting
- weakness
- paralysis/inability to walk
- excessive bleeding from even minor wounds

• Contact your vet if you have any concerns, your dog habitually eats slugs or snails, or if see any of the signs described above



Where possible, take precautions
 

• Avoid the use of outdoor drinking water and food bowls which often attract slugs or snails – there is evidence that slime trails can infect a dog if they are eaten

• Don't leave your dog's toys, chews or bones in the garden as they can attract snails

• Ask your vet for a parasite control programme that takes into account the risk of dogs becoming infected

Detailed information on the disease and advice on what to do if you suspect your dog is infected with this parasite can be found online at www.lungworm.co.uk.

Monday 21 September 2009

Is your pup's jumping up getting you down?

One of the most common problems 4Paws Outdoors gets asked to address is that of over enthusiastic dogs jumping up when meeting people.

Of the many dog behaviors which have been unintentionally trained by owners, jumping up is probably the best example. Ever since your dog was a puppy he has learnt that jumping up to greet people is rewarded by attention. Even if you initially encouraged him to 'sit' to meet people you may well have given up after you realised that every un-briefed passerby dangled a hand temptingly for your dog to kiss.

But as with so many behaviours what is cute in a 3 month old pup is less so when fully grown. So over the years well meaning friends and trainers may have advocated some or all of the following; grabbing the dog's forepaws, squirting lemon juice/citronella/tabasco or more in your dog's face, kneeing him in the chest, hitting him on the head with a rolled up newspaper, stepping on his hind toes or pushing him over backwards. And why? Simply because your dog is doing something he has been 'trained' to do since puppyhood.

Not only is punishing the dog for this behavior confusing, what's more it usually exacerbates the problem.

Put yourself in your dog's paws for a second. What does jumping up mean in doggy language? Pawing, jumping up, play bowing, almost anything involving the forepaws is your dog saying "Hi, I'm trying to be friendly, can I get a little of your attention please?"
So here comes your dog trying his best to be friendly and what do we do? We tell him off. What will this achieve? Most likely your dog will start pogo-ing not only to show you his friendliness but also to apologise for whatever he has done to upset you.

So how do you teach your pup better doggy manners?

Firstly think of what your dog is motivated by, a squeaky toy, a ball, a treat or lots of kisses. By teaching your dog that saying 'hello' politely gets him one or more of these things, you will have a dog who sits nicely faster than you can say 'Good boy!"

One of the best ways of encouraging your dog to sit when he meets people training is to let him work out how to do it all by himself. It allows him to really use his brain, and it allows us the opportunity to see how quickly our canine friends can learn.

Show the dog you have some tasty treats in your pocket and then just stand there and don't interact with your dog at all. Simply ignore all the dog's inappropriate antics. The more excited the dog, the more he learns what doesn't work to get your attention or the treat. The dog will sit eventually and when he does say "good dog" immediately and offer a treat. Then take one step and repeat the procedure.

In just half a dozen or so repetitions you will find the dog will sit the second you stand still. The dog will learn that sitting is the best ploy to get people to offer treats and it will start to use this greeting with many people.

In order for your dog to generalize the concept of sitting to greet people (i.e. it is the best thing to do with everyone) the only way to get reliability is through repetition. So, let your dog meet lots of nice people, but be sure to be there to calmly and gently help him to choose the right option (sitting). For a few weeks carry around a little toy and/or a few pieces of your dog's dry food and use them to reward your dog for sitting. When you meet a nice person on the street ask them to be the one to give your dog the reward (be sure your dog is friendly with people). The more times your dog sits to greet people the more he will sit to greet people!

Wednesday 16 September 2009

Puppy housetraining: moving on from the pee pads

Some house trained dogs show obvious signs when they need to go out, like scratching or barking at the door. But others aren’t as adept at telling people when they need to relieve themselves. They know that outside is the place to go, but they can’t figure out how to get there. So they station themselves by a door and wait…and wait…and wait. If their people don’t notice them in time, these dogs are forced to urinate or defecate inside, often right in front of the door where they’ve been silently waiting.

If this sounds like your dog then you need to teach him to do something obvious to ask for outdoor access. One of the simplest solutions is to train him to ring a “doorbell.” When your dog rings his bell, you can clearly hear his request, even if you’re in another room.

Step 1: Teach your dog to touch the bell with his nose

You can make your own dog doorbell using a couple of small bells from a crafts supply store. Attach some kind of sturdy string to the bells. (You’ll use the string later to hang the bells on a doorknob or on a hook next to your door.) Before starting your first training session, cut a number of tasty treats into bite-sized pieces.

  1. Say “Touch” and present the bells to your dog. Hold them just an inch or two away from his nose. He’ll probably move toward the bells to sniff them. (If he doesn’t, you can rub a treat on the bells to make them a little more interesting.)
  2. The moment your dog’s nose touches the bells, say “Good dog!” and immediately give him a treat. Here your timing is important, your dog needs to know he’s doing the right thing the instant he touches the bells with his nose. (If you use a clicker to train your dog, you can click instead of praising.)
  3. Repeat 10 to 15 times or until your dog readily touches the bells with his nose.
  4. When your dog confidently pokes the bells with his nose as soon as you present them an inch or two in front of him, start to present the bells a little further away or off to the side each time you say “Touch.” Your dog will have to turn his head or take a few steps to touch the bells.

Spend three to five days practicing the exercise above, aiming for at least one practice session per day. Then you’re ready for Stage Two.

Stage Two: Teaching Your Dog to Ring the Bell on the Door

Use the string connected to the bells to hang them on your doorknob or on a hook next to your door. Get your treats ready and call your dog over to the door.

  1. Take the bells in your hand (with them still hanging on the knob), say “Touch,” and hold them out toward your dog.
  2. Right when your dog’s nose touches the bells, say “Good dog!” and give him a treat.
  3. Repeat 5 to 10 times or until your dog readily touches the bells as soon as you say ”Touch.”

    After a short break from the three steps above, do the exercise again, but this time just point to the bells instead of holding them.

  4. Say “Touch,” and point to the bells.
  5. As soon as your dog touches the bells with his nose, say "Good dog” and give a treat. (If he doesn’t touch the bells, repeat steps 1, 2 and 3 above, holding the bells in your hand when you ask your dog to touch them. After practicing these steps for a couple of days, try just pointing to the bells again.)
  6. Repeat the exercise 5 to 10 times.

Plan to practice Stage Two with your dog for three to five days, just like you practiced Stage One.

Stage Three: Teaching Your Dog to Ring the Bell at the Right Time

Now you can put your plan into action. When you take your dog outside for a toilet break ask him to touch the bells with his nose right before you open the door.

  1. Approach the door with your dog. Say “Touch,” and point to the bells.
  2. The moment he touches the bells with his nose, say “Good dog!” Then open the door and let your dog go outside.

Ask your dog to ring the bells every time you take him out. With repetition, your dog will learn that he has to touch the bells with his nose to make you open the door. Eventually, when he wants to go outside, he’ll go to the door on his own and ring the bells.

The first time this happens, praise him enthusiastically and immediately let him outside. Give him a few tasty treats after he does his business to make sure he understands that you love it when he rings the bell.

Troubleshooting

Playtime vs. Toilet time

Once they discover that bell ringing makes the door open, many clever dogs ring the bells whenever they’d like go outside—even when they don’t need to relieve themselves. If this sounds like your dog, you need to teach him that bell ringing is only for relieving himself. When he rings the bell to go out, praise him, clip on his leash and take him directly to the place where you’d like him to eliminate. Don’t play with him. Just give him three to five minutes to urinate or defecate. If he does, great! Praise him again and give him a treat before taking him back in. If he doesn’t do his business, just take him back inside.

Dogs Who Prefer Using Their Paws

Does your dog seem reluctant to touch things with his nose? If so, try teaching him to ring a doorbell with his paw instead. There are a number of dog doorbells currently on the market, such as the Tell Bell™ or the Lentek Pet Chime. After mounting one of these products on your wall or placing it on the floor, you can train your dog to paw or step on it. See the product’s packaging or user manual for training instructions.


An introduction to positive reinforcement training

Recent years have seen a move away from the use of punitive methods in dog training. Where once trainers were set on making dogs bend to their will now more and more are moving to a system where good behaviour is encouraged rather than 'bad' or incorrect behaviour disciplined.

The idea of positive reinforcement training lies at the heart of popular modern training methods such as clicker training. Typically the reward is food based but this need not always be the case. If you have a dog who is very keen on a particular toy, or who particularly loves to be made a fuss of then these can also be used as rewards. Many specialist 'working' dogs such as Police sniffer dogs are trained using this method and rewarded with the ultimate prize of a squeaky ball having correctly sniffed out drugs or explosives.

Key to using positive reinforcement is c
orrect timing. It is essential that the reward must occur immediately—within seconds—of your pet performing the desired behaviour, or your pet may not associate it with the proper action.

When your pet is learning a new behavior it is important to reward them every time they correctly do what you want, which means continuous reinforcement. Initially it may be necessary to use a technique called "shaping" in order to achieve the desired result. Shaping means reinforcing when your dog gets close to the desired result and then gradually requiring that your dog do more in order to earn the treat.

For example, if you're teaching your dog to "shake hands," you may start by rewarding your dog for lifting their paw off the ground, then for lifting it higher, then for touching your hand, then for letting you hold their paw, and finally, for actually "shaking hands" with you.

Once your dog has successfully learnt a behaviour you can move to using intermittent reinforcement . At first, reward your dog with the treat three out of every four times they do the behavior. Then, over time, reward them about half the time, then about a third of the time, and so on, until you're only rewarding her occasionally with the treat. Continue to praise your dog every time—although once your dog has learned the behavior, your praise can be less effusive, such as a quiet, but positive, "Good dog." Use a variable schedule of reinforcement so that they don't catch on that they only have to respond every other time.

Tuesday 15 September 2009

Reminder - your dog, identity tags and the law

All responsible dog owners know their dog should wear a tag to help with identification should he stray. But did you know that it is in fact a LEGAL requirement for your dog to wear one.

Current law requires requires that your dog wear a tag with your name, address (including postcode) and ideally phone number.

"The Control of Dogs Order 1992 mandates that any dog in a public place must wear a collar with the name and address (including postcode) of the owner engraved or written on it, or engraved on a tag. Your telephone number is optional (but advisable)." [ref Kennel Club website]

If you fail to comply with the law then you risk a fine of up to £5,000. With the wide variety of tags available there's no reason for even the most fashion conscious pup not to wear a tag.

Woman arrested over dog fighting

The following article was published in The Times on September 9th:


A leading member of one of England’s biggest dog-fighting gangs, which had links with Northern Irish paramilitaries, wanted to become the Don King of the pitbull training world, a court was told yesterday.

Gary Adamson, 38, trained his illegally owned dogs on treadmills to compete in fights around Britain and attended “conventions” in Finland where severely injured animals had clips fastened to their ears and were electrocuted.

The harrowing accounts and secretly filmed footage of cruel treatment emerged at the start of a two-week trial at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court.

During a series of raids by the RSPCA, after an undercover investigation by a former SAS operative, it emerged that gang members also made pitbulls train in swimming tanks or by attacking “lunge poles” with dummies hanging from them to maximise the animals’ aggression.

The RSPCA raids also seized “break sticks” for parting the animals once their jaws had locked on to others, and veterinary products to treat animals injured in makeshift fight pits.

Five people, including Adamson, a welder from Yarm, North Yorkshire, have admitted a series of dog-fighting offences under the Dangerous Dogs and Animal Welfare Acts. They face jail terms of up to six months and fines of £20,000.

Claire Parker, 44, a mother of three from Kexby, Lincolnshire, was also in court yesterday. She denied being present at a dog fight, keeping premises for fights and owning three pitbulls. The breed is banned in Britain.

Mohammed Nasir Farooq, 33, from Birmingham, denied involvement in a dogfight, causing unnecessary suffering to a pitbull and possessing equipment associated with dog fights.

The RSPCA brought the case after Steve Ibinson, an undercover investigator and former SAS member, infiltrated a dog-fighting gang called the Farmer Boys, with alleged paramilitary links in Northern Ireland, for a BBC Panorama programme.

Mr Ibinson went on to uncover a series of links between that gang and dog-fighting criminals in England. Only now can his identity be revealed. He died of natural causes earlier this year while serving as a security guard in Afghanistan.

The court heard that after a fight at Mrs Parker’s garage, Adamson’s dog, Pablo, was so badly scarred that it appeared to have had a shotgun fired in its face. In secretly recorded video footage, Adamson is shown standing next to three reinforced pens in his yard, boasting that Pablo suffered a “real good ragging” during a 26-minute fight for a £500 prize.

The dog appears nervous as Adamson lifts it at one point by the collar to show numerous white facial scars, a badly torn ear and some wounds stapled up. The animal lost the fight and is thought to have died from its injuries, the court heard.

Mr Ibinson said in a recorded statement that Adamson was the representative of northeast England of the Farmers Boys, from Co Armagh, and aspired to be to pitbull fighting what Don King was to boxing.

Adamson was shown explaining that he wanted to make Pablo train in a swimming tank. At one point he grinned as he said that his mother was a member of the RSPCA, while was a badger-baiter.

Mr Ibinson said that he travelled with Adamson to Finland where they watched “conventions”, or dog fights, one of which resulted in a severely injured animal being electrocuted.

Michael Shorrock, QC, for the prosecution, said that RSPCA officers seized treadmills, break sticks and veterinary products at the house where Mrs Parker lived with her children and her late husband John, known as “Odd Ball”, a convicted dog fighter who died in prison.

Mr Shorrock rejected her suggestion that she was unaware of what took place in the garage.

The case continues.

A street status symbol

Two thirds of all dog fighting reports received by the RSPCA are directly connected to young men and women using their dogs as “weapons” in streets and parks

Animal welfare officers have reported horrific stab wounds, broken bones and cigarette burns to the dogs’ heads

In 2007 37 per cent of calls to the RSPCA about dog fighting related to instances where youths were “fighting” their animals outside. Last year that figure rose to 66 per cent

London has emerged as a hotspot. The Metropolitan Police seized 38 dogs under the Dangerous Dogs Act between April 2004 and April 2005. Between April 2007 and April 2008 officers seized 719