Wag Reflex

Beware of Dog...Owner's Pranks

Sometimes when you need it most, the universe comes through for you.

We have a client here at our hospital named Darlene. Darlene is about eighty, and one of those people to whom telling stories comes as naturally as breathing. Today was no exception. She interrupted a grumpy mood and a desk full of frustration without so much as knocking on my door.

"Jon," she said, "my son-in-law is quite a card." Imagine that.

"He's got a dog, a Doberman Pinscher, named Belle. Every day he takes Belle for a walk in the morning, and nearly every morning his neighbor leans out her window or peeks out her door and yells at him. She's convinced that his dog is pooping on her lawn. Now I know my son-in-law; he may not be much of a husband, but he takes better care of that dog than he does himself, and he always has a plastic bag or three with him to pick up after her."

By this point, the technician was ready to take Darlene into the exam room with her dog for her appointment, but after she was done she marched into my office to get the rest of her story told, and I was glad she did.

"So anyways," she says, "last weekend Dave had just about had enough of his neighbor for one lifetime, so he figures he's going to do something about it. He gets up at about four a.m. and goes to the kitchen for a jar of Skippy. Out he creeps onto her lawn and leaves a big dollop of peanut butter on the grass, then goes back to bed."

"At his usual time, Dave takes Belle out for a walk and deliberately cuts across his neighbor's lawn, which brings her out on the front porch shouting at him that his dog left another mess in her yard. Without missing a beat, my Dave leans over, takes a big finger-full of Skippy from the grass in front of him, eats it, and says, 'Nah, couldn't have been Belle. Tastes more like a retriever, maybe.'"

"Dave says the neighbor hasn't so much as looked at him since."

Into every dark day, somebody like Darlene should come. 

--Jon Wieringa
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Jon Wieringa is an ICU veterinary technician, a search and rescue K-9 handler, and a regular contributor to Wag Reflex.

Golden Retriever Adopts White Tiger Cubs

What do you do when a rare white tiger mother rejects her rare and genetically fragile cubs? If you're the owner of the Safari Zoological Park in Caney, Kansas, you give them to a Golden Retriever.

Zoo owner Tom Harvey handed mothering duties to the zoo's resident Golden, Isabella, just days after the cubs were born. According to Harvey, "the adopted mother licks, cleans and feeds the cubs."

I can hear your collective "Awwwwww"s" from my desk. Read more about Isabella and her new cubs at the AP.

--Spanno

Princess Chunk Needs a Home...And a Diet

Princess Chunk, a 44-pound cat from New Jersey, was found wandering waddling around the streets of Blackwood this weekend. She's only 2-pounds shy of the Guinness World record. Here's hoping she doesn't get it. Read more about Princess Chunk here and here.

--Spanno

How to Bathe Your Dog

I know what you're thinking, “How hard could it be to wash a dog?”. It seems like apretty common sense procedure doesn't it? Well, for many people bathing the family dog can be a complete nightmare. If you follow these tips you can turn your dog's bathinto a fun and easy process!

1. Pick a location. The first thing you want to do is pick a safe location. This can beyour backyard, your bathtub or your local dog washing facility. If bathing outside besure that you are in a fenced area so that if your dog gets away from you he won't be able to run into the street. If bathing in the bathtub put down some sort of rubber matto prevent slipping. Never tie your dog up while bathing. If he struggles or gets entangled this could cause serious injury and even death.

2. Gather your supplies. You will need one or two thick, absorbent towels. Artificial tears eye ointment or mineral oil. Ear cleaner and cotton balls. Nail trimmers and Kwik Stop powder. Brushes and combs.

3. Pick a shampoo. You want to use a shampoo that is right for your particular dog's coat. Consult with your veterinarian if your dog has any skin problems or if you have questions as to what type of shampoo to use. DO NOT use “people” shampoos.They are not the appropriate pH and can be very drying to your dog's coat. If your dog's coat is particularly dry you may want to use a conditioner or creme rinse too.

4. Prepare the dog. Now you are ready to get your dog. You will want to brush him out first to get rid of any tangles or mats. Next trim the nails and clean the ears. Put one large cotton ball in each ear and leave it in there during the bath to prevent waterfrom entering the ear canal. If you are comfortable expressing the anal sacs you should do this now. Right before bathing apply a thin strip of artificial tears ointment or one drop of mineral oil to each eye. This will prevent soap from stinging his eyes.

5. Wash the dog. You are now ready to actually bathe the dog. Wet the coat thoroughly. Apply a small amount of shampoo and lather it well. Don't forget to wash under the tail and between the toes. Rinse thoroughly. This is very important because any soap residue can be irritating to the skin. If you are using a conditioneror creme rinse follow the instructions on the bottle. Again, rinse thoroughly if indicated.

6. Drying your dog. Once the bath is done and he is rinsed thoroughly you are ready for drying. Squeeze all the water out of his tail and down the legs. Let him shake off some of the excess water. Next get a towel, wrap him up and gently rub him dry. Let him shake again. Don't forget to remove the cotton balls from the ears! Once he is dry brush him again to remove any loose fur.

If all this sounds like too much work remember, you can always take Fido to a professional groomer.

Photo courtesy of flickr.

--Dr. Hinson
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Dr. Hinson is a mixed animal veterinarian in Tampa, FL and a regular contributor to Wag Reflex.

Weiner Watchdogs

From flickr. Mackie, a black and tan Dachshund, and Sydney, a dapple Dachshund, watch for intruders.

--Spanno

Stacey Loves The Camera--and Vice-Versa

From flickr. Stacey is a Boston Terrier puppy from Virginia.

--Spanno

Meet Jon Wieringa and Loki

I suppose in an introduction is in order. I’m Jon, and my life pretty much revolves around animals. I work at a specialty/emergency/critical care veterinary hospital as an emergency technician and anesthetist. My loved ones would probably tell you I work there too much, in fact. In my spare time, I’m a K-9 handler and search manager for the primary response search and rescue unit for the most populous county in Washington State. That means I’m on call, along with a bunch of really amazing, committed people, 24/7, to look for missing persons. My family and girlfriend would probably tell you I spend too much time doing this, too. On average we respond to about sixty missions a year, or a little more than one a week. Not that I get to every mission, you understand, but when you train as much and as hard as we do, you do everything you can to respond whenever you can. When a ninety-year-old Alzheimer’s patient goes missing on Thanksgiving evening, off we go. Missing eight-year-old autistic child on your girlfriend’s birthday? Lost big relationship points over that one. We all tend to have very patient families and loved ones.

We train as often as we can. Most of us have a deeply rooted fear that we’ll encounter a situation on a search we haven’t trained for and will miss a subject because of it. We’re all volunteers, and have to hold down day jobs. Our members train every Saturday, every other Sunday, most Wednesday nights, and the occasional Friday night, and it doesn’t leave a lot of time for an active social life. Did I mention my loved ones are very patient? I would absolutely kill for about six more hours in the day.

I work with a five-year-old Australian Cattle Dog named Loki--my second search dog. He’s a real stinker sometimes. Some of the traits that make for a good working dog don’t always make for a good hang-around-the-house-dog. Most of the mistakes on a search dog team are made by the handler, so after my first search dog passed I went looking for a new search dog who was a high-energy, hard-headed, stubborn, uber-intelligent dog who, once trained, would be happy to tell me to go to heck if I tried to pull him off the correct track. Be careful what you ask for. Loki is absolutely devoted to me, which I admit is gratifying, but that didn’t come easy. And while he loves people, he can be absolutely indifferent to anybody else’s authority. Still, he’s a heck of a working dog, and does a good job of making it look like his handler knows what he’s doing.

I’m new to blogging. I figure it’s a good forum to share some stories about the training we do and some of our missions in search work, pass along some of the cases and stories we come across in our work at the specialty hospital, and talk a little about the gear we use and maybe make a recommendation here and there. I’m looking forward to your comments to help guide me in this--I’d hate to be doing this all for my own benefit!

--Jon Wieringa
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Jon Wieringa is an ICU veterinary technician, a search and rescue K-9 handler, and a regular contributor to Wag Reflex.

Greatest American Dog Getting Better

Two more episodes have aired since my first blog about reality TV's latest sensation Greatest American Dog on CBS. I hate to admit it, but the show's grown on me. I don't know if I've simply succumbed to the brain-melting that occurs when watching reality television, or if the show really has improved. I'm going to go with it's improved.

First, the judges totally got it right when, in episode two, they eliminated owner Elan and her dog Kenji. Obviously Elan loves Kenji, but she needs to take a hint: When the top three finishers in the first contest are the owners who talk softly and encouragingly to their dogs (Travis and Presley, Bill and Star, Laura and Preston) she might've changed her style. Dog behavior 101: Dogs respond positively to positive reinforcement; negatively to negative reinforcement. Judge Wendy Diamond also got it right when she lectured contestant Beth Joy on dressing up little Bella Starlet in a frock for the elimination contest. The heated exchange between those two--Beth Joy and Wendy Diamond (don't you just love the names?)--was classic reality TV! As Wendy says, "A dog is not a Barbie Doll. A dog is a dog."

Anyway, other improvements include less focus on the humans and more focus on the canines. I mean, that's what we're here for, right? To see the dogs and their antics (besides Presley's adorable owner Travis, that is). Like in episode three when former foes, English bulldog Tillman and Jack Russell terrier Elvis, enjoy a bout of friendly wrestling in the backyard (they'd had a tussle in episode two). Hilarious.

Alas, as with any reality TV show, there's always drama. Things turn especially serious during the elimination round, with Laurie (Andrew's owner) throwing teammate David (Elvis' owner) under the bus. Sadly it worked, with David aptly announcing upon his departure, "Elvis has left the building."

Greatest American Dog airs Thursdays on CBS, 8 PM Eastern/Pacific.

--Brandie Ahlgren, CityDog Magazine
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Brandie Ahlgren is the publisher of CityDog Magazine and a regular contributor to Wag Reflex. Subscribe to CityDog Magazine here.

Rank It: The Best Chew Toys for Dogs

Rank the Best Chew Toys for Dogs with Amazon's Unspun.

Unspun is a community collaboration website that creates consensus rankings. Create your own lists or add your opinion to others at Unspun.com.

--Spanno

Cowbelly Cuties: Dozer the Mystery Mutt

What better place to have a canine photo shoot than on a sunny summer day at the beach? Dozer's shoot was at the popular off-leash dog beach at Magnuson Park (Seattle, WA) on a busy Saturday. Dozer hammed for the camera by giving his "happy face" while waiting for his ball to be thrown, then launching himself through the air after it. He finished off the shoot by taking a stroll through the lovely pea patch and posed nicely in the flowers.

For more photos from Dozer's shoot, and to read the whole story about his superhero status, see his Cowbelly blog post here.

--Jamie Pflughoeft, Cowbelly Pet Photography
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Jamie Pflughoeft is the owner and photographer for Cowbelly Pet Photography, and a regular contributor to Wag Reflex.