Wag Reflex

Don’t Miss Puppy Bowl V

This Sunday, there’s more than one “big game” to watch If you’re a pet lover like us, you won’t want to miss the ultimate face-off on the gridiron: Puppy Bowl V! A pack of adorable, all-star puppies will take the field for two hours of romping, wrestling and even puppy penalties. Who can resist the cuteness factor of this annual Animal Planet game? And if you find them so adorable that you want to recruit one of your own, you’re in luck, because this year, all of the pups are from shelters, looking for a good home.

BISSELL is a proud sponsor of the game, especially the fun and feisty Kitty Halftime Show. The BISSELL Pet Hair Eraser vacuum will clean up the field before the felines take the stage. The adorable kittens will then show off their moves again this year while the puppies take a break in the locker room. Cat-lovers are sure to take a break from the big game to see them frolic and play. Just try to watch without letting out an audible “awww!”

Recruit some friends--human or man’s best--and join in the fun with some great “tail-gating” party suggestions from Animal Planet: http://animal.discovery.com/tv/puppy-bowl/tailgate-party/tailgate-party.html

And of course, be sure to tune into Animal Planet on Feb. 1 from 3 to 5 p.m. ET/PT to get in on the action!

--BISSELL Clean Team
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BISSELL supports pet charities across the country and regularly contributes to Wag Reflex.

I Has Frydaze: Little Digger

Every Friday we feature our favorite LOLpets of the week.

see more puppies

--Spanno

How to Medicate Your Dog's Eyes

Medicating your dog’s eyes can be challenging and frustrating. Your dog will bob and weave, and duck and blink, and do everything in his power to thwart the mission. Most of the medication inevitably ends up on the floor or on you!

I would recommend using the distraction method. With one hand, or with a helper, hold a treat up above your dog’s nose. With the other hand, sneak up over the top of his head with the eye drops, holding your hand close to his head so he can’t see it. Then gracefully slip the dropper bottle over his eye, squeezing at the same time while you move the treat a little closer to his nose. If you are successful, certainly give him a treat. If not, try again. This technique works well with very food motivated dogs. With some dogs, these finesse moves will not work, and it may be more like a wrestling match. If this happens try having a helper hold your dog in a headlock, with their arms around his neck, and his hind end backed into a corner so he can’t back up. Quickly apply the medication. Care must be taken not to touch the cornea with the tip of the eye dropper or ointment tube since it can cause damage to the eye and may contaminate the tip with bacteria.

If you are unsuccessful with these methods definitely take your dog back to the vet and have them show you some techniques. Getting the medication into the eye is a must for healing so it will be imperative that you are successful! Good luck!

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

Disclaimer Regarding Veterinary Information   

Therapy Dogs

You know you love your dog, and you know your dog loves you, but did you know other people could use your dogs love too. One way to share your dogs love with others who could use it is to get your dog certified or registered as a therapy dog. Therapy dogs provide comfort and affection to adults and children in hospitals, nursing homes, psychiatric facilities, schools, rehabilitation programs or anywhere people need unconditional love. For dogs to become therapy dogs they need to get certified or registered through one of the organizations providing these credentials. To pass the test, dogs usually are required to respond well to basic obedience commands as well as tolerate a big hung around the neck (as a kid would do). For specific details on getting your dog involved in therapy work check out the following sites:
http://www.therapydogs.com/
http://www.tdi-dog.org/
http://www.deltasociety.org/

Therapy dog work is extremely rewarding and a great way to stay active with your dog while serving the community at the same time!

--Dr. Hamilton
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Dr. Hamilton is an oncology resident at Michigan State's Animal Cancer Care Clinic and a regular contributor to Wag Reflex.

Disclaimer Regarding Veterinary Information   

Readers' Pets: Moose the Chocolate Lab

Introduction: This is Moose, he's a fun loving sweetheart of a guy. Moose has been with me since he was 8 weeks old. He got his name originally how big he was but his personality fits perfectly. A big goofy akward lovable mush. I don't think Moose has ever met someone he doesn't like as long as they scratch his butt or throw a ball.
 
Home: Nebraska
 
Age: 5 1/2
 
Breed: Chocolate Lab
 
Personality: Moose is the definition of happy-go-lucky. He lives to make you smile or laugh. If he does something to make you laugh he'll keep it up to keep you laughing. For all that we've been through together he's been bomb proof. Never a problem or a bad adjustment. He's a definate momma's boy and loves to cuddle on the couch or on the bed. He's happy out running in the fields, playing in the ponds or just hanging around home taking naps as long as he's got his spot next to mom.
 
Likes: Water, water, water if it's a pond, lake, pool or puddle he's there and trying to get in it. Nothing is more fun than being in the water unless there's soap involved. His grandpa, one of his favorite people to play with.
 
Favorite Toy: The jolly ball was a gift sent from God himself in Moose's eyes. He has lots of toys he enjoys playing with but none of them compare to the jolly ball.
 
Favorite Food: This is Moose's only fault his tummy gets the best of him once in a while. I don't think he's got a favorite food, just any food he can get his mouth around when you're not paying attention.
 
Trivia: Moose is ticklish and his favorite game is tickle tickle where he lays on his back with a toy in his mouth grinning and squirming while you tickle his belly and yell tickle tickle tickle!

--Spanno
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If you'd like your pet featured on Wag Reflex, email us (wagreflex@amazon.com) with the bolded topics and a 500-pixel-wide JPEG of your pet.

What Poisoned Pets in 2008?

Is your cockapoo cuckoo for chocolate? Does your kitty like to nibble on house plants? Sadly, not everything we love is good for us or I'd eat french fries every day. Many common household goods that we take for granted as harmless can be disastrous for our furry friends. In 2008, the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center in Urbana, IL, handled more than 140,000 cases of pets exposed to toxic household substances, including insecticides, cleaning and beauty supplies and prescription medications.

To help you prevent an unhappy accident in 2009, ASPCA experts have created a list of the top 10 poisons that affected pets last year. Here’s a sneak peek with a link to the entire list below.

Human Medicine
Top dishonors go to human medications, which accounted for approximately 50,000 calls to the Animal Poison Control Center’s 24-hour hotline in 2008. Pets often snatch pill vials from counters and nightstands or gobble up meds accidentally dropped on the floor. “Keep all medications in a cabinet,” advises Dr. Helen Myers, veterinary toxicologist at the ASPCA. That includes pain remedies like ibuprofen and acetaminophen, as well as antidepressants and decongestants, which are all harmful to pets.

Insecticides
Our efforts to battle home invaders—like bugs and mice—resulted in nearly 39,000 cases of pets exposed to insecticides and rodent bait. Be sure to place toxic rodenticides out of reach of curious canines who might be attracted to their smell. The misuse of flea and tick products can also cause serious problems for cats. Avoid using any treatments not specifically intended for your pet.

People Food
Some of the most delicious people food—including citrus, avocado and raisins—can be poisonous to pets. Last year, the ASPCA fielded more than 13,500 calls of pets exposed to various foods. Chocolate ingestion accounted for nearly half of those cases, so be sure to keep the cocoa hidden from your resourceful cat or dog.

Plants
Household plants may keep your house green and your air clean, but some can cause serious gastrointestinal problems for companion animals who nibble on their stems and stalks. In 2008, plants accounted for more than 6,300 calls to the Animal Poison Control Center. Check out our toxic plant list before your next visit to the nursery.

As always, if you suspect your pet has ingested anything toxic, please call your vet or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center’s 24-hour hotline at (888) 426-4435. Here's wishing you a happy and safe New Year!

Read the ASPCA's complete list of top 10 pet poisons of 2008.

Source: The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA.org).

--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.

A Little Miracle for the Holidays

I don’t know why, but it seems like every year, around Christmas, veterinary hospitals end up with more sad cases than any other time. Combine that with cranky shoppers, over-commercialization, and the malls playing Christmas carols two days after Halloween, and it’s pretty easy for a veterinary-type person to get a pretty bad attitude about the holidays.

I’m no exception. Ever since I had a boss who insisted on playing the “Alvin and the Chipmunks Christmas” tape (versions one AND two) endlessly beginning the day after thanksgiving, I just haven’t had the stomach for Christmas music anymore. And as I mentioned above, we seem to have a lot of sad cases around the holidays.
 
I honestly thought Petey was going to be one of those cases. Petey is a seven year-old Labrador Retriever who snuck past his dad Raymond at the front door and ran away. Now Petey and his owner have a very special relationship – Raymond even brought Petey over from Taiwan with him when he moved here. When I watched the two of them interact it was clear that there was something between them beyond what most dogs have with their people.

Unfortunately, Petey was hit by a car while he was out, and he suffered severe internal injuries. We gave Raymond a grave prognosis for his dog when he brought him in, but he told us he wanted to try everything. Usually when a client tells me, “do whatever you need to, money is no object,” it’s because they have no intention of ever paying us. I could tell Raymond was different, though. When I went over an estimate for the cost of treatment, he looked at me gravely and in careful English said, “If I can pay you part of this now, can I pay the rest tomorrow? I’m a musician and own several expensive guitars. I can post them on Craigslist to sell tonight.” I’m pretty thick-skinned, but I have to admit to a lump in my throat when he said that. I made sure he knew that Petey’s chances were slim, but that we’d do our best.

Due to the trauma of being hit, Petey’s abdominal cavity was full of blood from ruptured organs. We spent most of the night trying to stabilize him so we could go in surgically to repair the damage, but he just kept bleeding. Usually I have between five and seven patients to care for per shift – that night I only took one. Petey finally reached the point where, even though we knew surgery might very well kill him, it was his only chance. Our surgeon came in at four in the morning on his day off, and I prepped Petey for an abdominal exploratory. Petey did well for the first ten minutes of anesthesia, but he soon developed a progressively worsening abnormal heart rhythm. Just a minute or two later our worst fears were realized when his heart stopped.

Now, when I teach CPR to new graduates and technicians, one of the things I stress is that the real world isn’t like Grey’s Anatomy.  When the underlying disease or injury is bad enough to make the patient’s heart stop, CPR rarely works for long. Dogs don’t have heart attacks. If they suffer a cardiac arrest from blood loss, they still have that blood loss even if you bring them back. Do your best, I always say, but don’t get your hopes up too much.

So I took my own advice. We jumped in with everything we had and performed aggressive CPR. Wonder of wonders, we got his heart started again. With no choice but to proceed with surgery, we re-scrubbed and got to it. I think it was one of the most stressful anesthetic cases of my career. Thank goodness our surgeon, Dr. Mison, is fast, because for the last twenty minutes of Petey’s surgery his gas anesthesia was turned off entirely, and I was just using a continuous drip of a short-acting pain medication dosed very, very carefully. Anything more would have killed him.

But it didn’t. And he survived the surgery. Raymond was overjoyed, but we had to warn him that Petey wasn’t out of the woods yet. The odds of him recovering were slim. Still, I couldn’t squash a little glimmer of hope, deep down inside. We were surprised he’d made it this far. Maybe? Just maybe?

I won’t tell you Petey made a miraculous recovery. He had a difficult, painful one. He had setbacks, and there were a couple of times we thought maybe he was done for. His dad never gave up, though, and neither did Petey. Ten days after we admitted Petey, Raymond brought him home. In one piece. Wagging his tail, and ready to take on the world.

Maybe the holidays aren’t so bad after all.

--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.

I Has Frydaze: Jailed Puppy

Every Friday we feature our favorite LOLpets of the week.

see more puppies

--Spanno

Set the Pace--Don't Race

There’s a saying in the world of leadership training that, "The speed of the leader determines the pace of the pack." This is certainly true in the human world, but in the canine world, it’s especially so.

When my dog Stella and I walk together I set the pace. Sometimes I walk slowly, sometimes I walk fast. Stella matches my pace and stays right with me. She doesn't rush ahead nor does she lag by more than a pace or two.

Most dogs are inherently faster than we are. If we follow or "chase" them they become the leaders in our homes. Dogs use competitions of speed and strength partly to determine their leaders, but the most dominant dogs rarely participate in the competitions. They let the rest of the pack run, chase and wrestle each other while they just keep an eye on things.

Since they’re so quick, our best opportunity to demonstrate leadership with our dogs is to slow them down to our speed. Don’t try to keep up with them. This is not always easy. Every time we lose a race to Fido, whether it's to the door or to the toy, it tells him we can't be the leader. Leaders are the fastest and strongest and they always win. I can't win those races, so I don't race.

We have to be smarter and understand how Fido views leadership. Part of it is not playing canine games of dominance. Wrestling, tug-a-war, and chase are all physical games. Sure with some dogs you can always win, but playing physical games also teaches dogs that it's ok to play those games with people. You might be able to win, but what about the child or grandchild or friend or neighbor? Do you want Fido jumping on them or trying to grab something out of their hands?

Stella is faster than I am, but I am the leader. She doesn't know she's faster because I don't play those games. Knowing how to provide leadership without engaging in physical contests is important to having the relationship you want to have with your dog.

Leadership is about trust and respect; it's not about overpowering or dominating Fido physically. It's about letting him be a dog and doing dog things, but shaping the context in which he does them. Let me give you an example.

Fido loves to use his nose. It's a dog thing to do. While we primarily use our eyes to learn about the world, dogs use their noses. As entertainment make your use his nose. Try making him "find" his cookies, his toys, and sometimes you. Hide his treats or toys under furniture or inside boxes that are upside down. Try making him work for his treats by using Buster Cubes, Kongs, Canine Genius and other food toys. Dogs in the wild would have to work for food so it's a natural behavior.
By letting Fido satisfy his natural instincts to search for food, he doesn't need to find other less acceptable ways of expressing his instincts. Making Fido use his brain will tire him too, because mental exercise is as important as physical exercise. It's important to balance both. That is part of the leader's job.

When you are your dog's leader you will set the pace of your pack. When the pack is following your lead things are in balance. When the pack is balanced we all know the result...

--David Wiley, Bark Busters
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David Wiley is a dog behavioral therapist and trainer for Bark Busters Home Dog Training and a regular contributor to Wag Reflex.

Readers' Pets: Bella the Shepherd Mix

Introduction:Say hello! to Bella dog. Also called 'Bellaboo dixie daisy dog of the wild frontier'. She is probably 4 years old, 60lbs and from the Animal Protective League in Cleveland, Ohio. Bella has introduced this first time dog owner to the joys of dogs! She has opened my heart, mind and even home - together we've become 'foster parents' to many puppies from the APL in need of temporary homes. Bella was originally from and Indiana shelter where she was turned in with a litter of puppies and then eventually transfered all the way to Cleveland. When I got her the puppies were gone and yet she was smiling and ready to love.

Home: Now it's Bar Harbor, ME. Part polar bear Bella can't wait for the snow!

Age: 4 years (?)

Breed: Mixed. Possibly German Shepherd, Greyhound, Retriever (?)

Personality:Bella is mellow and yet can run faster than your average cheetah outside. Thus we believed the APL when they said 'greyhound'. She loves to play fetch and would retrieve tennis balls and sticks all day - at least until a squirrel shows up and then it's all out pointer - she stalks silently and then will raise a paw and point in the targeted area. She once stole three sticks of butter off the counter to which she threw up (Thank God) although it was on the bedroom rug.

Likes:She has two best buddies--Colby the mutt and Percy the purebred. Also, did I mention butter? However, she mostly likes chasing and pointing out squirrels. Chasing cats comes close when she's being really bad. Lastly, she loves to sleep curled up at my side on the couch and I must say that is my favorite thing ever.

Dislikes: The vacuum cleaner, large trucks, gun shots (or of the similar) and small screaming children.

Favorite Toy:Dirty duck, little green man, the crazy ball on a rope (that hits her face when she wails it around - go figure?), the noisy hedge hog and the old scoobie doubie doo slipper.

Favorite Food: Turkey! Bacon! Squirrel!

Trivia:Bellaboo (as I call her) inspired me to fulfill a personal dream and to write Children's books. I took my art degree and finally put it to good use in the marketplace! Hoping to pay off my MFA bill I started Bellaboo Books and now have two books on Amazon. I am currently working on my third book 'The Porch Dream'.... and the best trivia of all is that I went back three times to visit Bella at the Animal Protective League and she was there each time. I'd like to think that she and I were meant for each other. Check out Bella in her two books at: www.bellaboobooks.com.

--Spanno
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If you'd like your pet featured on Wag Reflex, email us (wagreflex@amazon.com) with the bolded topics and a 500-pixel-wide JPEG of your pet.