Calling all Jindo fans/supporters in Bay Area/NorCal!

Calling all Jindo fans and supporters in the San Francisco Bay Area/ NorCal!!!
(Please note: we will be taking part in two events this year – one in San Francisco on Aug 23rd and one in Los Angeles on Sep 6th)

Please come and join our team! The event is on August 23rd and you can read full details below:
http://www.strutyourmutt.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.event&eventID=542

To join our team, click on the following link and register today! Please help us raise more funds to help the Jindos in need!

http://www.strutyourmutt.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.team&teamID=6620

Dogs and nasal discharge (runny nose)

http://www.dogzhealth.com/dog-runny-nose.html

A dog’s nose is usually moist and cool, but not dripping wet.

Dog runny nose is a symptom indicating that there is an irritant in the nasal passages. The irritant can be a foreign object, an allergen, or an infection caused by microorganisms such as bacteria. Usually, sneezing and nasal discharge occur together.

Sometimes, when a dog is excited or nervous, his nose is runny with a clear watery discharge. This type of nasal discharge is not accompanied by sneezing, and usually goes away when the dog calms down.

A dog with runny nose that does not get better for several hours is cause for concern – it suggests a more serious problem. If you dog has a persistent runny nose, watch out for other signs such as sneezing, postnasal drip, gagging, and retching. Also look carefully at the nasal discharge to see if it is clear and watery, or if it is blood-streaked, bloody, or cloudy (contains mucus). Note if the discharge is from one or both nostrils.

By paying attention to the above, you can have a better idea as to what causes your dog to have a runny nose.

Common causes of dog runny nose include:

• Allergies: A common cause of runny nose in dogs is allergies, such as seasonal pollen allergies, and canine atopy. If your dog has a runny nose only seasonally (e.g. in spring or fall), and the nasal discharge is clear and watery, chances are he is suffering from seasonal pollen allergy.
  Dogs suffering from canine atopy can develop allergic rhinitis, which is characterized by an abrupt onset of sneezing and a runny nose with a clear watery discharge. Dogs with atopy also have very itchy skin, runny eyes, and sneezing.
• Rhinitis and Sinusitis: Rhinitis is a nasal infection, whereas sinusitis is a sinus infection. Both rhinitis and sinusitis cause symptoms such as sneezing, nasal discharge, gagging or retching from a postnasal drip. Usually, the nasal discharge is thick and foul-smelling. In younger dogs, rhinitis and sinusitus are more commonly caused by respiratory diseases, whereas in older dogs, tumors and periodontal diseases are more common causes.
• Respiratory Diseases: A number of serious upper respiratory diseases can produce initial symptoms similar to those of the human cold, such as a runny nose, sneezing,coughing, and eye discharge. In more serious cases, such as canine influenza, the dog may have a yellowish nasal discharge, accompanied by coughing, fever, appetite loss, and lethargy. Dogs with pneumonia caused by distemper, for example, can also show similar symptoms such as nasal discharge, coughing, fever, and rapid breathing. If your dog shows these symptoms, consult a vet immediately.
• Periodontal Diseases: Periodontal diseases such as periodontitis and abscessed teeth may cause nasal discharge in dogs. Nasal discharge as a result of these problems is chronic, pus-like (sometimes blood-streaked), and comes from one nostril.
• Tumors: Nasal tumors can cause nasal discharge from one nostril, accompanied by sneezing and sniffling. The discharge is chronic, pus-like, and sometimes blood-streaked. Nasal tumors can also cause facial swelling.
• Foreign Objects: Dog runny nose can also be caused by a foreign object caught in the nasal cavity. The object can erode the mucous membranes in the cavity, causing a blood-streaked mucus nasal discharge, or even a nosebleed. It is difficult to remove foreign objects from a dog’s nasal cavity. It is a procedure best done by a veterinarian.

It is important to remember that persistent dog runny nose should be seen by a veterinarian to determine the underlying cause. Also, nasal discharge that is mucoid, blood-streaked, bloody, and/or foul-smelling is alarming and the dog should receive immediate veterinary attention.

Dog Bites: Prevention

http://www.medicinenet.com/dog_bite_treatment/page4.htm

Dog bites often occur when there is miscommunication between the dog and the victim. It is not common to have an unprovoked attack by a stray dog. Often, it is the dog owner or a family member who is bitten.

Dog bite prevention begins with:

• Choosing a dog breed that is compatible with the family situation.
• Aggressive dogs may not be appropriate in a home with infants and small children.
• Dogs are social animals; therefore socializing and appropriate training will help minimize the risk of dog bites.

• Do not approach a stray or unfamiliar dog, especially if its owner is not present.
• Do not approach a dog with quick motions or from above. Allow time for the dog to acknowledge your presence before attempting to pet it.
• Prior to contact with the dog, ask the owner if is OK to pet the dog.
• If a confrontation occurs, do not make eye contact and do not run or scream.
• Do not approach an unfamiliar dog while it is eating, sleeping, or caring for puppies.
• Do not leave young children or infants unsupervised with a dog.

Dog Bites: Treatment

http://www.medicinenet.com/dog_bite_treatment/page3.htm

There are three important treatment issues that need to be addressed with a dog bite:

1. the skin damage
2. injury to underlying tissues such as muscle, nerve, and bone;
3. and infection.

It is easy to look at a dog bite and see that the skin has been damaged, but it is also important to assess the underlying structures that may have also been injured in the attack. The patient often concentrates on the cosmetic appearance of the wound; while that is important, the health care practitioner may be more concerned about the injuries that will impair the body’s function. For example, a laceration to a hand may look bad, but more important than the potential scarring would be a lacerated tendon that would prevent a finger from moving.

The potential for infection is also of great importance. Dog bites inoculate bacteria deep into tissue, and while not as aggressive as cat bites, the majority of dog bites do get infected. Common bacteria involved in such infections include Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, and Pasteurella.

Rabies is always a concern, and it is important to know the dog’s immunization status. If the dog has not been immunized, the question becomes whether to immunize the patient against the rabies virus. A variety of approaches may be considered depending upon the situation surrounding the bite.

• Is the dog available to be observed?
• Was the bite provoked or defensive rather than an unprovoked attack?
• Where is the bite located?
• What is the past medical history of the victim?

Once the health care practitioner has taken a history of the events and examined the patient, most dog bites can be cared for in the emergency department or doctor’s office. The physical exam will help decide whether any deep structures like muscle, tendon, nerve, or bone have been damaged.

Commonly, the wound is anesthetized so that it can be explored. This will help confirm the condition of the deep structures and their function. The wound will then be washed with normal saline (a salt water solution) to irrigate out as much dirt and bacteria as possible.

Once the wound has been cleaned, a decision needs to be made whether to close the skin. Suturing the skin (to make the scar look better) increases the risk of infection. Balancing the risk of infection against the benefit of a better looking scar depends upon the location of the injury and the discussion between health care practitioner and patient. Dog bites to the face tend to be sutured, while those located on less noticeable parts of the body may be left to heal on their own.

Sometimes, the dog bite wounds need to be repaired in the operating room if there is considerable skin damage or skin loss, or if there are associated injuries that require treatment.

With infants and children, the decision may be considered to repair their lacerations in the operating room, especially if facial wounds are involved, because of the need for prolonged anesthetic to keep the patient still.

There is some controversy regarding antibiotic therapy for dog bites. Some health care practitioners routinely prescribe antibiotics while others choose to wait until the wound shows signs of potential infection.

Dog Bites: What you should do

http://www.medicinenet.com/dog_bite_treatment/page2.htm

The dog bite victim needs to be taken to a safe place away from the assailant dog to prevent further attack and injury. Since dog bites can cause significant damage beneath the skin, a type of injury that cannot always easily be appreciated, medical care should be accessed by a health care practitioner.

Wounds should be kept elevated and, if possible, washing the wound with tap water may be attempted.

Information should be obtained from the dog’s owner about the dog’s rabies immunization status, but if this is not possible, hospital, animal control centers, or law enforcement personnel will help gather any required information.

Medical care should be accessed if the dog bite disrupts the skin causing a puncture, laceration, or tear. As well, if there is pain at or near the injury site, underlying structures may have been damaged and medical care may be needed.

If the skin is not disturbed, or if there is a minimal abrasion present, it may be reasonable to watch for signs of infection (pain, redness, warmth, swelling, and drainage of pus or fluid) before seeking medical care.

Please note: if the victim elects not to seek medical care, the rabies immunization status of the dog must be determined immediately. Rabies therapy, if necessary, must begin as soon as possible. The victim’s tetanus status also needs to be current.

Exposure to a rabid animal does not always result in rabies. If treatment is initiated promptly following a rabies exposure, rabies can be prevented. If a rabies exposure is not treated and a person develops clinical signs of rabies, the diseased almost always results in death.

Infants and children should be evaluated after any dog bite.

Dog Bites: At a Glance

http://www.medicinenet.com/dog_bite_treatment/article.htm

• Dog bites account for more than 90% of all animal bites. 4.5 million dog bites occur each year in the U.S., and more than 30,000 victims require reconstructive surgery.
• Injuries may involve structures deep beneath the skin including muscles, bones, nerves, and blood vessels.
• Infections, including tetanus and rabies, need to be considered.
• Wound cleaning decreases the risk of infection.
• Skin repair increases the risk of infection, and the decision to suture the skin balances the risk of infection versus the benefit of a better appearing scar.

Almost 75 million dogs live in the United States, and since many victims of dog bites don’t seek medical care or report the attack, it may be that the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s estimate of 4.5 million dog bites each year in the U.S. may be too low. Approximately 880,000 dog bite victims seek emergency medical care at hospitals in the U.S. every year.

Dogs have rounded teeth, and it is the pressure exerted by their jaws that can cause significant damage to the tissues under the skin, including bones, muscles, tendons, blood vessels, and nerves.

More than 30,000 victims of dog bites undergo reconstructive surgery each year, and 15-20 people die of dog bites yearly.

The risk of being bitten by a dog increases if there is a dog in the home; the more dogs there are, the greater the risk. Men are more frequent victims than women (who are bitten by cats more often).

Children between the ages of 5 and 9 are more likely to be bitten by a dog than other age groups. Children are also more likely to present for medical attention.

Ask a trainer: dog is fearful of the leash

http://www.montrealdogblog.com/12715/trainer-dog-fearful-leash/

Just adopted a chinese crested powder puff, 2 yrs old from an emergency rescue. She was used for repeated breeding. She gave birth to 5 puppy 3 months ago. Each time I try to put the leash on she freezes, and when dragged doesn’t move. Also regresses and all behaviours. Subsequently cannot be taken for a walk. Your precious assistance will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Evelyn

Hi there Evelyn,
Thanks for writing in with your question! It’s never easy to deal with a dog who is suffering from fear issues. Our intentions are always good, caring and loving, yet things aren’t always perceived that way by our fearful dogs.
Your short message doesn’t give me very much to go on though. I don’t know how old she is, if she’s been spayed, if you know anything else about her history, or behavior. I am assuming that the puppies are not with you?
What I can glean though, is that your little girl is a fearful one. I would imagine that when she was with whoever had her before, that she wasn’t taught very much, and that she didn’t get as much exposure to many of the things that most pet dogs are very used to. She may have also lacked proper socialization as well.
When it comes to dealing with dogs who become fearful of certain things, we need to remember to slow things down. We can’t expect too much from these little guys. Some are just too scared, and just don’t know. This is where we have to step in as caring, patient teachers.
She will need to be taught everything in a very positive, patient manner. If you’ve read any of my previous posts, you’ll have noticed that I speak a lot about what motivates dogs, and how we can motivate them to behave how we want them to behave.
All dogs will do, or choose to do what pays off best for them. Dogs will do what they need to do to make sure that their basic needs are met, in order to survive. They (as well as almost every creature, us included, that I can think of) happen to be very selfish beings. They will not do things for no reason at all. There is always a reason. There are always motivated by something. Either the behavior pleases them, meets one of their needs, or scares, or even hurts them.
Dogs need to be motivated to elicit behaviors, as well as to suppress behaviors. What we need to do is to figure out how to best motivate our dogs. We can use positive methods, where we use motivators that the dog finds pleasurable, or we can use motivators that either hurt or scare the dog. Those are the two basic things that motivate dogs.
I choose to use positive, pleasurable motivators when working with dogs. Even though I always advise people to use positive methods with their dogs, I cannot stress it enough when it comes to working with fearful, or shy dogs. Anything that forces the dog to do something will only create more fear in a dog who is already fearful. And if you create more fear in a dog, even inadvertently, without even meaning to, then all you are doing is creating a negative association for your dog. No positive can come out of eliciting more fear.
So, we need to figure out how to read when your dog is starting to get fearful. Learning dog body language is very important when it comes to better understanding what our dogs are telling us, and what they are feeling. Each time you try to put the leash on her, she is probably giving off many calming/appeasement signals. She offers these before you even get close to her, probably. Once she freezes, she is more than just nervous. She is scared.
So try to watch out for appeasement signals. These can be licking of lips, or nose. Averting eyes, turning head away, walking or creeping very slowly, furrowed brows, whale eyes (where you can see the whites of the eyes), closing of mouth, a tight face, lifting of a paw, yawning when not sleepy, shaking themselves (as if they are wet), sniffing the ground, sitting, lying down, turning back to you, either while standing, sitting, or lying down. Freezing or crouching down. All of these, within the context of triggers are appeasement, or calming signals from your dog. They indicate that your dog is experiencing stress, and is trying to alleviate that stress.

Once we learn these canine signals, we then have to listen to them. To appear less threatening, or as more friendly to dogs, we should take care not to look at them straight in the eyes. The way we approach them also matters. Dogs approach each other in a curve…nose to bum. They don’t meet head on. So, when walking towards your dog, do so in an arc, without looking at your dog.
Another good thing to do is to present your side to your dog. Frontal approaches can be seen as threatening. When you touch or pet your dog, try to pet her from under her chin, or on her chest. Try not to touch the top of her head, the sides of her face, or her back. Never loom over her, as this is also perceived as being threatening.
For those things that she finds fearful, such as a leash, a brush, the nail clippers, or anything else, you will need to start to slowly desensitize her to the items. It is best to start these exercises with a hungry dog, as she will be even more motivated by the food (positives) that you will be offering her. Make sure to have small, soft treats. Make them even more interesting than her kibble. Something really awesome such as fried hot dog slices (thin), some peanut butter, small pieces of cheese, dried liver, or something else that you know will drive her nuts. You will also need to make sure that you don’t use these special food rewards at any other time. We need to make them even more alluring to her, so if you give them to her all the time, they will not be as valuable to her. We want her to feel that she’s won the lottery when this great food reward is paired with what causes her fear.
At first we will just present the item to the dog and then treat her. See it, get a treat. See it, get a treat. We want her to start to look forward to seeing the leash, as she will learn that when the leash comes out, she wins the lottery and get a piece of yummy sliced hot dog! The goal is not to get her to do anything. The goal is to counter condition how she feels about the leash. The goal is to make her associate positive things with the leash.

Change a fearful dog’s view of the leash and you’ll change your walk experience!
You may need to do this exercise for a few days. Short sessions, of maybe 5 minutes at a time, around 4-5 (or more if you like, just don’t go over board) times a day. You will know that you are doing it right, and have done it long enough when she starts to get excited at seeing the leash. When that happens, then you have successfully changed her opinion about it.
Now, you will start bringing the leash (clipping end) to her collar, while offering her a reward. You will touch the leash to her collar, reward her, then remove the leash again. you won’t be attaching the leash to the collar, only touching the leash to the collar. You will follow the same steps as the previous exercise, working enough until she starts to anticipate and even look forward to the leash touching her collar.
Once that’s done, you’ll then work up to actually attaching the leash to the collar while rewarding her. Once you attach it, you’ll take it off again. Keep doing this over and over, until she looks forward to it, and it no longer bothers her.
Once she’s good with that, you can continue with putting the collar on, and leaving it on. Start with small amounts of time with it on, then take it off. when you can build up to a decent amount of time, you can then practice fun, pleasurable things with your dog while she is wearing the leash, so that she makes an even more positive association with it.
Don’t try walking her with it yet. We want her to get so used to it, and even like it, before we start anything like walking. So you can play with her when she’s on the leash, letting her drag it around. You can feed her while she has her leash on. You can rub her belly while she has her leash on. We need to show her that wonderful things happen when she has the leash on.
Once she gets accustomed to the leash, then we can start walking with her, in the house. You will need to take special care to always keep the leash loose and lax. Try to never pull on the leash. When you pull on the leash, she will resist, which you’ve already noticed. Use your voice, or treats, or toys to entice her to move with you. Praise her and get excited and happy when she does.
You will also need to keep in mind to slowly wean her off of the food rewards as well. Once you are working on each exercise, the more comfortable she gets with each stage, is when you start handing out treats less often. But you need to start off each new exercise with the treats, and then wean off, the more accustomed she gets.
Keep practicing this over and over until you feel that she seems ready to try outside. With patience and more patience and practice, I know that you will succeed!
Good luck and happy training!
Meira