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This demonstration shows the basic TTouch method that internationally respected animal expert, Linda Tellington-Jones has used with horses, dogs, cats, birds, and other companion animals. According to her website,
I'm glad she used a horse on this video, that way we can really see what she's doing, and how she's doing it. No scruffy fur to get in the way. I spent some time TTouch-ing with my dog Krystal. You'll not be surprised to hear that she took a breath just like that horse in the video. She then looked around and settled down for more relaxing TTouching. I'm going to watch this You Tube video several more times and practice those soothing circular movements so they come naturally. This is one of those methods that feels like it's as good for me as it is for my dog--a way for us to increase our mutual respect and compassion. If you're interested in learning more, Linda Tellington-Jones has a number of publications, including this DVD,The Tellington Touch for Happier, Healthier Dogs, and this book entitled Getting in TTouch With Your Dog. Happy news for US pet owners. The rescue workers in those Iowa floods saved pets as well as humans. The pet rescue reforms brought about by the tragedies of Hurricane Katrina seem to have taken hold. Even better news is that while Iowa appears to be one of those states that had not established a state-wide disaster pet rescue plan, amazing public officials, private citizens and volunteers stepped up and created temporary shelters. According to a New York Times article, Beloved Pets, Displaced by Floodwaters, Find Temporary Shelter in Iowa, when the floods overran Cedar Rapids' city animal shelter, they removed all animals to higher ground at the nearby Kirkwood Community College's Animal Health Technology building. From that beginning, the emergency shelter grew. Displaced people began dropping off their pets to be cared for while they waited for more permanent housing. Calls came in from folks who had to flee the floodwaters, asking for their animals to be rescued. And volunteers began arriving from all over the US. Volunteers from United Animal Nations were in Iowa, providing emergency shelter services for all kinds of pets. Their blog posts for June and July have some great photos. The Humane Society of the US also had great blog posts in June about their work at Kirkwood Community College. All this goodness of heart makes me smile. In fact, I giggle everytime I look at the photo above. I keep wondering what that rescue boat would look like if those people had a Great Dane, instead of a cute little cat!
by zmxncbv.com I'm
sure most folks have heard of the controversy regarding the necessity
of vaccinating children. The question under debate is whether those vaccines are the cause of a
number of childhood diseases that have
apparently increased significantly since widespread vaccinations began (for
example, autism.)You may not be aware there is a lot of questioning in the pet world over the same issues. People
are questioning whether their veterinarian prescribed flea and tick
medications are doing more harm than good, and whether the heartworm
medication is truly helpful. Home remedies, both time tested and new,
are either appearing on the market or being mixed up in home kitchens. I
regard all this questioning as goodness. It makes us better protectors
and providers for our pets. Questioning also helps the vets and
researchers include new ideas and medical concepts into their work.One
set of questioning focuses on the rabies vaccine. The argument goes
that the initial rabies vaccination produces the desired antibodies in
the pet's system--so why are there required booster vaccinations
throughout a pet's lifetime?I
have heard there is a small but growing movement of people who are not
submitting their pets to booster rabies vaccinations.What are the factors that go into a decision like this? These
days it's sometimes hard to know whether to follow accepted
medical/veterinarian procedures, or to walk an independent course.
Wellness and alternative medicine practices can sometimes be difficult
to evaluate.One very important decision factor was recently brought to my attention while I was at a North Carolina Natural Sciences Museum gathering that included a number of veterinarians, vet students and members of the public. Toward the end of the evening there was a short discussion on rabies vaccinations. A vet student asked this very question:If
the protective antibodies are already in a pet's system, why should that
pet be required to submit to booster rabies vaccinations every few
years?The unscientific answer was surprising.If
your dog has not had the required vaccinations, and your dog is exposed
to rabies, your dog will most likely be put down--by law. You will
probably have no say in the matter.Without
required vaccinations, groomers can refuse to clean your dog, boarding
facilities can refuse to care for your dog if you need to leave town.
And, if there were an emergency evacuation, your un-vaccinated dog may
have a hard time being sheltered (reminder: be sure to carry a copy of your dog's vaccination records in your disaster kit.)I
was fascinated how quickly the issue moved from the science of rabies
vaccinations to the laws protecting people from this dreadful disease.I'm interested to hear your thoughts on this matter.
by Greg WestfallThanks to Melanie, for sending me to NPR to hear this delightful story about doggie DNA test results, Got a Mutt? Labs Will Test Your Dog's DNA.It seems to me that mutt owners and folks who found their dogs at shelters will probably experience the most happiness from the results of these doggie DNA tests. With these dogs there's always the question of the dog's ancestry and what life was like for your beloved dog before coming into your home.I remember when Krystal and I went to obedience school, one of the first questions the trainers asked us was the background and lineage of our dogs. The folks with purebred dogs had ready answers. The rest of us had answers peppered with speculation on lineage, behavior, and how the original owners might have treated their dogs.During obedience training, Krystal's dominant West Highland White Terrier characteristics were definitely in evidence--so much so that at one point, one of the instructors held me after class for almost an hour explaining the special personalities of Terriers, and how to live with them. She had 4 Terriers, so she knew what she was talking about.I've always been grateful for that special attention from the instructor. Hearing her tell me that Terriers demand "fairness" above all else, truly helped me develop a stronger more compassionate relationship with Krystal. So when someone tells me they've got a mutt, and haven't a clue to their dog's ancestry, I'm respectful and amazed. I admire the dog, and how creative the dog has to be to communicate important lineage characteristics like "fairness." I admire the human for developing that special flexibility to have a companion animal in their household with no guide to the special characteristics and needs of their dog.I can just imagine how fun it it might be to receive part of the "back story" of your dog. Filling in some of the gaps can open new vistas on personality and health characteristics, providing endless hours of conversation, speculation and delight.Please let me know if you've learned your dog's DNA lineage, and what you think about the results. Have any personality or health characteristics suddenly been "explained?" I'm curious to hear your experiences. It sounds like fun.
by My_Boy_Dodger
Recently, Anne found herself in the midst of an interesting conversation while at a dog park event here in Raleigh with her large furry Bearded Collie, Winnie.
A number of owners of large furry dogs expressed very strong opinions that large furry dogs should NOT be clipped in the summer.
Their argument was, "nature knows best." If large furry dogs needed less fur in the summer, they would have evolved to shed that unnecessary fur in the hot seasons. Some owners went so far as to to describe a theory that the summertime fur acts as a cooling insulator for these dogs.
This type of thinking flies in the face of logic and experience--which is probably part of its attraction.
Acknowledging this attraction, I did a little web search just to make sure. I found a great article from an Irish vet that details the importance of making sure our furry friends have less fur in the warm summer months.
"Nature knows best" is an argument that needs to be used carefully with dogs. Thousands of years of domestication and specialized breeding has created vastly different results than actual natural selective breeding would have produced.
Let's face it. Large furry dogs probably would not willingly locate themselves in the hot humid summers of the southern United States. My recollection is that we spent most of last August in temperatures averaging over 105 degrees Fahrenheit!
It's a pretty good bet that the Husky down the street would most likely prefer Alaska to North Carolina. (If only his human would move the household!)
Nonetheless, there's a certain romance, a certain cache to having a "wild" animal in the house. I certainly felt it a few months ago when I was talking with someone who had grown up in a household with a cookie stealing half Malamute / half Wolf.
Perhaps that's what these folks are yearning for when they bring in the argument that "nature knows best." In the natural world, the world of actual wild animals, forests, rivers and streams, I'm the first one to talk about "nature knowing best."
But, in the world of dogs and humans, I think more along the line of harmonious relationships between two different species that have lived together for thousands of years.
What are your thoughts on this matter. Do you think of your dog as a wild animal? Another species? What are your experiences with treating your dog as a "wild" animal? Have you observed others treating their dogs in this way? What happened? Please comment, or send me an email.
Thanks to Lori for forwarding this delightful FURminator video. One of her friends used the FURminator on her dog, and swears the dog lost 10 lbs. of fur. Quite something. Take a look. If you've got a dog that sheds, you're going to want a FURminator. There are over 1100 positive product reviews on Amazon.com. For your convenience I've done some searching on Amazon.com, and here are the links to the small, medium and large FURminators. I've provided links to the products with the lowest overall price--cost plus shipping. That way you don't have to spend time shopping around the different vendors that Amazon offers. Please let me know how this works for you. I would certainly buy one, but Krystal doesn't shed.
Last night was a delighfully balmy spring evening. I took Krystal out for a stroll around 8:15, anticipating a soothing walk after a busy day.
Early in the walk I had indications that "soothing" probably wouldn't be part of that evening's experience. We had come to a T in the road, and decided to turn right. Immediately Krystal started deep sniffing, straining on her leash, and barking up a storm.
She's a hunting dog (half West Highland Terrier and half Poodle), so I recognized the symptoms of a "dog on the hunt." There are several dogs in the neighborhood that trigger this reaction in her, so I knew no commands to sit, leave it, etc were going to distract her from following this scent with the utmost of enthusiasm.
I turned around and started walking in the other direction. Krystal easily joined me, and calmed somewhat. She remained distracted, sniffing the extraordinarily interesting scent of that dog who had gone in the other direction.
About 2 blocks later, a man approached us asking if we had seen a Golden Retriever. I suggested he go the way we had come thinking maybe his Golden was the dog Krystal had scented. Off he went.
On our way back home, we ran into the man again. He was more distracted than Krystal, worried about his dog, Jake, and told us he was going to drive around the neighborhood.
Thank goodness I made him point out his house to me. I was just coming up on that T in the road when I spotted several of my neighbors. They immediately asked me if I knew of anyone looking for a Golden Retreiver.
by Bonnaboo
We started walking back to the Golden Retriever's house en masse. Our caravan consisted of a mom and her two kids--one was on a scooter. A grandfather, unrelated to the mom and two kids, Krystal and myself. As we moved down the street the story came out.
The mom and kids were outside playing when the Golden approached them, tail wagging. The Golden was a friendly dog with no tags. Everyone knew the grandfather further down the street had just brought a new Golden Retriever into his home. So the mom took dog and kids in tow, and walked down to what she thought was the Golden Retriever's home.
The little street party arrived just as the grandfather was driving up. He was mystified as to how his own dog got out of the house, but opened up the front door and the stray Golden walzed right in as though he belonged there.
Within moments the grandfather realized he now had two Goldens in his home, and one of them belonged elsewhere.
I believe the boy on the scooter was the first to arrive at the Golden's house. With the car still gone, we began knocking on neighbors' doors to see if someone would take the Golden (who remained at the grandfather's house.) While we were calling on the neighbors, the man drove up.
With leash in hand, he joined our moving street party, as we walked toward the grandfather's house. Each of us told our part in this story of community--a pack of people and dogs watching out for each other.
Do you want to help animals during natural disasters or other emergencies?
My friends at United Animal Nations have announced their 2008 training schedule for volunteers wanting to join the Emergency Animal Rescue Service (EARS.)
Volunteers learn how to shelter, love and care for animals who are displaced when disaster strikes. They help bring animals out of crisis and into care.
With more than 3500 volunteers in the US and Canada, EARS has an excellent service history. They have rescued and sheltered animals during many types of emergencies--from local shelters that are shut down by animal welfare inspectors, to hurricane Katrina. This training is sponsored by the ASPCA.
In 2008 there will be 13 one day trainings, offered across the US and in Vancouver, BC.
I know these folks personally, and can highly recommend working with them. I'm looking forward to getting trained in Charleston, SC. I hope to see some of you there!
from MShades
Krystal and I have been on a dog food adventure lately. As often happens with these kinds of adventures, there's been more confusion than fun. Krystal has a tender digestive system, which has been ably taken care of over the last year by her wonderful vet. A major element of that care includes a "low residue" food, which is easy for Krystal to digest. Once Krystal started eating this food, life improved significantly. There's an interesting industry practice in the US veterinary universe whereby these types of special foods (low residue, urinary etc) are only available for purchase from vets by prescription. It appears that this is one way the pet food companies support the vets--by giving the vets unique products to sell that are not competitively available at PetSmart or on the web. We've spent the last month dealing with this particular issue. A little over a month ago, it was time to buy more food. I went to the vet's office to pick up a new 30 lb. bag, and was informed that in the time since my previous purchase the vet had changed food providers. This meant I was no longer able to feed Krystal the low residue food she had been thriving on. We'll call this Food #1. Because her food is only sold by prescription, I now had to purchase Food #2. I was assured there would be no difficulty transferring Krystal onto this new food. With reservations, I purchased Food #2. For several days I presented her with a half-and-half mixture of both foods. Krystal gobbled down Food #2. For a dog on a restricted diet, new food was like manna from heaven. Within 48 hours Krystal was a bundle of new energy. While she previously sat in my lap all day while I worked on the computer, she now was jumping up and down all day long and moving throughout the house at a brisker pace. She was increasingly distractible. I mis-interpreted this as an energy burst that came from the new food--probably she was able to digest the food better, and was truly receiving more nutrients that with Food #1. I figured her metabolism would sort itself out. At the end of the third week, with an increasingly distractible dog who barely visited my lap during the work day and who was doing her Terrier best to test several well established house rules, I was lonely and confused. To be honest, I had lost the connection between Food #2 and her changing behavior. It wasn't until Krystal got car sick for the 4th time that I started making connections. She's always loved car rides, and has always been glad to accompany me on errands and take walks outside our neighborhood. Getting car sick just wasn't in her repertoire. While I was cleaning out her travel crate it dawned on me--Food #2 had brought a lot of changes, and throwing up in the car was only one of them. What to do?
Thankfully, my neighbor's daughter has a white boxer, Annabelle, who was being fed Food #1. I went to her vet and purchased Food #1. (FYI, Annabelle's vet had to call Krystal's vet to confirm there was a valid prescription.) The results are amazing. Within 24 hours of returning to Food #1, Krystal was moving out of her distractible-ness. It was wonderful. My sweet lovable dog was returning to her former self. Over the next week she sat in my lap for increasing amounts of time, remembering it was her favorite perch. She began to behave much better on our walks. And, it was clear she was enjoying herself much more. We could play games and walk through the park. Her former glee was finding it's way back into her emotional repertoire. One of the things we've learned over the last few years is how little understanding there is about:
We also need to add to our lack of understanding, how much the ingredients in dog food can affect a dog's behavior. Perhaps when a dog is misbehaving or has difficulty being trained, a change in food might be in order? I would love to hear your observations and stories on the relationship between dog foods and their behaviors. Who would think something so simple as a snug t-shirt could take care of a serious skin condition? It's been a tough 2 years for my friend Lori and Mister Kennedy, her Jack Russell Terrier. I want to share their healing story to encourage those of you who are engaged with unusual health issues. Persistence and out-of-the-box thinking can sometimes bring pleasant surprises. Here's their story. For the last 2 years Mister Kennedy, an 8 year old Jack Russell Terrier, has been suffering from a painful skin condition that caused him to continuously scratch areas of his body, and expose his scratched sensitive skin to the open air.
His human, Lori, spent countless hours over the last two years taking Mister Kennedy to vets and specialists, acupuncturists and dietitians. There were special diets of raw food, organic food, doses of benedryl, medications and herbs, special soaps and treatments. No stone was left unturned. Most treatments would help Mister Kennedy for awhile, but sooner or later this painful condition would reappear. As you can imagine, each flare-up brought increased distress and frustration to both Lori and Mister Kennedy. Out of the blue, about 3 months ago, Lori's sister came up with the idea of putting a snug t-shirt on Mister Kennedy. Maybe, her sister said, it would help those sore skin spots heal easier. And, maybe, Mister Kennedy might feel better with the snugness against his skin. Lori seriously doubted anything about a t-shirt could in any way make Mister Kennedy feel the least bit better. Mister Kennedy was one of those dogs who could not stand to be dressed in fabric. Every time Lori tried to put something on him he would quake and shake. Out of desperation, she tried it. Mister Kennedy was not at all happy about that t-shirt. But, something amazing began happening. Mister Kennedy stopped scratching. Within the first week his sores began to heal.
Miraculously, within two weeks he really looked wonderfully different. His sores were truly healing, his disposition began improving. His old-self began returning. He's grown to like his snug t-shirt. Just take a look at him now!
No one knows why that snug t-shirt works. I'm sure glad it does. I would love to share other healing stories, so please tell your story either in the comments below, or send me an email using the contact form. |
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