Fabulous Fidos

I can't wait to tell you about a new class we are offering FABULOUS FIDOS!

This class is an intermediate level class that focuses on different aspects of the relationship between guardian and the companion dog. In it we build on basic obedience skills, adding more advanced skills such as attention, team work focused on heeling and Rally Obedience type exercises, impulse control exercises including recall past difficult distractions and stay with multiple distractions, skills building trust and relationship such as games, tricks and agility skills and some basic off leash distance work incorporating trust, relationship, attention, obedience and play.

This is also a great class for mildly reactive dogs, with permission from instructor.

Hope to see you there!

Canine Papilloma Virus

When ever dogs play with each other (dog parks, day care, play dates ect) there is always the risk of transmission of disease. Just like kids playing at school, they can pass things like colds and flu... With dogs we concern ourselves with other things.

Primarily:

Internal Parasites (worms)

External Parasites (fleas)

Viruses

Here at Tails-A-Wagging we counter balance the risk of disease by having an extreme cleaning regimen, as well as a physical environment that limits the ability to spread disease (rubber floor/walls) Everything the dogs come in contact with is cleaned every day. The floors, the playroom walls, the yard, toys, toothbrushes, beds ect. We also require all dogs who attend day care to be current on DHPP, Bordetella and Rabies, and show proof of a negative fecal test every 6 months.

We will spend some time over the next month talking about certain canine disease and concerns, but for today lets talk about CPV.

Canine Papilloma Virus is a viral wart that can be transmitted from one dog to another with normal play.

Certain viruses are able to cause the growth of small round skin tumors commonly referred to as warts. It is important to realize that viral warts are a specific condition and that a growth on the dog’s skin may or may not represent a viral wart.
Human warts are round, somewhat flat, and relatively smooth. Viral warts in dogs tend to possess frond-like structures creating more of a sea anemone or cauliflower-like appearance, though they can be smooth as well. The classical canine viral wart patient is a young dog with warts in or around the mouth or eyes. In such cases where warts have a classic appearance in a classic patient, diagnosis may be obvious but in older patients with warts in locations other than the face, other types of growths become more likely. Because growths can appear harmless but behave malignantly, removal and biopsy are often recommended.

Viral papillomas are round but often have a rough, almost jagged surface reminiscent of a sea anemone or a cauliflower. They occur usually on the lips and muzzle of a young dog (usually less than 2 years of age). Less commonly, papillomas can occur on the eyelids and even the surface of the eye or between the toes. Usually they occur in groups rather than as solitary growths.

HOW IS THIS VIRUS TRANSMITTED?
The infection is transmitted via direct contact with the papillomas on an infected dog or with the virus in the pet’s environment. The incubation period is 2-3 months. This virus can only be spread among dogs. It is not contagious to other pets or to humans. To become infected, the dog generally needs an immature immune system, thus this infection is primarily one of young dogs and puppies. Beyond this, transmission details are sketchy. It is not known whether the infected dog must actually show visible lesions to be contagious, nor how long after regression of lesions contagion is still of concern.

ARE VIRAL PAPILLOMAS DANGEROUS?
Not really. They should go away on their own as the dog’s immune system matures and generates a response against the papillomavirus. There have been two cases published where viral papillomas progressed to malignancy but this is extremely rare and by no means the usual course of the infection. Typically, it takes 1-5 months for papillomas to regress with oral growths tending to regress sooner than those around the eyes.

TREATMENT
In most cases, treatment is unnecessary; one simply allows the papillomas to go away on their own. Tumors can be surgically removed or frozen off cryogenically. Sometimes crushing several growths seems to stimulate the host’s immune system to assist in the tumor regression process. Some veterinarians have also showed using the antibiotic Azithromycin effective.
Boosting your dogs’ immune system is also the best chance of the warts going away. Antioxidant supplements and added Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids are a good addition to your dogs diet.

Since the papillomas is considered contagious to other dogs, if we find a lesion we suspect might be canine papilloma virus your dog will be removed from the play group and sent home. Your veterinarian needs to determine if it is indeed CPV. If you dog is diagnosed with CPV you cannot bring your dog to day care, and you need to let us know to cancel your dogs scheduled days. Your dog needs to be lesion free for 10 days in order to return to day care.

New Dog Toys.. WE LOVE

I have to tell you about my new favorite dog toys. ok, not only MY favorite, but my dogs favorite. We love the Dog Magic, the dog Spinny and the Dog Tornado.

Basically they are dog puzzles. As many of your know, all of my dogs eat form some kind of puzzle toy at every meal. Usually its a kong, but we also use, Talk to me Treat balls, Bob's A lot and Orbee balls. THEN... I found these! So easy to use, easy to clean and keeps my dogs thinking.

It was very interesting the first time I gave them the puzzle. Each dog tackled the problem differently. Pudge is all about muscle... getting to the food with brute force. Percy, systematically took his time and bit by bit he figured it out. Meg, got mad at it and barked, but eventually took her time and got thru it. Morocco... he ate a bit then kept coming to find me to assist him. What a baby... Sorry, Morocco. Its all for you. No cheating. It took him the longest.

I like using these to give my dogs options for activities. When our dogs have their own jobs, I can leave them and they look at me and say "see ya, I have my work to do" and they have no anxiety about me leaving.

Check them out... all are at PetStop in Sehome Village 738-3663

Does your Dog Have A Great Life?

What makes a dog happy and content? How do you know your dog LOVES his life?

Best way to know is to understand that dogs, as social-thinking animals, need to be kept active with both mind and body. They need stimulation of new situations, adventures, social interactions and activities.

Here is an example of a dogs perfect day:

Wake Up

Have Breakfast, enjoy scavenging his entire meal from a few activity feeders that dispense food a bit at a time. A fun tip is to hide these in the house! Meal time is no longer 30 seconds of scarfing his food, now its 30 to 60 minutes of pure bliss! Using his natural scavenging instincts.

Go for a walk with the family. New Routes are particularly enjoyable. Practice sits an downs at each stop.

Play with food stuffed toys whiles family is away during the day. Try a "bucket" filled with a few stuffed Kong's, a bully stick layered with several plush toys. This is a fun game in of itself... going thru all the items in the bucket (bucket is a new, clean container that has never been used for cleaning products)

Pre arranged play date, afternoon of doggie day care or trip to an acceptable dog park for some much needed social time. Dog need friends too! Someone they can have predictable interactions with. Dog parks can be tricky- as you never know who is going to be there (good or bad) so plan ahead, let other well manners pooch parents know when and where to meet up.

Enjoy another walk or maybe some back yard play time with the family. Spending at least 15 minutes practicing training or learning some new tricks.

Dinner: Enjoy scavenging meal from a different activity feeder.

Off to bed in a big, soft bed, especially for him.

Does that seem like your dogs typical day? It should be... bored dogs are frustrated dogs and we know that energy HAS TO come out some how. Are you planning how that energy is released thru planned activities or seeing the negative side effects with reactive barking, destruction of house items, digging and all around bad manners.

Take some time to think about what your dog wants the most. Fun ways to keep his mind and body entertained

Do our Dogs Need to Wear Coats?

We get this questions a lot... dogs have their own coats right? So why on earth do they need to wear a top coat?

The answer lies with you...Our dogs are indoor dogs. They sleep in our beds, sun bath on the kitchen floor and lay by the fire. Since we have acclimated our dogs to the indoor thermostat its fair to say they have lost some of their adaptability to the elements. By the time you need a hat and gloves its time for Fido to get a coat.

Now, what type of coat? Yes, my dogs are true fashion-istas but were are taking about practicality here, not fashion. The coat needs to be easy to get on and off, no leg holes please. Its needs to cover their chore/chest. It needs to fit snugly and be secured with clips or Velcro. The outer shell should be water proof with a fleece lining for comfort. It should be machine washable and have a bit of reflective aspect to it too.

Be aware there are boy coats and girl coats, for anatomical reasons... no one wants Buddy to put on a girl coat only to wee on the coat when he goes outside!

Where do you get a dog coat? Best is at a local store. Take your dog in with you, try it on. PetStop in Sehome Village and Bow Wow and Woofs in Blaine are my favorite. Good selection of top quality coats. Your dogs coat should last a lifetime, so expect to pay $40 to $80 for it, depending on their size. For jumbo dogs check out NeoDogWare.com a local company who caters to giant breeds.

So... remember when you find yourself reaching for a bit more than your own coat, Fido has needs too.

Role Reversal in Puppies, Appropriate Play

The most common behavioral questions we get, in regards to puppies, is about proper socialization. Why do some puppies grow up to love all dogs for thier whole life and some only until they reach around 9 to 10 months then far too often become a jerk to other dogs?

The answer lies in role reversal.

Puppies learn role reversal as soon as they begin to play, at about 2 to 3 weeks of age. They learn it with their brothers and sisters in their litter. They continue to learn it until well into their 7th to 8th month of adolescence. Role Reversal is the act of a puppy learning who they are in this big world. They learn sometimes they can be the boss of the other pups and sometimes the other pups are the boss of them. Sometimes pup #1 sits on pup#2 head and sometime its the other way around! You see, puppies do not know who they are yet, they do not know their role in the pack. They rely on other puppies to tell them. They try different roles out. With back and forth play they learn how to let the other dog gain the upper hand and allow themselves to be put in their place as well as learn what its like to be the more assertive one. This builds their confidence and they become very predictable dogs.
Without role reversal your pup never learns how to give and take when it comes to play.

Far too common, we get the call " Well, no, my puppy did not play with other puppies his own age but we did take him to the dog park everyday and he played with tons of dogs"

The problem with this is that the pup never earned role reversal. Adult dogs already know who they are. Strong/assertive? Calm/Submissive? A bully? A cheerleader? A follower? A leader? and the pup was never allowed to find out who he was... since everyone else only told him who he was not!

When puppies primarily play with adult dogs who are secure in who they are, then the pup never gets the chance to try on "different hats" their hat is already chose for them by the adult dogs. This makes for a VERY low confident dog. And at 9 to 10 months that shows its ugly head as a bully. The call is all too common. "we used to go to the dog park all the time, but now he gets into scuffles with the other dogs. He is great with some dogs, but we never know when he will go off on another dog"

What to do?
If you have a pup less than 20 weeks of age, its an easy fix. Time consuming? yes... but simple. Your pup should be playing with only other pups ages 9 week to 6 months. At least 80% of the dogs in his life should be puppies. No exceptions. don't bother to tell me you don't know any other puppies, FIND THEM. Your pup is already developmentally behind, you need to find at least 5 new pups a week. Size means nothing, its all about age.
Trade numbers in your puppy kindergarten class, send an email to all your friends asking if they know anyone with a puppy.... this is your dogs life we are talking about. You need to take initiative.
*remember your pup CANNOT be exposed to other pups in which you don't know their health history. Since your pup is not fully vaccinated you need to ask about the other pups health history. Get proof they are as current as they can be on vaccines.

Is your dog older than 6 months but less than 10 months? Its gets more tricky now. Now you need to find pups ages 5 months to 8 months. A harder group to find, but still very doable. STOP going to the dog park where its any ones guess who will be showing up. Make sure the pups you set up play dates with are social dogs already going to obedience school in a reward based class. You do not want to make things worse by your dog learning bad behaviors from someone else.

Is your dog older than 10months? Best thing now is to realize your dogs personality is set, we have to respect who they are and a -happy go lucky to everyone kind of dog- is not it... Find dogs your dogs play really well with, set up play dates with those dogs. Trade dog care back and forth with those dogs. Have play dates at your house or theirs.
Stop putting your dog in a situations where they may show inappropriate behavior. Get into a reward based class to continue learning good manners. Your dog is still capable of learning how to behave, but not capable of changing their personality.

Know its all about prevention. You have the ability to make your dog a fabulous dog. But remember... good dogs do not happen by accident!

Winter Welcomes New Day Care Dogs

The chill is in the air... but for these pups who have been on our waiting list, we offer a warm welcome! We welcome some new canine buddies this Fall/winter, all of these dogs have successfully passed their temperament evaluation and we hope to see them often

Oliver W. A happy-go-lucky schnauzer
Otis J. Welcome back Buddy! We missed ya
Kayden H. Brace yourself...a whole lotta dog here
Monk R. Sweet and silly shepherd
Scooter E. Lovable and social Princess
Bella L. Miss Wiggle Doodle herself
Jane Fisher Bouncy does not begin to describe this Havanese
Tasha R Even for an aussie she has a lot of energy
Stella L So lovable and so smart
Ginger C Adorable beagle with energy to boot
Remy C an awesome Min Pin and good kisser
Daisy L Little Miss Chi finally was big enough
Bailey R Mr Fluffer Nutter himself
Chloe H Sweet Bichon who loves her brother
Summie A Fast and Friendly, this lab is great
Samson G A great new puppy who is all about the fun
Little Chef A Pom-Chi who can't wait to show us what he is all about

We can't wait to show them all why TAW is the best!