As dogs get older, their joints will begin weaken and their muscles become more flaccid. To remedy the situation it is very important that you educate yourself about the different dog joint problems. Dog joint supplements could be given to your pet to keep him healthy and pain free.

Before giving your dog supplements you need to identify the problem and to do this, you should keep a diary of changes. Monitor everything from how they cope with their normal walks, to how they react to getting up from a lying down position, to walking up stairs, to particular times of the day when they seem to feel more uncomfortable moving around.

If your dog is overweight, that may be cause an issue with your dog’s mobility, so it’s crucial to understand what the problem is and what could have caused it, to help you give your dog the best care program.

Sometimes preservatives and food colour could induce joint problems in dogs and so it is very important to make sure your dog’s diet is the best it can be avoiding unnecessary colours or preservatives.

Some supplements which have received good feedback from dog owners include a supplement which includes glucosamine and chondroitin. This component basically is a hygroscopic and attracts water to keep the cartilage more lubricated.

Marge Chandler, a clinical nutritionist and expert for www.awalkinthepark.co.uk offers her top tips for dog owners concerned about joint care commenting,

“It’s best to consult your vet for a tailored treatment programme. A mixture of a therapeutic diet with appropriate supplements, weight control, pain medication and a modified exercise plan is the best course of action.

Weight control is key in dogs with OA but bear in mind that decreasing the number of calories in a regular diet may cause a deficiency in other nutrients, such as protein, vitamins, and minerals.  Nutritional supplements or nutraceuticals such as fish oil omega-3 fatty acids may improve the signs.”

Essentially, natural remedies for dog arthritis which work for some dogs, may work for others, but unless you understand the route cause of the arthritis and discomfort, you can’t be sure that the supplements will do the job and provide the relief you’re hoping for.

Consulting an expert, or taking care to choose the best care program for your dog will give you a great all-round plan of action!

Watch our video with more top tips from Sarah, courtesy of www.awalkinthepark.co.uk

Article Brought To You By Canine Arthritis Awareness Month

The Most Dangerous Dogs in the World

in reverse order:

5. Badly fed dog.

Badly fed dog is the animal who’s been fuelled up with a diet fit for an Olympic weight lifter, but who only ever gets to expend about 20% of the calories he takes in. He’s got lots of energy and his mismatched diet can manifest in bouts of sudden energetic rampaging. Badly fed dog would ask you to consider; how you would feel spending your day in an office when every inch of your body is throbbing and twitching as you crave the opportunity to actually use up some of those excess calories. Badly fed dog would be happier and safer if his diet reflected his lifestyle.

4. Never had any friends dog.

Otherwise known as ‘totally under socialised dog’.

He was a little naughty when he was a puppy, so his owner decided he’d be better off being kept away from all other forms of animal life. He now spends his days obsessing over what it would be like to chase other dogs around and, by George, one of these days he’s gonna actually do it!

Never had any friends dog is going to present his owner with a lifetime of problems, he has no social skills and has never had a chance to learn natural interaction through the teachings of his own kind. He’ll meet new dogs and will be about as socially adept as a 45-year old virgin at a Playboy mansion party. He’s going to blow it. Big time.

3. Shouty.

Shouty is the dog who has spent most of his life shouting at folks or being shouted at himself. He sees people on his street, he shouts at them. In turn, his owner shouts at him. Shouty presumes being shouted at is a recognition of his excellent work. In fact, hearing his owner shouting in response to his own shouting encourages his assumption that they’re just as upset, anxious, nervous, angry as HE is about the audacity of other people/dogs/pigeons to walk past his window. Shouty is relentlessly encouraged and endorsed in his shouty behaviour and, a bit like no friends dog, shouty spends his days imaging how good it will be when he FINALLY gets his chance to get face to face with the objects of his ire.

2. House proud.

House proud dog is SO touchy about people coming to his digs unannounced, he’ll happily maim you for your insolence in trying to visit his abode without obtaining the correct visitation paperwork.

House proud dog does a line in dishing out injuries to posties, meter readers and delivery people. Fortunately for house proud dog, his owners absolutely REFUSE to believe he is capable of violence, so leave him completely unattended to dish out his own brand of justice to anyone brash enough to consider entering his domain.

1. Spoilt dog.

“That’s mine and these are mine, those are mine, I’m entitled to that, I believe that I saw that first, I lay claim to those, I own all of these, I’m the rightful proprietor of this…”

Welcome to the world of spoilt dog. Quite simply, he believes everything he wants, he can have. Woe betide anyone to tell him differently. His timid owners have never had the heart to let him know that in the human world, simply showing your teeth and growling doesn’t constitute a legal contract on the ownership of goods. They let him off and, worse, they let him keep his spoils, which he’ll gather up and place in his own corner of the world.

Sadly, spoilt dog is, one day, going to meet someone who is unaware that he has previously laid claim to every possession on earth. Unfortunately, unlike spoilt dog’s owners, this person is going to have to find out the hard way just how deep spoilt dog’s sense of entitlement runs. Really hard luck if it happens to be a youngster, blissfully ignorant to the fact that the shiny ball on the floor is spoilt dog’s most prized possession (at that VERY moment). A few stitches and a spell in hospital ought to serve as a permanent reminder though.

[What? You didn't think there was a such a thing as a list of 'dangerous dog breeds' did you? Pffft.]

PS: End bsl.

You know it makes sense.

Although the leading cause of death in older cats and dogs, cancer also is the most treatable disease when compared to life-limiting diseases such as congestive heart failure, renal failure and diabetes. An educated and dedicated veterinary health care team is essential to caring for cancer-stricken pets.

“It is crucial for pet owners to take their pets to the veterinarian twice a year to monitor them for early signs of the disease,” says Dr. Gregory Ogilvie, a California Veterinary Medical Association member, world-renowned oncologist and director of the California Veterinary Specialists (CVS) Angel Care Cancer Center in Carlsbad, California. “Routine blood tests also can help identify problems early.”

photo credit: timbr00

Commons signs of cancer for pet owners to watch for include:

– Unexplained bleeding or discharge
– Loss of appetite
– Oral odor
– Abnormal swellings or swollen lymph nodes
– Drooling or difficulty eating or swallowing
– Changes in exercise or stamina level
– Lameness
– A sore that does not heal
– Chronic weight loss
– Change in bowel or bladder habits

The best treatment for cancer is prevention. Dr. Ogilvie recommends feeding cats and dogs a high-quality, balanced diet with low amounts of simple carbohydrates and high amounts of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. He also advises pet owners to ensure their pets exercise regularly and eliminate pets’ exposure to industrial chemicals and tobacco smoke. Talk to your veterinarian to determine what’s best for your pet.

If your pet is diagnosed with cancer, there is hope. Advances in veterinary medicine and technology offer multiple treatment options, including chemotherapy, radiation and surgical procedures. Above all, enhancing your pet’s health, well-being and quality of life is the ultimate goal.

Cancer Care Guide

Dr Kevin Slater, Pet Screen.

What’s good for us is good for our pets!

It is a sad fact that cancer amongst dogs is growing at an alarming rate. One of the big difficulties with animal cancer is that your pet cannot tell you when a cancer is developing, but if cancers can be detected early enough they respond well to treatment. With the introduction of new treatments, many cancers new respond better than ever.

Over recent years we have all become aware of the risk factors for human cancer. Responding to these by changing our habits is having a significant impact on our health. For example, stopping smoking, protection from excessive exposure to bright sunlight and eating a healthy diet high in fruit and vegetables all help to reduce cancer rates. Another very important area is to keep a close eye on ourselves, going for regular health checks and reporting any lumps and bumps to our doctors as soon as they appear. Increased cancer awareness is without doubt improving human health.

Responding to risk factors will help reduce incidence. Being vigilant about any changes to our bodies will ensure that cancer is detected early. This will improve the chances of successful treatment. If we can do this for ourselves, we owe it to our pets to show similar care and attention.

Know your dog, keep an eye on the signs.

Approximately 25% of dogs will now die of cancer. Although this is a very alarming statistic, a positive diagnosis of cancer should not be seen as a death sentence. Cancer can be treated, and in many cases it can be cured. The success of treatment will depend on the type of cancer, the treatment used and on how early the tumour is found. The sooner treatment begins, the greater the chances of success. Therefore, one of the best things you can do for your dog is to keep a close eye on them for signs of the disease. This shouldn’t be an onerous task, it can be done as a part of everyday play and pampering.

There are 10 classic signs to look out for:

1. Abnormal swellings or lumps that persist or continue to grow
2. Sores that do not heal
3. Loss of appetite
4. Weight loss
5. Bleeding or discharge from any body opening
6. Difficulty eating or swallowing
7. Offensive odour
8. Hesitation to exercise or loss of stamina
9. Persistent lameness or stiffness
10. Difficulty breathing, urinating, or defecating

If you spot any of these signs in your dog, you should report them to your vet as soon as possible. These symptoms often develop slowly, so it is best to get to know your dog’s habits well. It is also important to bear in mind that these symptoms can also be bought on by other diseases, so don’t immediately expect the worst.

Canine Cancer Prognosis

Your vet will perform all the necessary diagnostic tests to discover the real cause of the problem. They may want to take an X ray, a blood test or a small sample of any growth (called a biopsy) for laboratory analysis.

This information will be used to find out if the tumour is “benign” (which is a growth that can relatively easily be removed without any further complications) or “malignant” (which is a more aggressive tumour that invades tissues and can produce “secondary” growths known as metastasises).

Once your vet has made the diagnosis, they will discuss the various treatment options with you. As with human cancer treatment, these will be either surgery, radiotherapy or chemotherapy. Surgery is still the most widely used treatment for most dog cancers. In some cases a combination of treatments may be used. A combination of surgery followed by chemotherapy is used for some aggressive tumours.

There are certain tumours, such as lymphoma (one of the most common malignancies in dogs), which are treated primarily by chemotherapy with very good results. Chemotherapy in dogs is not as unpleasant as it can be for humans.

Many owners worry that chemotherapy will cause their dog’s fur to fall out, this very rarely happens because the drugs attack the fast growing hairs on our heads but do not attack the slow growing coat on dogs. Whiskers, on the other hand, do grow fast, so don’t be alarmed if you dog looses few whiskers.

As cancer therapy becomes more sophisticated, there is increasing use of specialist referral centres where cancer specialists are able to provide the most advanced treatments available. Your vet will know the all the cancer referral centres and will advise you if they think one of these centres can offer better treatment for your dog.

Cancer treatment can be expensive, particularly for some of the more advanced treatments. However, the costs can be covered by pet insurance policies. If your dog is a high risk breed, taking out insurance will give you piece of mind to ensure that you give them the best treatment available, should the worst happen.

Some breeds are more prone than others.

It is unfortunate that some breeds have a higher incidence of cancer than others. It is difficult to provide a comprehensive list here, but the following is a brief guide:

Highest incidence breeds which also develop cancer at an earlier age than other dogs.

• Boxer.
• Golden Retriever
• Rottweiller
• Bernese Mountain Dog

High incidence breeds

• Boston Terrier
• English Bulldog
• Scottish Terrier
• Cocker Spaniel

Average incidence breeds:

• Irish Setter
• Schnauzer
• Labrador
• Mongrels

Relatively low incidence breeds:

• Beagle
• Poodle
• Collie
• Dachshund

The (near) future.

Research into better treatments for dog cancer is being conducted by the veterinary schools around the UK, specialist centres such as the Animal Health Trust and by pet health companies. The advances in biology are producing a steady flow of new treatments and tests which are now becoming available to improve cancer care.

At PetScreen we are developing new techniques to help spot cancer early and also to assist your vet in selecting the best possible treatment for your pet. To help us in this effort, we need small samples of tumour tissue and blood which are left over from your vet’s routine diagnostic tests. If you would like to help in this research effort by agreeing to donate samples which will be used to improve cancer care in the near future, please talk to your vet. If they could contact us on study@pet-screen.com, then we will contact them to discuss the details of sending the samples to our laboratory.

By working together we can help fight this disease.

[You are free to print this article and take it with you to your vet to discuss cancer screening for your pet]

Puppy farms (or, as they are known outside of the UK – puppy mills) are alive kicking.

But how? Buy why?

Let’s see if we can find out…
I believe the media has been very generous to the people who, it could easily be argued, are REALLY responsible for the growth in puppy farms.

Puppy farmers aren't the ONLY ones to blame for misery

The people I speak of are those who willingly dig in to their pockets and get their wallets out, to hand over cash to the cynical puppies- for-profits breeders – aka puppy farmers – who couldn’t care less about the fundamental principles of breeding good, healthy, well balanced dogs.

The puppy farmer only exists because people keep giving them money.

In all the coverage given to the puppy farming debate, have we missed the most obvious of points? That if people simply stopped fuelling this trade, we might actually get somewhere?

Don’t get me wrong, I have a huge moral and ethical objection to the people who trade in the suffering and misery of mass produced dogs. We can’t legitimately call ourselves a nation of animal lovers whilst we allow this to happen.

But, the fact is, these puppy farms would be a thing of the past if:

1) People refused to buy puppies from pet stores (and yes, I include the celebrities who buy from famous department stores in that – no GOOD breeder will EVER allow their stock to be ‘retailed’ in a pet store.)

2) People educated themselves on how to acquire a new dog, responsibly, rather than rushing out to buy a puppy from the first litter they see advertised in the free classified ads newspapers or websites.

Seriously, if those two things happened – the puppy farmer is left with no business. No trade. No customers. No money. No motivation to keep producing puppies.

Let’s think about it for a second; if people didn’t purchase from puppy farms and from pet shops, there’d be none.

So why do people do it?

Some of them are misguided, misinformed. OK, I accept that. But even so, in this year, in this day in age with ALL of the wealth of information that exists about how to obtain a dog responsibly, is it REALLY a valid excuse any more? I mean, really?

And for everyone who accidentally, unintentionally winds up putting money in to the pocket of puppy farmers, there’s certainly more folk who do it and who couldn’t really care less either way.

Whilst it is an ongoing disgrace that puppy farms are allowed to thrive and prosper in a country where laws, legislation and enforcement of such establishments have never really been properly crafted to a point where they have been forced out of business, whilst the demand exists – the puppy farmer will thrive.

If puppy farming is to be defeated, the first point of action needs to be in changing the attitude and behaviour of the people who are putting their money in to keep the puppy farms in business – that’s puppy buyers!

Look at this way; if there was ZERO demand for cocaine, would the governments of the world even need to make laws and spend BILLIONS on trying to combat traffickers around the globe? Of course not!

Zero demand for a product or service means the supplier is automatically redundant. They become extinct. It’s the laws of economics, supply and demand.

And let’s establish one thing, for the record, puppies are NOTHING like cocaine. So our failure to combat puppy farmers is interlinked, exclusively, with our failure to convince enough people of the right and wrong ways to acquire a dog ethically and responsibly. There is no chemical ‘high’ to be gained by buying a puppy from a puppy farmer.

How can we change this? How do we push for a culture change?

It’s going to be hard and I feel it’s going to take something big. But I am 100% convinced that even if we were to bring in laws that would legislate against puppy farms, if there is still a 10 or 20% demand from the same sort of people who acquiring their dogs from puppy farmers today, the laws themselves won’t be enough.

The media who carry adverts for puppy farmers, they are guilty as sin.

There are some big name, very profitable media businesses out there profiting from the misery of dogs. Whether they knowingly take adverts from puppy farmers or not, whether the fact that puppy farming in and of itself is NOT illegal (a disgrace in itself), surely there has to be an ethical, honest way to deny puppy farmers the oxygen of publicity? If people and businesses aren’t prepared to step up, how do we ever expect the public to understand that

1. just because a litter of puppies is advertised in a ‘legitimate’ publication, it doesn’t mean the puppy has been bred responsibly
2. just because a litter of puppies is for sale in a pet shop with a licence, it doesn’t mean the puppy has been bred responsibly
3. just because a litter of puppies has been bred by a ‘licenced breeder’ it doesn’t mean the puppy has been bred responsibly

If we really want to tackle the blight of puppy farming, puppies produced in dank, squalid conditions with profit as the only motive, then we – all of us honest, caring dog owners – need to speak up, speak out and repeat the following mantra:

“If you buy from a puppy farm, you’re as guilty as the puppy farmer. If you don’t have the knowledge to avoid a puppy farmed dog, then you’re not yet ready to own a dog.”

What more do we need to do to, once and for all, put an end to the misery of puppies bred for profits?

Have your say below!

According to some new research by scientists, they do.

On the face of it, a lot of people would agree. But before you spring forth with your tales of dogs ‘acting jealous’, please – hear me out.

Personally, I don’t believe they do and I’ll explain more about that in a moment. But first let us look at the new research done in the name of science.

The experiment consisted of taking pairs of dogs and getting them to present a paw for a reward. On giving this “handshake” the dogs received a piece of food.

One of the dogs was then asked to shake hands, but received no food. The other dog continued to get the food when it was asked to perform the task.

The dog without the reward quickly stopped doing the task, and showed signs of annoyance or stress when its partner was rewarded.

To make sure that the experiment was really showing the interaction between the dogs rather than just the frustration of not being rewarded, a similar experiment was conducted where the dogs performed the task without the partner. Here they continued to present the paw for much longer.

Dr Frederike Range from the department of neurobiology and cognition research at the University of Vienna, says this shows that it was the presence of the rewarded partner which was the greater influence on their behaviour.

“The only difference is one gets food and the other doesn’t, they are responding to being unequally rewarded.” she said.

The researchers say this kind of behaviour, where one animal gets frustrated with what is happening with another, has only been observed in primates before.

Studies with various types of monkeys and chimpanzees show they react not only to seeing their partners receiving rewards when they are not, but also to the type of reward.

The dog study also looked at whether the type of reward made a difference. Dogs were given either bread or sausage, but seemed to react equally to either. Dr Range says this may be because they have been trained.

“It’s through the fact they have to work for the reward, this confers it with a higher value,” she said.

Source Here

photo credit: shoei@

Let’s take a look at this in smaller chunks.

The dog without the reward quickly stopped doing the task, and showed signs of annoyance or stress when its partner was rewarded.

Well of course. Surely we wouldn’t expect anything different here? The dog wants the food and it sees the other dog with the food and it gravitates toward the treat. This is quite logical, nothing ground breaking yet.

To make sure that the experiment was really showing the interaction between the dogs rather than just the frustration of not being rewarded, a similar experiment was conducted where the dogs performed the task without the partner. Here they continued to present the paw for much longer.

Yes, again this surely to be expected? Here we have a dog with no distraction, no food or other dog in the equation and it makes logical sense that most dogs will perform differently in a situation where no distraction – of any kind – is present. This, again, does not prove jealousy as we understand it.

Dr Frederike Range from the department of neurobiology and cognition research at the University of Vienna, says this shows that it was the presence of the rewarded partner which was the greater influence on their behaviour.

Now we’re veering in to some strange territory. Let us imagine this experiment but with some different parameters.

We work with just one dog, no other dog in the area.

The dog gives its paw. Then a person will come in to the room and puts some food on the floor near to where the other dog would have been positioned positioned.

Would the dog now be less interested in giving paw and more interested in food?

In my opinion, yes. Most likely.

Now repeat the same scenario but don’t have anyone put food down.

It’s my supposition that the dog would hold paw for longer.

No other dog present, no jealousy – merely distraction causing reaction.

The dog study also looked at whether the type of reward made a difference. Dogs were given either bread or sausage, but seemed to react equally to either. Dr Range says this may be because they have been trained.

Dogs like different foods. And scientists didn’t know this?

Take my own dog Mia. She loathes banana. My other dog, Chloe, on the other hand loves fruit. So if I’m eating a banana Mia will sit for a while, realise what I’ve got and then go and lie down. Chloe will stay sitting next to me, watching until I’ve finished. I’m not a scientist but I do know this – it’s……wait for it………

……because Chloe likes banana and Mia doesn’t!

Given that Mia is by far the greedier of my two dogs it proves that dogs clearly have different tastes the same as we do, this is – I would guess – pretty universal. Maybe your dog loves a type of food that my dogs don’t. Maybe your dogs go mad for aniseed whereas my dogs love cheese. Just a sec, wait. Not a good comparison – aniseed and cheese are pretty much universal ‘must eats’ on the canine menu (if your dog likes neither, please let me know – in the name of science).

So, if I set out to train Mia with bananas as my choice of reward for her, I’d achieve less impressive results – quite simply because Mia doesn’t like banana. She places a higher value on food that she likes, similarly toys and similarly different ways of being touched – Mia doesn’t like to be stroked on the head, Chloe will take a good head stroking for several hours. So we’ve still not established jealousy in canines with this research based on the report as presented on the BBC site.

Studies with various types of monkeys and chimpanzees show they react not only to seeing their partners receiving rewards when they are not, but also to the type of reward.

OK. Well I’m not a scientist but I do know that monkeys and chimps are NOT dogs. They can and indeed probably do have emotions much more closely aligned to the emotion we recognise in ourselves as jealousy, similarly they have different social structures and are NOT dogs. So the relevance of this is no more apt than saying: “Well humans have jealousy, why can’t dogs?”

Why do I not believe dogs share the emotion we recognise in ourselves as jealousy?

If we think about what jealousy is, if we are logical about what we know about this emotion it is incredibly complex and based on a whole level of social elements.

There are humans who feel jealousy based on widely different factors – is that an innate personality trait in them or is it nurtured? – we don’t really know.

We have humans within the autistic spectrum who simply do not and can not feel jealous and others within that same spectrum who can be wildly jealous. It’s true that even scientists themselves still haven’t universally agreed a definition for what jealously is! That’s how complex this particular emotion is. What does it take to be jealous? It takes two people very, very different reasons to be jealous, even people within the same family who share almost identical genetics. Yet put two people in a room and mimic the ‘paw test’ and we’d never get close to seeing universal results proving jealous responses in people – we’re too different and jealousy is an emotion that does not run through us all in an identical fashion. So why should it in dogs?

I absolutely do not doubt for a single, solitary second that they display behaviour which is very easy for us to compare with the emotion of jealousy that we recognise in ourselves. It could be displayed in acts of resource guarding, it could be manifested by dogs who are particularly greedy, territorial, pack motivated, rank motivated – but jealousy it is not. It is quite possible that I want to get my bosses’ job and sit in his chair, in his office and take home his salary but I am not motivated even in the slightest by jealousy, I simply want to do better for myself. Dogs the same. So a dog going to another dog getting rewarded is absolutely not proof positive – in my view – that we’ve cracked the canine jealousy code, we haven’t even cracked ours yet – and we can SPEAK!

Anthropomorphism is rife. Most of the time it’s harmless but sometimes it’s nothing more than us finding another way to say: “I don’t understand my dog but I’ll bracket a particular behaviour by benchmarking it against my own”. This is, plainly, crazy. And it can lead to problems.

It will be better for dogs and better for us if we make an effort to better understand them. But always, always, always start that voyage of discovery with one overriding caveat: Dogs are no more human than we are Zebra. They are dogs. They ARE unique and we love them for it. They are masters at making us think what they want us to think. Their understanding of human body language is an art we’re not even close to mastering. Take this example:

Person comes home. Dog has wrecked the post (again). There it is, all laid out scattered over the floor.

Owner opens the door.

“Huuuuhhh!!!! What have you done???”

“Oh, look at him. Look at that face. Look how guilty he looks.”

(wait for it)

“He know what he’s done!”

Sound familiar?

Of course he doesn’t ‘know what he’s done’ and he absolutely may ‘look guilty’ but that aint’ guilt he’s showing, that’s him spotting body language and going to fear/survival mode. He’s pretty much saying: “If you want me to look guilty, if that’s the pigeon-hole you want to put me in right now, so long as it means I don’t come to any harm, I’ll do a better guilty repertoire than Laurence Olivier if it makes you happy babe!”

And make us happy it most certainly does. We might feel guilt if we do something that causes someone else to feel bad, but that’s because we have an understanding of how our actions can have a future negative effect on the mood of our human counterparts. Our dog, however, he was just bored and he wanted something to do. Then we come home and we’re – clearly – pretty mad at him. He’s not feeling guilty, he’s feeling plain old scared.

But it makes us happy to think he thinks like us. To quote the chairman of the Kennel Club: “I don’t need no scientists telling me….” that dogs do not, in fact, think like us. They think, surprisingly, like dogs. That’s what makes em’ great!

So,that’s quite enough about what I think, what do YOU think?

Can dogs really experience the emotion us humans refer to as jealousy?

Add your thoughts using the comment form below. I look forward to reading them!

Owners of older dogs often notice begin to notice a bluish white film start to develop over the eyes of their dog. As dogs age, eye problems – particularly cataracts – are more common. The condition is a thickening of the lenses, which is a function of age. It can become present in dogs of any age but normally happens as the dog enters their senior years and it tends to progress slowly.

True cataracts are a total thickening of the lenses, so that light cannot come through the pupil and sight is lost. Certain injuries and infections can cause cataracts, and the condition is sometimes a sign of diabetes.

photo credit: ecastro

There is a disease, juvenile cataracts, in which cataracts appear at a very young age (as early as 1 year old), first in one eye and then in the other.

This is an inherited disease, seen more commonly in Irish Setters, Afghans and Old English Sheepdogs. The only way to prevent blindness is to surgically remove the lenses. Dogs are nearsighted anyway – they can’t adapt their vision to distances – so the removal of the lens is something they can live with quite comfortably without much noticeable difference in eyesight.

Cataract Formation

Some cataracts are genetic and it is a problem that is more common in certain breeds. The lens is a refractive structure within the eye. In a healthy condition, it is optically clear. It continuously grows through life, but it does so in such a way that the center becomes more compact. A normal change with age, then, is a condition called “lenticular sclerosis”.

The condition of lenticular sclerosis should not be confused with an actual cataract. It is a senile alteration of lens fibers resulting in an absorption of some of the wave lengths in the visible spectrum. The dog’s vision is not changed significantly.

In contradistinction to lenticular sclerosis, a cataract is an apparent opacity within the lens that will not allow the passage of light. Many false concepts have occurred due to nomenclature. Cataracts can be classified according to types. In general, most authorities agree on the following chronological classifications:

A) Congenital – born with.
B) Juvenile – occurring in a young dog under five years of age.
C) Senile – occurring in an older dog over five years of age.

The cause of canine cataracts – whether hereditary or acquired – may be influenced by many factors including the effects of inflammations, toxins, metabolic defects, trauma, radiation, and many more.

It becomes obvious that the term juvenile cataracts only means that a young dog has cataracts and the condition could be either acquired or hereditary. Much work is necessary to elucidate the potential hereditary mechanism which may be present. Medical therapy is of no avail and surgery is necessary if restoration of vision is to be accomplished.

The videos in this article explain more about this all too common problem which tends to affect older dogs as well as the treatment, via surgery, of a canine cataract.

Your Dogs Eyes:

Many eye diseases in dogs can be successfully cured surgically if non-surgical treatments do not help. In the condition in which the tear glands and ducks are not producing tears, for example, a medication is put into the dog’s food in the form of drops.

If there is any function at all left, the medication will stimulate the glands to again produce tears normally. If the medication does not work, an unusual and creative operation is sometimes performed, whereby a duct of one of the dog’s salivary glands is moved so that it empties out of the eye instead of the mouth.

The saliva moistens and protects the eye just as the tears are supposed to. Logically enough, Pavlov’s theory works with slight alteration – a dog who has had such an operation cries when his appetite is stimulated!

If an ulcer has resulted from the dryness and inflammation of the eyes, or from some other irritation or trauma, medication is again tried initially. Especially if the ulcer is a superficial one, antibiotics usually heal it.

If the ulcer is a deep one or has punctured through the cornea into the eye itself, another innovative type of surgery is performed. The ulcer is covered with a truly organic “bandage” – the dog’s own third eyelid, or a flap from the white part of his eye. The bandage is left on for several weeks while antibiotics are used to heal the ulcer. It can then be removed with a snip or two of the stitches holding the bandage in place.

Report: Common Canine Eye Problems & Their Treatment

To understand the various reasons why your dog may come down with a serious eye problem, you need know some important information on the genetic make-up of these animals.

For example, the normal dog has eyelashes on the upper lid only. They are in three to four rows, so close together that they appear as one single row. They are directed away from the cornea.

In abnormal conditions, several eyelashes may be misplaced. These hairs are located so that they are directed toward the very sensitive cornea. The initial irritant may not be associated with these hairs, but will act as the exciting mechanism of a vicious circle.

The irritant causes the animal discomfort and produces blinking. The blinking produces increased pressure by the lids on the cornea, leading to further irritation induced by the aberrant eyelashes.

This irritation further aggravates the blinking and spasms of the muscles occur, thus completing the cycle. The end result is severe corneal irritation which requires veterinarian attention.

The Goal Of Veterinarian Treatment

The object of treatment is to interrupt this vicious circle by determining and removing the initial irritant if still present. The defect that is present is treated also.

The usual method used to eliminate the aberrant hairs is “electrolysis,” in which the hairs are destroyed by electronically produced heat. Our preference is to remove surgically the entire row of abnormal hairs.

Professional help is strongly recommended to treat this problem. The use of home remedies and pet store drugs may be the most devastating mistake the dog owner can make. All medications used for eye diseases should be discarded when therapy has been completed.

Many medications that are used routinely are extremely toxic when ingested, and therefore the well-being of our children and pets should be a prime concern.

Excess Tearing

A condition of great concern to fanciers of the Poodle, Maltese, Shih Tzu, and other small, light colored dogs is “epiphora”, or excess tearing. It is a problem primarily in the lighter colored dogs. However, we see it also in dark colored dogs, but it’s simply not as noticeable.

Many things may be responsible for this very distressing problem. Among them are:

1) Misplaced eyelashes (as discussed above).

2) The tear duct which drains the tears from the eye may be abnormally positioned.

3) A small island of hair which may grow from the corner of the eye next to the nose, may act as a wick and tears will then overflow.

4) There may be overproduction of tears without apparent irritation.

5) There may be an abnormal position of the inner corner of the eyelids next to the nose referred to as “medical entropion”.

6) There is recent evidence of a potential metabolic defect associated with porphyrin metabolism.

When one reviews all of the possible causes, it becomes apparent that there is no single treatment that can cure this condition.

Some authorities recommend low levels of oxytetracyclines in the food daily, and others recommend surgical removal of the gland in the third eyelid. However, it is the opinion of many veterinarians that thorough evaluation of the entire condition is necessary in order to arrive at a definitive diagnosis and a specific treatment.

In summary, there is no therapeutic panacea for abnormal tearing and much more research is necessary to elucidate all the mechanisms predisposing to it, as well as treatments that will prove effective in the majority of cases.

Collie Eye

Collie eye is also a problem of genetic predisposition. The genetic mode of inheritance has been determined. It is a simple recessive autosomal gene. The syndrome has been “graded” unfortunately, and this is one of the worst mistakes that can be made in eliminating such a disease.

We presently diagnose dogs as affected or unaffected regardless of the variation of eye lesions present. We have demonstrated that all the lesions are related to one another and that the presence of any lesions incriminates genotypes. Because of the recessive gene, a mating of dogs with normal eyes may certainly produce affective offspring.

Progressive Retinal Atrophy

Progressive retinal atrophy is a disease which is manifested in dogs usually four years old or older. It has been reported in dogs as young as seven months. It is seen in English Setters, Springer Spaniels, Labrador Retrievers, Poodles, Elkhounds, Cocker Spaniels, Beagles, and others. It is transmitted as a simple recessive autosomal gene.

The first clinical sign which may be observed is a widely dilated pupil which becomes unresponsive to any light. The dog will soon show signs of decreased vision during twilight. The dog’s vision progressively decreases until he is completely blind. Nothing is effective in the prevention of inevitable blindness, but there is some evidence that vitamin A therapy may delay the end stage blindness; however, this is controversial.

One of the most common ideas put forward seems, on the face of it, to be entirely sensible: to muzzle all dogs and keep them confined to a lead at all times in public. Well, whilst it may seem sensible – unfortunately, it is not. In fact I speculate that if we want to literally DOUBLE the number of dog attacks, especially the most serious ones, the way to do it would be to muzzle and confine all dogs to leads in public. I shall hereby try and explain the flaws in this ideology.

Dogs operate in and have personalities which can be linked to something known as ‘drives’. Whilst it is not my intent to make this a ‘technical’ dog behaviour article I shall list the recognised drives below:

* The Prey drive: these dogs stalk, ‘kill’ their toys, shake objects and are highly stimulated by visual movements. They like to chase.
* The Pack drive: these dogs are sociable animals who enjoy being touched by people, prone to separation anxiety.
* The Fight drive: self confident or ‘dominant’ dogs who will guard themselves, their property, their family. Tends to hold strong eye contact even with ‘dominant’ people.
* The Flight drive: unsure in strange situations, always needs to be aware of a potential route of escape, tends to be submissive and is most prone to ‘fear biting’.

photo credit: ChiBart

Dogs may show a tendency to ‘be a high prey drive’ dog or dogs may exhibit high drive behaviour in certain circumstances – for example, a dog which may – by normal personality – operate for most of its life in ‘pack drive’, a friendly dog that loves people for instance, upon encountering its first ever squirrel the dog may instantly switch on to a very high prey drive response.

So it’s not a simple case of being able to label one dog or breed as a particular candidate to fit one of the drive descriptions. Yes, we can generalise (Bull breed dogs tend to score highly on pack drive, they love people, love being touched, enjoy companionship) but these generalisations are what have gotten us in to trouble in the first place!

We simply cannot and should not attempt to define a dog’s personality by its breed type or EVEN its past history. For instance, a dog which has – for its entire life – never been nervous or aggressive about ANYTHING, when faced with a certain new situation or circumstance may exhibit high levels of ‘unplanned for’ behaviour. I often ask people to imagine in their mind how they feel about elephants.

How do they feel when they see elephants on TV on a nature documentary. Most people have neutral views about elephants. We don’t live our lives in fear of them and they are not an animal that invades our daily thoughts. We have no ‘planned for’ elephant response behaviour.

I then ask people to try and imagine how they’d feel if they walked into a room – a room they recognise and have used before, let’s say their boardroom at their place of work – and rather than being confronted by their work colleagues, much to their surprise a fully grown elephant is standing in the room.

Now imagine how you might feel about elephants in THAT circumstance! Heart rate rised, shock, surprise, nervous tension, wonderment, planning for an escape route, sweaty palms – we have no idea how we’d respond to surprising circumstances, especially ones we’ve never planned for – yet we somehow expect our dogs to react consistently to all circumstances based on how they’ve behaved in the past. This is an error.

But what’s this got to do with muzzling and lead confinement you ask?

Well it’s all about the need for owners to be able to do two very, very (very) important things:

1) Allow their dog to exhibit normal behaviour whilst under proper control
2) Understand the risks associated with ‘unplanned’ behaviour

So let’s tackle these two issues.

Allowing a dog to exhibit normal behaviour means allowing a dog to exercise freely. There are some dogs – in fact most dogs – who absolutely thrive on the freedom to run and shake loose the constraints of a leash or the confinement of the four walls of their home and garden. To many dogs, this is their ‘reason to live’. This is their most treasured treat. It also keeps them healthy. If we are to constrain dogs and deny them the ability to exercise freely, a number of things will start to happen and start to happen quickly:

The dogs will start to become very, very wound up at home. Too much energy, no outlet for it. Anyone who has ever had to spend time in a confined space will realise how tedious that becomes. Think of a longhaul flight for an example. Sitting there, waiting for someone else to provide you with ‘release’, waiting for someone else to feed you, relying on others for your stimulation. Now imagine that your entire life was spent on a longhaul flight. I project you’ll do one of two things: You’ll either go quietly mad and spend your days asleep in a permanent bout of depression or you’ll go VERY mad and start threating to to do ‘crazy’ things in order to get your freedom back. To confine dogs to a permanent life on a longhaul flight will cause a lot of problems.

Dogs will begin to attack more people in their homes. No doubt about it. A dog who is ‘wound up’ a dog who has more energy than they are ever permitted to expend will be a problem dog. If we estimate that 2, maybe 3% of all the dogs in the UK are responsible for attacks and injuries caused by dogs as things stand today – by having a blanket ‘no dogs off lead in public’ law, you can comfortably project that we’ll have maybe as high as 20% of dogs who will pose a far greater risk to people. Yes, we may reduce dog attacks in public but my word, we will massively increase the number of attacks in the home. Thenet result will be more attacks.

Dogs need off lead exercise and they need the ability to socialise with other dogs. Dogs owners should understand that they have an obligation to keep their dogs under control (and do it! Not just understand it) and they should also recognise that dogs can have very, very different reactions to situations which are ‘unplanned for’. Again, think about how you’d react if you met a real life elephant face to face in a place where you were not expecting it. Don’t assume that dogs can’t have equally extreme reactions to new things.

Muzzling

Similar to the freedom to run argument. If you take away a dog’s defence mechanisms: either the ability to run away or the ability to ‘fight’ you will instantly place the dog into a state of heightened tension.

I want you to think about that elephant again folks. Let us say that you have met the elephant in the boardroom and you’ve just managed to calm your nerves, your blood pressure is lower and your starting to feel a bit more comforable. No doubt you’ll still be very aware of the fact that there is an elephant in the room but you’ve just about managed to compose yourself. Firstly, you have the door behind you so if things take a turn for the unexpected you can always leg it! Only, now you can’t. Because what’s going to happen now is you are going to be tethered to the radiator and your hands are going to be tied behind your back. How you feeling now? A little less composed? A little vulnerable? Nervous? Tense?

See this is exactly what we do when we impose on our dogs a mandatory constraint. We can – in one fell swoop – make a non aggressive, non defensive dog INSTANTLY more aggressive and more defensive. We can increase the risk of altering the dog’s nature and outlook on life. And again, whilst it is certainly the case that we may (in fact probably would) see a reduction in dog attacks in public, the net result of such a law would be a massive, massive increase in the number of dog attacks occurring in the home.

Why?

Because we will be artificially increasing the drive senses in our dogs. We can’t muzzle a dog all day, we can’t tether a dog all day so for those periods of time when they are unmuzzled we will see a dog with an altered personality. Heightened defensiveness, heightened nervousness – we would make some non aggressive dogs aggressive and some aggressive dogs even more aggressive. Times where the dog is feeding would be exceptionally dangerous. The net result would be more dog attacks.

The solution, whilst simple, is not easy. Dog owners need to better informed on how to manage their animals. They need to be better prepared for the reality that their dogs can and will behave differently in different situations, never assume. They must have better control of their dogs. If they can not recall their dog then they simply should not have the dog off a lead until such a time as that training objective has been achieved. Dog owners need to be aware of the fact that their dogs should not invade other people’s space. Dog owners need to take control of their dogs and to improve their ownership standards. If we could make this happen, society, dogs and their owners would be a lot, lot happier.

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Well, that’s MY view – compulsory muzzling of all dogs would make the problem worse, but what do YOU think?

Have your say using the comment form below. I look forward to reading your views!

photo credit: holisticmonkey

On the other hand, canned food or home-cooked diets contain more water and require less to rinse and wash down. This quality of canned and home-cooked food does not necessarily make them a superior food source, however.

Water is vital for survival. Make sure clean water is always available for your dog. Provide clean water in a stainless steel dish and change it regularly. Each time you fill your dog’s bowl, rinse it to clean off dirt and other nasty particles that don’t belong in a fresh bowl.

photo credit: deovolenti

Carbohydrates come in two forms, simple and complex. Simple carbohydrates come from grains such as wheat, corn, rice, oats, soy and millet.

They break down into starches and sugar when properly cooked. Complex carbohydrates come in the form of various fibres such as brans, hulls and peanut shells from the outside of plants. A small amount is needed for proper digestion and stool formation. Nutrients are obtained from both sources, but most come from simple carbohydrates.

If carbohydrates are a major part of your dog’s diet, the time and energy needed for digestion increase, the dog performs less well, large amounts of stool are produced, and a protein deficiency disease may develop. Dogs have evolved as meat eaters and although they need some grains, their health and longevity will be better served on a diet containing more animal protein than protein from grains.

Think about the origin of the dog.

It is unrecorded in history that wolves lit fires and cooked grains picked in fields! But there were whole carcasses available that contained everything needed for wolves to survive, including predigested vegetable matter in the intestinal tracts of their prey.

The reason the majority of dry dog foods contain such large amounts of cereal grains is that grains are a cheap source of nutrients. According to the NRC guidelines, “Carbohydrates provide an economical source of energy in the diet of dogs.”

Allergic reactions to grains are common in dogs. The best diet for your dog matches that fed in the breed’s country of origin as the breed developed. Each dog is an individual, and if yours refuses to eat his food, check the grains listed on the package. The dog may baulk because of an allergy to one of the grains in the food.

If your dog thinks that he is the leader, you are in trouble. How can you know? Usually if you have behavior problems with your dog, you are not considered the leader no matter how you think you are viewed by your pet.

One way to establish your leadership or “Alphahood” is to simply get your dog’s eye. You might think that your dog looks at you quite frequently, but take a moment to think about the terms. They are usually the dog’s. Does your dog look at you but only when he feels like it? That’s not eye contact. That is the dog looking at you because he wants something. You can establish eye contact on your terms by formalizing the look-at-me process.

photo credit: Patrick Hoesly

Take your dog, on leash, and have him “Sit.” Hold a little upward tension on the lead and bend down and touch your dog’s muzzle and immediately bring your hand up to your eyes. At the same time, make a clicking sound and say something like, “Laddy, look up here at me right now.”

Don’t just say the dog’s name or “Laddy, look.” It won’t be enough to get the dog to lock eyes with you. What you’re aiming for is about three to four seconds of solid eye contact when the dog looks up at you with an attitude of “your wish is my command.” Make sure that after you touch his muzzle and then your eyes that you straighten up right away so that the dog truly looks up at you and not you down at the dog.

Once you have the lock, end the moment with some light verbal (not physical) praise such as, “Good boy. Laddy!” Then turn and go about your business. Do not worry about leaving the dog sitting there wondering, “What was that all about?”

Your dog will soon realize that what it is about is “look at me when I ask you to look, watch me, get out of your own world and into mine.” This is a wonderful foundation for any puppy or older dog (especially if house-soiling is a problem) because the eye contact starts to overflow into his regular, daily life so that he looks at you from across a room. Then you can catch your dog’s eye more readily to direct him to not do something.