Slicker than a Greased Pig

Hog Oilers at 2012 Empire Thresheree

Attending the Empire Thresheree near Eden, Wisconsin, has been my family's last blast of summer fun for the past six years. Each year there are some regular stand-by demonstrations including rows and rows of functioning hit-and-miss motors, horse-drawn wagons and plowing demonstrations, a hand-made rope making duo, a "parking lot" full of vibrantly colored antique tractors and a giant steam-driven engine that powers an old-time thresher. Some years a blacksmith sets up a portable smithy on the grounds, hammering out horseshoes and decorative iron pieces. One year an elaborate Lionel toy train system had been set up on a wagon bed. Last year an exhibitor made spindles using a pedal-powered wood lathe. This year, one gentleman displayed his collection of antique hog oilers, and I finally learned why we say that something is "slicker than a greased pig."

I grew up on a hog farm. I mucked out pens, helped castrate feeder pigs, farrowed sows (e.g., helped during piglet deliveries) and loaded market hogs onto trucks. I'll freely admit that a pig can be slippery with or without grease when you're trying to get it to go somewhere it does not want to go. I never put much thought into why anyone would take the time to grease a pig unless it was a dressed out pig ready for the BBQ. Now I understand that a greased pig is a vermin-free pig. 

Turn of the century (that is, the 1900s) hog oilers came in an amazing array of shapes, styles and colors. Taking advantage of a hog's natural inclination to rub, root and nudge, innovative systems of pumps, rope wicks and spigots were developed to deliver various kinds of oils -- crude oil, kerosene, coal-tar, used motor oil and store-bought medicated oils. The grease would spread across the hog's skin ridding him of lice and mites and other skin parasites. Nowadays skin vermin are treated with inexpensive and effective parasiticides such ivermectin. Improved housing systems and biosecurity measures are also used on modern commercial operations to reduce the risk of such infestations in the first place.

Children "doing laundry" at
2012 Empire Thresheree

In this day of mechanization and efficiency I am grateful for the opportunity to experience early agricultural practices at our local thresheree. The bump and whir of the early gasoline motors, the powerful whistle of the steam engine and the occasional nicker of the patient draft horse stirs the imagination. The juxtaposition between labor-saving and husbandry devices of yesteryear and today is educational. This year while my children spent hours "doing laundry" with an antique washboard and wringer I learned how to de-louse a pig in a pinch.

Back to School and Learn to Earn

It's that time of year again. The nights are getting cooler and coming earlier. Crickets are singing their late summer song. The Packer pre-season has begun. Back-to-school advertisements paper the kitchen countertop. Summer vacation is officially winding down and school is right around the corner again.

Obedience training my now six-month-old puppy has been on ongoing project, of course, but with another academic year looming, it seems appropriate to discuss his curriculum.

I am often asked by frustrated or anxious clients how to correct certain behaviors in their dogs. The basis of all canine training, I believe, is deference training. Also known variably as the "learn to earn" or "no free lunch" program, deference training is essentially doggie etiquette training. But like most animal training techniques, training ourselves is often the first step! Before launching any training method, thorough research into the philosophy and techniques is necessary.

Dogs sitting patiently and attending to their trainer
for a command

Timing, consistency, and attentiveness are at the heart of successful pet training programs. Deference training, done correctly, teaches even a young puppy that good things come to those who sit and wait patiently. Nothing the puppy needs or desires comes without a price. The price is not exorbitant for him, however. It is something all dogs learn early on--sitting.* The dog's meals, playtime, potty breaks, even walking through a doorway should be given only when the dog is sitting calmly and attending to you.

My puppy Guppy is expected to top 80 lbs when full-grown. It was bad enough having him barge the door when he weighed 30 lbs, but as he grew it was becoming incredibly obnoxious if not downright painful. With just a day of training, Guppy learned that the only way he was going to enter the house was if he sat nicely and watched me. Now Guppy sits at the door without any prompting on my part. Guppy also must sit nicely before he receives his meals or before he gets petted.

Deference training even helped us work through some minor food aggression problems with our late Springer Spaniel GrrrD. She was so protective over her food bowl (even empty) she made us nervous for our little kids. We overcame this irritability by having her sit nicely under our supervision while our child poured her dog food into the dish. Our child was the one who gave the "GrrrD, OK" release command to eat as well. Soon she came to realize that, though small and newer to the family, our child controlled a very dear resource--her kibble--and was to be respected (at least in this matter).

A dog learns respect for his owner and acts in accordance with her wishes because doing so benefits the dog. It's much like a star employee doing a great job not from altruism but because he knows doing so guarantees his paycheck. Pinning a dog to the ground like some kind of mutant "alpha dog" does not create an obedient dog. It creates confusion (dogs are smart enough to know you are not a dog) and potentially fear aggression.

I like many of the pet behavior resources listed on Dr. Sophia Yin's website, and here is a link to her discussion on Learn to Earn. Some dogs graduate from basic deference training to advanced programs to learn how to become search-and-rescue dogs, guide dogs, etc. But even if your dog just learns to mind his manners in certain situations (e.g., not jumping on visitors, not lunging at other dogs on walks, not barking incessantly at the cat) it is worth the little bit of effort deference training takes.

Teaching a dog to sit

* Teaching a dog to sit can be as simple as saying the word "sit" (once, not a thousand meaningless times) while holding a delectable treat over his head and then moving it backwards over his neck. Most dogs will be so "into" the treat they will naturally sit down in order to keep it in view. Eventually the dog will associate the word "sit" and your hand motion with the action of sitting, doing so on command even without a real treat. 

We (people) all scream for ice cream!

Over the past year, I have talked about the dangers of feeding certain people foods to pets: grapes, brats, and chocolate have received special attention. Just the other day a client asked me to discuss the effects of feeding your dog dairy products like ice cream.

Now hold on. Before you begin to worry that you've been inadvertently poisoning your pooch with Wisconsin's finest dairy products, let me just say that this particular class of people food is not toxic. Many dogs and cats can and do enjoy a little dairy here and there with no obvious ill effect. But for some pets dairy should definitely be avoided.

First off, a chubby pet should not get people food period. It is just too hard to count calories for your pet when people food is involved. And just as a human dieter would be especially careful with sweets like ice cream, pudgy puppies and cobby kitties should lay off these treats too.

So what about those fit and active pets? Should they shy away from ice cream and other dairy treats? The short answer is "it depends." It may surprise you to learn that many dogs and cats are lactose intolerant. This means a saucer of cream for Kitty or spoonful of yogurt for Fido may result in vomiting, diarrhea or a belly ache.

Shadow, a black lab with chronic digestive problems, is a prime example of how dairy can be disastrous for dogs. When Shadow was rescued from the shelter, she was severely underweight. She suffered from diarrhea, vomiting and had elevated liver enzymes. After repeated courses of medications, she recovered from these ailments, but soon showed up at the clinic with severe pain in her back end. Diagnosed with hip dysplasia, Shadow was treated with a short course of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication and started on several long term joint supplements. Like many Labradors, Shadow also suffered from allergy aggravations and periodically needed treatment for itchy skin infections.

Fast forward a few years. Shadow returns to the veterinary clinic now overweight and with her allergies in full swing. Moreover, her owners are worried that her liver problems are back because Shadow pretty much always has diarrhea and vomits nearly every day. Happily Shadow's bloodwork comes back perfectly normal! Her fecal tests show nothing infectious. She appears to be happy and healthy -- certainly she is not wasting away! Based on her history of allergies, we decide to put Shadow on a special hypoallergenic diet. The owners are careful not to give any people food or treats during this time and Shadow's GI problems improve -- but only marginally. Frustrated, we sit down again and brain storm. What could be making Shadow sick?

Finally, we remember her joint supplement, a natural anti-inflammatory derived from milk. Could that be the culprit? Worried that Shadow's hips will act up if we stop the supplement, we nonetheless feel it's worth a try. Her owners stop the supplement but change nothing else. Sure enough, Shadow's vomiting stops immediately. Her stools start firming up soon after. Darn that dairy intolerance! Luckily Shadow's other non-dairy joint supplements are up to the challenge and she is doing fine now. No vomiting, no diarrhea, no hip pain and amazingly even her allergies are less severe this summer.

Shadow's case is dramatic, but it is probably not unique. Many pets eat milk, cheese, ice cream and yogurt. Many pets also suffer from apparently unexplained bouts of vomiting and soft stools. Is there a cause-and-effect relationship here? Perhaps. If you share dairy with your pet and he happens to suffer from frequent gastric disturbances it might be worthwhile to lay off the dairy entirely for a while to see if the belly aches subside. You can always choose a pet-friendly non-dairy substitute for that real Wisconsin ice cream!