How to Choose a Puppy

Preparing to welcome a new dog to your family is an exciting time. Regardless of whether you will be searching shelters or interviewing breeders, it is important to do some research on what type of dog will mesh best with your lifestyle.

1. Puppy or adult? Adopting a puppy allows you to choose a dog with a temperament best suited to you and puts you in control of his early education. However, puppies require a lot of time, training and patience. If you do not have a lot of time for housetraining, socialization and obedience work, adopting an adult dog might be a better choice.

2. Breed: This is a very important consideration that requires careful thought and study. Many types of dogs have been specifically bred for certain habits and temperament. You and your future dog will be happiest if  you share common interests. For example, if you are a confirmed couch potato, a high energy border collie is not a great choice. Consider also the anticipated adult size of the canine candidates. If you live in a studio apartment, a St. Bernard puppy may not be a good fit for long!

Meet and interact with each of the puppies in a litter
to determine each pup's temperament.

3. Temperament: A dog's temperament is his personality. When selecting a puppy from a litter, observe how he interacts with his littermates. A confident puppy--who stands over or chases the others--is more likely to be strong-willed and dominant as an adult. The puppy hiding in the corner is more likely to have anxiety later on. A puppy who plays easily with his littermates, but happily follows you around when removed from the litter is a well-adjusted puppy.

If you are considering a shelter or rescue dog, find out as much as you can about his history and socialization. How does he interact with volunteers and other dogs in the shelter? How does he behave during feedings, on walks, in the kennel, when groomed?

The important thing to remember about temperament is that it is an innate part of the dog's personality. Training will NOT change his personality, but his personality will affect the type of training he will need.

4. Age at Adoption: Sadly, some very serious behavior issues stem from removing a puppy too early from his mother and littermates. Just because a puppy is weaned and eating dry dog food does NOT mean he is mature enough to leave his mother. Essential neurological and social development occurs during and after the time of weaning. Pups that leave the litter before they are 8 weeks old are at much higher risk of being fearful and anxious. Trainer Maryna Ozuna describes Five Week Puppy Syndrome for International Association for Canine Professionals Safe Hands Journal (Winter 2009-10):

• excessive mouthiness
• lack of bite inhibition
• hard biting at extraordinarily young ages
• lack of tolerance to sensory stimulation: touch, noise, visual confusion
• lack of tolerance about most anything in general
• lack of ability to generalize
• slowness of learning
• difficulty sequencing concepts and learning
• lack of bounce back
• easily confused
• highly vocal when upset or confused
• high startle response (startles easily and extremely at low stimuli)

The "piling" of puppies seen here is crucial to the normal
neurological and social development of the dog. Taking a
puppy from the litter before 8 weeks old can hinder
proper development leading to anxiety, aggression and
training disabilities.

In recent months I have met two puppies who fit this bill perfectly. One is a Brittany Spaniel who joined his human family at the very tender age of 5 weeks old! His owners complain that he is strangely and annoyingly vocal. He strongly resents affectionate touching, especially around his face. The other pup is a Visla who, though only a few months old, bites his humans extremely hard and viciously. He too is very vocal.

If these symptoms describe your early-adopted dog, don't despair. A good trainer or behaviorist can help you recondition your dog through appropriate handling, careful exposure to stimuli and tolerance training. Sometimes early separation from the mother dog is unavoidable due to her serious illness or death. However, if you are interviewing breeders and they routinely send pups home before 8 weeks of age, look elsewhere or insist the pup stay with the litter and mother longer.

5. A Word About Runts: My veterinary clients frequently report to me that they intentionally sought out the runt of the litter. While a Fern-like* desire to nurture the smallest, weakest animal is admirable, it can lead to heartache. Many times the runt of the litter is tiny because there is something physically wrong with it. Congenital liver, kidney and heart conditions, for example, can cause stunted growth and decreased vigor. While certainly every dog deserves a loving home, be prepared if choosing the runt for the increased possibility of  intensive, costly veterinary care and/or a shortened life span.

It is very difficult to overcome our emotional and psychological tendencies to choose a puppy based on it's visual appeal or antics. A little ball of fluff with mournful puppy dog eyes is hard to resist. For this reason, it is nearly impossible for some of us to visit a shelter or litter without bringing home an unplanned companion. However, it is essential for the health, happiness and well-being of your future relationship with your pet to choose wisely.

* In the classic novel Charlotte's Web by E.B. White, the heroine Fern saves runt piglet Wilbur from certain death and he grows up to be "Some Pig."

No Fleas Please!

Most of the leaves have fallen from the trees. The last of our tomatoes have been harvested and sit ripening (I hope) on the kitchen counter. The fields surrounding our farmhouse lay brown and dry. Flocks of geese crisscross the sky on their southward hunt for food. As the natural world settles in for the long winter ahead, it is easy to become complacent about parasite protection in our pets. But just as box elder bugs dot the sunny sides of our houses looking for a way inside, fleas are also on high alert for a hiding spot. If you are as unlucky as several of my clients in this fall, these fleas might just hijack your dog or cat.

The three flea cases we saw most recently were discovered during routine examination. The owners were taken completely by surprise by the discovery. It is very important to know that not all pets with fleas are itchy, just as not all itchy pets have fleas.

The first two cases were canine housemates. While I examined the head of one of the dogs, the owner nonchalantly asked what kind of tiny bug it was she just saw swim through the fur on the back end. Fleas can be tricky little buggers. They usually aren’t seen bouncing off the pet as in cartoons. In fact, more often than find fleas, we will find “flea dirt” on the pet’s skin.

The many black specks seen on this cat's back are flea dirt.

Flea dirt is the digested blood meal taken from the pet. Flea dirt is flea poop. A special fine toothed comb is used to brush through the pet’s fur and collect flea dirt (and sometimes fleas). When wet, the flea dirt turns back into blood making diagnosis grisly but firm. Both dogs in this family were covered in flea dirt, suggesting the infestation was fairly long standing. Yet neither dog was itchy, missing any hair nor had any sores on their skin!

The other surprising case involved a puppy presented for a spay. Several fleas were found while her abdomen was clipped for surgery. She did not have any noticeable flea dirt, so we suspect her infestation was quite recent. Much to our dismay, her disbelieving owner was certain she must have gotten fleas in the clinic. Indeed anywhere animals congregate there is risk of fleas and other infections being shared. This is why I strongly urge my clients to apply flea and tick preventative to their pet before taking them to the kennel for boarding regardless of the quality of the kennel. However, the likelihood that this puppy caught several fleas during the brief time she spent alone in her stainless steel kennel awaiting surgery is quite low. In fact, it was later learned that her hunter owner had briefly brought a flea-ridden dead animal into the house. (Fleas flee dead animals quickly making it even more important for hunting dogs to remain on a preventative throughout hunting season!)

Flea eggs and flea dirt (poop) in carpet beside the head
of a pin.

Many pet owners justify not using a flea product because they believe if fleas were present they would have been bitten themselves. Fleas do bite people if the opportunity arises. The owner of one of my flea-infested feline patients explained she sprayed insecticides around her bed every morning because she kept finding bites on her skin! Since treating all the cats in the home for fleas and doing environmental clean-up, the number of human bites are decreasing.

A diagnosis of fleas is relatively easy and satisfying to make. The treatment aftermath is something else entirely.

1.     Whenever we meet a pet with fleas, the clinic is vacuumed thoroughly to remove any fleas or flea eggs. Then we close down that examination room and spray all surfaces with an insect growth regulator (IGR). Our IGR spray kills adult fleas and halts reproductive development of immature fleas.

2.     The pet owner must undertake aggressive cleaning at home as well. This includes frequent vacuuming of all surfaces; laundering bedding in hot water and high heat drying; fogging, bombing or spraying with an IGR; and treatment of ALL animals in contact with the affected pet.

3.     USE EXTREME CAUTION AND CONSULT YOUR VETERINARIAN if using an over-the-counter product not specifically prescribed for your situation. Many products are deadly to cats, while another product very well tolerated by dogs and cats is fatally toxic to rabbits!

4.     When fleas persist it is not generally insecticide resistance but failure to use effective flea products as directed. Did you remember to treat your cousin’s beagle  who hangs out at your place every few weeks? Did you remember to treat your own pets every month for at least 3 months? Certain stages of the flea cannot be killed so if you stop treating before these flea babies have matured and are susceptible to killing, you will have a perpetual flea problem.

5.     Rabbits and rodents are notorious flea reservoirs. If you have a lot of rabbits in your yard, your pets are at high risk of wandering into the flea circus at some point. Removal of rabbits and their dens as well as outdoor insecticide treatments are helpful in the control of fleas on your pets.

Fleas carry all sorts of diseases. Ever heard of the Plague? This devastating historical disease that decimated European human populations during the Middle Ages still crops up from time to time, even in the United States. Fleas carry a tapeworm that dogs and cats contract from ingesting the fleas crawling on their skin. Cats also can acquire a dangerous form of infectious anemia caused by a flea-borne microorganism.

Prevention of disease is always the best medicine. Avoid a case of the heebie-jeebies by using a flea preventative in your pets. A few dollars a month spent on a good preventative is a reasonable insurance investment. Your pet's comfort and safety as well as your sanity may be at stake!

Pica: It's What's NOT for Dinner

Have you ever had a stomachache you tried to "feed" into submission? The kind of gnawing abdominal pain that prompts you to nibble your way experimentally throughout the pantry--a chunk of chocolate, a handful of crackers, a bowl of cereal, a piece of fruit--without any food item satisfying that urge? If you have ever experienced this kind of munching you will probably empathize with the dogs in today's blog.

X-ray showing a padlock in a dog's stomach

Nearly everyone has heard of a dog or cat having emergency surgery to remove an object lodged in its stomach or intestines. Ribbons, toys, socks and bones are common gastrointestinal foreign bodies. But why does this happen? What drives an animal to ingest something non-nutritious and so harmful?

The eating of non-food items is called pica. Pica happens in people, too. A classic example is the pregnant woman who eats soil due to an iron deficiency. Pica in people and animals may be related to nutritional deficiency, nausea, stress, hunger or other discomfort. In animals, intestinal parasites are another common and probably overlooked cause of an insatiable and inappropriate appetite.

The worst case of pica I ever saw was in a middle-aged Labrador Retriever. Her owner rushed her to the clinic after finding rocks and blood in her vomit. She had eaten so much gravel from the floor of her outdoor dog run that I could feel it crunching in her stomach when I palpated her abdomen. Her x-ray showed a stomach chock-full of gravel with gravel overflowing into her intestines. She was gravely ill and her owner predicted that she would continue this self-destructive behavior even if he elected for her to have surgery, so she was humanely euthanized. This case has troubled me for years. Why did she eat that many rocks? Was it worms? Boredom? Gastric ulcer or cancer?

Recently, I removed a piece of a toy from the stomach of a Saint Bernard puppy named Roulette, who had a recent history of devouring everything in sight. It started innocently enough. The owners worried about Roulette eating a dead vole and later a dead bird before they could intercept these grisly snacks. At the time, I thought little of it. As disgusting as it may seem, dogs of all ages find carrion to be an acceptable food. Because she was being dewormed, there was little harm in her eating the random carcass. But then she deliberately gulped down a plastic squeaker as her owner reached for a stuffed toy she had decimated.

Replica of the toy squeaker surgically
removed from a puppy's stomach

When the squeaker didn't get puked up after Roulette began vomiting, we leaped into action. An x-ray of her abdomen showed nothing definitive. Generally only mineral, metal and materials impregnated with radiopaque chemicals show up as foreign body obstructions on an x-ray. Unfortunately most obstructions, such as socks and plastic squeakers, blend in with kibble and organ tissue. A pattern of gas or bunching of intestines may be all that gives away the presence of a foreign body. In some cases, the pet will be fed barium or special radiopaque beads with a series of abdominal x-rays showing the progress of this material through the GI tract. Where it hangs up the culprit lies!

Roulette was rushed into surgery based on the certainty she had eaten the rather large plastic squeaker and was definitely feeling sick from it. Indeed a gory chewed up squeaker was removed from her stomach. Roulette recovered from surgery well. Since transitioning to a new dog food after surgery she has stopped devouring everything in sight making me believe her former food left her stomach unsettled to the point she was trying to fill the void with all things imaginable.

Of course, not all dogs ingest non-food items because of an underlying abdominal complaint. Many dogs eat socks, underwear and sanitary napkins, for example, because frankly these items are downright delicious to dogs. If the dog is fortunate, he will vomit or defecate the strange item out without it causing any real harm. A  Brittany Spaniel puppy patient of mine gobbled up (and then luckily puked up) a tampon he found in the trash. An unusually bad infestation with intestinal worms proved to be the underlying trigger of his pica.

Some obstructions are simply accidents. A friend's dog had a habit of swiping golf balls off the lawn and was seen to accidentally swallow one as he trotted around with it. In surgery to remove the known golf ball from his stomach, six more were found rolling around in there! Many cats accidentally ingest strings, ribbons and dental floss (extremely dangerous foreign bodies) while playing with them.

Then there was the female Golden Retriever with severe separation anxiety who ate a couch one day when her owner went to work. A large wad of stuffing was removed from her stomach. Fortunately, aggressive treatment for her psychological stress dramatically reduced her pica after that.

While many pets do chew up and ingest strange things, an insatiable appetite for non-food items may actually stem from a medical problem. Before you chalk up your pet's pica to an annoying behavioral quirk, consult your veterinarian and be prepared to provide a detailed history about your pet's lifestyle, diet, deworming status and eating habits.