Can I give my dog ibuprofen? HELLS NO.

Yesterday I came home from work to find four happy dogs... and a bottle of ibuprofen in the middle of my living room, with the pills clearly chewed on and scattered about. I knew that ibuprofen is dangerous for dogs, so I called the vet. Because I didn't know who had chewed on the ibuprofen, nor how much may have been swallowed, they advised that I rush all four to the emergency clinic. That's where I learned how dangerous ibuprofen is. 

Ibuprofen does all kinds of bad things to dogs, including ulcers, kidney failure, and neurological problems. Worse, it doesn't take much to cause these problems. GI problems, like ulcers, can happen at a dose as small as 25mg per kilogram. For my three little dogs, who each weigh around 15 pounds or 7kg, give or take, that means that as little as 175mg - or less than one tablet of ibuprofen - can cause serious problems. Kidney failure is likely at about 175mg per kilogram, or for my dogs, about six tablets.

By the time we got there, Pyg was throwing up, was lethargic, and was swaying on his feet. Not good. They took him back first and made him throw up. After consultation, we agreed that all four may have eaten some ibuprofen, and so the best course of action was to take the other three back.

That's when I learned that recovery from ibuprofen ingestion is a lengthy procedure. First, everyone has to throw up. Then, they need to eat activated charcoal, which helps neutralize anything that's been absorbed. (Pyg got bonus lipids to help even more since he was so sick and problem ate the most.) Next, they need to have GI protectants (to prevent ulcers or tears in the stomach). Finally, they need at least 48 hours of IV fluids to flush out the system. Regular blood work and UAs are taken to assess if any kidney damage has happened. Hopefully the throwing up and charcoal and fluids prevents that.

We're about 24 hours in right now. Everybody is doing well, even Pyg. He's clearly tired, but he's not dull and lethargic. When I visited, he just wanted to lean on me. I'm waiting for their second set of labs to come back, which will tell us if there's any kidney problems brewing. We don't anticipate this happening with any of them since we got treatment so fast, but I'll update when they're home - hopefully tomorrow, but maybe Monday.

In the meantime- everyone should know that if your dog eats ibuprofen, it is an immediate emergency.

Happy 5th Birthday, Lola!

I have known Lola for almost three years; I've lived with her for one. And while I never thought I would have a basset hound, I am so glad I do. Lola is sweet and affectionate. She's strong-willed and independent. She's a total pain in my ass, and yet so completely wonderful. She has completely changed my life.

Thank you, Lola, for taking care of mi amor y mi vida before I even knew him. Thank you for being (half) the reason we met. My life is so completely full of love and happiness in a way I never imagined possible. I am so grateful that you are my dog now, too.

Behavior Problem or Medical Problem?

The sweater in question.

Lola hates having her nails trimmed. Or her feet touched. Or, heck, even her legs, and it all came to a head a few months back when I was trying to make a fleece sweater for her without a pattern. This necessitated a lot of putting it on and taking it off as I worked out the alterations, and by the end of the day, Lo had nailed me right in the arm. She was D-O-N-E with this being touched stuff.

I've worked with dogs before who didn't like to be touched, so I got to work doing handling training. I started doing exercises to help Lola associate being touched with awesome things. I moved slowly, always watching her body language to ensure I didn't rush her. And things... well, they didn't really get better.

Oh, sure, sometimes she was okay with it, but other days she was immediately grumpy again. I also noticed that she got pretty grumbly when the boy-dogs would rough house too close to her. Not touching her, just near her. It was like she was telling them to keep their distance.

The first rule of behavior club is...
You know where this is going, right? Yup, it was time for a vet check. This is a pretty basic step when dealing with behavior problems, especially ones that crop up suddenly. Pretty much every trainer, behaviorist, and blogger I know recommends going to the vet to check for health problems before undertaking a training program.

Easy said, but harder to remember, especially when the problem sort of creeps up on you. Lola wasn't suddenly aggressive (she's not aggressive at all, actually), she was just acting a bit weird. And anyway, my dogs are no stranger to the vet. We go in for regular well checks, and I'm not afraid to have small things checked out in between. I also watch my dogs pretty closely so I know what's normal and what's not. I catch things early.

Like a needle in a haystack
Off to the vet we went. I mentioned my concerns, and our vet agreed that it sounded behavioral. The problem, of course, is that it's really hard to pinpoint a possible problem. Lola wasn't showing any stiffness. There was no limping, no panting, no licking or biting a certain area. In other words, this was a shot in the dark.

I know I'm not alone in that. I've heard plenty of people say that their vets didn't find anything on exam. I don't think that's the vet's fault at all. After all, our dogs can't tell us if and where they hurt, and I don't know about you, but I do not have the cash reserves to do x-rays and ultrasounds just to rule out a hunch. Still, because Lola's a basset hound, and thus acondroplastic (a type of dwarfism associated with malformed bones and cartilage), I thought there must be some pain in there.

Getting the most out of your exam
Now, I'm not a vet, but I've paid for a lot of vet care over the years, and in my experience, there are three main causes of pain:

1. Illness or injury
This one is probably the easiest to find clinically. Inspecting your dog for cuts or scrapes and taking vital signs can tell you a lot about what might be going on. Acute illness or injury tends to show up quickly and is therefore not usually mistaken for a behavioral problem. Still, sometimes there are sicknesses that fly under the radar. To get at these, regular lab work can help. The exact tests that are done will depend on your dog and the lifestyle risks unique to your situation, but in my experience, blood work (including a tick panel) and a urinalysis can tell you a lot.

2. Musculo-skeletal issues
Joint or muscle problems are much harder to pick up on, even with more obvious signs. Five or six years back, I noticed that Maisy had a very slight, occasional limp coupled with excessive panting, even when it wasn't hot. I took her to the vet, but they couldn't recreate the problem, so they told me not to worry. I ended up taking Maisy to a chiropractor, and later a doggy massage therapist, which did a lot to alleviate the pain.

3. Teeth problems
Dude, toothaches hurt. Unfortunately, I think mouth pain in dogs is more common than we think. Maisy is eight now, so when she started to slow down just a tad, I didn't think much of it. It's not like she got lethargic or anything; she was still playing and eating, just a bit quieter. At her well vet exam, the vet saw a chipped tooth and recommended a dental, but didn't think it was urgent. Well. When she got in there, it turns out Maisy had not one but two abscessed teeth that shattered when the vet went to pull them. Less than two weeks later, Maisy was full of puppy energy again, playing with the boy-dogs, and even doing a bit of tug!

Don't be afraid to try pain meds
I'm lucky to have a great relationship with a great vet. She did an incredibly thorough exam, and in so doing, found that Lola has very mild luxating patellas. So mild, in fact, that we aren't convinced that it was causing the possible pain; I suspect that due to Lo's front assembly, long back, and history of being overweight, she may have arthritis.

Either way, I requested a trial of pain meds. I wasn't expecting much from it, and I kind of think the vet was humoring me when she prescribed them, but the results were amazing. After a week of regular pain meds, both the grumbling about the boy-dogs and her grouchiness about being touched reduced by at least 75%! Of course, now we're left trying to figure what's causing the pain and how to address that. (That's a whole other post, of course!)

What about you guys?
Have you had a medical problem masquerading as a behavior problem? What did it end up being? And how did you find out? 

Project Gratitude: Diego's Surgery (and Pyg and Lola fail the CGC)

In September 2013, Maisy became suddenly and critically ill. Our blog readers rallied around us, providing us with the emotional and financial support needed to get through a very stressful time. Although I will never be able to pay you all back, I can pay it forward through Project Gratitude.

Please email me at reactivechampion (at) gmail (dot) com if you have an individual or cause that you would like me to consider donating to.

I recently participated in a fundraiser for my friend’s foster dog, Diego. Diego has a broken foot (leg?) and needs surgery to fix it. Until that’s done, it hurts and he is crabby about being touched, which I totally get. So, we need to get surgery for him.

My friend organized a CGC test as a fundraiser. All the proceeds went directly to Diego’s surgery fund. I also kicked in an extra $20.

The CGC part… well, we proved that you can’t cram for the CGC. Both dogs failed, although I was still quite proud of them for trying so hard.

Lola failed on the friendly dog (she was soooooo excited to see a friend!) and the loose leash walking (not surprising- there were good sniffs there, and Lo’s brain stops in the presence of sniffs). She failed the come when called exercise (she was very enthusiastic, but ran right past me), but was allowed to retry it because her long line got tangled in a cone. She passed on the retry.

Pyg failed on the friendly dog (OMG FRIEND), the appearance and grooming (you may not brush me, no sir!), and the stay (not at all surprised). 

So, we failed, but the dogs both tried really hard, and considering how much (er, little) I've trained them, I really didn't expect they would pass. Mostly, I wanted to donate to a good cause and get a baseline on their training.

Happy 4th birthday, Lola!

I have never felt any particular attraction to basset hounds... but when I look at this face, my heart is full of love. Happy birthday, Lolita.

Scaredy Cat, Part 1: Introduction to Rehabbing a Cat/Dog Relationship Gone Bad

This is Lola:

And this is Nicky:

And Lola hates Nicky. Well, "hates" might be too strong of a word, but she is definitely not a fan. In fact, she finds the kitty to be downright scary. In true Basset fashion, Lola expresses herself by barking. A lot. And loudly. Not only does she bark constantly, she's decided the best way to do so is by getting thisclosetohisface. Nicky, unsurprisingly, finds this annoying and retaliates by swatting her with his fully-clawed paws. Which just makes her bark some more.

Oh, and did I mention that Nicky and Lola will be living together soon? Yeah. Clearly, something needs to be done here. Luckily, I've done tons of work helping dogs overcome fear in the last five or six years, so I'm up for the task.

I have a three-pronged plan in mind:
1. Management (click here for a somewhat-related post on management)
2. Classical Counter Conditioning (click here if you need a refresher on counter conditioning)
3. Teaching Operant Behaviors (click here to find out why)

My plan is to write one post for each of these prongs, as well as our progress along the way. If you have a dog/cat relationship that needs help, please let me know what kind of problems you're running into and I'll try to include information to address those concerns!

Multi-Dog Blues

I apologize in advance: this post is going to be whiny and woe-is-me and venty. I don't usually do downer posts, but you know what? This is my blog, and this is what my life has been like. And if you all have good advice or can just commiserate... well, that'd be even better.

So I have four dogs now. I love my four dogs; they are each such just really cool individuals, and I honestly wouldn't give up any of them. But dear god, it's hard to have four dogs. Especially because I have two resource guarders and another who won't hesitate to fight. And bite. And even though I know you don't break up a dog fight by reaching between them to break them up... well, I'm a slow learner, I guess. On the plus side, I have matching bite-scars on both forearms.

This is a total blow to my pride. I'm a certified trainer, after all! Surely I should be able to handle this better! Plus, one of my good friends has eight dogs living in her house (six of her own, one foster, and one that belongs to her roommate), and she doesn't seem to have even half as many problems as I do! (She tells me that she's been doing this longer and has carefully chosen each dog to fit in with the rest, but mostly I just think she's smarter than me.) 

I keep telling myself it will get better. Only Maisy has really had any training, but we're working on the others. As the rest learn more, it should be easier. Cesar and I are getting better at predicting what will and will not cause fights, and therefore are getting better at management. And soon we will all live in the same house, which will be bigger and have a crate for each dog. This should make management easier, and will provide more consistent routines. I hope.

I don't mean to give you the wrong impression. In all honesty, we probably only have one fight a month, it's just that the fights tend to be much bigger than I'm okay with. And really, for the most part, all four dogs get along fairly well. They will all play together, though we limit that because of noise/shared housing concerns, so most of the time, it's Pyg and Napi playing. In the quieter, nap-type times, though, they've paired off in an unexpected way. Where Maisy is, Napi is, and Pyg and Lola tend to like each other's company.

But some days are just so hard. Please tell me I'm not alone? And maybe tell me what's worked for you?

We're Alive!

Whoops, I sort of fell off the face of the world there, now didn't I? If you follow the blog Facebook page, you know that I've been sick. Not the kind of sick where I've missed work, but the kind of sick that every bit of energy I had has gone to work and sleep. Since I've been gone for three weeks, how about a quick update on where things stand?

Napi
I think the big "storyline" that's been dropped is Napi. And that's actually pretty accurate, because my illness meant that Napi didn't get to finish his reactive dog class. I'm really bummed about that because if I'm honest, I'm much more motivated to train when I have a class to keep me accountable.

I'm not sure that Napi's meds are doing much. He's been on them for 5 weeks now, so I guess I'm being a bit impatient, but I know I saw more progress with Maisy when she was 5 weeks out than I have with Napi. Of course, it's kind of an apple/orange kind of comparison; Maisy and I had been actively working on her reactivity for two years by the time she'd started meds. I'm also really missing the the very detailed behavior logs (including a good baseline) that I had with Maisy. Without it, it's really hard to see progress.

Unexpected friends.

One good thing about being sick: I've discovered how incredibly sweet Napi is. He is a world-class cuddler, and I've grown incredibly fond of him. I may not want to do this whole reactive-dog-thing again, but he's definitely worth it.

Maisy
Perhaps the most interesting thing lately has been Maisy's relationship with Napi. She has decided that she quite likes him, thank-you-very-much, and plays with him way more than I would have expected. As a matter of fact, at this very moment she's trying to get into Napi and Pyg's wrestling session. They have also started to be a bit cuddly together, something I have very rarely seen in Maisy. I'll be very curious to see how this pans out.

Maisy's health- which seems to be her main storyline right now- is actually pretty good! She saw the ophthalmologist at the beginning of the month, and her corneal dystrophy has actually improved! I wanted to ask the doctor if it was an April Fool's joke... We did increase the strength of her eye drops, but I'm so glad to have seen even a slight improvement. And, after Maisy's most recent massage/acupressure/reiki session with Michelle Bame of Caring Canine Massage, she's been even more playful.

Lola
Last night, I took Lola to her first beginning obedience class. She is very different than Maisy or Pyg to train; slower, more thoughtful, and more deliberate. She's an eager student, and I'd very much like to get her CGC and maybe even a novice obedience title with her. I think it would be a good experience.

Lola is friendly-reactive. I've had a few of these dogs in classes, but never handled one directly before. Lola gets so damn excited to see friends that she can lose her mind. We had to spend the first 15 minutes of class behind a barrier in order to keep Lola from barking, and even after that, she would get pretty distracted by the other dogs. I think I'm going to enjoy working with her a lot. I know I like living with her.

I'm not sure which one is cuter.

Pyg
Pyg started the beginning obedience class last night, too- my fiance handled him during class. Let me just say that I was impressed with both of them. Pyg is a quick little dog; working with him can be a bit like having a butterfly on crack on a leash. He's everywhere, he's excited, he's intense. I love these qualities, but it was challenging for someone brand new to clicker training. Cesar rocked it, though- his timing is amazing, and they did really well together.

The longer I have Pyg, the more I love him. He's just got a great little personality. This morning I took him to an agility trial because I wanted something very specific from a vendor that was going to be there. He handled the environment like a pro. After a few minutes to settle in, he would see something exciting, and then turn to me for a cookie. By the end, he was sitting and watching me intently. We did a few sits and downs, and then left. I am very excited to do competitive stuff with him. He'll be fun!

Me
 I've been editing the second Fenzi-Jones book, and I'm pretty excited about it. This one is on motivation, and I think it's better than the first one. I cannot tell you how often I'll get all excited when I work on a passage, either because I totally agree (and had to learn the hard way) or because I've never been able to find the words to talk about it they way they have.

Other than that, not much to report. Just resting and recharging so I can get back to life! I'm not teaching right now and find that I really miss it. Pyg and I are getting ready for a 40 mile backpacking trip (less than a month!), so we've been hiking a lot to get us both physically ready. I'm sure that will be a riot...

La Casa del Cuatro

Observant folks may have noticed some changes around the blog. The “About Me” section, the sidebar, the header, and a recent post have all indicated some pretty big changes happening I have four dogs now.

The two new kids on the block are inherited dogs, not chosen dogs; they belong to my fiance. We don't all live together just yet, but the plan is to merge households in June. There's a bit of work to be done before this happens, which is good news for you, my dear readers, as it gives me blog fodder.

Like an angel.

Lola is a three-and-a-half-year-old basset hound. She is as sweet as the day is long, and I'm simply enamored of her. She's a special dog, holding a place in my fiance's heart the way Maisy does in mine; she carried him through a cross-country move and some lonely times.

Although Lola hasn't had much training, she doesn't need much, either. She's a very typical pet dog without a lot of issues. Except she's afraid of cats. And I have a cat. This, of course, is a pretty big barrier to us all living together, so it's something I've had to start working on. But more on this soon.

Cats love boxes. Napi loves boxes. Therefore, Napi is a cat?

Napi (short for Napoleon) is an almost two-year-old chihuahua (mix?). My fiance rescued him in the most literal way possible: he saw the neighbors beating Napi, so he went over to them and said, “You don't like your dog. Either give him to me and I'll find him a home, or I'm calling the police.” They gave him the dog, and my fiance found him a home... at his house. That wasn't the plan, but I guess foster failing runs in the family.

Napi is reactive, especially towards men, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to surmise why. So far, we've started working on some management (Napi doesn't get to go to the dog park with the rest of us anymore), but soon I'll begin training him in earnest. I can't say that I was eager to have another reactive dog, but Napi is sweet and funny, and I'm glad to have him in my life.

I'm sure future posts will discuss how we've been integrating the family in preparation for living together, but I'll address the burning question now: how does everyone get along? The answer is: surprisingly well. Pyg and Napi are actually really well matched. They have similar play styles, and it's been a relief to be able to get the boys together to play during this long winter. Lola enjoys playing too, although due to her size, she finds it hard to keep up with the younger, more agile boys.

And Maisy? Well, Maisy will forever be the socially awkward only child that she's always been. She tolerates the other dogs just fine, but given a choice, she will play ball with one of the humans. For the most part, she ignores the others and does her own thing, but since it's working for everyone, I've got no complaints.