Health & Wellness Archives • Page 2 of 4 • Three Dogs Training

Encounters with Skunks, and a Face-full of Skunk Spray

When you don’t have access to fancy skunk wash, here’s a homemade recipe we’ve been using for years.

Of the five dogs who lived with me in the log house in the woods, only one of them had encounters with skunks. Dante was skunked more than a half-a-dozen times. He was always on the look-out for skunks. And when he caught the sent of one, he was gone in a flash. Then back home with a face-full of skunk spray.

I will never know why Dante was so attracted to skunks. He always seemed so happy when he got back home. I have noticed that puppy breath smells oddly similar to mild skunk spray. Just sayin’.

We tried many things to clean Dante when he would have his encounters with skunks. And then happened upon this homemade Skunk Wash formula. It seemed to work as well as pet-store-bought solutions. But it’s made out of ingredients nearly everyone has in their pantry or can get quickly at the grocery store. So, if you find your dog with a face-full of skunk spray and you don’t have special skunk wash, try this…

Skunk Wash Formula

1 quart (4 cups) of 3% Hydrogen Peroxide

1/2 cup of Baking Soda (Sodium Bicarbonate)

1 teaspoon of liquid soap

Mix together to make a shampoo for your furry pal.

Rinse well to remove the shampoo from the fur after vigorously shampooing.

You may need to double or triple this recipe depending on the weight of your dog.

dog in a bathtub after encounters with skunks — Dante in tub after one of his encounters with skunks

The ASPCA has some additional tips on dogs and skunks.

Here are some training tips to help you can prevent skunking. See Sprayed by Skunks in Montana.

But in the meantime, be prepared. Most dogs who get skunked are repeat offenders.

😫

Hot Dogs – Summer in the City

Summer in New York City is brutal for dogs.

My phone says it’s 87 degrees as I type this on June 20, 2021, 3pm. (Just wait until July and August…)

This afternoon I was walking south on Amsterdam Avenue when I saw a cute fluffy dog headed north. We were both waiting for the light to change at Ninety Seventh Street. The dog caught my eye because it was wearing a head halter and if those are too tight, a dog can’t pant correctly which is a problem in the heat. But that seemed fine and the dog was panting appropriately.

Then I saw the feet. The dog stood on the dark asphalt waiting for the light to change then began to lift one paw up off the pavement, then rotated to the next, and the next until the light changed. At that point the dog hopped like a person walking across hot sand. The owner was not paying attention and was unaware of her dog’s discomfort.

The Vets-Now website has an article outlining the dangers of hot pavement and just how hot is hot…

If the outside temperature is a pleasant 25C (77F), there’s little wind and humidity is low, asphalt and tarmac can reach a staggering 52C (125F).
This can rise to 62C (143F) when the mercury hits 31C (87F).
It’s worth bearing in mind that an egg can fry in five minutes at 55C (131F) while skin destruction can occur in just one minute at 52C (125F).
Iain Harrison
Iain is Vets Now’s senior communications manager.

What to do?

Go out early.
Go out late.
If you have to go out in the heat of the day – be quick about it.
Look for the shade, and don’t have your dog standing on the dark asphalt.

Luckily for Pax’e, I don’t tolerate the heat well, so she is always hiding with me from the sun in the shade of buildings, trees, scaffolding, and awnings while we avoid the dark asphalt like it’s flowing lava. Another lucky break for Pax’e is that her feet have long hair covering the foot pads. This can act as a kind of insulation against the heat of the street and it requires me to wipe/wash her feet every time we come in. She may disagree that the washing is a benefit, but it helps with cooling and lets me inspect her feet.

There are hosts of suggestions to be found online that offer remedies for dog’s feet on hot pavement. These can include booties, stickies, paw wax, and passive techniques like stay out of the sun, don’t stand on the dark asphalt with your dog, cool their feet when you come in. And…

…Pay attention to your dog’s behavior and believe what your dog is telling you.

Dante told us…

When NYC summers were too hot for him…

…he’d climb in the cool porcelain tub and fall asleep.

Nails part #1

Here is one of my favorite students, Bandit, taking care of his front nails himself on the sanding board. As you can see, he is enjoying himself.

Taking care of our dog’s nails can sometimes be an arduous task but it is a necessary one.

Bandit Stool trick — “Couldn’t I just sit here on this stool looking cute until you forget about that whole nail thing?”

If a dog’s nails grow too long, the nails push against the ground every time the dog puts weight on his or her feet which affects the movement of different joints by shifting the alignment of the leg bones and that can cause our dogs pain and lead to arthritis. It is hard to imagine that long nails can cause our dogs hip, knee, spinal pain and more, but it’s like that old song, “…shin bone connected to the knee bone…”

Sometimes our dogs allow nail trimming with little protest, but more often than not, if we have not trained our dogs to tolerate (and even love) nail clipping or dremmeling, they are only putting up with it.

“Love it?” You say?

Indeed. Before my fringy dog Pinball came along, all my dogs had their nails demmeled. They came running when they heard me taking out any power tool, disappointment showing on their faces when it wasn’t the Dremmel, but my saw or nail gun instead.

But, when it was Dremmel time, it was party time!

Because Pinball had such long fringe, I could not Dremmel his nails. The fringe from his tail got caught in the sanding drum early on in his nail dremmeling career, and that was enough for all of us. Instead, I had to clip his nails, which is not my favorite. I’ll admit it, I am a “quick wimp” and because of my fear of clipping his quick, I never cut too much away. This left his nails always a little too long.

It was time to teach him the sanding board.

Here is one of my favorite students, Bandit, taking care of his front nails himself on the sanding board. As you can see, he is enjoying himself.

“Nails part #2” will instruct you on how to build a sanding board.

“Nails part #3” will outline how to teach your dog to love sanding his or her own nails on your very own sanding board!

Stay tuned!

Pets and your Health, Puppy Training

Dr Frank Adams of SiriusXM’s Doctor Radio has a great show each month called “Pets and your Health.”

I was flattered to be invited to speak with them again yesterday, March 7th about puppies and all the questions that come with having a new puppy.

This a wonderful show (not just because they like me) but because Dr. Adams’s guests answer questions on a variety of pet-related topics and showcase the ever increasing data demonstrating how pets make our lives better.

If, like me, you are in your car a lot and have SiriusXM, you can listen for the re-broadcast of this episode Friday 4am to 6am, Sunday 6am to 8am on channel 110. If your not up and awake enough at these times to listen, you can always stream this episode and others on SiriusXM Doctor Radio.

Just as a shout out to SiriusXM Doctor Radio, besides Dr Adams’s shows “Pets and Your Health” and “Pulmonology,” there are plenty of other great shows to listen into, from “Health Care Connect” that answers all your insurance related questions at a time when we all have questions on this topic, to dermatology, men’s health, women’s health, nutrition, child and adult psychology and more.

Slow your dog’s Speed Eating!

Slow your dog’s speed eating with enrichment and training.

Snuffle mat for enrichment and to slow her speed eating

A question came to my attention the other day.

Our puppy’s been with us for two weeks now and the speed at which she eats is starting to get out of control. She’s a breed that’s prone to bloat so we know we need to slow our dog’s speed eating. But we tried putting half of her food in her bowl at first and then the second half later but she just wolfs it down just as fast no matter how much we give her. Help!

It is a problem if a dog eats too quickly because swallowed air can lead to bloat and gastric torsion which can be huge medical emergencies.

On the other hand, your puppy is telling us that she’s extremely food-motivated – which will make training her as she grows up that much easier once we slow down her speed eating.

First, some of your pup’s kibble should be wetted with water and allowed to absorb some of that water before it is given to her. This should slow her down a bit.

But then…

There’s a two-word answer to this problem: Puzzle Toys to slow her speed eating.

By delivering some of your puppy’s meantime kibble in a puzzle toy you’ll not only slow down your dog’s speed eating but you’ll also be providing her significant amounts of cognitive stimulation as she has to figure out (and work at) getting her food out of the toy. ENRICHMENT!

There are puzzles toys that deliver food as the dog manipulates them like the Twist ‘n Treat, Atomic Treat Ball, Tricky Treat Ball, Tornado, Snuffle Ball, and others.

We used a few of these to slow our speed eating goofy black LabMix, Porthos. After two bouts of bloat, he spent the rest of his life eating at least 50% of all his meals from on of these puzzle toys.

There are also other great products like snuffle mats, lick mats, the old fashioned Kong, snuffle balls, and snuffle bowls. Some snuffle mats can get pretty elaborate. I choose the simple snuffle bowl for my current dog, but you can go nuts with the variety of puzzle products.

I have one client who puts her dog’s snuffle mat into a box and lets the dog rip the box open to get to the snuffle mat.

In addition to puzzle toys, a good way to slow down the speed of your puppy’s eating is to set aside a portion of her kibble and use it as training treats. She’ll not only eat as slowly as you’d like by you setting the pace of the training session, but you’ll also get a head start on using solid positive reinforcement training techniques to help her become a great dog.

Bottom line… Make it Fun!!!