Dogs going to friends

Are you going on holiday and leaving your dog with friends or family, who don´t own a dog?

If so, I´ve just read an article by ¨find my lost dog¨ and it stresses some good points that we, as dog owners, might take for granted that everyone knows.

Most people are aware that a car is a dangerous place for dogs to be left in the heat of the summer, but what most people don´t consider is the amount of time a dog can quickly deteriorate.

A chat with a teacher, a stop-off for groceries, a chat with someone you haven´t seen for a while, popping in to make a doctor´s appointment, all these everyday situations can endanger dogs when the minutes’ tick away.

The article by ´find my lost dog´ suggests a few ways of getting the message across to people who might not be aware. However, I´m one of those worriers who has to make sure the message is loud and clear! “Please don´t leave the dog in the car, even for a few minutes. It can kill them.”

The RSPCA says that when temperatures are 22c outside, the inside of a car can get to 47c in less than an hour. A dog can die within twenty minutes. So that ´quick´ stop at the shops, that chat, or the waiting in the doctor´s queue, can make all the difference to a dog´s well-being.

So if you have friends, relatives, or helpful neighbours looking after your dog, just make sure they are aware of the awful consequences of leaving a dog in a car on a warm or worse still, a hot day.

Read the article on ´find my lost dog´ here.

Dogs, the mother of all emergencies.

An ordinary Friday evening up the hill. Settled down to watch a film, Sommersby.  Can recommend this one, with a great twist. All the dogs sleeping in their usual places. Went to bed around eleven-thirty and within minutes, felt myself dozing off.

We only have a small house, and the dogs separate themselves into various rooms and places for the night. However, through the night, they have a swap around causing a bit of commotion now and again. Friday was no different. Bonnie, was moaning and we´d only been in bed half-an-hour.

“Will you stop. No one´s anywhere near you,” I called out. Eventually I got up and let her out of the door. Then she proceeded to bark. Up again, to let her back in. Then she moans again. Repeat previous routine, meanwhile, hubby sleeps soundly.

Get back into bed and settle down again. By now it´s 1 o´clock. Arnie, in his usual spot next to me, begins to growl.

“Will you stop. For goodness sake, I only want to sleep!” The growling continued, so I put on the light.

Dexter, my biggest dog, weighing in at 43kilos, is sitting looking at me, his nose an inch from my face. “Dex, what´s the matter, they´re just being silly, go and lie down.” He walks to the door and looks at me. “Do you want to go out?” I let him out. Bonnie goes out with him. Now it´s 1:30. Get back into bed. Bonnie moans and whines, then barks. Up again. “Get in here! Oh, who´s been sick?” There is white froth in several places on the terrace. Bonnie and Dexter wander back into the house while I get the mop bucket.

As I walked back indoors, Dexter, has been sick, more white froth, and he´s standing in it, very still. “What´s the matter?” I stroked him, but he stands like a statue. I called through to my husband. “Dexter´s ill.”

“Right,” he mumbles back.

“Seriously, he´s ill.” Tim leaps out of bed, we stand and look at Dex, who takes a couple of steps and then lies on the floor.

As we watch, his stomach starts to swell. It´s hard to touch. I switch on the computer and google, ´dog bloated stomach´. I scan the page, ´if not treated, death´.

Mad rush to pull on clothes, ring vet, no answer. Manage to get Dexter out to the car and lift him into the back. By now, he is lethargic, stomach massive and his breathing slow. The only 24-hour vet, is 45 minutes away.

Tried ringing vet again, but still no answer. Pull up outside closed gates and ring the emergency bell. Nothing. Try again and again. The automatic gate slowly opens and we drive in.

A young vet comes out to the back of the car. Dexter looks like he´s already left us. She runs back into the clinic and returns a moment later with a needle that has a plastic cone on the end. She jabs it into his side, and smelly gas hisses out.

Eventually the gas stops and we lift him into the clinic. He´s barely breathing and not responding. The vet, who we later learned is called Amanda, inserts a drip, and goes to make a phone call.

She returns, gives him an injection and adds pain relief to the drip. She says they will operate as soon as he is a bit stronger. His heart rate quickens and although, he´s still out of it, there is some response.

We help her put him in a kennel, say goodbye, and leave him. He is oblivious!

By now it is 4 o´clock. Amanda had told us that the stomach/intestines twist and separate. There is not a definite reason for this to happen.

We got home and searched the internet.

The illness is called Gastric Dilation and Volvulus (GDV). GDV happens when gas or food stretch the stomach. When the distended stomach rotates, the gas is trapped and blocks the stomach´s blood supply.

Main causes:

• Dogs over 45kg or 99lbs (20% chance of bloat in these large dogs. Great Danes, St Bernard, and Weimaraner are at great risk due to their deep chests).
• Dogs aged between 7 and 12
• Dogs who are fed only once a day
• Dogs who are fed and then take exercise
• A family history of the condition
• Eating too quickly

Dexter is deep chested and within the weight category.

Smaller dogs can get this too, but it is rarer.

The vet who operated called me at 5:30. Half the stomach wall was black, but returning to pink as the operation finalised. The next 48 hours were crucial.

At least, he had made it through the op!

We´ve been visiting now for two days and he is so poorly. The vet, Ana, who had operated, did tests and found his kidney´s weren´t working properly. He also has an infection.

We´re keeping everything crossed that he pulls through.

I´ll update as soon as there is more news, but just wanted to post this so other dog owners can be aware.

Don´t try and diagnose the condition yourself. If your dog´s stomach starts to bloat – get him to a vet.  A dog can die in a really short space of time with this illness.

Duke

To lose a beloved dog is a devastating loss that leaves an aching emptiness.

A pet changes you; you have a relationship unique to the two of you, and a special bond. The void they leave is deep and painful.

A dog gives unconditional love that is like no other, and when they go to doggie heaven it is hard to accept. We tell ourselves they´re not suffering; they´re in a better place, they are at peace, but in reality it´s a ploy to try and make us feel better.

You lose a best friend, a companion, a welcome home, a waggy tail, the sharing of a snack, someone to walk with to talk to, to make you giggle. Someone to brighten your day and so, so much more.

You hear little sounds, and for a moment you forget and think they´re still with you.

Duke was only with me for a short length of time. He turned up one morning in March, skin and bone. He had a bad case of Leishmania, sometimes referred to as known as dog aids. His stomach was affected, and no amount of food or medication made a difference. It was too late.

We enjoyed swims in the lake, runs around the mountain, and hazy summer days with a kitten we had adopted. The kitten quickly decided that Duke made a great friend and they played from dawn till dusk.

One Saturday afternoon, he literally lay down and died.

The devastation to my life kicked in. Could I have done more? He was only two years old, he deserved better. What if… Of course there were no answers, life isn´t fair.

He was buried in a lovely spot.  A headstone with his name carved out marked the spot and I used to talk to him every day, sad as it may seem, I hoped for some sort of closure, but it was not to be. I felt ashamed of being so devastated over a dog, as only people who had the same experience would understand.

Gradually, as the spring arrived and his grave bloomed with an array of plants, I realised I had become accustomed to my loss.

It was around the same time, my daughter went to have a reading. I was quite sceptical, but she had just lost a friend and, as we all do, she was trying to find some sense to why her friend of only 32 with three small children, had gone.

At the end of the reading, the man put his hand down to one side. An Alsatian has joined us, he told her. She replied she never had one. For a moment, the man looked down to the spot he was now fondling (in mid-air) oh no, it´s your mum´s, he confirmed.

He wants your mum to know he´s okay and she´s to stop worrying. On the way home tomorrow, she should drive slowly down the bypass road.

My daughter took this as a warning and called me immediately.

The following afternoon, I almost decided to drive the long way around and miss the bypass road altogether, but then thought better of it. I´d just take it easy, there might be something worse on the alternative route, and anyway I didn´t believe in all this stuff, my family were probably just trying to get me over the loss the best way they knew how.

As I rounded a corner, a dog ran out in front of the car. I slammed on the brakes in shock. Was this what Duke meant? It surely couldn´t be true. I got out of the car and the beautiful Belgian Malinois ran up and started licking me. He jumped in the car.

Bodie

“Looks like you´re coming home with me then.” I ruffled his head and he sat in the passenger seat, and focused on the track all the way to the house.

For the sceptics amongst you, this might have been a coincidence, but…. Bodie´s temperament is identical to Duke´s. He is livelier; Duke would never have licked me or jumped into the car uninvited. However, if Bodie hadn´t taken the initiative, would he now have a home? In Spain, there are so many strays and this one just looked like a dog out for the afternoon. He had no chip.

One lucky dog found a nice home where he is loved, and one gorgeous boy went to live in heaven.

I´ll never forget and my love will never dwindle, but that message gave me closure and the rest is history.

Happy memories,

Pippa Pennington

Keep your dog’s microchip up to date

According to Dog’s Trust, a charity in the UK, between April 2015 and March 2016, 37,283 dogs were left unclaimed in shelters. One in eight had chips, but couldn’t be returned to their owners as the chips had not been updated.

Dog’s Trust carried out a survey of local authority kennels which revealed the findings and also found that 3,463 dogs had been destroyed during that time.

Micro-chipping is now a legal requirement in most countries, and there is little argument why people who proclaim to care for their canine friends wouldn’t microchip, even if it wasn’t law. How else is your furry friend going to find his way home especially if you move or visit an unknown area? Gates are sometimes unwittingly left open. Fences blow down. Be aware and safeguard your furry friend.

BBC Radio 4 spoke to Jon Gerlis at Dog’s Trust who said that only 9% of dog owners saw updating a chip when moving as a priority, this compared unfavourably with updating a television.

Although the total number of strays, handled by councils in UK, had decreased by 21% to 81,050 there is still a lot of work to be done.

Chief Executive of Dog’s Trust, Adrian Burder said that with over 37,000 dogs unclaimed last year, the local authorities just don’t have the resources to care for every dog.

Did you know that chips can move? They have been known to travel away from the place they were implanted. Vets will usually scan a large area to locate a chip, but not everyone is thorough. Chips can also, for no apparent reason, become unresponsive.

Next time you visit the vet, ask him to check the chip is still active, and check the details are up to date. A chip is not a set it and forget it electronic device. Things do go wrong, and your dog’s life could depend on it.

Stay safe,

Pippa Pennington

Talking to your dog

Dog lovers the world over talk to their dogs, and now studies have found that they do understand what you say, and if you are sincere.

Dogs love genuine praise, and researchers in Hungary proved this by scanning dog’s brains. When praised sincerely the reward centres lit up, but nothing changed when the praise was given in a neutral tone.

My own brain cells lit up at this revelation. When walking, and throwing balls for my clan, it’s quite often Bodie, my Belgian Malinois, who races ahead and gets the ball. I react with well done, come here and let’s throw it again. He dutifully comes back with the ball and we repeat the exercise. When one of the others manage to outwit him and get the ball, I’m overjoyed and give rapturous praise. They leap in the air and are so proud as they race back to me with their catch. Since reading the article I’ve reacted in the same way to Bodie and now he bounces around with much more exuberance.

Back to the study. A positive tone and meaning the words you say activates the brain reward centre. Scanning the dogs found that, as with humans, the left side processed the meaningful words, while the right side could differentiate between tones. Combining these two elements ignites the reward centre.

Humans might have invented the words, but it seems that processing is not unique to man. Communication is not solely speech, it’s all about body language and it seems our four-legged friends can read us well.

The study used meaningful words such as ‘well done’ and ‘clever’ and tried them against words dogs wouldn’t know such as ‘yet’ and ‘however’ in neutral and praising tones to confirm the understanding.

The researchers noted that domestication could have been a contributing factor in a change of brain function, but concluded that such a change over a short space of time is unlikely and therefore suggest a brain function exists in dogs and humans which links sounds to meanings. Read more about the study here.

It would seem that when dog lovers proclaim that dogs understand, we are right. This could also account for the paw or head that lands on your knee to give comfort in times of need.

I talk to my dogs all the time, and I’m convinced their understanding goes a lot further than this study suggests.

What do you think?  Do let me know by leaving a comment.

Happy chatting,

Pippa Pennington