Archive for the ‘Canine Advice’ Category

This Dog USED to Destroy the House When Left Alone

Friday, October 30th, 2009
Dog who used to destroy house is happy to stay home alone (with food)
Dog who used to destroy house is happy to stay home alone (with food)

Does my previous service dog, Max, look happy in this photo?  You bet he does!  He’s happy because he is about to stay home alone.

This wasn’t always the case.  Max used to destroy our house when he was home alone.  He’d go into such a panic that he’s ruined floors, walls, doors, door handles, etc. 

Max was a service dog and he was with people ALL the time.   When we adopted him, he totally freaked out when we left him home alone.  We were totally unprepared but if your pet has this separation anxiety problem, there is hope.

Today, Max is smiling and tail-wagging when he sees that I’m about to leave him home.  One of the biggest contributors to the transition is food.  Yes, food plays a major part in management of this dog’s separation anxiety. 

Our dog Max rarely is fed when we are home with him.  If he is fed, Max is getting his food out of a toy that makes him work.  The bulk of Max’s food, and especially yummy food, is delivered to him as we are walking out the door.  He’s been conditioned to expect that food time comes when he’s home alone.  And it works!

So what’s that in the photo you ask?  Well, Max has gotten so good at manipulating his food that we’ve upped the challenge.  Earlier, as Max’s separation anxiety improved, I started freezing food in Kongs for him.  Now, I also freeze the Kong so Max has a block of ice to work with too.  This was especially handy in the summer as I knew he’d enjoy the ice. 

Time to run, Max will soon be nudging me to the door so he can stay home alone!

Posted in Blogs, Canine Advice, Canine Petpourri, Food & Dog Treats, It's a dogs life, Separation Anxiety, Service Dogs | 18 Comments »

In the fight against separation anxiety, DAP collar proves it value again!

Thursday, October 29th, 2009

Max visited my parents’ 10 acre home this past weekend.  He had fun but man did he stink when it was time to put him in the car to go home.  He romped in the wet lands and was covered with swamp sludge.  The muck really smelled awful.  We washed and washed and washed Max.  However, the DAP collar went in the trash.  It’s useless once it gets wet so we really couldn’t clean it. 

Max was such a pain until we put his new collar on him.  He followed me so much that he tripped me at least five times.  I have trouble getting the collar on so I had to wait patiently until my husband did it.  In the meantime, it was just me and my shadow – and, me falling over my shadow. 

When it comes to owning a dog with severe separation anxiety, I just cannot say how much the dog appeasing pheromone (DAP) collar helps keep us all sane!

Dog Appeasing Pheromone fights Separation Anxiety

Dog Appeasing Pheromone fights Separation Anxiety

Posted in Canine Advice, Dog Medicines, It's a dogs life, Separation Anxiety | 1 Comment »

Labrador not eating?

Thursday, October 8th, 2009

My husband indicated that Max was not emptying his Kongs full of yummy food when he left Max home alone.  How strange.  Our dog rarely gets fed when we’re home so he should be good and hungry when we’re gone.

Plus, who ever heard of a Lab that leaves food unattended?  If you think this situation sounds strange, you’re right.  Unless Max’s magical treatment mix for severe separation anxiety is out of whack, this situation makes no sense.

Upon further investigation I noticed that we forgot to change Max’s DAP collar last month.  A few days later, and with the new collar firmly in place, Max is back to normal.  This oops really affirms that the phernomes in the DAP collar work to help control Max’s separation anxiety.

Now, I’m happy to report that once again, Max cannot wait for me to leave him home alone.  No, I don’t think it’s that he’s basking in the peace and quiet of ‘alone time’ as I would.  He’s just relaxed enough to enjoy his Kong full of food.  And when Max is relaxed, I feel better too.  We’ve come a long, long way.

Posted in Canine Advice, Canine Petpourri, Dog Toys, Food & Dog Treats, It's a dogs life, Separation Anxiety | No Comments »

Where are the dog days of summer?

Tuesday, January 20th, 2009

Baby, it’s cold outside. 

I’m in Michigan and it’s been cold for too long.  Are you remembering to keep your dog warm if you’re in a cold environment like me?

 

Dogs don’t get cold – wrong

Some people think just because dogs have fur, they don’t get cold.  No way!  Their paws are so sensitive.  Just like people, they can’t be outside for long in bitter cold unless a lot of precautions are taken.

 

Max hasn’t been getting enough walks lately.  With dangerous wind chills and icy streets, it’s been a challenge.  We need to do better.  He needs to get out.  Any ideas for how to stay motivated?

Posted in Canine Advice, Canine Petpourri, It's a dogs life | No Comments »

DAP collar does wonders

Saturday, November 22nd, 2008

This week Max has been wearing a DAP collar that is beyond its effectiveness.  DAP stands for dog appeasing pheromone.   In plain English, the pheromone is similar to the smell of a mother dog’s breast milk and has a soothing effect on stressed dogs.  It’s said to have a calming effect on dogs and I believe.

I thought I had a spare but I didn’t so while waiting for the shipment to arrive, I can really tell that Max benefits from the DAP collar.  He’s been on edge much more this past week.  The DAP collar is inarguably a key component of his canine separation anxiety treatment plan.  I’m going to make sure he has a new collar every month since it helps him so much.

Posted in Canine Advice, Dog Medicines, Separation Anxiety | No Comments »

Break through the chains of separation anxiety

Sunday, October 12th, 2008

Max’s magical mix: 

·       Behavior modification

·       DAP collar

·       Medications

·       DAP infuser

·       Activity toys

·       Stopped feeding him with a dog dish

Without the behavior modification, understanding of separation anxiety and medication directed by Dr. Theresa DePorter, I don’t think Max would have been successful.  In fact, I’m sure there are a lot of misunderstood dogs that end up in shelters because of their misunderstood separation anxiety.

 

The goal was to have Max be excited about his family’s departure.  We wanted him to connect being home alone to having something really yummy to eat.  To make this work, table scraps, dinning a la dog dish, etc. cannot occur. 

 

Max is really excited to see me leave these days because he knows he’s getting food and likely it’s something more than dry dog food.  When he’s with his family, he gets nothing but dry dog food and not much of it.  If we’re planning a departure, some food is held back so he’s good and hungry when we are gone.

 

You might think he also gets crumbs off the floor but that’s another project.  Max, as a leader dog, was taught to ignore food on the floor.  With 3 kids, we’re really good at giving him plenty of opportunities to eat food off the floor but it hasn’t come easy to him.  Breaking old habits is tough.  But, that’s a service dog issue and maybe that’s not an issue for your dog. 

 

If you have a retired service dog, I’d love to hear about it.  Did you have to teach your dog to play fetch like we did?

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Posted in Canine Advice, Dog Toys, Food & Dog Treats, Separation Anxiety, Service Dogs | 1 Comment »