It’s Dog Bite Prevention Week

It’s that time again! Dog Bite Prevention Week. Held annually in the third week of May, it’s a perfect time to remind ourselves of how to keep ourselves safe from dog bites, and I don’t mean just from vicious dogs – even our own as well.

As the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) says, there are 70 million dogs … and any one of them can bite. Sure, you know your own Pookie, Spot, or Frisky better than anyone, but even the most docile dog can bite if put in the right situation. It may not mean to or want to, but a dog that has been injured, stepped on or accidentally hit, or one that just doesn’t want his food messed with during meal times can surprised any family. Let’s look at some tips – and yes, some of them are really obvious – to keep in mind with our four-legged friends.

This also seems like an opportune time to mention that this list is in no way complete. PVMA has a more comprehensive Dog Bite Prevention fact sheet available for download here.

Meeting new dogs
If you see a dog you think you’d like to meet, here are some pointers:

• Ask before you pet. As well as being a courtesy to the owner, it allows them an opportunity to warn you if the dog is unfriendly or aggressive to strangers.
• Ask the owner the dog’s name. Calling the dog by it’s name will help relax it.
• Allow the dog to smell your hand first. Sniffing is like a hand shake for dogs so introduce yourself before you pet.
• Don’t reach for the dog’s head. Many dogs don’t like being pet on the head and could be frightened by a stranger’s hand reaching for their face. Pet the dog on its side, chest, or back.
• Never hug a dog you’ve just met. Many dogs don’t like to be hugged.

Dogs at home
If you have a dog at home, you know its personality better than anyone else, but that doesn’t mean you always know the right thing to do. Here are a few common sense tips that we might not think of to help you and your dog live harmoniously.

• If your dog is eating or enjoying a treat, leave him alone till he’s finished. Even if your dog is not agressive, dogs don’t like to be disturbed while eating and might react aggressively if they think you’re going to take their food away.
• If your dog is sleeping, never hit it or make loud noises to wake it. Dogs that normally are not aggressive may bite or growl if they are scared out of a deep sleep.

Resources
Here are some family-friendly resources to help prevent dog bites which include quizzes and games to help kids learn how to treat man’s best friend.

Puppies’n Dogs
http://www.puppiesndogs.com

Dog Bite Prevention and Children
http://www.vet.utk.edu/dogbiteprevention/

Doggone Safe
http://www.doggonesafe.com

Doggone Crazy
http://www.doggonecrazy.ca/bite%20prevention.htm

Cats and Lilies Don’t Mix

Lilies are extremely poisonous to cats.

The Easter Bunny may be on his way, but he doesn’t just bring candy. Lilies are often a big part of Easter celebrations or just part of spring in general. If you have a cat at home though, watch out. Lilies are extremely toxic to cats and can cause serious problems or even death if ingested.

Here are some tips to keeping a happy, healthy cat:

1. Don’t underestimate your cat’s curiosity. Dogs get most of the blame for eating things they shouldn’t in the house, but cats are known to nibble on your fresh flower arrangements. Definitely avoid including lilies in your arrangements and don’t include them in bouquets you plan to give as a gift to another household with a cat.
2. Ingestion of many types of lilies can be fatal but all varieties are poisonous. Some of the most poisonous varieties include Tiger, Day, Asiatic, Easter, and Japanese Show lilies. Less toxic but still poisonous are Peace, Peruvian, and Calla lilies.
3. It doesn’t take much. Just a nibble of 2-3 leaves or ingestion of pollen groomed off the fur is enough to start ball in motion. Early signs of poisoning begin in 6-12 hours and can include vomiting, loss of appetite, lethargy, and dehydration. If left untreated, kidney failure ensues marked by urinating too little or too frequently, excessive thirst or no thirst at all, tremors, disorientation, and even seizures.
4. If you notice any of the above symptoms in your cat, or even if you don’t notice any symptoms but notice that your flowers have been munched on, immediately contact your veterinarian or the Pet Poison Helpline at 800-213-6680 for immediate advice. If you make a trip to your veterinarian’s office, take the flowers in question with you.
5. There is no antidote. Treatment for lily poisoning can include what is called decontamination, meaning induced vomiting or a type of charcoal which binds the poison in the stomach. IV fluids are administered as well and kidney function will be monitored. As with anything else, the sooner you seek treatment, the more likely you’ll receive a happy outcome.

The Pet Poison Helpline has many good articles on poisons which pose dangers to pets in the home. If you are concerned about what additional plants in the home or yard which could pose a danger, check out our Poisonous Plants fact sheet on our website. It’s always best to be prepared!

Say Cheese! Participate Now in PVMA’s Smiling Pet Contest!

Darby from Loveland, OH

Go on, admit it. Your pet smiles when it’s happy. And who doesn’t love a smiling pet? It’s almost like you have small, happy person in a dog suit. Or a cat suit. [Insert your chosen pet here]. So why not celebrate that smile by participating in PVMA’s Smiling Pet Contest in honor of February being Pet Dental Health Month?It’s easy! Simply email a photo of your pet flashing its pearly whites, and your photo will be added to our online gallery of smiling pets. Your photo will include your first name, your pet’s name, and your location, that’s all. So no worries about your personal information getting out. Photos will be accepted until February 28. After that date, we in the PVMA headquarters will choose our favorite two photos to win. The first place winner will receive a $50 Visa gift card, and second place will receive a $25 Visa gift card.

Get started right now. It doesn’t matter where you live or what sort of a pet you have. Email your photo to PVMA here, and it will be added to the gallery. Want to see who’s already in the running? Visit our online gallery now.

Kayla from Latrobe, PA

Why a smiling pet contest?
Most people don’t realize that oral health is an issue for pets, but nothing could be farther from the truth. Brushing your pet’s teeth might sound silly but imagine what would happen if you didn’t brush yours. Periodontal disease is the most common clinical condition in cats and dogs even though it’s completely preventable. Want to learn more about pet dental health? The AVMA has video, podcasts, and other materials to help educate you.

Say Cheese! Participate Now in PVMA’s Smiling Pet Contest!

Darby from Loveland, OH

Go on, admit it. Your pet smiles when it’s happy. And who doesn’t love a smiling pet? It’s almost like you have small, happy person in a dog suit. Or a cat suit. [Insert your chosen pet here]. So why not celebrate that smile by participating in PVMA’s Smiling Pet Contest in honor of February being Pet Dental Health Month?It’s easy! Simply email a photo of your pet flashing its pearly whites, and your photo will be added to our online gallery of smiling pets. Your photo will include your first name, your pet’s name, and your location, that’s all. So no worries about your personal information getting out. Photos will be accepted until February 28. After that date, we in the PVMA headquarters will choose our favorite two photos to win. The first place winner will receive a $50 Visa gift card, and second place will receive a $25 Visa gift card.

Get started right now. It doesn’t matter where you live or what sort of a pet you have. Email your photo to PVMA here, and it will be added to the gallery. Want to see who’s already in the running? Visit our online gallery now.

Kayla from Latrobe, PA

Why a smiling pet contest?
Most people don’t realize that oral health is an issue for pets, but nothing could be farther from the truth. Brushing your pet’s teeth might sound silly but imagine what would happen if you didn’t brush yours. Periodontal disease is the most common clinical condition in cats and dogs even though it’s completely preventable. Want to learn more about pet dental health? The AVMA has video, podcasts, and other materials to help educate you.

PA Farm Show Draws to a Close

Tomorrow signals the end of the 97th Pennsylvania Farm Show, a week filled with great food, animals galore, and many booths to visit. PVMA exhibits at Farm Show to emphasize the importance of veterinary medicine and we share our booth with the Pennsylvania Veterinary Technicians Association (PVTA), the Pennsylvania Veterinary Foundation (PVF), and the Pennsylvania Society for Biomedical Research (PSBR) in an effort to show people a well-rounded view of what veterinary medicine really is.

A highlight is our friend Mark Zebrowski with his therapy dogs. Mark’s dogs are the biggest highlight of the booth each year and draw in more people than anything else. They endure hugs, pats, naps with little ones, having their heartbeat listened to, and inevitably some snacks from admirers.

Another great display which PVMA is proud to be a part of is the Today’s Agriculture display. It’s a barn constructed inside the farm show building which houses chickens, ducks, turkeys, swine, beef and dairy cattle, and veal calves. The aim is to show these animals in the type of living conditions they have on a farm and to show people where their food is coming from. Consumers like seeing the animals as well as talking with the producers who own them who are also on hand to answer questions.

If you’ve never been to the PA Farm Show, you should consider making the trip next year. You won’t get fresher food anywhere and you might even learn something while waving to the animals.

 

Preparing the Next Generation of Dogs That’ll Come to the Rescue

By Dr. Larry Gerson

Everyone who is old enough to remember the events of 9/11 can recall in great detail the morning of the terrorist attacks. As I walked into my office that day, a veterinary technician rushed in and told me something dreadful had happened to this country. We immediately turned to the various media for details. In the aftermath of the destruction of the Twin Towers, we watched brave heroes start rescue efforts. Firefighters, police and paramedics were soon joined by search and rescue dogs trained to find human survivors and casualties.

These canine heroes were cared for by a team of specially trained veterinarians and expert rescue dog handlers who learned a great deal from 9/11. Based on that experience and evolving research work at the University of Pennsylvania, a new generation of rescue dogs is being trained.

At the university’s School of Veterinary Medicine, veterinarian Cindy Otto is directing the training of puppies named after the original 9/11 rescue dogs. Three full-time staff members are working with expert dog trainers and a team of volunteers to prepare these dogs to respond to the injury and damage caused by terrorists or disasters and to identify explosives or drugs.

I recently had the opportunity to visit the university’s Working Dog Center. As I walked through, I saw a chocolate Labrador retriever puppy learning to tolerate bathing in case he one day has to be hosed down in a decontamination tent. Anyone who has tried to bathe a young puppy knows the human bather can often end up wetter than the puppy. This puppy, named Papa Bear, was offered a spoonful of peanut butter as a reward for remaining calm during his bath and the strategy worked with great success.

Next, I saw two 4-month-old yellow Labs getting treats for successfully climbing ramps, walking on elevated platforms and negotiating over a crate positioned as an obstacle. A fourth puppy was getting treats as an incentive for not barking at strangers.

I saw Kaiserin, a highly reactive Dutch shepherd who demonstrated a remarkable ability to find her rawhide toy under a box that was hung on a wall far above her reach. To be successful, she had to climb a sizable barrier. Most immature dogs would have lost concentration during such a complex task, but this young puppy was focused on her goal. Was it genetics or training?

Families who foster these puppies drop them off in the morning and pick them up at the end of the day after hours of intense training. If the puppies pass a complete health and behavior training protocol, they will graduate and move to a program involving advanced training with a professional handler.

As hard as it will be for the puppies’ foster owners to give them up, these dogs will go on to protect and save lives in an elite corp as professional search and rescue dogs. I cannot think of a better example of the human-animal bond. The goal of this academic training and research effort is to build and train the best dog possible for the job of protecting human life and national security.

Currently, the majority of dogs involved in detection and protection tasks are imported from Europe. Now, the University of Pennsylvania’s veterinary school will lead the way in identifying and training dogs that have a superior aptitude and physical constitution for working in these difficult and dangerous situations. The university’s veterinarians, staff and volunteers are working to identify optimal combinations of health, genetics, behavior, nutrition, training, fitness and conditioning. The requisite skills for the humans training such dogs are love, consistency in training, positive reinforcement and devotion to the dog.

For more information or to contribute to this independently funded program (they accept donations of quality puppies), go to www.PennVetWDC.org.

Dr. Larry Gerson is a veterinarian and founder of the Point Breeze Veterinary Clinic in Pittsburgh, PA. His biweekly column in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette is intended to educate pet owners.

Getting Serious About Dog Bite Prevention

Let sleeping dogs lie.

Nothing goes better together than kids and dogs but unfortunately, kids are also more likely to get bitten. This might happen if a child is teasing a dog, but often it’s just a matter of not understanding how to interact safely with a dog, especially one that isn’t yours. We have to be able to read body language and understand nuances that tell us what the dog might be thinking. With a few tips, you can play and interact with dogs safely.

Meeting New Dogs

If you see a dog you think you’d like to meet, here are some tips on doing it safely:

• Ask before you pet. As well as being a courtesy to the owner, it allows them an opportunity to warn you if the dog is unfriendly or aggressive to strangers.
• Ask the owner the dog’s name. Calling the dog by it’s name will help relax it.
• Allow the dog to smell your hand first. Sniffing is like a hand shake for dogs so introduce yourself before you pet.
• Don’t reach for the dog’s head. Many dogs don’t like being pet on the head and could be frightened by a stranger’s hand reaching for their face. Pet the dog on its side, chest, or back.
• Never hug a dog you’ve just met. Many dogs don’t like to be hugged.
• Never scream or run away. You’ll startle the dog and running away can make them want to chase you and can make them aggressive.
• If you encounter a dog on its own that you have not met before, leave it alone. Even a dog that looks perfectly healthy can carry diseases including rabies that can be transferred to humans.
• If you see a dog that looks sick, don’t touch it. Call the local humane society or police department.
• If you see a dog you know that has gotten loose, try to call it to you. Running after it or trying to catch it can spook the dog.

Dogs at Home

• If you have a dog at home, you know its personality better than anyone else, but that doesn’t mean you always know the right thing to do. Here are a few common sense tips that we might not think of to help you and your dog live harmoniously.
• Never leave your dog in a car when the outside temperature is 70 degrees or above. Even with windows cracked, the temperature inside the car will rise quickly, putting your dog at risk.
• If your dog is eating or enjoying a treat, leave him alone till he’s finished. Even if your dog is not agressive, dogs don’t like to be disturbed while eating and might react aggressively if they think you’re going to take their food away.
• If your dog is sleeping, never hit it or make loud noises to wake it. Dogs that normally are not aggressive may bite or growl if they are scared out of a deep sleep.
• Many dogs are afraid of loud noises like fireworks or thunder. The first rule of thumb is to make sure they are inside during these occasions. Dogs who are outside may run away to try and escape the noise. If the dog is in the house, it’s likely he may try to hide under the bed or behind a piece of furniture. It’s best to let them go—they will come out when they feel safe. Trying to pull the dog out while it’s hiding only increases the level of fear.

Resources

There are several very good resources on dog bite prevention available online. Here are a few of our favorites.

Puppies’n Dogs
This site is a wealth of information about dog breeds and their temperaments, size, grooming needs, and more. Find out which breed would be a good fit for your family or to add to a dog you already have. You can view breeders, search for available puppies, place an ad, or buy dog supplies. The blog section also has a wealth of information on a variety of topics, including dog bite prevention.

Dog Bite Prevention and Children
This colorful, interactive website is designed to make learning about dog bite prevention fun. With games, puzzles, word searches, and printable items such as puppets and coloring books, kids won’t even realize they’re learning while they’re having fun.

Doggone Safe
This site is dedicated to dog bite prevention with categories for pet
owners, bite victims, seasonal tips, and a section for kids with activities.

Doggone Crazy
This website has resources on bite prevention, including a quiz on body language in dogs. You might be surprised how much you learn!