Posts in Category: Human-Animal Bond

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Noreen Sturges, who lost her 15-year-old canine companion Papillon last year, found a replacement a few months ago in Lulu, a female Maltese. “Lulu was rather matted, had a hacking cough and needed care and lots of love,” Noreen said.

Lulu had belonged to a family that was no longer able to provide her with the care and attention she needed.  When Lulu was brought to Noreen’s home, “it was love at first sight,” she said.

Noreen hired a groomer to attend to Lulu’s matted hair.  After the grooming, Noreen took Lulu to Monarch Veterinary Hospital in Laguna Niguel not far from her home.  

Dr. Kelly Alcala examined her and found some serious dental issues that would require surgery and the extraction of some teeth. Lulu also had a hacking cough – “not like she would have had with a cold,” Noreen said.  Dr. Alcala told her that she thought decay from the dog’s teeth was getting into her digestive system and probably causing the cough, Noreen said.

The doctor suggested that Noreen apply for a Boydston Grant to help pay for Lulu’s treatment and surgery.  A grant of $500 was approved and Dr. Alacala did the surgery.  The dog is now thriving, Noreen said, and the hacking cough is gone. 

Lulu is eating her new diet voraciously.  “And she’s a love!” Noreen said. “Everything’s good now.”  The dog, she said, “is running around – up and down the stairs and all over the place.

“I didn’t think I could ever love a dog as much as my Papillon, “but I just love Lulu.”

She added that she is grateful for the help provided by her Boydston grant and the matching sum from Monarch Hospital, as well as for the work of Dr. Alcala.  “I just love her, too,” she said.

Noreen said that she and Lulu “are having a lovely time together.  She is quite a companion.”

Written By Holland Webb April 25, 2023

Article compliments of Today’s Homeowner – https://todayshomeowner.com/blog/guides/how-to-optimize-your-home-for-a-service-dog/

Why You Can Trust Us

Service dogs lead their owners into more functional and fulfilling lives. These loving, highly trained animals bear a lot of responsibility as they help perform a variety of day-to-day tasks for people with disabilities.

Most people know about guide dogs, but did you know that service dogs can also watch for signs of seizures, listen for sounds that people with hearing impairments may miss, or help open doors and carry objects for their handlers?

Service dogs are valued working partners and companions to over 500,000 Americans. Welcoming a new service dog is an exciting opportunity for you and your family. 

It’s important to optimize your home for your service dog’s comfort, ease, and security. In this article, we’ll explore how to do that along with how to connect with organizations that provide service dogs and considerations for training your own service dog.

What is a Service Dog?

In addition to being great companions, working dogs perform a variety of jobs. They may aid in search-and-rescue operations, sniff out illegal substances, detect cancer, or provide therapy for people living in institutional settings.

Not every working dog is a service dog, though. The Americans with Disabilities Act specifically defines a service dog as one individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities. 

These disabilities may be physical, intellectual, psychiatric, or sensory. To qualify for a service dog, you typically need to work with an organization that serves people who live with your specific disability.

Common Service Dogs

The kind of disability you have partly determines which breed of dog you’ll get. The tiny Pomeranian, for example, lacks the physical strength to pull a wheelchair, but it has sharp hearing, a keen sense of smell, and enough dexterity to open cupboards and doors.

Labradors, Golden Retrievers, German Shepherds, and Great Danes may be employed for jobs that require physical strength and agility. Poodles are often used for tasks that require keen vision and problem-solving skills. A Pomeranian can work in tight, confined spaces due to its small size. Whatever the breed, a service dog must have qualities like intelligence, friendliness, a calm demeanor, and a love for work. 

It takes about 18 months and can cost anywhere from $10,000 to $20,000 to train just one service dog. More than half of service dog candidates do not complete their training. Fortunately, these dogs can find homes as companions for loving families, while service dogs who complete their training programs go on to find work.

Optimizing Your Home for a Service Dog

When your new service dog arrives at your home, you’ll want it to feel welcome. That means optimizing your home and garden to make them accessible, navigable, and easy to work in.

Interior of the Home

Your dog needs clear, wide spaces that are simple to navigate and memorize. If you’ve had a disability for a long time, your home is probably already well-suited to your needs — and probably in good shape for your new dog, too. On the other hand, if your disability is recent, you may need to make some prompt modifications to your home.

Bathroom

The bathroom is probably the most hazardous room in your house. Every year about 235,000 people go to the emergency room because of an injury sustained in the bathroom. Small, slippery when wet, and filled with small objects in out-of-the-way cupboards, the bathroom can be tricky to manage. 

Help your dog out by storing anything it needs to retrieve in a low storage container. If you use non-slip coverings on your floor, make sure they’re well-positioned to avoid either you or your dog getting tripped up.

Living Room

The clearer your floor is, the easier your dog will find it to navigate. Store remotes, magazines, throws, pillows, and other small items in baskets or bins that open from the top. 

Keep personal belongings put away and debris picked up. In case of emergency, your dog will have a much easier time helping you get to safety. 

You’ll also want to keep your living room well lit. If your dog will be turning lights on and off for you, be sure that switches are within easy reach of his nose or paw.

Bedroom

Most likely, your service dog will share your bedroom so it can respond to any nighttime emergencies. If your dog is a seizure detection specialist, it may need to sleep in the bed with you. If it will remain on the floor, however, make sure it has a designated sleeping spot.

You’ll also want to keep cords secured to the wall, slippers put in the closet, and pajamas picked up off the floor. Nothing should be scattered around that could distract the dog from its important job.

Kitchen

The kitchen is the primary workplace for many service dogs. Here, they may put away groceries, operate appliances, or alert their humans to alarms or smoke detectors. You’ll want to talk with your trainer about what your dog needs to do his specific jobs well. 

For example, you might need to install tugs on the refrigerator doors or even remodel your kitchen so that countertops and cabinets are easy for your dog to access. Sometimes installing a lazy susan or pull-down shelf can be a great way to make your kitchen canine accessible without major renovations. 

Doorways

Modern doorways are generally 32 inches wide or more to allow space for wheelchairs to get through. In an older home, however, you may be facing doors that are too small for you and your dog to pass through easily. Check with your dog’s trainer to see if your doors will be feasible for your animal to use. If not, you could have a remodeling project on your hands.

Some doorways are easy for an avid DIYer to enlarge on their own. If a door is part of a load-bearing wall, though, you need a licensed contractor to do the job.

Hallways

Narrow by nature, hallways can be a real challenge for your dog to navigate. Help your dog out by keeping them clean and clutter-free. You’ll also want to relocate furniture or decor that’s currently obscuring any part of the space. 

Finally, keep this space well-lit. Maximize any natural light the space gets, and make sure overhead lights are clean and bright. If you haven’t already painted your hall a light color, now’s a good time to do that, too.

Exterior of the Home

Your dog will spend time outdoors. It’s important to keep your yard, sidewalk, and garage in good shape.

Garage and Driveway

If your dog will assist you in getting into and out of your car, it will need plenty of space to work. Trim any bushes or shrubs that extend into your driveway. You can also keep your space clear by moving other vehicles to another area outside your home. Most importantly, if your driveway is less than 12 feet wide, consider having it enlarged before your dog comes home.

Sidewalks and Pathways

Will your dog walk with you on the paths around your home or garden? If so, your sidewalk needs to be at least 36 inches wide if you use a wheelchair or 24 inches wide if you walk. Here again, you’ll want to trim any shrubs or other growth that may obscure the path or trip up your dog.

Yard

If your home has a yard, your dog needs a fence. A six-foot high barrier that discourages digging is enough for most dogs. You’ll want to check into the policies governing what kind of fence you can have in your area, and consult with the service dog trainer about the right kind of fencing for your dog’s breed and build.

General Accessibility Tips and Emergencies for Service Dogs

As you plan to welcome your service dog, look at your home as a whole space, not just a collection of individual rooms. What could you reorganize or remodel to help your dog live and work comfortably? 

Avoid The Following For Your Service Dog

• Tight Spaces: Like people, dogs can’t work well in confined quarters. Find out your dog’s size, and then look for places that might feel like a tight squeeze.
• Obstructions: Your dog is probably much smaller and closer to the floor than you are. What might seem like a small obstruction to you could be a big impediment to it.
• Situations Your Dog Is Not Accustomed To: Dogs work best in predictable environments. Although service dogs are trained not to react to their surroundings, they will appreciate fewer distractions when working.
• Overstimulating Settings: While service dogs are chosen and trained to be gentle and quiet, they do experience a lot of work-related stress. Build in time for relaxation and exercise, and keep your dog out of intense environments as much as you can.
• Highly crowded Areas: Your service dog may be trained to lead you through a crowd or to provide crowd control if you have PTSD. You’ll probably want to keep your dog away from rowdy, crowded areas whenever possible, though.

Emergency Plan Tips

• Establish a safe spot for earthquakes. Make sure the area includes ample space for yourself, your dog, and any supplies both of you will need.
• Create a flood evacuation plan that your dog can follow.
• Designate an area with access to communication services during tornadoes or storms.
• Plan for power outages with an emergency kit that includes battery packs, medications, and first aid kits that the dog can reach.

Organizations that Help Find and Train Service Dogs

• The Seeing Eye
  • Located in New Jersey, the Seeing Eye breeds and trains dogs to assist blind and visually impaired people. They also instruct dog owners in the proper use of handling service dogs.
  • Good Fit For: People who are blind or visually impaired
  • https://www.seeingeye.org/
• Assistance Dogs International
  • Assistance Dogs International is a clearinghouse of programs that provide guide dogs, hearing dogs, and service dogs. The organization also accredits individual programs around the world. 
  • Good Fit For: Anyone looking for a service dog
  • https://assistancedogsinternational.org/ 
• Leader Dogs for the Blind
  • Fully funded by individuals and nonprofit donors, Leader Dogs for the Blind helps people who are blind or visually impaired live with independence and mobility.
  • Good Fit For: People who are blind or visually impaired
  • https://www.leaderdog.org/ 
• Epilepsy Foundation
  • The Epilepsy Foundation provides resources for people interested in learning more about seizure dogs and their work. The foundation can connect you with an appropriate organization near your home.
  • Good Fit For: People with epilepsy or a seizure disorder
  • https://www.epilepsy.com/ 
• Canine Partners for Life
  • Canine Partners for Life helps match people with disabilities with partner dogs. The organization provides canine partners for people with a wide variety of disabilities as well as people with diabetes and those who need a home companion.
  • Good Fit For: Anyone with a qualifying disability
  • https://k94life.org/ 
• Fidos for Freedom
  • Fidos for Freedom provides trained service dogs, hearing dogs, therapy dogs, and combat-related PTSD dogs for people with disabilities, patients in health care facilities, and children with reading difficulties.
  • Good Fit For: People living in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C. metropolitan community
  • https://fidosforfreedom.org/ 
• Guide Dogs of America
  • Based in Los Angeles, Guide Dogs of America breeds, raises, and trains service dogs for veterans, children with autism, and people with visual impairments. The organization also provides highly skilled dogs for jobs in hospitals, courtrooms, or classrooms.
  • Good Fit For: Veterans, individuals with autism, or people with visual impairments
  • https://www.guidedogsofamerica.org/ 
• Warrior Canine Connection
  • Using a Mission Based Trauma Recovery (MBTR) model, Warrior Canine Connection helps warriors reconnect with their lives, families, friends, communities, and each other. Warriors both train and use the dogs as service partners.
  • Good Fit For: Veterans, military families
  • https://warriorcanineconnection.org/ 
• Puppies Behind Bars
  • Founded in 1997, Puppies Behind Bars partners with incarcerated men and women to train service dogs and places the animals with qualifying applicants. 
  • Good Fit For: Veterans
  • https://puppiesbehindbars.com/ 
• Canines for Disabled Kids
  • Headquartered in Worcester, MA, Canines for Disabled Kids provides scholarships for children who need service animals. The organization also offers public education and training for families interested in acquiring a dog.
  • Good Fit For: Children and families
  • https://caninesforkids.org/ 

Tips on How to Train Your Own Service Dog

Service dogs do not have to be professionally trained. Anyone has the right to train a service dog. 

However, before you begin training your own dog, make sure that he or she would make a good service dog. To be trained as a service dog the animal should meet the following criteria:

• Younger than six months old
• Spayed/neutered
• Properly sized for your needs
• Calm personality
• Long attention span

If you would like to train your own dog, consider the following best practices: 

House Training

Like other house-dwelling animals, service dogs must be trained to do their business in a designated place outside. Crate-training is an effective approach since most dogs want to keep their crates clean. In the early days of training, reward the dog for going to the bathroom outside so it associates outdoor bathroom behavior with positive reinforcement.

Teaching Focus and Attentiveness Towards Handler

Your dog should focus on you — and only you — while it is working. Start this habit by encouraging the animal to make eye contact with you. Give the dog a treat for staying focused.

Off-leash Training

A service dog must respond to you whether it is on or off a leash. In a safe and controlled environment, you can take off the dog’s leash and give it simple commands. Reward or praise it for obeying those commands. Over time, you can move the activity to more-public situations.

Task-Oriented Training

Your dog is more than a companion. He or she has a job to do, and it’s up to you to train them how to do it. What do you need the animal to do?

• Be alert to seizures?
• Answer the door?
• Be alert to alarms?
• Carry groceries?
• Close doors?
• Guide you through a crowd?
• Be alert to allergens in food?
• Pull a wheelchair?
• Retrieve medication?
• Find help?

Socialization and Task-Focused Training

A successful service dog can stay focused on specific tasks even when it is out in social settings where there are distractions. Puppies should be acclimated to different sounds and people as much as possible and as early as possible. Also, be sure the dog is comfortable staying alone to minimize separation anxiety.

Disability Specific Training

Some service dogs work in disability-specific roles. For example, a hearing dog’s job is to listen for certain sounds and respond to them. A mobility assistance dog helps a human partner with limited mobility. You may want to work with a coach who can help you focus on building your dog’s unique skill set. 

Emergency and Medication Focused Training

Medical alert dogs are trained to get help for those who need it. Some dogs also help manage their human’s medication. These dogs need to be individually trained to meet their job’s requirements.

Offer Relaxation Periods Between Training 

Don’t forget to let your dog have fun. Off-duty time to relax, chew on a toy, get some exercise, or play with other pets is a critical part of training — and enjoying — your service dog.

For more information about the Animal Health Foundation’s Angel Fund CLICK HERE

Yelena and her mother have been rescuing dogs and cats they find on the streets near their Reseda home for years, often finding them homes, if they cannot locate their owners.

That’s how they found Mila nearly two years ago.  A Poddle mix, she “was running around and she was in horrible condition,” said Yelena, who asked that Pulse not use her full name.  “She clearly had not been eating well and she was covered with fleas.  I had to give her three baths, one after the other. 

“We tried to find her owner.  She did not have a chip.  We posted a description of her and some people contacted us and said they thought she was their dog.  But none of them sent us a picture of her and we ended up keeping her.  I think we gave her a really good life.”

A few months ago, Yelena noticed that Mila “was straining to pee. I checked her and there was no blood.  But I took her to the vet, who asked if I had seen any blood and if Mila was eating.  The vet prescribed antibiotics, thinking the problem might be an infection. 

“That seemed to help her a little bit. But then I took her to the dog park and every five seconds she was squatting down and acting like she was going to pee.  And I decided I would take her either to the emergency clinic or the vet.  Then I looked again and I finally saw some blood.”

Yelena called VCA McClave Animal Hospital not far from her home.  “I told them exactly what was going on.  They said this was an emergency, since there was blood, and to bring her in.  Dr. Carina Cortez told me that they would prefer to do x-rays and a few other procedures,” Yelena said.

 “I was thinking, oh this poor dog!  When Dr. [Nada] Khalaf [co-medical director at McClave] called me after she saw the dog, she told me: ‘We can’t keep giving her antibiotics – we would just be going in circles.’”

Dr. Khalaf said that she saw the stone shadow on an ultrasound.  She told Yelena that she suspected stones but needed radiographs to confirm they were there.  When the x-rays were taken, they showed “two enormous stones in her tiny bladder,” Yelena said.  

“I said that I wanted to help the dog, but I really couldn’t financially, and I asked if there was any kind of financial plan I could do.  And Dr. Khalaf said she could refer me to Angel Fund.  I had never heard of Angel Fund.  She said: ‘I don’t know how much they can help you’ but that she would call and we would see. 

“And I was thinking, ‘Oh my god, maybe they would help!’  Dr. Khalaf called back and said Angel Fund would help.  I was thinking maybe $100 or $300. But the doctor said they would do more – $1,000 – and the hospital also would help, matching the grant, and that they would help me open a CareCredit account. 

Dr. Cortez performed the surgery to remove the stones.

“I was really so grateful,” Yelena said.  “I am just very, very thankful.”  She also expressed gratitude to Dr. Khalaf: “She’s the one who helped set everything up.”

She also said that she would “rate Angel Fund at 200 on a scale of 100.”  The day she learned that she was getting the grant “was a very emotional day for me.”

Mila is now doing well, she said.  “After the surgery we had some antibiotics and pain medication.  She was told to keep Mila from running and jumping for two weeks but the dog wanted to do just that.  She now urinates normally.  “She’s 100 percent different from the way she was in the dog park.

“Mila is a very special dog.”

Why the language you use makes a difference in your relationship with your dog – and perhaps even the success of your training program.

By Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA

Published: April 1, 2023

I’ve been training dogs professionally for 27 years, but I don’t use “commands” for this purpose, I use “cues.” What difference does it make? A lot!

The definition of command is “an authoritative order.” Even when we use gentle training methods, if we think “commands,” our brains connect to the authoritative definition and we are likely speak in a louder, harsher (commanding!) tone of voice. In contrast, a cue is an invitation to perform a behavior for which your dog can be reinforced with a treat, play, praise, or the opportunity to perform a behavior the dog enjoys. We are far more likely to speak softly and gently when we use “cues.”

Words to avoid

“Command” is just one of many words that we force-free trainers avoid. Here are others that interfere with the message of kindness and mutual respect we want to send to our dogs:

• “It.” This word is used to refer to non-living objects. Dogs (and other animals) are living, thinking, feeling beings. Use he, she, him, and her rather than “it” when referring to a dog. When you acknowledge the sentience of non-human animals, you’re likely to treat them better.
• “Breaking.” Breaking evokes force, and we’re not “breaking” anything, we’re “training” – so we use housetraining (not housebreaking) and say we are training desirable behaviors (not breaking bad habits).
• “Obedience.” We want a partnership with our dogs – a happy willingness to offer behaviors we ask for, not their submission to our authority. That’s why we offer good manners training or family dog training rather than “obedience classes.”
• “Make.” We don’t “make” our dogs do things. “Make” suggests force and coercion. Instead, we ask our dogs for certain behaviors, invite them, help them, and encourage them.
• “Bad.” Dogs aren’t bad and they don’t do bad things – though occasionally they may do something inappropriate. When we think of them as bad, we give ourselves tacit permission to punish them. But when we frame their behavior as “inappropriate,” we’re more likely to think in terms of management and teaching appropriate behaviors rather than punishment.
• More pejoratives. I cringe when someone refers to a dog as stupid, stubborn, disobedient, or any other negative adjectives, placing the blame for any unwanted behavior directly on the dog’s shoulders. When a dog doesn’t do what you ask, it’s because she can’t for some reason: she doesn’t understand, she’s too stressed, was distracted, didn’t hear you, is in pain or otherwise physically unable, you haven’t made the consequence of the behavior reinforcing enough, or you haven’t generalized it well (you haven’t trained her!). Figure out why she can’t do it and then help her succeed.

Respectful language

Think carefully about the words you and/or your instructor use to discuss training and your dog. Philosopher and cognitive scientist Daniel Dennett suggests that language lays down the tracks upon which thoughts can travel. Your words connect to your thoughts and influence your behavior. If your words align with your philosophy of creating a kind and nurturing relationship with your dog based on mutual trust and respect, you’re likely to behave accordingly – and you and your dog will be well on your way to achieving that pinnacle.

Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA

WDJ’s Training Editor Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA, grew up in a family that was blessed with lots of animal companions: dogs, cats, horses, rabbits, goats, and more, and has maintained that model ever since. She spent the first 20 years of her professional life working at the Marin Humane Society in Marin County, California, for most of that time as a humane officer and director of operations. She continually studied the art and science of dog training and behavior during that time, and in 1996, left MHS to start her own training and behavior business, Peaceable Paws. Pat has earned a number of titles from various training organizations, including Certified Behavior Consultant Canine-Knowledge Assessed (CBCC-KA) and Certified Professional Dog Trainer – Knowledge Assessed (CPDT-KA). She also founded Peaceable Paws Academies for teaching and credentialing dog training and behavior professionals, who can earn “Pat Miller Certified Trainer” certifications. She and her husband Paul and an ever-changing number of dogs, horses, and other animal companions live on their 80-acre farm in Fairplay, Maryland.

The death of a beloved pet can cause extreme grief and trigger grief over previous trauma, according to a study in Human-Animal Interactions, but society and even some mental health care providers don’t always recognize how deep the human-animal bond is, says co-author Colleen Rolland, a pet loss grief specialist. People who don’t feel comfortable expressing grief after the loss of a pet due to social stigma may turn inward, and Rolland says health care professionals should consider pets as integral to some patients’ social support systems.

Key Takeaways

A pet loss grief specialist says sometimes the loss of a beloved animal can trigger feelings about childhood grief or other traumas

Fear of stigma keeps many from voicing their sorrow when a pet dies

There’s a segment of the population that doesn’t get it, specialists say

Here is what pet loss grief specialists have to say

A standard poodle is a beautiful addition to your family. They are considered child-friendly and loyal companions. Whether you own a poodle or have the option of adopting the perfect pup into your home, researching medical history for inherited conditions is very important. Knowing what risk factors and symptoms to watch for in a disease like glaucoma is crucial to reducing the onset of symptoms. Remember that purebred dogs are more likely to suffer from diseases and other medical conditions. Therefore, being a responsible pet owner might look like investing in pet health insurance. This type of insurance will give you a security blanket to optimize medical procedures to reduce pain and damage.

To find out more about glaucoma in poodles, Breed Expert has a great article

Learn some simple tricks and cues you can use to keep your dog from harassing your fish tank.

by: David Thomas

In this article, you’ll learn four types of cues you can use to break your dog’s attention on your fish tank and keep them occupied with safer, more interesting things.

            Keeping your dog away from your fish tank can be a real challenge. The sights, sounds, motion and especially smells of a fish tank are naturally deeply intriguing to an intelligent, curious animal like a dog, and their deep-seated evolutionary instincts will tell them that fish they smell are prey and therefore food, and therefore very much worth investigating further. This dynamic will be particularly powerful if you have a dog, like a terrier or setter, that was bred to have a high prey drive, or a Labrador or Portuguese water dog that was bred to have an interest in all things wet and splashy.

Luckily, in addition to the precautions you should take in setting up your fish tank, you can also train your dog to leave it alone. This training won’t necessarily be easy, as instituting training that will override your dog’s natural instincts to explore and check out potential food sources is always difficult. However, it will be well worth it when you avoid a catastrophic accident between your dog and your fish, and when you realize the peace of mind that comes from knowing your dog will behave when you tell them to, even if they’d rather keep sniffing the fish tank.

1. Go to your place. This is probably the most useful skill you can teach your dog, after a strong recall command. You assign your dog a “place” in the house that’s theirs, where they can hang out and stay out of trouble. David Thomas from everythingfishkeeping.com recommends this is a crate or mat; ideally, it’s something you can move and still have your dog recognize and use as their place. To start training a go to your place command, you have to make the place appealing to them by filling it with toys and treats. In the beginning, reward your dog with treats and praise every time they hang out in their place, then every time they go to it, then eventually only when they go when you tell them to. It will take time, but once your dog has this skill down, you will have a perfect command to keep them out from underfoot in the kitchen or far away from your fish tank.
2. Come. A reliable recall is crucial for your dog for a number of reasons, probably most notably as a safety measure if they start getting into anything dangerous, but it’s also incredibly useful for breaking their attention on something you don’t want them paying attention to – in this case, the fish tank. Having your dog come to you if they’ve been staring at the fish tank too long will break their focus on the tank, and also give them a reward for doing so, in the form of praise and pets for obeying their recall. It will also shift your dog’s focus onto you and what you’re doing, which will hopefully be more interesting to them than a fish tank that has never given them a belly rub or salmon treat.
3. Spin. If you’ve brought your dog’s attention back to you and they’re still going back to the fish tank, you may have to up your attention redirecting game by introducing an element of play or training – something for your dog to think about other than the fish tank. Remember that however appealing the fish tank is to them, a well-trained dog will always prefer your attention and affection. You can ask your dog to sit, spin, dance, shake – anything that will let them succeed at a simple task and then bask in your praise and love. If you have time, you can turn this into a full-on training session or playtime. This will not only break your dog’s fixation and keep them away from the tank, but it will also tire them out, and a tired dog is much less likely to bother your fish tank. 
4. Hide and seek. This is another one where the actual command or trick you are asking your dog to perform is not as important as what you’re getting them to do, which is think about something other than the fish tank. When it comes down to it, all of these tricks work mostly by breaking your dog’s focus on the fish tank and redirecting their mental energy elsewhere. If your dog is extremely focused on the fish tank, though, and keeps going back to it, once you have their attention, you may have to assign them a fairly complex task – like playing hide and seek or retrieving a certain object from elsewhere in the house – to break that mental cycle and get them into a new frame of mind. Hide and seek or a retrieval task are good options because they get your dog to focus on objects in the house that aren’t the fish tank. Keep in mind that you want to set your dog up for success with this task, so give them a few simple cues first to make sure their attention is on you and they’re ready to listen and perform.

If you bring a fish tank into a house with a dog in it, or vice versa, the dog is going to be very curious about the tank. All it takes is a little vigilance and a lot of redirection from you before your dog will learn the fish tank has nothing to offer.

From: The Whole Dog Journal

By Nancy Kerns  –Published:September 7, 2022

I will trust someone whose practice is mostly animals at the end of their lives to help me with this decision.

Three years ago I wrote a blog post about “how to know when the time is right for euthanasia.” A the time, I had three friends and family members who were facing this decision. One dog, Beau, was euthanized not long after I wrote the post. Lena lasted another year before her owner decided that the dog was too disabled to go on. Chaco, the third dog is still living, the last I heard (I don’t hear from that friend very often anymore). But as I said in the post. I hoped it would be at least several years before I was mulling this topic again.

Well, here we are, almost exactly three years later. Guys, I’m having to think hard about this right now, with my nearly 15-year-old heart dog, Otto.

He had surgery on his liver about four years ago, and we keep an eye on that organ with annual abdominal ultrasounds, to make sure that the benign growth that was removed hasn’t grown back. He’s had a handful of teeth extracted for various reasons, including one broken and several cracked. And he’s been receiving an increasing amount and variety of medications for arthritis pain for a couple of years now.

But until recently, he honestly looked pretty darn good for his age. This last year, though, as the arthritis pain has ramped up, he’s moving less, and has lost a lot of muscle tone, especially in his rear legs. His weight is a few pounds less than his ideal “high school weight” and he’s a little on the ribby side – but I’m trying to keep him on the light side, to reduce the burden on his arthritic joints. His worst arthritis is in his elbows and front paws, and the pain seems to be altering his stance – which is probably causing more pain in his shoulders and back. In the past few weeks, all of a sudden (it seems), he just looks awful when he stands around, swaybacked and panting, and with his ears back and face tense.

We’re having a really hideous heat wave in California right now, so that’s not helping as I try to figure out how much of his panting is due to pain and how much is the heat. He’s always hated being hot. Now it’s even too hot for him to find relief, as he’s always done, by digging a hole in his dampened sandbox, in the shade of an umbrella under an oak tree. For the past few days, it’s been over 100 degrees in the shade! I’ve had to make him come in my office and stay with me and the other dogs where it’s cooler – but he hates this, too. He lays down for a few minutes, then gets up, pacing and panting. He scratches at the door, wanting out. I open the door and he gets only halfway through when the wall of heat makes him stop and remember why he’s not already out there. He turns around, stiffly, and stands for long minutes in the middle of my office, panting and with that awful, painful-looking posture, before laying down again. This just breaks my heart! I don’t want him to be in pain.

Is it the dementia that makes him forget it’s too hot to go outside? Absent-mindedness? Stubbornness? Why can’t he seem to get comfortable in my cool office? There are three beds, of varying heights and softness, and he gets first dibs on any of them. But he just doesn’t want to be in here, he wants the heat to go away and he wants to be in his sandbox. I know the heat is temporary, but his arthritis pain is not.

I don’t want him to suffer.

I use several different assessment tools, developed by various experts on hospice and end-of-life issues for dogs, in an attempt to find some objective data points to help me decide whether “it’s time.”

On one, the result translates to, “Quality of life is a definite concern. Changes will likely become more progressive and more severe in the near future. Veterinary guidance will help you better understand the end stages of your pet’s disease process in order to make a more informed decision of whether to continue hospice care or elect peaceful euthanasia.”

On another, the score indicates, “Everything is okay.”

On a third, the score suggests that Otto has “acceptable life quality to continue with pet hospice.”

Assessment Tools for Deciding End of Life Care

Lap of Love Pet Quality of Life Scale

Lap of Love Daily Assessment

The HHHHHMM Quality of Life Scale

I discuss Otto’s condition with close friends who know him. My trainer friend Sarah suggests a consultation with a veterinarian who has a housecall practice and specializes in hospice care for animal companions. Well, why and how the heck did I not think of that on my own? I called and made an appointment for next week. For now, a load has been taken off of my mind. I will trust someone whose practice is mostly animals at the end of their lives to help me with this decision.

And in the meantime, of course, the goal is to give Otto the best possible daily experience I am capable of delivering to him. I’m trying to make up for his unhappiness with the heat and the unaccustomed confinement in my (cool) office by taking him and my other dogs to the lake every evening. There’s a place that has a sandy, gravelly (but not sharp) bottom and with water that gets only very, very gradually deeper. It’s where I like to bring small dogs, novice swimmers, and now, my old guy, too.

As shallow as it is close to shore, the water is refreshing but not cold. We can linger at dusk, when the other lake-visitors are all gone, and not get a chill. Woody asks me to throw his ball, and he bounds through the shallow water, happily fetching. Boone looks for opportunities to steal the ball from Woody and then play “catch me if you can!” Otto wades back and forth, back and forth – not like his nighttime dementia pacing, but like a happy water buffalo. Every so often he wades into the deeper water and swims a bit, and then comes back, tail wagging slowly on the surface of the water, looking extremely content. When he’s like this, the end feels far away from now, and I find a little bit of hope that it truly is.