How to Raise the Perfect Dog (19 page)

There is a short period of about a week during which the puppy no longer has much immunity from its mother left but the new vaccines have not fully kicked in and started working. This window can allow even the best-cared-for puppies to get sick, but the potential danger can be exaggerated, to the point where dog owners will grow paranoid and keep their puppies inside and isolated for months, ultimately creating frustrated and antisocial dogs. “I tell my clients that ten days after the first vaccine, they should begin to get as much socialization for their puppy as they possibly can,” advises Dr. Charlie Rinehimer of Northampton Community College. “I counsel them to stay away from places like dog parks—where you have no idea of the vaccination or health status of the dogs—during that time, but going to visit friends with dogs, taking walks on a leash, or going for car rides are all great. After sixteen weeks, anything goes as far as I am concerned.”

PARVO

I recently had a frightening experience with the parvovirus that really shook me up. Around the time I began thinking of raising puppies to write about in this book, a friend came to me having rescued two abandoned two-month-old Yorkie puppies from the streets. My wife and I were about to leave for a seminar on the East Coast the following day, but as usual, I could not say no to any abandoned dogs, let alone two tiny puppies. I left instructions for our housekeeper to care for the puppies while we were gone and made an appointment with Dr. Rick Garcia to come by to check them out when I came back in a few days.

We hadn’t even been gone a full day when our housekeeper called us in a panic. “The puppies are very, very sick,” she told me. “They have really bad diarrhea and they’re shaking.” I called and asked a friend,
Dog Whisperer
field producer Todd Henderson, to go to our house to get the puppies and rush them to the vet. Todd later described to me the horrible experience of driving beyond the speed limit to get to the animal hospital, while the puppies struggled to stay alive in his car. They both made it to medical care, but one of them passed away shortly after arrival. The diagnosis was the parvovirus, which meant that all the dogs staying at my home had been exposed. Fortunately, they all had full immunization, but we had to disinfect our entire home and garage with the only solution known to kill the hardy virus—one part chlorine bleach to ten parts water. Before we could sleep easily again, I also had Dr. Rick give the rest of the pack a clean bill of health.

This horrendous event demonstrated to me the quick and deadly power of the parvovirus, to which puppies are susceptible during their most sensitive period of development. Parvo is an extremely contagious organism that targets the sensitive intestinal lining of puppies. It can be fatal. Even if caught early, the treatment involves quarantine and is extremely expensive. “I remember when parvo first struck when I was in vet school,” recalls Dr. Paula Terifaj. “Puppies would die when we thought they’d live and live when we were sure they’d die. It’s a tough thing.” Parvo is spread through the feces of infected dogs, and some adult dogs can carry the virus without showing symptoms.

Dr. Paula explains, describing exactly what happened in our home with the Yorkies:

With the parvovirus, puppies are most likely to be exposed
before
they are adopted into their new homes. Kennels, questionable breeders, animal shelters, and pet stores are all breeding grounds for viruses. The exposed puppy will not show signs of illness for five to seven days, which is the incubation period. Often, a healthy-looking puppy is brought into the home and then becomes ill days later. Then people think that they were the ones who exposed the pup, but most times that’s not what happened. Most of the sick puppies I see came from a pet shop or the Internet and they are almost always from puppy mills. They are shipped or come from a contaminated facility and stressful conditions. Infectious diseases run rampant in puppy mills but not among puppies coming from respectable breeders, or good shelters and rescues.

Despite my recent experience with the virus, I still believe that many owners become so fearful of their puppies’ contracting it that they overprotect them, isolating them indoors for weeks or even months, and depriving them of much-needed exercise and socialization with their own kind. In coming chapters, I’ll offer more suggestions on how to safely socialize and exercise your puppy under sixteen weeks of age.

In the case of the Yorkie puppies, I’m happy to say that the little guy that survived received medication and went through a period of quarantine. He is now a much-loved, healthy adolescent, living in the comfortable home of a supporter of the Cesar and Ilusion Millan Foundation.

GENERAL PUPPY HEALTH FAQS

“We generally say, ‘Don’t treat your puppy like a baby,’ but in terms of health, puppies are a little like babies—they do need a certain level of protection. They are vulnerable to the heat and cold and can dehydrate quickly. They definitely need more care and attention than adult dogs,” according to Dr. Paula Terifaj. However, because of the excellence of modern veterinary medicine, most of the vets I work with rarely see many sick puppies in their practices these days. “We do see a few health issues, such as diarrhea from worms and upper respiratory infections such as kennel cough,” says Dr. Charlie. “There have been a few recent parvo outbreaks in unvaccinated puppies, especially pit bulls, a breed that seems to be more susceptible and often dies. We hardly ever see lepto, hepatitis, or, thank goodness, rabies in puppies.” Dr. Charlie’s rural Pennsylvania practice has seen a recent rise in Lyme disease cases (also epidemic among humans in that region) but a definite drop in preventable illnesses. “Actually we don’t see too many major mistakes made by owners anymore, either. People seem to be more educated on the need for a series of vaccines and heartworm prevention. Most of the mistakes we see are on the behavioral side,” he says.

Good nutrition, a thorough vaccination program, regular vet checkups, and a good owner-based health check and maintenance program at home serve as prevention for many of the problems that plagued both grown dogs and puppies in the recent past. Drs. Terifaj and Rinehimer contributed their answers to a few of the most frequently asked questions about puppy health:

Q. Are there any symptoms in my puppy’s behavior that are red flags for health emergencies?

A. What people have to know is that when a puppy is vomiting or not eating—then you got a sick puppy! Puppies have two settings: play and sleep. If your dog is running around, playing, and just has a little bit of diarrhea, it’ll probably be fine. But if your puppy isn’t playful, and is vomiting and not eating, then you should see a vet right away.

Q. My puppy isn’t doing so well with housebreaking. How can I tell if it’s got a urinary tract infection?

A. Just because your puppy hasn’t picked up on housebreaking doesn’t mean he’s got a urinary tract infection. Puppies with UTIs will strain to urinate and go frequently. If the bladder is infected, the lining will become inflamed. When salty urine comes down from the kidney, it burns and the dog immediately tries to get rid of it. If there is blood in the urine or if it’s unusually smelly, you should check with your vet.

Q. How does a dog contract heartworms and what can be done about them?

A. Heartworms are spread from dog to dog by mosquitoes. The larvae actually have to go through a molt in the mosquito to become infectious. Preventive care is a monthly pill like Heartgard that kills any larvae that are introduced. Heartworm disease can be detected only by a blood test. It can be treated, but the treatment, although better than the arsenic compounds used in the past, is still somewhat risky and expensive. So prevention is definitely the way to go.

Q. How do you protect puppies from flea infestations?

A. Good diet and regular grooming should prevent most flea infestations. Puppies should be brushed with a fine-toothed flea comb. Sometimes you will catch the flea, but often you will find black particles that look like pepper. Fleas suck blood and what comes out the rear end is a black grain. To determine if a speck is flea dirt or just regular dirt, rub a piece in a paper towel with a little bit of rubbing alcohol. If it is flea dirt it will leave a red, blood-colored stain on the paper towel. A spot-type flea protectant like Frontline or Revolution should take care of the problem.

TEETHING

Between four and six months, most puppies will pass through a teething phase. This process is uncomfortable, and the increased chewing binges you’ll see in the puppy’s behavior at this stage are his attempts to relieve this discomfort—usually on your most expensive pair of shoes, since they are often made of natural materials like leather or suede, and since they carry the comfort of your scent. Don’t take any of it personally—pet stores offer thousands of teething toys to help you redirect this behavior. During this stage, all the puppy is focused on is “How can I relieve this irritation that I have in my mouth?” A big no-no at this time is to wear gloves and let the dog chew on them, or to play games where you allow the dog to bite you anywhere on your body. It may seem harmless now, but you will be conditioning your dog to see your hands or your body as a source for relieving his frustration. Teething discomfort can also be minimized through exercise. I’ve used swimming in the past, and not necessarily in a large pool. A bathtub or wading pool for a puppy or a medium-size dog will get his legs moving in the water, give him something healthy to focus on, and distract him from what’s going on inside his mouth. After the exercise, give the dog an object of your choice to chew on, and be relieved that the teething stage for puppies passes quickly—a month or two at the most.

When your puppy approaches adolescence—from six to ten months of age—he will go through a second chewing phase. His permanent teeth are coming in now, and the urge to chew is powerful. Remember to make the appropriate toys available to your “teenager” at this stage, and provide as much healthy exercise as possible. Often, dogs that don’t teethe at this stage may have dental problems later in life, so make sure you are seeing your vet regularly and reporting on your pup’s teething behavior.

SUPPERTIME

One of the most important lessons I have learned from the many fine veterinarians I’ve consulted with over the past few years is that a dog is what he eats. As a naive guy newly arrived from Mexico, I used to blindly accept as true all the extravagant claims and promises made by commercial pet foods in their ads and fancy packaging. Back then, I shopped for whatever seemed the best bargain on the shelves. Today, I feed some of my dogs an organic raw-food diet and I’m intimately involved in creating the recipe for my own Dog Whisperer brand organic dog food. What you feed your dog can affect a dog’s energy level, his digestion, his immunity, even his susceptibility to allergies, ticks, and fleas. In
A Member of the Family
, I discuss nutrition in more depth, and in
Be the Pack Leader
, I give a thorough description of my own personal mealtime rituals with the pack. In general, however, I recommend that new puppy owners avoid the supermarket and consult with their veterinarians about the many other choices that are available to them in order to safeguard their puppy’s long-term health. Instead of the big-box commercial puppy foods, look into the select number of excellent natural, organic, prepackaged pet foods created by smaller companies that you won’t see on the shelves of your local supermarket or discount store. Seek out the specialty dog foods at pet supply stores or at natural food stores, and learn how to read the ingredients on pet food labels before you buy.

The first three ingredients listed on the label are critical, as they account for most of what your dog will be ingesting. Look for animal proteins listed as meat. Limit or avoid those with processed cheap grain products. Immediately reject any products with artificial preservatives, food dyes, and any meat or grain by-products.

And resist the urge to overfeed a puppy with a bottomless appetite or indulge in too many between-meal treats, as these are habits that may be hard to break once your pup stops growing like a weed and burning those extra calories. Obesity is becoming as serious a problem among America’s dogs as it is among our human population.

MAKING VET VISITS FUN

If you are raising your new dog from puppyhood, you have the perfect opportunity to ensure that you never have a hard time at the vet’s office or with groomers. Veterinarians are trained medical professionals, but many of them aren’t dog behaviorists. Even if their foundation in dog psychology is sound, they don’t always have the time or energy to make sure your dog is feeling his best while they are focusing on his treatment. It falls to you to prepare your puppy for vet visits and to make the ritual of going to the vet or the groomer an exciting journey filled with fun, positive sensations.

The approach I used for all the puppies raised for this book—as well as for all the grown dogs under my care—began with getting them used to traveling in cars, from the first day I bring them home. If a puppy is stressed out by a car, he will be ten times more upset by the time you arrive at the vet’s office, so you as the owner must make getting in and out of the car as automatic a response for him as is going in and out of the front door for your daily walks. Going for a ride in a car shouldn’t be a traumatic chore for a dog—it should be a cue that he is about to experience something wonderful. I drive everywhere with my dogs, and they have come to associate a trip in the car with fun, adventure, and togetherness. They don’t know where we’re going when they pile into the back, but they know I will always make it a positive experience.