The Thinking Dog Blog

Not Meant to Be

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Black Lab Ida wades into the water to stand near Deni, dressed in shorts and tank top, holding a long blue leash.
Ida’s first visit to the dog beach

A guest post by Deni Elliott

The partnership that develops between a well-bred and trained guide dog and a visually impaired human looks and feels like magic. However, as was the case with Ida and me, sometimes things just don’t work out.

Alberta, my first Guiding Eyes dog, and her successor, Koala, matched me perfectly in very different ways. I wasn’t surprised that Ida was not like the others; I thought of her as my sensitive girl.

However, after three weeks with me, Ida made it clear to my Guiding Eyes home trainer and me that she really didn’t want to be a guide dog. I am grateful that Ida made her choice before we set out together on a trip in which she would have needed be comfortable at my side while I gave a professional presentation in Chicago, attended some meetings in Salt Lake City, and then got to know her golden retriever sister and life in Montana, with many hours in airports and flights on Delta in between.

Ida got the life that I suspect she wanted all along — being a pampered pet with the family who raised her from the age of 8 weeks to 16 months. My previous two guides are happy too: when Koala retired after more than 6 years of guiding, she happily returned to her puppy raiser. Alberta, who retired early due to an eye tumor,  is now 12 years old. She lovingly watches over my toddler grandniece, who has shared food with the dog since she was old enough to fling it from her high chair.

I will be fine, even though I miss having a dog at my side and am temporarily using a white cane to help with navigation. Guiding Eyes training staff and placement specialists have come to know me well over the past 10 years; They are working hard to find my next perfect match.

My first two Guiding Eyes partners taught me that dogs with different temperaments can be equally good guides:

  • Alberta exuded confidence. Give her a challenge, and she’d rise up on her toes to say, “Bring it on!” More than once she responded to my uncertainty by nuzzling me to say, “We can do this.”
  • Koala was my introvert, analytical and thoughtful about new environments, but five weeks into our relationship, she flew with Pam and me to Israel without complaint and happily worked trains and open air markets in Jerusalem, as well as guiding me safely up and down the centuries-old stairs that traverse Tzefat.

Ida was brisk, responsive, and responsible when in harness and loved being praised and rewarded for her good work. That’s why she was matched with me in the first place! But, when off duty, she increasingly startled at unexpected sounds and sights, including wind in the trees and birds flying overhead. Within a few weeks, she could no longer shake off whatever surprised her and became more intensely anxious more of the time. Ida taught me that a smart, creative dog can hide her true feelings in her eagerness to please — at least for a while.

A successful guide partnership is a tapestry of collaboration, cooperation, communication, and trust. My dog trusts me to know our ultimate destination and give her clear directions about where we are heading. I trust the dog to alert me so that I can navigate curbs and stairs and locate door handles and empty chairs. She steers us safely around obstacles that I would run into or trip over. Most importantly, she quickly gets us out of the way of vehicles that might run us down. The partnership works only when dog and person agree that the dog has final say in all guiding decisions. We live by the Guiding Eyes mantra: Trust your dog.

Sometimes puppies decide as early as 8 weeks that they are not cut out for the intensity of guide work; others make their reluctance clear as adolescents when learning guiding skills. Dogs past their prime slow down when they are in harness, signaling to their partners that they are ready to retire. Unfortunately, as with Ida, sometimes the dog’s decision comes at a sad time for all of the humans involved: When placed in a real life partnership, they decide that a guide dog’s life is not for them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Introducing Ida: A New Thinking Dog!

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Black lab Ida holds a green rubber toy with her right paw while chewing on a Nyladbone wedged inside it
Ida uses a toy to hold her chew bone steady.

The Thinking Dog Blog finally has some wonderful news to share: Deni recently welcomed Ida, a new guide dog, to the family!

Ida, who just turned 2, is a black Labrador retriever from Guiding Eyes for the Blind.

She’s a great addition to the Thinking Dog clan: She’s smart, seems to be an adept problem-solver, and learns quickly. As a young Lab, she’s also high-energy and very playful.

Black Lab Ida wades into the water to stand near Deni, dressed in shorts and tank top, holding a long blue leash.Like Deni’s first Guiding Eyes dog, Alberta, Ida loves it when Deni — or anyone, really — notices her cleverness and comments on how well she’s doing her job. She’s super-friendly and feels entitled — obligated? — to greet people on walks, even starting to head up sidewalks or driveways if neighbors are outside when she’s on a (non-working) walk.

Like Koala, she’s a bit analytical and likes to think things over. During her first visit to the dog beach (on a long leash!) she needed to think about whether sand, surf, and starfish were good things.

Ida inspects two small starfish on Deni's handOnce she felt comfortable, though, she had a wonderful time. And, back in the fenced dog run area near the beach, she raced around joyfully with another young dog. And, on her second visit, she ran playful, joyful circles as she made friends with other dogs and stepped tentatively into the rough surf.

Black Lab Ida yawns as she rests near the huge bill of a flamingo sculpture, with Deni standing next to her
The Tampa-St. Petersburg airport features a gigantic (and possible scary) statue of a flamingo

Ida is a happy, bouncy, curious, very social dog who is eager to play. She is still settling in and learning what the life of a working grown-up dog is like, of course, and she might have found the giant flamingo sculpture at the Tampa airport a little unnerving … but who wouldn’t?

She’s also still learning Deni’s routines — and quickly picking up the “extra” skills that all of Deni’s dogs learn, like finding a trash can as soon as she’s done “parking” (a euphemism for pooping).

She caught on quickly to opening gifts on her 2nd birthday — and gleefully played with her new toys! She likes to use her paws, standing on one gift to keep it in place as she removed the tissue-paper wrapping. And she holds her toys while playing with or chewing on them.

Ida is young, and adjusting to a new dog — especially after several years with a precise, polished pro like Koala — is going to be a challenge for Deni. But the two seem to have forged a close connection already, with Ida responding quickly when called even while running happily with another dog.

Their next big adventure together will be a visit to Montana in May — including a few days at Yellowstone. I hope Ida isn’t afraid of bison!

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Pet First Aid

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logo for Montana K9 Safety training organization, with paw print and first aid iconI recently took a pet first aid class. It’s a good idea for anyone with pets, especially if you hike or camp or live farther than a half-hour or so from an emergency vet.

The course I took, offered all over Montana by Montana K9 Safety, was an in-person, four-and-a-half hour class. I expected it to be more hands-on than it turned out to be, but it did provide a thorough introduction to first aid. We learned techniques for immobilizing potential fractures, stopping bleeding, and carrying pets out of a wilderness. We briefly covered trap release, too — an unfortunate necessity in Montana.

The organization also offers a full-day course for wilderness emergency care.

In addition to this first aid course, I’ve taken the trap-release workshop offered by Footloose Montana, an anti-trapping organization twice and highly recommend it to anyone in Montana who hikes with a dog. (Caution: You may never want to hike again …)

Unfortunately, my first aid class did not spend much time on CPR and choking, which, along with trap release, are the only parts that I felt needed to be in-person and hands-on. I hope I never need either, but I was hoping to get a better sense of how to help a dog who is choking or in heart failure.

Online pet first aid courses are offered by the Red Cross and possibly by local or state organizations near you. You can take an online pet CPR class, but I am not sure how helpful it would be. Having someone correct my hand position and help me get the pressure and pace correct was enormously helpful, even if I only got one brief practice opportunity.

We spent some time talking about what to include in a first aid kit that would work for pets as well as people, and which items to take along on a day hike and which to have available in your larger kit in the car or back at camp. That was helpful too, since the list of items is extensive, and obviously it’s not practical to carry it all with you as you hike.

The carry-with-you kit should include vet wrap, gauze pads and rolls, a triangle bandage, Quik Clot, a muzzle if you have one, an extra leash (not leather), and, in Montana, aviation-grade wire cutters, in case you encounter snare traps.

The larger kit should have more of all of those things as well as sterile saline to clean wounds, some basic meds like Benadryl, hydrogen peroxide, bandage scissors, a thermometer, and more.

Useful tips included getting a set of inexpensive mushing booties to cover paw wounds and keep them clean, using a triangle bandage or bandana to create a makeshift muzzle, (or two tied together for a larger dog), having Quik Clot and an instant cold compress in your kit, as well as a SAM splint, in case you need to stabilize a limb.

Again, I hope not to need any of this advice and equipment, but I feel a (little) better armed with basic knowledge and tools. Here’s to a long spring and summer of safe hiking!

End of an Era

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Doar and Cali, both golden retrievers, mouth-wrestle on a blue and white rugThe sad news keeps coming.

Dora, Cali’s sister and playmate, passed away on March 23, likely of same hemangiosarcoma that claimed so many of their siblings and other relatives.

Dora had the even, sociable, sweet, and loving temperament so many of their family shared. She was more analytical than Cali, often more serious, and an excellent dog’s dog. By which I mean that she could connect with and understand any dog, whether excitable or calm, young or old, anxious or confident.

Goldens Dora and Cali cuddle with Dora's dadDora spent many years helping her mom walk a pack of dogs each day and made many dog and human friends through that dog pack and in her neighborhood. As her health declined, she more often chose to stay home, often hanging out with her adored dad (Cali adored him too … ).

From their first night away from their mom, which they spent snuggled together in a tiny crate, Cali and Dora shared a special sister bond. Until Cali and I moved to Montana, Cali and Dora had frequent play dates. Though both had many other friends and playmates, there was an intensity and intimacy about their play together that Cali never experienced with any other dog.

Goldens Dora and Cali play in a blur of golden furLooking through old photos of the girls, I found that many are just a blur of fur and motion; when they were together, Dora and Cali played and played (stopping for occasional snack breaks of course).

It’s the end of a wonderful era, and it came way too soon. I know it’s a silly, but I like to imagine them running together on an endless eternal dog beach.

Golden sisters Dora and Cali run on a wide beach with surf and a blue sky in the background

Retirement Day

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9-week-old golden puppy Orly rests on black lab Koala's back
Orly and Koala became instant friends

Today is Koala’s retirement day.

She won’t get a gold watch, but I do hope she’ll get lots of treats, multiple walks each day where she can sniff whatever she wants, frequent opportunities to run along beaches, and plenty of activities to keep her mind sharp.

Deni will arrive at Guiding Eyes today to meet her new guide; they will spend just over a week learning to work together before heading home to Florida.

After guiding Deni to her alma mater (Guiding Eyes), Koala will head “home” in a sense; she’s spending her retirement with her puppy raiser!

Many retired guide and service dogs return to their puppy homes for their golden years, and many guide dog schools offer puppy raisers the opportunity to adopt “their” puppies when the dogs are no longer able to work. It’s a nice solution for everyone.

I keep telling myself that, and explain it cheerfully to everyone who asks. But … it’s also tough. I won’t see her again. Deni is giving up her friend and companion of nearly 7 years. Koala was — is — a beloved member of our “family.” Losing her so soon after losing Cali … well, it’s hard.

Some retired dogs do stay with their partners’ families, but that has its own challenges. Alberta, who retired nearly seven years ago, lives with Deni’s nephew and family. Every time Deni visits, Alberta again faces the disappointment of not being allowed to do “her” job; of saying good-bye again. And Koala spent those visits fuming about the other dog who thought Deni was “hers.” Deni didn’t want to put Koala (and the new dog) through all of that.

Koala is an unusually bright and creative dog. She communicates better than  most living creatures, understanding full sentences in addition to an uncanny fluency in human body language. She’s a brilliant problem-solver and enjoys figuring out any challenge, whether it’s locating restrooms and Skyclubs in a new airport, finding the nearest trash can or creating efficient ways to return her empty dinner bowl to the nearest human (in exchange for dessert, of course).

She’s also got the best dog social skills of any dog I’ve known. She can size up any dog — young, old; large, small — and immediately intuit the right way to greet and interact with them. She’ll no doubt quickly make new dog friends in her retirement neighborhood, but Orly and I miss Koala already …

Fully grown, golden Orly rests her head on black Lab Koala's back

1-2-3 Treat!

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Orly's certificate identifies her as the 41,438th member of the Dog Aging Project pack.

Orly (like her cousin Dusty) is a member of the Dog Aging Project “pack.” (Your dog can join too!) It’s a group of vets and researchers who are gathering data from thousands of dog owners to try to learn more about dogs’ health and behavior as they age.

Orly joined back in May 2022 but only got her first assignment a couple of weeks ago. We were asked to play a game called 1-2-3 Treat. Orly’s eager to try anything that has “treat” right there in its name, so I got busy.

Prep

I had to construct three identical boxes from pieces of cardboard. As a person who flunked arts and crafts, over and over, throughout my childhood and who still cannot cut a straight line, even with lefty scissors … well, let’s say it was a labor of love.

Equipped with my three non-identical, lopsided boxes, I moved on to the next step: Marking out the space. This entailed taping an array of x’s on the floor at precise distances, with space to walk around them with Orly.

This was a challenge. It’s March in Montana, which means it’s winter. The nasty part of winter where the back yard resembles a lumpy ice rink. But that’s my largest open space (you need a 10×10 foot area). I moved some stuff around in my basement and figured out a way to get the four x’s the right distance apart with just enough space to squeeze by if Orly walked right next to me (she didn’t but … that comes later).

One x was the starting point, and the other three were where the lopsided boxes went.

Warm-Up

The warm-up was where the fun began for Orly. We got out treats!

Then, we followed instructions about which box to approach and when I was to put a treat in which box and whether Orly was allowed to eat it. Amazingly, she cooperated, leaving some of the treats and gobbling down others.

Orly was n leash, and I could choose whether to have her on my left or my right. We’d approach the boxes differently depending on that choice; Orly was supposed to be on the outside, with me between her and the box.

While she stayed close to me, she kept sticking her nose out, across my legs, to try to get to the boxes. She also kept trying to get ahead so she could get to the box first, not realizing that until I arrived, there were no treats in the boxes. Once she caught on, she mostly stayed next to me, though.

The Main Event

We finished the warm-up, recorded Orly’s behavior, and, finally — we were ready for the main game. 1-2-3 Treat, here we come!

We needed 30 treats for this! Orly was enjoying it already.

We followed nine rounds of instructions — variations on put a treat in each box and let Orly eat two of the three; return to the starting point, let her go, and record which box she looks in first for the remaining treat.

Orly made only one mistake, which means that in eight of the rounds, as soon as I let go of the leash, she trotted over to the only box with a treat in it and scarfed the treat. On the error round, she was heading to the correct box after quickly realizing her mistake. But the cruel rules required me to take the treat and not let her approach a second box.

(You are correct if you are thinking that nine rounds time three treats equals only 27. I guess they figure we’ll mess up somewhere and they don’t want us to run out of treats.)

The Results

The final step was recording Orly’s stellar performance and submitting her results.

We’ll be asked to do this once a year. The researchers will look at Orly’s results, along with the probably less-stellar results from thousands of other dogs. They say that they are interested in how dogs’ responses change as they age. We’ll see!

Meanwhile, Orly wonders whether a monthly check would provide better data …

 

Do You Brush Your Dog’s Teeth?

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Golden retriever Orly sits as her teeth are brushed with a pink toothbrush

Brushing dog teeth is part of our nightly routine … but I know that that’s not the case for most dogs and their people. (But if your dog gives you dog kisses … you might want to start!)

I’ve known several dogs who lost many teeth as they aged, due to gingivitis or decay. And many more dog families that spent several hundred dollars annually on professional dental cleanings for their dogs.

I’ve brushed my goldens’ teeth, starting when each was a young puppy. When she was little, Cali would walk over to the shelf where her toothbrush was kept and ask to have her teeth brushed. She later decided that she didn’t enjoy it, but she was always cooperative. Orly is still in the asking-for-it stage.

I sweeten the deal with a crunchy treat, and I suspect that that has a lot to do with their cooperation. Whatever works! Jana, Cali, and now Orly all had / have beautiful white teeth!

I use kids’ toothbrushes — soft ones — from the dollar store and dog toothpaste. There are several brands, but I mostly use Petrodex because everyone likes the taste and it’s easy to find.

Orly sits patiently while I brush — top, bottom, inside, outside — then she likes to lick the brush clean. Finally, she gets a cookie and heads off to bed.

Your vet might say that it’s fine to brush a couple times a week, but I found that if I didn’t make it part of a daily routine, I wouldn’t remember to do it at all. So we do it every night.

Golden Orly licks the toothbrush clean after brushing her teethThere are other ways to keep dogs’ teeth clean. Dogs who chew a lot of fresh bones or antlers tend to have little plaque buildup. There are also products you can add to the dog’s water to kill bacteria and reduce buildup, but I have never used them so I don’t know how palatable or effective they are.

Brushing only takes a minute and, once you’re in the habit, it’s not a big deal for most dogs. Imagine life with no more “dog breath”! And … think of all the money you’ll save — not to mention the worry of sedation — by avoiding veterinary cleanings!

 

 

Dog Kisses

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Orly, a golden retriever, sits for her photoI’ve never been a fan of licky dogs, but I do pay attention to how and when a dog offers kisses and other licks — because, just as all tail wags do not signify a happy dog, not all dog licks signify affection. A recent Whole Dog Journal article on puppy socialization described it really well:

When dogs lick humans with affection, it’s typically one quick flick, or a sustained activity of leisurely soft licks. But the lick that’s worrisome – the one that trainers call the “kiss to dismiss” – looks different. It’s intense, sometimes fast, hard, even frantic. Parents often misinterpret this, thinking the dog is finally learning to love the toddler, but that licking is designed to get the advancing human to stop!

Orly is a very affectionate girl, and her trademark kiss is a tiny tongue flick that just grazes the tip of the nose of her target. It’s usually combined with a sweet snuggle, and the whole package lasts only a few seconds. It’s adorable. (Orly specializes in “adorable.”)

She frequently greets her hike leader with a sweet kiss and cuddle, and pretty much  anyone who leans over her is in danger of getting a tiny nose kiss.

Orly will occasionally do the “leisurely soft licks,” but I tend to discourage that.

I’ve seen the “fast, hard, even frantic” lick too. Cali would do that sometimes when I was grooming her. She was not a huge fan of the nail routine, for example.

This intensive, insistent licking is a clear stop sign from any dog, whether you’re grooming her, holding her too tightly, or — where it often shows up — if a child is overwhelming her with attention or simply too much presence.

When people say a dog bite “came out of nowhere” it’s often the case that they missed this — and other — warning signs that the dog was reaching her limit. A stressed dog who can’t escape may well escalate from these clear but harmless signals to snapping or biting.

Check out the WDJ article for more canine stress signals that are easy to miss or misinterpret; though the article focuses on puppies, the stress behaviors hold true for dogs of all ages.

Is the Early Cancer Detection Blood Test Worthwhile?

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OncoK9 recommends screening for giant and high-risk breeds at younger ages.
OncoK9’s recommended ages to start cancer screening

If you’ve been in a vet office lately, you might have seen a brochure advertising the OncoK9 blood test, an early-detection cancer screening test.

I first heard of it when I took Cali to a specialist who ended up diagnosing her hemangiosarcoma. By then, we had done the ultrasounds and were on our way to the splenectomy, so I didn’t “need” the test; I knew she had cancer.

The blood test “uses a simple blood draw to detect abnormal DNA released into circulation by cancer cells,” and claims to be able to pick up on these markers before the dog would be likely to have any symptoms. Dogs with some cancers, like hemangiosarcoma, rarely show any symptoms. OncoK9 is said to be able to detect 30 different types of cancer, including several very common canine cancers.

The company recommends it annually for dogs aged 7 and older, with different guidelines for cancer-prone breeds. They suggest starting screening at age 6 for goldens, for example, and age 4 for boxers (see illustration above).

Should you do it?

I can’t answer that, but I can share the pros and cons I see.

An argument for doing the test is that early detection gives you the best chance to treat some cancers.

Now for the “cons.” The test detects cancer markers, or claims to, but it does not give any indication of the type or location of the cancer.

A friend who works for a vet in another state reports that her clinic looked into the test, and her vet worries about the high potential for false negatives — not catching the presence of cancer markers — as well as the smaller, but still present, chance of false positives. Paired with the lack of indication of what type of cancer the dog has, a false positive could send a family on a very costly, stressful wild goose chase to try to identify the nonexistent cancer.

This vet says the test “might be helpful” for a dog with unexplained weight loss and no other evidence of disease; that’s far from a blanket recommendation for an annual check!

Finally, the cost: The test costs $500 at my specialty clinic. Cost will vary by location, but it’s not an inexpensive test. A few hundred dollars (or more) is a hefty addition to your dog’s annual checkup, and it’s unlikely that pet insurance would cover it.

My specialist vet’s office told me that, following a positive test, the next steps would be tests to figure out the type and stage of the cancer. And that anyone with a positive test gets a $1,000 credit toward that testing. I assume that this is because the company that does the OncoK9 test uses the follow-up and test data to refine the test and/or to work on treatments. Either way, the hefty sum tells me that a) the follow-up testing is pricey and b) they don’t expect a huge proportion of positives.

What do you DO with a positive result?

That raises the next obvious question, which is: If I were to get a positive test result, what would I do?

  • If you are not prepared to go down the expensive route of testing to identify and stage the cancer, then treat it … I’m not sure what you gain by doing the test.
  • If you are, and you have a dog of a breed that is likely to get cancer, then early detection and treatment could give you more time with your dog and/or lead you to an early treatment that spares your dog some suffering, depending of course on what additional testing you did, how quickly you identified the dog’s cancer, and whether it was a treatable cancer — all significant questions.

Whether to do the test (and what to do afterward) is, of course is a very individual decision.

Orly is only 1. I am certainly hoping that we have more reliable, less costly ways to detect (early) and effectively treat canine cancer before she’s of an age where I’d face the question of whether to do this type of test. Cali spent her life helping to make that happen; and the many researchers working on canine cancer detection and treatment offer hope for future pups.

Can a Dog Really Be ‘Hypoallergenic’?

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Maisy, a black standard poodle, sits
Why get a cross when you can have an actual Poodle?

Dr. Stanley Coren, a noted psychologist and dog expert, recently wrote a column about the doodle craze. His take on the popularity of these “designer mutts” that are all some other breed crossed with a poodle, is that people believe all poodle-cross pups to be “hypoallergenic,” or “having little likelihood of causing an allergic response.” His focus is that not all poodle mixes are low- or non-shedding dogs, and therefore there’s really no guarantee that they will be hypoallergenic.

I want to take that argument a step farther and argue that, for many individuals with dog allergies, no dog will be hypoallergenic.

People may be allergic to dog fur or dander; they may also be allergic to components of dog saliva or dog urine. Even a bald dog still has those so … for some people, shedding or not, furry or hairy, any dog will induce an allergic reaction.

Of course there is a huge range in the symptoms and severity of allergic reactions, and a dog with much-reduced shedding, and who is groomed and bathed often and lives in a home that is vacuumed and dusted very frequently, may cause few or no symptoms in many allergic individuals. So there are good reasons for people with mild dander / fur allergies who love dogs to look to non- or low-shedding breeds.

But poodle crosses are not the only or most reliable option. To Dr. Coren’s point, without testing your individual pup against your individual allergy, you won’t know. And several breeds do not shed or shed minimally, starting with actual poodles and including large and small dogs of all temperaments.

When choosing a dog, it’s important to do your homework, whether you’re buying a puppy or adopting a shelter dog, and whether your concern is allergies, temperament, health, or all of these.