Sniff 'n' Mingle with Woodford Humane Society

This fun event celebrates this year's debut of the popular Limited Edition Calendar. Bring your dog and join in the fun! Better yet, contact the shelter and volunteer to give a shelter dog a night on the town!

Beastie Ball coming in November

Lexington Humane Society's Beastie Ball - reservations available now:

"Bark" the Date! This year's Beastie Ball titled "Hooray for Hollywoof” will be November 10th at Marriott's Griffin Gate Resort! To go on and reserve your table now go to www.lexingtonhumanesociety.org

Taking the lead with worried dogs

So often our dogs' behavior contradicts our human intuition, as in the following very common predicament: "Poor Rover is afraid of __________ [fill in the blank: thunder, the vacuum cleaner, strangers, …]. At first he just seemed a little worried, but the more we've try to comfort him, the more fearful he's become. What on earth is going on?"

As loving caretakers, our first impulse is to soothe and console our dogs when they act afraid: “it’s ok – it won’t hurt you”. Unfortunately, your dog doesn’t understand the words of explanation, all he knows is that when he acts scared, people pet him and speak kindly. That’s how you praise his other good behaviors…so to his doggy mind the logical conclusion is that you are praising him for acting scared. He obliges you by acting (and feeling) even more frightened the next time.

Uh oh, how do we get off this track?

The best things to do when your dog acts frightened or worried about anything are:

1. Set an example of cheerful confidence.

• You may say something in an upbeat tone of voice: “wow, what a great storm!” or “hey, there’s a cool person over there!”
• If your dog is frightened of an object, and you can get close enough without forcing your dog, it may help for you to confidently touch and speak to the object (I once patted and conversed with a parked bulldozer - luckily there were no human witnesses!)
• Do not force your dog to approach the object or person.
• Do not allow a stranger to approach if your dog is frightened. Explain that your dog needs some space right now.
  

2. Ignore frightened behavior and watch for any curious or confident behavior that you can reward.

• By watching his body posture, ear and tail position, and the skin around his mouth and eyes in many different situations (fun as well as scary), you will learn to judge his attitude with precision.
• Do not pat or stroke your dog when he is acting worried – there is a better way to distract him: see #3 below.

3. If possible, take his mind off the Scary Thing by asking him to focus on you and perform a trained behavior that is very easy (I like to teach finger-targeting for this).

• If he is too scared to perform, get him further from the scary thing if possible.
  
• Reward each performance of the behavior with a treat if he will take it. If he won't take the treat, try getting further from the scary thing and gradually working toward it.
  
• You can give a double reward for taking a step toward a scary thing by tossing the treat away from the scary thing. He gets the treat, plus he gets to go further away. This will make him more willing to move toward it again.

In my next post I will share some specific information about thunderstorm/fireworks phobia.

Yappy hour for Woodford Humane Society

You and your dog are invited to Dudley's for Yappy Hour-a dog friendly event raise funds for the Woodford Humane Society.

Tuesday, August 21 5:30-7:30pm (weather permitting)

Dudley's, 380 S. Mill Street, Lexington
$25

Bring your dog (one per human please) Yappy Hour will be held on the Dudley's patio. Join us for doggy goodies, hors d'oeuvres, wine…and doggie art! South Hill Gallery is to come out and will let your dog paint a piece of plexiglass with different paint colors on it and let the dogs walk through it and then onto a sheet of paper. They will then take a pic of the dog and get it framed - part of the profit will go to WHS!
The WHS dog pictured here is Shasta

xylitol alert

Do you have sugar-free gum in your purse or pocket? Is your purse or jacket ever within reach of a curious dog? Do you ever share your own food with your dog?

Some sugar-free foods, including many brands of sugar free gum and some snacks, contain a sweetener called xylitol that is very dangerous to dogs. It causes a crash in blood sugar levels, leading to collapse. A news item from the American Veterinary Medical Association reports that "These signs can develop quite rapidly, at times less than 30 minutes after ingestion of the product ... Therefore, it is important that pet owners seek veterinary treatment immediately."

A 2006 article from the University of Tennessee reports that
dogs who survive the immediate crisis sometimes succumb to liver failure later.

I recently read an account of a dog who suffered xylitol poisoning when her owner shared some sugar-free pudding with her, so check the ingredient list if you like to share your own goodies with your dog!