Dairy Queen for Good Dogs

Do your dogs whine, bark, twist in the seat, or stomp on you as you drive past a Dairy Queen red roof? Ours have learned what the local soft-serve stand - including the distinctive red roof - looks like. And, they expect to stop for a treat!

This local DQ give out free drippings, about 4 ounces of ice cream in a plastic cup, for dogs. However, our two spoiled pouches expect to eat the container when the cold, yummy vanilla ice cream has been licked and chomped - thus we purchase cones.

The alpha dog - our husky / german shepherd mix - used to eat her cone at a reasonable pace. With the advent of her doggie competitor, she began to wolf down the cone in about three big bites. You'd be in danger of missing fingers when she got to the cone (not really - but the fingers might hurt) because of her hurry to finish. My husband (aka "the guy") now pulls her cone back as she licks and bites the ice cream to slow her down. He can get the two dogs to finish more or less at the same time. As you can see from the picture at right, she's ahead on this day.

We also are quite memorable, I guess, when we visit our local DQ. People want to come and watch these gorgeous dogs enjoy their ice cream, and ask to pet them when they are done with the treat. That's an important point - always ask an owner first about approaching and touching a strange animal. Our mixed dog is very friendly, and eager to be pet. The husky, as a rehabilitation in process rescue dog, is still a bit shy.

Get out and enjoy the warmer weather, and treat the dogs!

Pet Food Related Deaths - the Contaminate Is... ??

Update on March 31, now the F.D.A. reports that the recalled pet foods were ...

"... found to have been made with a batch of wheat gluten shipped to the United States from China that the F.D.A. said was laced with melamine." ( nytimes.com )

However, there is confusion as to why compound would sicken and kill cats and dogs. Apparently, melamine is used as a fertilizer in China, but not in the U.S. Also reported by the NY Times online was that the list of recalled pet foods could be found at the F.D.A. website (http://www.fda.gov/).

As of March 23, 2007, rat poison is being blamed for cat and dog deaths (bloomberg.com). As noted in my blog, below, Menu Foods, Ltd. was the manufacturer of cans and pouches of "cuts and gravy" style wet food that caused the death of pets in the U.S.

Aminopterin is the chemical, and it is used as rat poison - though the chemical is banned in the United States. According to the Bloomberg.com article, this folic acid derivative can cause birth defects in people, and renal (kidney) damage in cats and dogs. The amount of aminopterim discovered in the food samples tested was 40 parts per million ( www.boston.com ), which is enough to cause the failure of dog and cat kidneys.

Pet Food Recall "cuts and gravy"

A major recall of dog and cat foods has begun in the middle of March 2007. Pay attention to this recall, and don't feed the named (see links, below) wet-style foods to your pet, as the reported problems include kidney failure and death of the pet. Symptoms can include excessive thirst, vomiting, diarrhea, and lethargy. If you feed the named foods, and your pet has any of these symptoms, contact your veterinarian right away!

Menu Foods is the manufacturer of at least 88 different brands of this wet-style cat and dog foods that are affected. The food may be in a pouch or a can, and is - according to reports - a gravy food such as "cuts and gravy." The pet food is manufactured for branded big-names such as Eukanuba, Iams, Special Kitty, OlRoy, and more. As of now, Menu Foods believes that tainted wheat gluten, used as a filler ingredient, is the cause of the problem. The manufacturer reported that reports of pet problems and deaths coincided with the use of a new item from a new supplier in their food (LA Times online).

Business Week (online) reports that the investigation on the federal level is centering around a wheat gluten ingredient. The wheat gluten is used as a protein source and a filler. Menu Foods says that they have changed suppliers for that item. According to the federal investigators, there must be some contaminant in the wheat gluten, such as a heavy metal or fungal toxin, to cause the extreme illnesses (sometimes leading to death) that have been reported by pet owners.

What bothers me the most is that it's reported that Menu Foods started hearing from pet owners as long ago as February 20 regarding cat and dog deaths. The company started their own testing a week later, using between 40 and 50 cats and dogs. Seven of those animals died, apparently from renal (kidney) failure (CBS News online). Reports were that cats are more likely to have trouble that dogs. Why did it take until now to hear about the high death rate and the recall of suspected foods?

According to this report (CBC.ca online news), a Menu Foods spokesperson is telling consumers to hang on to veterinarian bill receipts and packaging (from the offending foods) just in case a compensation offer is made in the future. Hopefully, none of us will be needing reimbursement for any pet illness!

For the full listing of recalled foods, see: http://www.menufoods.com/recall/.

The other trouble with commercially available dog foods that I've encountered involved dry dog kibble in 2005. Apparently, corn used in the food was tainted with aflatoxin - a chemical that is made by a fungus that grows on corn and some other crops (source: MSNBC.com). That recall involved Diamond, Country Value, and Professional brands of dog food. There were deaths of dogs involved with that recalled product as well.

Out-of-season Shedding

Has anyone else had a dog that sheds its undercoat in the "wrong" season? So far, our full bred Siberian Husky, Lobo, has not blown his coat (shed) in the winter - only in the spring and fall (a partial shed in the fall).

However, our mixed-breed, Willy, who is German Shepherd and Husky mix, has been shedding during the winter. Starting around Christmas, 2006, I started noticing tufts of gray undercoat working their way up. You can see the textured look to her hindquarters in this picture with this paragraph. If you click the picture, it will open in a window all by itself (you maybe should right-click and open in a new window). Look closely (magnify if you can) and contrast that with Lobo's hindquarters. Both dogs are a bit snow-covered from play outdoors in our Michigan yard, but you can see the difference. I have combed and picked some of the obvious and loose tufts out, but I don't want to do too much because we leave the dogs tied outside during the day when everyone is at work. Yes, each has sheltered areas to get out of the wind - and you should, too, if you have a dog outside in cold weather, especially with zero degrees Fahrenheit and below wind chill.

Lobo's hindquarters show a bit of matting, but not shedding. He really dislikes brushing and combing, so I don't tend to brush his short coat out as often as I probably should. But, since he does have a short coat - shorter that Willy's - it's not as bad as if he had longer fur.

Another difference between their coats, Willy's coat has different guard hairs than Lobo's. The husky has kinkier guard hairs. Willy (with Shepherd background) has straight guard hairs that are much longer down the middle of her back that elsewhere. Willy's undercoat is gray, which you'd never guess from looking at her. The tufts can be "picked" out with fingers when loose, or we can use a shedding comb, undercoat rake, slicker brush, or (easiest to find) a stiff human hair comb. She is fine with any of these, and none seems to hurt her skin as long as I am careful. Willy can shed out a large paper shopping bag full of fur during the spring!

I comb Lobo in the spring (takes several weeks altogether), and I mean human plastic comb because he "tells" me that the shedding combs and such made of metal, hurt his skin. Lobo can "blow" or shed just as much undercoat as Willy, but the fur is creamy colored and has a different texture (kinkier). It's hard to define the differences. One is that Lobo's undercoat feels a bit waxy, even though I don't really end up with a residue on my hands. Also, Lobo does not end up smelling like a dog (Willy can stink like a dog), and didn't even keep skunk smell strongly on his coat when he was sprayed. The guard hairs left on Lobo are more sparse that on Willy, and he looks quite strange with little undercoat.

And on the off-season shedding - I thought at first that I did not adequately comb out Willy's coat during the spring and summer. Now, I think that perhaps Willy is just shedding out of season because we had a very warm start to the winter in 2006. Even the flowers and flowering bushes were fooled - I had a few yellow blossoms on our Forsythia bush in late December!

Shepherd-Husky Dog Mix peculiarities

I think our shepherd-husky mix is one of the most intelligent dogs I've seen. She is not a fast runner like our full-husky, but if you've seen the pictures from my website (www.huskydogs.net), you can see the husky look to her tail and legs. This dog is also very outgoing, loving to meet people and be pet by anyone around - like a typical husky is usually people-friendly. Also, like a husky, she pulls while being walked and is very, very strong. One thing she does not have is that innate husky need to run, run, run, - oh yeah, and run.

Speaking of strong, this is one thing we have had trouble with. Our dog is so strong that she could pull over 200 pounds on a snow sled (in snow) on her own, even up a bit of a incline. Therefore, we had trouble when we tied our dog out, either on a chain or cable. While we let our dogs sleep inside at night, and they are inside with us during daytimes when we are home. However, when everyone is gone, we put the dogs out on a cable or chain. The shepherd-mix, as she reached one year of age, was able to pull any stake we used out of the ground. We even tried a heavy calf stake-out pole embedded in concrete, buried 3 feet in the ground (unfortunately, our yard is quite sandy - typical for the west side of Michigan). She even bent the pole right over. All of the pulling is from trying to chase after stray dogs or squirrels, and she starts from a lot of slack in the line - so has a lot of speed when hitting the end of the line.

Our eventual solution was to fill a half-55 gallon barrel with cement, burying a solid iron pole with a hoop end (I think it's a 1" diameter) in the cement. We use the heaviest cable available in the stores for the cable, and change the cable at least one a year.

Okay, so that's about her strength. Anyone who has a husky or husky-mix had better start very early to train the dog NOT to pull during walks. Sorry, I cannot tell anyone how to accomplish that, as we never did train our to not pull. Maybe, researching how people train huskies to mush (and therefore to start and stop pulling) could give husky owners some clues. Some weblinks I've found include:

• http://homepage.ntlworld.com/animal-zone/Husky.htm (scroll down the page a bit for comments on this person's experience and suggestions)
• http://www.allaboutpetswa.com/just_ask%20Kathy%20McLeod.htm (a couple of suggestions about walking huskies - but written by an Australian so the spelling is varied from my US spelling)
• http://www.siberianhuskyclub.com/faq (sort through the questions sections - none addressess walking on a leash directly, but there are good training hints)

Also with training, make sure any dog learns to not jump up on people during enthusiastic greetings. Our mixed breed was 65 pounds at her ideal weight (she's a bit overweight right now). With her intelligence, our dog learned to sit, stay, talk, and shake quite easily (my husband is the trainer). She was taught to look at us by hearing her name first, knowing then to pay attention. My husband had us all us the same words, and have the same expectation (for instance, stay in place across the room until "released" with the proper command). We also used hand signals to augment the words. One example is to how one hand up in a typical "stop" guesture while telling the dog to stay. Maybe it was the training, but I expect it was the shepherd in her, this dog actually listens (MOST if the time) when called while running around the yard (the exception usually involved being hot the sent of a mouse or chipmunk).

Husky behavior with food / raw food

We feed our dogs dry kibble (crunchy dog food) and frequently add in tasty "human" treats. The full husky male is especially picky about having to get a "treat" with every feeding - which is usually two times a day. One of our dogs will sometimes take larger chunks out and eat it off the the side, frequently on the living room carpet :-( The larger chunks are, for instance, a piece of meat or a slab of bread (the full husky loves any type of bread). Some people will soak dry kibble on purpose for their dog, either to help out a dog with tooth trouble or to avoid "bloat."

One way to keep your dog's teeth healthy and white is to give them raw bones. The raw bones are better for them (although they get stinky in warm weather) than boiled and bleached bones (that can splinter) which you usually get from department stores. We give our dogs both kinds. The bone Willy has (at right) in the picture is a beef bone from a slaughterhouse. Now - to be fair and allow you to make up your own mind, there are two sides to the thought of giving raw bones (and raw food) to your dog. The PetPlace website gives both sides here: http://www.petplace.com/dogs/raw-meat-debate-should-you-feed-it-to-your-dog/page1.aspx. Second Chance Ranch's website (among others I've found) is against giving raw foods and raw bones to dogs (http://www.secondchanceranch.com/training/raw_meat/index.html) because of bacteria and parasite dangers. Also, this website (http://www.thepetcenter.com/imtop/bones.html) that includes x-rays of a hound with splintered deer bones lodged in its stomach and impacted colon from the waste. Yes, you will see dry, hard, calcium-laden droppings from your bone-eating dog! One the positive side is this website that sells bones (http://www.allthebestpetcare.com/handouts/raw_bones.html) and this Scottish site (http://www.caberfeidh.com/Safe.htm) is more on the raw side - with care - than not.

Another thought about food and treats is hiding behavior to keep another dog (or you the owner - who are part of the dog's pack or family now) from stealing the food. Sometimes a dog will steal food. I've found websites that say huskies are a breed that will steal food (http://www.canismajor.com/dog/siberian.html - for instance; see Care and Training) - and I know that our two dogs like to steal food and treats from each other. You should put any uneaten food up out of the dog's reach when she seems to have had enough for that feeding. Our full bred husky "hides" his uneated treats in not-very-safe places, like right in front of the couch. Duh! The mixed breed dog saunters right over and snags the treat!

Does anyone out there have a dog that plays with his water in the water dish? We have had animals that like to play in their water (ferrets - could entertain them and us by putting out a bowl of water or - better yet - snow!). I've seen online discussion boards where people talk about their dogs playing in their water by jumping (front feet) into the bowl, pawing at it, pushing the bowl with the nose, and the like.

While browsing today, I ran across a website that has a rather different style, where you have to hold the mouse pointer over "scroll" to read rolling text, but there is great accurate information written in a humorous fashion: http://www.homelesshusky.com/homeless.html. Check it out if you want - you husky owners will get a chuckle from the accurate portrayal of our pups!

Husky Social traits

Huskies sure do like to be part of a "pack" as they are a social dog. Our full husky really hates to be separated from the husky/shepherd mixed dog. We chain them out during the day where they can see each other and get within a foot of each other, but not get entangled. When we are home, they are almost always inside with us. The husky will whine to get the other dog in for the company. He cries if left home when the other one has a vet appointment, so they both go in the car together. Even the family members are "part of the pack" with each person in a pecking order to the husky.

My husband is the Alpha, or leader, of the pack, and that's something is seems that both dogs need. One of our daughters (the youngest - who was 15 when we rescued our husky) is usually slightly below him in the pack. She has to work hard to maintain a place of near equality.

One thing the husky especially needs is lots of attention from each person as soon as he or she gets home. He does lots of "talking" - as small portion of which I've put on my website. A lot of the ruuu-ruuu-aruruaru stuff when we get home seems to be an "about time you're home to be with me" type of message. The husky also likes a schedule - for instance in the evening we're "supposed" to get into the living room and lie around on the floor with the dogs to watch TV or movies. The dogs sleep with us adults, one on the bed and one on a doggy bed. The husky also "tells" us to get to bed when it's late!

Also, along with love and companionship, the husky needs to be active. He will initiate play with a toy, having taught himself to fetch. This dog was abused and neglected, and afraid of children and bicycles when we got him. He did not know what treat was, and he did not know what to do with toys. Now he does! Additionally, huskies need exercise, like a good walk a few times a week. If you don't get them out enough, the dog will dig up the yard, for instance. We have concrete blocks to fill holes in various places in "his" area because of times that we have not gotten out for walks frequently enough.

We were afraid that our husky might be mean because of the abuse, but instead he was shy. The patience and love, and training (stay, sit, come - just expecting him to be "good") was enough to bring out the natural husky lovingness.

One other thing, which I don't know is a husky trait, but might just be a Lobo (our husky) trait. He chews off any nylon (or leather or any material) harness when he is chained in the yard. It only takes him a half hour! He has even chewed off his collar when it was too loose. The only type of harness we can keep on him is a custom made (by my husband) chain harness. It's really loose, but he does not back out of it (unlike the mixed dog, who is more intelligent, and has a belly band in addition to the nylon harness). We switch the husky into a nylon harness for walks so the chain doesn't dig at his skin too much. My husband never trained the dogs to NOT pull during walks, so they look like a sledding team - shoulder to shoulder.

One thing a fellow husky owner told me to do is to blow gently into the dog's nose (early during ownership - don't know if she repeats this occasionally). Something about your breath and your smell is supposed to bond you to the dog. This gal has owned up to 5 huskies / mixes at a time and has done some sledding. I know my husband had done this nose / breath thing, but I don't know if it was for that reason.