I recently evaluated the Doggieshield®, which is designed to prevent dog damage to your door (from scratching, pawing, and all other terrible, destructive behaviors). The Doggieshield® is basically a durable, synthetic piece of plastic that is designed to easily adhere to your door, and was invented to be easy to install without the use of screws or adhesive tape. Upon opening the package, I found the instructions pretty difficult to follow (this coming from someone who only owns IKEA furniture). It would have been helpful to have a picture of assembly instructions; rather, I had to go to the website to look for a visual aid. Despite that, I still couldn’t find instructions on the website, and limited information was available. Feeling like an idiot (I swear, I have 13 years of education), I couldn’t get my straps to adhere around my door. I found the instructions hard to understand, and found the product to have an overall home-made field [parts of the product (straps) were protected in Saran-wrap, while the instructions were printed from a poor quality home printer]. That said, kudos to the company for inventing it… I’m sure for those with more technical prowess, it may be easier for them to install. This product might be ideal if you have a bad dog and are going to visit your family members (who love their doors more than your dog), then yes, this would be a good travel gadget to bring along. As for me, perhaps I’ll have my boyfriend assemble it instead. Finally, while this is a relatively cost-effective way of preventing major damage to your door, it doesn’t fix the underlying problem – inappropriate dog behavior. I’d honestly focus more on using appropriate positive and negative feedback to get a dog to stop scratching at the door. In other words, a classic mistake that pet owners make is to “reward” the dog when he’s scratching at the door, destroying your nice property in the process, or forcing you to buy gadgets like the Doggieshield to begin with. When you reward your dog by opening the door, you’re basically training him to scratch to be let in. Instead, you should only open the door when he’s not scratching, teaching him that this action doesn’t result in the reward of being let in or out. But I digress.
   I pride myself on being an earth-loving, green, crunchy, granola-type of person, and admit it – I eat humus and granola. That said, I never feed my dog certain types of table food – especially granola or trail mix, since it contains poisonous raisins (which cause kidney failure!). That said, guess what just came out – doggy granola! I was pleasantly surprised to try Granola Barks, a granola dog treat specifically designed for dogs, based out of Nashville, TN. This is the first meat-based granola (which sounds initially pretty gross, when you think about it), and is pretty natural and pure. In other words, you read the ingredients, and know everything that’s in there: chicken, rolled oats, and some natural preservatives to prevent spoiling. Granola Barks are approximately 1”X1” small, thin, bite-sized snacks, and are handmade with all natural, all American, human-grade white meat chicken (no chicken by-product), and old-fashioned rolled oats. So, the true test – is it palatable? These little bites actually look edible to humans. JP, my 11 year old, rescue pit bull, is a very picky eater (he even turns his nose up to pig ears), and even he seemed to enjoy them! He ate them within 15 seconds, which is a pretty good sign of palatability! Definitely 2 paws up!
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Argh, you’ve come across the dreaded curse of the black toe. If Mani Pedi has clear toenails, they are easier to trim as you can see the pink line where the quick ends, but black toe nails make the quick difficult to see, making trimming extra dangerous. Unfortunately, your only two options are to a) adopt a dog with only pink toenails or b) to guess. Doesn’t inspire much confidence, does it? Well, don’t worry - guessing becomes much easier with practice. When in doubt about how much nail to trim off, start by removing tiny amounts of nail at a time. While this can be slow going, Mani Pedi will appreciate it as it is painful when the quick gets cut. Observe the bottom of the toenail and you’ll notice a circular white ring as you near the quick. If you see this, stop cutting and be grateful for the small amount of nail you were able to remove. Also, remember that the longer you go between nail trims, the less you can trim off. In general, trim your dog’s toenails once or twice a month to help keep the quick nice and short.
Before you attempt any of this, make sure you are well educated on how to give Mani Pedi her pedicure. Have your groomer or veterinary technician take the time to show you how to cut nails. I don’t care if you’re a 6’5” quarterback or a Harley-driving dude – owners of both sexes will same time and money if they learn to D.I.T (do it themselves). Practice touching Mani’s toes as a puppy by putting on a puppet (or puppy) show with her toes – this will get her used to having her feet touched and manipulated (oh la la). Cut one or two nails while she is sleeping and instantly reward her with a treat so she associates the nail trim with a positive experience. Put the toenail clipping under the pillow, and see if the magic toe-fairy comes! It’ll help if you make sure to use the right equipment also; dull guillotine nail clippers are traumatic to Mani for reasons I shouldn’t have to explain. Suffice to say, the Golden Rule applies here.
Lastly, remember that if you make your dog’s nails bleed, don’t freak out. Vomit calmly, then apply a dry towel or gauze to the area to stop the bleeding. Kwik-Stop® is a commercially available yellow powder that you can use to stop bleeding instantly; sprinkle some Kwik-Stop onto the overturned lid of the jar, and gently put the nail into the powder. You can also use flour or cornstarch in a pinch or push the bleeding nail bed into a mild bar of soap (although due to the pain of the nerve being cut, your dog probably won’t appreciate this). When in doubt, don’t stress – it’s just a small amount of blood and should stop quickly.
My dog despises having his toenails trimmed despite puppy training and appropriate behavioral modification. I’ve tried positive reinforcement, trimming only one nail every few days, giving him treats as soon as he’s done, and touching his toes frequently as a puppy so he was used to having his toes handled; despite this, he cringes, cries, runs away, and whimpers as soon as I take out the clippers. Now I just run him on cement frequently which wears down the nails naturally – a good trick if you’ve also adopted a veritable Scooby-Doo.
Previously published in DVM360 February 1, 2010
Raleigh, N.C. --With almost two decades in the American Kennel Club's (AKC) top spot, the Labrador Retriever has once again clinched the title of most popular purebred dog in America.
The 2009 list of the most popular breeds, released in late January by the AKC, places the Labs at the top for the 19th year, followed by the German Shepherd, which bumped the Yorkshire Terrier from the second most-popular spot. This is the first time German Shepherds have earned the number two position on the favorite breed list in more than 30 years, says AKC. Shepherds were the No. 1 breed in the 1920s, but their popularity began to wane after World War II. AKC says the breed's resurgence in popularity may be linked to increased attention for the German Shepherd's security duties at home and abroard in police, guard and military dog work.
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