Author: onthepetbeat_uacyqc

This post first published on Care2.com.

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Finding the perfect chew toy is a constant struggle for those of us living with extreme chewers. Our last dog Lucy, a Rottweiler mix, posed the biggest challenge for us. She managed to get pieces off of even the most durable toys.

These are some safe chew toys for dogs – and some to avoid – if you have a chewer in your life, like Lucy.

5 SAFE TOYS FOR DOGS

1. The Kong Classic 

The Kong  Classic has been a favorite with dog owners for more than 40 years. This toy is made of durable rubber that’s extra bouncy and has a hollow center for holding treats inside.

The Kong is popular at animal shelters where toys are a big part of the enrichment program for dogs and also offer a great way to keep dogs happy when home alone. At Bloomingdale Regional Animal Shelter, NJ Ellen Ribitzki said the Kong is a big hit. Shelter workers stuff them with peanut butter and kibble and freeze them overnight to provide even more chewing pleasure for the dogs.

2. The Chompion Dog Bone

This dog bone made by the JW Pet Company, Inc. is a dumbbell shape with textured nubs to help keep teeth clean, stimulate gums and promote oral health.

This company has been recognized at the Global Pet Expo for focusing on intelligent designs that help make their toys dog proof. The Chompion dog bone chew toy is made of durable, tough natural rubber that the company says is designed to withstand even the most powerful chewers. Sixty-one percent of dog owners gave this toy five stars on Chewy.com.

3. The Qwizl

This dog chew toy from West Paw won Best in Show for dogs at the Global Pet Expo in 2017. The Qwizl is a pliable durable treat-dispensing toy made from the company’s exclusive Zogoflex material. This toy is non-toxic and latex free.

Sixty-nine percent of dog owners gave the Qwizl a five-star review on Chewy.com. Many of the reviewers reported that this is the only chew toy that has stood up to their aggressive chewers.

4. The Nylabone 3-Prong Chew Toy with Peanut Butter

The 3-Prong Chew Toy is just one of the many chew bones promoted for extreme chewers by the Nylabone company. This bone has a multi-textured surface that helps to clean a dog’s teeth while keeping him or her busy for long periods of time.

The Nylabone company has been making dog chew toys since 1955 and offers an impressive selection of bones designed especially for aggressive chewers.

5. The Planet Dog Orbee-Tuff Squeak Ball

This one topped the review list of “Super Durable Dog Balls for Fetching and Beyond” published in the August 2017 issue of The Whole Dog Journal. The ball is made from eco-friendly materials and is free from chemicals like BPA and phthalates.

A small amount of peppermint oil has been added to the material to give it a minty scent.

5 UNSAFE TOYS FOR THE CHEWER IN YOUR LIFE

Veterinary experts say it’s important to supervise how your dog is playing with his or her toys. Many chew toys are safe for some dogs but not others. Rope toys, if ingested, can cause life-threatening intestinal obstruction. Hard plastic toys in a power chewer’s mouth can splinter and cause intestinal damage.

Experts at the Humane Society of the United States recommend seeking the advice of a veterinarian before giving your dog a rawhide bone. These chews should only be given when you can supervise your dog as they may pose a choking hazard.

It’s a good practice to go through the dog toy basket periodically and get rid of toys that are starting to break into pieces or are torn. For extreme chewers, also avoid the toys below, which can be dangerous.

1. Tennis Balls

While tennis balls are fun for dogs to fetch, they are not safe as chew toys.

According to experts at the American Veterinary Dental Association, these balls are abrasive like scouring pads. If dogs chew on these balls every day for years it can cause significant wear to their teeth.

Tennis balls also pose a choking hazard. Aggressive chewers can easily swallow pieces of the material they rip from these balls.

2. Some Latex Toys

Latex toys with bells or squeaks inside are fine for tossing around but if left alone with these toys, your power chewer will use those teeth to get to the squeaker or bell. These parts are small and can easily be swallowed.

3. Toys with Single Air Holes

The danger with these toys, writes Veterinarian Virginia Sinnott on the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals-Angell Animal Medical Center website, is that the single hole can create a strong suction causing the toy to get stuck on the dog’s tongue.

Sinnott writes that “…if the suction is stronger than the dog’s ability to remove the toy with his or her paws, life-threatening problems can occur. These include obstruction of breathing due to the toy in the mouth and massive swelling of the tongue.”

4. Toxic Toys (various)

There are no federal regulations in place to ensure the standards of pet toys. Instead, it’s left up to manufacturers to establish standards and to test and issue recalls if necessary for their own products.

Dog owners need to be diligent in reading labels and researching companies to make sure they care about pet safety. Experts at Preventivevet.com recommend being especially cautious about purchasing dog toys and chews that are manufactured overseas if you can’t verify what’s in them. The same holds true for cheap dog toys made in the U.S.

5. Sticks and Twigs

Every chance she got, our dog, Lucy, was chewing on sticks and twigs in the yard. The problem is that wood splinters easily, and pieces can get stuck in a dog’s mouth causing an infection. It’s also really easy for dogs to swallow pieces of wood and this can cause an intestinal blockage.

In addition, according to an article in the July 2016 issue of Animal Wellness magazinecertain trees such as black walnut, black cherry, yew or red maple can be toxic to dogs.

 

This post first appeared on Care2.com

Photo credit: Thinkstock

Like so many shelter dogs, Alaska didn’t show well when visitors walked past her run at Pets Alive Animal Sanctuary in Middletown, NY. So when a volunteer returned the shepherd mix after a sleepover at her house, staff were thrilled to hear that everything went really well.

SHORT-TERM FOSTERING (AKA SLEEPOVERS FOR DOGS)

“She was an entirely different dog in a home environment,” said Robin Markovits, a certified dog trainer who works at the sanctuary. “She was calm and relaxed, and the volunteer brought back a wealth of information for us to share with potential adopters.”

Pets Alive pipes calming music into kennels to help dogs relax, and staff and volunteers work hard on in-kennel enrichment programs. Still, Markovits said there’s no substitute for giving the dogs a break from the shelter environment via short-term fostering.

“No matter how much enrichment you provide there’s always going to be a certain amount of stress in a shelter,” Markovits said. “Dogs need to get away from this environment and do what dogs are supposed to do—sniff and smell, bond with people and have fun.”

Pets Alive encourages volunteers to take dogs out for a hike and keep them for overnight or weekend sleepovers. Some volunteers who can’t foster the dogs in their own homes opt to spend an overnight with them at a local pet-friendly hotel.

THERE’S SCIENTIFIC PROOF SHELTER DOGS BENEFIT FROM SLEEPOVERS.

Pets Alive is not the only shelter to see the benefits of short-term fostering or overnight sleepovers. A little over a year ago, Maddie’s Fund gave a grant to Carroll College, MT to test the theory that shelter dogs benefit from sleepovers.

This year the study was expanded to Arizona State’s Science Collaboratory working with dogs at four U.S. shelters.

According to Maddie’s Fund, there was initial disagreement within the animal sheltering community about the effect of short-term fostering on the dogs. Some loved the idea of providing dogs with a break from the shelter while others felt these brief sleepovers would cause more stress to the dogs, especially when returned to the shelter.

Markovits said she likens overnight or weekend sleepovers for shelter dogs to how humans feel after a weekend getaway.

“Think about how refreshed and calm you feel even after a short getaway?” the trainer said. “That same sense of calm and relaxation is what we see in all of our shelter dogs who get away for overnight or weekend sleepovers.”

Alaska, enjoyed a sleepover at a volunteer’s house when she was living at Pets Alive Animal Sanctuary in Middletown, NY.

The objective of the Maddie’s Fund study was to understand how overnight or short-term sleepovers with a foster caregiver affected shelter dogs’ cortisol levels, which can be an indicator of stress.

The researchers also wanted to see how behavioral observations in foster care relate to what adopters see immediately upon adoption and six months after the pets have settled into their new homes.

“To measure the dogs’ cortisol levels in the pilot study, we collected urine from the dogs the morning before the sleepover, the morning before being returned, and the next morning back at the shelter.” Lisa Gunter, a doctoral candidate at Arizona State University, explained. “For the behavioral component, we used questions from James Serpell’s C-BARQ questionnaire, a validated dog research questionnaire that asks owners to describe the dog’s behavior in a variety of everyday situations. We collected these questionnaires from shelter staff, the foster home and the new adopters.”

4 WAYS SHORT-TERM FOSTERING BENEFITS SHELTER DOGS

Study results showed dogs do indeed benefit from sleepovers. Here’s how.

1. Dogs were able to relax.

The dogs’ cortisol levels significantly dropped with just one overnight in a foster home.

Families in the study reported that the dogs would often sleep once they settled into their foster home. While the dogs’ cortisol levels did go back to previous levels when returned to the shelter they didn’t go any higher than that.

2. Volunteers became advocates.

Volunteers who took dogs on sleepovers became advocates for their foster dogs. They took the dogs to social events and promoted the dog on social media while they were fostering.

3. Feedback helped overcome myths about shelter dogs.

The perception of shelter dogs as being “unknown” often prevents them from finding new homes.

Overnight and short-term sleepovers help to combat this stigma as volunteers share information on the dog’s temperament and behavior in a home environment.

4. The human-animal bond extended past the sleepover.

Volunteers who took dogs on sleepovers didn’t forget about the dog once he or she was back at the shelter.

Many volunteers in the study continued to actively work on behalf of “their” dog, checking on his or her adoption status, continuing to share the dog on social media, taking the dog to adoption events, and, in several cases, even continuing to foster the dog after the research component was over.

Pets Alive is always looking for new volunteers  including people who are willing to take dogs on overnight or weekend sleepovers.

A Maddie’s Fund manual on Short-Term Foster Care provides more information on why sleepovers are good for shelter dogs while also providing a great volunteer opportunity for people who can’t commit to long hours of volunteer work at a shelter.

 

This post first published on Care2.com

April is American Red Cross Pet First Aid Awareness Month and a perfect time of the year to learn how to build a pet first aid kit at home.

When our foxhound Bella lay on the couch beside me last night with her paw resting in my hand I realized that it was time for a nail-cutting session. That also meant pulling out the first aid kit to grab styptic powder just in case I cut too close to the quick. I’m careful to avoid this, but accidents do happen. It’s important to be prepared.

The American Red Cross Dog and Cat First Aid online offer courses teaching owners what to do in the case of an emergency until veterinary care is available. That includes having easy access to a pet first aid kit.

While pet first aid kits can be purchased through the American Red Cross or at many local pet stores you can also build a pet first aid kit at home.

Continue reading “How to Build A Pet First Aid Kit”