Dental Care for the Working and Performance Dog

Anything from retrieving game to biting a decoy, our working and performance dogs use their mouths a lot!  We have a lot invested in their chompers, so it makes sense to keep them in as good as shape as possible.  A very small amount of prevention is worth a considerable amount of money later on.  I recommend brushing a dog's teeth every day (or every other day at the least), particularly for working and performance breeds since their teeth are so critical to their function.  I like using a veterinary specific tooth paste.  These come in a variety of flavors from beef and poultry to the rather pleasant vanilla mint (which my dogs happen to really like) and are safe to be swallowed in small amounts, unlike human tooth pastes.  I also prefer using an inexpensive electric toothbrush such as a Crest Spinbrush instead of a manual brush.  It seems dogs are often more tolerant of the electric toothbrushes than the manual brushes once they get used to the vibrations because they can be moved slowly back and forth across the teeth instead of lots of small motions.  Finger brushes don't tend to work as effectively, but they can be used to introduce dogs to the sensation.  It's always best to start poking around a dog's mouth when they are pups so they get used to it.  Using a finger brush or plain finger, put a small amount of the dog toothpaste on the end of your finger and let your pup lick it off to get used to the taste.  Gradually let the dog get used to the feeling of touching their lips, gums, and teeth and always keep it positive with treats.
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So what do you do when good teeth go bad?  Veterinarians use very similar tools as in human dentistry to work on teeth, so dental care for animals has really advanced considerably.  Particularly if a dog uses their mouth for their job, I aggressively recommend they see the vet and a specialist if possible.  A board certified member of the American College of Veterinary Dentistry has done extensive post graduate training on animal dentistry and particularly with high performing police or bite sport dogs, these are who I recommend to see.  A listing of the members of the ACVD is found here:

http://www.avdc-dms.org/dms/list/diplomates.cfm?CFID=11914566&CFTOKEN=43585871

Let's also consider some nutritional links.  There is a long standing myth that kibble helps clean or scrub the teeth better than canned food.  This is absolutely not true.  Studies have shown approximately 85% of dogs over the age of 3 years old have periodontal disease and most dogs eat dry kibble.  It would be like brushing your teeth with toast.  Not very helpful!  It can pick up slowly and insidiously, but many dogs are likely in a good bit of pain and discomfort from unhealthy mouths on a lifetime of kibble.  So please brush those teeth!

You may say, "but my dog is on a raw diet and their teeth look great!  Why do I need to brush?"  This is an excellent question.  Though many dogs have very nice clean teeth on a predominantly raw diet, they also are at risk for fractures from the bones in the diet if it is not ground.  Larger weight bearing bones or "recreational" bones (or antlers and hooves!) are common culprits.  Some dogs also like to chew on sticks, rocks, their kennels, and crates, which can also fracture teeth.  Fractures to the canines and the fourth (largest) premolar are not at all uncommon.  Brushing your dog's teeth regularly allows you to check for inflamed gums (gingivitis) and any masses in the mouth (which often can be malignant tumors) as well as fractured teeth.  Fractured teeth are a problem because not only can they be extremely painful with the pulp cavity and nerves exposed, but infections can move up into the area and cause abscesses.  These are painful and may even erode the bone of the jaws, making them more likely to fracture.

A fractured tooth needs to be evaluated as soon as possible as there are ways to save the tooth, including a root canal (which keeps the tooth's place, even if it is no longer viable) or a crown amputation/vital pulpotomy (which reduces the height of the crown, or visible part of the tooth, so it can't break off further, and saves the pulp of the tooth).  A vital pulpotomy is a dental emergency and must be performed within 3 days to save the tooth.  In most pet dogs, the fractured or diseased tooth is often best left extracted so it will not cause further discomfort.  But in dogs that use their mouths, particularly bite work dogs, extracting large teeth like a canine or fourth premolar with big roots is much more risky since the tooth (both crown and root) must be pulled out.  On a large tooth, this means the root will no longer have as much support to the bones in the jaw, making a fractured jaw more likely.  A vital pulpotomy or root canal is a better choice for working dogs.  Because a fractured tooth must be addressed right away, if you are brushing and inspecting your dog's teeth each day, you can head off major problems before it starts interfering with the dog's work and health.

Lastly we can discuss routine cleaning of the teeth.  This must happen under general anesthesia for several reasons (and this is why an "anesthesia free dental" is a very poor substitute for a full cleaning).  First, the process involves a good bit of poking and prodding that many dogs just don't tolerate.  A hand scaler can lacerate the gums and the dog can subsequently bite the person trying to do the "cleaning."  The ultrasonic scaler uses a lot of water and a high pitched noise, which most all dogs would find very annoying and would not likely hold still for.  To have a complete cleaning, we inspect and clean above and below the gum line, which we are not able to do with an awake dog.  We can only access the easily visible parts during a hand scaling and not above the gum line, so the result is cosmetic at best.  The ultrasonic or hand scaler also leaves microscopic scratches in the enamel of the tooth that must be polished off when completed, otherwise the calculus simply builds back up even faster.  This is a similar process with how your teeth are polished after your dentist is done with their cleaning.  For these reasons, the ACVD has a position statement why "anesthesia free dentals" are nothing more than "tooth grooming."

http://www.avdc.org/dentalscaling.html

In other words, if your dog's teeth need attention, consult your veterinarian or a board certified veterinary dentist on how to best keep their teeth looking and feeling their best.

Paw and Pad Care

There's an infamous saying in horses:  no hoof, no horse.  In working and performance dogs, it is very similar.  I was at attendance at the U-FLI Tournament of Champions this past weekend as the show vet and was reminded of this principle.  Flyball and other hard driving sports and activities (lure coursing, sled dog racing, agility, hunting, hiking) can really do a number on your dog's paw pads.  First, let's discuss the anatomy of the paw.  Each toe has a corresponding pad as well as a pad on the "palm" of the foot called the metacarpal (front feet) or metatarsal (back feet) pad.  The carpal or "stop pad" is located on the front legs at the level of the carpus (wrist) and the dew claws.  Both the metacarpal/tarsal pads and the stop pads are particularly prone to abrasions.

The most common cause is either intense stop and go activity over a hard surface (ex:  flyball, chasing tennis balls on concrete) or overuse (ex:  hunting, hiking, or dog sledding over rough or icy terrain, especially without conditioning).  Unfortunately treating sore feet like paw abrasions are not an overnight fix as they are somewhat similar to a blister on the bottom of your feet.  Prevention and gradual conditioning will be the best way to avoid pad abrasions.  There are products such as Tuf-Foot and Musher's Secret that have been out for a long time to try to either toughen up or protect the foot that be worth trying.  Flyball competitors often wrap with vet wrap and tape around the carpus to protect the stop pads and declaws.  Please note that unlike horses, dogs have considerable more soft tissue in the lower leg than horses, so do not wrap the vet wrap too snugly and remove shortly after the race.  Specially made dog skid boots might be a better alternative.  

So what do you do after a long hike or hunting trip and your dog comes up lame?  Inspect the feet very carefully, looking for burrs, thorns, cactus needles, ice balls, dried mud, and so on.  Keeping a pair of hemostats to pull out the offending object may be very helpful, particularly when trying to grab it without poking yourself.  Clean the area thoroughly with soapy water and rinse.  If my dogs have a pad abrasion, I like to have them stand in a 2 quart plastic pitcher or small bucket with a warm water soak to remove excess debris and dirt, then stand again in dilute chlorhexidine solution (Hibiclens, which can be found at Walgreens or Walmart).  The sore pad can be LIGHTLY bandaged if desired, but the best solution is to crate the dog so they will rest.  The issue with some bandages is doing it too tight, which causes swelling and discomfort and even necrosis of the tissue if untreated long enough.  If you decide to bandage the feet, make sure to leave at least two toes visible so you can check for swelling and either too warm or too cold in the toes.  Some dogs will also shred and eat the bandaging material, which is never desirable.  Ask your veterinarian for pain medication for a few days if the dog is especially tender or has difficulty walking.  An infant sock can be helpful to taking the dog out to relieve themselves.  There are now quite a few brands of booties available to try as well at various retailers.

For pad lacerations, these can be very, very challenging to treat because almost any movement can break them open again.  They make take multiple times of suturing and bandaging before successfully healing.  Patience and rest is the most important thing with both pad abrasions and lacerations.

How We Interpret Bloodwork

If you've ever gotten bloodwork back on one of your dogs either as part of a wellness screening tool or if your dog was ill and wondered what in the world all those values meant, this is a neat little cheat sheet that explains what they mean.

http://veterinarybusiness.dvm360.com/vetec/data/articlestandard//vetec/392011/740627/article.pdf

Canine Performance Nutrition: An Overview

This is a paper I wrote for a nutrition elective rotation I took in March 2011.  I am posting it as I believe many might find it interesting.  I'll be posting more on nutrition in the future.  Enjoy!

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While the majority of dogs in developed nations enjoy fairly sedentary lives, more and more owners are including their canine companions in a variety of activities and sports.  Dogs now commonly join their owners to compete in the newer sports of agility, flyball, and dock diving.  Performance events such as herding, protection, hunting, and sledding remain popular and blur the lines between work and play for dogs and their handlers.  In addition, dogs provide a valuable service to military, law enforcement, and the community through patrol work, scent detection, and search and rescue efforts.  While nutrition is not a substitute for the correct genetics, training, and conditioning of performance dogs, many owners are very interested in the nutritional needs of their canine athlete.  To reach peak performance through optimal nutrition, owners and veterinarians should calculate the caloric needs, consider a diet that complements the performance expected based on the components of the food, and develop a feeding plan that optimizes peak performance.

Most nutritional studies of canine athletes have traditionally focused on the sports of dog racing and dog sledding.  The two average participants in these activities are greyhounds and husky-type dogs respectively.   Greyhound racing is a highly anaerobic sport that short in duration which is reflected in the type IIa fast twitch muscle fibers that dominate a greyhound’s lean muscle mass (Hill 1998), while some dog sled races such as the Iditarod are over one thousand of miles in length covered over the course of up to two weeks.  Most other canine activities fall somewhere in between these two extremes, with sports like agility and flyball being more similar to sprint racing and hunting field trials and ranch livestock work of several days duration being more similar to sledding (Toll et al. 2010).  Understanding the nature of the activity that the canine athlete is participating in is crucial for making nutritional recommendations to the owner.

In deciding a nutrition plan for a canine athlete, it is helpful to understand some of the differences in how food is utilized by the body depending on the type of exercise.  Parallels between the nutritional needs of human and canine sprinters versus marathon runners are commonly made in comparative studies of exercise physiology, though the dog in general is better suited to oxidative metabolism of fats and dogs metabolize free fatty acids at twice the rate as humans (Hill 1998).  However, most sources suggest that as in humans, sprinters such as greyhounds do best with higher levels of carbohydrates to mobilize glucose during short durations of exertion; in contrast, endurance runners such as sled dogs or hunting dogs may exhaust their stores of glycogen and may have improved performance on high protein, high fat, and low carbohydrate foods (Hill 1998).  Different studies have also shown hematological effects such as “training-induced anemia” (Hill 1998) and decrease in total protein in serum (Hinchcliff 2000) before and after strenuous prolonged exercise in sled dogs that may be exacerbated if the protein levels are not moderately high, though one smaller non-cross over study showed a vegetarian- based food did not significantly alter either blood values or performance of short distance sprint racing huskies (Brown 2009).  

In addition to the basic components of the food, meeting but not exceeding the energy requirements of canine athletes can be challenging both in the trial season and in the off season.  As most greyhounds run only a short distance at a high intensity level every few days, most sources suggest that their caloric requirements are likely similar to other moderately active dogs with a life stage factor of 1.6.  On the other extreme, long distance sled dogs may require a life stage factor of over 10 not only due to physical exertion, but because of extremely cold environmental conditions (Hand et al. 2010).  A highly calorically dense diet is required to meet the needs of the long distance sled dog.  Owners and kennel workers should be aware that feeding to these levels in the off season is not advised and that they may return the dog to a lower plane of nutrition after the training and trial season is over or risk gaining an undesirable amount of weight.  Dogs that compete in other short but explosive sports such as flyball and agility are likely closer to greyhounds in their need for caloric intake and will likely not need a large increase in their rations during competition season.  Herding, police, and hunting dogs would likely be in between the extremes of caloric requirements.

Some special considerations of certain canine athletes (racing dogs, sled dogs, and hunting dogs) may include oxidative stress both from the physical exertion itself and the addition of extra animal or plant based fat sources for energy (Pasquini et al. 2010, Hinchcliff et al. 2000).  Supplementation of 400 IU of vitamin E beyond what is in typical commercially available diets have been suggested by some authors to account for the loss of antioxidants from the stress of heavy exercise and oxidation of high levels of dietary fats for sled dogs (Reinhart et al.).   In addition, dogs that rely heavily on their olfactory sense, such as detection or search and rescue dogs, may benefit from fatty acids in their diets.  Not only are certain PUFAs  anti-inflammatory, but scent detection relies on the olfactory epithelium, of which fatty acids are integrated as components of the cell membrane (Toll 2010).  As a general rule, many “weekend warrior” types of canine athletes that accompany their owners to the hiking trails or to an agility trial may not need special dietary supplements as long as their nutritional requirements are being met by feeding a high quality commercially prepared diet.  Other canine athletes such as hunting dogs or sled dogs may be fairly sedentary during all but the competition seasons when they are asked to perform strenuous and prolonged exercise at high levels.  Diet changes both at the onset and peak times of training should be gradual if possible.  It should be communicated to owners that while nutrition is vital, training, conditioning, and genetics will be of greater value for performance than supplements or special diets. 

Works Cited

Brown WY, Vanselow BA, Redman AJ, et al.  An experimental meat-free diet maintained haematological characteristics in sprint-racing sled dogs.  Br J Nutr 2009; 102:1318-23.

Hinchcliff KW, Reinhart GA, DiSilvestro R, et al.  Oxidant stress in sled dogs subjected to repetitive endurance exercise.  Am J Vet Res 2000; 61:512-17.

Hill RC. The nutritional requirements of exercising dogs.   J Nutr 1998; 128:2686S–2690S.

Pasquini A, Luchetti E, Cardini G.  Evaluation of oxidative stress in hunting dogs during exercise.  Res Vet  Sci 2010; 89:120-23.

Reinhart G, Hinchcliff K, Reynolds A, et al.  Supplementing vitamin E to sled dogs.  Iditarod website. Available at:  http://www.iditarod.com/learn/vet-11.html.  Accessed March 24, 2011.

Toll PW, Gillette RL, Hand MS.  Feeding working and sporting dogs.  In:  Hand MS, Hatcher CD, Remillard RL, Roudebush P, Novotny BJ, eds.  Small animal clinical nutrition.  5^th ed.  Topeka:  Mark Morris Inst, 2010; 321-352.

First Aid Kits

Now that we've talked a bit about disaster preparation, let's talk about first aid kits.  The following are just guidelines and the best resource for being prepared for first aid is going to be your own veterinarian.  If they do not see emergencies, particularly after hours, know who to call if something happens and how to get there will likely be as valuable, if not more so, than using precious time when the more critical thing is to get the dog seen as soon as possible for the best outcome.  Especially if you are performing a community service (i.e.-police K-9s or SAR groups), it will likely be worth your time to inquire at the nearest emergency facility what they recommend for your precise needs.  While I have not personally taken one of the Red Cross first aid courses, they may also be a good resource and information on them can be found here:

http://www.redcross.org/portal/site/en/menuitem.1a019a978f421296e81ec89e43181aa0/?vgnextoid=6317f46306b5b110VgnVCM10000089f0870aRCRD

Like human first aid kits, first aid kits for dogs will vary considerably depending on who is carrying them.  Some handlers may never have taken a first aid course in their life while others work in the medical or veterinary medical field.  It doesn't help to carry what you haven't been trained on how to use as you don't want to waste time on trying things you have not been trained to do.  In addition, the smaller the pack, the more likely you are to have it in your car or near you when it's needed.  The needs of working and performance dogs are also going to be different.  For example, a SAR dog searching the rubble pile or in the field will have a different likihood of injury than huskies in sprint races.  Flyball dogs will be subjected to different stresses on their bodies than field trial dogs.  That being said, there are a few common things that will be helpful to have in any first aid kit.  While you can purchase a dog first aid kit in specialty stores and online, you can also put your own basic first aid kit out of supplies you can get at Wal-Mart, Walgreens, or certain pet/farm supply stores for under $30.

-Vet Wrap:  2"
-Gauze squares (3" x 3" or 4" x 4")
-Medical/athletic tape

-exam gloves (I prefer nitrile/latex free)
-triple antibiotic ointment:  generic Neosporin.  Do not use on puncture wounds or extensive/draining wounds. 
-sterile saline:   for wound flush.  These now come in these neat spray bottles.  They are a bit pricey and run out quickly though
-muzzle:  no first aid kit should be without one!  I prefer the basket muzzles, but the cloth ones are easy to store)
-slip leash:  invaluable if you see a dog on the side of the road kind of thing (note:  don't put yourself or other drivers in harms way to catch a loose dog!).  Slip leashes also can double for muzzles
-the phone numbers of the nearest vet hospital and/or emergency clinic taped to the inside lid of the kit.  ALL trials should have the club secretary or other designated person call around to see who is open and what their hours are for weekend trials.  You may be able to save money by not shipping them to a more expensive emergency clinic if you call ahead to local clinics, who also appreciate the heads up on what's coming in.

All these can be stored in a small Rubbermaid-type or desk organizer type box that can fit in anyone's car or at the registration table at an event.  Small toolboxes are another way to store these.  I also recommend keeping a few items that dogs may not necessarily need, but would come in handy for the humans in your training group.  For example, I had a Benedryl "pen" last year in my first aid kit that came in very handy when a little boy at our July PSA trial was stung by a wasp.  I've also had decoys cut themselves and need a quick wound cleaning.  Other "human" items that are good to have:

-Band-aids, lots of 'em.  :-)
-Hand sanitizer
-Anti-histamine topical: often has Benedryl/generic diphenhydramine for insect stings
-Instant cold packs:  good for injuries, heat exhaustion, and insect stings.  These don't get quite as cold as reusable cold packs, but work fairly well

You can also keep a larger, more "advanced" kit if you feel comfortable doing so.  I often have people ask about suturing or stapling cuts or lacerations, particularly if they are out hunting or are doing SAR fairly far from "civilization."  You essentially have six hours as the "golden time" to suture up a wound for optimum results.  Suturing or stapling a wound also does very little good if the bleeding below the surface has not stopped.  Pressure using gauze is best while getting the animal shipped out.  Some other items to consider:

-duct tape:  ALWAYS useful.  :-)
-several paint stir sticks:  for splinting limbs, often free from paint or hardware stores
-oral Benedryl:  ask your vet for the dose for insect stings
-large beach towel or blanket to use for either a stretcher or to prevent shock
-Nutrical
-jumbo cotton balls
-small bottle of dog shampoo or Dawn dish detergent
-rectal thermometer
-lubricating jelly
-kotex feminine pads:  for heavy bleeding
-eye irrigation solution
-booties for injured paws:  depending on the paw size, an infant or child's sock can also work in a pinch
-bandage scissors

Some working dog handlers, such as narcotics detection handlers, may also want to ask their vet about carrying reversal agents for accidentally ingested narcotics, if available.  I hope this list gives you a few things to think about.  Keep in mind it is not exhaustive and you may need different items based on the needs of your dogs (and the humans training with them!).

Disaster Preparation

I'm back!  I spent a good bit of the last three weeks down in Joplin, Missouri helping the ASPCA with tornado disaster relief.  I also just got back from a two day seminar sponsored by SEMA on emergency animal sheltering put on by the Humane Society of Missouri.  I'd like to share a few things I learned about preparing for a disaster in consideration of your dogs, be they strictly pets or working dogs.  Before Joplin, I was a bit lax on preparing for this sort of thing as in central Missouri, we are not in hurricane or wildfire country, not directly on a flood plain or earthquake fault line (unlike many of our other Missouri residents).  We mostly just get the odd tornado watch or warning that was more of an annoyance that interrupts a TV program than something to be taken seriously.  Until I went down and saw the destruction of the worst tornado in recent history.  Just a few days after my first trip back from Joplin, the sirens rang for a tornado warning and I immediately put on long pants, boots, grabbed my cell phone, wallet, and cash, and prepared to get in our walk in closet!  After seeing the destruction, I will never take a tornado warning lightly again!  I took some video and photos from my first trip a few days afterwards seen below:

A disaster plan does not need to be complicated.  But it does need to happen.  One of the most important lessons I learned was that you must communicate!  If you must evacuate your home, have a plan outside your area to take your animals.  FEMA and other disaster agencies learned from Hurricane Katrina that people will not always evacuate without their pets. I was at a Red Cross co-location shelter for four days where they did amazingly allow animals, but many do not.  Let others know of your plans and have a meeting place both near your home and further away.  Cell phone communication the day of and after in Joplin was sketchy at best and interestingly, many used Facebook updates from their phones as a way to communicate they were alright.  You can also use something like the Safe and Well website on the Red Cross:  https://safeandwell.communityos.org/cms/index.php

So in preparing for a disaster with animals, what can you do?  Here are some tips I learned both from my experience in Joplin and from the SEMA course:

-have photos of your pets.  Most people have camera phones and taking a photo of each and storing on your phone will help if you become separated (assuming your phone is still operating!)
-have an emergency kit.  This kit should contain the follow:

• 3 days worth of food (dry or canned).  I recommend keeping the kibble in waterproof bags, such as in Seal a Meal bags, to keep out both vermin and water.  Many cans have a pop top these days, but don't forget a can opener!  Collapsible bowls are also easy to find in pet supply stores.
• 3 days worth of drinking water.  For most mammals (dogs, cats, horses, other livestock), most mammals drink approximately 1 gallon per 100 lbs of body weight per day.  This is a VERY rough approximation.  Obviously this will vary by the situation and the weather conditions
• All medications 
• A pet first aid kit.  These are available commercially or you can also put one together for less than $30.  In the next entry, I will cover my recommendations for a first aid kit
• Photos of your pet and the most recent vaccination records.  Vaccine records are important to have if your pets need to boarded on an emergency basis.  Keep these in a gallon sized ziplock bag to avoid getting wet
•  Dawn (plain) dish soap.  In a chemical spill or flood, Dawn is particularly helpful for decontaminating your pet.  There are many unknown nasty organisms or chemicals in flood waters that will need to be scrubbed off.  Remember, if your home is underwater, it's likely the farm store with the pesticides/herbicides and the auto parts store with the car batteries, oils, and solvents are too!
• Carriers (small dogs and cats), spare leashes, and collars with extra ID tags.  For ID tags in general, I recommend putting the phone number of an out of state good friend or relative on the ID tags in case you or your phone are somehow incapacitated

-Another important tip for your emergency kit and first aid kit is to check it regularly!  When you change your clock for day light savings time, replace your battery in your smoke detector and take a moment to look at your kit to make sure it is still intact and does not require any updating of the contents.
-Crate train your animals.  Some dogs and many cats are not used to being contained in a crate, which will be enormously stressful if your animals will need to be kept there for any length of time during or after a disaster.  There are many resources on crate training dogs and cats and acclimating them beforehand is critical.  Trying to dig out a scared dog or cat from under the bed while sirens are going off is not the best use of your time.
-Microchip your animals and just as importantly, make sure the contact info is still good with the company it is under
-Do a few test runs to allow you to grab your own personal effects (wallet, cell phone, computer external hard drive or laptop, etc).  Care for yourself before you address your pets, as they won't be able to get your help if you are incapacitated.  Put small dogs and cats in carriers and large dogs on a leash or in crates in your safe area (interior bathroom/closet, basement, cellar) if possible.
-Use the stickers that are often given out at pet trade shows or elsewhere that state that animals are on the premises to alert emergency teams at every major access point, not just by the front door.

Hope that gives you a few things to think about to potentially save the life of you and your animals.  Next entry will be concerned with a first aid kit for pets.

Quick Break!

I've been going up and down to Joplin the past few days to help with the tornado effort and am likely going back down tomorrow for a few more to work with the ASPCA, so I may not post another entry for a few days.  Thanks for your patience!