Speaker 1: You were listening to Petlifradio dot com.
Speaker 2: Well, welcome to another edition of Ask the Mets with
Doctor Jeff here on pet Life Radio, and I am
your host, Doctor Jeff Webber, here with you for thirty
wonderful minutes as we get to talk about pets, things
that maybe you didn't have a chance to have your
veterinarian answer those questions, maybe questions you are too embarrassed
to ask us. You figured, ah, come on, I should
know the answer to that one, whatever it is, or
something new that popped up, and you're just a don't
want to make that phone call. Let's face it, our
advice is free and you can't beat free. So you
want to get a hold of us here, you can
call us at area code eight seven seven three eight
five eight eight A two, or you can drop me
a quick email to Dr Jeff. That's doctor Jeff at
Petlife Radio dot com. And you can also if you're
online listening to us, you can just type in your questions.
I have the screen right in front of me and
we'll go ahead and answer your question. I want to
also want to thank our sponsors pro Sense Pet Products,
and these are products that are exclusively for you and
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Speaker 3: Your CBS, places like that.
Speaker 2: Great products formulated by veterinarians, products that were evaluated by
me and others. And I'll tell you it's great. It's
a great place to start for simple problems. Of course,
anything that lingers, anything becomes a major problem. Of course
you need to see your veterinarian. But if you have problems,
give us a call and let's talk about them. A
couple of things before we get started all about it.
I think it was a week ago, maybe two weeks ago,
we talked to Skipper. This was that little dog that
was mauled by two big dogs. The trachea was torn,
body wall damage. The dog was filling up, basically filling
up with air. It was almost like you took a
valve and you blew him up. He was huge because
the air was leaking from his trachia into his SubQ space. Anyway,
treatment long story short, we sent him home about a
week ago. He came back in two days ago for
a final rechauct to remove his wrap and to pull
the drain. We had put in, and this dog is amazing.
He is backed normal. It's just you know, the body
is remarkable. And I think that for whatever reason, this
dog healed beautifully. He's back to his old self. The
air is resolved, his body wall terear is healing. So
it's just amazing. So anyway, that's really good news. You know,
if you have anything, if your pet has been through
some kind of trauma, or if you have been through
some kind of trauma with your pet and you want
to share your stories, we'd love to hear your story.
So give us a call here at pet Life Radio.
You're on with doctor Jeff Werber on Astivats with doctor
Jeff once again. That number is eight seven seven three
eight five eight eight eighty two. Don't be shy, give
us a call. So I was going through some notes
of things. You know, here it is in the good
weather we've been having and as you know, we talk
about the issues with having a dog that's not typically
used to if you had a kind of a somewhat
of a sedate winter. Now that the weather's changing, it's
getting nice out. It's springtime. Actually in a few short weeks,
it's going to be two short weeks, it's going to
be summertime, so we need to know how do we
handle some of these issues that we're seeing with our pets.
So this was a great article, and it's how to
keep your dog safe at the dog park. That's something
that most of us wouldn't even think about. What do
you mean safe at the dog park? Well, you know,
it's amazing when I think of my own dogs.
Speaker 3: I have five.
Speaker 2: Some of them are not as well behaved as I
would like them to be. I belong to a doctor, Jeff.
He's done a really allows you tough with me, socializing me.
But you know, it's so weird because I have so
many they in a sense have creating their own pack.
So any dog that is not part of this pack
is a strange dog. You know, if people that have
one or two dogs and they frequent the dog park
because it's easy when you only have one or two dogs.
Speaker 3: Now, these dogs are used to.
Speaker 2: It and they used to have another dogs, and they
get to know their other dogs, and they get to
know the smells, and it's fun. But sometimes when you
have enough dogs or too many dogs, that it's sometimes
hard to make that little trip. You need to learn
some rules of the game when it comes to dog parks.
So I'm going out a couple of things you'll need.
First of all, you need water and a water dish.
Don't assume that every park is going to have that. Now,
many of them, especially the gated parks, might have an
area where there's a big fountain or fausted and there's
a big bowl or bowls underneath and there's water available,
but don't count on it. So make sure get to
a store. You can get to a pet store and
they have these really cool water containers that are collapsible.
They can clip on your belt loop or on your belt.
You can put them in a fanny pack. I mean,
there's so many places can put them, but they're really cool.
And they also have them that are disposable. They're a
little hard sort of hard rubber. You can open them up,
you use them a few times, then you can throw
them away. Of course, this time a year flee and
tick treatment. I had a dog we saw recently. It
happened to be a rescue dog. And this lady comes
in with these little little teeny teeny whatever is that
that you found around this dog in the bed.
Speaker 3: So we took them.
Speaker 2: You can see them moving under a microscope. But they
really didn't look like anything we had seen, and we
looked up you know, chiggers and lice and all these
possible things it could be. Wasn't a baby flea. So
we collected them and I sent them to a really
good friend of mine, doctor Mike Dryden, who's the clinical
parasitologist on staff at kse DATE, Kansas State University of
Veterini School, And Mike's at DVM and a PhD.
Speaker 3: And he's a really sharp guy.
Speaker 2: So anyway, I collected about a dozen of these little things,
put him in a test tube, put him on in
some alcohol, and sent them to Mike's lab and he
called me yesterday. They were brown dog tick larvae. And
I'm telling you, these things were smaller than a pinhead,
and little black things, and under microscope you can see
them moving, and that's what they were. They were larvae
of a brown dog tick. So obviously there are ticks
out there, and when that big engorged mama tick lays
those eggs, they'll fall, you know, wherever they see laid them.
In this case, it may have been on this bed.
And as these eggs start hatching and developing into the
pupil and then the larval stage. This is what they
look like. They're like miniature teeny teeny baby ticks. So
disgusting anyway, that's what they were. So make sure you
get fietic treatment. Even if you don't see fleas on
your dog, trust me, they're there. So unless you live,
you know, in super super dry, high altitude, maybe in Denver, Colorado,
you may not see fleas, but most places in the country,
especially this time of year, as it gets mugg ear,
as it gets warmer, you're gonna see fleas. Also, mosquitoes.
Remember if you're in the east or in the southeast
or the south and you're gonna you see a lot
of mosquitoes, make sure your pets are also covered with
their either mosquito repellent, but certainly heartworm preventative as well.
And here's some things that just that takes you through
things with your basics, all right, I like to carry
maybe a bandana or sell cloth or something you can
wet down and put around your dog's neck. I think
that's important as well, just in case they start to overheat.
And also we talked about this a couple of weeks
ago to learn how to recognize signs of heat exhaustion.
This is where the dog is going to be all
of a sudden, slowing down, panting incessantly, like truly can't
catch his or her breath. If you touch the body
or touch the tongue, it is boiling hot. The mouth
is getting very tacky and dry. You're seeing very thick
saliva around the mouth. This is all indications that you
need to take a rest, find some shade, give your
dog some water, maybe wet them down, and be prepared
to get some help if need be.
Speaker 3: But do not risk it.
Speaker 2: Do not say ah, just we'll be okay, just a
little a little bit longer abouts or come on, just
it's got to go down this hill. No, no, no, stop,
find shelter, find shade right away, get that water going.
So if you have a dog, so here's some things
that we're gonna read. It says, basically, you need to
keep your eye on your dog because if he's very
active or excitable, he may be more prone to having
an accident at the park, at the dog park then
his calmer counterparts. So over enthusiastic play can result in
joint strain and other injuries. So that's something to keep
an eye out for. You want to keep your dog
away from dogs who seem to be showing signs of
aggressive behavior. And here's why this is important. You can
have the sweetest dog in the world, and if your
dog has never been threatened, then you may not know
that even has.
Speaker 3: An aggressive side.
Speaker 2: But if in fact he is met by a dog
that is aggressive, it might bring out some aggression in
yours as well. And just know one thing, as I'm
sure you may know, many dog parks are off leash,
So you get into that closed area right and you
have a gate, and people right away let their dogs
off the leash, so you've got to be really careful
if there's a dog there that may not be as
friendly as yours or other dogs. We're gonna go one
more before we have to break for a little commercial.
Is we talked about the flea and tick treatment. You
want to put the flea and tick treatment on before
you get to the park, preferably a day or two before.
It does take a little time to work, and what
you don't want to do is doing that morning or
ten minutes before you're about to hop in the car,
because these flea and tick issues are prevalent in these
situations because there are a lot of other dogs out
there that may be carrying the fleas and ticks, and
especially dogs that were treated. Remember a lot of these
great products out there, I have really great kill action,
but not necessarily a lot of repellent action, though there
are some that do. So there's nothing that's going to
stop a dog from latching on and then it can
depending on rough play or just play the fleas hopping
onto another dog. So make sure that your dog is
protected ideally before you even get to the park. And
again we talked about water. Take breaks often. I mean,
in fact, it's take even a good idea, even if
you don't think your dog is exhausted. Just every few minutes,
five minutes, ten minutes, you're running, you're having a good time,
you're throwing the frisbee, you're throwing the tennis ball. Maybe
take a breather and off your dog some water, let
them catch his breath, relax for a little bit. I
think that would be a great thing to do before
we go on to Oh, let's go, we have another minute.
We're going to go on to the last one, and
that is you want to be mindful and try to
learn as much as you can about the bark if
there are any chemicals like pesticides or fertilizers that may
have been placed on the ground. Now, most dog parks,
most municipalities the city has known for not letting this happen.
They are aware that there are a lot of dogs
running in this dog park, so they either refrain or
they'll put warning signs up. You know, we sprayed the grass,
you know, yesterday or last night, whatever, so you at
least are aware, you know. But if you are not sure,
better be safe and sorry, check with the authorities to
find out. Maybe talk to some of the other normal
regular regulars who bring their dogs to the park to
see if they know anything about any kind of fertilizers, pesticides,
things like that. So that basically covers some really good
tips and warnings. We'll get to in just a minute,
but first we want to take a quick break, a
commercial break. Once again, I want to thank our sponsors
pro Sens Pet Products and also a kind of co
sponsor in Walmart and stick with us, and I want
to hear from you and if you have any questions
about running your dogs during the summer. Dog parks, hikes,
things like that, When to do, what to do?
Speaker 3: What to look for?
Speaker 2: Give me a call eight seven seven three eight five
eight eight eight to two. We'll be right back.
Speaker 1: We'll be right back right after these messages. Stay tuned.
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Speaker 3: You'll be glad you did.
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Speaker 3: Let's talk past.
Speaker 8: Let's past about life Radio Headline Radio.
Speaker 5: Pet live radio dot com.
Speaker 2: Welcome back to ask the be's with doctor Jef here
on pet Life Radio again. You can reach us at
eight seven seven three eight five eight eight eight two
or drop me a quick email. I'm sitting here waiting.
My computer is on to doctor Jeff at Petlife radio
dot com, where you can also just type in your
question join the conversation if you're logged on listening on
the computer as I speak, So a couple of things
before we leave the dog park issue, and we're going
to talk about something else coming up. So if there
was any question about chemical exposure, fertilizers, pesticize, whatever, make
sure you bathe your pet thoroughly. Also be courteous to
the other parkgoers. Clean up after your pets. Make sure
you bring the doggie bags. That is very, very important.
It's just the right thing to do. What can I
tell you? So if you have your dogs are out there,
they're having a good time. Trust me, they are going
to stop for bathroom break. I don't thinky I've ever
seen a dog not especially it seems to happen more often.
We gonna get excited, So make sure you have your
little doggie bags with you, and clean up after your pets.
And as I mentioned, any signs of overheating, lethargy, salivation, vomiting,
drying mouth, excessive excessive panting, just stopping, doesn't want to
walk immediately immediately get some water, shade, wiped up, wet
the feet down really well, with some cold water, bring
that temperature down, wet the dog down, take a canteen
or thermos, and just portal over your dog something.
Speaker 3: That can be deadly.
Speaker 2: So also, one thing that I was thinking about and
I just I realized that this stuff usually hits us
so quickly. There is another big day around the corner,
certainly less than a month away, and it inevitably wreaks
some havoc in the homes of many of our especially
dog owners, cat owners as well, but mostly dog owners.
And that wonderful day is the fourth of July. And
what makes it so anxiety provoking for many is the
fact that so many dogs seem to totally freak out
with fireworks. Now, you know, I have to tell you
that many of us have made mistakes with the how
to handle this, and the biggest mistake we usually make
is overreacting to the dog rugs overreacting. Here's what I mean.
That dog starts hearing the fireworks. Now, trust me, they
are hearing this fireworks way before you are, because they're
hearing sounds from a distance that you can't even begin
to pick up.
Speaker 3: That's how amazing their hearing is.
Speaker 2: Right well, they're starting to respond they're shivering, they're cowling,
they're hiding in the corner. And what's your typical response.
Speaker 3: Oh, you poor baby, come here. I mean you said
with mommy, say with daddy? Had to go Okay. Meanwhile,
so what are you doing? Think about it?
Speaker 2: You are reinforcing that behavior. So when the dog behaves
that way and they hear the sounds and they start
cowering in the corner, right and you call them over
for love and affection, they're saying, ah, this is fantastic,
this is great. So first of all, you have to
kind of ignore the behavior. You can't punish them for it,
but don't make a big deal about it. But here
is and this is why I'm really starting to talk
about this. And now we have a few weeks before
it's fourth of July. And here's what I want you
to think about doing the best way once and for
all to deal with problem is to fix the reaction.
And there are two typical behavior techniques that we often employ,
and those are they often go together, and that's desensitization
and followed by counter conditioning. So what does this mean
to desensitize? We need to desensitize these dogs to those
loud sounds. So here's how you do it. You can
buy you can probably download now because everything's on the computer,
a sound effects tape, and you can easily download fireworks sound.
You can also do this, by the way, for thunder
and lightning sound, and that's often very similar. So what
you do as you start, you have the dog in
your room, in the room with you sitting on your lap,
playing sitting on the floor whatever, and you can start
daily playing the sound effects tape, playing the fireworks sound
very very low, barely audible. And as soon as you
start playing it inaudible to you, but the dog can
hear it, call them over.
Speaker 3: And say, oh my god, that's a good boy, and
give a little treat, okay.
Speaker 2: And you want to do this every single day by
playing it a little bit louder each day, and every
time you are instead of having the dog in fear,
you're gonna call him over for big hugs and big kisses,
and you are gonna start rewarding him for the sound
and the non responsiveness. He's gonna hear the sound and
he is gonna get rewarded for not responding. And pretty
soon so now you see, we're gonna desensitize him. Instead
of the sound being something super loud right away, you
start where it's barely audible, and you play it a
little louder each training session. It might be every day,
every other day, each time lot to reward, and you'll
get to the point where he will actually start looking forward.
You won't be running away hiding in fear, but he'll
hear that sound. He is, oh my god, I'm gonna
get a treat, And you get him a treat so
or a good pat on the head, whatever it is
you want to treat your dog with. So that's desensitizing
him and then counter conditioning. It's gonna take a few weeks,
so start now. I understand we have a caller on
the line.
Speaker 3: Caller, go ahead, Oh hi.
Speaker 5: There, I have a new puppy and I have a
question about preventing ear infections.
Speaker 7: Do you have any chips?
Speaker 3: Sure?
Speaker 2: First of all, most you know a lot of dogs.
What kind of dog do you have? First of all,
he's at okay, so puggles. A good thing about puggles,
is there not one of those breeds that are gonna
grow a lot of hair in the ears. Just as
I was plucking the ears today of a Schnauzer. And
you know, you have dogs like Maltese, and you have
dogs like poodles and the beishons and the caton detuliers.
These dogs grow a lot of hair in the ears.
So that's one way to prevent is to make sure
that that the hair is plucked on a regular basis.
The best thing to do for a regular dog or
a dog that doesn't have all this hair in the
ears like a puggle, is to get them used to
the process of ear cleaning. And the best thing to
do again, you have a puppy, make it fun. So
the first thing I like to do is just start
by messing with that little cute ear, okay, And when
you start, you know, touching the ear, maybe sticking your
pinky a little bit down inside the ear and go,
oh my god, you're so good, and give pets and
maybe a little teeny reward if you'd like a little
food treat something like that, and do this every day.
Then maybe take a little Q tip all right, and
just again instead of using the pinky, go down a
little bit like, oh god, hold a que tip about
where the top of the cotton swab is and put
that down in the ear. Oh my god, you're so good,
you're so good, and again give a lot of praise.
Then what you can do is by yourself a benign
basic ear cleaner and this is a liquid you available
at your veterinarian, available at a pet store. And put
some of this ear cleaner down in the ear and
it's kind of swishing around a little bit. You may
need a groomer or your vet to show you the
first time, or one of the technicians at the vet hospital.
And then you'll back off because he'll want to shake,
all right, and then again clean up. We'll go in
just a little bit with a Q tip just to
the top of the cotton, swab itself and just clean
out the ear. The key is you want to get
the puppy used to the process before it becomes a necessity.
So when you do it often they'll actually look forward
to it because they're getting rewarded, they get to spend
time with you. It doesn't hurt, and this is how
we prevent ear infections out. Another thing that's really good
about this, it's the same technique we use for trimming toenails,
brushing teeth. All of these things start now when they're young.
Touch the toes. Maybe you can get a trimmer and
just barely cut anything is you're really nothing to cut, really,
But it's the concept of getting them used to these
basic grooming issues, these grooming things that you're going to
have to do as adult dogs. And you get up
to the point now where they like it. And the
same thing with the brush. I recommend it to taking
a little bit of the the I Dentifrish, the toothpaste.
It's usually a paltry flavored, non sudging. You put a
little bit on your finger, rub it inside the gums,
rub it on the teeth. Do this, you know, every day,
every other day, lots of hugs and kisses, praise. Do
it before a walk, do it before a meal. Then
what you do is going to replace your finger with
a little finger brush, that little rubber rush that comes
with a kit ultimately to the toothbrush. And these dogs
will actually believe it or not look forward to it,
because it's just part of their routine. They get the bonding,
they get your attention, they get a pat on the head,
a hug, sometimes a little food reward, and they are
gonna love having their teeth brushed, love having their toenails trimmed,
love having their ears cleaned, and that's what it's all about.
So have so much fun with your puggle. They are
really really cute dogs. I say that pugs are one
of the happiest dogs on the planet. So many puggles,
they just get that adorable. For those of you who
don't know, a puggle is a cross between a pug
and a beagle and they are just adorable. So anyway,
enjoy your little monster Nile or a female.
Speaker 5: He's a little boy's name mike Mikey.
Speaker 2: So get Mikey a kiss from me, Mikey. I'm sure
he's adorable. Or remember, you want to get Mikey fixed.
If he's not well, he's probably too young now, but
by here's just my recommendation, because you definitely want to
get him fixed, and that is, wait until all his
adult teeth are in. It's usually around six months of age.
You do not want to do it before because often
with these smaller breeds they will end up having what
we call deciduous teeth. Those are the baby teeth that
haven't fallen out on schedule as they're supposed to. We
end up needing to pull those teeth, which obviously requires anesthesia,
and you don't want tonessitize the dog at four or
five months, and then again it's six months or seven
months to pull baby teeth. So I wait until all
the teeth are in. You'll know which teeth, if any
need to come out, need to be pulled, and do
that in the neuterrous bay, all at the same time.
Speaker 3: All right, So enjoy, Mikey, thank you so much.
Speaker 2: You're very welcome. So we have see how easy and
painless that was. Anyone out there listening that think of
all this free advice you're gonna get. It's fantastic. So anyway,
once again eight seven seven three eight five eight eight
A two we are nearing the end of our half hour.
It goes pretty quickly. So back to the fourth of July.
So download those tapes. You want to get a sound
effects tape, it'll be fireworks, and as they said these,
most of these tapes also have things like loud trucks.
They have a thunder and lightning, any sound that your
dog usually freaks out over, engine sirens from fire engines
as well, all on these sound effects tapes. So whatever
it is, you can go ahead and get these things downloaded,
play the sound, do them slow baby steps, and then
get to desensitize your pets and actually counter condition them
to the point where they actually will look.
Speaker 3: Forward to hearing the sounds.
Speaker 2: So, if you have no other questions, I want to
once again thank our sponsors. We have pro Sense Pet
products available at your retailer. These are wonderful products for
pet wellness, health, shampoos, ear cleaner that actually pro Sense
has a great ear cleaner for Mikey available at your
local Walmart, your local Target Walgreens. You can also pick
up vitamins for that puppy. We have great puppy vitamins.
We also have vitamins for seniors and glucosamine. A lot
there you can do to keep your pets healthy, looking
their best, feeling their best. I am doctor Jeff Forber
here with Pet Life Radio. Ask the vets with doctor Jeff.
We will be back in a week. We expect to
hear from you and send me your emails. I know
those of you are out there that are a little shy.
At least hopefully you won't be shy.
Speaker 3: Having your name on the.
Speaker 2: We're gonna tell you who you are. We're gonna talk
about your pet. We're gonna read your question and answer
your question online, so don't be basketball. You can reach
me at doctor Jeff at petlifradio dot com and we
will see you back here in one week. Thanks for
joining me here on pet Life Radio on doctor Jeff Werberg.
Speaker 3: See you next week.
Speaker 1: Let's talk pets every week on demand only on petlfradio
dot com