Dr Frank Adams of SiriusXM’s Doctor Radio has a great show each month called “Pets and your Health.”
Three Golden Puppy Play Date
I was flattered to be invited to speak with them again yesterday, March 7th about puppies and all the questions that come with having a new puppy.
This a wonderful show (not just because they like me) but because Dr. Adams’s guests answer questions on a variety of pet-related topics and showcase the ever increasing data demonstrating how pets make our lives better.
If, like me, you are in your car a lot and have SiriusXM, you can listen for the re-broadcast of this episode Friday 4am to 6am, Sunday 6am to 8am on channel 110. If your not up and awake enough at these times to listen, you can always stream this episode and others on SiriusXM Doctor Radio.
Just as a shout out to SiriusXM Doctor Radio, besides Dr Adams’s shows “Pets and Your Health” and “Pulmonology,” there are plenty of other great shows to listen into, from “Health Care Connect” that answers all your insurance related questions at a time when we all have questions on this topic, to dermatology, men’s health, women’s health, nutrition, child and adult psychology and more.
The toxicity of chocolate is relative to the size of your dog and the type and amount of chocolate ingested.
Because it’s Valentine’s Day, I thought it might be good to remind everyone that chocolate is not safe for dogs.
PetMD has a great calculator to help you determine when it is time to get your dog to the veterinarian if your dog has had some chocolate. The toxicity of chocolate is relative to the size of your dog and the type and amount of chocolate ingested.
For example my favorite candies are Reese’s Dark Chocolate Mini Peanut Butter cups. I did a little science experiment on them and one of these candies has about 1/4 oz of dark chocolate.
Did you say peanut butter???
My dog Pinball is about 35 pounds. Like so many dogs he loves peanut butter and will not be bothered by the fact that there are wrappers and even some dark chocolate to get through in order to find the coveted peanut butter.
Based on the PetMD chocolate calculator, if Pinball got one of these candies, I would not have to worry. I would watch him closely because at his weight with the amount of dark chocolate in one small dark chocolate peanut butter cup, there would be no symptoms expected. But, because every body is a little different, I would keep an eye on him, AND make sure he got NO MORE.
By the way, it is the compound theobromine that is the culprit here. Theobromine can also be found in things other than chocolate. A few of them are: tea, coffee, cola products, acai berries, coco mulch for the yard, and probably others.
If Pinball were to get 1 oz of baker’s chocolate, I would call the poison control hotline if my veterinarian were not available, and probably take him in to see the veterinarian or emergency veterinarian right away.
There are a number of pet poison hotlines, some charge a fee, and others don’t. Look online to see what works best for you, and here are a couple:
For Pinball’s 1 oz of baker’s chocolate, mild to moderate symptoms would be:
Vomiting
GI Upset
Hyper Tension
Hyperactivity
Restlessness
2 oz of baker’s chocolate would cause moderate to severe symptoms:
Vomiting
Tremors in muscles
Abnormal heart rhythms
Elevated heart rate
Hyperthermia
3 oz of bakers chocolate would cause severe symptoms:
Vomiting
Tremors in muscles
Abnormal heart rhythms
Elevated heart rate
Hyperthermia
Seizures
Collapse
Death
When we compare this to 3 oz of milk chocolate which would be expected to cause mild to no symptoms, it is dramatic the difference the type of chocolate can make in terms of toxicity – so – Remember if you have to call the veterinarian, he or she will need to know:
– Dog’s weight,
– Amount of chocolate,
– What type of chocolate
In short – no chocolate is good for your dog, but the darker the chocolate the less your dog will need to ingest to become very sick and potentially lose their lives to a simple piece of candy.
On Valentine’s Day, show your dog you love him or her with a great wild walk in the snow for those of you in the north, or a peanut butter kong, or both. But keep your chocolate up and away.
And for those of you with young kids, send the dog out of the room until the kids are done with their chocolate – save everyone the anguish and let your kids enjoy their treat without worry.
It can be in candy, gum (a lot of gum), chewable vitamins, supplements, peanut butter, substitutes for sugar, and even sold in a container that looks like honey as a honey substitute.
So many products like this one below have xylitol listed only in the fine print.
In this label, xylitol is very high on the list…
Read every one of the ingredients in the products you have around the house AND especially items you will be giving you dog.
Remember ingredients are listed in descending order by weight. In other words – biggest first. Xylitol is very high on the list for this product.
Others have done a great job of outlining the toxicity of xylitol in dogs. Here are some excepts from the veterinarian professionals:
Preventive Vet’s article “My Dog Ate Xylitol,” includes some of these warnings:
Dogs rapidly and almost completely absorb xylitol.
Ingestion of greater than 0.1g/kg can result in hypoglycemia (low blood sugar)…greater than 0.5 g/kg may result in acute liver failure.
Xylitol can cause low blood sugar within thirty minutes after ingestion… but may not show initial symptoms for twelve hours…
The most common source of xylitol poisoning that Pet Poison Helpline gets calls about comes from sugar-free gum, although cases of xylitol poisoning from other sources such as supplements and baked goods are on the rise. In 2020, Pet Poison Helpline had 5,846 calls involving dogs ingesting xylitol!
VCA Animal Hospitals, Dr,’s Renee Schmid and Ahna Brutlag
Xylitol is too dangerous, too quickly toxic, and too easy to miss.
Reading the label of everything that comes into your house can help you avert tragedy.
Then… research online ahead of time so you know who to call if you suspect your dog has ingested xylitol. Don’t wait until time is running out.
Here is the website and phone number (888) 426-4435) for the ASPCA Poison Control. There may be a charge.
Lisa Davis brings her twenty-five years of health experience and her love of dogs together in her PodCast “Dog-Eared” to interview authors of dog related books, memoirs like A Dog Named Boo and other advice and inspirational dog-related titles.
To help your dog avoid being sprayed by skunks, have a handful of distance commands to keep your dog from getting into skunk trouble.
I recently received a question about a dog who keeps getting sprayed by skunks in Montana.
Our dog keeps getting sprayed by skunks. She’s a terrier mix and loves looking in culvert pipes and exploring. We live in the country in Montana and there is so much a curious dog can get into trouble with. She used to not come when we called her. But we’ve been training her with treats and she’s gotten much better at coming when we call. We hate to have to keep her on a leash when we go for walks. Can you make any suggestions?
Thank you, Jennifer
If you enjoy walking your dogs off leash, it’s important to have a handful of distance commands.
The recall or “come” command is at the top of this list. It is the most common in terms of getting your dog back to you and out of harms way.
A “leave-it” at a distance is almost as important. Start by teaching “leave-it” close enough to you so you can reinforce it with praise and rewards. The command is solid when your dog turns away from whatever they have found to get their reward from you.
All of the commands listed here will have to be rewarded with food in the learning stages, and then intermittently forever depending on the dog and the surroundings.
“Sit” or “down” at a distance will allow you to freeze your dog in place for a second or two while you figure things out, or the danger (i.e. skunk, etc.) passes. These could be used anywhere or anytime you need to simply put your dog into a holding position. You will need to be able to reliably request these commands when your dog is close to you. Then you can start to request them at distances farther away from you until you can lock your dog down matter how far away they are.
Some dogs do better with a “stop” command at a distance rather than “sit” or “down.” If they can “stop” their action, but can’t follow other commands in the heat of the moment, that’s fine. Essentially the “stop” command like the “sit” and “down” halt all actions until you tell your dog to do something else.
“Sit,” “down,” and “stop” all have to be trained when you are near your dog so you can easily reward them. Then you can start using a long leash, ten feet, fifteen feet, etc. With this, you can begin to increase the distance you ask your dog to preform these commands. Once your dog is reliable at longer distances, they are ready for off leash work.
Hopefully these ideas will allow you to help your dog avoid getting sprayed by skunks in or out of Montana.
As for Dante – well…
He loved skunks!
Hope that helps and remember, there is just something that dogs LOVE about skunks so keep that skunk wash handy.
