Harmony Forum

The Holiday Season is in full swing, and Santa Paws will soon be delivering presents to all of our very, very good boys (and girls!). While we prepare for a joy-filled Holiday and celebration of the New Year, take a moment to go over some helpful holiday safety tips for pets. Pet Proof the Christmas Tree Oh, the Christmas tree. A holiday staple in many homes, and the one addition to our living room that poses the largest threat to our furry friends! A Christmas tree that isn’t pet-proofed can result in upset stomachs, injury, or worse. Manage the danger of a Christmas tree by always supervising pets when they’re around the tree, and by taking special care to pet-proof your holiday decorations. Ornaments. The ornaments on a Christmas tree can be attractive to pets. Most curious dogs and cats will want to inspect the odd tree that has suddenly appeared in their living rooms. Breakable ornaments are a double danger. If they shatter on the floor you can end up with cut paws, and if they’re chomped on you run the risk of mouth injury and ingestion. Try to keep all ornaments (especially the glass!) out of reach of pets. Secure the Tree. A wobbly tree stand can make for a holiday disaster if your dog or cat decides to try to climb the evergreen. Check the bolts on your tree stand to be sure they’re secure, and consider adding a separate anchor, such as a ceiling hook with clear line or wall anchor, to prevent the tree from toppling over. Don’t Drink the Tree Water. Did you know that the water in your tree stand can be dangerous to pets? As the tree soaks up water, it can release sometimes toxic sap into the water. Some fresh trees are also preserve with pesticides or given fertilizer water additives that include substances like aspirin. Aspirin is particularly dangerous to cats as they lack the ability to break down the drugs. While aspirin is occasionally prescribed to dogs, too much can also be deadly. The water reservoir in the tree stand should be tightly wrapped with a tree skirt or other material to prevent animals from accessing it. String Lights and Tree-Trimmings. Festive lights, garland, and tinsel are a part of many of our holiday decorations. The flashing lights sure are pretty, but they can also pose a potential threat to your pet. Veterinarians say pets can easily die from electrocution, internal injuries, or intestinal blockage after enjoying a decorative snack. Be sure you fasten holiday lights to your tree and place cords out of reach of your curious pet’s mouth. Block access to any loose cords or wires. When eaten, things like garland and tinsel can result in intestinal blockages that could mean a trip to the emergency vet for your dog or cat. Safe Holiday Plants Three plants that are popular this time of year can also be potentially dangerous to pets. Whenever you bring a new plant into the home, be sure that it is pet-safe and monitor your curious pets when they’re around it. Holly. English and Asian varieties of the holly plant can contain toxins that cause gastrointestinal issues when eaten. Mistletoe. Not always for kissing, the leaves and berries of this common plant contain viscotoxins and can cause upset stomach and bradycardia. Poinsettia. Typically thought of as the most dangerous holiday plant, the poinsettia flower is typically toxic only when ingested in large quantities. The sap from the plant can cause diarrhea, excessive drooling, and vomiting. Holiday Bouquets. Holiday bouquets might contain any of the above plants, but may also contain flowers such a lilies, which are particularly hazardous to pets. Just a few bites of a lily plant is enough to cause potentially fatal kidney damage in cats. Gifts, Candy, and Stockings Make sure that your stockings are hung by the chimney with extra care this holiday to prevent pets from pulling them down and attempting to eat their contents! Avoid wrapping food items in boxes or hanging them in stockings, as your dog’s strong nose might inspire them to try to unwrap the goodies. Food puzzles are a great form of enrichment for dogs, but your holiday snacks and candies should not be part of the game. Gift wrap, small toys, ribbon and string, and bows should all be moved out of reach of dogs and cats to avoid injury. The ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center (APCC) is your best resource for any animal poison-related emergency, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. If you think your pet may have ingested a potentially poisonous substance, call (888) 426-4435. A consultation fee may apply.

As we discussed in our Introduction to Cooperative Care , this training concept involves training your dog not to just tolerate handling, grooming, and other husbandry procedures, but to empower them to be an active and willing participant in these experiences. The concept of cooperative care has become commonplace in large animal practices such as zoos and rescue facilities where an uncooperative large animal could be potentially dangerous. By training these animals to “opt-in” to care procedures, they can be safely treated without the need for physical or chemical restraint. The same concept applies to our pets. If we train them to become willing participants in their care, and empower them to “say no” when needed, we can help them become an active part of their care and reduce the need for force in husbandry procedures. Foundation Behaviors for Cooperative Care One of the foundations of Cooperative Care is teaching a duration target behavior. This behavior helps to keep the dog still and in place, but it also empowers them to opt-out of the process if they break that position. To achieve this, we can begin by teaching a Chin Rest. When we teach the dog to rest their chin on a target, it can be the dog’s way of communicating that they are ready to go ahead with the procedure. While training the chin rest, we can begin to mimic husbandry procedures such as eye drops, ear cleaning, or dental cleaning. To begin, use only gentle touches to simulate the behavior. For example, lift the ear gently and then alternate sides and reward your dog along the way. As the dog grows more comfortable, add in a tool such as a Q-Tip. Touch the ear with the swab, give a treat. Then lift the ear, gently touch with the swab, and reward your dog. Your goal is to gradually build up to an ear cleaning. If at any point your dog feels uncomfortable, allow them to lift their chin and take a break. The video below illustrates the start of training a chin rest. Every time you practice this training, be it an ear cleaning, eye exam, or oral exam, you are building your dog’s trust in their ability to opt-in or opt-out of procedures. Think of these practices as making a deposit into your dog’s “trust account”. The more deposits that you make through regular practice, the easier it will be to make a withdraw when the time comes to put practice into play.

How do we start? How long should it take? Is my puppy peeing behind the sofa just to spite me? Puppy potty training… we’ve all been there (or, if you’re reading this as you prepare for a puppy you’ll be there soon!). It’s not always easy, and how to start can be confusing. In today’s blog post we’ll give you the scoop on potty training and offer some things to do (and avoid) to make the training a bit easier. Instinct Is Your Friend Dogs are wired to avoid eliminating in their dens. It makes sense—you wouldn’t want to eat and sleep in a dirty nest! We use this instinct to our advantage when teaching appropriate spots to go potty. While there is an instinct to avoid soiling their living area, when a puppy’s gotta go it’s gotta go! We need to support and encourage age-appropriate potty habits. By 12 weeks of age, a puppy still doesn’t have great control over their bladder and bowels. They might not know they have to go, so our job is to predict their needs and help them get to an appropriate spot. Signs and Schedules Developing a potty schedule is an important part of speeding along puppy potty training. The scheduling of potty behaviors is something that we focus on in [ HARMONY SCHOOL ]. The schedule helps avoid accidents by predicting when pottying will need to happen, and proactively placing the puppy in a potty area. Typically, a puppy will need to potty: - 15 minutes after eating. - For younger puppies, immediately after drinking. As they get closer to 12 weeks, about 15 minutes after drinking. - 10 minutes after play begins. - Immediately after waking up. When you have your puppy in your house or in its penned living area, be on the lookout for signs that a potty might be on its way: - The puppy stops what they’re doing and looks like it might be “thinking”. - The puppy starts sniffing around the floor. - The puppy goes to a door, barrier, or edge of their pen and lingers. A puppy naturally wants to eliminate as far away from where they live/play, and will tend to start looking for fringes of the area to potty in. Set up for Success When potty training, it’s all about setting puppies up to succeed at the thing they want to do naturally. To begin, put them where they can’t make a mistake. A crate is a great way to avoid accidents, but is only effective once the puppy can control their bladder/bowels, and even then is only effective when used for reasonable timeframes. If you keep a puppy in a crate but do not make sure its needs are taken care of ahead of time, they may begin to soil the crate and accept it as their only option. For initial puppy training, you might find it beneficial to attach a crate to an exercise pen area with potty pads. Leave the crate open, giving the puppy the option to leave it to do their business on the potty pads. This will reinforce the concept of a clean den being important, and will help you avoid accidents that will set your training back. Transitioning to the Great Outdoors If your breeder used an indoor potty area or you’re enrolled in one of our programs that utilize an indoor potty station, you might be wondering how to make the jump from pottying in an indoor space to pottying outside. It’s important to be clear on what the indoor potty training is and what it isn’t. The indoor potty area gives puppies an opportunity to be correct in where they potty. It reinforces keeping their living area (their pen or your home) clean, and it also reinforces that pottying in front of you (in the appropriate place) can be totally awesome. These things all set you up for success in the training work you need to do at home. It is not a substitute for good scheduling, management, and clear indicators of where your potty area will be. Once you’ve Set up for Success , commit to a schedule as outlined above. If your puppy has just woken up, take them to your appropriate potty area and wait with them until they potty. It might take seconds or you might need to bring a book! At this point, patience is key. You know the potty will be coming, and you just need to wait it out. Once they’ve done their business, reward them, praise them, and have a potty party! You can add a modifier cue to this behavior so that it begins to have a name. A “good potty!” can turn into a cue for them going if they need to as they grow and have better control of their eliminations. This process is the same regardless of if you’re potty training for a turf area on your apartment deck or a backyard. Consistently get the puppy to the spot it needs to do its business, reward, and repeat. Accidents Happen The puppy will try to keep its area clean, but accidents can, will, and do happen! When one occurs, be sure to avoid scolding them. You might think it’s obvious that you’re scolding them for pottying on the rug, but from the puppy’s point of view you’re angry at them for going potty… or even worse, for pottying in front of you. If your puppy makes this association early, it will make potty training very difficult because even when you get them outside before they need to go, they’ll be reluctant to potty in front of you. As puppies are rarely left outside unsupervised, they might not have an opportunity to “go” somewhere that is out of sight when outdoors. As a result, they may be let back in the house and quickly hide behind a piece of furniture to potty. They aren’t doing it to be spiteful, they’re doing it because they learned quickly that if you catch them pottying you might be unhappy. If an accident happens, take the puppy to an appropriate area to finish up, clean up the mess, and be on watch for the next Schedule or Sign that a potty is on its way.