Nancy told me about her very scary and bizarre experience walking the dogs tonight. It happened when she was walking Milo and Petey around the block in Chicago just before she came to a corner. At that moment a guy walking his Wheaton Terrier came around the corner. So she led Petey and Milo off the sidewalk and over to the curb. Most of the time in the city if you move your dogs off the sidewalk you expect the other dog walker to keep an eye on their dogs and just go past. The really smart people, or those with reactive dogs, will proactively cross to the other side of the street when they see other dogs coming toward them.

Every now and then Milo can get kind of weird when approached by a dog while he is on leash. He'll hit the end of the leash and bark at the dog. We think he does it because he figures a good offense is the best defense. It is pretty rare, say one in a hundred dogs, so we usually drop his leash so he knows he can get away and then he is always fine. If he is concerned he'll move away until he is comfortable and stay out of range of the other dog. If there is anything that is constant about Milo; he's never looking for trouble. So Nancy dropped Milo's leash and he just sat there next to her.

The guy with the Wheaton asks: "Are your dogs friendly?". Nancy replied: "He's leash aggressive". Then the unimaginable happened. The guy reaches down and unclips his dog's leash...!!! Nancy said she was flabbergasted. What in the world was this guy thinking? So his dog, who is pretty friendly looking, races up to Petey and Petey, being the overgrown puppy that he is, thinks "Wow Let's Play!" and hits the end of the leash and tears it out of Nancy's hand. He is one strong little guy. OK this is looking bad.

Of course Nancy was standing by the curb to get out of the guy's way. To make matters worse, Petey and the Wheaton tear off across the street! Fortunately, fortunately, fortunately there was no traffic. Nancy immediately tells Milo to stay and takes off across the street (she said she didn't look either...). She is calling Petey to come but he and the Wheaton are having a good time and the Wheaton keeps positioning himself between Petey and her. Which just incites Petey to play more. The Wheaton's owner is futilely calling his dog, who ignores him. Nancy finally gets Petey's attention and he comes to her. He gets a big hug and a huge jackpot of salmon treats.

Meanwhile, Milo, remember Milo? (sorry a little Alice's Restaurant moment there). Well Milo was just being Milo. He was just noodling around sniffing the grass on his side of the street. Nancy said a lady jogger had stopped and was calling him to her. He was completely unconcerned by the heart stopping, adrenaline rush producing, blind panic, terrifying event that his Mother had just been through. Nancy hustled Milo and Petey off and came back home.

So I might have some of this a little wrong, because I got it over the phone, but I think the essence of the story is correct. As we discussed it we came to the conclusion that when the guy heard "He is leash aggressive" he could only have thought... "Oh I should take my dog's leash off so that dog doesn't attack when he sees the leash"... I still can't believe it, but it is the only explanation.

Now we mostly hang out with other Dog People or at least people who humor Dog People. So had we heard someone say their dog was leash aggressive in a similar situation we would have given them a wide berth and kept a close eye on our dogs, gotten them to focus on us, and moved quickly out of there. Now apparently, saying that isn't a clear enough signal to your average person.

Which reminds me of another incident, many years ago, when I was walking Mr. Peabody and Milo. A lady is pushing her small daughter in a stroller and I see them as we come out of the alley. She asks if they are friendly and I say "Mr. Peabody doesn't like children". So what does she do? She starts coming directly toward us leading with her child in the stroller. I pulled in their leashes and she keeps coming. Finally Mr. P let out a couple big dog barks and she stopped.

As she was telling me this story, Nancy, being the articulate and intelligent one, was trying to come up with reasonable things to tell people in situations like this and I just didn't like any of them. Especially since people don't seem to register what you are saying if they have a plan of action already formulated.

So I think the best solution, other than walking your dogs where you won't run into people with their dogs (which is getting increasingly difficult in the city), is being almost rudely direct. If asked "Is your dog friendly?" my plan is to always reply in an unequivocal manner with "No". If they insist on coming toward us (assuming I can't retreat) I will say "Stop!" and keep repeating "Stop!" and/or "Go away!" with increasing emphasis. Yep it might brand me as the weird or rude guy with the Border Collies, but it might be the only thing that protects us from cluelessness.

Now that won't protect me from the knuckle heads who insist on walking their dogs off leash in the city (they usually have dogs that don't listen to them and have no recall at all) but that is a whole different rant...

Do you have any better ideas for stopping or redirecting the clueless?

This time of year when I'm walking Meeker early in the morning the air is cool, humid and lately it has been fragrant with lilac and lily of the valley. So it is nice to walk in the cool quiet of the morning. But as we were walking along smelling the smells this morning I was hit with the distinctive smell of chemical fertilizer coming from the lawns in parts of the neighborhood. This smell reminded me of a great dog health tip Nancy told me.

She told me if you walk your dog on grass, choose the grass with weeds in it. If there are weeds you are less likely to encounter weed killer and other lawn treatment chemicals. While all the lawn chemical companies and lawn services claim these chemicals are harmless to people and animals after a short time, I'd just as soon try to avoid contact with them.

So while this isn't a foolproof method for avoiding exposing your dog to lawn chemicals (staying home would be the best method) maybe this tip will help reduce their exposure.

While I really want the focus of this blog to remain on agility training and not spend too much time on other areas, it seems folks are interested so I'll give an "Itchy Meek" update. First off, thank you all for your comments, encouragement, and for sharing your experiences with dog allergies. I was unaware of how many dogs I know who have some type of allergy or allergy symptoms until Meeker faced this problem.

I decided not to pursue allergy injections or other western medicines for Meeker's itchiness until I got a second opinion. Due to a cancellation I was able to get an earlier appointment with Dr. Share Siwek at Kindred Spirits. Dr. Siwek is a DVM and has trained in holistic veterinary practices. It is always interesting to meet someone who has a different view than traditional western medicine.

Diagnosis

Interestingly, Dr. Siwek didn't feel Meeker's allergen tests showed that he was particularly suffering from an allergy; as he only had one high score (red clover). Consequently, she was interested in finding out more about him to try to find another cause for his itching.

So I gave her all the areas of which I'm concerned about his health and behavior. In addition to his itchiness, he is reactive to sounds: fireworks, school buses, motorcycles, skate boards, and even (unseen) dogs running across contact equipment. About every two to three weeks he'll release his anal glands - seems unrelated to any other activity; he'll just be laying down and Pew! He is also very aroused by other moving animals; he'll quiver, drool and bark at dogs running on course from his crate (although he is getting better and better at this).

All together we spent about an hour and a half discussing him and she examined him thoroughly. Based on her evaluation and the issues I described she felt he has signs of a "blood deficiency" associated with the liver and spleen (based on observing his tongue and pulse in his limbs) and some signs of "dampness" (his anal glands and previous ear infections). Interestingly, his reactivity to sound and impulsiveness are also consistent with the liver and spleen blood deficiency.

Based on his reactivity, she said he has a very "outward" focus and needs to bring is focus more inward.

She felt he is tight across his upper spine and recommended he get a chiropractic adjustment. We've always taken our dogs to TOPS Veterinary Rehab for chiro, but I have been waiting for him to learn more self control so he could be comfortable with their initial two hour evaluation. But he did so wonderfully well at Dr. Siwek's that he should be fine with the really good folks at TOPS.

Treatment

Dr Siwek gave prescribed a Chinese herb called Xiao Yao San that I give him twice a day with his meals. This is to help treat his blood deficiency. She also gave me a mixture liquid flower essences that I give him by mouth a few times a day to help with his reactivity.

Milo also gets his own special mixture of flower essences (now referred to as Milo's "Calmo-Juice") from Dr. Siwek and it has greatly improved his confidence and made him much less nervous when getting near "scary" inanimate objects, like some flower boxes and patio furniture. We'll notice his worried-ness increase if we forget to give him his drops.

She also recommended using Rescue Remedy spray in his crate at classes to help Meeker remain calm. Thus far I've been using Suzanne Clothier's Auto Check In method with very good success. With ACI Meeker has already come a long way but this will help too.

Status

It has been almost two weeks since I started treating Meeker. It appears that his itching is slightly reduced - it seems to occur in more sporadic itching "bursts" than the kind of semi-continuous itching of before. Prior to seeing Dr. Siwek I'd also changed his diet from from Natural Balance Potato and Duck kibble to a mixture of Nature's Variety Raw Frozen chicken and venison patties.

As far as reactivity goes, I can't say that he is much different. Although on the last couple of walks he seems a little bit more attentive to me. But I have also been focusing on rewarding loose leash walking too. In class I've been concentrating on working ACI too so I can't tell if he is improving due to my more consistent behavior, his treatment or both.

So you can see this is far from a "controlled study" and evaluating this treatment in light of multiple variables is impossible. Ultimately, improvement is what matters and it will take time to see if this holistic treatment will make injections unnecessary for Meeker.

As I mentioned previously, Meeker is quite the itchy pup. He started itching and chewing all over his body at about 18 months, I've heard that is a common age when allergies start to show up. Since neither Mr. Peabody or Milo had any allergies this has become a learning experience for us. So here an update on the itchy Meek saga.

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On the days when I don't work at home I have a dog walker come by and give Meeker 30 minutes of exercise around midday. He is a young and energetic dog and I hate the idea of him at home for up to 10 hours without many outlets for his energy. My original dog walker recently hired a new assistant and I realized I should put together a little write up of the rules Meeker lives by so he would have a consistent set of expectations from me and his dog walkers.

When I first showed this to some knowledgable dog trainers they gave me quite a few horror stories about dog walkers: group walks, walks on Flexis, not controlling dog's access to other dogs, children, etc. and even promoting unsafe behaviors. They strongly recommended I just have the dog walker let Meeker out into the backyard and supervise him for the half hour and then bring him inside. That would be safest for Meeker and not give, even well meaning, dog walkers an opportunity to "untrain" or even endanger him. I guess I'm fortunate with my current dog walker.

I should also mention that my neighborhood is a very quiet suburban one with pretty much no car, person or dog traffic, especially at midday. So a lot of the scenarios I mention in my instructions are unlikely to be experienced by the dog walker. I just wanted to outline my approaches in case they really wanted to follow my wishes.

Here is what I plan on giving to his future caretakers:

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Ever since I adopted Meeker he has had dry and itchy skin. Nancy recommended I add coconut oil to his diet and his skin isn't dry anymore and he is growing a nice soft coat. He was diagnosed and treatd for a Staph skin infection a couple times though and received anti biotic treatments. He now has a different skin infection that I am treating. Our regular vet has referred Meeker to a Dermatologist to try to find out what is going on. As part of that I needed to put together a list of all the foods he eats and the soaps etc we use to wash him.

Meeker gets almost the same menu as Milo. The table below lists his total daily intake split over two meals. Of course I am not recommending anyone else try these supplements at these or any other levels without consulting with their veterinarian or nutritionist. Some of these vitamins and supplements can cause diarrhea at our dog's dosages; they have built up to these levels over time.

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As I reported a couple months ago, the Lipoma on Mr. Peabody's left hip has come back a third time (after two surgeries and radiation treatment). We didn't want to subject Mr. P to surgery and radiation again due to the risk of necropsy due to overlap of the radiation fields. This time the lipoma is more infiltrative and at best surgery would "debulk" the tumor to remove pressure from Mr. P's sciatic nerve.

During this time Nancy has been searching the web for alternate treatments. While she didn't find any other canine treatments, she did uncover a successful treatment of lipomas in humans using subcutaneous injections of Deoxycholate. A summary of this article is available here (free registration for the summary required) The upshot of the treatment was a mean reduction in tumor area of 75% with only transient side effects even at low concentrations. The authors felt the low concentration approach was worthy of additional clinical trials.

Based on these promising results, Nancy contacted Dr. Pedro Boria DVM an Oncologist and Dr. Jayme Looper DVM Radiation Oncologist at VCA Aurora Animal Hospital to attempt this treatment plan on Mr. Peabody. At Nancy's insistence they ordered the solution at a 1% concentration and it arrived last Friday. So this may well be the first use of this protocol on a dog. Our GP vet, Dr. Young, has been checking with his colleagues on veterinary/oncology websites to see if anyone else has experience with this treatments.

In these past months Mr. P's tumor has continued to grow and in the past couple weeks has started to interfere with the movement of his back leg. While we knew this was a likely outcome, it didn't make it any easier on us to see Mr. P "skipping" his hind leg. The tumor is also causing some discomfort and he sometimes makes little crying noises until you pet him. Sometimes we carry him up the stairs if he balks. Based on this article we put him on the non NSAID pain killer Tramadol which seems to be helping him relax and sleep.

So the time was now to try this treatment on Mr. P. Nancy and my Mom brought him in to VCA today and with the aid of an ultrasound scan the location of the injections was plotted. Dr. Boria made two injections into the tumor. The size and hardness of the tumor limited how much he could inject and the number of sites. Nancy had to sign a release since this is basically an experimental procedure. We'll see if he has reductions in tumor volume over the next two weeks and bring him in for additional injections at that time.

We really need this procedure to work if we are going to spare Mr. P another surgery. I am glad Nancy is so tenacious in her researching of treatments for Mr. P throughout his illnesses. As many of our friends have said: In a future life we want to come back as one of Nancy's animals; you are guaranteed the best possible care. Please keep Mr. Peabody in your thoughts.

We put Milo on Adequan last year and now it is time to determine when we should give him his next Adequan injection. So I posted the following request to the AgilityDogs email list:

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I'm not much for dog apparel. But last year Nancy got Mr. Peabody and Milo some fleece dog coats on sale that I can best describe as winter track suits for dogs. They are made by Fido Fleece. What makes these coats different from turn-out style coats is they fit snugly around the dog and have a velcro strip up the back to close. This means the dog's chest and trunk are fully covered and there are short "sleeves" that cover the dog's biceps. But the underside of the coat is cut up so the dogs don't pee on it. The nice thing about this design and the snug fit is the material doesn't flap around as they move. The light weight fleece is stretchy too so it doesn't constrict or bind when the dogs move.

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Last week during our bimonthly chiropractic checkup of Mr. Peabody and Milo at TOPS Veterinary Rehab, Dr. Laurie McCauley, DVM found that Milo's right wrist was "crunchy". He had been licking it occasionally, usually after vigorous exercise. We think he is only seven years old so I was a little surprised that he could have cartilage wear/breakdown so young, but this is probably due both to genetics, his athletic intensity and a complete disregard for his own physical safety. I keep saying it over and over "Milo goes to 11"...

"Dr. Laurie" recommended we put Milo on Adequan Canine as she has seen great results in performance dogs using this drug. It is an intramuscular injection with a eight dose front load. It is given twice a week for four weeks. Then it is given periodically after that to maintain joint health.

It sounds like this drug has few side effects compared to NSAIDS and actually increases fluid production in the joints and repairs damaged cartilage. That is really the kind of treatment we prefer over the pain killers and anti inflamatories normally prescribed. Here is an article from a Scottish Deerhound site that also extols the virtues of this drug. Here is a more complete description based on Luitpold Pharmaceuticals' information.

This is yet another case where having performance dogs requires owners to be extra vigilant in the care of their partners. Being attuned to your dogs and paying attention to changes in their normal behavior is very important. Locating high quality speciality veterinary care is also critical to your teammate's long term health.