Pack behaviour & teenage males

First let me dispel a myth, your domestic pet, fur-kid, best friend, whatever his breed is mentally a wolf, and 99.8% wolf genetically. Therefore he thinks like a wolf and you and your family are his pack.

The way you and your family communicate with your pet is (generally) in human and the way it is interpretted is in wolf, which causes a problem, as we tend to greet a dog upon being re-united (human social behaviour) which is interpreted as the human being subordinate & a confirmation that the dog is alpha.

This causes all sorts of problems & similar mis-interpretations happen in very many ways throughout the day.

When the male dog reaches a certain age, they feel the need to take over pack leadership as they are either approaching or in their prime for reproduction. This inevitably leads to issues within the pack.

The dog is very intelligent and can prove his superiority over you without you even realising, due to your interpretation in human.

i.e.
1) Dog gives paw - you automatically take it - dog has proved you'll do what he tells you to
2) Dog sneaks his head under your hand - you automatically pet him - he's just proved his superiority again
3) Dog leans on you - you think he's giving you a cuddle - he's proved you are a subordinate

There are hundreds of tricks your dog has to prove his superiority, but here is the problem:

If the dog is superior, he is alpha and therefore superior to all pack members, this is an extreamly stressful position to be in, as the alpha must feed and defend the pack, but how is he to do this when he isn't allowed to hunt, gets locked indoors and really doesn't understand the human world around him?

Teenage boys do this much more than those of other ages, due to their hormones telling them they should.  This causes not only problems with their humans, but problems with other pack members, especially elderly ones, who in a natural wolf pack would be killed by a new alpha.

Bearing in mind that stress has been proved to supress the immune system, you can see why it is despirately important that your pet is never put in this position.

Consultations are available in your own home to show you how to be pack leader, reduce your pets stress & consequently your own. http://caninehealth101.web.officelive.com/

Annie the 13 year old raw fed labrador

Meet Annie, the 13 year old black labrador, she is raw fed, take a look at her incredibly shiny coat and her very white teeth. What does that tell you?

Lets talk Shit!

Not the nicest part of pet ownership, but a necessary evil, it struck me this morning how different it is between commercially fed and raw fed dogs.

That from Commercially fed dogs, is large, generally soft if not runny, stinks, and is dark brown to black in colour.

However that from raw fed animals is small, hard, bearly smells and is cream to white in colour.

This is quite important as the colouration of scat is obviously dependent on food, but also on dead blood cells.  Raw fed animals generally only produce something black and possibly runny if fed too much Liver or Heart (both extreamly high in blood).  However commercially fed dogs pass scat that colour all the time. Bearing in mind that the contents list assures us that there are not high quantities of blood in the commercial food, then it is more likely the dogs own dead blood being passed.

If this is the case then commercially fed dogs are killing off their own blood cells at a phenominal rate, much much higher than raw fed animals.

With so much energy having to go into new blood production, these dogs are much more likely to have a lowered immune system.

Spaying and neutering re-visited

Recently I have been made aware of people being pushed to spay & neuter their animals on the basis that this reduces the risks of cancer. My previous blog should have laid it out quite clearly, but here are some facts:

Positive for male neutering

1. eliminates the small risk (probably < 1%) of dying from testicular cancer
2. reduces the risk of non-cancerous prostate disorders
3. reduces the risk of perianal fistulas
4. may possibly reduce the risk of diabetes (data inconclusive)

Negative for male neutering

1. if done before 1 year of age, significantly increases the risk of osteosarcoma (bone cancer); this is a common cancer in medium/large breeds with poor prognosis
2. increases the risk of cardiac hemangiosarcoma by a factor or 1.6
3. triples the risk of hypothyroidism
4. increases the risk of progressive geriatric cognitive impairment
5. triples the risk of obesity, a common health problem in dogs with many associated health problems
6. quadruples the small risk of (<0.6%) of prostate cancer
7. doubles the small risk (<1%) of urinary tract cancer
8. increases the risk of orthopedic disorders
9. increases the risk of adverse reactions to vaccination

Positive for spaying females

1. if done before 2.5 years of age, greatly reduces the risk of mammary tumors, the most common malignant tumors in female dogs
2. nearly eliminates the risk of pyometra, which otherwise would affect about 23% of intact female dogs; pyometra kills about 1% of intact female dogs
3. reduces the risk of perianal fistulas
4. removes the very small risk (< 0.5%) from uterine, cervical and ovarian tumors

Negative for spaying females

1. if done before 1 year of age, significantly increases the risk of osteosarcoma (bone cancer); this is a common cancer in the large breeds with a poor prognosis
2. increases the risk of splenic hemagiosarcoma by a factor of 2.2 and cardiac heangiosarcoma by a factor of >5; this is a common cancer and major cause of death in some breeds
3. triples the risk of hypothyroidism
4. increases the risk of obesity by a factor of 1.6-2, a common health problem in dogs with many associated health problems
5. causes urinary "spay incontinence" in 4-20% of female dogs
6. increases the risk of persistent or recurring urinary tract infections by a factor of 3-4
7. increases the risk of recessed vulva, vaginal dermatitis and vaginitis, especially for female dogs spayed before puberty
8. doubles the risk(<1%) of urinary tract tumors
9. increases the risk of orthopedic disorders
10. increases the risk of adverse reactions to vaccination

This research is further to that in my previous blog To Spay/Neuter or not to Spay/Neuter issued in May http://caninehealth101.blogspot.com/2011/05/to-spayneuter-or-not-to-spayneuter.html


http://www.naiaonline.org/pdfs/longtermhealtheffectsofspayneuterindogs.pdf

Behaviour Issues

If you have behaviour issues with your dog, unless it is due to a medical condition we can guarentee one thing, but you won't like it.

The problem is not the dog, it is the owner!

Not that we are assigning blame here, it is not your fault that you communicate in human and your dog interprets in wolf. Human is how you have been taught to communicate, and society tells you that your dog will understand. He/She does, he/she understands very well, but in wolf!

Mentally your dog is a wolf, part of a pack, with a den and anyone leaving the den can have no better or other reason than to hunt or establish and maintain pack territory.

Communication in a way that establishes that you and your pet understand eachother is the key to curbing behaviour and having a wonderful, fullfilling, productive, relaxed, relationship.

The state of the garden

Is this a common sight in your garden?

Not to worry, it won't be for much longer, as the rubbish you are feeding your dog is shortening it's life by an average 71%, and upping your vets bills.

However, if you love your pet/s and want him/her/them to live longer, happier, healthier lives, switch to a raw natural diet.

Our Canine Consultants are here to teach you how.

Pet Insurance

Many policies state:

".. You must take your pet for regular annual check-ups and keep your pet annually vaccinated against distemper, hepatitis, leptospirosis and parvovirus in the case of dogs, against feline infectious enteritis, feline 
leukaemia and feline influenza in the case of cats... Homeopathic vaccines are not acceptable."
 
They further state that they will not pay for:
"Any treatment in connection with pregnancy or giving birth, vaccinations, grooming, killing
and controlling fleas, routine treatment for roundworms and tapeworms and any claims arising as a
result of these procedures."
As many health issues arrise due to vaccine reactions (un-admitted by the pharmaceuticals), this reduces your cover to issues brought about by accident or food reactions (un-admitted by the manufacturers).

Therefore I pose the questions, is your pet insurance really worth it?