Collar vs. Harness: Which Is Better For Your Dog?

November 18, 2016 by Fanna Easter

Collar vs. Harness

You see it every day. Pet owners pulling their dogs around on leash. Or better yet, you’ve watched dogs pull their pet owners for miles. All this force must go somewhere, and it’s usually applied to a dog’s fragile neck.

In a previous article, I discussed how collars can cause neck injuries in dogs, but I left out a valuable piece of information. Intentional and accidental collar jerks can cause more harm than previously stated. Plus, I forgot advice for small and medium sized dogs too. Shame on me!

So, here’s an updated addition to my previous article. 😉

The Answer

Should your dog wear a flat buckle collar or body harness? As a dog trainer, this decision is pretty easy. Allow me to explain why one piece of equipment causes more harm to your dog than the other.

Year in and year out, dogs are injured during walks while wearing a collar. While most pet owners try not to pull their dogs’ leashes, it still happens. Dog leashes are basically security lines to keep our dogs safe with us. Without leashes, dogs would run into oncoming traffic, chase other dogs, or basically run off and never be seen again. And it’s precisely that abrupt stopping-in-mid-walk motion that causes injury to your dog’s neck.

Think about it this way: If a car comes barreling down the road, you’ll suddenly stop your and your dog’s forward movement within nanoseconds. Yup, as you guessed it, these tiny start-and-stop leash movements can cause neck injury.

Collars Cause Injury

Collars can cause more harm than we previously thought. Before jumping into the specifics, it’s important to understand I’m discussing flat buckle or Martingale collars here. Choke and pinch collars cause considerably more injuries than flat collars, and it’s well documented. With that clarification, let’s discuss this further.

Interestingly, I had a great conversation with my holistic veterinarian who is certified in animal chiropractic care. He treats numerous neck, shoulder and forelimb injuries while completing chiropractic adjustments. Just by feeling the spinal area, our vet can tell if a dog is a leash puller. Honestly, I’m not shocked by his findings, but I was determined to find additional data and research.

Guess what? There’s really nothing to compare. Now, there’s substantial research proving choke chains cause issues, but little about flat buckle collars.

With that said, just watching a dog repeatedly strain against a flat collar makes my neck hurt because all that force goes somewhere. Even though there’s little scientific data collected so far, it’s pretty obvious that neck injuries can happen when dogs wear collars.

How to Choose the Right Dog Harness

Over the last 5 years or so, I’ve seen body harnesses become extremely popular. I believe that’s a good thing! While body harnesses will reduce direct pressure to a dog’s neck, they must be fitted correctly to prevent front-end damage too. Plus, not all body harnesses are alike.

Size

When choosing a body harness, make sure it’s completely adjustable around the neck and chest area. Many small dogs have a robust chest, so they don’t fit in a size small harness. Measure your dog beforehand and check the label’s fit measurements.

Construction

Look for body harnesses made with padded material that’s easily adjustable. Comfortable harnesses should sit around the top portion of your dog’s shoulder and not circle around his or her neck. Chest straps should fit snugly, yet not restrict your dog’s front leg movement. Many dog harnesses slide into your dog’s armpits, which is extremely painful during walks, so pay attention to how a body harness moves while your dog walks around wearing it.

Brand Recommendations

Like most pet owners, I appreciate brand recommendations for body harnesses. I recommend the Freedom Harness, Balance Harness and Ruffwear Harness. These are tried and true, completely adjustable, and won’t restrict your dog’s shoulder movement.

Should Collars Be Banned?

Of course not. Collars should carry your dog’s ID if he or she escapes. Microchip your dog, which is even better than ID tags. But don’t forget to remove your dog’s collar when left home alone or crated.

Body harnesses are best for all dogs. For strong-pulling dogs, I recommend front clip harnesses.

A Massage to Calm Hyperactive Dogs

November 14, 2016 by Fanna Easter

Calming a Hyperactive Dog Through Massage

Last week, I explained how to massage your dog. Immediately, several readers asked, “How and could you massage a hyperactive dog or puppy?” Of course! Each and every dog will benefit from massage, especially hyperactive and easily excited dogs. One of the best benefits of calming a hyperactive dog through massage is she learns how to self-settle in the process. 🙂

Here’s how to give your hyper or excited dog a massage.

Give Your Dog Something Else to Do

In the beginning, I recommend pairing something yummy with massage. This not only teaches your dog that massages make fun things happen, but it also keeps a wiggly dog calmly busy until she learns to relax. Dog treats should last several minutes, so I recommend filling and freezing a toy with yummy food or making a peanut butter plate.

Find a comfortable seating spot, such as the floor with a pillow under your bum. The moment you sit on the floor, your dog will bounce right up to you. Place the food stuffed toy or peanut butter plate on the ground and start slowly massaging your dog.

Start Massaging the Less Wiggly Part

As your dog enjoys her treat, start massaging your dog’s back or rear end. It’s a bit tough massaging her ears while she’s licking away at food, but you can certainly give it a try. If your dog bounces with excitement when you touch her, lightly place your hand on her chest or back, and hold it there for a few seconds. Now, move your hand slowly toward your dog’s rear end.

If your dog starts bouncing around again, remove your hand and wait until your dog settles down with her toy before trying again. Sometimes, slow petting can be too much for easily excited dogs, which is completely fine. Start and move slowly in the beginning.

Of course, if your dog is uncomfortable with you approaching or touching her with food around, I wouldn’t recommend a food stuffed toy. If this happens, check out this resource guarding article.

Take It Slow

For hyper dogs, massaging them slowly is key. For example, one massage stroke should last one second. Count “one Mississippi” silently as you’re gliding your massage hand across your dog’s shoulder, chest, neck or hind legs. For smaller dogs and smaller body areas, that means slowing down even more. Slow is good.

Rhythmic sounds and beats are calming, and that pertains to massage too. After completing a one-second massage glide, continue to silently count for another second as you lift up your hand and place it back down on your dog. Better yet, use your breath to count. As you exhale, massage your dog. When you inhale, pick up and reposition your hand. Slow rhythmic massage will calm hyper dogs.

If your dog raises her head, sits up or stands, that means your hands were moving too fast. Or it could simply mean your dog has had enough. She will probably find a nice comfy spot to relax post massage, and that’s a good thing! Keep massage sessions short at first, and soon your dog will become a massage junkie.

Set the Mood

Play calming music for dogs in the background like falling rain or soft classical music. Remember, slow rhythmic music is best. In a pinch, “Riders on the Storm” by The Doors works great. 🙂 Music will calm you too. If you’re calm and relaxed, your dog will follow suit.

Take a deep breath, especially when your hyper dog gets amped. You might be surprised at her calm reaction! Keep practicing. 🙂

How to Massage Your Dog

November 11, 2016 by Fanna Easter

Massaging Your Dog in 3 Steps

Massage is a wonderful modality if done slowly, purposefully and thoughtfully. Dogs benefit greatly from weekly massages. Another fabulous benefit of dog massages is you don’t have to be an expert in canine anatomy to give your dog a soothing massage. When massaging your dog, just remember to start slowly, apply light pressure, take deep breaths and pay attention to your dog’s body language.

Take a deep breath in and out and let’s get started.

1. Introduce Massage Slowly

If body massage is new to your dog, introduce the process slowly. While your dog is standing or sitting, rub both of his ears slowly and lightly. After a few minutes of massage, you’ll notice your dog starting to relax.

Relaxed dogs will close their eyes, sigh, pass gas, slide or flop onto the ground. All of these are good things! Once your dog is relaxed, slide your open hand (palm facing dog) along each side of his neck. Keep your hand flat and fingers close together and take long strokes slowly.

Now move over to your dog’s shoulders, front legs, chest, back (stay away from the spine) and back legs. Use long and slow strokes to cover large areas. If your dog allows it, stroke upward from his paws to his shoulders. Using your thumbs, lightly massage over and under your dog’s paws and wrists. Remember, long and slow strokes are very soothing, so slow yourself down if needed.

2. Apply Light Pressure

While massaging your dog, use enough pressure to move your dog’s skin, but not too much that you move his muscles. This technique is called a Swedish massage, and it’s the most popular and requested variety by massage therapists.

Deep tissue massage has a specific purpose, but it can be painful, especially over trigger points. It’s best to leave this type of massage to canine massage experts because this requires a thorough understanding of canine anatomy.

Watch your dog’s body language closely when giving him a massage. If he pulls away, lifts his head or sits up, you’re probably using too much pressure or moving too fast. Take a deep breath, slow down and focus on your dog’s ears again if this happens. Continue to take deep breaths while massaging your dog. Breathing keeps you both relaxed, which is an important part of massage.

3. Use Rhythmic Movement

Pressure is important and so is hand movement during a massage. Lightly place both hands on your dog and keep them on your dog’s body while you’re massaging him. Having both hands on your dog prevents him from becoming startled when you touch with your massaging hand. Plus, it keeps him grounded.

Place your non-massaging hand on your dog’s chest or flank while your massaging hand moves back and forth. As you’re moving down your dog’s body to continue massaging, glide your non-massaging hand downward instead of picking it up and placing it.

A great dog massage technique is to use rhythmic movement. Our brain understands and follows a predictable rhythmic sound or touch. Rain falling, a bubbling stream and soothing music all have one thing in common: predictable rhythmic sounds.

When giving your dog a massage, use your breathing to count each massage stroke. As you exhale, move your hand across your dog’s body. When you inhale, lift your massaging hand up to reposition before completing another stroke.

Dog Massage Benefits

Oh, the benefits of massaging your dog are unlimited! Massage relaxes and reduces fearful behavior in dogs. Easily excited and highly energetic dogs learn how to self-settle and relax when massaged. Massage also alleviates pain after surgery and provides immense pain relief for arthritic dogs.

During a massage, you’re able to fully examine your dog’s body for any lumps, bumps and abnormalities. And it’s true, regular massage increases circulation and removes toxins from the body. Even better is massage deepens the bond between you and your dog, and that’s priceless.

Massage your dog today. You’ll both learn to unwind, relax and breathe deeply together.

What to Do When Leaving Your Dog Alone

November 9, 2016 by Fanna Easter

Tips for Leaving Your Dog Alone

Leaving Your Puppy Alone for 8 Hours — Please don’t leave.
humonia/iStock

Oh oh, the suitcase is out. Now your dog knows you’re leaving.

It’s amazing how quickly dogs understand very subtle cues that indicate you’re leaving for vacation, work, errands or outdoors to check the mail. Next time your dog looks worried when you’re reaching for your car keys, try these dog training tips to positively change his behavior.

Pair Goods Things With Leaving

The first tip for leaving your dog alone for 8 hours is to pair good things with the action of you leaving. When we pair good things in certain situations, we teach dogs that good things happen during those situations. Think about it this way: if you’re waiting for a server to bring you a glass of wine at a restaurant, you become frustrated if it takes long. But if your server offers complimentary appetizers while you wait, it’s not so bad. Now, what if it rains $100 bills while you wait? That’s even better! You learn that waiting patiently is a good thing. 🙂

As pet owners, it’s our job to find what our dogs absolutely love! This is the first step to positively changing your dog’s behavior. Once we find it, it’s time to pair good things with leaving your dog home. Check out these examples of good things that can be paired with the action of you leaving:

Kong filled with layers of baked chicken and peanut butter
Canned food stuffed inside an interactive toy that’s been frozen overnight
Fetch with your partner
Sprinkled kibble along a huge area rug

But, How Does Your Dog Know You’re Leaving?

This next step takes a bit of detective work. While getting ready for work, watch your dog’s body language. It’s important to find which action cues your dog that you’re leaving him alone. While you assume grabbing your car keys is a cue, trust me, your dog knew way beforehand—just like getting out the suitcase is a dead giveaway.

To successfully change your dog’s behavior when you leave for work or vacation, it’s important to find the very first cue that tips your dog off. Does your dog’s face change when you’re taking a shower, running the water for your shower, combing your hair, putting out your work clothes or moving quickly around the house? My dog knows something is up the moment I touch my hair straightener. 🙂

Once you’ve figured out exactly what cues your dog that you’re leaving, it’s time to pair good things with that cue.

RELATED: Separation Anxiety in Dogs

Reiterate That Good Things Happen When You Leave

It’s important to pair something good with your “I’m leaving home” cue. As you touch your hair straightener, take a shower or put on cologne, give your dog a food stuffed toy to enjoy. If another person plans to stay home while you’re away, ask him or her to play ball with your dog outdoors. This keeps your dog happily distracted and busy with something they love.

Good things shouldn’t stop there though. Toss your dog another food stuffed toy as you’re heading out the door too. This further pairs good things with you leaving home. After a game of fetch, your family member can toss your dog a food stuffed toy to enjoy afterwards. This prevents your dog from wandering around the house looking for you. If this seems like a lot of food, split your dog’s daily meals into frozen food stuffed treats. Now, you can head off to work guilt-free. 🙂

Pair Goods Things 95% of the Time

To be effective, good things must happen often during stressful times. If it doesn’t happen often enough, it won’t work. Keep frozen food stuffed toys in the freezer for easy access. Give your dog a delicious bully stick to enjoy while you’re getting ready for work. When it’s time to head out the door and leave your dog alone, trade the bully stick for a food stuffed toy and voila! Aim to pair good things about 95% of the time.

Now, it’s time to change your behavior too. The moment you feel a tinge of guilt develop in the pit of your tummy, picture your dog happily playing or licking a yummy food toy. 🙂

How to Help a Dog With Arthritis Naturally

November 8, 2016 by Fanna Easter

9 Natural Arthritis Treatments for Dogs

Arthritis is painful, and a common cause of major discomfort for dogs. Arthritis in dogs can happen at any age. Dogs usually develop arthritis later in life, but younger dogs can get it too.

Sobek, my 4-year-old Rottweiler, recently developed moderate arthritis in his right wrist. After playing ball outside, we noticed he was limping significantly. After a thorough vet exam the following day, we were shocked at his arthritis diagnosis. Sobek was crate rested for a week while taking anti-inflammatories. He improved, but not completely, so we added natural arthritis treatments for dogs to his routine. Now, he’s medication free and doing amazing!

Thankfully, I discovered 9 arthritis treatments that really worked for my dog. A few of these arthritis treatments for dogs I had known and some I discovered to be powerful natural arthritis treatments. One thing I did notice is it takes a combination of these treatments to be effective.

1. Fish & Hemp Oil

Hemp and fish oil have natural anti-inflammatory properties that greatly reduce arthritis pain. Instead of using just hemp or fish oil, I recommend using both for greater impact. When adding oils to your dog’s diet, start slowly to prevent an upset tummy and loose stool. My 115-pound Rottie ingests ¾ teaspoon of fish oil and 15 hemp oil drops per day. I mix them into his food and stir.

Ask your holistic vet for recommended therapeutic doses based on your dog’s weight and arthritic diagnosis.

2. Highly Digestible Glucosamine

The key is finding glucosamine that’s highly digestible. Our vet recommends Glyco Flex III chews and MegaFlex powder by Rx Vitamins For Pets, both of which I give to Sobek. Glyco Flex III contains glucosamine, green-lipped mussel and MSM. MegaFlex contains highly digestible forms of glucosamine, MSM, sea cucumber and vitamin C.

If your dog is experiencing an arthritic flare-up, try doubling the dosage per manufacturer directions for a couple of weeks. For example, Sobek’s ingesting 2500mgs of glucosamine daily per my vet’s suggestion.

3. Fresh Diet

We are what we eat, and that pertains to dogs as well. A diet of raw or cooked vegetables, fruits and meat is always best. Check out this article on creating a fresh homemade diet for your dog. If you decide to feed your dog kibble, choose high quality dog food with a specific protein listed as the first ingredient.

4. Healthy Weight

Oh, this is a big one! Keeping your dog at a healthy weight is so important. It’s amazing how fast extra pounds can add up. All those extra pounds put additional strain on arthritic joints, which causes further damage and more pain. Ask your vet to assess your dog’s weight and provide a weight goal. Remember, treats are calories too, so choose low fat varieties. Sobek lost 5 pounds, which really helped his arthritic wrist.

5. Daily Low Impact Exercise

Move it or lose it is another common and very true statement. Once Sobek’s pain was controlled, we started walking around the neighborhood. Sobek is able to move at his own pace while allowed plenty of sniffing opportunities. Start with 10-minute walks per day and slowly add 1-2 minutes per week.

If your dog is in pain, ask your vet for a physical therapy referral. Most canine physical therapists recommend exercising your dog in an underwater treadmill. This modality provides very low impact and works wonders! Now, there’s a major difference between swimming and using an underwater treadmill. If your dog panics or hates swimming, he will further damage his joints. Discuss with your vet first.

6. Regular Chiropractic Adjustments

Regular chiropractic adjustments will reduce your dog’s pain while preventing additional wear and tear of joints. Immediately after a chiro adjustment, Sobek was able to move easier, had more range of motion, seemed less in pain and literally slept for two days. This was a game-changer for Sobek, so I highly recommend searching for a holistic veterinarian certified in canine chiropractic care.

7. Bone Broth

This was another game-changer too! Every day, Sobek drinks one cup of bone broth, which has most certainly reduced his arthritic pain. Bone broth is rich in calcium, glucosamine and collagen. Not only does bone broth help arthritic joints, but it helps chronic tummy issues too. Learn how to make homemade bone broth here.

8. Massage

Everyone loves a good massage—even your dog! Massaging muscles around painful joints will reduce inflammation and pain immensely. Start by slowly gliding your flattened hand along the area and applying light pressure. Place warm compresses over areas in pain while massaging other limbs used to support that area. When in doubt, ask your vet exactly where you should massage your dog.

9. Physical Therapy

If your dog’s pain isn’t improving, ask your veterinarian for a physical therapy referral. Canine physical therapists work with your dog, you and your vet to develop and implement a plan to reduce your dog’s pain and prevent further joint damage. I’ve watched miracles happen with physical therapists, so it’s definitely worth it.

Partner with your veterinarian to make the best decisions for your dog. Remember, it takes a combination of natural remedies to provide the most impact. Please share what’s worked for your dog below!