SUMMER & WINTER SAFETY TIPS
Info for
Puppy Raisers
Summer is time for fun in the sun, but it can also be a hazardous time for our puppies. Here are a few tips that will help your pup enjoy the summer as much as you do!
Never leave your puppy in a parked car, or anywhere he cannot find shade and water on a hot day. Heatstroke can occur a matter of minutes. Symptoms include: rapid, noisy breathing; bright red tongue and mouth; thick saliva; vomiting; elevated temperature; an unsteady, staggering gate; bloody diarrhea; weakness, coma, and death. If your dog is overheated, move him to cooler quarters, such as an air conditioned room. More pronounced cases can respond to immersion in cool water. If your dog is in real distress, seek emergency veterinary attention at once.
Carry water and a folding bowl with you at all times when you are socializing your puppy. Be aware of your puppy’s general condition. A puppy can overexert itself on a hot day and get overheated just running in the yard or pounding the pavement socializing. Know the symptoms of heatstroke and stop the activity before it becomes an emergency.
Check the temperature of the pavement before you go out. Hot asphalt can burn your puppy’s sensitive feet. If the temperature is too hot, leave your puppy at home in the cool comfort of his crate.
Summer is mosquito season. Be faithful with your heartworm preventive medication on the first of the month.
Parvo and other transmissible diseases love warm temperatures. Don’t take a young pup to parks and other places with high dog traffic before your pup has finished its entire series of booster shots.
Be aware of your dog's reaction to loud thunderstorms and fireworks and keep it inside or crated for safety. Remember, raisers need their PRA's approval before attending professional fireworks displays with their puppies.
Pesticides, weed killer and fertilizer are sources of potential poisoning. Be sure to read the labels, and don’t allow dogs access to treated areas until it is safe to do so.
Overheated cars can leak coolant or antifreeze that tastes sweet to dogs—but is deadly. In addition to keeping your own garage free of these poisons, be aware that spills may happen in parking lots, and closely monitor what your pup may be sniffing or sampling on the way in to the store.
Supervise your pup and keep it under control around hot barbecue grills, swimming pools, and other potential accident sites. Be aware of hazards such as a Kong toy chopped unintentionally to bits by a lawn mower, those tantalizing chicken bones from a picnic, garden hose left within reach, and other items that might tempt your puppy to eat or chew and could end up causing a medical emergency.
WINTER SAFETYDuring the winter and holiday season, raisers deck the halls with "indoor plumbing" (aka Christmas trees), chew toys, and a wonderland of snacking choices (from a puppy's-eye-view). Here are a few things you can do to keep your puppy out of the proverbial doghouse–and the emergency room.
Weather Hazard: Our puppies are inside dogs; they feel the cold as much as we do. If it's too cold for you outside without a coat, it's too cold for your dog. Feet, tails, ears and genitals frostbite easily. And remember, your dog needs water just as much in winter as in summer, so make sure it has constant access to the water bowl.
Choking/Chewing Hazard: Strings of lights, colorful glass ornaments, wrapped packages and ribbons can all tempt puppy mouths to stray. Wads of material or sharp objects ingested can cause damage or a blockage that can require surgery to remove. Dogs chew to relieve stress, so be extra vigilant about your puppy's extracurricular chewing activities during this bustling time of year.
Electric Shock Hazard: The electrical cords associated with holiday lights tempt a puppy to chew. Keep extension cords away from where the puppy will have access.
Poisoning Hazard: Holiday goodies like chocolate and greenery like poinsettias and mistletoe are toxic, as are tinfoil wrapping on candy and tinsel on the tree. "No people food" goes double at the holidays. Rich food can bring on digestive woes and worse, so resist the temptation to give holiday table scraps–even to pet dogs–and put up the leftovers before your puppy can even begin to think about stealing from table or counter.
Salt and snow-melt products can be irritating to the feet and toxic if ingested. If you've been socializing your puppy where these chemicals are used, wash its feet and undercarriage in warm sudsy water as soon as you get home to minimize the impact. Of course, even a taste of antifreeze can be fatal, so keep it in tightly closed containers away from your puppy and clean up any spills immediately and thoroughly. Watch out in parking lots that your dog doesn't steal a sip of someone's spilled radiator fluid or step in a puddle that he will lick off his feet in the car.
Lost Dog Hazard: In all the holiday hubbub it can be easy to lose track of your dog's whereabouts. Make sure she's securely confined in her crate or a closed room before the festivities kick into high gear. Check your dog's tags to make sure they are all there–both GDB and local I.D.–and that all the information on them is current.
WINTER WALKING
From Jane Smoak
What do you think about when it's cloudy and cold? Got that old cabin fever? If you are like many people I know, thoughts of Spring are creeping in. Thinking how nice it will be to walk the dogs once it gets warmer? Why wait? Winter walks require some planning but can be rewarding. Don't go if the temperature is below freezing; don't stay out too long and get really cold. Just a short spin, five to ten minutes will do. Need a walk on a really cold day? Try the mall right when they open so it isn't busy yet. You need to consider your footing as well as the footing of the puppy you have by your side. It's also best to wash the puppy's feet when you get home so that they don't lick off any antifreeze or ice melting chemicals. Winter can actually be a great time to get out with your dog. There are so many people who want the warm weather instead that the dog walker numbers are greatly diminished This means that you might have the entire park to yourself and the birds, or at least smaller numbers of dogs right now. Winter is great for surface issues as well. You can have a dry sidewalk on one side of the street and a snow covered one on the other side. There may be puddles and there may be some brittle ice that cracks when you step on it. Sure, it may be cold outside, but if these pups are going to be guide dogs they will need to be able to deal with lots of different types of weather. So, go grab your coat and and a leash and enjoy some nice winter walking.
Paper Shredders
From: FOSTER FILES (a newsletter for Foster Families of the Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation), April 2007
PAPER SHREDDERS POSE DANGER TO DOGS!
Ellen Lutz learned that firsthand last month, when her golden retriever ambled into her home office and licked her paper shredder. To her horror, the machine latched onto his tongue, and began to grind. "He was screaming, and he was fighting for his life," says Lutz, adding that in his panic, the 67-pound puppy did even more damage to his mutilated tongue. She disconnected the shredder, and took him to a nearby emergency hospital. Some simple precautions can prevent accidents with paper shredders:
Unplug shredders when not in use.
Store shredders out of reach of animals (and, of course, children).
Never put food wrappers through shredders.
Do not leave shredders on the "automatic" setting.
Buy a shredder with a safety bar at the opening.
Twisted Collars
from Andrea Loughry
I had heard that dogs can get entangled in each other's collars when playing, but I didn't give it much thought until it happened to my dogs. Venus and Jasper were playing on the rug when I heard Venus cry out. Her hind foot was hung up–twisted--in Jasper's rolled leather collar. No worries, I thought, I'll just unbuckle the collar. Wrong! It was so tight that the buckle wouldn't budge. Next I got a scissors and started gnawing away at the leather–but rolled leather is nearly impossible to cut through: no luck. By now Jasper's eyes were half shut; he was strangling to death. I tugged desperately on the buckle again, and this time it opened. Thank heavens that after the ordeal, both dogs were fine. Then I started to think–what if the collar had been metal instead of leather? What if they had been playing in the yard instead of right next to me? The moral of the story is to never leave a chain collar on your dog; do not let dogs play unsupervised, and never leave them together in the yard alone. Get a collar with a quick release buckle for your pet dog, and make sure all collars fit snugly to minimize the chances of getting entangled with another object or a dog!
Tie Downs
Dogs can become entangled in a tie-down and get in trouble fast. Most dogs learn how to deal with being on a tie down, but when sleeping, may roll over and end up hog-tied, which is at best uncomfortable and at worst dangerous. Never attach a tie-down to anything but a flat collar (esp. not to a head collar!), and do not leave your dog home alone on a tie down; use the kennel instead. When you do use a tie-down keep the dog in the same room with you and make sure to stay aware of his safety at all times.