Everyone knows that chocolate is bad for dogs. But there are a lot of things out there that you might not know about, that are much more deadly. One of these is a plant called the Sago Palm. Sago palms, or Cycads, are a very popular ornamental plant. They are EXTREMELY prevalent in Texas–you will have a hard time driving down the street and not seeing one. Unfortunately, they are also highly toxic to dogs–probably the plant I worry most about dogs ingesting.
All parts of the sago palm are toxic. The seeds are the most toxic part, but the leaves and stems are as well. An ingestion of any amount is an emergency. If you catch your dog eating the plant, it’s important to get them to a vet immediately. Your dogs best chance is for your get to induce vomiting as soon as possible after ingestion, before they even start to show signs. If it’s too late for this, then the treatment will be supportive care. The most common signs of sago palm toxicity are vague–vomiting, diarrhea, and lethargy. But the true damage is done internally–the sago palm can quickly cause liver failure, kidney failure, shock, and death. Treatment may require lengthy hospitalization, and still may not be successful.
The best case scenario is to avoid the plant all together. If you have one in your yard, get rid of it, even if your dog has never shown any interest. It’s just not worth the chance, and there are other pretty plants. Be aware of what your dog is doing when on walks–many dogs eat things without even thinking about it. Learn to recognize the plant, and avoid it, especially when it’s producing seeds.
Next time, I’ll talk about potential toxin you might not know about–sugar-free gum.
Health Veterinary by .
So, I had a rare weekend of no work, AND no agility trials. So I decided to go to the beach with some friends, and of course, the dogs. Trip and Ticket came along, even though neither one of them has been a fan of water in the past. In fact, the last time Trip went to the beach, she tried to hide under the car as soon as I took her out of her crate, and when that didn’t work, she jumped in a crate in a friend’s van and stayed there. Just sad. She was willing to play and chase the other Shelties along the beach eventually, but not the most fun she’s ever had. So, I wasn’t expecting too much this time.
TICKET was a nut. She ran down to the water as soon as someone started throwing a toy, and while she didn’t like the waves going in or out, she happily jumped and played in the water. Even Trip got in on the fun, though she was nowhere near as comfortable as Ticket. I think all those treats on the underwater treadmill during rehab may have counter-conditioned her a bit. She’s even willing to be dunked when she gets hot practicing agility now, where before she would have run away from any kind of pool. Goes to show you the power of positive reinforcement. 🙂 Which is great on the agility-front, because the summer heat is already brutal. I’m cutting back on training, trying to keep my sessions short, and focusing very hard on not overdoing it. It’s hard when you have a high-energy dog, but someone has to be the responsible one. 🙂
So, we had a great time, and it was a nice way to relax. We have AKC trials the next two weekends, then a week off before 4 days for Reliant. Really, our busiest time of the summer. I’m SO hoping for some QQs for Ticket, but we’ll just have to see how she feels. She will also get to meet her Grandma, AND show under her, in a couple of weeks. She is Ticket’s dad, Dillon’s, “mom,” and I’m so looking her forward to meeting his crazy wild-child of a daughter, and her equally carefree brother, Rugby.
Here are some happy summer pictures.
Help your dogs love the rain
Besides the increased risk for heat stroke, summer also brings a couple of other potential sources of stress for our dogs. In many parts of the country, summertime thunderstorms are a daily occurrence. And July 4th means fireworks. Herding breeds are overrepresented as being sensitive to sound, so it’s a problem that affects many agility dogs. A single bad incident can trigger sound sensitivity, and it’s a problem that can escalate over time.
If you have a noise-sensitive dog, managing these issues can be draining and stressful for the pair of you. Here are some tips and things to try.
- Make sure your dog has a dark, quiet place to escape to. Some dogs prefer to “hide” during a storm, and manage as long as they can do this. However, don’t confine your dog to a crate unsupervised unless you know how your dog will react, as some sound-sensitive dogs will hurt themselves in an attempt to escape.
- Don’t pet and verbally comfort your dog, telling them it’s “ok.” What you are actually doing is positively reinforcing your dog for being scared.
- Don’t correct or punish your dog for being scared, as this can also make the behavior worse.
- Try behavior modification early on, to try help counter-condition your dog. There are many noise CDs available that you can use to teach your dog to react more appropriately. It can get harder to do this later on, as your dog may develop additional triggers of their fear, like pressure changes or the smell in the air, which can’t be simulated.
- Try a calming wrap. There are a couple out there, but the one I’ve seen used most commonly is the Thundershirt. It’s a shirt that you wrap tightly on your dog and velcro snuggly. Anecdoctally, I’ve had several people tell me it helped their dog. I’ve also had a few people tell me it didn’t do anything for their dog. That said, it is guaranteed, so if it doesn’t work for your dog, you can get a refund, and it’s not something that’s going to hurt, so I definitely think it’s worth a try. I hope to get one for Shiner in the future.
- Use medications if needed. If you have a dog with severe storm anxiety, an anxiolytic that works quickly may do wonders for your dog. My personal preference is Alprazolam, which has worked great for Shiner and many of my patients. The downside is that dogs will develop a tolerance to this medication if used routinely, so it’s only for use when you know a storm or scary event (like July 4th) is coming. Ideally, you want to give it 30-60 minutes prior to the storm. You want to avoid just giving a sedative (like Acepromazine), as it does nothing for the underlying anxiety, it just tranquilizes the dog. This can sometimes make your dog worse, because they are still scared, but are now unable to “escape” and feel off. In severe cases of storm anxiety, where the dog is hurting itself because of it’s fear, I will sometimes use a combination of Alprazolam with a low dose of Acepromazine. Talk to your vet about their recommendations.
- Consult with a veterinary behaviorist for a detailed plan to treat your dog’s noise phobia.
One more thing of note. My first two Shelties, Shiner and Mardi, are both scared of thunderstorms. Shiner is also afraid of fireworks and gunshots, and is the more severely affected of the two. Having lived with the two of them, I wanted to do everything I could to avoid having any new dogs developing this problem. Of course, one component is genetics and their inherent temperament, and that I couldn’t alter. What I did do was make a point of playing with Trip and Ticket as puppies everytime I was home and there was a thunderstorm. I wanted them to associate storms with fun things, like playtime. I also limited their interaction with Shiner and Mardi during a thunderstorm as puppies, since I didn’t want them to learn that there was something to be scared of. Obviously there are many factors involved, but both Trip and Ticket can sleep through a hurricane and care less about what’s going on, which makes our lives so much less stressful.
