The Animal Doctor

DEAR DR. FOX: I am reading your excellent book "Dog Body, Dog Mind," and loving it. I wondered if you could please recommend a book to help my husband and me train our adorable, lovable Lab mix, Susie, whom we adopted a few months ago. She is about a year-and-a-half old, eager to learn and eager to please.

We had another Lab mix, Jetta, who died at age 16 about a month before we got Susie. Jetta's back hips gave out on her. She was a gem. She taught me so much, and she was quite well-behaved. Susie could benefit from more direct, focused work on our part to get to that same level. -- N.I., Washington, D.C.

DEAR N.I.: I am glad you enjoyed "Dog Body, Dog Mind." You and your dog will also enjoy my book "The Healing Touch for Dogs," which will help strengthen the emotional bond and establish trust and beneficial relaxation.

Your dog is still young and will not mature until around 2 to 3 years of age, developing what I call "internal inhibition" or self-control. Daily massage therapy will help in this regard, along with basic training to sit and stay, taught with food rewards rather than any form of dominance training.

I advise in-home education rather than going to a dog-training school at this time because of the risks of canine influenza in many states, along with the continuing human risk of exposure to the coronavirus responsible for the current COVID-19 pandemic.

I am also not much in favor of "training by a book." Rather, I advocate hiring a canine behaviorist to come to your home and teach you the basics on educating your dog to respond to specific commands -- not jumping up to greet people, for instance, which could possibly knock a child over. Some commands could even be lifesaving, such as "stop and stay" if the dog somehow gets off-leash near vehicular traffic.

The average dog can learn several words, often reinforced by hand signals. Common words/commands include "up," "down," "come," "sit," "stay," "go," "fetch," "no" and "drop it." My wife and I now have to spell some words when talking together -- for instance, if we say the word "out," our ever-attentive dog Kota thinks it is time for her to go out! She knows "go see," which I say when the opossums and raccoons have come to our lower deck looking for evening treats. (She wags her tail when she sees these creatures, but always growls when there is yet another stray cat outside!)

Some organizations that I recommend looking into are: the American Veterinary Society for Animal Behavior (avsab.org), the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists (dacvb.org) and the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (m.iaabc.org). Through these connections, you should be able to find a qualified person to educate your dog to become a PCC: perfect canine companion!

In my view, all animal shelters should have a certified animal behaviorist or veterinary behavioral specialist on staff -- in residence, for shelters with large intakes, and on-call for those with smaller intakes. These experts can help incoming animals who may be suffering from PTSD and separation anxiety, and also help adopted and foster-care animals who may develop behavioral or emotional problems. If neglected, such problems can lead to abandonment or returning the animal to the shelter.

THE CORONAVIRUS THAT KEEPS COMING AROUND

The SARS-CoV-2 infection keeps circulating as it continues to mutate in the human population. It spreads to other species, notably mink and cats infected by their human handlers, and then infects other humans in turn. Now, the virus has been found to infect horses.

Six percent of 587 healthy young thoroughbred racehorses tested positive for the virus after a COVID-19 outbreak among jockeys and other personnel in the summer of 2020 at Del Mar Racetrack in California. Moreover, 3.5% of horses that had been hospitalized at a university clinic between February 2020 and March 2022 were seropositive for the virus. Study leader Nicola Pusterla, DVM, says currently circulating variants may be more contagious to animals than previous variants. (Full story: TheHorse.com, Jan. 4)

(Send all mail to animaldocfox@gmail.com or to Dr. Michael Fox in care of Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106. The volume of mail received prohibits personal replies, but questions and comments of general interest will be discussed in future columns.

Visit Dr. Fox’s website at DrFoxOneHealth.com.)

DEAR READERS: While some people debate the pros and cons of hunting and trapping wolves, others are seeking to remove them from federal protection. It is regrettable that U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland has, so far, taken no action to protect wolves under the Endangered Species Act from their relentless slaughter in Alaska, Wyoming, Idaho and Montana.

Understanding the nature of wolves may help us reach a societal consensus of unquestioned respect and continued protection for these creatures. The following is a list of wolf traits and behaviors, many of which are remarkably similar to those of humans. These are based on various in-field reports and on my own research of socialized wolves, including their behavior, development and communication.

Wolf traits and behaviors:

-- They cooperate to survive.

-- They care for their young.

-- Offspring learn obedience and allegiance.

-- The young have devoted parents, siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles who nurture and educate them to be courageous but cautious, taking no unnecessary risks.

-- Cubs learn to navigate their environment through their senses: deciphering scents and interpreting sounds, sights and tracks.

-- They share food.

-- They groom each other, removing burrs from fur and giving healing licks to wounds.

-- They express their intentions and do not conceal emotions.

-- They show patience, curiosity, insight and foresight.

-- They care for the injured and find the lost.

-- They mourn.

-- They play together and sing in chorus, even harmonizing.

-- They reaffirm and celebrate their social and emotional bonds with extended family reunions, and also by howling across their domain.

-- Like our children, they play and roll in fresh snow and chase snowflakes.

-- They kill to live, not for sport.

-- They have amicable relationships with other species -- for example, foxes and ravens, who clean up their kills. Wolf cubs even play with ravens, who fly over the cubs with sticks, teasing them to jump and grab them.

We share many of these socio-biologically evolved qualities with wolves, and yet we kill them for sport, invade their territories and then justify their eradication. Unlike us, wolves naturally control their numbers and provide environmental services that sustain biological diversity and ecological health. But like us, they will war with, and kill, members of rival groups when resources and territory are limited.

Wolves suffer in ways that are familiar to us humans. They know hunger and starvation; they suffer hypothermia when afflicted by sarcoptic mange, which destroys their winter coats; they get physical injuries from hunting large prey; they suffer various infectious diseases, often transmitted by free-roaming and feral dogs.

Our biological kinship reverberates with the spiritual kinship our wolf-derived domesticated dogs bestow on us, which we have yet to fully reciprocate. We need to honor the wolf as an ancestral teacher of survival in our gatherer-hunter past. As Loren Eiseley famously observed, "One does not meet oneself until one catches the reflection from an eye other than human."

Recognition of these similar attributes of wolves and humans is notable in several Indigenous traditions, such as the Shinto of Japan: A good wolf and a bad wolf are both acknowledged as part of human nature, present in every child, and embraced with understanding. This is also evident in Cherokee tradition in the story "Beyond the Conflict of Inner Forces," which addresses how best to treat these two wolves in our own nature. (To read it, visit awakin.org/v2/read/view.php?tid=927.)

After millennia of indifference, ignorance and neglect, we must recover our respect for wolves. In doing so, we will recover the best qualities and virtues of our humanity -- many of which are just as close to extinction as the wolves themselves.

DEAR DR. FOX: Has the person who wrote about wolves tearing apart deer and other prey ever seen a human eat a chicken leg or a rack of ribs? We are all omnivores; it is how we exist. Yes, some people choose not to eat animals, and they have their reasons, but eating animals is nature's way of controlling populations. -- L.B., West Palm Beach, Florida

DEAR L.B.: You are correct that predators help maintain the balance of nature. When the last wolves were exterminated in Scotland, the deer destroyed the forests in no time! But with a human population of 8 billion, there are too many of us to rely on meat and other animal-derived foods as dietary staples. This is a major contributing factor in the climate and extinction crises. (For more, see these articles on my website: drfoxonehealth.com/post/changing-diets-for-healths-and-earths-sake and drfoxonehealth.com/post/vegetarianism-an-ethical-imperative.)

If you like wolves, then at least don't eat beef!

(Send all mail to animaldocfox@gmail.com or to Dr. Michael Fox in care of Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106. The volume of mail received prohibits personal replies, but questions and comments of general interest will be discussed in future columns.

Visit Dr. Fox’s website at DrFoxOneHealth.com.)

DEAR READERS: Social animals often engage in reciprocal grooming (or preening, if they are birds). This is a caregiving behavior that has a bonding function and is indicative of animals' empathy and compassion. And it is clearly enjoyable! I strongly advise people who have dogs and cats, as well as those with horses and other animals who enjoy a good brushing, to do so on a daily basis.

This is not only a way to express affection, but it also helps stimulate the skin and keep the coat healthy, preventing knots and tangles in those with long fur. Brushing reduces cats' need to self-groom and risk developing hairballs in their stomachs to gag up later. It also removes dead skin cells that could block sebaceous (oil) glands, which is beneficial to the many dogs that are susceptible to developing sebaceous cysts that often require surgical intervention. Brushing and grooming also help with the early detection of fleas and ticks.

For my animals, I use a two-sided human hairbrush: one side with stiff bristles and the other with springy wires. It is amusing to see our dog Kota push her way in when I am grooming our rescued cat, Fanny, insisting that it is her turn next!

If you have never groomed your dog or cat before, begin by stroking along the line of fur with your hands down the back, then gently apply a few strokes with the brush. As the animal gets used to this and relaxes, apply more pressure as you brush. Eventually, you will be able to brush from rump to head, against the lay of the fur, to loosen more shedding matter. Have the animal turn over and gently work along each leg, plus the tail and belly. A few minutes should suffice; deep, excessive grooming is not advised.

Don't be surprised if an occasional grooming becomes a daily demand!

DEAR DR. FOX: I enjoyed your column about the benefits of dog saliva. I am glad you posted the risk of infection from the bacteria in some dog foods, which dogs' licking could transfer to us. Please say more about this; I have two children who are into everything -- including the dog's food bowl -- and our dog licks them all over. -- K.P., Trenton, New Jersey

DEAR K.P.: In a related post on my website (drfoxonehealth.com/post/dogs-kisses-licks-and-saliva-that-heals), I state: "Concerning potential infections from in-home animals, always wash hands before preparing food and before eating; wash out pets' food and water bowls daily because they could contain salmonella, E. coli, Campylobacter and listeria bacteria from pet foods that could infect family members."

The main source of these harmful bacteria, some of which have evolved resistance to antibiotics, is the meat and poultry in raw and frozen pet foods, also found in batches of contaminated dry kibble. The latter could be contaminated by processing equipment and from being sprayed with an "animal digest" to make the kibble more palatable. These animal products come from cruel factory farms that are a hazard to the environment and public health and should be abolished.

However, I do advocate feeding some raw foods to dogs -- namely grated, shredded or crushed fruits and vegetables.

(Send all mail to animaldocfox@gmail.com or to Dr. Michael Fox in care of Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106. The volume of mail received prohibits personal replies, but questions and comments of general interest will be discussed in future columns.

Visit Dr. Fox’s website at DrFoxOneHealth.com.)