Dog Blog

Scientists from University of Bristol publishing their survey in the Veterinary Journal report cat owners are more likely to have an university degree than lovers of dogs.

Since, those with higher education usually work longer hours, cats make for more suitable pets, since they do not need much of human company, nor do they need to be walked.

Dr Jane Murray, Cats Protection Lecturer in Feline Epidemiology said cats are more popular with people with an education, who not only work late but also have long commutes, as cats require less time than dogs on a daily basis.

As well, the survey also found cat owners more likely to be older and female. In addition, both cat and dog owners were more likely to live in households with gardens in rural areas.

Researchers reveal Great Britain has a dog population of 10.5 million and 10.3 million casts, excluding strays, 50% more than previously thought.

Researchers hope to repeat the study in 2011 for monitoring any changes in population numbers and ownership trends.

Last year, the publication of a study that showed cats performed worse than dogs in simple reasoning tasks put to rest the popular myth of cat intelligence. So while, educated people are more likely to own cats than dogs, it does not mean their choice of pet improves their intelligence, rather that it is a choice influenced by their lifestyle.

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A device that could help dogs save the lives of people trapped under the rubble of a collapsed building has won a Canadian technology award for its Toronto-based inventor.

Computer science professor Alex Ferworn of Ryerson University received this year’s Community IT Hero Award for developing a device that gives search and rescue teams a dog’s-eye view of the path to a trapped victim, the Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC) announced Wednesday.

Using the Canine Augmentation Technology (CAT), human rescuers can monitor sound and video beamed wirelessly from cameras and microphones worn by the dogs as they search through the jumbled remains of buildings levelled by fires or earthquakes.

“They’re wickedly fast and agile,” Ferworn said Wednesday. “And they’re able to penetrate very small spaces.”

In many cases, it’s physically impossible for humans to follow the dog. But the video and sound from CAT can tell rescuers whether the victim is alive, and how to reach him later, once the area has been stabilized.

A complementary technology developed by Ferworn’s research group even allows the dogs to drop off food, water and first aid supplies to live victims until they can be rescued. The automatic system responds to the dog’s barking when it finds the victim.

CAT has already been tested by the Ontario Provincial Police and four of the five Canadian Urban Search and Rescue Task Forces.

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A Scarborough woman recounted yesterday how she and her chocolate Labrador retriever were stalked by two coyotes as they walked along a wooded trail near the Scarborough Bluffs.

Patricia Hornyak said the coyotes attacked her dog, Choco, on Sunday morning and continued to stalk them even after she scared them off with a stick.

“They were following us and not very far behind,” she said yesterday. “I got a stick and just turned and yelled at them, and they scurried off. But the rest of the way out I could sense them. He did too, he kept looking out into the bush.”

Nathalie Karvonen, executive director of the Toronto Wildlife Centre, said the coyotes may have been protecting their territory, rather than looking for a meal.

“Coyotes are interested in little dogs allowed to run off leash because little dogs, to a coyote, are no different than a rabbit or a groundhog. They are not targeting them to be mean, it’s just they are the right size to be food for a coyote,” Ms. Karvonen said.

“Larger dogs tend to be more territorial. If a larger dog is being walked in an area where coyotes live, especially if it is breeding season, the coyote may be very interested in that dog for the safety of its own young or its den.”

The incident was reminiscent of a series of sightings last winter, when a coyote was spotted in the nearby Beaches area several times, attacking a couple of smaller dogs and killing one Chihuahua.

Ms. Hornyak said the city’s animal services department visited her on Sunday, dropping off a pamphlet that suggested residents keep an eye on their children and animals.

“I don’t agree with them that we have to cohabitate with them if they get to the point where they are attacking dogs,” Ms. Hornyak said.

“I think when they start to get close to your pets or maybe your kids, although I haven’t heard that happen, I don’t think it’s a good idea they be left alone.”

She said the coyotes had simply appeared on Sunday and started nipping at the much-larger Choco. Ms. Hornyak said Choco was bitten in the legs and ears, but the wounds were superficial.

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Wylee is going to the Winter Games.
The 2-year-old border collie is a member of the Squaw Valley Ski Patrol Avalanche Rescue Dog Team that has been invited to provide assistance at the Olympics in Vancouver beginning next month.

The team based at the resort near Lake Tahoe is the only one in the United States to receive such an invitation.

“This is the highlight of all the handlers’ and dogs’ careers,” said Matt Calcutt, who will be coordinating the team in Vancouver. “It’s almost like the doggy Olympics.”

Four dogs and four handlers from the Squaw team plan to make the trip.

Calcutt said they were selected because they have met the high standards of the Canadian Avalanche Rescue Dog Association for years. They also will be representing Squaw Valley USA in honor of the 50th anniversary of the 1960 Winter Olympic Games held at the resort south of Truckee.

Wylee, and his handler Craig Noble, joined other team members earlier this month in a simulated search and recovery of skiers and snowboarders caught in a slide at Squaw Valley. They did sweeps for avalanche beacons and sniffed out buried objects including one patroller volunteered to be buried by his superior.

Among the stringent standards from the Canadian group is a requirement that dogs can find scented items—pieces of clothing worn by patrollers for training purposes—buried overnight more than 2 feet deep, Calcutt said.

“They (the handlers and dogs) need to get validation in dog searching, obedience, avalanche knowledge, they have to be able to forecast avalanche activity, and have to be able to travel in avalanche conditions,” Calcutt said.
So how do the handlers get the dogs up to snuff?

It’s all about “play, play, play,” Calcutt said.

“When they find something it’s the biggest reward of the dog’s life—we don’t give them this much attention at any other time,” Calcutt said, as Noble wrestled with Wylee recently after a successful find.

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A French officer unleashed Arry, and the tall and muscular dog went to work.

Wagging his tail in the early morning chill, he ran under four Afghan tractor-trailer trucks, sniffing at the exhaust pipes and motor. He then jumped into the cabins, slipping behind the driver’s seat and sticking his nose into the glove compartment. A driver’s partially eaten snack was ignored.

In less than 10 minutes, the trucks were cleared for entry to Tora Forward Operating Base in eastern Afghanistan, and Arry started barking for more.

The U.S. and its allies are turning increasingly to sniffer dogs to counter roadside bombs and suicide attacks, a major threat in the Afghan war. They can locate low-tech devices without metal parts or traditional explosives, which are nearly impossible to find with mine-detection equipment. The use of so-called “undetectable” bombs appears to be on the rise in Taliban strongholds in Afghanistan’s south and east.

“Sniffer dogs have something better than any machine: instinct,” said Chief Cpl. Remy, Arry’s handler at the French Foreign Legion base.

Remy, who gave only his first name under French military regulations, said he was more than 90 percent confident that a road searched by his dog could be declared free of bombs.

Arry and the four other sniffer dogs deployed by the French in the small region they control have detected dozens of weapons caches, homemade bombs known as IEDs, and explosives hidden in cars over the past year, Remy said.

IEDs, short for improvised explosive devices, were responsible for 129 U.S. military deaths in Afghanistan in 2009, more than 40 percent of the total, according to an Associated Press tally based on daily NATO reports. The devices also take a toll on Afghan civilians, killing 117 in the last four months of 2009.

Arry, a 4-year-old Belgian Malinois, looks much like a German shepherd, only lankier and faster. Malinois were once used to protect cattle herds but now mostly serve as protection dogs or pets.

The dogs with the best sense of smell are usually hunting breeds, such as the Labrador retrievers used by the U.S. Marines in Afghanistan’s Helmand province, where they are trained to detect conventional explosives.

But the French army exclusively employs Malinois in Afghanistan, because they are more multipurpose. They can sniff out drugs, guard a camp or help with crowd control. The 3,500 French troops in Afghanistan have a dozen dogs doing these tasks, all of them males.

“Suspects at a checkpoint have no way of telling if they face an attack dog or a sniffer,” said Sgt. Sylvain, who handles Agos, a 70-pound (32-kilogram) Malinois attack dog that can easily topple a man, bite a target six-feet (two-meters) high, or break through a car window when wearing a metal-reinforced muzzle.

Homemade bombs are often built with scrap parts and readily available fertilizers, such as ammonium nitrate, or cheap aluminum powder. They are often set off remotely by what some NATO troops call “Pakistani wires” - a tiny electric cable that can run dozens of yards (meters) to a detonator.

It took four months of intense training to teach Arry how to detect such bombs, along with more conventional explosives that use cordite, plastic or dynamite substances.

“We basically added nitrates powder to the range of chemicals the dog reacts to,” Remy said.

Arry can now spot more than 20 different molecules, which allows him to detect just about any IED. If the soil has been recently upturned, Arry can smell an explosive hidden up to three feet (one meter) below the surface. And if there’s even the slightest breeze blowing in the right direction, he can start sniffing a bomb 100 yards (100 meters) away, Remy says.

“There are only so many basic molecules that can be used to make a bomb, and a good dog can be trained to find them all,” Remy said. “Dogs are the very best thing against explosives.”

There are limitations to what dogs can do. It’s difficult to bring them to the front line or to feed and maintain them in more remote outposts. There are also only so many trained handlers and dogs available, and expanding their numbers would take years.

Dogs such as Arry serve in the French army until they are 8 or 9 years old. Most then retire at their handler’s home, except for the more aggressive ones, which are put to death.

Sgt. Major Edouard, the head of a French special intervention bomb squad in Afghanistan, was a skeptic at first but found the dogs to have a 100 percent success rate during trials, when he hid undetectable bombs for them to find. “They were very effective,” he said.

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Dog Foods That are Toxic to Your Pets

Few people realize the danger in giving grapes or raisins to their pet dogs. According to the ASPCA Poison Control Center, as few as 7 raisins or grapes can prove toxic.

No one knows exactly why grapes, raisins and dogs are such a lethal combination. Indeed, these foods are not harmful to every dog in every situation; but for some unlucky dogs, these foods can cause acute kidney failure, which may lead to their eventual death.

In the article, Raisins and Grapes Can Be Harmful to Dogs, Dr Laurinda Morris DVM, an Danville,Ohio vet, recounts a tale of a patient who lost her male Labrador mix after eating half a canister of raisins. After Dr Laurinda struggled to treat the dog , he had to be euthanized due to acute renal failure, caused by consuming such a large quantity of raisins.

Dangerous foods for dogs,like grapes or raisins are often given innocently as treats, without their owners being aware of the risks. Whilst many dog owners these days are better informed about the potential dangers of feeding chocolate to their pets (Theobromine found in coco beans is toxic to dogs, cats and horses), many do not realize the problems that a few grapes or raisins may cause. Linda Bonney of bestanimalloves.com, states in her article,Your Pet Versus Raisins and Grapes (09/20/07), “Many people I know give their dogs grapes and raisins as treats, including our ex-handlers.”

Why Raisins and Grapes are Toxic Foods to Dogs

Grape or raisin toxicity can cause acute kidney failure. Dogs are unable to pass urine, which means their systems cannot filter the toxins from their bodies.

However, what is puzzling is that some dogs are affected, whilst others do not experience any problems. In 140 such cases handled by the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center, one third of the dogs developed toxic poisoning from eating grapes or raisins; of which 7 died.

Given their findings, the ASPCA website advises “against feeding pets grapes or raisins in any amount” as it is also not known whether dogs suffer from the cumulative effect of consuming a small quantity, over a period of time.

Symptoms of Poisioning from Grapes and Raisins

It may take up to several hours for a dog to show signs of discomfort. He will vomit repeatedly, and become agitated and hyperactive. The dog will become lethargic and depressed, suffer from diarrhea and experience abdominal pain. He will also become dehydrated and partially digested grapes or raisins are likely to be seen in vomit and feces. These symptoms are outlined in the ASPCA Animal Watch article, The Wrath of Grapes by Dr Means, veterinary toxicologist, (Summer 2002 ,Vol. 22, No. 2)

Treatment for Suspected Poisoning.

Contact your vet immediately if you suspect your pet dog may be suffering from grape or raisin toxicity. As an initial emergency measure, your vet may advise you to induce vomiting (if vomiting has not already occurred) and give your dog activated charcoal (powder, tablets or capsules), or blackened, burnt toast, which acts as a substitute.

Prevention of Grape and Raisin Poisoning In The Home
Ensure that grapes and raisins are not left out on display, in easy reach of your pet. Keep boxes and canisters of raisins safely stored away in a cupboard. Raisins are more concentrated than grapes and are therefore more toxic. Avoid giving pets cookies that contain raisins.

Most importantly, educate members of your family (and friends) as to the dangers these toxic foods may present. It is vital that children understand what they can and can’t feed their pet dog, and that slipping Fido a few chocolate covered raisins may prove fatal.

Author Gill Hart

Congrats, Labs! You’re still No. 1 in America!

America’s favorite (purebred) dog remains the Labrador retriever for 19 years running, the American Kennel Club announced today.

Close on its ball-chasing heels, however, is the German shepherd, which overtook the popular Yorkshire terrier last year to claim the No. 2 spot.

The rankings by the AKC are determined by registration data of purebred dogs in 2009.

An American favorite since the time of Rin Tin Tin, the German Shepherd Dog became the number one breed of the 1920s, but then slipped in popularity until after World War II.

“Labs have been America’s top dog for nearly two decades due to their loyal and gentle nature,” said AKC Spokesperson Lisa Peterson. “But the German Shepherd Dog has gained ground recently, quite possibly due to the increased attention they receive for their security efforts at home and abroad. Hailed as the world’s leading police, guard and military dog, this energetic and fun-loving breed is a loyal family pet, ideal companion and dependable K-9 partner when duty calls.”

Los Angeles’ most popular breeds of 2009

Bulldog
Labrador Retriever
Golden Retriever
German Shepherd Dog
Yorkshire Terrier

* Registration data pulled from Los Angeles zip codes as specified by U.S. Postal Service

“Angelenos pride themselves on their uniqueness and originality, and they lived up to that by making L.A. the only city to have the Bulldog rank as most popular dog,” said AKC Spokesperson Lisa Peterson. “Despite the top four dogs being large breeds, a number of smaller pooches fill out the Top 10, including the Yorkie, Maltese, French Bulldog and Poodle, perhaps due to their prevalence as companions to the stars.”

San Diego’s most popular breeds of 2009

Labrador Retriever
Bulldog
Golden Retriever
Yorkshire Terrier
German Shepherd Dog

* Registration data pulled from San Diego zip codes as specified by U.S. Postal Service

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Is Your Precious Pet Derailing Your Human Relationships? You May Want to Reconsider Who Your Best Friend Really Is

By the time Ellen and Joe Lollman reached their first anniversary, things were souring. They no longer took long walks together or spent weekend afternoons chatting over coffee at outdoor cafes. Each evening they holed up in separate rooms of their home reading or watching TV alone.

Finally, fearful their marriage was on the rocks, the Dallas couple made an appointment with a therapist—for their dogs.

“We both had dogs a lot longer than we had each other,” explains Ms. Lollman. Yet it wasn’t until she and her new husband moved in together after a long-distance courtship that their faithful companions actually met and, as luck had it, decided they hated each other. The Lollmans were forced to take sides.

Love triangles—or, in this case, quadrangles—involving pets might be the trickiest types of relationships.

We love our animal friends, of course, and for good reason. They’re always happy to see us. They’re forgiving of our faults. And if we care for them and show them affection, they will love us forever.

But the same is not necessarily true for humans, and there’s the rub. Sometimes our slavish bonds with our pets can damage our relationships with family, friends and, especially, lovers.

Consider Marina Wolak and Buck, her one-year-old German shepherd. One day last week, she served him steamed broccoli for breakfast, raw ribs for a snack, and a grilled chicken breast and baked sweet potato for dinner. Her husband, Kirk, says he and their 10-year-old daughter got the chicken for dinner, but had no sides.

“Hello, what about us?” says Mr. Wolak, a 43-year-old computer consultant in Deerfield Beach, Fla. “She caters to this dog and has nothing left in the tank for the family.”

Mr. Wolak says his wife buys fresh beef, chicken and rabbit for Buck, takes the dog to the park three times a day and puts fresh sheets on the mattress in his kennel twice a week. “She will stay up late if the dog needs an extra walk because he is constipated, but she can’t stay up and spend a little quality time with her husband,” he says.

Making matters worse: Both Mr. Wolak and their daughter are allergic to the dog. He estimates he has spent several thousand dollars on doctors’ appointments, as well as a special air filter for their home. And, he says, he argues regularly with his wife over the cost of the dog’s special diet, toys and training.

Getting Rid of the Dog

“There is only one answer to fixing the wedge between us, and that is to get rid of the dog,” says Mr. Wolak, who believes that wouldn’t be fair to Buck. “So I am stuck with him—and because he eats so damn well, he is going to live forever.”

Ms. Wolak, for her part, says, “To get rid of Buck would be like getting rid of my daughter.”

Try this: Ask your friends and family how their pets have affected their relationships with other people. I did. And everyone had a story.

One friend said she once found her boyfriend’s clothes strewn down the stairs and throughout the living room—with cat poop on them. (She and the unlucky man are no longer together.) A cousin told of waking up in the middle of the night to find her boyfriend lying next to her in bed, whimpering, and Gunther Herman, her 95-pound Weimaraner, standing over him, growling. (Ditto.)

My aunt reminded me of a birthday party she threw years ago for her mom, where her new parrot told her mother’s best friend—a genteel, elderly southern lady—what to do with herself. “I had no idea the bird knew those words,” says my aunt. (Her mother, my grandmother, didn’t speak to my aunt for a month.)

Of course, if a pet causes a rift in your relationship with another person, the problem may not be the animal.

Think of all those people who see pets as potential deal breakers in the dog-eat-dog world of dating. Robert Fletcher says that when he was single he was reluctant to date women with cats. “Maybe my knuckles really dragged the floor in those days,” says Mr. Fletcher, 52, a regional manager of an employee-benefits firm in Austin, Texas. “But the thinking was that at some point in the relationship, she would have to make a critical decision between me and Snuggle-Poo and that it would cause consternation on her part to the extent that it would deter whatever progress was being made between us.”

David Katz says his ex-girlfriend told him she broke up with him because he paid too much attention to a pug he was dog-sitting. “Yes, I have issues,” says Mr. Katz, 36, the founder of a new social-networking Web site in Toronto. He now owns two miniature Pinschers, one with diabetes and one with a liver disorder. “My dogs and their health have become my priority, and I am not sure if I can ever be in a relationship again with someone who doesn’t understand how much I love them,” he says.

Using Pets as Weapons

Human-behavior experts—that is, therapists—say it is typically not the pet’s fault if something goes wrong between people. “In my experience, pets do fine with relationships as long as the relationship is doing well,” says Katherine Brodsky, a clinical social worker in Manchester, N.H. “But when the couple is having problems, often the pets are used as weapons for one partner against the other, just as children often are.”

Kim Gorode can tell you all about it. Her live-in boyfriend loves their two cats but is allergic to them, so he gets weekly allergy shots. This works out well, she says—until they have a spat. “If it’s a money issue, he sometimes blames it on the fact that he has to pay for allergy shots and I don’t, or if he’s in a bad mood he will say he’s congested because of the cats,” says Ms. Gorode, 27, an investor-relations representative who lives in Brooklyn, N.Y. “It’s totally his trump card.”

Josh Gottesmann, 25, a high-school teacher, admits his girlfriend is right. “This is my way of winning,” he says.

One thing is true: You can learn a lot about someone by the way they treat animals, as Binka Hanbicki can tell you. Several years ago, her live-in boyfriend gave her a female bunny, a kitten and a male bunny. (They already owned a gecko.) Ms. Hanbicki, who worked two jobs at the time, says she asked him to help care for the animals. But too often, she says, she would arrive home to find all of them hungry, thirsty and dirty.

She says they bickered over the animals constantly. Then the last straw came when she learned that the female rabbit—which she had always been careful to keep separated from the male rabbit—was pregnant with a litter of five. Ms. Hanbicki ended the relationship and found new homes for the animals.

“If he couldn’t feed a lizard once a week,” says Ms. Hanbicki, 29, a designer at an engineering firm in Ashburn, Va., “then how would he be in years to come paying bills once a month?”

So how do you keep the peace between your pet and your other loved ones?

James Serpell, a professor of animal welfare and director of the Center for the Interaction of Animals and Society at the University of Pennsylvania, warns against ascribing human emotions or motives to your pets. Don’t allow the animal to become too close to you. (He won’t let his dog or cat sleep with him.) And don’t take their behavior personally. “Animals aren’t that bright,” he says. “They make simple associations, not complicated ones.”

If all else fails, there is always pet therapy—it worked for the Lollmans. After their dogs nearly wrecked their marriage, they sent Darby, an Irish terrier, and Kacee, an Australian shepherd-border collie mix, to live with a trainer for four weeks. Then the entire family—two people, two dogs—met with the trainer once a week for 16 more weeks after the dogs came home.

“It was as expensive as human therapy,” says Ms. Lollman, 63, chief financial officer of a lighting company. But it was worth it, says her husband, 65, an attorney: “You don’t discard a pet.”

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Elizabeth Bernstein

There are several plants poisonous to cats and dogs in your garden. Some plants can make animals sick, and some are lethal.

According to Dana Farbman, Senior Manager of Client and Professional Relations within the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center, the top four plant poisoning calls in 2003 were Cannabis sativa (marijuana), Cycas revoluta (sago palm), Spathiphyllum (peace lily) and Philodendron. “Depending on the plant and exposure situation involved, potential long-term or residual effects from plant poisonings could possibly occur”, she says. “For example, in certain situations, ingestion of cycads (such as Sago Palm) could potentially result in liver failure or residual neurological effects.” Other plants with potential for sickness and toxicity are:

Xanthium strumarium (common Cocklebur)

From the daisy family, this plant has a high toxicity rating for cattle, less so for house pets. Signs include gastrointestinal disorders, cardiac symptoms, behavioral and breathing changes. Care should be taken that the plant isn’t in grazing fields or hasn’t fallen into feed containers. Buying seed and feed from reputable dealers is a better and safer bet.

Hydrangea macrophylla (Hydrangea)

Contains the toxic chemical cyanogenic glycoside. Signs of a poisoning by Hydrangea include loss of weight, high heart rate, fever, vomiting and diarrhea.

Caladium hortulanum (Elephant Ears)

Contains calcium oxalate crystals which clinically produces intense oral irritation and burning. Signs will include excessive drooling, vomiting, increased difficulty in swallowing and general mouth and throat problems.

Euphorbia pulcherrima (Poinsettia)

Once considered a highly toxic plant, the Christmas favorite still has enough bite to sufficiently ruin your pet’s holiday. The sap from the leaves contains an irritant that will make your pet vomit and have head tremors. Take care and leave this one in a safe place in your house.

Coronilla varia (Crown Vetch)

While crown vetch is safe for a number of animals, take care to keep horses from grazing near it. Nitroglycoside, which is broken down in animals such as cows, builds up in horses and can produce symptoms of slow growth, paralysis and sometimes death. A small nibbling shouldn’t hurt, but if your horse digests much, call a vet.

Dicentra ssp. (Bleeding Heart)

Containing the toxin isoquinolone alkaloids, this plant affects cats, cattle and humans. Symptoms will include muscle weakness, staggering and convulsions. Some will see projectile vomiting after ingesting. Rarely animals will die from Bleeding Heart, as treatment is available.

Sambucus canadensis (Elderberry)

Cattle, goats and humans are affected by the toxin sambunigrin. Take care with the leaves, roots and stems, but the berries would take a massively high dose to make you sick.

Oleander: The worst houseplant offender

Known for its ease as a houseplant, oleander is common and beloved. Having white, pink or red showy flowers one to three inches in diameter, this plant can make a shrub or small tree. Easy to grow, and easy on the eyes, oleander is lethal.

Nerium oleander, a member of the dogbane family (Apocynaceae), releases the toxins of oleandrin and nerioside. Similar to the plant foxglove (of which the heart drug Digitalis is made), this plant too affects the heart’s rate and rhythm. Although the sap is bitter like rotten lemons, hungry animals may chew on it. Dry leaves are a bit more palatable to animals, but just as deadly as the green leaves. Don’t let your pet around any part of the oleander plant, whether the whole plant, twigs you remove, or if the plant is burned and smoke is near. A single leaf is enough to kill a small child and 30 to 40 leaves can put horses to death. The signs of poisoning are rapid; usually the animal is just found dead.

If you must have this plant around your yard or house, take care around children and pets. A better, safer bet is just not to have it.

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New vaccine could minimize severity, experts say.

Nowadays, even Fido fears the flu.

Boarding kennels and shelters in at least eight states — New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Virginia, Colorado, Georgia and Florida — saw outbreaks of canine influenza virus last year. The highly contagious respiratory infection targets dogs of any breed and age in any season, killing up to 2 percent of its victims.

“With any respiratory infection in dogs, you do have the potential for it to morph into a secondary bacterial pneumonia, which then might — if untreated aggressively — result in the death of some animals,” says Edward Dubovi, a professor of virology at Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine in Ithaca, N.Y.

But with proper medical care, dogs usually recover in two weeks without further health complications, says canine influenza virus expert Dr. Cynda Crawford, a veterinarian at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine in Gainesville.

Last July, the first influenza vaccine for dogs received a one-year conditional license from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and became available nationwide. The vaccine, made from a killed virus, doesn’t prevent infection, but was shown in clinical trials to reduce the duration of coughing and viral shedding so that dogs are less contagious.

“So far, it performs about as well as the vaccines that we give to people, and horses and pigs,” Crawford said.

Two allergic reactions to the canine influenza vaccine have been reported, but these were more likely related to the individual patient than the product itself, said Lyndsay Cole, an APHIS spokesperson.

Like human flu, the canine flu virus thrives in crowded conditions, spreading through coughs and sneezes, contaminated objects such as water bowls, and the hands and clothing of people who handle infected animals.

Training facilities, dog shows, dog day-care centers, kennels and grooming salons — anywhere there is a tight grouping of dogs — are typical breeding grounds, and nearly all dogs exposed to the virus get infected, showing flu-like symptoms of coughing, sneezing and runny nose.

Health experts have been tracking dog flu for five years, but the actual incidence nationwide is unknown because no central data collection center exists for infectious diseases in pets.

Canine influenza was identified in 2004 by virologists at Cornell’s Animal Health Diagnostic Center after greyhounds at a Florida racetrack were stricken with an unusual respiratory disease. Researchers determined the dogs had a type of H3N8 influenza ordinarily found only in horses.

Several months later, a pet dog in Florida contracted the virus, setting off a wave of publicity. Since then, canine flu has been documented in 30 states and the District of Columbia.

The virus jumps to new communities mostly from the mass movement of shelter animals throughout the country, Dubovi said. Dogs are routinely taken by rescue workers from high kill shelters, usually in the Southeast, and brought to facilities in other states where they stand a better chance of being adopted.

Because dogs have no natural immunity to the virus, it spreads rapidly in closed environments, such as shelters or boarding kennels, making it difficult to eradicate.

In an effort to combat the problem, the ASPCA in New York City recently launched a three-year study to learn if a reliable rapid screening test can be developed to detect the disease before a new dog enters a shelter’s main population.

Currently, veterinarians take a nasal swab and send the sample to an outside laboratory for analysis, a process that takes days before influenza is confirmed.

People cannot contract the dog flu, and to date it has not emerged in cats that were exposed to infected dogs, Crawford said.

She suggested vaccinating dogs if they fall into one of the following high-risk categories:

- Live in communities where the virus is prevalent.
- Participate in canine conformation or sporting events, such as agility or obedience.
- Go to boarding kennels, training facilities, day-care centers or grooming salons.
- People working with dogs should also consider vaccinating their pets. “They don’t want to bring this virus home from their workplace to their own pets and infect them,” advises Crawford. “We’ve had lots of cases like that.”

Those people can help prevent transmission of the virus by washing their hands and clothing in warm soapy water.

Whether this new respiratory virus is here to stay remains to be seen. “It can change and mutate on a whim,” Crawford said.

“Those mutations or genetic changes can either increase the survival of the virus in the population, or the mutations can lead to disappearance of the virus,” she said. “So it can go either way.”

More information

Find out more about canine influenza at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

SOURCES: Cynda Crawford, D.V.M., Ph.D., clinical assistant professor, Maddies Shelter Medicine Program, University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine, Gainesville, Fla.; Edward Dubovi, Ph.D., professor, virology, and director, virology laboratory, Animal Health Diagnostic Center, Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, Ithaca, N.Y.

Copyright © 2010 HealthDay

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