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The Poodle Papers / Summer Edition
Page 21
First we needed some Tracking items….. a Tracking harness;a forty foot lead; some flags to mark starts and turns; glovesfor the dogs to find……. pretty simple compared to all thethings you need in agility.We started out with some very simple exercises to get thedog to associate a “glove” with getting treats. Show the dogthe glove…. when the dog investigates, smells the glove, puts its nose on the glove, the dog gets rewarded. Show thedog the glove…… walk out twenty paces… show the dogthe glove…. put glove on the ground with a treat on top.At first we worked on simple exercises like this three days aweek. I learned all about double laying and triple laying atrack. About using food drops….. the good and bad of usingfood drops. About dogs not keeping their nose on the groundand air scenting….. or looking for the glove. We went througha lot of these issues. In the middle of the summer I startedmeeting our Tracking Instructor early in the morning once aweek. We would meet at 5:45 AM at locations just outsidethe city limits of Lincoln, at one of the local Parks. Janewould plot a track for Woola…. sometimes I’d plot a track for one of her dogs. We continued through July and Augustinto the first part of September. Other members of the localtracking scene started to show up on the weekends as theweather cooled.I didn’t anticipate the social aspect of Tracking. Trackingcan be a solitary activity and some times it’s necessary totrain on your own, but Tracking works best when it’s a groupactivity. Part of the fun of Tracking is getting together atan agreed upon location. The group assembles….. every- body discusses what they want to accomplish that day.Areas to plot tracks are identified….. people are paired off to work together…..tracks are laid for the more experiencedhandlers who need their tracks to age. Tracks are almostalways plotted on paper so the handler has a record of whattheir dog did that day - the configuration of the track, con-ditions of the field, weather conditions, things that might be useful later when a handler looks back over the recordof their training to identify something to help solve a prob-lem. New dogs are brought out first and they have their turn totrain, then dogs with aged tracks are started and the groupfollows them. Everybody watches and learns. It’s interest-ing what you can see from behind the dog and handler.…some things that are very obvious to the gallery are com- pletely missed by the handler. At the end of the day thegroup usually lingers and discusses the day’s training, people offer suggestions for the next session, and a timeand place to meet is decided upon. The Lincoln/OmahaTracking community has an Internet Discussion Groupwhere we continue to discuss things during the week anddiscuss individual training when members are unable to jointhe group.Woola’s Training: What I learned; what went wrong; andhow we eventually corrected things!We started training in July 2003. In the next three articlesI’ll go into how we actually started, the problems we raninto, all things that I had problems understanding from myobedience/agility training and background. I’ve kept a de-tailed training notebook that I’ll use to discuss how westarted, problems we ran into, and how we made correc-tions during the fall. The Saga of Woola, Steve and TheTrack continues – ‘til next issue.
You can contact Steve at: soberski@soberski.com
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A special thank you to NANCY A special thank you to NANCY A special thank you to NANCY A special thank you to NANCY A special thank you to NANCY McGEE !McGEE !McGEE !McGEE !McGEE !
Who is now know as the t'shirt lady.Her artistic talent and dedication is so appreci- ated. We have seen her selling shirts in the rainout of the back of her van. We don't know how many hours she spends folding, sorting and sell-ing!! We are wondering what she has in store fornext year!!!! Thank you from the Officers and Board of PCA Doris Cozart, President
The Poodle Papers / Summer Edition
Page 22
Results from the Apricot Match
B
EST
STANDARD
ADULT
AND
B
EST
ADULT
IN
M
ATCH
#5 L
UMIERE
'
S
R
AY
OF
L
IGHT
B
EST
STANDARD
PUPPY
AND
B
EST
P
UPPY
IN
M
ATCH
#72 F
ARLEY
'
S
-D R
ECUERDOS
D
E
A
YER
B
EST
M
INI
ADULT
#52 A
WARD
'
S
M
EMORABLE
S
PICE
B
EST
MINI
PUPPY
#32 B
ONHEUR
G
LITZ
& G
LAMOR
B
EST
TOY
ADULT
#14 R
OSEWOOD
I'
M
NO
B
UNNY
B
EST
TOY
PUPPY
#4 S
HORBACK
'
S
B
RETON
S
URPRISE
PRESIDENT: JUDY WINTERVP : BARBARA. BURDICKTREASURER : TERRY FARLEYSECRETARY: DARRELL FRITZJUDGE :MR. DAVID WADDELLBARBARA. BURDICK : SHOW CHAIRPERSON
Many Thanks to Barbara Burdick for the results and the Photo’s from the Match.
The Poodle Papers / Summer Edition
Page 23
Dental Care for DogsHelps Prevent Oral
CONDITIONS
Dental conditions in dogs are more common than most people realize. According to the American Veterinary Den-tal Society, 80 percent of dogs show signs of oral condi-tions by age 3. Bad breath, yellow or brown spots on theteeth, and bleeding gums are some of the indications that adog may need to see the veterinarian.“In advanced stages, oral conditions can lead not only toinflammation, infection and tooth loss, but also can be det-rimental to a dog’s overall health,” says Steven Holmstrom,D.V.M., DAVDC, of the Animal Dental Clinic in San Carlos,Calif. “A number of studies document the systemic effectsof severe oral conditions in humans, and we highly suspectthe same complications occur in animals. Bacteria in themouth can enter the bloodstream and may result in kidney,liver and even heart problems.”Owners should practice oral hygiene in dogs routinely,and starting at a young age, Holmstrom says. “I am fre-quently astounded by the severe tooth infections in someof my canine patients,” he says. “If infections of this mag-nitude were caused by a splinter or a foreign body in thedog’s mouth, owners would be in a hurry to have the objectremoved. Yet because it’s a tooth causing the infections,owners often ignore it.”
SIGNS OF DENTAL CONDITIONS
Ignoring signs of dental conditions is the wrong thing todo. Any abnormality, such as loose or broken teeth or fa-cial swelling, warrants a visit to the veterinarian, Holmstromsays. Untreated dental problems can, and usually do,worsen.Owners should not rely on their dogs to display overtsigns of dental conditions, Holmstrom cautions. “Long be-fore dogs were domesticated, they were pack animals. Thatmeant not letting others know you were injured, otherwiseat best you didn’t get to feed first and at worst you becamesomeone else’s dinner,” he says. “Many times dogs havesevere dental conditions but cope so well they give no indi-cation of pain or discomfort.”An early sign of an oral condition is dental tartar or cal-culus, which is a combination of bacteria, plaque, food andsalivary glycoproteins. A constant threat to oral hygiene,calculus appears as yellow or brown deposits on the sur-face of the teeth. The first indication of oral problems thatmost owners recognize is their dog’s bad breath. Reluc-tance to eat or chew on rawhide treats or toys, bleedinggums and excessive salivation are other signs.“There isn’t a set formula for how frequently dogs needto have their teeth cleaned, because there are so many fac-tors that affect dental health, including the dog’s individualimmune system,” Holmstrom says. “Toy breeds often needmore frequent cleanings. Though the size of Toy breedswas decreased through breeding, the size of their teeth didnot. The resulting crowding is a built-in stimulus for peri-odontal conditions.”
THE BEST DEFENSE: DAILY BRUSHING
The best defense against oral conditions in dogs is goodhygiene and that means daily brushing — a concept thatmost dog owners and even some veterinarians still viewas unnecessary. “Brushing dogs’ teeth every day can makethe difference between stretching professional dental vis-its out to once every year or two as opposed to cleaningsevery four to six months,” Holmstrom says.“Dental home care is one of the most important healthmaintenance functions owners can do for their dogs,” hesays. “And you don’t have to start out with a puppy. Older dogs are trainable as long as you approach the processslowly.”Begin by putting a dab of veterinary toothpaste on atoothbrush about five times a day and letting the dog lick it off. Never use human toothpaste, Holmstrom says, be-cause it contains detergents not designed for swallowing.Veterinary toothpaste is easily digested by animals andcomes in palatable flavors.Once the dog begins thinking of the toothpaste as a treat,the owner can begin brushing, perhaps just a few teeth at atime to start. Restraining a dog should never be part of the process. “It’s simply behavior training, and making it funand rewarding for the dog means you’re more likely tosucceed,” Holmstrom says.
PROGRESSION OF DENTAL CONDITIONS
“Usually within six to eight hours after an oral clean-ing, bacterial colonies form and attach a glycoprotein layer on the teeth,” Holmstrom says. “When the bacteria die,the dead bacteria calcify and visible calculus develops.”Calculus eventually can cause gingivitis, an inflamma-tion of the gums that can be reversed with preventive mea-sures, called dental prophylaxis. During prophylaxis, aveterinarian cleans a dog’s teeth above and under the gumline, polishes the teeth to smooth their surfaces and helpdecrease plaque’s ability to adhere to the teeth, and flushesthe gums with an antibacterial or saline solution. Addi-tionally, the veterinarian may treat the teeth with fluoride.A plan, including home care, is developed for future oralhygiene.If left unchecked, bacteria can migrate down between
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