Heat stroke, burned feet, and infections from seeds. Summer is a great time to work with our puppies and dogs. But it also can be very dangerous. Playing, exercising, or working with our puppies in the heat can cause very serious and potentially fatal complications. Heat stroke (heat prostration, hyperthermia) occurs when normal body mechanisms
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Candy and gum manufactures have been using Xylitol as a sugar substitute since the mid 60’s. It is made from corn, plums, raspberries and birch. The sweetener has 40% less calories than sugar and has demonstrated a dramatic reduction in tooth decay in people. Unfortunately, it is very dangerous for dogs. Initial studies suggested only
Continue reading: Beware of Sugarless Gum and Candy→

PANO (for short) – leg pain and treatment Panosteitis, sometimes known as Pano, occurs in rapidly growing large or giant breed puppies. It occurs in the shaft of the bone not the joint. The fatty marrow inside the shaft of the long bones degenerates and is replaced with bone cells. When this occurs, the marrow
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Treating vomiting Pups and Coccidia Infection As I’m sure you have already noticed our puppies are little “hoovers.”  Anything and everything they see goes in their mouths.  With this in mind, the most common cause of vomiting and diarrhea is “garbage gut.”  I divide puppies with diarrhea and vomiting into 2 groups: sick and not
Continue reading: Parasites and Puppies: Part 1 – Vomiting Pups and Coccidia Infection→

Roundworms Most puppies are born with roundworms.  There are 4 ways the infection occurs: across the placenta (embryonic development, this is the most common), mother’s milk while nursing, eating worm eggs (usually during grooming) and eating rodents who are carrying developing worms. The life cycle of the roundworm is very complicated.  The eggs contain infective
Continue reading: Parasites and Puppies: Part 2 – Roundworms→

As we raise our puppies, they are in need of specific skills to work; we must also be concerned they are healthy.  One of the areas we evaluate is their eyes. The CERF, Canine Eye Registration Foundation, was founded by a group of breeders/owners of purebred dogs being affected by heritable eye diseases.  In an effort
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Unfortunately, obesity has become the accepted standard for our society, whether we are talking about people or dogs. When a dog is overweight, they are more likely to develop arthritis, which in a working dog means its career will be shortened. Therefore, it is important to prevent our Paw Pals puppies from becoming fat. Once
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The goal of our breeding program is to produce dogs suitable for assistance work. These goals fall into four categories: health, temperament/ behavior, trainability/performance and conformation. To accomplish our goals, we must evaluate each breeding in an effort to improve our program. The health of our dogs is our first priority. Evaluation of the hips
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As Valentines Day approaches with the Easter Bunny not far behind we all need to be mindful of the rich, sweet temptations in our lives. Our dogs are taught not to counter surf, to restrain themselves from snatching tidbits from little hands and vacuuming morsels from the floor because assistance dogs “Just can’t do that”.
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Kidney Failure in Dogs from Eating Grapes Grapes and raisins seem like such innocent little sweet treats but to our dogs they can be deadly. They can cause the kidneys to stop functioning (acute renal failure-ARF). Exposure to grapes can occur in various ways: off the vine, on the ground, “stolen”, wine processing, etc. For
Continue reading: Graps & Raisins: Forbidden Fruit→