The sad truth is that many large breed dogs, will at some time in their life suffer from Hip Dysplasia. This can be a painful and debilitating disease, where the hip joint doesn’t fit together properly causing bone deformities and mild to severe arthritis.

Even at the tender young age of  1 year our puppy, Ripley (a Sheppard Mastiff Cross) has been diagnosed with severe hip dysplasia. In most big dogs the cause of this is bad genes from poor breeding practices but it can also be caused  by poor nutrition throughout the dog’s life.

The good news is that there are things you can do to try and prevent symptoms. We have started treating him with Cartophen injections. This is a series of injections, 1 a week for 4 weeks, then 1 every 3 months for the rest of his life. This is suppose to help “Inhibition of enzymes which break down cartilage in addition to stimulating natural inhibitors of these destructive enzymes. Stimulation of the production of lubricant and cartilage molecules by the joint cells. Improvement of the circulation of blood to the arthritic tissues, thus improving nutrition to the joint tissues. All this adds up to help repair and rejuvenate the damaged cartilage.”  Read more here.  We also have started him on a regimen of Glucosamine tablets that he will also be on for the rest of his life.

Then of course the most obvious thing you can do to prevent symptoms is watch your dogs weight! Always keep him trim and fit. This seems to be difficult for some people but really all you need to do is pay attention. Notice if your dog is getting a little chubby and take immediate action. Cut her dinner in half and see if she loses the pounds. If she still isn’t at a good weight after a month or two then cut breakfast in half as well!  Don’t just go by what the bag of food says is the “optimal” quantity for your dog.

So far Ripley shows no obvious symptoms of the disease, and we caught it early so we have plenty of time for prevention. He is a trim dog, on a primarily raw food diet so it is easy to keep him in shape. I will update  occasionally on his progress, especially if he starts to show symptoms, but for now he will live life to the fullest (without over-exercising!) and we will deal with the hard decisions as we reach them.

I find that a lot of dog owners don’t really understand what crate training is all about. So lets demystify!

First of all, a crate needs to be properly sized for your dog to be affective. Your dog should be able to stand up, turn around and maybe play with a toy. But should not feel that he/she has enough room to go to the toilet. You should provide a dish of water whenever you crate your dog. If you have a puppy now, but know that it is going to grow. Buy a crate that is a bit bigger than you think is necessary. If new, they come with a divider so you can make the inside of the crate a little smaller as necessary. I have found some great deals on www.trademe.co.nz

Ok, so now you have a crate that fits your dog perfectly. Why do you need this? It is a bit intrusive to the aesthetics of your home and many dogs are fine without it so why bother?

A crate,when introduced correctly, your dog will have a same place he can go when he is tired, nervous, or just wants some quiet time! It is important for dogs to feel that they have a safe place of their own to get away form the kids or guests that may cause them stress, because if your dog feels he is trapped and can’t escape a scary situation he could become anxious and fearful. Make sure when you introduce the pup or dog to the crate you make it a fun happy experience and do not shut the door on him for a few days. But whenever he goes in the crate, give him lots of praise and treats and even start to feed his dinner in the crate.

A crate is a great way to help toilet train your new puppy. A puppy won’t soil his bed and will teach himself to “hold it” until he is let outside.

A crate is a safe place to put your dog when you go out for a couple hours so he doesn’t feel intimidated by being left to defend the entire house! Some dogs will develop separation anxiety (severe barking, chewing, soiling or self mutilation) if left alone at home, even for short periods because they think you have left them in charge of the entire house.

As a new pack member, your puppy will be looking for leadership and by leaving him alone in the house you are saying “take care of this for me”. That is a very stressful position to put a puppy in and even a lot of dogs have anxiety issues related to being left alone or “abandoned” by their pack. By setting up a crate as a happy, safe place for your dog to be, a place where he gets toys, treats and love. You are telling him that when he is in the crate, he is protected even when you are not physically present.

I got a call today from a women who was having issues with her neighbors. Or more pointedly, her neighbors were having issues with her new puppy. Apparently because of a circumstance we don’t need to go into here. The puppy has been  barking while she is away from the house.

Rarely do people deal with this situation gracefully. Usually the neighbors wait until they can’t stand the barking any longer, they feel they are being driven slowly insane and they have no idea how to talk to the dog’s owner about it. So they go straight to the local council and make an “anonymous” complaint. Make no mistake, the owner of the dog is pretty sure who made the complaint and will now be very put out that you anonymously complained instead of coming directly to her.

So why didn’t they go to the owner first? Well, they may have. However, many people just are not sure how to deal with a situation that involves a neighbor. They are worried that if they confront the neighbor directly that they could start a neighbor feud. But if they “beat around the bush” too much the neighbor may not realise the seriousness of the situation. So they go directly to the council.

So if you are a dog owner and your neighbor has complained about your dog what should you do? However your neighbor has approached the situation; angry letter in the post, a note at the door, rumours around the neighbourhood, or simply going to the council. Don’t over react and don’t confront the neighbor directly. DO NOT write a letter  telling them how much of a coward they are and that it probably wasn’t YOUR dog barking anyway, so they must have made a mistake.

Call around, seek advice from a trainer, maybe more than one trainer, get a couple of opinions on how to solve the particular problem (usually barking). Most importantly, if the advice is safe and makes sense then DO what the trainer recommends.

Then, and also very important, is to acknowledge your neighbor’s worries. Write a nice letter, letting them know that you received a complaint, that you are taking it seriously, and that you have contacted an animal behaviorist and/or trainer and you are taking steps to remedy the situation. If you do this you can diffuse the situation and keep it from escalating. Because really the last thing anyone wants is neighbors they don’t get along with.