For the rest of our stay, I tied my red bandanna around Seti’s neck on our hikes. For our own protection, I dangled yellow plastic grocery bags from my belt and my husband wore bright shirts.

From this and other experiences, I’ve learned a lot about car travel with dogs. It’s much like travelling with a kid. To make it safe and fun for everyone, follow the three Ps: plan, prepare and pay attention.

Plan for your dog’s safety
First, make sure your dog is fit and ready for car travel. He should be healthy, well socialized, at ease with unfamiliar situations and know a few basic obedience commands.

Ideally, he’ll already be used to the car. If not, get him to think of it as a happy place by taking him for short rides to fun places – dog parks, for example.

This is a good time to start getting him used to wearing a doggy seatbelt (a harness that attaches to car seatbelts) or travelling in a secured crate. Use food as a lure, and put your dog in his car harness/crate for just a short time in a parked car at first. Gradually lengthen and expand the sessions to include travel in a moving vehicle.

Hopefully, you already know your dog’s health status. If not, have your vet check him out before you leave. If your pet is on prescription medication, get a holiday-long supply, in original containers, along with written prescriptions. You should also bring his rabies certificate (not just tag) and other health papers with you while travelling – this is especially important if you’re going to the U.S.

Another smart step: get a list of vet hospitals near where you’ll be staying. See the Animal Hospital Association of America’s web site www.healthypet.com.

Plan ahead for fun
Plan your holiday with your dog in mind: No to indoor museums and theatres; yes to hikes and outdoor activities. Research your destination in advance to avoid surprises like that hunting season we stumbled into. Make sure local parks allow dogs (on-leash or off).

Your accommodations should be completely dog friendly. If you’ll be making overnight stops, book rooms before you leave home – availability may be limited. Canadian Automobile Association travel guides are great for finding lodgings that accept dogs. So are web sites like www.petfriendly.com and www.petswelcome.com. Travelling with a dog takes more time.

You’ll probably have to make more frequent stops. You and your human companions may have to take turns using the washroom and getting food. If it’s rainy, you may find yourself eating in the car with your dog. You’ll also need time to let your dog play a bit and have water and maybe a snack during rest stops.

When you do stop overnight, give your dog time for a good walk and some vigorous play. In the morning, allow extra time to pack up his things before you leave.

Prepare for the road
Sometimes I seem to pack more stuff for Seti than I do for myself. He even has two kinds of travel bags – one for ‘on-board’ necessities like water, the other for things that he’ll need on overnight stops. Adapt this travel checklist to your own pet’s needs:

One more thing to take along: a recent colour photo of your dog, with notes on tattoo and tag number/microchipping. If your pet goes missing, this could be a lifesaver.

Pay attention
If you’re travelling with friends, put someone in charge of looking after the dog. (You can take turns during a long trip.) Having a designated dog minder will help ensure your pet’s needs aren’t overlooked in all the excitement of a holiday.

You or the DDM should remember to put a lead on your dog before opening the car door at pit stops. If your pet is an energetic critter, it also helps to put him in a “sit” before the door opens, so his minder can grab the leash.

Of course, never leave your pet alone in a parked car. Even with the windows rolled down, the vehicle’s interior temperature can skyrocket in less than 10 minutes. Parking in a shady spot will help, but only if you’re sure you’ll be back within minutes. Shade shifts as the sun moves during the day.

Car travel with your dog may sound like a lot of trouble. But try it, and you’ll find all these steps soon become second nature. The reward? A closer bond with your dog, and a collection of memories to treasure.

Mary Fran McQuade is a Toronto freelance writer. Her dog ‘Seti’ always rides along on family holidays.

dogsincanada.com/dog-friendly-events
Schedule of events across Canada

(Originally appeared in our June 2009 issue)

Be considerate
Even if you don’t mind your dog’s muddy feet on your couch, your host will feel differently. “Stay” can be a lifesaver in many situations and will keep you out of hot water with your host. Take a look at your dog’s reliability factor. Does he stay for only two seconds or as long as you’re standing in front of him? If so, start to introduce distractions and extend the length of time you can leave him. Reward him for staying and if he moves, just take him back to the spot you left him in. Practise in different areas of the house, then outside in the yard.

Designate a mat for your dog and practise Down-Stay on this mat. Include the mat in your luggage and once you’re at your destination, you can wow your friends with a well-behaved pet.

If you normally let your dog curl up beside you to watch TV, it’s time to start practising getting him off the couch. Periodically tell him to get off the couch and reward him for obeying. He should also wait to be invited before going up in the first place. If he jumps up without an invitation, simply guide him back down. Do it a few times until he just sits and stares at you, wondering what alien ship took his caregiver and dropped you off. Once he’s sitting and looking at you, pat the couch and invite him to join you.

Your dog jumping up on everyone is another annoying situation for your hosts, especially if they love you but are not necessarily ‘dog people.’ Teach your dog a solid sit in front of everyone, and reward with a cookie every time there’s compliance. By teaching your dog that sitting equals something fabulous, you will get the desired behaviour. Start practising today.

Remember that it is your responsibility to attend to your dog. Don’t call out to friends and family to push him down, or worse, knee him in the chest. Instead, have biscuits on hand and ask that they give him a treat only if he’s sitting. You will find people more compliant if it’s fun.

What to pack
Of course, you will take a supply of your dog’s food and his dishes. Make sure he wears a dog tag with your cell phone number or the number of your host. Have information about the closest veterinarian to where you’ll be staying, and pack any medication.

Take a dog towel or two. Your sister might have an old towel you could use, but it’s better to be prepared. Take a damp face cloth packed in a zip-lock bag so you’ll be all set for a quick wipe of four feet.

Another item to pack is an extra bed sheet to protect the bed at your destination. Strip off the bedspread, fold it neatly, and toss your sheet on the bed. Even if your dog doesn’t normally sleep with you, there’s something about a strange room that brings out the puppy in dogs. Like kids, they jump up onto places you wouldn’t allow at home, so be prepared.

As well, pack a large supply of pickup bags. Being a gracious guest means you pick up immediately and not just at the end of the day. Ask your host or the hotel staff where to dispose of the used bag.

Prepare your dog to be a model guest by giving him a bath prior to your trip, or taking him for professional grooming. You wouldn’t arrive looking like you hadn’t showered in a month, so neither should your dog. Even if you’re going to a cottage and know you’ll be spending many hours hiking in the woods, it’s best to make a good first impression. Be sure to pack his brush, to remove burrs and twigs.

From personal experience, I highly recommend packing de-skunking shampoo, especially if you’ll be going to cottage country. I was unprepared when my spaniel ‘Yardly’ was sprayed when I was out of town with the SuperDogs. Luckily, a few of my fellow team members came to the rescue. I was amazed to see that they had packed de-skunking shampoo. They told me that if you’re from the country you always have a bottle on hand. Point well taken!

Manage the situation
Your dog’s habit of sitting by the table waiting for his morning toast crust might not be appreciated at someone else’s home. Put your dog in a different room or outside while you eat. It is only temporary and things will get back to your old routine once you’re back in your own home.

Collapsible crates are perfect for visiting and your dog will have his own space to retreat to when needed. Most hotels/motels require your dog to be crated if left unattended in the room.

Children are another consideration. You know your dog best. If he cannot tolerate children’s activity, or can take it for only short periods of time, monitor him closely or put him away for some down time. Take some toss toys, such as balls on a rope, that children will be happy to throw for him. An interactive game they can all enjoy will provide some structured interaction.

All in all, show consideration for the home or hotel you’re in and be prepared to follow house rules. Your dog is an invited guest and should act accordingly. With a bit of prep time, you will soon be relaxing at the cottage with a dog that is not a nuisance and the welcome mat will be laid out again next year.

The director of Who’s Walk­­ing Who (Toronto and Ajax), and co-author of the book Citi­zen Canine, Gil­lian Ridge­­­­­­way has been working with fam­ily dogs for over 34 years. She can be reached at www.whoswalkingwho.net.

dogsincanada.com/ask-an-expert
Ask Gillian Ridgeway a training question.

(Originally appeared in our June 2009 issue)

Meanwhile, the original barker had climbed up on my chair and was happily finishing my sandwich. Any dog owner would agree: that dog was thinking, remembering and planning. Scientists are catching up to dog owners; studies have been done and surveys taken, and the verdict seems to be that animals do have emotions and intelligence.

Charles Darwin described animal emotion, but until recently, only the “higher” animals – that is, human – could be considered to have feelings. Researchers kept trying to explain animal behaviour without animal emotion or thought and came up with some pretty weird explanations for the behaviour they were seeing. Lay people could look at a dog and see sadness, happiness or jealousy. A scientist would call that anthropomorphizing instinctive behaviours. According to the old science model, a dog that is subdued and won’t eat after a loved one has passed away is simply reacting to the change in routine and different smells, but nearly anybody would describe that dog as being sad.

Although dogs and other animals have been characterized as machine-like automatons that respond to outside stimuli with instinctive responses but no will or cognition, this kind of thinking is changing as scientists find more and more similarities in animal brains and human brains.

Other animals have some of the same structures in their brains as human animals; those areas of the brain release the same chemicals under the same conditions. The limbic system is responsible for emotions and feelings such as anger, fear, love, hate, sadness and joy, as well as some functions of memory and personal identity. We share the limbic system with all the other complex vertebrates.

How much do they understand?
Humans tend to assume that dogs and other animals don’t understand things because they do not speak our language and haven’t built cathedrals and computers. In all the literature about dogs, it is common to see the words, “They don’t understand.” I think it is fair to say that dogs don’t understand how to cook or read a book, but they do understand how to make me open a door. We suppose that dogs don’t understand death because they cannot talk about it.

Animals have been dying since the beginning of time – killing and being killed, dying of diseases, dying of old age. I think they may know about death.

Twice over the years when a dog has passed away in my house, all the other dogs came and gave their old mate a sniff, then walked away. They appeared to understand very clearly that the other dog was no longer living. Of course, the dogs didn’t write a paper on how they felt and they didn’t light candles and ask for black collars, but they where subdued for a few days and clearly missed their friend. Not exactly like Greyfriars Bobby, the Skye Terrier who guarded his owner’s grave for 14 years, only leaving the spot for food, but still an indication that they where affected by the loss.

What do some experts say?
I asked well-known author and psychologist Dr. Stanley Coren if he believes dogs mourn. He said, “The mind of a dog is approximately equal to a human two year old.

They have basic emotions such as fear, anger and love. Love is a basic emotion; withdrawal of love will cause grief and loss. Dogs are capable of love and therefore capable of feeling the loss of a loved one. The degree to which they will express that emotion depends on the degree of social interaction and the individual dog.

“When ‘Odin’ my Flat-coated Retriever passed away, his buddy ‘Dancer,’ the Nova Scotia Duck Toller, acted despondent and would go and check the four places in the house where Odin was likely to be, then go to the middle of the room and whine. So I managed his grief the way you would a small child. I filled his mind with other things by taking him to work with me for two weeks. Just so you all know I am not being airy-fairy here, dogs produce oxytocin, one of the main chemicals associated with love in humans in what people would call affectionate situations such as being petted and praised.”

Frequent Dogs in Canada contributor, best-selling author and dog behaviourist Jean Donaldson answered the question in her usual comprehensive style. “It seems implausible that dogs, who bond so strongly, would not feel really bad when someone they’re close to disappears. Now, whether they have the accompanying cognitions that so complicate human grief is something I’m less convinced of. I know people whose dogs have struggled with the loss of a family member (people and dogs), becoming depressed, anxious, lost and rudderless. And I can see how this could be compounded by changes in routine brought on by the grieving process of remaining family members.”

So it seems the experts and the rest of us are on the same page when it comes to our dogs and their feelings. We know that we feel terrible when a beloved pet dies, and it seems our pets feel the same way when somebody they love passes away. The human/animal bond is a two-way street: Our dogs don’t just have behaviours we interpret as affection because we are needy human beings; our dogs truly do reciprocate our love and feel the joy and sorrow of true friendship.

Frequent contributor Naomi Kane is a CGN evaluator and has been breeding Leonbergers for over 10 years.

(Originally appeared in our June 2009 issue)

Canadian resources on-line

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maritimegeocaching.com

A different breed of show
Every kennel club in southern Ontario and western New York is invited to field a team with one representative per group, and the caveat that the dog has to be owner-handled in the ring. Points at the match are awarded for first through fourth in each group, and the team with the most points gets to take home the team trophy. While Best in Match is judged, it does not affect the point standings for any of the teams. The judge for the match is a well-kept secret, and only the match chairperson knows ahead of time who the judge will be.

A social event
The match is followed by a sit-down dinner where guests can visit, network and, most importantly, have an opportunity to “roast” the judge. Each team has a spokesperson who gets time on the podium to share their club’s thoughts about the day, remark on the judge’s performance and talk about the club’s planned events in the coming year.

Friendly competition
The primary purpose of the match is to promote good sportsmanship and collegial support. Some things have changed slightly, like the addition of a veterans group and a juniors group.

The show has had as many as 14 teams participating in the past. This year entries came from six teams: St. Catharines, Brantford, Caledon, Scarborough, Niagara Falls (N.Y.) and, of course, Seaway itself.

This year’s match was held on January 25 in St. Catharines, Ontario. The ‘secret’ judge was well-known professional handler, Bullmastiff breeder and writer, Pam McClintock. McClintock was congratulatory to the participants, and her great praise for the quality entry was well received by exhibitors and spectators alike.

The winning spirit
The St. Catharines Kennel Club was the 2009 overall winning team. This win gave the St. Catharines crew an unprecedented 13 years as the match team winners! Seaway’s own Hound Group winner, Irish Wolfhound Can. & U.K. Ch. Starkeeper McEnroe of Limerick, was McClintock’s choice for Best in Match.

The Niagara Falls Kennel Club (N.Y.) has the next highest number of match team wins, with six under its belt. They say that imitation is the best form of flattery and the Niagara Falls club has hosted an invitational match, with the same rules as Seaway, for the last 15 years! Seaway has the next highest number of wins, with five team wins, and Caledon, Scarborough, Credit Valley and the Buffalo kennel clubs can each claim two wins. One-time winners include the Burlington Kennel Club, Kitchener-Waterloo Kennel Club and Georgina Kennel and Obedience Club.

Looking to the future
McClintock offered the following, in her thank-you note to Seaway:

“I hope that you keep this event alive and well for as long as possible. Its very existence so many years after its inception is testimony to the passion and stewardship of so many caring individuals.”

(This article is a web exclusive for dogsincanada.com. To learn more about our print edition click here)

The 21st century brought change. Since 2000, the pet supplement market has grown approximately 15 per cent each year, and in 2007 represented a $1.3 billion industry. A market research report found that 17 per cent of pet dogs receive some type of supplement.

Does your pup need supplements?
Does your puppy need a supplement to achieve optimum health? Deb Eldredge, D.V.M., in practice in upstate New York and author of Pills for Pets, says, “The healthy pup on a balanced diet should not really need any supplements.” She does note a couple of exceptions. Puppies being fed a homemade diet, whether cooked or raw, may require supplements as part of the diet to ensure all necessary nutrients are provided. Eldredge advises consulting a veterinary nutritionist to be sure the diet is balanced for growth.

If your puppy is a large or giant breed, or a mixed breed that shows the potential to grow large, you may want to talk to your veterinarian about a joint supplement. These pups are more prone to developmental joint problems and may benefit from supplementation.

But one of the more common supplement recommendations – calcium – can actually lead to problems. “Excess calcium has been shown to contribute to skeletal defects in dogs,” says Eldredge. “And many minerals, such as calcium, require not only ideal amounts in the diet but also ideal ratios of other interacting minerals. Supplements may throw off a balanced diet.”

Vitamin C has recently gained popularity as a supplement. As C is a water-soluble vitamin, excess amounts should be excreted, making it relatively safe. But does it confer any advantages, or are you just wasting your money? Few studies exist to provide any answers.

Eldredge notes that many commercial pet foods now include supplements such as glucosamine and/or chondroitin for joint health, or fish oil and/or flaxseed oil for skin and haircoat. She cautions that you should check with your veterinarian before adding any supplement to your dog’s diet, including herbs, vitamins and other active ingredients.

Regulation
You should also be aware that the entire area of supplements for companion animals is very loosely regulated. A testing lab found that half the supplements for pets they tested either didn’t contain the claimed amount of active ingredient or included contaminants such as lead.

John Bauer, D.V.M., Ph.D., professor of clinical nutrition at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine, recommends three areas to consider when contemplating a supplement.

Efficacy. Does the supplement provide any proven benefit? Are there scientific studies, or at least a history of veterinarian anecdotal experience?

Safety. Has the product been tested and proven safe in dogs? Note that the designation “GRAS” (generally regarded as safe) applies to use by humans, and may or may not extend to other species.

Product quality. Does the product contain the active ingredient as claimed, and no deleterious substances?

The U.S. Center for Veterinary Medicine requested a report on three specific dietary supplements for pets. But the response addressed supplements in general, noting that “clear and precise regulations” needed to be established and an active system for reporting adverse events should be set up, with public access.

A non-profit industry group, the National Animal Supplement Council, was formed in 2001 in response to the unreliable regulatory environment. The NASC initiated a Quality Seal Program.

Membership in the NASC is open to manufacturers and distributors of animal health or nutritional supplements. (An animal health supplement is a product intended to support maintenance of normal biological structure and function in companion animals, such as MSM. A nutritional or feed supplement is a product intended to provide nutritional value as a component of a complete and balanced diet, such as vitamins and minerals.)

To display the quality seal on their products, web sites and literature, NASC members must meet these criteria:
•  The company must have a quality control manual with written standard operating procedures for control of the production process.
•  The company must have an established procedure for adverse event reporting/complaints.
•  The company must follow label guidelines for all products.
•  Product labels must include any warning and caution statements recommended by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Veterinary Medicine and/or the NASC Scientific Advisory Committee.

In Canada, regulation of supplements was undertaken by 1998’s Interim DIN Enforcement Directive and its companion Therapeutic Products Compliance Guide. These measures are not law, but guidelines for Health Canada inspectors in dealing with supplements. As the existing law (Canada’s Food and Drugs Act) covers both humans and animals, the guidelines could potentially cover both as well. New Natural Health Products Regulations took effect January 1, 2004, but this law specifically excluded veterinary substances, so the earlier guidelines remain in effect. Bill C-51 was introduced in 2008, with sweeping changes regarding regulation of supplements, but after a storm of protest, it died when Parliament was dissolved in September that year.

Presumably, the “interim” guidelines are still in effect for veterinary supplements. Under them, a Canadian may legally import a product approved in the U.S. but not in Canada, up to a maximum of a three-month supply, for personal use.

So, the take-home message from all of this is don’t start using a supplement just because someone you know or something you read recommends it. Check with your veterinarian before adding any supplements to your dog’s feeding plan, and be aware that the quality of these products can vary widely.

The author of Pudgy Pooch, Picky Pooch: A Pet Owner’s Guide to Dog Food and Canine Nutrition, Cheryl S. Smith is an award-winning writer. She shares her life with ‘Nestle,’ a Border Collie mix who is busy earning badges with the Dog Scouts of America. To read more about Cheryl, click here.

(Originally appeared in our May 2009 issue)

Evaluating structure
In terms of conformation, there are different theories as to the best time to choose your next Best in Show contender. Some breeders swear they can pick that ‘winner’ in the first 24 hours of its life. The idea is that the basic proportions and angulation can be seen when the puppy is “wet,” i.e., just born. Dee Devins of Tokabout Afghans has been using this method for many years and says, “The earlier the better before they learn to tense up, you support the puppy under the chest and head, and under the butt, and let the legs hang down. They are little limp noodles, totally relaxed and you can see length of neck and back as well as angulation and even ear set by looking at the distance across the skull. We also stack the puppy week by week for an ongoing evaluation.” Final decisions on which puppy goes where will be made at about eight weeks, or even later, based on watching the development of the litter and getting to know the personalities of the pups since structure is not the only thing that breeders are looking at.

Pat and the late Bob Hastings used their extensive experience handling, breeding and judging to put together the Puppy Puzzle evaluation (www.dogfolk.com). They contend that the perfect time to assess a puppy is at eight weeks old, plus or minus three days. The idea is that at this time in a puppy’s development, you can get a snapshot of what their adult proportions will be. The Hasting method also contains a temperament portion to assess the puppy’s adaptation to a new environment and handling by someone unknown to the pup.

Reliability
How good are these tests at predicting adult conformation? In terms of basic angulation and structural proportions, the evaluations are good predictors.

Breeder Alison Gowan, D.V.M., says, “Within the litter the evaluations stand. The one I pick as the best pup in the litter remains my first pick when grown. At maturity, the basic structure is generally what I expected but the amount of substance on the finished dog can be difficult to predict.” For size of bone, bite, curl of tail or lack thereof, coat quality and size, the evaluations don’t tell us anything.

Probably the best way for breeders to choose their next champion is to keep the entire litter or at least their favourite few for as long as possible before deciding.

There are upsides and downsides to this method since puppies bond with each other and getting that early socialization is more work. For breeders with large or giant breeds with large litters, the costs escalate enormously, as do housing requirements. Breeders of Toy breeds have an advantage in this case and routinely keep pups longer.

Testing temperament
Puppy aptitude or temperament tests have evolved over the years in an attempt to predict whether a particular puppy will be a good guide dog, police dog, dog-sport competitor or family companion. These tests are designed to look at a pup’s interaction with people and reactions to different stresses and stimuli. The idea is that the puppy’s responses will be a good predictor of the kind of adult it will be. There are many tests out there and they are fairly similar, but probably the best known is the Volhard Puppy Aptitude Test, or PAT (www.volhard.com).

Puppies are brought individually to a place they’ve never seen, and tested by someone they don’t know. Sometimes the breeder is there, other times not. Typical tests are things like seeing if the puppy will approach the strange person and with what demeanour. Does the pup fling itself at the new person and start chewing fingers and shoelaces, or does it approach cautiously or not at all? The theory is that based on the tests, breeders will be able to predict whether the adult dog will be a challenge to train or an easy family companion.

The Vohards recommend testing on the 49th day exactly.

Dependability
So just how reliable are these tests at predicting adult behaviour? Assessing puppies for temperament is of-ten inconclusive because of the way the different tests are administered. Each test location is different and each tester has a personal bias and thus can interpret behaviour slightly differently. Also, different breeds will react differently to the tests.

If you throw a toy for a Whippet, you’ll get a different reaction than if you throw a toy for a Leonberger. If a Leonberger doesn’t retrieve the toy, what does that tell you about the puppy? If you know Leos, you know that is normal behaviour for them. It’s also normal if a Whippet doesn’t retrieve, though it would be very unusual if the Whippet doesn’t chase. In both cases, the test proves nothing about the working ability of either breed since neither of them is a natural retriever.

Studies have looked at the predictive value of these temperament tests and in all cases the predictive value has been either none at all or very low. A study by R. Beaudet, A. Chalifoux and A. Dallaire in 1994 (Predictive value of activity level and behavioral evaluation on future dominance in puppies. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 40: 273-284) found significant behavioural changes in pups tested at seven weeks and then again at 16 weeks. They found that dominance behaviour in the seven-weeks pups shifted toward neutrality or submission at 16 weeks in 34 out of the 39 puppies tested. The other five puppies went in the other direction, but the study does not indicate whether that was from submission to neutrality or neutrality to dominance. A study done by Goddard and Beilharz in 1986 (Early prediction of adult behavior in potential guide dogs. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 15: 247-260) found some predictive value, but they used a series of different tests performed weekly and started when pups where 12 weeks old.

Essentially it seems that temperament testing of seven- or eight-week-old puppies doesn’t tell us much at all, though testing of older puppies has shown some predictive value. Guide dog breeding programs don’t do testing as such; the dogs pass or fail depending on their ability to take on responsibility and “selectively disobey” a command when necessary. That can be ascertained only when the dog is mature enough to learn a pretty complex set of commands and behaviours and takes place when the dogs are well over a year old.

All that said, any breeder will tell you that they can see personality in pups and even though no scientist has yet come up with a way to prove it, certain traits can be perceived. Any breeder knows the puppy that “draws the eye.” The one that says “Look at me” almost from birth will be a dog that commands attention through personality as much as any physical attribute when it is mature.

No single evaluation will tell everything. Simply stacking a puppy and going over it will not tell you much about how it moves. A puppy’s reaction to stimuli on one day is pretty inconclusive. There’s no substitute for watching and evaluating every puppy over a period of time. Puppies constantly change – the smallest becomes the largest, the largest suddenly becomes middle of the pack and the one with the best head now looks awful. In many breeds, the colours change as well; pups with great masks become adults with broken masks and pups with strong, clear colours become washed out. The confident so-called dominant puppy that hides under a chair when taken to the test site, but then grows up to be an outgoing happy adult.

As much as we all wish there were a 100-per-cent reliable way to predict the future personality and looks of our puppies, tests and evaluations can give us a glimpse, but only time can give us the whole picture.

Watch our Puppy Evaluations video here.

Frequent contributor Naomi Kane is a CGN evaluator and has been breeding Leonbergers for over 10 years.

(Originally appeared in our May 2009 issue)

Tough economic times are bringing grief to many Canadian dog-owners. Food, medical care, training, equipment and grooming all add up. The usual rule-of-thumb for regular doggy expenditures clicks in at $1,200 to $1,500 annually.

That’s not so much, compared with cable fees and even cappuccinos. But for folks in desperate times, the money just isn’t there.

Shelters and humane societies in many parts of the country are reporting an upswing in the number of dogs brought in because owners can no longer afford their care. In some places, these numbers are three and four times higher than last year’s.

Dogs at risk
Sadly, it’s often older dogs who are surrendered by owners who can’t afford their medical costs. The very young are also at risk – pregnant or nursing dogs and their pups.

Lindsay Jones of the Calgary Humane Society reports, “We’ve noticed a lot of surrenders due to the inability-to-afford seem to happen when the pet requires medical attention or when they have babies.”

Bringing the animal to a shelter is the best-case scenario. Extreme circumstances have pushed some owners to euthanize or abandon pets they can no longer care for.

Another common problem comes up when people are forced to move to another home, whether locally or in another town or province. It’s tough to find pet-friendly landlords at the best of times, and competition for these rentals is fierce.

Sometimes the only answer is to surrender a pet to the local SPCA or humane society. Kat Horne, volunteer with the Nova Scotia SPCA, says they’re seeing a lot of that.

“People are coming in very upset, because they have to move,” she says. One solution her shelter is trying, in certain situations, is to hold a surrendered pet until the owner gets settled. “Our goal is to keep people with their pets.”

Bright spots still exist
Happily, adoptions are staying stable for the most part. Shawna Randolph, of the Edmonton Humane Society, explains, “People in Edmonton seem to realize the value of adopting animals from us, since all cats and dogs up for adoption are spayed or neutered, microchipped, have up-to-date vaccinations, come with free vet exam, etc.”

Some places are holding their own against the recessionary wave. Both the Toronto and the Regina humane societies say they haven’t noticed any increase in surrenders to their shelters. Adoptions are steady in Toronto and in Regina they are up 20 per cent.

For many of us, our dog is part of the family, one of the greatest treasures we have, and we’ll ride out the up-and-down economy together. The more fortunate among us can help out by donating to shelters, rescue organizations and groups like the Farley Foundation).

Stretching your dog dollars
Experts agree: Don’t cut back on regular medical care like shots and heartworm tests or on proper nutrition for your dog. Prevention is always cheaper than a cure.

If you want to cut costs, try some creative ways to save.

• Spay or neuter your dog. Ask about low-cost services from your local humane society or SPCA.

• Look into pet insurance.

• Consider setting aside savings, like the new Tax-Free Savings Account, specifically for your dog’s care. (See Canada Revenue Agency for TFSA information.)

• If your dog is chronically ill, ask your vet about volume discounts on meds or other care.

• If you have friends with dogs, think about sharing/borrowing crates, grooming equipment, etc., when needed.

• Check out dollar stores and thrift shops for pet supplies like blankets, towels, and dog dishes.

• Learn to do-it-yourself. Make a dog coat from fleece or felt. Knit a sweater. Bake your own pet treats. Even grooming can become a bonding experience for you and your dog.

Mary Fran McQuade is a Toronto-based writer and dog lover. She shares her life with ‘Seti,’ a Border Collie mix.
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