Mile Marker

Meggie took her No Puppy Pledge this week. Though she has a heavy load of heartworms, her veterinary surgeon explained that otherwise healthy bitches are better able to handle the stress of surgery before heartworm treatment than after. The dead heartworms in the system are a bigger threat than just going ahead and getting the spay surgery out of the way earlier before heartworm treatment begins.

So Meggie underwent an ovariohysterectomy. She will definitively never again have puppies, which is the entire point. Gratefully she is approximately a two-year-old adult dog, so hopefully she will retain much of the long-term physical benefits of leaving a female dog with her ovaries through adulthood. 

If Meggie were going to be living with me for her entire life, I would have opted to either keep her intact and never allow her the opportunity to become pregnant, or I would have chosen an ovary-sparing hysterectomy. Retaining the ovaries significantly reduces the risk of developing certain diseases, potentially leading to a longer life for the dog. Rescues, including BCSave, have to ere on the side of caution to prevent human carelessness and make the best use of limited resources, so in Meggie's case a traditional ovariohysterectomy makes the best of her situation.

Meggie came into rescue with a singleton puppy in tow, so her mammaries and the blood vessels inside and around them are enlarged. This caused a fair amount of bleeding under the skin around the spay surgery incision site so Meggie has significant bruising. For the first 48 hours Meggie wore a pressure bandage around her belly to prevent additional bleeding.

Meggie has graduated into wearing a soft comfort cone and a belly-guard body suit to prevent her from licking the incision site. As of day three the suit and cone have done an adequate job of preventing her from messing with the wound site. I have had to rotate to using a longer hard plastic cone at night while I can't be as vigilant. 

After testing three different cones and two bodysuits, the best post-surgery suit is this Belly Guard brand recovery onesie, and the most comfortable cone is this All Four Paws brand comfy cone. The Belly Guard onesie is lightweight and breathable, and the best feature is convenient potty breaks with snaps in the front to secure the flap while Meggie does her business. I don't have to remove the suit over her head and it stays clean and dry while she's walking around outside. The comfy cone prevents her from licking but is soft, smaller, and fastens with velcro, keeping her more comfortable. 

The veterinary surgeon placed absorbable sutures under the skin and glued the skin closed. It's done this way so clients don't have to return for another vet visit for suture removal. She has to wear the lampshade for 7 to 10 days, and there is significant bruising because of the bleeding, but overall she is doing well.

I am incredibly grateful to Dr. Jenny Elkins at Texas Foundation for Animal Care (TFAC), a donation-based satellite clinic that provides low-cost heartworm treatment and neuter surgery. Hundreds of dogs in Texas are euthanized daily due to heartworm disease, which spreads through mosquitoes and is contracted year-round due to our warm climate. While it's affordable to prevent infection with monthly oral or six-month injections, the costly treatment of infected dogs often prevents their adoption or leads to surrender for euthanasia. 

Big cone, little head

Meggie's pressure bandage above, belly guard bodysuit and soft comfort cone below

Radar dog

Pearls:

• Meggie took the No Puppy Pledge, opting for an ovariohysterectomy to prevent future pregnancies despite her heartworm condition.

• Spaying before heartworm treatment was chosen, as the dead and dying heartworms after treatment pose a bigger threat.

• The ideal post-surgery suit for Meggie is the Belly Guard recovery onesie, which is lightweight, breathable, and allows easy potty breaks with front snaps. The Comfy Cone is good too, as it's soft, secures with velcro, and ensures comfort while preventing licking.

• Although a traditional spay was performed due to rescue resource constraints, ideally an ovary-sparing hysterectomy or keeping her intact (preventing pregnancy with management) would have been considered. 

• Despite bruising and post-surgery precautions, Meggie is recovering well, thanks to the efforts of Dr. Jenny Elkins and her staff at TFAC, a clinic addressing the heartworm crisis in Texas.

This sweet dog is available for adoption through Border Collie Save and Rescue.

We're All Learning

Our new foster dog, Meggie, is a two-way teacher. 

She wrecked her new orthopedic bed, teaching us to hold off on quality items until trust is established. Now, an old towel suffices when we're not around and Meggie is inside her crate, and when we're in the room with her, she's on Gunner's spare donut cuddler bed overnight.

Lesson learned: Quality items come after trust is built.

Gunner and Meggie

To address Meggie's barrier reactivity, we've started behavior modification games. This video clip documents her initial barrier reactivity when she first came into our foster care. When Meggie is quiet while the other dog is present, I toss treats so calm behavior is reinforced. 

Lesson learned: Reinforce sustained calm behavior, so eventually the trigger produces a positive conditioned emotional response.

Managing reactivity is essential during ongoing behavior modification. Placing a blanket over Meggie's short-term confinement area reduces her barrier reactivity temporarily while I'm feeding the other dogs in the same room with her. The blanket comes off once everyone is finished eating and I am available to manage the dogs' interactions.

A blanket over her ex-pen quashes reactivity while I'm feeding the other dogs

Lesson learned: Blocking a reactive dog's view manages reactivity.

With Meggie undergoing heartworm treatment she'll be restricted from vigorous activity, so using her food as enrichment and providing engaging chew toys is vital. Stuffing hollow toys creatively with her daily food and treats replaces a mundane food bowl. 

Lesson learned: Creatively stuff chew toys for mealtime engagement.

We've turned the neighbor's barking dogs into a training opportunity, reinforcing calmness when Meggie sees other dogs by playing the "Look at that!" game.

Meggie is a sweet pup, cherishing cuddle time and bonding with Jackie. 

Lesson learned: Use external stimuli for training purposes. Also, Meggie is a sweet girl, well worth all the effort. This charming dog is available for adoption through BCSave.

Pearls:

• There are many behavior modification games to change unwanted behavior into desirable habits. One such game for reducing barrier reactivity is to have the reactive dog behind a barrier in a controlled environment. Let another calm, non-reactive dog enter the room. Every time the reactive dog displays calm, settled behavior, toss a treat into her enclosure. Repeat these short, less-than-a-minute teaching sessions until the reactive dog learns when she stays calm while the other dog is present, wonderful things happen.

• An even better game to play for reactive dogs is the "Look at that!" game to counter-condition a learned response. Keep your dog below threshold, or still showing quiet and calm behavior, while you teach your dog to look at the exciting stimulus, then repeatedly reward them for staying calm while just looking at it.

• To play the Look At That game: have a very high-value reward, like pea-sized bits of hot dog or chicken. Be sure you're at a distance and time where you control how close or far you are from the trigger. Always keep your dog under threshold so that they notice the trigger without going over threshold. Sometimes this means starting at any distance without going over threshold, practicing first at home with a neutral target (anything that they do not react to).

• As soon as your dog glances at the trigger (another dog, a car, or whatever your dog finds stimulating or scary), click or say "Yes!" to mark that behavior and give them a delicious treat. After your dog progresses to the point they are offering a glance toward the trigger, add the verbal cue "Look!" Your dog quickly starts to look at the scary or stimulating trigger when you give the "Look!" cue and then eagerly turns to you for a tasty tidbit.

• Continue rewarding their bravery, and keep sessions short by using only five to 10 tiny treats at a time. Give your dog frequent re-set breaks and make each session brief and positive. Keep practicing this game until your dog is calmly looking at the trigger in anticipation of the click. The end goal is a conditioned emotional response so your dog remains calm when they see the trigger, and eventually you completely fade the food treat.

Follow Animal Accolades as we continue creating positive conditioned emotional responses to triggers and other behavior modification.

A Challenging Endeavor

Meggie

Meet Meggie, our newest foster. "Surrendered to rescue by an elderly breeder in Louisiana" was said when Sharlann, a rescue volunteer, delivered Meggie from inside a wire crate, double-locked and secured with bull-nosed clips and bread ties. Meggie's crate was in the comfortably air-conditioned backseat of Sharlann's Ford F-150 when we met at the pre-arranged meeting spot between Austin and Fort Worth.

While handing off our previous foster Pix, a heartworm-negative border collie, into Sharlann's care, Sharlann graciously agreed to bring Meggie, a heartworm-positive dog in need of long-term medical fostering, into my care after Jessica, Meggie's previous foster, delivered Meggie to Sharlann's home.

Pix has found her perfect forever home and is a very different dog than Meggie

Meggie came into Border Collie Save and Rescue (BC Save) with a singleton puppy in tow, not yet weaned, that Meggie separated from the same day I got her. Meggie carries a heavy load of heartworms, having missed heartworm prevention for some time. 

In the first 48 hours, challenges have surfaced. Meggie demonstrates "I need more space" behaviors and reacts to my resident dogs when on leash or in her crate. House and crate training have had a rough start due to escapes and broken crate locks. Meggie lunges at my boy dogs in an attempt to gain more space between herself and what Meggie initially experienced as scary or threatening.

All my dogs, before I met them, had long-term medical fosters that guided them through challenging times. Rosco was rescued from a dire situation, hairless and covered in painful sores due to mange, and absolutely destined for the big needle. The Cocker Spaniel Rescue of East Texas tagged him for rescue, boosted him from the city pound, and rehabilitated him until he was ready to attend their adoption event where I met him. That was 15 years ago and Rosco is still going strong and loving life.

Gunner faced heartworms and adoption challenges after being picked up as a stray and taken in the dog catcher's scary truck to the Galveston city shelter. Following a rescue and rehabilitation journey, he ultimately boomeranged back into All Border Collie Rescue's (ABC Rescue) care after a failed adoption. I adopted Gunner at an ABC Rescue event eight years ago. Gunner, my right hand, now has an alphabet's worth of AKC performance and sport titles after his name. He's one of the very best things that has ever happened in my life.

Jackie, too, had a difficult start, but she now has multiple trick dog and agility titles and a bright future as an urban herder. It's thanks to BC Save's cadre of rescue volunteers that Jackie is now thriving.

All of my dogs were fostered by kind-hearted volunteers who generously offered their time, energy, resources, and love to dogs in need of a second chance. I've been the beneficiary of these rescue heroes time and again.

Medically, Meggie is still intact and has started heartworm treatment with antibiotics, steroid therapy, and heartworm prevention. Spaying is scheduled, and a microchip will be implanted since she doesn't have one yet. Meggie will complete a series of fast-kill injections after recovering from her spay surgery. 

Behaviorally, housetraining is a priority. I'm keeping her tethered to me or confined to a small area or crate while indoors, with regular visits outside, then making a huge fuss and giving high-value treats every time she produces in the approved potty area. I'm managing the other dogs' and her space with clever ex-pen, baby-gate, and crate use, so only appropriate interactions are reinforced. We're working on calm barrier and leash training with reactivity-reducing games.

Meggie in her short-term confinement area, complete with bed, water, and enticing long-lasting chew toys

I'm immensely grateful to BC Save and the Texas Foundation for Animal Care (TFAC) for their life-saving services and affordable medical care. Dr. Jenny Wight of TFAC is overseeing Meggie's heartworm treatment and spay, the same vet who cared for Jackie.

Now it's my turn to pay it forward. The road with Meggie may be challenging, but her incredible sweetness and love for people provide motivation and joy. Meggie is available for adoption through BC Save.

Pearls:

• Establish perfect potty habits: control your pup's access to your home by keeping them tethered to you on a leash, inside their short-term confinement area, or crated at all times. Every two hours, as well as after they finish eating, wake from sleep, and after every playtime, take them to their designated potty area. Make a huge fuss when your dog produces and immediately reward them with the highest value treat they love. Do this each and every time your puppy eliminates in their designated potty area. 

• Crate train: teach your new buddy that being inside a crate is a wonderful experience. Let your pup watch you toss a few of their favorite treats into the crate with the door closed while your dog is outside the crate, so they want to get inside. Then open the crate, let your pup gobble the treats and exit. Play this quick game several times throughout the day. Next close the crate door for a few moments while raining treats down from outside the crate while the pup is inside. Gradually build to leaving the door closed with your dog inside for a few moments, then several seconds, then a few minutes per training session. Build up slowly until your pup is happy being alone in the crate. Always provide interesting long-lasting chew toys when you leave your pup in the crate for any amount of time.

• Teach your dog to settle quietly: leave a hollow toy, such as a Kong, thoughtfully stuffed with your pup's food and the occasional treat, every time you leave your dog on their own. Meggie loves this stuffing recipe: start by shoving a freeze-dried raw liver treat into the small top hole of the Kong. Smear honey (Meggie likes organic Agave nectar) on the interior walls of the Kong, then fill it with food and the odd treat and loosely plug the large bottom hole with crossed high-value treats (Meggie loves crunchy-soft lamb lung squares). Every time your dog investigates and chews the Kong, it reinforces calm behavior by dropping out food treats. Feeding your new dog's daily meals this way from the outset establishes a lifetime of calm settling behavior. 

Follow Meggie's rehabilitation journey on Animal Accolades to learn how to teach perfect potty habits, loose-leash walking, fix reactivity, and more.