Previously published in DVM NEWSMAGAZINE by Chris Sweeney, April 1, 2010 Lafayette, Colo. — Sometimes controversy comes in small packages. In fact, a Colorado dog-biting incident by a miniature Dachshund named Spork turned into an ongoing legal dispute that even the most astute practitioner could not have been prepared to handle. During a visit to Lafayette, Colo.-based Jasper Animal Hospital, Spork, reportedly under a discernible amount of stress, bit a veterinary technician in the face. Colorado law exempts bites to animal health workers from vicious dog laws, but Lafayette officials opted to assert home rule and deem the 10-year-old Dachshund a threat, according to CBS' KCNC-TV. Soon after the incident, Donald Dodge, DVM and founder of the hospital, was thrust into the media's spotlight. The story hit the Internet and went viral. "I think that the most important thing that I learned is how quickly things can change and misinformation can spread, given the way technology works today," Dodge says. "With the way that the news is these days, local news seems to be a thing of the past. What gets the ratings, what gets to people's emotions, spreads like wildfire." The blowback from Spork's bite toward Dodge is palpable, and even includes threats directed at Dodge from people not even in Colorado. He even got a death threat.
Previously published in DVM Magazine February 2010 Raleigh, N.C. --With almost two decades in the American Kennel Club's (AKC) top spot, the Labrador Retriever has once again clinched the title of most popular purebred dog in America. The 2009 list of the most popular breeds, released in late January by the AKC, places the Labs at the top for the 19th year, followed by the German Shepherd, which bumped the Yorkshire Terrier from the second most-popular spot. This is the first time German Shepherds have earned the number two position on the favorite breed list in more than 30 years, says AKC. Shepherds were the No. 1 breed in the 1920s, but their popularity began to wane after World War II. AKC says the breed's resurgence in popularity may be linked to increased attention for the German Shepherd's security duties at home and abroard in police, guard and military dog work. Other top breeds include the Yorkshire Terrier in third place, the Golden Retriever in fourth, the Beagle in fifth place, Boxers in sixth, Bulldogs in seventh, Dachshunds in eighth, Poodles in ninth and Shih Tzus rounding out the list in 10th place. • German Shepherds replaced Labrador Retrievers as the favorite breed in Columbus, Detroit, Honolulu, Memphis, Miami, Providence and West Palm Beach.
• Yorkshire Terriers topped the list of favorites in Oakland, Tampa, New York City and Philadelphia.
• Bulldogs rose to the top of the list in Los Angeles.
• Bull Terriers are the favorite breed in Newark, N.J.
• Providence is the only city in which the Labrador Retriever doesn’t even break into the top five favorites.
• Some cities have other unusual top breeds like the Mastiff in Des Moines, the Miniature Pinscher and Shetland Sheepdog in Richmond and the Chihuahua in Honolulu. Modest gains have been seen in the popularity of working breeds like German Shepherds, while Bulldogs, French Bulldogs, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and Havanese have made the biggest leaps in the last decade. Easy-to-groom breeds like the Mastiff and Rhodesian Ridgeback have increased in popularity, while high-maintenance and rare breeds have been in the decline, adds AKC.
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I recently evaluated the Doggieshield®, which is designed to prevent dog damage to your door (from scratching, pawing, and all other terrible, destructive behaviors). The Doggieshield® is basically a durable, synthetic piece of plastic that is designed to easily adhere to your door, and was invented to be easy to install without the use of screws or adhesive tape. Upon opening the package, I found the instructions pretty difficult to follow (this coming from someone who only owns IKEA furniture). It would have been helpful to have a picture of assembly instructions; rather, I had to go to the website to look for a visual aid. Despite that, I still couldn’t find instructions on the website, and limited information was available. Feeling like an idiot (I swear, I have 13 years of education), I couldn’t get my straps to adhere around my door. I found the instructions hard to understand, and found the product to have an overall home-made field [parts of the product (straps) were protected in Saran-wrap, while the instructions were printed from a poor quality home printer]. That said, kudos to the company for inventing it… I’m sure for those with more technical prowess, it may be easier for them to install. This product might be ideal if you have a bad dog and are going to visit your family members (who love their doors more than your dog), then yes, this would be a good travel gadget to bring along. As for me, perhaps I’ll have my boyfriend assemble it instead. Finally, while this is a relatively cost-effective way of preventing major damage to your door, it doesn’t fix the underlying problem – inappropriate dog behavior. I’d honestly focus more on using appropriate positive and negative feedback to get a dog to stop scratching at the door. In other words, a classic mistake that pet owners make is to “reward” the dog when he’s scratching at the door, destroying your nice property in the process, or forcing you to buy gadgets like the Doggieshield to begin with. When you reward your dog by opening the door, you’re basically training him to scratch to be let in. Instead, you should only open the door when he’s not scratching, teaching him that this action doesn’t result in the reward of being let in or out. But I digress.
   I pride myself on being an earth-loving, green, crunchy, granola-type of person, and admit it – I eat humus and granola. That said, I never feed my dog certain types of table food – especially granola or trail mix, since it contains poisonous raisins (which cause kidney failure!). That said, guess what just came out – doggy granola! I was pleasantly surprised to try Granola Barks, a granola dog treat specifically designed for dogs, based out of Nashville, TN. This is the first meat-based granola (which sounds initially pretty gross, when you think about it), and is pretty natural and pure. In other words, you read the ingredients, and know everything that’s in there: chicken, rolled oats, and some natural preservatives to prevent spoiling. Granola Barks are approximately 1”X1” small, thin, bite-sized snacks, and are handmade with all natural, all American, human-grade white meat chicken (no chicken by-product), and old-fashioned rolled oats. So, the true test – is it palatable? These little bites actually look edible to humans. JP, my 11 year old, rescue pit bull, is a very picky eater (he even turns his nose up to pig ears), and even he seemed to enjoy them! He ate them within 15 seconds, which is a pretty good sign of palatability! Definitely 2 paws up!
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