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Barking (driving you...) mad?
Sample Update
Spinal problems in Dogs (Part 2)
Prize winners!
Barking (driving you...) mad?
Some dogs are more vocal than others, but when your dog barks, do you know why? Dogs bark for a number of reasons: they may be scared, guarding, frustrated, excited, bored, alone, or seeking attention.
If dogs are scared they may bark with their ears back and tail held low, standing away from what is frightening them. They are barking to tell us that they are unhappy, providing us with a warning that they cannot deal with with the situation they are in. It’s important that we listen to this warning and take away what’s scaring them.
Dogs also bark when they are guarding (and can sometimes appear excitable and wag their tail). This is to alert us to a potential danger, and protect themselves and their family from it. Dogs usually stop barking once the threat has gone.
Frustration is another cause of dogs barking. This is often because the dog cannot access something that they find enticing (e.g. watching a ball game from indoors and wanting to take part), so the barking may also be accompanied with other behaviour such as jumping up or scratching at the door. If you know what is making your dog bark, by making sure they cannot see, hear or smell it, the barking should cease.
Dogs may also bark when they are excited (for example, when they know they are going for a walk) and can often bound around at the same time. If your dog is becoming overexcited, try not to raise your voice as their behaviour may worsen. You may wish to try and distract them by playing a game or doing obedience training.
Sometimes, if dogs are bored, they may bark as they have nothing to entertain them. Destructive behaviour may also accompany the barking. Boredom can be alleviated by introducing more walks, toys, other people/dogs, games or training into their day.
If dogs are left alone, they may begin to bark to tell us they cannot cope with being left on their own (again, destructive behaviour may be carried out along with this type of barking); this is also called “separation anxiety”. You may notice your dog becoming anxious before you leave, and they may also soil the area in which they are left. You may find the following links provide helpful advice on beating boredom and coping alone. If your dog’s destructive behaviour continues you may wish to seek further help from your vet or an animal behavioural specialist.
Finally, if your dog is seeking attention, they may bark to try and get it. In this case, the barking will most likely stop when you turn to look or speak to them. Most dogs enjoy contact with their owners and other dogs and don’t like to be ignored!
Evidently there are lots of reasons why your dog may bark, but don’t worry if they hardly do, some dogs are naturally very quiet (and some never bark at all)!
For more information on barking please visit http://www.dogstrust.org.uk/az/factsheetsanddownloads/factsheetbarking10.pdf.
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Sample Update
Thanks again to everybody who provided DNA and faecal samples from their dogs in the collection exercise we started in January this year (for more information please visit http://www.dogslife.ac.uk/newsletter/view/29#dna). We have collected over 450 DNA swabs and nearly 400 faecal samples, which was a tremendous response from everybody involved, with almost everyone we could contact agreeing to provide a sample. You may like to know what has happened with them so far…
At the moment we have extracted the DNA from all the oral swabs (this involves separating the DNA from the cells, bacteria and anything else that was in the dogs mouth at the time of sampling), and this has been safely stored in freezers, as has the faecal material. Some of the faecal material from dogs who were reported to have had a number of gastrointestinal episodes (i.e. they have had vomiting and/or diarrhoea reported in their Dogslife records on more than three separate occasions) is being screened to look for new viruses which might be associated with the development of such diseases. We are looking for infections which we don’t at present know whether dogs actually get, so if we find any we will screen all the samples to look at the frequency with which they might be present in the population. Of course, they may not be there at all!
We are shortly going to sequence the entire genome (all 2.5 billion DNA molecules) of one Labrador Retriever to see how it differs to other breeds which have been sequenced. We will then look at some of the changes in the DNA obtained from dogs we collected to see if they are associated with particular types of diseases which owners have recorded (for more information click here). We also plan to sequence the DNA in some of the faecal samples to look at the diversity of the bacterial populations in the guts of dogs which have had gastrointestinal upsets compared to those which have not. Thanks again to all the members who responded to provide us with their dog’s samples. If you have been sent DNA and/or faecal collection kits but haven’t returned them, please send back any samples you can using the pre-paid envelope we provided. We look forward to telling you more about what we’ve found in the near future.
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Spinal problems in Dogs (Part 2)
Neoplasia (cancer)
Neoplasia of the vertebral column and/or its contents is a less common cause of spinal disease in dogs. Neoplasms can develop within the spinal cord, in the tissues surrounding the spinal cord (Figure 1) or in the nerves running from the spinal cord. These tend to affect dogs which are older, and large breed dogs are at greater risk than those of smaller breeds. The exact signs which develop depend on the precise location of the neoplasm, and their treatment can be very challenging as inherently there is a risk that the normal tissues surrounding the neoplasm could also be injured.
Meningitis
Meningitis is an inflammation of the meninges (the tissues which surround the spinal cord). Meningitis can occur as the result of auto-immune disease (the dogs own immune system attacking itself), or infections, and the treatment and outcome depends on the cause. The diagnosis will require the sampling of fluid (cerebrospinal fluid) surrounding the spinal cord to look for the presence of inflammatory cells and infectious agents.
Discospondylitis
Discospondylitis is the infection of the vertebral disc and vertebral bodies either side of it (Figure 2). The condition is quite uncommon. It is usually seen in large breed dogs of middle age and males are more commonly affected than females. Bacteria are usually the cause of the infection, which result in severe pain and fever. The bacteria are thought to get to the intervertebral disc space through the blood stream from an infection elsewhere in the dogs body, although occasionally they can arrive in other ways (such as with grass seeds which have migrated through the body). Eventually the intervertebral disc can become so badly affected by the infection that spinal cord compression can develop causing neurological signs, but this is rare. Because the bacteria move through the bloodstream, the culture of the dog’s blood and urine can often identify the underlying bacteria. Usually discospondylitis can be treated successfully with a long course of an appropriate antibiotic.
Fibrocartilaginous embolism
Fibrocartilaginous embolism is essentially the loss of spinal cord function due to the blockage of blood vessels in the spinal cord by small parts of the intervertebral disc. It is not clearly understood precisely how the part of the disc ends up in the blood stream of the spinal cord, but the end result is that the loss of blood supply to the spinal cord produces a profound loss of activity of the spinal cord. This is usually manifest acutely, with owners reporting that the dog was running rapidly and appeared to yelp and fall and immediately loose the function of its fore and/or hind legs. After this point the condition tends to be pain-free, and the severity of the neurological deficits depends on the severity of loss of blood supply to the spinal cord. No specific treatment appears to affect the outcome of dogs with fibrocartilaginous embolism, although many will make a near-full to full recovery if their clinical signs are not severe initially.
Trauma
Trauma to the spinal cord can occur through any form of injury, most usually by a road traffic accident or after a fall from a height. Such force applied to the vertebral column can result in extrusion (herniation) of a disc and/or fracture/luxation of the vertebrae (Figures 3a & 3b). The spinal cord does not tolerate acute (rapid) injury well, and thus clinical signs can be profound. Management of such injuries depends on their severity. Surgical stabilisation is often required and is challenging surgery even in experienced hands.
Degenerative myelopathy
Degenerative myelopathy is a neurological disorder resulting in the progressive development of weakness of the hind limbs, an in-coordinated gait and loss of the neurological function (ultimately leading to urinary and faecal incontinence). It occurs in late age and is generally very slow to develop and progress, but ultimately leads to the loss of the ability to walk on the hind limbs. A genetic mutation has been identified for the disease in other breeds of dog, although (to our knowledge) this has not been confirmed as the same genetic mutation in Labrador Retrievers. Although physical therapy may slow the progression of clinical signs, no treatment exists which can stop or reverse them.
Thanks to Steven Clarke of Willows Veterinary Referral Service for co-authoring the article.
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Prize winners!
Congratulations to the winners of September’s prize draw! The following Dogslife members have each won £10 of Pets at Home vouchers: Miss S from County Durham, Miss D from Cheshire, Miss P from West Midlands, Mr L from West Sussex, Mr B from Fife, Mrs Y from Leicestershire, Ms L from Liverpool, Ms Y from Hampshire, Mrs B from West Lothian, and Mr W from Lincolnshire. We hope you have fun spending the vouchers on your pet!
Don’t worry if you haven’t won a prize this time, by keeping your dog’s record up to date, you will automatically be entered into the next prize draw in three months’ time. Huge thanks to everyone who continues to tell us about their dog’s progress; all the information submitted to the website is invaluable to our research, and will help us to find out what keeps dogs healthy!
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