Today was not a good day for Major Payne or myself.  I have had Bostons for quite a while and thought I was quite wise as far as taking care of them.  Today I learned a few new things the hard way.

Major and I were outside with his sister, Mitcha, and his puppy cousin.  I was relaxing in my chair watching the dogs play.  I think I was a bit smug thinking how well I was taking care of these three dogs.  There was plenty of shade for them to be in, a pool for them to cool off in, a frozen toy for them to play with and a large bowl of ice water. 

You know what happens when you think you have everything is under control?  You are usually proven wrong.

While chatting with my neighbor, I notice Major wobble and drag his hind legs.  I was pretty sure that he was overheated so I picked him up, carried him into the house and got the other two in.  I wrapped a cool towel around Major.  He just laid on the floor almost cationic.  I should have taken his temperature rectally with a human thermometer but I just kept pouring cool water on the towel and rubbing the part that was not wrapped around him under his arms and his groin.  After about 15 minutes I was starting to panic.  Major would never allow me to do this if there was not something very wrong.  I called the vet and they said to bring him right in.  (I am fortunate to live 1.5 miles from a great vet.)  His temperature was 101.5 which is the average temperature for a dog.  They said he had been overheated.  His gums were darker than normal.  So home we went.

Major made a brief recovery and demanded to have dinner.  I was pleased and thought the crisis was over.  After he ate he began rubbing his face on the carpet.  I took a good look at his face and noticed his snout was starting to swell.  This is not the first time this has happen so I immediately gave him a Benadryl.  My concern rose as I watched the swelling grow by the minute.  After 20 minutes the swelling had gotten so bad that the area around his eye was beginning to swell.  Back to the vet we went.

They were quite concerned when I walked in carrying Major.  By that time his only eye was almost swollen shut.  They gave him a steroid shot and asked me to wait until the swelling went down before leaving.  I began to panic as the swelling made his jowls hard and began going down his chin to his neck.  The vet kept checking in on us every 5 minutes.  I was sitting on the floor with this otherwise rambunctious dog just laying on my lap.  By that point I don't think he could even see.

After 45 minutes, I could feel his jowls begin to soften and his eye was opening again.  We waited a while longer until it was obvious the swelling was no longer a danger to his breathing and I took my sleepy dog home.

Why such a severe reaction?  The vet believes that he was bitten multiple times and that getting overheated made the reaction much worse than normal.  If the swelling had been allowed to progress, it could have been fatal.  I believe this is true for all dogs, but I know that it is very true for short snout dogs such as Bostons.

I am writing this article because I learned that no matter how well you think you a taking care of your dog(s) things can go bad very quickly.  Please keep an eye on your Bostons when they are outside this summer.  Get them cooled off at the first sign of them being overheated.  This is best done by using a cool, wet towel, applying cool tap water to the dog's paws, ears and groin while in front of a fan.  Do not force water down their throat.  If any swelling ever occurs around their snout, give them a Benadryl right away and if the swelling becomes severe, get them to the vet or you could lose them.

 Edited by:  Jan Mitchell

A GENTLE DEBUT - time to adjust the first hours
It's tempting to introduce your newly adopted dog to all your family and friends in a wild debut party.
However, most rescued dogs need time to adjust to foreign surroundings, family, and routine. It will take about three weeks and sometimes more for your new dog to start understanding your routines and become more relaxed. Please be patient.



A GENTLE DEBUT - time to adjust the first hours
Too much commotion may cause an upsurge in anxiety or fear, which can lead to hiding, cowering, or nipping.

Keep your dog in a confined area for a few hours, giving her a chance to become accustomed to everything.
Once your dog is calm, introduce immediate family or household members.
Allow your new dog to sniff, explore, and approach each person at her own pace.
When she needs it, give her a private place to escape, snooze, and relax, such as a crate or small room.
Avoid overwhelming your dog with people and other dogs. Watch closely, and move her away from uneasy or scary situations.




A GENTLE DEBUT - time to adjust the first hours

Before inviting friends or guests over, teach her the basic commands, like Sit and Off. And be sure she's settled in at home.
Then, start with one calm person. Keep your dog on leash during introductions and correct bad behavior, such as growling or jumping up, immediately. Give treats and praise for appropriate greeting behavior.
Dogs pick up on stress and fear, so stay upbeat, relaxed, and confident, and ask your guests to relax, too.


You don’t like the dogs adopted name:
If you find that you dislike this name, feel free a few weeks from now to begin teaching a new name. Dogs learn new names very easily. Indeed, in many cases, the adopted name is a new one, taught by a foster mom, as the rescue may not know the dog's original name.


AGE
When a dog is rescued the rescue seldom receives any reliable information about its age, except when the prior owner has made a statement when abandoning the dog at the shelter or when the owner has surrendered the dog directly to the rescue .

Bostons under 2 years are still quite immature and thus require more supervision and education from their owner than does a well-trained fully adult Boston. They also require more play and exercise than a full adult. Between the ages of 3 years and 7 or 8 years, it is much harder to make an accurate guess. Over 7 or 8 years, most Bostons begin to show signs of middle-agedness, e.g. a touch of arthritis, some cloudiness in the eye, but it is hard to make an accurate guess of the dog's real age. Bostons lifespan is 11 to13 years (comparable to humans living 60 to 90), and we are currently seeing more and more of them living to 12 or beyond.
But of course there is no way of knowing how long a particular individual will live. Good genes, good care, and good luck all contribute to long life.



SOCIALIZATION:
This is the process of exposure to the world (variety of environments) and to people (variety of strangers). The ideal time for such exposure is during puppyhood, with further exposure continuing in adult life. However, an inherently stable dog which may have lacked such exposure in early life, may still respond very favorably to socialization later in life. Thus some dogs which fresh out of the shelter appear to be withdrawn or fearful, may upon socialization make an excellent adjustment and gain confidence rapidly due to an underlying inherent stability.

If socializing exposures are comfortable and pleasurable, the result will be a self-confident dog, with enhanced stability. Such a dog may be either outgoing (eager to make friends) or reserved also termed "aloof" (cool) towards strangers (especially away from the dog's home and car) but he will not be incurably fearful or unprovoked aggressive. Those dogs whom a rescue organization describe as "initially timid but soon adjusts and trusts" are generally dogs of underlying stability which were not adequately socialized when young, but which are now in the process of remedial socialization and which will ultimately adjust well to ordinary social contacts, though some of them will remain more timid than the average highly self-confident Boston. Sometimes a dog is friendly with strange adults but seems disinterested in children; usually this is a dog that has had little contact with children, and a few pleasant encounters will be all that it takes to make such a dog very friendly with children. More commonly, the well socialized Boston already knows what children are and considers them delightful sources of affection and play.

A "shy" dog is one which is unreasonably fearful of strange people (or even familiar people), and often also lacks confidence about the world generally. The cause may be either basically unstable temperament or lack of socialization or both. If the underlying temperament is adequate, the dog may gain confidence through extensive socialization.

When two dogs which are strangers to each other first meet, they will almost always engage in some test of SOCIAL DOMINANCE. Dogs do not believe in the concept of "equality": each dog carries an invisible rank. Thus on encountering or re-encountering each other, they will engage in various rituals and displays to determine who has the higher rank. Sometimes this looks like a dramatic fight, but it is rare for anyone to get hurt. More often the interchange is more subtle, and sometimes so subtle that only the most acute observer will realize that anything is happening. Once dominance has been settled, in long term relationships most Bostons get along well with OTHER DOGS, either actively enjoying friendly contact with them or else displaying a more aloof live-and-let-live attitude. A dog may be friendly with some individuals and tolerant or aloof with others.

Two dogs of opposite sex will almost always get along well. Most Bostons can get along with most dogs of the same sex, especially if their natural invisible ranks are substantially different.


CATS

Some Boston’s can adjust to living peacefully with CATS, but it will require a lengthy adjustment period. If introducing your Boston to a home with a cat already present, or vice versa, you must be prepared for a long period in which you must supervise all interactions and act instantly to correct the dog for any attempts to chase or grab at the cat.


When you are not supervising, put a closed door between dog and cat, i.e. separate them safely. Don’t be in any hurry to leave them alone together. Usually a rescue will not get the opportunity to assess a rescued Boston's attitude towards cats nor will the rescue usually have any information on the dog's prior history regarding cats. We advise you to be very cautious in this regard. Some Boston’s will NEVER become cat-safe. Ask if the rescue has any history or evidence that a particular dog has a bad attitude towards cats, most rescues will not place such a dog into a home with cats. Unless there has been an opportunity for a test to see a Boston’s reaction of being introduced to the presence of a cat in an controlled supervised manner.
Dogs should also be trained with positive reinforcement i.e. reward based training; most but not all training can be accomplished in this way.



It is essential to keep your dog current on RABIES and DHLPP (distemper, hepatitis, leptospirosis, parainfluenza, and parvo) shots. Your vet may also recommend Corona and Bortadella immunization. If the dog is under one year when vaccinated for Rabies, it will be due again one year later.

DHLPP shots used to be thought to be good for only one year, Discuss this issue with your vet. The leptospirosis immunity may be good for only 6 months and it does NOT cover all the existing strains of lepto. Revaccinate as advised by your vet and consult your vet about the advisability of extra boosters if you live in a high risk area or if your dog has a lot of extra exposure (especially to high risk dogs ) or in times of epidemic.
HEARTWORM
All ABTR rescued dogs are tested for heartworm and started on preventative medication,
Heartworm is a deadly risk in most areas, i.e. in all areas that support a mosquito population. (Mosquitoes infect the dog by biting.) You can protect your dog easily and cheaply by use of once-a-month pills ("Interceptor" or "Heartguard"). Dosage is based on weight, so make sure to weigh your dog at intervals (most vets now have a walk-on scale and allow customers to drop in to use it freely).
If your dog is not protected and contracts heartworm, be aware that the treatment is very expensive, requires prolonged restriction of the dog's activity and avoidance of any excitement that could raise its heart rate and involves two deep intramuscular shots which are extremely painful for the dog . Left untreated, heartworm is inevitably fatal and it is a slow and miserable way to die.
TAPEWORM and FLEAS and TICKS
Dogs obtain TAPEWORM by eating a FLEA that carries it. So where fleas are plentiful, sooner or later you will see little white tapeworm segments appear in your dog's stool. Once you have seen these , you will always be able to recognize them easily. The worms do not appear every day, but rather at intervals, so check the stool occasionally for little white wigglers.

Your vet will treat this with Droncit pills (or injection). If your dog had tapeworms when he came to ABTR, they would have already noticed and treated. But re-infection is possible at any time if fleas are present, so you have to keep on the lookout for the evidence in the stool.
Topical products like "Advantage" and "Frontline" can be applied once a month to the skin between the dog's shoulder blades or all along his spine to provide a month of really good flea protection by killing any flea that hops aboard without the flea having to bite the dog first ; Frontline also provides protection against ticks, so would be the preferred method in areas where ticks are at all common. There is also a pill; new products continue to appear, so ask your vet for recommendations.

Collars that are suppose to stop barking dogs

I am interested in learning if anyone has use the Collars that are suppose to stop barking dogs. If you have used one what did you learn? Are you still using one? which ones have you used?

Sally Huerta, Leanne L. Bowen and Robert Reinninger like this.

Kimberly Minakata Ive used the one that sprays a burst of citrenella when they bark. My treeing walker coonhound didn't care. She would bark till it was empty and continue to bark till the batteries ran out...time and time again.

Kimberly Minakata They would probably work for a "normal" dog though lol!

Cheryl Thompson I suggest to anyone considering a shock collar to try it on yourself first before let your dog wear it.

Kimberly Minakata I agree. After the citrenella fail I said..."let the hound be a hound"

Elizabeth M Staley We used the citronella collar on a dog that barks in the RV. One spray from a bark and now all we do is put the collar on her and she remains quiet. Plus it repels bugs

Glory Bea Seriously, try it on yourself, then decide.

Sharon Hamilton Please don't get the shock collar it's cruel.

Rob Salter They say this guy called The Dogfather puts a weird type of collar on the dog, and it starts being obedient. Is is possible that dogs who constantly or inappropriately bark perhaps need some training?

Milanda Campbell Raines I bought the bark collar that sprayed for my Hugh & he would bite @ the spray! I've tried the spray can from petco on my Grandmas dogs & it just shoots air out & that helped! We don't spray it at them, just in the air. I think the sound scares them.

Kathy Irish Used them & they work. I can't leave them on though. I cringe when they yelp. Maybe citronella would be better

Rob Salter Ah, Cheryl T, a genuine idealist! The French romantic philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau said that children should have the right to be. This philosophy works of course when only small numbers of children can be - lol! The flip side though is who wants there dog to be trained as well as Himmler's SS troops either? There must be a balance somewhere, with a well trained dog that is also flexible and loving.

Danielle Badders Moore The spray one worked for us

Elisa Anne Gomez Spray bottle and bark repellants that you hang around your house

Linda Barbaro I have a bark collar after doing lots of thinking and research. I bought a citronella bark collar from Petco. It does work on most dogs. Foster all breeds and only Dachshunds do not seem to care enough to stop the barking. It's safe and I do not feel it is cruel like a shock collar.