by Diane Morgan
Even though young puppies are usually problem-free tooth-wise, puppyhood is a good time to get them used to the procedure. For a toothbrush, you may use:
A baby’s toothbrush (with nylon bristles)
A specially designed canine toothbrush that fits over your finger
A regular looking toothbrush from the grooming supply store (see Figure 12-2)
A washcloth
A piece of cotton gauze wrapped around the finger
Your bare finger
Start with your finger, because your dog will probably accept it fairly readily. When he gets used to the idea, you can advance to a toothbrush, the bristles of which will get into the groove along the gum line where plaque can build up.
Aim the toothbrush at about a 45 degree angle, and brush in a circular motion. Scrub the tooth from crown to gum. Most of the plaque buildup occurs on the outside of the tooth, which is a good thing, because the insides are a lot harder to reach. Brush both the upper and lower teeth, especially the big canines and carnassials (shearing teeth) toward the back of the mouth.
To help reduce the tartar buildup, feed your dog some dry dog food every day, and give him lots of hard chew toys. Be careful, though. Some toys are actually too hard and can result in broken teeth.
Halitosis (bad breath) can be a sign of dental trouble. So are receding or red, inflamed gums. Halitosis can be caused by stomach disorders, as well as decayed or abscessed teeth.
Figure 12-2: Make brushing your Husky’s teeth part of your daily routine.
Even with the greatest brushing care, you will still need to take your Husky to the veterinarian for a thorough tooth-cleaning job every year, especially after the dog reaches the age of 6 years or so. Your vet will clean and scale the teeth using ultrasound. This treatment removes plaque below the gum line, which you can’t reach through brushing alone.
Eyes
Clean any ocular discharge every day with a clean, damp cloth. Don’t use cotton balls; they contain fibers that can get in your dog’s eyes and irritate them. If your Siberian has particularly sensitive eyes, you can get a cream to use in them while bathing your dog.
Ears
Because Siberians have erect ears, they are less prone to ear problems than lop-eared dogs. No Siberian should have foul-smelling ears, red ears, or ears that exude junk. Normal ear wax is clear or very pale yellow. Black or brown discharge probably means your dog has ear mites or a yeast infestation. A yellow, pussy discharge indicates an infection. Any time you notice a lot of ear scratching or head shaking from your pet, suspect mites or an infection. A mite infestation requires a special preparation, which you can obtain from your veterinarian.
For routine ear cleaning, swab the ear gently with a cotton ball or wipe using a liquid ear-cleaning product, or with an alcohol-vinegar solution. Don’t cram anything in the dog’s ears; you can rupture one of his eardrums.
Anal sacs
Emptying your dog’s anal sacs is one of the worst chores involved in dog ownership. Most of the time, the dog handles this job himself, but every once in a while, you may need to help a little. If you notice your dog scooting along the ground, it’s probably because those sacs need to be expressed, or emptied. Gently press your thumb and forefinger on the outside of each sac, at the 10 and 2 o’clock positions under the tail. Use a tissue and stand to one side (the stuff really smells).
If you don’t like doing this yourself, your vet or groomer can do it for you.
Don’t fix what’s not broken! There is evidence that routine expression of the anal sacs contributes to future impaction. Only do it if it’s needed.
In some cases, the anal sacs can become impacted and even may need to be surgically removed. Because Siberians don’t really need them, it’s no big deal.
Finding a Professional Groomer
For various reasons, you may decide to take your Husky to a professional groomer — at least once in a while. You can ask your veterinarian for recommendations, or check with breeders, boarding kennels, or friends with Siberians who are pleased with their groomers.
Call the prospective groomer, and check on prices, products, and procedures. You don’t want a nasty surprise. Ask whether the groomer requires proof of bordetella (kennel cough) vaccination; even if she doesn’t, make sure that your dog is vaccinated against it, because there may be other dogs there who have it.
Although a professional groomer can make your Siberian look slick, only you can do the regular ear, eye, foot, and tooth care that’s necessary. Your groomer should be an enhancement to your total dog care, not a replacement of it.
Take time to watch the groomer with your dog. Any groomer who is rough should not have the care of your precious Siberian. Siberians can be particularly trying for groomers; they often simply will not do what is asked of them. So find a groomer experienced with the breed. In very rare cases, your Husky may require a mild tranquilizer before grooming; your veterinarian (not the groomer) should provide it. If you do use a tranquilizer, make certain the groomer knows how to administer the medication — or do it yourself.
Inform the groomer if your Husky is fearful of being groomed, or if he doesn’t like being left. If he has ever growled or snapped during the grooming process, the groomer needs to know this as well. Likewise, inform the groomer if the dog has arthritis, a heart problem, epilepsy, or any other condition that could be aggravated by the grooming procedure.
Watching Out for Fleas and Ticks
Not only do we become attached to our dogs, dogs sometimes become attached themselves. And what’s attached to them can make us shudder, itch, and get sick. But knowledge is power, and armed with the right arsenal, you can rid both your dog and your home of the pests that plague them.
Fighting fleas
Among the canine set, flea season lasts from April through November. The high flea season is from June through September. Wet summers make for even more fleas. They prefer to lay their eggs in temperatures of 70 to 85 degrees, with humidity around 70 percent. If you own a carpet, however, or even a bed, it’s always flea season. Cedar chips and pine needles repel fleas, but not all people want to cover their floor with cedar chips. It’s good for pet bedding, though. Frequent vacuuming helps, too.
After it’s on your dog, the flea bites down and gets a good long drink of blood. She then lays her eggs, preferably on your dog. The eggs are smooth, however, and often fall to the carpet, sofa, or grass.
In the worst-case scenarios, fleas carry deadly typhus and bubonic plague. They carry tularemia, too, and have been implicated in the spread of Lyme disease. Fleas are also intermediate hosts for tapeworm. They feed voraciously, and dogs can lose a substantial amount of blood from a severe infestation. Puppies have actually been known to die from fleas.
If your dog has fleas, he will probably do the obvious: scratch. The itch from a flea bite lasts from 3 to 7 days. If you see your dog scratching, investigate further. Fleas like to stay very close to the skin (they abhor sunlight), so you may need to take a fine-tooth flea comb to your Siberian. Fleas tend to be worse on the head and neck, which are areas hard for the dog to tend himself.
You also know your pet has fleas when you see those hideous black and white specks in his fur. These are flea feces, I’m sorry to say. Flea feces are composed of partially digested blood. You can test this yourself by dropping a bit of water on them. If they’re flea feces, they will turn red. (You can turn this into a science fair project for your child, if you like.)
Lots of dogs are allergic to flea bites. It’s the protein in the flea saliva which is the culprit. A flea bite can turn into a so-called hot spot, a raw, perhaps oozing area on the dog’s skin.
Preventing fleas
Disgusting as they may be, fleas are a curable problem. But you have to rid both your home and your dog of them at the same time. Otherwise, you will get a reinfestation. To completely rid your dog and your home of fleas, follow these suggestions:
If you have the money
, get rid of the carpets in your house altogether. Your soft, warm carpets make a wonderful flea nursery. Put down vinyl, wood, or linoleum instead.
If you must have carpets, avoid the deep-pile kind. They attract fleas. If possible, replace heavy carpeting with cotton, washable rugs, at least during flea season.
Apply traditional flea-ridders, like dips, powders, and sprays. Many of these contain pyrethrins, which kill adult fleas. Their effects are short-lived, however. A genetically altered form of pyrethrin, called permethrin, lasts longer, about ten days.
Use indoor foggers, but only as a last-ditch measure. They leave an oily film over everything. Plus, they’re toxic. Read all directions before use.
Move all portable pets and cover the aquarium if you must fog your house! Turn off the pilot lights on your stove. Some of these pesticide foggers contain flammable repellents.
Vacuum frequently with a flea powder/carpet freshener combination. Use mothballs inside the vacuum bag to kill the fleas. And be sure to hit all those little cracks and crevices where fleas love to hide. Wash your dog’s bedding the same day that you vacuum, and while you’re at it, vacuum the drapes.
Use cedar chips in your dog’s bedding to repel fleas.
Try flea-control products available from your veterinarian. These include Program, Advantage, and Frontline. Program is one of the few anti-flea products that works to get rid of both flea eggs and larvae (a so-called insect growth regulator), so it can help stop the problem at the source. It prevents the fleas from laying eggs, but it does not kill adult fleas. If your dog is allergic to flea bites, try one of the other products, which are applied to the skin. Frontline and Advantage are not absorbed into the dog’s bloodstream. My preference is Frontline. It lasts for three months and is the only one of the three products that works on ticks, too. Unlike Advantage, it does not need reapplication after swimming or bathing. Some topical anti-flea products are available over the counter.
Many anti-flea products cannot be used on puppies. Read the directions carefully, or check with your veterinarian. Use these flea poisons with caution if your Husky is a fanatical self-groomer, because he’ll be ingesting much of the product.
Sprinkle some diatomaceous earth (available in hardware stores and pool-supply places) in dark, flea-friendly crevices. This stuff is really a collection of fossilized sea shells and similar microscopic creatures. It’s all natural and kills fleas by piercing their little body parts and drying them to death.
Have your home professionally exterminated.
Knowing what doesn’t work in getting rid of fleas
Flea collars are not only ineffective against fleas in heavy-coated breeds like Siberians, but they also contain neurotoxins (the substance that a cobra delivers in his bite), which are not good for your pet. Besides, dogs may develop a contact dermatitis from a flea collar.
The same holds true for those electronic or ultrasonic devices that are supposed to rid your house of fleas, including ultrasonic flea collars. Forget it. They don’t work.
Paying attention to what may work
Some people swear by natural flea inhibitors like brewer’s yeast, which may contain vitamin B1 and garlic as additives. They are supposed to make the pet’s blood taste bad to the fleas. The verdict is still out on this, but it certainly won’t hurt to try.
You can also try insect repellents. The most effective ones contain DEET (benzyl benzoate, diethyltoluamide). There are some safety concerns about these products, but they unquestionably do repel fleas. Natural flea repellents like pennyroyal, rosemary, wormwood, eucalyptus, and citronella may work also.
To help rid your yard of fleas the safe organic way, buy nematodes (creatures that feed on flea larvae) at your garden center. A beer-size can of them contains about 100 million microscopic nematodes, enough for any lawn.
Tackling ticks
Although hundreds of tick species exist, dog owners need to watch for just a few. Among these are the Brown Dog Tick, the American Dog Tick, the Northern Deer Tick, the Rocky Mountain Tick, the Black-Legged Tick, and the Lone Star Tick. That seems to be plenty for starters.
During tick season (primarily in early spring to mid-summer), check your dog for ticks daily, especially if he has been playing in the woods or tall grass. The ears, toes, neck, and head are the major tick sites. Ticks are slow feeders, so it takes about 24 hours for actual disease transmission to start.
Ticks become active any time the temperature rises into the 40s — even if it’s January.
Keep the grass in your yard short to reduce the number of ticks.
If you find a tick on your dog, remove it as soon as possible, using tweezers and wearing gloves to protect your hands. Lint rollers will help remove unattached ticks. Never touch a tick with your bare hands! The dangerous Lyme disease spirochete can penetrate directly into your skin. Grasp the tick as close to its head as possible and pull. The sooner you remove the tick, the more likely it is that no disease has been transmitted.
Make sure you grab the tick by its head. If you squeeze the body while it’s still attached to your dog, you may eject the tick’s disgusting contents (including all disease-carrying material) right into your dog.
Don’t worry about losing the head of the tick in the dog’s skin. You won’t. After you pull it out, throw the tick in the toilet and flush. Wash both the affected spot and your hands thoroughly. The area where the tick was attached may look nasty, but it’s probably not infected, even though it may scab over or swell for a week or so.
Never use lighters, gasoline, or matches to “burn” the tick. It’s too dangerous. Smothering the tick with Vaseline or nail polish is also a bad idea, because it takes too long to kill the tick. The longer the tick is attached, the more likely it is to transmit a disease.
Chapter 13
Establishing a Good Relationship with Your Vet
In This Chapter
Finding a vet you like and respect
Going for routine checkups
Taking care of your dog at home
You, your Siberian, and your veterinarian will form a three-way partnership — a partnership for life. So it only makes sense that you need to find a vet you trust, like, and respect. In this chapter, I help you know what to look for in a good veterinarian, and I guide you through your first visit to the vet’s office. Here you also get some useful information on ways you can help your vet, by giving your dog medication at home or checking his temperature, for example.
Choosing a Vet
Choosing a vet isn’t a decision to be taken lightly. The life of your Husky may depend on your making the right decision. You can ask your dog’s breeder, knowledgeable friends, or the local kennel club for recommendations, but you should also do some research on your own. Here are some major factors to consider:
Location: The closer you are to your vet’s office, the better. Location is not merely a convenience; it may save your dog’s life someday. The outcome of accidents, poisoning, bloat, and other emergencies often bear a direct relationship to the amount of time it takes you to get him to the vet.
Practice orientation: Some vets prefer to work with cats, birds, horses, or other pets. So when you’re considering a vet, ask what percentage of the vet’s patients are dogs.
Breed familiarity: Your vet should be familiar with the Siberian Husky’s special health concerns, particularly eye problems. The more accustomed your vet is to doing eye examinations, the better. This does not mean your vet needs to be a veterinary ophthalmologist, but she should be able to get you in contact with a good specialist, if necessary.
The facility: The veterinary clinic should be clean, well-lit, and free of clutter or unpleasant odors. Pay attention to how the staff interacts with other clients and their animals. Are people and pets treated with courtesy? Does the vet schedule appointments so that each client has time to talk to her? How long do you usually have to wait? Do you feel rushed? Ask to see the place where animals are kenneled i
f they need to stay overnight, and check to make sure the kennels are clean and offer enough room.
Many veterinarians operate a boarding facility. Although they may not offer all the amenities of some private boarding facilities, particularly in the all-important area of exercise, your Husky is sure to have veterinary attention within minutes if he needs it.
Office hours: If you work long hours, you may need to find a vet who is open on weekends or evenings. Find out what the regular office hours are, and who covers the practice when the vet is not available. Is there 24-hour coverage on site, and if not, how often does someone come by to check on the animals?
Expense: Although cost shouldn’t be a deciding factor, there’s no reason why you can’t take it into consideration. You have a perfect right to call around and get prices for routine procedures like spaying and neutering, office visits, and shots. Care and quality being equal, there’s no reason not to choose the less expensive option.
Most vets nowadays take credits cards or have payment plans, at least for expensive treatments.