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A DOG’S AGE IN HUMAN YEARS

The old saying that one year in a dog’s life equals seven human years is roughly true, but the following chart gives a more accurate comparison based on the dog’s weight.

Casey and Tasha’s Happy Golden Years

I FIRST MET RHONDA when she came to me for private lessons for Casey, her young golden retriever. Casey was not an easy dog to train and he exhibited aggressive behavior around his food bowl and bones. But with the use of positive reinforcement and the discovery that part of his behavior was due to treatable hypothyroidism, he blossomed into a wonderful sweet dog. About four years later, Rhonda got a second golden retriever puppy, an exuberant sociable girl she named Tasha. They did well in my puppy classes and advanced training classes.

Then Rhonda’s elderly parents, Frank and Dottie, came to live with her. Dottie had Parkinson’s disease and used a walker. Rhonda’s biggest fear was that her big dogs would unintentionally knock over her parents and injure them.

I recommended that we train Casey and Tasha to be useful in Dottie’s physical therapy. Casey learned to lay his head in Dottie’s lap so she could exercise her hands by petting him. She also brushed both dogs and tossed balls for them to retrieve.

I worked with Rhonda in teaching both verbal commands and hand signals to the dogs because Parkinson’s disease can sometimes make it difficult to speak. Casey and Tasha learned to wait for the release word or hand signal to move. This enabled Frank and Dottie to walk through the house without the fear of being knocked over.

The added training and responsibility of Casey and Tasha gave Dottie a sense of purpose. The dogs were her constant companions. She knew she had an incurable disease that would get worse with time, but keeping her mobile helped to extend her quality of life. Had it not been for the dogs and their training, her condition could have deteriorated to the point where she would have needed to move to a nursing home. She was able to take care of her basic needs up until she died.

Frank became depressed after Dottie’s death, but we convinced him to take Tasha to my training classes. He wasn’t keen on the idea at first but said he would give it a try for Tasha’s sake. After a few weeks, Frank began to look forward to going to class with Tasha. He would spend time each day at home doing his homework assignment, being certain to pass on what he learned in class to Casey, too. Frank and Tasha excelled, completing five levels of training before Frank died at age 86.

I share this story because, without training, Casey and Tasha could have caused injury to Rhonda’s parents. Instead, the dogs helped Frank and Dottie enjoy their final years.

Contributed by Pia Silvani, CPDT

How Pets Express Grief

Q Our two dogs, Bosco and Bubba, and our cat, Clyde, were inseparable buddies. We often remarked how lucky we were never to have to deal with jealousy issues among our loving trio. Bubba, our fun-loving bullmastiff, recently became very ill, and we asked our veterinarian to come to the house to euthanize him. We did this in the presence of Bosco and Clyde. Now both of them seem so sad all the time. They eat a little, but don’t beg for food, and Bosco is usually a chow-hound. Are dogs and cats capable of grieving the loss of another pet?

A Not all pets suffer grief at the loss of another pet in the household, but your trio forged a strong and loving friendship, and the two that remain are definitely feeling the loss of their companion. One sure sign of that is loss of appetite. Animals may show their distress by sitting around and moping, sleeping more, and not enjoying your company. Some may suddenly act aloof while others become clingy and needy.

You did a wonderful thing by including Bosco and Clyde in this farewell act for Bubba. Top veterinarians and animal behaviorists tell me that animals view death as a natural process like birth. Whenever possible, allow other household pets to sniff and inspect the body of the