4 Legs & A Tail 2016 Keene Summer

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Dog Days of Summer 2016Southern NH & VT

Who Let TheCat Out Of The Bag?

The StoryBehind ElsieThe Cow

Are You AndYour HorsePrepared ForThe Long Haul?

A Bizarre TaleFrom Giant’sAce MadisonBumgarner

When Was TheLast Time Your DogAsked To See The Dentist?

Inside this issue of 4 Legs & a Tail®

2 Elsie, The Borden Milk Cow, Kate Kelly

The history of one of the most iconic faces in America4 How To Rescue an Animal, Part 1, John Peaveler

A step-by-step guide for the good Samaritan6 Are You Helmet Tough?, Jessica Stewart Riley Why more western riders are making this smart choice8 Winning the Battle Against Lyme Disease, Joyce Belcher

Helpful tips for prevention and treatment10 Doggie Diplomas: Documenting Your Dog’s Good Manners, Amee Abel

12 When the Veterinarian Needs a Vet, Amy Plavin, DVM, CVA, CVSMT

With a combination of western and holistic care, Meg is winning her fight with cancer

14 With an Increased Prevalence of Heartworm Disease in the Northeast: How to Keep Your Pets Hearts full of Love, Not Worms, Skye Sosinski

15 Summer Fun Without Pesky Fleas16 Bats Do Matter, Scott Borthwick

How to “bat-proof” your home this summer17 Are You Up For The Long Haul? Part 2, Jerilyn Jacobs, DVM

Advice on transporting your horse during this busy competition season18 When are Electrolytes Necessary for Your Horse, Katy Raynor, DVM

20 The Kitty Rescue is Coming Soon! An update on the new facility in Jaffery for Kitty Rescue and Adoption21 Letting the Cat Out of the Bag: The Wonderful World of Animal Idioms, Mark Carlson

22 A Rabbit With More Than Just a Lucky Foot Baseball legend Vin Scully shares an unbelievable but true tale from future hall of famer Madison Bumgarner23 Elegant Trees, Elegant Riders, Dorothy Crosby

Helpful tips for equestrians on improving your balance 24 Sometimes Teeth End Up in the Wrong Place, Sandra Waugh, VMD, MS

When was the last time your dog asked to see the dentist? If only they could talk26 Keeping Certified Therapy Dogs Safe While on the Job, Jason Reed 28 Second Sight, Cathy White

Ever wonder what a seeing eye dog does when it retires?

4 Legs & a Tail Volume K.216

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Lebanon, NH 03766

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If you have a tale about a tail or a photothat will make us smile, we’d like to hear

from you. 4 Legs & a Tail is publishedquarterly and distributed free of charge

throughout Southern NH & VT.4 Legs & a Tail, Inc. is locally owned andoperated and acts as a moderator without

approving, disapproving or guaranteeing thevalidity or accuracy of any data or claim.

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www.4LegsAndATail.com 1Summer 2016

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Elsie the Cow is one of the most famous marketing mas-cots ever created. She has been more popular than the Pills-bury Doughboy, better than the Campbell twins, and more accessible than Tony the Tiger. During her heyday (1940s-1960s), Elsie led the Rose Bowl parade, raised $1.6 million for World War II bonds, celebrated her tenth birthday at the Roosevelt Hotel, her 25th at the Waldorf, and collected keys to more than 600 cities. She appeared on Broadway, traveled to Hollywood to play Buttercup in the movie of Little Men, and has written several recipe books. She gave birth to one of her sons at Macy’s. (Red drapes were discretely draped across her store-window birth-ing area.) And she was a lovely guest wherever she went. She often delivered 30 gallons of milk to her hosts as her bread-and-butter gift. She has received a plentiful supply of fan mail from all over the country. When it came to children being told they were going to see Elsie, the Borden Cow, Elsie raised as much excitement as Joe DiMaggio or Mickey Mouse. She was almost of a rank with Santa Claus, she was so well liked. Best of all, she proved extremely effective at selling Borden Dairy Products.How Did Elsie the Cow Come About? The first ads that featured Elsie were created in 1936 by Borden’s director of advertising, Stuart Peabody, and a staff illustrator, Walter Early. In the 1930s, milk was not the drink we know today. Much that was sold in the U.S. during the early part of the century was disease-laden. In 1907, the Department of Agriculture revealed that dairy cows frequently carried tuberculosis and

that unsanitary conditions on farms meant other illnesses were carried in the milk supply as well. Most milk was shipped to stores without any form of processing. The Borden Company was in the forefront of change. They had purchased a dairy in New Jersey that was among the first to install equipment for pasteurization. However, the world changed slowly when it came to perceiving that “processed” (pasteurized) milk was better than regular cow’s milk. Chicago was the first city to require pasteurizing of milk (1908) but the first state-level mandate did not occur until 1947 when Michigan passed such a law.This meant that in the 1930s, dairy processors like Borden had their work cut out for them to convince the public that their milk was more worthy—and safer---than the dairy cow on a family farm. Borden ad man Stuart Peabody knew his first approach to selling Borden milk needed to be through the medical establishment. If doctors understood that pasteurized milk wouldn’t make people sick, they would start recommending it to their patients. Peabody felt the ads needed to be light in tone. His first ads were in the form of Letters to Mama: “Dear Mama, I’m so excited I can hardly chew! We girls are sending our milk to Borden’s now. Love Elsie.” These ads were accompanied by artist Walter Early’s illustration of a perky, friendly cow. (The Advertising Age Encyclopedia of Advertising credits Walter

Early; the Borden site attributes David Reid with having created the image of Elsie. Reid would have been only 19 at the time; perhaps he was a member of the marketing team who created Elsie.) As early illustrations show, Elsie had a kindly face, huge brown eyes, and wore a chain of daisies around her neck. She generally wore an apron, and whatever she was doing, she was surrounded by her calves. Husband Elmer, later to be the face of Elmer’s Glue, took orders from her, repairing things around the house. In 1938, Peabody expanded Elsie ads into some consumer publications, and he began buying radio time for her as well. Elsie took off quickly. A survey done in the 1940s found that 98 percent of the American public recognized the Borden cow.World’s Fair Brings Need for Real Cow For the 1939 New York World’s Fair, the theme was World of Tomorrow. Companies came in to show their vision of how they expected their industry to look in the future. Borden’s exhibit was an advanced view of a dairy barn. It involved a “Rotolactor,” which was an automated rotary milking parlor with live cows com-ing on and off an over-sized turntable with several milking stations. The guides at the exhibit were assigned to keep track of questions asked

Elsie, The Borden Milk CowKate Kelly

Summer 20162 4 Legs & a Tail

Among those in attendance at the awards ceremony were two bear cubs, a horse and colt, two goats, and some monkeys. The bear cubs, who had been provided with milk bottles, were act-ing up during the event and after a few glowering looks from Elsie, those in charge of the show had them removed from the scene. Elsie’s citation read: “The New York World’s Fair hereby confers upon Elsie this citation for distinguished service; because she has been such a sensational attraction at the New York World’s Fair; because of her genius as a decorator and designer of barnyard boudoirs; because she has inspired so man thousands of calves of the future to have better parents; because she created so much extra work for countless news-paper photographers; because she has established that a girl can have a career and still be a good wife—but mostly because through her, more of the milk of human kindness is available in all quarters than ever before.”

Elsie the Cow Takes on a Cartoon Personae After World War II, the world of television became a more important part of American life. The Borden marketing depart-ment needed Elsie to appear in television commercials. Live cows are interesting to see at fairs, but their dramatic ability is severely limited to simply looking cow-like. The market-ing department’s next task was to create an animated version of Elsie. There are many examples of these commercials on YouTube.

Elsie Retires and Then Un-Retires By the late 1960s Elsie had been retired by the market-ing department. They felt it was time for an updated market-ing approach. But with flagging sales during the early ‘90s, Elsie was revived in 1993. In 2000 she was voted one of the ten most outstanding marketing mascots of all time, and today her face adorns the packages of Eagle Brand Condensed Milk (Borden’s original product), and she is also mascot for the 22,000-member Dairy Farmers of America.

This article first appeared on the website, www.americacomesalive.

com During the summer, America Comes Alive pub-

lishes more stories about American dogs and other animals. Visit the website

and sign up for “American Dogs”

to receive the stores in your In Box. Or email

Kate Kelly atkate@americacome-

salive.com

by the public. This meant that Borden quickly learned what was catching people’s attention: 20 percent of the questions concerned operation of the Rotolactator; 20 percent concerned the whereabouts of the bathroom; and a full 60 percent of the questions were about which cow was Elsie. Clearly, the Borden Company needed to cast the role of Elsie! Those in charge of the cows quickly identified one cow as having more “personality” than the others, so she became Elsie. The actual cow was a Jersey cow born in March of 1932 at Elm Hill Farm in Brookfield, Massachusetts. Her real name was “You’ll Do, Lobelia.” And thus began Elsie’s public appearance schedule. For practical reasons, Elsie was sometimes played by a substitute cow from a farm that might be closer by to the location where she was scheduled to appear. One day in 1941 Elsie (You’ll Do, Lobelia) was on her way into New York City for a milking appearance at the Schubert Theater. Her truck was rear-ended by another truck, and Elsie was badly hurt. The handlers took her back to her farm hoping that something could be done, but the veterinarians agreed that her back was broken; saving her would not be a kindness to Elsie. For Borden’s sake, it was fortuitous that they had other Elsies-in-waiting. For a time, the demand for Elsie was so great that Borden established an East Coast Elsie and a West Coast Elsie. All was well until the late 1940s when local newspapers picked up wire service stories about the doings of both Elsies on the same day. Borden received irate letters from parents who were upset that their children now knew there was more than one Elsie. After that there were still multiple Elsies, but there were never two Elsie publicity appearances on the same day unless it was clearly the same cow going from one place to another.Elsie’s Family Grows Elsie traveled to Hollywood in 1940 in a private railroad car to play Buttercup in the film, Little Men. Her calf, Beulah, was born during this time, and Elsie and Beulah returned together for the final summer of the New York World’s Fair. When Elsie was pregnant with Beulah’s little brother, special provisions were made. Elsie was in the middle of a series of guest appearances at Macy’s, so Macy’s put up some temporary drapes in the store window where Elsie was the main attraction. The baby was born quite discretely without the birth having to be in public view. Then a contest was held to name the baby bull. One mil-lion entries were received and ultimately the judges picked “Beauregard” in honor of the Civil War Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard at the Battle of Bull Run. (They clearly dis-regarded the fact that Elsie would have been a Union cow.)A Typical Day for the Real Elsie A typical event for Elsie was described in The New York Times on October 17, 1940. She was to be awarded a “Distinguished Service” award during the second season of the World’s Fair.


Animal rescue situations are probably the single most likely form of emergency anyone will ever encounter. Let that sink in for a moment. Because of the sheer number of animals in the world and their vulnerability, there is a very good chance at some point in your life you will be confronted with an ani-mal rescue scenario. Whether it is a loose dog or cat, a straying farmyard ani-mal, or injured wildlife such as a bird or squirrel,it is likely that a time will come when you will be the help an animal needs. Will you know what to do? Welcome to the first in a series of articles that will help you gain a better understanding of how to rescue animals, where to take them, what individuals and organizations are involved, and more. In this article I’ll focus on dog rescue, but expect more to follow in later issues. The first rule of any animal rescue sit-uation is that your own personal safety comes first. For the amateur rescuer, that very often means calling for help. If you are not able to rescue an animal without endangering yourself or others, then the best thing you can do is to call for help. Call 911 if the safety of others is at risk (e.g. traffic, rabid animal), but it’s a good idea to also save the phone numbers of

How To Rescue an

Animal,

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Part 1John Peaveler

W. Fairlee, VT


least you’ve taken precautions to avoid any injury. This process of evaluation works well for both injured and unin-jured animals. Evaluation gives you the information you need to proceed safely, and is a criti-cal step when dealing with any animal. Now be safe out there, and never stop learning.

John Peaveler is an Animal Welfare Consultant with over ten years experi-ence working with all types of animals on three continents. He lives with his wife and two children in West Fairlee, Vermont and continues to work and

write at home and abroad.

your local warden, sheriff, state police barracks, ACO, and animal shelters. The second rule of animal rescue is that the safety of the animal comes sec-ond only to your own. You should not harm them to save them. That sounds obvious, but not every animal wants to be saved, and dealing with a potentially dangerous dog can harm both them and you if your skills and equipment don’t match up with the need you’re seeing in front of you. Use good judgment and don’t have too much pride to make a phone call. Sometimes you have to stop, regroup, and maybe go get help or more equipment in order to accomplish your goal. It’s always better to delay than to fail or cause avoidable harm. If you want to be prepared for animal rescue, there are three basic things you should always have around: a long slip leash, a pair of thick gloves, and a good-sized towel. Now we move on to some practicali-ties for when it’s clear that action on your part is appropriate. You want to always maintain a safe distance between your-self and the dog. What that distance is will vary between individuals. With some fearful or feral dogs, that distance can be pretty great. If a dog is particularly fear-ful but it looks like they are getting into a dangerous area like a roadside, simply getting between them and the source of danger will likely push them toward safety. That’s because fearful animals have what’s called a flight distance, or the distance at which they will flee humans. Sometimes that’s a mile and sometimes it’s a foot. The point is that if you don’t need to, or can’t handle the animal, then don’t. Just get them moving towards someplace safe. Now suppose you’ve found a dog with an injured leg. Wounded dogs are often very defensive, but you still need to maintain a safe distance. That distance can now be translated to the thickness of a glove or a good towel. Finally, lets look at the how to ap-proach an unknown dog. The rules are to get low, and move slow. Talk gently and soothingly. Unless you’re confident you’re working with a very friendly pet, make sure you maintain the safe dis-tance. With dogs that means you don’t just put your unprotected hand to their

nose. If you’ve got good strong gloves, that’s a great start, but if you’re getting strange signals, take it a step further and use a stout 2 foot stick to make your first physical contact. Let them smell it, then begin to use it to pet under the chin, slowly working down the neck, going no further than the shoulder. Don’t touch them on the top of the nose or head. Also avoid poking them, but instead use the stick to pet them just as you would with your hand. Watch their behavior the whole time to help you decide what’s safe. If you’re getting growls, barks, bites, and you’re not adequately trained and equipped, it’s probably time to call for help. If the animal is friendly, then at


Are You Helmet Tough?Jessica Stewart Riley

Whether its all -around events like western pleasure, or pro-rodeo events like calf roping and barrel racing, helmets are not com-monly worn in western competition. The straw or felt cowboy hat is and has always been a major part of the traditional attire. I started showing in American Quarter Horse Association All-Around competitions as a 10 year old, and later became a member of the AQHA Professional Horsemen and trainer of youth and amateur competitors in events like western pleasure, western horsemanship, and trail. Besides young children com-peting in leadline and walk-trot, and now youth competitors in English events (because of a rule change in late 2013), it’s fairly rare to see someone wearing a helmet at AQHA shows. This lack of concern for safety that seems to be the norm has always caused me an internal struggle, because my “other” job is as an educator in the Vermont Technical College Equine Studies Program, where safety is our first priority. The focus of our program is teaching the next generation of equine professionals to be the best horsemen possible. Because of this, we require all riders to wear an ASTM-SEI approved helmet at our facility when mounted, regardless of the discipline they are riding. Recently there has been a lot of buzz on social media about helmets in the western part of the equine industry. Champion barrel racer Fallon Taylor made a splash at the 2014 National Finals Rodeo by thundering down the alley and bursting into the Thomas and Mack arena in a helmet. She went on to win that go-round of the com-petition and also become the 2014 Women’s Pro Rodeo Association World Champion Barrel Racer. There have been numerous articles and interviews with Fallon where

she talks about experiencing a life-threat-ening head injury, and how that moti-vated her to start promoting helmets in barrel racing. Another professional bar-rel racer, Nicole Aichele, started wear-ing a helmet after she learned about traumatic brain injuries in sports like football, snowboarding, and skiing in a high school class she was taking. She decided that it was just too much of a risk not to wear a helmet in such a fast and potentially dangerous sport. She started wearing a helmet by choice and became known as “the helmet girl” on the rodeo circuit. Years later, after receiving large amounts of fan mail from young bar-rel racers who had been made fun of for wearing helmets, she decided to start the #HelmetTough campaign to help elimi-nate the stigma of helmets in western competition. Fallon Taylor decided to use her notoriety to bring more aware-ness to Nicole’s #HelmetTough move-ment. 7 time World Champion Header Jake Barnes recently received attention for trading his cowboy hat in after expe-riencing a traumatic brain injury that had him laid up in a hospital bed for two months. Initially it was question-able whether Jake would walk and talk again, let alone ride and rope. Although he didn’t want to, he started wearing a helmet at his wife’s request, and now feels comfortable wearing one on a regu-lar basis. Jake has stated in a variety of

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In 2010 Nicole Aichele and Blondie broke a world record for fastest time on a WRPA standard pattern.


Cupcake

articles that he would prefer if the focus was on the quality of his roping rather than the apparel he is wearing, but is happy to use his celebrity status for a good cause. Overall, I am encouraged by the #HelmetTough movement, and the number of people, although small, that I have seen wearing helmets in western disciplines late-ly. I don’t think that things will change overnight, but I can also remember a time that you didn’t see anyone wearing a helmet at a ski area, and now it’s become rare to see someone on the slopes without. It’s not about how much we trust our horses or how well-trained they are; the inherent risk is a part of the sport we love. Even the best horse can be taken by surprise or lose traction, slip, and fall. Wearing a helmet increases the chances we won’t be severe-ly injured and unable to ride. It doesn’t make us any less of a cowboy or cowgirl; it just makes us smarter (and safer)!

Jessica Stewart Riley is an Assistant Professor and the director of the

Vermont Technical College Equine Studies Program in Randolph Center, VT. She is a graduate of Johnson State College, UVM, and Vermont Tech, as well as a member of the American

Quarter Horse Association Professional Horsemen and an American Riding

Instructor Association Certified instruc-tor in Western, Huntseat on the Flat,

and Stable Management. www.vtc.edu/equinestudies

Summer 2016 www.4LegsAndATail.com 7

Winning the Battle Against Lyme DiseaseJoyce Belcher - York, ME

Having my horses out in fields is important to their mental and physi-cal health but tick borne diseases are always a concern. I met Joyce Belcher at the Equine Affaire. She had a wealth of knowledge and an affordable product to prevent and treat tick borne diseases. I have used it on my own horses and dogs this year. I have found one dead tick on one horse and the symptoms of Lyme have disappeared from my animals (3 out of 4 were diagnosed with Lyme and one had unexplained swellings all around his body). I was so impressed with how effec-tive Bor-l-immune was that I asked her to write about Lyme and herbal prevention. I hope this helps you as much as it helped me! Lyme disease was first named in 1975 in Lyme, Ct. when a significant number of children and adults had a unique form of juvenile arthritis at 100 times the aver-age. Lyme disease is caused by a particu-lar kind of bacterium known as a spiro-chete. The spirochete that causes Lyme disease is from the genus Borrelia burg-dorferi. Numerous Borrelia organisms affect us and our pets, 3 main Borrelia are considered to be the cause of Lyme Borreliosis. All of these cause a differ-ent Lyme-type infection explaining why there are different symptoms of the dis-ease such as relapsing fever, joint degen-eration and central nervous system dis-ruptions of varying sorts. Common symptoms of Lyme in dogs and horses are behavioral changes and arthritic type symptoms. These symptoms include, but are not limited to: Irritability, Fatigue, Brain fog, Lack luster, not interested in work, stubborn, Hyperactivity, spooks easily, Loses inter-est in eating, unexplained lameness or soreness. Lyme spirochetes resemble a cork-screw shaped worm. They colonize in col-lagen, around the joints, eyes, and brain,

where they feed. Spirochetes are very dif-ficult for researchers to work with which is why so little is known about them. Even after 60 plus years of bacterial research, they still can’t be grown in a lab. They’re very thin, making them hard to see under a microscope without unusual lighting and specific equipment. Lyme disease is primarily passed through deer ticks but it’s not the only way. Lyme Spirochetes have been found in biting flies, mites, mosquitoes, fleas, human breast milk, tears, semen, and urine. Transmission to humans thru bit-ing flies has been documented in CT., transmission thru mites has been docu-mented in Germany. Direct transmission thru mosquitoes has not yet been docu-mented but there is reason to believe that it does occur. When a tick bites, the Interluken2 levels are reduced through tick saliva. Astragalus is one of the most impor-tant herbs to use in the prevention of Lyme. It increases Interluken2 levels, enhances function in spleen and thy-mus. Keeping these levels high may significantly reduce the likelihood of infection. Studies have found that during Lyme infection the higher the CD4 white blood cell levels, the better the resistance the animal will have to the infection as well as a better response with treatment if already infected. Lower CD4 counts cor-related to increased spirochete load. Prevention is better than treatment. A healthy immune systems is the most important preventative measure against any tick borne disease, it will lessen the chance of damage or invasion by the spi-rochetes. If the immune system is out of balance the spirochetes will prevail and damage collagen throughout the body. We can help balance the immune system through nutrition, liver support and non-chemical fly/tick sprays. Using toxins such as spot-on chemi-cals can directly and negatively affect

the immune system and compromise the liver. Effective herbs that support/ balance the immune system and deter parasites are a safer, healthier choice. It’s important that we support the liver, the organ that regulates the health of the col-lagen, (connective tissue, ligaments, ten-dons), where the spirochetes do damage. We need to support and strengthen, not deplete and damage, in order to win the battle with Lyme. It is necessary to use a complete body-system detox that moves and cleanses the lymphatic system, blood, liver, kidneys, promotes bile and removes heavy metals to assist the body during spirochete die-off. Herbs that help prevent as well as lower titers should have the follow-ing chemistry: Anti-spirochetal, anti-inflammatory, enhance immune func-tion, immune modulating, protect heart muscle, protect and enhance liver func-tion, clear infection from the body, cross the blood brain barrier, anti-parasitic, nutritive, lymphatic mover, diuretic and diaphoretics to help excrete toxins, anti-oxidant. (Email Joyce Belcher if you want to know more about specific herbs.) Vitamin C is a catalyst for bones, tissues, cartilage to promote proper healing. A few recommendations: Amalaki, Ala, DHEA, Solomon’s seal, Hemp seed for horses. When using antibiotics, a species appropriate pre/probiotics given 2 hours after each dose will keep the immune sys-tem at its best. Antibiotics are not selec-tive; they kill bad and good bacteria. The body needs vitality (good bacteria) in order to stay healthy and fight pathogens. 80% of the immune system is in the gut.Want some Bor-L-Immune? http://herbs-for-life-3.myshopify.com/#_l_1j

Joyce Belcher is a certified herbalist-formulator specializing in organic

medicinal formulations for animals. She resides in York, ME, and is the founder of Herbs for Life, Inc. manufacturer of the Pet Wellness Blends™ and Veterinary

Botanicals™ product lines. Ms. Belcher has spent years advancing her herbal studies mentoring with several highly-

respected experts in the field of veteri-nary herbalism. Her areas of expertise include immune balance, the preven-tion and treatment of Lyme disease in dogs and horses, and custom medici-

nals in veterinary herbalism. In her prac-tice, Joyce Belcher formulates herbal medicine and supplements for holistic and integrative veterinarians and edu-cates animal owners to be proactive in

caring for the health of their animals. [email protected]

207-451-7093


www.4LegsAndATail.com 9Summer 2016Continued NEXT PAGE

DOGGY DIPLOMAS:Documenting Your Dog’s Good Manners

Amee Abel

Nationwide, we spent over $60 billion on our pets in 2015, according to the American Pet Products Association. 54 million households in the US own dogs. Despite this, in many places dogs are unwelcome. Just stroll down the street and you begin to see why. Dog messes where people may step in them, dogs barking or lung-ing at cars, bikes, or joggers make store owners, inn keepers, and landlords unwilling to invite dogs in. How can you prove that your dog deserves a welcome? Document your pet dog’s good manners.

Certificate of Completion Ensure your dog has good manners both at home and around town by com-pleting a series of dog training classes. Most trainers and dog training schools in the Monadnock Region issue a gradu-ation certificate when you and your furry partner successfully complete a course. Earning a pet school diploma will increase your confidence that you and your dog can demonstrate good behavior wherever you go. It’s the doggy equiva-lent of graduating high school.Canine Good Citizen The Canine Good Citizen award is a nationally recognized program of the American Kennel Club that includes an Owner’s Pledge to be a responsible dog owner and ten test items that dem-onstrate your dog’s good manners. Test items include walking through a crowd, politely greeting a friendly stranger, pass-ing another well-behaved dog. Complete information is available at www.akc.org under the “Owners” menu. Earning a Canine Good Citizen title is an accomplishment. Most groomers and veterinarians breathe a sigh of relief when you tell them your dog has a CGC; as do some insurance agencies where a CGC makes it easier to get homeowner’s insurance. Consider this to be your dog’s college diploma—his (and your) ticket to a better life. The AKC CGC program has recently been expanded to include more advanced levels for dogs who have earned their CGC: The AKC Community Canine test also uses ten test items, and asks the dog and handler to demonstrate more advanced skills and control in a typical community setting. The Urban Canine Good Citizen tests skills that are neces-sary for dogs living in urban settings, such as riding elevators and using public transportation. These “advanced degrees” are growing in popularity.Therapy Dog Earning a Therapy Dog registration requires the dog demonstrate both reli-able good manners at levels commen-

“Registered Therapy Dog Spirit visits students at MarlboroCollege during their pre-finals reading period.

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surate with the AKC Community Canine and Urban Canine awards and a genuine interest in meeting new people. Therapy Dogs are more than dogs with good manners; they are ambassadors from dog nation to the world of humans. No matter the situ-

ation, the therapy dog will keep a smile on his face and a wag in his tail. Testing for these dogs includes demonstrating manners and temperament. These champions of the dog world carry liability insurance when they make volunteer visits. Think of it as the doggy equivalent of earning a Master’s Degree. The range of activities that therapy dogs engage in keeps expanding. In the Monadnock region of New Hampshire, thera-py dogs are visiting hospitals, schools, camps, daycares, skilled nursing facilities, and senior residences, to name a few.Civic Responsibility and Your Dog No matter what diplomas you and your dog have earned, swaying opinion to favor dogs in public requires certain basic behaviors on the part of dog people. Picking up rather than aban-

Dr. Mary Burch is the Director of the AKCCanine Good Citizen program. Photo courtesy

American Kennel Club

doning poop on sidewalks, trails, and parks is essential. Keeping a leash on hand and being ready to snap it on any time you encounter someone who is afraid of dogs is another. Every time a non-dog owner encounters a well-mannered dog accompa-nied by a considerate dog owner, the encounter increases the welcome for all dogs. Look for a trainer who’s certified by the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers (www.ccpdt.org ). This tells you these trainers have experience, proven knowledge, and a commitment to using the least invasive, minimally invasive methods to train dogs. Canine Good Citizen (CGC) testing is available throughout the U.S. from any approved CGC tester. Tests are often offered in conjunction with a preparatory training class, and at dog shows and other dog-friendly events. For example, Monadnock Humane Society offers CGC testing 3 or 4 times a year, often in conjunction with an Agility Trial. FMI: contact Rachel Brostrom at [email protected] or (603) 352-9011 ext. 206. The AKC offers a listing of Therapy Dog organizations on its website at www.akc.org under the Owners menu. Nationally, Alliance of Therapy Dogs (www.therapydogs.com) and Pet Partners (www.petpartners.org) are two of many organi-zations that register dogs.

Amee Abel is the Community Outreach Coordinator at Monadnock Humane Society and the owner of three dogs

who have earned their CGC. One is also a registered Therapy Dog and volunteers with Amee at many MHS events.

Therapy Dogs are not Assistance or Service Dogs. They do not have rights to public access under the Americans for Disabilities Act (ADA). Assistance and Service Dogs work to help an individual over-come a disability. Therapy Dogs visit to make people feel better. “It is unethical to attempt to pass off

a therapy dog as a service dog for purposes such as flying on a plane or being admitted to arestaurant,” says Dr. Mary Burch, Director of the AKC CGC program.


When the Veterinarian Needs a Vet

Amy Plavin, DVM, CVA, CVSMTBrattleboro, VT

Meg is my Border Collie. She came into my life 13 years ago as a tiny seven week old puppy. She was my clinic dog for the first five years of her life when my veterinary clinic was on my farm in Massachusetts. We moved to Vermont in 2008 where she had to assume her more important job as sheepdog and stayed home in case her services were needed. She had been a fairly healthy dog her entire life until December 24, 2015 when she was suddenly ataxic(stumbling) circling, pacing and in terrible pain.Of course, it was a holiday weekend but I went into full western medicine diag-nostic mode and performed bloodwork and liver function tests to try to find the cause of the disease. She had one seizure that weekend which left her temporarily

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blind and with proprioceptive or placing deficits on one side of her body. But that weekend despite not being able to walk a straight line indoors, when we went outside she went straight to the sheep pen and asked to help, such an amazing instinct! On Tuesday, December 28th we drove to Massachusetts Veterinary Referral Hospital in Woburn, MA for a neurology appointment and a MRI. The neurologist met with me and said, “You don’t need me you need my MRI correct?” I agreed and we talked about how difficult it is to be on the “other side,” to be the client with the beloved dog who needs help. Unfortunately, the MRI revealed an inoperable brain tumor-a lesion in the left frontal lobe with mass effect, perile-sional edema and areas of hemorrhage-most likely a glioma with hemorrhage. The neurologist could offer nothing but steroids to reduce the swelling and anti-epileptic medication for potential seizures. The prognosis was grim with a reported survival of just three months. I brought Meg home, started both medica-tions and my western trained brain went into overdrive mode. I sent her MRI to several institutions hoping she could get into a clinical trial or that perhaps Cyberknife(localized radiation) was the answer. Throughout this time Meg was very gradually improving but still quite altered and the medications made her ravenous and caused muscle wasting. So there I was, an integrative medi-cine practitioner going for the full west-ern diagnosis and treatment-as 27 years of practice taught me to do. While west-ern diagnosis and treatment may be nec-essary and appropriate-there are clearly instances when a holistic approach may help to assure the best quality of life for our beloved pets, especially when they are facing life threatening circumstances. For Meg, I continued traditional western interventions but I supplemented with a holistic approach and the results have been dramatic. I started Meg on a special diet, nutritional supplements, Chinese herbals and chiropractic adjustments as needed. Soon I began to taper her western medications to alleviate some of the side effects.

May 24 was our five month “anni-versary/celebration” and today Meg is a happy dog. She runs in the field and catches her tennis ball, and she herded her sheep to the pasture this month! (not just living but working two months longer than originally predicted!) Is she quieter?-yes, is she weaker on one side?-yes, is she happy?-Absolutely! She lives for her tennis ball and her sheep! THIS IS THE POTENTIAL OF INTEGRATIVE ONCOLOGY CARE. I have helped countless animals throughout the more than twenty years I have been practicing integrative medi-cine. I love integrative oncology but also love helping agility dogs and dressage horses achieve their performance goals (or their owner’s goals!). I use acupunc-ture, chiropractic, nutritional therapy and herbs as well as a judicious use of vac-cinations and medications as necessary. My goal is disease prevention but Meg’s case is a model of integrative medicine to promote the very best quality of life dur-ing the most difficult of times.

Amy Plavin, DVM, CVA, CVSMT is the owner of Hemlock Ridge Integrative

Veterinary Care in Brattleboro, VT. The practice features a holistic approach to wellness and chronic disease manage-

ment for dogs, cats and horses.www.HemlockRidgeVet.com

A holistic approach to wellness and chronic disease management for your

dog, cat and horse.


With An Increased Prevalence Of Heartworm Disease

In The Northeast: How To Keep Your Pets Hearts Full Of Love, Not Worms!

Skye Sosinski

With the warmer weather upon us, you may be hearing that it’s “the season” for fleas, ticks, and mosquitoes. Nasty little parasites that can cause major discom-fort for our furry friends, but even worse, they can be carriers of serious diseases. Up here in the Northeast, we have long been familiar with the risks that fleas and ticks present, and although we will always think of mosquitoes as a nuisance, many people still do not recognize that they are a serious threat to dogs (and cats, but that’s another story). That’s because mosquitoes can be carriers of dangerous, and potentially fatal Dirofilaria immitis, or more commonly: heartworms. Heartworms are not microscopic parasites, the males can grow up to 4 to 6 inches in length, and the females can grow to be a whopping 10 to 12 inches in length. Their lifespan is five to seven years, and they can do an immense amount of harm to the heart, lungs, and associated blood vessels in the affectedanimal, in the form of severe lung disease and heart failure. Dogs and cats become infected with heartworms after being bitten by a mosquito carrying the microscop-ic baby worms, called microfilaria. Once in the bloodstream, the microfilaria take approximately 6 to 7 months to mature into adult heartworms. Due to their long lifespan, heartworms can accumulate rapidly in an animal that is not being treated with a monthly preventative. Monthly heartworm prevention is available in the form of a once monthly tablet, chew, or topical that will not only prevent a heartworm infestation, it will often treat and control the infection of other internal parasites such as roundworms, hookworms, tapeworms, and potentially others. Every product is slightly different, and there is no silver bullet for all of the different internal parasites, which is why it is still important to do an annual fecal exam to check your pet’s stool for any parasitic ova that may be present. Heartworm prevention is also fairly affordable, especially when you compare the cost of prevention to the cost of heartworm treat-ment. A 12 month supply of heartworm prevention will roughly cost $60 to $200, depending on the size of your pet and the product you are using, which breaks down to $5 to $16 per month. That is less than the cost of a weekly latte! You may be asking yourself, “does my dog really need to be on a preventative year-round?” The answer is a resounding “YES!” Winters in the Northeast have been trending milder, with more unpredictable temperature fluctuations. Just this past year, local areas experienced temperatures in excess of 60 degrees on Christmas day, which is certainly warm enough for mosquitoes to be alive and well. Furthermore, missing just 2 months of heartworm prevention consecutively can leave your pet vulnerable to infection, because enough time has passed for the microfilariae to mature into developing adults that enter the bloodstream, and began to work their way to the heart and lungs, potentially damaging blood vessels along the way. If you do not use preventatives year-round, then it is vital that you get your dog tested for

heartworm disease before resuming preventatives. The sooner a diagnosis is made, the sooner treatment can begin. Treatment consists of initially dosing the infected dog with a microfilariae-killing drug, which is often some form of monthly preventative, to prevent them from developing into adults. A series of injections to kill the adult heartworms follows. It is critical that the pet is kept quiet and confined for 4 to 6 weeks during the recovery period because they are at risk for pul-monary related problems. As the worms die they break up into pieces, which then enter the bloodstream and filter out through the dog’s lungs. When the dog physically exerts itself, the heart rate increases, which leads to increased blood pressure from the dead worms piling up in the tiny blood vessels in the lungs. This can lead to symptoms such as coughing, difficulty breathing, or sudden death. The cost of heartworm treatment can range from$700 to $1400 depending upon where you live and the sever-ity of the infection. The cost comparison is clear when it comes to preventatives being worth it. The prevalence of heartworm is increasing all over the United States. Keep your dog safe by using monthly preventatives, year-round, to protect them from a disease that will cause significant pain and discomfort during infection and treatment. Long story short, please protect your furry friends from the heartache of heartworm!

Skye has been working in the animal care industry for over 10 years. She has worked in animal shelters and boarding and grooming facilities. She now works at VCA Windham Animal Hospital in Brattleboro, VT, where she has been a Veterinary

Assistant for the past 6 years.



Summer Fun Without Pesky Fleas Warm weather means fun in the sun, but it also means that we will soon see a growing population of fleas. Although pets can get fleas any time of the year, spring and summer are often the worst times of year for these blood-sucking parasites. Besides making your pet miserable and itchy, fleas carry diseases such as plague, tularemia, and feline infectious anemia. In addition, certain tapeworm species are carried by fleas. They can also cause life-threatening anemia in young and debilitated animals. Many dogs and cats are severely allergic to fleas, too. Preventing a flea problem is much kinder to your pet, easier to do, and less expensive than treating an outbreak. Fleas on your pet can be prevented and killed by using a topical medication or pill. Even indoor cats and dogs should receive a monthly preventative, as fleas can hitchhike on you or a visitor and you can track the eggs in from outside. Your veterinarian can recommend a flea product for your pet. It is important to talk to your veterinarian before using any over the counter flea products. Many older products are hazardous to people and pets. Cats are especially sensitive to many over the counter topical products. Flea collars are hazardous to cats as studies have shown that cats that wear flea collars are more likely to develop cancer in their mouths from ingestion of the chemicals when they groom themselves. How do you know if your pet already has fleas? You may not see them at all, especially if your pet is extremely allergic (they lick and chew them off) or if there aren’t many fleas present (yet). Look for black sand like material on your pet’s skin, especially found from the rib cage back. Comb a bit of it out, put it on a paper towel and place a drop of water on it. If it turns red, that is “flea dirt”- the digested blood the fleas have sucked from your pet and you‘ve got a flea problem. It’s critical to understand the flea life cycle in order to eradicate them. Once adult fleas jump onto our pets, they begin reproducing within 24 hours. A single flea can produce 2,000 eggs in her lifetime. These eggs hatch in as little as 5 days and the ones that don’t hatch immediately can stay dormant for up to 5 months. This is pertinent because only 5% of the fleas in the environment are on your pet! These are the adults you can see-- the remaining 95% are microscopic eggs and larvae that are in the carpet, bedding, hardwood floors, and organic litter in the yard. This means

that if you only treat your pet for one month, you are not addressing the much bigger problem of all of those immature

fleas in the environment. Fleas can be treated with

a topical product or pill. Your veterinarian, who knows your pet, will help you decide which product is best. These

products must be used for a minimum of 3-6 months (most

veterinarians recommend year-round pro-tection) to break the life cycle and prevent new infestations. Use flea area treatments that contain insect growth regulators as a means of destroying the eggs and larvae in your home. Also vacuum well and wash bedding frequently. Remember, you must treat ALL pets in the household, monthly, as well as the environment or you will not solve the flea problem.

The Vermont Veterinary Medical Association (VVMA), founded in 1898, is a professional organization of 343 vet-

erinarians dedicated to compassionate animal care and quality medicine. For

more information, visit www.vtvets.org or call (802) 878-6888.

16 4 Legs & a Tail Summer 2016

Bats Do Matter! Scott Borthwick - Canaan, NH

It was a dark and gloomy night at the eerie castle... Just the opening line you would expect for a story about bats. Bats have had a bad reputation for centuries. You hear about bats entangling themselves in someone’s hair, but do you know anyone that has actually happened to? They are less likely to carry rabies than most other mam-mals. I have had many bats tested for rabies and all came up negative. A single little brown bat can eat anywhere from 3000 to

7000 mosquitoes a night! This alone shows how important bats are to our ecosystem. In today’s world we are experiencing more and more mosquito carried viruses such as Zika and Triple E (EEE). Bats are fun to watch at night swooping and diving in pur-suit of annoying insects. So you can see how beneficial bats can be. They are currently suffering from white-nose syndrome which is devastating their populations. Especially the little brown bat. How can you help the bats? First you can bat-proof your house. Lots of bats are killed every year because they get into houses. Nothing makes me cringe more than sto-ries of homeowners dealing with a bat using a tennis racket. One customer set out glue boards for bats before she called me. There were five dead bats on the glue boards when I arrived. While bat-proofing her house she asked what I do for woodchucks. When I told her I live trapped them, take them away and then euthanize them, she was horrified and told me how cruel I was. I explained that my method is the law and instantaneous, while killing bats is illegal, and they can suffer for days on a glue board. How do you bat-proof a house? First make sure all windows have screens and that they do not have any holes in them.

Second while going in and out at night make sure you close the doors behind you. Next cap your chimneys. If you have a fire-place or woodstove, be sure to close the damper when not in use. Many a bat has followed an insect down a chimney and not been able to get back out. Inspect all gable end, soffit, and ridge vents to see that they are properly screened or plugged. Seal around window mounted air conditioners. Garage doors should remain closed, espe-cially when the garage is attached to the house. All of these tips will help bat-proof your house. Just remember, before repair-ing screens or plugging holes you should have a professional inspect to make sure you do not trap bats or other critters in the house. How else can you help bats? Installing a bat house helps a lot. In the New England area bat houses should be painted black using a latex paint. This helps keep them warm. They should be made with rough sawn lumber so the bats have better trac-tion. Bat houses should be installed facing south and at least 12 feet off the ground. They can be mounted on a post, a tree, or an out building. It would be best not to mount them on your house. Why should we do all this? Because BATS DO MATTER!

Scott Borthwick owns Estate Wildlife Control He lives in Canaan, NH with his

wife Donna, two dogs, a couple ofhorses and one tough, old chicken

named Henrietta.

Scott Borthwick with a bat house.

Are You Up For The Long Haul? Part 2Jerilyn Jacobs, DVM -East Dummerston, VT

In the last edition I discussed pre-paring your rig and your route for a long haul. The horse also needs to be prepared for the trip. Your horse will need a health certificate, negative Coggins test and possibly proof of various vaccinations. Your veterinarian can guide you through the health require-ments of your destination state and activi-ties. Just like servicing your truck, don’t leave the medical appointment until the last minute. I prefer that horses get any nec-essary vaccinations at least 2 weeks before departure. The horse should also be “trained” for the trip. The routine on the long haul will be different than a typical short haul and you may encounter situations that your horse has never been exposed to. It is helpful to teach your horse that stop-ping doesn’t mean he is getting off. Many horses get “antsy” at rest stops because they want to and expect to get out. Even if you never intend to do a long haul it is benefi-cial to teach your horse to have patience in the trailer. Incorporate this training into every short haul. It is easy, just load your horse and don’t go! At least not right away. I always leave a few quick chores or tasks to do after I’ve loaded my horse. Do the same thing when you arrive at a destination. You can check on your horse, open a door or window but don’t unload him right away. Traveling often gets a horse’s adrenalin going so waiting a few minutes for him to settle will ultimately make him a calmer unloader. Take your horse to the gas station during your short hauls, if your vehicle is like mine, your long haul will involve a lot of gas sta-tions. It is best if your horse is well acquaint-ed with the sights, smells and sounds of a truck stop. I even took my horse to the tire store when I replaced the trailer tires. I held him outside the garage while the work was done. If you are out on the road and have an equipment failure, you most likely won’t have a safe place to stall your horse. Practice for those situations. Keeping your horse healthy during the trip takes some special consideration. Respiratory illness and colic are the most likely complications of traveling long distances. By using your own equipment you are limiting his exposure to germs from other horses but the long haul itself poses a risk to your horse. You should be monitoring his hydration by checking his mucous membrane color and moisture, skin turgor and the water content of his manure. You should also check his rectal temperature twice daily starting one week before departure and continuing for one week after arrival. Pay attention to the

smell of your horse’s breath and listen to his lung sounds by putting your ear near his nostril. The horse’s respiratory tract produces mucous, which functions to trap bacteria and particles before they gets into the horse’s lungs. The horse needs to fully lower his head in order to effectively snort or cough the mucous out. If he is tied in the trailer or there is a breast bar or hay man-ger that prevents the lowering of his head, the mucous and the contaminants within it can get trapped in the lungs. I encourage my horse to drop his head and snort at each rest stop by putting a treat in a bucket that I lowered to the floor. You should also pay close attention to the air quality in your trailer. You want adequate ventilation and to minimize dust. I prefer to use peat moss as bedding. It is very absorbent, provides good cushioning and the particle size of peat moss “dust” is larger than other types of bedding so it is less likely to get deep into the horse’s airways. Encouraging your horse to drink on the trip will reduce the chance of colic. This may also take training. Horses lose mois-ture through their respiratory tract while traveling and they are exerting energy to

stay balanced so they easily become dehy-drated. Dehydration puts him at risk for impaction colic. Be prepared to use some tricks to increase your horse’s water intake. You should bring water from home. Truck stop water may smell disgusting to your horse. Wetting the hay, feeding a mash of hay pellets or adding flavoring to the water are all options but you must try these things at home to see which will work for your horse. I was very intimidated by the thought of making a long haul with my horse but once I analyzed the likely problems and made the best plan I could to avoid those problems the trip became a fun adventure. We did it together and my horse was happy and healthy when we arrived at our desti-nation.

Jerilyn Jacobs, DVM works at Vermont- New Hampshire Veterinary Clinic in East Dummerston, VT. She treats mostly cats, dogs and horses. She recently hauled her horse “Tana” to Oklahoma to com-pete in the WDAA Western Dressage

World Show in Tulsa, OK.


When are Electrolytes Necessary for Your Horse?Katy Raynor DVM, on August 4, 2015 in Ask the Vet, Horse Care

It’s important to understand what you are supplementing your horse with and why you are doing it. There are so many ways to supple-ment, and determining what to use and when can be a challenge for horse owners. One type of supplement that many veterinarians recom-mend are classified as electrolytes. There are many different forms of electrolytes, and choosing the best one for your horse will require a little research in order for your horse to achieve maximal benefits. Horses sweat in order to cool themselves after sustained bouts of exer-cise or extreme weather. When a horse sweats, the horse is losing intra-vascular fluids. Within those fluids, important body salts called electro-lytes are released from the body. These salts are responsible for a myriad of bodily functions including the pumping of the heart, the movement of ingesta through the gastrointestinal tract, and the filtering of wastes through the kidneys. On the cellular level, electrolytes control the fluid balance of the body by regulating movement of water in and out of the cells. Without sufficient circulating electrolytes, horses may weaken, collapse, and – in worst case scenarios – die. When exercised in hot, humid weather, a horse may lose up to four gal-lons of sweat per hour. Horse sweat contains primarily sodium, chloride, and potassium. Other electrolytes including magnesium and calcium are also present in smaller amounts. The concentration of electrolytes in the bloodstream and sweat is not identical. Horse sweat is termed hyper-tonic, which means that a greater concentration of electrolytes exists in sweat than in the fluid (i.e. blood) circulating in the body. This means that these electrolytes are lost in the sweat, which is why supplementing with appropriate types of electrolytes is important.


Continued NEXT PAGEphoto © Horze Equestrian

It is important to know when to supplement horses with electrolytes. For example, I suggest sparsely supple-menting horses that are prone to gas-tric ulcers due to the tendency for daily supplementation to worsen ulcers while they are healing. Horses that are exposed to multiple days of sweating due to heat, trailering, or competing will need the supplementation during that time to help give back what is lacking in their vasculature. I also suggest supplement-ing with electrolytes once or twice a week in the winter in order to enhance water intake and prevent impaction colic dur-ing the cold winter months. Remember to provide your horse with ample access to water throughout the year – and especially while exercising in hot weather. Electrolytes are an impor-tant supplement to have available in the barn, to supplement regular water intake. When used correctly, electrolytes are a great preventative measure for many problems. The Cheshire Horse carries a variety of electrolyte supplements.

Katy Raynor, DVM from New England Equine Medical and Surgical Center can be reached at 603-749-9112 or

[email protected]. Do you have a question for Dr. Raynor? It might get answered in a future blog

post! Submit your question [email protected].

Electrolytes come in many forms. When reading labels, make sure that the majority of ingredients in the electrolyte you choose include sodium, chloride, and potassium. Added sugars will make the supplement more palatable, although it is not appropriate to be supplemented daily to some horses, so check for the sugar con-tent in the supplement as well.


photo © Horze Equestrian

Kitty Rescue Coming Soon!

Kitty Rescue and Adoption is about to clear its first hurdle among the many hurdles to come to build their new shelter. Once approval by the Planning Board is given Kitty Rescue will break ground, hopefully in May, and start to realize the dream of a new rescue for their 100+ population! So far, they have raised enough money to purchase the land for the shelter but are now frantically trying to raise the needed funds for the building itself. Last August they were given until the end of 2016 by their landlord to be in out of their present facility. If a new built isn’t built by then, the shelter will cease to exist. Kitty Rescue is and has been home to over 100+ cats each year. Last year alone they rescued 157 and placed 186 cats and kittens in to new loving homes! Kitty Rescue has been in the rescue business for 13+ years and are run solely by dedicated volunteers with no paid posi-tions, so any donations made go directly to the care of the cats and/or into the new building fund. The shelter is a no-kill, non-profit 501c3 which offers a second

chance for the stray and abandoned and a sanctuary for feral cats that are too scared to be placed in homes. A much anticipated second Cats and Tats calendar is in the works, and a new, very requested, female version has been added for 2017! Kitty Rescue is now accept-ing fun names for the ladies version on their Facebook page at Monadnock Kitty Rescue and Adoption. The win-ner receives a free calendar. If you are, or know, any guys who love kittens and have nice ink please heave them contact the shelter if they would be interested in mod-

eling in the 2017 Cats and Tats Calendar. It’s a fun time and some of last year’s mod-els actually got interviewed on TV! Kitty Rescue is selling engraved bricks for $100 each, which will pave the walk-way at the new shelter. If you are inter-ested in purchasing a brick either for yourself or as a gift to a loved one. You can order at the shelter or online at www.kit-tyrescueandadoption.org. where you will also find other sponsorship opportunities available, such as benches, flagpole, cages, or whole rooms if you would like. All sponsorship items will be adorned with an engraved plaque in the name(s) of the donator. 50/50 Raffle tickets are now on sale for $10 each. The grand prize winner will receive $5000. in cash! Many other donat-ed prizes will be available in this raffle. To purchase tickets please attend one of the many KRA fundraising events or call the shelter at 603-532-9444, for more informa-tion. The winners will be drawn after all 1000 tickets are sold. That’s a better than 1 in 1000 chance to win a prize! To help in other ways you can request copies of posters and brochures that you can hang up or join one of their fundrais-ing commitees. A go fund me page has been set up to aid with the fundraising, please go to www.gofundme.com/uf7y6b-bj to donate or to their website to donate through PayPal. Mailed donations can be sent to P.O. Box 468, Jaffrey NH. A ‘thermometer’ sign will be placed on the lawn at Hill’s Family Insurance in Jaffrey to keep everyone informed on the progression toward their goal. You can also stay in touch with their progress on Facebook at Monadnock Kitty Rescue and Adoption. This will also keep you up to date on all upcoming events, kitten arriv-als and happy ending adoptions! Kitty Rescue is located on 11 Plantation Drive in Jaffrey, NH. Open hours are Tuesday and Thursday Evenings from 6-9 and Saturday mornings from 9-1.


An early look at the future home of the Jaffery Kitty Resuce.


stay warm. Sounds like the Cat’s Pajamas to me. In the 1920s, during the flapper and Jazz Age, any ‘cool’ or ‘hip’ person was a Cat. Saying someone was the ‘cat’s paja-mas’ or ‘cat’s whiskers’ was the same as calling them ‘cool.’ Or they could be the ‘bee’s knees,’ if you can believe it. I once asked someone a question they were reluctant to answer and I immedi-ately said, “Hey, cat got your tongue?” There is no actual incident that spawned this old phrase. It’s simply a children’s’ nonsense idiom that dates at least back to the 1870s. Well just look what the cat dragged in. No need to analyze this one. Cats love to please their owners and we’ve seen what they can catch and bring before us. As for the tail wagging the dog, that’s from the 1860s and was used for some political comments and essays. Not much has changed. It’s become a dog eat dog world. But that’s a horse of another color. Now, don’t have kittens, but I’m so hungry I could eat a horse. This article might make you howl at the moon, so I’ll just run off with my tail between my legs.

Maybe I should just let sleeping dogs lie, but it’s time to let the cat out of the bag. I know this might put me in the dog house, but once I get started, I don’t like to change horses in mid-stream. What are the origins of some of our most commonly used animal idioms? Some may surprise you. But even if curi-osity killed the cat, I’m probably safe. Besides, the early bird gets the worm and I got up at 6 a.m. ‘Letting the cat out of the bag’ goes back to the 1500s, when Europe was a bar-ter and trade economy. Sometimes fraud-ulent farmers, claiming they had a ‘pig in a poke’ (a piglet for sale) in a bag, had instead put in a cat. But if the cat escaped or was discovered, it was ‘out of the bag.’ We’ve all heard about it ‘raining cats and dogs.’ For years I believed the story that it derived from the Middle Ages, when small animals slept on the thatched roof of houses and barns. When it rained, the thatch was slippery and they slid off, literally raining cats and dogs. But there’s no evidence this is real. For one thing, can you think of a single dog that would choose to sleep on a roof for warmth and shelter? Not my dog, that’s for sure. No, the phrase’s origins are lost to history. A few days ago I heard a man in a bar asking for ‘The hair of the dog.’ Supposedly a hangover cure, its origins have nothing to do with drink. In superstitious times, it was believed that when bitten by a rabid dog, a person could avoid rabies by apply-ing hair from the same dog to the wound. Nonsense, of course. Just think about how many people managed to get hair from an animal that was as ‘mean as a junkyard dog.’ I’d rather get the shots. Jim Croce gave us the popular line ‘meaner than a junkyard dog’ in his 1973 classic ‘Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown,’ but the phrase may go back farther, possibly to the 19th Century. Have I got you grinning like a Cheshire Cat yet? Or are you about ready for a cat-nap? But, creeping in on little cat feet, I’ll continue. Have you ever been to a ‘dog and pony show?’ They were popular in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. Originally small traveling circuses with performing ani-mal acts, the phrase has long since come to mean an over-hyped, heavily adver-tised public event. Not a dog or a pony in sight. Entertainment is really going to the dogs. It’s been pretty cold in San Diego lately. In fact, it’s been a ‘three dog night.’ No, not the 1960s rock group. It’s an old Alaskan Inuit idiom that means it’s so cold you need three dogs to cuddle with to

Letting the Cat Out of the Bag:The Wonderful World of Animal Idioms

Mark Carlson

Originally published in San DiegoPets Magazine

When not visiting his in-laws in South Royalton, Mark Carlson spends much of his time in North County, CA with his wife, Jane and his Labrador Retriever, Saffron. He is an award writer and an aviation historian, with numerous articles and

books including his latest, Confessions of a Guide Dog. Legally blind, he travels and works with Saffron, and is a member

of several aviation, maritime,and veteran organizations. www.musketmania.com

A Rabbit With

More Than

Just A Lucky

Foot Recently I caught a tale from base-ball’s legendary play-by-play announcer Vin Scully, about San Francisco Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner. I had heard that the future Hall of Famer was a good ‘ole farm boy, but I was sure that this one was made of the stuff that urban legends, or in this case country legends, were born. However, after further investigation, here is the story in text, originally from Tom Verducci’s 2014 profile of MadBum in Sports Illustrated:


This may be the best Boone-like tale about the man they call Mad Bum. One day during spring training this year in Scottsdale, Bumgarner and his wife were roping cattle when Madison was startled by a large snake he figured was a rattler. He quickly grabbed an ax and hacked it to pieces. When Ali, an expert field dresser, examined what was left of the snake, she found two baby jackrabbits inside pieces of it and extracted them. A short while later the Bumgarners noticed that one of the rabbits had moved slightly. It was alive. Ali brought the rabbit back to their apartment and for the next few days kept it warm and bottle-nursed it. The rabbit soon was healthy enough for them to release into the wild. “Think about how tough that rabbit was,” Bumgarner said. “First it gets eaten by a snake, then the snake gets chopped to pieces, then it gets picked up by people and it lives. It’s all true.” The pace of baseball is often criticized, but the flip side of that is that there is time for Vin Scully to spin a yarn about snake murder and rabbit rebirth punctuated by a “Meanwhile, line drive base hit to cen-ter.” What a sport! By the way, this isn’t even the best story from that SI profile. That would be the fact that Madison Bumgarner once dated a girl named Madison Bumgarner.

Elegant Trees, Elegant Riders

Dorothy Crosby

As I was doing chores this morn-ing, I walked past the old pine tree. It’s beginning to decline and a woodpecker is taking advantage of the insects housed within that huge trunk. Oddly shaped at the bottom, it also has a slanted bend sev-eral feet up, and then grows straight and tall towards the sunlight, the top indica-tive of elegance. I examine it daily, won-dering when it will need to come down – surely before winter and harsh elements cause it to fall. Part of my concern is the imbalance I perceive when I look at it; it looks unstable as I see its “center” higher than the ground. (I suspect it might not take much to topple it.) Comparing it to straighter, steadier trees – I am reminded of Sally Swift’s analogy comparing a tree and a rider’s body: our seat being the base of the tree, where it meets the ground; our legs being the roots, which grow below the ground; and our torso and head being the top, or crown, of the tree as it reaches for the sky. Good balance comes from the base; being centered and in complete balance begins in our core, in the bottom of the “bowl” that is our pelvis, with us equally in balance on both of our seatbones. Our legs hang down, directly under the base, for balance and support. Just as the roots of a tree grow down deep, but aren’t clutching the ground in a desperate attempt to keep the trunk upright. Their spreading under the soil stabilizes that tree without having to work at it; they just “are” and it works without created tension. The crown of the tree grows up, and so must the torso of our body, our head balanced on top of our spine neither too far forward nor too far back, not held there with muscle, but allowed to rest there in proper alignment. How do we achieve this? By find-ing both seat bones, and sitting on them evenly with one on either side of the horse’s spine, we begin to put ourselves in balance. Build a block tower taller than oneself and you know that if one block is out of alignment, the tower will likely fall. While riding we must be in a “stand up” position, balanced over our feet, add-ing to our base of support, even though we are sitting on the horse. Knees bent and feet directly under our seat; drop an imaginary plumb line from your ear and it should travel through your shoulder, hip, and ankle if you are in alignment and balanced. Sit too far forward or too far back with our legs or shoulders, we are no longer in balance; we struggle to find stability and maintain that position. Try this: sit as close to the front of the saddle

as you can comfortably, allowing your legs to hang from your hip joints (which are in the crease between your thigh and torso, not on your sides as when we put our hands on our “hips”). Be sure you are on the mid-dle of your seat bones, lean forward and then back, as a pendulum swings, making the arc smaller and smaller until you are sure you are in the middle. With stirrups adjusted correctly, your knee will be bent and your feet directly beneath your seat bones. In a sense, we stand, sit, kneel and squat simultaneously! Balanced on our seat bones, our upper bodies are free from tension and can “grow” up; no muscle tension is needed to sit poised, but relaxed, without forcing ourselves to be straight. Picture royalty or celebrity waving; muscle tone makes them elegant, but muscle tension would make them appear stiff and rigid. In balance we become light and fluid, rather than rigid and tight, moving more easily to “follow” the horse – in order to be “with” him. Basically, we have two choices: we are either with the horse or we’re not. People who are not have tight muscles and/or “locked” joints, the somewhat jerky or bouncy motion proves it! The key is softness, and being in balance – having your Building Blocks in alignment – achieve the balance that helps make us secure and one with the horse!

Dorothy Crosby is certified Level lll Centered Riding Instructor/Clinician and a CHA Instructor for both English and Western riders. She manages a small farm in Stoddard,

NH, where Equi-librium is based, workshops, clinics, and lessons are also offered off the farm. Dorothy teaches adults and children, emphasizing safety and fun, and

incorporating Centered Riding into: recreational and trail riding, dressage, jumping, driving, long-lining and in-hand work. With over 50 years of horse experience, begin-ning riding as a child and then a Jr. Instructor in High School and an Equestrian Team Co-Captain in college. She has been a Veterinary Technician, 4-H Leader, and Pony Club Instructor and is a contributing author for 4 Legs and a Tail Magazine. Dorothy loves when humans and equines connect and form a partnership; her passion is

teaching horses and humans of all ages and levels of experience.


24 4 Legs & a Tail Summer 2016

When puppies are born there are no teeth present inside of the mouth. The tissue that will produce each tooth is present within the bone of the jaw. Each and every tooth, both baby (deciduous) and adult (permanent), has its own group of cells to produce that tooth. As the puppy grows the tissue that will produce each baby tooth becomes activated at the appropriate time to produce that tooth. The crown of the tooth is made first, then the root is made and this pushes the tooth out of the bone, erupting it through the gum and into the mouth. Baby teeth are meant to be replaced by the adult tooth, again at the appropriate time. This process may go awry for a number of reasons. Sometimes there is no adult tooth tissue present in the bone, and therefore no adult tooth ever erupts. Sometimes the adult tooth is present but does not erupt into the mouth. Most commonly, however, is that the baby tooth fails to fall out when the adult tooth erupts. This leads to two teeth trying to occupy the same space in the mouth. A 3 year old Welsh Terrier had an unusual configuration of incisor teeth. These are the teeth at the very front of the mouth. There should be 6 upper incisors present. He had 8, 6 adult incisors and 2 baby incisors.

Sometimes Teeth End UpIn The Wrong Place

Sandra L Waugh VMD, MS - Windsor, VT

202503 102 101 201 603

103203

101, 102, 103 Adult incisors on upper right

503 Baby corner (third) incisor on the upper right

103 203603102201101

202503

503 603103

203102 202101 201

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201, 202, 203 Adult incisors on upper left

603 Baby corner (third) incisor on the upper left


Dr. Waugh is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. She also holds a Masters Degree from Washington State University of Veterinary

Medicine and is owner of Windsor Veterinary & Dental Services.

The adult incisor teeth are the first adult to teeth to erupt. Normally, the baby tooth root is removed by the body as the adult tooth develops, leaving just the crown of the baby tooth to pop out as the adult tooth crown pokes up into the mouth. In this dog, the baby teeth 503 and 603 retained the full length and strength of the root. As the dog grew, the teeth must have pushed on each other, and for whatever reason the adult corner incisors (103 and 203) ended up in very odd places. 103 was sticking straight out of the gum and was not causing a problem. 203 was pointing up into the side of the cheek and eventually created a large sore.

203203

603 603503

A large ulcer had developed with an overgrowth of gum tissue as well (yellow arrow). The ulceration is hidden by the overgrowth of gum tissue in the photographs. This was so painful for the dog that he would not allow his mouth to be examined with-out sedation. Tooth 103 and 203 were extracted first and dental x-rays were taken. Now the decidu-ous teeth could be seen without any overlap. Because there was significant bone loss on the roots of both 503 and 603, these were extracted as well.

The final X-ray showing the remain-ing four adult incisor teeth.

The overgrowth of tissue on the ulcer was trimmed away and the ulcer was closed with sutures. The dog was seen 14 days later and was comfortable enough in his mouth to allow it to be examined without any sedation, but not quite enough to get a photo-graph!

Could the adult incisor teeth be moved back into a normal position? Technically, yes they could. Practically, however, this would require multiple visits with adjust-ment of the braces to produce such movement, with sedation required each time. This is hardly worth the time, effort and expense this would entail. The dog is not going to “miss” having these teeth, in fact he is happy to not have them. The goal in veterinary dentistry is to produce a pain free mouth, not to produce a “perfect smile”. A question I am often asked is “Do the teeth move after other teeth are extract-ed?” Such movement is common in humans and is why people are fitted with bridg-es or implants. Luckily, dog and cat teeth do not move after neighboring teeth are extracted.

Before and after extracting the teeth. The ulceration area sutured.

team volunteering in hospitals, schools, nursing care facilities, veterans’ clinics, and colleges. The dogs bring joy, relief of anxiety, companionship and entertain-ment for those in need of some emotional support. The handlers of these dogs make up the other half of the team. Handling these dogs is a great responsibility. Therapy dog handlers have the difficult task of keep-ing these working dogs safe on the job. Successful therapy dog visits are equal parts human interaction, maintaining the facilities’ guidelines, and continually monitoring the working dogs’ safety. Dogs, no matter how well behaved, will react neg-atively to situations that are continually frightening or stress provoking. Monitoring a therapy dog’s reactions to moving equip-ment, individuals with varying cognitive abilities, slippery floors, alarms or sounds from various medical devices can provide the handler with information about the environments the dog is comfortable in. Is this a confined space? Are the voices too loud? Is the wheelchair alarm frightening? Comparing environmental factors to the dogs’ reactions provides information to the handlers. Continuing to force therapy dogs into working conditions they don’t enjoy, can result in the dogs not liking the work, and can potentially provoke negative responses. In addition to monitoring a dog’s emotional well-being, monitoring the dog’s physical safety is equally impor-tant. Handlers have to continually scan the environment for potential hazards. In medical facilities, there can be medication on the floor in both pill form, and also mixed into soft foods like apple sauce or yogurt. Rolling equipment can be hazard-ous to paws and tails. It is up to the handler to anticipate the passing of large laundry or meal carts and situate the dog accord-ingly. Therapy Dogs of Vermont’s policy mandates that handlers use a maximum of a four foot leash. This is to ensure that the dog is in close proximity to the han-dler at all times. Interactions between the therapy dog and humans it is visiting can be monitored closely. If someone has dex-terity challenges, or is handling the dog too roughly, the handler is right there to help facilitate the interaction and better guide the visit. A working dog on a long leash, or off leash, would leave the dog susceptible to potential harm. There would be no way for the handler to properly monitor the dog’s behavior and social interactions. Matt Baccary, a recently certified handler who worked closely with Therapy Dogs of Vermont evaluators, said, “Before, during, and after each working session we had the opportunity to receive feedback and

Keeping Certified Therapy Dogs Safe While on the Job

Jason Reed

“She is so obedient and calm, and

she loves affection. I think she’ll make a great therapy dog!” Having tested and evaluated therapy dog teams with Therapy Dogs of Vermont for several years, I have heard statements like this time-and-time again. Many of these dogs go on to be the canine half of the certified therapy dog

Continued Next Page


discuss our experience and ask questions. This helped us learn to notice safety issues, navigate crowded rooms, work with staff at the site, and more.” Some locations present more hazards to the working canines than others, but the handlers’ focus on keeping therapy dogs safe needs to be the top priority dur-ing visits. This is why Therapy Dogs of Vermont certifies a therapy dog team, rather than just assessing the dog’s per-formance. Therapy Dogs of Vermont’s top priority is keeping our animals safe while conducting visits. Through the evaluation process, the “practical exam” portion of the certification process, Therapy Dogs of Vermont evaluators are critiquing the human’s care for the dog. “This process left me feeling like I am capable of pro-viding meaningful interactions in any

therapy dog situation while keeping my canine partner engaged and safe.” said Baccary. Keeping a working therapy dog safe ensures that s/he can continue to “unleash smiles” for many happy and healthy years.

Jason is a high school teacher in Burlington and has been a tester and evaluator for Therapy Dogs of Vermont for 6 years. He and his wife Emily have

had 2 certified therapy dogs. They currently have one, Olive.

www.TherapyDogs.org

www.4LegsAndATail.com 27Summer 2016Rocco understands hydration. Smart dog.

What do seeing eye dogs do when they retire? Do they spend their later years lounging on a sofa by the fire? Maybe some do, but not Leroy, a sweet, engaging 11-year old black Lab and former seeing-eye dog. Leroy began life at Guiding Eyes for the Blind in Yorktown Heights, NY. His earliest days involved massage, stimulus exposure and temperament eval-uations well before any formal training began. Most of his first year was subsequent-ly spent with a “puppy raiser”; volunteers who take seeing eye prospects into their homes (and hearts) with the goal of begin-ning their basic training and introducing them to the big wide world. When Leroy was two, he became a full-fledged seeing eye dog, and was placed with a sightless woman in Pennsylvania. He served her faithfully for years. But something started to happen when Leroy was eight that forced his retirement. Inexplicably and consistently, he began pulling his charge to the left. Naturally, this did not allow him to guide her reli-ably or safely. Though neurological and physical tests showed nothing wrong, Leroy was removed from service and placed on Guiding Eyes’ adoption list. Enter Tom Gannon, a Winchester, NH retiree. Tom had experience as a puppy raiser for Guiding Eyes and had also adopt-ed another of their seeing eye dogs before Leroy came into his life. Tom’s name was first on the adoption list. When he got the call about Leroy, he said “ I thought about it for all of two seconds and then drove up to get him”. (Tom was then living in Maryland.) In a humorous reference to his personal political leanings, Tom jokes that “It was a good thing he was pulling to the left - if he had pulled to the right I might not have adopted him”. With five children and twelve grandchil-dren, you’d think that Tom, an affable and active 81years young, might have wanted to slow down. But Tom had a mind to do volunteer work; and having learned about the wonderful and varied work that therapy dogs do, he saw a great opportunity for both him and Leroy. Their second career beckoned. Tom and Leroy certified as a canine therapy team with Bright Spot, an organi-zation in Northampton, MA. Tom will tell you that their training was more for him than for Leroy; but there was still learning and testing required. Instead of a guiding harness, Leroy now sports a vibrant blue vest indicating his affiliation with the organization, as well as a couple of very official looking photo I.D.s. This team is very busy; and in a variety of venues. Their week starts on Mondays in Keene visiting with elderly residents at Prospect Place, The Woodward, and Castle Adult Day

SECOND SIGHTCathy White - Walpole,NH

Care. That’s right, all three! Wednesdays finds them at Cheshire Medical Center in the morning and The Brattleboro Retreat in the afternoon. Thursdays are spent closer to home at Applewood in Winchester, which includes visiting the dementia unit. At CMC, they start their morning in the lobby, where they don’t get far without someone wanting face-time with Leroy; who is always happy to oblige. From there they visit the surgical waiting room, com-forting those there who are anticipating procedures and surgeries. Then they are welcomed up on the 5th floor by patients and staff alike, as they methodically work their way down to the ground floor and out. Their afternoon is devoted to the Brattleboro Retreat. Tom and Leroy do a group session with substance abuse patients; as well as a visit to Adult Intensive. The latter is a locked psychiatric unit. Patients here come to Tom and Leroy individually, and are always accompanied by staff. Some of these patients have been here for the entire two years that Tom and Leroy have been visiting. When asked which visits Tom finds the most rewarding, after some thought, he says that it’s the Retreat’s substance abuse group. The people there are generally younger, and seem truly appreciative of Tom and Leroy’s weekly commitment. The group session is held in a closed room, and Leroy is off-leash. The patients get down on the floor with him and really have some qual-ity time with a reassuring and comforting friend. There is always positive feedback from the participants in that group. Leroy’s training as a seeing-eye dog cer-tainly helped him to excel as a therapy dog. But does he still exhibit his intensive guide dog training or old habits? He certainly does! Before crossing a street, Leroy will always stop and sit by Tom’s side. (Good behavior for all dogs!) If another dog is approaching them, Leroy will sit and stare straight ahead until the other dog passes. The one thing that Leroy adores that he couldn’t do as a guide dog, is sniffing. Possibly his favorite activity now, it’s one he practices whenever the team isn’t working; though there’s not much relaxing even on “off” days. Four mile walks on the grounds of Mt. Hermon Academy in nearby Northfield, MA are a habit for these active retirees. Enjoy all those wonderful smells, Leroy. You’ve earned it!

Cathy White lives in Walpole with her husband, Jeff. They have been owned by Labradors of every color for almost 30 years. Cathy is a Boston University

alum, with a degree in print communi-cations. They have two grown sons. A stay-at-home Lab mom; she spends a lot of time baking, cooking, gardening, doing yoga and reading. She also par-

ticipates in the Paws to Read program with Harry. Having taught Pre-school and Pre-K, early childhood literacy is massively important to her. Harry, her

seven year old yellow Labrador named after Harry Potter.


Tom Gannon with Leroy.

Desiree with her new friend.

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