How much Pollen is in the air today in Middleton. Look it up!
Here is an excellent website to look up Pollen counts for where you live. Pollen Lookup The information is from actual samples and predictions are made base on combines weather forecasts. This is the most accurate site readily available to the public.
How I use it.
- I keep track on a simple calendar by marking a red X on the days when my allergy symptoms are acting up. I do the same with my pets.
- Then I look up the pollen(s) that is(are) high during the weeks of year that my symptoms are flared up.
- Treatment or avoidance depends on what I or my pets is reacting too. Examples:
- Tree pollen allergies that cross react with some foods.
Common in allergies to Birch trees are allergies to apples and carrots, symptoms of mouth burning when eating foods are reported. This is called oral allergy syndrome. Some people may be allergic to one food, and others with many different fruits and vegetables. In the case of OAS, individuals react to different foods based on what type of seasonal allergies they are affected by. So I re-look up which foods to avoid. I avoid gardening under the one birch tree in the yard when it is pollinating and avoid woods and parks in early spring. See related posts about OAS. - Grass when pollen for dogs and cats this is common. Prevent common habit by Pets of “rolling in the grass” or “eating the grass”. Wipe down their feet and fur with a very wet microfiber cloth followed by a dry one. Be sure to get deep between the toes, where sweat glands are located and more debris will stick to skin and hair. Still dogs and cats love the smell of grass so we often have to add some treatment to decrease itching if grass pollen is one of their allergies. There are many, many options so consult with your local Vet for help with treatment.
- Late summer/ fall bloomers like ragweed, golden rod, yarrows etc. These plants produce a large amount of light weight pollen that is spreads easily on the wind, so everyone who is allergic is effected for miles, making avoidance impractical. The “Nettie Pot” treatment method which uses a saline/herbal lavage to physical remove the days accumulation of particles, does work for some people when used correctly. This is difficult to do to pets, who nasopharynx anatomy is different and lack of cooperation. So again some treatment to decrease allergy symptoms is often needed for the fall season. Herbal anti-inflammatories, that reduce the body’s triggering mechanism that release histamines, can be helpful when started 4 to 6 months before the expected season of allergies. At a minimum herbal can decrease the dose or duration of pharmaceuticals needed to control the symptoms of a flareup.
Good luck to everyone who struggles with allergies, in themselves or family members furry or human. Allergic disease is very frustrating and gets more intense with each passing year.
As the global weather become moister, warmer, and windier we can expect more intense allergy seasons.
Olive leaf is a medicine substitute-the science
Sounds to good to be true but olives and olive leaf are truly “super-foods”. A common food that is often ignored, because it is not exotic enough to grab headlines. Olive leaf, (olives & oil) has been used for centuries as medicine. Supported by extensive and excellent science: here is link to a review of the science. Nonsterol Triterpenoids as Major Constituents of Olea europaea.
If you are not interested in the complex science go to this website instead.
http://www.about-olive-leaf-extract.com
I use “Olive leaf extract” powders or capsules, because of the high concentration of active ingredients compared to olives or olive oil. It can be used in chronic diseases where anti-microbials are recommended, such as; Lymes and other tick diseases, recurrent ear, bladder, gastrointestinal or skin infections. Olive leaf works well when paired with antibiotics or antifungals, as the second stage of treatment. The dose, duration and brand matter for the olive leaf to work well. It is best to seek out the advice of a Veterinarian trained in herbal medicine. Successful treatment of stubborn infections takes close supervision because each case is so different.
Sorry, there is no “one size fit all” when it comes to chronic infections.
23 Best games for a New Puppy | Dog Star Daily
Great video for all dog owners, not just for puppies!!
23 Best games for a New Puppy | Dog Star Daily.
Dr Dunbar and his team discuss the idea of teaching our puppies by turning training into a game. They also refer to several games that have online instructions listed by the trainer’s name or the name of the task.
One behavior that dogs and humans have in common is the desire to play throughout our adult lives. Most other animals stop playing as they reach adulthood. So here I will write about the benefit of play in dog learning.
We often want dogs to do skills/behaviors that make no sense to them. So of course we use food as a reward to motivate puppies. When we turn the training lessons into games, the dog experiences training as fun puzzle games, that they get to do with family. The more fun the training, the more your dog will love training and the more they remember
For example, my dog Leo loves training sessions, especially when he is learning new skills that are challenging for him. I can tell when he is really into it because he takes the treats and spits them on the ground quickly to be ready for the next thing.
Let me go through benefits of games on learning using the example game I call “GO-FIND-IT.”
The most immediate benefit for puppy owners is that mental exercise is more fatiguing than physical exercise. On days when the weather is bad, I often teach Leo new skills in place of outdoor exercise. As just a 3 year old adolescent dog, he becomes more tired after 20 minutes of learning puzzle games compared to a full hour of physical running. When he was a puppy it was more like 5 – 10 minutes of puzzle time. This is a very good way to help a puppy sleep through the night.
Instructions for”Go- find-it.” (Be sure to run the words together to make the cue into one long word). Begin by hiding a favorite Toy in plain site, allow the dog to watch you place the Toy under a chair or other easy to get to place. Most puppies will go pick it up or follow you while you hide it. Exchange the Toy for a food treat after the dog has it solidly in their mouth. Reward with food for each find. Repeat hiding the Toy in the same room and in easy places about 10-15 times before moving on to more difficult hiding places, like under a pillow. Once the dog catches on to the game you can replace the food reward with a short “Tug on Toy” play. Puppy will be ready to go pick it up after a quick bit of play. It will be easier for the pup to give up the Toy each time if the dog already knows “Leave it”. Next level of difficulty is to have puppy in sit-stay, while you quickly hide the Toy just out of sight. Increase the variety & difficulty of hiding places as pup learns to find it more quickly.
Leo loved this game and would race to find the Toy. He would come back prancing, tossing the toy up & catching it in the air as he returned to me.
The game uses a combination of actions to increase learning.
1. Action: The wait at a sit until I said the cue words; “go-find-it”.
Learning: Sit-Stay and practicing impulse control, longer sounds are cues.
2. Action: search for his Toy.
Learning: Frustration tolerance, Search behaviors & Pay attention to the environment.
This basic skill can be used to teach: “GO-find-Dad” & Go-find-Kitty”, Go-find-Billy.
3. Action: Object pick up, hold in mouth, and return with the Toy and give up the Toy.
Learning: all skills for solid retrieve in sporting dogs & service dogs. Dogs don’t understand the idea of pick up, hold, bringing back objects at our request. Especially, the part of the game where they give their toy away. Game reinforces the whole sequence of skills for a good retrieve which is harder than we think. Many dogs who are not trained to retrieve, will run off with the object or pick it up and drop it until you retrieve it.
4. Action: repeating the game at increasing difficulty.
Learning: Reliability & speed
Leo quickly realized that he had to bring the Toy all the way to me. Plus, the quicker he brought the Toy back, the quicker he got to play the game again. All without any food rewards. Playing and having fun becomes a natural reward.
5. Action: Increased difficulty leads to longer and more area searched by the dog. If he came back quickly without the Toy I sent him out a second time, the third search I go with him and show him the location.
Learning: Problem solving, frustration tolerance, memory.
As the dog figures out the simple hiding places, increase the difficulty so the dog has to search more areas for the Toy. This teaches basic problem solving and frustration tolerance and important cognitive skills for dogs throughout life. One fun fact revealed by brain research into memory: The greater effort expended while learning, the better your memory becomes of the information learned.
All this from 10 to 20 minutes of fun for the two of us.
How to create a Happy Dog
I see allot of behavior problems in dogs because their busy families don’t make time for daily social time with the dog. In our modern, commercial world, we believe we have a right to have it all. More and more pets are aquired like hobbies, chosen based on appearance and hair color, rather than personality, social and physical needs. Matching a family situation that is a good situation for the pet is not considered until after the first placement has failed. Children, younger than age 12 often beg for a a puppy and get to them including choosing the breed or individual pup. children younger than 12 will within 1 -2 months move on to another interest. The family dog is stuck in yard or house alone all day, treated like the motorcycle or sports car, stored away until the weekend when the weather is good, ready and waiting in good working order for the road trip. But, dogs are like people, highly social creatures. They need allot of social time from their families every day of their lives. And like children they require a prolonged puppyhood and adolescent period of social education for brain development and to acquire all the information and behaviors needed to make it in the complex human world like ours. Watch the Video for 4 tips that will help your dog have a happy life.
Dog body Language Part 2
If you liked part 1, you’ll find even more interesting information in this video.
Dog Body Language Video Part 1
This is simply a great video to start understand your dog.
How to Train your Dog to NOT PULL on a Leash! EXTREME LEASH PULLING, BARKING, LUNGING and JUMPING! – YouTube
The important points to remember from this video below are
- be patient.
- Help the dog learn to focus on you before the trigger gets him out of control.
- The handler learns the dogs distance from the triggers that set him off. In this dogs case many things in the environment trigger the dog into excitement mode, especially trees. So the handler has to work with the dog very close to the beginning of the walk, so be it. watch as the dog get calmer with repeated attempts.
- This is the type of training is when allot of food is effective. The tree containing squirrels are really, really exciting for a dog. So you have to become more exciting than a squirrel and the next better thing is usually food. Really yummy food. like chicken, lunchmeat or cheese. This method is called “counter conditioning”. The “conditioning” happened automatically when the dog learned to lung and bark at trees because some really fun stuff happened. To make staying with you on a polite walk a new habit, you have to make you more appealing then the fun of his learned doggie game of lunging/barking at trees. The process of doing it is called “counter-conditioning”. It takes a long time usually months of practice for a dog to give up an old habit and replace it with the new behavior you want
How Dogs Learn- Video by Dr Yin
Great Video! A must see for all who love dogs.
If you are a client of Dr Smith’s – watch this video.If your dog has bad habits – watch this video. . If you want a better relationship with your dog – watch this video!
Dr Smith Holistic Petcare 