DOG SAFETY TIPS

DOG SAFETY TIPS
For Children and Parents

TIPS FOR PARENTS
· Never allow a child to approach or reach out to a strange dog, even if the owner says it is okay.
· Never leave a child or baby alone with a dog.
· When visiting friends or relatives who have a dog, do not allow a child to play in the yard unsupervised. If that is not possible, ask the owner to put the dog away.
· Do not feed a dog directly from your hand so that is does not learn it is acceptable to take food from people.
· Do not allow a child to feed a dog unsupervised because some dogs can be very protective of their food.
· Never allow a dog to snatch food from a child. It not only teaches the dog bad manners, but it endangers the hand that feeds it.
· Do not allow children to pull on a dog’s collar to lead it outside the house because the dog could bit them. Instead, a dog should be taught to respond to a verbal command. If the dog does not respond to a verbal command given be a child, the parent should give correction, not the child.
· Children without adult supervision should not be allowed to walk a dog. A child could be dragged unwittingly into a fight with another dog.
· Children should always precede a dog through a door or gate.
· Never buy a dog as a toy substitute. Dogs are living, breathing creatures with feelings. Children should be taught this fact from an early age and should be shown how to treat dogs with respect.

TIPS FOR CHILDREN
· Never pet a strange dog, even if the owner is present.
· Stay away from a dog while it is eating and sleeping.
· Stop your bike if chased while riding.
· Never retrieve a ball from someone else’s yard.
· If visiting friends who have a dog, ask them to put their dog away, if you want to play.
· Stay away for a dog that is tied up.
· Never pull a dog’s tail or ears; dogs feel pain, too.
· Never tease a dog or make it angry.
· Stand totally still if a dog runs at you barking. Cover your face with your hands.
· If knocked to the ground by a dog, roll into a ball, Cover your face with your arms and stay as still as you possibly can. Do not try to get up.

For an informative quiz that you can take to learn more about your own dog's behavior, go to the Bark Buster's website @ www.barkbusters.com

or call Bark Busters @ (877) 500-BARK

CESAREAN SECTION IN DOGS

Giving birth has always been a risky situation. One of the risks, especially with small dogs, is that of having too big a baby. When the baby is too big to come out then a surgery called a Cesarean Section (C-section) must be performed to save the mother’s life. Here is a picture of a puppy delivered in a recent C-section. Dr. Foss, assisted by Kayla Martinez, was able to deliver a single large puppy from a Dachshund mom. When C-sections are done at Alpine Veteianry Hospital, we use the safest and most highly recommended procedures. We use an anesthetic called Sevoflourane. This has the least affect on the puppies and allows the mom to wake up very quickly from anesthesia so that mom and babies can be safely be sent home within an hour. It is an expensive anesthetic, but we feel the safety and quick recovery are well worth it. Just ask the owner of this little puppy.

ENDURANCE RIDES

The Endurance Ride season has started. This last weekend the first ride in the Pacific NorthWest was held near Othello, WA. The ride is called, Home on The Range. Dr Foss was the head vet and worked with 3 other veterinarians. People were worried about the weather. Infact many riders from Seattle were prevented from coming to the ride because the pass was closed by snow! Friday was a bit dubious as it spit snow and the wind blew steadily all day long. However the wait for Saturday turned out to be well worth it as the sun came out and it was mostly clear (we won’t count the few snow balls that fell or the threatening clouds that kept passing us by!). The horses did very well with only a 7% pull rate. Great DAY.
The next ride Dr Foss will be attending is Grizzly Mountian, Prineville, Or April 19, 2008.

VETERINARY LEARNING

Learning should never stop. Continual education is critical to high quality veterinary services. Veterinarians are required to get at least 12 hours of continuing education each year to keep their veterinary licenses in Oregon and Washington. Veterinary Technicians are also required to attend 8 hours of continuing education each year as well. At HR Alpine Veterinary Hospital we strongly encourage all of our staff to attend continuing education courses.

In March Dr Luell, Sharon Foss and Birch Vorron all attended the Oregon Veterinary Medical Association’s spring Conference. Dr Luell attended 18 hours of classes covering topics such as Equine Hormone Therapy & Reproduction, Emergency Medicine, and Cat & Dog Cardiology. Sharon and Birch attended 12 hours of classes such as Pain Management & Anesthesia and Cell Identification.

In March Dr Foss spent 2 days at Pilchuck Veterinary Hospital in Snohomish, Wa. There he studied with Dr Jim Bryant and covered performance horse problems and learned about the use of MRIs in horses. In addition Dr Foss also studied their Acupuncture program and their Emergency Clinic program.


VETERINARY TALKS AND PRESENTATIONS

Providing education to you, the pet owner, is part of what we do. Dr Foss and Dr. Luell give talks and prepared lectures to various groups. Here is a list of talks already given plus those we are planning to give.
*Hood River School FFA program, “Health Care for Fair Animals”, Dr Foss
*Best Condition Judging, PNER Endurance Conference, Pasco, WA Dr Foss
*Alpaca Health Issues, White Salmon, WA Dr Luell