THE GERMAN SHEPHERD SENTINEL
July 2006 - NEWSLETTER OF THE
GSDC OF GREATER RALEIGH
Pat Embrey, Newsletter Editor
1390 Sanders Road, Benson, NC 27504
PH: 919-934-6232, E-Mail: VonRillca@aol.com
Website: www.gsdcofgrraleigh.org
July Sentinel Information
- Board Policy on Dogs at Club Sponsored Events
- July Meeting Information
- June Meeting Minutes
- Extremely Urgent – NC Companion Bill
- We’re Not That Important
- A Letter to your Pets
- New Heartworm Information
BOARD POLICY ON DOGS AT CLUB SPONSORED EVENTS
The GSDC of Greater Raleigh welcomes your German Shepherd at our events, including meetings. However, the following rules must be followed:
Anyone with an aggressive dog (one that growls, snaps, or is in any way aggressive towards other dogs or people) must be muzzled.
Dogs will be free of loose hair and external parasites (fleas or ticks). Please brush your dog prior to bringing it to the meeting as we must clean up the room after we are finished.
For the safety of all members, guests and their dogs, it is strongly recommended that all dogs be kept up to date on their vaccinations. ALL dogs that are old enough, MUST have a current rabies shot.
JULY MEETING INFORMATION
The next meeting of the GSDC of Greater Raleigh will be held on Wednesday, July 5, at the Exchange Park. Socialization will be at 7:00 PM with the program beginning at 7:30 PM. The program will be given by Cary Police Officer Jeremy Burgin with his dog Max. He will be explaining the work they do together for the Police Department. This should be a very interesting meeting. Refreshments will be furnished by Billy Pfeiffer. Hope everyone will be able to attend.
GSD Club Yard Sale…..for those of you that weren't at the June club meeting, we announced that the yard sale raised a little over $60.00.
_______________________________________________________________WHY DOGS & CATS ARE BETTER THAN KIDS:
They eat less, don't ask for money all the time, are easier to train, usually come when called, never drive your car, don't hang out with drug-using friends, don't smoke or drink, don't worry about having to buy the latest fashions, don't wear your clothes, don't need a gazillion
dollars for college, and if they get pregnant, you can sell their children.______________________________________________________________________________________
MINUTES OF THE JUNE 7, 2006 MEETING GSDC OF GREATER RALEIGH
Program: Chief Mac Morgan of the NC Canine Emergency Response Team, Inc. (NC C.E.R.T.) came to talk about the Wake Canine Search and Rescue program. Volunteers train with their dogs for various specific types of search/rescue including air scenting, trailing, article search, human remains detection, cadaver dog (water and/or land), forensic dog (blood, fluids, etc.) and disaster dog (FEMA type training in collapsed building, etc.). There is an evaluation process for each specific type of find and all of this is a volunteer program and anyone interested should contact Mac. He discussed several finds he and his dog Sam have done on water.
Business Meeting: The next club meeting is July 5. No new business to discuss.
Second reading: James & Keri Teater
Third reading: Natalie Kauftheil
Toni Pals
Welcome to the club Natalie and Toni.
Treasurer’s Report: Sarah reported on the second preliminary 2006 Show Report showing a net income of $1,547.98. She also distributed an updated list of club members. If you have not yet paid this year’s dues, please send to Sarah.
EXTREMELY URGENT AND REQUIRES YOUR IMMEDIATE ATTENTION!
NC S1554 / NC H2098 are companion bills rapidly moving through the North Carolina Legislature with the potential to significantly and adversely affect the property rights of animal owners, hunters, exhibitors, and farmers throughout the state. NAIA Trust opposes this legislation, and has expressed its concerns in a letter to the North Carolina Senate Judiciary.
I have asked our Secretary to send out immediate notices to all asking for them to write their representatives in opposition. The NAIA and the NCRAOA both have links that can give you more specific information on these bills and links to send letters to your representatives. I would ask that the entire Federation motivate their members of their clubs to address the issue of these Bills. I'm hoping everyone will participate for the sake of the sport that we all love and enjoy. The dogs should be the most important issue, not any individual agendas. We do not want this bill to become law and need to make our representatives aware of the wrongness of this bill.
You can go to www.ncraoa.com for more information on this bill or http://capwiz.com/naiatrust/state/main/?state=NC&view=myofficials
To use NAIA Trust's CapWiz system to e-mail your legislators.
WE’RE NOT THAT IMPORTANTBy
Lee Smith
While there are exceptions to everything in life, for the most part, dogs do adjust to new owners and new situations. I've seen old dogs and dogs with serious medical problems adjust. I base that observation from working with rescued dogs, many of which were in shelters because of tragic
circumstances, including the death of an owner. I have observed that many, if not most, dogs get depressed when they are taken away from their homes and life partners. Even those dogs that seem to adjust easily take about six months to form new bonds. They grieve and wish they were back home, but they get over it.
However, sad that it is, I can't see putting them down. In most of the cases that I have observed it is the owner's ego that gets in the way. There are a few exceptions. There was the one male GSD whose own died that could only be handled by the husband. Her wife had died years earlier. The dog liked his son, but the son couldn't take the dog because of the danger to his children. He begged me to take the dog and find another home, but I asked him if he handed me the leash and walked away, would I be in any danger. He said yes, I would. I'm sure it doesn't take a genius to figure out the recommendation I made.
Rather than discuss the gloom and doom scenerios, which frightens me because it may give newcomers to the breed the thought that euthanasia is the preferred solution, there are steps that can be taken before tragedy occurs.
1. Please have a will made up that includes where every dog or pet in your household should go, preferably with financial provisions made. Have backup plans included. For instance, if I should die, all my animals will go to my partner. If we should go together, there are second options that are spelled out and if that person was not able to handle the responsibility, there is a third solution. Of course, we have asked every person's permission.
2. Dogs that are kennel dogs adjust well to homes, but dogs kept in homes sometimes do not do well in kennels. Keep that in mind when making arrangements.
3. Socialize your dogs. Enough said.
4. Crate training is part of my dogs' puppyhood and their adult lives. They are all boarded every once in awhile, so they understand that staying in a kennel is not a death sentence. Often times, it is very difficult to place a dog because they are so tramatized by being in a kennel situation. It is very hard to find a foster home if a dog cannot be crated. If a dog is crate trained, the transition is usually much easier because the crate offers a comforting place to go when the tension gets too high.
For those of you kind enough to take an older dog into your household,
please follow the recommendations we make to everyone who adopts a dog
through rescue.
1. Use a crate. Crates are a safe place for the dog.
2. Keep the dog on a regular schedule -- for everything. It helps during the adjustment period when the dog doesn't know what is going to happen next. They figure out schedules easily.
- Do not let the dog off leash for the first 90 days unless in a secure fenced-in area. More than one dog has taken off to find his or her owner.
4. Rescues are often clingy or over protective of their new owners. Be aware, understanding and tolerant. Be especially careful of the over protective. Within six months, your dog will have a new personality and the joy of life will peer out from beneath the clouds.
Regards, Lee Smith
_____________________________________________________________________________
A LETTER TO YOUR PETS
Dear Dogs and Cats,
The dishes with the paw print are yours and contain your food. The other dishes are mine and contain my food. Please note, placing a paw print in the middle of my food does not stake a claim for it becoming your food and dish, nor do I find that aesthetically pleasing in the slightest.
The stairway was not designed by NASCAR and is not a racetrack. Beating me to the bottom is not the object. Tripping me doesn't help, since I fall faster than you can run.
I cannot buy anything bigger than a king-sized bed. I am truly sorry about this. Do not think I will continue sleeping on the couch to ensure your comfort. Dogs and cats can
actually curl up in a ball when they sleep. It is not ne cessary to sleep perpendicularly to each other, stretched out to the fullest extent possible. I also know that sticking tails straight out and having tongues hanging out the other end to maximize space is nothing but sarcasm.
For the last time, there is not a secret exit from the bathroom. If by some miracle I beat you there and manage to get the door shut, it is not necessary to claw, whine, meow, try to turn the knob, or get your paw under the edge and try to pull the door open. I must exit through the same door I entered. I have been using the bathroom for years -- canine or feline attendance is not mandatory.
The proper order is kiss me and THEN go smell the other dog or cat's butt.I cannot stress this enough!
To pacify you, my dear pets, I have posted the following message on our front door:
Rules for Non-Pet Owners Who Visit and Like to Complain About Our Pets:
1. They live here. You don 't.
2. If you don't want hair on your clothes, stay off the furniture.(That's why they call it "fur"niture .)
3. I like my pets a lot better than I like most people.
4. To you, it's an animal. To me, he/she is an adopted son/daughter who is short, hairy, walks on all fours, and does not speak clearly.
____________________________________________________________________
NEW HEARTWORM INFORMATION
I have just learned some important new information regarding heartworm infection and treatment. This info is very new, which is why I didn't come across it before. Here is a brief explanation (permission is given to crosspost): Barbara Williams
Recent research has led to the discovery of a parasite called Wolbachia that lives symbiotically inside heartworms. Studies indicate that this parasite contributes to the adverse effects of both heartworm infection and heartworm treatment, including
inflammation, embolism and allergic reaction. Treatment with doxycycline for 30 days to kill the Wolbachia parasite weakens the heartworms and makes them unable to reproduce, and greatly reduces the chance of adverse reaction during heartworm treatment.
Any dog that currently has heartworms should be treated with doxycycline for 30 days. If the dog will be treated with Immiticide (fast-kill method), it is best to treat with doxycycline prior to beginning Immiticide treatment, as this should make the treatment
much safer, by greatly reducing the potential for embolism and allergic reaction to the death of the worms. If anyone has dogs currently undergoing treatment with Immiticide, I would still give doxycycline, as even concurrent treatment may have some benefit.
Doxycycline should also be given to dogs that are being treated with monthly Heartgard (slow kill method) or any type of alternative heartworm treatment method, as it will weaken the heartworms, prevent them from reproducing, and reduce the chance of adverse effects caused by the heartworm infection itself, and by the worms dying.
It appears unlikely that the Wolbachia parasite persists in the body after the heartworms have been cleared, though we do not know for certain at this time. To be safe, it may be best to treat any dogs that have completed heartworm treatment in the past with doxycycline for 30 days, to clear any possible remaining Wolbachia.
I was unable to find any information on the recommended dosage of doxycycline in dogs. Because Wolbachia is a rickettsial organism, similar to those that cause tick disease, it may be advisable to use the higher dose of doxycycline that is recommended for treatment of tick disease, which is 10 mg/kg twice a day.
Veterinarians may contact Merial, the manufacturer of Immiticide, for more information on this topic, if needed.
Here is some additional info on the topic that I was able to find, though most of it is highly technical and still in preliminary stages of research:
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=610
"Wolbachia is a genus of rickettsial organisms (sort of like
bacteria, but not exactly). They live inside the adult heartworm.
These organisms seem to be protective or beneficial to heartworms and
treating the dog with the antibiotic doxycycline seems to sterilize
female heartworms (meaning they cannot reproduce). Wolbachia is also
thought to be involved in the embolism and shock that result when
heartworms die. The role of this organism is still being
investigated. If your veterinarian wants to pre-treat your heartworm
positive dog with doxycycline, it may be because of concerns
regarding this organism. As new information emerges, we will post here."
http://www.vetmed.auburn.edu/~blagbbl/Blagburnheskasymposium.pdf
"Wolbachia are intracellular bacteria that infect numerous species of
filarial worms including heartworms. Many contend that these friendly
inhabitants (endosymbionts) play a role in the pathogenesis of
diseases caused by heartworms and other filarids. Contention is that
host immune responses directed at Wolbachia can actually go awry and
enhance the disease process in heartworm infections. Some also
contend that elimination of Wolbachia spp. from heartworms may affect
the survival of adult heartworms and may decrease the host's errant
immunologic responses when adult worms are killed or die."
<http://www.vin.com/proceedings/Proceedings.plx?CID=WSAVA2005&PID=10906&O=Generic>
"Dirofilaria immitis [heartworms] the cause of heartworm disease in
dogs and cats harbours an endosymbiont intracellular bacteria of the
genus Wolbachia (a Rickettsia). Studies performed recently indicate
that these bacteria may play an important role in the pathogenesis
and immune response to filarial infection (Bandi et al, 2001)." This
article goes on to say that Wolbachia may contribute to many of the
side effects of heartworm disease, including inflammation, kidney
disease, lung problems and allergic reactions.
<http://www.vin.com/proceedings/Proceedings.plx?CID=WSAVA2005&PID=10907&O=Generic>
"Furthermore, preliminary data from our laboratory indicates that
antibiotic treatment before adulticide therapy in dogs with heartworm
disease leads to a decrease in pro-inflammatory cytokines, particularly
IL-8."
http://lib.bioinfo.pl/meid:13044
This site has numerous other studies on human treatment, indicating
that doxycycline, oxytetracycline (of which doxycycline is a
derivative) and rifampicin (sometimes use in conjunction with
doxycycline) are all effective against Wolbachia.
http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/94/21/11154
"Bacterial relatives of Wolbachia include a number of agents that
have arthropods as vectors and cause serious human diseases such as
typhus, scrub typhus, erhlichiosis, and Rocky Mountain spotted fever.
Studies of these bacteria require special containment facilities. In
contrast, Wolbachia have so far been found only in invertebrates and
are not known to cause mammalian disease."
Mary Straus
Pleasanton, CA
THE (REAL) EDITOR AT THE COMPUTER
