Xylitol toxcity: Some sugar-free chewing gum and foods may be toxic to your dog

I learned something new last week at work that I would like to share. 

We had a dog come in as a toxicity case.  It had consumed xylitol. 

Xylitol?  I had never heard of it.  Which is crazy because it was first identified in 1891 and has started to make an increasing appearance in food and oral care products since the 1970s.  Apparently I just haven’t been paying that close attention to some of my sugar-free foods.

I did some quick research (thanks google!) and found out that I actually consume xylitol on a near daily basis.  Xylitol is a very common sweetener used in chewing gum (and other sugar-free foods such as mints, chewable vitamins, oral-care products, and some baked goods). 

What is xylitol?

Xylitol is a naturally occurring sweetener often used instead of sugar because it has significantly less calories.  It is a part of a group of sweeteners called “sugar alcohols” that also include things like sorbitol, mannitol, glycerol, etc. 

Where is it found in our lives?

Xylitol is increasingly being found in sugar-free snacks and many dental products due to the discovery that xylitol provides some dental health benefits.  Xylitol is in many sugar-free gums, including Orbit, Trident, Dentyne, and many “dental” gums.  Xylitol is also available to buy in a granulated form for baking purposes. 

What does it do to dogs?

Studies have shown that xylitol, while being safe and potentially has health benefits for humans, is toxic to dogs.  It causes a release of insulin; the increase can lead to hypoglycemia (lowered blood sugar levels).  Very high doses of xylitol intake can also potentially lead to liver failure, which can be fatal.

Why does it cause problems in dogs?

Xylitol is absorbed very quickly in dogs; their bodies are fooled into thinking a bunch of sugar just entered the body, so their body reacts by releasing insulin, which helps the body absorb sugar from the blood.  As a result, the blood sugar goes way down—and fast.  It is reported that blood sugars can plummet in only half an hour.

What should you do if you discover your dog ate some xylitol-containing food?

Take it to the vet right away!  Don’t wait for symptoms.  There might be time to induce vomiting and puke up the gum/food.  If the problem is caught early, the dog can be monitored and treated until the problem is gone. 

According to the ASPCA poison control website:

Initial signs of toxicosis include vomiting, lethargy and loss of coordination.  Signs can progress to recumbancy and seizures.  Elevated liver enzymes and liver failure can be seen within a few days.

How much is a toxic dose?

Research suggests that more than 0.1g/kg can lead to hypoglycemia and more than 0.5g/kg can be much worse and lead to liver failure.

That means, for example, that Leopold (who is 31 kg [69lbs]) would have to consume 3.1g of xylitol to be at risk of hypoglycemia, and would have to consume 15.5g of xylitol to be at risk for liver failure. 

In terms of chewing gum (the most likely source in the average home), one source recommends that if your dog ate gum with xylitol listed as the first sugar alcohol ingredient, then base the dose on the total amount of sugar alcohols; this will result in an over-estimation (but better safe than sorry, right?)

If your dog ate gum with xylitol not listed as the first sugar alcohol ingredient, then assume 0.3g of xylitol per piece of gum.  Also, I cup of powdered xylitol = about 190g.

I chew gum on a regular basis, so I'm glad I learned of this information.  I plan on making sure to keep all gum and other xylitol-containing goods well away from my dogs.

References:

Dunayer, Erik K. (December 2006). "New findings on the effects of xylitol ingestion in dogs". Veterinary Medicine 101 (12): 791–797. Retrieved August 20, 2012.

http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/poison-control/people-foods.aspx

Fun activity for dogs who like to "disembowel" their stuffed animal toys.

Does your dog like to do this:

Leopold has always liked to "disembowel" his stuffed toys.  I used to stop him before he could completely ruin them and then repair any damage done.  The toy you seen in the photo was repaired probably ten times before I gave up and let Leopold do what he really wanted to do: tear every piece of stuffing out!  What a mess.  But at least he had fun.
Since then I've come up with an activity for Leopold that works with the same general principle (tearing out stuffing!), but is re-usable and easy to clean up.


             * * * WARNING!* * *  
This is not an activity you want to give to a dog that is prone to swallowing pieces of fabric (or other things they shouldn't be eating for that matter!).  This is an activity I would never give to my other dog, Halo, as she thinks fabric is delicious and likes to eat it.

Though remember that it's always a good idea to supervise your dog when it's playing with toys (especially when its playing with pieces of fabric).

MATERIALS you need for this activity:

- Hol-ee Roller Dog Toy, 5"
- pre-cut pieces of fleece fabric
- treats (I often use Zukes Mini Naturals)
- a dog who loves to play!

I like to use the Hol-ee Roller because it's very durable and doesn't do a lot of damage if my dogs accidentally whip it at something.  For a game I like to give my dogs that uses a smaller version of the Hol-ee Roller ball, check out this post.
I use fleece fabric because its a thicker fabric and is also washable!  I've cut my pieces into various sized strips.

HERE's what you do:
Stuff the ball with the pieces of fleece!   Then stuff some treats in the ball.  You don't have to add treats, but it can help make the game more fun for the dog.
I like to actually roll up small treats in some of the pieces of fleece.  Then Leopold is not only more interested, but because the treats are rolled up in fleece, he has to work a little harder to get the treats--this is good mental stimulation as it requires Leopold to figure out how to manipulate the pieces of fabric to get at the tasty bits. 

Want to get started on making your own dog a stuffed Hol-ee roller ball?
You can purchase the ball at most pet stores, or just get it from amazon.com: JW Pet Company Hol-ee Roller Dog Toy, 5-Inches (Colors Vary)
And here's the treats I often use: Zuke's Mini Naturals Dog Treats

[Edit, Jan2014: I put a warning at the beginning of this post, but here it is again in different words. 
Please supervise your dog when playing this game.  If you choose to roll up treats like I do, please please please supervise your dog to make sure they don't eat the whole roll.  I supervise Leo every time.  If you're watching your dog and see them chewing on the whole roll, then you'll be able to stop and correct the behavior immediately and/or take away the game before they consume the rolls and end up at the E.R.]

Now the ball is all ready to be torn apart! :-D

Here's a video of Leopold playing with his ball:

Leopold gets to have fun over and over, and the carnage is easy to clean up:

Hope your dog has as much fun with this game as Leopold does!


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Dog potty training tips: try a crate!

There are many ways to potty-train a dog. I know one common method is to paper-train the dog first. This involves teaching the dog to only go to the bathroom (in the house) on newspaper or puppy-pad diapers. This method makes it easier to clean up messes in the house and requires fewer trips outside—after the dog has learned to go to the bathroom on the paper. However, this method makes it much harder to eventually teach the dog to only go to the bathroom outside. By using this method, you’re initially telling your dog it’s ok to go to the bathroom in the house; under certain conditions, yes, but still. I never recommend that people potty-train their dog this way.

I believe it is less confusing for the dog if the rules don’t change part way through their development and training—no poo or pee in the house at all from the beginning! I believe the best way to accomplish this is to crate-train a dog. Crating works because dogs will not go to the bathroom where they sleep. Keeping a dog in its crate whenever you’re not around or can’t supervise it will help the dog learn to hold their bowels and bladder; this is an important thing for dogs to learn if you ever want to leave them in the house unsupervised in the future. Any occurrence when your dog goes to the bathroom in the house and is not corrected is an instance where the dog doesn’t know it did a bad thing. And you can’t correct a behavior you don’t see happening, so these accidents will only slow down the potty-training process.

The trick to using a crate to potty-train your dog is to always take them outside as soon as you let them out of their crate. If they have been holding it, then they’re more likely to go to the bathroom in the correct location (outside!), which means you can then praise them and let them know that they did a good thing. You can even give your dog a tasty treat as a reward for going to the bathroom outside! Rewards, whether praise or a tasty tidbit, will help reinforce to the dog that going to the bathroom outside is a good thing.

It’s important to remember that very young puppies cannot physically hold their bladder or bowels very long; a good rule of thumb is that a puppy can go one hour for every month of age (though I’m sure there is some variability depending on the dog!). Leopold was ten weeks old when I first got him, which meant I had to take him outside every three hours—otherwise he’d have an accident (in his crate if that’s where he was!). This meant I had to get up in the middle of the night to let him out of his crate so that he could go outside and go to the bathroom, but that’s all a part of owning a puppy.

Potty training can be a trying task, but I believe crate-training can help the process go faster and reduces frustration.

I used a crate to help potty train Leopold.  Here he is at ten weeks old.

Remember to keep your dog cool in hot temperatures!

Around here right now it HOT! Bleh! And we’ve been seeing heat-stroke dogs at the emergency clinic lately because of it—peeing blood, vomiting blood, and pooing blood. Not a good thing. In fact, it's really awful!  Don’t let this happen to your dog!

Just a reminder that dogs can’t tolerate high temperatures the way humans can (and we can’t always tolerate the heat well either!). Dogs have minimal sweat glands; instead, they pant to help reduce their body temperature, but panting only works so well. Therefore, it’s not a good idea to leave your dog outside for long periods of time in these high temperatures. I only let my dogs out for maybe a half an hour at a time, and never during the hottest time of the day (which is actually later in the afternoon, not mid-day; here’s a good explanation of why). Access to water is more important than usual as well.

Also remember that leaving your dog in the car even for ten minutes at these temperatures is incredibly dangerous. Studies have shown that a car can heat up almost 20 degrees in only ten minutes. And over 40 degrees in half an hour. And cracking a window doesn’t help.

If your dog has been outside for a while (or in a hot car) and is suddenly lethargic, vomiting, has diarrhea, and/or generally looks like crap, it might be suffering from heat stroke, which is incredibly serious and life-threatening. The best thing you can do is hop in your car with the air conditioning blasting and hurry to the closest emergency vet clinic. If you’re very far from a vet clinic, you can also try running cool* water all over your dog—make sure it gets down to the skin and doesn’t just run off the fur.  You’ll still want to get your dog to see a veterinarian as soon as possible, however, because heat stroke damages the cells inside the body and your dog will most likely need to be treated.

* Why cool water and not cold?
A veterinarian that I work with told me that a common misnomer is that you should try to cool off your dog with cold water.  In fact, you should use cool water. 
If you use cold water (ice cold water or ice), the blood vessels under the skin will constrict and get thinner (this is called "vasoconstriction").  This restricts the passage of blood to these surface vessels, thereby keeping more blood and therefore more heat in the core of the dog's body--this is a bad thing for a dog experiencing a heat stroke! 
Cool water will work to reduce the temperature a dog because its not cold enough to cause vasoconstriction, but is a cooler temperature than the dog, so it will be able to carry some of the dog's heat away as it washes over its skin.

Running with Leo and Halo: the perfect running buddy sometimes takes time and training!

I love running with my dogs!  I love that I get to have some company, the dogs get to be out of the house and move at a pace more to their liking, and we all get exercise. Both Leopold and Halo love to run and are wonderful running buddies. However, running with my dogs did not start out being an enjoyable experience.

The first time I tried running with Leopold, I discovered the experience was not as amazing as I originally imagined it’d be. Leopold wanted sniff at things and so would suddenly stop, nearly yanking my arm out of its socket, to put his nose to a particularly interesting smell. I also had trouble getting him to run past other dogs without trying desperately to stop and play. Leopold also seemed to have a low tolerance for being tired. Or bored. I could never tell. If he decided he’d had enough, he would stop dead and lay down in the grass. During one run, we were more than a mile from home when Leopold decided he was done with running and wanted to instead lie down in the grass. We turned around right away and headed back, but he continued to lay down in the grass every few minute or so the entire way home. Passer-bys found this to be quite funny and in retrospect, I suppose it is. At the time I found it to be very frustrating (stubborn dog!) and was a little worried (maybe he’s over-heated??).
Over time, however, Leopold has become a much better running companion. He now only stops when he has to do his business, which is perfectly fine. And I’ve learned that I can’t run with Leopold on warmer days because he doesn’t get far before the grass looks more inviting than does the run.

My experience with Halo as a running partner has been, quite literally, a more painful one.  When I first started trying to run with her, she ran like a crazy dog: Halo would weave all over the place and would incessantly pull me to go faster. I tried to get her to run by my side, but was having difficulty getting her to understand. But persistence paid off with Leopold, so I kept making an effort with Halo. At the time I was trying out a new running technique commonly called “bare-foot running”, and was wearing toe-shoes during my runs. During one run, Halo was weaving more than usual, and ended up tripping me a couple times, almost making me fall. This was irritating, but the cherry on top of this awful run was when she ran in front of me and I accidentally kicked her leg in such a way that her entire leg smashed between my toes, snapping my pinky toe out.  I slowly hobbled home, each step sending a shot of pain through my foot. (Who knew such a little toe could hurt so much?) And if the cherry is the broken pinky toe, then the whipped cream was when Halo accidentally stomped on my broken toe as I was trying to get her into her crate back at the house.
I stopped running with Halo after this incident. Partially because I stopped running for a while to let my toe heel, but also because I decided Halo was too unruly of a running partner. It was suggested by Halo’s pet training instructor that first she learn to walk nicely and then we could work on running. Chris and I spent a lot of time working with Halo and teaching her how to walk well on a leash. The next time I tried running with her, she was the perfect running buddy!

I’ve come to learn that successfully running with a dog doesn’t always just happen right away. Dogs aren’t naturally inclined to run directly at your side, suppressing the desire to stop and sniff everything and everyone. It was worth the time and effort to teach my dogs how to run with me though, as we now all benefit from the experience of running together.

How to deal with some bad doggy behavior: playing tug with the leash while on a walk!

Leopold has always been a sweet guy, but when he was younger he would occasionally have outbursts of energy during a walk—he would go bananas. As part of his outburst, he would often grab his leash and start to play tug with it. These instances were incredibly frustrating. And embarrassing. I tried lots of ways to get Leopold to stop playing tug with the leash, but nothing I did worked. The behavior was always rewarded with what Leopold considered play because I couldn’t just let the leash go.

I looked for solutions online and came across a suggestion that worked wonders. The suggestion was to walk your dog with multiple leashes. Brilliant! I started walking Leopold with two, sometimes three, leashes. This way when he started to play tug with one of the leashes, I could drop the one he was tugging, thereby not taking part in the game and not encouraging the behavior. Leo would become bored as soon as he realized I wasn’t playing tug with him and he would drop the leash that was in his mouth and go for another leash that I was holding. I would then pick up the one he dropped and drop the one he just grabbed. It was a bit of a juggle at times, but it worked. Over then next month or so of walks, Leopold would give up trying to play tug with me faster and faster until he didn’t even initiate tug anymore. Woo-hoo!

We still play tug in the house sometimes and he loves to play tug with other dogs, but I’m very happy to say that it’s been a very long time since Leopold has tried to play tug with his leash while on a walk!

Happy training for happy tails: "Don't Shoot the Dog" discusses the merits of positive reinforcement and clicker-training

If you’re a person who is interested in training, whether it be training your dog or training in general, I recently finished a book that I recommend you read.

It’s called Don’t Shoot the Dog and is written by former dolphin trainer and clicker-training enthusiast Karen Pryor. You might have heard of the book—it’s been out since 1984 with a revised edition in 1999. If you haven’t read it yet, it’s worth checking out.

What’s the book about?
Don’t Shoot the Dog discuses training methods in general, but emphasizes on and argues for positive reinforcement as a more successful training method in most situations. The book also discusses what’s been come to be known as “clicker training” and the methodology behind it.

This book is fun as well as informative due to the many interesting examples described. Did you know that you can train just about any animal using positive reinforcement? Dogs, fish, chickens, horses, cats, and even we, ourselves, respond well to this method.

Some other interesting things I learned from Don’t Shoot the Dog are that people have been known to improve their own squash game just by positively reinforcing themselves whenever they made a good play, and brushing off instances when they made bad plays.  I also learned that you can teach creativity to animals. Positive reinforcement tends to encourage animals to figure out what we want of them, which gets them to think and try new things.

I love the idea of fast and effective training methods, but what really got me excited was when I read that animals trained using positive reinforcement tend to be happier. The author gives an example of a police dog that was clicker-trained and now wags his tail the whole time it’s on patrol and out catching “bad guys”.
When Leopold was in puppy school his teacher talked of clicker training.  Up until I read this book, I dismissed the use of a clicker because I didn’t like the idea of having to always carry around a clicker—it just wouldn’t be possible! This book cleared up that qualm, though, stating that the clicker is only important during the initial training of a behavior. The clicker is basically a tool to help communicate with a dog (or other animal). After the clicker has been “loaded” (you have first teach the dog that the “click” sound means they did something good), it is a very fast and precise way to reinforce your dog’s behavior. And since timing is important to the success of positive reinforcement, the clicker is an ingenious way to maximize both you and your dog’s effort.

What exactly is a clicker?
It’s a small plastic box w/ a piece of metal inside that makes a loud “click” when you push it. It’s a very simple device and you can pick one up at most pet stores for cheap.  You can see one in the photo at the top of this post.

Want to know more?  
Grab a copy of Don’t Shoot the Dog if you want to know more on the ins and outs of how positive reinforcement and clicker training works, or if you just want to read something interesting. Check out your local library to see if they have a copy, or you can always buy your own copy on amazon.com here: Don't Shoot the Dog: The New Art of Teaching and Training.  Or if you live near me, you can just borrow mine ;-)
You can also check out Karen Pryor’s website at www.clickertraining.com

And if you want to give clicker training a try, you can pick up a clicker at most pet stores, or you can just get one from amazon.com: Petco Dog Training Clicker.  (At the time I made my links, the Petco brand was the cheapest option, but prices seem to fluctuate over time, so look over your options!)

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