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šš¾Life-Changing Night at the Emerg Clinicš©ŗ
Clicks for Tricks, Lab-Grown Meat News, Google Trends about Pet Supplements, and the Lovable Labrador
April Chappell
August 11, 2024
What you can find in this edition:
Basics of Clicker Training: Make the Tricks Stick!
News- Lab-Grown Meat for Pets Coming to the USA
Breed Bytes- Labrador Retriever: Top Dog No More
Trends- Pet Supplements Surge in Google Searches
Behind the Scenes- A Life-Changing Night at the Emergency Clinic
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Training Tactics & Tips:
Click Your Way to Faster Tricks! š¶
Want to train your cat or dog a little faster and have that behavior āstickā better? Try clicker training.
What is a clicker?
A clicker is a little handheld device that makes a clicking sound when pressed, and is used to reward behaviors during training, along with other rewards like treats. This leads to faster speed of training and behaviors that stick around longer.
Why does it work?
Super Serious Sciency Stuff:
Psychological Theory Behind Clicker Training:
Operant conditioning- a theory developed by psychologist B.F. Skinner that outlines how behaviors can be shaped and maintained through reinforcement and punishment.
Positive reinforcement- adding a desirable stimulus (treats and praise) increases the likelihood of a behavior being repeated.
Negative reinforcement- removing an undesired stimulus to increase desired behavior. Example- removing an uncomfortably tight collar when the dog is not pulling on the leash, increases the chances of loose leash walking in the future.
Punishment- adding an undesirable stimulus to decrease unwanted behaviors. Example- spraying a cat with water when it claws furniture.
Classical Conditioning-
Clicker training also involves elements of classical conditioning (Pavlovian conditioning), where the clicker sound becomes a stimulus that predicts the arrival of a treat. Think dinner bell and Pavlovās salivating dogs anticipating their dinner.
It's in the Timing- Bridging the Gap
A bridging stimulus, often called a bridge, is a consistent and distinct signal given at the precise moment the desired behavior occurs. This signal bridges the time between the behavior and the delivery of the reward, ensuring the animal understands which action is being rewarded. The click sound can be produced at the exact moment the behavior occurs, bridging the gap until the treat is delivered.
Enough theory, how do you really do it?
Condition/ charge the clicker:
Click the clicker and immediately give a treat reward. This will teach your pet that the click means a treat is coming right away. Repeat this several times per training session, daily, until the pet associates the sound of the clicker with an incoming treat.
Marking Behavior:
When your pet performs a desired behavior, immediately click the clicker and then give a treat. The click serves as a precise marker that identifies the exact behavior being rewarded.
The timing of the click is crucial. It must occur at the exact moment the desired behavior happens.
Benefits of Clicker Training:
Clear Communication: The click provides a clear and consistent signal to the animal, making it easier for them to understand what behavior is being rewarded.
Positive Experience- uses positive reinforcement, creating a fun experience.
Faster training speed- reducing confusion and speeding up the learning process.
Increased stickiness: the behavior is likely to be retained after a break
Does science support these claims?
Yes, there are several scientific studies that show increased learning speed and increased retention (stickiness) of behaviors in dogs when trained .
But what about cats?
You can clicker train cats too! They are usually not as food-motivated as dogs, so I suggest keeping the training short and sweet, and do it while the kitty is hungry, using a really high-value treat.
Cool things you can train a cat to do:
sit
spin
wave or shake a paw
jump through a hoop
fetch
ring a bell
The possibilities are endless
What can you teach your dog to do with a clicker?
Clicker training is great for basic obedience, but there are so many fun things dogs can do:
roll over
play dead
jump through a hoop
fetch
bow
and the Holy Grail of all tricksā¦ calm nail trims!
There are lots of resources out there to learn about clicker training pets.
A great place to start are books by Karen Pryor, the lady that literally āwrote the bookā on clicker training.
There is also a Karen Pryor Clicker Training YouTube channel.
There are great resources for clicker training cats too!
Try this fun method of training and see what cool things you can get your pets to do!
Please reply to this email with a neat thing youāve taught your pet to do with clicker training, or something you would like to try!
News:
Lab-Grown Meat for Pets Will Make Itās Debut In The USA This Year
The first FDA feeding trial for a cultivated meat pet product in the US will begin this year. The product is Noochies!, a lab-grown chicken-based treat.
Earlier this year, Meatly gained approval in the UK for the use of cultivated meat in its pet products.
These are not the first approved lab-grown meats however. In the US, products for humans were approved in 2023.
What is cultivated meat?
This food is biologically identical to traditional meat, but it is created and grown in a laboratory, under strict environmental conditions.
Also known as:
Lab-grown
Cultured
Cell-based meat
How is the āmeatā made?
Cells are taken from an animal with a biopsy
Most commonly stem cells that can create any type of tissue
Cells are given all the elements necessary, and the ideal conditions needed to grow
Cells grow on a scaffold (three dimensional framework) for weeks or months
The tissue is harvested when mature
Limitations:
At this time, the cost and the ability to scale the process to meet a future large demand are the limiting factors.
Why grow meat in a lab?
The argument is that this lab-grown meat is more ethical and sustainable, with potentially less environmental impact. There is also less potential for contamination from bacteria that one can see in traditional food processing.
Breed Bits & Bytes:
Labrador Retrievers- Always Happy, Always Hungry
10 Million Labradors? Does it get any better than that?
Labrador retrievers were the most popular dog breed in the US for decades, only recently surpassed by the French Bulldog. Given that there are approximately 90 million dogs in the US, and Labs make up about 12% of dogs in the US, that means there are almost 11 million Labs!
These amazing dogs are personally my favorite breed. Check out the Behind The Scenes section of this newsletter for the story of how a particularly lovable one entered my life, one night as an emergency vet.
Where are they from?
Labrador Retrievers arose in the Newfoundland Province of Eastern Canada (close to the Labrador Territory), from the now extinct St. John's Water Dog. These dogs were valued by fishermen for their amazing abilities in the water, retrieving fish and helping to pull in nets.
St. Johnās Water Dogs
British nobility recognized their abilities and took them to England in the 1800ās to breed with hunting dogs, and developed the Labrador Retriever for sport and game hunting. All of the modern retrievers are descendants of the St John's Water Dog. Unfortunately, the last of the breed died in the 1980ās.
What makes Labs great swimmers and working dogs?
Water-resistant double coat
Strong āotter tail rudderā for steering, and clearing coffee tables
Webbed feet
Great sense of smell
āSoft mouthā for gently carrying things
High level of intelligence compared to many other breeds
Great temperament: gentle and loyal
What jobs do Labrador Retrievers do?
Guide Dogs- 80% of guide dogs are Labs
Search and Rescue
Detection- drugs, explosives, firearms, medical conditions, cadavers
Therapy/ emotional support
Service- helping people with disabilities
Game retrieval in hunting
What do they look like?
Yellow, Black and Chocolate are the typical color variations. Some dogs carry a ādilute geneā that leads to a lighter variation of the three colors; named silver, charcoal and champagne. Though desired because they are new and rare, the gene does also bring an increased risk of skin conditions. The dilute variations are not recognized by the American Kennel Club as an acceptable breed standard.
Brits and Yankees:
American Variety- taller and leaner. Bred for competitive field trials and hunting tests. The focus was on producing dogs with high energy, drive, and speed.
British Variety- stockier, broader head, and bred more for conformation shows and companionship. The British variety has a calmer temperament, making them well-suited for traditional hunting, show rings, and as family pets.
Health Problems:
Hip Dysplasia
12-20% of Labs
Hip dysplasia is a genetic condition where the hip joint doesnāt fit into the hip socket properly, leading to arthritis and pain.
Obesity
30-40% incidence in Labs
Labradors are known to be prone to obesity, which can lead to various health issues like diabetes and joint problems.
Elbow Dysplasia
Around 10-15%
Abnormal development of the elbow joint can lead to arthritis and joint pain.
Progressive Retinal Atrophy (PRA)
About 5-10%
PRA is a group of genetic diseases that cause the retina to degenerate over time, leading to blindness.
Atopy
10-30% of Labs
Atopy is a type of allergic reaction where a dogās immune system overreacts to environmental allergens such as pollen, dust mites, or mold. In dogs with atopy, ear infections often occur because the allergens cause inflammation and itching in the ears, creating a more favorable environment for bacterial or yeast infections.
Some of the best dogs in the world are Labrador Retrievers! There is a very good reason why Labs were on the top of the popularity charts for decades.
Trends:
Supplements for Pets:
More people are buying supplements for their pets. A lot more.
In the US, spending on supplements for pets was $1.5 billion in 2022, and this number is rising at about 6-7% annually. The value of the US market makes up more than half of the global pet supplement market. In comparison, the US market for human supplements was valued at $54 billion.
Thirty percent of owners report giving their pets supplements in 2023, up from 20% in 2018.
A supplement is something added to a pet's diet to boost their health and well-being. They mainly focus on joint support, skin and coat health, immune function and general well-being.
Here are the Google search volume estimates for the top 10 supplements for pets:
1. Glucosamine & Chondroitin
60,000 searches/month
Use: joint support
2. Omega-3 Fatty Acids
Search Volume: 50,000 searches/month
Growth rate: 12% annually
Use: Skin, coat, joint, anti-inflammatory
3. Probiotics
Search Volume: 40,000 searches/month
Growth rate: 25% annually
Use: gastrointestinal conditions, anxiety
4. CBD Oil
Search Volume: 70,000 searches/month
Growth rate: 20% annually
Use: Anxiety, pain relief, inflammation
5. Multivitamins for Pets
Search Volume: 30,000 searches/month
Use: Overall health and wellness
6. CoQ10
Search Volume: 10,000 searches/month
Use: Cardiovascular health
7. Milk Thistle
Search Volume: 20,000 searches/month
Use:: Liver detoxification and support
8. Taurine
Search Volume: 25,000 searches/month
Use: Heart health, particularly in cats
9. Green-Lipped Mussel
Search Volume: 15,000 searches/month
Use: Joint support, anti-inflammatory
Turmeric
Search Volume: 12,000 searches/month
Focus: Anti-inflammatory, joint health
I will tackle a new supplement every week to reveal if the science can back up the claims, what the potential benefits may be, and any possible dangers.
Behind the Scenes:
In Which I Find a Treasure at the Emerg Clinic:
āWe wonāt pay that. Weāll just take her home and shoot her.ā
āNo, I wonāt let you do that. Sign her over to the clinic and I will do the surgery. We will keep her, and her puppies. Whatās her name?ā
āB.B. It stands for Bad Breed. She was never any good. Never produced a good litter. Not worth keeping. And watch out, she chases squirrels.ā
With that, they signed the papers. The emergency clinic I worked for was now officially the proud owner of a 6 year old yellow Labrador Retriever that needed emergency surgery.
She had a pup stuck in her birth canal. I could see it, but I couldnāt pull it out, for fear that I would pull a leg off (yes, this was literally my fear). I didnāt know if it was alive, but I knew that if it was alive now, it wouldnāt be for long . None of them would be, unless we got her into surgery right away.
It was a scramble, in the night, with a skeleton crew, to safely put her under anesthesia and get her to the surgery table and get those pups out as quickly as possible.
I removed twelve yellow little puppies by cesarean section. I take them from an incision in the uterus one by one, as quickly as possible, dropping them into a waiting towel held by a helper. They work quickly on each one to clean and rub and revive. They know another will be coming out within a minute or two.
The pups are affected by every moment under the anesthesia needed for their mom, and she is bleeding from the incision in her uterus. We race against time because we know sometimes we lose the race. Survival is not assured.
I spayed the female, removing the entire uterus, in a simple, but not easy, procedure. Blood vessels to a pregnant uterus in a large breed dog are no joke. This is one of the highest risk surgeries that vets perform.
As I am tying off arteries as big around as my finger, my staff are busy working with each puppy, ensuring they are all breathing and moving.
Recovering from surgery.
All pups and their dam made it through surgery. Now all I needed to do was explain to my employers that the clinic now owned 13 dogs, in fact.
To their credit, they accepted it well š¤¦āāļø.
Thatās the thing about vets. A vet will always get why I could never let the owners take her home like that. And why I would never have agreed to euthanize her.
But everyone at that clinic will agree, it was a long, hard 8 weeks until the pups could go to homes. The female developed mastitis; a life-threatening infection of the mammary glands. I was so worried we would lose her, that I even brought in cabbage leaves to press against the infected glands, an old traditional treatment. The staff gave me sideways looks, but I did it anyway!
She pulled through, and the pups went to good homes.
The Lab stayed on at the clinic. She went to a couple of homes, but always returned. She had separation anxiety and would get so upset at being placed in a kennel by herself that she would lose her mind.
So she became a clinic dog for a while. Not an ideal life for a dog, but better than most of the alternatives.
The life of a clinic dogā¦
But I was moving on. We were leaving our hometown for a 5 acre farm on Vancouver Island, on the west coast of Canada. We were due to leave in two days when I told my husband Iād like to bring her with us. To his credit, he took it well!
When you marry a vet, you have to be prepared for a life full of animals.
We called her Sophie. She became the best friend to my two little boys. And my most loyal and constant companion. Itās like she knew and remembered what we went through together that night, and she repaid the kindness with 6 years of devotion. Our only regret was that we didnāt have her for her first 6 years.
We loved her through eating a few of our ducks and chickens, whole birthday cakes, food from the chicken coop, rotting turkey gutsā¦
Who are we kidding, she was a Lab- she ate everything!
She even tried to eat a dead jellyfish on the beach! She vomited 10 times in five minutes, shook off whatever toxin it was, and was right as rain. She never ate another jellyfish though!
Living her best life!
We loved her through separation anxiety, skin allergies requiring endless medications, arthritis, and finally, laryngeal paralysis ( progressive dysfunction of the larynx, leading to difficulty breathing).
We adored her for 6 fun-filled years. Even now, 5 years after she passed away, I write this with tears in my eyes.
That is the true ābehind the scenesā of veterinary medicine.
āLove is the treasure, unexpected, undeniable, and true. Itās the smile you didnāt know you were waiting for.ā
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