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6A Daily News – Saturday, August 11, 2012 healthPetsactivities & Dog goes from bad boy to canine hero Animal Island: Dogs use all senses to see around them — A few weeks ago, Jen- nifer Yost of Springfield Township, Ohio, and her dog, Dizzy, participated in Hudson Safety Town's Dog Safety program. On July 19, the pair demonstrated to children and their folks what to do if they are caught in a fire. Together, the pair showed the kids how to escape through a window after crawling under a layer of smoke on their bellies through a fire safety house. Evidently, Dizzy, a 4- AKRON, Ohio (MCT) teaches veterinary techni- cian classes, bird handling and grooming along with her job at Sit Means Sit. Just listing her schedule is exhausting, so it's no won- der that sometimes, she is, too. Friday is the only day that Yost, who lives with her mother, Debbie Yost, three dogs, five exotic rescued birds and four cats, gets to sleep in. year-old black Labrador retriever/German shepherd mix, learned his lesson from the demonstration better than his mistress did. Yost, 20, admits she fell short. When fire struck her home the following morning, Dizzy resorted to something he had never done before: He bit her, but it may have saved her life. She described the events leading up to the fire. "I got in late that night after the demonstration. I then had to go back to the training facility and take care of the dogs who are here for boarding," Yost said. But that is only part of this amazing story about the pair who have traded places, blurring the roles of hero and victim through their mutual love and devotion. As with many good sto- ries, the heroine (Yost) saved the unfortunate and misun- derstood victim (Dizzy) from certain death. Three years ago, Dizzy had an aggression problem. Train- ers and veterinarians agreed he should be put down because he was too mean to be rehabilitated. Yost, who was only 17 at the time, disagreed. She saw a young dog with lots of energy that needed a job. So Yost, who knew very early Jen's house to meet Dizzy for his evaluation, Jen had to hold him back from attack- ing me when I knocked on the door," Pollack remem- bered. "I asked Jen to put his muzzle on and bring him out on a leash. When he came out of the house, he was growling and lunging at me. If he was not muzzled, I def- initely would have been bit- ten. in life that she was fated to be an animal advocate, adopted the pup and enrolled him in Paul Pol- lack's Sit Means Sit dog training program in Copley Township, Ohio. "When I showed up at Sit training other dogs and their owners. He also is such a model canine citizen that Pollack feels comfortable using him for demonstrations. "Through the course of the (Hudson, Ohio) pro- gram, Dizzy played and was petted by hundreds of chil- dren," Pollack said. "He has zero aggression now and enjoys being around people and playing with other dogs. When we tell people about Dizzy's history, most people simply don't believe it." A student at Kent State When she got home she said, she thought she smelled something "weird," so thinking it was coming from the air conditioner, she unplugged it and went to bed. Q: Can a dog see behind him? Our collie seems to almost have eyes in the back of his head. If he is look- ing at my wife in the kitchen and I start to reach for the doorknob behind him, he right away turns around and expects me to let him out. A: Dogs that have a long nose — like your collie — are called dolichocephalic, and they have a field of vision of about 270 degrees. Dogs with a flat face like a Boston terrier or a pug are called brachycephalic, and they have a field of vision of about 200 degrees. So even though your collie cannot see directly behind him, he does have an extremely wide field of vision. How- ever, there is more to a dog's world than vision. Its other senses are so acute that humans would have no idea of how to relate to them — sort of like trying to describe the color red to a visually challenged person. The dog may hear your clothing rustle as you reach for the door or even just know how different your footsteps sound when you are on the floor near the door. Plus, collies are a working breed that were selectively bred for generations to be aware of everything that is going on, so the dog is most likely using all his senses. Limit exposure to disease until immune system matures She was still in bed when her mother left for work Fri- day morning, Yost said, but Dizzy started licking her face, trying to make her get up. She thought he was just being a pain and wanted her to let him outside. Next, "He started barking and I pushed him away," she said. "I was able to get him calmed down and looking to me for direction in about 10 minutes." Dizzy's schooling was so successful that now Yost and Dizzy work for Sit Means University in pre-veterinary medicine, Yost founded Bird Nerd Rescue/Sanctu- ary seven years ago in her home. The business is dedi- cated to the rescue, rehabili- tation and adoption of domestic parrots. A year ago, she moved Bird Nerd to a 3,000-square-foot facility in Canton. Add to that, Yost and you could help pets that have been abandoned in our community Then, Dizzy bit her hand hard enough to draw blood. That got her attention. "No way did you just bite By Jeff Kahler, D.V.M. McClatchy Newspapers Sounds like fun times ahead for Carly and Thane with the arrival of Bolo. The 9-week-old French bulldog has easily taken over his caretakers' hearts. me," she said as she jumped out of bed and realized the house was on fire and filled with smoke. The source was a fluorescent light in an aquarium in another bed- room, firefighters later determined. "(A) fireman told me if I had slept another 20 min- utes, I would have died from the smoke," Yost said. Pollack said Dizzy's actions escalated in aggres- sion because he had to "wake his mom. He went from trying to wake her up by crying and barking to bit- ing her because he had to," he said. Yost ran back inside eight times to remove animals from the burning home, Dizzy by her side. She scooped up handfuls of birds and carted them to an outdoor aviary. "I did absolutely every- thing that I was not sup- posed to do," she said. A scarlet macaw was the only animal left behind, but after being treated for smoke inhalation by an emergency veterinarian, the parrot is doing fine today. Sierra Sound Car Audio 35th $ make a $500 donation to Providing Essentials for the Tehama Shelter to benefit the Tehama County Animal Care Center If we receive 1,500 "likers" on Facebook by Sept. 15 we will 226 So. Main St., Red Bluff 527-3735 All CD's 13.99 Anniversary Sale or less Carly has been doing her due diligence, researching what to feed and how to house train her "little boy" and also what to do about disease prevention through isolation and vaccination versus socialization. She has found conflicting opinions, especially concerning isola- tion versus socialization, and is not sure what to do. Some references have advised keeping Bolo iso- lated from other dogs until he is fully vaccinated, while others stress the importance of proper puppy socializa- tion starting at an early age. In the past, veterinarians would usually recommend isolating puppies from con- tact with other dogs during the vulnerable period of the vaccination protocol. This is primarily because a puppy's immune system is not fully competent until about 16 weeks of age. Even as vac- cines are being used to boost the immune response and protect these young- sters, they are vulnerable to the very diseases we are vaccinating to protect against. That is until they can mount a full immune response. Parvo viral infec- tion was one major reason for this precaution. Howev- er, this did not allow for socialization until the pup- pies were 16 weeks old, which, with some dogs, can K W I K K U T S Family Hair Salon $200 REGULAR HAIRCUT off with coupon Not good with other offers 1064 South Main St., Red Bluff • 529-3540 Reg. $13.95 Expires 8/31/12 result in inappropriate behaviors. Avoiding exposure to disease-causing organisms by contact with infected ani- mals or fecal waste that might contain infecting organisms is a good idea. That said, how do we address the absolute need for proper puppy socializa- tion? It involves puppy socialization in a controlled environment. It is still my recommen- dation that puppies be kept from areas where they can be inadvertently exposed to disease. I would avoid pub- lic parks and other such areas with unknown poten- tial for disease transmission until the vaccination proto- col has been completed. This is especially important for avoidance of parvo virus, as I mentioned above. This virus is hardy and can last in the environment for many months. The disease associated with this virus is debilitating and can be fatal, hence these precautions. Proper puppy socializa- tion then should occur in areas where the environ- ment is free of such poten- tial disease and with all par- ticipants on a vaccination schedule. With this type of situation, chances for dis- ease exposure are greatly reduced while at the same time, allowing for the criti- cal need for puppies to be properly socialized. As always, prevention of disease is much better than having to treat. Through proper vaccination and proper avoidance, Bobo can be properly protected while he learns the in and outs of associating with other dogs and, as well, other people. This ultimately results in a well-rounded pet secure in his home environment and the bigger world. ——— Jeff Kahler is a veterinarian in Modesto, Calif. Questions can be submitted to Your Pet in care of LifeStyles, The Modesto Bee, P.O. Box 5256, Modesto CA 95352. 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