http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/24/arts/television/24dogs.html?_r=1&hp

One year, our walker went to collect a perfectly healthy 5-year-old beagle mix for her midday walk, found her in a fan-cooled apartment (so far, so good), and within minutes of bringing her outside called for help because the dog lay down on the pavement and wouldn’t move.  We rushed them to the nearest vet (thankfully only a couple of blocks away) and the doctor said she was sorry, she could not save this dog!  Heat stroke!  the owner came from work and we all prepared to say goodbye.  This story had a happy ending; the dog was hydrated and brought back to health.  But it was a shock, I have to tell you.  We never want to test our dogs in weather conditions like this.

We all know that Manhattan dogs who leave the City for an outing or a country home do frequently come down with Lyme Disease – and that’s why we are all careful to give our dogs Frontline or the equivalent and inoculate them with the Lyme vaccine — but those of us left behind have smugly comforted ourselves with the knowledge that our dogs can’t get deer ticks here.  No deer, no ticks, no Lyme.

That’s why it cut the air loud as a bugle when a certain border terrier, whose owners swore she never went anywhere but Riverside Dog Run at 105^th St, was diagnosed with Lyme Disease by Symphony Veterinary Center.  We were urged to pass it on.  The rumor was launched.

When asked, vets at Symphony said they, too, had heard the rumors about deer ticks in Riverside Park but said their practice had not seen any rise in cases and the health department hadn’t issued any warning.

Symphony owner Dr. Rebecca Campbell personally looked into the matter.  She wrote us there was no real way to determine how many years the dog in question might have carried the disease and also that the dog had in fact traveled outside the City:

. . . I looked through [the specific dog’s] records, and the Lyme & Anaplasma tests done recently on that dog were the first ones that we’ve recorded for her. Since tick infection antibodies will persist for YEARS, and infections can persist for years if not detected and treated, there is no way to tell whether those are new infections. (If she’d tested negative two months ago, and is now positive, then we would know these are new infections.)  . . . I saw a note that she has traveled to the Berkshires in the past, where the organisms are more common.  So it’s possible that these infections came from NYC ticks, but that would not be all that common.

Dr. Campbell went on to educate us on the ticks and the disease.  She wrote in a second email:

While deer ticks carry most of the Lyme infections, other ticks can sometimes be carriers too (emphasis ours).

Veterinary laboratories do not test the ticks, and if an owner is concerned about whether a particular tick bite may have transmitted one of the tick borne disease, the best bet is to test the dog, usually after a week post bite.

The classic life cycle of the Lyme infection requires the ticks to bite a deer, and also a white mouse, and then after a period of incubation in the tick, on to the human or the dog.

One also doesn’t usually know when a dog has turned positive, and since the antibody tests are quite sensitive, we may be picking up evidence of exposure that occurred quite a while in the past.

Manhattan dogs do travel a lot, and they can bring ticks in to areas that don’t have deer (emphasis ours).  Many of our clients who have weekend houses at the beach or in the woods, just routinely test their dogs once a year for Lyme/Ehrlichia/Anaplasma.

Many Lyme infections are initially asymptomatic, though Lyme Disease can go on to cause joint problems, cardiac arrhythmias, kidney failure, and seizures.

If you’re interested in attending a ClickerExpo, they happen twice a year in various parts of the country — and even, if rumors are to be credited, next year in New Zealand.  Fabulous animal trainers convene from around the world to deliver lectures and workshops at all levels and on all topics of training.You can find out more by going to www.clickerexpo.com.

According to Nan Kene Arthur, author of Chill Out Fido! How to Calm Your Dog, KPA is “an extensive educational program with extremely high standards.”

proudly announces that

The Dog House NYC's Heather Conley

Heather Conley of The Upper West Side

has been named

Certified Training Partners participate in an extensive educational program culminating in a detailed assessment of their technical ability and hands-on skill teaching pet owners and training pet dogs. Successful candidates must complete the program, earn the equivalent of an A on each component of the assessment, and pledge to uphold the high standards and practices of Karen Pryor Academy.

To learn more about this trainer or find other Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partners nationwide:

• Visit karenpryoracademy.com/find-a-trainer or www.greatdogtrainers.com
• Call toll-free, 800-472-5425