Twosday Training Tip

TIP #1: PANCREATITIS RISK
The holidays bring a lot of guests into homes where dogs are inevitably being fed table scraps, and perhaps even helping themselves to an entire dinner! As a result of eating a high fat meal, some dogs suffer from pancreatitis around holidays.

Pancreatitis is the inflammation of the pancreas, which is an organ integral to the digestive tract. The inflammation disrupts the natural flow of enzymes secreted by the pancreas, resulting in an interruption in the normal digestion of food.

If you are hosting a holiday this year, these are the symptoms you should watch for the day after the holiday:

• Lethargy
• Painful or distended abdomen
• Decrease in appetite
• Decrease in water intake
• Vomiting or diarrhea
• Fever

If your dog starts to show any of the symptoms listed above, please visit your veterinarian immediately. The long-term effects of pancreatitis can be very dangerous and life threatening, so please do not wait to contact your local or emergency vet.
- excerpted from positively.com

TIP #2: BODY LANGUAGE IN CONTEXT
Dogs communicate primarily through body language. But just like some of our spoken words have different meanings, so do a dog's signals. A yawn could mean a dog is tired, or it could mean he is releasing stress. A wagging tail doesn't necessarily say "happy dog". If the rest of his body is stiff it could be a warning sign. If the dog is slinking away while wagging his tail he could be saying he is fearful and not a threat.

A dog's body language signals are not black and white. You have to look at them individually as well as a whole, and they must be looked at in the full context of what events are occurring around the dog at the time.

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