To Reduce Stray Dogs

Dr. Judith Samson-French is coordinating a pilot project to test the new birth control technology on dogs living on the Tsuu T'ina Nation next to Calgary. She hopes one day it might reduce the population of unwanted dogs and prevent attacks, such as the one on the 10-year-old boy mauled to death on a reserve in Saskatchewan on Saturday.

Last summer, Samson-French worked with Julie Felber of the Animal Rescue Foundation and Lori Rogers, an animal health technologist at the Calgary Zoo, to implant contraceptives in 15 female reserve dogs.

The contraceptive implant, called Deslorelin, was introduced in 2004 by Peptech Animal Health, a small biotech company in Australia. It suppresses reproductive hormones in animals for 12 to 18 months and is used in zoos, said Samson-French.
She estimates there are at least 700 dogs on the Tsuu T'ina reserve, but fewer than 20 per cent are wanted.

"The natives have pets that live inside with them, dogs that have names and are cared for. Then there are all the dogs that live outside, dogs they do not want and who keep reproducing. I call them dogs with no names. They're the problem," said Samson-French, owner of the Banded Peaks Veterinary Hospital, which regularly deals with an overflow of injured, unwanted dogs from the neighbouring reserve.
"We have the same problems, but in the city we pay taxes and we have the pound and dogcatchers to deal with our problem, which is invisible to us. They don't on the reserves. And they're overwhelmed by having five or six dogs scavenging around their houses."

Some are feral, born in the wild. Some come from "non-natives who dump their dogs on the reserves," said Samson-French.

Having been domesticated for 15,000 years, abandoned and feral dogs no longer know how to hunt or find water, she said. They live only two to three years, falling prey to cannibalism, starvation, parasites, predators or freezing to death. Female can have up to 15 pups a year.

"The best solution we've been able to offer so far is spaying and neutering, but that's not making a dent," said Samson-French. "It's too expensive and too time-consuming.

"That's why the contraceptive implant program is fantastic. It takes one minute, it's one-third of the cost, and the dogs don't leave the reserve."
The implant costs $68, compared to the $250-$500 it costs to spay a female dog.
With the permission of Tsuu T'ina residents, 15 friendlier, semi-feral dogs were caught using food and held in a volunteer's arms. A small area between the dog's shoulder blades was cleaned and injected with a local anesthetic. The implant -- along with a microchip to identify the dog -- was then injected beneath the skin.
At the same time, the dogs were given a rabies shot and a deworming tablet.
Of the 15 implanted females, one was killed by a cougar and the 14 remaining have not had puppies, said Felber, dog program co-ordinator with ARF, a non-profit group that rescues unwanted dogs and cats from First Nations and rural areas and finds them homes.

The plan is to follow the remaining 14 dogs and re-implant them every year until 2011, identifying them by their microchips.

Samson-French said she's applied for a grant from the provincial government to expand the study to include 50 more female dogs on the Tsuu T'ina and the Siksika First Nation and hopes to publish her findings.

And in two weeks she's going to Mazatlan to look into starting a pilot project to sterilize street dogs with Deslorelin. Unwanted dogs are a big problem in Mexico and other developing countries.

The downside of the implant is that it is temporary, it's currently available on a limited basis and only veterinarians can implant it. She's hoping those regulations change and technicians will be able to implant it, making it widely available.

Veterinarian Audrey Remedios, who's volunteered with the Alberta Spray Neuter Task Force on the Blood reserve near Cardston, is interested in the outcome of the pilot project: "If it works, wonderful."

But she thinks recapturing semi-feral dogs may be a problem, and trying to round up feral dogs will be next to impossible.

Jack Glacer, 79, has been going out to feed stray dogs on Tsuu T'ina three times a week for at least 10 years. He's heard some mothers on the reserve express concern about their children's safety around the dogs.

Be Friends With A Stray Dog

You would have wanted to be friends with a dog that has been lost or looks scared to you in your neighborhood. However, before you do this, it is important that you know about the risks involved in doing so and different signs that dogs indicate in their own way.

This is for all you dog lovers; for I know that you are on this article because you are one. There is only one reason why you want to be friends with a stray dog and connect with them, it's because you love them. Follow the guidelines mentioned below and see if you can befriend a stray dog.

Dogs are highly social animals and they are believed to have been domesticated, way before donkeys, cows, horses and sheep were. Dogs are the most loved pets because, they behave, play and get trained, in such a way that they can very easily fit into the human household.

Read the Dog's Body Language

This is one of the most important things to do, when you are trying to be friends with a dog. His ears, tail, mouth and his eyes can tell you everything that a dog is thinking of at that time. You need to look for the following signs before approaching a dog.

A Calm and Relaxed Dog

A dog that is relaxed and friendly, his ears will be perked up or bent downwards, his eyes will be wide open, body will be in a normal posture, tail would be wagging and will be short-barking.

You can look at a dog and understand, what mood is the dog in. Don't immediately approach a stressed, aggressive and scared dog. But, a relaxed and a playful dog can be friends with you immediately.

An Aggressive and Stressed Dog

Usually, when a dog is under stress, his ears are down and pointing backwards or even pointing upright, his mouth would be wide open, rapid respiration, hunching forward and barking. Don't stroke them or try communicating with them when they are vulnerable. Also, never stare in his eyes at this time. A dog that has cornered himself, with head lowered and looks alert; he can also act aggressively. This is because his position indicates that he is scared and vulnerable at the moment and can attack you in his defense.

Let such dogs alone for sometime, they are in no mood to be friends with you right now.

Give Him Food

The best way to show a dog that you care is by giving him food. You can feed him with the following things.

    >Lunch Meat
    >Bone Meals
    >Grain by-products
    >Dog Biscuits

Give him a bone and the dog will never forget you, he will know in an instance that you love him. If he is aggressive or inhibited, give him food for two-three days without getting too close to him. Slowly, when he will start to recognize you, you can start communicating and playing with him.

Give Him Something to Play

Dogs are great companions for playing fun games. Play with him using a tennis ball, string or a Frisbee. Dogs love it! Dogs are playful by their very nature. Playing with a dog will help you both connect faster. Throw the ball or the Frisbee and indicate him to get it. It is best to get two toys, so that if he does not get the first one then, throw the second one to let him know you are playing with him.

Pat and Caress Him

Dogs long for a human touch and affection. They totally understand your touch. Pat them, it makes them feel secured, loved and pampered. They ask for just a few moments with you; give it to them; they'll be happy throughout and will be your friend forever.

Learn about dogs 'favorite petting bits'. Two things that dogs normally love are being massaged on their foreheads and behind their ears. Different dogs can have different sensitive points. You'll learn about them eventually. Right now just stick to massaging on their foreheads and behind their ears.

Dogs respond humanly. They understand and grasp words you tell them. Give him a name and call him with that name every time you give him food or you see him.

Slowly they will understand your gestures and commands and will respond spontaneously. There are different ways in which dogs show their affection.
One should also avoid touching dogs that appear to have skin infections or diseases as they can lead to irritations like itch and rashes on you. However if you are dog lover you can get the dog treated by a vet and give him healthy food with oral medicines mixed in it.

"In order to really enjoy a dog, one doesn't merely try to train him to be semi-human. The point of it is to open oneself to the possibility of becoming partly a dog." - Edward Hoagland

Stray Dogs,Now And Future

The increased traffic there due to more people being off from home and/or school, there is also a problem with dog owners letting their often large and vicious sounding pets run loose in their unfenced front yards as they work on their cars, in their yards, or just in their open garages. A small number of these chase me down the street as I pass by (the dogs, that is). Almost always, when this happens, the owner catches on and frantically yells at the dog to stop. What morons. They obviously care little about their pets, and even less about any pedestrian who happens to walk by their house. After all, animals not used to being on the street are prone to getting run over!

Usually, though, and often to my amazement, many dogs are very well trained to stay within the confines of their "territory" in the front lawn, as ferociously and loudly they may bark at me. But that is still an unwarranted nuisance, in my opinion. And I know people who would be scared to death trying to walk past such a house.

I have a very intricate running course that winds up and down miles of residential roads and past a few hundred homes. In the past couple of years, I have encountered dogs running loose on just about every stretch of road at different times. Most of the time they growl and bark at me as they notice me, and a few run after me a bit. But the fact still remains that, in the entire time I have run what amounts to about two thousand miles through my neighborhood, complete with its sometimes straying canine residents, I have never been bitten. In fact, the last time I suffered a dog bite was in February 1973, when I was running with my high school track team in Davie, Florida.

Not having suffered a dog bite in 39 years is quite a contrast, though, to what happened earlier in my childhood. For I grew up in the 1960's, and society (at least where I lived) treated dogs very differently. Dogs ran loose around my neighborhood just as cats did (and still do). The kids all got used to the different dogs who hung around, some of whose homes were unknown. I can't begin to count the number of times I would see a stray dog and approach it to pet it (if it didn't approach me first). We had a dog ourselves at the time, but didn't let it run loose. But when we would take Michelle out for a walk, her presence would almost invariably attract a multitude of neighborhood dogs to keep her "company" (and she was spayed).

We did know of certain "mean" dogs behind fences that we weren't supposed to get near, but the general feeling was that dogs liked us and we liked dogs. Very little fear. And still, during all of this in my childhood, I recall being bitten lots of times. But we never made a big deal about it. So when I got bitten that afternoon in February, I just continued running and then showered and went home. I told my mom about it, and to be safe, she drove me down to get a tetanus shot. The next day at school I was confounded by my track coach's angry consternation: how could I just leave like that after being bitten by a dog? It was only then that the very real danger of rabies was impressed upon me and how oh-so very dangerous stray dogs were...

This fear of stray dogs is probably much more warranted today than it was in my childhood, though. For back then, running around loose outside conditioned dogs to be more accepting of people in general. But in today's era of leash laws and rules against dogs running loose in public, those dogs that do occasionally "break out" are much more likely to see strangers as enemies to be feared and attacked. So I'm afraid I'm not likely to ever regain my relative openness to chumming up with stray dogs...