SOUTH AFRICA'S PREMIER DOG MAGAZINE
DIGITAL ISSUE 16C | 2026
Welcome to Issue 16C!
There is a question that runs quietly through much of this issue, and to be honest, it’s not something we’d put a name to until now…
When a puppy works through the corner of a rug, a settled older dog suddenly starts swallowing socks, or a greying Dachshund stands at your feet performing a tap dance in the hope of a second dinner, the instinct is to ask how we make it stop. Time and again, as dog owners we end up here – ‘how can we make the behaviour stop?’ But in this issue, we try to ask a bigger (and we’d argue better) question: what is the behaviour trying to tell us?
You will find that thread in our look at pica, in a practical guide to what your puppy’s mouth is really saying, and in a clear-eyed sort through the brain food claims aimed at ageing dogs, separating what the science supports from what the marketing hopes you will not check.
With much of the country settling into colder, shorter days, there is plenty here for time spent indoors too, from enrichment ideas for rainy afternoons to the nose sport your dog was very nearly bred for. We also sit down with physiotherapist Kirsten Straszacker to look at the small signs of discomfort that dogs so often hide.
I will admit one feature is closer to home than most. My Mumford, eighteen and gloriously unrepentant, has taught me more about guilt and dog psychology this year than I expected to learn. If you have ever felt like the villain for saying no, that one is for you.
Here’s to a good winter and to asking better questions!
Lizzie and
the DQ team xxx
Dr Lizzie Harrison | Editor
Designer | Mauray Wolff
DIGITAL ISSUE 16C | 2026
CONTENTS
Indoor enrichment for cold and rainy days
Creative ways to keep dogs mentally stimulated when the weather, or life, keeps you indoors
Barn Hunt
The nose sport your dog was practically bred for
Q&A with Kirsten Straszacker
Head physio and owner of Startline Veterinary Physiotherapy
How to help your dog lose weight
Without feeling like a Disney villain
Cranial cruciate ligament disease in dogs
A complete guide
Brain food for dogs
What works, what's promising, and what's just clever marketing
Pica in dogs
What the habit is trying to tell you
Chewing and biting in puppies
A practical, evidence-led look at what your puppy’s mouth is actually telling you, from teething to the evening witching hour
Indoor enrichment
for cold and rainy days
Creative ways to keep dogs mentally stimulated when the weather, or life, keeps you indoors
Rain, cold, a recovery period after surgery, or simply a week with no time for long walks: every one of us faces stretches when normal outdoor exercise with our dogs is just not possible. A dog with energy to burn and nothing to do with it often turns to chewing, barking or pestering. The fix is not always more exercise. Mental work tires dogs as effectively as a walk, and sometimes more so. Fifteen to twenty minutes of concentrated problem-solving or scent work can leave many dogs ready to nap.
That is the principle behind enrichment: giving dogs the chance to use their senses, instincts and considerable brainpower in ways everyday life rarely demands. Wild canids spend much of the day searching for food, solving problems and investigating their surroundings.
A dog fed from a bowl in a quiet home misses all of that. Recreate even a fraction of it indoors and you get a calmer, more confident dog, fewer boredom behaviours, a sharper mind in old age, and a stronger bond along the way. Enrichment matters most precisely when exercise is limited, whether by weather, recovery or age. If your dog is on vet-prescribed rest, check which activities are safe before you start.
FOOD PUZZLES: MAKE THEM WORK FOR IT
Turning a meal into a problem is the simplest place to begin. Commercial options run from beginner to expert: stuffable Kongs, snuffle mats, ridged slow-feeder bowls, and wobbler toys that dispense kibble as they tip. You do not need to buy anything, though. A muffin tin with treats in the cups and balls on top, a towel sprinkled with kibble and rolled up, a cardboard box to shred, or a clean plastic bottle with holes cut slightly larger than the kibble all work just as well.
Start easy so your dog succeeds, then build difficulty as they catch on to the game. Freezing a stuffed Kong or a tub of soaked food stretches the activity from minutes to the best part of an hour, and doubles as a cooling treat on hot days. Supervise anything with a choking or ingestion risk, including balls, cardboard, and plastic.
SCENT WORK: THEIR FAVOURITE SUPERPOWER
Smell is a dog’s primary sense, and using it is deeply satisfying and genuinely tiring, with no physical strain at all. That makes scent games ideal for dogs of any age, including those with mobility limitations.
Begin with ‘find it’: let your dog watch you place a treat, then release them to fetch it, and gradually hide it in less obvious spots. From there, progress to scattering several treats around a room for a proper search, a ‘which hand’ guessing game, hiding a treat in one of several boxes, or dragging a treat across the floor to lay a trail to follow. Each step asks a little more of the nose.
TRAINING AND TRICKS: RAINY DAYS ARE MADE FOR THIS
With no outdoor distractions, a wet (or freezing cold) afternoon is ideal for short training sessions. Teach something new for fun, shake, spin or a nose touch to start, then roll over, bow or backing up, and eventually tidying toys into a box. Impulse-control work is especially tiring: waiting for permission before eating, ‘leave it’, and building up a solid stay. Keep sessions to five or ten minutes and repeat a few times throughout the day. Most dogs can learn a simple trick over a single rainy day.
GENTLE MOVEMENT INDOORS
Some dogs still need to move. Controlled options include hallway fetch with a soft toy, a calm game of tug with a reliable ‘drop it’, hide and seek where your dog searches for you, and a low obstacle course built from cushions, chairs and and other items like broom handles. Stairs should only be used with physically sound dogs. Whatever you choose, lay down rugs or mats for traction, clear obstacles, and stop before your dog is exhausted. Slippery floors cause injuries, so don’t let movement indoors get out of hand.
MATCH THE ACTIVITY TO THE DOG
Enrichment adapts to any dog. Puppies need very short sessions, easy wins and plenty of enforced naps. High-energy adults thrive on complex puzzles, advanced scent work and trick sequences. Seniors do well with gentle scent games and short sessions reviewing familiar commands, and yes, they can still learn new tricks! Dogs recovering from injury or living with mobility limits get the most from stationary scent work and lying-down puzzle feeders so they get all of the mental engagement, with none of the physical demand.
FIVE RAINY-DAY STARTERS
Muffin tin game
Treats in the cups with balls on top.
Towel roll
Scatter kibble on a towel and roll it up.
Find it
Hide a treat while your dog watches, then release.
Frozen Kong
Stuff with kibble and water or yoghurt, then freeze.
Box search
Hide a treat in one of several boxes and let them sniff it out.
KEEP IT SAFE
Supervise anything that could be swallowed, anything made of cardboard or paper, and any new activity until you know how your dog handles it. Stuffed Kongs, durable puzzle feeders and appropriate chews can usually be left alone once your dog has proven they use them sensibly. Good traction and a hazard-free space prevent most injuries.
The real keys are variety, starting simple and keeping it fun. Rotate activities so they stay novel, and pay attention to what your individual dog enjoys: some love food puzzles and ignore scent games, others the reverse. If boredom-driven behaviours persist despite consistent enrichment, or you are unsure what is appropriate during recovery, a vet or qualified behaviourist can help you tailor a plan.
Barn Hunt
The nose sport your dog was practically bred for
It is one of the fastest-growing dog sports in the United States; it turns a rat into a teammate rather than a target, and almost any dog can play. In this short article, we look at what Barn Hunt actually involves, and what your options are if you want to try something similar closer to home.
If you have ever watched a Terrier go rigid over a rustle in the garden, or a Dachshund vanish nose-first down a hole, you have already seen the instinct that Barn Hunt is built around. It is a modern, organised sport that takes the old job of the farm ratter and turns it into a game with rules, levels and titles. The clever part is that no rat comes to harm! The dog gets the thrill of the hunt, and the rat, as you will see, is arguably the safest animal in the building.
The sport was invented by one person: Robin Nuttall, a longtime dog enthusiast, who created the Barn Hunt Association after becoming curious about what her Miniature Pinscher was actually bred to do. The answer was hunting rats and mice, and Barn Hunt grew from there into a titled sport now recognised by the major American kennel clubs.
HOW A RUN WORKS
The run takes place in a fenced ring filled with stacked straw or hay bales, arranged into a small maze. Hidden somewhere in that maze are tubes, with three tubes typically being ‘in play’. One is empty, one holds used rat bedding so that it smells convincingly of rat, and only one contains an actual live rat. Your dog has to tell them apart by scent alone and find the right one.
When the dog locates the live rat, he gives an alert, which is some clear and trained signal such as a sharp stare, a paw or a sudden freeze. The handler reads that alert and calls it to the judge. Get it right, and you score; call the wrong tube, and you do not. In addition to searching, the dog has to work the course physically, climbing onto bales and passing through a straw tunnel, which is where the agility side comes in.
It is neatly tiered, so nobody is thrown in at the deep end. Beginners start at an Instinct Level, essentially just identifying the right tube, then progress through Novice, Open, Senior and Master as their skill grows. The higher levels pile on the difficulty with tougher tunnels and more rats to find against the clock.
WHAT HAPPENS TO THE RATS
The answer is reassuring; the rats are not in danger. They sit inside sturdy, aerated tubes that the dog cannot physically open; they are handled and monitored carefully, and sanctioning bodies enforce strict welfare rules, with disqualification for anyone who mistreats them. In the Barn Hunt world, these rats are usually treasured pets, and many take the whole performance in their stride. It is a sport designed, quite deliberately, so that no animal is hurt.
THE DOG THAT SUITS IT
One of Barn Hunt’s real strengths is how few dogs it excludes. It does not care about breed, size or pedigree. The only firm requirement is that the dog can fit through a tunnel roughly 46cm wide. Deaf dogs, three-legged dogs and stiff old campaigners can all take part, which is rare in the dog-sport world.
Terriers and other ratting breeds tend to fall in love with it fastest, but a strong prey drive is a double-edged thing. If your dog’s drive already tips into something you struggle to manage on an ordinary walk, a qualified behaviourist is the right first port of call, both to keep the activity constructive and to make sure you are not simply pouring fuel on a fire. And as with any new physical sport, a quick word with your vet is sensible before you start, particularly for older dogs or those with joint niggles. Done well, the mental effort involved tends to leave dogs calmer and more settled at home, not more wound up.
CAN YOU DO IT IN SOUTH AFRICA?
At this stage, Barn Hunt is overwhelmingly an American sport, with a smaller foothold in the UK and Norway. The Barn Hunt Association does list South Africa among the countries it has reached, but we have yet to find a single active local club, trial or event to confirm that, and it is not currently a recognised KUSA discipline. So for now, we’re treating Barn Hunt itself as something to watch from a distance rather than enter this weekend.
The better news is that the instinct it serves is very much catered for here, just under different names. KUSA runs nosework as part of its working trials, alongside tracking and field trials, all of which put your dog’s nose to work in a structured, competitive setting. On the private side, a small but growing number of independent trainers offer K9 Nose Work, mantrailing and tracking, bringing detection-style scent games to everyday companion dogs.
So if your dog has been reading this over your shoulder and is now eyeing the skirting boards with fresh purpose, you do have options! Barn Hunt may not have arrived on our shores in any organised form just yet, but the idea underneath it, letting a dog do the very thing its nose was built for, is alive and well here!
Q&A with Kirsten Straszacker
Head Physio and Owner of Startline Veterinary Physiotherapy
ABOUT
DQ: Can you tell us a little about your background and what led you into veterinary physiotherapy, particularly working with dogs?
KS: I’ve always had a passion for health and physical well-being; with a strong sporting background and a generally pro-active nature, I was drawn to rehabilitation. In addition to this, animals have always brought out my sensitive and intuitive nature. When I found out that physiotherapy for animals was an option, there was no question that combining proactive therapy with those who can’t speak for themselves was the perfect fit for me. This career path, together with my mentor, Christelle Van Wyk, who believed in my ability so much she sponsored my studies, was providential.
DQ: We’ve seen Stig on your website. Can you tell us a bit about him and your passion for agility?
KS: For me to not believe in miracles would be impossible. My best friend through college arranged a Notsung Fox Terrier pup for me as a gift after having lost my childhood dog very suddenly in 2018. Stig was described as the outgoing, confident and bold boy of the litter. What truly sold me was that the breeder’s wife just adored him. I knew then that he was special. From the moment he arrived, his little body has not stopped moving. Six years later, his Top Gear-inspired name could not be more fitting. We started agility 3.5 years ago, and it’s almost like he was born for this sport. His speed, resilience, athleticism and pure energy have made him a fierce competitor. Agility is a sport that combines hours of training and proofing behaviours with speed and excitement in the competition ring. I love this sport because it’s based so strongly on trust and confidence between the handler and dog. Combining a sport I love with my work has been nothing short of a miracle.
ABOUT PHYSIOHERAPY
DQ: How would you explain what veterinary physiotherapy actually is, in everyday terms?
KS: In basic terms, it is physical therapy for animals. The term ‘physical therapy’ encompasses holistic pre- and post-injury and chronic disease interventions that maintain optimal physical balance and function. I wish I had 1000 words for this answer alone, because veterinary physiotherapy is so much more than just treating injuries; it’s the before, the after and everything in between.
DQ: What are some of the most common reasons dogs are referred for physiotherapy?
KS: Most common referrals include arthritis, post-surgical assistance, cruciate ligament injuries/disease, elbow or hip dysplasia, neurological disorders or functional impairment.
DQ: In your experience, how does pain or physical discomfort typically show up in dogs – especially when it’s subtle or chronic rather than acute? Are there any signs that you believe are commonly missed by owners?
KS: Typical signs we see are obvious functional impairments like limping, not being able to jump onto the couch or into the car, stiffness when getting up from lying down, yelping or crying when being touched in painful areas. Now for the less typical signs: behavioural changes like increased anxiety, reactivity, depression or increased lethargy, abnormal sound sensitivity, persistent licking of specific body regions, changes in coat appearance, postural changes like rounding of the back or an abnormally low head carriage, changes to paw posture like splayed or lifted toes, slowing down on walks or reluctance to perform tricks that used to be automatic or ‘easy’. Emotional well-being heavily depends on physical comfort and pain levels. Changes to character or temperament should always be investigated further.
DQ: Are there common myths or misunderstandings about canine physiotherapy that you’d like to clear up?
KS: Most owners only call on physiotherapists when their animal is suffering physically. We are the link that detects subtle changes or abnormalities before they become big problems. A routine check-in with a physiotherapist every six months could greatly reduce your animal’s risk of developing severe injuries, while also giving you a better holistic approach to understanding where your dog’s body needs support and/or better management at home. When it comes to sporting dogs, it is commonly known that working dogs will work through pain. It is our job to make sure owners are aware of their dog’s discomfort before significant injury occurs.
STARTLINE VETERINARY PHYSIOTHERAPY
DQ: What led you to start Startline Veterinary Physiotherapy?
KS: I am incredibly passionate about proactive conditioning and care. Startline was developed to form a part of the foundational support team for owners to trust that their dogs are best prepared for an active and full quality of life, whether as a companion or sporting teammate. Our team is made up of fully qualified and registered physiotherapists ensuring optimal care.
DQ: What does an initial physiotherapy assessment usually involve at Startline, and how do you tailor treatment plans or fitness plans to the individual dog rather than the diagnosis alone?
KS: At Startline, our initial assessments involve an extensive consultation including a subjective and objective analysis of the dog. We find out everything there is to know about the patient’s history, exercise and home management, diet and owner concerns. Once a physical assessment is performed, we develop a specific management plan and exercise programme that considers the patient’s diagnosis, treatment goals and owner goals. We pride ourselves in creating comprehensive programs that take the dog’s ability and the owner’s ability into consideration, ensuring optimal compliance and results that last.
DQ: We see you tend to travel for patients. Is there a specific reason for this?
KS: We are a solely mobile clinic; we perform all treatments in the comfort of the dog’s home. This ensures that the dogs are most comfortable, promoting reduced stress and improved treatment response. This also gives us a great understanding of the dog’s home environment for more appropriate management strategies. Additionally, we find that this suits the owner’s convenience to better accommodate consistent treatment intervals.
DQ: How closely do you work with veterinarians?
KS: We form a part of the veterinary health-care team, so we are regularly reporting treatment outcomes to veterinarians to ensure that our patients are progressing optimally.
DQ: How much do owners need to be involved in the physiotherapy process?
KS: A great deal of patient progress is based on correct management at home. Owner involvement ensures ideal home management, supervision, and exercise-conditioning consistency, ensuring that patients are progressing appropriately. Better owner compliance plays a large role in patient outcomes.
DQ: Are there particular breeds, life stages, or lifestyles that you specialise in?
KS: We treat all dogs, big or small, companion or sporting. Our team is made up of individual therapists with an interest in particular aspects of rehabilitation relating to different conditions in companion and sporting dogs.
DQ: What sets a Startline Physio apart?
KS: Startline emphasises foundations. Our physiotherapists are trained and prepared to address every foundational aspect of optimal care. We guide our owners through the entire journey with care, clarity and attention to detail.
FUTURE
DQ: Where do you hope to take your work in the future?
KS: The future me dreams of working amongst and supporting the best sporting canine athletes in the county.
DQ: What do you believe the future of veterinary physiotherapy looks like in South Africa?
KS: I am very pleased to say that our country is producing veterinary physiotherapists that match the level of quality and expertise of those produced around the world. I hope for veterinary physiotherapists to be a stronger part of the foundation of exceptional veterinary care, alongside the industry-leading veterinary healthcare professionals in this country.
Text: Dr Lizzie Harrison
How to help your dog lose weight
Without feeling like a Disney villain
My eighteen-year-old Dachshund, Mumford, has perfected a look of such profound betrayal that I have started to feel like the wicked stepmother in my own home. Here is what trying to help him slim down taught me about guilt, dog psychology, and why saying no is the kindest thing I do all day.
Let me set the scene. It is six in the evening. I am standing in the kitchen, and at my feet is a small, round, greying dachshund who has arranged his entire body into a single question: where is the food?
His front paws tap against the tiles in a slow, deliberate rhythm. His eyes, which I am fairly sure have grown larger with age specifically for this purpose, are fixed on mine with the wounded intensity of a creature who has never once been fed in his life. He has, in fact, eaten breakfast. We both know this. It changes nothing.
I have loved this dog for eighteen years, and I have never felt more like a monster than I have these past months, looking into that face and saying no.
The short version is that he was put on a long course of steroids for a health condition, and steroids do a marvellous job of two things: managing the problem they are prescribed for, and turning a dog into a bottomless, ravenous food-seeking missile. His appetite exploded. The weight went on. And the extra weight settled, with grim inevitability, onto joints that were already arthritic and already sore. We are now weaning him off the steroids, thank goodness, and the desperate hunger has eased a little, but the experience has given me a sympathy I did not have before for every owner who has ever stood in a kitchen, holding the line against those eyes, feeling like the bad guy.
So I did what I always do when I feel out of my depth; I went looking for the science. And it turns out the guilt, the begging, and the way out of both are far more interesting than feed him less and harden your heart.
WHY THOSE EYES ACTUALLY WORK ON YOU
Here is the first thing that helped me. The reason you cave is not weakness. It is wiring.
Dogs are remarkably good at producing a particular facial movement, an inner-eyebrow raise that makes the eyes look bigger, and the whole face look a little sad. Researchers have studied the small muscle responsible and found that when dogs make this movement at us, it may trigger the same nurturing, caregiving response we feel towards human infants (Kaminski et al., 2019). In other words, that look is aimed squarely at the part of your brain that exists to stop you abandoning a baby. No wonder a Montego Peanut Butter Paw feels like the least you can do.
I will be honest about the science, because the popular version overstates it. You may have read that dogs evolved this muscle specifically to manipulate us during domestication. That neat story has since been complicated by the discovery that coyotes have the same muscle, and by newer work questioning whether the expression is even deliberately aimed at us at all. The evolutionary origin is now an open question. But the part that matters for those of us standing in the kitchen is not in dispute: that face reliably hijacks human tenderness, and it is very, very good at it. You are not soft. You are responding exactly as a caring mammal is built to respond.
THE CRUEL LITTLE TRICK OF JUST THIS ONCE
This was the finding that changed my behaviour most, and it stung.
I had assumed that the occasional surrender was harmless. A treat here, an extra few bites of chicken there, a softening oh-all-right-then once in a while. Surely the damage was in the daily habit, not the rare exception?
The opposite is true. In learning theory, the most powerful way to cement a behaviour is not to reward it every time. It is to reward it sometimes, unpredictably. This is called intermittent reinforcement, and it is the same mechanism that makes a slot machine so hard to walk away from. You do not win every time. You win just often enough to keep pulling the lever. When I give in just this once, I am not being kind. I am running Mumford through the single most effective begging-training programme known to science, and then wondering why he begs.
The uncomfortable conclusion is that consistency is kinder than occasional softness. A clear, predictable no is easier on a dog than a maybe. The maybe is what keeps him standing at my feet, tapping, hoping, every single evening.
WHEN WE FEED, WE LOVE
There is one more layer to untangle, and it is the one I recognised most in myself. For a lot of us, feeding is not really about nutrition at all. It is how we say I love you, I am sorry I was working all day, I am glad you are here. The food is our love language. Telling a dog no with food can feel, on some wordless level, like withholding affection.
This is worth naming, because it is the trap. The fix is not to love the dog less. It is to stop letting food be the only currency that love is paid in. Once I understood that, the practical changes stopped feeling so much like deprivation and started feeling like a swap.
THE THING THAT FINALLY LET ME SAY NO
What truly changed my mind was a number.
In a landmark fourteen-year study, researchers followed forty-eight Labradors, feeding one of each pair a quarter less food than the other, for life (Kealy et al., 2002). The lean-fed dogs lived a median of 1.8 years longer than their well-fed siblings, around fifteen per cent longer. They needed treatment for chronic illness almost two years later. And the signs of arthritis showed up on X-ray years later than in the heavier dogs.
For me, that reframed everything. The leaner dogs did not just look better. They got more time, and more of that time was good time. Every treat I do not hand over is not something I am taking from my dog. It is something I am giving him.
And for a dog like mine, already arthritic, the encouragement is even more immediate. Studies of overweight dogs with arthritis show that losing as little as six to nine per cent of body weight produces a measurable improvement in lameness (Marshall et al., 2010). You do not need a dramatic transformation to see your dog move more comfortably. A little goes a long way, and it goes there quickly, as Mumford demonstrates.
WHAT ACTUALLY WORKED, GUILT AND ALL
Armed with all of this, here is what made the difference, beyond the obvious step of measuring his meals instead of guessing.
I re-routed the love. This was the big one. If food was carrying too much of our relationship, the answer was to share the load. More slow sniffing walks at his ageing pace, more gentle play, and more time on my lap. Affection that has nothing to do with the bowl, offered generously.
I made his food feel like more than it is. The same daily ration, served on his snuffle mat, or simply scattered so he has to forage, lasts longer and satisfies more than the same handful inhaled from a bowl in nine seconds. A dog who works for his dinner feels fed in a way that a dog who is simply given it does not.
I got honest about the treat tax. Treats, chews and the bits that ‘fall from the table’ add up fast, and they should make up no more than around a tenth of a dog’s daily intake. It all counts, and pretending otherwise is how a careful diet quietly fails.
REAL HUNGER OR LEARNED BEGGING?
The two can look identical at your feet, but they are not the same, and telling them apart helps.
Learned begging tends to be tied to triggers and timing: your dog appears the moment you open the fridge, sits by the table at mealtimes, or starts up the instant you reach for his bowl. It strengthens when it is occasionally rewarded, and fades when the routine changes and the reward reliably stops.
Genuine, drug-driven or medical hunger is different. Some medications, steroids chief among them, make a dog truly, physically ravenous, and certain health conditions do the same. This is not your dog being naughty or you being weak. If your dog’s appetite has changed suddenly or seems insatiable, that is a conversation for your vet rather than a test of willpower, and it may be a sign that something else needs attention.
I managed the theatre. I stopped meeting his eyes at the table, because eye contact is an invitation. I taught him that settling on his bed during our meals earns attention later, which gave him something to do other than audition for sympathy. And, for now at least, the begging does seem to be reducing.
I got the whole household on side. A diet has no chance if one soft-hearted family member (aka my husband) is running a covert treat operation. Everyone needed to know the plan, and the soft-hearted ones needed it most.
And I leaned on my vet, which, for an old dog on medication, is not optional. A sudden change in appetite or weight can have a medical cause worth ruling out, weight loss in a frail senior needs to be gentle and supervised, and the right target weight and pace are best set by someone who can lay hands on the dog. My vet turned my guilty guesswork into an actual plan, which did more for my peace of mind than anything else (shoutout to Dr Lynsey).
STILL TAPPING, BUT I HAVE MADE MY PEACE
My dachshund is, as I write this, asleep in a patch of late sun, gently snoring, blissfully unaware that he is the subject of a magazine feature about his waistline. The steroids are nearly behind us. The weight is coming off slowly. The foot-tapping continues, because of course it does, and I still feel the old tug every time those eyes find mine.
But I have stopped feeling like the villain (mostly). I know now what the begging really is, why it works on me, and what saying no actually buys him. He does not understand that the no is a gift, and actually, he doesn’t need to. That part is my job, and after eighteen years together, it might be the most loving thing I do for him.
Cranial cruciate ligament disease in dogs
A complete guide
If hip dysplasia is the orthopaedic condition most associated with large-breed dogs, cranial cruciate ligament disease is the one that strikes most unexpectedly, and most expensively. A dog that was perfectly sound in the morning can be three-legged lame by afternoon, and the road from that moment to full recovery is long, demanding and rarely ‘cheap’.
It is the leading cause of hindlimb lameness in dogs and one of the most frequent reasons for referral to orthopaedic specialists. In 2025, it entered the top ten pet insurance claims for the first time in the USA, reflecting both rising prevalence and growing owner awareness that it needs proper treatment. Knowing what it is, why it happens and what the options are is essential for any dog owner, particularly those with high-risk breeds.
WHAT IS THE CRANIAL CRUCIATE LIGAMENT?
The stifle, the dog’s equivalent of the human knee, connects the thigh bone (femur) to the shin bone (tibia) and relies on several structures for stability. Among the most critical are the cruciate ligaments: two crossing bands of tissue that stop the tibia from sliding forward under the femur and rotating excessively.
In humans, the anterior cruciate ligament usually ruptures as a result of a single traumatic event. In dogs, it is different. Canine cranial cruciate ligament (CCL) disease is primarily degenerative: the ligament weakens over months or years through a mix of genetic predisposition, conformation, inflammation, and immune-mediated damage, until it can no longer withstand normal loading and fails. So what looks like a sudden injury is usually the final stage of a long, cumulative injury process. This also explains why affected dogs often have changes in both stifles at once; studies estimate that 40 to 60% of dogs that rupture one CCL rupture the other within one to two years, driven by the same degeneration rather than a fresh injury.
WHY DO DOGS GET CCL DISEASE?
CCL disease is multifactorial, with several interacting factors at play.
Genetics is central. Some breeds are heavily overrepresented, including Labrador Retrievers, Rottweilers, Newfoundlands, Staffordshire Bull Terriers, West Highland White Terriers, and Boxers. Heritability studies indicate a significant genetic contribution, though the precise genetic architecture is still being investigated.
Tibial plateau angle is a conformational factor unique to dogs. The top of the tibia slopes from front to back, so during weight-bearing, the femur tends to slide down that slope, creating a shearing force (cranial tibial thrust) that the CCL must constantly resist. The steeper the slope, the greater the chronic stress on the ligament and the faster it degenerates.
Body weight matters. Overweight dogs load the joint more heavily and degenerate faster, and multiple studies link obesity to CCL disease. Weight management is one of the most important things an owner can do for their dog’s joints.
Age and sex also play a part. The condition is most common in middle-aged dogs of three to seven years, though it can occur at any age, and neutered dogs of both sexes show higher rates than intact animals.
Immune-mediated factors are increasingly recognised. Ruptured CCL tissue shows immune cell infiltration and inflammation absent from healthy ligaments, suggesting an abnormal immune response to the ligament’s own proteins may drive part of the degeneration.
DOES SPORT CAUSE CRUCIATE INJURY?
The research suggests that sport does not directly cause cruciate injury in dogs. Canine cruciate disease is mostly degenerative, so a sport or game is usually the final straw that tips an already-weakened ligament over, rather than the thing that wore it down. Sudden twisting turns, hard landings and pivoting at speed are the movements most likely to trigger that final rupture.
The more useful finding, from a 2022 study of agility dogs, is that fitness appears protective. Dogs doing regular core and balance work, and those competing more often and at higher levels, had lower rupture rates than under-conditioned occasional competitors. The sport itself mattered less than the conditioning behind it.
SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS
Presentation ranges from subtle lameness to complete non-weight-bearing, depending on whether the rupture is partial or complete and whether the meniscus within the joint is also damaged.
WHAT IS THE MENISCUS?
The meniscus is a pad of tough, shock-absorbing cartilage that sits inside the stifle, between the femur and tibia. Each stifle has two menisci: an inner (medial) and an outer (lateral), each shaped like a crescent moon. They cushion the joint, absorb impact, and distribute the load evenly as the dog moves, while helping keep the joint surfaces stable and smoothly lubricated. The medial meniscus is more firmly anchored, which makes it more likely to be crushed or torn when the joint becomes unstable, as it does when the cranial cruciate ligament fails.
Partial rupture often presents as intermittent, mild-to-moderate hindlimb lameness that worsens after exercise and eases with rest.
A dog may seem sound on a walk but stiffen after lying down, and muscle wastage in the affected leg can develop gradually.
Complete rupture usually produces sudden, often severe lameness, with the dog toe-touching or fully non-weight-bearing. Confusingly, weight-bearing often improves over a few days as the initial pain settles and scar tissue forms. This can fool owners into thinking the dog is healing on his own when he is not.
WHAT IS TOE-TOUCHING?
Toe-touching is a sign of significant lameness. Rather than putting weight through a sore leg, the dog rests only the tips of the toes lightly on the ground, keeping the limb mostly raised and bearing his weight on the other three legs. It sits between a fully raised, non-weight-bearing leg and a normal limp, and usually signals real pain or instability in the joint. In cruciate disease, it often appears suddenly, after a complete rupture.
The cranial drawer and tibial thrust tests are key tests, performed by the vet during an examination (under sedation if needed), to detect abnormal forward movement of the tibia, which signals a ruptured CCL. The medial meniscus, a cartilage pad that cushions the joint, is damaged in around half of complete ruptures and adds considerably to pain and loss of function. It is assessed during surgery to see the extent of the damage.
RED FLAGS: WHEN TO CALL THE VET
- Sudden hindlimb lameness, especially if your dog is holding the leg up or only toe-touching.
- Limping that comes and goes, worse after exercise and better after rest.
- Stiffness getting up after lying down, or a hindleg that seems weaker over time.
- A lame leg that appears to improve after a few days. NOTE: Apparent recovery is not the same as healing, and the joint may still be unstable.
- Any new lameness in the other hindleg, given how often both stifles are affected.
Prompt orthopaedic assessment gives your dog the best chance of a full recovery. Wait and watch is not a safe strategy in this case.
DIAGNOSIS
Diagnosis combines examination with imaging. X-rays do not show the CCL itself, which is soft tissue, but reveal tell-tale secondary changes: joint swelling, bone spurs indicating osteoarthritis, and displacement of the tibia and fat pad. CT and MRI give more soft-tissue detail and are increasingly used in specialist settings, especially for surgical planning.
TREATMENT
Management hinges on one main question: surgery or conservative care? The answer depends on the dog’s size, the severity of the presentation, whether the meniscus is involved, and the evolving evidence.
WHY CONSERVATIVE MANAGEMENT IS USUALLY NOT ENOUGH
Left unstabilised, the stifle develops progressive osteoarthritis, ongoing meniscal damage and muscle wastage. Medium and large dogs managed conservatively generally do not regain full function, and the evidence clearly favours surgical stabilisation for better long-term outcomes in these dogs.
For small dogs, under roughly 15kg, carefully managed conservative treatment (strict rest plus medication) may achieve acceptable outcomes in some cases. That does not make surgery the wrong choice for a small dog, only that both options are worth discussing with an orthopaedic specialist.
SURGICAL OPTIONS
Several techniques exist, and the evidence comparing them has grown over the past decade.
Tibial plateau levelling osteotomy (TPLO) is currently the most widely performed procedure in medium and large breeds. It tackles the root problem, the tibial slope, by cutting and rotating the tibial plateau to a more neutral angle, removing the thrust that the CCL was resisting. Rather than replacing the ligament, it changes the joint’s mechanics so a functional ligament is no longer needed for stability. The outcome data are extensive and consistently strong: over 90% of cases return to full or near-full function, gait analysis at 12 months is comparable to that of normal dogs, and recovery is typically 12 to 16 weeks.
Tibial tuberosity advancement (TTA) is the main alternative. Instead of altering the plateau angle, it advances the tibial tuberosity to change the pull of the patellar tendon and neutralise thrust by a different route. Outcomes are good in most cases, and a systematic review found long-term function broadly comparable to TPLO on subjective measures, though TPLO holds an edge on some objective gait parameters. Some studies report higher short-term complication and post-operative meniscal tear rates with TTA, though not all do.
Extracapsular lateral suture stabilisation (ELSS), also called the lateral fabello-tibial suture or TightRope, is an older method that places a strong suture outside the joint to hold things stable while scar tissue forms. It suits small and toy breeds but is generally insufficient for large or very active dogs. In well-selected small patients, outcomes can be good.
Meniscal damage is dealt with during surgery. A torn portion is removed (partial meniscectomy). When the meniscus appears intact, some surgeons perform a prophylactic release to reduce the risk of future tears, though that practice remains debated.
THE ROLE OF REHABILITATION
Post-operative rehabilitation is absolutely essential. A structured programme of controlled activity, hydrotherapy, physiotherapy and progressive exercise, guided by a qualified canine rehabilitation therapist, improves and speeds recovery. Muscle wastage sets in quickly after both injury and surgery and must be actively reversed through targeted exercise. Without it, dogs may underuse the leg for months, overloading the other limbs, causing muscle imbalances, and developing chronic joint changes that limit them in the long term.
PROTECTING THE OTHER LEG
Because bilateral disease is so common, protecting the opposite stifle during recovery is a priority. Strict exercise restriction, to avoid sudden loading of an already vulnerable ligament, together with weight management, are the best-supported preventive steps available.
LIVING WELL AFTER CCL SURGERY
Most dogs, given appropriate surgery, dedicated rehabilitation and diligent weight control, return to a high quality of life. Some osteoarthritis will be present in every affected stifle and needs monitoring over time, but the outlook for comfort and function in well-treated dogs is genuinely good.
The messages for us as owners are simple: do not wait and hope that a lame dog will improve on his own; seek an orthopaedic assessment promptly; commit to the recovery process as fully as to the surgery itself; and manage weight rigorously for the rest of the dog’s life.
Sources
Rafla, Yang and Mostafa, “Canine Cranial Cruciate Ligament Disease (CCLD): A Concise Review of the Recent Literature,” Animals, April 2025; systematic review of TPLO vs TTA outcomes, Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 2022; Nationwide Pet Insurance 2025 Annual Claims Data; long-term TPLO outcome data from multiple peer-reviewed sources, 2019 to 2024.
Brain food
for dogs
What works, what's promising, and what's just clever marketing
Pet shops and social feeds are full of supplements and cognitive diets that promise to keep an older dog sharp. Some are backed by genuinely strong science, while others rest on a single company-funded study and a memorable advert. Here is how we tell them apart.
THE AGEING BRAIN
A dog’s brain changes with age in ways that look strikingly similar to what happens in people. From middle age onwards, brain cells face rising oxidative stress, the slow chemical wear caused by unstable molecules that the body’s antioxidant defences can no longer fully neutralise. The tiny energy-producing power plants inside neurons, the mitochondria, become less efficient, so cells have less energy to work with. The brain’s ability to use glucose, its main fuel, declines. Sticky beta-amyloid protein begins to build up, the same protein linked to Alzheimer’s disease in humans, and low-grade inflammation sets in.
The behavioural result of all this has a name: canine cognitive dysfunction syndrome, or CDS. It is common and under-recognised. Estimates suggest it affects somewhere between 14 and 35% of dogs by the age of eight, and the earliest changes can begin from around six. Vets group the signs into six categories, summed up by the acronym DISHAA: disorientation, changes in interactions with people and other pets, disrupted sleep, loss of house-training, altered activity levels, and increased anxiety.
This matters for the brain food question because every credible intervention works by targeting one or more of those underlying mechanisms.
WHAT ACTUALLY WORKS
The single best-supported finding in this entire field is that no single product alone is as powerful as a combination approach.
In a two-year study of ageing beagles, researchers compared a diet enriched with antioxidants and mitochondrial cofactors against a programme of behavioural enrichment, and against both together (Milgram et al., 2005). Diet alone helped. Enrichment alone helped. But the two combined preserved learning and memory markedly better than either on its own. Later work from the same group linked this pairing to reduced beta-amyloid in the brain.
IMPORTANT
The research here measures cognitive function and quality of life, not lifespan. Done well, these interventions may help a dog stay mentally sharper for longer. They are not a recipe for a longer life, and any product or article that promises one is overreaching (in our view).
This means that the enrichment half of that equation deserves as much attention as the food. It meant three things working together: physical exercise, social contact, and mental challenge through regular problem-solving and training. In other words, the activities matter at least as much as anything in the bowl.
On the dietary side, the enriched diets that performed well were not built around a single hero ingredient. They combined antioxidants with nutrients that support mitochondrial function and brain-cell energy. The recurring lesson, which we will return to, is that blends tend to outperform any single component.
THE NUTRIENTS WITH REAL EVICENCE BEHIND THEM
Two dietary players stand out in the fight against brain ageing.
The first is omega-3 fatty acids, specifically DHA. DHA is one of the building blocks of brain cell membranes, and a substantial body of work shows cognitive benefits in ageing dogs, with the clearest results at higher doses. One important practical detail: because DHA is prone to oxidising, it works best alongside antioxidants that protect it, which is part of why an isolated fish-oil capsule and a well-formulated diet are not the same thing. Marine sources such as fish oil are the usual route, and the dose matters, so this is a conversation worth having with your vet rather than guessing.
The activities matter at least as much as anything in the bowl.
The second is medium-chain triglycerides, or MCTs. These are a type of fat that the brain can burn as an alternative fuel, which is useful precisely because the ageing brain struggles to use glucose efficiently. A diet containing roughly 5% MCTs improved executive function and spatial ability in laboratory dogs (Pan et al., 2010). More striking, the highest-quality trial in the entire published literature tested a therapeutic diet combining MCTs with fish oil, B vitamins, antioxidants, and arginine, and found improvement across all DISHAA symptom domains within 90 days (Pan et al., 2018). This is the science underpinning the prescription cognitive diets sold abroad.
A NOTE ON AVAILABILITY
Several of those branded therapeutic diets are difficult or impossible to find in South Africa (we’ve tried!), and some local companies are working towards similar formulations. Rather than chase a specific product, the more useful takeaway is the principle: a diet genuinely formulated for cognitive support combines a sensible fuel source with omega-3s and antioxidant protection. Your vet is the right person to advise on what is actually available and appropriate here.
PROMISING, BUT HOLD THE HYPE
A second tier of ingredients shows real but narrower or less certain effects.
SAM-e, a compound involved in several brain chemical pathways, is one you may recognise from the shelf. The honest read is that it helps a specific slice of cognition. Trials found it improved executive function but not learning (Araujo et al., 2012), and a separate placebo-controlled study in pet dogs found it eased signs of cognitive decline over two months (Reme et al., 2008). That is a genuine result, but it is a supporting effect, not a transformation, and it should not be sold as the centrepiece of a brain-health plan.
Homotaurine and coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) also show early promise, though CoQ10 has only ever been tested successfully alongside omega-3s, which makes its solo contribution hard to judge.
And then there is the most useful pattern in the whole literature, the one that should make you sceptical of any miracle single-ingredient claim. Several individual ingredients failed on their own and only worked in combination. Tryptophan consistently did nothing. Two mitochondrial-support compounds, lipoic acid and acetyl-L-carnitine, did nothing alone and at some doses slightly worsened learning, yet helped when paired together. Antioxidant vitamins and plant polyphenols on their own were weak, despite being the marketing backbone of countless products. The brain, it turns out, responds to combinations that target several mechanisms at once, not to one fashionable molecule.
SIX SIGNS WORTH WATCHING: THE DISHAA CHECKLIST
Vets use this framework to spot cognitive decline early. If you notice several of these in an older dog, it is worth a check-up rather than writing it off as just old age.
Disorientation: getting stuck in corners, staring at walls, or seeming lost in familiar places.
Interactions: changes in how your dog relates to you or other pets, becoming more clingy or more withdrawn.
Sleep: pacing or restlessness at night, sleeping more by day.
House-training: accidents indoors after years of reliability.
Activity: less interest in play and walks, or aimless, repetitive activity.
Anxiety: new fearfulness, separation distress, or increased irritability.
WHERE THE MARKETING OUTRUUNS THE SCIENCE
The clearest worked example of why scepticism pays is a jellyfish protein called apoaequorin, sold for dogs as a cognitive supplement and to humans under a well-known brand name.
On paper, there is a dog trial showing benefit. Dig in, though, and the warning signs stack up at speed! The study was funded by the manufacturer; no independent laboratory has reproduced the result; and the proposed mechanism is hard to defend, because apoaequorin is a protein and proteins are broken down in the stomach long before they could reach the brain. The human version of this product became one of the most prominent false-advertising cases in the supplement industry. As far as we know the case is still ongoing, with an appeal in progress, but from recent reading the US federal court order forbidding the maker to claim it improves memory is still in place. This injunction was put in place as the regulators showed that the company’s own study had insufficient scientific evidence to support claims of significant benefit for cognitive function.
The point is not that this one ingredient is uniquely bad. It is that a single manufacturer-funded study, however confidently advertised, is not the same as evidence. It is worth being even-handed here: some of the strongest diet research in this field is also industry-funded, by the large pet-food companies. Funding alone does not invalidate a study, but what separates trustworthy evidence from marketing is independent replication, study quality, a plausible biological mechanism, and claims that match what the data actually showed. Apoaequorin fails most of those tests. The enriched-diet and omega-3 research pass them.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOUR DOG
Strip away the noise from the marketing and the practical picture is fairly encouraging, because the best-supported steps are within reach of any owner.
Enrich the days. This is the strongest lever and the cheapest. Regular walks that allow plenty of sniffing, food puzzles and scatter-feeding, short training sessions that ask your dog to think, novelty in the form of new routes and toys, and social contact with people and suitable dogs.
Feed for the brain, sensibly. The dietary principle worth applying is omega-3s from a marine source, with antioxidant support, and ideally a fuel source suited to an older brain. Because dosing and quality vary so much, and because some dogs have other health conditions that change the picture, this is best set up with your vet rather than assembled from individual capsules.
Treat supplements as the least certain part of the plan. A few have modest, specific evidence. Most do not. Be especially wary of anything sold on a single ingredient and a big promise.
And watch for the early signs. Cognitive decline tends to be noticed late, often dismissed as ordinary ageing. If several of the DISHAA signs appear, an early conversation with your vet, and where helpful, a qualified behaviourist, opens up far more options than waiting until the changes are advanced.
None of this buys a dog more years. What the good evidence suggests is something quieter and arguably more valuable: a better chance of those years being spent as the bright, engaged companion you already know.
References
Milgram NW et al. (2005). Learning ability in aged beagle dogs is preserved by behavioral enrichment and dietary fortification. Neurobiology of Aging, 26, 77-90. Pan Y et al. (2010). Dietary supplementation with medium-chain TAG has long-lasting cognition-enhancing effects in aged dogs. British Journal of Nutrition, 103, 1746-1754. Pan Y et al. (2018). Efficacy of a therapeutic diet on dogs with signs of cognitive dysfunction syndrome. Frontiers in Nutrition, 5, 127. Reme CA et al. (2008). Effect of S-adenosylmethionine tablets on the reduction of age-related mental decline in dogs. Veterinary Therapeutics, 9, 69-82. Blanchard T et al. (2025). Enhancing cognitive functions in aged dogs and cats: a systematic review of enriched diets and nutraceuticals. GeroScience, 47, 2925-2947. Apoaequorin regulatory history: FTC and New York Attorney General v. Quincy Bioscience; US District Court injunction, December 2024 (public record).
Pica in dogs
What the habit is trying to tell you
Eating non-food objects is rarely just a bad habit. The pattern, and the dog’s age, often point to the real problem.
Most of us meet pica as a bit of a nuisance and something we need to ‘train out’ of the behavioural repertoire. Our dog swallows a sock, shreds a cushion, works through the corner of a rug, and the question that follows is almost always ‘How do I get it to stop?’ Sadly, it is the wrong question, or at the very least an incomplete one.
Pica, the repeated eating of things that are not food, is a symptom rather than a diagnosis in itself. The more useful question, then, is what the behaviour is pointing to, because the answer changes everything about what we should be doing next.
WHEN IT MIGHT BE MEDICAL
The first job is to separate a behavioural problem from a medical one, and here, a dog’s age does much of the work. A young dog that has always been mouthy and indiscriminate is a different proposition from a settled adult or senior that suddenly develops the habit.
A 2026 study in the American Journal of Veterinary Research makes the point clearly. Researchers reviewed 313 dogs that had surgery to remove a swallowed object. Among dogs under eight, fewer than eight per cent had unrelated abdominal disease discovered during the operation. Among dogs aged eight and over having their first such surgery, that figure was almost 57 per cent. In other words, when an older dog eats something it should not for the first time, the odds are roughly even that the surgeon finds something else going on, often the very thing that prompted the behaviour.
That is why a new pica habit in an adult or senior dog warrants a proper veterinary work-up rather than a training plan. In older dogs with no behavioural history, conditions such as anaemia, liver disease, hormonal disorders and chronic gut disease are all recognised contributors that could lead to the development of the condition. A vet may run blood work, check folate and cobalamin levels, assess pancreatic function and image the abdomen, not because pica is always medical, but because the cost of missing a treatable illness is high.
Among dogs aged eight and over having their first foreign-body surgery, almost 57 per cent had unrelated abdominal disease found during the operation, against fewer than eight per cent of dogs under eight.
THE PATTERN IS INFORMATION
Once medical causes are addressed or ruled out, the style of the behaviour itself carries more detail than many of us realise. This means that it is worth watching not just whether a dog eats objects, but how.
A French study compared 42 dogs that had swallowed foreign objects with 42 matched dogs that had not. In that group, the ingestion was far more often driven by a behavioural abnormality than by gut pain, roughly 88 per cent against 12 per cent. More usefully, the style of the behaviour tracked with the cause of the pica. Dogs that shredded objects tended toward hyperactivity and poor impulse control, while dogs that swallowed without shredding were more likely to be driven by anxiety or an over-attachment to their owner. It is a small study, so the percentages should be taken lightly, but the principle is clinically familiar: a frantic shredder and an anxious sock-swallower are not the same dog, and they do not need the same plan.
Some of these dogs fall under what veterinary behaviourists call hypersensitivity-hyperactivity syndrome, a developmental picture loosely comparable to ADHD in people. These dogs often never learned to inhibit their bite as puppies, struggle to stop a behaviour once they have started, and react to ordinary background stimulation that other dogs ignore. Naming it matters because it reframes the dog from ‘badly behaved’ to ‘wired differently,’ which in turn points toward management and, sometimes, medication, rather than just a ‘no’.
WHY ‘JUST STOP IT’ BACKFIRES
The instinctive response, telling the dog off or shutting them away when they offend, tends to make things worse. Punishment raises anxiety, and anxiety is one of the engines of the behaviour, so the correction can feed the very loop it is meant to break.
What helps depends on what is driving the non-nutritive eating. For the impulsive, under-stimulated dog, the work is in finding outlets for the behaviour: predictable exercise, sniffing and foraging games, chew items that are actually satisfying, and management that removes temptation while the rest is built. For the anxious dog, the work is in lowering the background load, with routine, gradual exposure and, where appropriate, medication prescribed and monitored by a vet.
WHEN TO ACT FAST
Treat pica as urgent, and call your vet, if you notice any of the following: a sudden new habit in an adult or senior dog; repeated vomiting, refusal to eat, a tense or painful belly, or unusual lethargy; known or suspected swallowing of something sharp, or long and stringy (linear items such as thread, tights or rope are especially dangerous); or straining with no stool. When a blockage is possible, hours matter in saving the dog’s life.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The practical takeaway is as follows:
Treat a sudden pica habit, especially in an older dog, as a medical question first and a behavioural one second. Then once a medical cause is ruled out or considered unlikely, you need to watch the pattern, because it tells you which kind of behavioural problem you are dealing with. In South Africa, board-certified veterinary behaviourists are thin on the ground, so the realistic route is usually your own vet for the medical work-up, then a referral or a suitably qualified, force-free behaviour consultant for the rest. It’s a slow fix, but there is no reliable quick fix. Ultimately, pica responds to the right diagnosis, not a louder ‘no’.
Chewing
and biting
in puppies
A practical, evidence-led look at what your puppy’s mouth is actually telling you, from teething to the evening witching hour.
Most advice on puppy chewing reads like a checklist: offer toys, supervise, stay consistent and be patient. It is all true, and it is all available in the first line of any search result but what that advice tends to skip is the more useful starting point. Chewing and biting are not the same behaviour. They are driven by different things, and they need different responses. Work out which one you are actually dealing with, and almost everything else becomes simpler.
CHEWING?
CHEWING IS EXPLORATION AND RELIEF, SO CHANNEL IT RATHER THAN STOP IT
Puppies meet the world with their mouths in the way human babies meet it with their hands. On top of that natural curiosity comes teething. Milk teeth give way to adult teeth across roughly three to seven months of age, with chewing often peaking around four to six months and a second flurry in adolescence as the adult teeth settle into the jaw. Chewing genuinely soothes sore gums, so the instinct does not switch off because you would like it to. The job is then not to suppress chewing but to point it at the right targets.
This is also why punishment backfires. A consistent body of behavioural research links confrontational and aversive training methods with more fear and aggression rather than less. The evidence is largely correlational, and the authors are careful about claiming cause, but the direction is clear enough that it should change what we do. With a teething puppy, smacking, shouting, or holding the muzzle shut simply teaches them to mistrust your hands, which then makes grooming, vet visits, and toothbrushing harder for life.
CHEW TOYS
Here is the single most useful test in this whole article! Before you give your puppy anything to chew, try to make a dent in it with your thumbnail. If you cannot mark it, it is too hard. Dog tooth enamel has a fixed hardness, and anything harder than enamel means the tooth fractures before the chew does.
THE THUMBNAIL TEST
Before you hand over any chew, press your thumbnail into it. If you cannot leave a dent, it is harder than your puppy’s tooth enamel, which means the tooth will break before the chew does. That single test rules out bones, antlers, hooves, hard nylon and ice cubes. Choose chews that give a little under your nail instead.
The counterintuitive part is that the hardest chews are not the answer for powerful chewers. They are the worst choice. The classic casualty is a slab fracture of the carnassial, the large shearing tooth, which usually means extraction or a root canal under general anaesthetic and a four-figure bill. The repeat offenders all fail the thumbnail test: raw and cooked bones, antlers, hooves, and hard nylon chews used without thought to size. Ice cubes belong on the same list, and old tennis balls wear enamel down like sandpaper over time.
Safer options have a little more flex. Tough natural rubber toys sized correctly for your puppy are the dependable workhorses, and they double as soothers when frozen, which is no small thing in a South African summer. A frozen wet facecloth, a frozen carrot, or a rubber toy stuffed and frozen all give sore gums something cold to work on. If you want an independent steer on dental chews, the Veterinary Oral Health Council publishes a vetted list worth checking against whatever is on the local shelf.
PUPPY-PROOFING
Removing shoes and cables is obvious enough that it needs no help from us. The part worth your attention is the garden, because a puppy that mouths everything will eventually mouth a plant. Several common local favourites are genuinely dangerous. Cycads are among the most lethal plants in South African gardens. They contain cycasin, which causes liver damage and can kill, and the seeds and leaves are unfortunately palatable, so dogs will choose to eat them. Syringa, the seringboom, is a widespread ornamental and invader whose berries cause vomiting and neurological signs and can be fatal in a small dog. Keep these well out of reach or out of the garden altogether, and keep your vet’s after-hours number and your local SPCA poison line somewhere you can find them in a hurry.
BITING
BITING IS COMMUNICATION, AND THE FIRST QUESTION TO ASK IS WHETHER YOUR PUPPY IS TIRED
Most of the relentless, seemingly naughty biting, especially the evening kind that arrives just as you sit down to relax, is not a behaviour problem at all. It is an overtired puppy. Young puppies need an enormous amount of sleep, in the region of sixteen to eighteen hours a day and more when very young. Starved of it, they lose the ability to regulate themselves and tip straight into land-shark mode. A useful rule of thumb is that a puppy awake for much longer than sixty to ninety minutes is usually due for a nap, and the so-called witching hour is far more often exhaustion than excess energy.
So the first response when biting spikes is not a training technique. It is a nap in a quiet spot away from the household noise. The same logic applies to over-excitement. Wrestling a puppy with your hands is great fun until you realise you have spent weeks teaching them that teeth on skin is the game!
THE YELP MYTH, AND WHAT ACTUALLY WORKS
You have almost certainly been told to yelp like a littermate when your puppy bites too hard. It is the most repeated tip going, and for a lot of puppies, it does the opposite of what you want. A high-pitched squeal raises their arousal. You suddenly sound like an exciting squeaky toy, and they bite harder. We cannot reliably speak puppy, however well we mimic the sound.
The more dependable principle is simpler. The instant teeth touch skin, the fun stops, calmly. Stand up, fold your arms, look away and disengage for a few seconds, then carry on. Better still, redirect to a chew before your puppy reaches the frantic stage, and learn the early warning signs, the body that gets stiffer, faster and more frantic just before the teeth come out. Reward the gentle mouth when you feel it, and make sure every member of the household responds the same way, or the lesson never lands. None of this rules out a calm ouch if it genuinely helps your particular puppy, but if it winds them up, drop it. The ‘teeth end the fun rule’ matters far more than the noise you make.
BITING/CHEWING
Almost all of this is normal and time-limited, and most puppies grow out of it with good toys, enough sleep and a bit of patience. A few patterns do warrant a professional opinion. Repeatedly swallowing non-food objects can point to a medical or anxiety-driven cause and carries a real risk of gut obstruction. Destructive chewing that occurs only when your puppy is left alone may be due to distress rather than teething. And biting that is stiff, still and defensive, rather than loose and wriggly and playful, is a different conversation altogether. In these cases, start with your vet to rule out pain or a gut problem, then a qualified, reward-based behaviourist. And, as always, steer clear of anyone selling dominance or alpha methods.
IN SHORT
Channel the chewing onto safe, thumbnail-test-approved targets, protect those teeth, and treat most biting as a tired or over-excited puppy rather than a defiant one. Do those three things well, and the rest of the standard advice, the consistency and the patience and the right toys, should take care of itself.
References and further reading
Ziv, G. (2017). The effects of using aversive training methods in dogs: a review. Journal of Veterinary Behavior, 19, 50–60. Botha, C.J. & Penrith, M.-L. (2009). Potential plant poisonings in dogs and cats in southern Africa. Journal of the South African Veterinary Association, 80(2), 63–74. Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, Riney Canine Health Center. Risks from a fractured tooth. vet.cornell.edu
Veterinary Oral Health Council. Accepted products for dogs. vohc.org
follow us on Instagram @dogquarterlymag and Facebook dqmagazine
stay tuned for the next issue of
