"Most of us love our dogs dearly and are lucky to get the same degree of affection in return. This mutual admiration society is a large part of why so many people choose to have dogs as part of their families. But, as with most relationships, time spent apart is a normal and necessary component. Dogs are superbly social creatures. Add to this that the typical pet dog spends the vast majority of their time with a small group of people (their family) and it should come as no surprise that it can take some effort to ensure that ther is a sense of calm when your dog is left alone. Unfortunately, many dogs suffer from some degree of separation anxiety. This can range from a dog who follows you around the house and is mildly distressed when left alone to a dog who is essentially a 'velcro dog,' unable to leave your side for even a moment, and who is extremely anxious when you leave. This anxiety can result in destructive behaviors such as inappropriate chewing, house soiling, excessive barking, and even self mutilating behaviors (such as chewing at their own fur and skin and creating irritation and raw spots). Separation anxiety can be heartbreaking and frustrating as you witness your dog's suffering and try to deal with the potential for complaints from neighbors or a landlord. It can also do serious damage to the canine/human bond and ultimately result in a dog's banishment from the home or surrender to a shelter.
Some cases of separation issues are really just the dog suffering from boredom and being destructive (i.e. inappropriate chewing, excessive barking, etc.) as a result. Each case of true separation issues is unique. But, as a general rule, some or all of the following are likely to be observable when a separation issue exists:
-The dog seems to become distressed at signs of your departure (such as turning off the lights, or reaching for keys or a coat).
-The dog barks excessively throughout the day, usually most often immediately after your departure and/or just prior to your return.
-The dog salivates excessively prior to and during your absence.
-The dog is unlikely to eat or play with otherwise favorite toys when you are absent.
-The dog is destructive in the home when you leave and may focus this destructive behavior near exit areas such as windows and doors.
-The dog is wildly excited, to the point of being stressed, when you return home.
-The dog consistently follows you around the house.
-The dog demands your attention by jumping on you, whining, barking, muzzle nudging, and/or scratching at your legs.
-The dog eliminates inappropriately in the home when you leave.
-The dog chews inappropriate items only when you leave.
Helping a dog overcome separation issues can be challenging. Not the least of which is due to the fact that so many people inadvertently play a large part in the development and escalation of this issue. While some dogs may be more genetically prone to suffering from separation issues, those dogs which are not taught to spend time alone during their most formative early months will most surely suffer most gravely. As social group oriented creatures, dogs need to start learning the skill of spending time alone calmly as soon as they join their new family. This lack of early preventative measures is a sure fire way to set the dog up to fail in this regard. As with all behavior issues, prevention is easier than cure. So, if you have just welcomed a new dog into your home or are planning on doing so soon, be sure to focus on helping your dog to learn to spend time quietly alone on a consistent basis every day using some or all of the suggestions outlined below.
If your dog is already suffering from some degree of separation anxiety, one of the first hurdles to overcome in regards to successfully helping your dog, it to realize that your dog is counting on you to lead the way and do what is necessary to help him or her. In the short term, it might take your dog some time to become accustomed to some of the tools and new daily routines you establish. But, failing to stick with a plan due to guilt or misdirected kindness will only result in your dog and you continuing to suffer. So, take a deep breath as you endeavor to set your dog on a new course to becoming equipped to spend time calmly, quietly and safely alone. Depending on the severity of your dog's issues, you should plan on strict adherence to some or all of the following guidelines for a minimum of anywhere from 3-6 months. When you are confident your dog can handle a slackening of the rules then you can gradually reduce the use of some of them. But, be careful not to go back to your old ways of interacting with your dog that may have caused or exacerbated the problem. In most cases, it is advisable to err on the side of caution and help your dog to maintain his or her new ability to spend time alone by sticking with the course.
1. Keep Greetings and Departures Short and Sweet: Few friends are likely to greet us with the same enthusiasm as our dogs. A wiggly body, wagging tail and woofs of happy excitement are sure to make most pet parents feel they are truly missed and loved by their canine buddy. However, for each time you enter your home and interact with your dog while he or she is in the throws of this canine love fest, you are reinforcing or rewarding your dog for an over the top expression of their happiness to see you, but also for their relief from their time without you. Doing so surely makes time spent without you that much harder for your dog to bear (especially those with a predisposition for separation issues) the next time you leave, if only for the fact that they must be spending some of their time in eager anticipation of the 'happy fest' that will ensue when you walk through the door.
When you get home, spend the first five minutes ignoring your dog. Don't spea, pet, talk to or even make eye contact. It may seem extreme, but separation anxiety can be an extreme problem and requires gentle, but tough love to resolve it. Don't worry about hurting your dog's feelings. Your efforts are intended to do all you can to ultimately protect your dog's feelings. That is, to ensure that he or she won't be crushed, anxious and possibly even panicked when you aren't around.
The same holds true for departures. No need to draw it out. Simply provide your dog with some food stuffed chew toys at random times prior to your departure (i.e. sometimes 30 minutes prior, others 15 or 5 minutes prior), set them up in the chosen long term confinement area (more on that below) and leave. If you make a big fuss when you leave, odds are your dog will pick up on your intense behavior and respond accordingly for a dog who has separation issues. Look at leaving the house as no different than leaving a room. You wouldn't try to 'comfort' your dog in the latter so don't do so in the former.
2. Choose a Special Spot for Your Dog: Just as our dogs have special bowls for food and water, special toys to play with and special food, they should also have a special spot in the house where they can relax and enjoy meals and toys, and ultimately time alone. The choice of a spot depends on a number of factors, including your dog's size, age and temperament, and the length of expected departures. In some cases, an appropriately sized crate is a good choise. For other dogs, a puppy proofed room or an exercise pen will do. Regardless of the type of confinement you choose, consider that this is a place where you will have your dog spend time alone for a number of reasons. Firstly, they will be as safeguarded as possible from causing themselves or your home harm. Secondly, if you feed your dog his or her meals in this area, offer food stuffable toys, and have your dog rest tehre for plenty of short (5-60 minutes) periods of time throughout the day when you are home, this will come to be a place where your dog is accustomed to resting alone and keeping occupied with things he or she enjoys. Your dog may feel isolated when first spending time in this area. So, keep it brief and remember that repetition is the key to building learning muscles as much as physical muscles. So, the more times you offer your dog an opportunity to rest here when you are home (while you are eating eals, on the computer, reading, etc.), the more opportunities you are giving your dog to practice spending time alone when you are home so he or she is better prepared to spend time alone when you are not home. When you go to let your dog out of this area, remain calm and quietly go about your business. This way, you don't inadvertently reinforce your dog's excitement at leaving this resting area.
3. Pratice On Leash Tethering: As with providing your dog with a special spot to relax, eat and plaay with toys, using a leash to tether your dog to stable objects nearby you when you are there to supervise is a gradual way to get him or her accustomed to not being able to make constant physical contact and eye contact with you. Start with your dog as clase as you feel necessary for him or her to be calm and comfortable and over the course of a few weeks, gradually increase the distance away from you. Be sure to offer your dog something engaging to play with (food stuffable toys, flossies and bully sticks are options), so he or she is less likely to be concerned with not having contact with you. Surprisingly, this simple and gentle technique of gradually getting your dog accustomed to time alone when you are home with them so they are more likely to be able to handle time alone when you aren't home, is one of the tools to preventing and controlling separation anxiety that pet parents seem to find most difficult to adhere to. It seems the concern is that after spending the day at school or work and being away from the dog, people feel it is inkind to prevent the dog from having unlimited access to them when they are home. While the ultimate goal is to have a dog who can roam freely, calmly and safely in your home when you are home and when you aren't, consider how tough it is for a dog to go from one extreme to another, rather than a gradual introduction to soemthing. That is, you are home and they are following you about at all times, and then you are gone! This is as opposed to using management tools such as on leash tethering so your dog can gradually learn to be away from you and ultimately stay calm, cool and collected when you actually leave.
4. Meet Your Dog's Needs, But Not When They Demand You To: Lavish your dog with loads of love. But, avoid doing so when your dog demands it. Ignore attention seeking behaviors such as jumping up, scratching and pawing at you, whining and barking, and muzzle nudging. Yes, some of these behaviors can be very cute, but allowing your dog to learn he or she can get your attention whenever it is demanded is a sure fire way to make those times when you aren't available to your dog harder for him or her to handle. Simply ignore your dog, turn away, or stand up and wait for your dog to refrain from being demanding. Then, ask him or her to do soemthing positive to get your attention. Some trainers refer to this as the Nothing in Life for Free (NILFF) program. Ask your dog to do something for you in exchange for each thing you do for him or her. A sit, down, some when called or any number of other behaviors your dog learns to do on your request can be exchanegd for a walk, scratch behind the ear, or a tasty treat.
5. Provide Outlets for Mental and Physical Energy: One of the key ingredients to preventingand controlling behavior issues is providing dogs with adequate outlets for their typically vast amounts of mental and physical energy. Of course, every dog is different and the exact amount of exercise which is ideal depends on a number of factors including a dog's age, health, and temperament. But, for most dogs in good health, in addition to plenty of potty break walks, they need at least one hour of physical activity. If you have an especially high energy dog or a puppy or adolescent, odds are it is more like to hours. This can be a brisk walk or run or training and play sessions which incorporate lots of movement. Equally as impprtant is providing your dog outlests for mental energy. A dog who has been run for an hour and then gets back home where there is nothing to do, is essentially being set up to fail as they will surely not be sleeping for the rest of the day. In which case, their investigative nature will probably lead them into trouble (i.e. inappropriate chewing, digging, barking, etc.) unless you give them something appropriate to focus on. Variety is the spice of life, so be sure to provide as many unique enrichment opportunities as possible. Provide new social interaction when appropriate, the opportunity to encounter new sights, sounds and smells, and access to a rotation of enrichment toys. Some good options are: Busy Buddy Twist n- Treats, Gimborn white sterilized bones, Bob-a-Lots, Buster Cubes, Roll-a-Treats and Tux toys. These can be offered to your dog in his or her special rest spot or when tethered on leash as you supervise. Feeding your dog his or her meals from a variety of toys such as these is a way of allowing your dog to 'hunt' for their food in a safe, constructive, energy burning manner inside their home.
6. Pinpoint Departure Cues That Trigger Your Dog's Anxiety: Dogs are experts at picking up on what, to people, can be incredibly subtle cues. Try to pinpoint those things which seem to start your dog's anxiety about your departure so you can work on desensitizing your dog to them. This might be soemthing like putting on your shoes, looking at or picking up your coat or keys, or starting to reach for the front door. Try to repeat these behaviors many times throughout the day when you do not plan on leaving and pair them with tossing a few of your dog's favorite treats on the floor. At first, your dog may already be too anxious to eat the food. But, with repetition he or she should be able to relax enoguh to enjoy the tasty treats and ultimately make a positive association between these departure cues and something good happening.
7. Practice Brief Absences: In addition to practicing being separated from you when you are home (by being tetheredat gradually increasing distances from you and by spending time in his or her special rest spot), you should also practice leaving your home for extremely brief bits of time whenever you are home so your dog has plenty of opportunities to become desensitized to what will now be a very normal, repetitive part of his or her day. So, instead of expecting your dog to handle one big absence each day and then prolonged exposure to you when you are home, you are helping your dog understand that absences from you are more often than not for tiny bits of time and not cause for major concern. Each time you walk out the door and right back in you are potentially increasing the odds that your dog will eventually be able to handle gradually increased absences.
8. Consider the Aid of Calmatives: There are a number of calming aids available from local pet retailers and on-line which may aid you in your efforts to help your dog overcome separation anxiety issues. Dog Appeasing Pheremone (DAP) is a synthetic pheromone which mimics the natural pheromone a lactating female dog emits to calm herself and her pups. It is available as a wall plug in, a spray to be used near the dog's resting area, and as a collar. There are also homepathic remedies such as Bach flower essences Rescue Remedy. In some cases of extreme separation anxiety, veterinarians and veterinary behaviorists might prescribe a medication such as Clomicalm. However, all of these aids must be used in conjunction with a program which includes management tools, desensitization and counter conditioning in order to have a possible beneficial impact.
The process of resolving separation issues can be a daunting task. So, it is advisable to enlist the help of an experienced trainer who adheres to a gentle, positive approach. They can help you make a detailed and specific plan based on your dog's particular temperament, the severity of the separation anxiety, and your daily routine."
Preventing and Controlling Separation Anxiety in Dogs
Allergies in Dogs and Cats - Simple Solutions That Work
"Allergies in dogs and cats:
When I first graduated as a vet 20 years ago, I thought I knew how to treat every disease in animals known to man. A few years in suburban practice quickly taught me the error of my thinking - and the greatest stumbling block I ever came across, was trying to treat skin allergies in dogs and cats. I quickly realized that the side effects of most of my treatments were rapidly becoming worse than the original disease itself. It was with this back ground that I was impelled to look deeper, to look for the un-seen cause of allergies.
Allergies are basically an ""inappropriate"" or ""over-zealous"" reaction of an animals' (or persons) immune system. The reaction is caused by exposure to certain chemical or organic agents, commonly referred to as ""allergens"". Genetics certainly play a role in pre-disposing an animal to developing allergies, but environment and nutrition will ultimately decide to what degree the allergy is expressed.
Allergies in pets fall into several different categories, but nearly all allergies have a common expression - chronic allergic skin disease (allergic dermatitis or ""eczema""). Allergies can be triggered by airborne allergens (atopic dermatitis), by direct contact with the skin (contact allergy), by exposure to certain foods (food allergy), or by exposure to parasites (eg flea allergy dermatitis). The pattern of skin disease can vary widely, but subtle differences can help to determine what type of allergy is involved. The classic signs of allergy include generalized itching, feet chewing, face and muzzle rubbing, dermatitis of the inner legs, abdomen and armpits, chronic ear infections, ""hot spots"", and more recently, asthma in cats.
Traditional veterinary treatments for allergic skin disease have included using drugs like cortisone, anti-biotics, anti-histamines, ant-parasitic agents, and topical medicated shampoos. The good old ""bucket on the head"", known more professionally as an Elizabethan collar, has also been widely used to prevent self trauma. More recently, testing for known allergens has become popular, and the use of de-sensitisation (gradual exposure to diluted forms of the known allergen) has shown some success. Recognition of the role of essential fatty acids (primarily Omega 3 fatty acids), and their inclusion as a dietary additive, has also shown some promise. But on the whole, allergic skin disease is still one of the most common, and frustrating, veterinary complaints that brings pet owners to the waiting room. One unfortunate reality of allergies is that despite all the advances in modern medicine, allergies are still considered a ""chronic"" disease - meaning that there is no ""cure"" for an allergy, the best we can hope to do is ""control"" the expression of an allergy, and limit the use of drugs required to do so.
Understanding the Immune system:
The key to ""controlling"" allergies is to understand how and why they occur. As mentioned, allergies are an inappropriate immune reaction to a specific allergen - a reaction that that is not ""pre-programmed"" into the immune system by the core genetic code, but one that is ""learned"" or ""accidentally"" occurs. The study of the immune system (immunology) is a fascinating science, and one that has provided much of the information that is driving modern medical advances. One of the fascinating facts about the immune system, is that it works in almost the same way in all animal species- from man to fish. It is an ancient and untouched genetic code, and is designed to ""protect"" an animal from disease, and to assist repair.
A thorough description of how the immune system works is beyond the scope of this article, but a very simplified overview will assist in understanding allergies. In very rough terms, the immune system can be divided into 2 parts. One part is involved in making antibodies - cells that produce special proteins that are specifically designed to ""recognize"" specific foreign molecules (eg bacteria or viruses) which are called ""antigens"". The body has millions of different cells (B lymphocytes) which produce different types of antibodies which protect us from infection, and these antibodies form the basis of the practice of immunization (where we introduce non-dangerous parts of a bacteria or virus so the body can make antibodies to that particular pathogen). The second part of the immune system is known as the ""innate"" immune system, and it involves cells that we commonly call ""white blood cells"". These cells are responsible for directly destroying foreign agents, infected cells, or antibody/antigen complexes formed by the other part of the immune system. When your body is under attack by a bacteria or virus, these cells poor into the blood stream to fight off the agent, and the result is that on a blood test, you have a ""high white blood cell count"". As white blood cells capture and destroy these foreign particles, they actually die themselves, and the resultant protein sludge that remains is known as pus (when concentrated in a small area).
In an allergic reaction, we have an ""accidental"" response. Lets use the example of an inhaled grass pollen. Normally the immune system should not recognize the grass pollen as foreign or dangerous (we inhale microscopic pollens all the time during spring and summer). But in an allergic response, for some reason the immune system creates a specific antibody to the pollen. This antibody seeks out the pollen, and binds to it. Then, a particular part of the innate immune system (white blood cells known as ""eosinophils"") are released into the blood to capture and destroy these antibody/antigen complexes. When these eosinophils have done their job, they also ""die"", but as the cells burst, they release histamine - which causes intense local swelling and itching. In people, this reaction commonly occurs locally, at the location of the nose and eyes where the pollen first contacts the moist mucus membranes - and results in ""hay fever symptoms"" (swollen itchy eyes and nose, sneezing etc). If the reaction occurs deeper in the body, at the level of the bronchi in the lungs, it can cause ""asthma"". In dogs and cats, these cells actually migrate to the skin (and sometimes to the lining of the gut) where they cause an intense itching reaction which we call allergic dermatitis. When the animal itches, it breaks the skin, and allows secondary infection to occur, which further adds to the irritation - and so the cycle goes on.
The pattern of allergies is determined by the type of allergen. Some allergies are seasonal, meaning that the allergen is only in the environment for a specific time of the year - most of these are caused by plant pollens etc (called atopic allergies). Some contact allergies, like grass allergy only occur when grasses are dry and producing seed heads, and most of the signs occur on the underneath of the dog, in areas where there is no fur protecting the skin (eg groin, armpits, belly). If the allergen is present all year round, such as a food allergy (to a specific food type) or allergies to dust mites, then the signs of allergic dermatitis will be constant.
So what causes the Immune system to malfunction?:
The answer to this question is the key to solving the mystery of allergies, and unfortunately there is not one simple answer. A genetic predisposition (ie an inherited tendency) is certainly one big factor. Certain breeds of dog (eg West Highland White Terriers) are genetically predisposed to developing allergies. Staffordshire terriers are prone to contact allergies, German Shepherds are prone to food allergies and chronic ear infections etc. But in veterinary practice, we are seeing more and more dogs with allergies (probably the number one reason people go to see their vet apart from vaccination), and genetics alone cannot be the answer.
Modern immunology has now shown us that both nutrition, and environment, will affect the way our immune system functions. When we talk about environment, we really mean the ""artificial"" environment, and the exposure to man made chemicals. In the house, pets may be exposed to chemical cleaning agents, carpet and floor products, insect sprays, deodourisers, perfumes etc. And outside, in the garden or on a walk, there are air pollutants (eg. petrochemical fumes), weed sprays and herbicides, water pollutants (fluoride, chlorine) and a host of other ""un-natural"" potential allergens. And what about the products we deliberately use on our pets - shampoos, conditioners, worm tablets, flea and tick control, heartworm prevention, even the chemical stabilizers used in vaccines - all of these can act as potential ""triggers"" for allergies. Naturally some of these cannot be avoided, but we do need to exercise some care when we have an allergic pet. Other recognized triggers also include the huge range of chemical preservatives and colourings used in processed pet foods, some of which are now recognized as carcinogenic. Sulphur dioxide, a common preservative used in pet meat, is also a known trigger for asthma and eczema in people. It is important to remember that most of these chemical agents are ""new"" to the immune system (they weren't around hundreds of millions of years ago when the immune system was evolving in fish), so it is not surprising that our bodies do react to them as ""foreign"".
Recent studies into immunology and parasites have also revealed some startling results in this area. Dogs and cats have been evolving on earth for some 40 Million years, and for the first 39.98 Million years, they did so without interference from man. Their bodies had developed a natural balance between intestinal and topical parasites, which was controlled by their immune system. The part of the immune system that controls parasites, are the same cells (eosinophils) that are involved in allergies. When these eosinophils react at the gut level, the release of histamine actually causes swelling and increased motility, which aids the elimination of gut parasites (worms). At the skin level, the release of histamines causes itching, which in turn, aids the removal of fleas. This process has kept the natural balance of parasites in check for millions of years. With the advent of modern chemical worming tablets and the widespread adoption of 3 monthly worming programs, intestinal worms have become a thing of the past. To further add to this, modern ""all in one"" topical preparations that control topical parasites and heartworm, also kill the majority of intestinal worms, but on a monthly basis. Whilst this may at first appear to be a great thing for our pets (and don't get me wrong, these products are very useful), we have now reached a position where our pets can be completely ""sterile"" of all parasites.
What modern immunology has discovered however, is that when the body is sterile of parasites, the part of the immune system that has evolved over millions of years to control them, the eosinophils, is now left without a job to do - and as a result, there are now large numbers of these cells available to react to ""allergens"". What this means is that the effect of an allergic reaction in pets that have no parasites to control, is actually far more intense, than in a pet where these cells are actually doing the job they were designed to do. In short, dogs and cats that are ""sterile"" are far more prone to having serious allergic skin disease.
And what of nutrition? How does what we eat, or what we feed our pets', affect the immune system? Most people nowadays do accept that what we eat will affect our overall health and longevity, but what we may not realize is, that it affects our health by affecting our immune system. In simple terms, the better your immune system works, the better your every day health will be, and the longer you will live (excluding bad luck). Modern nutrition recognizes that there are 76 known macro and micro nutrients required for perfect health. Simply put, your immune system needs all 76 elements to function perfectly. What we also now understand, is that our bodies (and that of your pets') do not exist in a ""sterile"" environment. The intestinal tract requires the presence of pro-biotic bacteria (often termed ""good"" bacteria) - names like acidophilus (the bacteria found in natural yogurt) are now commonly recognized as being healthy. Our pets also have their own population of good bacteria, and they are also essential for good health. It is the combination of a diet that provides all the necessary nutrients, combined with an intestinal tract full of pro-biotics, which allows our body to absorb the nutritional value. And this ultimately ensures that the immune system receives all 76 of the elements required for it to function at its optimum.
Unfortunately, for both humans and pets, the supply of good, healthy food is no longer as simple as it used to be. Just two hundred years ago, people ate good quality fresh food. Produce was grown organically, harvested and eaten. There was little in the way of processing or preserving, and the soils that were used to grow crops, fruit, or livestock, were healthy and nutrient rich. Compare that to today, when an apple bought from the supermarket may be 9 months old before you eat it, and it has been grown entirely on artificial fertilizers and sprayed with chemicals, or the fact that the vitamin C content of a supermarket orange has fallen to 2% of what it was the day it was picked, and we see it is not so hard to understand what has gone wrong. If you add to that the processing and preservatives used to extend shelf life, and the over-abundance of sugars and salts included in processed food and drinks, we start to see an insidious pattern of modern day ""malnutrition"" emerging.
But don't think that you pet has been spared this reality. For the past 40 Million years, dogs and cats ate a healthy diet of wild prey, raw, uncooked and unprocessed, supplying not only the necessary probiotic bacteria for gut health, but also the complete 76 nutrients for perfect health. But in modern society, we now know better, and pets' are fed on man's waste! On the whole, processed pet foods are made from in-edible carcass remains (made into meat meal and meat by-products), cheap sources of bulk carbohydrate and vegetable matter, sugar, salt, flavours, and preservatives. Add to this a cocktail of about 25 + chemically derived essential vitamins and minerals (a commercially available product which guarantees a pet food will meet AAFCO nutritional standards). Then finally, mix all this into biscuits, cook at high temperatures (> 260'C for import into Australia), and then spray with liver digest and fat (so your pet will actually eat it) - this is what has replaced the natural diet of dogs and cats.
Modern pet foods are sterile (they provide no pro-biotic bacteria) and they certainly do not provide the body with the 76 nutrients required for optimal health, no matter how much they cost, or what they say on the pack. Sure, there are much better ones, and much worse ones, but collectively, they are contributing to the same ""modern day malnutrition"" that is affecting western society. We are slowly turning our pets into ""junk foodies"".
So back to allergies, how is all this causing allergies in pets? It is quite simple. The way immune cells react is actually influenced by a wide range of nutritional factors, many of which modern science is yet to fully understand. We do know that if an animal's diet is deficient in Omega 3 essential fatty acids, the immune system will react in a more inflammatory way, producing more histamine release and a greater ""allergic"" tendency, than compared to an animal that has an adequate dietary intake of Omega 3 fats. We also know that omega 3 fats are commonly deficient in processed pet foods, or are easily oxidized and rendered useless, by the processing and handling of dry and tinned pet food. And this is but one of the 76 elements that can affect the immune system. When we combine this type of deficiency, with other mal-nutritional factors caused by poor dietary ingredients and processing,a pattern emerges. Add the loss of pro-biotic bacteria, and the sterile gut caused by over zealous parasite control, and we have a ""pro-allergic"" state in the animal's immune system - which is just waiting to react.
So whereas the ""healthy"" body may have shown just a mild reaction to an allergen (say flea saliva from a flea bite) we suddenly have a massive over-reaction to the introduction of a normally mild allergen - with wide scale release of histamine and intense itching and chewing (and we end up with a dog with ""hot spots""). If we combine all this with a living environment full of modern chemical agents and potential ""triggers"" (and in the food we feed our pets), then it is not hard to understand why we are seeing such an ""epidemic"" of allergies in pets, and in people.
So what can we do?;
Certainly I do not profess to have all the answers to treating allergies, but there are some basic guidelines that I follow in practice, that consistently lead to effective, positive results in pets that have allergies.
1. To best supply the necessary pro-biotics and 76 elements, change you pet onto a natural, raw, balanced and unprocessed diet, using fresh meats and produce that has not been treated with chemical preservatives (avoid sulphur dioxide = preservative 220, 221, 222 etc). Choose a meat source that your pet is not likely to have had regular access to (eg kangaroo meat, or tripe) - avoid chicken and beef. And stick to a simple carbohydrate, like rolled oats or brown rice. Eg. Vets All Natural Premium Choice, or Complete Mix
2. Add the following daily supplements - a dose of pro-biotics (eg Protexin), an all natural multivitamin and mineral supplement, an Omega 3 fatty acid supplement such as Flax Seed oil or Fish oil (fish oil is better for cats). Eg. Vets All Natural Health Booster and Omega Blend Oil.
3. When using parasite control, try to use products that only affect the parasite you are targeting. Eg, use a product that only kills fleas if you have a flea problem, or a product that only kills heartworm larvae, and not one that also kills intestinal worms. For regular worming, consider having a fecal test done to see if there are worms present at large numbers (much like we do for horses and other stock animals) rather than just treating every 3 months. Pets can tolerate low numbers of worms naturally.
And if these changes alone are not fixing the problem, try:
• Consider using rain water for drinking rather than chlorinated and fluoride treated tap water.
• Make whatever adjustments to your home and backyard environment that are feasible - try and avoid using harsh chemical sprays or cleaning agents
• When an animals skin is inflamed, avoid using shampoos and medicated washes, they often provide only temporary relief, and may actually be ""contributing"" to the ongoing cycle.
My experience, gained over the last 15 years in practice, has shown me that more than 70% of allergic pets can be maintained on a drug free regime if they follow these guidelines. The ultimate goal is to get your pet off all ongoing medications and treatments (especially cortisone) - even if they have the occasional itch."
When I first graduated as a vet 20 years ago, I thought I knew how to treat every disease in animals known to man. A few years in suburban practice quickly taught me the error of my thinking - and the greatest stumbling block I ever came across, was trying to treat skin allergies in dogs and cats. I quickly realized that the side effects of most of my treatments were rapidly becoming worse than the original disease itself. It was with this back ground that I was impelled to look deeper, to look for the un-seen cause of allergies.
Allergies are basically an ""inappropriate"" or ""over-zealous"" reaction of an animals' (or persons) immune system. The reaction is caused by exposure to certain chemical or organic agents, commonly referred to as ""allergens"". Genetics certainly play a role in pre-disposing an animal to developing allergies, but environment and nutrition will ultimately decide to what degree the allergy is expressed.
Allergies in pets fall into several different categories, but nearly all allergies have a common expression - chronic allergic skin disease (allergic dermatitis or ""eczema""). Allergies can be triggered by airborne allergens (atopic dermatitis), by direct contact with the skin (contact allergy), by exposure to certain foods (food allergy), or by exposure to parasites (eg flea allergy dermatitis). The pattern of skin disease can vary widely, but subtle differences can help to determine what type of allergy is involved. The classic signs of allergy include generalized itching, feet chewing, face and muzzle rubbing, dermatitis of the inner legs, abdomen and armpits, chronic ear infections, ""hot spots"", and more recently, asthma in cats.
Traditional veterinary treatments for allergic skin disease have included using drugs like cortisone, anti-biotics, anti-histamines, ant-parasitic agents, and topical medicated shampoos. The good old ""bucket on the head"", known more professionally as an Elizabethan collar, has also been widely used to prevent self trauma. More recently, testing for known allergens has become popular, and the use of de-sensitisation (gradual exposure to diluted forms of the known allergen) has shown some success. Recognition of the role of essential fatty acids (primarily Omega 3 fatty acids), and their inclusion as a dietary additive, has also shown some promise. But on the whole, allergic skin disease is still one of the most common, and frustrating, veterinary complaints that brings pet owners to the waiting room. One unfortunate reality of allergies is that despite all the advances in modern medicine, allergies are still considered a ""chronic"" disease - meaning that there is no ""cure"" for an allergy, the best we can hope to do is ""control"" the expression of an allergy, and limit the use of drugs required to do so.
Understanding the Immune system:
The key to ""controlling"" allergies is to understand how and why they occur. As mentioned, allergies are an inappropriate immune reaction to a specific allergen - a reaction that that is not ""pre-programmed"" into the immune system by the core genetic code, but one that is ""learned"" or ""accidentally"" occurs. The study of the immune system (immunology) is a fascinating science, and one that has provided much of the information that is driving modern medical advances. One of the fascinating facts about the immune system, is that it works in almost the same way in all animal species- from man to fish. It is an ancient and untouched genetic code, and is designed to ""protect"" an animal from disease, and to assist repair.
A thorough description of how the immune system works is beyond the scope of this article, but a very simplified overview will assist in understanding allergies. In very rough terms, the immune system can be divided into 2 parts. One part is involved in making antibodies - cells that produce special proteins that are specifically designed to ""recognize"" specific foreign molecules (eg bacteria or viruses) which are called ""antigens"". The body has millions of different cells (B lymphocytes) which produce different types of antibodies which protect us from infection, and these antibodies form the basis of the practice of immunization (where we introduce non-dangerous parts of a bacteria or virus so the body can make antibodies to that particular pathogen). The second part of the immune system is known as the ""innate"" immune system, and it involves cells that we commonly call ""white blood cells"". These cells are responsible for directly destroying foreign agents, infected cells, or antibody/antigen complexes formed by the other part of the immune system. When your body is under attack by a bacteria or virus, these cells poor into the blood stream to fight off the agent, and the result is that on a blood test, you have a ""high white blood cell count"". As white blood cells capture and destroy these foreign particles, they actually die themselves, and the resultant protein sludge that remains is known as pus (when concentrated in a small area).
In an allergic reaction, we have an ""accidental"" response. Lets use the example of an inhaled grass pollen. Normally the immune system should not recognize the grass pollen as foreign or dangerous (we inhale microscopic pollens all the time during spring and summer). But in an allergic response, for some reason the immune system creates a specific antibody to the pollen. This antibody seeks out the pollen, and binds to it. Then, a particular part of the innate immune system (white blood cells known as ""eosinophils"") are released into the blood to capture and destroy these antibody/antigen complexes. When these eosinophils have done their job, they also ""die"", but as the cells burst, they release histamine - which causes intense local swelling and itching. In people, this reaction commonly occurs locally, at the location of the nose and eyes where the pollen first contacts the moist mucus membranes - and results in ""hay fever symptoms"" (swollen itchy eyes and nose, sneezing etc). If the reaction occurs deeper in the body, at the level of the bronchi in the lungs, it can cause ""asthma"". In dogs and cats, these cells actually migrate to the skin (and sometimes to the lining of the gut) where they cause an intense itching reaction which we call allergic dermatitis. When the animal itches, it breaks the skin, and allows secondary infection to occur, which further adds to the irritation - and so the cycle goes on.
The pattern of allergies is determined by the type of allergen. Some allergies are seasonal, meaning that the allergen is only in the environment for a specific time of the year - most of these are caused by plant pollens etc (called atopic allergies). Some contact allergies, like grass allergy only occur when grasses are dry and producing seed heads, and most of the signs occur on the underneath of the dog, in areas where there is no fur protecting the skin (eg groin, armpits, belly). If the allergen is present all year round, such as a food allergy (to a specific food type) or allergies to dust mites, then the signs of allergic dermatitis will be constant.
So what causes the Immune system to malfunction?:
The answer to this question is the key to solving the mystery of allergies, and unfortunately there is not one simple answer. A genetic predisposition (ie an inherited tendency) is certainly one big factor. Certain breeds of dog (eg West Highland White Terriers) are genetically predisposed to developing allergies. Staffordshire terriers are prone to contact allergies, German Shepherds are prone to food allergies and chronic ear infections etc. But in veterinary practice, we are seeing more and more dogs with allergies (probably the number one reason people go to see their vet apart from vaccination), and genetics alone cannot be the answer.
Modern immunology has now shown us that both nutrition, and environment, will affect the way our immune system functions. When we talk about environment, we really mean the ""artificial"" environment, and the exposure to man made chemicals. In the house, pets may be exposed to chemical cleaning agents, carpet and floor products, insect sprays, deodourisers, perfumes etc. And outside, in the garden or on a walk, there are air pollutants (eg. petrochemical fumes), weed sprays and herbicides, water pollutants (fluoride, chlorine) and a host of other ""un-natural"" potential allergens. And what about the products we deliberately use on our pets - shampoos, conditioners, worm tablets, flea and tick control, heartworm prevention, even the chemical stabilizers used in vaccines - all of these can act as potential ""triggers"" for allergies. Naturally some of these cannot be avoided, but we do need to exercise some care when we have an allergic pet. Other recognized triggers also include the huge range of chemical preservatives and colourings used in processed pet foods, some of which are now recognized as carcinogenic. Sulphur dioxide, a common preservative used in pet meat, is also a known trigger for asthma and eczema in people. It is important to remember that most of these chemical agents are ""new"" to the immune system (they weren't around hundreds of millions of years ago when the immune system was evolving in fish), so it is not surprising that our bodies do react to them as ""foreign"".
Recent studies into immunology and parasites have also revealed some startling results in this area. Dogs and cats have been evolving on earth for some 40 Million years, and for the first 39.98 Million years, they did so without interference from man. Their bodies had developed a natural balance between intestinal and topical parasites, which was controlled by their immune system. The part of the immune system that controls parasites, are the same cells (eosinophils) that are involved in allergies. When these eosinophils react at the gut level, the release of histamine actually causes swelling and increased motility, which aids the elimination of gut parasites (worms). At the skin level, the release of histamines causes itching, which in turn, aids the removal of fleas. This process has kept the natural balance of parasites in check for millions of years. With the advent of modern chemical worming tablets and the widespread adoption of 3 monthly worming programs, intestinal worms have become a thing of the past. To further add to this, modern ""all in one"" topical preparations that control topical parasites and heartworm, also kill the majority of intestinal worms, but on a monthly basis. Whilst this may at first appear to be a great thing for our pets (and don't get me wrong, these products are very useful), we have now reached a position where our pets can be completely ""sterile"" of all parasites.
What modern immunology has discovered however, is that when the body is sterile of parasites, the part of the immune system that has evolved over millions of years to control them, the eosinophils, is now left without a job to do - and as a result, there are now large numbers of these cells available to react to ""allergens"". What this means is that the effect of an allergic reaction in pets that have no parasites to control, is actually far more intense, than in a pet where these cells are actually doing the job they were designed to do. In short, dogs and cats that are ""sterile"" are far more prone to having serious allergic skin disease.
And what of nutrition? How does what we eat, or what we feed our pets', affect the immune system? Most people nowadays do accept that what we eat will affect our overall health and longevity, but what we may not realize is, that it affects our health by affecting our immune system. In simple terms, the better your immune system works, the better your every day health will be, and the longer you will live (excluding bad luck). Modern nutrition recognizes that there are 76 known macro and micro nutrients required for perfect health. Simply put, your immune system needs all 76 elements to function perfectly. What we also now understand, is that our bodies (and that of your pets') do not exist in a ""sterile"" environment. The intestinal tract requires the presence of pro-biotic bacteria (often termed ""good"" bacteria) - names like acidophilus (the bacteria found in natural yogurt) are now commonly recognized as being healthy. Our pets also have their own population of good bacteria, and they are also essential for good health. It is the combination of a diet that provides all the necessary nutrients, combined with an intestinal tract full of pro-biotics, which allows our body to absorb the nutritional value. And this ultimately ensures that the immune system receives all 76 of the elements required for it to function at its optimum.
Unfortunately, for both humans and pets, the supply of good, healthy food is no longer as simple as it used to be. Just two hundred years ago, people ate good quality fresh food. Produce was grown organically, harvested and eaten. There was little in the way of processing or preserving, and the soils that were used to grow crops, fruit, or livestock, were healthy and nutrient rich. Compare that to today, when an apple bought from the supermarket may be 9 months old before you eat it, and it has been grown entirely on artificial fertilizers and sprayed with chemicals, or the fact that the vitamin C content of a supermarket orange has fallen to 2% of what it was the day it was picked, and we see it is not so hard to understand what has gone wrong. If you add to that the processing and preservatives used to extend shelf life, and the over-abundance of sugars and salts included in processed food and drinks, we start to see an insidious pattern of modern day ""malnutrition"" emerging.
But don't think that you pet has been spared this reality. For the past 40 Million years, dogs and cats ate a healthy diet of wild prey, raw, uncooked and unprocessed, supplying not only the necessary probiotic bacteria for gut health, but also the complete 76 nutrients for perfect health. But in modern society, we now know better, and pets' are fed on man's waste! On the whole, processed pet foods are made from in-edible carcass remains (made into meat meal and meat by-products), cheap sources of bulk carbohydrate and vegetable matter, sugar, salt, flavours, and preservatives. Add to this a cocktail of about 25 + chemically derived essential vitamins and minerals (a commercially available product which guarantees a pet food will meet AAFCO nutritional standards). Then finally, mix all this into biscuits, cook at high temperatures (> 260'C for import into Australia), and then spray with liver digest and fat (so your pet will actually eat it) - this is what has replaced the natural diet of dogs and cats.
Modern pet foods are sterile (they provide no pro-biotic bacteria) and they certainly do not provide the body with the 76 nutrients required for optimal health, no matter how much they cost, or what they say on the pack. Sure, there are much better ones, and much worse ones, but collectively, they are contributing to the same ""modern day malnutrition"" that is affecting western society. We are slowly turning our pets into ""junk foodies"".
So back to allergies, how is all this causing allergies in pets? It is quite simple. The way immune cells react is actually influenced by a wide range of nutritional factors, many of which modern science is yet to fully understand. We do know that if an animal's diet is deficient in Omega 3 essential fatty acids, the immune system will react in a more inflammatory way, producing more histamine release and a greater ""allergic"" tendency, than compared to an animal that has an adequate dietary intake of Omega 3 fats. We also know that omega 3 fats are commonly deficient in processed pet foods, or are easily oxidized and rendered useless, by the processing and handling of dry and tinned pet food. And this is but one of the 76 elements that can affect the immune system. When we combine this type of deficiency, with other mal-nutritional factors caused by poor dietary ingredients and processing,a pattern emerges. Add the loss of pro-biotic bacteria, and the sterile gut caused by over zealous parasite control, and we have a ""pro-allergic"" state in the animal's immune system - which is just waiting to react.
So whereas the ""healthy"" body may have shown just a mild reaction to an allergen (say flea saliva from a flea bite) we suddenly have a massive over-reaction to the introduction of a normally mild allergen - with wide scale release of histamine and intense itching and chewing (and we end up with a dog with ""hot spots""). If we combine all this with a living environment full of modern chemical agents and potential ""triggers"" (and in the food we feed our pets), then it is not hard to understand why we are seeing such an ""epidemic"" of allergies in pets, and in people.
So what can we do?;
Certainly I do not profess to have all the answers to treating allergies, but there are some basic guidelines that I follow in practice, that consistently lead to effective, positive results in pets that have allergies.
1. To best supply the necessary pro-biotics and 76 elements, change you pet onto a natural, raw, balanced and unprocessed diet, using fresh meats and produce that has not been treated with chemical preservatives (avoid sulphur dioxide = preservative 220, 221, 222 etc). Choose a meat source that your pet is not likely to have had regular access to (eg kangaroo meat, or tripe) - avoid chicken and beef. And stick to a simple carbohydrate, like rolled oats or brown rice. Eg. Vets All Natural Premium Choice, or Complete Mix
2. Add the following daily supplements - a dose of pro-biotics (eg Protexin), an all natural multivitamin and mineral supplement, an Omega 3 fatty acid supplement such as Flax Seed oil or Fish oil (fish oil is better for cats). Eg. Vets All Natural Health Booster and Omega Blend Oil.
3. When using parasite control, try to use products that only affect the parasite you are targeting. Eg, use a product that only kills fleas if you have a flea problem, or a product that only kills heartworm larvae, and not one that also kills intestinal worms. For regular worming, consider having a fecal test done to see if there are worms present at large numbers (much like we do for horses and other stock animals) rather than just treating every 3 months. Pets can tolerate low numbers of worms naturally.
And if these changes alone are not fixing the problem, try:
• Consider using rain water for drinking rather than chlorinated and fluoride treated tap water.
• Make whatever adjustments to your home and backyard environment that are feasible - try and avoid using harsh chemical sprays or cleaning agents
• When an animals skin is inflamed, avoid using shampoos and medicated washes, they often provide only temporary relief, and may actually be ""contributing"" to the ongoing cycle.
My experience, gained over the last 15 years in practice, has shown me that more than 70% of allergic pets can be maintained on a drug free regime if they follow these guidelines. The ultimate goal is to get your pet off all ongoing medications and treatments (especially cortisone) - even if they have the occasional itch."
Who in the Police State Gets Extralegal Exemptions?
"Executive Summary - The purpose of this article is to show you the special privileges certain people and their spouses and children have in the USA with a special emphasis on those in law enforcement and politics. This is how the police state grooms law enforcement to step into the role of a police state with all its associated lawlessness and brutality. These people are basically immune from traffic law enforcement, vehicle codes, and other minor and not so minor violations of the law.
In police states it is common to extend these privileges to the groups of people listed below. As the police state grows into its fullness the paranoia on the part of the leaders grows and they begin policing the police and government officials with extreme vigor and prejudice. The internal affairs police become all-powerful. Hitler referred to them as the Gestapo. They ruined careers and terrorized ordinary police. Government officials and the military. As they eliminate the private ownership of guns, freedom of movement, international travel etc then their threat risk assessment of those in power, shifts to those with the guns and in control of various aspects of governing the people.
Then the police state evolves into a full-fledged paranoid madhouse, which is the path they all seem to go down. The leaders know they are criminals violating the laws of the land. They know the people hate them with a passion. They generally leave the country in shambles. They fear execution and an overthrow every minute of every day. They have no peace. They do not eat or sleep well. Their health deteriorates. The leaders sleep in different houses each night, bodyguards sleep in their bedrooms, alcoholism and drug use with the leaders becomes widespread, insomnia is common, persecution fantasies abound, trials for treason, sedition, espionage with summary executions abound amongst the ranks of the police, military and government officials.
The law enforcement and low-level government officials get sucked into serving these police states by the government extending certain privileges to them, often not formally codified but just put into practice. They often pay these police out of proportion wages not in sync with the state of the economy. Today there are tens of thousands of police and corrections officers making over $100,000 a year who never attended college. Federal law enforcement agents can easily hit $140,000 a year. Then comes their early retirement, medical, dental, vacations and so forth. The police state wants them happy and proud to have these jobs. The police state is teaching them the advantages to turning a blind eye towards all the injustices. They get used to using the taser and pepper spray on anyone who talks back to them. They get to carry weapons practically anywhere and in some cases even on airplanes. People get long prison sentences for victimless crimes (all they did was break a statue no identifiable persons were victims). They become a tool of the elite and thus acquire certain privileges.
Who Are the People Granted Official and Unofficial Exemptions from Laws -
* City and State Police Officers
* County Sheriffs
* Correction Officers, City, County, State, and Federal
* Parole Officers, City, County, State, and Federal
* Probation Officers, City, County, State, and Federal
* State Troopers
* Highway Patrol
* Animal Enforcement Officers
* Alcoholic Beverage Police
* Weights and Measures Police
* Lottery Police
* Labor Police
* Child and Family Services Police
* Tax Collection Police City, County, State, and Federal
* Building Inspectors
* Food Inspectors
* Health Inspectors
* Traffic Enforcement Officers
* Federal Law Enforcement Agents - There are over 100 such agencies
* City and County Commissioners
* Mayors and Deputy Mayors
* City, County, State and Federal members of legislatures
* Judges on all levels
* Governors and Deputy Governors
* Attorney Generals
* District Attorneys
* Prosecutors called by other titles
* Ambulance Drivers
* Paramedics
* Firemen
* Animal Control Officers
* Court Clerks
To the above you could add in the spouses, children and parents of these people to who various exemptions from the law are also granted informally as a professional courtesy. So as you can see the so-called Thin Blue Line is a lot wider than what one might think. Traffic Enforcement Police will tell you that a tremendous amount of those they stop are part of this list.
The protocol is that the person stopped in a traffic stop presents themselves as one of the privileged few before they show any driver license or registration. If one presents the driver license and registration to the officer they generally will just take it to the cruiser and check their status and then return with a ticket written out. The idea is to explain who you are with or without documentation before the license is shown so it never gets to the ticket stage. There are no bulletproof rules as to one cop not giving another cop a ticket. Generally it is not done. Police departments do get into ticket wars with other cops and start handing out tickets to members of other departments freely.
Usually the high-ranking officials settle this quickly before someone gets arrested. Police will often ask a federal agent if they are working when stopped. Federal agents say yes because they are on 24/7. They generally are let go. Sometimes they get a ticket and then they have their office phone the traffic court and have the judge cancel it. The general rule is that these privileged few look out for each other. If the offense is bad and will result in a big investigation only the very highest of the privileged can expect to get the extra-legal assistance and this can and has extended all the way up to murder.
What Are the Types of Exemptions Offered to these people:\b>
Traffic - These people even have courtesy badges and ID cards that they give to friends and relatives so that other police will not give them traffic tickets. There are probably one million such people running around in the USA. This explains the people who speed incessantly and run red lights and make illegal turns you see all the time and wonder about. They are exempt from citations, not like you. Just discuss this with any law enforcement officer or ex law enforcement officer, who trusts you, to see that it is true. Remember these privileged violators also get good driver rates when they are not really good drivers.
Drunk Driving - This is not always covered but often is. Depends on how drunk they are, where and who they are. They often will have another officer take the car to a safe place and drive the person home so as to keep them off the road. They would rarely just tell the person it's okay continue driving dead drunk even if it is a judge. Drunken judges are common, as are police officers and legislators. This is a sensitive one but the police will usually try not to cite and arrest the privileged. If it is one of their own and he is not safe to drive they will often call the supervisor of the officer to come get him. This way the department informally knows he is drinking and riving but they avoid exposing one of their own to the justice system that applies to regular people. This is often done as well for bad traffic violations like going 130 mph in a corvette. His supervisor knows about it but the officer is spared the consequences of the law. Hmmm can someone say get out of jail free card.
Traffic Accidents - Here is a courtesy not known by many. The police throw the accident report in favor of the privileged one. The other driver gets a ticket and their insurance rates suffer. The other party has no idea this is going on until he reads the accident report. How many would ever think to investigate the other party to see if they are a police officer and few would complain to the internal affairs department of the law enforcement agency involved.
Truck Driving - A lot of police officers drive over the road trucks off duty. They do not generally have to follow the rules like regular truck drivers. This enables them to make more money than regular drivers. They can exceed weight limits, drive excessive hours, have messed up logbooks, equipment violations etc. A little known but all too common occurrence. Ever see a truck driver barreling down on you speeding like crazy and not caring about getting caught. Now you know why.
Fights - The police will rarely ever arrest one of the privileged if a regular fight broke out over an argument even if they were drunk. If someone is seriously hurt or killed then it tends to go more by the book, but not always. Sometimes they might complain to the cops' supervisor.
Drugs - One of the privileged caught with personal quantities of drugs would normally get out of it with being arrested. They might not even have the drugs confiscated.
Searches of Vehicles - The privileged are pretty much search free. This means they can carry drugs, illegal weapons, and open alcohol containers without much worry.
Expired License Tags, Driver Licenses etc - This sort of thing is generally overlooked.
Loud Parties - These complaints tend to be played down for the privileged. The police come and say it was phoned in. If the person has a lot of juice the police will not respond to any more disturbance calls at that address. If they do not have a lot of juice they will be told to tone it down nicely so they do not have to come back.
Threatening Violent Harm on People - The privileged can threaten those who get in their way with little fear of retaliation from law enforcement.
Domestic Violence - The privileged few can often get away with this. Depends a lot on who they are and what they did. Doom and gloom on their spouses.
Building Code Violations - The privileged can often get away with a lot here. They just build. The inspectors will look the other way when it comes to those that can retaliate against them.
Alcoholic Beverage Violations - The privileged can serve minors, open after hours; break maximum occupancy codes, etc. with no consequences.
Fire Code Violations - The privileged can generally get extreme leniency from the fire department on enforcing violations.
Special Jobs - The law enforcement people can get high paying jobs off duty that they are not supposed to have in many instances. A lot of these opportunities open up to the retired law enforcement people since it is known that the courtesies will still be extended to those retired. Some of these are:
* Bar Bouncers (the police report will almost always show them always innocent)
* Security Guards (special gun privileges are valuable to the rich and famous)
* Body Guards (They can speed and drive illegally for their wealthy clients)
* Private Detectives (they get private information easily like unlisted phones, addresses)
Summary - This should open your eyes to some of the lower level corruption going on which no one even talks about stopping. Those that can stop it are the partakers. This gives them an elitist mentally. They think the law only applies to the regular people not them. They soon stop caring about the constitution and civil rights since they have plenty of rights; it's the other people who lose their rights. As the police state rolls on, police brutality and violence continues unchecked. Police are allowed to kill for just about any reason. Their arrogance reaches a sickening level.
The police and the privileged further disassociate from identifying with the common folk. The police state wants the police and privileged to not identify with ""We the People"" so they can accomplish their agenda. When the people have no guns, no travel privileges, no rights to a fair and speedy trial by their peers, no freedom of speech and expression, can no longer gather in an orderly fashion, the constitution becomes a historical document at best, then the police state is in its fullness as the rules change.
In the final stage of the police state before it falls apart like they always do, the leaders feel threatened by the police and turn on them with a paranoid eye. They will have set up internal police control forces and an super elite group of paramilitary police that would be the only ones trusted and their powers would be extremely broad. They would be focused on enemies of the state only, leaving routine law enforcement for the police forces. The police reap what they sow before it is over and it falls apart. Right now they are in the dark and are too busy enjoying their riot gear, tasers, full automatic weapons, exercising extra constitutional powers over the people to really take the time to understand where it is heading. Like the people they generally wake up when it is too late.
Idea - Try to get the gun control people after these abuses of justice. Their energy would be better spent this way. Write letters to the anti-gun legislators suggesting they can get a lot of publicity and votes by leading a campaign after these injustices. Use their greed for power and votes against the evil system. You'd be shocked at how easy this is to effect.
Also try diverting the high tax legislators into this arena. Remind them that scandals lead to public hearing and make for excellent publicity. Think of it - you are on CNN cleaning up the ranks of the judicial system. It will work but you will only be changing one lousy politician for another lousy politician. You will be rocking the apple cart and apples will fall off. Set your mind to have fun and enjoy yourself. Divide and defeat is the tactics they use on ""We the People"" so use it back on them."
In police states it is common to extend these privileges to the groups of people listed below. As the police state grows into its fullness the paranoia on the part of the leaders grows and they begin policing the police and government officials with extreme vigor and prejudice. The internal affairs police become all-powerful. Hitler referred to them as the Gestapo. They ruined careers and terrorized ordinary police. Government officials and the military. As they eliminate the private ownership of guns, freedom of movement, international travel etc then their threat risk assessment of those in power, shifts to those with the guns and in control of various aspects of governing the people.
Then the police state evolves into a full-fledged paranoid madhouse, which is the path they all seem to go down. The leaders know they are criminals violating the laws of the land. They know the people hate them with a passion. They generally leave the country in shambles. They fear execution and an overthrow every minute of every day. They have no peace. They do not eat or sleep well. Their health deteriorates. The leaders sleep in different houses each night, bodyguards sleep in their bedrooms, alcoholism and drug use with the leaders becomes widespread, insomnia is common, persecution fantasies abound, trials for treason, sedition, espionage with summary executions abound amongst the ranks of the police, military and government officials.
The law enforcement and low-level government officials get sucked into serving these police states by the government extending certain privileges to them, often not formally codified but just put into practice. They often pay these police out of proportion wages not in sync with the state of the economy. Today there are tens of thousands of police and corrections officers making over $100,000 a year who never attended college. Federal law enforcement agents can easily hit $140,000 a year. Then comes their early retirement, medical, dental, vacations and so forth. The police state wants them happy and proud to have these jobs. The police state is teaching them the advantages to turning a blind eye towards all the injustices. They get used to using the taser and pepper spray on anyone who talks back to them. They get to carry weapons practically anywhere and in some cases even on airplanes. People get long prison sentences for victimless crimes (all they did was break a statue no identifiable persons were victims). They become a tool of the elite and thus acquire certain privileges.
Who Are the People Granted Official and Unofficial Exemptions from Laws -
* City and State Police Officers
* County Sheriffs
* Correction Officers, City, County, State, and Federal
* Parole Officers, City, County, State, and Federal
* Probation Officers, City, County, State, and Federal
* State Troopers
* Highway Patrol
* Animal Enforcement Officers
* Alcoholic Beverage Police
* Weights and Measures Police
* Lottery Police
* Labor Police
* Child and Family Services Police
* Tax Collection Police City, County, State, and Federal
* Building Inspectors
* Food Inspectors
* Health Inspectors
* Traffic Enforcement Officers
* Federal Law Enforcement Agents - There are over 100 such agencies
* City and County Commissioners
* Mayors and Deputy Mayors
* City, County, State and Federal members of legislatures
* Judges on all levels
* Governors and Deputy Governors
* Attorney Generals
* District Attorneys
* Prosecutors called by other titles
* Ambulance Drivers
* Paramedics
* Firemen
* Animal Control Officers
* Court Clerks
To the above you could add in the spouses, children and parents of these people to who various exemptions from the law are also granted informally as a professional courtesy. So as you can see the so-called Thin Blue Line is a lot wider than what one might think. Traffic Enforcement Police will tell you that a tremendous amount of those they stop are part of this list.
The protocol is that the person stopped in a traffic stop presents themselves as one of the privileged few before they show any driver license or registration. If one presents the driver license and registration to the officer they generally will just take it to the cruiser and check their status and then return with a ticket written out. The idea is to explain who you are with or without documentation before the license is shown so it never gets to the ticket stage. There are no bulletproof rules as to one cop not giving another cop a ticket. Generally it is not done. Police departments do get into ticket wars with other cops and start handing out tickets to members of other departments freely.
Usually the high-ranking officials settle this quickly before someone gets arrested. Police will often ask a federal agent if they are working when stopped. Federal agents say yes because they are on 24/7. They generally are let go. Sometimes they get a ticket and then they have their office phone the traffic court and have the judge cancel it. The general rule is that these privileged few look out for each other. If the offense is bad and will result in a big investigation only the very highest of the privileged can expect to get the extra-legal assistance and this can and has extended all the way up to murder.
What Are the Types of Exemptions Offered to these people:\b>
Traffic - These people even have courtesy badges and ID cards that they give to friends and relatives so that other police will not give them traffic tickets. There are probably one million such people running around in the USA. This explains the people who speed incessantly and run red lights and make illegal turns you see all the time and wonder about. They are exempt from citations, not like you. Just discuss this with any law enforcement officer or ex law enforcement officer, who trusts you, to see that it is true. Remember these privileged violators also get good driver rates when they are not really good drivers.
Drunk Driving - This is not always covered but often is. Depends on how drunk they are, where and who they are. They often will have another officer take the car to a safe place and drive the person home so as to keep them off the road. They would rarely just tell the person it's okay continue driving dead drunk even if it is a judge. Drunken judges are common, as are police officers and legislators. This is a sensitive one but the police will usually try not to cite and arrest the privileged. If it is one of their own and he is not safe to drive they will often call the supervisor of the officer to come get him. This way the department informally knows he is drinking and riving but they avoid exposing one of their own to the justice system that applies to regular people. This is often done as well for bad traffic violations like going 130 mph in a corvette. His supervisor knows about it but the officer is spared the consequences of the law. Hmmm can someone say get out of jail free card.
Traffic Accidents - Here is a courtesy not known by many. The police throw the accident report in favor of the privileged one. The other driver gets a ticket and their insurance rates suffer. The other party has no idea this is going on until he reads the accident report. How many would ever think to investigate the other party to see if they are a police officer and few would complain to the internal affairs department of the law enforcement agency involved.
Truck Driving - A lot of police officers drive over the road trucks off duty. They do not generally have to follow the rules like regular truck drivers. This enables them to make more money than regular drivers. They can exceed weight limits, drive excessive hours, have messed up logbooks, equipment violations etc. A little known but all too common occurrence. Ever see a truck driver barreling down on you speeding like crazy and not caring about getting caught. Now you know why.
Fights - The police will rarely ever arrest one of the privileged if a regular fight broke out over an argument even if they were drunk. If someone is seriously hurt or killed then it tends to go more by the book, but not always. Sometimes they might complain to the cops' supervisor.
Drugs - One of the privileged caught with personal quantities of drugs would normally get out of it with being arrested. They might not even have the drugs confiscated.
Searches of Vehicles - The privileged are pretty much search free. This means they can carry drugs, illegal weapons, and open alcohol containers without much worry.
Expired License Tags, Driver Licenses etc - This sort of thing is generally overlooked.
Loud Parties - These complaints tend to be played down for the privileged. The police come and say it was phoned in. If the person has a lot of juice the police will not respond to any more disturbance calls at that address. If they do not have a lot of juice they will be told to tone it down nicely so they do not have to come back.
Threatening Violent Harm on People - The privileged can threaten those who get in their way with little fear of retaliation from law enforcement.
Domestic Violence - The privileged few can often get away with this. Depends a lot on who they are and what they did. Doom and gloom on their spouses.
Building Code Violations - The privileged can often get away with a lot here. They just build. The inspectors will look the other way when it comes to those that can retaliate against them.
Alcoholic Beverage Violations - The privileged can serve minors, open after hours; break maximum occupancy codes, etc. with no consequences.
Fire Code Violations - The privileged can generally get extreme leniency from the fire department on enforcing violations.
Special Jobs - The law enforcement people can get high paying jobs off duty that they are not supposed to have in many instances. A lot of these opportunities open up to the retired law enforcement people since it is known that the courtesies will still be extended to those retired. Some of these are:
* Bar Bouncers (the police report will almost always show them always innocent)
* Security Guards (special gun privileges are valuable to the rich and famous)
* Body Guards (They can speed and drive illegally for their wealthy clients)
* Private Detectives (they get private information easily like unlisted phones, addresses)
Summary - This should open your eyes to some of the lower level corruption going on which no one even talks about stopping. Those that can stop it are the partakers. This gives them an elitist mentally. They think the law only applies to the regular people not them. They soon stop caring about the constitution and civil rights since they have plenty of rights; it's the other people who lose their rights. As the police state rolls on, police brutality and violence continues unchecked. Police are allowed to kill for just about any reason. Their arrogance reaches a sickening level.
The police and the privileged further disassociate from identifying with the common folk. The police state wants the police and privileged to not identify with ""We the People"" so they can accomplish their agenda. When the people have no guns, no travel privileges, no rights to a fair and speedy trial by their peers, no freedom of speech and expression, can no longer gather in an orderly fashion, the constitution becomes a historical document at best, then the police state is in its fullness as the rules change.
In the final stage of the police state before it falls apart like they always do, the leaders feel threatened by the police and turn on them with a paranoid eye. They will have set up internal police control forces and an super elite group of paramilitary police that would be the only ones trusted and their powers would be extremely broad. They would be focused on enemies of the state only, leaving routine law enforcement for the police forces. The police reap what they sow before it is over and it falls apart. Right now they are in the dark and are too busy enjoying their riot gear, tasers, full automatic weapons, exercising extra constitutional powers over the people to really take the time to understand where it is heading. Like the people they generally wake up when it is too late.
Idea - Try to get the gun control people after these abuses of justice. Their energy would be better spent this way. Write letters to the anti-gun legislators suggesting they can get a lot of publicity and votes by leading a campaign after these injustices. Use their greed for power and votes against the evil system. You'd be shocked at how easy this is to effect.
Also try diverting the high tax legislators into this arena. Remind them that scandals lead to public hearing and make for excellent publicity. Think of it - you are on CNN cleaning up the ranks of the judicial system. It will work but you will only be changing one lousy politician for another lousy politician. You will be rocking the apple cart and apples will fall off. Set your mind to have fun and enjoy yourself. Divide and defeat is the tactics they use on ""We the People"" so use it back on them."
98 Year Old Labrador Still Going Strong - Out on Date With Poodle!
"Alive at 14 years - My Miracle Tumor Cures... two operations and a change of diet
A True Life story be told by Jack the Labrador... Canine interview by Portia Poodlette of Playdog Magazine
Portia: I hate to ask, but exactly how old are you?
Please tell the truth as your muzzle is very white... your body is quite muscular, however.
Jack: In human years nearly 14, but in dog years probably 98 or something... and no, I don't take Pet-Iagra DGH - Doggie Growth Hormone and I do just fine with my female friends, thanks. It's all about lifestyle and diet as I will reveal to you in this interview.
Portia: Jack, how did you reach this ripe rage of almost 14 yrs.... most dogs your size are in the grave or are in doggie heaven by 9 - have terrible cataracts and arthritis? You look good and very spry with those clear, sparkling brown eyes.
Jack: Well, my master is ""dog gone"" smart, well let's say he's a ""real digger"" for information on almost everything. Mr. P. is an inventor, holds patents and has manufactured all types of things from pooper scoopers to bagels and software. Basically, I was lucky that I was born into the safety and care of someone who did not totally believe everything the vet or clerk at the pet store promised or claimed about a product.
Portia: Did your master have any relationships with other dogs prior to getting together with you? Why do you think he picked you, a Black Lab?
Jack: First of all, Black Labs are cool dudes. We pretty much mind our business and love everyone from babies to seniors. They use us for blind and handicapped situations as well as search missions - why not a Lab?
Portia: OK... excuse me for asking. Let's get on to his other relationships.
Jack: My master had told me loving stories about his previous dog. One stood out by the name of Beauregard. His 7 year old terrier mix died from liver failure after using a shampoo product for fleas and ticks. That well-known- branded product was later taken off the shelf along with others same branded flea and tick plastic collars that were making pets severely ill. Beauregard also had some dangerous issues with choking on those green, hard rubbery things that got lodged in pets intestines (and they are still selling them after the lawsuit). This gave my master the clue that too many pet food / treat manufacturers don't do any (neither are they required) testing as pet products and are not FDA regulated. Look, the human FDA group has trouble with even human food! We get tainted food from China all the time. There have been instances where organic snacks supposedly from America contain nuts and fruits from China - and I don't believe for one minute that CHINA even knows what organic means! Just remember, all dogs should and could have a life of 20 years if they are fed a high grade food diet with proper exercise and care. Portia, you would be shocked at what dog food manufacturers put in our dog food - I used to have night mares that I tasted pet parts in my food - and I was right!
Portia: YUK! Can you tell us about your most recent trials with diarrhea, your operations for your tumors, your flea and tick issues. How you have been avoiding poisonous flea and tick meds and collars, ointments, etc.
Jack: Let's start from the beginning. My story has a wonderful and happy ending after two needless surgeries. I will tell you about how my master discovered some simple, bite sized bits of information that will basically ""blow the woof"" off of your mind. I've been on this new, tasty diet nearly two years now with obvious and unbelievable success. I feel great. I look great and walk for mile or two daily. I even catch a Frisbee or two when I feel real great and that's cool for 98 years!
Portia, I forgive my master for putting me through those operations and making me eat that foul Vetinarian food, but c'mon, we all make mistakes. I must have pooped and sprayed his rug with waste for years, chewed on the furniture and ruined the seats in the family car - got yelled at but always got tons of love everyday!
Portia: Can you get on with your diarrhea problems, tumors and the operations. I have to get to ""Le Grande Georgeffe Groomers"" for my weekly shave on my tail and legs. Got to look suave for the upcoming dog show in the Poodle Park every Monday.
Jack: Rather pushy aren't you. Of course, I wouldn't expect any less from your breed.
My master spent thousands of dollars buying worthless dog supplements - that made me gag, countless visits to vets and two final operations that nearly killed me. I am going to tell you the following information which should be used for dogs only after the puppy stage. Puppies are a lot more sensitive to changes and should be treated with more care as they are like babies.
Portia, unfortunately for me, my master took me to a doctor through a referral of a friend...big mistake. If he only could have heard all the other dogs complaining in the waiting room and after they came out of the exam room - horror stories! You should have seen all the tails tucked between their legs...a red flag signal for all us dogs.
I tell you Portia, finding a doctor is not the same as telling another dog about a great fire hydrant to pee on...or a great bush to sniff. Everyone has a different opinion when it comes to a great pee or doggie dodo. But when you choose a doctor, the biggest bad and most common mistake is that you chose them because you liked them - they have a good bedside manner. My master was fooled by her personality and he should have known that she was a bit ""iffy"" when she insisted on giving me medications for pain, cancer and putting me on a special and very costly ""Vetinary Food Diet"" available in her office. That food gave me diarrhea for days and I almost passed out from being dehydrated!
Jack's Tip and First lesson: Check out vets thoroughly along with the products they sell in their ""VET STORE"". You can find out a lot about dog food on forums on the internet, etc. More and more doctors are looking like pet stores with shelves stocked with their own ""special vet"" products and treats which make you feel that the products are better for your dog. We found GREENIES, the product that plugged dogs intestines still on their shelf after the first recall
View your dog as you would see your child or spouse - check out the doctor and research any type of drug or procedure they suggest with other doctors and perhaps get a second opinion if you can. Doctors and especially vets are not ""god "" although some think they are. Some doctors have a program (like chiropractors - another great article) and want you to come back for more treatments and more of ""their special vet pet "" foods. Some of these foods are just as bad as off the normal cheap off -the-shelf food with nice packaging. After the scare about the ingredients used by major pet food manufacturers that come from CHINA, why should we trust dog food makers anymore. They can claim they changed, but at what cost to them? They placate the public which often forgets after a couple of months. For the record, even human food additives and flavors put in human energy bars are coming from CHINA (we called several of these nutritional bar companies who were very hesitant to admit the flavorings came from CHINA who I would question whether they give a darn about Americans let alone their own people). Bags of ORGANIC trail mixes found in health food stores are full of CHINA products. Read the packaging carefully and you will notice that some nuts and fruits are coming from CHINA. Do you think they abide by the strict organic guidelines. Why would dog food makers have strict guidelines if normal food companies can't be honest with us. Here's a recent fact, we still get thousands of toys from CHINA that contain lead after numerous recalls - and these are toys distribute by well known household name companies!!
Portia: I don't want to get personal, but can you tell me a little more about what you did about your darn diarrhea. I too often get a case of the spurts as my own master likes to give me cooked steak, fish and other table foods that are just so scrumptious - I know that they are bad for me but my diarrhea disasters just don't mix with my white fur coat!
Jack: Well, since my master did not want the meds approach for my tumor, he chose the conservative diet approach with the doctors vet food. This was obviously a feeling of obligation since he disagreed with the cancer and pain treatment therapy. Portia, to tell you the truth, I wasn't in that much pain... we all get a little arthritis when we get older, but a lot is due to that crummy dog food they feed us - basically a common problem is too much salt in dog food!
It's sad to see how so many people in the doctors waiting area fall for the ""you should care for your dog and buy our vet approved food and treats"" type of guilt trip. All those other masters feel so obligated to buy something when they leave because the office employees are trained to sell, sell, sell stuff. Take control and just say no thanks, maybe next time.
Portia: Ok.. so let's get back on track with the diarrhea and what you did about it?
Jack: After two days of eating the vet food, I suffered severe diarrhea and got weaker and weaker each day. I heard my master call the doctor and was told to mix the vet food with my previous organic food (which had too much salt and made me thirsty which previously led the doctor to run tests on diabetes - it was horrible!). My master was instructed to slowly back off the previous food until I was totally on the vet food. Wrong! If I had continued to eat that vet food, all the carpets in the house would have oceans of my diarrhea. My neighbor Dash Dachshund told me that the vet should have requested us either to come in or stop the food. Lucky for me that my master asked Dash's owner what to do and immediately put me on pumpkin - yes, plain, unsweetened pumpkin and it worked. A couple of tablespoons and like magic, the poop river stopped.
Jack:(handing a sheet of paper to the poodle) Portia, here's some great some important pieces of information to include in your article:
Second Lesson: If the diarrhea has come on suddenly,consider if you have made any changes to diet. Big point to remember is that cheaper brand dog foods often cause diarrhea as can a sudden change in diet. Feed your dog a good high quality diet - therefore feed your dog the best possible food that you can afford. Cheap dog foods are filled with cheap vegetables, carbohydrates, high levels of salt which pass straight through your dog. Bottom line: If you put in rubbish, rubbish will come out. Very important is that diarrhea can also be caused by dairy intake in dogs due to lactose intolerance. Dogs and puppies should not be given milk to drink - when you see dogs licking or eating ice cream, this is not a good idea. Try to steer away from people food. They say that a good, high quality diet can keep any dog alive for at least 20 years - so it's just like a human being. Good food, exercise and diet can improve one's life and extend it too! Pumpkin for Diarrhea and Constipation..It's quite strange that canned pureed pumpkin 100% natural UNSWEETENED canned pumpkin) can work wonders for both the occasional bout of diarrhea and will also cure the opposite, constipation in dogs. I've used it over the last two years with great success it firms up dog's loose stools or diarrhea within a few hours. When diarrhea first begins, stop feeding all foods immediately - keep water nearby. Depending on the size of the dog, a couple of teaspoons of pumpkin for a small dog or a couple of tablespoons for a larger dog. Make sure that there is FRESH water always available - purified is the best - NOT BOTTLED or tap if possible. If your dog will not eat it the pumpkin, add some brown rice with a small amount of finely shredded chicken breast for flavor and scent. If your dog has chronic diarrhea seek medical help as it can be life threatening.
Portia: This is great information Jack! Maybe we can go out on a date sometime?
Jack: Thanks! I never dated a Poodle, but there is always a first time. What would our kids look like - Labradoodles? Haha! Well, I got the diarrhea under control without visiting the vet. But I was completely worried about the tumors that were growing on the left and right side of my rib cage. I went back to eating another brand of organic dog food, taking enzyme supplements and rubbing tea tree oil on the tumors hoping they would at least stop growing. My master should have changed vets on my next visit to check on my tumors - the doctor laughed about the pumpkin and declared she never heard of this but was glad it worked. During my exam, the vet took some fluid from each tumor to discover that at least they were not cancerous. But she warned they would probably continue to grow and might attach to my muscles or turn cancerous which would impede my movement - oh no! All I saw was my leg being removed - the one I lift up when I pee. NO WAY... let's go for the operation.
Portia: So did you go for the big ""O""?
Jack: What in the heck is the big ""O""?
Portia: It's the cool way of saying ""operation"" without being rude.
Jack: Oh you Poodles have so much protocol. No wonder you walk and look that way.
Portia: Look and walk what way?
Jack: Never mind. I got the larger tumor removed and it was hell. I looked like Frankenstein as my stitches were the ugliest hack job I ever saw. The other dogs nearly fainted when I left the office that day with all those horrendous stitches! It looked like some puppy had sewn
up a blanket with their eyes closed! I cold barely walk for days but I was determined to live for my master who loved me so much. I saw the tears in his eyes as he could barely look at my shaven, stitched up bald side.
Portia: How about the other tumor? Did it get larger?
Jack: Yes, unfortunately it did start to grow very fast and a third was appearing next to the first operation! So here's the low down as I have to get to my Frisbee game at the Kennel Country Club.
My master went for the next operation (I forgive him as that one nearly put me down) with the same vet who should basically have her surgical license suspended due to lack of even being able to stitch me up with some grace. I guess he went with her as the previous operation several months previous did somewhat work - but the cause of the tumors was not yet established.
I survived that operation and I was out of commission for several months - a harder recovery as it was closer to my leg muscle. I could barely stand up and I was thirsty all the time, again, from that organic dog food. Tests were run on my urine to see if I became diabetic since I was so listless and eating tons without any exercise. The third tumor was starting to grow and I heard my master talking to Anna, his wife who was always talking about how he should become a vegetarian since the beef and chicken in human food was being tainted with so many anti-biotic, tons of pesticide laden corn that was fed to almost all livestock to make them grow fast and fat.
Anna, his wife insisted that if human food was becoming such a tragedy why would dog food be that much safer. After all, dogs and cats can't talk. If we get sick, diagnosis is so difficult since we can't say how we feel or express that maybe that food we just ate tasted like junk and made our stomach upset. Too many times, humans think we have stomach aches because of something we ate during a walk or when they were not looking. Little do they know that our dog food is making us sick!
Portia: So Jack, did you convert and become a vegan?
Jack: Very funny! You could use some of this information and maybe get that belly of yours tightened without any liposuction.
Portia: How dare you refer to my svelte, sleek tummy as being a belly. Are you telling me that I am chubby?
Jack: Give me a break. That's what's wrong with all you upper class dogs. You think that it's all about attitude and expensive food and treats. You are wrong. Take a look at me, am I proof that a change in diet makes all the difference in the world?
Portia: OK already. Get on with it. I want to know this secret to longevity and that gorgeous body you now have.
Jack: Anna, my master's wife had cancer in her family who existed on a terrible diet of Dr. Pepper, red meat, bread and almost no veggies except for canned peas. She insisted that my master look up information on vegan dogs and perhaps a vegan diet for my to stop any further tumors. There is no way I could have endured a third surgery and my master knew that. And that I why I sat patiently by him late at nights while he read about health, cancers, tumors and dogs. He finally jumped up one night with a small article that made sense. He put this information together with all the other research he had been doing about humans, cancer and pets and felt strongly that he had an approach to my third tumor. I listened to him while he told Anna about this great diet of brown rice, raw organic eggs and organic peas. He was so excited about his findings and was filled with hope that this could cure me of all my ails and mostly my energy and that slowly growing third tumor.
Portia: OK... what's the secret.
Jack: I just told you. It was so simple that you completely missed it - it went right past that pink bow on your ear! My master started the next day on giving me a mixture of the following:
1/ 4 cup organic peas
2 cups well cooked brown rice
one raw organic egg mixed to this along with a crushed vitamin ESTER 500 mg.
one 500 ESTER C - must be ESTER C and not regular or cheap vitamin C
filtered water - he even bought a water filter just for me that filtered out any chlorine, etc. that would inhibit my road to recovery.
Pet Flex - a supplement mixture of glucosomine and other stuff for my arthritis. He previously used human glucosomine - it gave me diarrhea. Don't use human form.
Any treats would be carrots, bananas or apples. Absolutely no other fruits or treats.
It was that simple.
My tumor shrunk to a size that was nearly hard to find - doctor was amazed, we changed doctors by the way since then.
My breath was far better due to the organic carrot treat I would get 3x daily.
My fur coat was the nicest in the entire community (everyone always commented on it).
I didn't get ear infections (wheat products in treats caused that).
My arthritis didn't get worse and I could catch a Frisbee again and go for two mile walks.
My vision is better as I can see in darkness and catch my masters shoe in the dark!
Third Lesson: Nutritional value of Eggs. Eggs are a great source of nutrient rich, vitamins, minerals to a healthy diet. Eggs contain the highest quality source of protein available but they also contain almost every essential vitamin and mineral needed - just does not provide vitamin C. Egg protein is used as the standard by which other proteins are compared. Eggs are the best protein money can buy, and it has all those other valuable vitamins and minerals too.
Protein:Eggs are an excellent source of protein. Egg protein is of high biological value as it contains all the essential amino acids for life. Eggs complement other food proteins of lower biological value by providing the amino acids that are in short supply in those foods. 12.5% of the weight of the egg is protein and it is found in both the yolk and the albumen.
Vitamins:The egg is a good source of all the B vitamins, plus the fat-soluble vitamin A. It also provides useful amounts of vitamin D, as well as some vitamin E.
Minerals:Eggs are an excellent source of iodine, required to make the thyroid hormone, and phosphorus, required for bone health. The egg provides significant amounts of zinc, important for wound healing, growth and fighting infection; selenium, an important antioxidant; and calcium, needed for bone and growth structure and nervous function. Eggs also contain significant amounts of iron, the vital ingredient of red blood cells. Eggs contain only traces of carbohydrate and no dietary fiber. 10.8% of the egg content is fat. The fat of an egg is found almost entirely in the yolk; there is less than 0.05% in the albumen. Approximately 11% of an egg's fatty acids are polyunsaturated, 44% monounsaturated and only 29% saturated.
Cholesterol and Lecithin are fat-like substances and are essential to the structure and function of all cells in the body. Cholesterol helps to maintain the flexibility and permeability of cell membranes and is also a raw material for the fatty lubricants that help to keep the skin supple. Cholesterol is essential for the production of sex hormones, cortisol, vitamin D and bile salts. Lecithin is involved in general lipid transportation in the blood and in the metabolism of cholesterol.
Portia: That was an amazing story. You did drool a lot... but I guess that is due to your breed, right?
Jack: No, it was due to your glowing beauty! I knew that somewhere along the way you would make fun of me to get back at my comment on your belly! In close, just let me leave with these important facts for us older dogs. Make sure you add only ESTER C to your diet.... at least 500 mg Daily. Make sure to drink, if possible, very fresh water that should be filtered for best results, raw eggs should be organic but not necessary. If you are uncomfortable with raw, then you can poach them. Snacks should only be carrots, pumpkin, apples or bananas. All other fruits might be observed with caution. Do not use white rice. Brown rice, organic green peas are the best combination with the egg.
I use a product called SHOOTAG a non chemical, proven safe way to prevent from getting fleas and ticks instead of the chemical causes skin problems, etc. I go for short and several walks to keep me limber and entertained. I get lots of hugs and love and attention.
Portia: Thanks for the interview Jack. Do you have some time for a short walk in the park with me. I would love to find a fire hydrant we can both share.
Jack: Before we do that, have you had all your shots?
The writer hereby indemnifies himself and holds himself harmless from any results that might differ from his. Outcomes may vary from dog to dog. The items of information provided are purely suggestions and it is up to the reader to do further research on their own and make his/her own decision to take action on the information above with their own pet."
A True Life story be told by Jack the Labrador... Canine interview by Portia Poodlette of Playdog Magazine
Portia: I hate to ask, but exactly how old are you?
Please tell the truth as your muzzle is very white... your body is quite muscular, however.
Jack: In human years nearly 14, but in dog years probably 98 or something... and no, I don't take Pet-Iagra DGH - Doggie Growth Hormone and I do just fine with my female friends, thanks. It's all about lifestyle and diet as I will reveal to you in this interview.
Portia: Jack, how did you reach this ripe rage of almost 14 yrs.... most dogs your size are in the grave or are in doggie heaven by 9 - have terrible cataracts and arthritis? You look good and very spry with those clear, sparkling brown eyes.
Jack: Well, my master is ""dog gone"" smart, well let's say he's a ""real digger"" for information on almost everything. Mr. P. is an inventor, holds patents and has manufactured all types of things from pooper scoopers to bagels and software. Basically, I was lucky that I was born into the safety and care of someone who did not totally believe everything the vet or clerk at the pet store promised or claimed about a product.
Portia: Did your master have any relationships with other dogs prior to getting together with you? Why do you think he picked you, a Black Lab?
Jack: First of all, Black Labs are cool dudes. We pretty much mind our business and love everyone from babies to seniors. They use us for blind and handicapped situations as well as search missions - why not a Lab?
Portia: OK... excuse me for asking. Let's get on to his other relationships.
Jack: My master had told me loving stories about his previous dog. One stood out by the name of Beauregard. His 7 year old terrier mix died from liver failure after using a shampoo product for fleas and ticks. That well-known- branded product was later taken off the shelf along with others same branded flea and tick plastic collars that were making pets severely ill. Beauregard also had some dangerous issues with choking on those green, hard rubbery things that got lodged in pets intestines (and they are still selling them after the lawsuit). This gave my master the clue that too many pet food / treat manufacturers don't do any (neither are they required) testing as pet products and are not FDA regulated. Look, the human FDA group has trouble with even human food! We get tainted food from China all the time. There have been instances where organic snacks supposedly from America contain nuts and fruits from China - and I don't believe for one minute that CHINA even knows what organic means! Just remember, all dogs should and could have a life of 20 years if they are fed a high grade food diet with proper exercise and care. Portia, you would be shocked at what dog food manufacturers put in our dog food - I used to have night mares that I tasted pet parts in my food - and I was right!
Portia: YUK! Can you tell us about your most recent trials with diarrhea, your operations for your tumors, your flea and tick issues. How you have been avoiding poisonous flea and tick meds and collars, ointments, etc.
Jack: Let's start from the beginning. My story has a wonderful and happy ending after two needless surgeries. I will tell you about how my master discovered some simple, bite sized bits of information that will basically ""blow the woof"" off of your mind. I've been on this new, tasty diet nearly two years now with obvious and unbelievable success. I feel great. I look great and walk for mile or two daily. I even catch a Frisbee or two when I feel real great and that's cool for 98 years!
Portia, I forgive my master for putting me through those operations and making me eat that foul Vetinarian food, but c'mon, we all make mistakes. I must have pooped and sprayed his rug with waste for years, chewed on the furniture and ruined the seats in the family car - got yelled at but always got tons of love everyday!
Portia: Can you get on with your diarrhea problems, tumors and the operations. I have to get to ""Le Grande Georgeffe Groomers"" for my weekly shave on my tail and legs. Got to look suave for the upcoming dog show in the Poodle Park every Monday.
Jack: Rather pushy aren't you. Of course, I wouldn't expect any less from your breed.
My master spent thousands of dollars buying worthless dog supplements - that made me gag, countless visits to vets and two final operations that nearly killed me. I am going to tell you the following information which should be used for dogs only after the puppy stage. Puppies are a lot more sensitive to changes and should be treated with more care as they are like babies.
Portia, unfortunately for me, my master took me to a doctor through a referral of a friend...big mistake. If he only could have heard all the other dogs complaining in the waiting room and after they came out of the exam room - horror stories! You should have seen all the tails tucked between their legs...a red flag signal for all us dogs.
I tell you Portia, finding a doctor is not the same as telling another dog about a great fire hydrant to pee on...or a great bush to sniff. Everyone has a different opinion when it comes to a great pee or doggie dodo. But when you choose a doctor, the biggest bad and most common mistake is that you chose them because you liked them - they have a good bedside manner. My master was fooled by her personality and he should have known that she was a bit ""iffy"" when she insisted on giving me medications for pain, cancer and putting me on a special and very costly ""Vetinary Food Diet"" available in her office. That food gave me diarrhea for days and I almost passed out from being dehydrated!
Jack's Tip and First lesson: Check out vets thoroughly along with the products they sell in their ""VET STORE"". You can find out a lot about dog food on forums on the internet, etc. More and more doctors are looking like pet stores with shelves stocked with their own ""special vet"" products and treats which make you feel that the products are better for your dog. We found GREENIES, the product that plugged dogs intestines still on their shelf after the first recall
View your dog as you would see your child or spouse - check out the doctor and research any type of drug or procedure they suggest with other doctors and perhaps get a second opinion if you can. Doctors and especially vets are not ""god "" although some think they are. Some doctors have a program (like chiropractors - another great article) and want you to come back for more treatments and more of ""their special vet pet "" foods. Some of these foods are just as bad as off the normal cheap off -the-shelf food with nice packaging. After the scare about the ingredients used by major pet food manufacturers that come from CHINA, why should we trust dog food makers anymore. They can claim they changed, but at what cost to them? They placate the public which often forgets after a couple of months. For the record, even human food additives and flavors put in human energy bars are coming from CHINA (we called several of these nutritional bar companies who were very hesitant to admit the flavorings came from CHINA who I would question whether they give a darn about Americans let alone their own people). Bags of ORGANIC trail mixes found in health food stores are full of CHINA products. Read the packaging carefully and you will notice that some nuts and fruits are coming from CHINA. Do you think they abide by the strict organic guidelines. Why would dog food makers have strict guidelines if normal food companies can't be honest with us. Here's a recent fact, we still get thousands of toys from CHINA that contain lead after numerous recalls - and these are toys distribute by well known household name companies!!
Portia: I don't want to get personal, but can you tell me a little more about what you did about your darn diarrhea. I too often get a case of the spurts as my own master likes to give me cooked steak, fish and other table foods that are just so scrumptious - I know that they are bad for me but my diarrhea disasters just don't mix with my white fur coat!
Jack: Well, since my master did not want the meds approach for my tumor, he chose the conservative diet approach with the doctors vet food. This was obviously a feeling of obligation since he disagreed with the cancer and pain treatment therapy. Portia, to tell you the truth, I wasn't in that much pain... we all get a little arthritis when we get older, but a lot is due to that crummy dog food they feed us - basically a common problem is too much salt in dog food!
It's sad to see how so many people in the doctors waiting area fall for the ""you should care for your dog and buy our vet approved food and treats"" type of guilt trip. All those other masters feel so obligated to buy something when they leave because the office employees are trained to sell, sell, sell stuff. Take control and just say no thanks, maybe next time.
Portia: Ok.. so let's get back on track with the diarrhea and what you did about it?
Jack: After two days of eating the vet food, I suffered severe diarrhea and got weaker and weaker each day. I heard my master call the doctor and was told to mix the vet food with my previous organic food (which had too much salt and made me thirsty which previously led the doctor to run tests on diabetes - it was horrible!). My master was instructed to slowly back off the previous food until I was totally on the vet food. Wrong! If I had continued to eat that vet food, all the carpets in the house would have oceans of my diarrhea. My neighbor Dash Dachshund told me that the vet should have requested us either to come in or stop the food. Lucky for me that my master asked Dash's owner what to do and immediately put me on pumpkin - yes, plain, unsweetened pumpkin and it worked. A couple of tablespoons and like magic, the poop river stopped.
Jack:(handing a sheet of paper to the poodle) Portia, here's some great some important pieces of information to include in your article:
Second Lesson: If the diarrhea has come on suddenly,consider if you have made any changes to diet. Big point to remember is that cheaper brand dog foods often cause diarrhea as can a sudden change in diet. Feed your dog a good high quality diet - therefore feed your dog the best possible food that you can afford. Cheap dog foods are filled with cheap vegetables, carbohydrates, high levels of salt which pass straight through your dog. Bottom line: If you put in rubbish, rubbish will come out. Very important is that diarrhea can also be caused by dairy intake in dogs due to lactose intolerance. Dogs and puppies should not be given milk to drink - when you see dogs licking or eating ice cream, this is not a good idea. Try to steer away from people food. They say that a good, high quality diet can keep any dog alive for at least 20 years - so it's just like a human being. Good food, exercise and diet can improve one's life and extend it too! Pumpkin for Diarrhea and Constipation..It's quite strange that canned pureed pumpkin 100% natural UNSWEETENED canned pumpkin) can work wonders for both the occasional bout of diarrhea and will also cure the opposite, constipation in dogs. I've used it over the last two years with great success it firms up dog's loose stools or diarrhea within a few hours. When diarrhea first begins, stop feeding all foods immediately - keep water nearby. Depending on the size of the dog, a couple of teaspoons of pumpkin for a small dog or a couple of tablespoons for a larger dog. Make sure that there is FRESH water always available - purified is the best - NOT BOTTLED or tap if possible. If your dog will not eat it the pumpkin, add some brown rice with a small amount of finely shredded chicken breast for flavor and scent. If your dog has chronic diarrhea seek medical help as it can be life threatening.
Portia: This is great information Jack! Maybe we can go out on a date sometime?
Jack: Thanks! I never dated a Poodle, but there is always a first time. What would our kids look like - Labradoodles? Haha! Well, I got the diarrhea under control without visiting the vet. But I was completely worried about the tumors that were growing on the left and right side of my rib cage. I went back to eating another brand of organic dog food, taking enzyme supplements and rubbing tea tree oil on the tumors hoping they would at least stop growing. My master should have changed vets on my next visit to check on my tumors - the doctor laughed about the pumpkin and declared she never heard of this but was glad it worked. During my exam, the vet took some fluid from each tumor to discover that at least they were not cancerous. But she warned they would probably continue to grow and might attach to my muscles or turn cancerous which would impede my movement - oh no! All I saw was my leg being removed - the one I lift up when I pee. NO WAY... let's go for the operation.
Portia: So did you go for the big ""O""?
Jack: What in the heck is the big ""O""?
Portia: It's the cool way of saying ""operation"" without being rude.
Jack: Oh you Poodles have so much protocol. No wonder you walk and look that way.
Portia: Look and walk what way?
Jack: Never mind. I got the larger tumor removed and it was hell. I looked like Frankenstein as my stitches were the ugliest hack job I ever saw. The other dogs nearly fainted when I left the office that day with all those horrendous stitches! It looked like some puppy had sewn
up a blanket with their eyes closed! I cold barely walk for days but I was determined to live for my master who loved me so much. I saw the tears in his eyes as he could barely look at my shaven, stitched up bald side.
Portia: How about the other tumor? Did it get larger?
Jack: Yes, unfortunately it did start to grow very fast and a third was appearing next to the first operation! So here's the low down as I have to get to my Frisbee game at the Kennel Country Club.
My master went for the next operation (I forgive him as that one nearly put me down) with the same vet who should basically have her surgical license suspended due to lack of even being able to stitch me up with some grace. I guess he went with her as the previous operation several months previous did somewhat work - but the cause of the tumors was not yet established.
I survived that operation and I was out of commission for several months - a harder recovery as it was closer to my leg muscle. I could barely stand up and I was thirsty all the time, again, from that organic dog food. Tests were run on my urine to see if I became diabetic since I was so listless and eating tons without any exercise. The third tumor was starting to grow and I heard my master talking to Anna, his wife who was always talking about how he should become a vegetarian since the beef and chicken in human food was being tainted with so many anti-biotic, tons of pesticide laden corn that was fed to almost all livestock to make them grow fast and fat.
Anna, his wife insisted that if human food was becoming such a tragedy why would dog food be that much safer. After all, dogs and cats can't talk. If we get sick, diagnosis is so difficult since we can't say how we feel or express that maybe that food we just ate tasted like junk and made our stomach upset. Too many times, humans think we have stomach aches because of something we ate during a walk or when they were not looking. Little do they know that our dog food is making us sick!
Portia: So Jack, did you convert and become a vegan?
Jack: Very funny! You could use some of this information and maybe get that belly of yours tightened without any liposuction.
Portia: How dare you refer to my svelte, sleek tummy as being a belly. Are you telling me that I am chubby?
Jack: Give me a break. That's what's wrong with all you upper class dogs. You think that it's all about attitude and expensive food and treats. You are wrong. Take a look at me, am I proof that a change in diet makes all the difference in the world?
Portia: OK already. Get on with it. I want to know this secret to longevity and that gorgeous body you now have.
Jack: Anna, my master's wife had cancer in her family who existed on a terrible diet of Dr. Pepper, red meat, bread and almost no veggies except for canned peas. She insisted that my master look up information on vegan dogs and perhaps a vegan diet for my to stop any further tumors. There is no way I could have endured a third surgery and my master knew that. And that I why I sat patiently by him late at nights while he read about health, cancers, tumors and dogs. He finally jumped up one night with a small article that made sense. He put this information together with all the other research he had been doing about humans, cancer and pets and felt strongly that he had an approach to my third tumor. I listened to him while he told Anna about this great diet of brown rice, raw organic eggs and organic peas. He was so excited about his findings and was filled with hope that this could cure me of all my ails and mostly my energy and that slowly growing third tumor.
Portia: OK... what's the secret.
Jack: I just told you. It was so simple that you completely missed it - it went right past that pink bow on your ear! My master started the next day on giving me a mixture of the following:
1/ 4 cup organic peas
2 cups well cooked brown rice
one raw organic egg mixed to this along with a crushed vitamin ESTER 500 mg.
one 500 ESTER C - must be ESTER C and not regular or cheap vitamin C
filtered water - he even bought a water filter just for me that filtered out any chlorine, etc. that would inhibit my road to recovery.
Pet Flex - a supplement mixture of glucosomine and other stuff for my arthritis. He previously used human glucosomine - it gave me diarrhea. Don't use human form.
Any treats would be carrots, bananas or apples. Absolutely no other fruits or treats.
It was that simple.
My tumor shrunk to a size that was nearly hard to find - doctor was amazed, we changed doctors by the way since then.
My breath was far better due to the organic carrot treat I would get 3x daily.
My fur coat was the nicest in the entire community (everyone always commented on it).
I didn't get ear infections (wheat products in treats caused that).
My arthritis didn't get worse and I could catch a Frisbee again and go for two mile walks.
My vision is better as I can see in darkness and catch my masters shoe in the dark!
Third Lesson: Nutritional value of Eggs. Eggs are a great source of nutrient rich, vitamins, minerals to a healthy diet. Eggs contain the highest quality source of protein available but they also contain almost every essential vitamin and mineral needed - just does not provide vitamin C. Egg protein is used as the standard by which other proteins are compared. Eggs are the best protein money can buy, and it has all those other valuable vitamins and minerals too.
Protein:Eggs are an excellent source of protein. Egg protein is of high biological value as it contains all the essential amino acids for life. Eggs complement other food proteins of lower biological value by providing the amino acids that are in short supply in those foods. 12.5% of the weight of the egg is protein and it is found in both the yolk and the albumen.
Vitamins:The egg is a good source of all the B vitamins, plus the fat-soluble vitamin A. It also provides useful amounts of vitamin D, as well as some vitamin E.
Minerals:Eggs are an excellent source of iodine, required to make the thyroid hormone, and phosphorus, required for bone health. The egg provides significant amounts of zinc, important for wound healing, growth and fighting infection; selenium, an important antioxidant; and calcium, needed for bone and growth structure and nervous function. Eggs also contain significant amounts of iron, the vital ingredient of red blood cells. Eggs contain only traces of carbohydrate and no dietary fiber. 10.8% of the egg content is fat. The fat of an egg is found almost entirely in the yolk; there is less than 0.05% in the albumen. Approximately 11% of an egg's fatty acids are polyunsaturated, 44% monounsaturated and only 29% saturated.
Cholesterol and Lecithin are fat-like substances and are essential to the structure and function of all cells in the body. Cholesterol helps to maintain the flexibility and permeability of cell membranes and is also a raw material for the fatty lubricants that help to keep the skin supple. Cholesterol is essential for the production of sex hormones, cortisol, vitamin D and bile salts. Lecithin is involved in general lipid transportation in the blood and in the metabolism of cholesterol.
Portia: That was an amazing story. You did drool a lot... but I guess that is due to your breed, right?
Jack: No, it was due to your glowing beauty! I knew that somewhere along the way you would make fun of me to get back at my comment on your belly! In close, just let me leave with these important facts for us older dogs. Make sure you add only ESTER C to your diet.... at least 500 mg Daily. Make sure to drink, if possible, very fresh water that should be filtered for best results, raw eggs should be organic but not necessary. If you are uncomfortable with raw, then you can poach them. Snacks should only be carrots, pumpkin, apples or bananas. All other fruits might be observed with caution. Do not use white rice. Brown rice, organic green peas are the best combination with the egg.
I use a product called SHOOTAG a non chemical, proven safe way to prevent from getting fleas and ticks instead of the chemical causes skin problems, etc. I go for short and several walks to keep me limber and entertained. I get lots of hugs and love and attention.
Portia: Thanks for the interview Jack. Do you have some time for a short walk in the park with me. I would love to find a fire hydrant we can both share.
Jack: Before we do that, have you had all your shots?
The writer hereby indemnifies himself and holds himself harmless from any results that might differ from his. Outcomes may vary from dog to dog. The items of information provided are purely suggestions and it is up to the reader to do further research on their own and make his/her own decision to take action on the information above with their own pet."
Feature Length Article On Labrador Training and Care
"An important part of effective Labrador training stems from gaining a better understanding of the breed. Labradors are naturally lively, carefree, and very attentive. They are also very alert and playful, and they enjoy showering their owners with affection. The desire to please their owner is also an inherent characteristic that makes Labradors a very lovable breed.
The characteristics mentioned above, combined with their high level of intelligence, make Labrador training fairly easy for you to accomplish. These characteristics also contribute to the fact that Labradors usually excel in dog shows and sporting events. Furthermore, Labradors are very energetic and are happiest in the great outdoors, which makes them the perfect pet for an active and adventurous family.
Labrador History
Contrary to what you may think, Labrador Retrievers did not originate in Labrador. Rather, they were originally bred for hunting in Newfoundland. The first Labrador Retriever was bred by crossing a Newfoundland with a small water dog, and was originally called St. John's Water Dog. In the early 19th century, the Duke of Malmesbury was the first to refer to the breed as Labradors, and the name has stuck since then. That was also the time when the breed became popular among British Royals because of their sporting characteristics and their prowess at hunting.
The Labradors that we know and love today were first developed in 1878, after years of interbreeding the St. John's Water Dog breed with other Retriever breeds has taken place. Fortunately, the years of interbreeding did not cause the Labrador to lose its most desirable qualities. As a result, the breed was able to maintain its popularity as well. In 1903, Labradors were officially recognized by the UK Kennel Club and by the American Kennel Club in 1917. Even today, Labradors are still among the most popular dog breeds.
Choosing a Labrador Puppy
Although the breed's natural characteristics contribute much in making Labrador training fairly easy, it is still important for you to choose your Labrador puppy well. You might think that choosing a puppy only involves picking the cutest one out of the bunch or choosing the puppy with the colour that you like best, but there is actually a lot more to consider than that. In fact, every dog breed has a certain standard that should serve as guidelines when you choose a puppy. Here is a brief outline to help you choose a Labrador puppy that is sure to be a healthy and happy dog.
- Choose a Labrador puppy that has a large head with a broad skull and a well-defined stop.
- Make sure that the puppy's ears rest close to his head, but far from his face. A Labrador's ears are neither heavy nor large; rather, they compliment the dog's features perfectly. A healthy Labrador's ears will have light pink skin on the inside and no traces of foul odour, scabbing, or other irregularities.
- Choose a puppy that has large, round, dark or hazel eyes. The eyes should have an alert, friendly, and intelligent look. They should also be clear and free from any traces of tearing.
- Your puppy should have a black nose with wide and distinguished nostrils. Make sure that his nostrils are free of mucus.
- Make sure that the dog's jaws are strong and that his teeth form a perfect scissor bite. His upper teeth should overlap the bottom teeth a little bit.
- Choose a puppy that has a strong and well-developed chest. His back should be level and his ribs well-sprung. His body should be well-proportioned and balanced.
- A healthy Labrador puppy has a tail that is thick at the base and gradually tapers at the tip. His tail is smooth and coated in fur, without any traces of feathering. His tail shouldn't hang down or curl over his back.
- Your Labrador should have strong-boned forelegs and well-developed back legs that have turned stifles. Both sets of legs should neither turn in nor turn out.
- Choose a puppy that has round and compact feet, with well-developed pads and arched toes. The feet should not turn in or out.
- You should also make sure that the Labrador has a balanced and carefree gait. Although puppies naturally walk in an awkward manner, it is still relatively easy to spot if a puppy favours one leg or paw when he walks. This could be a sign of defect in a Labrador puppy.
- One of the most distinctive features of a Labrador is his coat. His undercoat, which is unseen, is water resistant. His topcoat is dense, short, and straight. Make sure that your puppy's coat does not wave or curl and that it doesn't feel rough to the touch. You should also check to make sure that your puppy does not have bald patches.
- A healthy Labrador has smooth skin that is free from blemishes, scabs, or bumps. A Labrador's skin may be pale pink, brown, or spotted.
- Of course, you may be looking at puppies that are still too young to show real signs of breed standard. In this case, it is a good idea to get a good look at the pup's parents in order to get an idea of what your chosen pup will look like when it grows older.
Labrador Training
While Labrador training may not be as difficult as training other dog breeds, it is still important to know exactly what you are doing before you even begin training your dog. Not knowing exactly how to go about the process is the biggest reason why first time dog owners struggle with dog training. You may want to take your dog to an obedience school where you, too can learn the basics of training and be confident enough in the near future to handle the training by yourself. Otherwise, you could simply follow these tips on how to effectively teach your dog to be the best Labrador that he can be.
Housebreaking - This is necessarily the first part of training any breed of dog. When you bring a dog home, he will have to be made to understand that his toilet is outside, not IN your house. And this part of Labrador training has to begin IMMEDIATELY. Follow these simple steps to ensure success in potty training:
1. Every time you notice your dog showing signs of needing to do his business, take him out to the designated elimination area immediately. The first eight to nine weeks are especially critical where housebreaking is concerned. During this period, your dog may need to be taken out every hour, about five minutes after eating or drinking, after playtime or exercise, right before bedtime, and as soon as he wakes up in the morning.
2. Every time your dog successfully does his business at the designated spot, lavish him with praise so that he knows he has just done something good.
Consistency - To be truly successful in Labrador training, you will have to be very consistent. This means using the same words for each command that you give. If you have family living with you, you'll have to ask them to use the same words in giving the commands as well. Repetition is the key to successful dog training. It may also be necessary to keep training sessions short in order to make it more fun and interesting because dogs normally have a very short attention span.
Patience - Aside from consistency, another key to successful Labrador training is a great deal of patience. Even though a Labrador has all the characteristics that make training fun and easy, no dog is perfect and there will be times when your dog will really try your patience. When this happens, make sure that you do not yell at your dog or punish him in any way. Instead, look him straight in the eyes and give a firm NO; then, show him how to do what you just asked him to do and praise him when he does it. Remember: There is a big difference between discipline and punishment.
Positive Reinforcement - This is the best way to develop good behaviour in any dog. When your Labrador does exactly as he is told or when he exhibits good behaviour voluntarily, lavish him immediately with praise and give him treats if possible. Dogs never get tired of hearing praise and getting rewards, and these things only make them more determined to do things the way you like.
Labrador Care
Aside from knowing how to properly train your Labrador, you also need to know how to care for him. Caring for a Labrador is easy enough, as long as it is done regularly. Here are some basic care tips that you can follow in order to ensure that your Labrador is kept healthy and happy.
Keep Him Clean - Labradors normally care for their own coat. However, it is still a good idea to give them a good brushing every week or two. This will help remove dirt and loose hair, especially during their shedding season. It will also help give his coat a more glossy appearance as the oils are moved and stimulated. You should also remember to give your Labrador a bath at least three times each year - once in the spring, once in the summer, and once in the fall.
Nail Care - Your Labrador's nails have to be clipped once every three months or so. If you don't have any experience clipping a dog's nails, have the vet or a groomer do it for you. You would also do well to learn how to do it so you can clip your own dog's nails in the future.
Ears - Caring for your Labrador also involves checking his ears twice each month to make sure that they are healthy. This is important because Labradors' ears get poor air circulation, which makes them prone to ear infections.
Teeth - To help protect your Labrador's teeth from disease, give them a good brushing regularly and give him dentabones. You should also have your dog's teeth checked by the vet regularly.
Exercise - Giving a Labrador plenty of exercise is also one of the most important Labrador training and care tips. This breed of dog needs to move around in order to avoid gaining excess fats. An overweight Labrador is sure to experience some health problems.
Diet - Just as a Labrador needs plenty of exercise, he also needs a healthy and well-balanced diet. Set-up a regular eating schedule for your dog and avoid feeding him with human food as much as possible because this can also lead to health problems. You would do well to consult your vet as to how much food you should give your dog and what brand of dog food he recommends. Another thing you should remember is to always keep your dog's drinking water fresh. A Labrador needs to stay hydrated, especially since he is expected to get a lot of physical activity. Make sure that his drinking water is always clean and free from all traces of dirt and bacteria.
Vet Visits - Be sure to take your Labrador to the vet for a general check-up at least once each year. All of his vaccines should be up-to-date and you should make sure that he is protected from heart worm.
Safety - A Labrador can be quite mischievous at times, so you will have to take some extra measures to ensure that he doesn't get into any trouble, especially when you need to be out of the house for an extended period. Ensuring your dog's safety means making sure that all potentially dangerous household items are out of his reach. These items include chemicals such as household cleaning supplies, house plants that may be poisonous when ingested, garbage that may choke or poison your dog, sharp objects that may cut him such as knives, and electrical wires that he might chew on and cause electrocution.
As long as you follow the tips and guidelines discussed herein and establish a practical household routine, you will soon discover that Labrador training and care is not really that difficult. In fact, it can be a fun and rewarding experience for both you and your dog."
The characteristics mentioned above, combined with their high level of intelligence, make Labrador training fairly easy for you to accomplish. These characteristics also contribute to the fact that Labradors usually excel in dog shows and sporting events. Furthermore, Labradors are very energetic and are happiest in the great outdoors, which makes them the perfect pet for an active and adventurous family.
Labrador History
Contrary to what you may think, Labrador Retrievers did not originate in Labrador. Rather, they were originally bred for hunting in Newfoundland. The first Labrador Retriever was bred by crossing a Newfoundland with a small water dog, and was originally called St. John's Water Dog. In the early 19th century, the Duke of Malmesbury was the first to refer to the breed as Labradors, and the name has stuck since then. That was also the time when the breed became popular among British Royals because of their sporting characteristics and their prowess at hunting.
The Labradors that we know and love today were first developed in 1878, after years of interbreeding the St. John's Water Dog breed with other Retriever breeds has taken place. Fortunately, the years of interbreeding did not cause the Labrador to lose its most desirable qualities. As a result, the breed was able to maintain its popularity as well. In 1903, Labradors were officially recognized by the UK Kennel Club and by the American Kennel Club in 1917. Even today, Labradors are still among the most popular dog breeds.
Choosing a Labrador Puppy
Although the breed's natural characteristics contribute much in making Labrador training fairly easy, it is still important for you to choose your Labrador puppy well. You might think that choosing a puppy only involves picking the cutest one out of the bunch or choosing the puppy with the colour that you like best, but there is actually a lot more to consider than that. In fact, every dog breed has a certain standard that should serve as guidelines when you choose a puppy. Here is a brief outline to help you choose a Labrador puppy that is sure to be a healthy and happy dog.
- Choose a Labrador puppy that has a large head with a broad skull and a well-defined stop.
- Make sure that the puppy's ears rest close to his head, but far from his face. A Labrador's ears are neither heavy nor large; rather, they compliment the dog's features perfectly. A healthy Labrador's ears will have light pink skin on the inside and no traces of foul odour, scabbing, or other irregularities.
- Choose a puppy that has large, round, dark or hazel eyes. The eyes should have an alert, friendly, and intelligent look. They should also be clear and free from any traces of tearing.
- Your puppy should have a black nose with wide and distinguished nostrils. Make sure that his nostrils are free of mucus.
- Make sure that the dog's jaws are strong and that his teeth form a perfect scissor bite. His upper teeth should overlap the bottom teeth a little bit.
- Choose a puppy that has a strong and well-developed chest. His back should be level and his ribs well-sprung. His body should be well-proportioned and balanced.
- A healthy Labrador puppy has a tail that is thick at the base and gradually tapers at the tip. His tail is smooth and coated in fur, without any traces of feathering. His tail shouldn't hang down or curl over his back.
- Your Labrador should have strong-boned forelegs and well-developed back legs that have turned stifles. Both sets of legs should neither turn in nor turn out.
- Choose a puppy that has round and compact feet, with well-developed pads and arched toes. The feet should not turn in or out.
- You should also make sure that the Labrador has a balanced and carefree gait. Although puppies naturally walk in an awkward manner, it is still relatively easy to spot if a puppy favours one leg or paw when he walks. This could be a sign of defect in a Labrador puppy.
- One of the most distinctive features of a Labrador is his coat. His undercoat, which is unseen, is water resistant. His topcoat is dense, short, and straight. Make sure that your puppy's coat does not wave or curl and that it doesn't feel rough to the touch. You should also check to make sure that your puppy does not have bald patches.
- A healthy Labrador has smooth skin that is free from blemishes, scabs, or bumps. A Labrador's skin may be pale pink, brown, or spotted.
- Of course, you may be looking at puppies that are still too young to show real signs of breed standard. In this case, it is a good idea to get a good look at the pup's parents in order to get an idea of what your chosen pup will look like when it grows older.
Labrador Training
While Labrador training may not be as difficult as training other dog breeds, it is still important to know exactly what you are doing before you even begin training your dog. Not knowing exactly how to go about the process is the biggest reason why first time dog owners struggle with dog training. You may want to take your dog to an obedience school where you, too can learn the basics of training and be confident enough in the near future to handle the training by yourself. Otherwise, you could simply follow these tips on how to effectively teach your dog to be the best Labrador that he can be.
Housebreaking - This is necessarily the first part of training any breed of dog. When you bring a dog home, he will have to be made to understand that his toilet is outside, not IN your house. And this part of Labrador training has to begin IMMEDIATELY. Follow these simple steps to ensure success in potty training:
1. Every time you notice your dog showing signs of needing to do his business, take him out to the designated elimination area immediately. The first eight to nine weeks are especially critical where housebreaking is concerned. During this period, your dog may need to be taken out every hour, about five minutes after eating or drinking, after playtime or exercise, right before bedtime, and as soon as he wakes up in the morning.
2. Every time your dog successfully does his business at the designated spot, lavish him with praise so that he knows he has just done something good.
Consistency - To be truly successful in Labrador training, you will have to be very consistent. This means using the same words for each command that you give. If you have family living with you, you'll have to ask them to use the same words in giving the commands as well. Repetition is the key to successful dog training. It may also be necessary to keep training sessions short in order to make it more fun and interesting because dogs normally have a very short attention span.
Patience - Aside from consistency, another key to successful Labrador training is a great deal of patience. Even though a Labrador has all the characteristics that make training fun and easy, no dog is perfect and there will be times when your dog will really try your patience. When this happens, make sure that you do not yell at your dog or punish him in any way. Instead, look him straight in the eyes and give a firm NO; then, show him how to do what you just asked him to do and praise him when he does it. Remember: There is a big difference between discipline and punishment.
Positive Reinforcement - This is the best way to develop good behaviour in any dog. When your Labrador does exactly as he is told or when he exhibits good behaviour voluntarily, lavish him immediately with praise and give him treats if possible. Dogs never get tired of hearing praise and getting rewards, and these things only make them more determined to do things the way you like.
Labrador Care
Aside from knowing how to properly train your Labrador, you also need to know how to care for him. Caring for a Labrador is easy enough, as long as it is done regularly. Here are some basic care tips that you can follow in order to ensure that your Labrador is kept healthy and happy.
Keep Him Clean - Labradors normally care for their own coat. However, it is still a good idea to give them a good brushing every week or two. This will help remove dirt and loose hair, especially during their shedding season. It will also help give his coat a more glossy appearance as the oils are moved and stimulated. You should also remember to give your Labrador a bath at least three times each year - once in the spring, once in the summer, and once in the fall.
Nail Care - Your Labrador's nails have to be clipped once every three months or so. If you don't have any experience clipping a dog's nails, have the vet or a groomer do it for you. You would also do well to learn how to do it so you can clip your own dog's nails in the future.
Ears - Caring for your Labrador also involves checking his ears twice each month to make sure that they are healthy. This is important because Labradors' ears get poor air circulation, which makes them prone to ear infections.
Teeth - To help protect your Labrador's teeth from disease, give them a good brushing regularly and give him dentabones. You should also have your dog's teeth checked by the vet regularly.
Exercise - Giving a Labrador plenty of exercise is also one of the most important Labrador training and care tips. This breed of dog needs to move around in order to avoid gaining excess fats. An overweight Labrador is sure to experience some health problems.
Diet - Just as a Labrador needs plenty of exercise, he also needs a healthy and well-balanced diet. Set-up a regular eating schedule for your dog and avoid feeding him with human food as much as possible because this can also lead to health problems. You would do well to consult your vet as to how much food you should give your dog and what brand of dog food he recommends. Another thing you should remember is to always keep your dog's drinking water fresh. A Labrador needs to stay hydrated, especially since he is expected to get a lot of physical activity. Make sure that his drinking water is always clean and free from all traces of dirt and bacteria.
Vet Visits - Be sure to take your Labrador to the vet for a general check-up at least once each year. All of his vaccines should be up-to-date and you should make sure that he is protected from heart worm.
Safety - A Labrador can be quite mischievous at times, so you will have to take some extra measures to ensure that he doesn't get into any trouble, especially when you need to be out of the house for an extended period. Ensuring your dog's safety means making sure that all potentially dangerous household items are out of his reach. These items include chemicals such as household cleaning supplies, house plants that may be poisonous when ingested, garbage that may choke or poison your dog, sharp objects that may cut him such as knives, and electrical wires that he might chew on and cause electrocution.
As long as you follow the tips and guidelines discussed herein and establish a practical household routine, you will soon discover that Labrador training and care is not really that difficult. In fact, it can be a fun and rewarding experience for both you and your dog."
Monday, 7 May 2018
"Introduction
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a Plan: they intend to actually enforce provisions of the Clean Air Act. To do so, they need to set quantitative standards against which industrial operations may be measured. The EPA has been working on implementation standards for years. All of that diligent effort is now ""coming to fruition"" in a series of inter-related regulatory actions called Rulemakings that establish both performance-based and prescriptive standards. In order to set such standards for emissions, other areas of law must also be addressed. In particular, the definitions of what is and is not a ""waste"" needed to be revised. Four new emissions standards established under the Clean Air act have been issued (and immediately set into a ""refresh"" cycle). These Rules include the area source Boilers Rule, the major source Boilers Rule, the solid waste incinerator emissions CISWI Rule and the SSI Rule for incineration of sewage sludge. These rules are based, in part, on which non-hazardous ""secondary materials"" or residuals from other enterprises are considered solid wastes under the federal solid waste re-definition NHSM rule. Each of the four emissions rules, along with the solid waste re-definition rule, is addressed below with the proper hyper-links to allow access to the EPA's source documents.
Following release for review of most of these Rules in April of 2010, the EPA experienced a veritable firestorm of public comment; over 4,800 stakeholders responded. The EPA petitioned the federal court last December for more time to do another extended lap of the Public Review circuit. The court said (paraphrased), ""No. Put the Rules out. You've got 30 days."" So the EPA has complied and the same day as the Final Rules showed up in the Federal Register, EPA initiated a ""Reconsideration Process"", per all the legal protocols.
The EPA's rulemakings are based on the idea that although there is certainly going to be a cost to Industry (which is carefully NOT assessed), the public health benefits surely will out-weight the damage to Business. At the front of this concern is the revelation that dirty industrial operations are sited where property values are lowest, and that this astoundingly coincides with where our poorest communities are trying to exist. There is a long-standing ""Environmental Justice"" (EJ) problem needing attention; this EJ adjustment drives much of the current Rulemaking spree. The EPA concurrently has released a Summary of EJ Impacts for this newly issued suite of Rules.
Final NHSM Rule
The EPA released the Final Rulemaking for identification of Non-Hazardous Secondary Materials (NHSM) that are solid wastes. This Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) final rule identifies which non-hazardous secondary materials are, or are not, solid waste when burned in combustion units.
Under the rule: (1) Units that burn non-hazardous secondary materials that are solid waste under RCRA would be subject to the section 129 Clean Air Act (CAA) requirements, and (2) Units that burn non-hazardous secondary materials that are not solid waste under RCRA would be subject to the section 112 CAA requirements.
The Rulemaking could re-categorize some of California's large-scale BioPower plants as Solid Waste Incinerators. It essentially eliminates de minimis in feedstock: if any amount of material is used as fuel that is federally designated a ""Waste"" under this redefinition, the facility stands the risk of being subjected to the full weight of RCRA standards and enforcement as a Solid Waste Incinerator. One of the first actions will likely be a NESHAPs Title V New Source Review (NSR).
The Final Rule has been ""softened"" compared to earlier versions, in general providing exceptions where feedstock can be shown to never have entered the waste stream, or where a per-case assessment shows that pre-processing has created a beneficial fuel from what was previously a waste. Exemptions are identified by the EPA where:
• Material used as a fuel that remains within the control of the generator (whether at the site of generation or another site controlled by the generator) and meets the legitimacy criteria;
• Scrap tires removed from vehicles and managed under established tire collection programs, and resinated wood residuals;
• Material used as an ingredient in a manufacturing process (whether by the generator or outside the control of the generator) that meets the legitimacy criteria;
• Material that has been sufficiently processed to produce a fuel or ingredient product that meets the legitimacy criteria; or
• Material that has been determined through a case-by-case petition process to not have been discarded and to be indistinguishable in all relevant aspects from a fuel product.
Many detailed ""Materials Characterization Papers"" are provided by fuel type, detailing the classification of materials. Three categories of Biomass are addressed: (1) Agricultural residues and food scraps, (2) Animal manures and the gaseous fuels generated from them; and Forest derived biomass and Pulp and Paper Residues. Three sources of Construction and Demolition debris are presented, including potential fuels from construction, disaster debris, and vegetative over-burden generated during land-clearing.
Final Rulemakings do not become law until published in the Federal Register; a pre-publication version of this Final Rule has been issued for reference. Additional information and supportive materials are available at US federal regulations website: In the Keyword or ID Search box, type in the docket number EPA-HQ-RCRA-2008-0329.
New Clean Air Act Standards
Responding to a court order denying another time extension, the EPA has issued four inter-related final Rules that establish final Clean Air Act standards for boilers and certain types of incinerators.
2 Boiler MACT Rules -The Final Rules requiring Maximum Achievable Control Technologies (MACT) for Boilers separately address Major Sources and Area Sources. Section 129 of the Clean Air Act requires emissions standards for 9 pollutants from incinerators including Commercial/Industrial Solid Waste Incinerators (CISWI). The nine pollutants include: Cadmium, Carbon Monoxide, Dioxins/Furans, Hydrogen Chloride, Lead, Mercury, Oxides of Nitrogen, Particulate Matter, and Sulfur Dioxide. Large and smaller sources are treated in the same way. Section 112 of the Clean Air Act requires emissions standards for boilers and process heaters.
Major sources emit 10 tons of any one toxic air pollutant or 25 tons of all toxic air pollutants each year. Emissions standards based on the MACT must be set for all emitted toxic air pollutants Area sources are smaller and may be regulated based on less stringent generally available control technology (GACT). Exception is made for certain pollutants (e.g., mercury, polycyclic organic matter), which must have MACT standards.
CISWI Rule - Separate emissions standards are set for Commercial / Industrial Solid Waste incinerators (CISWI rule). Currently, the EPA notes 88 solid waste incinerators that will be subject to the new emissions standards. The emission limits will require reductions for 85 of the 88 currently operating CISWI. The units will need to comply no later than three years after the EPA approves a state plan to implement these standards, or by February 21, 2016, whichever is earlier. However, the parallel NHSM Final Rule could re-designate BioPower facilities as Solid Waste Incinerators, if those plants use waste-sourced fuels that are not exempted. Additional details are found on the EPA's Combustion website.
A CISWI unit is defined as any device that is used to burn solid waste at a commercial or industrial facility. Examples of CISWI units include:
• units designed to discard solid waste;
• energy recovery units designed to recover heat that combust solid waste; and
• waste burning kiln that combust solid waste in the manufacture of a product.
As with each of the Rules finalized, various changes have been made since last April in response to stakeholder comments. Key among these are:
• Further sub-categorization of the Energy Recovery Units (ERUs) designation, creating two separate sub-categories for Solid ERUs and for liquid ERUs;
• Increased limits placed on fuel switching provisions to prevent sources from switching more frequently than every six months (to avoid bouncing between boiler and CISWI categories);
• Removal of specifically-defined ""cyclonic burn barrels"" from the definition of an incinerator; and
• Provision of a process for waiving civil penalties for emissions during truly unavoidable malfunctions.
SSI Rule - New Source Performance Standards and new emissions guidelines were also released governing Sewage Sludge Incinerators (the SSI rule). An SSI unit is an incinerator or direct combustion device used to burn dewatered sewage sludge; these are typically located at wastewater treatment facilities. The final rules cover two categories of incinerator types: multiple hearth (MH) and fluidized bed (FB).
The April 2010 version of the rules has been revised to reflect the overwhelming stakeholder response; key changes include:
• Clarifying that the applicability of this rule applies only to sources that combust sewage sludge at wastewater treatment facilities treating domestic sewage sludge;
• Revising the subcategories for new multiple hearths (MH) to be consistent with the subcategory for existing MH;
• Revising the baseline emissions, costs, and impacts based on new information received. This revision resulted in a determination that the beyond-the-floor emission limits for mercury for the MH subcategory were no longer cost-effective; and
• Revising the requirements to no longer require opacity for sources subject to parametric monitoring and annual testing.
Reconsideration Process
The day the new Rules appeared in the Federal Register, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson formally announced initiation of a reconsideration process for all but the SSI Rule; the announcement contains detailed contact information for each EPA section responsible for the Final Rules, and examples of the highly technical issues prompting reconsideration. The announcement constitutes a pre-publication version which will be published in the Federal Register in the near future.
The Administrator's announcement explains the Reconsideration in this way: ""We recognize that certain issues of central relevance to these rules arose after the period for public comment or may have been impracticable to comment upon. Therefore, we believe that reconsideration is appropriate under section 307(d)(7)(B) of the Clean Air Act. While we have taken final action on the rules identified above, and believe that the final rules reflect reasonable approaches consistent with the requirements of the Clean Air act, some of the issues identified in the comments raise difficult technical issues that we believe may benefit from additional public involvement.""
EJ Impacts of CISWI, NHSM and Boiler Rules
Environmental Justice (EJ) concerns lie at the heart of Rulemakings finalized this month by the EPA. The EPA justifies their recent Final Rules largely by arguing that social health cost savings are greater than industrial control costs, on a national basis.
The agency has just released a comprehensive assessment of EJ-associated issues, in their ""Summary of Environmental Justice Impacts for the Non-Hazardous Secondary Material (NHSM) Rule, the 2010 Commercial and Industrial Solid Waste Incinerator (CISWI) Standards, the 2010 Major Source Boiler NESHAP, and the 2010 Area Source Boiler NESHAP"".
Main conclusions are:
1) Emissions changes from affected combustion units are unlikely to lead to adverse and disproportionate impacts for low-income and minority populations;
2) Increases in emissions associated with the diversion of non-hazardous secondary materials away from their current fuel or ingredient uses are minimal compared to the emissions reductions resulting from the rules. Thus, in net terms, the emissions impacts of the rules are unlikely to lead to adverse and disproportionate impacts for low-income and minority populations; and
3) Low-income and minority populations located near waste management facilities (not including boilers) are disproportionately high relative to the national average.
The document brings in much of the emissions assessment data upon which the Rules are based, and thus is a critical reference for all who would engage in the agency's ""reconsideration process"" on those Rulemakings.
Conclusion
The EPA is doing this in pieces, but planning things in grand sweeps. In case you haven't noticed, the EPA doesn't think too highly about Incineration, or any other use of Direct Combustion when it comes to conversion of waste and/or biomass into combined heat and power (CHP). In case you REALLY haven't been paying attention, you may not have noticed that the EPA thinks there are, indeed, cleaner ways to accomplish the CHP goals, with newer, better technology. Push this down, that pops up: EPA favors gasification and pyrolysis over direct combustion, and with good reason. With incineration, you ""render to ash"". With non-combustion gasification, if managed right, you can accomplish Recovery of our precious resources, instead of Disposal.
In their assessment of Dioxins and similar deadly toxins, the EPA uses the phrase, ""incremental mitigation"". Roughly translated, that means we need to take out an old dirty one, and replace its function with a clean new one. We all see that this Uber Alles program has been working for Cars and Trucks. Should we be surprised that the EPA wants to replicate the gains in cleaning up transport emissions in our industrial Waste and Biomass management sector?
But the Devil, as we know, is in those pesky details of HOW the program is implemented. Watch closely, folks: stuff like this takes a HUGE amount of money to impose. And those dollars are not likely to all come from our cash-strapped Uncle Samuel (also known as we, the taxpayers). You mess up, you gonna pay. Big time.
If you are Combusting, think Retro-fit with non-combustion thermal conversion, and pray you have enough change left to get in front of these new regulatory hammers.
Copyright Teru Talk 2011. All rights reserved."
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a Plan: they intend to actually enforce provisions of the Clean Air Act. To do so, they need to set quantitative standards against which industrial operations may be measured. The EPA has been working on implementation standards for years. All of that diligent effort is now ""coming to fruition"" in a series of inter-related regulatory actions called Rulemakings that establish both performance-based and prescriptive standards. In order to set such standards for emissions, other areas of law must also be addressed. In particular, the definitions of what is and is not a ""waste"" needed to be revised. Four new emissions standards established under the Clean Air act have been issued (and immediately set into a ""refresh"" cycle). These Rules include the area source Boilers Rule, the major source Boilers Rule, the solid waste incinerator emissions CISWI Rule and the SSI Rule for incineration of sewage sludge. These rules are based, in part, on which non-hazardous ""secondary materials"" or residuals from other enterprises are considered solid wastes under the federal solid waste re-definition NHSM rule. Each of the four emissions rules, along with the solid waste re-definition rule, is addressed below with the proper hyper-links to allow access to the EPA's source documents.
Following release for review of most of these Rules in April of 2010, the EPA experienced a veritable firestorm of public comment; over 4,800 stakeholders responded. The EPA petitioned the federal court last December for more time to do another extended lap of the Public Review circuit. The court said (paraphrased), ""No. Put the Rules out. You've got 30 days."" So the EPA has complied and the same day as the Final Rules showed up in the Federal Register, EPA initiated a ""Reconsideration Process"", per all the legal protocols.
The EPA's rulemakings are based on the idea that although there is certainly going to be a cost to Industry (which is carefully NOT assessed), the public health benefits surely will out-weight the damage to Business. At the front of this concern is the revelation that dirty industrial operations are sited where property values are lowest, and that this astoundingly coincides with where our poorest communities are trying to exist. There is a long-standing ""Environmental Justice"" (EJ) problem needing attention; this EJ adjustment drives much of the current Rulemaking spree. The EPA concurrently has released a Summary of EJ Impacts for this newly issued suite of Rules.
Final NHSM Rule
The EPA released the Final Rulemaking for identification of Non-Hazardous Secondary Materials (NHSM) that are solid wastes. This Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) final rule identifies which non-hazardous secondary materials are, or are not, solid waste when burned in combustion units.
Under the rule: (1) Units that burn non-hazardous secondary materials that are solid waste under RCRA would be subject to the section 129 Clean Air Act (CAA) requirements, and (2) Units that burn non-hazardous secondary materials that are not solid waste under RCRA would be subject to the section 112 CAA requirements.
The Rulemaking could re-categorize some of California's large-scale BioPower plants as Solid Waste Incinerators. It essentially eliminates de minimis in feedstock: if any amount of material is used as fuel that is federally designated a ""Waste"" under this redefinition, the facility stands the risk of being subjected to the full weight of RCRA standards and enforcement as a Solid Waste Incinerator. One of the first actions will likely be a NESHAPs Title V New Source Review (NSR).
The Final Rule has been ""softened"" compared to earlier versions, in general providing exceptions where feedstock can be shown to never have entered the waste stream, or where a per-case assessment shows that pre-processing has created a beneficial fuel from what was previously a waste. Exemptions are identified by the EPA where:
• Material used as a fuel that remains within the control of the generator (whether at the site of generation or another site controlled by the generator) and meets the legitimacy criteria;
• Scrap tires removed from vehicles and managed under established tire collection programs, and resinated wood residuals;
• Material used as an ingredient in a manufacturing process (whether by the generator or outside the control of the generator) that meets the legitimacy criteria;
• Material that has been sufficiently processed to produce a fuel or ingredient product that meets the legitimacy criteria; or
• Material that has been determined through a case-by-case petition process to not have been discarded and to be indistinguishable in all relevant aspects from a fuel product.
Many detailed ""Materials Characterization Papers"" are provided by fuel type, detailing the classification of materials. Three categories of Biomass are addressed: (1) Agricultural residues and food scraps, (2) Animal manures and the gaseous fuels generated from them; and Forest derived biomass and Pulp and Paper Residues. Three sources of Construction and Demolition debris are presented, including potential fuels from construction, disaster debris, and vegetative over-burden generated during land-clearing.
Final Rulemakings do not become law until published in the Federal Register; a pre-publication version of this Final Rule has been issued for reference. Additional information and supportive materials are available at US federal regulations website: In the Keyword or ID Search box, type in the docket number EPA-HQ-RCRA-2008-0329.
New Clean Air Act Standards
Responding to a court order denying another time extension, the EPA has issued four inter-related final Rules that establish final Clean Air Act standards for boilers and certain types of incinerators.
2 Boiler MACT Rules -The Final Rules requiring Maximum Achievable Control Technologies (MACT) for Boilers separately address Major Sources and Area Sources. Section 129 of the Clean Air Act requires emissions standards for 9 pollutants from incinerators including Commercial/Industrial Solid Waste Incinerators (CISWI). The nine pollutants include: Cadmium, Carbon Monoxide, Dioxins/Furans, Hydrogen Chloride, Lead, Mercury, Oxides of Nitrogen, Particulate Matter, and Sulfur Dioxide. Large and smaller sources are treated in the same way. Section 112 of the Clean Air Act requires emissions standards for boilers and process heaters.
Major sources emit 10 tons of any one toxic air pollutant or 25 tons of all toxic air pollutants each year. Emissions standards based on the MACT must be set for all emitted toxic air pollutants Area sources are smaller and may be regulated based on less stringent generally available control technology (GACT). Exception is made for certain pollutants (e.g., mercury, polycyclic organic matter), which must have MACT standards.
CISWI Rule - Separate emissions standards are set for Commercial / Industrial Solid Waste incinerators (CISWI rule). Currently, the EPA notes 88 solid waste incinerators that will be subject to the new emissions standards. The emission limits will require reductions for 85 of the 88 currently operating CISWI. The units will need to comply no later than three years after the EPA approves a state plan to implement these standards, or by February 21, 2016, whichever is earlier. However, the parallel NHSM Final Rule could re-designate BioPower facilities as Solid Waste Incinerators, if those plants use waste-sourced fuels that are not exempted. Additional details are found on the EPA's Combustion website.
A CISWI unit is defined as any device that is used to burn solid waste at a commercial or industrial facility. Examples of CISWI units include:
• units designed to discard solid waste;
• energy recovery units designed to recover heat that combust solid waste; and
• waste burning kiln that combust solid waste in the manufacture of a product.
As with each of the Rules finalized, various changes have been made since last April in response to stakeholder comments. Key among these are:
• Further sub-categorization of the Energy Recovery Units (ERUs) designation, creating two separate sub-categories for Solid ERUs and for liquid ERUs;
• Increased limits placed on fuel switching provisions to prevent sources from switching more frequently than every six months (to avoid bouncing between boiler and CISWI categories);
• Removal of specifically-defined ""cyclonic burn barrels"" from the definition of an incinerator; and
• Provision of a process for waiving civil penalties for emissions during truly unavoidable malfunctions.
SSI Rule - New Source Performance Standards and new emissions guidelines were also released governing Sewage Sludge Incinerators (the SSI rule). An SSI unit is an incinerator or direct combustion device used to burn dewatered sewage sludge; these are typically located at wastewater treatment facilities. The final rules cover two categories of incinerator types: multiple hearth (MH) and fluidized bed (FB).
The April 2010 version of the rules has been revised to reflect the overwhelming stakeholder response; key changes include:
• Clarifying that the applicability of this rule applies only to sources that combust sewage sludge at wastewater treatment facilities treating domestic sewage sludge;
• Revising the subcategories for new multiple hearths (MH) to be consistent with the subcategory for existing MH;
• Revising the baseline emissions, costs, and impacts based on new information received. This revision resulted in a determination that the beyond-the-floor emission limits for mercury for the MH subcategory were no longer cost-effective; and
• Revising the requirements to no longer require opacity for sources subject to parametric monitoring and annual testing.
Reconsideration Process
The day the new Rules appeared in the Federal Register, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson formally announced initiation of a reconsideration process for all but the SSI Rule; the announcement contains detailed contact information for each EPA section responsible for the Final Rules, and examples of the highly technical issues prompting reconsideration. The announcement constitutes a pre-publication version which will be published in the Federal Register in the near future.
The Administrator's announcement explains the Reconsideration in this way: ""We recognize that certain issues of central relevance to these rules arose after the period for public comment or may have been impracticable to comment upon. Therefore, we believe that reconsideration is appropriate under section 307(d)(7)(B) of the Clean Air Act. While we have taken final action on the rules identified above, and believe that the final rules reflect reasonable approaches consistent with the requirements of the Clean Air act, some of the issues identified in the comments raise difficult technical issues that we believe may benefit from additional public involvement.""
EJ Impacts of CISWI, NHSM and Boiler Rules
Environmental Justice (EJ) concerns lie at the heart of Rulemakings finalized this month by the EPA. The EPA justifies their recent Final Rules largely by arguing that social health cost savings are greater than industrial control costs, on a national basis.
The agency has just released a comprehensive assessment of EJ-associated issues, in their ""Summary of Environmental Justice Impacts for the Non-Hazardous Secondary Material (NHSM) Rule, the 2010 Commercial and Industrial Solid Waste Incinerator (CISWI) Standards, the 2010 Major Source Boiler NESHAP, and the 2010 Area Source Boiler NESHAP"".
Main conclusions are:
1) Emissions changes from affected combustion units are unlikely to lead to adverse and disproportionate impacts for low-income and minority populations;
2) Increases in emissions associated with the diversion of non-hazardous secondary materials away from their current fuel or ingredient uses are minimal compared to the emissions reductions resulting from the rules. Thus, in net terms, the emissions impacts of the rules are unlikely to lead to adverse and disproportionate impacts for low-income and minority populations; and
3) Low-income and minority populations located near waste management facilities (not including boilers) are disproportionately high relative to the national average.
The document brings in much of the emissions assessment data upon which the Rules are based, and thus is a critical reference for all who would engage in the agency's ""reconsideration process"" on those Rulemakings.
Conclusion
The EPA is doing this in pieces, but planning things in grand sweeps. In case you haven't noticed, the EPA doesn't think too highly about Incineration, or any other use of Direct Combustion when it comes to conversion of waste and/or biomass into combined heat and power (CHP). In case you REALLY haven't been paying attention, you may not have noticed that the EPA thinks there are, indeed, cleaner ways to accomplish the CHP goals, with newer, better technology. Push this down, that pops up: EPA favors gasification and pyrolysis over direct combustion, and with good reason. With incineration, you ""render to ash"". With non-combustion gasification, if managed right, you can accomplish Recovery of our precious resources, instead of Disposal.
In their assessment of Dioxins and similar deadly toxins, the EPA uses the phrase, ""incremental mitigation"". Roughly translated, that means we need to take out an old dirty one, and replace its function with a clean new one. We all see that this Uber Alles program has been working for Cars and Trucks. Should we be surprised that the EPA wants to replicate the gains in cleaning up transport emissions in our industrial Waste and Biomass management sector?
But the Devil, as we know, is in those pesky details of HOW the program is implemented. Watch closely, folks: stuff like this takes a HUGE amount of money to impose. And those dollars are not likely to all come from our cash-strapped Uncle Samuel (also known as we, the taxpayers). You mess up, you gonna pay. Big time.
If you are Combusting, think Retro-fit with non-combustion thermal conversion, and pray you have enough change left to get in front of these new regulatory hammers.
Copyright Teru Talk 2011. All rights reserved."
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