How many times have you come across someone walking their dog barking and lunging in an uncontrollable manner and the owner says “oh don’t worry he’s friendly he just wants to play” when in fact the dog is either fearful or showing more aggressive body language? I have seen this many times while working in the vet field and it astounds me how many people misinterpret their own dog’s behavior. What is play drive? Play drive is part of the joy system in Panksepp’s emotional command system and when other systems are in play (seek, rage, fear, care, panic and lust) the play drive can also be the most suppressed if a dog is in another “mode”. If you have dog that comes across their Achilles heel they may not have any interest in playing with you. This is because their seeking mode is prominent at that moment. Once your dog has a better understanding and increased impulse control they will soon learn that engaging with you is more fun and productive so chasing the animal is not worth it. This is something that takes time and practice to achieve but is well worth it in the long run. The type of play you have with your dog is also very important for achieving this goal of reengagement with you after seeing a trigger. The play has to fulfill the desire that the dog wants to do which can be achieved with Predation Substitution Games and also knowing what kind of toy they find rewarding. This must be done when the dog is not over threshold and has their thinking brain back online and if your dog is not interested in either the treat or their toy do not fret. This is important information as it tells you that your dog is not ready yet. The play drive system also serves as a buffer between prey and aggression drives as it provides a safe way (pending your fingers) for your dog to “scratch that itch” but in a safe way. Fetch is associated with the seeking system (aka the prey drive) and a game such as tug is associated with the rage system (aka the aggressive or fight drive) but while also keeping the play system engaged.

Lo and behold we have ourselves another German dog: the Schnauzer aka the Wire-Coated German Schnauzer. The breed comes in three sizes: the miniature, the standard and the giant. The standard is the original size and was used for guarding their owners when going to the market, ridding the property of vermin and were known to be tough and reliable. The “schnauze” part of the breeds name is German for “snout” or “muzzle” which is most likely in reference to their bearded faces. As with most breeds the exact origin of the Standard Schnauzer is lost to history but we do know that the Standard Schnauzers of the Middle Ages did not look like the Schnauzers of today. During their early years a breed standard, as we know it today, did not exist at this time for the Schnauzer. As long as the dog was tough, wiry, hardy, biddable, of medium size and could do his job then that was the dog the family wanted. This is what the people cared about. It wasn’t until the mid 1800s that German dog enthusiasts noticed rough and capable breed and decided to have it more systematically bred. Much like with the spaniels there was much variety per litter of coat type, color, size and weight of the dogs. Something to note is the Schnauzer appearance that we are familiar with today does have a known predecessor: the wire and smooth coated pinschers. These dogs were crossbred with gray Wolfspitz and a black German Poodle to generate the salt/pepper coat we see and recognize today. Developed in the late 19th Century the Miniature Schnauzer came to be by crossing a standard with Affenpinschers and poodles and even though they were smaller the Miniature Schnauzer still had skills that they were excellent at. This included rat hunting, guarding and herding. I have met many Miniature Schnauzers both in and out of the vet field and as a household pet they can come across as “too big for their britches” and this could very well be why! Lastly, the Giant Schnauzer was developed by crossing a standard with various large working dogs such as Bouviers des Flandres and later a black Great Dane according to one source. This was done by the Bavarian cattlemen who wanted a cattle dog like the Standard Schnauzer but bigger. Their original purpose was cattle driving dogs but later became guard dogs then police dogs.

This week I wanted to talk about pet insurance. While I am not an insurance expert I can say with confidence that animal insurance is much easier to understand than human insurance. This week’s topic was inspired by my animals and encouraged to talk about by @Katie Schobel . For those who don’t know I have 3 dogs, 3 cats and a snake and they range from the age of 2.5 years old to 12.5 years old. Dogs: - Lucas McCain – American Pit Bull Terrier – 12.5 years - Káosz – Vizsla – 2.5 years - Csili – Vizsla – 5 years Cats - Artemis – DSH – 12 years old - Aries – DSH – 11 years old - Minka – 3 years old Snake - Havoc – Thorn Scrub Rat Snake – 5 years (?) I have had Lucas on insurance since he was about 4 years old and I am so glad that I have due to him getting sick at a month short of 9 years old with a chronic auto immune disease that he still has. That first year I spent about $10,000 between food, diagnostics, medications, supplements and insurance payments. Thanks to insurance though I was reimbursed about $7000-8000. So, when I bought Káosz I immediately put him on insurance and when I adopted Csili she was covered as well. In November of 2025 I switched the vizslas to a different insurance company which I am happy with but kept Lucas on the one he has always been on due to coverage issues with his history. I will admit that I only have my dogs covered as thankfully my cats are for the most part medically boring although Minka is no longer medically boring. The blood test is pending but she is suspected to have histoplasmosis which is a fungal infection endemic to the Americas that is found in the soil that if left untreated is fatal. She is currently blind and her sight may not possibly return. I will know more about her prognosis once I get the test result hopefully later this week. In hindsight having her covered would have been beneficial as well but it won’t stop me from caring for her. Given my experience some things to note when considering insurance:

Once again my apologies about posting this a day late. We have been quite busy here at Chiron K9 and there was a little mayhem for me personally. My youngest cat Minka (who I just call Kitten usually) has a UTI (treated) and apparently peed on some blankets and my female vizsla Csili has decided to be quite interested in Minka or the toads under the RV so she forgets to potty outside so she also peed inside. Needless to say, on top of everything else, yesterday was a huge laundry day and of course when I thought the washer was running it wasn’t so put my progress back about an hour and a half. It was one of those days. Anyways this week’s Breed of the Week comes at the request of @Katie Schobel: the Duck Tolling Retriever. The Duck Tolling Retriever is from Acadian community of Little River Harbour, Nova Scotia in Canada that originated in the early 19th century.. They are known by a few names: The Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, Toller and their original name Little River Duck Dogs. They are in the sporting group so should go without saying that if you are interested in one exercise, both physical and mental, are not optional but in return you will get a loyal and happy fur friend that will want to anywhere and everywhere with you. The Duck Tolling Retriever were a well-kept secret of Nova Scotia hunters for many years and used their fox like athleticism and playfulness to lure fowl and their retriever side accounted for their willingness to retrieve downed fowl from the water. This is where the “tolling” part of their name comes from. They would lure their prey by frolicking in the water which would catch the attention (not sure how. I guess the fowl in Canada are just…different) which would close the gap between the fowl and the hunter who would then shoot and down the fowl. While the origin of the Duck Tolling Retriever is unknown it is thought that they are a mix of retriever, spaniel, setter and possibly collie. Despite this mystery when the breed was discovered outside of Nova Scotia the blend had been perfected by the late 19th century and was considered a purebred by the Canadian Kennel Club in 1945. The Duck Tolling Retriever is considered the provincial dog of Nova Scotia.

Today we are going to talk about the Xoloitzcuintli. You may know this dog has the Hairless Mexican Dog or Mexican Hairless Dog. First let’s just get pronunciation out of the way because my God what a name! I am going to quote from the AKC website: “to pronounce this three-car pile-up of letters, try ‘show-low-eats-queen-tlee. Or just know when you’ve been beaten and use the shorthand ‘show-low’ instead.” The Xoloitzcuintli is considered another one of the oldest dogs but also one of the rarest breeds with statues that look like the hairless variety going back over 3,000 years. (I have only seen 1 that I can remember and it was over 10 years ago). They are native to Mexico and nearly went extinct in the 1950s until the Federation Cynologique Internationle (FCI) took action, recognized the breed officially and a gentlemen named Norman Pelham Wright along with a team of Mexican and British dog authorities ventured off to find any purebred Xoloitzcuintli that may have still existed in remote areas of Mexico. They ended up finding 10 strongly suited Xoloitzcuintli and became the foundation stock to revive the breed and by May 1, 1956 a breed standard was established in the breeds native land and around the world. The Xoloitzcuintli is named after the god of lightening and death, Xolotl, and it is believed they were made from a sliver of the bone of life which is where all of mankind is from, according to the Aztecs. The Xolo, being beloved by the Aztec people, believed that they would guide man to the world of death in exchange for man protecting the Xolo in life. The Aztecs also believed that the Xolo had healing abilities not only for the physical but also the spiritual and were often buried beside their custodians. This would be accomplished by killing or being burned alongside their masters to ensure safe travels in the world of death. If a person could not afford to own a dog a stature in the shape of one would be provided. The Xoloitzcuintli did also aid those in life by lending their furnace like abilities to warm aching joints and other afflicted areas. If food was scarce they were also used for food as well as they were the only domesticated animals alongside turkeys. It wasn’t just during times of scarcity but also religious ceremonies due the powers they were thought to have had.