Food
for Your Adult
Clumber:
Clumbers are known to have food allergies, specifically to
corn, wheat, and soy and some are allergic to chicken.
I recommend dog foods that do not contain these
products. Adult
Clumbers eat about 4-5 cups of food per day.
Some foods that I have had good luck with for ADULT
Clumbers are the following:
Dick
Van Patten’s Natural Balance Allergy Formula Fish and
Sweet Potato (Although some clumbers do have allergies to
potatoes)
Solid
Gold Wolf King or Barking at the Moon
California
Naturals Herring and Sweet Potato
Food
for Your Puppy
Clumber:
Clumbers can grow too fast as puppies and
experience temporary limping if they are fed dog food with
too high of a protein content.
Most puppy foods are very high in protein content
(about 28%) so I recommend feeing your puppy a combination
of puppy food mixed with a little adult dog food from
about 4 months of age until they are about 10 months old.
By mixing Adult and Puppy Food your Clumber will
still reach its optimum height and weight, but it will not
grow too quickly. At
about 10-11 months you can slowly start to switch your
Clumber to 100% adult food.
Allergies:
Clumbers
are known for various environmental and food allergies, so
always be observant of your surroundings and make sure you
are not exposing your clumber to lawn chemicals in
particular. The
lawn spray used to kill lawn grubs is especially toxic to
clumbers as are many household cleaning products.
Ear
Health: Clumbers
are long-eared dogs and as such they are prone to yeast
problems in their ears. Keep the ears dry after swimming
or bathing. Clean the ears weekly with a good product like
EpiOtic, Vet Solution, or Zymox. If you notice a flare-up
or red smelly ears, try Thornit Powder, Otomax, or
Mometomax. There is also a product called "blue
ear solution" that works the best of anything, but
you need to have your vet check your clumber's ears before
trying anything to make sure the ear drum is intact and
that there aren't more serious infections involved.
Chewing:
Clumbers do like to chew so child proof your home as much
as possible. Just
like human children, make sure there are not any household
cleaning products in reach and no chemicals in the toilet.
Yes, your clumber will be the perfect height to
think his/her water bowl is the toilet.
Clumbers love to carry toys around in their mouth
so the more toys you can provide them with supervision the
better. Watch
your puppy to make sure they are not chewing up their toys
as they can be a choking hazard.
Care must be taken to keep toys, items of clothing,
and other small items out of reach.
Do not leave bedding in your clumber’s crate. A
Clumber should never be left unattended with toys.
Plushies are likely to be quickly eviscerated, Kongs and
Nylabones are quickly chewed apart or snapped, and Bodas
are quickly unbraided and devoured to ball up in an
intestine and make your puppy a surgical candidate. The
best Clumber-proof toys can be found at www.planetdog.com
Anal
Glands: Clumbers
are known for impacted anal glands.
If you notice excessive “scooting” or a strong
anal gland smell, have your clumber checked by your vet.
It is even a good idea to have your clumber’s
glands expressed routinely when you have them groomed or
have your vet express them every couple of months.
Some clumbers even may have to have their anal glands
removed if they are continually impacted.
Housebreaking:
Puppies follow a natural rhythm from birth. As
they nurse, the Dam licks them to stimulate urination and
evacuation. When your puppy wakes, take him or her
outside. After your puppy eats, take him or her outside.
Be consistent in your rhythm; the puppy will follow.
I recommend crate training your puppy.
Poisoning:
If
your puppy or dog manages to consume chocolate (dark
chocolate, baker’s chocolate or semi-sweet) immediately
induce vomiting by administering 2-3 teaspoons of 3%
Hydrogen Peroxide by mouth every 15 minutes until vomiting
occurs. That should happen almost instantly, so it is
advisable to pursue the ‘remedy’ outdoors.
Some other common poisons to dogs are onions,
grapes, and raisins.
National
Animal Poison Information Center at the University of
Illinois in Urbana. Phone toll-free: (888) 252-7387.
Water:
Clumbers
LOVE water! Make
sure your clumber is always provided a fresh supply of
water. For
house training your puppy, you may want to limit both the
food and water intake after about 7 pm at night.
This will help your puppy with house breaking and
make it easier for them to learn to “hold it”
overnight. I
recommend crate training puppy.
You can feed them in their crate too so that the
crate is always seen as a happy place.
Heat:
Clumbers typically like to be cool.
This can also apply to their bedding.
For my adult clumbers I do not put any type of
blanket or bed in their crates.
They get too hot and it is also a choking hazard
should your clumber get bored some day and decides that
his blanket looks appetizing.
Clumbers
and Other Pets: Clumbers
generally do very well with other pets.
Keep in mind, however, to always exercise caution
when introducing your Clumber to any new animals both for
the safety of your clumber and of the other animal.
I strongly recommend introducing your puppy to
other animals at a young age so that they are accustomed
to being around other pets and know how to behave around
them. Remember
that Clumbers were originally bred as hunting/flushing
spaniels, so you need to be firm with them on what is
acceptable to hunt and what is not. The family cat is not ok to hunt nor is a little dog that
looks like a bunny rabbit.
I highly recommend taking your puppy to obedience
classes as soon as 16 weeks of age to teach them basic
manners in public and to learn the basic come, sit, stay,
lie down, and heal commands.
Clumbers can be very stubborn so it is important to
work with them a lot as puppies.
A well behaved, well socialized Clumber is a happy
Clumber and makes for a happy Clumber owner.
Dear
Vet Letter:
Clumber
Spaniel Club of America
Genetic Health Committee
Roe Froman, DVM Chairperson
Dear
fellow veterinarian,
Welcome
to the world of Clumber spaniels. Largest of the spaniel
breeds, Clumbers are generally quite easy going. We'd like
to help acquaint you with some of the more unusual, as
well as the common problems your Clumber patients may
encounter.
Clumbers
are one of the first ten original AKC breeds, but their
numbers are few. We work with a limited gene pool, and are
striving to improve the health and soundness of our dogs.
Great progress has been made in the past decade.
Due
to their thick ear leather and heavy, lowset ear,
infections are not unusual. Routine cleaning can help to
minimize problems. Clumbers who suffer from recurrent ear
infections should be evaluated for possible food
hypersensitivities.
Clumber
eyelids are often "v" or diamond shaped, in
accordance with the breed standard of conformation.
Entropion may occur, but minor deviations of the lids may
require only monitoring until full head maturation is
reached (about two to three years of age). Ectropion is
also sometimes seen, but care must be taken not to confuse
the normal, diamond shape of the lower lid with ectropion.
A properly shaped Clumber lid will often be looser than
other breeds. Haw often shows. The proper lid, while
loose, should not roll in or out, but drooping in and of
itself is not unusual. Clumbers are supposed to have a lot
of loose skin on their heads and faces.
Eosinophilic
panosteitis is not unusual in growing Clumber pups. Like
other large breeds, too rapid growth may play a role in
this shifting leg lameness. EoPan is the most common cause
of lameness in Clumbers between six to twelve months of
age, when there is no evidence of injury. Shoulder or
elbow abnormalities (OCD, ununited anconeal processes or
fractured coronoids) should of course always be ruled out.
Eosinophilic panosteitis is self-limiting and resolves
once bone growth is complete. EoPan may also present as an
intermittent hind leg lameness.
Hip
dysplasia is not uncommon in the breed. Their substantial
bone and heavy rear
muscling often seem to minimize overt clinical signs in
Clumbers, even though their
radiographs may show changes which could be crippling in
other breeds. Clumbers are a chondrodystrophic (dwarf)
breed, and have an acetabular conformation which is
naturally more shallow than that of retrievers,
rottweilers or german shepherd dogs.
A
website of digital photos includes OFA passing Clumber
hips, as well as examples of puppy preliminaries, young
dogs and varying grades of dysplastic dogs. This website
can be accessed by following the health links at the
Clumber Spaniel Club of America's website, at http://
www.clumbers.org . We hope you will find it useful, and
appreciate your feedback. Chondroitin sulfate/glucosamine
supplements such as Cosequin have frequently proven useful
in managing Clumbers with hip dsyplasia. Clumber pups
should be raised on a large breed puppy food, and
excessive weight gain should be prevented.
The
long, low body structure of the Clumber may predispose
them to intervertebral disc disease. Both cervical and
thoracic disc problems may occur. Medical or surgical
therapies can be of great benefit.Immune mediated
hemolytic anemia (IMHA) is a serious disease which has
been encountered in Clumber spaniels. Since sulfa drugs
have occasionally been suspected as a trigger in
autoimmune conditions, it is best to avoid them in
Clumbers.
Hypothyroidism
is not unusual in Clumbers. We recommend the thyroid panel
at Michigan State University College of Veterinary
Medicine. Elevated autoantibodies are often a precursor to
full blown hypothyroidism. If autoantibodies are present,
we recommend a retest six to twelve months later. Some
Clumbers will do better on the brand name Soloxine instead
of generic thyroid supplements, but many do well on
generics.
Rarely,
portosystemic (liver) shunts have been reported in
Clumbers. They may present typically, as young pups who
begin to suffer neurological problems at weaning.
Importantly, there are also a few case reports of adult
(18 months to 4 years) Clumbers with late onset seizures
and no prior clinical signs. Liver shunts in Clumbers have
most often been extrahepatic (the reverse of most large
breed dogs), and frequently amenable to surgical
correction.
There
have been occasional reports of punctate cataracts. These
minute opacities in the lens in no way interfere with
vision. They are not progressive. PRA (progressive retinal
atrophy) has been reported rarely.
Cardiomyopathy
is an uncommon but reported condition in Clumber spaniels.
Pyruvate
dehydrogenase deficiency is a rare condition in Clumbers.
It is actually a
deficiency in the PDP1 enzyme, which regulates PDH. PDP1
deficiency in Clumbers
leads to a profound exercise intolerance (affected dogs
may present with the complaint that they can't make it
through a daily walk of a few blocks). It is a simple
recessive trait, and a DNA test is now available through
the University of Missouri. Sample submission guidelines
and forms are available at http://www.caninegeneticdiseases.net
Further
information about testing can be obtained from Liz Hansen
at
HansenL@missouri.edu
Carrier
dogs should not be bred to other carriers, but may safely
be bred to clear dogs.
It
is quite common for young female Clumbers NOT to have
their first estrous cycle until they are 12 to 14 months
old. This is not unusual, and should not be cause for
concern. Many Clumbers are natural whelpers, but uterine
inertia may necessitate cesarean section. Anasarca (water
puppies) is also known to occur in the breed.
Anesthesia
in Clumbers should be straightforward, given normal
precautions. Ketamine/Valium/Isoflurane or Propofol/Iso
are both reasonable protocols. Rarely, excessively short
muzzles or an elongated soft palate may make anesthetic
recovery a bit more comparable to brachycephalic breeds.
The
Clumber Spaniel Club of America also subsidizes a DNA
bank, which allows us to
store DNA from *all* Clumbers, pets and show dogs alike.
This DNA bank, housed at
the University of Missouri, requires ten mls of blood in
an EDTA (purple top) tube.
Many veterinarians have graciously drawn these samples at
little or no charge, when
seeing a Clumber patient for another reason. Again,
contact Liz Hansen at University of Missouri for further
submission details.
Clumbers
are in general a gentle, stoic breed. Their calm,
accepting nature makes them enjoyable patients. If I can
be of any assistance, or if I can answer any questions,
please don't hesitate to contact me.
Roe Froman, DVM
Chair, Clumber Spaniel Club of America Genetic Health
Committee
bluemoon@i2k.com
