Dog_top_100_se.md – Dog <- StackExchange top 100

1: Why does my dog get stuck to the female after mating? (score 366635 in 2013)

Question

Whenever my dog mates, he ends up stuck inside the female.

Attempts to separate them prove futile.

Why are they stuck together after mating?

Answer accepted (score 15)

The males penis will swell inside the females vagina during the mating. This will cause them to get stuck. It is completely normal for dogs to get stuck together after mating and you should not attempt to divide them. If you don’t want them to mate you should have had enough time to try separating them before.

Our non-neutered female dog mated with our castrated male a few times. Especially during the first few times we had to secure them, as she got very excited after the mating. She tried to run away and this caused or male incredible pain. I held her by her chest/neck area so she could not run away any longer and waited until they separated on their own.

The time it takes for the swelling to reduce and allow separation differs, one article on the breeding tie suggests a time between 2 and 30 minutes. I quote some other information from the article I think is noteworthy:

Getting stuck together is normal. Do NOT ice them to get them apart. […]

It is advised that you give close supervision and keep them calm. […] You do not want the female to panic and start squirming. If she is larger than the male she can really hurt the male. He is helpless and will usually stand perfectly still, waiting. […]
After a tie […] check your male, and make sure that his penis has gone back inside of him and is not strangled in hair or stuck out.

Note that the article is about breeding, thus I removed information that does not relate to your question about mating.

2: Why is my dog drinking his pee after he urinates inside? (score 235856 in 2015)

Question

Every night, as soon as I turn off the last light in the house, if I’ve forgotten to take the dog (a 13-year-old miniature dachshund we obtained from a reputable breeder 11 years ago) out immediately prior, the dog will wake up within an hour and indicate he has to go out.

If I do not take him out, he will urinate on a bathroom throw rug. Occasionally, he will try to drink / lick up whatever is caught in the carpet fibers. He has water and food available to him and he seems to eat well.

We have a dog door, but he conducts this business after the house is shut for the night (we live in an area where many other types of critters could potentially enter said door when it is not monitored). He uses the door just fine; the problem is that he urinates inside while we’re all asleep, and he has to go because we either went to bed earlier than normal, or we just forgot to take him out before bed.

I don’t think he’s ashamed of having done what he’s done, but he could be; I suspect he is bored.

Why is he doing this? He doesn’t do this when he goes in the grass; he doesn’t even turn around to acknowledge it when we’re outside; granted, it’s already soaked down, but it should smell the same.

It’s not his going inside that concerns me; I understand why that happens. It his post-business cleanup / drinking that is baffling. Why does he do this?

Answer accepted (score 12)

Why is my dog drinking his pee when he urinates inside?

Dog’s drinking urine can be a sign of a few different things:

health problem
behavior problem
improper housebreaking
a simple stage that some dog’s go through as younger dogs and it passes naturally

This answer is linked with this post How should I correct my dog when I catch him drinking his urine?.

The inside of your home is the den and pack animals naturally like to keep their dens clean. They will want to relieve themselves as far away as possible from where they eat and sleep.

From wolfcountry.net

During nursing the mother will clean the pups and stimulates them to urinate and defecate by licking the genital region. She swallows all of their excretions, keeping the birthing area clean and odor-free.

In wolf packs the entire pack protects the mother and the den and help to raise the puppies.

Given he doesn’t do this when he is outside, I wouldn’t regard it as a problem, per se, he is doing what comes naturally and cleaning up.

Why a Dog Laps Its Own Urine

One reason is that urine doesn’t absorb into linoleum, tile or finished wood like it does into dirt, grass and concrete. It remains pooled on the floor, tempting the dog’s curiosity. Another reason is that, while a dog may not be housebroken, it may still know that urinating inside is forbidden. It will lap up its urine to hide the evidence.

Conclusion:

You’ve stated your dog came from a reputable breeder, implying he was well cared for as a pup; so it’s unlikely this is caused from the syndrome of dogs in confined spaces learning to eat and drink their own waste.

Given the information that it only happens when you forget to take him out at night or when go to bed early (so he has to hold on longer overnight) I would say it’s just your dog trying to fix up fix mishap and no great problem.

My suggestion is that the cause of the problem sounds like:

He needs to be taken out more frequently.

Answer 2 (score 10)

A couple of causes include:

Dehydration. If your dog isn’t getting enough water, then he may resort to the urine as a means of hydration. Make sure lots of water is available to him, perhaps even put out extra dishes in places where he may tend to do this act.
Urinary tract infection. You can’t really diagnose this, you’d need to bring him to see the vet.
Bad early conditions, such as puppy mills, can result in this.
He’ll outgrow it… Some dogs do it for a while and then stop.

The thing is, it may be worth taking him to the vet to see if 1 or 2 is a problem just to be safe. The vet may have additional advice as well.

Answer 3 (score 6)

This is more common in dogs from puppy mills or other mistreated litters. Many times the litters will get divided up and put in small plastic tubs with holes poked in the lids. All they have to eat and drink some days is what is their crate. Sadly that is often their own poo and pee. They can develop a preference for it.

It also happens if nose rub is used frequently to “correct” indoor potty issues. The dogs have to get it off their nose somehow and the only way they have is to lick it off. This can also cause them to develop a preference for it.

If you see him doing it and do not correct the behavior then the behavior will persist. Since you did not have him as a puppy it is hard to say what the actual cause of his behavior is. But you can train him to stop.

3: How can I eliminate set-in dog urine scent from a carpet? (score 224506 in 2014)

Question

Our 15-year-old dog has decided she no longer wants to be house trained. As a result, we have several set-in dog urine spots in our carpet.

We have a consumer Hoover “steam” cleaner and have repeatedly gone over the affected areas on several occasions, but can’t get rid of the odor. Is there any hope for getting rid of the smell? We don’t want to replace the carpet yet, as it’s likely she’ll keep repeating the behavior.

Are there any ways to effectively remove the smell? How can I know if the smell is permanent and the carpet/padding need to be replaced?

Answer accepted (score 5)

Attempt 1: Bissel

I first tried normal Bissel carpet shampoo, thoroughly wetting, sucking up, and re-wetting the carpet many times in the same setting and it did nothing to remove the odor. Next I bought the Hoover Petplus 2x odor remover solution, which also did absolutely nothing to help the smell. They left virtually no odor masking perfume smell once the carpet fully dried, but didn’t remove the urine odor either.

Attempt 2: Nature’s Miracle Urine Destroyer:

Next, I tried the Nature’s Miracle Urine Destroyer per the instructions on the bottle (not for the carpet cleaning machine). It initially helped much more than the other two products. This product definitely leaves behind a lasting perfume scent, if unobjectionable. After a few days the entire area still smells strongly of urine. I repeated and ended up using all of the roughly 1 to 2 quart bottle on the 4 sqft smelly area with no success whatsoever.

Attempt 3: Out! PetCare Stain & Odor Rmoever:

I bought this at Target for about $4.50, applied liberally with the sprayer–though I was tempted just to dump it on the carpet as my hand was getting sore. I was pretty skeptical but thought it would be worth a try. 24 hours after application, there’s just a mild scent of detergent and virtually no smell of urine. It does say it contains bacteria and enzyme solution, which I believe might be the key. Neither of the other solutions I tried mention anything about enzymes or bacteria.

Attempt 4: Nature’s Miracle Carpet Shampoo

I tried Nature’s Miracle carpet shampoo with my carpet cleaning machine. I don’t recall what the immediate effect was.

Preventive Strategies:

The salesperson at Petsmart gave me some good ideas once the odor problem is solved–to put down the dog training pads to cover the area where the odor was, in order to catch any follow-up urination in the same spot. Also, I’m considering putting my dog in dog diapers at night to make sure there aren’t further accidents.

Conclusion

Well, we finally had to euthanize our dog for congestive heart failure about six months after the start of this urine issue. A month or so afterwards, the carpet odors were undetectable. I’m not sure which product did the “trick,” or if it was just a matter of time for the smell to dissipate. It also could have been that somehow our dog was periodically urinating in the same spots without us noticing.

Answer 2 (score 5)

Attempt 1: Bissel

Attempt 2: Nature’s Miracle Urine Destroyer:

Attempt 3: Out! PetCare Stain & Odor Rmoever:

Attempt 4: Nature’s Miracle Carpet Shampoo

I tried Nature’s Miracle carpet shampoo with my carpet cleaning machine. I don’t recall what the immediate effect was.

Preventive Strategies:

Conclusion

Answer 3 (score 0)

In case of accidents, we’ve used:

Vinegar
Steam
Biological washing powder (dilute, 1:4)
Vanish stain remover.

In particular, the thing you need to deal with - aside from hiding the smell from your nose, is hiding the smell from the dog’s nose. Some detergents react, and will hide it from you but the dog will still know it’s there, and may use that spot again.

Steam will kill bacteria, but not necessarily lift smells. Vinegar works well as a ‘quick’ fix to dilute it prior to mopping.

But the enzymes in biological powder are quite good at breaking down urine.

https://www.dogstrust.ie/az/h/housetraining/accidentshappen.aspx#.VNp48easVX8

4: Can I use human shampoo to wash a dog? (score 207635 in 2014)

Question

Basically, I just want to know if it is safe and cost effective to use human shampoo to wash my poodle.

Answer accepted (score 11)

The most common reason not to use human shampoo on a dog is that dogs have different pH levels than humans, as explained by petMD.

The acid mantle can also be defined as the relative pH balance of the skin. The pH scale ranges from 0 to 14, with levels less than 6.4 considered high acidity, and levels more than 6.4 considered high alkalinity. The normal range of skin pH levels for humans is 5.2 to 6.2, which means it tends to be on the acidic side, and shampoos and skin products are formulated specifically to maintain this balance.

Now consider the relative pH balance for dogs. Depending on breed, gender, climate, and the anatomical size on the dog, the pH levels range from 5.5 to 7.5, tending toward a more alkaline concentration. Therefore, if a shampoo that is formulated for human skin is used on a dog, the dog’s acid mantle will be disrupted, creating an environment where bacteria, parasites, and viruses can run rampant.

A professional dog groomer, Barbara Bird, performed an observational study in 2011 on pet and human shampoos, ultimately collecting pH levels for 60 pet shampoos and 45 human shampoos.

the human shampoo products are formulated in the more acidic range, as expected. However, it also shows how few of the pet shampoos are formulated in the range they would be expected to fall – above 6.5. Forty of the sixty pet shampoos, two-‐thirds of the sample tested at pH of 6.5 or less, in the acidic range along with 89% of the human shampoos.

She refers to two studies that look at the effect of acidifying skin:

Matousek, J, Campbell, KL, Kakoma, I, Solter, PF, Schaeffer, DJ, Evaluation of the effect of pH on in vitro growth of Malassezia pachydermatis, Can J Vet Res>v.67(1); Jan 2003.

Matousek JL, Campbell KL, Kakoma I, Schaeffer DJ. The effects of four acidifying sprays, vinegar and water on canine cutaneous pH levels. J Am Anim Hosp Assoc. 39:29-‐33 (2003)

and concludes with:

There is no scientific evidence that shampoo having a pH of 5.0-‐6.0 is harmful to pet skin. In fact, many pet shampoos share that pH range with human shampoos. There are, however, good reasons to use a good pet shampoo on dogs: Shampoos formulated for canine hair are designed to clean well and are often geared toward specific jobs or coat types. Human shampoos are designed for daily or weekly use and may not clean a dirty dog well. They are also mostly formulated to soften hair, which may not be desirable when scissoring a Bichon or maintaining a terrier coat. Human hair shampoos are less likely to have ingredients for whitening, promoting deshedding, or serious deodorizing.

So, basically, it seems to be safe, but it may not be the most effective type of shampoo for your dog’s coat (you may need to wash him several times with human shampoo to get him clean, or a dog shampoo may contain whiteners that will make him look better).

Answer 2 (score 6)

Personally… I absolutely HATE dog shampoos. Not only are they very expensive but have very strong smells, I admit I’m very sensitive to smells but that’s nothing comparing to what the dog is smelling. I agree with the comments on PH levels, and having said that most dog shampoos are loaded with detergent instead of gentle glycerin based soaps which would be PH neutral. To wash my dogs I get natural, scent free soap bars from a health store; and feel free to splurge on a good quality bar because, unlike the liquid shampoos, it will last and last and last. As an added bonus I found it much easier to use a bar of soap to wash both my giant mutt and a pocket sized min-pin, just rub the bar all over their coats, give the doggies a good massage, rinse and prepare for a shake-off :)

Answer 3 (score 4)

Yes it is, in theory. The basic difference between human and dog shampoo is PH (though there is some controversy about PH levels). There are multiple considerations and options with shampoos. You can do a bunch of research and consider all the alternatives but in the end you will find all shampoo is liquid detergent.

If you are not bathing often, and your are not buying shampoo with a lot of extras, anything will do. If your dog is extremely dirty you might consider a dish detergent.

5: How can you tell if neck biting between dogs is too rough? (score 121223 in 2014)

Question

We have two dogs. One is a 4 year old male and the other is a new dog we adopted over a week ago who is a 2 year old female. They are both the same breed (Alaskan husky) and roughly the same size.

So far, the dogs are getting along fairly well. They’ve had a few fights but it’s usually over bones and we’re training them now to share.

My main concern now is about when they play. They both enjoy playing, and when we watch them play, I do not see any signs in the female that she’s not having fun (she doesn’t look at us, she reengages when he lets up, no raised hair, etc.) but my male dog likes to bite her throat and push her around in circles on the ground. Sometimes it looks like he is actually biting her throat very hard. On one occasion where the dogs were on a hard floor, I could actually feel my male dog’s teeth grinding against the female dog’s throat. I read that if dogs are playing nicely, you should not break it up, but I am worried that my male dog is biting too hard.

How can I tell if he bites her neck too hard? Should I break up their play when ever he bites her neck or should I continue to only look for the signs and let them play otherwise?

Answer accepted (score 14)

As an FYI before reading, I’ve cited a source towards the end of this post for most of the information you’ll find in it.

Typically when two dogs are playing rough, it’s better to let them figure things out. If your male dog seems to be biting down pretty hard on the female dog’s scruff/neck area, and she doesn’t seem to mind or still exhibits classic play signs (I’ll talk about those below), then you probably shouldn’t separate the fight. I also wouldn’t physically break up the fight, even if the female dog doesn’t like it. When dogs are playing with each other and something out-of-line or undesirable is done, the dogs will let the other know with a preemptive growl or bite (not usually harmful, but just as a warning). So essentially if you have two social dogs who know how to play, they also know how to let the other know to stop playing when something has gone too far.

I talked about indicative behavior above, so I’ll cover a few signs of playful and aggressive behavior. Because a lot of dog play looks like it’s aggressive and can be misinterpreted by other dogs playing, most social canines have specific signs to signal that their behavior has playful intentions. These signs are forms of “metacommunication,” meaning a secondary behavior accompanying the primary action which is essential in interpreting its meaning. In other words, behavior without these metacommunications are ambiguous.

Play bow before and after aggressive-seeming actions. A lot of times, when dogs do something like bite another dog, jump on them, whack them with their paw, lunge in, or something else, they’ll do a play bow before or after to signal that there were no aggressive intentions and that the other dogs shouldn’t take it as aggression.
Bear hugging. So it’s not exactly hugging, but in addition to play bowing, dogs will often bear hug. It looks pretty mean and aggressive, but it’s typically 100% friendly behavior and it’s a good indicator that your dogs are playing just fine. I’ll put in a picture to illustrate how aggressive it looks compared to how aggressive it really is. You’ll notice that the dog on the right looks pretty mean – it’s all play.
Trading, sharing, or temporarily stopping roles. A lot of times when dogs are playing, they’ll give each other opportunities to trade roles. If one dog is on top of the other, the top dog should eventually give the one on the ground a small escape period where he should be able to stand up and continue playing. If two dogs are chasing each other, the universal “this is just play” metacommunication is for the head dog to slow down and let the other catch up, jump on him, try to get a toy in his mouth, etc… They may, again, switch roles. The faster dog might slow down and let his playmate run ahead for a few seconds.

There are many more, but those are some of the more common ones. Others include wagging bodies (not tails), face biting/teeth locking, and stopping for a few seconds to take a breather.

Above I mention that wagging or having a loose body is a sign of play, but not wagging the tail. Many people think that if a dog is wagging their tail, everything is okay because it’s a generally accepted sign of happiness. However, even distressed dogs will wag their tails. When watching dog play, you want to be careful of stiff-bodied dogs, hair standing in a line down the dogs back (raised hackles), and body language, regardless of their tail movements. You can find tons of diagrams that illustrate various body language clues on Google Images just by searching something like “dog body language.”

If you’re interested in reading more about canid behavior and don’t want to read up on those sketchy “how to” links, I highly recommend Canine Behavior: Insights and Answers by Bonnie Beaver which you can buy or view in PDF form here. Beaver has done a lot of great research and a lot of what I’ve mentioned in my post I’ve learned from the resources she’s written.

In my original comment I also talked about letting out a “yelp.” If you’re really worried about your male dog’s biting of the females neck, you can let out a real high-pitched yelp. This should immediately get both dogs attentions, they’ll give you a surprised face, and then should continue playing, but it lets them know that you’re not entirely comfortable with what they’re doing.

TL;DR: Dogs will know when it gets too rough and typically let each other know. They also have behaviors to qualify aggressive-seeming actions and make sure that if an action that seems aggressive is playful, it’s interpreted properly. So don’t stop the playing unless you’re really worried and see obviously aggressive signs.

6: How can I gain back my dog’s trust after accidentally kicking him? (score 110530 in 2013)

Question

I was in my yard the other day playing with a football and my dog was nearby. I was kicking the ball against the wall when my dog was walking past, I didn’t see him and accidentally kicked him in the side toppling him over.

After crying out in pain, he slinked away and wouldn’t come to me when I called him. It’s been 2 days now and he is still behaving like this. He will move when he sees me coming or if I corner him and try to pet him, he puts his tail between his legs and cower.

This is my dog of nearly 4 years, a dog that would come to meet me at the gate or come running at a call when going for a walk. How can I gain his trust back and show him that I mean no harm?

Answer accepted (score 22)

If it means anything to you, dogs have a very high tolerance for pain, so when they scream out it is more because of them being startled or shocked than because of pain. I accidentally closed a door on my dogs tail, not hard but the startle caused him to let out a loud yelp.

He will regain trust you in over time, but an important thing to remember for the future is that dog psychology is VERY different than human psychology. Your first reaction if you accidentally hurt a child is to immediately fawn over the child and shower him/her with affection. The child needs to cognitively recognize the accident to get over it.

When you immediately get emotional, nurturing and reactive after an accident then you are teaching the dog through your nurturing that you are rewarding them for feeling scared. Nurturing is a reward for wanted behaviour so in the dogs mind you are telling the dog it is right to be scared and anxious about the very person or situation involved in the accident.

The best thing to do is to check the dog for injury, then immediately move on and try to get the dog to not dwell on what happened. After the dog is calm again, give them a treat to reward them having calmed down and give them extra affection then. It is never a good idea to give affection to a dog in emotional distress (physical distress is a bit different).

You will find the dog will move past the incident rather quickly because the dogs ancestors don’t dwell on accidents. They make their intentions very known through deliberate communication and action. Dogs also live in the present. They don’t dwell on past memories, their memories of what happened in the past are mostly emotional based and not event based. Eg. they smell the grounds of a dog park where they were attacked by another dog and they get an emotional surge of fear. The fear is an automatic reaction.

Answer 2 (score 12)

Sorry to read about the accident, but these kind of things happen. First of all, I think that two days is very little time so far in order to let the dog soak in what happened, don’t push it and you will see that dogs are very forgiving.

Don’t beat yourself up too much, it was an accident and you need to let the dog recover and regain his trust, I think that if you don’t push it too much and project a positive energy towards him then he will soon understand that you didn’t mean it.

Then again if you always feel super bad that you did this and you just want him to love you again and all that stuff then it might be overwhelming for him to feel down and sad and super emotional every time he’s around you right after the accident occurred.

Make sure you check that he’s not seriously hurt, be gentle, not pushy and reward him with a treat or something when he comes near you (on his own).

Hoping this helps, cheers.

Answer 3 (score 3)

Slightly different situation, but when I met my (eventual) wife, she came with a pug. As I grew up in a house with large dogs, I wasn’t used to a small dog getting underfoot. I can’t tell you the number of times that I’ve accidentally kicked, stepped on, and bumped the dog while he was under my feet.

Does he yelp when it happens? Absolutely.
Does he “care”? Not that I can tell.

Of course I usually react like any human, with sympathy, but I don’t dwell on it, and he “forgets” quickly. Before long, he is back trying to sit on my lap and looking for attention. As others have suggested, don’t keep fawning over the dog. While it is contrary to human nature, just go on like nothing happened and the dog will reciprocate.

7: Should I be concerned that my dog’s right eye is reflecting green in the dark when his left eye doesn’t? (score 106468 in 2014)

Question

Whenever I would take flash photos, or when my dog’s face is shone in light, his right eye would reflect greenish light. The other eye has no reflection of light at all. I hadn’t really thought about it until yesterday night.

I turned off all the lights, so that it was really dark. I turned on the flashlight on my cell phone, and flashed it in his eyes to check if it’s only one eye that reflects. This time I’m sure it’s only his right eye that reflects the greenish light.

Is there any reason I should be concerned about it only being his right eye reflecting greenish light?

I want to go to the vet for check-up but I heard it’s expensive so… I want to know if it’s okay or not… then I’ll decide to go to the vet :) Thanks.

Answer accepted (score 8)

The green shine is caused by tapetum lucidum. My Dachshund has it as well, although in both eyes, and the shine is actually very dim. As to your dog’s differing appearance of her eyes,

Found on a forum called the Naked Scientists:

I’ll have a go at it…

Here’s what we know. The tapetum lucidum, formed by the choroid at the back of the eye, is wedged between layers of blood vessels on either side but itself is avascular. It is responsible for reflecting light of various colours, producing the characteristic iridescence seen in flash photography of animals and in front of car headlights, and is believed to be a nocturnal adaptation by increasing stimulation of the photosensitive cells of the retina.

In dogs and cats, the tapetum is made up of cells. These cells contain crystalline rods that are arranged in such a way that they split the light that hits them into its various colour components. A similar effect is seen in herbivores, but the structure of the tapetum varies in that it is fibrous (collagenous) rather than cellular, and it is the arrangement of the collagen fibres within the structure that is responsible for splitting light. The tapetum is absent in humans and pigs.

So here’s what I think might be happening:

The eye that appears red lacks a tapetum lucidum and the result is the typical ‘red-eye’ seen in humans due to the appearance of the blood vessels of choroid and the underlying the cornea.

The dog has different crystalline or cellular arrangements in its eyes causing the reflected light to correspond to the different wavelengths. Interestingly, tapetum appears a blue-green colour in the Dutch sheep dog but an orangy colour in the Old English sheepdog.

The dog is slightly bung eyed and light is hitting the structure at a slightly different angle in one eye than in the other, affecting the way the light is reflected (but being an appauling physicist, I have no idea whether or not that is valid.)

So, my guess would be that your dog has tapetum lucidum in one eye and not the other, or he has it in both eyes, but one of them is a “lazy eye” or angled slightly differently, so the shine does not occur at the same angle when viewed by you. (More probably the first).

Edit: I now realize that I never really answered your question. No, there is no worry due to the single eye shine. Your dog will be able to see a minor bit better in very low light in the eye with the shine, but it should not affect his overall health.

Answer 2 (score 5)

The greenish light you’re seeing is a reflective layer of tissue found in most animals that have evolved to see in the dark called Tapetum lucidum. The way it allows animals to see better in the dark, is by increasing the amount of light the eyes can use through reflection.

The tapetum lucidum /təˈpiːtəm/ (Latin: “bright tapestry”, plural tapeta lucida) is a layer of tissue in the eye of many vertebrates. Lying immediately behind the retina it reflects visible light back through the retina, increasing the light available to the photoreceptors, though blurring the initial image of the light on focus. The tapetum lucidum contributes to the superior night vision of some animals.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapetum_lucidum

Diagram of a cat's eye ^(Source)

So, when you shine a light in the eyes of an animal, if they have the Tapetum lucidum in their eye, their eyes can appear to shine in different colors depending on the way the light reflects against it.

Some of the common colors you can see from eyes are green, yellow, and blue, except for animals that don’t have the Tapetum lucidum, their eyes appear red. That’s how you happen to get the red-eye effect when photographing humans.

As for your question about why one eye might have this effect, while the other one doesn’t. My best guess is that it’s genetic, and the the Tapetum lucidum in the left eye is smaller, or a different shape to where it doesn’t refract light in the way that you would be able to see it.

I wouldn’t say that it’s an emergency that you have to take your dog to the vet immediately for, but I would definitely bring it up the next time you take him in.

Answer 3 (score 2)

Please have your dog’s eyes checked by a veterinarian. I fostered a dog with dry eye. She lost her sight in one eye, that eye did not reflect light. If your dog has one eye that does not reflect light, his sight in his other eye is even more important. Make sure he does not need an inexpensive medication ($20/month) to save his vision in his other eye from dry eye. If this is the case, both eyes should be treated, since the condition is painful.

8: Why won’t my dog eat on her own? (score 102927 in 2013)

Question

My dog will go days without eating unless someone sits with her and hand feeds her dog food. At first, I thought it was because we were feeding her some table scraps every once in a while, but I have stopped that practice, yet she still won’t go to her food dish herself for more than 2 or 3 kibbles.

When she is being hand fed, she is always difficult at first, but ends up eating everything in her dish. So, I know she must be hungry.

Are there any suggestions on how I can encourage her to eat on her own? I have tried just leaving the dish on the floor hoping when she is hungry she will eat, but that can last days before I finally get worried and resort to feeding her by hand.

Answer accepted (score 8)

Going for several days without food is not usual for a healthy dog. I would ask, are you sure your dog eats absolutely nothing in this time, as I would be skeptical. Having said this, dogs can go for a number of days without eating, though this is not optimal.

The following is advice for a healthy dog. It is always a good idea to get your dog checked if you are worried. If your dog shows signs of poor health, weight loss, lethargy, any worrying signs, it is a good idea to get her checked professionally.

The best and easiest solution.

The best way to encourage a fussy eater to eat is to introduce competition for the food. Many dogs that eat slowly, are fussy and will not finish their food will eat reasonable helpings in good time when there is another dog present.

This is not always a viable option, especially to own a second dog. If you have any friends, family or neighbors with dogs, it would be worthwhile experimenting by feeding both dogs together, separate bowls, but within reasonably close proximity and see if this makes a difference. If not then there may be an organic cause for your dog’s sussy eating behavior. As a general rule, though these things are behavioral and your dog has no reason to gulp her food quickly, and it pays her to be a fussy eater, as she is fussed over, petted, offered a variety of food and hand fed. It is good to remove these rewards if this behavior is a problem.

The harder and more realistic solution.

Consistency is the key word.

You must not feed her, except for what is in her bowl for the following to work. Make sure the family eats their evening meal first. When this is finished, place a set amount in the bowl for 30 minutes, and take it up until the next day and repeat. She needs to learn two things:

She will not get treats by holding out.
She is at the bottom of the pack, so needs to be grateful for the food she gets at the end of the meal. Currently, she is ruling the family, by waiting until she is fed the things she wants to eat.

If you give in, she will learn that she just needs to wait it out. She’s obviously not starving, or she would eat, and the pay-off of holding out is worth it for her.

Ruling out health problems, you’ll find your dog will eat what she needs to maintain a healthy body weight. The one problem you will have is going to her less favorite foods, try and keep her on her most favorite dog food mixtures, this is something you can worry about changing down the track.

Answer 2 (score 8)

The best and easiest solution.

The harder and more realistic solution.

Consistency is the key word.

She will not get treats by holding out.
She is at the bottom of the pack, so needs to be grateful for the food she gets at the end of the meal. Currently, she is ruling the family, by waiting until she is fed the things she wants to eat.

If you give in, she will learn that she just needs to wait it out. She’s obviously not starving, or she would eat, and the pay-off of holding out is worth it for her.

Answer 3 (score 1)

My dog,bulldog mix, has done this also. What i’ve done is if he doesnt eat after an hour of it sitting there, i put it on the counter. I usualy feed him at 7 or 8 because i wake up early. He dosent eat, i put up the food and introduce the same food at around lunch time. he then eats because he is very hungary. So basically. You could just be feeding your dog too early. 😐

9: How can I stop my dogs from scooting / dragging their butts? (score 102905 in 2014)

Question

I currently have 3 dogs and all of them will periodically scoot their butts, slam their butts hard on the ground, and drag themselves. When it happens, I know their anal glands are bothering them and they’re trying to relieve the pain and itchiness which comes with an irritated gland. We have tried adding pumpkin to their diets, scoot bars and even considered a surgical option to have the glands removed.

The dogs are a 12-year-old Shih Tzu, 5-year-old Pug, and 8/9-month old Chihuahua/Yorkie mix, all with tails. Until recently they were fed Science Diet dry food twice daily (AM / PM), but we recently switched to Hill’s Ideal Balance.

How do I prevent them from scooting? Are there certain dog foods (dry/wet) which might prevent the glands from becoming irritated?

Answer accepted (score 37)

My dogs also scoot, which indicates it is time to express their anal glands, or “scent glands”: two internal sacs with openings to the anus, each containing powerfully-scented fluid for marking their poop.

By scooting, the dogs are probably trying to express them on their own, all over your carpet, which is a delight to try and remove. I find that once their glands are expressed, future scooting is prevented. Glands re-fill over time, so you might need to express them periodically, though expression should also happen naturally when they poop.

Do consider that if periodic manual expressions are scheduled, there should be less to express in future… expressions. Express. Of note, @KatePaulk from the comments below recommends (and I concur) that periodic expression is a good thing to prevent potential gland impaction / blockage, which could cause them to fill to bursting level, a situation no one wants to deal with.

“So,” you ask, “that’s all great about expressing the glands, but how do I actually undertake the task of expressing them?”

Expressing anal glands is a horrific process you can pay your vet or groomer to suffer through for you, or you can save a few bucks and do it yourself in the privacy of your own home (hooray!). I’ll explain the process below, as this is how I handle my dachshunds, who are not large dogs (with large glands, containing lots to express). Certainly, there are videos I can link to, but nothing can quite relate the experience across as a step-by-step process does, so hold onto your seats, no pun intended.

Disclaimer: I am not a veterinarian, but I have done this at least one time before. Safety not guaranteed. Must bring your own equipment.

Before you begin, make sure your fingernails are clipped short or have dulled tips, otherwise you might scratch your dog.
Warn your household what you’re about to do, so they don’t walk in on you.
Acquire a box of tissues or a roll of toilet paper, and a way to moisten them, like a small bowl of water or a sink.
Trap yourself with the dog in a small room, preferably a hall bathroom or a shower.
Wash your hands. This will not be the first time you will do this step today.
If you must, put on some disposable surgical gloves.
Turn on some smooth jazz and put on a nose-clip if you’re a girly man or an unmanly girl.
Place your dog under your preferred arm, head towards your back, with your hands aimed towards its rear end.
Point / aim the rear of the dog towards a wall you can ~~sacrifice~~ wipe down, like the tiled wall of a shower.
Place up to 4 ply of tissue / toilet paper in your hand, lift the dog’s tail, and cover its anus with the tissue and your hands, in that order.
Feel with your fingertips on either side of the anus; there should be a soft lump to the immediate side. This is, hopefully, the gland. There are two of them, one on each side.
- That means you’ll have to do this twice. Or more if you have more than one dog. Joy!
Place your thumb to the immediate side of the sphincter, and your index finger on the edge of the gland, probably anywhere from a half inch to an inch apart depending on the size of the dog. Cover with your tissue.
You can chance observing the blessed event, but you might want to wear goggles or a mask in the event you spray yourself.
- For crap’s sake, keep your mouth shut tight if you try to look!
- While it may seem like you can control the direction of the upcoming spray, the potential splash zone will be uncontrollably random, not unlike jamming a spoon into a grapefruit.
GENTLY press the index finger against the side of the lump, pressing towards the sphincter. At the same time, use the thumb to roll very slightly away from the sphincter, opening up the sphincter hole very slightly; this pressure should allow the gland to empty. You may hear a whooshing sound and feel a hot spray inside the tissue. The stench should momentarily hit you like a brick. Stay strong and try to keep your lunch down.
Some dogs (MY DOGS) find gland juice to be a delicacy and may try to turn to lick. Belay that dog from turning and stay the course, son!
Continue to gently rub and lightly squeeze until you feel like there’s not much left. Then, try again because there will be some left. You can switch out the tissue.
At any time during steps 13-15, switch sides and milk that butt till all the stink juice is expressed.
- Expression can look like anything from clear to yellowish, greenish, brownish, and possibly with little flecks in it.
Gently wipe the dog butt clean with tissues. Wet some tissues down and do it again.
- Sometimes I wipe wet tissues on a gentle soap (like Dove), clean the dog butt, then wipe again with new, clean, soap-less tissues. This helps get rid of lingering stench.
Flush those tissues / toilet paper immediately, or put them in a plastic zip-lock bag because ew. Try not to clog the toilet.
Kick the dog out of the room.
Wash your hands! Using soap should help remove any errant gland fluid which has embedded its stench in your skin. See, told you we’d wash our hands again.
Get the next dog and repeat.

Good luck!

Answer 2 (score 11)

Scooting can also be a symptom of worms this should be considered as well as anal gland issues when scooting behavior is noticed.

Gland cleaning exercises and procedures as described by @JoshDM, can be helpful for occasional gland issues. Surgical removal of glands is an option, but should only be undertaken after serious consideration. These glands play an important part in dog to dog communication and as you have 3 dogs, serious complications in the relationship are possible.

Answer 3 (score 7)

This is a hot button issue in the Vet and Groomer communities right now. If your dog is having scooting and anal gland issues PLEASE do not express the glands at home. Watch this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yA9SeHAEyQ4

This is Dr Karen Becker. She has a great explanation of anal gland issues, how they need to be treated, and now YOU as an owner, and ME as a pet groomer should NOT be expressing glands. If your dog is having issues, there is a good chance it is an underlying medical condition such as allergies, a gland is turned the wrong way, the gland is obstructed, inflamed, ruptured, etc. The analogy I like to use with my clients is that the anal glands are glands, just like your thyroid, or your pituitary. We don’t go around squeezing our neck to make our thyroid work do we? If it isn’t working right we see a doctor.

I have seen dogs that have had their owner try and externally express the gland, only to end up at the emergency vet paying a lot of money to surgically extract a ruptured gland. Its not pretty. Pet groomers have been doing anal glands for decades but no one ever questioned why until recently, when anal glands became a huge issue for many of them. I haven’t expressed an anal gland in over 4 years, with over 500 dog clients. If I see an issue, we first talk about diet, which leads to:

I would seriously take a look at your dog’s food. Science Diet and Hills are loaded with junk.

http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/

is a great resource to see what ingredients are in the food. Keep in mind that allergies and intolerances to ingredients cause inflammation in the bowel and in the rectum/anus area. Wheat, corn, soy, chicken are all things that cause reactions in large numbers of dogs. I do a lot of nutrition counselling for my clients and it’s always our #1 place to start regarding ongoing health issues.

One last thing: this is from me the business owner. Another reason I do not do glands and I strongly discourage owners from doing it as well is that you can cause major damage to the gland if you squeeze to hard or in the wrong area. Vets do an internal expression, sticking their fingers inside the rectum. This lets them feel for malformations, blockage, gland location, things that I can’t tell but doing external. I do not to glands for 1- liability it would cause if I ruptured a gland and 2- the more the gland is manipulated, the less it will work on its own thereby becoming a cyclical problem. Sure I could charge people a ton of $$$ to express glands, but your dogs health is worth more to me than the couple bucks I could make doing something I am not certified to do.

Sorry, that turned into kind of a rant, but I love my clients and I only want what’s truly best for them.

10: Big hound has eaten corn cobs what can I do to help him pass them? (score 99753 in 2017)

Question

Background: We left 2 half finished corn cobs on our kitchen work surface yesterday - our dog has never been a counter surfer so were pretty sure he couldn’t reach them on his hind legs.

Much to our dismay yesterday afternoon we returned from work to find them completely missing with bits of corn around the living room. He had clearly eaten them.

We called the vet and they assured us as long as he was ‘passing’ then it should be fine given he is a big dog, being the worrier I cant help but feel a little concerned.

Fortunately he passed a lot of it this morning, but we still remain cautious….

Are there are recipes or remedies to help aid this along quicker to minimise risk of any blockages or problems later on?

Answer accepted (score 11)

Corn Cobs are fairly absorbent. The best option here is to provide plenty of water and encourage your dog to drink up. The liquid will help soften the cob making it easier to pass. The hydration effect will also help the chemicals in your dog’s digestive tract permeate the cob potentially helping to break it down, also making it easier to pass.

There is nothing in a normal corn cob that is going to be toxic to your dog so there should be no worries there.

I would also note that this does not guarantee that the cob will not become a blockage it just reduces the chance of it because the cob will be softer and easier to pass. If your dog does become blocked, or experiences bloody stool after(or before) passing the cob you should take it to a vet immediately.

Answer 2 (score 5)

My cocker spaniel just had emergency surgery for bowel obstruction of foreign body. It was a chunk of corn cob that he had eaten at least 4 months ago. It was covered in black. X-Ray did not show the obstruction but the ultrasound did. He is day 2 post op and still in hospital. I won’t ever have corn in the cob in the house again.

Answer 3 (score 5)

11: Is it normal for a dog’s coat to change color? (score 90688 in 2017)

Question

We recently adopted a 7-yr-old Chesapeake Bay Retriever/Great Pyrenees mix with a dark coat, and after about 2 weeks, my wife and I swear the fur is getting lighter, especially around his ears and neck. He eats well and seems pretty laid back, and although he sheds a lot and we’ve been brushing him regularly, he isn’t developing any bald spots (e.g., from anxiety issues or malnourishment).

Is it normal for a dog’s coat to change color, for example, with the seasons? Or is it possible for the coat to get sun bleached from only a few hours outdoors each week? It also occurred to us that maybe he was just a bit dirty before, but we gave him a bath when we first brought him home and his coat only started to seem lighter as of a few days ago.

Update: we have now had him for more than a year, and his coat has stayed about the same since that first color change a few weeks after we got him. We’ve fed him everything from the cheap $20 for 50 lbs food, to the fancy $70 for 24 lbs food (but we buy it when it is on a clearance super-sale), and his coat stays the same. I think in those first 2 weeks we had him, we were feeding him the same food that the shelter had been feeding him. So, strangely, his drastic coat color change doesn’t seem to have been related to the seasons, and it seems unlikely it was related to diet or age since it was so fast.

Answer accepted (score 3)

First of all, most puppies are born with a very soft coat that is replaced with an adult coat as they mature. The adult coat is often a slightly different color. This could explain color change in an adolescent dog.

Many breeds have an undercoat that is not normally visible as it is covered by a top coat. This undercoat is often a different shade than the top coat. During heavy shedding periods, the undercoat is shed and becomes more visibly prominent, and this might appear to change the color. I had a Blue Heeler mix whose coat was normally a bluish gray, but would take on a brownish tint when she was shedding. I found that a Furminator grooming tool was effective in removing the dead fur on a short coated breed. I think this is most likely in OP’s seven year old Lab mix.

Finally, some breeds do change color over their lifetimes. For example, Bearded Collies have a dominant graying gene. My dog was born jet black, and her coat had turned to light silver by her first birthday. It is has gradually gotten darker, and is now a medium-dark gray four years later. Beardie’s coats often continue to darken over their entire lifetimes, but rarely get back to their birth color. Old English Sheepdogs also have this gene.

Answer 2 (score 3)

Answer 3 (score 2)

Sometimes dog’s coats do change color for various reasons:

Growing up from young to adult:Puppies sometimes completely change color as they mature. For instance, Dalmatians and Australian cattle dogs start off life pale and get their markings as they age
Old age: Many dogs go a little gray, especially around the face, as they age.
Sun damage or other environmental factors like shampoo or diet: Trace minerals in water cause dogs to have tears that will stain their fur by their eyes dark over time.
Diseases: Diseases such as vitiligo or a hormone problem may also be the cause.

Since you have obtained the dog in the last two weeks, I would suggest you to take him to the vet for a checkup and ask about it. It’s generally a good idea to bring new pets to the vet anyways, so the vet can see the animal while it’s theoretically healthy as a baseline.

12: What could cause my dog to bite/pull her own hair out? (score 88615 in 2017)

Question

The title pretty much says it - my dog, Chewy, has been biting and pulling the hair out on her front arms. Her name was given before this problem started. :)

It’s not every day, and I cannot find a pattern but about every week or so I’ll come home from work to chunks of hair pulled out around the house (normally all in the same area where she was laying), or wake up to what sounds like carpet being ripped out, which is an awful sound.

This has been happening for probably a year and a half.

About my dog

She is about 2.5 years old and is a Chow/Lab mix. She is honestly the nicest dog I have ever been around and NEVER gets aggressive (I only mention that because I know it is common for Chows to be aggressive/protective).

She was fixed as soon as she was old enough.

What we’ve done/tried so far

Keep her hair trimmed (especially around her arms/paws) because we thought that the length might be bothering her (and if it were shorter she might not be able to bite it as much). This had little to no effect.
Taken her to the vet, several times. The vet thinks Chewy has anxiety issues, which I agree with completely. We’ve tried a couple of different medications, the latest being Amitriptyline HCL, but haven’t had any luck.

Her anxiety

We’ve moved 3 times since we’ve had Chewy, which I think has contributed to her anxiety of being in a new place. However, we’ve been at our new house since July 2014 so I would hope that wouldn’t be an issue now.

She also has a fascination with being under things. Coffee tables, end tables, chairs, our bed, anything she can fit under, she’d rather be under it. She sleeps under our bed every night, and is under our coffee table in front of me as I type this. I’ve read this could have something to do with feeling protected.

I should also mention that she isn’t shy at all. She has no issues with people or people coming over, etc.; she greets anyone and everyone pretty much immediately. That is why I am unsure about her feeling “unprotected” when she is always under something.

Allergies

I am not 100% sure that Chewy has allergies, but she might. When she was a puppy, our vet told us that she might have allergies and suggested we switch to a grain-free food. She’s been on grain-free food ever since, although we aren’t too particular when it comes to treats, etc., not having grains. She doesn’t appear to have allergies to me (but I am not a vet and she hasn’t been tested for allergies to my knowledge).

Bathing

I’ve also considered the fact that she might have dry skin, which could cause itching and thus her biting her arms. She honestly isn’t bathed very often. She’s an indoor dog but we really only bathe her when she absolutely needs it (i.e. gets muddy outside). I’m wondering if she needs to be bathed more often, possibly with a shampoo that can moisturize her skin?

Here is what her arm looks like right now, you can see the baldness (this is her left arm), although it doesn’t look that bad right now:

enter image description here

Has anyone ever seen or heard of a dog doing this before or have any ideas/suggestions that we could try to get her to stop?

Answer accepted (score 5)

I’d recommend taking her to the vet immediately because often times this is a sign of a health condition that may need medical attention. She may have pain or discomfort from a more serious problem, or it could be something very minor like a skin irritation.

This may be related to anxiety from the moving but since you moved a almost a year ago it may be something else in her environment that is causing this anxiety. You may want to try giving her something much tastier to chew on besides her leg. Just make sure that you give it to her before she starts chewing on herself and not as a reward for chewing on herself.

One thing that I have used that works is putting a kong toy in the freezer with peanut butter in it. I find this will distract my dog for hours and may keep yours from resorting to chewing on her own fur. Anything that you can do to distract her and keep her from doing the negative behavior will help.

Answer 2 (score 1)

Does she lick at the areas? A few suggestions that may be helpful:

Keep a diary of when you noticing her doing it. If it is a behavioural issue (which most of the time hair pulling is in animals), keeping note of what happened before or during the hair pulling may be helpful as you can then try to avoid that situation. Of course, this is only if certain situations are causing it.
Since it seems to be localised to just her arms, I’m lead to believe it may be a behavioural issue rather than a medical one, but with that being said, I don’t want to rule out medical as I do not know what other behaviours she may be exhibiting, plus, dogs can get hot spots on only one part of their body.
Aloveen shampoo and condition are the bomb. http://dermcare.com.au/Products/Shampoo-and-Rinse/Aloveen.html They have a moisturising agent in them that helps with sensitive skin. You have to leave each one on for at least 5-10 minutes before rising otherwise, it won’t work. Try not to wash her more than once every 10 days as washing a dog more than once a fortnight can strip their natural oils from their skin, causing them to be more itchy
A vension based food can help as it doesn’t have as much protein, which can lead to skin irritation. I use http://ivorycoat.com.au/venison-adult-dog-food/ for my Lab and it has definitely help with her skin issues
Adding sardines to her diet is not only good for her gut but works wonders for a dog’s skin. Salmon oil added to her food may help as well
Doggy day care can get expensive. Have you looked into Nose Work? http://www.k9nosework.com/ My girl was so exhausted after two hours on and off of doing this that she slept so deeply that night. Really gives their brain a work out and is great to watch

Hopefully some of this may help and hope your fur baby is feeling better soon

Answer 3 (score 1)

Does she lick at the areas? A few suggestions that may be helpful:

Keep a diary of when you noticing her doing it. If it is a behavioural issue (which most of the time hair pulling is in animals), keeping note of what happened before or during the hair pulling may be helpful as you can then try to avoid that situation. Of course, this is only if certain situations are causing it.
Since it seems to be localised to just her arms, I’m lead to believe it may be a behavioural issue rather than a medical one, but with that being said, I don’t want to rule out medical as I do not know what other behaviours she may be exhibiting, plus, dogs can get hot spots on only one part of their body.
Aloveen shampoo and condition are the bomb. http://dermcare.com.au/Products/Shampoo-and-Rinse/Aloveen.html They have a moisturising agent in them that helps with sensitive skin. You have to leave each one on for at least 5-10 minutes before rising otherwise, it won’t work. Try not to wash her more than once every 10 days as washing a dog more than once a fortnight can strip their natural oils from their skin, causing them to be more itchy
A vension based food can help as it doesn’t have as much protein, which can lead to skin irritation. I use http://ivorycoat.com.au/venison-adult-dog-food/ for my Lab and it has definitely help with her skin issues
Adding sardines to her diet is not only good for her gut but works wonders for a dog’s skin. Salmon oil added to her food may help as well
Doggy day care can get expensive. Have you looked into Nose Work? http://www.k9nosework.com/ My girl was so exhausted after two hours on and off of doing this that she slept so deeply that night. Really gives their brain a work out and is great to watch

Hopefully some of this may help and hope your fur baby is feeling better soon

13: Are ultrasonic repeller devices painful for dogs? (score 82480 in 2013)

Question

I have mice in the apartment, and I am interested in using an ultrasonic repeller device. However, I read the following online:

“Humans can hear sound at frequencies up to about 23,000 Hz (Hertz). Louisiana State University researchers report that mice and rats are sensitive to sound up to 60,000 and to about 76,000 Hz, respectively. However, common house pets such as cats and dogs can also hear ultrasonic frequencies. Cats can perceive sound up to about 64,000 Hz, and dogs perceive sounds up to 45,000 Hz. You should consider not using noise as a repellent for mice if you have pets.”
Overview of Noise as a Mouse Repellant (eHow)

While the gap between dogs (45,000 Hz) seems pretty far from the mouse level (up to 60,000 Hz), do commercially-available ultrasonic repellers fall in the “safe range” for dogs?

Answer accepted (score 7)

I believe you are referring to a Riddex plug-in device.

I used to own one, and used it in my apartment where I lived with a dachshund. The instant I plugged the device in, a spider appeared on the wall from a vent, and crawled away down the hall. This proved to me that the device actually did “something” to justify the manufacturer’s claim. My dog, a young dachshund with no known hearing issues (other than deliberately ignoring me when I ask him to do things), had no reaction to the device being plugged in. To confirm he had no reaction, I plugged and unplugged the device multiple times, as this was a definite concern / deal-breaker for me if the dog was affected. He did not react.

At a later date, I replaced the Riddex with a newer version; same dog, no reactions. This same dog does react to a dog whistle and a behavioral device, neither of which I can hear. The description of the Riddex device claims it does not interfere with pets. I only have my own experience to back this up.

At some point, I stopped using the Riddex devices. The first one died after a few years and I don’t recall what happened with the second one. I believe the devices become less efficient over time, but I have nothing to back up this claim. I had not used Riddex in such a long time that I actually forgot I used to have one until I read this question. As I live in a climate with many pests, I have hired an exterminator for regular maintenance.

Answer 2 (score 4)

I had these in every room in the house. My dog began slowly to show signs of discomfort, teeth chattering and started to jump with movements around her. It was getting worse. I took her to the vet to check her teeth and also a full check over. He found nothing. Then one evening it occurred to me it maybe the plugs so I turned them all off. It has been 3 weeks now and all the distressed symptoms have gone. Coincidence? I don’t think so. Dogs do hear them and like humans , if they are sensitive it may distress them.

Answer 3 (score 1)

In are kitchen we have an electric fly killer to get rid of fly’s. Recently our dog has being crying and acting as if he is scared. We tutned of all of any thing electrical like lights and flash lights but he seemed fine so turned back on everything and he went back to his bad behavior. Recently we were eating when when we heard are fly killer make a noise and soon we found that it was the problem, our dog was scared of it. We searched up what simtems happens and we soon found out that any sudden noises that are loud can give a dog a heart attack ( normally that older dog ) instantly we got rid of the DG ly killer. In future if you have dogs or cats in your house make sure you don’t have an electric fly killer. ( the reason for them to have a heart attack is because they can hear much more than we can and if we think that something is loud they can hear it much note than we can!)

14: Can dogs eat the leftover bones from grilled ribs? (score 82402 in )

Question

I gave my dogs a few leftover bones from grilled ribs, thinking they’d chew on them for a few days. No. They ate them whole, right then and there. Is this safe / healthy?

Answer accepted (score 9)

In general, I would avoid giving cooked bones to a dog. Cooking makes the bones very brittle and much more likely to shard and cause injury. It’s also because they’re cooked that they crunched through them so quickly, they just won’t stand up to any real pressure from the jaws of a dog.

If you want to give them bones, you might want to look around for a dog-friendly butcher who is experienced in saving bones for dogs. They would have nice big bones and then they’ll get days of enjoyment as a result.

Answer 2 (score 1)

No bones period, bones are NOT good for dogs not even a little bit. They grind away their teeth and have risks of breaking their teeth as well (see it all the time in clinic), bone chewers always have awful teeth.

Another thing that we see quite often are obstructions and perforation of the GI tract from dogs swallowing bones whole or shards, impactions are treated with a nice expensive surgery where as perforations are more likely to be fatal.

Rule of thumb if you whack it on your knee and it hurts then it’s too hard for your dogs teeth.

15: What does it mean when a dog tries to cover its food? (score 77857 in 2015)

Question

So my dog demonstrated some behaviour last night which I’ve never witnessed before. At the end of a long hot day when we were settling into our camping trailer, we brought our dog inside for bed, but when I put his food bowl down in our room, he was kinda whimpering, took only one kibble off the top, dropped it on the carpet, then started using his nose to try and “bury” the kibble. I put it back in his bowl, but he merely grabbed another one, and tried doing the same thing, brushing the carpet in the direction of the one kibble with his nose. I eventually moved the bowl and put it on a little rug, but he came out from under the bed, whimpered again (the same sound he usually makes when he’s sore on his foot), walked over to his bowl and tried to flip the rug over his bowl with his nose while making the whimpering sound. Finally I took the bowl out of the room, and that seemed to make him happy, and he went to bed. He acted completely normal all day, played in the water, ran through the woods, and he’s been normal again today.

I get that he was probably trying to tell me that he didn’t want his food, but why the weird behaviour instead of simply not eating it?

He’s a 4 year old German Shepherd/Black Lab cross.

Answer accepted (score 3)

Dogs bury their food for a few different reasons. Personality aside, a natural behavior is for them to bury their food and eat it at a more convenient time. Your dog may not be comfortable eating in a new location (stress or other dogs marking this area can cause this) and wants to get comfortable before eating his food, so he can bury it until a better time. If an animal does not want food they will ignore it completely.

Answer 2 (score 1)

I do believe a pet that will cover his food or treats is simply because they’re not hungry and is telling you that you’re giving him her to much to eat .

Answer 3 (score 1)

I do believe a pet that will cover his food or treats is simply because they’re not hungry and is telling you that you’re giving him her to much to eat .

16: What time of day to feed our adult dogs? (score 74331 in 2017)

Question

Our dogs are four and six years old. We have been feeding them twice a day since each was one year old. Recently I came across a web page that argued quite well on the reasons why it is better to feed an adult dog only once a day. That text did not say (or I missed it) what would be a good time of day for feeding.

On this site I found an answer to another question (motionsickness in a car) where the answerer said “an adult dog only needs to be fed once a day and this is usually, best done in the evening.”

Okay, we are now willing to change our routine and start feeding the dogs only once a day.

Why is evening better? The food we give our dogs is dry pellets, which in my imagination makes for easy digestion. Won’t the dogs then have empty stomach by the next day and won’t that make them restlessly looking for the next bowlful of food? My family is away from home during the day and I’d like our dogs to calmly rest that time. Wouldn’t it be good to give them food in the morning before we leave for work and school?

Answer accepted (score 5)

Either once or twice a day are fine for most dogs. The timing doesn’t matter to much either as long as they have access to an appropriate place to eliminate. One suggestion I like is to feed them a little before a long walk. That way they can go while on the walk and they are tired and full after the walk so will be ready for a quiet day alone or a good night sleep. Any time you change your feeding schedule or amount be sure to closely monitor your dog’s weight so that they don’t gain or loose if it isn’t desired.

If your dog has motion sickness problems then avoid feeding for a couple hours before the car ride. If it a daily car ride you might choose to feed them after you return so they are always riding on an empty stomach.

Answer 2 (score 2)

With my dogs, the Vet recommended twice a day (morning and evening), as do most food packages (although the packages usually recommend way too much food).

With water is keep it full, perhaps taking it away in the evening to prevent accidents int he middle of the night. Just as an additional FYI excessive drinking and urination is a sign of problems.

Answer 3 (score 0)

I have a biggish dog.

Rural dog feeding strategy over here is:
- if you need a more alert watch-dog for the night and prefer the dog to be sleepy during the day: feed in the morning.
- if you have a barker, and want your neighbours to get some sleep during the night: feed in the evening.
These big dogs are at risk for turning their stomach, and the recommendation is to avoid activity with full stomach, and not to give too much at a time.
- I usually feed him twice although he’s now (at 2 1/2) able to do with 1 meal per day.
- Feeding times aren’t that regular in the sense that the more important rule is: food just before sleeping/nap time.
- So if he has the regular morning bike run to the office, he gets his morning ration there and then has his office nap.
- In the evening, he’s fed last thing I do and then usually turns into his dog house after a “regional call” to the neighbouring dogs and a last inspection round of the premises.
- If we’re hiking whole day, he’s fed afterwards the full day ration.
- How much rest after feeding depends not only on the amount but also on the type of food: If you feed, let’s say, a raw lung, he may take a digestive nap of 12 h before being ready to run again.
- I believe he’s an exception in that he’s the first dog I’ve ever known who rarely overeats (and he’s singularly unconcerned about someone else stealing his food). Also, he signs quite clearly when he’s hungry and that is not always ;-).

17: Will owls attack small dogs? (score 71790 in 2015)

Question

Over the past week I have noticed an owl hunting in our neighborhood at night. I have seen the owl in some of the trees in our yard.

I haven’t seen the owl well enough to determine what kind it is, but it looks large while flying and it makes the classic who-whoo-who-whoo sounds when sitting in our trees.

Do I have to worry about it hunting my small (~8 lb) Pomeranian/chihuahua when I let her out at night?

If so, what can I do to deter the owl from coming in our yard and do I need to go out with my dog to protect her?

Answer accepted (score 7)

Yes birds of prey can be a risk to small pets (and children!).

When we have our rabbits out in the yard we are always outside with them. As this video shows even a terrier on a leash surrounded by people is at some risk.

Other images of dogs and cats being attacked by birds of prey can be found on the internet. From these images it seems that animals in the 7 pound (3kg) range are at risk from birds of prey. How big does a pet need to be, in order to be relatively safe from attack by birds of prey?

The following images may be disturbing to some, mouse over will display them.

The size of pet that can safely be left outside unsupervised depends on the size of predators in your area, as well the amount of protection that you have to keep predators out of your pets area.

If you leave your small pet outside unsupervised, you presumably have a fence to keep feral/neighborhood dogs out as well as yours in. You need to be aware of all the predators in your area, some like racoons can climb fences and occasionally attack cats and even dogs (rarely).

Some flying birds of prey like Eagles can carry off animals up to half of their body weight. Some source recommend that pets under 15 pounds (7kg) never be left outside unsupervised. I did not find good references for birds of prey eating dogs, I did find reliable references of them catching and eating foxes, it is not difficult to image that dogs would also be at risk.

Some Eagles have been known to take prey up to 4 times their own weight. While they are unable to fly away with prey this size, the will kill and eat it.

IMHO Pets under 15 pounds (7kg) should never be left out alone.

References

Answer 2 (score 4)

My 6 pound Maltese was attacked by an owl 2 days ago at 5 am. The owl carried her about 40 feet and dropped her. I took her to the emergency vet. She is suffering from sores on her right side over her ribs, and several sores all over her front left leg. She has an eye injury from being dropped on her head and bruises on her body, her left front leg and neck. She was so terribly traumatize that she cried at the top of her lungs for over an half hour. She is recovering, although she is very tender and sore. I knew we had an owl that resided in our back yard, I could hear it sometimes at night. It never crossed my mind what it might do. I now go out with my dog for her potty breaks and thinking seriously of getting a dog run. A lesson learned the hard way at my dogs expense.

Answer 3 (score 3)

My dog was attacked by an owl tonight, I was watching my dog and it just swooped on him I ran outside and kicked the owl until it flew away. My dog was rushed to a vet hospital with puncture wounds on his head, neck, and eye. So yes they attack dogs!

18: Should I be concerned that my puppy is chewing on fallen leaves? (score 65584 in 2013)

Question

I have two 13 week old puppies who have a playpen that is partially shaded by a Star Magnolia tree. Winter is coming and the tree is starting to lose its leaves. I sometimes see the puppies chewing on leaves while playing (a favorite game is for one to pick up a leaf and the other to chase after him).

Some online searching indicates that Star Magnolias are not toxic to dogs, so I’m not worried about poisoning. I’m more concerned about things like intestinal blockage from eating them.

Am I worrying about nothing, or should I try to stop them from chewing and eating the leaves?

Answer accepted (score 5)

Some online searching indicates that Star Magnolias are not toxic to dogs, so I’m not worried about poisoning. I’m more concerned about things like intestinal blockage from eating them.

Puppies will naturally chew on leaves, bark and twigs. They are teething and need to chew. Chewing on non-toxic plant matter should not, generally, be a problem, even seeing the occasional leave matter in the feces is normal. If this is becoming excessive and you are seeing plant litter in the feces every time your puppy relieves herself or she becomes constipated, is struggling to defecate, or has runny* or hard feces, then you perhaps should rethink letting her play in the leaf litter unsupervised.

Puppies chew all sorts of things and it’s a matter of encouraging them to chew the things we want them to chew. The best way to steer puppies in the direction of what we want them to chew, is to remove the objects from the puppies reach i.e. shoes, to the remove the puppy from the source (in this case it would be leaves) or replace the object of chewable affection with a more desirable chewable object.

If you are concerned, provide your puppies with chew toys, dental chews and appropriate fresh meaty bones for them to chew on (they will enjoy these and they are good for them). If introducing fresh bones, do so gradually, as a sudden change in diet can cause stomach upsets.

You could also clear the leaves from the play pen each day, or move the playpen to another area, where the leaves won’t fall in; Or provide a protective and angled shade cloth over the pen, if it remains under the tree, the leaves will cascade over the shade cloth and fall on the ground outside the shade cloth, if moved from under the tree, your puppies will have shade.

The good news is, these puppy stages do not last for many seasons, so this may be the only fall you need to worry about.

A note about runny feces with blockage. When the bowel is partially blocked, there can be some runny fecal overflow that passes through the bowel in an attempt to clear the body of waste.

Answer 2 (score 2)

I would be concerned if there were pesticides sprayed on the leaves, otherwise if they’re non-toxic, and they’re plant matter, I don’t see that they would cause intestinal blockage as long as the puppy is chewing them and not eating them whole. If it really bothers you, rake the leaves, monitor their bowel movements (frequency and consistency), and provide the pups with some appropriate toys.

I am not a veterinarian.

19: How can I train my dog to stop eating everything? (score 63436 in 2014)

Question

He’s almost a year now (about 10 months old), and I thought it was just a phase, but it’s not so much like that as it seems.

I’ve had problems with him eating wood (from chewing on tree branches), which almost caused him a visit to the operating room because he would not poop, and threw up everything he ate or drank.

He doesn’t eat his poop, but he eats dirt, rocks, branches, leafs, grass, plastic bags, bones, and even dry wall or anything in between. Yes, he is the one out of my 3 dogs that gets into the trash, the other two know they shouldn’t and they don’t!

I’ve tried to move the trash bags to other places where he can’t reach them, but that does not seem like a reasonable solution. He doesn’t care if I’m right there, if there is something good in the trash can, he’s going to at least take a nice big whiff out of it while possibly sticking his head in there to see if he can reach anything.

This is not something I had to emphasize so much as to yell “no” or “bad dog” with my other dogs.

So my question is, how do I handle my rowdy, hyper, eating-everything-he-can dog?

Answer accepted (score 8)

It might help:

Put him on leash, and go for a walk, just not to the places he usually goes for trashes – you don’t want to fight with his instincts, so try to avoid it at first.
You must be alone, holding the leash. Ask a family member or a friend to bring the other two dogs as well, but walking quite far behind and without distraction – you will need them later.
When he shows interest/over-excitement for garbage (or whatever else), he must be like this, right?

enter image description here

What you need to do here is to make him calm down. Pull on the leash time to time, don’t make noise, just something like “hey” or “it’s okay”, you should not being angry or aggressive at all. You can also touch him, so he can gently cool-down. At this point you must be about 5 meters from the trash and you should keep him there like that until he gives-up. Then you will see something like this probably:

enter image description here

From now onward, you have to walk with him like this, slowly going closer to the trash or object. He should NOT pull the leash, you should keep him calm. If he is pulling, then stop and wait until he calms down, then one step closer. Go closer until you get to the point that you’re just a little bit far from the trash or object (but he still can’t reach it), and let him sit down there. Seems you’re waiting for someone, just wait there.

You will get to the following point soon or late:

enter image description here

Now bring the other dogs. Let them sit down there for a while. Like a normal summer day in your backyard. Then give some of their toys or even some food as a treat. Let them be there for a while and then start walking to the next point. If he is already tired, that’s a good news, go back home and repeat it again another day.

Just remember this is the correct way of walking with a dog with a leash. He/she should not pull for any reason.

enter image description here

Update

BTW I forgot to mention two things:

Feed him well with his favorite food before going for walk.
Play with him in your place/backyard before going for walk so he wouldn’t feel so excited. When playing, try to engaging him with his toys. Let him knows how he can enjoys playing with his toys.

20: Any internal medicine to get rid of maggots in dogs? (score 61948 in )

Question

There’s a 6 month puppy in my area and he’s been infected with maggots in his right rear leg. He’s too scared of humans so i cant go near him and apply any ointment or spray. So is there any internal medicine which can be used to get rid of maggots and can also be mixed in his food?

Answer accepted (score 5)

No, there is not a strictly internal/oral medication that can be used to treat maggots living in a live dog. The condition is called fly strike or Myiasis it can be fatal if untreated, there has been some success orally with Ivermectin in treating cattle, but there is some indication that dying larvae excrete toxins that can be fatal so close monitoring of the animal is required.

Most remedies involve physically removing the maggots, followed by treatment for related issues.

Answer 2 (score 2)

From what I understand Maggots only eat dead tissue, but with him so shy it would be difficult to treat him, maybe you can talk to a vet, there are some suggestions from this site. However all of them require hands on treatment, since basically its the wound that needs treating, cleaning and covering, probably no medicine can substitute that…

**from wiki pet, source below: Treatment*be

Restrain your pet if necessary. Maggot infested areas of skin can be very painful, and a pet may bite as a reflex. maybe make a makeshift muzzle.
Use blunt tip scissors or electric clippers and clip the affected areas to remove soiled and matted hair. Fur traps bacteria and keeps re infecting the wound.
Remove all maggots with blunt-nosed tweezers, a gauze pad, or tissue. Wear a pair of disposable medical gloves to avoid touching the worms.
Wash infected areas with Betadine solution and dry the dog. If you are using water to flush the wound, flush the area for at least 15 minutes. As the maggots escape the wound to avoid drowning, you are then able to easily pick them off. Water will rinse away any remaining fly eggs that haven’t hatched.
Then spray or shampoo the dog using a non-alcohol based product that contains pyrethrins and check closely for remaining maggots.
Topical antibiotic ointments such as Neosporin can be used to assist in fighting infection. Be sure this ointment is out of “licking range” to avoid the oral consumption of the medicine.

Dogs with infected wounds should be treated with oral antibiotics. If the dog is debilitated, her health and nutrition must be improved to bring about a cure.

Cleaning maggots out of a wound is only the first step, and often, the tissue damage is severe. Healing may take a long time, and wound care is important to ensure that more infection doesn’t develop.

A product designed for horses called Dy’s Liquid Bandage is the veterinarians’ choice for treating invasive, massive, or slow to heal wounds in cats and dogs. It is a combination of soothing herbs in an olive oil and beeswax formula. Olive oil is easily absorbed into the skin and carries the medicinal herbs along with it, while the beeswax covers the wound with a waterproof barrier that repels flies but allows air to penetrate to heal the wound.

The ointment works well on minor wounds, like a scrape or hot spot so it is a great home remedy to keep on hand. Prevention If your pet has a history of problems with maggots and had a very thick coat that hides sores, it may be a good idea to have a professional dog groomer give them a trim for the summer months when maggots are most active. Support Please contact your veterinarian or a professional pet groomer if you have questions about this condition.

http://www.wiki-pet.com/health/dog/condition/index.php?condition_id=62 You need to check with your vet…good luck

Answer 3 (score 1)

Maggot infestation can be cured. It’s very natural that the animal wouldn’t let you come near it as it is in extreme pain as the maggots continuously feed upon its flesh, skin and organs. So first it is necessary to kill the maggots. Get medicinal turpentine oil from a veterinary medicine shop. Pour a cap or two of that oil over the wound depending upon the size and depth of the affected area. After 8 hours you will see that all the maggots are dead and they have tried to come out of the infested area.

21: Regarding bitten from about a 2 month old puppy and risk of rabies (score 61148 in 2017)

Question

While trying to feed a stray puppy in my neighbourhood, I got a needle point pierce from his tooth on my thumb, with some blood also.

Immediately I rushed to the Doctor and got myself anti-rabies vaccination.

Doctor asked me to watch out for the puppy for at least 1 week to see if he dies or not.

My concerning queries are:

What is the connection of getting rabies from a dog and his death?
Should I be worried if he dies within a week?
Does bite from a 2 months old puppy can risk humans being infected from rabies?

Also, this puppy has been ill for past 2 days. (No obvious symptoms and he just seems to be ill because he is neither eating nor drinking anything.)

Answer accepted (score 1)

Rabies is rapidly, and very unpleasantly, fatal. If the dog has rabies it is unlikely to survive a week and probably, at that age, unlikely to survive more than a few days.
Only if the puppy was itself infected. You probably got bitten just because it was either scared or overenthusiastic.

Answer 2 (score 1)

Rabies is rapidly, and very unpleasantly, fatal. If the dog has rabies it is unlikely to survive a week and probably, at that age, unlikely to survive more than a few days.
Only if the puppy was itself infected. You probably got bitten just because it was either scared or overenthusiastic.

22: Can dogs get head lice and transfer them to humans (or vice versa)? (score 60107 in )

Question

If we have head lice, can we transmit them to our dogs, or can they get them and transfer them to us?

Answer accepted (score 9)

The short answer is no, although dogs and humans can get lice, there are many different kinds that are specialized for different species; even within species there can be specific lice that are not transferable between areas (for example, there are several different types of lice that specifically inhabit different parts of the human body - the head OR pubic area, not both). This has to do with the actual width of the hair and the morphology of the lice species, which in this case is not related to the question.

From Veterinary Medicine:

Lice are species-specific, meaning that there is a different species of lice for each animal species that they depend on. Human lice need human blood to survive, dog lice need dog blood, and so on. Therefore, if your child comes home from school with a diagnosis of head lice, your dog, cat, or other pets in the household are not at risk from catching the lice or hatching eggs. Conversely, while not as common in dogs and cats, the species of lice that live on dogs and cats are not able to live on humans.
While not an immediate threat to health, human head lice is very contagious and is not an indicator of poor personal hygiene. Lice are not as common in healthy dogs and cats as they are in humans. Poor nutrition, poor overall health, and very old or young dogs and cats are most at risk for lice infestation.

enter image description here

Furthermore, lice are not one of the more common parasites found in dogs and other household pets, such as cats:

Yes, dogs and cats do sometimes get lice, although lice are not one of the more common parasites diagnosed. They are most common in animals that live in poor conditions without proper sanitation. Dogs can get two different types of lice: Trichodectes canis and Linognathus setosus. Cats get only one type: Felicola subrostrata.

23: Can I feed a dog cooked meat or fish that is a week old? (score 59937 in 2015)

Question

Sometimes I have cooked meat or fish in my refrigerator that is a week old. Is this food safe to feed to a dog without reheating? Is it safe to feed to a dog after reheating?

Answer accepted (score 10)

One thing to know is that dogs that become feral are known to be scavengers¹ and as consequence are not necessarily eating fresh, unspoiled meats. From that aspect, you can discern that dogs are capable of eating meat that could very will sicken and kill us. The reason that dogs are able to do this is that their stomachs are very acidic and that allows for the dog’s natural biology to destroy harmful bacteria.

So, despite the evidence that would indicate that it is probably safe to feed your dog the meat, I don’t know that I would. In general, if (s)he is already getting a properly balanced set of meals and snacks, I’d just toss the meat. The risk may be low, but there’s no real value in it anyways.

¹The Behavioural Biology of Dogs, edited by P. Jensen, 2007, pages 157-158

Answer 2 (score 5)

There is no definitive time frame to say, it is ok or not ok to feed a dog meat at this point. Has the meat been thawed and prepared hygienically. Has been kept refrigerated? What other foods have been prepared with it (as some food will go off before others)? What type of meat is it? How fresh was the meat when it was cooked?

Dogs can eat many things that would make a person ill, some gross examples being, they can eat dog poop, and drink from toilets without necessarily becoming sick, which I doubt any person could do ever. They can manage to digest food with higher levels of bacteria than we can. Having said this, they don’t need to be fed bacteria platters.

The general rule I use is, does it smell off? Does it look off?

If it smells off, this means it is off, the smell is coming from bacteria and I would advise against feeding this to your dog.

If the meat looks dry and so unpalatable for a person, this doesn’t mean that a dog will not enjoy it. As John said in his answer dogs can be scavengers. However, if it is green or has growth on it, then toss it. Any obvious signs of bacteria and it’s not a good thing for your dog.

24: How long (distance) should I exercise my Husky puppy? (score 59698 in 2015)

Question

For a husky pup between the ages of 8 weeks to 8 months, I would like to know what a suitable distance for a jog would be before the dog will become fatigued. I understand this will vary, but just some general figures would be great. Are we talking max 5km, or go for a full marathon?

This question is purely based on fitness; I’d rather not receive negative feedback like, “your dog won’t have the attention span for a full marathon.”

Answer accepted (score 6)

There’s a significant difference between the dog being fatigued and what’s healthy for it. Huskies may get problems with their hips, so you don’t want to overexercise while still growing up. :)

From my own experience (got a husky puppy pretty much about one year ago):

Huskies can (and will) run long distances if you allow them to, but it’s a general misconception that they have to do it (especially from early age).
Use the general rule of thumb of “about 1-2 minutes of walking per week of age” (that’s for all dogs). That means, if your puppy is 10 weeks old, limit your walk with the dog to about 10-15 minutes, maybe 20 minutes. With 20 weeks you can extend that to 20-40 minutes, etc. With 8-12 months you should get a hang of it how far your dog wants to go, so you shouldn’t need any timing or math anymore.
Of course you can walk those 10 minutes to a nearby lake, stay some time there, then return home. Just don’t expect your dog to run an hour with you without pause just yet.
Don’t take the dog for a walk more than once or twice a day in the beginning (this also depends a bit where it’s able to do its business, the weather conditions, and stuff like that).
Distance covered isn’t that important yet. Just get out with the puppy. Even a 5 minute walk will be awesome for the little bugger, bonus points if there are other dogs to meet.
You’ll notice if the dog isn’t fatigued enough. On the evening our dog used to start biting/play excessivley or simply try to run around like crazy. If this happens, there’s some lack of movement.
Always keep an eye on your puppy. Not every dog will show you how fatigued they are, some will start to sit down, others will just troll along for whatever distance.

Answer 2 (score 4)

Here are a couple general thoughts about running with dogs:

The best practices for injury-free training a dog will be similar to those for injury-free training for people:
- Build up slowly over time in both speed and distance.
- Include rest days in between running days, especially between your harder running days.
Learn to read your dog while you run together. In my experience, in the first part of a run, my dog will be full of energy and will want to be out in the lead. In the second part she will want to be next to me. If we keep going, there is a third phase where she will start to lag behind. I am inclined to stop her in the middle of phase two when she still has gas in the tank. It is possible that dogs have some ancestral need to hide weakness or injury from their packs. I don’t know. Either way I am happy to stop early or at least stop to rest under a shady tree in the middle of a run.
Keep in mind that humans are uniquely well-evolved for endurance running. Dogs are not. They have a harder time regulating their temperature. They cannot sweat and, as with all quadrupeds, their respiration and their gait are linked together. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endurance_running_hypothesis

Answer 3 (score 1)

Never run with your husky until they are 1 year old. Trust me I’m at a vetinary school at the moment. Their bodies need time to develop and really I would stick to 15m walks and leave them to run around dog parks etc because then your dog will decide how much exercise they get. The dog will run but it might not want to and it certainly won’t be good for them, especially 5km-marathon distance.

25: My dog licking up other dogs urine? (score 59508 in )

Question

For a while now when I take my dog, he’s almost 2 and is a heeler-pug mix, out to use the restroom ( I live in an apartment complex so everyone shares this courtyard) and I have to carefully watch my dog because when he picks up another dogs urine scent, he starts licking it up. I’ve tried many different ways to stop him but he still does it and it’s gross cause he’ll later on lick someone and that’s unsanitary. Is it a dominant thing where he wan’t to be the only scent any other dogs pick up? I really need this habit to go away.

Answer accepted (score 3)

Is it a dominant thing where he wan’t to be the only scent any other dogs pick up?

No, it’s more or less instinctive behavior. The dog doesn’t want to get rid of the scent, he wants to literally get a better taste of it.

You can look it up if you’re interested in this (dummies.com has a short version), but basically their mouth/nose are made in a special way that allows them to pick up some particles and sniff them several times. You might have seen your dog picking up a scent and then doing something which appeared to be chattering with their teeth (which they don’t). They’ll allow the air to circulate through their nose several times.

I really need this habit to go away.

Good luck with that. You might be able to do it with constant training (let the dog sniff, but distract once the licking starts), but it will be very hard and I’m not really sure it’s really worth the trouble. It’s gross, I probably agree, but at the same time it’s something you can’t avoid even if your dog isn’t allowed to sniff outside (which would be bad for it).

Remember: The dog will clean itself, too, which also includes part of the dog body where gross things emerge. There’s no way around that.

However, out of my mind I don’t remember any disease you could get from your dog, which would be related to urine. Poo is a completely different thing, but at the same time your dog shouldn’t touch that anyway (apart from the occasional sniff).

As a kind of alternative approach, when you know your dog licked up some scent, let it drink. Even if there are still small amounts of urine left, they’d be diluted significantly (which also happens through saliva).

26: How much will a full grown English mastiff eat? (score 49352 in )

Question

I am looking to get my favorite breed of dog: Mastiff. But I can’t spend much on dog food. How much should I expect a mastiff to eat per day once it’s full grown?

Answer accepted (score 6)

Based on this dog food calculator.

A full grown mastiff will grow to be about 150-200 pounds¹.

Which means a 180 pound mastiff² with what the site considers a “typical” activity level, and food with a kcal amount of 320 per cup³. You’re looking at roughly 10-11 cups of food twice a day. Alternatively, that would be about 2 pounds of food each meal. Multiply 4 pounds of food with 7 days in a week and that means you’re looking at 28 pounds of food each week.

Now that’s a pretty rough estimate since you don’t have the dog (or at least not yet), but you can play around with the calculator to figure out if those numbers are anything that you think you should be worried about.

Note that if your dog happens to be larger, or even just more active, than the average it could very well need more food. And, depending on the type of food you purchase, it might need to eat more in order to receive the calories it needs in a day. The quality of food makes a difference, and the prices of food is related to the quality.

In my opinion, if you have any concerns about being able to afford a 30 pound bag of dog food each week, then you should avoid large breed dogs.

Keep in mind that you should be prepared to be able to afford to take your pet to a veterinarian if need be. That is an expense on top of the others. You should never have to skip feeding your pet in order to afford a vet bill. Also, if it turns out it’s allergic to certain ingredients you should be prepared to buy more expensive brands of food that exclude those ingredients.

¹ http://dogtime.com/dog-breeds/mastiff
² My estimated average weight based on the breed’s weight range.
³ Based on the contents of Purina One healthy weight adult dog food.

Answer 2 (score 6)

Based on this dog food calculator.

A full grown mastiff will grow to be about 150-200 pounds¹.

In my opinion, if you have any concerns about being able to afford a 30 pound bag of dog food each week, then you should avoid large breed dogs.

¹ http://dogtime.com/dog-breeds/mastiff
² My estimated average weight based on the breed’s weight range.
³ Based on the contents of Purina One healthy weight adult dog food.

Answer 3 (score 5)

I breed mastiffs so I will try to help you with this:

4-8 weeks of age         3-4 cups per day spread between 3-4 meals
8-12 weeks               4-6 cups per day spread between 3-4 meals
12-16 weeks              6-8 cups per day spread between 3-4 meals
4 to 6 months            8-10 cups per day spread between 2-3 meals
6-18 months              8-12 cups per day spread between 2-3 meals

These measurements are in another web site but I have been following this rule for years now.

OK my point is, as a breeder if you have not even got the puppy yet and you are already saying that you cannot afford to spend too much in dog food do yourself a favor and don’t get the dog.

Why? English mastiffs need high quality food; their growth and life quality depends on it. Lets say you buy cheap dog food filled with byproduct stuff; now that dog is going to grow so fast and fat that, trust me, you are going to have an unhealthy dog for life. You already damaged the dog’s joints etc. Now we are not talking about $5 or $15 dollars more on food. Now it’s about thousands of dollars on surgeries, therapies, and a life full of pain for your dog, you see is like a chain reaction.

This is a good example: Blue Buffalo the biggest bag they sell is 30 pounds for $55 plus tax, so about $60. Each of my English mastiffs eat that in a 2 week period, so each mastiff will cost you just on food $120 a month. Now throw the vet bills etc. I am not saying that you have to feed them Blue Buffalo; there are other good quality dog foods out there, but this is the one I use and the one I recommend as the owner of 6 baby giants. I hope this has helped.

27: Why is my dog peeing in the house when we’re not home? (score 49310 in 2014)

Question

After the first month, he got settled in and more hyper, and now whenever we leave and no one is in the house (except him and the cats) he defecates inside.

We take him out before we leave, but we always come back to a mess in the house. Why is he doing this?

Answer accepted (score 6)

The answer to your question depends on a number of things.

However, there are two things you need to do: go to a pet shop and buy a cleaning product specifically for pets and throw away whatever cleaning products you have that are based on ammonia because it smells like urine and it basically means “pee here”, then clean the floor thoroughly.

First, how old is your dog? If he’s a pup, you’ll need to remember that they can’t control their bodily functions until they are 3-4 months old and generally need to go out whenever they wake up, which might be every 2-3 hours. If you’re away more than a couple of hours, he will do his business on the floor because he can’t hold it. If that’s the case, you’ll need to find a small area for him to stay while you’re away and place there his bowl with water and one of the house training mats you can find in pet shops a couple of feet away from the bowl. Hopefully, he’ll learn to use that mat while you’re away.

Also, let me recommend you Pippa Mattinson’s “The Happy Puppy Handbook: Your Definitive Guide to Puppy Care and Early Training”. It was recently released but it’s by far one of the best books available for new pup owners and it will nicely guide you through puppyhood, including crate training.

If the dog is older, things might get trickier. Normally dogs instinctively know to keep their “den” clean, meaning the area where they eat and sleep, but puppy farms or inexperienced breeders might cause that instinct to go away by locking up a pup in a crate for many hours and forcing the pup to pee and poop right next to his bowl and pretty much in his sleeping area.

I own two dogs and they both learned really fast to do their business outside, but from what I’ve heard the solution would be to keep an eye on the dog pretty much all the time and when he’s starting to smell the ground you should quickly grab him and carry him outside and make a lot of fuss when he’s doing his business outside. Hopefully, he’ll learn but I’ve also heard that some adult dogs will still pee and poo inside from time to time.

At the same time, you can’t rule out a possible infection and dogs that are ill might not be able to hold it. If that’s the case, take him to a vet.

Answer 2 (score 5)

It’s really hard to say with out more details. However if you are dealing with an adult dog then it sounds like you may be dealing with a bit of separation anxiety.

Probably the best thing to start with here is something that will both help with anxiety and not allow the undesirable behavior to happen when you are not at home to monitor. Crate training is by far the most ideal way to manage this type of problem because it teaches the dog that when you are not around it is time to be settled and crates help with potty training. Crate training restricts movement so that the dog feels secure, isn’t as active and will not need to go potty so frequently and they really don’t want to go where they have to lay. IF you can’t crate train then limit the area the dog has access to one room without carpet. Make sure it is a room that the dog feels comfortable in and that you have spent time in with the dog.

Here are some other tips that should be used even if you can’t crate train. Make sure you are not making a big deal about leaving or retuning. It is best for the dog if you just walk out without going through a goodbye routine. It is often confusing to the dog when you say in a high pitch or sad tone “goodbye I’ll miss you be a really good dog while I am gone” and then you leave. The dog just understands you are interacting in an exciting manner getting them all riled up and then you leave them with nothing to do. Be calm when you come back home… to you it may feel good that your dog greets you like they thought you’d never come home but to a dog this is actually kind of panic behavior and it doesn’t feel good.

Also practice leaving for short periods of time (a few minutes) and then coming back. Don’t make a big deal about leaving or retuning. If the dog is calm when you return then reward them in a calm manner with a nice pet or treat. If the dog is anxious continue to ignore them until they are calm then reward them.

28: How do I get my dog to stop barking in the morning? (score 48985 in 2014)

Question

Our charming rockaway wolf is about 9 months old and is turning out to be a great alarm clock. He is up at 5:55 am every morning trying to nose us out of bed. If nudging and blanket yanking and elbow nibbling and face licking don’t work, he starts barking. It doesn’t matter how late his last walk was, he is up and he wants us to get up.

When I do take him out he doesn’t seem to have to pee urgently – he waits until we get three blocks away to the park and then sometimes longer yet.

It seems like the same bark that he uses with dogs in the park that won’t play with him. It’s his “hey guys! Guys! Get up and play with me!” bark.

We can tell him to get down, which lasts a few minutes, but he will not just let us go back to sleep. I really need him not to wake the neighbors up. I know they rise much later than us and I’d be pretty annoyed if I was hearing him hours before I had to wake.

Any suggestions for reigning this in?

Answer accepted (score 0)

FWIW, what finally worked was ignoring him. And time. Getting up before him didn’t help (and we couldn’t sustain it for long), but we did just get up and ignore him.

Three years later, he is still pretty assertive about telling us when he thinks it is time to get up, but he’s not nearly as annoying about it.

Answer 2 (score 3)

I got my black lab puppy at 8 weeks old. I immediately created a routine with him for bedtime or for when I leave the house and also immediately crate trained him.

The easiest way to do this is to feed him his meals in his crate. This makes him go into the crate on his own. I put the bowl in said ‘go to your crate’ and when he was inside I closed and locked the crate while he ate. Once he was done I would wait for him to turn around and patiently sit to be let out and I would immediately unlock the crate and let him out with praise. We did this for two weeks every meal time.

He sleeps in the living room away from me, in his crate. This creates a space for him to sleep (and I) peacefully. I know that sleeping time is a bonding experience but he’s going to get much bigger and there’s simply no room. I am also a light sleeper and he gets up and repositions himself 300 times a night so… He’s crated. I did not miss out on my ‘bonding’ experience my dog loves me and is very loyal to me.

Our routine is that when it’s time for bed I grab three small treats out of the cubbord and point to the crate. I turn off the TV and day ‘okay babe time for bed’ he knows to go in and he gets the treat. He knows that going in is a positive experience. I give him treats and lock up the house and we go to bed.

Unfortunately for me he wakes me up everyday at 7am. By this time his bladder is full and I walk him and out him back in his crate.

All I’m saying is create a routine at night. My dog is fed twice a day on a routine, walked on a routine and sleeps on a routine and he is very happy.

Answer 3 (score 0)

FWIW, what finally worked was ignoring him. And time. Getting up before him didn’t help (and we couldn’t sustain it for long), but we did just get up and ignore him.

Three years later, he is still pretty assertive about telling us when he thinks it is time to get up, but he’s not nearly as annoying about it.

29: Can my dog get sick from my human illness? (score 48075 in 2013)

Question

When I’m sick in bed, nothing feels better than my dog snuggled up under my arm (except when my arm is hurt, or whatever I have this time gives me an aversion to pet-derived warmth). Based on the illness I have (the flu, for example), I expose the dog to a lot of my germs.

Can I get my dog sick from my human-borne germs?

Answer accepted (score 23)

In the case of the flu, it depends on the strain of it. The specific type of disease that transmits from humans to animals and the other way around is called a Zoonotic Disease. According to PetMD:

The potential for zoonosis depends on a variety of factors, including climate, geography, population density, sanitary conditions (or lack thereof), grooming habits, and other factors.

Something like Swine Flu is a good example and the linked article provides many more.

In the case of ferrets and the flu, its possible to transmit generally human-only strains to them. This is why ferrets are commonly used in studies because their immune system is similar to our own. From Wikipedia:

Because they share many anatomical and physiological features with humans, ferrets are extensively used as experimental subjects in biomedical research, in fields such as virology, reproductive physiology, anatomy, endocrinology, and neuroscience.

To really answer your question: In general, no. But there are other factors (like the particular strain of a disease) that can cause you to transmit your disease to your animal. If you’re unsure, I think you should attempt to distance yourself from the animal or at the very least try to avoid contaminating their food.

Answer 2 (score 2)

We can give dogs Infections like Staph and MRSA especially if their skin is compromised. ..I.e. Scrape, hot spot, allergy skin suffers, I/V ports, wounds ect. We are a host when we touch other dogs or unsanitized surfaces and objects that have MRSA or staph. If another dog has any break in their skin and we touch it without washing our hands or wearing gloves we can give it to them. Its the chain of infection and we need to begin breaking it. Its not called zoonosis when it is from my human to pet it is called REVERSED Zoonosis.

30: Why do dogs not appear to be comfortable walking with socks on? (score 47884 in 2015)

Question

There are YouTube videos of dogs walking with socks on, in which the dogs are clearly uncomfortable with walking while wearing socks. Why is that? Sample YouTube video for reference.

Answer accepted (score 6)

Interesting, I had never seen these videos.

Firstly, dogs (like people) require the use of all the pads on their feet to balance, as a person wearing socks can have difficulty on a slippery surface, so can dogs. Also, people who wear shoes that are not well fitted also have difficulty walking. Think about wearing shoes that are too loose.

From what I can see, the dogs, by and large feel uncomfortable with the socks on and in most instances are trying to remove the socks as they are walking; hence the funny walk. In the video you linked, the dog looks like he feels uneasy walking with the socks on, and his gait widens to help adjust his balance, indicating that he is feeling uneasy walking in the socks.

When a dog’s claws grow too long they can have difficulty maintaining a normal walking gait, it is similar to this, in that anything that impedes balance, grip, especially something a dog is not used to will create a funny gait.

I noticed in some cases, when baby booties were used and tied on firmly, this would irritate the dog more, as s/he could not remove them easily, hence the gait was strange for a longer period of time, as the dog was continually struggling to walk and remove the booties.

This really is for the entertainment of the human, not the dog.

Answer 2 (score 5)

Because it is unnatural for dogs to wear anything on their paws.

In nature this never happens, so of course when we put something on their paws they will feel weird about it. The good thing is that they get use to it quite fast.

It is good that you put these protective gears on your dog as it protects them from the ground. For example, I live in Canada and when it snows the roads and sidewalks are full of salt. Wearing protective gear will keep the salt off the dog’s paws.

Answer 3 (score 3)

I disagree that it is for the entertainment of the human, not the dog. Dog booties are sometimes necessary. I’ve found that they are very handy when:

Your dogs pads are cut or irritated. Walking outdoors with booties can prevent infection, especially if walking in dirt.
If you, like I, live in an area which snows frequently, and rock salt is used outdoors for ice prevention. This can do damage to a dogs pad and booties prevent that.
Finally, although booties are not meant for indoors, if you have a hazard that is unavoidable, such as cleaning a floor with strong cleaning material, and unable to prevent your dog from walking in the area, these booties cone in handy.

I’m sure there are other uses, but those are the to three reasons I use them. Although the funny walk is amusing sometimes, the purpose behind using them is primarily for your pets safety.

31: Dog refuses to eat unless fed by hand (score 47821 in )

Question

My dog is a 3 year old Pomeranian. He is very happy, active, and loves to be around other people. He used to eat only when people were around him so I used to accompany him during his eating times, which are during the morning and the night. Nevertheless, I have been having a problem regarding his eating habits.

A few months ago, an aunt stayed with us and hanged around the home most of the day. She loves animals, so my aunt spent a lot of time with my dog. She pet him, took him out, and started feeding him by putting the food on her hand and then he would eat it from her hand. She would pretty much feed him like if he was a little kid, which I thought was ridiculous. I talked to her about the issue, but she disregarded my conversation and did it behind my back. My aunt left a week ago, but now the problem is that my dog refused to eat unless I do the exact same thing. I am worried because I do not like to see him not eating for one or two days, but at the same time I don’t like having him eat from my hand. How can I make my dog forget this habit of only eating from someone’s hand?

I was thinking I would just stop doing it and he will eventually get really hungry and be forced to eat. However, I am worried he will just stop eating completely. What is the best approach to this issue?

Answer accepted (score 4)

A stubborn dog won’t stop eating completely, he will eventually eat. Place the food in his bowl or on a plate and wait, once you see him eat out of his dish reward with treats and praise.

Feel free to add something really yummy on top, something he goes bananas for to break his will power and go for the bowl :).

Answer 2 (score 3)

Maybe he got used to being fed by hand and expects it now. Eventually a hungry dog will still eat, 20 mins isn’t long for the dog to not want to eat, just leave the bowl and see if he eats at all throughout the day. Otherwise if not, what I’d recommend would be to gradually reintroduce the dog to eating out of the bowl. Feed him out of your hand right on top of the bowl, little by little or through multiple sessions, move your hand closer to the bowl of food until it’s basically eating out the the bowl without your help, if that makes sense. Good luck!

Answer 3 (score 1)

I had the same issue with my guy. My aunt started hand feeding also, to get him to eat. Turned out he didn’t like the sound of his tags clinging the bowl. I switched to paper plates and it solved the problem. If u have noticed ur your dog being interested when u empty the dishwasher, it may me sensitive ears keeping him away from bowl eating. I also got him a new tag that weaves onto his collar, but he still won’t eat out of his metal bowl. Hope this helps frustrated fur parents

32: How to/Should I stop my 3-month old puppy from humping? (score 41962 in )

Question

My 13 weeks old puppy humps his bedding when I’m not around. I’m not sure how I should stop this behaviour or if I should even try to..? Is this normal?

Answer accepted (score 1)

Yes it’s perfectly normal for a young dog to hump things. Dogs hump for a number of reasons, both male and female, usually it’s due to excitement - especially in such a young pup. But it can be sexual under a year, or in older dogs a sign of dominance.

You can stop the behaviour, it is possible he may or may not grow out of it, but it’s not bad to stop the behaviour if you wish to no. It’ll certainly be more pleasant / less embarrassing to have a pup that doesn’t hump.

Usually if you want to prevent a behaviour like this just interupt, like you would do when they’re peeing unwantedly. Startling a dog generally makes them pause their actions. Give a ‘No’ command, but not agressively, just to grab their attention. Get them to focus on you, with a Watch command, then reward it.

At 13 weeks some males already have descending/descended testicles, so it’s worth having a check to see if that’s happening/happened yet. You can consult a vet in regards to when your breed usually drops, and when it’s best to neuter. Having your dog neutered will drop the testosterone levels and your dog will more than likely lose interest in this.

Answer 2 (score 0)

This is a natural behaviour and is not a sign of dominance. The dominance theory has been disproved for many years now. Dogs, both male and female do this behaviour when playing and is only seen as wrong by humans as we sexualise it. It would be like pulling your friend’s arm. Can I ask why you would like to stop it? What would you like your dog to be doing instead? I agree with Aravona about desexing as this may decrease the humping behaviour but there are no guaranties.

Since you have said that he is doing it while you are not around, giving him a “no” command when you are around will just tell him that I can’t do this normal behaviour when the human is around so I’ll just do it when they are not around.

33: Why do dogs look humans directly in the eyes? (score 40271 in 2014)

Question

I recently noticed that dogs see directly into the humans eyes. ~~Clearly the same for wolves.~~

Why do they do it? Is is only for communication or affection?

Answer accepted (score 17)

Many people (including myself) believe that dogs can read and understand human emotions. Studies attempting to look at this claim from a scientific point of view have shown that humans display emotions and feelings through their eyes.

It was found that when two people meet, they look into the right side of human face first and the same behaviour was found with dogs - dogs look at the right side of human face first as that side displays the strongest of emotion.

I recently watched a BBC documentary that was very closely related to this article and what I took away from that is the key why dogs are so close to humans are because they can “understand” your emotions and feelings and react accordingly, and they do that by reading into your facial expressions, esp. your eyes. (See the relevant sequence of the documentary on Youtube)

I cannot speak for wolves, but dogs at least seem to gaze into humans eyes to gauge our emotions.

Answer 2 (score 6)

The reason depends on the rest of the body language.

If the ears are down and the tail is up then staring in the eyes is a show of challenge to your dominance. Most of the time if you see this and tell the dog to knock it off (or what ever your method is) the dog will back down and that is the end of it. This behavior can be dangerous if the dog is exhibiting it towards children. It is important if you see that, that you correct it or you risk your dog acting out aggressively towards the child.

My pugs exhibit a behavior where they will get a sad face, pull their ears back, put their tail down demonstrating submission and look at me trying to get attention. Someone with a stiffer spine than I have would do well not to indulge this behavior because once you reward it you find that the dog will employ it more often. Trust me on that… Though I have to admit it is so freaking cute and really who can resist a pug looking pitiful.

The other frequent behavior I have witnessed is ears up and tail up because they want to play. Many times my dogs will exhibit this behavior by bringing me a toy they want to play with, or when I am absentmindedly playing with one of their toys. This is just their way of letting them know they want to play with you.

Answer 3 (score 4)

Because they intend to know your intention. That’s also unique in dogs not wolves; They don’t have any interest to keep eye-contact with humans.

34: How to introduce my aggressive dog to other canines? (score 38905 in 2017)

Question

My dog Rex is a rescue dog, and an aggressive one. He was known at his former shelter for breaking out of his cage and fighting other animals. He will see another dog at 500 ft. away and start “dancing” back and forth, yelping and jumping on two feet, eager to charge and snap.

But this is not always the case. While he was still at the shelter and I was volunteering there, I successfully—with the help of other shelter employees—“packed him up” with three dogs: another pit bull that was 100+ lbs and also aggressive; a young hound puppy that was less than 1 yr. old; and a pit bull mix about 3 years old. The last one was the only dog Rex would actually play with: they would jump up and “hug” (the way boxers play), and run around the shelter’s yard together. Unfortunately, they got in a very bad fight right before I adopted my pup, otherwise I would’ve taken them both!

Even since I’ve adopted him, I’ve taken Rex on morning “pack walks” with other dogs, all of whom are well-adjusted and usually off-leash. Two trainers lead these walks, and my dog—though he was required to wear a muzzle and leash—eventually warmed up to the other “regular” dogs, walking alongside them extremely well. He was even beginning to playfully charge one of the trainer’s dogs. We’ve since stopped these hikes because Rex has heartworm and can’t be too active.

Now the reason I’ve wanted to socialize Rex was because I live in a neighborhood with lots of dogs. Also a lot of idiots live here, walking there dogs off-leash, even on the sidewalks of our streets! Note: I know this is very illegal, but it’s still something I have to deal with. But even ignoring these idiots, almost everyone in my family owns a dog!

OK, finally to the question:

What is the best way to introduce my dog-aggressive Rex to other dogs?

I’ve tried several ways, all with varying bits of success: walking the dogs far apart, and gradually getting them closer and closer; walking Rex with a muzzle until he “settles down”; even letting Rex jump and lunge at the end of the leash until he realized he couldn’t get the other dog. Again, all have worked more or less, but it is still true that:

Rex brutally injured his only “friend” when the other dog snapped at Rex;
He was never walked at those morning pack walks without the muzzle on, so it’s not clear if he would’ve still been aggressive;
None of these have reduced Rex’s aggression towards “new” dogs.

I’m really looking for a way to best teach Rex to “tolerate” other dogs. I’ve read several articles and blogs about introducing two dogs, but they never deal with the case of a dog as aggressive as Rex is. Let me stress that it is not my intention to force Rex into potentially very stressful situations. It is just a fact of life that he and I meet many dogs every time we go for a walk. Heck, he loves running in my sister’s huge backyard, but even she has two small dogs that need to be locked in the house whenever Rex is over.

Dog’s history (from comment by OP) :

@psubsee2003: He was owned by a family who most likely abused him (he has strange scars on most of his body, and his tail is broken). He was found in the basement of that family’s house: they had moved out and left him tied to a pole. He was adopted quite quickly after being rescued, by a well-meaning family, who made the fatal mistake of (1) using a shock collar to train this already fearful dog, and (2) applying the shock collar for everything (I’m talking barking, peeing in the house, etc.). He eventually bit everyone in the family and was returned.

Answer accepted (score 21)

I would really urge you to see a professional dog trainer that you trust, with experience with aggressive dogs, and have him assess your dogs and help you out.

But after reading a bit more detail about your situation here than what you gave in another question on why he lunges at children, I’ll take a guess at your dog’s previous history, which might go some way towards explaining its current behaviour, and I’ll try to give you some pointers as to what you can do to improve the situation.

Dogs tend to avoid conflict at all costs

Dogs, by their very nature as social animals, are very non-confrontational. Because they possess very many very sharp teeth, they have evolved a multitude of warning signals that let other dogs know what they are up to*.

**Which is why cats, which are solitary predators, never let you know before they scratch you. Giving away your intentions is dangerous if every interaction with another member from your species is a potential fight.*

Dogs will look away, lick their lips, turn their heads, pretend to sniff and present the side of their bodies in order to calm other dogs down. If that doesn’t work, they start staring you down, raising their heckles, baring their teeth, snarl, growl, bark and snap at you, all in order to get you to chill the heck out. Only if none of these signals work will they start biting, and even then it’s usually just a quick nip.

However, many of those behaviours are seen as problem behaviours. Many people with a dog that has associated other dogs and people with bad things happening, and therefore constantly growls, lunges and barks at them, will punish the dog for these behaviours. Unfortunately, the dog will fail to pick up on the reason for being punished in most circumstances. Instead, his association of dogs/people and bad things happening will grow but he will start to suppress one warning signal after another until he goes straight for the bite.

I’m suspecting this is what happened to your dog and, depending on how much this has been trained out of him, he could be quite difficult to rehabilitate. Given his history, he probably isn’t safe to be off leash around other dogs at this particular time. The main problem is that, if another dog does anything to upset him, he won’t let the other dog know that he’s not okay with it but go straight on the attack.

Desensitising your dog to other dogs

Your main technique for dealing with this issue, as with the lunging at children, is desensitisation. Slowly introduce him to other dogs in a manner that he is comfortable with. If that means the other dog has to stay twenty metres away, then so be it. Reward your dog every time he shows interest in another dog (i.e. looks at him) with lots of treats and praise. Be very quick in your reactions, you want to reward him for looking and before he starts deciding whether that dog poses a threat or not. Try to set him up for success as much as possible. Every time you judge his comfort zone wrong, he’ll regress far more than the progress he gets from one good association.

If your dog does react badly and starts lunging/barking, try to distract him any way you can but without anything negative, otherwise it’ll simply reinforce his bad associations with other dogs. For example, try to get his attention with treats and calling his name in a really exaggerated high pitch, happy voice but only reward him after you’ve asked him to do something, e.g. sit or watch. If you can’t distract him at all, lead him away to a distance he is comfortable with, which will likely be around the corner and out of sight of the other dog.

One thing you can do to let him know that you don’t want him to do something is to introduce a no reward marker, i.e. a command that the dog associates with losing out on a reward. This can be a simple “oh, oh” or “oh no” in a disappointed voice, rather than the stern “ah ah!” or “no!” you’d use as a verbal correction. Once you have a no reward marker trained in (see below), you can use it to correct bad behaviour without forming bad associations. It won’t be enough to stop him barking at other dogs, but if you’re trying to distract him with a sit, and he keeps getting up and turning around, it might just make him more likely to listen to you.

How to teach a no reward marker

In order to train in a no reward marker, you need to set your dog up to fail. This seems opposite to what I’ve said above, but he will only be failing some of the time.

Ideally, get some treats that your dog loves but that you can eat as well. Cheese cubes or hot dogs work great, assuming you’re not vegan or lactose-intolerant. Try and find a situation where you ask your dog to do something and you know he will fail a few times. Training in a new command is a good candidate for this. If your dog is a jumper, stopping him jumping up is even better.

Taking that last example as a case study, with the dog sitting in front of you, hold a treat above your head and slowly lower it down towards the dog. Depending on how jumpy your dog is, only lower the treat a little bit before reaching down to it very quickly and rewarding him. The goal is to judge the distance at which your dog jumps and, normally, to reward it before reaching that threshold. You slowly set that threshold closer and closer to the dog’s face, until it won’t jump up at all and waits for you to give it the treat.

Now, your typical jumpy dog will break its sit and jump up. In this case, quickly pull the treat back up out of its reach and mark that loss of a reward with an “oh oh”. That way, your dog will begin to associate the command with not getting the treat. If that doesn’t stop your dog jumping after a handful of tries, eat the treat yourself whenever he jumps up. That way, you really hammer home that that treat is gone!

Be careful though to get the balance right, you don’t want to frustrate your dog and lose interest. So for every time it gets it wrong, put the threshold further away from its face to a distance you know it can deal with and repeat the exercise from there a couple of times.

Behavioural Adjustment Training

A similar technique to desensitisation is Behavioural Adjustment Training. The basic idea is to retrain your dog to defuse situations rather than escalate them. For that you put your dog in a situation that he is somewhat uncomfortable with but doesn’t react to yet. That is, you get your dog to walk towards another dog (or have the other dog come towards your unmoving dog) to a distance that he notices the other dog but does not lunge or bark at it. If your dog starts to show any sort of calming signal (averting his eyes, sniffing the ground, turning its head, licking its lips), you mark the occasion with a resounding “good boy!” and reward him by removing him from the situation, i.e. walk away with him. Your dog would be much happier if everyone else would just keep their distance, so removing him from an uncomfortable situation can be a powerful motivator for him. For this to work, it is even more important not to “set him off”. If he does react to the other dog and lunges at him, help him out and move him away from the dog. Make sure to keep him at a much larger distance the next time, as he’ll be more sensitive.

For this to really work, though, you will probably need the help of a professional, as your timing and your reading of dog body language will have to be spot on. For a fantastic introduction to dog body language, have a look for a DVD called “Calming Signals” by Turid Rugaas. There’s a five minute intro on YouTube that will give you a sense of how horribly produced it is, but if you love your dog, you will brave the sleep-inducing Norwegian accent and the horrible 90s camcorder look. Because for all the cheesiness and tackiness of the video, it is by far the best video on dog body language I have ever seen.

The human factor

Unfortunately, you might, to some extent, also be part of the problem. Having a reactive dog, it is likely you tense up whenever you see another dog or child in the distance, trying to decide whether they’ll come close enough for your dog to react and how you can avoid them. Your dog will pick up on that, whether it is from your body language or because you hold the leash ever so slightly tighter. You being nervous is one more reason for him to keep other dogs as far away from him and you as possible. He will also have learned to associate you being tense with other dogs being around, so he will actively look for them.

If you have a friend you can trust to be able to handle your dog under any circumstances, it would be interesting to see him take your dog for a walk to see whether he reacts the same if you are not around.

Even just being on leash, however, also puts up his stress levels, as he knows his movement is restricted. Unfortunately, having a history of attacking other dogs when off leash, it won’t be easily possible to see how much being on and off leash affects his interaction with other dogs.

There’s bad news and good news

It will be very difficult and time-consuming to socialise your dog to other dogs, and you can probably never trust him fully around other dogs. But with time and dedication, you can alleviate his behaviour to an extent where you are both comfortable and happy to go on walks and be around other dogs without constantly worrying about what might happen.

35: Why do dogs place their heads above the backs of other dogs? (score 38637 in 2016)

Question

One behavior I often observe with my dogs is that they’ll put their heads on or above the backs of other dogs.

Why do they do this?

Answer accepted (score 0)

Dogs are social animals and have a large repertoire of communicative signals and behaviors. Additionally the interactions between two dogs also involve many “learned” kind of interactions. One dog can learn that the other dog will let him do something. If that something is associated to a context that both dogs appreciate, it can become a learned habit. For example your dog could do that as a way to relax and send a “I’m calm and relaxed” signal to the other dog.

Observe when your dog is doing that and then you tell us what you think are his reasons.

Referring to @Chris’s answer involving dominance.

The outdated “dominance theory” has been debunked in every aspects, over the last ten years and by many authors (including Bradshaw, Dunbar, Eaton and many others).

In short here are some key arguments:

The dominance theory is based on the observation of captive wolves packs, where the individuals are constrained to stay in the pack and are, in most cases, unrelated
Observations of wild wolves packs is quite different in term of social structure and hierarchy. A typical wolf pack involve a single breeding pair, along with the previous years litters and the cubs. In that sense, the alpha pair are simply the parents.
Dogs do not socially behave like wolves (captive or wild). Studies and observations of feral dogs (eg. Pariah dogs in India) revealed that the “pack” are very different from wolves packs. There is no single breeding pair, the individual from different groups often interact without fighting (which is very different from the behaviour of wolves from different packs: they avoid each other but will fight in almost all cases if they do meet).
The “dominance theory” took all of that a step further by claiming that dogs will keep that social structure even in their interactions with humans. No scientific data supports that assertion.

Notable Sources:

Dog Sense: How the New Science of Dog Behavior Can Make You A Better Friend to Your Pet (Bradshaw - book)
Dominance in Dogs: Fact or Fiction? (Eaton - book)
Dominance in domestic dogs-useful construct or bad habit? (Bradshaw - paper - see references inside)

Answer 2 (score 5)

Observe when your dog is doing that and then you tell us what you think are his reasons.

Referring to @Chris’s answer involving dominance.

The outdated “dominance theory” has been debunked in every aspects, over the last ten years and by many authors (including Bradshaw, Dunbar, Eaton and many others).

In short here are some key arguments:

The dominance theory is based on the observation of captive wolves packs, where the individuals are constrained to stay in the pack and are, in most cases, unrelated
Observations of wild wolves packs is quite different in term of social structure and hierarchy. A typical wolf pack involve a single breeding pair, along with the previous years litters and the cubs. In that sense, the alpha pair are simply the parents.
Dogs do not socially behave like wolves (captive or wild). Studies and observations of feral dogs (eg. Pariah dogs in India) revealed that the “pack” are very different from wolves packs. There is no single breeding pair, the individual from different groups often interact without fighting (which is very different from the behaviour of wolves from different packs: they avoid each other but will fight in almost all cases if they do meet).
The “dominance theory” took all of that a step further by claiming that dogs will keep that social structure even in their interactions with humans. No scientific data supports that assertion.

Notable Sources:

Dog Sense: How the New Science of Dog Behavior Can Make You A Better Friend to Your Pet (Bradshaw - book)
Dominance in Dogs: Fact or Fiction? (Eaton - book)
Dominance in domestic dogs-useful construct or bad habit? (Bradshaw - paper - see references inside)

Answer 3 (score 0)

The other answer regarding dominance is one reason. However many dogs do this as a play behavior as well. While playing more dominant dogs will often switch roles and act submissive towards other dogs. We can guess that they do this to encourage the less dominant dog to play and that they won’t get in “trouble” for it.

If the dog is being forceful or is not correctly reading signs that the other dogs dislikes the behavior than I would step in and not allow it. Otherwise it is part of normal play.

36: How to hold my dog in place to clean his ears? (score 38324 in 2015)

Question

My dog (a German Shepherd mix) has a severe ear infection and needs ear drops twice a day and an ear flush once a day. He absolutely hates this, and as a result I have not been very successful in cleaning his ears. I’m concerned that if I can’t flush his ears properly, the ear drops won’t have much of an effect. He weighs over 50 pounds and has plenty of energy, so it’s difficult keeping him still.

I read that you should place your dog on a table at about chest level, but I live in a small apartment and the closest thing I have that is that height would either be my stove or my computer desk, two things I definitely don’t want him jumping up on.

I live alone and cannot rely on having a friend help me every time. So far I’ve been leading my dog into the bathroom and giving him treats, then getting ahold of his collar and leading him into a corner. I then wrap my arm around his head to get to his ear, and attempt to apply the ear drops. If I had an extra couple hands at this point, I would also hold his body so I don’t feel like I have him in a headlock, and use the other hand to give him treats.

He generally stays quiet (with the occasional yelp), so I don’t think I’m hurting him. He just fights very hard to escape my grasp. How can I hold him still long enough to properly clean and treat his ear infection? A friend recommended some kind of large treat/chew toy, but what could I get him that would keep him in place?

Answer accepted (score 8)

A couple tips:

Exercise him first to start with less energy and in a more relaxed state.
Do it in a place that the dog is used to and relaxed in… the room he sleeps in might be good. (sometimes the slippery floors in bathrooms can make dogs more anxious and therefore prone to fighting the situation)
A new bone or kong type toy filled with yummy stuff he has to lick out may help distract him but if this gets him to excited/wiggly then it may not work for him.
If you have time start with a massage… this can get them in a relaxed state and more willing to let you manipulate their body
Put the solution/medicine on a cotton ball, put the cotton ball in his ear then lightly rub his ear like you are massaging it… he may not even realize you are cleaning it out.
Don’t obsess too much, most of the time the medication they give you for helping ear infections works really well so as long as you are getting it in there you don’t need to worry about cleaning out everything you see. The medication should help to dry it out and it will naturally come out.
If your dog has very hairy ears it can be helpful to try to remove some of the hair, but be very careful and just focus on the hair on the outside so that the ear can drain.

Answer 2 (score 3)

I’ve noticed that if I warm up to body temp whichever solution I’m using, my babies put up far less of a fight. Solutions colder than 90+ degrees are likely to be uncomfortable or painful. I don’t suggest using the microwave to warm it up, as it is likely to get too warm and may adversely effect the chemical composition of the medication. The easiest way I’ve found to do this is to… Now don’t laugh… is to put the bottle under my arm pit, for awhile, while watching TB or on the PC. If this doesn’t appeal you could warm it like a baby bottle, in warm, but not hot, water. Test the water on your wrist first, to make sure it isn’t too hot. The reason I like the underarm method is if I’m going to use cotton balls, I can warm the cotton balls as well, so they don’t cool down the cleansing solution, before it goes in the ears. Hope this helps. Good luck.

Answer 3 (score 2)

Okay so I have a German Shepherd and he is only 10 months but over 150 pounds and I am not very strong so I tried all of these “solutions” above but none of them worked so I calmly put my dog in a “headlock” not hurting him and squeezed the cleanser into both his ears. Yes, he struggled but I got it in there and massaged at the base of both ears and gave him a treat. But now he isn’t whining and his ears don’t stink anymore(thank god).

37: What is the optimal age to neuter a male dog? (score 37314 in 2014)

Question

It seems de-sexing a male dog will assist in preventing undesirable behaviors that can surface with an entire male dog; for example aggression, roaming, cocking the leg to urinate.

Is this true?

If so what is the optimal age to de-sex a male dog to help prevent the onset of such behaviors?

Answer accepted (score 4)

For male dogs, it doesn’t seem to matter. Some behaviours will respond to castration, others won’t, no matter the age of the dog:

Castration was most effective in altering objectionable urine making, mounting, and roaming. With various types of aggressive behavior, including aggression toward human family members, castration may be effective in decreasing aggression in some dogs, but fewer than a third can be expected to have marked improvement. Age of the dog or duration of the problem behavior does not have value in predicting whether castration will have a beneficial effect. (Neilson et al., 1997)

For female dogs, however, it seems that spaying them to early is associated with an increased risk of urinary tract infections:

Because earlyage gonadectomy appears to offer more benefits than risks for male dogs, animal shelters can safely gonadectomize male dogs at a young age and veterinary practitioners should consider recommending routine gonadectomy for client-owned male dogs before the traditional age of 6 to 8 months. For female dogs, however, increased urinary incontinence suggests that delaying gonadectomy until at least 3 months of age may be beneficial. (Spain et al., 2004)

References

Neilson, Jacqueline C., Robert A. Eckstein, and B. L. Hart. “Effects of castration on problem behaviors in male dogs with reference to age and duration of behavior.” Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 211.2 (1997): 180.
Spain, C. Victor, Janet M. Scarlett, and Katherine A. Houpt. “Long-term risks and benefits of early-age gonadectomy in dogs.” Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 224.3 (2004): 380-387.

Answer 2 (score 10)

For male dogs, it doesn’t seem to matter. Some behaviours will respond to castration, others won’t, no matter the age of the dog:

Castration was most effective in altering objectionable urine making, mounting, and roaming. With various types of aggressive behavior, including aggression toward human family members, castration may be effective in decreasing aggression in some dogs, but fewer than a third can be expected to have marked improvement. Age of the dog or duration of the problem behavior does not have value in predicting whether castration will have a beneficial effect. (Neilson et al., 1997)

For female dogs, however, it seems that spaying them to early is associated with an increased risk of urinary tract infections:

Because earlyage gonadectomy appears to offer more benefits than risks for male dogs, animal shelters can safely gonadectomize male dogs at a young age and veterinary practitioners should consider recommending routine gonadectomy for client-owned male dogs before the traditional age of 6 to 8 months. For female dogs, however, increased urinary incontinence suggests that delaying gonadectomy until at least 3 months of age may be beneficial. (Spain et al., 2004)

References

Neilson, Jacqueline C., Robert A. Eckstein, and B. L. Hart. “Effects of castration on problem behaviors in male dogs with reference to age and duration of behavior.” Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 211.2 (1997): 180.
Spain, C. Victor, Janet M. Scarlett, and Katherine A. Houpt. “Long-term risks and benefits of early-age gonadectomy in dogs.” Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 224.3 (2004): 380-387.

Answer 3 (score 4)

For performance dogs we like to wait until 18 months on average. The point is to wait for them to really be done growing. Removing hormones before that point can cause bones and muscle to grow differently than they would have otherwise. Dogs fixed early tend to be taller and less filled out than they would have been otherwise. However if it is a non - working pet dog than the difference is not likely to matter too much. And for males, if you are seeing unwanted behavior you will have to weigh your options. If you are seeing aggression, obsessive marking, or wandering and you don’t feel that you can overcome these behaviors with training then you may want to fix your dog earlier than the 18 month mark. Also, if you have both an unfixed male and female and you don’t intend to breed then do yourself a favor and fix at least one of them… it can be incredibly difficult to keep them separated enough during the females season to prevent an accidental breeding.

If it is a large breed or a breed prone to hip dysplasia I would wait for the 18 month mark at minimum even if the dog wasn’t in a sport. I’ve been training and competing in dog sports for 10 years and I think it is actually pretty amazing that just from the look of a dog you can often guess if they were fixed early but that is just an observation, for the real data…

This is a good paper that sites several studies done that found increased incidents of CCL rupture, hip dysplasia, and patellar luxation in dogs that were fixed early. These injuries seem to correlate with the findings of longer tibia, radius and ulna which are likely caused by the delayed closure of growth plates. The lack of hormones slows the closure and allows the bones to grow longer than they would have otherwise. This results in dogs that are taller and don’t have as deep of chest cavities as they would have otherwise.

It looks like the bones may be less dense than they would have otherwise as well but I have not yet found a scientific study to back that up.

I think it is really encouraging that we are now seeing alternatives to a full spay or neuter that keep some or all of the hormones without the risk of accidental breeding. Some of the alternatives are ovarian or uterine sparing spays and for the boys there is now a product called Zeuterin. If these catch on it’s possible that we will see the rate of these injuries decrease significantly.

38: Why do my dogs stand back to back when they mate? (score 34524 in 2013)

Question

My dogs start off mating like many mammals, the male mounting the female. But they then turned away from each other during the process.

Why do they do this? What purpose would it serve?

Answer accepted (score 6)

When dogs mate, the male dog gains entry to the female by mounting her from behind. The bulbis glandis, a part of the penis, swells and lodges inside the vagina of the female. The female has strong sphincter muscles at the opening to the vagina, which contract around this swelling, further securing the penis inside the vagina.

The dogs then turn, maintaining this contact and face away from each other in what is known as a tie. The dog penis is able to turn to accomodate this rotation.

As it takes 20 minutes for the entire mating process to complete, it is theorised that the evolutionary reason for this turn is so the dogs are not left defenceless in the original mount position, with the males dog’s back and genitals exposed. Both dogs’ faces and jaws are facing outwards, forming quite a formidable defence against would-be predators or other dogs wanting to mate with the female.

After ejaculation the swelling subsides and the vagina muscles relax and the dogs are able to release and break.

39: Can unscented baby wipes be used instead of pet wipes to disinfect my dog? (score 33836 in 2017)

Question

NOTE: This is a follow-up of and related to my previous question — How to clean (disinfect) my dog everyday after walk?

Baby wipes are used to dry bathe babies, a good way to bathe them without getting wet too often. In a way, it’s an easy solution to cleaning babies.

Similarly, we have pet wipes for dogs ⁽¹⁾. But can baby wipes be used to disinfect dogs? ⁽²⁾ i.e. as an alternative to pet wipes?

A baby gets dirty inside the house hence the risk is lower, where as a dog gets dirty outside, be it a park or streets, and it may involve other dogs’ urine and other secretions—a common way for diseases to spread (sometimes even to us).

Given the case, the question is, will baby wipes work just as well in disinfecting my dog? If not, what are my alternatives, other than pet wipes ⁽³⁾?

Footnotes:

Good pet wipes are hard to find in my place (even online), and hence this question. I am from India.
Baby wipes can be harmful to dogs if they consume the solution from the wipes (through licking), esp. if one of the ingredients is Propylene Glycol. I can take care of this by getting unscented (free of fragrance) baby wipes and making sure that my dog gets dry before I let him out of my sight.
E.g. Towel bathing with a 1 in 40 solution of Dettol and water (i.e. 1 tablespoon of Dettol in 500 ml of water). The thing is I am not sure if it’d cause any skin irritation in dogs, or if it’d be effective at all.

Answer accepted (score 6)

Honestly, I wouldn’t do it. First of all, I don’t think that baby wipes contain a disinfectant. Yes, they’ll clean the baby, but that’s not the same as disinfecting.

Then: Babies don’t usually lick themselves and I can’t imagine that it would be healthy to consume large quantities of the residue of baby wipes, including the oil that most wipes include to re-moisten the baby’s skin. It won’t help if you prevent your dog from licking himself before everything has dried - the water (or whatever moisture they contain) will have evaporated, but most of the residue will be there no matter what. Also, I’ve never heard of baby wipes replacing a shower - they’re usually used to clean the baby during a diaper change, but they won’t replace the bath the baby gets every so many days.

But more in general, I question the whole idea of using wipes to clean your dog. Skin is not the same thing as hair/fur - surely you wouldn’t think that you could wash your hair by using a baby wipe? Hair has a infinitely larger surface than skin, meaning that if you wipe it down with a wipe, you will only reach the part of the hair that is on the surface of the body, but not the part that facing the body. I really can’t imagine wipes being that effective, not even the ones made for animals (meaning that I think they’re made to pull money out of your pockets).

You’re confounding two things here, one is your dog carrying dirt/bacteria/viruses on his fur, and the other is your dog being infected by a disease, thus becoming the carrier of this disease and then transmitting it to you, by means of bodily liquid. The first you needn’t worry about that much, as most bacteria/viruses won’t survive for very long in a fur, those aren’t the life conditions they are made for. In the second case, disinfecting your dog’s fur will do nothing at all.

If you’re really worried about infectious diseases transmitted from dog to humans, stop kissing your dog, and wash your hands before you eat or use the loo, and whenever your dog drools on you.

Answer 2 (score 1)

I don’t know about using unscented baby wipes on dogs, but I do remember seeing this article about making your own wipes. That would allow you complete control over the ingredients.

http://lifehacker.com/5893511/diy-wet-cleaning-wipes-are-easy-to-make-cost-less-than-store-bought-wipes

Answer 3 (score 1)

I don’t know about using unscented baby wipes on dogs, but I do remember seeing this article about making your own wipes. That would allow you complete control over the ingredients.

http://lifehacker.com/5893511/diy-wet-cleaning-wipes-are-easy-to-make-cost-less-than-store-bought-wipes

40: What harm will soap water do to my dog? (score 33291 in 2013)

Question

My dog just drank soap water that I left outside the house. I don’t know what to do.

Will this negatively affect his health? Should I take him to see a vet?

Answer accepted (score 20)

It basically does the same thing to dogs that it does to humans, which means he’s in for a bit of an upset tummy, a whole lot of gas, and very likely uncontrollable bowel movements depending on how much he drank and how soapy the water was. It should pass fairly quickly, but if it doesn’t you should definitely contact a vet.

Also, read the label to see if there’s anything in that soap but soap that might be toxic - if the label advises you to contact a poison control center if ingested, then you should definitely contact your vet. If it’s household dish soap or similar, you probably don’t have much to worry about - but do check.

Just make sure he’s got plenty of water and make sure he’s got enough water (he can dehydrate due to a very active bowel, just like humans can). It’s also probably a good idea to keep him in a comfortable shady spot outside for a while for ermmm .. environmental reasons :)

Note - dogs have a pretty good sense on what they can and can’t digest (though it’s not perfect by far). If there was enough soap in the bin to really make him sick, he probably would not have drank it, or at least stopped after the first taste of it. Just keep an eye on him, he’ll be fine.

Answer 2 (score 4)

If someone drinks something that can foam, he should avoid vomiting. In case he vomits, there is the danger of suffocation. I think it is not a good idea to encourage him to drink much water.

41: How often and long should I walk my puppy? (score 33069 in 2017)

Question

My puppy is seven weeks old, we have been playing with her and getting her used to running around with a collar and lead. She quite enjoys coming for walks, even with the lead on.

Aside from issues of vaccination:

Is it safe to take my puppy for walks?
How often should we take her walking?
How long should the walks be?

In response to this answer What can I do if my puppy is hyperactive? I thought it would be a good idea to discuss the effects of walking on puppy health.

Answer accepted (score 7)

Your puppy is still quite young so over-exercise is not good for him at this stage

Depending slightly on the breed, a puppy’s skeleton doesn’t fully mature, and the growth plates do not fuse until the puppy is 18 months old or older. The growth plates, which are part of the bone structure, typically fuse during the puppy’s tenth month, but after that the skeleton continues changing as the bones adapt to the various kinds of stress put on them. The skeleton is not fully formed and bones are not hardened until 18 months or later.
Before the growth plates close, too much exercise can jar and loosen little joints, and cause stress to the skeleton, which can cause permanent damage including elbow and hip dysplasia, joint problems, and growth abnormalities in the cartilage that can cause pain and lameness. (Source : How Far and How Long Should You Walk Your Puppy?)

The distance and time your puppy should walk for, varies according to the breed. So it is advisable you always watch your dog whenever you take him on a walk and try to notice when he is tired probably when his speed reduces, etc. When you notice he is tired, Stop the walk in order not to Over-exercise him.

However, as pointed out by My dog’s life,

There is a 5 minute rule which is basically 5 minutes walk per day, per month of your puppy’s life, so therefore a 3 month old puppy can be walked for 15 minutes and a 4 month old puppy for 20 minutes, which is a guideline but as an owner make your own judgement on your puppies needs as each puppy is different.
It is important to walk your puppy each day to help with training, plus during a walk he/she will gain social skills, mental stimulation and physical exercise. As your puppy grows you can extend the time of each walk and remember to go on different walks with new surrounding and scents which will be more stimulating for your puppy, plus more enjoyable for you as you will meet new dog walkers during your walk.

In addition, when you want to take him for a walk, it is advisable you go to a clean environment free of dirt, dog poop, etc. Also you can take along with you a pedometer so that you can measure the amount of steps your puppy took before he grew tired. Then you can apply this to your other walks.

Answer 2 (score 5)

Because puppies’ bones are still growing, most experts recommend that puppies are not taken on long walks until they are approaching their first birthday.

An often quoted rule of thumb is five minutes of exercise per day for every month of the puppy’s age. This would mean no more than 35 minutes of walking a day for a seven month old dog.(source)

Another thing to consider is a the breed of the dog. Smaller dogs usually can not go as far as a dog like a lab can. And the larger breeds take more stress on their joints making long walks somewhat dangerous to them.

The amount of exercise your puppy needs depends on his age, breed and medical condition. Not every breed will be up for a long walk through Central Park. Some breeds are just not built to go the distance, while others are always ready to romp. Some of the breeds that need the most exercise are Border collies, Labrador retrievers, Jack Russell terriers and Dalmatians. (source)

And Caesar Milan points out:

Be sure that your dog does not overheat.
If you are too hot, assume your puppy is too hot, too. Provide water to your puppy or try to run in a cooler area.

Be consistent with exercising puppy.
The weekend marathon after a week of couch potato life is very hard on the joints.

Be cautious with your puppy’s feet.
Running on cement (especially hot cement) can cause sloughing of the foot pads, so try to have breaks on softer surfaces or at least work your puppy up to the harder surfaces to give them a chance to form the necessary calluses.

Be aware of your puppy’s limits.
Until you understand your puppy’s stamina, be sure that you are able to stop when your puppy starts to lag behind. That means taking the short route 5 times instead of the long route once. If you feel that the puppy is not able to go as far as he should, consult a vet to see if there is a health reason for the intolerance.

42: How much meat is enough for my dog? (score 32973 in 2014)

Question

My dog is a 5 years old schnauzer that weights approx 23lbs.

I usually give him 1.5-2 cups of dry dog food per day.

I would like to switch him to real food. I understand that the majority should be meat protein. How much oz of meat should I give him? And what should I mix in with the meat? (my dog is slightly allergic to chicken)

Answer accepted (score 5)

TL;DR

I understand that the majority should be meat protein.

Please don’t feed just meat to your dog. Doing so will throw off the necessary calcium/phosphorous ratio, and will be missing a number of other macronutrients that dogs require.

Raw diets can be tricky, and there’s a lot of contradictory science (and plenty of bad advice) out there. However, the majority of raw feeders will tell you that the diet should approximate the contents and ratios present in a whole lean carcass.

How Much to Feed

Requirements vary based on exercise levels, caloric content of the foods, and the quality of bio-available nutrients in whatever you’re feeding. In general, though:

An approximate food consumption guide, based on raw meaty bones, for the average pet cat or dog is 15 to 20 percent of body weight in one week or 2 to 3 percent per day….Table scraps should be fed as an extra component of the diet.
— Dr. Tom Londsdale’s Guide to Raw Feeding. Londsdale, 2006.

For your 23-pound dog, that means feeding around 1/2 to 3/4 of a pound of raw food per day. You’ll have to experiment a little to find out what’s optimum for your dog.

Macronutrients

According to Unlocking the Ancestral Diet (Steve Brown, 2010) a raw diet should look something like:

Protein: 49%
Fat: 44%
Carbohydrate: 6%

Other sources recommend up to 30% carbohydrates, but all the raw feeders I know personally tend to fall into the low-carb camp. Your mileage may vary.

Calcium/Phosphorous Ratios

Dogs require a calcium/phosphorous ratio of around 1.3:1. In practice, unless you’re feeding whole carcasses, that means you should be feeding around 10-25% bone matter on average, in addition to recreational bones.

Personally, I achieve this ratio by feeding items with high bone content like chicken wings (close to 50/50 bone and meat) and supplementing with offal and a small amount of pureed vegetables, but there are other ways to get there.

Switching Diets

Some dogs need help transitioning to a raw diet if they’ve been living on enzymatically worthless processed foods. A good probiotic and enzyme supplement can help; I think highly of Wysong AddLife as a one-stop supplement. I’ve also used NWC Total-Zymes to boost digestion with older dogs, and make sure to feed plenty of kefir or yogurt whenever a dog’s diet is changing.

Answer 2 (score 3)

Although other members might have some useful information to provide, questions like this are best answered by your pet’s veterinarian.

You already know your dog is slightly allergic to chicken, but what about other meats? You wouldn’t want to feed your dog something he or she is highly allergic to. Your vet will be able to tell you what meats your dog should eat as well as what amount should be.

43: Why is my one dog’s hobby chewing my other dog’s fur? (score 32046 in 2014)

Question

So, I have had my 3-year-old, 65-pound, American Bulldog for about 9 months. His name is Dewey and he is deaf. I recently adopted another dog, a 2-year-old, 45-pound, Australian shepherd/Chow mix, named Clint, from the local shelter. Dewey has clearly asserted himself as boss dog and Clint, being as submissive as he is, seems perfectly okay with the arrangement.

Clint and Dewey get along pretty well (I took Dewey to meet Clint before adopting) and they play pretty well, normal amounts of “bitey-face” and wrestling. My question concerns Dewey occasional behavior during downtime. Dewey, as the title of the post precludes, really enjoys chewing on Clint. Clint has rather long fur (compared to the short fur Dewey has) and Dewey enjoys gently chewing on this thick mane, as if Clint is a toy. Clint is totally fine with this (it seems).

Why might Dewey be doing this? I’m not looking to stop it because it seems both dogs are cool with it. A Google search hasn’t yielded anything and I’m at a loss for explanation.

Answer accepted (score 5)

I wouldn’t worry about it since it’s a case of a dog grooming another dog. If it was compulsively grooming itself, it could be a case of dry/irritated skin, allergies, or parasites among others.

I think what probably happened is that sometime during their playing Dewey starting the behaviour and it just became a habit for whatever reason.

It could be that it’s a mild case of Pica, where he just likes the texture. I know some dogs that will compulsively lick their owner’s suede couch because they like the texture of it.

Wolves will practice a type social grooming when they’re relaxed, picking fleas, ticks, and burs, out of each other’s fur. So it’s possible that it’s stemming from that behavior, or started as that behavior and evolved into just something they do after wrestling.

44: Why does my dog push his food out of his bowl? (score 30006 in 2015)

Question

I feed my dogs in their kennels and when one of my dogs eat he pushes a lot to the food onto the ground, but he won’t eat the food he pushes on the ground. The food gets all over the place and I don’t understand why he does it when he used to eat all the food in his bowl and now he only eats a fraction of it. Can anyone help me figure out why he does this and how to make him stop?

Answer accepted (score 1)

What is probably going on:

If the level of humidity in your house or the feeding area is high, the food on the surface gets less “crunchy.” Some dogs prefer to have their kibble like humans prefer their chips… crispy.

The dog will dig deeper in the bowl to get the kibbles that haven’t been soften by humidity and discard the less tasty parts. In other words, the dog is sorting his food. He could also do this if you use food that has a mix of flavored kibbles.

To avoid this, try giving smaller quantities of food at once but feed the dog more often during the day. Or change the “old food” and add fresh one. If the dog is a very fussy eater, you can always add a bit of new food on top of the bowl and mix it with the rest. Close your food bag properly to keep it fresh or buy smaller bags. You can also trick the dog by alternating with canned food (or real meat) and mixing some kibbles with it; it’s a nice extra for the dog anyway and changes the routine.

Check the humidity level in that area and maybe install a dehumidifier to help this. Usually this isn’t necessary, simply feeding smaller quantities and keeping the food fresh helps a lot.

Other factors:

As mentioned already, make sure to change the bowl sometimes or use bowls that don’t retain odors as much as plastic does (eg. ceramic, stainless steel.) Plastic bowls need to be changed a few times a year.

Some dogs move their food around like little squirrels because the area where their bowl is has too much “activity”, or when there’s too much “competition” for the food (eg. other dog) or when they’re very stressed; they’ll move their food where they can eat in peace and leave some food here and there. That can happen more often with small breeds. Other dogs do the opposite; they want to be seen eating to show dominance (eg.like wolves.) That doesn’t seem to be the issue here though and these things happen more often in households with lot of activity, young kids or other pets.

Answer 2 (score 1)

What is probably going on:

If the level of humidity in your house or the feeding area is high, the food on the surface gets less “crunchy.” Some dogs prefer to have their kibble like humans prefer their chips… crispy.

Check the humidity level in that area and maybe install a dehumidifier to help this. Usually this isn’t necessary, simply feeding smaller quantities and keeping the food fresh helps a lot.

Other factors:

Answer 3 (score 0)

As a money-saving alternative, try sticking some water in the food dish and let it sit. The food will now be very mushy.

Perhaps this might help, it is a trick used when dogs won’t eat their food otherwise. I know it sounds gross, but dogs like novelty, too.

45: Is there any ant killer which is safe for my pets? (score 29450 in 2016)

Question

I am trying to find very effective and natural ant killer to kill ants inside my house. they are all over, in my kitchen, in my bedroom, windows, main doors. I was tried some ant killers, but they smells so bad. And I have a dog. I do want my get effect with those ant killer. So, I didn’t use it any more..please recommend some better ant killer which is safe for my dog.

Answer accepted (score 3)

If you have a bad ant infestation, you need to call an exterminator to come out and treat the inside and outside of your house. Most of the chemicals will be pet safe after a certain amount of time. You can just take your dog and spend the day somewhere else.

If you have areas you really think the pet will get into on a regular basis, like around their food bowl, then you could use diatomaceous earth. This is a natural product that looks like a white powder. It’s completely safe for humans an pets. In fact some people feed it to their animals as a natural dewormer, though I have my doubts as to the effectiveness of it in that instance. I’ve even heard that some people ingest the occasional amount of it for the same purpose, in some places.

The way I understand that it works is that the grains of dust are actually like microscopic little knives. The don’t hurt soft creatures like you, your dog, worms, etc…, because the nicks are so small and we heal. However, supposedly any insect with an exoskeleton gets nicked and it cuts their exoskeleton. This causes them to dehydrate because they don’t have skin that rapidly seals up. They die of dehydration.

Again, it’s a white powder, so it isn’t going to stay in high traffic areas for very long, but you can put it down anywhere you want and it’s perfectly safe, even if your dog goes and licks it. It will last much longer if it’s in places you normally wouldn’t disturb, like the back of your dish cabinets, under trim, under your washer and dryer, etc…

I’m pretty sure you can order some online. It’s hard for me to get around where I’m at, because the small bags online are more expensive and the bags I can find locally are cheaper, but they want to sell you like 50lbs at a time. It’s something you can look into, though, that may solve your problem.

Answer 2 (score 1)

I think D.E. would work best in this situation but I am offering alternative solutions. For a contact killer you can use dishsoap and water in a spray bottle (I am pretty sure it suffocates them). You can also set a trap where you get a small plate of really shallow soapy water and leave a sugar trail to it (I have not tried this method but supposedly it is good for taking out groups of ants).

If you dont want to kill them lemon juice or orange rinds and water supposedly has a chemical which repels them too. This supposedly works as a preventative thing and a contact thing (but doesnt kill them).

Just putting this out there because i can, but this option is low impact and environmentally safe but not pet safe upon ingestion. Borax or boric acid and sugar mix on a plate (or a cotton ball soaked in the mixture and water) can kill the ants too

Answer 3 (score 0)

Try Dichlorvos strips. You can buy these at most hardware stores and the vapours from the strips affect invertebrates; however, these strips should be used only for a short time and shouldn’t be used while you are inhabiting a room (though my people ignore the warnings on the package and do just that.

The CDC notes:

Do not use in kitchens or food prep or storage areas where unwrapped food may be exposed. Kitchen utensils should not contact the strips. Pets and children should not play or sleep where strips are in use, nor should the strips be used in any room where humans are likely to spend more than four hours a day. An important sidenote here: most of the illnesses (65%) reported in the CDC paper occurred when exposures exceeded four hours per day.

You can close a room and leave the strip to run it’s course overnight and then move the strip somewhere else. Once the strip has been removed, provided that there is some ventilation, there will not be any harmful residue left behind. If you are moving through the room occasionally the vapours won’t harm you or your dog. You can keep these strips on your exterior walls (on the outside of your house) to help deter them.

Side Note: I also use diatomaceous earth to kill/deter ants as my wife has a terrible ant phobia.

46: In what temperature ranges are dogs comfortable outside? (score 29337 in 2015)

Question

Specifically, a Labrador-type dog. My wife and I would like to get a dog for our family, but we don’t want to leave it inside for extended periods. It’s not as bad as us both being gone 8-5 each day, but there are times when it would be several hours.

Dogs, of course, are equipped with built-in fur coats. I wonder if I built a very nice dog house that was dry, shaded, protected from wind and the elements (pretty much everything except for heated) and had plenty of fresh water if it would be comfortable in a wide range of temperatures.

Please cite a reference, actual real-life examples or experiences, or a comparison to similar dogs who live in the wild (versus saying “I think X degrees is too cold”). Thank you.

Answer accepted (score 6)

It really depends on where you live and the dog (breed/coat, age, health, personality). Each dog is different and has different needs. Some dogs can withstand the cold but really hate it and should not be forced to endure it.

Puppies should never be exposed to the cold for extended periods. Adult labs will be fine, just make sure to give them extra food during the colder seasons.

An adult lab will be fine outdoors year round, if provided an adequate dog house:

Insulated
Large enough for him to stand, turn around, lie down and stretch in
Not oversized (since it needs to hold your Labrador’s body heat to help keep him warm)
Heavy wind flap on the entrance door
Nonporous bedding inside

References:

Labs and Cold Weather

General Dogs and Cold Weather

Regarding keeping your dog indoors…

Plenty of dogs are fine in the house all day. Any behaviour trouble (destruction of property, potty accidents, etc) are usually the owners fault and not done out of spite. E.g. dogs don’t think “you were away all day so I’ll punish you by peeing on the bed or destroying your shoes”. As long as the dog has things to entertain him during the day and gets enough exercise (especially in the morning), he’ll be fine. Perhaps consider crate training or restricting him to a space within the house or getting a dog door.

Answer 2 (score 2)

I run a dog rescue In Delaware. This question cannot be answered well without knowing where you live and the varying temperatures. A Lab will generally not do well in more extreme temperatures. Over 80 degrees and under about 50 degrees for more than a few hours the animal will not be comfortable. In most climates you either need to provide A/C or Heat at some point during the year. In Delaware we need to provide both in the hotter part of summer and colder part of winter. For the dogs that spend more time outside we provide kennels in an enclosed building with heating in the winter and shade, fans, and very good ventilation in the summer. We do not adopt to people who plan to keep their dogs outside because there is no reason to do so. It probably isnt a good time to own a dog if you are not home for extended periods and cannot have someone walk your dog. If you have to be out of the house and you have a dog that chews or is learning to be house trained you can gate off a laundry room or bathroom so he/she has a comfortable space to stay until you come home. If you have other questions you should consult a trainer or rescue in your area.

Answer 3 (score 1)

As far as cold if you have a good dog house that they can get out of the wind and rain they can deal with 0 or even -20 if they came into the season. Meaning they had time up build up the coat by being outside. If they are outdoor dogs the indoors will be too warm for them in the winter. If they are indoor dogs (no winter coat) then I would not leave them out under 32 for long periods. Under 32 I pack the dog house with hay. Two dogs will warm each other.

As far heat if they have shade and water they can deal with 100. I live in Houston and leave my dogs in a shaded kennel. They have a horse trough they can get in and get wet. Over 90 I have shop fan I blow into the dog run.

It is also a duration thing with heat. 4 straight hot days and they will dehydrate. Let them in the house to cool off.

Young and old dogs have more trouble with the heat and cold. I had a lab that lived to 15 and in the last few years even 90 was uncomfortable for him so I would leave him in all day.

47: What color toy should I get for my dog? (score 29200 in )

Question

I recently got a dog and it loves to play fetch with toys. I know that dogs are color blind, but not like they see black and white, just less colors than humans see. I’m pretty sure any color toys will work, but what is the best color toy to get my dog? I need a color that the dog can easily distinguish from the colors around it, especially green (because of grass).

Answer accepted (score 6)

Dogs don’t distinguish luminance (brightness) as well as we do, and have trouble telling red from green. The image below is the best comparison I’ve found of how we see vs. how they see, against different backgrounds. Websearching “dog color vision” found it, and a great deal of additional data.

comparison of how toys appear to us vs. to dogs, against both light carpet and grass

Answer 2 (score 4)

Dogs are not color blind. Instead of perceiving levels (intensity) of 3 colors like us (red, green and blue) they only perceive the intensity of two color: blue and yellow. For example red is perceived as different levels of gray. Dogs have a kind of “red-green color blindness”.

So I’d say that blue and yellow are the easiest.

I don’t know if it makes a big difference but I’m using pure blue and yellow only for my targets.

Answer 3 (score 1)

They can see blue and yellow, all the other colors appear as shades of those two, especially yellow. Red appears brown-grayish, violet actually appears as very vibrant blue, try to buy yellow and blue toys, I think it will make them happy that their toys don’t appear dull

48: How do I keep my dog’s water clean? (score 29026 in 2014)

Question

I use hollow cylinder type container for water for my German shepherd. Every time the container gets dirty with green algae, making my dog not to drink the water. Sometimes even some insects get inside the container. To avoid unhygienic water for my pet, I use the same type of containers always, and clean the dirty container to use it again.

Is there a way to keep the water clean and/or is there a better water container which help?

Answer accepted (score 7)

There’s not much to do to keep the water clean outside of changing it regularly. I generally change the water for my cats every morning.

With algae though, if it’s growing back within the day, you’ll have to take some steps to combat it and try and kill it off as much as possible.

It might be as simple as a good hard scrub. You have to get all traces of algae out so it doesn’t have anything to grow back with. Unfortunately it really doesn’t take much for algae to grow back, and if your water dish is plastic, the plastic is porous enough to keep tiny bits of algae protected
Dry it out. If you use another container for a few days, and let the one with algae sit in the sun dry. The dryness and heat should help kill off the algae. This isn’t always the case though, as algae quite often goes into a dormant stage.
Bleach the container. Bleach should help kill off the algae pretty effectively, but you have to be extra sure that you clean all of the bleach out afterwards. Since it’s a container that your dog is drinking out of, the last thing you want is for them to inadvertently drink some bleach water.

To prevent algae growth in the future, making sure the water isn’t in any sunlight will be the biggest help. Direct sunlight not only promotes algae growth, but speeds it up. Keeping the water in shade will slow down the growth drastically, and will also help keep the water cooler throughout the day, so it’s a win-win there.

You might also want to consider getting a water fountain. You can get some pretty large ones for dogs. What they do is run the water through a carbon filter with a small pump, so not only will the algae have difficulty growing due to the moving water, but that should also discourage most insects that would be attracted to still water. Any insects that would happen to fall in would get caught in the filter, which you would just change every couple of days. I would just make sure to spend the little extra money on a metal fountain, as I had gotten a plastic fountain first, and it was really difficult to keep clean.

Answer 2 (score 4)

I use a “Lixit Outside Faucet Dog Waterer”. It attaches to the outside faucet and they can get clean fresh water anytime. There are other similar products on the market that attach to the faucet as well.

You will have to teach to dog how to use it. Some dogs are easy and others take a little more time to understand what it is.

For indoor use there are also various “indoor dog water fountain” (search google) that you can use inside to keep the water in good shape.

Answer 3 (score 2)

Ideally, you should use a small container you have at home for your dog to drink out of. This would force you to change or refill the water bowl daily to keep it clean.

49: How can I help my 6 week old puppy sleep through the night? (score 28996 in 2015)

Question

I’ve got a 6 week old puppy and around 4 o’clock every morning, he starts whining and howling. He normally stops and falls back asleep, but it takes him a while. He sleeps in his own room. I don’t know how to get him to stop whining in the middle of the night and to sleep through it.

Answer accepted (score 10)

A six week old puppy is home sick. Why is he sleeping in his own room? They want to be in a room with you where they can hear you and smell you even if they are in a crate. Even a full grown dog wants to sleep in room with you.

It is kind of late now but something from the litter for the smell of the litter in the crate.

Answer 2 (score 7)

Additionally to Frisbee’s answer, you can also add some plush toys or shape his bed in a way to create a nest for the puppy and make the bed feel less empty. When puppies sleep together, they’re all in a pack; if the bed of your puppy is a flat or commercial bed, it’s not welcoming for him and often too big. Forget about cute dog beds and make it comfortable for him first.

As already suggested, if the puppy cannot sleep in the same room as yours for a while, add some old clothes that you wore to add your smell to his environment. It’s easier indeed if you could simply let the puppy sleep near your bed or room, and gradually move him in the other room; but in general, dogs still want to be close to their master, no matter their age! Also let the bed get some of the smell of the puppy; the puppy needs to have some ways to recognize his environment to feel “at home” and to lower his anxiety. Unless necessary, don’t wash it too often until the puppy feel more comfortable in his new environment.

A good trick:

Adding a heating pad at very low temperature can help too. One trick is to fill small plastic bottles with hot water and put them in the puppy’s bed, and add the heating pad next to them. With the heating pad, it keeps these bottle warm enough to make him feel like he’s sleeping next to another puppy or his mom.

These things will help but there’s no miracle; you’ll need to be patient, he feels alone and what he does is totally normal.

6 weeks old for a puppy is very young to be separated from the litter.

http://m.humanesociety.org/animals/dogs/tips/puppy_behavior_basics.html

EDIT:

Precision about heat pad:

There’s easy ways to cover a heating pad wire either DIY with a rubber tube or by purchasing covers for that purpose.

In case it wasn’t clear, it has to be covered; you don’t put the heating pad or anything that can be toxic or hazardous easily accessible with the puppy. You don’t put the puppy directly on the pad, anyway it’s not comfortable and could be too warm actually…! At this age, puppies don’t “burrow” much though because they don’t even have the strength for it; a thick folded blanket covering the pad or leaving the pad outside of the crate will be safe enough, as long it at least touches the water bottles to warm them slightly. You’ll probably need only to use this for a few days, up to 2-3 weeks. Not only it helps them not feel alone but at young age, puppies or any mammal have hard time keeping themselves warm at young age.

There’s cordless ones, grain ones and even the camping heat pad style that can last for hours. And to prevent chewing any tasteless plastic, the ideal is simply to make tasty chewing toys easily available at all time.

Source:

http://www.hartz.com/Dogs/Hartz_Puppy/lets_get_warm.aspx

^{You can keep your puppy warm using:}

^{Heating pad. Manufacturers of heating pads made for people do not recommend them being used on animals. Even set on “low”, temperatures can soar to dangerously hot levels, requiring almost constant monitoring. Pads made for animals don’t get as hot and usually have a low voltage power supply.}

^{Hot water bottle. Or improvise one out of a shampoo or mouthwash bottle. Wrap a thick towel around the bottle so the puppy can’t come in direct contact with it. As with the heating pads, make sure he can move away from the bottle if he gets too hot.}

^{Heat lamps will warm him up, but they can be dehydrating and hard to regulate. He can easily become overheated with no way to escape.} ^{In an emergency you can fill a heavy sock with ½ cup uncooked rice. Heat in the microwave for 60 seconds. The rice-filled sock should stay warm for three hours. Check it to make sure it’s not too hot. You may need to wrap it in a towel}

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+2099&aid=863

^{To remain healthy, puppies must be kept at the proper ambient temperature. Young puppies cannot conserve body heat or shiver to create heat. Supplying artificial heat sources such as an incubator, heat lamp, warm water pad or electrical heating pad will help puppies remain at the correct body temperature.}

Answer 3 (score 4)

You can help your puppy sleep through the night by tolerating your disrupted sleep long enough for the puppy to grow up. It is a phase of their development, just like chewing things is a phase of their development (and, by the way, this is why you should not put a heating pad with the puppy. They love to chew! Mmmm… tasty electrical cord!)

Also, he will be happier if you let him sleep in your room with you.

50: How can I reduce the smell of stale dog urine in my yard? (score 28019 in 2013)

Question

I have an 13½ year old dog who is almost blind. She is still able to make her way outdoors to go potty but due to her age and poor eyesight, doesn’t get very far before she squats down: essentially, off the porch, past the flowerbed, turn right. The upshot is that one spot in my yard gets “watered” a lot.

Since that spot is right by the porch, if I’m dining outside or just sitting enjoying the evening sun, I frequently get hit with a blast of stale dog urine. This is especially bad during the summer months because (a) I’m outside more, and (b) we get warm, dry summers here which means the urine doesn’t get washed away quickly (even running the sprinkler in that area more than usual).

Is there anything I can do to reduce or eliminate the smell of her urine?

(My other dogs are grazers so any answers involving chemicals should take toxicity into account.)

Answer accepted (score 6)

The primary reason that the smell is so powerful is that urine contains Ammonia. It is that chemical that bonds with other chemicals in your dogs urine to produce that smell. Normally this would not be much of an issue as you noted because it would be spread out and Ammonia would get broken down by the plants and grass.

When it gets concentrated in one area though the plants some times can not keep up and sometimes the amount can even be so concentrated that the soil will be toxic to plants. Since this is a garden I would suggest first breaking up that soil and mixing in Garden Lime. The Lime will help the plants deal with the excess ammonia, and contains other minerals that help make a garden grow stronger. Lime is natural and mostly non toxic so you can dust the top of the area where your dog likes to urinate once a week(more if necessary) to help keep the smell down.

You can also use Vinegar and water or baking soda. Both of these work to bond with the ammonia and convert it into a chemical compound that is less pungent. These may be better options if your problem is from a larger area that is not easily tilled.

Answer 2 (score 1)

TL;DR

Zeolites and enzymatic treatments can be used separately or together to reduce urine odors in your yard.

Zeolite

If you don’t mind putting down something that looks like sand or gravel, you can put a layer of zeolite in your yard over your dog’s favorite spot. A zeolite like clinoptilolite is regarded as non-toxic and absorbs ammonia well. It can also be used as a soil amendment for your garden once it’s fully saturated and stops absorbing odors.

Enzymatic Treatments

Another option is applying enzymatic treatments to your yard. For example, products like NaturVet Yard Odor Eliminator or Simple Green Outdoor Odor Eliminator can be sprayed on your yard with a hose, and the enzymes in the product will break down the odor-causing material. Many of these products are non-toxic and non-irritating at dilution, but please read the labels carefully for safety and usage instructions.

51: How to approach a dog for the first time? (score 27870 in )

Question

We have all heard that first impressions are important. Presumably they are just as important the first time you meet a dog, as the first time you meet a person.

How should I approach a dog for the first time? What body language is the dog looking for and what does it mean to them?

Answer accepted (score 6)

I know this is an old question, but I feel I needed to correct some things.

I’d add that you shouldn’t look directly at the dog either, as that can sometimes be interpreted as a challenge. – Cucamonga Aug 3 ’14 at 17:39

Dogs are pack animals. In that sense, they’re very much like humans. Just like you wouldn’t stare at a stranger, you wouldn’t want to stare at a random dog. However, the reverse is also true. If you’re interacting with a person and that person doesn’t look you in the eyes (at least for some moments), that other person may creep you out. The same goes for dogs.

For a child who stares at dogs in amazement and who can not regulate his staring, that advice of not looking at all may be appropriate, but that advice is not appropriate especially if the child starts interacting with the dog.

When you’re about to touch a dog, you want to be looking into their eyes.

When touching something, we only look at our hand when we’re afraid of the thing we’re about to touch. Imagine how a child would try to touch a potentially burning stove, he would be looking at his hand the entire time ready to flinch away as soon he felt any kind of heat on his fingers. Now imagine that same child trying to touch a random dog, he would be looking at his hand ready to flinch away precisely because he’s afraid of getting that hand nipped or bitten by the dog.

And just like you wouldn’t want to pet a dog who is afraid of you. A dog doesn’t want to get petted by people who are afraid of it. Fear in one only provokes fear in the other.

And now building on Danny Bainbridge’s already excellent list:

Approach at a moderately slow pace, a bit slower than a walk

I would add:

Make sure the dog sees you, sees any of your friends around it, and sees your hand before you approach it.
Do not surprise the dog. Do not approach the dog from behind.

Do not think that you can get away by petting the dog quickly and by surprise to let the dog know that you’re friendly. It doesn’t work that way. Anything that dog doesn’t see could potentially scare him, even if it’s just one of your friends approaching it from the other side, while you’re trying to pet him.

If the dog’s body language implies that it’s afraid of you, pull back slowly (do not flinch away).

Pulling back may actually change the dog’s mind, so be sure to monitor the dogs body language and act accordingly. Do not wait for the dog to bark at you. Body language can be very subtle. This advice is also just as valid for human interactions.

No loud sounds, no teeth, just approach ‘naturally’

If the dog doesn’t see you, or hears you approaching. Announce yourself softly, or make a small noise before you come near it.

Place your hand out in a loose fist or fingers pointing down, so the back of the palm is facing the dog

Move the hand towards the dog’s mouth/nose so he/she can sniff you out. Fingers down or curled will protect them from being nipped.

If the dog seems to get nasty you can walk back and away

Otherwise let the dog sniff/lick/muzzle further and give a few scratches under the chin or behind the ears

You can let the dog smell your hand, but be sure to get permission each time from the owner before you scratch it under the chin or behind the ears.

A dog may bite you, or yelp in pain, if you’re unintentionally touching a fresh scar or an ear infection. I know the odds are low for that kind of thing to happen, but if you consider a child who loves dogs. An incident like this is likely to happen if that child tries to touch dogs every time there is one near him.

And finally, children can be needy creatures.

Even if they can read the subtle negative body language of a dog (after you’ve taught them all the signs), they may still move to pet a dog that shows those warning signs anyway. The main cure for that is to have more than one dog for the child to choose from (and not puppies obviously, a protective mother dog is another thing human children need to be warned about).

That being said, there are other dynamics that could go wrong with more than one dog. For instance, one dog may attack another dog because it thinks it’s getting all the attention, and a child could get caught in the middle, but I think that option is still a less dangerous one for the child than having that needy child only having access to one dog to meet/touch/pet/stalk.

Answer 2 (score 6)

I know this is an old question, but I feel I needed to correct some things.

I’d add that you shouldn’t look directly at the dog either, as that can sometimes be interpreted as a challenge. – Cucamonga Aug 3 ’14 at 17:39

When you’re about to touch a dog, you want to be looking into their eyes.

And just like you wouldn’t want to pet a dog who is afraid of you. A dog doesn’t want to get petted by people who are afraid of it. Fear in one only provokes fear in the other.

And now building on Danny Bainbridge’s already excellent list:

Approach at a moderately slow pace, a bit slower than a walk

I would add:

Make sure the dog sees you, sees any of your friends around it, and sees your hand before you approach it.
Do not surprise the dog. Do not approach the dog from behind.

If the dog’s body language implies that it’s afraid of you, pull back slowly (do not flinch away).

No loud sounds, no teeth, just approach ‘naturally’

If the dog doesn’t see you, or hears you approaching. Announce yourself softly, or make a small noise before you come near it.

Place your hand out in a loose fist or fingers pointing down, so the back of the palm is facing the dog

Move the hand towards the dog’s mouth/nose so he/she can sniff you out. Fingers down or curled will protect them from being nipped.

If the dog seems to get nasty you can walk back and away

Otherwise let the dog sniff/lick/muzzle further and give a few scratches under the chin or behind the ears

You can let the dog smell your hand, but be sure to get permission each time from the owner before you scratch it under the chin or behind the ears.

And finally, children can be needy creatures.

Answer 3 (score 1)

As a complement to this other answer, for a very fearful dog or a dog that is intimidated by your kind of person (tall, bearded, etc.) you can apply the same techniques, but letting the dog come to you and back up if he wants.

That way the dog might feel more confortable and/or not feel trapped or cornered.

There is an excellent article Preventing Dog Bites by Learning to Greet Dogs Properly by Dr. Sophia Yin, a veterinary behaviorist. The explanations are well illustrated with some cartoons (I reproduce one here).

enter image description here

52: Is there a way to prevent another dog from pooping on our grass? (score 27466 in 2018)

Question

Our regularly-trimmed grass outside our gate has been pooped on by another dog. I don’t know the dog and I’ve been trying to determine which dog it was.

I know about dogs being territorial, and that another dog might not poop on our grass once he realizes that our dog is in the house.

Is there any way I can use my dog to mark the grass to notify the other dog that he should not go there? or Is there another way to prevent the other dog from pooping on our grass?

Answer accepted (score 10)

Some ideas, since you are unable to identify the other dog:

use a motion-activated sprinkler
- This will probably scare the dog and owner for the first few times, signaling that you don’t want others entering over your grass and doing things
spread a repellant or unpleasant odor
- ammonia, vinegar, citrus peels or oil, Liquid Fence. You won’t need a great amount, and it might kill plants, so apply it to the edge of the grass.
- If you do buy a dog repellent, follow the instructions because you don’t want to cause any harm, just deter the habit.

Answer 2 (score 9)

Generally, a domesticated dog marking its territory will simply encourage other domesticated dogs to add their own mark. I’m not sure this applies to feces, however, as urine is the primary means of territory marking.

It is possible that getting your dog to mark your yard will prompt the other dog to mark instead of defecating, as most dogs are seemingly indiscriminate about where they’ll mark, but quite a few are very discriminating about where they’ll defecate (as anyone who has ever suffered outside in freezing rain waiting for their dog to find “just the right spot” will attest!).

However, this will probably be more trouble than its worth. If this isn’t an isolated incident, you’ll have to have your dog mark the borders of your property regularly for there to be even a chance of it working.

You’re better off using other means to try and prevent the other dog from seeing your property as a good location for relieving himself/herself.

The simplest solution is a fence. Even a small ornamental fence is likely to be a sufficient deterrent:

a small ornamental garden fence

Alternately, you can plant something other than grass along the borders of your property. If it the vegetation is sufficiently dense, most dogs will pass it by (then again, we’ve had a dog trample the one large flower we have in the corner of our yard and deposit a “present” for us right on top of the bent leaves!).

You can also try something based upon a motion sensor, as woliveirajr suggested. There are motion sensor activated ultrasonic pest control devices that supposedly work on dogs, as a possible alternative to a sprinkler that might make you rather unpopular with your neighbors.

53: Why does my dog constantly try to lick my butt when i get home? (score 26878 in 2015)

Question

Whenever i get home from work everyday i get greeted by my great dane and he runs up to me in the door way and insists on kissing me but when i walk a little furter he stucks his face up my butt and tries to lick ( keep in mind that i don’t let him do this) but my question is that does this happen to anyone else and how have other people stopped this behavior? Thank you!

I understand why he smells me there but why does he lick?

Answer accepted (score 4)

I’m pretty sure most dog owners will know this behavior and/or have seen it some time (even if it’s just with other dogs or cats) - it’s natural and theoretically nothing bad. It’s basically part of their communication with each other. There are many sources to be found with more details about this, like this article on mental_floss, where they also show a short video about it.

What they explain in the video in regards to getting to know other dogs or knowing more about them, is basically the same your dog tries with you (since you’re part of the pack).

It can get awkward with other people around etc. that’s true and probably the only reason you should try to get rid of it. Some might associate it with dirty underwear, but that’s really just a tip of an iceberg. Dogs don’t need dirty underwear to smell their owner.

Our Husky puppy showed a similar behavior, but he preferred to sniff and lick people’s frontside… I guess you get the idea.

There are different methods to fight this, but most basically involve distracting the dog with something different that’s far more interesting. What actually works really depends on the dog. Trial and error.

In our case I’ve had two distractions and they worked pretty fast (stopped doing it after just one or two weeks):

Start fondling the dog in a position it loves. Our dog just loves being tickled between the front legs and will instantly sit or lie down to enjoy it. No time to sniff or lick around.
Try a reaction similar to other dogs (not perfect for public for obvious reasons): Make a small jump/turn around, face the dog, and snort for a moment (just a second or so should be enough). This would typically get our dog to start wagging its tail and start playing with me (throwing on the ground, waiting, etc.). Sniffing and licking were no longer on the priority list.
Whatever you try, don’t do something exclusive the dog loves. Like getting it a special treat or making this the only time of the day you play, etc. Otherwise you might get the direct opposite result: The dog would do the undesired behavior to get you to do the desired behavior (playing, treats, etc.).

Answer 2 (score 0)

Dogs and cats sniff bums because the anal glands hold a lot of information, such as age, sex, point in reproduction cycle, level in pack dominance, and much more. It makes sense that animals would do this upon meeting each other, and even after knowing each other for a long time. Think of it as an animal’s way of saying “How was your day? How are you feeling?” It’s also an animal’s way of asserting or allowing dominance. (Interesting point: when an animal lifts their bums when they get scratched, they’re inviting you to sniff it!)

Obviously humans don’t sniff each others bums. Our sense of smell is no where near what a dogs sense of smell is, so we don’t understand why an animal might do this and an animal doesn’t understand why we might find this embarrassing.

It’s important that when your dog does this, you don’t just distract him, unless you plan to have every visitor in your house do this. That will also train him that when he tries to sniff a humans bum, he will be rewarded. If you go that direction and then do something different when he does it to someone else, it will be extremely confusing.

Animals work by instant association. If I do this, this will happen. You need to teach him that if he tries to sniff a human in an undesirable area, something will happen. You don’t need to do anything that will cause pain (and please don’t), so think of something a fellow puppy or mother dog would do. If I had a dog that continued this, I would gently push his nose away, then walk away. No loud noises or sharp movements, or he’ll start to associate you coming home and taking shoes and coats off with that. Act completely normal otherwise, just gently push his nose away so he’s facing away from you, then act normal again. Eventually he’ll make the association that doing that will cause his nose to be pushed away, much like how a fellow dog would nudge him away when he’s doing something wrong, and he’ll stop. Ensure that if he’s doing it to company, you do the same thing. If you can tell the person before they come over the process, do. Otherwise, don’t waste time telling them or the period of association will be over.

54: Why are some dogs snappy to some people, but not to others? (score 25971 in )

Question

I have noticed first-hand that some dogs freak out when certain people are around (barking, squeaking/squealing, fidgety, stressed-like, etc.), but then when I come around those exact same dogs they are perfectly calm.

For example, my brother comes to visit, comes inside the house and the dog will start barking viciously, but if I do the same exact thing (with the dog a distance from the door and unable to see) the dog will not make a peep. Also, sometimes the dog will get aggressive or stressed out when certain people get near them, but most dogs I get near never act this way, and are usually calm.

Why is it that some dogs freak out, snap, stress out, get angry, etc. around certain people (even those they may see often), but to others, like me, they are usually soft, more relaxed, calm, etc.?

I had first proposed a theory that maybe it had to do with the dog’s observation of the human’s behavior. But I don’t think dogs are too complex in their brains/reasoning to be able to recognize variating moods, and doubt they can read emotional intelligence that well(if at all).

Answer accepted (score 5)

This is really too broad of a question to have any specific answer.

But for the purposes of an answer, the answer is : it depends.

The individual dog always has its own temperament - calm, excitable, nervous, etc. And the individual dog will usually be calmer around those it is comfortable and familiar with. I want to include the dog’s history here; if a dog was picked on by children, the dog may always be timid around children because of that association. Don’t forget that dogs live life, too - they may be having a bad day, overly anxious already, or too tuckered out to care much. Dogs also have their own preferences and affinities, and it is possible a dog may not “like” someone very much.

Dogs also pick up clues from humans and their behavior. From the human’s attitude, walk, energy levels, or even their general “vibe”. Dogs can indeed read human expressions and have been shown to empathise with humans on some level through scientific studies (the study where the dog yawns because the owner yawned is particularly interesting).

55: Why does my dog wipe his paws on the grass after he poops? (score 25908 in 2013)

Question

After he does his business, my dog sometimes wipes his (usually rear) paws on the grass. I heard this was to spread his scent in the area, but I figured the result of doing his business did enough of the “scenting”. He does this more often when unleashed in our yard than when leashed on a walk.

Why does he scrape the grass with his paws?

Answer accepted (score 10)

The behavior in wolves is known as “scrape behavior”; it is also present in their domesticated relatives.

According to Canine Behavior: Insights and Answers (Bonnie V. Beaver) the activity is commonly seen to be a visual marking, the scrapes, as well as a means of spreading scent to mark territory (as noted, dogs have scent glands in their paws). This activity happens most often in new areas, in the presence of other dogs, and in the early mornings. (Chapter 8, page 251).

It is possible to train your dog out of this behavior if you so desire. Basically, it involves distracting him immediately after his activity with something like a treat in order to get him out of the habit.

Answer 2 (score 7)

From what i know, It’s an extra way of being territorial. By putting their claw marks on the ground they’re saying This is part of my territory! :)

Also,

All dogs have glands in their feet that secrete pheromones, and a couple of backward scratches into the earth (or grass as in your case) releases those chemicals. Source : Why Does My Dog… Kick Grass After Pooping?

Answer 3 (score 2)

There is a lot of information about marking, but there are also some other reasons dogs wipe or dig after relieving themselves.

Dogs will behave different types of behavior depending on their environment, whether they are in a public place, contained in a limited area and their background. As shown by animals from overcrowded and inhumane puppy mills. So observed behavior can be an aberration of natural behavior and sometimes an adaptation of being kept in captivity. It is natural and right to derive animal behavior from it’s natural state in the would, but behavior within the context of captivity cannot always be definitively explained. As with the pawing on the ground with elimination and defecation.

Dogs will also scrape or wipe their paws, or make digging actions after elimination or defecation for hygiene reasons.

One reason dogs scrape their paws after urinating or defecating is to clean their paws and another is to cover their waste. Similar to cats covering their mess, but not as thorough. You’ll also find they scrape away from the direction of any food or water source or place that they sleep.

If you observe a dog that does not cock his or her leg to urinate, the urine pools and usually the dog will extend their back legs in a display as they are wiping their paws clean.

There are observable differences between how dogs scrape and dig after going to the toilet, depending on the ground surface, and how they have relieved themselves. Sometimes they will be more digging with front paws included in an attempt to cover up the faeces, other times the paws will be scraped backwards from behind the mess in an attempt to wipe urine from them. When there is plenty of earth and leaf matter on the ground, a dog will make a better attempt of covering up fecal matter, than well relieving themselves on a lawn. Then there will be the more theatrical scraping, which is consistent with marking.

In the wild, canines such as wolves, dingoes and foxes may kick the ground after elimination for sanitary reasons. They are simply covering up the mess ..

56: Can killing a rabbit trigger a behavior change in my dog? (score 25329 in 2016)

Question

Dog is an English springer spaniel, male, 7 years old.

I walk him in an overgrown park (dogs are allowed there), he is off the leash during our walks. Occasionally we see a wild rabbit or squirrel. He has chased rabbits numerous times, and I did not mind that. Dog seemed way too slow and rabbits ran into bushes making it impossible for my dog to follow them. My dog is not trained to hunt or chase. I guess it’s his breed and nature.

Today he managed to chase down a rabbit and kill it. He bit it, broke rabbit’s bones in the process I assume, and left it on the ground. Lost all interest in the rabbit afterwards.

What I wonder about is - can I expect my dog to become more vicious with other dogs now? Small dogs? Or be more interested in hunting?

I know that nothing evil or extraordinary happened. It’s the way of the nature. Survival of the fittest. Rabbit we encountered today was not as smart as the ones before. It would have been better if I stopped my dog, but I honestly did not think there is a chance he can get the rabbit. He has chased them for 7 years, never getting close.

I know he tasted blood for first time today, so I will be even more careful with him from now on.

Answer accepted (score 4)

This really depends on the individual nature of your dog.

Some dogs find hunting highly reinforcing, and the more of it they do, the more they want to do it. Practicing a behaviour makes it more likely that the dog will choose it over alternatives, particularly if there is an exciting pay-off like catching the rabbit. See David Ryan’s book, ‘“Stop!” How to control predatory chasing in dogs’ for a good explanation of this.

That said, not all dogs DO find catching exciting. I had an ex-racing greyhound at one point, who once caught a squirrel. The squirrel bit her on the nose, and she didn’t know what to do with it. It ran away. After that, she was careful not to catch more squirrels, although she still enjoyed chasing them, you could see her deliberately slow down before she got too close.

The predatory sequence in dogs is not equally reinforcing to all dogs, and breed can make a difference. For example, border collies are selected for their strong Eye, Orient, Eye-stalk and Chase, but not for grab-bite or kill-bite. Labradors have strong Grab instincts, but are selected to be soft-mouthed, so rarely make a kill. Many terriers are bred to kill rats, so have a much stronger kill instinct than other breeds.

As I understand it, Springer Spaniels are designed to drive prey out of cover so it can be shot, so you’d expect your dog to find that part of things very rewarding: it’s what he’s designed for. But it may well be that he didn’t find killing a rabbit to be much fun, and will choose not to do it again.

I think it’s unlikely that he will suddenly become a risk to other dogs. Rabbits do not smell or behave like dogs at all, and as your dog has a very highly developed sense of smell, it’s unlikely he will get them mixed up.

The previous para does assume that your dog has met many other dogs, is familiar with them, and know that dogs come in lots of shapes and sizes.

The one situation where there is likely to be confusion between small dogs and other prey is with greyhounds straight from the track: as these unfortunate dogs are often kept isolated with no contact with dogs of different shapes, they can get very confused and need time and management to learn that a chihuahua or a dachshund is also a dog. This should be much less of an issue with a well socialised Springer who has been brought up with lots of social contact though.

Answer 2 (score 2)

Well. I don’t know about personality changes, but you might want to take some precautions to prevent any health issues from cropping up, since rabbits and other wild animals can carry dangerous parasites and diseases.

I would take your dog to the vet for a checkup, just to be on the safe side. Personality changes are unlikely, I’d imagine.

Answer 3 (score 1)

More interested in hunting, perhaps. “Hey, I actually caught one” That was fun, let’s try that again."

Other behaviour changes seem unlikely to arise. Why should they? Other dogs aren’t rabbits, and know how to signal “that’s enough, I’m done playing.”

57: Is it normal for my dog to be sick after worming? (score 25039 in )

Question

I have a 11 month old female Weimaraner and every time we worm her she gets quite sick. Symptoms are lethargy and vomiting (usually she vomits only once).

We are currently using Panoramis Brown (27.1kg-54kg) but she only weighs 26kg, this is what the vet recommended. We had previously used Advocate but we switched because it was making her sick. We also worm her during the day on weekends so we can watch her, and never on an empty stomach.

Is it normal for dogs to be sick after worming? Should I try a different worming tablet?

Answer accepted (score 2)

According to the label information on Panoramis

In some animals, PANORAMIS may be associated with vomiting, commonly within 48 hours of administration of the first dose and decreasing in incidence with repeat doses. If vomiting occurs within an hour of administration, re-dose with another full dose.

Additionally,

The following adverse events have been recorded following administration of spinosad and milbemycin oxime [the ingredients of Panoramis] together: vomiting, pruritis, lethargy, and diarrhea.

The label also indicates that there is a dose for dogs 18.1 - 27 kg (though it doesn’t say what color it is). It contains 810 mg spinosad and 13.5 mg milbemycin oxime.

I would definitely suggest getting the correct dose for your dog’s weight, but not to be too concerned about the vomiting.

Answer 2 (score 0)

Yes, it can happen.

One thing I may suggest is if your dog doesn’t have many intestinal worms every time you use Panoramis, you can wait 2-3 months instead of doing it every month. EDIT: That is, if you use Panoramis for intestinal worms. Heartworm require monthly treatment.

“After six months all dogs need to be wormed every three months for effective protection” http://www.vetwest.com.au/pet-library/caring-for-your-dog-vaccinations-worming-flea-heartworm-feeding

If you want to try another excellent brand, I can suggest you to use Strongid but it won’t prevent heartworms. If you want to prevent heartworms, you can ask your veterinarian about Ivomec, and for heartworm you do need to use it every month.

58: Why do dogs roll around in random patches of grass (score 24794 in 2013)

Question

When I bring my dog into the dog park, It’s not uncommon to see a dog rolling around in the grass, but sometimes, there will be a particular spot int he grass that nearly all the dogs nearby will want to roll in.

I’ve even seen dogs compete over rolling around in the spot.

Why do all the dogs want to roll in this spot?

Answer accepted (score 6)

Reitierating from my post here Should I let my dog roll in the grass?

Dogs enjoy rolling in grass for many reasons.

to remove unwanted odors (usually human inflicted like shampoo)
to scratch, for pleasure
to take some of the scent from the grass

Dog’s love to disguise their scent with the environment, it’s olfactory camouflage to hide from predators and remain undetected by prey.

59: Canine insulin injection – what am I doing wrong? (score 24692 in 2019)

Question

My dog was recently diagnosed with diabetes, so I have been giving her twice-daily insulin injections for the past 10 days. I’ve watched my vet do it, I’ve watched dozens of YouTube videos, and I’ve read everything I can find about the proper technique, but somehow, I can’t seem to get it right.

Every time I inject my dog, she fidgets when I insert the needle, but not overly much, but as soon as I begin to inject the insulin itself, she yelps and either jerks away, or tries to bite me. More than once I’ve ended up with bent syringes and insulin on her fur because of it.

I’m following the procedure as shown, for example, in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jOEKUTU-Ac

Take the insulin out of the fridge and roll it around to mix it up.
Draw out slightly more than the needed dose into a new fresh syringe, tap out the air bubbles, then return the excess.
Allow the syringe to warm up in my hand for several minutes as I prepare and put out the dogs’ food.
After my dog is finished her meal, I pull her onto my lap and find a place where the skin is loose. I have been rotating between left and right shoulder and left and right rump so far.
Pull up a fold of skin (“tent” it) between my fingers.
Push the needle into the middle of the folder at ~45 degree angle
Slowly inject the contents of the syringe.

From everything I’ve read, this is supposed to be so painless that the dog may not even acknowledge that anything happened, but my dog is getting progressively more anxious each time I do it. I thought I would have gotten the hang of it by now, but I seem to be getting worse.

My main concern is that I’m doing something wrong and injecting the insulin incorrectly; my vet said something about making sure I was doing a subdural and not an intradermal injection, but how would I know? As far as I can tell I’m getting the needle beneath the skin correctly: it’s hard to tell with my dog’s long hair, but I’m not feeling any resistance to either the needle or the fluid, and the needle’s not coming back out of the skin.

(I’ve done the practicing on the orange bit, and I think I have it right, but oranges don’t yelp when you mess up :( )

Is there something else I can do to make sure I do this injection properly, or at least reassure myself that I’m not hurting my dog and that her insulin is going where it should?

Answer accepted (score 4)

Your question does a great job of addressing many key points about giving insulin to your dog.

Nothing in the following answer is intended to replace direction by your veterinarian. These are just considerations not addressed in your question.

One of the first things that comes to mind, is your comfort level. Consider if you are transmitting your anxiety to your pet.
Rotating sites is important your Vet should have given you direction Try not hit the same spot regularly, but try to hit the same area regularly. Maybe alternate shoulders morning and night, but get slightly different spots. See related question How important is the insulin injection spot on a dog?
If you are using an 8mm needle it is about a 1/3 of inch long when you grasp the dogs skin and pinch to lift the hide, you should be able to tell that the hide is less thick than the needle is long. The reason you are lifting the skin is to create a space between the hide and the muscle, in your mind target the end of the needle entering the Subcutaneous space. You don’t want the tip of the needle in the muscle or in the skin. With people they will often plunge the needle straight in to the skin in an area that has fat underneath, so the insulin is delivered in the fat between the skin and the muscle.
Be alert for bruising, If you can see a bruise under the fur don’t use that area until the bruise has healed.
You may or may not have been taught to check for flash back, once the needle is inserted if you pull up on the plunger and blood enters the syringe you are in a blood vessel, this is called flash back. There are differing lines of thought on this, if you have questions/concerns discuss them with your vet. RE:Aspiration in injections: should we continue or abandon the practice?

Answer 2 (score 3)

We give our dog a bit of canned dog food while she gets her injection as a diversion. She’s so busy eating her treat that she doesn’t notice the injection. In fact, she gets excited when we say ’let’s go get your shot", and lets us know when it’s time for her shot by dancing and crying if we’re not watching the clock.

Answer 3 (score 1)

I question the 45 degree angle for needle insertion for a subcutaneous injection. I have been trained to ensure the needle is PARALLEL to the animal body’s when injecting- parallel to the surface of the skin on the back. If you angle the needle too much, you may enter a muscle, go through the skin to the opposite side, or stick your own finger. And I found that if the bevel of the needle is facing up ts helps. I know in humans, we use 45 degree angle insertions, but not with canines.

60: What container holds a 26-pound bag of kibble? (score 24352 in 2016)

Question

I would like to transfer the contents of a 26-pound bag of dry dog food from the bag to a more convenient container.

Any suggestions for a container to hold that amount, or a method for finding such a container?

How does one determine if a container is likely to hold an entire bag? Trial and error can be messy.

(This might be useful for other dry pet foods too. Maybe for other dry goods generally)

Answer accepted (score 3)

7-Gallon Bucket

That 26-pound bag happens to just fit a 7-gallon bucket available from brewers supply companies with just a bit of room to spare.

Add a screw-type lid from a home building supply company and you have a nice complete kibble storage system.

Calculation

My clever friend determined this would work by weighing a cup of the kibble, and dividing that weight into the 26 pounds to determine how many cups of kibble are in a bag. The she divided the 7 gallon volume to get the number of cups would fit in the bucket. Voilà.

You could apply this strategy to your own kibble and your own container under consideration.

Answer 2 (score 1)

I used a 17 gallon tub with an attached folding lid, purchased from Home Depot. I did not want to have to deal with the lid while my dog danced around me excited for food, so I chose the folding lid to address that issue. I was able to fit all of a 50 lb bag of kibble into the container.

Answer 3 (score 1)

61: Why does my dog make a fuss when my wife comes home? (score 23594 in 2014)

Question

George, my 9 year old German Shepherd Dog/Border Collie mix, will make a huge fuss when my wife comes home. If he even thinks he hears her car coming, he will start barking, whining, and making lots of other noises until she comes in.

But if she is home and I come in, he’ll trot over to me, sniff and lick my hand, and then be on his merry way.

Why does he makes such a fuss when she comes home? Is this something I should be concerned with and correct? If so how should I go about correcting the issue?

[more info, as requested]

If nobody is home when I get home, George will come to the door when I get home. I’ll pet him, talk to him, and then take him out. If my wife is home, he’ll be a bit more happy and excited, but he doesn’t bark and make a fuss.
If I’m home when she comes home, George will start barking and whining and pacing the kitchen until she comes in. He’ll start as soon as he hears a car that sounds like hers. He’ll continue barking for a bit while she comes in and settles down.
Apparently if I’m not home, he doesn’t do this as much when she comes home.
If he sees someone he knows (he spends a lot of time in the kitchen because the windows go almost to the floor), who he likes, he’ll become excited and do the excited/happy routine that he does when my wife comes home.
If he sees someone he doesn’t know or doesn’t like, he’ll bark and raise his hackles.
If we both come in at the same time, he’ll come to the door, but he won’t do the whole barking routine.

Answer accepted (score 4)

I notice that I am a lot calmer than she is when I come home.

You mentioned this in the comments. Dogs respond a lot to our energy – if she comes in the door and goes into a falsetto voice and greets him and puts down whatever she’s carrying and pets him excitedly, he’s going to learn that her car means play time is about to start. If he knows that when you come home you’re going to say hello and pet him calmly, his energy when he thinks you are coming home will reflect that.

See if that applies to the other people he sees coming to the house, too – you say he gets excited when he sees people he “likes”, but what does that really mean? Does he get excited when he sees people coming who he regularly acts excited towards and they play back?

Its hard to say without seeing first hand the behavior not only of the dog but of the people as they come in, but as a general rule (and supported by your comment), dogs will act more excitedly/with higher energy if that behavior has been rewarded in the past with excitement/high energy in return.

Answer 2 (score 1)

George knows you want him to be calm and not jump up and go crazy. Your wife may like that and George knows with the energy you both give off. Like said in previous comments. It’s not something to be corrected. He’s already being extremely obedient. He’s tuning into how each different person wants him to be. Seems he’s very happy 😊

Answer 3 (score 1)

62: How can I stop my dogs from barking at animals on television? (score 22923 in 2013)

Question

I have 2 pugs. When they see an animal on television, they alert and bark like crazy. If I tell them to stop, they will stop barking loudly, but continue to growl. If the animal stays onscreen for a few seconds longer, they start barking again.

It seems to be worse with horses or other barking / noisy dogs. If they notice other dogs on TV, they also get excited.

How can I change this behavior?

Answer accepted (score 7)

Dogs have an instinctual reaction to alert the pack when they are aware of another dog or animal in the vicinity that they are unfamiliar with. They can be alerted by smell, sight or sound.

A dog’s mind is usually wired to smell. Even a little dog can have more than 20 times as many scent receptors as a human being, and their neural pathways are highly linked to this amazing ability. Source

Pugs are a bit of a unique breed in that their nose is much shorter which makes their sense of smell much worse comparatively to other dog breeds, so they can sometimes learn to rely on their senses more than their scent. This is possibly making them oversensitive to animals they see on TV where a basset hound may not be concerned at all since they trust their nose more.

The worse thing you can do is try to hold them or give them attention when they are exhibiting the unwanted behavior. This would be a reinforcement to them that they are right to be on guard and alerted to animals on TV. You are doing the right thing by correcting them with the barking, but make sure not to tolerate the growling afterwards. This means they haven’t fully submitted to you and when you let that slide you cause them to question your ability as pack leader. Do not back down until they have fully submitted or relaxed in your presence, maintain the calm assertive leadership the entire time. If you are overly emotional or angry then you will seem unstable and that will probably make them more anxious.

The lesson should be that they should learn to not be so alert with their eyes and more so with their noses, as a dog naturally would. When they have fully relaxed after the correction you can reward them with a treat but make sure they are not visually fixated on the coming treat. Try and train them to look up to you and not the treat. Let them smell the treat before giving it to them.

Another way to reinforce the importance of smell to your dogs is to ensure that they do not greet other dogs or humans with visual fixation. Ensure they are being calm and submissive with their back turned away from the oncoming visitor. When the dog or person is in smelling distance then let your dog greet and identify with the visitor by using smell rather than vision.

The above exercises will help your dog move from visual fixations and focus on using their more primal senses.

Answer 2 (score 7)

Dogs have an instinctual reaction to alert the pack when they are aware of another dog or animal in the vicinity that they are unfamiliar with. They can be alerted by smell, sight or sound.

The above exercises will help your dog move from visual fixations and focus on using their more primal senses.

Answer 3 (score 3)

A remote control training collar will stop the behavior almost immediately. Many people are initially against the idea of using shock punishment. In my opinion, from many years of experience, the effectiveness in stopping the bad behavior and the fact that it usually only requires a few corrections (sometimes 1 or 2) makes it a valuable tool.

A chosen, short, one-word command, such as “Quiet”, should be associated with the behavior you want to train. Say the dog’s name, followed by the command. If you do not get the correct response, repeat the name/command, and then give a correction by pushing the button on the remote.

In many cases, the elimination of bad behavior using this method is far more humane because it allow for a quick, successful training and a healthy relationship between you and your dog. This means the dog will stay around and not be abandoned due to bad, ‘untrainable’ behaviors.

Edit: First let me say I LOVE dogs, more than most people. I have had a houseful of them for my whole life (55 years) and they a major part of my life and considered my family. I assumed there would be the normal negative response to punishment training. I am certainly not against positive reinforcement training methods and I use them often. But speaking from real world experience over many years, people often have a similar response to those shown here, but then are absolutely amazed at how fast behavior can be modified using training collar PROPERLY. Dogs do immediately make a connection between a behavior and a correction. It is not the only method or always the best method. But many times when push comes to shove, it is the method that WORKS.

63: How do I stop my dog from barking at random strangers (score 22045 in 2014)

Question

We have a 3 month old puppy who is 50% Anatolian Shepherd and 50% unknown (though we suspect some bloodhound). She is very gentle at playing, loves meeting and playing with new people, and has never had any sort of aggression problem. We had a new person over our house just the other day and she wanted nothing more than to sniff around them and get pet.

I take her out each morning before work to ‘go’. However, our neighborhood can be somewhat busy. When a jogger is running by, or a neighbor is getting into their car, she begins to ‘ruff’ at them, and it sometimes turns into a full bark. I take her out relatively early, and am already on shaky ground with the neighbors for unrelated reasons, so I’d rather not have my dog waking them up every morning. This also sometimes causes her to forget about going potty making accidents more likely. And, of course, I want her to be happy and comfortable.

Based on her personality, I assume that she just wants to meet and play with these people. Her body language is alert, but doesn’t seem scared. And this makes me sad as its working contrary to her desires (the barking makes people not want to come meet her). However, this is my first dog and I know when to admit my own ignorance.

I read one website that suggested she may be trying to warn me, and to praise her and then give her the command ‘stop barking’, then if she barks again yell at her to startle her and use negative association to teach the command. However, this doesn’t ‘feel right’ to me, and yelling at her is not necessarily realistic either outside (where it will wake neighbors) or in (where the rest of the family is sleeping).

What is likely causing her barking, and how can I get her to stop?

Answer accepted (score 8)

First, I disagree with the training method that the website you found provided. I have barking issues with my current dog, and when talking to the trainer about it, the following was suggested (I have an article, maybe I can try and find it later). For now I’ll write a little pseudo-article below.

Positively Correcting “Random Barking” in Dogs

Correcting a dog’s barking tendencies is often hard. A lot of times, people try to yell, talk, or comfort their dog when he barks. Typically, all three of these are surprisingly counterproductive. Dogs feed on attention; it doesn’t matter what kind. If they learn that barking gets them any kind of attention, they might as well not stop. Follow the steps below to learn how to positively correct your dog.

First, choose a silent command. A lot of people start off by yelling “hush” or “no bark” at their dog, and now their dog is used to this command, making it useless. Choose a different command in this case. You may choose “silence” or “attention.” If neither of those resonate, go with a second language – just don’t use something you’ve already used over and over again.

Teach this command to your dog randomly throughout the day by saying the command and giving them a treat. Nothing more. Simply say the command, feed the treat. Do this numerous times in one hour, take a break, do it again, etc… When your dog gets to the point where you can say the command from one room and he perks his ears up and looks at you, waiting for the treat from the room next door, do it at least for a few more hours. This gets him really, really used to it. Then move onto the next step.

Begin saying the command when he barks. However, do this only in minor situations. If you’re in the house and he randomly lets out one bark, immediately say the command and give him a treat when he looks at you. Repeat this over the course of a few days. Once he gets it, move onto the next step.

Now say the commands in more heavy situations. Try it when he sees a squirrel or if somebody is at the door. If it’s working, you may begin trying to use it on a walk.

After a long, long, long time of doing this, he shouldn’t be barking as much and all should be calm again in the neighborhood.

The most important part of this method is to always give him the treats. Never use the command if you don’t have treats until after step 5. You can’t expect him to listen if you don’t have treats. Once he’s well-rounded, knows not to bark, and knows the command, you can say it without treats. But this won’t be for a while.

In the meantime, I suggest getting her acquainted with a few neighbors. On a weekend maybe, take her on a walk and introduce her to neighbors you normally see in the morning. Explain that she’s extremely happy and excited to see everybody, but sometimes she replaces the excitement with barking, which is obnoxious. You can suggest that in order to help you out, since she’s met the neighbors and knows that they’re cool, before she begins barking at them, they do a little wave and say hi (not necessarily coming over, but greeting her from a distance, letting her know they’re friends). It’s important to do this before she barks, as once she starts barking, she may associate barking with getting greeted.

Anyways, tell me how this sounds and leave questions; some of it may sound confusing.

64: My dog is destroying things and peeing inside when I am at work. How can I get him to stop? (score 22028 in 2013)

Question

I have a 7.5 year old pit bull and he likes to destroy things while I am at work (the couch, anything kind of box left out, anything left on the table - edible or not) and he likes to pee inside. He has no health problems and gets a check up at least once a year. He has been tested recently for a bladder infection, etc. He has never been taught to be in a crate. I have tried it before but he tore the door off and I am scared he will hang himself.

Six years ago the guy I was dating brought this dog home. Four years later we broke up. He kept the dog for a year or so and didn’t give him the attention he needs. He would be gone for 14 hours a day and the dog got used to going to the bathroom inside. He got bored all day so he would destroy things. The dog has been in my care since the beginning of this year.

I have toys and bones and even a dog walker 3 times a week. I just came home to find two ashtrays flung around the room and he peed a lot in two spots. I was gone maybe 6 hours at the most. My best friend for over 12 years just died a week or so ago. I don’t think I can handle this. I don’t want to give him up after all this time and being a pit, I don’t think he would find a great home anyway. My ex may be able to take him at the end of the year but there’s a good chance he won’t be able to do that, too. I can barely afford the dog walker. He’s a great dog when I’m home. I’ve tried: a DAP collar, frozen kongs, bones, classical music, L-theanine, benadryl (just 25 mgs and he weighs 80lbs, I won’t do more than that), ummm… I just don’t think I can do it anymore but he’s like my child so I want to try. I’ve had people suggest not leaving water down during the day but it seems mean (I’m always happier in the mornings, too, and decide him not being thirsty is worth the risk of mess later).

I don’t know what to do. He only does this stuff when I’m not home because he’s been taught for long enough that it’s okay.

Answer accepted (score 8)

It is impossible to give a complete answer for such a difficult problem in one post. So I have focused on what can be done now and will bring you, hopefully, enough immediate relief to cope with the situation. I have provided links to useful posts here, rather than reiterate content, as this will become too long, so I apologise for this.

Please note, this is the first step of managing this problem.

Background

he’s like my child so I want to try

This is a key issue in responding to this. This situation truly is a double edged sword. You are in a stage of extreme emotional vulnerability at the moment, and I am reluctant to suggest to people in this state to ever do anything permanently. This also, and very understandably adds to your pressure to be able to cope with such problems. At the same time, it sounds like your dog is also a source of great emotional comfort and that is something you need right now.

Quite rightly, you assume that it is unlikely, given his breed, age and behavior problems that he would go to the sort of home you would wish for him, if you re-homed him. There has been a lot of publicity about pit bulls. Unfortunately all pit bulls have been tarred with the same brush and it makes it hard for many pit bull owners and their dogs.

Causes:

You have rightly observed that being left unsupervised for long periods has helped to give rise to this behavior. A dog cannot be expected to go for 14 hours without relieving himself. So he has grown accustomed to urinating close to his sleeping and eating quarters, which is counter natural to how dogs function and a common problem for dogs confined to small spaces for long periods, an infamous example being dogs from puppy mills.

He sounds like an active dog and he would be excruciatingly bored at home for long periods alone.

Best to avoid

Firstly a bit of housekeeping in some of the things that have been suggested and that you’ve tried.

not leaving water down during the day

This is never advisable for any pet, unless there is a medical reason to do so, dogs need access to fresh water. Besides, it takes some hours for any water that is drunk to make it through the digestive tract and through the kidney before becoming urine, so not leaving water down is not a foolproof solution.

He has never been taught to be in a crate.

We know he breaks out of the crate, but I’d like to add; it’s not practical to leave a dog confined to a crate for so many hours during the day, when the owner is away. Crates are better served for sleeping, transporting and the shorter term needs to put a dog out of the way. As a general strategy to cope with your dog being bored and missing you, this generally isn’t good idea.

Benadryl, many people administer benadryl to their dogs, I personally do like recommending dosing animals with human medicine, unless your vet has instructed you to do so.

Solutions

There is no easy fix, which I am sure you are aware of.

Walking

First port of call is walking.

A dog walker taking the dog out three times a week, although a good idea, will not remedy the overall situation. Such a big and active dog needs to be walked as often as possible, given he has no free access to a yard.

You could commence a new routine, where you allow enough time in the mornings to take you dog for a vigorous walk before you go to work. Play a bit with him, fetching or go to an off leash area and let him have a run. Give him plenty of attention, verbal praise and pats, let him know how happy you are to be with him.

In your current emotional state this is going to be the hardest thing for you to implement. However, on all fronts, your dog’s well being and your own, morning walks will alleviate the situation, somewhat for both of you. Walking releases all sorts of feel good chemicals in the brain, and although it may not change a situation, it helps both the owner and dog to cope.

Likewise do the same when you return home. This will help alleviate some of his pent up energy and boredom.

Desexing

If your dog is not already desexed, do so. As a general rule, desexing will help calm a male dogs activity levels. If he is not desexed and you do so, you may find some of your previous methods will work better when he is desexed.

Weekends

On the weekends, he needs to be taken out frequently for toilet breaks. Give him plenty of praise and this is the opportunity to re-house train him.

This post deals with house breaking your adult dog How should I correct my dog when I catch him drinking his urine?. I would suggest implementing the principles here.

Also create an area for him to relief himself, within the bathroom or laundry, wherever you have a washable floor and drain. As ideal as this is not, it’s better to try and contain the damage.

Medications

Although there is nothing essentially wrong with your dog, he is behaving normally for a dog with his experiences, it would be well worth a visit to the vet to get some advice and possible medication. Explain that money is difficult, so that a good vet can help provide you with cost effective solutions.

Treats

Keep up the treats and bones, they will only help to give him something to do and eat. Also see rearranging the apartment to provide your dog with edible furnishings!

TV or music

A great idea, this question goes into more detail about this How effective is leaving a television or radio on to comfort dogs when away?.

Rearranging the apartment

This will require effort that is difficult for someone who is emotionally drained, but will pay dividends. Remove all cushions and portable objects from the apartment, either put them into closets, or storage. Give your dog a couple of cushions that you are happy for him to trash and destroy.

At this point you will not be able to stop him from destroying your couches and this may be something you need to tolerate for the time being. Close your bedroom door and keep this room safe. Any objects like ashtrays and the like need to be picked up and placed in the kitchen sink or a cupboard. Clear all benchtops, table tops and minimise the content that he can trash.

Conclusion

This is by no means a complete solution. This is a beginning, a way to improve the situation immediately. Once you have implemented this, I would suggest posting a new question with the updated developments, so the next step in this problem can be dealt with.

Answer 2 (score 8)

Please note, this is the first step of managing this problem.

Background

he’s like my child so I want to try

Causes:

He sounds like an active dog and he would be excruciatingly bored at home for long periods alone.

Best to avoid

Firstly a bit of housekeeping in some of the things that have been suggested and that you’ve tried.

not leaving water down during the day

He has never been taught to be in a crate.

Benadryl, many people administer benadryl to their dogs, I personally do like recommending dosing animals with human medicine, unless your vet has instructed you to do so.

Solutions

There is no easy fix, which I am sure you are aware of.

Walking

First port of call is walking.

Likewise do the same when you return home. This will help alleviate some of his pent up energy and boredom.

Desexing

Weekends

On the weekends, he needs to be taken out frequently for toilet breaks. Give him plenty of praise and this is the opportunity to re-house train him.

This post deals with house breaking your adult dog How should I correct my dog when I catch him drinking his urine?. I would suggest implementing the principles here.

Also create an area for him to relief himself, within the bathroom or laundry, wherever you have a washable floor and drain. As ideal as this is not, it’s better to try and contain the damage.

Medications

Treats

Keep up the treats and bones, they will only help to give him something to do and eat. Also see rearranging the apartment to provide your dog with edible furnishings!

TV or music

A great idea, this question goes into more detail about this How effective is leaving a television or radio on to comfort dogs when away?.

Rearranging the apartment

Conclusion

Answer 3 (score 2)

Consider Doggy Daycare

There are already a number of other answers to this question, and many great suggestions. One that has not yet been mentioned is doggy daycare.

Dogs are social creatures. Even dogs that don’t have clinical separation anxiety generally benefit from higher levels of companionship and supervision. Dog-walkers or dog-sitters will come to your house to walk your dog and spend a little time with him. That’s fine for potty breaks and to break up a long day alone, but some dogs need a lot more than that.

According to the ASPCA link above (bold emphasis is mine):

Dog daycare providers can help you meet your dog’s needs for attention, activity and supervision. They provide a great antidote for bored, lonely or high-energy dogs with busy guardians who work away from home all day and don’t want to leave their dogs alone…The main benefits daycares can provide are:

Relief from boredom

Relief from loneliness and the anxiety that loneliness can cause in dogs (including separation anxiety)

Socialization with people

Much-needed exercise and socialization with other dogs

Prevention of destructive behavior in the house when unsupervised

Relief from guilt for pet parents who feel badly about leaving their dogs home alone all day

Costs vary by location, but in my personal experience the costs of daycare are generally on par with in-home dog walking services, less than all-day dog-sitting, and a lot less than ongoing repair costs for rugs, drapes, furniture, and so on. The quality-of-life improvements for you and your dog are harder to quantify but are no less real, and should be factored in as well.

65: Does the “cancer smell” in my dogs tumor indicate probable outcomes? (score 21953 in 2016)

Question

TL;DR

I have a 10.5 year old dog, with a tumor that has been removed before, that just grew back. The tumor ruptured, and it smells absolutely terrible. Does the smell of the tumor imply anything in relation to euthanizing the animal?

I have a pit bull / black lab mix who is 10.5 years old. About 3 years ago, she started growing a tumor on the under side of her tail. We have the tumor removed, but we didn’t have it tested or anything, since it wouldn’t have changed how we treated her (I don’t believe in giving chemo to a dog that old, and I also can’t really afford it).

After we had the tumor removed, and she had healed from the surgery, she seemed fine. Flash forward about six months, and the tumor started to grow back, in the same place. We knew this would probably happen, because the vet told us he couldn’t get all of the tumor without possibly damaging her anus (it was on the underside base of her tail). Well, I couldn’t afford to have the tumor removed every six months, so I decided to leave it alone for a bit, and have it removed every year to a year and a half. Once she had had the new tumor for a year and a half, she was healthy (besides starting to limp slightly, which I imagine isn’t rare for a 9 year old dog), and I decided to leave the tumor alone. I didn’t know if it was cancerous, and she had been fine for well over a year since she originally grew the tumor. This may or may not have been a mistake, but that’s what happened.

Well, yesterday her tumor ruptured. She seemed to immediately be in a lot of pain, and was bleeding a lot. I started to freak out, because (stop here if you are squeamish) the inside of the tumor looked like hamburger meat, and the smell was unbearable. I contacted my vet immediately, and I have her scheduled for a surgery to remove the tumor again. After closely monitoring her over the past day, she seems to be acting completely different (which makes sense because of the pain). She is limping much more, she’s panting constantly, she won’t eat, when I pet her she doesn’t react. It’s really difficult seeing her like that. She’s on pain medicine, but even with that, she just seems like she’s in terrible shape.

Here’s my real question:

Does the smell that is coming from her tumor, imply anything in relation to having her euthanized. I’m horrified of the idea of removing the tumor, putting her through so much stress, and pain with that, just to euthanize her a month later. I’m also horrified of the idea of euthanizing her, when removing the tumor could have solved several issues, and kept her alive another year or two.

I know that no one can answer whether or not I should euthanize right now. That’s why I’m specifically asking about the smell. I’ve only ever smelled a dog like that one other time, and it was from a dog that was in so much pain from cancer, that it made me sick seeing it. Any knowledge is appreciated.

Answer accepted (score 3)

I don’t know if the smell you describe is an indication for or against euthanasia. I assume that it is a very serious symptom and indicates tissue death, but I suspect that no one could say much beyond that without knowing the specific medical details of your dog’s case.

It seems that her condition has deteriorated quickly since you contacted the vet to arrange surgery. Also, it is clear from your question that your dog is in pain, even with the pain medication. That’s upsetting, but perhaps the more important question is what will the quality of her life be after the surgery?

I suggest you call the vet and describe the changes in your dog’s current condition. My questions for the vet would be:

Is the change in her condition an emergency? I.e., do we need to do the surgery sooner?
Does the change in her condition alter your recommendation for surgery?
What do you expect her quality of life to be after surgery?
Is there anything further we can do (e.g. a change in medication) to make her more comfortable while we wait for surgery?

I know that euthanasia is a very difficult decision. My heart goes out to you and your dog during this difficult time.

Answer 2 (score -1)

You should not euthanize because the tumor smelled bad. A this point you don’t know if the tumor is benign or malignant.

The dog has multiple symptoms that seem to go beyond just the trauma of a tumor rupturing. Take the dog to the vet for an exam. The vet will help you make these decisions. If you do move forward with a surgery to remove the tumor then have it tested for cancer (malignant).

66: At what age can I consider that my dog is an adult? (score 21534 in 2014)

Question

Unlike humans, there is no legislation that says that at insert-local-legal-age-here a dog becomes an adult. However, there is a lot of information (mostly on food) that is different depending on if your dog is a puppy or an adult.

At 11 months old, I have no idea if my dog is a puppy or not! How can I tell?

I realize that this question is similar to this one (At what age can my dog be considered old?) that was closed for being opinion based. But as I mentioned, since there are a lot of products targeted at “puppies” and at “adult dogs” I believe that there has to be a factual answer out there, at least in the eye of the food industry.

Answer accepted (score 9)

Karen Overall, in her book Manual of Clinical Behavioral Medicine for Dogs and Cats describes some general numbers:

Until sexual maturity is the juvenile/puppy phase
6-9 months is sexual maturity and adolescence
12-18 months is the start of social maturity and ends at about 24 to 36 months where the dog is considered adult.
6-10 years marks entering into senior territory

In some senses it will depend on what you mean by “adult” because, as with humans, it’s not entirely an age thing. We may call a person an adult at 18, but few seldom really are, that’s a legal designation.

So, depending on the breed, you’re talking about social maturity and that’s at or around the 2 year mark, give or take. It really has breed variance, so average breed lifespan as a comparison would place any given dog at some point in those ranges and you can use that as a bit of a guide for your dog.

The periods described are also described in this article: Dog Ages & Dog Stages which is backed up by the research information in Karen Overall’s book.

67: What is the average lifespan of a Cocker Spaniel dog? (score 21346 in 2015)

Question

I have a 9 or 10 year old Cocker Spaniel mix. There is definitely some poodle in him as well. How long is he expected to live?

Answer accepted (score 6)

Cocker Spaniels usually live to 14 years, but with exceptional care have been known to live up to 16 years.
Poodles usually live to 15 years, (18 for a toy poodle).
Cavoodles (Cavalier King Charles Spaniel crossed with Poodles) have a lifespan of 10-15 years; understandably Cavalier King Charles are a different breed than Cocker Spaniels.

Smaller dogs tend to live longer than big dogs. A cross-bred dog more naturally mixed as yours sounds, tends to fare better in terms of health and behavior due to a widened gene pool. Unfortunately, a lot of designer hybrids can reveal health and behavior problems inherited from the two seeder breeds.

Without concrete statistical data for your dog, I can only estimate that your dog, being in good health at his age now, would have a good chance of living to 14 years, or longer with proper care.

References:

All About Cockers (Cherished Cockers)

Cocker Spaniel, Toy Poodles (Pedigree.com)

Poodles, Cavoodles (Burke’s Backyard)

68: Why does my puppy like to put his face in my neck when he sleeps? (score 21213 in 2017)

Question

I’ve noticed that when I’m in bed my puppy will lay in my arms or next to me; and then all of a sudden he walks up on me lays on my shoulder, and puts his face in my neck and goes to sleep. I don’t know if it’s his way of cuddling, if he just prefers the heat, or if it’s his way of showing dominance of me to his brother.

Answer accepted (score 4)

Sounds like trying to get close and “cuddling”. Also this way the puppy immediately notices when you’re trying to leave. I wouldn’t try to interpret too much into this.

Our dogs usually rest their head on my lap or shoulder when they want to beg for something, which might also be something here: “Hey, get up!” Just biting or pulling might not be an option out of respect. They’d just idle and wait patiently.

Finally, I don’t think it’s something about dominance. Puppies usually don’t care and they start the whole dominance thing and trying to find their place in the pack by playing and toying around. You’ll notice when it starts. It won’t just happen by putting their head on you. That’s far too calm to be honest. :)

Answer 2 (score 0)

I’ve had many cats, but our latest addition is the only cat I’ve known that likes to rest his head on something (for the same reason that humans like resting their head on a pillow).

He sleeps like this almost always:

This seems a perfectly reasonable explanation for why your dog chooses to do so:

It’s comfortable
It’s warm
It gives affection to a loved one

I don’t know if it’s his way of cuddling, if he just prefers the heat, or if it’s his way of showing dominance of me to his brother.

It’s not impossible that it’s related to his brother. In such a case, it’s not really a matter of dominance over the brother, but rather claiming you for himself.

The same cat I mentioned before, also has a habit of claiming the spot closest to me. If another cat makes a move towards me, or he sees me petting them, he habitually moves in and (non-violently) drives them out.

I think this behavior ties into why he likes to cuddle me so much. Both can be explained by the cat/puppy having a very strong bond with its owner, and emotionally needing that bond. At least for my case, it’s clear that the cat needs a lot of physical affection, and defaults to me over my girlfriend when possible.

69: How should I select a puppy from a litter? (score 20967 in )

Question

I’ve heard different recommendations on how to pick a puppy from a litter to fit a person’s needs/lifestyle. I’ve heard that if I live an active lifestyle, then I should pick the one that runs up to me first, because that one is going to be the friendliest, and easiest to train.

On the other hand, I’ve also heard not to pick that one, because it will have the most energy, and therefore harder to train. So if I don’t live a very active lifestyle, or if I have children, then I should pick the one in the back instead, because it will be the gentlest and calmest.

But, I’ve heard that the one in the back is also a bad choice, because it’s more likely to have problems socializing.

I’ve always gone by look (a bit shallow I know), but is there really a way you can tell from a litter of puppies how they’ll be for the rest of their lives? Is there any truth to these guidelines?

Answer accepted (score 4)

Well first you should rule out health problems. Examine the puppies eyes, ears, mouth, skin and genitals for anything unusual. Gently hold and feel the puppy for any wounds, deformities or sensitive areas. Watch the puppy move and play to ensure he has healthy joints, is strong, and is well developed.

One advantage of picking the energetic puppy is that sick or defective puppies often don’t have a lot of energy. Energetic dogs may be more energetic when it comes to learning so its hard to say if that impacts training one way or another. If the puppy strikes you as unusually energetic and you want a more mellow dog then select a more mellow puppy. Sure there is some truth to puppy behavior and appearance relating to adult behavior but it is more of an art than a science.

Runts can be more aggressive than regular sized puppies and may not be as gentle around children.

One thing that makes cats, dogs and a few other species attractive to people is that these animals bond with us. Not all animals will bond strongly with a particular person. So observing the animal’s reaction to you is important in selecting an animal you intend to bond with. The animal approaching you and readily engaging in play is a good indicator that you two are compatible.

Picking a puppy or kitten should also be an intuitive process. You should be able to just observe the puppies for a bit and one may stand out as your favorite. Think of it like identifying an actor, a tree, a story, or a television show you really like; there is no test, or any real thought put into it. One simply is your favorite for some collection of reasons you may or may not be aware of. Trust your intuition and judgment.

Answer 2 (score 4)

Runts can be more aggressive than regular sized puppies and may not be as gentle around children.

70: Trained dog to ring bell to go out, now he rings it all the time (score 20609 in 2015)

Question

My roommate has an approximately 2 year old, 17-pound mixed breed rescue dog. We have trained the dog to ring a bell to go outside; this part of the training only took a day (the dog was already trained to touch, which made this part easy).

But now, the dog rings the bell too much. If we don’t stop him, he may ring the bell 20 to 30 times a day; that’s too much taking him out. It is clear to me that he rings the bell for attention, or because simply going outside is its own reward. There are lots of smells and sounds out there and he might even spot another dog or neighbor passing by. Sometimes, he horses around out there, like digging, nipping at my pants/shoes or trying to play tug-of-war with the leash. Often we’ll take him out, and he rings again right after coming back inside. We’ve been dealing with this problem for over a month and it isn’t getting any better.

To me this would indicate that perhaps the dog is not getting enough exercise or stimulation, but I feel like he should be getting enough. He gets 30-60 minutes a day of vigorous exercise, either outside playtime with me or a walk through the neighborhood, sometimes both, plus he is also enrolled in a weekly training class and practices that 4 or so times a week.

On a few occasions, he’s rung the bell for other needs, for instance, to ask for food.

Originally I tried simply ignoring the bell ring when I was sure the dog did not need to go (for instance if he just did), but my roommate said this would confuse the dog, so instead we take the bell away if he rings it too much and put it back out later. This tends to deteriorate into “keep an eye on the dog and take him out when he looks like he needs it.” Which basically is defeating the point.

Does anyone have suggestions for how to teach the dog that ringing the bell is only for going to the doggy bathroom and not for keeping himself entertained?

Answer accepted (score 6)

I found something, but this really depends on making the dog bored of leaving the house…

Playtime vs. Potty Time
Once they discover that bell ringing makes the door open, many clever dogs ring the bells whenever they’d like go outside—even when they don’t need to relieve themselves. If this sounds like your dog, you need to teach him that bell ringing is only about potty time. When he rings the bell to go out, praise him, clip on his leash and take him directly to the place where you’d like him to eliminate. Don’t play with him. Just give him three to five minutes to urinate or defecate. If he does, great! Praise him again and give him a treat before taking him back in. If he doesn’t do his business, just take him back inside.

Source

I have no idea how this is supposed to work if your dog is enthusiastic about just spotting another dog and/or sniffing the outside air, though. Is there an outside-spot the dog is plain not interested in you could use?

Answer 2 (score 3)

I agree with Layna. Just like you form an association with ringing the bell opening the door, you have to make sure it’s understood, it’s just for potty time. You need to leash the dog, so he’s not able to go anywhere and play while out there. You shouldn’t talk to him or acknowledge him. Just straight to the place where you want him to do his business, you can give a “go potty” command if you like, wait 3-5 minutes, and then straight back inside. I would give a verbal “good dog” if they went to the bathroom.

I wouldn’t worry about taking him to the same area you play with him in. He’ll learn to disassociate potty time with play time. The leash being on is a good indicator. Also, if he shows much interest in anything besides using the bathroom or gets too worked up, I’d go back inside. I don’t mind my dog looking around or walking around sniffing as that’s what they do before going to the bathroom. If he’s just trying to sniff stuff or look at other dogs, I’ll either take him back inside or say “no” and try to direct his attention away from it.

On the flip side of this, I think that until you get it established and worked out, you need to take him out every time he rings the bell, crate train him and put him in there at night so he can’t ring it, take the bell away when you’re away from home, so he can’t ring it and get no response, and finally, take him out much more often.

Key things that make a dog want to use the bathroom are play, waking up, eating, etc… So make sure to take him out after all of these events to the bathroom without him ringing the bell. Also, take him out to play and for walks as many times a day as you can without him ringing the bell. This should help stimulate him to where he doesn’t need to go out as much. I think if you try these things, you should see a reduction in bell ringing.

Answer 3 (score 3)

71: Is a McDonald’s hamburger safe for my dog? (score 20530 in 2017)

Question

I want to make my dog’s birthday special.

Is it okay to give her just one McDonald’s hamburger (and no more after that)?

Answer accepted (score 6)

Better safe than sorry and don’t give it, lots of grease in these burgers! All that grease can cause a number of problems such as diarrhea or acute pancreatitis - which has a possibility of turning into a long term issue (most commonly seen in our small dogs). These burgers also contain onions which are toxic to dogs.

The other poster mentioned going to the pet store for a nice treat which is a good idea however stay away from bones:

They damage teeth
Break and puncture the intestinal track
Break and cause an obstruction
Get lodged in the roof of their mouth

A vet I work with had a case not too long ago with a bull pizzle that punctured the dogs esophagus and went into his chest cavity, the dog unfortunately passed away. Even though it’s not technically a bone it’s one of those scenarios to be weary of.

Answer 2 (score 4)

Add to the current answers, a stock burger there has onions on it. If not ordered special, the “treat” could be less than pleasant. The amount on the burger may not be enough to be deadly, but I suspect that the volume is enough to ensure it’s actually not a treat.

Net effect, you may like their burgers (I’ll skip passing judgment on that), but there are plenty of dog-safe treats that are sure to be as big a hit, if not bigger, than anything McDonald’s is going to put out for them.

Answer 3 (score 3)

How big is your dog?

A McDonald’s hamburger is not the best thing to feed a dog - even as a treat. It won’t kill her, but depending on her size, the salt, the bun, the ketchup, mustard and especially the onions will upset her digestion, possibly causing uncomfortable gas and diarrhea. I recommend that you only feed her the meat patty if at all. Likely it was cooked with salt or salt is ground in the beef, so make sure she drinks plenty of water afterwards. If she is under 40lbs, I would avoid it altogether.

Remember, with treats for your pet, it’s not how much you give them but that you are giving them a treat. Smile as you talk to her, give her affection, gently massage her legs and muscles - stay engaged with her, she’ll LOVE that :)

As an alternative suggestion for your dog’s birthday maybe take a trip to a dog park or a dog friendly hike or beach? Dog’s love being social, with people, other animals or other dog’s - that way she can catch up on the latest news and gossip. Maybe just a fun walk around the neighborhood? She doesn’t know it’s her birthday. She just loves doing stuff with you!

Lastly, I would also recommend against feeding her raw hamburger. Raw hamburger may contain salmonella or E.Coli which can cause disease in your dog and which your dog may pass on to you. Instead talk to her as you cook her a plain and lean ground beef hamburger patty (no salt or seasonings). Let her sniff at the objects you are cooking with - that way she’ll feel like a part of the process. When you are done cooking and the pan has cooled off you could wipe the pan to remove excess fats and let her lick the pan - but don’t make this a habit, especially if it is a small dog.

I hope you and your dog have lots of special occasions for a long time to come!

72: Why does my dog like to cuddle my shoes but not chew them (score 20220 in 2017)

Question

My dog is 15 years old and used to chew shoes when she was younger. Thankfully we stopped that behaviour, but I’ve noticed that she still likes to take shoes and (for lack of a better word) cuddle them.

She’s been living at a family member’s house for the past two years but recently came to stay with me for the week. She sleeps downstairs and my shoe rack is near her bed. I’ve noticed that when I come downstairs in the morning she will have one or both of my shoes nestled in her bed with her; I usually put the shoes up on the shoe rack but she goes out of her way to pull them down and take them over to her bed (one time she put enough effort into it that she accidentally knocked the shoe rack over). One time while I was watching TV and had forgot to put my shoes on the shoe rack, I also noticed her sleeping with her head propped up on the shoes.

It’s not necessarily bad behaviour that I want to curb (besides maybe her pulling my shoes off the rack), and at her age it’s probably too late to stop it. However, I’m curious as to why she’s doing it. These shoes are well-worn so my theory is that my smell is deeply ingrained in them, which is comforting to her; or, maybe she just wants something to rest her head on while she sleeps.

Answer accepted (score 3)

Dogs are both creatures of habit and typically scent-motivated. It sounds like there have been changes in your dog’s environment over the past few years, and that can lead the dog to try to find stability where it can. Your instinct is likely correct; your dog is likely finding comfort in your scent. If you removed the shoes from the equation, they would probably try to find something else that had your scent on it. The fact your dog also used to chew may suggest they are in what I call the “I don’t want to chew it, I just want to have it” mentality. As long as they aren’t destroying things, leaving it alone is probably best.

73: Should I feed hot dogs to my dachshund? (score 19609 in 2015)

Question

I am considering feeding my dachshund some hot dogs and/or sausages. I witnessed my friend feed his dachshund multiple sausages, and the dog seemed fine afterwards.

Is this wise?

Beyond having society label him a “cannibal”, are there any actual inherent dangers to feeding my dachshund (or, for that matter, any canine) a hot dog or variant thereof (frankfurter, sausage, bratwurst, kielbasa, blood sausage, etc.)? If there are dangers, what are they?

Does it matter if the hot dog is pork, beef (Kosher or not), other meat (chicken, turkey), or vegetarian (soy, etc.)? Are there safe hot dog-esque alternatives?

Essentially, I’d like to know how safe it is to feed hot dogs to a dog.

Answer accepted (score 8)

There’s nothing inherently wrong with hot dogs. In fact, they’re a popular treat used in training. But, they are treats, and as such should be given in moderation.

The meat shouldn’t make a difference really (though pork should be cooked to avoid parasites, the same as you would if you were planning on eating it). What matters is what has been added to the meat. For safety, I would suggest avoiding flavored hot dogs, as they usually contain ingredients that can be harmful to dogs (e.g. Cheese-filled or beer batter bratwursts).

Although it’s important to check the ingredients even with plain hot dogs, as all hot dogs will have various amounts of sodium added. Sausages worry me a little bit, because generally they’re packed with various spices, which can include garlic and salt.

Since hot dogs are generally considered safe for dogs, there haven’t been any alternatives that I know of, but there are pet-safe condiments you can add if you want. Something like Petchup and/or Muttstard should be fine to add if your dog likes them. (For cats, see Catchup and Meowstard)

Answer 2 (score 3)

Hot dogs are not bad for dogs in moderation but be careful because they are high in sodium and fat and low in real nutritional content. If you want to give fido a treat or use it for training I say go for it. Use common sense, you don’t want to feed your dog hot dogs as their main food source just like you wouldn’t recommend hot dogs as a staple food source for a person.

Answer 3 (score 3)

74: How can I train my dog to not whine when left alone (outside shops, indoors while we’re outside, etc.)? (score 19430 in 2013)

Question

Our 1-year-old dog tends to whine loudly when left alone.

The dog settles down very quickly when in the car, but if left outside a shop or inside and kids are playing outside, she whines. She tends to run away, so adult supervision is required and thus she cannot be let out every time the kids are outside.

I had some success click-training her for regular training, but am unsure how to train a behavior away.

I am currently working on the issue by taking the dog outside as often as possible, just so she will get familiar with situations.

Answer accepted (score 5)

Lots of things to consider here, environment, situations, people around you who can help you with the training sessions and so on.

Around the house you can start by:

Making sure you get his attention with treats, when there are kids or exciting stuff (for him) happening outside I believe that it’s a good idea to reinforce him into a calm state where he doesn’t prance around or whines, where you get his attention inside the house and reward him with a treat once he sits down. I would repeat this one or two times per day or every change you get to see him whine when distracting stuff is going on outside.
You can then raise the training level by making him not just sit, but also lay down, and make sure that he calms down a bit before you reward him for his calm state. You need to be able to walk around a bit and make sure he “stays” there, reward his staying behavior as well with a treat and a click. Repeat this for a few days same as with the first point above.
Last but not least, if the dog’s bed or kennel is around the area you may also make him calm down first while in the trouble area while kids are playing, once he’s calm and he got a treat you can extend the training a bit (if you wish) and reward him if he goes to the kennel or simply lays down in one of his spots in calms down on his own, it’s further rewarding his calm behavior, not just on the spot, but also on his own choice if calming down and going to his favorite spot to lay down or be calm if it’s what you desire… or maybe he will simply start to ignore those outside distractions.

With all kind of training with dogs it just requires patience, practice, consistency… do this for a few days, maybe dedicate 10 minutes to each session where he starts to whine, don’t get frustrated if the behavior doesn’t go away on the fly, it might take a couple of sessions, as long as you get him to calm down once or twice per session the number of times you need to calm him down will reduce over time for sure.

Outside the house but still in your property:

If your dog whines when you leave it alone outside, it may be scratching the door, crying, barking or what not, in hopes that you have a front door and back door in your house you can get someone to tell him to “stop” or “be quiet” while you circle around to confront him so the door never opens until he’s calm. By the time you’ll get there and start to correct the behavior (in your own way of handling that) you can reward with a treat and a click and simply go in through the door without letting him in. Repeat this process with the same recommendations as the approach described above (10 mins or so a day for a couple of days).

Eventually the dog will stop his whining around the house when left outside or when he’s inside the property and there’s commotion outside.

You will notice that by the time you take your training to a public area such as the store how you describe you will have a much calmer dog that will probably won’t need a lot of effort because you will notice that the dog will most likely be calm because of the behaviors he learned while being in the house.

…And Yes, there’s a lot of new distractions to deal with when he’s outside and it might be an issue or it might not, depends on your dog’s temper and energy level, just remember that the more you can correct things at home in a more controlled environment the easier it will be do take charge in public areas.

And just in case for public areas:

You can start to determine if the bad behavior is cause by “you” the master leaving his sight by having someone stay outside with him for a bit to see how he reacts to you leaving.
You can also see if there’s anything specific that freaks him out outside when left alone.

These two things (and more) can be determined much faster once your dog does the home training at first, and once you determine what the cause of him freaking out might be (if any still) when he’s left outside in a public area and start to train again in the house by paying close attention to what triggers his behavior and coming up with a simple way of correcting it.

In example:

If the dog is reacting bad when you leave and not when everyone leaves then you can train him by doing the distance thing when you make him “stay” and you take a few steps back, and continue going back until he gets up to follow. Once he does that you tell him to go back where you told him to stay and continue making more distance and coming back to rewarding him based on the milestones he’s covering with more and more distance, you can do this in the same room, from room to room, from floor to floor, etc… he should be there staying and waiting for you until you come back, correct him right away if he gets up and runs towards you, he needs to wait there until you call him or release him from his stay command.

Like I said, lots of things to consider here, but I think that my answer is hopefully wide enough to cover your question and I wish you all the best with the training, it’s just patience, patience and consistency.

Let me know if I missed anything and I’ll be glad to edit my answer, cheers.

75: Teaching a 5 months old puppy not to bite (score 19366 in 2013)

Question

I have a female 5 months old puppy, and she’s been with us for 3 weeks now. Thing is, she’s a pretty large dog already, and her biting hurts. At the beginning she bit rather gently when playing, but it got rougher.

I tried telling her no and stop playing with her, but problem is that she just follows, jumps and bites, so there’s really no stop playing here. When I tell her no, sometimes she listens and relaxes, though most likely 2 minutes later she’ll be biting again, and other times she ignores or starts barking.

With my girlfriend its even worse, she completely ignores her when she says no and continues biting.

Any ideas?

Answer accepted (score 9)

When she bites, yelp AI in high-pitch voice, and turn your back to her. Walk away, and when she will run around you, keep on turning your back to her. That is a strong signal she’ll understand (after a while at least).

This really should be obvious, but the mistake is common. The puppy biting is kind of cute, the little teeth not doing any damage and the play goes on. Many new dog owners wake up only after the bites become strong enough to hurt. The right way is not to let any biting at all, not even once. Teeth on skin should result in stopping the play at once and not start again until a good while later.

Next time she bites, yelp and take your hand away, turn your back and go to do something else. Wash your hands, make coffee, build a sandwich, such things that you’ll have a desk or table in front of you so she’ll not be able to jump up to you. Ignoring a dog can be hard, but it often works. Now, when she’ll be calm again, then you notice her. That’s her reward for calming down. Rewarding does not always mean giving a treat or playing or suchalike. Very often a reward can be something that you don’t even think is a reward. In this case the best reward for calming down is that you turn to her and say hi :)

There are other ways too to get rid of biting, but don’t mix different techniques. Choose one and then do it as long as you need to be sure it is either working or not working. I have “programmed” my dogs to react to the snapping of my fingers. Whatever they are doing at the moment, they stop it when I snap my fingers. Saying “No” is reserved for the real serious cases, and I have to say I don’t even remember when was the last time I said No. Anyway, when you say No, do it every time the same way. Don’t say “Noooo”. Don’t say “no no no!” Don’t say “no?”. Say it firmly, with low pitch voice, sharply. Say it like you mean it. - Sorry I’m drifting away from the subject here.

In short: Puppy is biting, you stop the play and Yelp as in pain, ignore her and then reward her with giving her your attention when she is cool again.

76: Why does this dog take food out of his bowl to eat it? (score 19293 in )

Question

I noticed that when my roommates feed their puppy, the puppy will take a mouth full of the kibble (but not chew or swallow it), then walk away from his bowl, and drop the kibble on the ground. He will then walk around and eat each individual piece of kibble that he drops across the ground.

The kibble literally gets spread all across the room, and he wanders around eating all the individual pieces until it’s all gone.

Why does the puppy do this? I’m not really concerned, because he eventually eats it all. I’m just curious as to what causes this behavior.

Answer accepted (score 8)

I have seen dogs do this too. Animals sometime drag their kills off to protect their food from other animals. Feral cats will sometimes rip a hunk of meat of a carcass and run off with it to prevent other cats from taking it. Wolves and other animals often have an eating order and a lower ranking animal may try to steal a bit of food out of turn and run off with it to eat to avoid repercussions.

Your dog could be exhibiting an instinct along these lines. Also your dog may feel more secure in the area he is moving its food to. Maybe it is less open or more quiet.

Answer 2 (score 1)

My dog does the exact same thing. He would only eat food from the floor or from my hand. I’m about to try another method. Keep the food in the bowl. If he doesn’t eat it…it’s OKAY. Make sure you’re in a confined space such as an excercise pen and keep nothing but the food in front of him. Wait for about 15-20 min, encouraging him to eat as you go. If he doesn’t eat much of it through this time period, it’s totally okay. Pick up the bowl and give it to him later when his next feeding period starts. He will show more interest to the food when he’s hungry. If this doesn’t work, try giving him small pieces of treats inside the bowl gradually. Give the puppy time and he’s sure to learn! Hope this helped!

Answer 3 (score 0)

I have a Yorkie. ALL yorkies eat their food away from the bowl, as far as I’m aware. I can quote from a notable Yorkie named Bobby-O: “Now I must tell you that we Yorkies are not like other dogs. I think I speak for us as a group when I say we don’t like to stand at a bowl to eat the kibbles. It just seems a little undignified. What I do is take one of the delicious bites, go to the living room, and get comfortable to eat it. Then I go back and get another bite, and back to the living room. That seems such a more leisurely and sophisticated way to eat your meal.”
This is from the story, Bobby-o, on Kindle. Check it out

77: How can I keep my neighbor’s dogs out of my yard? (score 18672 in 2014)

Question

My neighbor owns 2 Springer Spaniels that they never leash. Our yard is divided by a low rock wall, whereas the neighbor to the other side has no such barrier. Because of this, the dogs see my yard as “outside their property” and thus, like to use it for defecation.

I’ve complained several times, and occasionally they’ll pretend to leash the dogs if they think I’m watching, but the minute I’m out of sight, and certainly when I’m not at home, the dogs are over in my yard again laying down land mines.

I’ve tried growing larger plants along the wall, but the dogs just go around the wall instead of over it.

I’ve also tried an ultrasonic dog deterrent, but it hurts my ears, and only seems to work uni-directionally.

I’ve considered escalating this to the city, but we both use our yards frequently, so it seems like that solution wouldn’t be worth the awkward discomfort.

Answer accepted (score 8)

Esa Paulasto is correct that at this point, taking it up with your local government department that handles this is probably the next step to take.

You could look into the laws in your town, I know most towns I’ve lived in had laws where it’s required for people to clean up after their pets. Leash laws would also come into effect here if your town has those. For either of these, you can call your local police on their non-emergency number, and they’ll probably send out an animal control officer to check it out.

As far as deterrents go, most deterrents that will work are also bad for your lawn. Mothballs and ammonia are two that I can think of. You could try a motion activated lawn sprinkler, but some dogs like to play in sprinklers, so it might not have the desired effect. Springer Spaniels are hunting dogs, and I would be willing to bet that they’ll get over any initial shock over the sprinkler pretty quickly.

I’ve heard ground pepper suggested before, so if you can buy ground pepper in bulk, you could sprinkle that around. The idea is that it irritates the dog as they’re sniffing for a spot, so they look somewhere else. Ashes, especially tobacco ashes, should work in the same effect too. I don’t know if either would have any effect on the grass. I’d think they would also wash away in rain pretty quickly.

If you aren’t too worried about your relationship between you and your neighbor, an effective way to get the message across, and to get them to at least make sure their dogs don’t go on your lawn, is to send the dog’s poop back to them.

Put it in a bag, and attach it to the dog’s collar so the dog brings it back with them. (Only works if you can catch the dog)
Put it in a bag or a box, and leave it on their doorstep. (Passive-aggressive bonus if you leave a note saying they forgot it, extra bonus if you don’t use a bag or a box.)
Straight up, just toss the waste back into their yard so they can deal with it like they’re supposed to.

I’d start with the government officials and deterrents first though, as it’s best to avoid wars with your neighbors.

Answer 2 (score 8)

Esa Paulasto is correct that at this point, taking it up with your local government department that handles this is probably the next step to take.

Put it in a bag, and attach it to the dog’s collar so the dog brings it back with them. (Only works if you can catch the dog)
Put it in a bag or a box, and leave it on their doorstep. (Passive-aggressive bonus if you leave a note saying they forgot it, extra bonus if you don’t use a bag or a box.)
Straight up, just toss the waste back into their yard so they can deal with it like they’re supposed to.

I’d start with the government officials and deterrents first though, as it’s best to avoid wars with your neighbors.

78: My dog refuses to go up the stairs (score 18523 in 2015)

Question

My family and I have a 4 years old German Shorthair Pointer who is all of a sudden refusing to go up the stairs.

We usually have to put a leash on him and drag him up, but even then he stands by the bedroom door wanting to get out. We cannot leave him downstairs because we just got new furniture and he has a nasty habit of wanting to pee on everything.

He is a bit skittish and gets freaked easily by things such as our vacuum, but it’s always with his first encounter with the object. He has climbed these stairs countless times without any problems and we can not figure out why he is afraid of them now.

Answer accepted (score 13)

All of a sudden = go get him checked by a vet

I can see only two reasons your dog would suddenly refuse to climb the stairs: he got hurt and it is painful for him to walk up the stairs or he had a negative experience and learned to be afraid of the stairs (or a combination of both: he got hurt in the stairs, that’s the negative experience and now it’s painful as well).

In any case it is worth checking with your vet.

Dragging him with a leash = animal abuse

Why would you do that?

If he’s scared you’re just reinforcing that fear and you’re making the stair and your presence a negative experience.

If he’s got a physical problem (might be temporary, a sore muscle for example) you’re probably hurting him even more, you’re creating a very negative experience and that means that even if its physical problem is temporary, he’ll learn to avoid the stairs even when he’ll get better.

Of course I can understand that at some point you might need to take him upstairs. Why don’t you just carry him up the stairs in your arms? It is definitely possible to do that with a German Shortair Pointer (according to Wikipedia the weight of a male is around 25 kg). If he doesn’t let you do that, train him to like it.

Away from the stairs, lift him up and give him some treat, slowly increase the duration and treat.

As for everything training is the key

Now that you had him checked by your vet and that you stopped making things worse, you can start helping him to be confortable with the stairs again.

That kind of training is called counter-conditioning.

The idea is simple but it requires a lot of patience. You simply reward every (tiny) steps taken in the correct direction. If you get your dog interested in some treats, attract his attention and move closer to the stairs, reward him for following you and approaching the stairs. When he won’t approach closer, throw a treat away from the stairs, and reward him for coming back, do that little game for a while, and then reward only when he takes one more step. You get the idea.

You can also do the same game elsewhere were he’ll agree to climb the stairs. That way you reinforce his efforts and you set him up for success.

At the same time I would suggest to reinforce him for being upstairs. Make upstairs be his favorite place to stay.

You can also reinforce him when you take him up the stairs.

With patience and a combination of these exercices you’ll start to see improvements.

Answer 2 (score 2)

Take to a vet, possible injury. Happened to my dog turned out to be a nail that was growing weird needed real attention

79: How can I get my dog to slow down when eating? (score 18444 in 2013)

Question

My seven month-old puppy eats way too fast, he doesn’t choke or anything like that, but I feel that he’s not enjoying and obviously not even chewing his food, he can go through his plate (one cup four times a day for a total of 4 cups) of Alpo dog food in 10 seconds or less (haven’t really timed it, but it’s way too fast.)

He’s fed strictly at the same time every day four times a day and he’ll do that fast eating routine 99% of the time like there’s no tomorrow.

While looking for tips on this I stumbled upon a WikiHow on a couple of tips such as turning over the plate, giving him food in multiple plates, doggy toy so he works more to get the food out of it, etc.

My question:

What is a proven approach to help a dog eat slower? While I do understand that he’s a puppy and most puppies do this, I have a 3 year old dog who eats at a super normal rate, a 2 year old that eats a bit fast and this guy who is seven months and eats like he’s getting a price if he finishes faster than everyone; so I’m looking for an answer with someone that’s tried something with success with a specific approach.

He will usually wait for the other dogs to finish their plate and go see if there was some left over (there isn’t any leftover 100% of the time but he doesn’t mind checking always).

I feel that even my 2 year old dog should eat slower if possible, and the reason I mention this is because even if the answer might be “wait it out” I’d still like to know how to help my 2 year old female dog with the similar issue but at a bit slower rate than my seven month dog in question here as I’m assuming the technique will work in both scenarios.

Answer accepted (score 8)

Elaborating on my answer from How can I stop my cat from eating too fast and throwing up? :

I adopted a dog who ate fast (the way he was raised and Cushing’s Disease).

The key is to prevent easy access to his food bowl / trough. Obstacles help to slow down eating (and encourage critical thinking!).

I stuffed his food in a Kong, wet it a little and froze it. Gave it to him mildly thawed and he had to chew his way through it. Stuffing a Kong (and cleaning it without a good bottle brush) was a pain in the ass to do every day, so this was occasional.

Another alternative was to hand-feed him. My dog was so food-oriented, he could catch any nugget thrown at his face (he was a dachshund too, which was extra interesting to see). I’d take his serving of dry food and toss it at him, one nugget at a time. Exercise, skill training and eating all in one. This doesn’t work as well with wet food.

With wet food and for times when I had no patience, I tried a different tactic with some success. I took a round food bowl, put the food in, then placed a heavy round object in the middle of the bowl. The object I used was a very heavy shotput, which was round enough for the dog to push around, heavy enough that it couldn’t be pushed out of the bowl, not immobile enough to trap his tongue, and sized so the dog had actual access to some of the food, but not all of the food, at any given time. This obstruction created a physical barrier to speed-eating.

Answer 2 (score 8)

Elaborating on my answer from How can I stop my cat from eating too fast and throwing up? :

I adopted a dog who ate fast (the way he was raised and Cushing’s Disease).

The key is to prevent easy access to his food bowl / trough. Obstacles help to slow down eating (and encourage critical thinking!).

Answer 3 (score 7)

It’s quite normal for some dogs to scoff their food without chewing. If he is not gagging then it’s a good indicator it’s ok.

He is hungry and growing. The presence of other dogs would also be an incentive to make him scoff his food more quickly.

There are a few suggestions:

A good way to get a dog to eat more and more quickly is to feed the dog in the presence of another dog. So the reverse can also work.

Your puppy, is most likely, being fed more frequently than your older dogs. I would suggest putting him in a place away from the other dogs when feeding him. Either feed him in the kitchen where you are, with the other dogs locked outside. Or the other way around. Preferably where he cannot see the other dogs while he is eating.

Another thing is to provide some suitably sized raw meaty bones. This will help keep him occupied and alleviate his need to scoff, as he will have the sensation of chewing and tasting for a prolonged period. The issue with this is, he may need to be separated from the other dogs, as many fights can break out with unsupervised bones. Or you can feed your other dogs larger bones, but it can still become a territorial battle and I suggest supervising this and collecting unfinished bones from the garden.

The other thing you can do is feed him more frequently (though four feeds is ideal) and/or increase his food. His weight gain may be looking healthy, but he may genuinely be hungry and require more food. It’s important to incrementally increase a puppy’s total daily food allowance as he grows.

If you want to increase the amount of frequency of feeding, you can create a couple of treat meal times, where the food is not presented in the same way as his usual pattern. Give him something with high protein and fat, like a fatty bony off-cut of meat. That is a suitable size that he can crunch it all up and eat it all. Brisket bones can be really good for this. While recommending some fatty treats for a rapidly growing puppy, it is not something I’d routinely recommend for an adult dog.

80: How do I get my dog to stop stealing socks? (score 18227 in 2014)

Question

My dog greatly enjoys stealing socks and running around with them in his mouth any chance he gets. He doesn’t destroy them; he just holds on to them. Eventually, he will get bored with this and just drop the socks. I know he does it just to get my attention, but I am not sure of a good way to stop this behavior.

Obviously, I do my best to keep socks hidden from him at all times, so he doesn’t have the opportunity, but every chance he gets, he will pick one up and run off with it.

How do I stop him from stealing socks?

Answer accepted (score 18)

Look who figured out how to get attention from you! And judging by him making you post here, he’s done a fine job of it. Face it, your dog has outsmarted you. Happens to me almost daily. ;-)

As you have already figured out, he’s doing it to get your attention, and he’s succeeding because you go chasing after him, right?

Time to outsmart your dog! Find an old sock you don’t care about and make it a toy for him. Tie a knot in it so you both know which one it is. When you have the time, let him grab that one and make it a game to get it back. This will be the game and the attention he craves. (Yes, dogs not only play games but invent them, and “keep away” is an ever popular one.) When he grabs a real sock, completely ignore him. Do not try to get it back, do not even acknowledge he has it. Really, you must completely ignore his stealing of a real sock no matter what.

Pretty soon he’ll learn that only The Sock gets attention. He’ll learn to ignore the others, and now you have only one sock you need to control. It will take some time, probably weeks, but it will happen without undue stress to you or him and with no real major efforts.

Answer 2 (score 10)

Your dog is most likely stealing your socks because they smell like you. A few good ways to prevent this behavior are:

Plenty of exercise. If your dog doesn’t have loads of pent up energy, then he/she will be less likely to engage in extra-curricular activities.
Attention. Have one-on-one time with your dog. After all he/she is stealing your socks for your smell, or, when you catch the dog in act, he/she will receive attention. Whether your reaction is good or bad, the dog still sees it as attention.
Keep your socks out of reach. After all, if they aren’t there, then they can’t be stolen.

If you notice that the thieving sessions are around the same time every day, then you can easily prevent this by having a short 10-minute training or play session right around that time to distract your dog.

Hope this helps.

Answer 3 (score 2)

My alternative method involves the dog learning to present the sock owner the act of placing the sock somewhere it should be. Rather than taking a sock and putting the sock somewhere it shouldn’t be. I speak from experience - I would train my dog every time she picked up a sock to put it in my laundry basket and reward her every time she drops the sock in the laundry basket.. She eventually learned every time she picked up a sock she had to go through a boring training session and eventually just moved on

81: When leaving my dog alone is it better to leave some lights on or all off? (score 18200 in 2014)

Question

I always ask myself what is better. Leaving some lights on wouldn’t prevent the dog to have a nice sleep? Leaving all lights off woudn’t make her to be affraid and scared?

Answer accepted (score 18)

It depends on the individual animal, of course, but the wolf ancestors of domesticated dogs are nocturnal, and dogs have good low-light vision. Most dogs are not afraid of darkness.

For roughly the same evolutionary reasons, most dogs won’t be kept awake by light; they’ve been domesticated to follow a roughly diurnal schedule but their wolf ancestors slept mostly during the day. And indeed many dogs seem to prefer to sleep in patches of sunlight (although it’s likely the warmth rather than the light itself they’re seeking…)

Answer 2 (score 4)

In lieu of a light, I leave the television on, tuned to an easy-listening music channel and a low volume. This not only provides some light, but a sense of presence or companionship. I don’t believe it annoys the dogs, but gives them some sort of noise variable to keep them comforted and to distract from noises outside the house that might create anxiety. I know of others who use a radio. If they are annoyed by the television light, my dogs have been given blankets to duck under for darkness. I do not believe it causes a problem for them.

82: Is it healthy for dogs to wear clothes like humans can? (score 18185 in 2015)

Question

Is it healthy for dogs to wear clothes like humans can? I am concerned of an animals welfare when they are wearing clothes made for pets. If it is/isn’t healthy what are the benefits and disadvantages/problems for dogs wearing these dog clothes?

Answer accepted (score 9)

For the most part, no, it’s not a good idea to put clothes on your pet for several reasons. There are a couple of good reasons and I will cover those.

Clothes aren’t good for your pet for several reasons. One reason is that they will chafe your pet. Where a human can scratch an itch under their clothes or adjust them, a dog can’t. Imagine if you’re underwear were wedgified all day and you couldn’t adjust them. Would you be okay? Yes. Would you be comfortable? No.

The other reason is more about psychology. I’m not going to categorically lump everyone who puts clothing on their dogs in this group, but I think a vast majority of people who dress their dogs up, do it because they see them as a child substitute. Granted they require similar care to a young child as far as not being able to feed themselves or go to the bathroom by themselves, but I think people are mentally substituting them for a baby they didn’t or couldn’t have, or for kids that have left home. Sometimes it happens when a child is in the house because the dog isn’t argumentative. I phrased it that way, instead of saying the dog isn’t bad, because a lot of them are. People feel like a talking teenager should know better. The dog should know better as well, but because they can’t talk and they’re dependent, it’s easier to see them as a child and forgive bad behavior. It’s also the reason people like cats and dogs like pugs and boston terriers. They have large eyes in proportion to their heads and this makes them seem child like.

So even though people objectively know that they’re dogs, subconsciously they treat them like babies or dolls. This leads to dressing them up, painting their nails, carrying them around, making excuses for bad behavior, etc…

It’s not a good psychological state for the person or the dog. On the persons side, they’re transferring feeling onto an inappropriate object and they’re harming their dog by not treating it like a dog. On the dog’s part, they’re not being taught what proper behaviors are when dealing with others. Because typically it’s small dogs being dressed up, they’re often forgiven for behaviors that you physically can’t with a big dogs, such as biting or jumping on you. They are also carried like babies and never allowed a proper amount of exercise. These things all lead to a dog that is aggressive, territorial, and anti-social. It’s all lumped in with the mindset that goes along with dressing up a dog like a person. I strongly disagree with this practice.

There are a few occasions I would find it acceptable to put clothing on a dog for short periods of time. These include a Halloween costume (though I’ve never put one on my dogs), a diaper when a female dog is in heat, a shirt of some kind if they have a wound you want to keep them from rubbing, a rain jacket if you don’t want them to get soaked when you’re taking them to the bathroom, snow boots if it gets packed in between their toes, guard vests on labs fetching in frozen lakes, and the only piece of clothing I have, which is a light jacket I put on my jack Russell in the mornings when it’s still pretty cold. She has very thin hair and I put her outside when I go to work. I’ll put the light hoody on her and it’ll help her retain heat till the day warms up. When she heats up, she wiggles out of it and leaves it by the door.

So there are good reasons and to put clothing on dogs and bad reasons as well. If you have the correct mindset about it, the clothing serves a purpose, and you aren’t projecting maternal/paternal feeling onto your dog, then clothing is fine. Otherwise, lets leave it off. Hope this answers your question.

Answer 2 (score 3)

I don’t think clothing is bad in it’s self, it’s more the intent behind the clothing. Right now it’s pretty cold in my house, and my 15 lb yorkie mix has a sweater on, because he has pretty short hair. I do enjoy dressing him, he’s adorable, but I am clear that he’s a dog, not a baby, or a child, but a dog. he needs walks, he needs to roughhouse with his larger brothers, who by the way don’t have sweaters on. he’s a dog!

83: How can I prevent my dog from digging in furniture? (score 18038 in 2013)

Question

My 12 year old Shih Tzu has always been well behaved, but lately has started to climb on the furniture when no one is home and excessively dig, to the point that she has started to damage it.

A few notes that might help, we lost another dog late last year and we have recently added a new dog back into the household. This change in her behavior just started the past few months and it is almost like she is throwing a temper tantrum.

What could be causing this change in behavior and how can I train her not to do it anymore?

Answer accepted (score 9)

Dogs are social animals and they always love company. Without company, they want something to do, digging can be one of them. To control this, using a polite way is the best, by distracting him from acting those things.

Like if you see your dog digging, distract him by giving him some toys or play with him etc. Giving him more of your company will be better. Losing a mate can be a reason for this behavior.

Answer 2 (score 5)

This is not so uncommon behavior in some dogs, especially in the circumstances you describe.

Introducing a new dog to the family.

It sounds like it could be an objection to both the interloper (new dog) and you leaving the house. She is a, relatively, old dog and is used to her routines and the household, from what you say was static for much of her life. Dog’s are susceptible to changes within the household and can become jealous, if there is a perceived shift in attention away from them to someone else in the household (other pets, children sometimes).

Without knowing clearly the timeframe of when this behavior started with reference to when you introduced the new dog (eg [x] weeks after we got the other dog, I can only answer generally. If you have been going out more frequently than usual, this could exacerbate the behavior.

How dogs communicate.

Dogs can’t speak to us, so the only way she can show her frustration is using her body. So dogs will communicate in ways, we sometimes perceive as difficult behavior: excessive barking, digging, biting, growling, soiling in the home, jumping up to name a few.

In the fuss and natural concern to introduce a new dog to the family, she may be receiving less attention. Well at the very least she was the only dog for some months and she adapted to having no competition for attention.

The gentle solution.

This is the time to give her more attention. When you come home be so happy to see her, use lots of verbal praise and physical affection. It is best to ignore the furniture. There really is no value in scolding a dog, after the fact. Whether or not the dog can make the association with the act, it serves no purpose to further isolate her, by scolding her. (When I say isolate, I am speaking from her point of view, I don’t mean to say for an instant she is socially isolated.)

Take time out each day to spend some time with her and let her know she is your special girl. Treat her, play with her, walk her, I would recommend giving her some one on one time to begin with, as she may be feeling a little insecure. Your previous dog died and was replaced. Dogs are not as silly as we may think. (my opinion).

Gradually you can mix the new dog in with this special time, so she associates the new dog with attention from you, treats and fun.

Separation anxiety.

If the problem persists, I would suggest that it could be separation anxiety, which is another issue. Given the details you have provided, I think the extra attention and time with her, would be the best way to go.

As a side note, you do not want to be held ransom by your pet, but if you are able to temporarily increase the time spent at home with your dog and gradually increase your time away, combined with the above techniques, this may assist in alleviating the problem.

Answer 3 (score 1)

I can only think of sharpening his nails. Like most other animals, dogs sharpen their nails by rubbing it in woods. Your furniture (if wooden) can be the reason for digging.

If not, then it can be due to dog’s natural instinct to dig holes. Dogs dig holes to make den for themselves. It is this way, they show that the place is his. They don’t use that hole for toilet and use it for sleeping, resting etc.

Frankly, I have never heard dogs digging into furniture; our dog, dig holes into soil. But hearing your problem, the cause may be either of the two possible reasons aforementioned.

84: Can we leave a pug alone for 9 to 11 hours during the day? (score 17429 in 2017)

Question

We are thinking of getting a Pug but want to know if this breed of dog would be okay left alone during the day. The dog could be alone for up to 11 hours but usually more like 9 hours.

Answer accepted (score 10)

If you are going to be out for 9-11 hours a day then your sleep time will be around 7-8 hrs a day. It means the dog will be alone for almost 16 to 18 hours. Add the time you will do household chores and ask yourself if you are going to be able to give your dog even 3-4 hours a day, which according to me is very minimal.

So I would request you to not get a dog if you don’t have time for it. I own a pug and know how affectionate they are and happy to be with people. They will sleep 12 hours in total but when a pug is awake it wants you awake to play with it.

Answer 2 (score 5)

That is a very long time for, especially a puppy, to be left alone. A pug could be fine but I think almost more important than breed is to select the specific puppy who will be ok.

This situation would likely be very stressful for a moderately high energy dog. They require a lot of stimulation and walks. Try to choose a puppy with less energy who will be happy just snoozing until you get home to play!

As with other posters I agree that puppy day care is a great option. Another option is if someone you know, friend or family can check in on your puppy in the day for a quick play session.

Answer 3 (score 3)

11 hours is a long time for a dog to be alone, 9 is OK but the regular 8 hour intervals or less is preferred as they need to pee/poo (unless you litter train him). Dogs are social animals and would want your companionship, they need exercise, training, socialization etc. If your pooch is not entertained or stimulated they have high chances of acquiring behavioral issues such as destruction of your property (boredom), house soiling, anxiety etc.

For the days that you would be gone for 11 hours I would suggest bringing him to doggy daycare, he will get a lot of attention and playtime with other dogs and people.

85: How can I be certain my dog’s fleas are gone? (score 17161 in 2015)

Question

I had somewhat of a flea problem in my house within the last week. After I caught it I applied medication (Frontline and Paradyne) to the dog and cats, kept them separate, spread diatomaceous earth, and vacuumed like crazy.

I’m fairly certain my dog she cats are flea free but the dog is still chewing and scratching. I can’t tell if he’s just scratching old bites or still has them. I can’t find any fleas or dirt on him.

How can I be sure he’s flea free?

Answer accepted (score 4)

If you only used diatomaceous earth (DE) last week you can be certain that you still have fleas in your home and on your pets.

As you also used Frontline and Paradyne on the dog and cats, you can be relatively sure fleas will not survive on them. In this case you are breaking the fleas life cycle, female fleas need to have a blood meal in order to breed. If they try to get that meal from one of your treated pets, they will die and the life cycle will be broken. You may want to continue this treatment for few months, if not indefinitely.

DE is only effective on adult fleas at any given time only about 5% of the fleas in your home are adults. There some health concerns with DE, so repeated applications and removal is the recommend path to control fleas.

To effectively control fleas with DE requires multiple applications, treatments and cleaning. There is a detailed write up about at Die Fleas! Die! Die! Die! Freaky Cheap Flea Control

Fleas can feed from the humans in the house, keeping yourself, clothing and bedding clean should control their ability to complete a life cycle using human blood.

Flea control, does not mean total extermination. There will always be some risk of fleas re-establishing themselves in your home.

You indicate you dog is still scratching, we have an answer indicating pets can have allergic reactions lasting weeks or months after the fleas are gone., if this is the case you may want visit a vet for diagnosis and treatment. Related Question What could cause my dog to bite/pull her own hair out?

Answer 2 (score 0)

Have you tried looking at your dog? He/she may be flea free but could have hot spots still which are itchy and painful. As to your house it really depends on what else you’ve done. DE isn’t going to completely eradicate the fleas. I suggest you bomb the entire house. Maybe twice.
Now, Now, not rudeness intended here but your animals had to have had quite an infestation of fleas for a while to infest your house so badly. If your animals are regularly treated this should not be an ongoing concern. A bath now and then helps. I’m from the country where my dogs were exposed daily to fleas, ticks, mites etc. and I never had trouble in the house or my truck. Frontline is a good product. Brewers Hyatt in their food also is a great help.
Good luck

86: What signs indicate a dog has been baited with poison? (score 16887 in 2017)

Question

I asked How long can fox baits be harmful for my dog? about my neighbor’s dog dying from eating fox bait.

We had a rescue whippet when we first moved into this apartment complex. She loved to go for walks with our neighbor, a lovely lady, also a whippet owner, who would also have another, third whippet join the dogs on the walks.

At the time our body corporate was inundated with some very nasty threats by one of the apartment owners. Another neighbor’s dog (a Staffordshire Bull Terrier) was suspected of being poisoned (baited) as she was very ill, but came through it.

On one walk where I was not present, I was told that the three dogs ran down one of the stairwells, then came running back and that my dog had gone into the garden to relieve herself and maybe sniffed around a bit.

Shortly after, my dog started having a seizure and foaming at the mouth. I was told this lasted for approximately half an hour, as my neighbor rushed her to the vet, but my dog died in the car on the way. I was told she seemed to be in pain and was panting, but at one point calmed down, before resuming the seizure (if that it what it was) and dying.

She had been an abused whippet and my neighbors were convinced it was because of that, maybe she had been hit on the head and a previous brain injury and so had the seizures from this (which can happen with head injuries).

However since then, my neighbors dog died from running into the bush and eating a fox bait. So it has gotten me thinking about my little dog.

What are some of the symptoms of a dog being poisoned/ baited and how long could it take for the symptoms to surface after ingesting a bait?

Here is Coco, our whippet, who died. :(

Coco :(

Answer accepted (score 5)

Tl;dr - Yes, it sounds like a possible 1080 fox bait poisoning. Can’t be sure though.

The traditional fox bait is called 1080. That poisonous bait is still used in a few countries to kill foxes, rabbits, possums and other mammal pests. The toxin in 1080 is Sodium fluoroacetate. Wikipedia is a bit vague on symptoms in animals, but for humans they say:

In humans, the symptoms of poisoning normally appear between 30 minutes and three hours after exposure. Initial symptoms typically include nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain; sweating, confusion and agitation follow. In significant poisoning, cardiac abnormalities including tachycardia or bradycardia, hypotension and ECG changes develop. Neurological effects include muscle twitching and seizures…

One might safely assume a dog, especially a small Whippet, would show symptoms of poisoning faster than the 30 mins stated for humans. The listed (human) symptoms look like a good fit to what your neighbour reported about your dog.

Strychnine is another commonly used poison against mammal pests. It affects the animal’s muscles so that contracted muscles can no longer relax. That means the muscles responsible of breathing cease to operate and the animal suffocates to death in less than two hours. This sounds like unlikely case with your dog.

One possibility is unintentional pet poisoning by snail/slug baits. These baits are meant to control a population of snails and slugs in a garden. Because the pelletized bait looks a lot like dry food made for dogs it is easily one of the most common causes of unintentional poisoning of dogs. The toxin in these baits is Metaldehyde and a dog may die inside four hours of ingesting these baits, which sounds like too slow to explain what happened to your dog, even though the symptoms of this toxin are somewhat similar to your case.

Then again, the malicious use of poisons against neighbourhood dogs can vary a lot. In fact they don’t end with just pesticides but also other harmful matter, like medicine made for humans and even razorblades stuck inside a meatball, have been found in baits. It is quite impossible to say what might have caused the death of your dog, at least without autopsy and toxicology tests. The 1080 is just one of the possible explanations.

It is best to always use a leash when walking dogs in populated areas and only let dogs free (when allowed by local legislation) in unpopulated parks and forests and suchlike places.

87: Why is my dog suddenly scared of the water dish? (score 16817 in )

Question

About three days ago, my dog approaches the water dish like he’s thirsty, but dances around it like he’s scared of something. He will finally drink, but after annoying the hell out of me with ten to twenty minutes of whining.

He’s weird around other things, like corners on a hard floor, doors that aren’t open wide enough … you know how dogs are. He acts like that around the water dish.

So I figure something happened. Maybe water went up his nose or something and he blames the dish. I emptied the water into another identical dish and he lapped the droplets from the old dish without hesitation, but was wary of the new dish.

Is there something I can do? Are there any other ideas?

Answer accepted (score 2)

Where is the water dish sitting? I’m going to guess it’s not sitting on carpet! Based on the other things your dog is afraid of, I’m going to guess that your dog skidded on the low-traction surface around the water bowl. You can easily pick up a rug or other piece of plastic or rubber (some are designed for food dishes) to put around or underneath the bowl, so the dog has something secure to stand on.

Answer 2 (score 1)

I am seeing the same thing with my dog. It started this evening when she wanted to go out in a severe rainstorm and she began eating large quantities of grass. She threw up once-grass and undigested dinner- and continued to eat grass. My hunch is that she found some cat poop in the yard this morning- neighbors feed some wild cats - and it made her sick 12 hours later. But the fear of the water dish is new.
In the past I have had to place her dish on a nonskid silicone potholder because the scraping noise is too unpleasant to her. Now I feel I am encouraging my rescue dog to develop OCD.

88: What’s the best way to heal a scab on top of my dog’s head? (score 16799 in 2013)

Question

My 6 month old puppy had a bacteria infection which caused a bunch of bumps to form on the top of her head. That is cured now, but from where she had been scratching it looks like one big scab.

What is the best way to get this to heal properly and quickly?

Answer accepted (score 12)

The solution is simple: Stop your dog scratching.

However, implementing the solution is the challenge.

Basically, every time you’re with the dog you want to remain extra vigilant to make sure that she doesn’t scratch it, distract her with something.

If you simply don’t have the time to hawk eye your dog (as most don’t), then it looks like a lampshade collar would be your best bet (they’re available at most mid-size pet stores), which are something like:

enter image description here

My mother’s Bichon had one of these in the past when she had a cut on her paw to stop her from licking it and breaking the scab and it is the only really practical and effective way of stopping your dog from scratching the scab.

Answer 2 (score 7)

I am not a veterinarian.

I have been told by my vet that antibiotic ointment (Neosporin / Polysporin) can be used on a canine cut, as long as:

the wound (and therefore the ointment) isn’t directly accessible to your dog’s mouth (it can be covered with a bandage) and
you don’t overdo the application of the ointment (I’d say apply a thin coat twice daily).

From your description, the ointment won’t be reachable by tongue. These ointments have been shown to provide slightly accelerated healing for humans on cuts and they can absorb through scabs; these should work just as well for dogs.

If you have further concerns, consult your vet.

Answer 3 (score 0)

Keep the buster collar on and try to apply animal friendly moisturiser, and clean off any loose scabs as these cause irritation

89: Who should win at tug of war? (score 16762 in 2014)

Question

I love playing tug of war with my dog. This is partially because he didn’t show interest in toys at all early on, and getting him to actually pay attention to a tug rope was a long and often unrewarding process. Thankfully, he is now always excited to have a quick game of tug with me.

I am confused about who should be winning this game. On the one hand, I’ve read (for example, here) that you should always let the dog win, because it sates their natural prey drive, and encourages them to look to their owner for help in relieving aggression or anxiety.

On the other hand, numerous sources (The Dog Whisperer, for example) say you should never let the dog win, especially if the dog is a dominant breed (bull terrier, …), because they need to recognize you as the alpha, etc.

So my question is, which is it? I suppose it depends on the dog and its temperament, why we’re playing, etc., but I am interested in any pertinent information.

I request no anecdotal answers. I am only interested in scientific reasoning (or lack thereof) behind the claims above.

Answer accepted (score 10)

Tug as Play vs. Tug-Toy as Resource

Unless you are dealing with a dog with resource-guarding or bite-inhibition issues, healthy play between dogs is reciprocal. When playing with humans, the play should also be reciprocal, but the human should maintain some control over when the game starts and stops.

The ASPCA has a fairly thorough overview of tug, but you have to read between the lines a bit to see the twin goals of operant conditioning and resource management at work. According to the article, even when the dog “wins” the tug during play, the human clearly controls the resource:

When you’re ready to end the game, follow the same steps you’ve been using to get your dog to release the toy. When she does, ask her to sit and offer her a treat. While she’s eating the treat, put the tug toy away. Do not give your dog free access to the tug toy. She only gets to enjoy it when you two are playing together.

This is good generic advice, but isn’t universally applicable. I play tug with my own dogs all the time, and let them “win” and keep the toy whenever I get tired of playing the game. My dogs aren’t resource-guarders, and quickly lose interest in the tug toy when no one is contesting for it, and so the toys get ignored until the next time—or until someone trips over them and decides to put them away.

Dogs come in many shapes and sizes, and each has his own personality and set of drives. Therefore, your mileage will vary.

Answer 2 (score 20)

This answer is not correct.

If you have a dominance problem with the dog (which MANY people do) letting the dog win will just exacerbate the aggression displayed by your dog.

The act of playing is a release of energy and aggression, so I don’t agree that you need to let the dog win in all circumstances. Personally I don’t let my dog win at tug-of-war, and she isn’t the least bit less interested in playing because of this.

That being said, I have trained some very timid dogs, and it is beneficial to them to win at tug-of-war, as it increases their confidence.

As with many other things, one answer is not suitable for all dogs.

Edit:

Let them win:

Don’t let them win:

Depends (there are a lot of these, I left most of them out):

Now, I’m not asserting that all of these sources are credible by any means, but it gives you an idea that the problem is hardly “solved”.

Answer 3 (score 10)

Tug as Play vs. Tug-Toy as Resource

When you’re ready to end the game, follow the same steps you’ve been using to get your dog to release the toy. When she does, ask her to sit and offer her a treat. While she’s eating the treat, put the tug toy away. Do not give your dog free access to the tug toy. She only gets to enjoy it when you two are playing together.

Dogs come in many shapes and sizes, and each has his own personality and set of drives. Therefore, your mileage will vary.

90: Can I rename a dog I get from a shelter? (score 16670 in 2018)

Question

I’m looking into adopting an adult dog from a shelter. As I’m looking through some of the ones available, I’m not always thrilled with the names they are given.

Is it possible to rename a dog so that they respond to a new name? And if so, is that an okay thing to do with the dog, or is it better for the dog’s well-being if they continue to be called by their original name?

Answer accepted (score 48)

It doesn’t really matter. It’s a training thing. You can make the dog respond to either name it might just take some time, especially for older dogs.

We adopted our second dog from a shelter and he was so conditioned on his name that he’d cower in fear hearing it, so changing it was not a question.

If you think about it, training a new name is basically just training a new command/word for “hey, attention”.

Answer 2 (score 33)

Dogs respond to the vowel sounds more than the consonants. If you change the name but keep the same (or similar) vowel sounds, chances are it’ll be completely seamless.

My uncle got a rescue dog named Sasha. My uncle was mentally handicapped, and had some trouble enunciating, so he started off with this sounding more like “Shasha”. He and my mum decided to rename her to “Tasha”, which he could pronounce. The dog never noticed the difference.

More of a problem, a number of years earlier, were the names of my gran’s dog, my uncle’s previous dog, and my sister. My sister is called Jenny, my uncle’s dog was called Penny, and my gran’s dog was officially called Venus but was always called Venny. My sister of course could hear her own name, so she didn’t come when the dogs were called. But if someone called my sister, you’d typically also get both dogs arriving as well!

Or of course you can train them to recognise a completely new name, as Mario says. That’ll take a little more effort, but it’s not too hard.

Answer 3 (score 16)

Yes, Both Gram and Mario have good answers about changing the name a dog already recognizes

But, many of the names that shelter pets have are not the names the grew up with. If the pet was surrendered by the owner who supplied the name when the pet was brought in AND if that name was not totally inappropriate, than the pet probably is using its “given” name. There is usually a surrender sheet filled out by the person who bring the pet in. Shelters that I have worked with usually let you see this, a copy of it may even accompany the pet.

Many pets arrive at shelters without history.

If the pet is using a name it got when it arrived at the shelter, it probably has not recognized it yet. You can change it without difficulty, to anything you think is most appropriate.

New life, new name, new home, happiness forever in the new forever home.

91: How long can my 9 month old puppy stay in the crate? (score 16086 in )

Question

We have a roughly 9 month old “puppy.” We have a dog walker come in during the middle of the day, making our dog’s longest stint in the crate about 4.5 hours. Our dog walker won’t be able to come for three days, leaving our dog crated for roughly 7 hours. I don’t expect the pup to be particularly happy about 7 hours in her crate, but is it reasonable to expect her to go 7 hours without an accident at this age?

Answer accepted (score 1)

As said, expect an accident, move on and don’t punish the dog for what is essentially not its fault.

It’s an awfully long time for any sociable animal to be locked up and not fair. I don’t want to get into personal situations but it sounds like having a puppy was not a good idea if the majority of its day is spent locked in a crate. Personally, I would suggest make adjustments in your own life to suit the animal for learning and play, this age is when they absorb the most information and pick up good habits.

Are you close to your home when you are at work? Can you take the dog to work with you to at least have it close by? Are there friends or family who can look after the animal? Because at that age, yes, it is still a puppy and to be locked up all day will be utterly confusing for the animal.

I am sorry to drag on but I feel that important things may not have been taken into account. I hope I am wrong, but that is no life for a puppy, or any animal in fact.

Answer 2 (score 1)

As said, expect an accident, move on and don’t punish the dog for what is essentially not its fault.

I am sorry to drag on but I feel that important things may not have been taken into account. I hope I am wrong, but that is no life for a puppy, or any animal in fact.

Answer 3 (score 0)

You have to expect an accident to happen. Clean it up and start over. If no accident then be happy. What I like is an oversize crate so they don’t have to lay in the accident.

OK I have to step in and disagree with Morgan.

A dog can have a very happy life with just an hour of interaction a day. Give them 30 minutes of exercise and 30 minutes of attention. On a busy day you can make a dog feel important in 10 minutes. Long or short day greet your dog when you get home. If it has been a long day then take them out immediately - hey I held it take me OUT. Let them sleep in the same room as you. A puppy will sleep 20 hours in a day.

92: At what age can my dog be considered old? (score 15998 in 2013)

Question

My dog is getting older but when would he be considered senior?

I know that 1 human year equates to 7 seven dog years.

Answer accepted (score 6)

8 years, would be a good average to concider your dog as “old” or “senior” but there are no real fixed age. Just the difference between the races’ lifespan makes it easy to understand. Small dogs tend to live between 15 to 20 years as big dogs will live between 12 to 15.

The reasons why I say 8 years old is the threshold is because that at about this age that dark dogs will start having gray hair. At that age, the dog’s diet should be changed a bit and the adult food should be changed to senior food as per your dog’s favorite brand will most likely point out.

Answer 2 (score 6)

Answer 3 (score 6)

93: Is it safe to wear a Thunder Shirt for an extended period of time? (score 15939 in 2015)

Question

We have a 6-7 year old pancreatic American Eskimo that had been symptom-free for several months. Several weeks ago we got a Thunder Shirt as a gift and she generally seems to enjoy wearing it (for example, she doesn’t move awkwardly while wearing it). But this week, after having worn it continuously for several days in a row, she threw up. She had also been acting a bit out of sorts for the last two days, staying in her crate and dodging most attempts to pet her, etc.

We’ve been adhering strictly to her dietary requirements, not feeding her anything unless its Guaranteed Analysis indicates a Crude Fat Max of 9% or less (her regular food is 4% max), so we don’t think this could be food related.

When I took the Thunder Shirt off this morning, she seemed to liven up a bit, sat with me on the couch, and even presented her belly for a while, at which point I noticed digestive-type sounds coming from her abdomen at regular intervals - maybe every five seconds or so. I theorized that wearing the Thunder Shirt for multiple days could have been constricting one of her internal organs, and now that I’d removed it, whatever was constricted suddenly started doing whatever it was supposed to be doing. But my wife said it’s just the sound of impending diarrhea and not related to the Thunder Shirt.

Could the Thunder Shirt have caused, or contributed to, my dog getting sick? Or did she just start acting more normal after I took it off because she was already feeling better after throwing up, and the timing was just a coincidence?

Answer accepted (score 2)

The directions for the thunder shirt do say that you must take it off at least twice a day for 30 min each. I am not sure if that would be enough time to matter though. I have also noticed that my dog acts out of character when he wears it for a certain period of time (sleeps a lot and lays by himself rather than seeking attention from me). I use it to calm his separation anxiety while at school and work.

Answer 2 (score 0)

It could be something she randomly ate which irritated her pancreas, causing the vomiting. One of my dogs recently ate something that gave him a bout of pancreatitis and it took more than a week for him to get back to normal. He wasn’t running or jumping (which he does all the time, especially when he’s excited) and he was walking funny because of his discomfort.

It’s my understanding that the shirt works because of the added pressure and fur stimulation that it provides. Something about it is comforting. It could be that the shirt was pressing on a spot that was extra-sensitive because of the pancreatitis, so removing the pressure relieved the discomfort. The shirt wouldn’t be tight enough to cause that much constriction (unless you bought one too small) but it could add enough pressure to be uncomfortable.

94: Is it safe to shave a Chow-Chow for the summer? (score 15895 in 2014)

Question

We own a 6-month old Chow-Chow. We’d like to take him to a professional groomer now that summer is here. Are there any special precautions we should pay attention to? I’ve heard that some dogs have a two-layer coat and that it can be dangerous to shave both layers, is this true?

Answer accepted (score 11)

Double coated dogs (such as the Chow Chow and many others) should never be shaved unless it’s for medical reasons such as a skin disease or other vet recommended procedure. A dog’s double coat actually helps insulate a dog to keep him cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

Shaving a double coated dog will not only prevent a dog from keeping cool, it can actually make them overheat and more likely to get sunburn. Besides that, the fur rarely grows in the same and you end up with fur that doesn’t look right and is not as soft as it was previously. Here is a diagram explaining the purpose of the double coat.

Double Coated Dog Airflow

The best way to groom a dog with a double coat is to use a combination of an undercoat rake and wire comb. For our dog, Nova (an American Eskimo), the wire comb is usually good enough, but the undercoat rake can come in handy to get rid of any mats or extra dense spots. Grooming regularly (we groom Nova about once a week) makes the job very easy and only takes a little while. It also helps keep the dog cool in the summer and prevents mats from building up that prevent airflow.

95: Why does my dog kick his legs back when he gets excited? (score 15797 in )

Question

Our dog gets very excited, very easily. He will pace back and forth, making a meowing like noise, whining, and kicks his hind legs backwards as he paces around. I’ve never seen another dog act this way and I can not find an answer to my question. Everything I read online explains that dogs do this after they urinate, or it is a way of marking territory, but that’s not what is happening in this case. He was adopted by us when he was around 1 year old, breed is Papillon, he’s done this the entire time we’ve had him which is about 3.5 years now.

Answer accepted (score 1)

My Aunt’s Pomeranian does something very similar to what you describe. My Aunt always called it his happy dance. Occasionally, usually when he’s excited from what I’ve seen, but sometime when just standing there, he’ll stretch one leg straight back. I’ve seen him do it with both, but usually it’s the back left.

I only got a vague second hand account of what the vet said, but it boiled down to poor breeding and medical problems. It was something like his hip or knee were locking and he was trying to pop them back into place. He also has issues with a collapsing trachea.

Poms and Papillions are both small dogs and what typically happens is that irresponsible breeders breed the smallest dogs to the smallest dogs to decrease the size and don’t breed for genetic health. I would guess that something similar happened with your dog.

I’m not a vet and even if I were one, I wouldn’t be able to diagnose it over the internet. It could just be a personality quirk. However, it is something to mention to the vet. I don’t think she said there was anything to do, it’s just something he has to live with.

96: How should I correct my dog when I catch him drinking his urine? (score 15469 in 2017)

Question

So my dog drinks his pee, and it’s been suggested to correct his behavior when I catch him. As suggested, rubbing his nose in it is not the correct tactic, and in fact may have created the behavior. This is not something I ever did to him, as we are his third (and final) home.

When I catch him, I usually just yell his name followed by “no!”, but this usually happens late at night and others are sleeping up till I holler “no!”. Then I usually get yelled at myself, and again in the morning.

How should I go about correcting this behavior if I catch him doing it?

Answer accepted (score 8)

In response to some feedback, I’d like to explain clearly; the point of this answer is not to suggest that a dog drinking his own urine is by any means optimal, either for his health, or as a behavior, I am merely stating that if the animal is not let out to go to the toilet often enough and then does the best he can to correct his mishap; he should not be scolded for this. The idea behind this, is treating the cause of the behavior, rather than treating the symptoms.

I am not disagreeing with @John’s answer in principle; just providing an alternate answer based on the reason your dog is relieving himself in the house; as per your linked question Why is my dog drinking his pee after he urinates inside?.

Behaviour like this is normal, if the dog is not doing it outside, but only within the house. My answer here Why is my dog drinking his pee after he urinates inside? explains this in more detail.

Given the dog is going with his natural instincts and trying to keep the den (your home) clean, I wouldn’t go with any sort of negative feedback, as it’s confusing to the dog.

The key to breaking this habit is to ensure

you dog doesn’t have any health problems preventing him from holding on
to take your dog out for more frequent toilet breaks
to provide, if possible, a dog door, so he can access the outdoors and relieve himself as needed.

Although it is unpalatable to watch, urine (in it’s healthy state) is sterile and no harm will actually come to your dog from doing this from time to time.

After a bit of thought it also occurred to me; if you catch him in the act of doing this, it might be an idea to call him Rover! high pitched voice, in the tone of quick come and see this! and run to the back door with him and take him outside. It’s not a direct reward for the behavior, but like an acknowledgment of yes, that's yuck, let's go outside and also serves as a complete distraction.

Ingesting its own urine is very unlikely to cause any significant problems in a dog, since any organisms in the urine are already present in the dog’s system. As long as another water source is freely available there should be no problem.

Mike Richards, DVM

Answer 2 (score 4)

Assuming the problem is not the result of dehydration or a medical condition, then, to be honest, I think you’re doing the right thing. Dogs need to be corrected while in the act or, ideally, just before the act and it’s not physical correction that you want to do, it’s the tone and display of displeasure. If he reacts correctly, show him you’re pleased with his response (mildly) and if he doesn’t, strengthen the tone until he does.

Your house will need to patient… :)

Answer 3 (score 1)

Yes my dog is also drinking her own urine and is very old with vision issues. A doggy door would be ideal but we have cats who would bring in the catch of the day if they had the opportunity so we need to watch before we let them in. I buy large or extra large pee pads for the dog when it is too cold to put her out to pee- she resists going out when it’s cold. I have found buying human bed pads that stick to the doggy floor tray then add the layers of pee pads and change them frequently every day a couple times of need be seems to decrease the opportunity for her to drink her urine. It does make sense that the dog is trying to keep her space clean so we can’t blame her for her efforts or actions we can only try to limit the opportunity for her to feel the need to tidy up her space the best she can.

97: How do I stop my dog from barking at people through the fence? (score 15424 in 2013)

Question

What is the best way to stop my fenced-in dog from barking at people who are passing by on the street?

Answer accepted (score 19)

This is a very tricky problem for the simple fact that your dog gets rewarded every time it barks at a passerby. In the dog’s head, it’s all very simple.

Person approaches, dog barks, person leaves.

Yay to the power of barking!

The power of barking

Depending on the size of your garden, if none of TildalWave’s suggestions are an option, you might have to temporarily keep your dog in the house while you’re not at home and in a room that doesn’t allow him to bark at passersby through the window.

The long-term approach is to use desensitisation and counter-conditioning, that is, slowly get your dog used to strangers coming near the fence and start to associate strangers with good things happening(TM).

You’ll have to recruit some strangers (to your dog) and ask them to approach the fence to a distance that your dog is comfortable with. Reward your dog for noticing the stranger but not barking at it. Slowly move the dog and/or stranger closer together and keep rewarding good behaviour. Try to set your dog up for success as much as possible. The less often you get your dog’s threshold wrong, the quicker it’ll learn.

Also, it is very important for the stranger not to move away if your dog does start barking, as this will only reinforce the unwanted behaviour. Just ask the person to stay still and move your dog further away from the fence. Most of all, exercise plenty of patience as it might take a while.

Answer 2 (score 10)

Dogs are territorial and will protect their area whenever there is some natural or an artificial border separating their territory from not their territory. Most of them aren’t too aggressive at that tho, and if you opened the fence doors you’d likely observe your dog bark while a passer by walks next to the fence, and stop soon after they pass by the open door. That might not be possible to do in your case, but you have probably observed this behaviour previously with other dogs behind fences.

I’m describing this to somewhat lower your expectations, because you’re unlikely to stop your dog barking at passers by when they approach some barrier they learned to protect, adopted as their territory. When I say learn, large part of this behaviour would be preconditioned and greatly depends on the dog species, and when I say their territory, some dog species that are more lenient to strangers approaching might be more permissible in all of this.

So one way to prevent that would be distancing your dog from the fence itself, maybe by building a kennel within that fence but far enough from it for the dog to feel comfortable with strangers passing by (it would depend on each individual dog really, even their pecking order if you have more than one), but I would advise against chaining your dog or anything of that sort, not to cause it further inconvenience. The dog is really merely doing its job when barking at strangers. And strangers here means any passers by that the dog didn’t yet successfully identify on their approach. Different dog breeds will have different sight, smell and hearing abilities, so this will vary too.

Alternatively, if at all possible, move your fence to be slightly protruding onto the street, at least a bit more than your neighbour’s so the dog can see, smell and hear incoming passers by before they nearly brush against your fence and surprise your dog, making it bark even more vigorously. Or even the other way around, recess your fence inwards so there’s enough of space between the pathway beyond the fence and the fence itself. Anyway, there are many ways to help prevent or lower the frequency of this barking through the fence, once you know where this behavior originates from.

Observe your dog, allow it to move freely on your lawn and take a mental note of when the dog doesn’t feel threatened by passers by, and when it does. Then apply these rules learned to whatever would keep your dog from barking through the fence. Some breeds tend to be more nervous while others might be easier to apply any of these rules to and mitigate this problem. Terriers are particularly territorial (not where the name comes from, tho), also shepherds but usually when there’s something else than themselves to protect within the protected area, and some hounds or similar might not even give any attention to passers by. As a general rule of a thumb though, bigger dog breeds tend to be more confident in themselves and be slower, less energetic in their reactions to strangers. Unless they feel they really have to. So, learn your dog’s ways and you two will work together on it, figure it out. ;)

Answer 3 (score 0)

Get an old 12 oz soda can rinse it out then place around 10 pennies inside of the can, and tape it off at the mouth. I find electrical tape or silver duct tape works the best. Now that you have that finished the next steps are the most important. The next time you are out front with your dog and a person approaches your fence whether they are by themselves or walking their own dog and your dog starts barking, you take the soda can and under toss it gently towards the general direction of your dog. DO NOT throw it at your dog!

The purpose of this is NOT to hurt your dog but to startle your dog instead. It’s to snap them out of the “bad” behavior that they’re doing and get them focused on something else other than the passerby. In a sense it’s like resetting their brain. The noise the can with pennies will make is loud thus triggering their brains to forget about what they are doing at the time. When your dog stops barking at the person is when you want to give positive praise and or a treat for their good behavior. As time progresses your dog will associate his/her (in our minds negative behavior of) barking with a loud sound that he/she doesn’t like and eventually the barking will cease.

Just remember to toss, NOT throw the can in the direction of your dog, NOT at your dog. This technique has worked for every dog I’ve ever owned and my friends dogs as well. And believe it or not… none of them are scared of soda cans! Good luck and I hope this helps you and your dog with the barking issues at hand.

98: Did I Traumatize My Puppy? (score 15173 in 2019)

Question

I have a 5 month old puppy who’s pretty much attached to my hip and feels super comfortable around me. However, I have noticed recently that he seems to get agitated sometimes whenever I try to pick him up and he ends up running around and peeing (which I heard could be something called submissive urination).

Today, I had to give him a bath, cut his nails, and give him his ear medication for a yeast infection that he has. When I cut his nails, I got sort of got rough with him trying to hold him down which made him tense and he had an accident. After 2 hours, I finally cut all his nails and then went to give him a bath; I tried to be as gentle as possible, but he was shaking and kept trying to leap out which made me have to hold him down again. After that was over, I tried to give him the medication which was insanely difficult.

It’s worth mentioning that I’m a first time dog owner and I had to hold him down HARD to give him this stupid stuff which resulted in me coming off aggressive when he was trying to escape (the poor little guy was squealing and whining and was in visible discomfort with this crap in his ears).

I gave him some treats towards the end of the night and he’s asleep right now but I want to know if I did any long term damage. Also if anyone can recommend methods for keeping him calm during stuff like this, it’d be great because I don’t want him to get anxiety.

Answer accepted (score 45)

That was probably a little too much in one go for a puppy. Puppies learn natural dog behavior from their mothers and rudimentary human behavior from their mother’s owners (that’s called socializing). They are most trusting and confident in situations they experienced in a positive way during socializing. Everything above and beyond makes them insecure untill they learned how to cope with the new situation.

After such a negative experience, you need to give your puppy much love and, if possible at all, repeat the same or a similar situation in a much more positive way.

First there was cutting the nails. This is not an activity you usually do with a puppy during socialization and holding the feet of a dog is not part of the natural behavior. Almost all dogs get nervous during nail cutting at first and need to be trained to endure the procedure in a calm way.

You should train “holding hands” with your puppy. He can be sitting up or lying on his side (to hold the feet). Just pet him a little, take one of his feet in your hand, look at it and move it a little bit for 5 - 10 seconds, then release it and continnue petting. This connects the experience with positive emotions.

Next you should include the nail clipper in this training. Let your dog sniff at it, then do the “holding hands” training but instead of just holding his feet, touch his nails with the clipper. You don’t need to actually clip his nails, just touching is enough. Continnue petting after that.

Next time you need to cut his nails, repeat the same training, this time actually cutting his nails. Pet him after every single nail that was cut.

Next the bath. Many dogs are afraid of the bathtub because they cannot see the shape of the surface clearly, it makes a metallic sound that most dogs aren’t used to and amplifies sounds and on top of that, they get wet. You could compare the experience with a ghost train for dogs.

Some simple tips to make the experience less frightening are:

A very simple solution is to put an old towel or bath mat into the tub, to dampen the metallic sound and make it easier to discern the bottom from the walls.
Kneel down next to the tub so you don’t tower over your dog (which is perceived as a dominant or threatening gesture).
Start the water at low water pressure and let your dog sniff / lick at it.
Start wetting his feet, then tummy, then shoulders and hips.
Do not let water flow over his head or ears. If he’s dirty there, cup water in your hand and wash him that way.
Talk to your dog and praise him.

Always use a shampoo designed for dogs. Shampoo for humans shouldn’t be ingested, can dry out a dog’s skin for several weeks and cause itching or rashes.

Once you’re done, either let your dog jump out of the tub or lift him out. Offer a towel in your open hands and call him to you. Rub him dry in a playful manner. Our dog loves to rub himself on the towel and squirm around on it.

Last but not least, the ears. I share your fate in that regard. Any ear infection is extremely unpleasant for a dog, and so is getting any liquid into their ears. Our own dog whines as if he’s being slaughtered every time we treat his ears.

Don’t grab your dog by the snout and force his head into the position you’d like. Don’t clamp his head between your legs. This is not only a form of violence, it also means a rather severe punishment in a dog’s natural body language. That way you connect treating his ears with very negative emotions and he will fight harder and harder against it.

Instead, you need to have more patience and outsmart him

You should start massaging his ears with your non-dominant hand. In case of an infection, it’s best to massage from the cheek (inner ear) towards the neck (outer ear) to dislodge any acummulation of ear wax. If there is excessive ear wax, it’s best to wipe it out with a moistened cotton swap before applying any medication. Do not use Qtips / cotton buds in a dog’s ear.

Then move your dominant hand (holding the medication bottle / dispenser) to the same ear and quickly squirt some of the medication in the ear. Continnue massaging the ear to spread the medication. If the medication is very liquid, you don’t even have to aim. It’ll flow into the ear while you massage. If it’s more like a gel and your dog won’t let you aim in his ear, squirt a dose onto your finger tip and gently push the finger as deep into the ear as you can get, then massage. Be carefull not to hurt your dog with your finger nails.

After each treatment, give him some very special treats he doesn’t get every day and praise him.

Answer 2 (score 7)

It sounds like the experience was just as traumatic for you as it was for your pup. You will both “get over it” in time. Don’t coddle the pup and act like you have to compensate for the way you treated him while you were doing those parenting things. He won’t understand what’s going on and he could become insecure from the apparent mood swings. Instead… let’s see if I can help you learn better ways to do those things.

Nail clipping: Bring your puppy into your lap while you are watching TV. Lay his back against your belly and slowly (gently) stroke his belly. As you do this he will become more and more relaxed. After he is relaxed, gently examine his paws and clip a nail or two. Then after a bit do another… (there is no rule that says you have to do every nail in one sitting)

Bathtime: Since your little guy is a puppy (I assume this means small), pick him up and put him in the sink. Most kitchen sinks (that I know of) have sprayers that you can pull out and use to soak down the pups fur. Just make sure that the water is warm (not too hot or cold) and that you hold the sprayer close to his skin (which also prevents splatter). There are several advantages to washing your dog in a sink including your own comfort, control, and the convenience of having everything you need within reach. Naturally, this might be far-fetched for larger dogs, but it’s perfect for pups and small(er) breeds.

Ear Meds: Let your puppy get used to you inspecting “it” all over. Puppy Mom’s will nudge their offspring, toss them on their backs, smell their ears, etc. So puppies come to you with some level of handling. Still, getting your puppy used to you lifting up their ears and putting something inside them is… different. I think the name of the game here is that you are calm, prepared, and efficient. Lift the ear, look inside, snif (dogs sniff other dogs ears), add meds, then rub the back of the ears for a few seconds. That way the medicine will work it’s way into the dog’s ear canal and it helps make the experience more positive for the dog. Done without drama. :)

Congrats on your pup. I hope you have a long happy relationship!

Answer 3 (score 5)

I give my dogs a shower instead of a bath. They’re much calmer standing “in the rain” than in a pool of water.

99: I kicked my dog in the back and now she’s walking funny, what do I do? (score 15022 in 2014)

Question

I left my room to go talk to my mom and left my little brothers food on the table. When I came back Lola, my dog, was eating the food so I spanked her, then out of frustration I kicked her in the middle of her back and she yelped.

She then ran away with her back feet not being normal they were skittering outwards like a frog. I kicked her because she’s done this at least 5 times leaving him hungry. She’s been my dog since ’07 and I love her and now I’m scared she paralyzed. Please help me. What’s wrong with her? Will she die? And I don’t have enough money for the vet. What should I look for/feel for on her back?

Answer accepted (score 23)

Your only option at this point is to make sure she is taken to a vet. There has been some damage done, the real question is how much.

Not taking her to see a vet would be a bad decision.

I know you said you don’t have the money, but sometimes it’s possible to work out repayment plans to pay for visits. There is also pet owner’s insurance that you can get that would pay for emergencies such as this.

From a purely monetary standpoint, saving money by not taking her to a vet is a short term investment, and it only works if the expenses that occur from that investment are less than what is saved. I think you’ll find that with the time and money you will spend afterwards, you would have saved more in the long run by making a long-term investment and taking her to the vet immediately.

Even spinal injuries that have been treated can have complications in the future. Untreated spinal injuries can come with those and more. Being paralyzed is one, inability to control bowels is another. With the nervous system running through the spine it’s actually a huge risk for neurological conditions to develop from the damage.

Even if the damage is minimal, and there is a possibility that it will heal on it’s own, there’s no telling what the lasting effects will be. Think about it this way, when people break a bone they don’t go to the doctor because it won’t heal on it’s own, but because it will heal incorrectly. Bones are not meant to be moved out of place, and once out of place they will not move back on their own.

Cat x-ray with broken spine
(Source with incredibly sad story)

This is an x-ray of a cat with a broken spine. If you ran your hand along the back you would probably feel the bump where the spine is misplaced (along with noticing the animal scream in pain no doubt). Even a single slipped disc is enough to pinch a nerve and cause constant pain.

From an ethical standpoint, you can not choose to let your dog live the rest of her life in pain for the sake of monetary gain.

This is not because you’re a bad owner but because it is what she needs, if you can not afford to have her injuries cared for by a professional you should consider giving her up to a foster home or shelter where someone with the financial ability can. She can not take care of herself and it is your responsibility to make sure she is cared for.

Finally, never attempt to treat any injuries such as this. Attempting to fix this could pinch a nerve, or even internal organs (punctured organs can result in death). Even taking her to the vet you will want to be extremely careful. Don’t pick her up if you can help it as that will bend the spine. Try to have her walk into the car if she can still move. Place a ramp so she doesn’t have to jump in or out. Otherwise, lay her down on a board, or in a carrier, to act as a stretcher.

Good luck in your decision.

Answer 2 (score 18)

(Disclaimer. The following information is for general guidance on your responsibilities towards an animal and is not legal advice. Local laws may vary.)

Take the dog to a vet. If you can’t afford a vet, you shouldn’t have a dog. You talk about your little brother, so maybe you are still a minor yourself, which nets you fractionally more than zero sympathy. Is the reason that you cannot afford a vet because you are trying to keep this from your parents? Or is the dog owner unable to afford a vet? In either case, your number one priority now should be to ensure that your dog gets immediate and appropriate care. Failing to do so would be considered neglect in some jurisdictions (relevant UK legislation):

A person commits an offence if he does not take such steps as are reasonable in all the circumstances to ensure that the needs of an animal for which he is responsible are met to the extent required by good practice.

For the purposes of this Act, an animal’s needs shall be taken to include—

its need for a suitable environment,

its need for a suitable diet,

its need to be able to exhibit normal behaviour patterns,

any need it has to be housed with, or apart from, other animals, and

(e) its need to be protected from pain, suffering, injury and disease.

Be aware that what you have done may already constitute animal cruelty, a criminal offense in most jurisdictions. The good news for you is that vets will typically (though not everywhere) have an obligation of confidentiality towards a client, but this can be breached if the vet suspects sufficiently serious or ongoing abuse. Failing to seek appropriate care promptly will likely impact on a vet’s decision whether or not to report the matter further. If you are worried about getting into trouble, you are less likely to face action if you act fast, now, to get the animal appropriate care. If you have to take your dog to the vet as an emergency admission later then the likelihood of them making a report will increase significantly.

A person commits an offence if— .

an act of his, or a failure of his to act, causes an animal to suffer,

he knew, or ought reasonably to have known, that the act, or failure to act, would have that effect or be likely to do so,

the animal is a protected animal, and

the suffering is unnecessary.

In this case a dog would be considered a “protected animal” as defined in the legislation. Very similar laws exist in other countries, so don’t just shrug this off if you don’t live in the UK. Understand that what you have done is very serious and can never happen again.

Ultimately, your first priority now should be that your dog, which you claim to love, gets the best possible care. GO TO A VET.

100: How do I help my dog adjust after moving? (score 14987 in 2014)

Question

My dog:

Sex: Female
Breed: Chihuahua/French Poodle
Age: 9
Had surgery for a breast tumor a year and a half ago. No further sign of tumors.

Previous Location:

Mother’s home
4 bedrooms (3 residents)
Well water
Large yard

Current Location:

Rental House
5 bedroom (6 residents)
City Water
Backyard

Background:

I have lived with my dog for her entire life with the exception of the past two years, when I went across state to attend college, during this time, my mother and sister had been watching her. I am the person she has always preferred to come to for food, to play or to go walking with, even during the time that I was visiting and not living there. I have recently moved to a location near my college that allows dogs. However I’ve noticed my dog has had issues adjusting .

Issue:

The first day (about two weeks ago) she was scared, as I expected she might be moving to a new home, and since we’ve moved in I have done everything I can to help her adjust. She always has food and water available to her in my room, I take her for a walk once a day in the nearby park, and I take her to the backyard whenever she needs to do her business or wants to play.

I am currently not employed and in between semesters so I don’t leave the house much or for very long, but when I do she begins to howl while I’m away. I’ve tried leaving her in my room with food, water and toys, and I’ve also tried letting her roam the house while I’m away but she insists on howling. My roommates say she goes around the house as though she is looking for me even though she saw me walk out the front door. I figure that she thinks I’ve left for a long period of time since the most she’s seen of me the past two years is when I would visit once every month or two for a week. I am not sure how to handle her separation anxiety. Suggestions or insight would be appreciated.
Just this week I have noticed that my dog has begun to lose weight, it hasn’t become apparent visually but I’ve noticed when I pet her and I’m becoming concerned. I want to stop it before it becomes a problem. I have read that weight loss in dogs can be linked to stress, right now that is what I believe it is, but I know I could be wrong and I’m wondering what other things weight loss is a symptom of. Either way, I do not know what to do about this. I am planning on taking her to a vet this week, but for now I plan on feeding her some pasta without butter or sauce. Again, suggestions or insight are welcome.
My dog is becoming less interested in playing. She has not been playing with the toys that she had always used to play (stuffed animal dog toy, fake bone, chasing the laser pointer). She still loves going for walks though. Not sure what to think of this. Not sure if it is stress related. Suggestions or insight?

My Current Plan:

As I said, I plan on taking her to the vet this week with these questions. I plan on getting her on worm medication, just in case. And I plan on taking her on two walks a day instead of one since she doesn’t want to play with toys anymore. If anymore information is needed or might help, I will gladly provide it.

Answer accepted (score 6)

I had this same issue with our dog. It sounds like separation anxiety. We solved the issue by using counter conditioning. Basically, you want to make the thing she fears (your leaving) associated with something she loves. For our dog, it was a treat in a Kong. It takes our dog about 20 minutes to get the treat out of a Kong. When we left, we gave her the Kong with a treat in it. After a while, she associated our leaving with getting the treat in a Kong. She still doesn’t prefer that we go, but now when we do, she gets excited for her treat.

It is not an overnight fix. You may want to take a few smaller trips as well so that she learns that you will come back and it will help get the association with the thing she loves established as well.

Answer 2 (score 2)

The answer about using a Kong is good. Since you have the time to do this now it is best if you follow a specific routine when leaving and always leave her in the same area. Using a crate is best because it provides her with a clear answer of where to be and what to do while you are away.

Put her the crate with the Kong full of goodies or a fresh butcher bone and leave the room for a couple minutes. As soon as you hear her settle down and start chewing give her a minute then go back in the room, let her out of the crate and put the chew toy/bone away for next time. Repeat this several times a day gradually leaving her for longer periods.

What this does is gives her the answer for how this new home works. She doesn’t have to worry that you are gone because you always come back to let her out of the crate.

Also make sure that you do NOT make a big deal about leaving or coming back. Making a bunch of excited noises just gets her riled up and anxious. When you come back in yo let her out just open the crate and go about your business. When she settles down then give her a nice calm cuddle so she understands that you want her to be calm and comfortable.

The extra exercise will really help too. A tired dog is a happy healthy dog.