Q. My name is Hartencia and I live in Virginia Beach. My question is about our 10½ month old Golden Retriever. He attacks our feet and the feet of visitors when we have visitors come over. He's been to obedience training but he still has this annoying behavior. Is this because he's still a puppy? Will he outgrow this biting behavior? Should we be concerned or will he eventually outgrow it? Well that's my question. Thank you.
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A. For Hartencia in Virginia Beach. Your Golden Retriever is past puppy-hood now. He's on into adolescence and if he still has a habit that he developed when he was a little puppy, then you need to do something about it. It's just not going to be outgrown. I'm guessing that from what you said it sounds like a game to him to attack your feet and grab feet when you walk around. If he's been to obedience training he probably has a few word cues that you could use for him to help him stop so I would suggest that when he starts to go after your feet to use STOP. Ask him to sit. Tell him good. Sit. Then walk on. Also, that will get him focused off biting your feet and get him focused onto something that he can get praise for and you can also give him treats for that. Also teach him to grab and bite a toy. He's a golden retriever so he probably already likes to retrieve things, so use that behavior that is born into him to help him form a new behavior, instead of going after feet. Teach him to go after his toy and he can bring the toy to you and you can play a gentle game of tug. You can play fetch, and that will focus him off of the feet too and also give him something to do with his mouth. Basically he's not going to outgrow it, you can change it by training it into a behavior that you like a whole lot better than biting your feet. Teach him to bite a toy, teach him to sit, teach him that he can get rewards for doing that and that's how he can get his attention from you and your visitors instead of being annoying.
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Q. My name is Laura and I'm calling from Chicago. I wanted to know how to get my puppy over the fear of fireworks and loud noises outside. She is 1 year and 3 months and she's afraid to go out on the 4^th of July.
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A. For Laura in Chicago. You're not the only one whose puppy is upset by the fire works and the loud noises during the 4^th of July. It's very common for dogs to take off or run away and hide under buildings or just start running and keep running until they find a place that's quiet. So this is the time of year that a lot of dogs are upset by those sounds now since that's just passed we have a year to get the dogs used to those sounds before the 4^th of July comes again. So here is what you need to do, you need to gradually desensitize your puppy to the sounds of the 4^th of July. You could get a recording of fireworks, even a video of fireworks that you could show on your TV. At first have the sound very low, then gradually turn it up and I mean gradually over a period of days or even weeks before you get it up to the full sound and you might in the background play some music off the radio or a CD, some kind of calming music in the background while you're playing the audio or video tape of the fire works. This will help your dog get used to the sound of the fireworks and also the calming sound of the music being played over the fireworks. Next 4^th of July while the fireworks are going on you will be able to put on recorded music, and your dog will be reminded of being calm. There is also some other ways that you can help, and you should probably talk to your veterinarian if your dog is very upset because your vet may prescribe some calming medication for the week around the 4^th of July, just to take the edge off so the noises aren't so upsetting. Some people find that it helps if you have an underground basement that it's quieter down there during the fireworks and some dogs are calmer when they're down in the basement. It's important that your dog be used to the basement and you just don't throw them down in the basement all night because that's not going to help at all. That's just going to be more upsetting, so if your dog can get used to some quieter place in the house were there is less sound from outside and be gradually desensitized to the sound of fireworks, and get used to the sound of music playing over it, and be calm during that kind of noise. And do talk to your vet because there are some medications that can help.
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Q. My name is Claire from Florida. I have a Maltese-Bichon, 6 years old, and every time we give him any type cookie or food, he just inhales it. He doesn't even chew it and he's choked several times. My vet suggested that I break it up and that sort of works, but he still eats it within a fraction of a second. What do you suggest I do to slow him down?
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A. Your dog is like most dogs. He doesn't bother chewing his food and savoring it like we people do. He just chews it, maybe crunches it once and swallows it. A lot of dogs don't even crunch things once, especially the small breeds. Sometimes what we give them is too hard for them to crunch - a lot of the kibbles are very round and a lot of the dog treats are very hard and crunchy, so they can't really crunch those with their jaws. They're not strong enough, or if it's a softer treat they don't really need to crunch it. They can just swallow it and they digest it once it's down. Your vet's idea about breaking up the treats is a very good idea. In fact, the smaller you make the treats, the more treats that one treat turns into and your dog would like it better. Don't worry about him swallowing it in a fraction of a second. The part about choking though, that's important, so feed soft treats or finely broken up treats so he doesn't get anything big enough in his throat that he can really choke on and have a problem with his airway. And to slow him down eating his food, rather than putting it in his bowl try putting it on a tray like a cookie sheet or a baking pan so that he needs to chase the food around the pan a little bit instead of having it centered in one spot were he can swallow it really fast. Other than that do what your vet says and break the treats up small.
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