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Conjunctivitis is a common eye problem in dogs, but that doesnt mean its necessarily a simple one to treat. Quite often, the condition is a symptom of a potentially more serious problem. It occurs when the conjunctiva, the very thin layer of clear tissue on the outer surface of the eye, becomes inflamed, resulting in whats colloquially known as pink eye.

The inflammation is usually secondary to another problem, often a lid abnormality or dry eye, says ophthalmologist Chris Pirie, DVM, at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University. The key is to recognize and treat the underlying cause.

A dog's muzzle includes the nasal planum, or nose; the nasal cavity, or interior of the muzzle; and the skin and bone overlying the nasal cavity. Diseases of the nasal cavity are usually associated with sneezing, bleeding and discharge from the nostrils. Identifying their cause, however, can be daunting.

Q: I have a whippet, Greta, and a Border collie, Lex. Both are rescues whom I adopted last year within a couple of months of each other. Greta about three and Lex is perhaps four years old. Whenever I rub Greta's belly or give her any special attention, Lex seems to appear out of nowhere and starts to paw at my arm or even lets out a slight growl at Greta. Is Lex acting jealous? How can I give Greta some one-on-one time without Lex butting in?

A: You won't find envy in the canine dictionary, but the phrase "mine, mine, mine" certainly exists. Lex's behavior is triggered more by resource guarding than by jealousy over the attention Greta receives. Watch closely the next time Greta and Lex play with a toy and you can identify clear canine communication. Chances are that one will body block the other or lift an upper lip or make steady eye contact - signals that possession is nine-tenths of the law in the land of dogs. As hunters and pack animals, dogs have always demonstrated a "this is mine" attitude toward other canines when it comes to prized possessions, from the best part of the kill to a fuzzy chew toy.

When you rub Greta's belly, Lex steps in because he wants to guard the most valuable of all possessions - you.

Q: My three-year old beagle is a delight, but he has one vice: He insists on jumping up onto my furniture. His spiky hair gets embedded in the upholstery until it's nearly impossible to clean. I've tried putting old bed sheets on the furniture when I'm gone, but when I come home I find the sheets on the floor and Peppy happily snoozing on the sofa. I got him about a year ago from a rescue group and can only assume that he was allowed to get up on the sofa in his previous home. I'm planning to purchase nicer furniture and upgrade the interior of my house soon. Before I do, I want to find a way to end Peppy's possession of my sofa. How can I accomplish this?

A: Credit Peppy for having the good sense to bypass boring bare floors and seek a comfy sofa for his snooze sessions. However, it's your house and he needs to play by your rules. First, you need to provide him with a designated spot of his own. Before you begin picking out your new furniture, buy Peppy a comfy bed and put it in a spot where he will still feel...

Gaining excess pounds is all too common in older dogs. So is unintended weight loss. Neither is good for your pet, especially in his advancing years. That's why monitoring your dog's weight is of key importance as he ages. Too many pounds can exacerbate heart disease and arthritis and can cause problems, too- diabetes, back pain, and other orthopedic ills. It can also bring on arthritis where there had never been any. In addition, excess…

One of the most common questions people ask veterinarians as their dog gets older is whether she still needs her vaccinations. In fact, a lot of people with dogs skip the vaccinations in later years, figuring that their pet has already been vaccinated against various illnesses a number of times and has gotten sick to that point, so why put the animal through more shots? It's a grave mistake. Older dogs need their shots even more than when they were young and middle-aged. The immune system, like other body systems, slows down in old age, making a dog more susceptible not only to diseases such as cancer but also to infections. She simply cannot mount a sufficient immune response to illnesses she might have been able to ward off in her younger days.

On paper, human nutrition requirements shift a bit as an adult ages. For instance, while the vitamin D requirement remains same from ages fifty-one through seventy, the need for that nutrient increases afterward. That does not mean, however, that on a person's seventy first birthday, he automatically begins to prepare breakfasts, lunches or dinners any differently from the way he has been for years. Chances are that if someone is healthy and has been eating…

One model that has been put forth as a quasi-justification for the use of aversives in training is pack theory. Ever since the linear hierarchy was postulated in wolves, dog people have gone cuckoo in their efforts to explain every conceivable dog behavior and human-dog interaction in terms of dominance. We really latched onto that one. It is a great example of a successful meme. Dogs misbehave or are disobedient because they havent been shown…

Dog owners have been admonished for decades by trainers, breeders and veterinarians to never play tug of war with their dogs because it risks increasing aggression and/or dominance in the dog. I think theyve muddled predatory behavior, which tug actually is, with agnostic (conflict resolution) behavior, which tug is not. Played with rules, tug of war is a tremendous predatory energy burner and good exercise for both dog and owner.

Dogs bark for a variety of reasons. 1) Watchdog Barking serves the dual purpose of alerting other pack members that there is an intruder or change in the environment and warning the intruder that they have been noticed. Dogs bark much more than their ancestors, wolves, who hardly ever bark. In domesticating them, we have selected for more barking. The predisposition to watch-dog bark varies among breeds and individuals. The modifying principles are the same, though,…

A classic culture clash example is greeting rituals: in most human cultures, we shake hands or bow. In dog culture, they buzz around excitedly, lick and sniff each other. The origin of jumping up is in infancy. Wolf pups will jump up to lick the corners of adults mouths, triggering the latter to regurgitate food that the puppies can eat. This jumping up and licking is

People are terribly mystified by any change in their dogs behavior and go on a lot with the why? WHY as though there should never be any variability whatsoever in this living organisms behavior. Training regressions are a frequent occurrence and no big deal. It is so important to remember that behavior is always in flux, constantly subjected to whatever contingencies there are in the environment as well as being influenced by