Subscriber Only

Looking for a new type of environmental enrichment for your dog? Consider enrolling your pet in the Dog Scouts of America, an organization where canines can earn merit badges for mastering such skills as agility and “nose work.” The organization also stresses the importance of humane education, positive training (punishment-based training is not allowed), and community involvement. For instance, some troops have hosted fundraisers to purchase Kevlar vests for K9 officers and animal-size oxygen masks for local fire departments.

Most dogs are easy enough to get a pill into, even on a regular basis if need be. You simply make a “meatball” out of some wet dog food or something else soft, like deli meat or cheese, and your dog will end up reminding you about his medication after a while. You just have to make sure with the veterinarian that whatever food you use to wrap the pill doesn’t contain ingredients that are bad for the condition you’re treating.

Q: What exactly are Rally-O classes? There’s one near me, and one of my friends wants to sign our dogs up.

A lot of people believe that a cool, moist nose is a sign of good health in a dog and a warm dry one means something’s wrong. But that’s not the case.

Q: My son realized that his 8-year-old golden retriever lost vision in one of her eyes. She was diagnosed with something the doctor called pigmentary uveitis. The veterinary ophthalmologist indicated that the pressure in her eye was very high, causing pain, and recommended removing the eye. My son followed the recommendation, but what can be done to prevent this wonderful dog from getting pigmentary uveitis in her other eye?  

One thing new research makes clear. If your dog has swallowed a non-food item and is showing signs of not feeling well—vomiting, lethargy, lack of appetite, diarrhea, inability to void solid waste—you should not delay getting him to the veterinarian’s office. Investigators went through the records of dogs who had been taken to the hospital because they had ingested a foreign body and were treated with conservative medical management rather than surgery. The result: those dogs who were brought in more than one day after their symptoms started were not as likely to have successful outcomes. They more frequently ended up needing an operation.

• The Cost of Serious Illness: One Penny
• Short Takes
• Easy Tips for Making Your Dog’s Walks More Enjoyable
• Why Do Dogs Do That?
• When the Disease Has Been Treated But the Disease-Induced Behavior Doesn’t Stop
• Bowl-ing
• Help Your Dog Live a Longer, Healthier Life
• Dear Doctor

Ingestion of a single penny minted after 1982 is enough to kill a dog weighing fewer than 50 pounds. That’s because pennies minted after that year have a copper coating but are almost 98 percent zinc, which is highly toxic to dogs. Lest you think zinc poisoning is uncommon, the Animal Poison Control Center (888-426-4435) reports more than 4,000 cases of zinc toxicity every year. Pennies are usually the cause. But dogs, being the indiscriminate eaters they are, also swallow other zinc-containing items, including batteries, staples, nuts and bolts, zippers, board game pieces, jewelry….

Sure, you may love the look of a gleaming hardwood or tile floor, but perhaps your dog equates stepping onto such a surface with the way one might see a treacherous foray onto the ice in slippery shoes.

Your dog is scared to death of the vacuum cleaner, but you assume she’ll get over it once she has seen you use it a few times. She won’t. If your dog has a specific fear, the only way to help her get past it is to expose her gradually to whatever she’s afraid of. In the case of a vacuum cleaner, that might mean keeping it out in the open for a while and letting her sniff it when she wants to, then perhaps moving to vacuuming in a room that’s far from where she generally hangs out and keeping the door closed while you do so.
If your pet is afraid of other dogs, walk her where you’re not likely to see any—or at least very few, and at a distance. Arrange a short introduction with a sweet, gentle dog who doesn’t engage in any roughhousing. Throw your dog and the other one treats and speak in encouraging tones, removing your pet from the situation if she gets too upset. Then try again another day.

If your dog keeps shaking her head, take her to the vet. She could be afflicted with anything from an ear infection to a neurological issue. But if she does full-body shakeouts, there’s nothing to be concerned about. It’s just her way of regrouping or transitioning from one activity to another.