Q. Has sore lookers like bald spot hair is gone around quarter size little bite or cut on clear spot.

ANSWER : A. Without examination from this description it is difficult to say wether it requires veterinary treatment or not. You can try cleaning it with salty water. If there is an open wound or it starts oozing then you need to see your vet for antibiotics.

ANSWER : A. POST FOUR:

After your dog is familiar with the behavior you lured from scratch, and taught to your dog, you can start to use the “no-reward marker” I talked about. What you do is ask the dog to perform the behavior, and if the dog does not perform the behavior, you simply say your no-reward marker (choose one: eh-eh, hey, uh-oh, oops) show them the treat, put it behind your back, and BRIEFLY ignore your dog. Just turn your back for a second or two, before turning back to your dog and saying, “let’s try that again.” When you’re ready to start over with your dog, make sure you move around. If you are repeating the same cue while in the same position, while your dog is in the same position, you are likely to receive the same results. The more you move around, and start fresh, the better your chances are of having your dog listen to your cue the second time around. BIG rewards when they dog it successfully! Lots of praise and treats.

My no-reward marker is “hey.” When my dog does something wrong I say, “hey” and she immediately understands that she needs to offer a different behavior. This is clear to her. I don’t have to say it in a mean way, I simply say, “hey” in a normal tone of voice and she understands what the word means.

Once you’ve built up that connection and communication with your new dog, you can work on all kinds of fun behaviors! I personally enjoy the more zen-like behaviors: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruy9UMcuGh8

I like to teach my dog fun tricks that offer her a “job” to do of sorts like object retrieval: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4iertZSva8

(object retrieval training completed; what it looks like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jx0Dml28FGY)

Scent-games are fun too! Very confidence building. Hide a REALLY smelly treat in a box, and place that box in a line of boxes. Let your dog go in the room while saying something like “search!” or “find it!” and watch them hunt for that smelly treat! Lots of rewards when they find it!

ANSWER : A. For the most part, this sounds pretty normal to me. English Bulldogs can be like this. What you can do is teach him bite inhibition. He needs to know that biting gets him nothing. Each and every time he nips, even gently, you immediately yelp like a puppy would, stand up, cross your arms, and ignore your puppy. Once he is ignoring you, go back to calmly playing with him WITH A TOY. Remember to always use a toy when playing with/petting/interacting with puppies. They will be teething very soon, and they don’t understand that biting you is inappropriate, so using a toy to redirect their attention is important. He needs SOMETHING to bite, or else he will choose your hand. Give him more options.

Another thing you can do is have a toy that YOU OWN. This can be a soft braided rope toy or something of the like. Dot not allow your dog to have this toy whenever he wants. This toy disappears when you are done playing with him with it, and reappears when you want to play. Never allow him to “win” games with this toy. Eventually, the toy will hold so much meaning, when he sees it, he will be instantly interested in the toy instead of your hands.

It also helps to have two bags of toys. Bag#1 is full of chew toys/rope toys/soft toys/etc. It comes out for one week, and then disappears and out comes Bag#2. Bag#2 has the same types of toys in it. This will keep the toys feeling like “new” to your pup and make him less likely to chew on you during play!

ANSWER : A. As I’m sure your vet has told you it’s pretty unusual for a dog to have had multiple UTI’s starting at 8 weeks of age. I think it’s likely that she has a congential problem, which means something didn’t develop correctly inside or outside her body and it’s making her prone to the UTI’s.

There are a few bladder abnormalities that can contribute to UTIs, including urachal diverticulum (a little pouch or out-cropping of the bladder) and ectopic ureters (the ureters do not enter the bladder at the appropriate spot). On the outside, she could have a redundant vulvar fold, which is predisposing her to trapping fecal matter at her vulva, and the bacteria is ascending up to her bladder and causing recurrent UTIs.

The other possibility of that she got a UTI initially and it was never treated appropriately, i.e. The appropriate antibiotic wasn’t used and it never really resolved, but it seems like it’s coming back. I think this is less likely, as it’s really uncommon to begin with to see UTI’s in dogs this young. I also once saw a 4 month old dog with bladder cancer, but that’s incredibly rare and I think highly unlikely in your dog.

Your question got cut off at the end but it sounded like you were about to say that she may have kidney problems. If that’s right clearly this is becoming a serious problem for her.

Your dog needs a competent vet to work up this problem. It’s likely that she’s going to need some advanced imaging, including possibly an x-ray procedure called a cystogram and possibly an ultrasound. You might consider taking her to a veterinary internal medicine specialist at this point, if one is available in your area.

ANSWER : A. Cats with stopped up noses tend to eat much less, as you’ve noted, because they can’t smell their food as well. And the smell of food is pretty important to a cat’s appetite. You can start by warming up the food in a microwave – not too hot, test it yourself by putting your finger right in the center, as the temperature of microwave food can vary – as this will intensify the smell and hopefully make your cat more interested.

Saline nose drops, like those that are used on little kids, are safe to use on a cat to clean the discharge that is dried around and in the nose. There’s a brand called Little Noses that’s available in the U.S. That I like. You can put it on a q-tip and try to remove the debris. Humidifying the air with a humidifier can help as well, or you can put the cat in the bathroom and run the shower enough to generate steam. Don’t use “real” nose drops like Neo-synephrine or anything else like that – cats quickly build up resistance to them.

A 3 oz can of food is an OK amount in 24 hours, but do try the techniques above to help your cat get more interested in food. You might also try some baby food – no garlic or onions in the ingredients – as cats usually really like the taste of it.

ANSWER : A. Changes in coat appearance can be caused by a number of things. In older cats, hair loss or changes in coat and skin confirmation may indicate a metabolic issue such as thyroid problems. Cats can begin to lose hair and may also show other changes such as weight changes or appetite changes. Blood work is usually done to check for this, and most pets do very well with a daily medication treatment.

Hair loss can also be caused by mites on the skin, external parasites or even skin and fungal infections. These may cause red bumps or sores to appear on the skin in addition to the hair loss and coat changes. Your vet can take a skin scraping of the area to check for mites and infections, and a preventive flea treatment can remove any external parasites. If an infection or mites are present, your vet can also prescribe an antibiotic or topical cream to treat.

After any treatment it may take a month or two for completely bald patches to grow back in. This is normal as the skin and follicles need some time to heal prior to beginning the hair growth cycle again.

ANSWER : A. Hair balls are not normal in dogs, as we think of them being in cats. Hair will most definitely cause full or partial obstructions in dogs, and that’s likely why you’re seeing the vomiting. They don’t digest well and tend to hang around in the stomach until the dog is able to vomit them out. They can certainly get so big that they can’t pass and can’t be vomited, and then they obstruct the dog.

The first thing is to figure out why your dog is consuming hair. Work with your vet to determine if there’s an underlying problem, like parasites or allergies, and then work on resolving that. Hopefully that will resolve the hair consumption.

It’s worth mentioning that occasionally licking and chewing are behavioral problems in dogs, but rule out medical causes first.

ANSWER : A. If you live in a brushy or wooded area it is possible that your dog may have come into contact with an irritant such as poison oak or poison ivy. These can spread to people, so care should be taken when handling the area by using gloves and washing hands. You should also prevent your dog from licking or scratching at the area to prevent the spread of irritation. Topical ointments for pets can be used to treat oak/ivy infections.

Other causes such as allergies, cuts and scrapes, or even external parasites can cause redness as well. Ticks and fleas are common in wooded and brushy areas, so making sure your pet is on a preventative for these is important.

If the rash appears to have any cuts, scrapes, open sores, hair loss or spreads, then making an appointment with your vet is best. Your vet can take a sample of the area to look for any more serious infections causing the redness.