Ask the Expert
Dog Safety Questions
Is there something wrong with my puppy not eating her usual food?
How do I stop my dog from chewing collars?
My dog has swallowed a pin — what should I do?
How can I stop my dog from chasing cars?
I have a 3-month-old female Westie. In the last 24 hours she has passed blood when she has had a bowel movement. The first time I noticed, it was very watery with blood in it. During the night she woke me up to go outside three times. The first two times she had a bowel movement which appeared to be normal but gray in color with drops of bright red blood afterward. The last time was more loose but still with blood. This morning, she is playing, eating well and appears to be feeling great.
Over the weekend I was out of town and left her with my ex-husband. When I got home I found out that he did not feed the dog her regular food. Could this be the problem?
Answer:
First, a puppy can easily have their digestive tract inflamed or irritated simply by giving them an unfamiliar treat or different food item. When a dog gets diarrhoea the lining of their intestine is much thinner than ours and tends to bleed if irritated. It's not as scary as you would think, especially if she is acting happy, eating and, most importantly, drinking lots of water. However, try to put her back on her normal diet, normal routine and NO TREATS or anything she isn't used to. Watch her stool closely and she should soon clear up. However, if diarrhoea persists more than 24-48 hours, or the bleeding becomes worse, she may need some medication from the vets. You don't want her to become dehydrated, which is very easy with a young dog. Good luck and thanks for writing.
I am the exhausted owner of a four-year-old, male Greyhound / Border Collie mix and a very stubborn three-year-old female Boxer. Whenever I leave a collar on the male, the female will chew it off, sometimes eating sections of it. I have tried the "durable" nylon collars, leather, and leather with metal studs. Nothing has lasted more than a few weeks. She has even figured out how to take the tags off of his dog collars (and her own). Metal choke collars are easily strong enough to stifle my stubborn collar vandal, but I don't feel comfortable leaving one on my dog when he is unsupervised for obvious safety reasons.
My dogs are cunning escape artists, and though we are very careful, I worry that even though they have microchips, they may get out on the street without any other identification. Any suggestions?
Answer:
There are a few ways to try and curb your dog's need to pull her friend's collar off and chew on it. First, you could ask your veterinarian to get you some "Veriton" (brand name) spray. Then, take the collar off your Greyhound mix and spray the heck out of the leather with it. Then put it back on your Greyhound and "set up" your Boxer cross to chew on it. She will HATE the taste of the spray, since it's what they use on surgical bandages to stop the dog from chewing on them. You may need to spray the collar a couple of times a day for the first while, until the Boxer learns that it tastes horrid.
If you cannot get that spray from the vet, the other solution would be to rub the collar thoroughly with Vaseline, laced with cayenne pepper powder. That way when she goes to chew on the collar, she may find it a bit too spicy for her liking. Hopefully one of these tastes will not appeal to her and she will kick her bad habit. Good luck.
My 10-month-old Labrador got a hold of my pin cushion. Before I discovered it, the pin cushion has broke open and pins were everywhere. What should I do in case she swallowed a pin?
Answer:
Wondering if your dog has swallowed a pin can be very tense. It can be dangerous to her stomach and intestinal tract if a pin did indeed go down. There is only one sure fire way to know for certain if she did swallow one or more of them. If she were mine, I would take her to the vet for an x-ray. Sorry, you may have a bill from them, but I don't think I would leave that one to chance. Better to play this one safe than sorry.
How can I stop my dog from chasing cars?
Answer:
You could try the old "noise method". Tie some empty soup cans together with string and have them ready by the window of the car. Have somebody drive the car and wait for your dog to start chasing it. When you see him coming, drop the "noisy" cans so they land in front of him and hopefully he will be afraid of the noise and clatter of the cans. Every time your dog runs after the "set up car", drop the noise makers in his path. Hopefully this helps to break him of the car chasing habit. Chasing a car is a life threatening situation so make sure to take proper measures to ensure your pet’s safety.
*please see our policy page regarding use of our Ask the Expert service.