I am having trouble housetraining my 12-week-old Shih Tzu. He generally is well-trained, but when he gets excited or if I have company over he has a habit of urinating a little bit on the floor. I have been using a crate to train him, and I’m wondering if I’m doing something wrong.

Carolyn
Providence, RI

Your puppy most likely is engaging in submissive urination. Submissive urination is a common syndrome in young dogs, and it does not indicate that anything is wrong with your dog’s housetraining.

Your puppy’s behavior is a type of body language among dogs. When a dominant dog meets a submissive dog, the submissive individual may dribble a little bit of urine as a sign that he respects the dominant dog’s status. This means of communication is especially common in juvenile dogs.

Many puppies use this form of body language to communicate with people as well. In other words, when your puppy urinates in the presence of guests, he is actually trying to be respectful to the guests.

Most young dogs outgrow submissive urination over time. You can help your puppy along in that process, as well as reduce the mess in your house, by following a simple rule. Submissive urination usually occurs when a puppy first greets his owner or a guest after a period of absence. The puppy will be less likely to urinate if the excitement of these greetings is reduced. Therefore, you and your guests should try to keep things low key for the first five minutes or so during greetings.

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Hi Dr. Barchas,

My sister has been teasing me for naming my dog Buddy. She says that it is probably the most common dog name in the world. Is there any way to find out whether this is true? I’m tired of her harassment.

Stephanie
Newark, NJ

Your question isn’t exactly veterinary-related, but sibling rivalry is always fun. I was able to track down the most common names of pets according to Veterinary Pet Insurance Corporation. The good news is that your sister is wrong. In the United States, Max is the most popular name for dogs (and for cats). The bad news is that your sister was close. For dogs, Buddy is number three.

In order, the most common names for dogs according to VPI are:

Max, Bailey, Buddy, Molly, Maggie, Lucy, Daisy, Bella, Jake, and Rocky.

For cats, the most common names are:

Max, Tigger, Smokey, Tiger, Chloe, Shadow, Lucy, Angel, Oliver, and Simba.

These rankings are no surprise to me, with the exception of Oliver. I only have a few patients named Oliver. There are dozens of representatives of the other names.

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Dear Dr. Barchas,

I have a beautiful long-haired Shepherd who, for some reason,
continuously licks at his paws. He makes them sore enough that he limps on
them. What can I put on them to ease the pain while they heal, and what
can I do to stop him from licking and chewing them?

Jayne
Owen Sound, ON, Canada

When dogs lick their feet, they are trying to scratch them. Since your dog is licking his feet, they probably itch. Your dog’s feet most likely itch because he has allergies.

In the northern hemisphere, it is spring. Spring is allergy season. When dogs and cats suffer from allergies, they develop itchy skin and ears.

Seasonal springtime allergies usually are caused by fleas and pollen. Your dog probably is allergic to both.

Of the two, fleas are by far the worse offenders. If there are are fleas in your area (and, unless you live at a very high elevation, there most likely are fleas in your area), the simplest and safest thing you can do to help your dog is use Advantage or Frontline regularly. If your pet is allergic to fleas, you probably won’t find fleas on him, because he will groom himself tirelessly until all of the fleas are removed. Nonetheless, he may suffer from a few flea bites before he can rid himself of the pests. Any time a pet has skin or ear problems, using flea control should be the first step.

As well, I suspect that your dog is suffering from pollen allergies. There are many strategies for dealing with this. Many dogs are allergic to grass pollen. Washing your dog’s feet with cold water after going for walks will remove some pollen, and may help the situation. Also, a number of medications are available for treating pollen allergies. However, they should be used only under veterinary supervision.

If your dog is limping, the allergies may have led to an infection in the skin of his feet. A mild course of antibiotics may help the situation.

Allergies and skin infections in pets are very uncomfortable. I recommend that you have a veterinarian assess your dog. Together, you can determine a course of action that can bring him relief.

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Hi Dr. Barchas,

I heard that cats can catch bird flu. Is that true?

Nancy
Petaluma, CA

Yes, it’s true. A year ago, I could have said that influenza virus posed no threat to dogs and cats. Then, in November, 2005, influenza from horses spread to dogs. Despite a great scare, this dog flu did not become a major health threat to dogs.

And recently, cats in Germany and possibly Austria have contracted the much-hyped avian influenza virus (known as the H5N1 strain, or bird flu). The bad news is that the disease in cats is serious, and all cats known to have contracted it have died. The good news is that, at this point, it appears easy to prevent. Also, although cats can catch the virus from other cats, there is no evidence that cats can spread the disease to people.

The cats who have contracted avian influenza have done so by consuming wild birds infected with the disease, or by coming into direct contact with cats that are already infected. There has been a very small number of confirmed cases, which implies that only a small number of cats who are exposed to the virus will become sick.

Preventing the disease in cats appears to be easy. Cats must come into contact with wild birds or infected cats to become infected. If cats are kept inside and isolated from birds and outdoor cats, this cannot happen. Therefore, if you keep your cat inside, you have little to worry about.

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