Vet Blog: Information and Advice from Dr. Eric Barchas, DVM
09/01/08
 What techniques can deal with jealous
rivalry in dogs? I have two Yorkies that are
squabbling quite a bit if one gets more attention
than the other. I am at my wits’ end.
Thanks.
Donna
Blanchester, VA
The key point of your question is that the fighting occurs when one of the dogs is receiving attention from you.
Dogs and people see the world from different perspectives. Humans generally favor equality. If we have two dogs, our idea of fairness is to treat them as equals. We give them equal amounts of attention, love and kindness.
Dogs, however, are not proponents of equality. They establish dominance hierarchies among themselves. In a pair of dogs, one is likely to be dominant. The other will be submissive. In the dog world, the dominant dog has first rights to toys, food and attention from the people in the house.
As long as the submissive dog respects this entitlement, peace will reign. However, some submissive dogs realize that they can challenge their dominant sibling by enlisting an ally: a person in the house. The submissive dog may fail to respect the dominance of his cohort when he knows that mom will back him up. The dominant dog responds by starting a fight.
The key to ending these fights is to realize which of your dogs is dominant. The dominant dog should be the first to receive attention, food and toys.
I am not saying to neglect the submissive dog. However, if you look at the situation from a dog’s point of view, your life may become more tranquil.
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08/25/08
 Why does my cat put his favorite toys in his food
bowl? He has done this since he was a tiny kitten.
He even does it if he has to jump on the counter
with the toy in his mouth. (We had a dog for a
while, and she would eat his food if it wasn’t on
the counter.)
Ruth
Ocala, FL
My answer is going to involve speculation. I don’t know for sure why your cat is engaging in this behavior, and I certainly can’t ask him. But I have a hunch.
Your cat’s food bowl is undoubtedly a very special place for him. If he enjoys eating as much as I do, then he associates the food bowl with good feelings.
What’s more, the food bowl is a place that is uniquely his. I suspect that in his mind it is the heart of his territory.
So when he moves his favorite toys to the heart of his territory, he is helping to keep his most prized possessions in a spot where it is easy to account for them.
I realize that this explanation involves speculation and a bit of anthropomorphism. Another possible explanation is that he likes to carry his toys around the house, and he drops them in his food bowl because he can’t hold a toy and eat at the same time. But I like the first explanation better.
Photo credit: Yuval Y. Photo licensing information: CC.
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08/23/08
An article in the June 1, 2008 issue of the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (JAVMA) made an interesting point about a YouTube video.
A popular YouTube clip features a dog growling and biting at a potential threat to its chew bone. The punch line is the threat is actually the dog’s own hind limb. To the untrained eye, the clip is hilarious. Veterinary behaviorist Dr. Terry Marie Curtis sees it differently, however.
 Sadly, the author of the article was not kind enough to offer a URL that would direct readers to the clip in question. However, I believe I have found it. Click here to watch the video. (Sorry, the user who uploaded the video forbid people to embed it in their blogs.)
The JAVMA article continues.
Dr Curtis, in fact, believes the dog is suffering from an obsessive-compulsive disorder [OCD] on par with the teenager who washes her hands so much they bleed or the adult who stays up through the night repeatedly locking and unlocking the front door.
“People laugh about that clip, but it makes me very sad to see the dog that upset and worried about itself,” said Dr. Curtis . . . Animal OCD is a serious welfare issue . . . Compulsive behaviors in animals show themselves in a variety of strange ways. A cursory list includes tail chasing, pacing, excessive grooming, overeating, vocalization, self-directed aggression [such as the behavior in the video clip], staring, and hunting imaginary prey.
In my practice, I often see animals that display these sorts of behaviors. As the article points out, many people don’t realize when their pet engages in these sorts of behaviors that the animal may be suffering or unhappy. The people who filmed the video can be heard laughing riotously. To me, the video is depressing. The dog is in distress.
What can be done for pets with OCD? Animal OCD, like the human form, has no cure. But it can be treated. Behavioral modification (the veterinary equivalent of counseling or therapy) is the best place to start.
[B]ehavioral modification involves highly structured interactions, and owner-administered punishment is to be avoided. Environmental changes, such as removing sources of conflict or distress, are also necessary.
Animals with severe OCD may also respond to medications such as Prozac.
Talk to your vet if you suspect that your pet may be suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder.
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08/18/08
 I have always believed that crate training was the
way to go especially if a pup or dog is
destructive and going to be left alone for short
periods…a friend said she was a dog breeder and
thought it was cruel…what is your opinion,
please
Marilyn
Bossier City, LA
When it is done correctly, crate training is not cruel.
The purpose of a crate, when used for training, is to provide a safe haven for a dog or puppy. Confining a canine companion in a crate is one of the most effective ways to house train him. It also protects him from chemicals, electrical cords, chicken bones and countless other household hazards when no people are home to watch and protect him.
Crates should not be like prison cells. They should be comfortable, welcoming environments. A properly prepared crate will be viewed as a private den by its occupant. Many dogs willingly retreat to their crates when they want some alone time, or if a disruption (toddler birthday parties come to mind) occurs in the house.
To help ensure that your dog is happy in his crate, follow a few basic rules. Never use the crate as punishment. Leave the door to the crate open when it’s not in use, so that the dog can enter it if he pleases. Limit each confinement to a reasonable period of time. Choose a crate that is appropriately sized (dogs should be able to stretch, stand up and turn around in the crate). Keep comfortable bedding, water, and safe toys in the crate. Finally, consider feeding your dog in the crate–that’s a sure-fire way to create a positive association.
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08/12/08
 I rescued a two-year-old dog from the local
animal shelter. I was told that she was one of
many dogs taken from the home of a hoarder and had
lived most of her life in a crate.
Lily seems to be trying to “adopt” the
various squeeky toys that she and my other dogs
play with. She’ll lay near them and growls when
any of my other three dogs go near them. I’m
concerned about issues with the false pregnancy
syndrome. Do you have any suggestions on how to
deal with this before it escalates?
Gerry
Norco, CA
Not long ago I treated a female Border Collie that was having trouble giving birth. She was very sweet and friendly at first. But once she successfully delivered a puppy, that changed. If I approached the room where she and her puppy were located, she would lunge at me to keep me away from the puppy.
Protective maternal instincts are natural in dogs. Based upon your description, it sounds very likely that Lily is confusing her toys with puppies. This is leading to defensive growling that could escalate to outright aggression over time.
Maternal instincts in dogs are driven by hormones. Spayed dogs lack the hormones that cause protective maternal aggression. Therefore, the simplest way to deal with this problem is to have Lily spayed.
If Lily already has been spayed, two things could be going on. First, if she was spayed recently, she could still be under the influence of lingering hormones. In that case, the behavior should resolve over time as the hormones clear out of her body.
Second, there is a chance that the behavior you are witnessing is an expression of dominance rather than maternal instincts. Dominant dogs aggressively guard toys, food and anything else of value to dogs.
If spaying Lily does not solve the problem (or if she is already spayed), your best bet will be to consult with a behaviorist about managing dominance issues among your dogs.
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07/17/08
 I’d like to thank Ryan of West Hollywood, California for drawing my attention to the cover story (free registration at nytimes.com is required) of this week’s New York Times Magazine. The article discusses the controversy surrounding the increasing use of medications such as Prozac in pets.
The article is lengthy, but it is worth reading if you have time. One section of the article was particularly interesting to me. It discussed the historical (and still, to a certain extent, ongoing) debate over whether animals experience emotions and thoughts. Here is a quote from the section.
The debate about animal minds is at least as old as Aristotle, who posited that men alone possess reason. The 17th-century French philosopher Nicolas Malebranche wrote that animals “desire nothing, fear nothing, know nothing,” while Voltaire asked, “Answer me, mechanist, has Nature arranged all the springs of feeling in this animal to the end that he might not feel?” Darwin’s view was, Of course not. In “The Descent of Man” he wrote, “We have seen that the senses and intuitions, the various emotions and faculties . . . of which man boasts, may be found in an incipient, or even sometimes in a well-developed condition, in the lower animals.” The staggering assertion of Darwin’s theory is that evolutionary continuity applies not just to bodies but to brains. “The difference in mind between man and the higher animals, great as it is, certainly is one of degree and not of kind,” he wrote.
I am going to side with Darwin on this one. I have spent a lot of time studying canine and feline anatomy and physiology. It turns out that the livers, kidneys, stomachs, intestines and yes, brains, of cats and dogs are very similar to those of humans. It is clear to me that pets have rich emotional lives. And it is also obvious that they can suffer from mental illness.
I have seen syndromes in pets that are remarkably similar to human psychiatric conditions. I know cats with trichotillomania (in veterinary medicine we call it psychogenic alopecia), dogs with obsessive-compulsive disorder, and members of both species with anxiety disorders. I receive at least a dozen questions each week from people whose dogs suffer from separation anxiety–a clear-cut anxiety disorder.
Behavioral modification is the cornerstone of treatment for these sorts of conditions in pets (behavioral modification is the closest thing veterinary medicine has to therapy). But I have seen some pets benefit dramatically when psychoactive medications were used in combination with behavior modification.
Our current understanding of pet psychiatric conditions is crude, to say the least. But I suspect that as we learn more about behavioral (or emotional) disorders in pets, we will be surprised by the similarities between their problems and ours.
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04/25/08
I believe B. F. Skinner was the first person to point out animals (including humans) respond more favorably to positive reinforcement than they do to punishment. In other words, if you want to train your dog, cat or spouse it is more effective to reward good behavior than to punish bad behavior.
A news item in the February 15, 2008 issue of the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association reinforces that notion. Here is an excerpt.
The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior has issued a position statement and guidelines on the use of punishment for dealing with behavior problems in animals.
The guidelines clarify that while punishment can be effective in specific contexts, it also has an association with many adverse effects.
The news item goes on to point out that punishment, as it is employed by most people, is ineffective. In fact, it can lead to increases in undesirable behaviors such as aggression. It can weaken the bond between the punisher and the punished, and it may cause animals to become generally fearful.
Many people punish their pets out of anger, do not use punishments consistently, or time punishments inappropriately. Unless you have training in animal behavior, it is unlikely that punishing your pet will bring about desirable behavior changes.
So there you have it. The next time you come home and find garbage strewn all over the house, resist the urge to yell at the dog. It might help you blow off steam, but it won’t keep your pet out of the trash in the future.
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04/12/08
The Economist is a rich source of material for this blog. The February 2, 2008 issue contained an article that discusses probable links between nutrition and antisocial behavior in people.
The article discusses a study that will be carried out in the United Kingdom on 1,000 prison inmates. From the article:
The trial will replicate, on a larger scale, a stucy carried out . . . in 2002. Then, volunteers were given either capsules containing their official daily requirements of vitamins, minerals, and essential fatty acids (such as omega-3s) or placebos . . . [t]hose who received the extra nutrients committed 26.3% fewer offences than those who got the placebo. For violent offences, the reduction was 37%.
The current study will involve blood testing, and will correlate nutrient levels with “impulsivity” and heart-rate variability (which is ultimately a predictor of anti-social behavior). The goal is to determine if certain nutrients may help to inhibit undesirable behaviors.
How, you may ask, does this relate to pets? Like many organs, the brains of animals are similar to those of humans. Many undesirable behaviors in pets, such as aggression, biting or scratching, appear to be impulsive and anti-social in many cases. Syndromes such as separation anxiety in dogs may be related to human conditions, such as attention deficit disorder, that may be affected by diet.
In the future, an increased understanding of animal nutrition may lead to a reduction of these sorts of behaviors in pets. However, don’t run off to the pet store for nutritional supplements right away. We have a lot to learn before this becomes reality.
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04/09/08
When visitors come to my house, my dog gets very
excited and licks the air. I don’t know if this
is a nervous or submissive gesture. He licks for
a long period of time and eventually has a foam
under his lip. What can I do to get him to stop?
He sometimes does it to me but stops when I say
“no lick”.
Nalana
Akron, OH
First, count your blessings. Many dogs urinate or bark incessantly when visitors arrive. Some dogs are very territorial, and may actually attack guests. Compared to these individuals, your dog’s habit is quite benign.
Many pets have rituals that they perform under certain circumstances, or when they are excited. Your dog’s ritual sounds harmless. If the behavior does not lead to gagging, coughing or breathing difficulties, it probably won’t hurt him.
Of course, the habit may still be annoying. And there are a couple of tricks you can try to eliminate it. The focus of the tricks is to reduce the level of excitement that your dog experiences when guests arrive.
Try to keep things low-key when company first arrives. Encourage everyone to speak softly and remain calm. And, have everyone ignore the dog for the first several minutes. Over time, this may reduce the level of excitement that he feels when the doorbell rings.
If the behavior really bothers you, you can try isolating your dog in a bedroom when guests are expected. After they have settled in, you can let him out, but encourage everyone to stay very calm, and to ignore the dog for the first few minutes.
If these tricks don’t work (and I don’t guarantee that they will), take heart in the fact that your dog’s beahvior isn’t hurting anyone, including him.
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What techniques can deal with jealous
You have questions. 