It sounds like this dog needs a confidence boost. Every dog will go through a transition period when they get into a new adoptive home. It is important to be positive and patient with the new dog while they are adjusting. We have no idea what she may have been through in her past and she doesn’t yet understand that she is in a safe place. It would probably be a good idea to start crate training her in the house. This will give her a safe place to call her own inside the house (so she won’t have to use the closet anymore). Place some really yummy treats inside the crate and some toys and things for her to chew on to relieve anxiety. When she is in the crate, regard it as her special place where nobody bothers her. When it is time to go outside, try attaching a leash to her collar and gently coaxing her to go outside by using treats and food. Once outside, be really positive and encouraging with her and stay outside with her until she finishes going potty. Make sure you give lots of praise and positive attention when she is outside and then accompany her back into the house so she knows she won’t be abandoned outside alone. If your brother has to leave her alone for long periods for work, he may want to try using an exercise pen attached to the crate as an alternative to leaving her alone outside if she has anxiety and fear. Again, make sure you leave lots of treats and things to chew on with her to help her feel more comfortable. It is always ideal, of course, to have some time to spend with the dog for the first week or two at the new home so she can get adjusted and not be alone. Training and obedience classes would also be beneficial for her to help adjust her to the new environment and boost her confidence.  [less]

There are tranquilizers for dogs that can be used as a sedative for grooming. They are often the same kinds of tranquilizers used for dogs that have fireworks or noise anxiety. Most dogs tolerate them well and it makes them calm enough to work with without completely sedated. It is not a guarantee that he will not still react so the groomer will still need to be cautious and probably use a muzzle to protect themselves. Side effects can include lowering the blood pressure so if he has an underlying heart problem or other cardiovascular disease, they are not recommended. Ideally, however, he should be able to be groomed without the need of medications. This goal can be achieved with time, patience and positive reinforcement. You can hire a behaviorist to help you work through the steps to desensitize him to grooming and bathing to make him safer and easier for everyone to work around. The steps usually involve rewarding him with small treats for experiences involving the bathing or grooming process. You can start this at home by just feeding him treats while you’re in the bathroom with the water or shower running in the background. Start with short sessions and work up to longer and longer sessions involving more touching and grooming. Always keep the experience positive and stop if he is acting agitated and try again later. The more you keep the experience positive, the more he will accept the handling and grooming from you or even a professional groomer.  [less]

This is a very sad situation for your family and for Molly. It is certainly not good for her to be so overweight. In the long-term, this level of obesity will destroy her joints resulting in severe arthritis. In addition, fat is an inflammatory organ and actually produces its own hormones which have an affect on almost every internal organ in the system. She will be at an increased risk of developing diabetes, heart disease, and orthopedic problems as a result of her obesity. At 2 cups per day of RD, she should be losing weight for a beagle. If she is not losing weight, it is either because she is getting additional calories from somewhere or because she has a hormonal imbalance. I know that you have had some bloodwork done at your veterinarian, however there are some hormonal diseases which are difficult to diagnose and require more advanced or specialized testing to diagnose. If she has an underlying hormonal condition, all the calorie restriction in the world will not help her lose weight. So the first step is to be certain there is not an underlying problem. If she has had a thorough check and no underlying disease is found, I would recommend the diet medication (Slentrol) for her. While there are always risks with any medication, she is exactly the kind of patient this medication was designed for and she is at even more of an increased risk of health problems if this problem is not treated. Medication is never my first choice for weight loss in dogs but for those who are not responding to diet and exercise alone, it is an excellent aid in helping your dog achieve a healthier weight. This medication is not designed to be a permanent solution for weight loss in dogs but to be an aid to weight loss with a goal of tapering her off of the medication once she reaches her ideal goal. The dose needs to be monitored regularly by having 2 – 4 week follow-ups at your veterinarian to adjust the dose as needed to keep her losing weight at a slow steady rate. After she reaches her ideal goal, she is slowly tapered off the medication keeping a close eye on her dietary intake to prevent rebound weight gain. Exercise is certainly a great way to help burn off additional calories, however be careful not to have her do too much exercise too quickly. If you start too aggressive of an exercise program, she could become injured so start slow. Small frequent walks are better than one very long walk per day. Work up to longer walks by adding 5 minutes to the time each week, then start increasing the speed as she adapts to the workouts. Ideally dogs should have 30 – 60 minutes of heart-pumping exercise at least 3 – 5 days per week.  [less]

While this may be playful biting, it is certainly painful for you and can develop into aggression if left unchecked. Cats in general do not tend to respond well to physical contact for punishment (such as spanking) and this can sometimes heighten the aggressive tendencies. The first step is to avoid playing with the cat with your hands at all. Many people will playfully roll kittens onto their back with their hands and rub their tummies while the kitten rolls and kicks and bites. While this is fun and playful, it often enforces the kitten’s desire to play with and bite hands. Any teeth contact on human hands should always be treated as a no-no to prevent the cat from making this association. As an alternative, use a feather on a stick, laser light or some other toy that can be played with at a distance so as the play becomes more aggressive your hands are nowhere near the action. Some cats will start to become aggressive during affection or petting. Ideally, you always want to be the one who initiates and stops all affection and not let the cat be the initiator. When the cat jumps up to ask for attention and affection, place him back on the ground gently without punishment as a way to say “No, I didn’t say it was time for affection”. When you do initiate petting or affection, keep the session very short (1 or 2 quick pets) before the cat has a chance to start getting worked up. Once you stop the petting, walk away and do not respond to any of his requests for affection if he is coming to you asking for more. In this way the control shifts from him demanding when affection starts and stops into your authority. Slowly work up to longer and longer periods of affection as he responds positively to your interactions. You can use water spray and shaking a can of pennies to distract or get his attention when he is doing something wrong, however doing this while he is biting you may cause him to associate you with a negative experience again heightening his aggression. Instead, offer him positive reinforcement whenever there is quiet, non-aggressive contact with you such as offering a yummy cat treat. Finally, if he is not already neutered you should have this done right away to prevent testosterone from driving his already aggressive tendencies.  [less]

Dewclaws on dogs can often be left in place without any problems. Those dogs that should have the dewclaws removed are those that have very loose dewclaws that are not flush against the side of the paw. The loose type of attachment is at increased risk of getting caught and torn off if not removed. Dewclaw digits in general do not touch the ground when the dog walks and as such, the nail often grows longer than the other nails and must be trimmed regularly to prevent the nail growing around into the pad of the foot. An overgrown or long nail can also act as a hook and can increase the risk of the toe becoming caught. If you decide to have them removed for safety reasons, it can usually be done at the same time as her routine spay surgery to avoid having to anesthetize her more than one time. Talk to your veterinarian to determine if her dewclaws are at increased risk of getting caught.  [less]

I’m afraid I don’t know a lot about local city council rules, however I believe that you would need to have their blessing before you were able to put anything permanent in place. I would suggest trying to organize some grass roots support from local dog owners who frequent the area to come together as a large group to try to convince the city council to at least hear out your pleas. It would be wise for you all to have some suggestions in place ahead of time for where the dispensers can be purchased from, what their cost would be, who would be responsible for maintaining the dispensers and refilling the bags, some ideas for how the cost for the project could be funded, as well as the environmental impact of the bags themselves (you may want to consider suggesting biodegradable bags that would have the least environmental impact if they escaped their dispensers). If they decline your request, I don’t know what other recourse you would have. It is each dog walker’s responsibility to make sure they scoop up the poop. If they have not brought a bag with them on the walk to pick up the pet waste, having a bag dispenser there is a nice convenience but unfortunately, it doesn’t guarantee that they will actually pick it up.  [less]

He may be experiencing some dementia or senility (called Canine Cognitive Dysfunction) because of his age that is creating this disorientation. He may also be having changes in his ability to hear and see as well as some senior dog aches and pains. Because of these ageing changes, he could be awakening thinking he needs to protect himself, not realizing he is in a safe place. Unfortunately, this creates a dangerous situation for the two of you because even though they are small, terriers are mighty fighters and can really hurt someone with a vicious bite (even though he doesn’t really mean it). I would recommend having him evaluated for any underlying pain or discomfort as well as an evaluation of his mental status to see if he is starting to experience some senility. You should also have his hearing and vision tested, the loss of which can contribute to senility in older dogs. In the meantime, it may be wise to have him sleep off of the family bed to prevent any accidental injuries while you are getting to the bottom of his problems.  [less]

Senior cats definitely do not need as many calories as younger cats (because of lower metabolic rates and lower activity levels). However, the answer to this question really depends on the weight of the cat, whether the cat is at her ideal body weight or is under- or overweight, as well as the calorie content of the food. Most cats are at their ideal weight at 10 pounds, however there are those petite cats that are ideal at 6 or 8 pounds, and those larger cats that are ideal at 15 pounds. The appropriate amount of calories for a 10 pound cat for maintenance is usually between 250 to 275 calories per day. You will then need to see how many calories are in the food. Friskies Senior Diet Pate is approximately 150 calories per 5.5 ounce can and the Classic Pate is approximately 170 calories per 5.5 ounce can (depending on which flavor you choose), the Whiska’s Fish Pouch is approximately 55 calories per 3 ounce pouch. If you are only feeding canned cat food and no dry, then she can have approximately 1 and ½ to 1 and ¾ cans of Friskies per day. Whenever making adjustments in the diet, make sure you measure her weight every month to make sure you are not seeing drastic shifts in either direction. These initial calculations may not be appropriate for your cat depending on her ideal body weight and her metabolic rate so be sure to monitor her weight and make adjustments as needed to help her maintain a healthy weight.  [less]

I am very concerned about the fact that you have multiple dogs in the same environment either becoming very ill or dying. I suspect this is either some kind of contagious disease or some kind of toxin. Because one of your dogs tested positive for Parvovirus, I suspect this could be causing all the problems. Parvovirus is an incredibly difficult virus to clear from the environment once it has set up residence. It usually causes severe vomiting and diarrhea. Young dogs are usually most at risk because their immune system is not fully mature yet and they have not had their complete set of vaccinations. Older dogs have usually been vaccinated against the virus but can still get a mild form of the virus resulting in diarrhea especially if the Parvovirus is one of the more virulent forms. This could explain why multiple dogs have had the same symptoms but only the youngest ones have passed away. The problem with parvovirus is that there is not a direct cure for the virus but treatment consists of supportive care such as antibiotics, fluids for dehydration and nutritional support while the immune system fights the virus. Internal parasites are another possibility as they colonize the intestinal tract and can cause diarrhea, blood loss and even vomiting if present in large numbers. Again, younger dogs are more likely to succumb to serious illness from massive internal parasite infections. Leptospirosis is a contagious bacteria that causes kidney failure and/or liver failure and can cause bleeding in the urine, bloody diarrhea, and even damage to the heart among other symptoms. There is a vaccination against leptospirosis, however not all dogs are vaccinated against it depending on their environment and risk factors. Lepto is also contagious to people, which makes it an even more serious infection to watch for. I would definitely recommend having all of the dogs checked by your veterinarian to see if any others are positive for parvovirus. However, if they have cleared the infection they may no longer be positive which will make matters more difficult. The biggest concern is the Pug’s puppies, who are currently receiving their mother’s antibodies in the milk, but in a few weeks, will be just as susceptible to whatever this is, just as all the others, and are likely to become as sick as the two puppies that you have already lost. Because of that, you and your veterinarian will need to do some detective work to get to the bottom of this so it doesn’t continue to affect your dogs.  [less]

There are a lot of healthy, premium diets out there, but what you need to focus on is the calorie content of the food to help her gain weight. If she is underweight at 3 pounds, perhaps her ideal weight is 4 or 5 pounds. If that is the case, her calorie needs for weight gain to that size would be approximately 300 to 390 calories per day. Most small dogs are not very big eaters, sometimes because they are finicky. For this reason, small breed dog foods are often formulated with a higher calorie content per serving so they do not need to eat a lot to get the nutrients they need. You may want to consider changing her to a puppy diet to help her gain weight and then transition her to an adult maintenance diet once she has achieved her goal. If she is very active, a high performance diet may be the best choice as it is usually higher in calories and protein to help maintain a healthy weight for the athletic, active dog. When you transition her over to the new diet and amount of food, you will need to monitor her weight monthly to make sure she is gaining appropriately and not overshooting the mark. Once she gets close to her ideal goal, you will need to cut back a little on the calorie content to reach a maintenance amount (this may be ½ to 1/3rd of the calories needed for weight gain). If you make changes and still are not seeing weight gain, she may have an underlying metabolic problem (such as diabetes or thyroid dysfunction) and you should have her evaluated by your veterinarian. The discharge from the eyes in small breed dogs is very common and can be caused by a variety of things such as a mild rolling inward of the lower eyelid, eye/face shape, a blocked tear duct, or a disease of the eye itself such as dry eye or an eye infection. It is important to first determine the cause of the discharge to determine if it is something that needs to be treated specifically. If it is a mild congenital problem, often the tearing and tear staining is a cosmetic problem but not really a problem for the dog. Angel Eyes is one of the products that is often used to reduce the staining from the excessive tearing in the eyes. It does not stop the discharge from forming, however. The medication (Tylosin) is an antibiotic that binds porphyrin (the pigment) in the tears. It is a very small amount that is used and is not likely to cause serious problems. However, any antibiotic given long term carries the risk of promoting bacterial resistance.  [less]