Q. In April I moved into an apartment complex that allows tenants to keep small dogs. We have not had too many hot days yet so I was able to open my windows rather than use the air conditioning. Some tenants have little dogs that bark at anyone they see while on the leash, and one tenant leaves her dog outside on the second-story deck for hours at a time, watching the pedestrian traffic and barking continuously. I don't like to make a complaint without offering a solution, so can you suggest a simple method of training the animal to control this behavior? I suppose a muzzle would work, if that is not considered cruel treatment. Is it?
A. I really cannot offer much in the way of any simple suggestions. The reason the dogs bark at everything is because they see people and cars and other dogs moving in the street going about their business and they want to acknowledge that. Then whatever they are seeing moves out of their sight so in the dog's mind, it thinks that it left in response to its barking. We call this a self-rewarding behavior. Teaching a dog to stop this behavior involves a great deal of positive reinforcement that most pet-keepers these days just do not have the time for. A muzzle is definitely out, as the purpose of it is to prevent a dog from biting during a procedure such as trimming of the nails or such. It cannot be kept on the dog more than 10 minutes or so as the dog cannot pant when wearing a traditional muzzle and thus would die of overheating. About the only quick fix that would work for the dog that spends lots of time on the balcony is for its owners to erect a solid fence around it so the dog could not see the street below.
Q. I just took in a feral kitten that has what seems to be ringworm on its ear. I read that putting tea tree oil on the spot will get rid of this and wondered if you agreed.
A. I have had hundreds of animals with ringworm pass through my hands in the last five decades, and in my experience, the only thing that works is to take the kitten to the vet and have the vet prescribe one of the new oral medications that get rid of the fungus. The ringworm fungus is one of the few issues that humans can catch from a household pet, and if you get it, it is no joke. That's why this is not a situation for which I would advise experimenting with any home remedies.
Q. A restaurant in my area has decided to go dog friendly in its outdoor area. I think this is great. It's on the water and has a nice view. The chefs have even included a separate doggie menu with four choices: grilled chicken, beef burger, steamed veggies and the fourth, which concerns me, a bowl of whipped cream. Couldn't a bowl of fresh whipped cream give a dog diarrhea or gastric upset? I was always cautioned about giving dogs dairy. A few licks of ice cream or whipped cream would be OK, but a whole bowl?
A. Typical whipped cream that humans like to put on apple pie is not good for dogs at all, as most dogs are lactose intolerant. All the saturated fat and sugar in the whipped cream are not good for dogs either, although a small amount is not going to do any lasting damage. I cannot fathom that the restaurant would be giving dogs large bowls of sweet whipped cream as you described when there are so many other treats to serve in a dog-friendly restaurant. There is a lactose-free "ice cream" product for dogs that is not actual ice cream, and I would like to think that the whipped cream that you saw the dogs being served was a similar type of dog desert.
