Family Pet Consulting; Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

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Teaching Commands
Puppies
Housebreaking
Come When Called (to a Voice Command or Whistle)
Destructiveness
Barking and Whining
Jumping

Dogs and Children
Aggressiveness
Adding Another Dog to Your Family
Travel
Boarding
Fears and Depressions
Safety

Teaching Commands
Question 1: My dog only sits if I’m standing very close to it. How can I teach it to sit at a distance? What if it got across the street and I wanted it to sit and wait for me to come and get it?
Question 2: Is it OK to give the pup a treat when it obeys a command?
Question 3: Is it OK for my puppy to sit on my lap while I watch TV?
Question 4: I let my dog run loose at night. We live in a quiet neighborhood, and it gives the dog a chance to go to the bathroom and get some exercise.
Question 5: I take my dog for walks along the canal bank near my house. After we’ve been walking for a few minutes and the dog is settled down, I snap the leash off and let it walk free. What do I do if it takes off and won’t come back?
Question 6: My dog goes to the front door with me and when I open the door it either drags me out or mows me down as I’m going through it. Help!
Question 7: When I’m petting one dog, the other dog keeps pushing between us because it’s jealous.
Question 8: I hit my dog.
Question 9: My dog knows how to "stay" really well. In fact, he will stay for ten or fifteen minutes, except when the doorbell rings or company knocks at the door. Then he goes crazy.
Question 10: I’m a senior citizen. All the dogs I’ve ever owned in my lifetime have been well behaved, but this one is a maniac.
Question 11: When will my dog be able to go to the park without a leash and stay close to me?
Question 12: How soon can I teach good behavior at the door when people come to visit?
Question 13: If I train my dog, will it lose its personality?
Question 14: When will my adult dog stop acting like a puppy?
Question 15: I’ve read lots of training websites and they sound great, but when I try to do the things they say, it doesn’t work as smoothly for me.
Question 16: I have two dogs, and they don’t listen to me when they’re together.
Question 17: My dog doesn’t know its name.
Question 18: I’m in training with my dog now and I’m enjoying it, but how long will I need to use all these training techniques?
Question 19: I feel sorry for my dog when I have to correct it or go to the training classes.
Question 20: I’ve tried everything on my dog and nothing works. He’s untrainable!
Question 21: It takes my dog ten to fifteen minutes to settle down when I get home from work.
Question 22: My dog doesn’t like to sit when we’re walking on the leash and I stop.
Question 23: My dog pulls for the first block or so when we go for our daily walk and I hate it.

Puppies
Question 1: I live in an apartment with a nine-week-old puppy. Where can I keep it so it can’t trash the place and I can clean up after it quickly and easily?
Question 2: My pup is a very picky eater. What will improve its appetite?
Question 3: What tips can you give us for making the puppy’s life better when it first comes to live with us?
Question 4: My puppy just won’t sleep all night. It’s three months old. What can I do?
Question 5: How do I get a new pup to get up and walk on the leash? It just falls over on its side and won’t move.
Question 6: My new puppy fidgets in its crate at night. It’s keeping us awake.
Question 7: When my dog has done a "sit-stay" and I tell it to "release," it won’t get up.
Question 8: My dog licks hands, feet, etc., constantly. You can’t even pet it because it licks your hand before you can touch the top of its head. How can I stop this?
Question 9: When I’m walking, my puppy walks between my legs and trips me. How can I make it stop this?
Question 10: I want my dog to stop walking on the wrong side of me. I want it on the left side.
Question 11: Why does my puppy cough and gag when I walk it?
Question 12: My dog always wants to carry its leash in its mouth when I’m walking it. Is this bad?
Question 13: How can I keep my puppy from shaking so much when I’m giving it a bath? I get wetter than the dog!
Question 14: Is it good to put an old sock into the dog’s crate to keep it from crying and barking when you’re gone?
Question 15: My puppies play too rough with each other and chew on each other’s necks a lot. I want them to stop.
Question 16: Do we put the puppy in a crate when we don’t want him running around the house?
Question 17: Can a puppy be outside for long periods of time? Unobserved?
Question 18: My pup eats very quickly, just gulps its food down. How can I slow it down?
Question 19: When I play ball with my pup, it won’t let go of the ball after it brings it to me.
Question 20: At what age should a puppy be able to sleep all night?
Question 21: I want my dog to accept my petting without getting hyper and crazy.
Question 22: My dog grabs food out of my hand and sometimes nips me.

Housebreaking
Question 1: The dog never potties in the house except at night while everyone is asleep.
Question 2: How often should an adult dog have to go outside to go potty?
Question 3: How often should a puppy be put outside to go potty?
Question 4: We have a new baby and it’s starting to crawl; all of a sudden, my male dog is marking in the house.
Question 5: My nine-week old Poodle won’t tell us when she has to go potty.
Question 6: I live in an apartment, and my dog thinks that it’s supposed to go to the bathroom every time I take it for a walk.
Question 7: I work and don’t have time to housebreak my dog. Is there a quick and easy way?
Question 8: I have a 14-year-old spayed miniature Schnauzer, and she’s started going to the bathroom in the house.
Question 9: How do I get a urine specimen from my dog? It’s a female.
Question 10: I have two dogs, and I can’t tell which one is having bowel movements in the house.
Question 11: I’ve been trying to housebreak my puppy, but I’m not sure I’m making fast enough progress.
Question 12: My puppy is eight months old and seldom has an accident in the house, but I’m still finding a spot about once every two weeks.
Question 13: Why does my dog go to the bathroom (urinate) on everything along the path or in the park when we go for a walk? He also digs and kicks dirt with his back feet. What’s going on?
Question 14: I can smell urine in the house, but I have a really small dog and I can’t find the spots.
Question 15: I take my dog for a walk so it will go to the bathroom, but it won’t go right away.
Question 16: My puppy won’t go to the bathroom unless I stand and watch it.
Question 17: How do we discipline the dog for urinating on the floor if we see it happening?
Question 18: I would like to teach my male dog to go to the bathroom in one area of my yard. Can this be done?
Question 19: My cocker spaniel urinates every time it gets excited. How can I stop this behavior?
Question 20: My dog gets excited and urinates when someone reaches to pet him. How can I stop this?
Question 21: My dog goes for a walk, then comes inside and goes to the bathroom right away.
Question 22: My puppy eats its own stools. How can I get it to stop?
Question 23: How do we discipline if we find the spot, but didn't see it happen?
Question 24: I always give my puppy a treat when it comes back into the house after going to the bathroom. It still urinates or has a bowel movement a few minutes after I let it back inside. What’s going wrong?
Question 25: At what age should a puppy be completely housebroken?
Question 26: How will we know when our dog needs to go to the bathroom?
Question 27: I have crate-trained my dog, and although he never goes to the bathroom in his crate, he does have accidents elsewhere in the house. He’s about six months old.
Question 28: My dog goes to the bathroom on one part of the patio. How can I stop it?
Question 29: I live in an apartment with a Maltese, and I want to let my dog go the bathroom inside. Should I paper-train it?

Come When Called (to a Voice Command or Whistle)
Question 1: The dog won’t let me catch it when it comes to me.
Question 2: When I want my dog to come in at night, it knows it’s going to be put in its cage for the evening and it won’t come in, so I end up chasing it down and dragging it into the house.
Question 3: My dog will only come to me when I have a treat with me.
Question 4: I’ve tried using a whistle to make my dog come, but it doesn’t like treats. What can I use to entice it to come to me?
Question 5: My dog comes when I’m close to it, but not if it’s over ten feet away from me. It seems to know I can’t catch it.
Question 6: My dog won’t let me grab its collar when it gets loose.
Question 7: I have a deaf dog––can it be trained to come to me?
Question 8: How can I call my dog when it gets out and is out of voice range?
Question 9: I have a ten-month old Shitzu that charges out the front door and down the street every chance he gets.

Destructiveness
Question 1: My puppy digs around the sprinkler heads and in my flower beds. How do I stop this?
Question 2: My dog only digs when I'm gone, so I never catch it. What do I do?
Question 3: My dog buries all its bones in my yard! Can this be corrected?
Question 4: How can I make my dog stop digging into my carpet?
Question 5: How do I stop my dog from chewing on the carpet?
Question 6: My dog is digging up my watering system. How can I stop it?
Question 7: My dog seems to think inside plants are toys. It grabs at them as it walks by.
Question 8: My dog eats grass.
Question 9: My dog is constantly chewing on her front legs and paws. What can I do to stop this?
Question 10: I have a dog that buries everything in the yard.
Question 11: We have a 21-month old Labrador retriever and we can’t break its digging habit.
Question 12: My dog gets into the wastepaper basket when I’m not watching.
Question 13: My dog pulls things off the clothesline. How can I stop this?
Question 14: We have a cracked front window that our dog has jumped at and hit when someone walks up outside the house. We’re afraid he’s going to go through it and hurt himself. What can we do?
Question 15: My puppy chews on its dog house. What shall I do?
Large dog stealing food: Question 16: My dog is fine if we go away for long periods of time and confine him in one room, but if we go out of the house for just a few minutes and leave him loose inside the house, he will pull food off the counter and eat it. He’s a four-year-old neutered Chesapeake Retriever.
Question 17: My dog is tearing my whole yard to pieces. How can I prevent this?
Question 18: My dog plays in its drinking water and makes a mess on my patio.
Question 19: How can I keep my dog from digging under a gate?
Question 20: My dog doesn’t chew, but it scratches at the door when I leave it in a room or outside.

Barking and Whining
Question 1: Kids throw things over the fence at my dog. Consequently, my dog is starting to bark at every kid who goes past our house. How can I change this?
Question 2: I don’t want my dog to stop barking totally. I want him to bark at intruders, but not continuously.
Question 3: My Bichon is fine with other dogs when we go out for a walk without a leash, but if he’s on a leash he goes crazy, barking and lunging.
Question 4: My dog watches TV and barks at all of the animal actors.
Question 5: Is it a good idea to teach a dog to bark on command?
Question 6: My dog barks at me when I scold it.
Question 7: My adult dog is very restless at night and keeps us awake going from window to door and whining or barking. He’s always done this. Can we change it?
Question 8: My dog barks at the fence, then looks back at the house.
Question 9: How will I know whether my dog is barking when I’m not home?
Question 10: I have a dog that goes crazy when the telephone rings. It barks and whines so much that I can’t hardly talk on the phone.
Question 11: When I go for a walk, my dog chases bicycles and barks at them.
Question 12: My puppy is starting to whine a lot. It is so annoying! Help!

Jumping
Question 1: How can I keep my dog off the furniture when we’re not home?
Question 2: My dog jumps on the sliding glass door when it sees us inside and it is outside. We want it to stop.
Question 3: Loud noises don’t bother my dog, so what can I do about it jumping on the door?
Question 4: I have a small dog that jumps up and down when it gets excited. It doesn’t touch anybody when it does this.
Question 5: How do you break a dog from jumping fences?
Question 6: My little dog is always jumping off furniture at a dead run.
Question 7: I don’t care if my dog jumps up on me, but I don’t want it to jump on company.

Dogs and Children
Question 1: I think my dog is jealous of my new baby. It gets all pushy and wants me to pet it when I’m feeding the baby.
Question 2: Our 1 1/2 year old child is starting to yell "Shut up" and "Bad dog" at our dog. I don’t like it, but I can’t think what to do. I have to discipline the dog (Figure 16).
Question 3: Is it better to buy a puppy for our small children or an older dog? A male or female?
Question 4: How can I make my dog like children and not be afraid of them?
Question 5: I’ve always told my children to leave our dog alone when it’s eating.
Question 6: I got a dog for my baby. It’s a really good dog and very protective of the baby––it stands over her and won’t let people come near.
Question 7: I’ve never taken my dog around young children. What is the least traumatic way to introduce them into his life?
Question 8: I have an Australian shepherd that nips at my children’s heels and clothes when they run and play. I don’t like it, even though he’s not hurting them.
Question 9: My dog is big and rough and my children can’t effectively discipline him. What can I do to make the dog respect them?

Aggressiveness
Question 1: My two male dogs have always gotten along so well. One is two years old and the other is 2 1/2 years old, and both are neutered. Recently the younger one had to go to the veterinary hospital for minor surgery and an overnight stay. When we brought him home, the older dog acted very strange, growling and avoiding the other one. It's as though he hates him since he was gone overnight.
Question 2: My dog is eight months old. Every time we try to pet or brush her, she tries to bite us.
Question 3: My dog shows affection by putting my hand in its mouth. He’s not really biting; it’s just enough pressure to show he loves me.
Question 4: My dog was ill for a while and needed lots of attention. Now that she’s well, she still demands a lot of attention.
Question 5: My dog is really sweet, friendly, and loving most of the time, but it can unexpectedly be very aggressive.
Question 6: If I have my dog neutered, will it stop being aggressive?
Question 7: I think my dogs are going to start fighting. One dog keeps grabbing the other one by the neck and growling.
Question 8: My two females, an old one and a young one, fight, and the old dog just falls over with the young dog standing over it.
Question 9: I have two large dogs that fight, and I was bitten while trying to break it up. They’re biting each other on the neck.
Question 10: My two dogs (neutered males) have lived together peacefully for years, and all of a sudden they’ve started fighting.
Question 11: When I handle my pup's paws, it growls at me. How can I stop this?
Question 12: My dog growls at small children. Can I change this? I have two small children, and I think the dog is afraid of them.
Question 13: My dog chases my cats and barks and growls at them. How can I make him like them?
Question 14: I have a five-year old male Shepherd that acts aggressively toward other dogs. He’s trained, but just doesn’t like other dogs.
Question 15: Every time I open the back door, my dog forces its way inside.
Question 16: When my dog grabs something, i.e., socks, underwear, etc., it won’t let me take the item out of its mouth.
Question 17: My dog lunges at moving cars.
Question 18: Should I let my puppies fight?
Question 19: My dog keeps trying to exhibit breeding behavior toward my child.
Question 20: My dog is aggressive when cornered.
Question 21: I sort of like it when my dog is aggressive with people. Is that bad?

Adding Another Dog to Your Family
Question 1: If my old dog is on tile, it has a really hard time getting up.
Question 2: I’m going to bring a new female dog home, and I already have an older male dog. What could I do to make him like her?
Question 3: How do I know what the best breed of dog is?
Question 4: I want a lot of dogs. Is that a smart thing?
Question 5: We own a male dog, but we want to get a puppy. Which sex should we get?
Question 6: Older dog is constantly being annoyed by my young dog. The young dog butts in when the old dog is being petted.
Question 7: I think my dog is bored during the day, and I’m considering getting another dog to keep him company. Would that be trouble, or would it help with his boredom?
Question 8: We’ve adopted a dog and it doesn’t seem to relate to my husband as well as it does to me. Will this always be true?

Travel
Question 1: How old does our dog have to be before we can take it camping?
Question 2: Will we need a crate in camp?
Question 3: Can our dog travel in a camper trailer while we're pulling it?
Question 4: We’re going to drive and take our dog on vacation where we’ll be staying with friends for several days. Any tips?

Boarding
Question 1: How do I know if a boarding kennel is any good?
Question 2: Should I board with my vet?
Question 3: Does my dog need twenty-four-hour on-the-premises supervision when it’s boarded?
Question 4: What if my dog gets sick while it’s being boarded?
Question 5: My dog had ticks and fleas when it came home from boarding the last time.
Question 6: When I picked my dog up from the boarding kennel, it had a cough.

Fears and Depressions
Question 1: We have a five-month old Golden Retriever that panics and hides under the bed when she sees us get the leash.
Question 2: We have a very active, loud household, and sometimes we have pretty intense arguments.
Question 3: When I put a collar on my dog, it just hates it, and tries to get it off.
Question 4: My dog hates the kitchen. She freezes up and refuses to walk if we force her to come into the kitchen.
Question 5: My dog is terrified of the vacuum cleaner. Can I change this?
Question 6: Storms really scare my dogs. Can I fix this?
Question 7: My dogs hate being put in the bathtub when it’s time for a bath.
Question 8: My dog is afraid of riding in the car.
Question 9: When I scold my dog, it urinates.
Question 10: My dog is afraid to jump into the car.

Safety
Question 1: I’d like to teach my dog to stay out of the kitchen. I cook a lot, and I’ve seen a couple of dogs that were scalded and had big scars caused by pans knocked off the stove. How can I do this, and how long should it take?
Question 2: I have a fence around my pool, but my puppy is small enough to crawl through it.
Question 3: I like to take my dog everywhere with me in the car, but he’s a little crazy while I’m driving and ends up in my lap most of the time.
Question 4: I like carrying my dog in the back of my pickup truck.
Question 5: I have a dog that plays with rocks, and I’m afraid it might swallow some of them.
Question 6: My puppy has its own chain link dog run. Every time I open the gate to go in and feed or clean, he dashes out between my legs and takes off running. It is dangerous and frustrating to have to deal with this every time I go to his gate.
Question 7: When I’m taking my dog out of its carrier, I have a hard time getting the leash attached to its collar because there’s so much wiggling going on.
Question 8: When I give my dog a treat, he grabs it so fast and with such force that he has bitten my fingers.
Question 9: I try to walk both my dogs at the same time, and I end up looking like a comedy act with the leashes tangled around my legs and sitting on the ground. It’s dangerous.

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Last Updated September, 2000
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