Most vets will tell you that if you're concerned, you should probably get your dog checked. Since your dog seemed to feel anxious, he's giving signs that he's worried about the choking.

I've got 2 Chihuahuas that have choking issues: one has a collapsed trachea, the other has an enlarged heart that presses on her esophagus. I have choking issues because I have a GI disorder. So the cause could be a wide range of things–or it could be nothing at all.

A visit to the vet will make you feel better and maybe give you ideas about how to alleviate the problem.

Also keep in mind that some sitters will do daycare. We have a number of clients who bring their dogs just to play for the day. They drop their dog with us in the morning and pick up after work. The pups go home happy and tired from a good day of play.

Your dog could be barking for a number of reasons, and it may not be at something he is hearing, although it could be.

1. He may be barking at something he can hear that you cannot hear.
2. He may be barking at something he smells and wants to interact with (think female in heat).
3. He may be barking out of frustration.
4. He may be barking out of habit.

Step one: Determine the reason he's barking, which probably makes you think, "easier said than done!" But wait! You can use context clues and look for patterns.

Ask yourself these questions:

Does he bark at a certain time?

Certain location?

When certain people are around (neighbor in the backyard that you can't see, but he can hear/smell)?

Before dinner or after?

Before or after you leave the house?

When he hasn't had attention for a while?

Formulate a hypothesis from your observations.

Step two: Make changes to test your hypothesis. For instance, if you see a pattern that he is barking after he's been outside for 10-15 minutes alone, and he's not standing near a door, fence, or something he's clearly directing his body toward, you might hypothesize that he's bored. To test your theory, let him out and bring him in right after he has "taken care of business," before he starts barking.

Step three: If your test does not result in a decrease in barking, adjust your theory and make changes again.

Remember to change only one variable of the situation at a time, or you won't be sure what the cause was. Then you are likely to encounter the barking again.

An excellent book on the subject: Barking: The Sound of a Language by Turid Rugaas

Start by putting him in the car in his safety harness, then getting into the driver's seat with your hands on the wheel. DON'T start the car. If he's calm, give him treats. Then get out and let him out.

If he does get upset, try putting him in his harness and only going to the driver's door. If he's calm, give him a treat and let him get out. Keep backing up in the process until you find his threshold.

Once you know the point at which he starts to get anxious, practice at the point before for a couple of days.

Slowly move along the chain of steps, gving him treats at each stage when he's successful. If he digresses, go back one or 2 steps where he was calm.

Once you've got the car started and in gear, back up along the drive (or whatever the first move is that you make in the car). Give him treats and praise. Next, try driving up the street past 1-2 houses. Then go around the block.

The keys are to take slow progressive steps and to go backward when it gets overwhelming.

If you're patient, you'll get him back on track! All the best, Kelley

The "ouch" only works if you pair it with removing your attention from her. Actually turn your back to her and don't give her attention no matter what she does. If this doesn't work, e.g., she still solicits your attention, leave her sight (go to another room, go into the house and leave her alone in the yard, etc).

Use a clicker or positive reinforcement to reward her when she's being calm. She would be classified as reactive by some behavioralists, meaning, she reacts to stimuli in an undesirable manner. (Note: this does not mean she's a bad dog). Help her learn that calm behavior will be rewarded. Read, "Click it Calm" by Emma Parsons for more extensive exercises if you need more ideas than what's been posted here.

Note that I'm not a vet, but have had shelter dogs (I worked in animal sheltering), and personal dogs with mast cell tumors.

You'll want to address this quickly as mast cell tumors can be aggressive.

Yes, they can be removed on the head. We just had one removed from our hound last October.

The key is whether or not the vet can get sufficient margins around the tumor when removing it. Be sure the removed tissue is sent off for pathology to have the tumor graded. The grade will tell you if he will need further treatment after surgery.

If the location of the tumor makes surgery a poor option, other treatments are available.

http://www.wearethecure.org/mast-cell...

All the best to you and Gus.

I would add to Shannon's great suggestions that if he will chase you, you can make leash walking into a game. Put the leash on him holding onto your end, and without pulling on it (always work to keep the leash loose), back away from him playfully with lots of enthusiasm. When he comes romping to you, praise and treat.

Once he's got the idea, instead of backing away, turn and trot away from him, like you're inviting him to chase you. When he comes romping along and catches up to you, praise and treat. Slowly increase the distance you run away from him, at the same time you slow your pace to a walk.

As my first trainer told me (this is a bit oversimplified, but it works): dogs think things are either fun or not fun. Your job when teaching him something is to make the behavior you're teaching loads of fun so he can't resist!

Best wishes!

I don't mean to be an alarmist, but I think you should do some research on the behavior you've seen and maybe have a behaviorist assess the situation.

I agree with Toni D that you must take into consideration the context of the situation, the environment, and all of your dog's body language including tail carriage, eyes, ears, mouth, torso positioning and mouth. The utterances your dog makes or does not make also enters into the equation.

What concerns me is that you say your dog grabs and shakes. That is a part of prey seeking behavior meant to till the prey. I certainly cannot say for sure what your dog is doing or intends, but I highly recommend separating your dog from small animals and seeking the advice or a professional.

We are in a fortunate position in that we can require dogs to be crate trained to stay with us. Our own dogs are crated at night. We are in high demand in our area, so we have had people train their dogs so they can stay with us.

We do it for safety reasons. Because any dog that is boarding with us or we are caring for is in a temporary situation, the behavior of the client's dogs cannot be predicted completely. We always put safety and health above all other considerations.

My husband and I do both boarding and traveling sitter services. Because we have dogs almost all the time in our care, we prefer not to stay at the client's home. We may have several dogs at our home and more than one traveling gig, so we add an up-charge of $35/night for staying all night.

I don't have either, but I am very experienced with both as I have worked in animal sheltering for over 10 years. Both are active and high on the personality scale--I'd call them perky and whimsical. I have been in training with both breeds for agility, and both excel, maybe not as the fastest or most technically proficient but as eager and ready for fun.

Both are easy to train.

Both can be little terrors if they are left to their own devices and not given expectations and ways to burn their substantial energy. I highly recommend basic training (sit, stay, leave it, off, etc).

They are lap dogs, but not so much for cuddling, etc, until they get older. They'll sit with you maybe at night while watching TV or sleep in your bed, but they don't really look to curl up in your lap like a cat.

I have seen both be good with children, and I have also seen both that are grumpy and intolerant with children. My experience has been that it's more individual than a breed thing with them. On this point, I am not an expert.

If you want more specific information about the differences in the breeds, you might need to get feedback from others. My experience with them has shown them to be very similar.

Also, the AKC (American Kennel Club at www.akc.org) has great breed information.

We have had people who say they will be dropping off/picking up at a certain time, then are VERY late--not just 10-20 minutes. We had one this past week that was 5 1/2 hours late!

The suggestions above are excellent. Thank you!

I have had the same situation. I don't book more than 2 mos in advance. I have the owner put in a request on Rover.com, so can see the request and the date. I tell them I will let them know 4-6 wks before whether or not I will be available. Essentially, they are reserving their spot for first dibs.

There are a number of supplements and taste detracting substances you can try; in my experience, these are marginally successful. The only trick I have used successfully is putting hot sauce on the things a dog is eating/chewing so that he learns that these items are unpleasant.

Check with your veterinarian first before trying hot sauce just to be sure there are no problems in your specific case.

INTRODUCE A NEGATIVE First, put some hot sauce on a rag or paper towel and let your dog sniff it. Allow him to lick it if he wants to (although many dogs won't try it, but back away). Reward him with praise for turning away without tasting. If he tastes it, he is likely to drool, shake his head, maybe paw at his face. Don't allow him any water for about 20 minutes, so he can't relieve the bad taste right away. Now he should associate the smell with something he doesn't like.

TEST ON THE ITEM YOU WANT HIM TO AVOID Next, put the hot sauce on whatever it is that you don't want the dog to eat, in your case, poop and introduce it to your dog. Let him sniff. If he turns/backs away or avoids it, reward him with praise. If he eats it, allow him to drool, etc, and don't give water for about 20 minutes.

PROOFING Later in the day or the next day, put the hot sauce on the material/poop and introduce it to your dog. At this point, he should turn away. Praise profusely!

Keep putting hot sauce on any poop in his area for about a week, until he gets the idea that if he eats poop, it might be pretty unpleasant. Once you see him turn away from poop even though you have not put any hot sauce on it, praise profusely!!! Offer your dog a treat or highly prized toy.

Occasionally go back to the above steps if you think your dog is regressing.

Are you experiencing separation anxiety or fear that Foxy will have anxiety? If she is experiencing it, what is she doing? Do you see any patterns? I can probably give more details with the answers to these questions.

In general, reducing separation anxiety requires patience and planning on your part. Start with short trips away from her, such as a 20-minute visit to a neighbor's house. Reward her AS YOU LEAVE. Continue to extend the time away until she realizes that you will return.

DO NOT have a celebration when you come home. Ignore her for a while when you return. After you've settled in, say you've changed clothes after work and gone into the kitchen to make some tea for yourself. THEN pay attention to her. If homecoming is a big party, she will learn to anticipate that.

Instead, make leaving a wonderful event. Maybe she gets treats (a stuffed Kong to keep her busy for a while).

You might also try setting up a GoPro and looking at video of what she is doing when you are away. If she is anxious at the beginning, but later settles, then you know she eventually gets the idea and she will likely improve with time. If she is not anxious at the beginning, but gets more so as the time progresses, it may mean she is bored. Setting up a toy that gives out timed rewards could be helpful. If she is anxious the whole time, this indicates more of a true separation anxiety situation.

Crating an anxious dog (after the dog has learned that crating is a reward, not a punishment), making the crate extra comfy, giving Kongs for long-lasting chewing/play, trying herbals for relaxation, and soft music to help drown out any anxiety-producing sounds (traffic, mail delivery, etc) can be a huge help to resolve separation anxiety.

Once you've tried these things, if they aren't working, keep a detailed journal. Take the journal to your vet to show that the problem is real (not boredom). Have him/her check for any medical reasons for the anxiety, then consider medication.

South of Portland, there's a great park called Sellwood Park. Also, along the coast of Oregon, visit Cap Kiwanda for beach walks and ball chasing, and the Drift Creek Trail near Hwy 101 and Hwy 18.

In College Station, Texas, my favorite is Lick Creek Park south of town.

Positive reinforcement training is definitely my preferred method. I used punishment/reward based training many years ago and have been able to compare the 2. Most definitely found that positive reinforcement is faster and gets better overall results.

The downside to positive reinforcement training is that, on occasion, people get frustrated with their pet. Maybe the dog isn't understanding what you want, isn't motivated to do what you've asked, or is distracted or tired. When this happens, the trainer has to remember to stop the training and pick it up at a better time for the dog.

Check with a veterinarian about what's required for a U.S. health certificate. Many vets do health certificates for dogs to travel to other countries, so they are likely to know what resource you can check about a U.S. health certificate.

You should get a kennel that is big enough for your dog to stand up, lay down, and turn around--but no larger or your dog could learn to use part of the kennel for a "potty" area. If you need to get a kennel that's too big for now, you can put a large box in the kennel to take up the extra room.