Pets

/

Home & Leisure

My Pet World: Dog keeps digging at same spot in carpet

By Cathy M. Rosenthal, Tribune Content Agency on

Dear Cathy,

For the past few weeks, my 10-year-old poodle has been pawing the rug in my living room. As a result, the nape is being pulled up. Please tell me why he is doing this and how I can handle this situation other than correcting him with a no command. -- Evelyn, Massapequa, NY

Dear Evelyn,

I am not sure why you don't want to correct the behavior with a "no" command, but your dog may be doing it because he smells something in that spot that you can't detect. I would do three things.

First, look under the carpet and padding to see if there is any food or toy that might have wiggled its way into the area. Vacuum the padding to be sure.

Next, get an enzymatic cleaner at the pet store to clean the carpet itself. An enzymatic cleaner will eat up any biologicals (urine or poop) that may be attracting your dog to the area.

 

Finally, after cleaning the area, change your dog's habit. If you are reluctant to correct your dog with a verbal "no" command, then shake a can of coins to interrupt the behavior, say "here," so your dog comes to you, and then give him another command, like "sit," before redirecting his attention to a toy or treat. After a few days, he will likely leave the spot alone.

Dear Cathy,

Our 13-year-old Havanese has begun barking when we are not home. We only discovered this after installing a video camera in our home that goes on when there is noise. He barks every 10 to 15 minutes when we are not at home. Since we live in a detached home, we have never heard from our neighbors that this has always occurred. He is seldom left alone, since my wife and I are both semi-retired, and he was essentially raised after I retired.

I've tried waiting for this behavior to occur by staying in our driveway, so that I can admonish him when he does it, but I think he either can smell my presence or in some other way knows I'm there and doesn't bark. Any behavioral suggestions would be appreciated. We live in a semi-quiet area and the camera does not pick up sounds that he would be responding to. -- Frank, Williston Park, NY

...continued

swipe to next page

(c) 2018 DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.

 

 

Comics

The Pajama Diaries Ginger Meggs Barney Google And Snuffy Smith BC A.F. Branco 1 and Done