My Pet World: If you are patient, you can train your dog to not jump

By Cathy M. Rosenthal, Tribune Content Agency on Feb 6, 2019

I always recommend readers rule out a health problem when there is a behavior problem. Because Stephen said a veterinarian told his daughter it was "hard to test a dog for hearing," I assumed he had already been down that path.

What I didn't know -- and perhaps the veterinarian he referred to didn't know either -- is that there is a specialized hearing test for dogs. Thank you so much for letting me and my readers know about the BAER test. I have let Stephan know to look for a Veterinary Neurologist for Millie.

Dear Cathy,

Having read your response to the chocolate bandit of Christmas about theobromine poisoning, I just wanted to clarify one point. Most Hershey kisses are milk chocolate, which has about 1/4 of the toxicity of dark chocolate. (One-ounce of milk chocolate per 1-pound of body weight would equate to 1/4-ounce of dark chocolate per pound of body weight.) The (danger) rises with the cocoa content of the chocolate. White chocolate has hardly any cocoa content. I know your space is limited, but if people think all chocolate is created equal, it could have deadly consequences. -- Keith, Winneconne, WI

Dear Keith,

You're right. While I mentioned toxicity is based on the type of chocolate, I didn't spell out the dangers that day. The darker the chocolate, the more dangerous to our pets.

Recently, during a radio interview in WLIP, Kenosha, Wis., I spoke with Frank, Kim, and Rhianna on the Happenings Q&A show about chocolate and dogs. Rhianna mentioned that her cat gets into chocolate, and wondered if there was a risk to cats? Yes. While cats are more likely to play with the wrapper than eat chocolate, if they do eat chocolate, it doesn't take as much to have a toxic effect on them.

So, keep all chocolate away from all pets.

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(Cathy M. Rosenthal is a longtime animal advocate, author, columnist and pet expert who has more than 25 years in the animal welfare field. Send your pet questions, stories and tips to cathy@petpundit.com. Please include your name, city, and state. You can follow her @cathymrosenthal.)