ArcaMax

Dear Cathy,

I have a howler, Roxy, a gentle and mellow chow-chow mix. Almost every time she hears a siren, she goes into howl mode. It’s not so bad when she’s outside, but when she makes this dreadful noise at three in the morning in the bedroom, she shares with me and a second dog, Joey, then it becomes a problem.

I can’t use anything that makes a sudden noise, like a shaker can, because I fear that it will punish Joey, who stays quiet. He howled once and I said a stern, “No!” and he hasn’t howled indoors since. Saying no does not work with Roxy about this particular thing. Neither does ignoring or distracting or a command to sit. She obeys me and sits and keeps right on howling. I thought dogs weren’t supposed to be able to do two things at once! Help!

–Eileen, Tucson, Arizona

Dear Roxy,

There are a few ways to address this issue. First, you can get noise-reducing curtains for your windows (and walls) and a white sound machine to help mask outside noises. This may not remove the siren sound completely, but it should greatly reduce it.

The second thing is to try to shush her. When she starts to howl, say “Roxy, shhh." The “shhh” should be a short, staccato, but airy, snake-like sound, which gets their attention. By saying Roxy and then issuing this command, Joey will know you’re not correcting him.

If these things don’t work, the next step is training her to “leave it," since you want her to “leave/ignore” the sound. Ask her to sit and drop a dog treat on the floor. If she bends down to sniff or eat it, say “leave it.” She should respond by looking at you, at which time you can say a reward word, like “Bingo,” and give her a treat. She will eventually learn that “leave it” means to leave things alone. Once you’re sure she understands, try it on her when she wails at night to see if she stops.

Dear Cathy,

I adopted a 40-pound (current weight) two-year-old beagle mix that had been starved he was so thin. I've been feeding him twice a day to put a few pounds on him, but now that he has put on the weight, I'm wondering just how much he should be fed. I called my vet but couldn't get an answer I understood. I searched the internet for an answer, but answers seem to be all over the board. Can you help? He gets walked two to three times a day for a total of one hour. I feed him two to three heaping tablespoons of Pedigree Choice Cuts in gravy with beef and two to three heaping tablespoons of Pedigree Chopped ground Chicken & Rice dinner both twice a day, along with a handful of dry food at each meal.

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