Dog urine marking and humping
We recently adopted a rescue beagle (2yo male neutered). He is an absolute angel except for two things. One, whenever he enters new territory (indoors), he scent marks compulsively, irregardless of the presence of other animals past or present. Once he is accustomed to the new place, he doesn't do it. This has happened at our house, friends' houses, and stores. And if we clap loudly and say, "No, Bernie!" he'll stop - even in mid-mark! We would like to take him places without having to watch him like a hawk for the first half hour to forty five minutes. The second issue - and probably related - is compulsive humping. He'll do it once you've been playing with him on the floor or ground for about twenty minutes and he's getting really worked up. He doesn't do it to other dogs, and he usually only humps human females. He doesn't respond as well to correction on this one. We've mostly tried distracting him or re-directing his focus, but it's not working too well. He was about a year and a half when he was neutered (that's when he arrived at a local shelter). Nothing is known about him before that, but it's quite likely he was used as a hunting beagle because he was found in a part of Louisiana that still uses beagles and other hounds as working/hunting dogs. He spent six months in the shelter and then a few months in foster care where he was with about ten other dogs where he was the smallest (he's about twenty pounds). We're wondering if dominance issues might be involved...? He doesn't like being put on his back to have his belly rubbed, which suggests a dominant personality - but then he cowers a fair amount and won't sustain eye contact which suggests a submissive personality. Other things that might be useful to know: he loves other dogs, likes humans, completely ignores cats unless they try to eat his food and then he barks, is VERY well housetrained, loves his crate, and is a classic beagle in that he spends our walking time with his nose glued to the ground and will do just about anything - including the classic Snoopy dance - to get food of any kind. Thank you in advance. |
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Dog with problems walking
When I came home from work yesterday, Sparrow(6yo female neutered mix breed), who stays in my basement with access to the crawl space under the house, was having trouble going up the stairs. She seemed sick - hot nose & depressed. She has a knot midway up her tail about the size of a quarter. Her hindquarters are slightly swollen and tender. Her behind was dirty with dust, some fecal matter, and little black dots that looked like flea eggs (she doesn't have fleas - she's on med from the vet.) It seemed she had been dragging her bottom on the ground. My gut feeling is that she may have been bitten by a spider or god forbid a snake (in my basement?!!) but I'm also worried that she's hurt her back. She can still walk - even jump on the bed - but she is not moving correctly. She is still eating and drinking. She's not any worse this morning, but no better. She's not limping, but she acts stiff - is not moving her hind legs with ease, but I don't see where they look out of whack. For example, when she goes up steps, she just goes one step at a time, very slowly and carefully when she usually bounds & skips steps. It doesn't look like she's knuckling over, and her feet and legs look normal. Another thought after babying her this morning - she has had trouble in the past with her anal glands being blocked. Usually I try to massage & expel them when I bathe her. I haven't noticed her dragging her butt, which usually happens when her glands are filled and need expelling, but is it possible this could be the problem? Or constipation?
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