Subscriber Only

If a dog’s coat starts smelling malodorous and bathing him doesn’t take care of the foul scent, he may have a skin infection. An increase in harmful bacteria causing the infection can cause the odor, as can an infection of yeast.

You know not to make a big deal when you’re going to leave your dog home alone, either for a short while or several hours. You want to say good-bye, yes, but if you act dramatically, you will be sending your pet the message that a separation of any duration is emotionally painful. Better to just let her know with a chipper voice and perhaps a stroke on the muzzle that you’ll be gone for a while.

Canine otitis—inflammation of a dog’s ear resulting from an infection, allergies, parasites such as ear mites, or other causes—can be difficult to treat at home. An inflamed ear may be causing a pet so much pain that he can make it hard to administer the ear drops that will take down the swelling. But there may be a workaround—important because ear swelling can be chronic rather than a one-time thing.

It’s around this time of year that you’ll start to see a number of dogs look half their usual size. People have their pets’ hair shaved to make them feel cooler during the dog days of summer. It’s a well-intentioned move. Girls pull their hair back into ponytails to keep comfortable when the temperatures rise while boys often get buzz cuts, and it’s assumed that what’s right for people is right for dogs. But trimming off much of a dog’s hair in preparation for summer is actually misguided. Why?

Traditionally, dogs have been trained not to jump on people with the word “Off.” If the dog is little, it’s a straightforward, four-step process.

Q: My dog has a mass on her spleen that has to come out. The tumor seems to be benign—tests indicate that it has not spread to other parts of her body. But it is growing bigger all the time and could rupture and cause life-threatening internal bleeding. The veterinary surgeon I have spoken with says that he’s going to take out the whole spleen along with the mass as that will be less risky than just trying to remove the mass itself. He says the “skin” of the spleen is delicate, and trying to remove just the mass could cause a rupture on its own. He tells me a dog doesn’t need her spleen. How can that be?

Q: My dog really seems to pay attention to Bluey cartoons on TV. Why that show more than others?

Wilhelmina Doust
Arlington, Texas

It used to be thought that animals don’t feel pain,” says Alicia Karas, DVM, a veterinary pain specialist who is board-certified in anesthesiology. It wasn’t that long ago. “The real start of recognizing that animals feel pain and might need medication for it was probably the early 90s,” she notes. “Until then, a vet might say, ‘If I give the animal pain meds after an operation they might move around too much and hurt their surgical sites, interfering with their healing.’ It was a myth that needed to be battled.

• Hookworm Disease Getting Harder to Treat
• Short Takes
• By a Whisker
• In Protecting Your Dog, You May Be “Muddying the Waters”
• The At-Home Lumps and Bumps Exam
• Remodeling—or Building—a Home With Your Dog in Mind
• Why You Should Weigh Your Dog’s Food Rather Than Measure It in a Cup
• Dear Doctor

Hookworm disease in dogs is not showing any signs of decreasing, with the highest prevalence rates in the South, according to the Companion Animal Parasite Council. While the incidence across the U.S. in general is one case for every 100 dogs tested, from South Carolina going as far west to Texas, prevalence rates reach as high as one in 50 to one in 30 dogs. The incidence rate one step north, from Virginia going as far west to Kansas, is relatively high, too. But no state is immune, and even places as far north as Vermont and Montana have relatively high rates.

Having a dog is great for getting up and out because you have to take your pet for walks several times a day. But people with dogs weighing more than 45 pounds get more exercise because of their pets than those with dogs weighing less. It’s not just that smaller dogs don’t need to walk as far to get their fill of physical activity. It’s that people with small dogs are less apt to walk them altogether, according to research conducted at Michigan State University. They appear inclined to just let them in the yard or walk them only far enough so they can do their business.

Although cats are currently at much greater risk of contracting bird flu than dogs, dogs can and have gotten sick with the disease, also known as avian influenza. A primary route of infection for a dog is eating a sick or dead infected bird. But drinking raw (unpasteurized) milk from a cow who has caught the disease can also spread the illness to a dog, as can eating raw or undercooked meat, says the American Veterinary Medical Association.