Q: My 1yr old beagle barks so much. I’ve tried training her to only bark when told but with no progress, any ideas?

A: Dear Barking Beagle Owner, Thanks for the question. You have selected a breed that is known for their barking and vocalization. Beagles are notorious for their loud nature and tend to bark and talk for no apparent reason other than getting attention. Although this is a common behavior trait, there may be something that is setting her off. I would strongly recommend a consultation with a veterinary behavior specialist in order to get to the bottom of the barking and try to get things turned around before she is older and set in her ways! You can visit their website at http://www.veterinarybehaviorists.org/ and use the search function to find someone in your area.

Q: I have a 35 lb, 4 1/2 year old male Shar-Pei with swollen hock syndrome. Do you have any holistic recommendations?

A: Unfortunately, Familial Shar-Pei fever (aka swollen hock syndrome) is an inherited disorder. If a dog has the recessive gene, they will eventually develop signs associated with the disorder. This disease can be very mild to very severe and it is hard to predict how affected a dog will be. The fevers are often accompanied by severe joint (especially hock) inflammation and over time, a severely damaging protein (called amyloid) will be deposited into the kidney and can eventually cause kidney failure. The best we can do is treat affected dogs symptomatically with pain medications, fever reducers, anti-inflammatories, etc. There has been anecdotal success with colchicine–it appears to markedly improve the quality of life of many affected dogs by lessening the severity and frequency of attacks as well as delay the onset of amyloid protein deposition (thereby delaying the onset of kidney failure). I also recommend the use of an essential fatty acid supplement (like Halo Dream Coat). The fatty acids in this oil supplement are anti-inflammatory in nature and have proven beneficial in many inflammatory conditions.

Good Luck.
Dr. Donna Spector.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 27th, 2009 at 10:00 am and is filed under Ask a Vet, Dr Donna Spector, Pet Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.