photo credit: Goran Necin

When we collected Fig from the dog shelter he was suffering from kennel cough. It isn’t unusual for dogs that has been in an animal shelter for a while to be suffering from this condition.

The condition itself is a respiratory infection caused either by a virus or bacteria. I causes a hacking cough and sometimes a runny nose. Your dog may not have any symptoms of this when you pick him up but it may develop over the coming days when you get him home. If your new dog does present with these conditions then you need to take him to the vets.

When we saw the vet at the shelter he considered Figs condition bad enough to warrant antibiotics. These came in tablet form which we fed to fig hidden in a small lump of cheese. The course lasted for 5 days and cleared up the infection in no time at all.

The cough and runny nose can last for a couple of weeks and during this time it is important to keep your dog away from other dogs as kennel cough is extremely infectious.

There are quite a few reasons for dog aggression but firstly you have to understand that aggression for a dog is just a natural instinct which helped them survive in the wild.

With a dog like Fig, who was a stray before he was at the shelter, these instincts come to the fore to enable them to survive and you have to work hard to get them to return to the place that we want these instincts to be (at the back of your dogs mind).

The same can be said for puppies they are new to the world and everything around them is new and strange. Their natural reaction to this is fear and the defense is aggression.

The most common reasons that your dog will display aggressive behavior are:

• If he is being possessive of you.
• If he is in a strange environment.
• If he is encountering new experiences.
• If he is guarding his food
• If he is guarding his toys.
• If he is receiving unwanted physical contact.
• If he sees something as a threat.

All of these behaviors can be worked on and resolved with some effort and a bit of patience.

photo credit: Don Nunn

Dogs will chew just about anything but some really common targets that should always be kept out of harms way are:

• books
• eye glasses, sunglasses, ski masks, snorkeling gear
• clothes
• shoes
• garbage, yes they will turn the gargage bin over to get at it.
• appliances like cameras, cell phones, and remote controls.

Their natural scavenging will make them target food wherever it is left hanging around so all food needs to be put securely away: don’t leave snacks on tables or counter tops when you leave the room because they will attempt to get at them. Their acrobatic abilities would surprise you when it comes to food at stake, put all food into containers or the pantry. Always wash up your dirty plates and remove all food scraps to a secure place!