Anxiety & whining

Question
QUESTION: Hi Dolores,
I have Ben, a seven year old golden English cocker (rescue, I have had him six years) and a new addition Koko, female, black English cocker (rescue) four years.  I have only had Koko for three weeks. I made a few mistakes with Ben by humanising him too much, in saying that he is an absolute darling - And I am a much better pack leader - he was a mess when I got him and we have all learnt alot and we have come a long way.  He is wonderful, off leash and loves other dogs and cats - he is very caring, funny, cheeky and sweet. Koko had settled in very well and she is adorable - she was not cat friendly, but she has learnt that we love meow and she needs to love meow too - she had never experienced being off leash and her recall is brilliant considering how long we have had her.  The one thing I have never been able to 'fix' with Ben is the whining when he is in the back yard without me or my partner Jeremy.  We are both pack leaders equally and Benna knows his place.  Since being blessed with Koko, she has taken over that role and he has settled to some extent.  We have made the mistake of yelling STOP, KOKO, BEN, ENOUGH, QUIET etc - tried the water bottle with Ben, but as he loves water, he thinks its fun - we never laugh and do not think its fun. They get heaps of exercise and swim and sleep in our bedroom :(  I just thought you may be able to offer something I have not tried - they are both very happy, its us that cant stand the whining.  I took them both for an eight KM walk the other day and came home popped them in the back yard to get their dinner and go to the toilet and anyone would have thought they had been locked in the backyard for a week without human contact or food!  Koko even went as far as to grab the gate with her teeth pulling it back and forth and Ben has made an awful mess of chewing the back door.  Bottom line is we'll put up with it coz we adore them both but it is sad to think that either one of them is that upset for what seems to me no apparent reason? We dote on them - but we demand discipline and make them work for treats for focus etc.
Additionally,  Ben has seen three different vets over the last three years for a watery left eye? It clears but always comes back, he never had it until he was about 4?  They all give me different reason for it and it is really frustrating.  Koko had a visit to the vet a fortnight ago for what seemed to be a sprained left front paw. She came home with a dose of rimadyl and all seemed fine until tonight. She is limping on it again? I have a vet appointment 2 moro but she is so young 4 - Maybe I am over walking her? Ben is 7 and he copes fine and she only gets a big walk once a week and 4/5 walks for half hour - hour? I feed them optimum, VIP roll food and a BARF diet from a local animal lover Pet Love and raw bones, chicken necks , lamb off cuts...
P.S. sorry about the length of this message, but i read so many of your responses and you're a wealth of information and I just want my dogs to have the best life possible
Renee


ANSWER: Let's deal with the whining first.  This isn't (I doubt) anxiety..just wanting what they want when they want it and one will copy the behavior of the 'bad one' :)

I'd try the old tried and true "can of pennies" response.  Get a couple of empty pop or beer cans - fill with 15 pennies - duct tape the top shut.  When they do this - open the door - say NO and bring can down hard ONCE!  You want one thundering noise..no shaking the can.  Raise in air and bring down like you're throwing it to the ground as hard as you can.
Shut door.  Repeat if necessary.  No chat.  No scolding.  When they're at the door without whining - let them in.  Tell me how that goes.

As to the watery eye - tell me exactly how it was examined and diagnosed? What meds were given?


As to the limp - I'd NEVER use Rimadyl.  Metacam is far safer.  But first I'd try some "DogGone Pain" - it's an herbal pain killer. (I believe PetSmart carries it now)  Stay away from NSAID's as much as humanly possible.  And stop walking her until this heals up.
And for something as basic as a slight limp, I'd never go there.  If you can try some DG Pain - start with 1/4 tablet and work up if all is well.  Any dog can react to anything.  
Delores



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks for the response - so quick!! I hate rimadyl & NSAIDS as well, I was just doing what the vet said - I bought Glucosamine with chondroidon & fish oil today. I had an amazing bull terrier that passed away and I believe that rimadyl had something to do with that - she was an old girl 16 - but i trusted the vet and she got very ill within four months of rimadyl, thats why I am worried -  They have treated Bens eye as an allergy?  He was given cortisone shots and "clavulox" - I was told to bathe it but it does not seem to heal - I bathe it with chamomile/ and or saline? my vet says cold tea is good ( tanins dry it up?)I think its a blocked tear duct? But I am not an expert - he loves dirt, mud and water so he can be a struggle to keep clean but we are quite vigilant.  he has also suffered with some of the nasty crusty hot spots that some people have mentioned on this blog.  We tried topical cream like neotopic but cortisone seemed to relieve the pain and help him with irritation - this enabled us to clean it and it cleared.  it seems to be a summer condition and our vet says its just an allergy?

As for the can of pennies, never heard of it but very willing to try it - we do love them  both dearly and I suppose more than anything we just cant understand why they carry on.
Thanks for the response  

Answer
Oh oh!  Cortisone shots for a tearing eye?  No!

Try this - vet opthalmologists love this stuff - Genteal GEL drops (most supermarkets/drugstores have this.  Totally safe and will clear and moisturize his eye.  You may think "moisturize?" since he's tearing but this is what dry eye does.  How's his eye right now?

There seem to be a few things going on with Ben so I'd like you to write me directly at DeeBeck7765@aol.com so we can discuss this in depth.
I have a lot of questions.

And be careful using hydrocortisone for more than a week and ONLY on small areas.  I'll have some suggestions for hot spots once I know more about his diet.  In the meantime, see if you can track down some DogGonePain for this limp and avoid the vet for the moment
Delores