Dog Food & Behavior

Question
Lee - I have two 10 month old sister beagles.  I am looking to switch them over to an adult form of dog food soon.  As puppies they have been on a combination of Eukanuba Canned Puppy Growth Formula and Iams Smart Puppy Dry Formula.  I want a dog food that will give them the best nutrition and an adequate amount of energy.  Belle, the beagle we took home when she was six months, came to us from my mother-in-laws as they didn't have time for her.  Sugar has been with us since six weeks.  Belle has a few problems, she wets whenever she is scared or frightened - even if it's just the kids being loud.  She will wet wherever she is including my bed, which is SUPER annoying.  She is getting better with the wetting. But suggestions to fix it would be great. We recently had some neighbors move just down the road from us who like to target shoot with their handgun - this absolutely terrifies Belle.  Inside or outside she will start panting, shaking and sometimes drooling whenever he shoots.  This is really bad since she is a rabbit dog!  She also eats everything in sight -which has prompted a few emergency vet visits.  I can not find many things for her to chew on other than rawhides that she can not completely destroy and eat.  She has managed to destroy even the toughest toys like Kongs.  Any toy suggestions?  Right now the main concern is the gun shyness, our vet has recommended an audio tape of gunfire - it is on backorder and I am looking for any other suggestions as she is now even terrified when something bangs on the floor.  The only common problem the beagles have is their obsession to dig craters in my lawn - is there a way to fix this?  Sorry lots of questions all at once.  I look forward to hearing from you.
nicki

Answer
Nicki,

I hate to push brands of dog food but you said you wanted the best for your dogs so let me just say that my dogs only eat Iams. It has worked the best for me; however, science diet, purina, and pedigree are all great foods. If you feed one of these your animal will get the proper nutrition. Be sure to slowy start them on the new food by mixing some with their current feed and increasing the amount slowly over a week or so to avoid any diarrhea. As for the acidents Belle has in the house. A young dog, especially females, are prone to urinate when they are excited or scared, it is natural and should keep improving with time. As for the toys, the kongs come in different strengths, be sure to get one for aggressive chewers, also I do not reccomend raw hides they can cause intestinal blockages and even tear the intestines if a large part of one is swallowed or if a sharp edge of one is eaten. Now to the gun shyness issue. If it has become a serious problem, it likely has or your veterinarian would not have told you to use the tape for treatment. What this does is applies a stimulus that causes the fear causing sound until the fear is eventually overcome. It is imperative that this is done correctly and under the supervision of a professional! To correctly do it you must place the dog in a small room and be sure that there are not chairs, beds, etc... for her to hide under. Then put the tape in the tape player and cut the volume down to its lowest setting, gradually turn it up until the dog reacts. Take the volume the dog reacts fearful to and then reduce the volume a little. Leave the animal in the room with the tape playing for a session of about 20 minutes or so. To do it properly it should take weeks to months. Everyday have another session and gradually increase the volume by a little each day, but do not increase it so much as to cause the dog to become fearful this will only defeat the purpose. Also a point to consider, to work its best the dog does not need to hear your neighbor shooting as this will cause fear and will only slow down the treatment. If you can come up with a way to keep dogs from digging up your lawn that works fast you should market and sell your idea. It would be a way to get rich fast! Seriously, digging is a common problem especially in young dogs. I would suggest obedience courses for you dogs and discipline. If the dog is doing something you do not want it to do, punish it with a light slap on the rump and the command NO at the same time. Over time this should stop the problem. These are just some suggestions, other people will suggest different things. Opinions in behavior modification varies greatly and no one way is right or wrong, except of course cruelty to an animal. Hope this helps. You will have your hands full for a while, but it will pay off in the end.

Lee