Pets

To get your dog to stop biting his leash, first understand why it's happening, and then address the dog's frustration or arousal level differently. Consider providing an outlet for the energy before the walk, changing up the equipment, or using a longer or shorter leash.
 
Transcript: "How do I get my dog to stop biting his leash? I want to know a little bit more about when this is happening. In my experience, biting of the leash is most likely to happen when I have a dog who perhaps is a bit frustrated or their emotional arousal or excitement is amped up a bit, and they can't move the way that they want to or they're feeling some degree of conflict. Or maybe even this is a dog who's, well, having a bit of fun tugging on the leash, and that's turned into a bit of a game. So part of it is understanding why it's happening so we may be able to head that off a little bit earlier rather than just trying to focus on the problem when it happens. I do want to stress that when we've got a problem like this, we don't need to escalate to corrections, or reprimands, or other sort of punishments or aversive moves in order to get this under control. A better way to approach it is to ask yourself in that situation where my dog is currently biting on the leash, what do I want them to do instead? Maybe it's an opportunity to get some of that energy out before we go for the walk, maybe by tossing a ball in the backyard or playing some other games first. In some cases, it might be a matter of using a longer leash or a shorter leash, or changing up the equipment in some way so that they're less likely to engage in that. There's a lot of different troubleshooting things that we can do, but I would ask a little bit more about what your dog may be communicating to you about their frustration or arousal level that we can address differently rather than only focusing on the leash biting problem. Of course, we can focus there as well, but it's not the only thing we want to look at."

To reward good behavior during obedience training, you should use a clicker to mark the desired behavior and then immediately give the dog a treat. Additionally, petting, attention, and playing with the dog are also good ways to reward behavior.
 
Transcript: "Can you give an example of how to properly reward good behavior during obedience training. For a dog. Basically, timing is everything. So you need to do it right  When your dog is doing the behavior maybe a second later or you can use a clicker, you mark the behavior that you want again, like when the dog is doing it or a second later with a clicker and then give him a treat right away. Of course, the dog needs to know that there's a connection between a clicker or the click of the clicker and treat. So treats are a good way to reward behavior and petting the dog and giving him attention, playing with him, basically, whatever the dog likes."

The amount of probiotics needed to maintain gut health in cats will depend on the individual cat, but it should be given for at least 2-3 months to see results.
 
Transcript: "The question is, how often should cat owners give their pets probiotics to maintain gut health? That kind of depends on your pet and if they have a huge variety of foods that they eat, if they are given a ton of human food, if you have garbage gut dogs like Labradors who eat tons of things that aren't even real food items, or if they have a history of inflammatory bowel or issues with food and GI sensitivities. But in order to see if a probiotic is really truly helping your pet, you do want to allow, I mean it should take effect and you should see results within a week or so, but if we're trying to establish good GI flora in the form of probiotics, I would give probiotics a minimum of 2-3 months or just keep giving it. But it takes a while sometimes if there's a lot of inflammation in that GI for the healthy bacteria to set up shop. So give it a while."
 Ask Vet Christine

Common signs of worm infestation in dogs are a big abdomen, diarrhea or vomiting, worms in the feces or vomitus, and itchiness around the butt.
 
Transcript: "What are the common signs of a worm infestation in dogs? I'm assuming that the question is about intestinal worms because there are other kinds of worms that dog can be infested with like heartworms and like esophageal worms in other countries. So different worms cause different signs. As for intestinal worms usually you will see gastrointestinal signs. So for example you'll see a very big abdomen. You might see in the feces itself worms. The dog might be having diarrhea or vomiting and sometimes you might even see worms in the vomitus itself. Also some people believe that it causes their butts to be very itchy and they will drag their butt on the ground a lot. Usually when they do that it's because of other reasons but you know everything is possible and the treatment for worms is pretty easy."

It is hard to say which pet breeds are the smartest without knowing what you mean by intelligence or smartness. Hunting dogs and herding dogs are well-known for their ability to problem solve and use their nose, as well as being receptive to training.
 
Transcript: "What are the smartest pet breeds? Well, I'm going to focus this on dogs first and foremost because that's what we often see the biggest differentiation within breeds and yet how we Define. What makes a dog smart is actually a really important distinction here. If I'm locked looking for a dog who is smart based on their ability to problem-solve and use their nose and go off and do things on their own and be more self-sufficient. Efficient in that way and that's what we consider smart. Cool. Then I may be looking at certain types of hunting dogs that are more sent based in other cases if I'm looking at being smart as a way of taking Direction really well and maybe being really receptive to training. Well, that's a place where perhaps some of our hunting breeds or some of our herding breeds may excel a bit. So I would actually rather than ranking the dogs or the breeds arbitrarily. I want to know a little bit more. About what you consider intelligence or smartness to be. And then I'm going to be able to be a bit more specific about which breeds are best equipped to do that. Knowing that just because a dog happens to be a border collie or a Labrador or a beagle that doesn't automatically, tell us what character traits they're going to possess but it may get us a little bit closer to the ballpark by starting out with some of those breed specific traits."

As a dog behavior consultant, I typically don't get bitten by dogs because I work with them at a lower intensity than necessary for them to express aggressive behaviors such as biting or barking. Instead of focusing on correction, I focus more on education and safer methods of working with the dog in order to create a safe environment.
 
Transcript: "Do you ever get bitten as a dog behavior consultant? Yes, but not as often as you'd think. I do work with dogs. Who have significant issues with fear or anxiety or perhaps aggression issues? I also see dogs where their owners are struggling to understand what's going on for them and there may be some safety risks associated with b or other aggressive displays that could be. Well, could be dangerous for me given that I'm working with them. But not as often as you'd think. Because in most cases, when I'm working with a dog and assessing them or working through their treatment plan, it's not typically necessary for me to push them to the point of biting or even barking or lunging, I'm typically working with them at a lower intensity a lower threshold and actually working more from an education standpoint than I am a correction standpoint so it's not typically necessary. E for me to see that full expression of Again, The Barking, the lunging, the biting behavior in order to address it, we can dial it way, way, way, way back and work with the animal in a way that's going to be safe for me, as well as for the owners or the handlers and safer for the dog themselves."