Barking Up The Wrong Tree

Watch your children around dogs

I had a conversation with my friend once about dogs being around children. Her opinion was that it is fine to leave children alone with a dog because the baby will learn not to wind up the dog eventually. For example, if the baby pulls the dogs tail and the dog growls at the baby the baby will not do it again. I completely disagree with this, I couldn’t believe she had said it, babies should NEVER be left alone with dogs – they are animals! You can never predict what they are going to do. You would have the most placid dog in the world but one day it could just turn round and bite you.

My advice is to be on your guard constantly and never leave a child alone with a dog – no matter how well behaved you think the dog may be.

Do you agree with dressing dogs up?

When you are walking down the street and then you see a dog wearing a big stupid coat – how does that make you feel? I completely disagree with it! Dogs have fur coats – therefore they do not require a coat made of man-made materials. Further to this, it really makes me angry when you are walking down the street and you see a person carrying a dog rather than letting the dog walk itself!!! Dogs have FOUR legs which are made for walking – they do not need a human to carry them for god sake!

Let your dog walk – if you are worried about him running away – put a lead on him!

Can you teach an old dog new tricks?

My boyfriend’s mum and dad have a little Jack Russell dog called Brian. This dog is extremely well trained as my boyfriend’s mum took Brian to dog training lessons when he was only a puppy so he has been brought up knowing what was acceptable and what wasn’t. However, what happen when you get a dog from a dogs home and this dog is older and needs to be trained to be a well-disciplined dog?

Can you really teach an old dog new tricks? I believe if you have patience and belief in your new dog that you can get him to behave correctly then yes you can teach an old dog new tricks!

Nuisance dogs – barking all the time

I have just bought a new house, it is a quasi-semi which means that it is four in a row and I have the end house. My neighbour is not the most high class woman in the world ie. she is common and we can hear her shouting at her daughter or doing unsavoury acts with different men.

Having said this she must have a good heart because she has taken in a dog from the dogs home. However, this dog is STUPID! When no one is in the house to look after the dog, it just barks continuously and doesn’t even stop for breath. This dog is a noise nuisance as you cannot watch TV or have a sleep or read a book because of the continuous noise.

What do you do if your neighbour’s dog barks all the time and it is making living in your own home a nightmare?

What happens if you are allergic to dogs?

When I was growing up my mum and dad had a dog called Chispa, I am not entirely sure what type of dog she was but I was able to live with her with and had no health problems.

I have asthma and since my childhood dog died when I was 12, I have not been able to be in the same room as a dog without my chest getting tight.

I think some of the issue comes with people who do not regularly dust, vacuum or polish their houses. If I visit a house which has a dog or a cat and they are not cleaning and airing the house out, that is when I feel uncomfortable sitting in the living room, because i struggle to breathe!