# Issues: Barking, Harness, Stinky Breath, Teeth Brushing, Separation Anxiety



## tikkipembo (Feb 25, 2007)

Hi everyone. I've had Gatz for about 3 months... he's ~6 months old now. He's sweet, agile and smart... but I need advice... lots of it (pardon the long post).

Separation Anxiety - I'm currently not working, so I'm at home with Gatz all the time. Consequently, he's grown quite attached to me. At first when I went out, he would bark for a few minutes, then stop. Now when I just step out to throw out the garbage, pick up the mail or whatever, he has a barking fit. Any suggestions (near-term and long-term solutions) on dealing with his SA... and what I should do when I eventually return to the workforce? Note that someone else watching him and/or getting another puppy are not options for me. A dog walker will swing by every 3-4 hours when I do return to work. 

Barking - In addition, Gatz sometimes gets yappy when I don't pay attention to him and always barks when he does his business indoors (pee or potty). While I appreciate the notification, I really don't want this to occur any longer.

Stinky Breath and Brushing - Gatz has been teething for over a month. Now that he's teething in the back of his mouth, I noticed that his breath has gotten stinky. In addition, he hates getting his teeth brushed. Any suggestions on the breath and teeth brushing techniques, as well as dental product suggestions? I started giving him carrots to eat, which seems to help just tad bit. A friend suggested bully sticks and kong zingies (?) - any feedback?

Harness - Gatz is not great with leash walking. I've been using the coastal right harness (which the breeder recommended). I realized that I don't have much control with him using this particular harness. The trainer in Gatz's kindergarten class also pointed this out to me. Any recommendations on a good harness? 

Thanks for reading my long post.... any suggestions/feedback would be appreciated.


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## Lunastar (Feb 9, 2009)

You could try the gentle leader. It did not work for me as my Zoey would not stop flipping and throwing herself to the floor, but I have had it work with other dogs so I think it was just Zoey. Bella, my houdini slipped out of it. I use a figure eight type of harness since Bella has managed to escape every other harness I have tried.

As for oral care I use Maxi Guard Oral Cleansing Gel. It works great. Used it with my big dogs along with greenies and my oldest who needed dental work did not after using it for one year. I can't give my girls greenies because they are on a special diet so I'm going to give them some antlers for Christmas. You can find antlers here. http://www.havtohavit.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=70&products_id=523 I get the oral gel from my old vets pet store but you can probably find it on amazon. Make sure it has the vitiman c powder to mix in. Oh and keep it in the fridge.

I am not sure what to tell you about the barking or the seperation anxiety. I am sure someone will weigh in on that. Dave usually has some great information for just about any situation.

I hope this helps some.


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## j.j.'s mom (Aug 16, 2009)

if you go with the gentle leader, be sure you get the front ring (easy walk) harness and not the head collar. my trainer said they are dangerous for small dogs. apparently there are alot of neck injuries with them.... oh, and j.j. has managed to chew himself out of 2 of them. premier will replace them for a fee.


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## leena365 (Sep 17, 2009)

My little one Miya also try's slipping out of her comfort harness every time we take her for a walk and she runs and hides when we even try putting it on her, someone has to hold her before we can slip it on her. Barking has always been an issue with my bigger one Kashi he is constantly barking when he is placed in his pen. He has also grown quite attached to me whether I am at the office or at home. I would love a suggestion to stop the barking as well. He also notifies me with barking when someone has pottied indoors as well.


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## tikkipembo (Feb 25, 2007)

*Thanks...*

Thanks everyone for your 2-cents... I ordered the easy walk harness and keeping my fingers cross. Hope you had a wonderful holiday season.


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## Redorr (Feb 2, 2008)

Another option for the breath and dental health is OxyFresh. Buy it online. Lola has perfect breath as long as she drinks the treated water. And at 2 1/2 has no dental issues, as the OxyFresh keeps the placque at bay also.

Do some searches on here about SA. Lola has it bad. She pees or poops as soon as I leave her alone. I have tried everything including drugs. Not much help. Maybe you can nip it in the bud now, thru the classic SA training techniques. I was successful in training her to not bark when i leave. Read about SA and other training at www.dogstardaily.com it is a great resource for many of your issues.

Good luck. Gatz sure is a cutie!


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## Lunastar (Feb 9, 2009)

If you search for SA you will get probably get Jan's post looking for dogs in the sebaceous adenitis study. I would type Seperation Anxiety or even just Anxiety.


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## Ans (Jan 4, 2008)

*Stinky breath:*

If you have a dog whose breath packs a powerful punch, chances are that plaque is the culprit. Plaque is the same bacteria film that covers our teeth if we don't brush for a while. It can also lead to smelly and sometimes dangerous gum infections. With a little bit of care you can help prevent your dog's breath form turning to stinky.

Just think on how your breath would smell is you didn't brush your teeth all week. Yuck. Brushing your pet's teeth as much as you brush yours would be ideal, but twice a week is okay for your dog.

Brushing your dog's teeth may sound like a horrifying event, but if you start brushing their teeth while they are young, your experience will soon turn into a pleasant one. Don't start brushing immediately or you will get a big protest. First start by handling and stroking your dog's mouth. Do this for a few minutes a day and reward them for good behavior. After a few days of handling your dog's mouth, you should begin lifting you dog's lip with a piece of gauze on your finger and begin brushing in circular motions. After a while you should be able to move on to more teeth after they get used to it. After a little longer you can graduate to a soft bristle brush designed for a dog.

They even have toothpastes for dogs. Some are flavored like chicken, beef or a malt. This will make their experience a lot more pleasurable. Don't use human toothpaste as it will foam and dogs can't spit and it will upset their stomachs.

Even after all that practice and your dog still doesn't like having their mouth handled, you can get a toy. There is a hard rubber toy that has grooves in. Vets recommend this particular toy for dogs who don't like having their teeth brushed. It is specially designed for your dog's teeth. You can put a little of your dog toothpaste in the grooves and your dog can brush their own teeth.

There are some people who make oxtail soup. For those very few, you can give your dog the cooked oxtail. The tail's tendons will help massage the teeth and gums. It will help clean those hard to reach places.

If you don't make oxtail soup, try a raw carrot. A little bit of carrot, that you can give as a snack, can act a tooth scraper. It will be pretty mild, but it will help scour away the stinky plaque. There is even dog mouth sprays and they do the same thing for dogs as they do for us.

You can stop giving your dog canned food. When you make the switch to dry food you will help to improve mouth odor. Dry dog food scrapes the surface of the teeth. Also, do not let your dog nibble throughout the day. The harmful bacteria in your dog's mouth are always active. Pick up the dog bowl if your pet doesn't finished within a half an hour. If you only feed your dog a couple of ,times a day then you only feed the bacteria a couple times a day.

Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?Dogs---How-to-Cure-Dog-Breath&id=225984

More info: http://www.findoutaboutdogs.com/Causes_Of_Bad_Dog_Breath.html


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## marjrc (Jan 13, 2007)

:bump2::bump2:


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## Maxmom (Jul 22, 2008)

How did the easy walk harness work out? It works like magic on Max. I've tried other harnesses on him, but the pulling stops immediately with the easy walk. It really must do something with the brain, like they say.


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## marjrc (Jan 13, 2007)

That's great to hear, Janan, as I often hear about harnesses allowing dogs to pull harder since it doesn't hurt them or bother them in the least.


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