From bearded dragon as a pet to dog with foot fetish – your pet queries answered
HE is on a mission to help our pets . . . and is here to answer YOUR questions.
Sean, who is the head vet at tailored pet food firm tails.com, has helped with owners’ queries for ten years.
He says: “If your pet is acting funny or is under the weather, or you want to know about nutrition or exercise, just ask. I can help keep pets happy and healthy.”
Q: MY dog Marley has a foot fetish.
He sniffs everyone’s feet who comes to the house.
He will also give the occasional foot lick.
How can I ditch his unwanted obsession?
Jade Todd, Cambridge
Sean says: Dogs experience the world in smellyvision!
So Marley is perfectly normal I reckon.
Do you need to ditch this obsession and ruin his fun?
You have your hobbies, he has his.
If you must, I suggest a technique called response substitution, rewarding him for an alternative behaviour to sniffing or licking feet when he is presented with the opportunity.
Q: WHEN I am cooking dinner, my six-year-old cat, Marmalade, jumps on the work surfaces trying to scavenge.
I put him back on the floor but he’s persistent.
He’s well fed but he likes treats.
What do you advise to stop his sideboard surfing?
I thought only dogs did that but he’s an opportunist.
Shelly Brown, Brighton
Sean says: This is a common problem.
The trick is to make it unpleasant by changing what’s on the counter tops.
It’s a bit elaborate — and you may need to do it repeatedly which can be annoying — but lining the counters for a time with tinfoil or loose plastic sheeting is a good deterrent.
Cats hate stepping on these.
Marmalade may learn not to jump up then, or may just start again once the lining is removed.
Avoid rewarding the behaviour and keeping him out of the kitchen when cooking will also help.
Q: WOULD a bearded dragon be a good pet for my children?
My sons Ethan and Kyle, are age seven and eight respectively, and are massively into reptiles and I want to encourage their passion.
They have asked for one but would it be friendly?
Is it a specialist pet?
Mike Castle, Barnsley
Sean says: They may be still a little young.
A responsible adult in the house will need to take the reins.
Lizards that are diurnal — daytime-active — such as bearded dragons, have sensitive needs.
They need to be supplemented correctly with calcium and multivitamins, receive a varied diet of live insects, a variety of vegetables and occasional fruit.
They also require expensive UVB bulbs and heat lamps to produce vitamin D to absorb calcium and maintain a healthy metabolism and skeleton.
Without all of these needs catered to, they can get very ill.
And they can live upwards of 15 years so it’s a long-term commitment.
If they are set on a lizard, a leopard or crested gecko are a little less high-maintenance, but reptiles are still a specialist pet.
They need the best possible start, not the bare minimum of housing and equipment sometimes sold with them.
Lots of research is needed!
Q: OUR two-year-old female poodle Misty sleeps on our bed at night.
But she needs to go out two or three times a night for a wee and it disturbs our sleep.
Is that normal? And will she grow out of it when she gets older?
Terry Taylor, Sheffield
Sean says: She should usually have grown out of that by two years.
Are you sure she needs to pee and doesn’t actually just want late-night walkies and fun time with you?
My suggestion is far more walks and stimulation during the day, and a good long walk last thing at night to make sure she’s had plenty of time to do her business, both types.
Then perhaps crate training in the bedroom, or outside it, may help you get a good night’s rest.
Also, take up her water bowl after her evening meal and put it down first thing in the morning.
Hello to yellow for anxious dogs
OWNERS can now help anxious dogs show their true colours – with a range of yellow accessories.
Since lockdown, a third of pooches now have mental health challenges, according to the Royal Veterinary College.
Sarah Jones, founder of accessories business My Anxious Dog, owns an anxious cocker spaniel, Bella, 12, who she always kits out in yellow “keep dogs away”, “anxious”, and “do not touch” items.
She said: “Yellow is a way to tell other owners that your dog isn’t friendly, they don’t want to play and they need to keep well away from them.
“If you had a child who needed space you wouldn’t think twice about letting people know about it, wouldn’t you?”
Sarah, 57, from Mortimer, Berks, educates owners on her national #DogsInYellow Day, on March 20, when she talks about why pooches wear the colour yellow.
A recent study by PDSA found 45 per cent of owners have concerns about walking their pets.
Sarah said: “If your dog is anxious, you’re not labelling them by wearing yellow, you’re showing them you love them.”
For more information, see myanxiousdog.co.uk.
WIN Kids' books
PRESTEL is offering eight readers the chance to win three Big Hedgehog and Little Hedgehog kids’ books.
The titles are I Can Do That Too, worth £11.99, I’m Not Scared, worth £10.99, and Take An Evening Stroll, worth £10.99.
Send an email headed HEDGEHOG, with contact details, to sundaypets@the-sun. co.uk by March 31.
For stockists, see prestel.com.
Prizes subject to availability Open to mainland UK residents only.
Star of the week
BENTLEY was born with severe hip dysplasia but now he keeps owner Joe Cameron and his colleagues fit with walks.
Joe, owner of holiday rental firm Debbie’s Villas in Paddock Wood, Kent, said: “The vet said we could either give Bentley a false hip or we could see if intensive physio and walks could help – and it has.”
The 11-year-old Labrador Rottweiler now leads a normal life.
Joe, 59, adds: “I take him to work with me where everyone loves him and there’s always friendly rivalry among the staff over who takes him out.
“He’s fitter than ever and a much-loved member of our team.”