I don't know why some dogs won't eat or drink when their owners are gone, but I can assure you it's fairly common behavior. FWIW, I'm not a fan of rawhide. And particularly not for a dog with a sensitive stomach. It's not impossible that the rawhide is the cause of, or a big contributor to, his stomach problems.

For Kongs to work IMO you need to stuff them with something a little moist and freeze. Frozen Kongs take a very long time to empty!

I know a lot of people who say It is the scariest book they've ever read, but it didn't do a thing for me. It's probably my least favorite Stephen King book. I thought Pet Sematary and The Stand were much scarier and much better written.

We "failed' our first fostering attempt. And it was a beagle who very, very much looked like yours, and their personalities sound very similar. Sometimes the perfect dog comes along and you have to grab it. She really is adorable.

:iagree: That's good info. I want to emphasize that you need to give buffered aspirin, not enteric coated. Bufferin is hard to find right now due to some sort of recall, but Walgreens has a store brand of buffered aspirin that's simply labeled Tri-Buferred (or something very similar). Even though it's buffered, give with some food to help avoid stomach irritation. Studies have shown that enteric coated aspirin often doesn't dissolve in a dog's digestive tract, which is much shorter than the human digestive tract. But back issues can be very serious, and sometimes can result in irreversible paralysis. It would really be a good idea to get him seen by a vet today.

Both of my boys and DH have dandruff to some extent. We've found that what works for one won't necessarily work for another. The active ingredient varies a little between brands, so you may have to experiment to find which one works best. T-Gel usually does the trick for DH and DS2. DS1 has to rotate each day between T-Gel and Head & Shoulders to keep his dandruff under control. I forget which Head & Shoulders he uses, but the active ingredient in it is different than what's in T-Gel. He also occasionally uses Denorex.

Could be lack of exercise, or it could be that something happened that got her upset and anxious. Someone could've rang the doorbell, she heard some other noise outside, etc. I wouldn't worry unless the problem continues.

:iagree::iagree: The Dog Food Project has excellent, unbiased (IMO) advice about feeding. Sabine won't tell you what to feed, but she'll give you the knowledge to make sound choices. Beware of other sites, especially those that supposedly "rate" food. I've yet to see one that didn't have an agenda and wasn't full of some fairly awful advice. I'm not a member of the grain-free bandwagon. I don't think grain-free foods are necessarily bad, but my athletic dogs have always lost considerable muscle tone whenever I tried a grain-free. Many grain-free foods are absolutely loaded with carbs like potatoes or tapioca, which I am absolutely not convinced are preferable to good quality grains. Grains are no more likely to trigger ear infections or other allergy symptoms in dogs than are meat proteins. Grain-free is a big marketing ploy right now, and IMO it's very much a buyer beware kind of thing. Again, that's not saying there aren't quality grain-free foods out there. Being grain-free in and of itself certainly does not mean a food is good quality IMO. Raw/home-cooked is a very valid option, IMO. But not something you want to jump into w/o doing a lot of research. Like The Dog Food Project, I won't give you any straight answers of "feed this and not that." There is no one perfect food that will work for all dogs. But read that site and you'll have the knowledge you need to pick a quality food. Any pet food store will have a decent selection of good quality foods to fit a variety of budgets. Beagles certainly aren't known for having sensitive stomachs, so my guess is that your vet is right and the problem is due to parasites. Quality control/safety is very important to me, so I will tell you a couple of manufacturers I would avoid -- Diamond and Merrick. Unfortunately, Diamond produces many foods for other companies, so it can be very difficult to figure out what food is produced by whom. But those two companies have had way too many recalls over the years for my comfort. A PP mentioned Innova/EVO and other products made by Natura. One thing to know about them is that they are ISO compliant. My understanding is that's a huge deal if you're interested in quality control. From my understanding ISO certification is difficult to get, and means that the manufacturer is doing things right. Natura is the only pet food manufacturer in the U.S. to have that certification.

Some people are intellectually curious. Some people are not. And I think it's a spectrum. I have an almost burning need to know things. I like knowing things and being informed. My DH, OTOH, happily floats through life taking in as little new information as possible. It doesn't mean he's not smart (he is, and earns a very good living for us in a professional position). But he's not the kind who's going to say out of the blue during dinner "I wonder how so-and-so works? Be right back, I'm going to go Google." And I do that all the time. I do believe the very best way to increase knowledge is to read a wide variety of things, including the opinions of others about various subjects. And perhaps watching good quality documentaries.

I agree. Unless your municipality has some unusually strict animal control laws, if the dog is behind a six-foot tall, well built fence, my guess is AC isn't going to bat an eye at the fact that he growls at you and your kids. Absolutely. They're not nearly as common as flea bite allergies and inhalant allergies (pollens, molds, etc.), but they're far from uncommon. A reaction to a trigger food can cause a dog to be in misery for days.

:iagree: And an Apple product sure wouldn't be one of them.

I've only seen one here, and it was just planted a few weeks ago. Seems like a very bad idea to me, for all the reasons already stated.

I wouldn't necessarily assume that it's any kind of aggression. IMO it's just as likely that the poor thing is bored out of his mind and is just (over)reacting to something, anything that might relieve his boredom.

The animal shelters around here frequently have guinea pigs.

Exactly. It boggles my mind that anyone truly believes any of the supposed reality shows are in any way, shape or form "real."

I don't doubt that finding. Cases in point -- I suspect my one-year old Shih Tzu has a mild ragweed allergy. Benadryl has seemed to help him. His allergy symptoms are so mild that I wouldn't doubt the Benadryl works mainly by making him sleepy. OTOH, my 12-yo Brittany, the allergy king I posted about above who's been tested and was on shots for almost ten years -- Before the shots no antihistamine we tried--and we tried several in very high doses per the vet's direction--gave him enough relief from the severe itching that he (or anyone in the room with him) could sleep for more than a few minutes at a time. My guess is that the antihistamines didn't help much at all to relieve his itchiness, and he was so miserable and uncomfortable that even with the sedation effect of the antihistamines he couldn't sleep much.

I think it depends on how much you give your kids for allowances. When our DS had a guinea pig we paid for everything because he was getting only a small allowance, and it was intended to be strictly fun money for him. If we had been giving him a larger allowance we might have done things differently.

Allergies in dogs can be very complicated. A lot of people will jump right on the food allergy bandwagon. And it's true that food can be a problem. But inhalant allergies and flea bite allergies are much, much more common and, unfortunately, much harder to deal with. Right now in the southeast ragweed is a BIG problem. Most dogs who have allergies are allergic to multiple things. My 12-yo dog tested allergic to 37 things when he was about a year and a half old. My vet said he'd never tested a dog who turned out to be allergic to less than 20 things. Of course only the dogs with really bad allergies usually get tested, so yours may only be allergic to a handful of things. But the moral of the story is that it's unlikely to be just one or two triggers. From that picture I'd hazard a guess that your guy may have a secondary bacterial infection going on. It's a vicious cycle -- the dog gets itchy from allergies and scratches/licks/chews. That damages the skin and allows bacteria that normally live on the skin to "take over." The bacterial infection makes the dog even more itchy and he scratches/licks/chews even more. If he were mine, I'd take him into the vet just in case he needs some antibiotics.

I'd take him. I think the chances of an older puppy catching something like parvo at a groomer's is very, very low.

Lands End has a good selection of elastic waist pants with belt loops.

I keep thinking of Junie B. Jones . . .

Thirty-three years ago at the age of 16 I got "my" first puppy. Of course my parents were footing all the bills, but it was my responsibility to care for her, including vet visits. One thing the vet told me (and he's still my vet now) was -- Never, ever use anything made by Hartz or Sergeants. So you could say they have a long-standing problem. In addition to some Benadryl, I'd get a good oatmeal-based shampoo and give him another bath. Aveeno Skin Relief Body Wash (for people) works wonderfully for dogs with itchy/irritated skin.

:iagree: I can't vote in the poll, there's no information there that I would base a person's class on.

:iagree:

I wouldn't have it done on hardwood floors. Why take a chance? Unless they're really huge rugs, it shouldn't be a big deal to move them. I clean my carpet/rugs myself, and I've done it two ways -- put the area rug on top of carpet or place a clean tarp down in the garage and put the rug on top of it for cleaning. Both methods work fine.