I had a lengthy back and forth with a nice expectant mother whose adopted dog’s aggression issues were wearing them down and frightening them about what would happen when the baby entered the picture.

My godmother recommended I get in touch with you and get your books, and so here I am. Unfortunately I don’t think that we have your show broadcast here in Los Angeles, but she says it’s just great.

Our dog problem is as follows: A year ago we got a female black German shepherd mutt from a rescue center because we thought that our old coy dog (no joke) could use the company in his last couple of years. The red flag was that Sadie, this new mutt, had been returned by a family for being territorial in some way (on the leash perhaps) but we couldn’t get details (our mistake). Sadie has turned out to be wonderful with Hector (the old coy dog) and with us. We have tried to make her earn everything, in the sense that she sits and lays on command, eats after Hector, walks out the door after us, never gets on the bed, etc. But there seems to be a kind of glitch in her system (or perhaps ours!) because she is aggressive with guests and generally extremely territorial. She nips (which could be construed as biting) almost anyone who enters our home, and so we either use a muzzle or try to work with her or we just put her in back when anyone is over.

We are about to have a baby (2 weeks) and so the stakes have gotten high; we are working with a great trainer and she feels mixed about whether we can make it work. My suspicion is not that she’ll be a danger to the baby so much as even more aggressive with anyone who comes near it. But both are frightening prospects.

I am distraught about the prospect of giving her up but know that might have to be the case; do you have advice from afar about how to deal with her territorialism, or with the baby?

Thanks very much,
Olivia in Los Angeles

Olivia then called into the show and I gave her a bunch of advice about different ways she could handle the episodes and also to get some Spirit Essences to get some sort of a shift in the dog’s mental state. Then I wrote to her:

I’ve been thinking about you and how things are going. You have so much on your plate with the baby coming. Just wanted you to know you were on my mind and my fingers are crossed things are going better.

Hi Tracie

Thanks for the email. I bought the Spirit Essences and have used them for two days and I wonder if it has a similar make up to rescue remedy which has been recommended by our trainer – do you know?

We have finally, after a year, come to a kind of regime with Sadie when guests come involving a “go to your place” scenario, as I don’t think she is a dog that can handle going to the door yet… We use treats up the wazoo, have the guest come in, work to keep her in her place and then stay there as the guest enters the house and carries on… At this point we don’t have a follow up regime, except that sometimes she comes and takes a good treat from the guest and then returns to her place. I’m not sure what we can do next in terms of getting her to actually walk around amongst the guests without biting and barking.

Also, I absolutely do not feel comfortable leaving her unmuzzled with children or afraid-of-dog-people, so I am trying to figure out whether the muzzle (which we have tried to make fun) makes her more defensive or whether a leash and haulty in the house is the better option.

Last night I took Sadie to a friend’s house who has a dog and a newborn baby and she was downright demure, a bit scared and anxious but not the least aggressive, and this is typical in other peoples’ houses, so the aggressiveness is very specific to our house and “intruders”, as she sees it.

So, that’s the skinny, if you have any thoughts on any of the above, I’d love to hear them, Olivia

I’d hate to see you have to give up the dog but I fear that if you don’t get professional help to identify and address this issue that you may be pushed into relinquishing your dog. There are a few vet behaviorists in Los Angeles – Dr. Karen Sueda at VCA Clinic in Los Angeles comes to mind. You need to determine what has caused his behavior and even whether you need a vet-prescribed medication to help with it.

As for the Spirit Essences, they are much more specific than Rescue Remedy which is generalized and not directed at specific emotional issues or states.

You need to use the two essences consistently, one in the food and one rubbed inside the ears and done with a clear intent (there is a whole “spiritual” unscientific aspect to the essences that i cannot understand or explain but it WORKS – way too many people have had success for it to be anything but truly effective

Tracie

The Dog Bible

Hello Tracie,

My son bought a 9 week old Chesapeake Bay retriever puppy – she is now 12 weeks old. She is kenneled while he is at class or at work, which could be anywhere from 4 – 6 hours a day, with breaks in between. He has done an exceptional amount of research concerning the training of this breed of dogs and is very serious about her obedience. She has started to growl and bite people (except him) when she is told to do something she does not want to do. For example: making her leave the water before she is ready or telling her to stop a behavior. He is very consistent about not allowing bad behavior from her when is with her – but when she is with other people and he is not there (such as his girlfriend and her companions) they don’t follow through with stopping the bad behaviors even though he has asked and explained the importance of it. They think that it is ok because she is a puppy. I told him that if the people including his girlfriend don’t have the willpower to restrain her – he may have to stop leaving her with them – but I don’t really see that taking care of the problem. Won’t that just postpone the behavior? He knows how important it is for this breed to be socialized, so he can’t just stop letting her be with other people. He is highly concerned about the liability this could bring if he doesn’t get control of this problem. Could you please give some suggestions?

Thanks,
Denise, Pearland, TX

Denise,

You are right to be concerned about what is going on with your son’s pup but there area few things in this story that don’t make sense to me – and I think it may be partly that you and/or your son are not entirely clear on what “bad behavior” is in a puppy or the ways to effectively take charge of a situation. There is no good reason to interrupt a dog while she is drinking water – although certainly a well-adjusted dog will let you take away anything she has and wants. However, if you son comes on too strong or harsh, with a heavy handed style, that can elicit a fearful/defensive response from the dog and create a cycle of defensive aggressiveness.

I think it would be really helpful if you got a copy of the THE DOG BIBLE and had a good look through the sections explaining dog behavior and communication – as well as the most effective ways to get a puppy started out correctly. It is quite worrisome to have such a young dog growling at a human for any reason – and that must be stopped immediately. But when you say “bite,” do you mean “mouthing” playfully with sharp puppy teeth (which can be painful but is not intended to be harmful) or is the dog biting as in snapping and bearing down on human flesh? (very serious – needs a professional trainer ASAP to evaluate and stop for once and for all). What also concerns me is your mistaken belief that this breed needs some extraordinary training or poses behavior problems – did the breeder tell you that? Where, in fact, did your son get the dog in the first place? I hope you or he will have a chance to call in to DOG TALK® so we can discuss this at length and in detail. Until then I recommend you find an accredited trainer (who belongs to one of the nationally recognized organizations) who can help sort this out. It’s great that you reached out for help – because I do think they need it!

Tracie

Dear Tracie,

We have a serious problem with our wild Japanese tabby cat, Nakoji, who was brought home from Japan 13 years ago when our cat was 3 weeks old. He was raised in Japan for a year before the cat was brought to America into our home.

Najoki is a quiet cat who obeys most house rules, however he is not social and one cannot pet him for more than a minute before he begins to “playfully bite,” sometimes getting angry. He thinks that my father is his real mother because he suckled on my father’s hand in absence of having a real mother cat. He only sleeps with my father.

Over the past six years he has been peeing on certain furniture within the house: a bed, a black leather chair, and today a new spot. He routinely will poop on the carpet as well. His pattern (although very unpredictable) seems to be when something changes in his environment such as visitors or when the kids come home from college, he will pee. We have lived with plastic on the beds and one chair, to keep him ruining from them completely.

Najoki has a litter box downstairs in the basement, which he uses. And is conscientious about this.

When guests come we have tranquilized him and locked him downstairs, we have had him checked several times at our vet (he is in good physical shape), we have de-clawed him (in front claws) and tried to play with him more. We have also thought about trying to put him outside in an cat fence, but on multiple occasions when the cat has gotten out of the house has become so scared that he has frozen completely stiff and hissed madly when seeing another animal or cat.

We are getting to the point where we are living in defense. We would be very grateful if you could provide some alternatives as to what to do next.

Thank you,
Gabe

Dear Gabe –

I have taken longer to answer your concerns than any other individual who has turned to me for advice. I waited months to reply to you, thinking that time would soften my sense of dismay and despair about how thoroughly you misunderstand your cat and have mistreated him. However, each time I re-read your letter it makes steam come out of my ears, so I am just going to jump in and tell you both how you are sorely uninformed on cat behavior and what you have done terribly wrong in trying to make him “obey your house rules,” as you call them. Let’s clear that up right away: cats are doing us a favor by living with us in greatly reduced unnatural circumstances. We humans are the ones who should be accommodating to a cat’s physical and emotional needs to make him at ease in the artificial environment we ask them to live in.

First of all, I have no idea what makes you refer to your cat as “wild,” but you have lived with him for 13 years and are only now seeking help for yourself?  Sad to say, Gabe, but it is the cat that needs help to recover from the poor choices you have made in trying to cope with his expressions of stress and discomfort.

First off, Najoki’s response to being petted is not a sign that he is wild, but a natural expression of “I’ve had enough” which many cats express when they cannot tolerate any further physical stimulation. Every cat has body language which signals he is reaching his saturation point for this stimulation — his ears will flatten out, his tail may switch, he may stiffen, he may even growl. If the person does not pick up these clues – does not pay enough attention to read his body language — then the kitty is going to bite to stop the hand that pets him. And, as you pointed out without realizing you had caused it, the kitty will get really angry if he is not given his space to compose himself when he has been over stimulated.

Secondly, if this cat lost his mother and siblings at 3 weeks old, then of course he is going to suffer and you will see the effects in his personality, whether it is suckling or kneading or being aloof. If you know that is his background then surely that would explains some of his quirks and make him as comfortable as possible in situation, which stress him.

As for the peeing around the house, you yourself already know that change in the household causes him stress, which causes the out-of-litter-box events. But if you know this household turmoil is hard on him, why wouldn’t common sense propel you to give him a small quiet room in the house where he can “sit out” the upheaval that rattles his cage. Make sure it has a litter box, a perch of some kind for him to get up on and a scratching post, which relieves tension, especially because it allows for a full body stretch a cat can only get by digging in his claws.

Oh! That won’t be necessary, will it?! Because you had his claws surgically removed! So now your uptight cat cannot even stretch anymore. The Cat Bible has a very clear description of the unequivocal mutilation of the foot which declawing requires: the entire first joint of every toe is cut off (as though your own finger tips were sliced off at the first joint). I don’t know the humane laws in Japan, but America is one of the few civilized places that permit this barbaric destruction of the cat’s natural foot — it is against the law in England and most of Europe. One pretty sure result of declawing is that it can escalate unwanted behaviors in a cat since their pain and stress levels skyrocket, often never to return to normal. You said you then tried to play with him more, but it’s unclear whether he wanted to play after that was done to him. You did not say he was destroying your furniture with his claws as your rationale for the procedure — but there are many ways to handle that scenario short of out-of-litter-box events often get worse after declawing.

As for your decision to tranquilize and lock Najoki in the basement when guests come, it is a pretty draconian punishment. Being tranquilized can have a boomerang effect because some cats become disoriented and fearful from being drugged. Simply closing him into a bathroom or small room with a radio on would have been a kinder way to alleviate his fear of change and of strangers. As for the litter box being in the basement, although you say he uses it consistently, having the litter box in the basement is often a cause of problems. People tend not to scoop the litter box every day — or twice a day — when it is out of their sight. As with real estate, the success of a litter box depends on location, location, location.  So it’s entirely possible that the kitty is using spots in your house because the litter box is so far away and also may be really smelly. In order to make a litter box appealing, the box itself should be washed in warm soapy water every month or so and the box thrown away every six months and replaced with a new one, and a plastic under-bed box works even better than most containers sold as litter boxes.

As for Najoki being fearful of other cats, I would guess that is partly the result of having missed early socialization with his litter. If he was 3 weeks old when he was separated from them that could explain fear or discomfort around other cats. However, most cats hate seeing strange cats in their yard or going past their window, so his response is actually normal. And as for his “freezing up” when outside, what did you expect?! He is clearly a cat who does not handle change or new things well so sticking him outside to be assaulted by all new sights, sound and smells would throw his sensory system into shock and he locked-up.

Gabe, you say that you are living in defense but I hope there’s some way for you to see that it is Najoki who is on the defensive, trying to survive and protect himself in a house where he is misunderstood and mishandled. Although I think you have tried to do the best by him, you have not had anyone to guide you in understanding what makes a cat tick nor in your decision-making.  The Cat Bible would have been a best friend to you and your cat, but if you don’t get it now, at least have a look at my website www.TracieHotchner.com which is filled with useful information.

I hope I haven’t offended you but your poor kitty has been so misunderstood — I do hope you can change some of your thinking so you can make life peaceful and fun for all of you. And again, my apologies for the long delay in answering and also for my inability to feel less strongly about Najoki’s plight.

Best of luck,
Tracie

I get a whole bunch of lovely emails — I am really blessed to have listeners who aren’t just devoted to their pets but they are so appreciative in the ways I try to improve lives for dogs and cats and the people who live with them. But this letter took the cake. It’s from Janelle, from an Army base in Germany, to which she has flown her beloved cat Mr. Kitty in addition to three other moves! Talk about the family that stays together…they give “family unity” and devotion a whole new meaning.

Hi, Tracie!

Just want to say thanks so much for writing both of your books and for raising the awareness of pet owners EVERYWHERE! I have both of your books and I am just grateful for them! I also download your podcasts of Dog Talk®! WHAT A GREAT SHOW!!!

I have a nine-year-old DSH male cat named Mr. Kitty. He was a stray that wandered into our base housing unit in Fairfield, California in 2001, when my husband was active duty in the Air Force. We eventually took him in as our own after an emergency trip to the vet clinic one evening. We had him examined and fixed and kept him inside after that. We also decided that he would go with us wherever we were stationed if we had the money and the means to do so.

Seven years later, Mr. Kitty has been exclusively on wet food for a year now, thanks to you and Dr. Elizabeth Hodgkins! He has also endured four overseas flights; moves, new houses, and a three-month stay at a cattery in England to finish out his quarantine sentence! We’ve lived in England, Pennsylvania, Hawaii and we currently live in Germany. In 2002, I started to notice this odd behavior in Kitty: he would scratch, chew and bite himself as if he had fleas. He has been checked for fleas, flea dirt with none to be found. He used to have topical flea treatments applied to him when we first got him. He has had his skin scraped three times to look for evidence of mites or fleas or dirt. None found. Food allergies were brought up for the FIRST time by a vet when we were living in Hawaii in 2006. But the way she described the food trials and testing, I was scared to death to put my cat through that!

So I researched food/allergies on my own. I found Dr. Hodgkins book at the library and read it. It shocked the heck out of me and I thought for sure it was the dry food making my cat crazy with these OCD-like behaviors. By now, Kitty’s licking, scratching, biting were leaving patches of fur GONE on his belly, around his anus and on sections of his legs. He was also behaving a bit aggressively at times: biting me and waking me up throughout the night, sometimes with bites. I also noticed that while he would be sitting, he would jump up like something was biting him and he’d start to lick or chew that spot. After kicking dry food for six months and no huge change in his behavior, I took him to the vet on base and she diagnosed him with either OCD/stress from all of his moves or food allergies. She said it would be easier to start with the OCD claim and rule that out first. Ten milligrams of Prozac a day was prescribed. That was in May. Almost six months later and while Mr. Kitty is less aggressive, his licking, scratching, chewing is still going on. Before I head back to the vet to inquire about food allergies/other allergies and testing and….? I would like to hear what you think of this situation.

Is this a crazy diagnosis? I don’t really like my cat being on Prozac, unless it is going to really help him. I feel like my cats quality of life is suffering and I don’t know what to do next. What do you know about food trials/food allergies? Should I possibly feed my cat a better diet? He eats canned, grain-free Wellness and canned Friskies and Fancy Feast off of your list. I also give him fresh chicken sometimes mixed into his food. Would Platinum Performance or another supplement help? (Although I think I am going to order this and start him on it anyway. It sounds AWESOME.)

I hope you get this and offer any advice you may have. I also hope I didn’t go overboard and ramble on too much. Thanks in advance!

P.s. Any advice on how to suggest and/or convince family and friends to make the switch to better nutrition for our feline and canine friends? It’s so hard! I try to be cool and casual and get all excited about your book and information. I think in the end I will just have to buy everyone your book for Christmas, as they are just NOT believing me!!

Janelle-

Your letter made my day!

What a wonderful cat person you are and how grateful I am for your good decision to get him off “kitty crack” and thanks also for your kind words.

I hope I make YOUR day by telling you that I am choosing Mr. Kitty as my Cat Chat® cat of the Month for December! Go on my website and see where I will be posting his photo and a little bio about him from you (I can take it from this lovely email of yours)

Also, in addition to the CAT CHAT® baseball cap I’ll be sending you I want to send you autographed bookplates for each of your Bibles! To what address should they go? (I hope I can use a military address so they get it there quickly without hassle)

Platinum is a must — but so is Omega-3 oil. I’ll be sending you a 3-month supply from Nordic Naturals, one of my website sponsors (read all about them on my website) but you should get him on the oil ASAP.

I am going to pass on your email to both Dr. Hodgkins and Dear Sally (read about her on the CAT CHAT® part of my site) for some thoughts which I will pass along to you) about Mr. Kitty’s baffling situation.

Be well and thanks again for your kind words
Tracie

Response from Janelle:

Ohmygoodness! I can’t believe you emailed me back! I feel like I won the lottery!

Wow! So glad I finally broke down and emailed you with our issue. I admire you and your work immensely and I am so appreciative of your response.

WOW! BASEBALL CAP?! Autographed BOOKPLATES! And Nordic Naturals!! HolyCOW! I’m so excited!

Even better, you are forwarding my email on to “the experts” to find out their take on this situation. Thank you, Tracie. Mr. Kitty thanks you, too. I hope we find a solution to this problem. Will order the Platinum Performance today! I did go to the Nordic Naturals website, but was confused on which one to choose. Your supplies/samples you send will help me out! Trust me, I’ve been all over your website: read and reread just about every part. Thanks for always keeping up the old links from past Chats as well as adding to them. WHAT A GREAT RESOURCE your website is!

I can’t wait to tell my mom and my brother (both cat and dog lovers and owners.) They are going to FREAK OUT!

Thanks again! I will email you a photo of Mr. Kitty today as well. I feel honored to be on your website. WOW!

And yes. You TOTALLY made my day! Thanks again.
Janelle

Enthusiasm, energy and appreciation coming full circle – it doesn’t get any better than this.

This email came in addressed to me and Dear Sally and it definitely warranted both of our attention. It’s a reminder that animals are animals and if people don’t learn to read cat body language it can wind up as dangerous as it is for those people who don’t know how to read the warning signs from a dog who later bites.

I’ve been searching for advice on my kitten dilemma, and was hoping to find someone that could shed some light on it. I’ve had my kitty Marley since he was 8 weeks old, my boyfriend and I got him from a nearby shelter. Marley is now pushing 7 months (getting neutered this week). He’s been the most amazing kitten ever, he loved to be picked up, and pet, you could really do anything to this cat, he just loved any attention you could give him. We recently moved, and Marley was not impressed with us for that. The night we got to our new apt, he rubbed his head against my arm as if he wanted to be pet, so I pet him, within seconds he attacked me, bit/scratched all the way up my arm. He drew blood from me, my arm within seconds swelled up to the size of the stay puff marshmallow man.

I went to the doctors that AM, and they put me on an IV and loaded me up with antibiotics and said that I have cat scratch fever!! I’m now terrified that Marley will attack me again, and can’t give him the attention he wants from me. Do you think this will happen again, or do you think he acted like this because of the move? You can tell he’s been craving my attention, trying to rub against my ankles, but I refuse to even attempt to pet him, cause I don’t want to go through this again. When I walk down the hallway, he comes charging up behind me, which scares me, and then I think I might be scaring him as well. I’m now forced to walk down the hallway backwards, so I know when he’s coming up behind me. This is the first cat my boyfriend and I have owned so it really threw us off guard seeing him do that to me. I don’t want to get rid of him, because he really was the bet cat ever before this incident. Am I overreacting? Please advise.

Thanks in Advance
Carly

As usual, Sally has a bunch of questions that need to be answered for her to get to the bottom of this. I hope Carly will reply to this so we can help her further. Also, please note Sally’s very helpful links about Cat Scratch Fever – I can tell you that cat bites are twice as dangerous as dog bites and can even out people in the hospital.

Does Marley have a history of any kind of aggression? If not, I do think Marley was stressed by the move and over-stimulated by the new surroundings. He’s also still a kitten and probably somewhat rambunctious, but on the other hand might be starting to feel his yah-yahs since he’s not neutered yet. Carly shouldn’t avoid interaction. She should learn the signs of over-stimulation — dilated pupils, twitchy tail, airplane ears. Engage him using a fishing pole toy, which will fulfill his need for attention and toss some toys to divert his attention when going down the hall. Talk to him and gauge his reaction, then pet him briefly. If he seems tense, just say “good boy” pleasantly and walk away. My take is that he will calm down once he is neutered and gets used to his new digs. Here are a couple of interesting links on cat scratch fever:

www.cdc.gov/HEALTHYPETS/diseases/catscratch.htm

www.kidshealth.org/parent/infections/bacterial_viral/cat_scratch.html

Based on that info, I kinda think it may have occurred from a previous scratch, or perhaps was an infection from the bite.