DEAR DR. FOX: I have a 6-year-old male miniature poodle. He has being with us since he was 9 weeks old. He is seldom alone, since both my husband and I are always at home. Our biggest problem is that when he wakes up, he scratches our bedroom door to get in, or begs for us to go to his room and get in bed with him (he sleeps in a regular queen bed). It happens around 1 or 2 a.m.

What can be done to discourage this behavior? He was neutered when he was 6 months old. Thanks. -- Y.R., Springfield, Virginia

DEAR Y.R.: The simple answer is to keep your bedroom door open so he can come from his room to sleep with you, which he will probably do very quietly, not having to scratch on your bedroom door to open it.

It never ceases to amaze me how complex patterns of behavior can evolve between people and their animal companions where boundaries and consistency are lacking. Your little dog might be most content with his own little bed at the foot of yours and appreciate an open-door policy in your home!

DEAR DR. FOX: My wife and I have a 5-year-old, 12-pound silky terrier, Stewie. We got him as a rescue when he was 1. There's a consistent problem, however, when it comes time to feed him. He'll scratch his bowl to let us know he's hungry; we prepare his favorite food -- a mix of wet and dry -- and warm it in the microwave (yes, he's spoiled). Then he refuses to eat unless several things happen beforehand:

First, he won't eat unless I'm standing over him and his bowl. If I'm in another room of the house, he'll leave his food and seek me out, sitting against my feet. I then have to accompany him to his food, where he'll stand over it, as if guarding it, growling and baring his teeth.

Second, I have to pet him and scratch him vigorously (while he's growling, though he never bites) several times before he lets out a snort and then gobbles his food, followed by a large belch. He then becomes passive once again.

If I'm off on a several-day business trip, my wife tells me he seems to settle in and eat without a problem. But when I return, so does his ritual. For shorter periods of my absence, say when he's fed just before I leave the house for some errand, my wife tells me he sits on the couch looking out the window, waiting for me to return before he'll touch his food.

One partial solution I've found is, when he's standing over his food growling, I simply take it away and set it on a counter, out of his reach. He looks forlorn; I give it back to him after a while, and most times he'll eat. Again, I know he's hungry, but we seem to have to go through this ritual each time.

Is there anything you could suggest to break him of this habit? -- D.K., Springfield, Virginia

DEAR D.K.: It is amazing what complex rituals can evolve in our caring relationships with animals, and sometimes with each other, when we become conditioned to certain reactions and expectations. This could become a problem for your dog if you have to have a dogsitter come and care for him when you and your wife are away from home. Or maybe not, since it seems to have evolved just between you and your dog.

His behavior will change when yours changes. His food-soliciting expectation and subsequent guarding behavior is a cycle you can break, as you have discovered by putting the food back up on the counter for a while. This should cease the chain of behaviors where he will not eat until you have petted him and ruffled his fur.

So put the food down and walk away. Go back after a minute and put the food on the countertop for a minute, then put the food back down for him in a different place from the usual. Leave him alone until he is finished, then call him and groom him -- a reward for eating by himself.

REGULAR WELLNESS EXAMS MUST INCLUDE DENTAL CHECKUP

Dogs and cats should be examined by a veterinarian regularly for dental problems that can cause pain, injury and systemic disease, particularly affecting the kidneys. Signs of trouble aren't usually apparent to owners. Serious periodontal disease affects about 85 percent of dogs, while an estimated 72 percent of cats suffer from tooth resorption, a type of decay, possibly an autoimmune disease that often isn't discovered until teeth become loose and extraction is the only available treatment.

(Send all mail to animaldocfox@gmail.com or to Dr. Michael Fox in care of Universal Uclick, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106. The volume of mail received prohibits personal replies, but questions and comments of general interest will be discussed in future columns.

Visit Dr. Fox's website at DrFoxVet.com.)

DEAR DR. FOX: I recently inherited a very active and healthy 15-year-old Himalayan cat. She has always had a thin area of fur on the base of her tail, under the belly and between her legs. After we took her in, it got worse. She is never allowed outside, and neither she nor my other cat has fleas.

I took her to an allergy vet, who suggested I put her on Atopica. Because she is only 7 1/2 pounds, she is on a small dose for dogs. Atopica for cats is in the liquid form, and I'm not sure I could administer it without her choking.

Without expensive testing, we have concluded it is environmental. My husband is in the nursery business, and our yard is full of blooming trees and plants that he brings into the house on his person. Atopica has worked well, except for about a month in the summer when she gets a little breakout on the base of her tail. I wash it with dandruff shampoo and it clears up.

Do you have any suggestions as to what else I can use besides Atopica? -- D.E., Lake Worth, Florida

DEAR D.L.: Since the Atopica supplement seems to help your cat, I would continue administering it.

The seasonal flare-up in her skin around the base of her tail (where it is difficult for her to reach to groom herself) might best be treated with a mild chamomile, lavender or aloe vera shampoo. Provided she's not allergic to fish, give her a canned sardine every day. The oil in such fish helps animals with a variety of skin conditions. It is quite possible she has an underlying thyroid disease, which may be worth your veterinarian evaluating.

DEAR DR. FOX: I have a Jack Russell terrier, and we have a problem. Jasper, a shelter dog, bites his feet. They get very red and look sore. I have changed his food: He now eats Purina lamb and rice.

What do you think I can do to get him to stop chewing on his feet? I'm thinking of changing his diet again. Jasper is 4 years old, and I'm at my wits' end. -- K.L., Fargo, North Dakota

DEAR K.L.: I sympathize with you and your poor dog. This is a distressing condition that can quickly worsen the more the dog licks and chews his paws.

You must take your dog to see a veterinarian. Even if you are correct that diet has something to do with this, it takes careful sleuthing and giving a so-called "elimination diet" to reach a diagnosis and solution. There may be other causes independent of diet -- even a wool blanket or floor cleaner you use. Your dog may also be given immediate relief with a short-term treatment of prednisone, which can be a minor miracle for dogs like yours and help trigger the healing processes.

PEOPLE PREFERRING ANIMALS TO OTHER PEOPLE

Many readers have confided to me that they feel closer to and prefer the company of animals, rather than their own kind. Some express a feeling of guilt or of being a kind of "outsider," while others are quite clear about being misanthropes -- seeing more goodness in species other than humans. Some are shocked by how deeply they mourn the loss of a trusted and devoted dog or cat, compared to the death of a close family member.

I regard all these sentiments as healthy and justifiable: Animals do not lie or betray us. They do not wreak ecological damage and catastrophic environmental harm on the scale that we humans do, or engage in mass warfare and genocide.

(Send all mail to animaldocfox@gmail.com or to Dr. Michael Fox in care of Universal Uclick, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106. The volume of mail received prohibits personal replies, but questions and comments of general interest will be discussed in future columns.

Visit Dr. Fox's website at DrFoxVet.com.)

DEAR DR. FOX: In many of your columns, you write about nutrition and how important it is for animals' health.

When I take my dog and two cats for their annual wellness examinations, I don't recall any vets ever asking what I feed my animals. Last time, I took in copies of your home-prepared cat and dog food recipes, and the vet took no interest. He said it was best to feed my pets the kind of scientifically formulated and balanced pet foods they were selling at the counter.

I gather these manufactured foods aren't always good for animals. So why are veterinary clinics and hospitals selling them? -- E.L., Arlington, Virginia

DEAR E.L.: Good nutrition is the best preventive medicine. It is one of the few factors that we can control in our own lives and for those for whom we care, especially our children and animal companions.

The foods containing "scientifically formulated," highly processed ingredients, many of which are byproducts of the human food and beverage industries, are accepted by a dwindling number of veterinarians. These vets were propagandized by the mainstream pet food industry into believing that such manufactured canned, dry and semi-moist pet foods are wholesome and healthful.

By not addressing the possible nutritional basis for a lot of health conditions their patients present, a fortunately dwindling number of animal doctors instead treat the symptoms with various drugs and make costly, even erroneous, diagnostic tests, profiting at the expense of their animal patients and trusting owners. This form of malpractice, also evident in the human health care industry, is at last being supplanted by a more holistic and integrative approach to disease diagnosis, treatment and prevention.

For a selection of the better-manufactured dog and cat foods, some formulated by veterinarians, check my website, DrFoxVet.com.

DEAR DR. FOX: After reading your column about barking dogs, I was reminded of another incident concerning an outdoor dog tied up in our friends' neighbors' backyard.

The poor dog was tied up on a short rope outside 24/7, rain or shine. At feeding time, the owners sent their young daughter out with a bowl; being scared of the dog, she would place the bowl just short of the dog so it had to struggle to get a bite.

All this broke our friends' hearts. When they sold their house, a couple of days after moving, they went back at night, cut the rope and took the dog home. He was a beautiful dog, and he lived out a happy life at -- make that in -- their home.

I cried when I met the poor dog and heard his story. This was in Miami. I surely hope that ignorant family didn't go get another dog to tie up outside. -- M.K., Naples, Florida

DEAR M.K.: Many readers will appreciate your story. I am all for people being law-abiding citizens, but when animal cruelty laws are not enforced and when the laws do not adequately protect the rights and interests of animals under our care, we do need to take extraordinary measures.

An old friend living in a small town in Florida did just that -- went up to his neighbor's house and knocked on the door. He had the neighbor's dog on a leash and collar. This dog had been tied up and left out on the porch day and night; it needed adequate food, water and veterinary care. My friend announced that he was confiscating the dog to give it a good home. The neighbor just shrugged and said, "Take him. He is old and useless." That dog is now with my friend and living out his life in a secure and caring environment.

AN EXCELLENT NEW BOOK

"Canine Nutrigenomics: The New Science of Feeding Your Dog for Optimum Health" by W. Jean Dodds and Diana R. Laverdure. My promotional statement on the book cover reads:

"This seminal book, confirming that nutrition is the first medicine, is not just for the health of dogs. It is a major contribution to the health-through-food revolution, which will expand the minds and practices of veterinarians and canine caregivers and should be a required text for all students of veterinary medicine and nutrition."

FROZEN PET FOOD RECALLS

-- Oma's Pride is recalling Purr-Complete Feline Poultry Meal because it has the potential to be contaminated with salmonella. Distributed nationwide, it is sold frozen. Consumers who have purchased this product are urged to return it to the place of purchase for a full refund. Consumers with questions may contact Oma's Pride at 800-678-6627.

-- J.J. Fuds is recalling a select lot and product of J.J. Fuds Chicken Tender Chunks because it has the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, elderly people and others with weakened immune systems. This product is a frozen raw poultry product.

Pet owners who have the affected product at home should return to retailer for a refund and proper disposal.

For further information or questions regarding this recall, contact the company at jjfuds.com or by phone at 888-435-5873.

(Send all mail to animaldocfox@gmail.com or to Dr. Michael Fox in care of Universal Uclick, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106. The volume of mail received prohibits personal replies, but questions and comments of general interest will be discussed in future columns.

Visit Dr. Fox's website at DrFoxVet.com.)