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Question: We have a smart, beautiful 5-month-old collie. He has the bad habit of always wanting his mouth on us, usually biting. He’s not mean at all. It just seems that biting or mouthing is his favorite way of communicating and playing. We don’t like it. It hurts. We are expecting a grandchild in a couple of months and we can’t have the puppy biting the baby. Dr. Nichol: Your puppy is enjoying you much as he would another puppy. He’s an active young hellion, play-fighting with the nearest warm body because he has no one of his ilk for mutual mouthing and slobbering. Reprimands would be pointless. There are people who believe that since it’s the puppy’s mouth that causing trouble they should hit him on the mouth. Please don’t do that; you would only damage your good relationship while teaching the little guy nothing of value. It’s the…

Last in a series Right away, after Atticus and Tandy were separated in different parts of the house, everybody relaxed and exhaled. There had been plenty of smack downs but, so far, no perforated pets. Sylvia and Jason were committed to doing whatever was necessary; I was cautiously optimistic. Tandy’s anxiety disorder needed research – based behavior modification. Her brain’s neurochemical imbalances also required treatment. I started her on an antianxiety medication called Reconcile, the canine-approved chewable fluoxetine. Her folks reported her much calmer about 4 weeks later. She was no longer spooked by little noises. Rather than her head-on-a-swivel during leash walks, she was sniffing and investigating while happily tail wagging. She was now ready to learn. Competition between Tandy and Atticus had to end. Never, for the rest of their lives, could they be together in the same room with food of any kind. Until they were consistently…

Third in a series A healthy canine brain is programmed to communicate with body signals and occasionally words like, “Grr!” Knock down, drag out fights in the wild can happen but they’re uncommon. Nobody has to take it. If you get seriously bullied you can get the heck outa Dodge. But, confined by the walls and a fence of their loving human domicile, neither Tandy nor Atticus could escape each other. There was another wrinkle: From my observations, and a lot more information gathering from Jason and Sylvia, I came to learn that Tandy also struggled with a significant anxiety disorder. When circumstances weren’t just right, her agitation escalated fast. Watching Sylvia cook, and waiting and hoping to snag a hot chicken leg, her low-life underlying Atticus foolishly made physical contact with the chef. Tandy’s tenuous grip on impulse control instantly evaporated. She attacked. Hearing this story, you can bet…

Second in a series Can’t We All Just Get Along? Veterinary behaviorists treat a lot of aggression between family dogs. Tandy and Atticus had already endured multiple mutual maulings without bloodshed but their intensifying hostility, fear of annihilation, and the adrenalin surge of self-preservation would soon exceed somebody’s threshold for self-control. Disaster was imminent. There’s a complex system of circuits, neurotransmitters, and hormones upstairs that can be altered permanently following physical injury. Pain often leads a good brain in a bad direction. I told Jason and Sylvia that even one penetrating wound would send the prognosis south. Life was good until one fine evening when Sylvia was frying chicken. Both dogs were camped out at her feet, hoping to share the experience. Atticus moved in and stood against his dog momma’s leg to get a better sniff. His higher ranking competitor, Tandy, saw things differently. There was only one pan…