A. You just want to make sure that there is a fresh bowl of water available for both in and outdoor pets, especially when they are outside in the sun. Have a good size bowl available and check it at least once a day to make sure the bowl of water is full.

A. Good question... the reason that we don't leave a pet in a parked car is because its going to get hot very, very, quickly. Those temperatures are going to go over 100 degrees and that is actually going to kill the animal that's inside.

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A. First of all, don't attempt to pet a stray dog or an animal that you don't know. The best thing for a person to do is to stand still and not try to pet the animal. Chances are that the animal is going to leave you alone and walk away.

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A. That's a pretty involved question. I would feel that probably that the best answer for that is that, its my opinion, every dog should go to an obedience class. There are many that are available. That way, they are taught not to use their mouths on their owners.

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A. I like what is called a "Kong", a rubber beehive toy. They cannot chew those apart. We also go with something called "Nyla Floss", a braided rope. You can also use something called a sterilized bone. We don't recommend any type of bone that has real meat on it because sometimes they can get sick from that. We don't recommend the latex squeaky toys when they are real young because they can chew them apart and swallow the squeaky. Then we have to go into surgically and get the squeaky back out.

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A. No, not ever, ever, absolutely not. That's a very good question, it's one of my personal favorites. People do that all of the time.

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A. Yes, it can cause aggression, and it is not recommended to play "tug of war".

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A. That's an easy one too, because I would normally say none. They should be on their own food. If they are a dog, they need dog food. If they are a cat, they need cat food. They are going to be what we call "nutritionally complete". So no people food.

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A. I would suggest something like "throw the ball", running with your pet, walking, paying attention to them, swimming... they would like all of that.

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A. Yes, they can be outdoors, once again, as long as they have plenty of water and shade.

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A. Up until a year of age we would recommend a young dog be crate trained. It's just like a human child being put in a playpen or a crib. This is not cruel and is best for the animal. They are in a safe environment. The other alternative would be to have something like a baby gate and have them in a bathroom or a kitchen that is a smaller area where you have got things up where they can't chew on them.

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A. There are many products available, topical products, the safest are called Advantage and Frontline that kill the adult fleas and take care of the problem.

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A. I don't use a choke chain, I use a buckle collar. You always have to be able to get two fingers underneath the collar. The other alternative is to use something called a "head halter". That is something that we carry here or there is a dog-training place down in Sanford. This is something that goes around their nose and right behind their ears, just like a horse wearing a halter.

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A. Kind of the same thing that I said before as far as the fleas. There is a topical product called Frontline that does a really good job of killing ticks. If there are allot of ticks then it might be necessary to have a professional pest control company come out and spray for ticks if they are really bad.

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A. Once again, it sounds like I'm a big fan of obedience training, which I am. If they are crate trained, if they have gone to an obedience class and if they have fresh water, fine... no problem. That's the best way to start to ensure that the animal doesn't do something that gets him into trouble. Or, doing something once again like the "Kong" or the bone, so that they have something to occupy their time. 

Many of our pets, when people go to work get left in the morning and they're bored soon after. They have nothing to do. Chewing is a very normal part of their behavior so its up to us humans to teach them and provide them with something that's ok. This will not last for hours but it will occupy them while you walk out the door.