Ask Dr. Paola – Breeding Ethics, Whining & Food Intolerances (January 26, 2026) – Dogster

Welcome to our “Ask Dr. Paola” collection, the place each Monday we carry professional recommendation straight from Dr. Paola Cuevas (MVZ) to assist our readers higher perceive their canine’s well being and well-being.

Whether or not you’re a brand new pet father or mother or a seasoned canine lover, Dr. Paola is right here to offer solutions to your most urgent questions. From diet ideas and preventive care to troubleshooting widespread behavioral points, Dr. Paola is able to provide insights that can hold your furry buddy pleased and wholesome. Keep tuned for professional steering on a spread of subjects that matter most to you and your canine, so you can also make knowledgeable choices and supply the absolute best care in your canine companion. ‎Have‎ a ‎question? Send it in here!

Can You Breed a Huge Canine with a Small Canine?

“Can you’ve a Belgian Shepherd with a Chihuahua?” – Riley

Hello Riley,

That may be a particularly reasonable query. A Belgian Shepherd and a Chihuahua can completely dwell collectively, nevertheless it works greatest when everybody understands their differences, very like a bicycle sharing the highway with a truck. They’ll go in the identical course and just do tremendous, so long as pace, house, and limits are revered. Calm introductions, supervision throughout play, and instructing the bigger canine to maneuver gently are important as a result of even pleasant enthusiasm from an enormous physique can overwhelm a tiny one. Consider it as instructing two canines to talk the identical language regardless of very totally different accents. Constructive reinforcement, protected relaxation areas for the smaller canine, and managed interactions assist construct belief and security.

Breeding a Belgian Shepherd with a Chihuahua, nonetheless, raises serious welfare concerns and isn’t thought of accountable or moral. The intense dimension distinction creates important dangers for the feminine canine, notably if the Chihuahua is the dam, as being pregnant and whelping may very well be life-threatening. Even when the bigger canine is the dam, orthopedic, neurologic, and developmental points can come up in offspring resulting from mismatched skeletal and progress patterns. Accountable breeding prioritizes well being, predictability, and preservation of useful construction, not novelty. I hope this explains.

– Dr. Paola

Assist! My Canine Gained’t Stp Whining!

“Expensive Dr. Paola,

How do I get Minnie to cease whining? She largely does it as a result of she’s afraid of our ceiling fan and typically doesn’t wish to enter the room when it’s on – however typically she does, so we simply go away it on. However, if she’s in a temper the place she doesn’t wish to enter, she simply stands on the door and whines, and will go on for hours, till we flip the fan off. It’s enjoyable.” – Lyle

Good day Lyle.

Whining on this scenario is greatest understood as Minnie speaking discomfort moderately than being cussed or dramatic. For some canines, a ceiling fan may be unsettling due to the mixture of motion, shadows, and low-level noise, much like how a flickering mild may be mildly annoying to at least one individual and deeply distressing to a different. When Minnie stands on the doorway and vocalizes, she is telling you that coming into the room feels unsafe to her in that second. Permitting her to whine for prolonged intervals with out addressing the underlying worry can unintentionally reinforce her nervousness, even when she typically tolerates the fan on different events.

The best and humane method is gradual desensitization paired with optimistic reinforcement training. As a substitute of ready for her to push by worry, begin with the fan off and reward calm, voluntary entry into the room, then progressively introduce the fan at its lowest setting for very quick intervals whereas pairing it with one thing she finds extremely rewarding. Over time, this teaches her nervous system that the fan predicts good issues moderately than threats. Forcing publicity by leaving the fan on till she offers up is much like asking somebody with a worry of elevators to face exterior one indefinitely; it doesn’t construct confidence, it builds stress.

If the fan isn’t important, turning it off when she is clearly distressed isn’t giving in; it’s responding appropriately to a fear-based behavior. As progress is made, her confidence ought to enhance, and the whining ought to fade naturally. If the conduct persists or intensifies, please bear in mind we’re one click away to assist information a structured plan for you so as to assist Minnie really feel protected whereas studying to manage extra comfortably along with her setting.

Greatest,

– Dr. Paola

Assist! My Two Canine’s Have Utterly Completely different Reactions to Meals!

“Hey Dr. Paola,

We’ve two canines – Tippy is a mutt, pardon the language, however a mixture of every kind, most likely a lab, some type of terrier, and possibly one other couple in there, however so laborious to inform. He has a abdomen made from iron and eats issues he shouldn’t on a regular basis and by no means has a lot as a pungent fart.

Every thing works tremendous, and he’s pleased (we clearly discourage this conduct, nevertheless it’s nonetheless wild to see). Then, Tino, a purebred Labrador, will get an upset tummy simply by taking a look at one thing that’s not for him. I exaggerate – he has no allergic reactions, but when he does occur to attempt to take pleasure in a useless rabbit on the farm like Tippy, he will get diarrhea. Questioning if there’s any correlation between mutts and purebreds in the case of digestive points. ”  – Isla

Hello Isla,

What you’re observing with Tippy and Tino is one thing veterinarians hear usually, and it has a strong organic rationalization. Digestive tolerance is influenced by genetics, early weight loss program, and the gut microbiome, which is the inhabitants of micro organism residing within the intestines. Canines with blended ancestry usually inherit a wider vary of digestive traits, and this genetic variety can typically translate right into a extra adaptable gastrointestinal system, very like a well-traveled abdomen that has discovered to deal with totally different cuisines. That doesn’t make them invincible, however it may well make reactions much less dramatic when dietary indiscretions happen.

Purebred canines, together with Labradors, are selectively bred for particular traits, and that course of can unintentionally slim genetic variety in techniques unrelated to look or temperament, together with digestion. Labradors are properly documented in veterinary literature as tending to dietary sensitivity and food-related gastrointestinal indicators, even within the absence of true allergic reactions or illness. This doesn’t imply one thing is fallacious with Tino; it merely displays how his intestine responds extra predictably and fewer flexibly to sudden modifications, spoiled materials, or high-fat gadgets like carrion.

The essential takeaway is that neither canine ought to be allowed to check the boundaries of their digestive system, even when one seems to tolerate poor decisions higher than the opposite. A resilient intestine in the present day doesn’t assure safety from pancreatitis, obstruction, or an infection in a while. Managing each canines as if they’ve delicate digestion is the most secure long-term method.

Regards,

– Dr. Paola