Maggie, the terrier pole dancer

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Updated: January 23, 2012 2:52AM

Q. Our Wheaten terrier, Maggie, loves to rub up and down wood picket fences and around telephone poles. Every morning on our walk she wants to take detours so we can down alleys or side streets where she knows there’s a long wood fence or a telephone pole that is just begging to be rubbed against. If I didn’t pull her away she’d do it for hours. Why does it feel so good to her?

A. Maggie isn’t itching herself when she takes these diversions during walks, she’s actually attracted by the smells on these poles and fences. And you will never know what odors lure her because dogs’ power of smell is many millions of times better than ours. She rubs up against them to take away some of the smell. She also wants to leave behind her own Eau d’ Maggie .

Q. I would like to offer an idea for owners whose dogs have separation anxiety.

Before I/we get ready to leave the house I get out a special treat for the dog, He doesn’t get it right then, but knows it is there. Then, as we go out the door, I give him the treat and tell him that someone will be back soon. He’s usually so happy with what he is eating he forgets we have gone.

Q.

A. Send your husband and Sarge on a hike — good bonding time for both of them. On outdoor jaunts, dogs tend to be more forgiving. Inside the house, your husband should ignore Sarge, except to dispense a treat.