End of life decisions
Three years ago I wrote a blog post about “how to know when the time is right for euthanasia.” A the time, I had...
The secret to dog-training success
One of my ex-boyfriends from many, many years ago had a sort of dad-joke he’d tell at least once daily. Any time he saw...
Urgent warning for dog owners: Parvo-like illness spreading in Michigan, killing dogs
Recently, a dog was admitted to a veterinary hospital in northern Michigan with symptoms that looked just like those of canine parvovirus type 2...
Monkeypox and your dog
A single reported case of transmission of monkeypox from a human to a dog has prompted the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention...
Cultural differences (and what are we doing wrong?)
Last month, my sister-in-law and my almost-13-year-old niece, Ava, spent two weeks in France, visiting my sister-in-law’s mother and stepfather, who live in Paris....
The New Dog and “Youngest Child Syndrome”
I’m the youngest in my family of origin. My siblings are seven, six, and five years older than me. When I became an adult,...
Ode to a Senior Dog
Not one but two friends said goodbye to their beloved senior dogs in the past week. I read their tributes to their beautiful dogs...
How Do You Keep Dogs Cool in the Summer?
It’s officially HOT in the northern Sacramento Valley where I live. These are more or less normal temperatures for July in this part of...
What should you do when you see someone mistreating their dog?
My 10-year-old grandson is visiting from Boston and we went for a bike ride today at midday, to a local park. We were riding...
The Worst Sound a Dog Owner Can Hear
This is the time of year that all dog owners who live in any of the western states, particularly in any part of California,...
Concerns about Seresto Collars, Continued
On March 2, 2021, USA Today published an article about the Seresto collar, originally developed and brought to the market by Bayer Animal Health...
Leaving town? Make sure a “go bag” is available to your pets’ caretaker before...
Last week I attended a conference out of town (it was put on by the Shelter Playgroup Alliance, very cool stuff). For several reasons,...
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Tips for Dog Owners Near a Disaster Zone
Could you evacuate your home 15 minutes from now, with everything you would need to live with your pets in a hotel for a few days, weeks, or months? What if you had an hour’s notice?