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If I’m having a rough day, I can fully expect to find a chin on my knee and big, worried brown eyes gazing up at me. Even if I think I’m hiding my stress well.

At some point, our “last dogs” become our sainted, perfect last dogs. Their behaviors are remembered fondly, with humor—unlike the painful or messy behaviors we are dealing with our new naughty puppy.

In my experience, it’s possible to make some guesses about future behavior based on the breed of the dog, the temperament of the parents, the skills that run in the genetic line, and so on. If there is one thing that growing up around a breeding kennel has taught me though, it’s that every dog is an individual.

A lack of access to affordable spay and neuter appointments has led to an overabundance of unwanted puppies and kittens. Charitable organizations are organizing to deal with the problem, but more needs to be done.

A study published in PLOS One on August 28 proved that dogs can recognize, comprehend, and respond to words from soundboards. The results open up a world of opportunities for expanding our ability to communicate with our dogs.

Euthanasia lists are not an answer to overcrowded shelters. Animals adopted just to save them often end up neglected, or back in the shelter system.

Oliver came to California for an end-of-summer, two-week visit with us. I most enjoyed watching Oliver when he didn’t think anyone was watching him, playing with, talking to, and wandering around our property with my dogs.

From time to time why we don’t include foods from giant dog food companies such as Mars PetCare, Purina, or Hills.

I have become more and more obsessed with how what is now called “force-free” dog training can help adolescent dogs in particular. I see so many parallels between the most effective ways to raise a teenager and how to get a dog through adolescence.

What does riding horses have to do with dogs? You can condition a horse to pull (and race) against you pulling on the reins during a ride the same way dogs can be conditioned to pull against leashes on a walk.

Dogs are incredibly quick to pick up on patterns of events that predict what we are about to do, or what we are about to make them to do.

There are lots of reasons that a house-training failure can occur. Perhaps the dog has a particularly small bladder or had a urinary tract infection. Perhaps the owner wasn’t able to let the dog outside as frequently as needed to support the house-training habit, or didn’t have the means or ability to manage the dog’s environment,