The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Parts of Fostering
My current fostering project is a little different from what I usually take on. Ordinarily, my local shelter will contact me if they have...
Do Your Dogs Sense When You’re Leaving On a Trip?
They already know. Even before the carry-on suitcase comes out of the closet, they know.
I’m leaving town for a few days.
Is it the extra...
Xylitol – Highly Toxic to Dogs
A friend recently had a terrible scare with a dog who ate a homemade cinnamon bun and got hideously ill; it turned out that...
Community-Based Animal Shelters
I’m thinking today about how communities interact with their local animal control/animal shelters and vice versa, and how shelters can most meaningfully affect the...
The Importance of Crate Training Your Dogs
Hey, it’s September! Long-time readers know what that means! It’s time for Nancy’s annual reminder to PLEASE habituate your dog (and cats, and other...
To Learn More About Your Dog, Leave Home With Him
Last weekend, my husband and I took our nearly 6-year-old dog, Woody, with us on a backpacking trip. We joined eight of his friends,...
Giving them Forward: Raising a Service Dog Puppy
Well-trained assistance dogs can open the door to increased confidence, independence, and mobility for people living with a variety of disabilities. It’s been estimated...
Top five stupid things that people say to dog foster providers
I’ve been fostering dogs and puppies for my local shelter for 15 years. Wow! Time flies – until I thought about it, I didn’t...
An Etiquette Question – How to Address Problems With Other Dog Owners
Say you are in a grocery store with your best friend and her child, and you both see the child take something, perhaps a...
Love note to a dog bed
Warning: The following is an ardent product endorsement.
Each January, we publish a feature in WDJ called “Gear of the Year,” where we tell subscribers...
Dogs Can Learn Very Quickly – With The Right Motivation!
Neither one of my dogs has ever been a beggar – haunting the kitchen or dining table, whining or nudging us in hopes of...
Must (at Least) Like Dogs
My grandson Liam doesn’t really like dogs all that much. Maybe that’s too strong; he’s more or less indifferent to dogs, though this attitude...
Latest Blog
Informing? Or Selling?
A couple of days ago, I received a text from a dog-training client, wondering about a video she had just watched—and which she linked in the text. “Is meat meal bad for dogs?” she asked. She followed that message with, “I get that she’s selling her own pet food, but is it (meat meal) that bad?”