The Strongest Reinforcements
Ask a dog trainer to tell you one of their biggest pet peeves about their training clients, and they will almost always mention the...
What You Should Do (and Not Do) If You Find a Lost Dog
If you are a dog lover and you spend any amount of time on Facebook or any of those community website/discussion groups such as...
Mind Your Cues
Hang around with enough dog owners, and inevitably you will hear someone say to their distracted or recalcitrant dog, “Sit! Sit! Sit! SIT!” I’m...
Can You Put a Price Tag on Your Dog’s Life?
Readers, dog owners, can I ask
you a question? Or, actually, a few related questions:
If you had to put a dollar
figure on it, what would...
Zeal of the convert: Canine seat belts
Just over a week ago, I was in one of those car accidents
that remind you to slow down and not take life and health...
What Is Socially Conscious Sheltering?
In the February issue, which will be in mailboxes and online
soon, we have an article about a new model for communities looking to improve
the...
Feeding Time: On the Dot, or Not?
I have long advised friends and family members to keep their
dogs’ mealtimes vague, in order to prevent “clock-watching” and demand
behaviors from dogs who are...
Winter Worries
My “very mixed-breed” dog, Otto, turned 12 years old at some
point in the past couple of months. For a big dog (currently 72 pounds),...
An Ice-Prevention Product That Is Safe for Pets?
I’ll never forget my first wintertime visit to the
northeastern U.S. As a native of northern California, the coldest place I had
visited previously was either...
Finding the Perfect Dogs for Friends
My young adult son lives in the San Francisco Bay area with
his girlfriend, a couple of roommates, and his all-black Black and Tan
Coonhound, Cole....
Don’t Pull Your Puppy With His Leash!
I was just driving down the street and my eye, as always, was drawn to a dog – a Golden Retriever puppy, I saw...
Happy Thanksgiving
I’m writing this, as usual, in the frenzied build-up to
Thanksgiving. Only this year, I’m not hosting a pack of friends and relatives
and their dogs...
Latest Blog
No, You Can’t
Of all the “third rail” topics concerning dogs, here’s one I never could have guessed would make some people incensed: A passerby putting a bag of dog poop in their garbage can. Ack! Apparently, this makes some homeowners angry enough that they put signs on or next to their garbage cans, set up security cameras in order to identify and eventually confront the offenders, or threatening penalties for the alleged “theft of services” (using someone else’s garbage service).