Editorial

Not long ago, I got to take a weekend off in San Diego. On the first day, quite by accident, I ended up at...

For about 18 months, I’ve been reading everything I can get my hands on about canine dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). I started right after the...

There’s an old joke about dog trainers: What’s the only thing you can get two dog trainers to agree about? That the third one...

Summer is for reading, yes? These long summer days are a perfect time to relax and enjoy a good, long read that improves your...

When Woody (my three-year-old pit bull-mix) was a tiny puppy, just another one in a litter of nine that I was fostering for my...

It’s June, and northern California, so we’re here (probably) for a foxtail. My tenant left the side gate to my office/house open, and Odin...

Is it shocking to hear the editor of a dog magazine say she doesn't particularly like bully breeds? I could go farther: I'm not a fan of Boxers, Mastiffs, or Bull Terriers. I tend not to enjoy terriers of any kind. Yorkshire Terriers, ack! When I was a young adult, my parents had some that I honestly loathed, and they sort of ruined the breed for me.

One of the most urgent issues facing owners in this country today is the spike in the number of cases of canine dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), especially in breeds that do not have an inherited higher risk of developing the condition.

Nova’s placement is also a win for WDJ, since she’s a smart, well-behaved dog and her mom’s proximity and training acuity means they can model and demonstrate for articles in the magazine, often, I hope! Working with them has definitely been one of the highlights of putting this issue together.

Kale was a confirmed and completely unrepentant bee-eater. He was also completely untrained; my stay-at-home mom bought him from a backyard breeder not long after I, the youngest child and last one to leave home, left the nest. She needed another young being in the house to take care of - but she sort of forgot that I was the only one in the family who ever trained the family dogs. Kale grew up with zero direction, and like most GSDs, responded to the guidance vacuum by finding odd things to do with his time. Like hunt for bees.

I asked trainer and Whole Dog Journals Training Editor Pat Miller to write about the risks and responsibilities of off-leash dog walks in this issue. Thats because Im a huge fan of hiking with my dogs off-leash, but I recognize that the activity is a huge challenge for many dog owners.

Those who are new to Whole Dog Journal may not be aware that we talk at length about dry dog foods in the February issue each year. I don't know how that tradition got started; all I know is that dog food is all I can think about from before Thanksgiving through the winter holidays. We give this annual coverage a lot of space; the list of recommended foods alone takes many pages! In this issue, I hope that you will learn a lot about the dog food industry as a whole, how the machinations of the pet food market may have affected you and your dogs, and how you can ensure that the food that you buy for your dog is appropriate.