It happens to all of us. Doesn’t matter if it’s your first dog or your tenth. From time to time, your dog does something that makes you look at him and say, “Why are you doing that? What do you want?” Here’s an example: The other morning I was taking my dog up the road […]
I used to be afraid of pit bulls. This isn’t something I’m proud to admit, especially when my fear was based on what the media was saying rather than any first-hand experiences. But seriously, how many stories do you hear about a Golden Retriever sending a child to the hospital? Still, I knew I had […]
How many of the following apply to you? We’d say if you answer “yes” to at least half of them, you qualify as a real dog person! You know you’re a real dog person when: You sometimes limit your out-of-the-house social activities because you feel guilty leaving your dog home alone. You can sit stone-faced […]
How do you recognize an unfriendly dog? Is it when he growls or isn’t wagging his tail? It’s true that growling can mean, “Give me space” and the absence of a tail wag may be telling you to keep your distance, but this isn’t always the case. In fact, if you wait for these signs […]
How much time each week do you spend walking your dog? Dog owners typically walk an average of 300 minutes per week, compared to 168 minutes for people who don’t have dogs, according to the ASPCA. So that’s about 43 minutes a day of dog walking. It may sound like a lot, but is it […]
Long ago in a shelter far, far away … I’d just taken Teddy out for a long walk — and by long, I mean it took a lot of time although we didn’t cover much distance. Teddy was an older dog, a “senior.” A lovely shepherd mix whom we guessed was about 10 years old. […]
Decide whether each of the following statements is true or false: When a dog wags his tail, it means he’s friendly. Dogs can only see in black and white. Dogs have a natural desire to please. Growling means a dog is aggressive. Dogs look guilty when they’ve done something wrong. False: A wagging tail means […]
“She’s a shelter dog.” “I’m not sure what he is – just a shelter dog.” And then my favorite: “I don’t know if I’d ever adopt a shelter dog. You don’t know what you’re getting.” Shelter dogs get a lot of bad PR – some breeds worse than others – so let’s clarify something right […]
When you lose a dog, how long should you wait to get another? If you’ve been there, you know. You know losing a dog is like losing your friend, your family and your right arm … all in one. More than one person has told me that losing their dog was more traumatic than when […]
We love our dogs – but do we respect them? No one could ever accuse us of not loving our dogs. Look what we do for them on a regular basis: We share our bed; resign ourselves to losing our favorite pair of shoes; buy pretty collars our dogs don’t need … just because they’re […]