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Pet Wellness Advocate
Training Your Dog with a New Homemade Toy Dog toys can cost big bucks, reason enough to make your own. In my house, the favorite toy for chasing, tugging, gnawing---and even to cart around as a security blanket---is the Towel Burrito. These are my own invention, and I got the idea when I was reading... Read more »
6 Ways to Protect Your cats & Yourself from Cat Scratch Disease You can forgive the new kitten in your life for the bright red tracks her little claws painted down your arm, but keep an eye on those scratches --- they can lead to terribly serious health consequences. Cat scratch disease can actually put... Read more »
Gone to the Dogs (And Cats!) A Tennessee woman left her estate to homeless pets. Glenda Taylor DeLawder, a citizen of Carter County, Tennessee, bequeathed her $1.2 million estate to help care for the county’s shelter animals. DeLawder, who had worked as a telephone operator for AT&T in Washington D.C., passed away at age 72.... Read more »
In an article published January 1 in The New York Times, the columnist pointed out that by law city shelters and pet stores are required to microchip animals before selling them or releasing them for adoption. The author mentioned that the chip should be registered, but the “rest of that story” is where the slippery... Read more »
Calling All Cat People To “Translate” For Their Kitties Researchers need the help of people who share their lives with cats to better understand why cats do what they do. Since cats are enigmas wrapped in a mystery, the veterinarians doing this study need the human companions of indoor cats to help make sense of... Read more »
Dogs, the Christmas spirit and Tracy of Batavia, Ohio – an “Ordinary Hero” Look out, St. Francis: we’ve got a new contender for the “patron saint of animals!” For a very special holiday episode of Dog Talk I interviewed Tracy, a listener from Batavia, Ohio. Her story exemplifies the very best of the holiday spirit... Read more »
Tracie Hotchner’s year-end list of happy tales. Need a last-minute gift? From adorable photos, to laugh-out-loud humor, plus helpful tips: these delightful reads will capture your coffee table. Happy holidays from my pack, to yours! Neville Jacobs: I'm Marc's Dog, by Nicholas Newbold The world as seen through the eyes of fashion icon Marc Jacobs'... Read more »
Curcumin and Omega 3 Fatty Acids are Brain Food for Pets and People! Watching 60 Minutes recently, I saw an episode on the health value of curcumin, which is derived from the spice turmeric, a member of the ginger family. It turns out that curcumin has been historically appreciated in many cultures as a powerful... Read more »
How Smart is Your Mutt? Brandon McMillan, star of the television show Lucky Dog, and author of the book Lucky Dog Lessons: Train Your Dog in 7 Days, recently contributed to an article about the smartest top 10 breeds of dogs. But have you ever wondered whether mutts are smarter than purebred dogs? Though the... Read more »
Stella’s Bed of Roses [Guest Post by Kristy Davis (Tracie's executive assistant, who also happens to have an MFA from Bennington College (and an MA from Columbia School of Journalism, too!) in case you're wondering why this is so uber-charming)] Dog beds are a hot commodity in our house. With two dogs---Stella, our seven-year-old retriever-German... Read more »