Pet Wellness Advocate
Get Working Dogs From Shelters---Not From European Breeders! Why does the United States military --- and various police departments around the country --- continue to spend tens of thousands of dollars per dog to buy potential working dogs from Eastern Europe? Not long ago on Dog Talk® I spoke to Dr. Karen Overall at the... Read more »
Should You Muzzle Your Dog for Your Cat’s Safety? I got this email from a listener: I need a muzzle for my pitbull. She is great with me, but I don't trust her with cats in the house, so when she is in the house she is crated. I want to transition her to give... Read more »
It’s Dangerous to Give Supplements on Your Own to a Sick Pet If you’ve been listening to my radio shows and reading my blogs, you’ll know I am a big believer in the use of natural supplements for overall health and wellness --- and to address behavioral/emotional issues, often paired with training techniques. I’m proud... Read more »
Important Corrections About Flying With Your Dog I received a most informative email today, right on the heels of the most recent podcast of the DOG TALK show in which Dr. Nick Dodman talked about the (mis)use of tranquilizers for dogs when they are traveling. I received this detailed and well-informed rebuttal to several of... Read more »
Is This Dog Dangerous? Shelters Struggle with Testing “Aggressive” Dogs For decades, animal shelters have evaluated whether a dog was dangerously aggressive by poking a rubber hand attached to a pole into a dog’s food bowl while he was eating --- then pulling the bowl away from him. If the dog lunged or bit at... Read more »
7 Ways to Protect Your Pets in an Emergency Here’s some good advice from some animal-loving friends Down Under, about managing risks to our pets during emergencies. With all the weather-related emergencies around the United States, and beyond, I found good information in this article in “The Conversation,” about ways to prepare for emergencies with our... Read more »
Should You Let Your Dog Sleep in Your Bed? My two dogs sleep in my bedroom. Wanda likes her soft-sided “hut” and Maisie stretches out on the chaise longue which is designed as “hers,” but neither of them sleeps on my bed --- partly because, as a widow of two years, I have a crazy... Read more »
Interrupt "Bad" Behavior With A Reward! We have all heard about ways to stop your dog from doing something we don’t like by basically “snapping him out of it,” using various methods of distracting him from his shenanigans. There’s the squirt bottle that often comes up as a supposedly harmless intervention. Some trainers suggest that... Read more »
Do You Let Your Dog Lick Your Face? How do you feel about letting your dog lick you in the face (or elsewhere!)? It turns out there are many sides to the answer and expert opinions aside, people seem to embrace dog kiss as a welcome sign of affection. This week on DOG TALK® we... Read more »
Joe. Maisie. And the Cheese This is a little story about how dogs learn, and especially how we can communicate to them certain behaviors which displease us. Most importantly, it’s a story about how/when/if to reprimand a dog for having engaged in one of those behaviors. This story is especially useful for new dog owners,... Read more »