Life with dogs is shaped by daily routines, individual personalities, and a lot of learning along the way. This section reflects the perspective of people who live with dogs of different breeds, sizes, and stages of life.
The articles here focus on practical care, behavior, health, and everyday decisions, grounded in real experience rather than rigid rules.
Scroll on to explore the articles below.
Back in the early eighties I had the sweetest pet that I thought was just a mutt. As it turns out, I was the proud owner of a designer dog!…
by Eric Bogard
Have you ever noticed your dog hunker under a table, bed or chair?
Whether frightened -say by lightning and thunder- or not, dogs are not all that separated from their wild ancestors. Certain ‘in the wild’ instincts and behaviors still remain such as seeking a den for protection, comfort, and psychological satisfaction. If left without a designated place to call his or her own your dog will actively seek shelter wherever deemed appropriate (not by you but by your four legged friend, of course). However, by tapping into your dog’s natural tendencies a crate will provide the very comfort and solitude so very wanted.
Man’s best friend is smart, energetic, athletic, loving, and loyal—but rarely a discerning judge of food. Certain dogs will happily “wolf” down nearly anything in sight with little regard to…
When my newly married husband and I brought home our not yet three-month-old puppy, Penny, people kept saying the same phrase: having a puppy will prepare you for one day having a child. I looked at my furry bundle of joy with love, thinking, this is going to be a piece of cake compared to children. It wasn’t long, though, until I learned my first lesson applicable to both puppy and child rearing: puppies need the house “puppy proofed.”
My same trashcan that looked chic and feminine in my newly decorated kitchen turned out to be a trough of leftover food for Penny, and it wasn’t long until Penny snuck coffee grounds from the trashcan, poisoning herself. Luckily, because I knew the steps and signs of dog poisoning I was able to treat the situation accordingly, and by the next day she was her playful and spunky self.
There are several reasons why owning a dog can improve the overall disposition and attitude of a child. Compassion and Love: Your child’s dog will sit lovingly at their side…
Animal hoarding is a devastating plight not only for the animal but also the hoarder. Gary Patronek, director of the Center for Animals and Public Policy at Tufts University, defines…
Ah, the beauty of Spring and Summer. The days are getting longer and the temperatures are growing warmer, and everyone just seems to have an extra bounce in their step…
If you are serious about training your dog or earning the Associate Dog Trainer (ADT) Diploma or the Dog Behaviorist Diploma, you can now do it online at E-Training for…
Your dogs diet is one of the most important factors when it comes to his or her health. You’ll probably already know that a puppy is better off eating puppy food, an adult – adult food and a senior dog, well you guessed it – senior food. But is there more we can do? Of course, there are slight differences in requirements for separate breeds but it’s the size of the breed, the size of the dog bowl and what goes into it that really matters.
For example, as puppies – larger breeds are prone to diseases that can be a result of energy, calcium and phosphorous dense diets. Hip Dysplasia is a common example of this. With this in mind, tailoring their diet to include less energy, calcium and phosphorous is a good idea. A simple way of thinking of this is that larger dogs are a lot slower and more cumbersome then their smaller counterparts and thus require less of certain nutrients per pound.