Do Animals Grieve?
"There is a cycle of love and death that shapes the lives of those who choose to travel in the company of animals. It is a cycle unlike any other. To those who have never lived through its turnings and walked its rocky path, our willingness to give our hearts with full knowledge that they will ...
A Simple Walk: Training a Puppy
There've been days this long, long winter — days when the sun hadn't been out in weeks, the wind was shrieking and the mercury read 35 but the wind chill was a bit less — that I wondered what in the world I was doing out walking my puppy all over the streets of my town.
Oona is just over ...
Car Woes: A Tale of Botched Socialization
Poor shivering, quivering Huckleberry. Not because it's cold out; she couldn't care less about that. This is fear. Huckleberry is about to experience something that makes most dogs jump for joy, and she's beside herself with fright: She's going for a ride in the car.
Part of this is ...
Cooperative Towel Drying Your Dog – Part 1
Meet Cali, the Jack Russell Terrier. Cali is a client's dog, who came to us for training after she bit three different people in less then a month. She was approximately 18 months when she started training with us. We were her "last hope" to keep her alive.
Cali's initial training started ...
Ground Scratching: Why Does My Dog Do It?
Why do some dogs scratch with their paws after they eliminate?
I recently read a discussion on Facebook about the meaning of this dog behavior. Some people’s speculations about the reasons for the behavior included:
Avoiding something or another behavior (displacement)
Expressing ...
From Bait Dog to Happy Pet
By Catherine Clark
He is tall, dark and handsome. His name is Jacob. And he is a five-and-a-half year-old black Labrador retriever. Jacob was my fourth foster through Labrador Retriever Rescue of Florida and was just over a year old when I began fostering him. One of my first duties as per ...
Don’t Buy That!
The other day I was not able to get out to buy groceries, so I asked a friend if he’d mind picking up some items for me. I handed him a list which looked something like this:
Don't buy the following:
Bananas
Cauliflower
Cereal
Soy milk
Swiss cheese
Cherry soda
So my wonderful friend ...
Train Your Dog Early and Often!
If you got a puppy around the holidays, now is the perfect time to start training classes. The prime time for socializing is before 16 weeks of age. By 12 weeks, your pup has received most or all of his vaccinations. He is generally physically and mentally mature enough to really benefit from ...