Does Your Dog Get Car Sick? Car travel is one of the great joys of life for many dogs, while for others it is a small nightmare because they get nervous and queasy in the car. Sometimes dogs get nervous precisely because they get nauseated, which can even lead to vomiting in the car, further […]
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 […]
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 […]
Should You Let Your Dog Sleep in Your Bed? Many of us have strong feelings about whether we want Fido curled up in bed with us at our feet (or up on the pillow!), or whether just having him sleep in the bedroom is enough bonding for the mixed species “pack.” Now, scientists have looked […]
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 […]
Pork Bone treats are no treat for Pups The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a warning on “bone treats” for dogs, having recently received more than 70 reports of illnesses in dogs who ingested the “bone treats” derived from pigs. “A variety of commercially-available bone treats for dogs — including treats described as […]
Keeping Pets Cool Without Heating Up Your Energy Bill What is your pet’s “carbon paw print?” Are you hurting your pocketbook and the environment by running air conditioning for your dog or cat more than you really need to? Are there alternative ways to keep your pets cool without leaving the air conditioner running all […]
Cat Activity Puzzle: Bored Kitty? Give Her a High-Paying Job! If your cat is stuck in the life-saving, indoors-only lifestyle you can bet she is bored to distraction. This is true even if she is lucky enough to have a fully enclosed outdoor “catio” — because even that has its limitations on offering something for […]
Cold Dog Paws in Frosty Weather Protect your dog’s feet in the winter Since dogs have sweat glands in their toes, the moisture there can form into balls of ice when they abruptly leave a warm indoor environment and go into very cold temperatures. These ice balls can be so uncomfortable that a dog will […]
Do You Have to Bribe Your Dog? Or Do You Reward Her? There’s a general misunderstanding floating around about what “positive reinforcement” means in training, and the use of food rewards that often accompanies it. There are some “old fashioned” trainers who dismiss reward-based learning concepts as being “bribery” and think a dog should do […]
