Archives: Pets

Having planned, consistent, shared activities with me enhances your dog’s bond with you

No person aside from your parents will love you more than your dog.  No matter what, your dog will always go bonkers the moment you come home.  That love will never be in question, as you are their world. Like children, dogs thrive best when they have a consistent routine.  Also like children, dogs thrive best with abundant, consistent, shared activities with their...

When is a dog considered a senior and why is it important to know this?

We must consider the life span of a dog in comparison to ours to understand how much faster they age than we do.  We should also consider the size of the dog when considering the aging process, as smaller dogs generally have longer life spans and larger dogs generally have shorter life spans.  Thus, from a general standpoint, the larger the dog, the faster they age. Breed...

Exercise is as important to a dog’s mental health, as it is to his physical health

The physical benefits of regular exercise for dogs are numerous. Exercise reduces obesity, supports a robust circulatory and respiratory systems, maintains vigorous joints, and promotes lean muscle mass.  The process of exercise also hones and supports the optimal functions of smell, hearing, vision, and cognitive function. In enhancing all of these physiological functions,...

There is no reason why dogs should still be contracting heartworm disease!

In our day and age, there is no reason why any dog should be contracting heartworm disease.  For decades, heartworm disease has been among the most safely and effectively preventable diseases in dogs, yet we continue to see cases with regularity. The domestic dog is a definitive host of the heartworm parasite.  Once a dog is infected with heartworm larvae, they will mature...

Dogs respond to rewards, not punishments

I remember when I was a kid, the traditional way of house training our dogs was to drag them to the spot where they soiled and yell “no!”  Sadly, many others took it further and even spanked the dog.  What we did not know, is that this technique was not only inhumane, but it was also utterly useless. The dog does not feel any correlation between the punishment and the...

Dogs go out of their way to hide pain and illness from their human pet parents

Dogs may be incredibly domesticated animals that through tens of thousands of years of domestication and evolution, have become a lot more like us…but they are still at their core animals that retain many animal instincts.  One of those instincts that commonly fool human dog parents, is their animalistic tendency to hide pain and/or illness. Consider what animals in...

Dogs overheat much easier than people

Aside from having a fur coat that insulates dog’s to core temperatures higher than humans, they also lack an integral self-cooling component that humans have – the ability to sweat.  As a human’s core temperature begins to rise to levels above ideal homeostasis, apocrine glands deep in the skin excrete sweat.  Sweat cools the body as it evaporates from the skin in a...

Dogs need ample time to sniff!

If you’re a dog parent you are probably familiar with the constant stopping during walks so they can sniff and you’ll often respond to this by nudging them along.  However, for a dog, a walk fulfills so much more than exercise and going potty – very important needs to be sure – but sniffing is very important for dogs. Your dog’s sense of smell is nothing short of a...

Many dogs fear pets to the head from strangers

Although some dogs tolerate head pets from people they do not know, most instinctively feel uncomfortable when a hand reaches down from above their head. If you scroll through social media, you’ll easily see examples of distressed dogs suffering through pets on the head. To verify how your dog feels, pay attention to your his body language when an unfamiliar person attempts...

Beware of hidden holiday dangers to your pets

You’re in full swing of the holiday season and while we want you to enjoy it you and you family might not realize the hazards that are around for your pets. In fact, the ASPCA Pet Poison Helpline gets more calls about potential poisonings at this time of the year than any other. So, what should you be on the lookout for? Food Onions and garlic: Whether they’re fresh,...