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Dogs Travel & Safety

Have Dog, Will Travel: Tips for Flights

Article

Reading Time: 3 minutes Adopting my first small dog – a 9-pound Poodle named Peach – brought many pleasant surprises, including the chance to travel with a dog on an airplane. When I bought our first plane tickets to visit my parents, I made sure to buy a nonstop flight to keep our travel time as short as possible. […]

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Equines Shelters & Fostering Travel & Safety

10 Reasons to Microchip Your Horse

Article

Reading Time: 4 minutes For over 20 years, rescue groups, breeders, and pet owners have been microchipping dogs and cats to help ensure lost pets make their way home. Now the horse industry is catching up. Although a horse is rarely “lost” in the sense that you’d find a runaway clip-clopping down your street, there are other important reasons […]

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Cats Travel & Safety

Can Your Cat Safely Chase, Kill, or Eat Insects?

Article

Reading Time: 4 minutes Insects, from your cat’s point of view, are a great opportunity for a lively chase and hunt. Crawling insects can keep a cat entranced for hours, or minutes, if the cat decides to pounce and eat. If the bug has wings – even better. I’ve seen my cats gleefully leap, catch, and swallow countless flies. […]

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Dogs Travel & Safety

Every Which Way but Loose: 7 Reasons to Keep Your Dog on Leash

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Reading Time: 2 minutes A worrisome trend that began during the pandemic is that more people are walking dogs off leash, even in crowded urban areas.  There are lots of concerns regarding this craze, but safety is number one. Here are seven reasons to keep dogs on a leash: Safety First: It’s true that dogs can learn to navigate […]

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Activities & Enrichment Dogs Travel & Safety

5 Signs You Need to Leave the Dog Park

Article

Reading Time: 3 minutes Bring up the subject of dog parks to a group of dog trainers and watch their heads explode. You’ll get a slew of opinions, most unfavorable. While I confess I have occasionally rolled my eyes at the topic, I don’t hate dog parks. They can be a good place for some dogs to run off […]

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Cats Dogs Life at Home Travel & Safety

Is It Okay for Pets to Eat Cicadas? Mostly, the Bugs are Harmless

Article

Reading Time: 2 minutes Depending on where you happen to live, your neighborhood may seem like a horror movie come to life. Millions of cicadas from Brood X, or the 17-year cicadas, will swarm and create a cacophony louder than several jackhammers. They are annoying to us but otherwise harmless, although some dogs consider them an opportunity for a […]

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Activities & Enrichment Travel & Safety

Moving from a Small Town to a Big City? How to Help Your Dog Adjust

Article

Reading Time: 3 minutes When my husband and I moved from a Colorado mountain town to Denver in 2018, our biggest concern was how our Lab mix, Rio, would adapt. The outdoorsy dog spent the first seven years of his life hiking off leash on trails a block from our home, swimming in alpine lakes, and running free in […]

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Cats Fears & Anxieties Life at Home Travel & Safety

Ways to Make Your Cat’s Move to a New Home Safe and Stress-Free

Article

Reading Time: 4 minutes When I was a young woman, people who lived on our street moved away. But about a week after they drove off in a moving truck, neighbors discovered they’d left behind their pregnant cat – who promptly gave birth to a litter of kittens. It made me furious that someone would abandon a cat so […]

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Cats Dogs Life at Home Other Travel & Safety

Bag It! Protect Pets From Choking Hazard

Article

Reading Time: 2 minutes This doesn’t happen every day, but it does happen, and some pet parents are unaware of the danger presented by plastic bags to companion animals, from curious ferrets to dogs and cats. Veterinarians are busier removing dog toys or rubber bands from all-too-curious dogs, cats, and ferrets who have ingested them compared to dealing with […]

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Cats Dogs Other Travel & Safety

New Airline Rules Regarding Emotional Support Animals: What You Need to Know

Article

Reading Time: 3 minutes Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, I was a frequent flyer. Sometimes I even traveled with my little Poodle, Peach, in her carrier after paying the required pet fee. As a pet writer and dog advocate, I grew increasingly concerned by the dramatic increase in fake service dogs and alleged emotional support animals (ESAs). It was […]