Fear Free Happy Homes
Reading Time: 3 minutes You see them everywhere, and you may think kinda cool, a dog walker with anywhere from four to a dozen and even more dogs all strolling together in what are sometimes marketed as “power walks” or “pack leader walks.” A more accurate term may be “precarious walks.” Dog walkers can be a valuable benefit, assuming […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes The idea of having an open lawn—a requirement in some communities for aesthetic reasons—and still being able to keep your dog from roaming is enticing. Electric, in-ground fence systems cost less to install than traditional fencing and they may meet the requirements of your homeowners association. But the cost to your dog can be much […]
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. […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]