Fear Free Happy Homes
Reading Time: 2 minutes With social distancing and stay-at-home orders across most of the country during the coronavirus pandemic, school and library “Read to a Dog” programs that boost children’s literacy are temporarily on hold. But there’s an innovative way for kids to still benefit from reading to nonjudgmental listeners: reading to their own pets at home. The nonprofit […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes Everyone who shares a home with a dog deals with poop on a daily basis. While it may not be the most appealing topic, learning about your dog’s “output” offers important insight into his health. Not only his food, but also your dog’s environment and emotional state, affects how his body works. Fear, anxiety, and […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes It’s hard for me to believe that my dog, Chilly, is already 10 years old. It’s easy to think he’s as young on the inside as he looks on the outside. I just thought it was old age, which I am sure many pet owners like you have thought. However, a few recent changes in […]
Reading Time: 4 minutes Dogs find certain encounters so memorable that learning happens via a single experience — especially if it’s novel, intense, startling, or incredibly rewarding. Sometimes it’s hilarious, as this headline from The Onion perfectly describes — “Dog Takes Pilgrimage to Holy Site Where It Once Found Rotisserie Chicken on Side of Road.” Often, though, a single […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes When do you spay or neuter a dog or cat? For years, you’ve probably heard that the best age for this reproductive surgery is six months, but times change. Veterinarians and pet owners are taking a closer look at when it should occur. And the answer isn’t what you might think. For kittens, the answer […]
Reading Time: 4 minutes More and more veterinarians are taking low-stress and Fear Free approaches to care. But as pet owners, we can’t leave it all to them. It’s equally important to do our part to make health care less stressful for our dogs. That starts at home – and it’s really not hard. You may think your dog […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes “Stop copying me!” I’d yell at my sister, next to me in the car backseat. “Stop copying me!” she’d whine, then stick her tongue out at me. Mercy, she was aggravating. My father would tell us both to be quiet. We’d glare at each other across the imaginary demarcation line in the middle of the […]
Reading Time: 5 minutes Having us shelter in place at our homes is a dream come true for dogs. What happens, though, when people head back to the office? This is a unique experience so there’s no data to suggest how pets will respond, but I suggest we’ll see a significant uptick in separation distress among the following populations […]
Reading Time: 5 minutes When we think of exercising our dogs, we tend to think of going all out – long, brisk walks, throwing a ball as far as possible, vigorous romping with other dogs. But in the life of nearly all dogs there will be circumstances where that’s not possible, including when your dog is recovering from injury […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes Medicinal hemp products have not been subject to rigorous FDA oversight, but many pet product companies tout multiple health benefits for pets. In addition to potential health claims, the anxiety-reducing potential makes it an attractive “natural” option for pet parents with fearful pets. Rob Silver, DVM, a holistic veterinarian and founder of http://nurseyourpet.com, and veterinary pain […]