Craving a Pet
Scratching the itch isn’t always the right response. Rachael had just returned to school at the University of Colorado and was excited, as a sophomore, to be living off-campus in a shared house with five roommates. Amid the excitement of a new year, though, there was the underlying angst of COVID and an ounce of homesickness. The thought entered her...
Lifetime Care Planning for Pets
Do you have contingency plans for your companion animals? I have fretted about what will happen to my animals—two dogs and a cat—if my husband and I both meet some unexpected end, and until yesterday I thought I had done enough to prepare for an unexpected emergency. After all, we’ve talked to family who might in put into a position...
6 Best Holiday Gifts for Your Dog
These 6 gifts don't cost much and will last all year Time. I can almost guarantee that quality time spent with you is more precious to your dog than a new puff coat or a nail art kit or a bag of freeze-dried liver. It is too easy to get caught up in our daily busy lives, and struggle just to...
A Decent Minimum of Care for Companion Animals
Pets are routinely denied basic veterinary care and this is not okay! From stem cell transplants, to prosthetic limbs, to linear accelerators and radiotherapy cancer treatments, the range of veterinary services available to sick or disabled animals is growing exponentially. On the face of it, the expansion of services and treatments is a good thing, for animals and caregivers and...
Dog Dementia: What It Looks Like and What Can Done About It
Dogs, like many other nonhuman animals and humans, suffer cognitive decline. A few days ago I received an email from a friend, Rod, that read: "You've met my pal Jack who celebrates his 12th birthday next week. As of late, say the last couple months, Jack has awoken after maybe 30 minutes of seemingly sound sleep. He comes awake in a start,...
Giving Pets as Gifts
Should you or shouldn’t you? One of the hallmark scenes of Christmas is an adorable little puppy jumping out of a brightly wrapped box under the Christmas tree, sending a pajama-clad child into paroxysms of joy. Yet despite the warm veneer, this scene makes many animal lovers go cold. Animal welfare organizations are, for the most part, adamant that animals should...
Can Dogs Eat Mangoes? I Need To Know For Sure
Can Dogs Eat Mangoes And What Are Mangoes? Mangoes are a healthy, nutritious and delicious fruit with a high nutritional value. Mangoes have been grown in Southeast Asia and India for over 4,000 years. Although supermarkets tend to sell only one variety there are hundreds, each with its own shape, size, taste and color. Mango (Mangifera indica) is sometimes called the...
Can Dogs Eat Grapes? This Is What Vets Recommend
Can Dogs Eat Grapes? What You Need To Know Most dogs will eat anything you give them whether it's good for them or not. Some people are like this too. To some extent this accounts for the fact that more than two thirds of American adults are overweight or obese. Anyway I digress. The simple truth is that our best buddies...
6 Facts About How Dogs Think
Scientist Marc Bekoff challenges these 6 common misconceptions about dogs Humans have had a love affair with dogs extending over thousands of years, and our passion continues to blossom. More households than not include a companion dog, and nearly everywhere you go, dogs will be there too. Dogs have never enjoyed so much attention from the media, either, and books...
Managing your dog’s weight and how to keep it under control
For many of us pooch lovers, managing our dog’s weight is a constant battle with the scales. But that struggle can go both ways. Heavily food-motivated pups can quickly pile on the podge, while fussy eaters can sometimes be leaner than they should be. But as dog obesity rises, it’s important we get our pooch’s weight under control to...
10 Ways to Make Your Dog Happier and More Content
We can help our dogs thrive in human environments by letting them be dogs. During the research for our book Unleashing Your Dog, ethologist Marc Bekoff and I asked a bunch of people who love their dogs what they consider their essential ethical obligation toward their canine companion—what it means, to them, to be a responsible dog guardian and their give their...
Do Dogs Go To Heaven?
Would You Want To Go To Heaven If There Were No Dogs There? .ugb-eb36a50 .ugb-blockquote__quote{width:70px !important;height:70px !important}.ugb-eb36a50.ugb-blockquote{margin-top:1px !important;margin-bottom:-49px !important;padding-top:0px !important;padding-bottom:0px !important}“If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.” Does this expression of undying love sound familiar? It was coined by the American movie star Will Rogers. As a dog lover I...