I never thought I’d own any kind of Labrador retriever or lab mix. Working at a kennel for seven years and dealing with all the hyper, untrained labs, I never wanted one. Plus, it seemed like every other person owned a lab and that made them boring to me. But when I searched hundreds of …
I don’t have my own kids (just a needy mutt and a very prissy cat), but I bring up the issue of children and dogs because there are so many preschool and grade school aged kids in my apartment complex. They have no fear or respect for animals. They obviously have dogs of their own …
I have made training mistakes with my dog. I thought a little more about this after yesterday’s post where I talked about controlling my dog at the dog park. We’ve all screwed up in one way or another while training our dogs. But the good news is dogs live in the moment. Today is today …
Ace decided he wanted to wear my half marathon medal. I thought that was OK, since he deserves it just as much as I do. He didn’t get to run with me today, but boy would he have liked to!
One of my mutt’s favorite things to do is sneak a treat out of the cat box. Yup, my dog likes to eat cat shit, along with other gross things. Ace is far from the perfect dog, and I am far from the perfect owner. Here are 10 other things my mutt gets away with: …
Teeter terror: The hardest agility obstacle My mutt and I have been going to agility classes for about eight months. The first couple weeks, Ace had no issues with the teeter totter. He ran across it with no fear. He ran across it so fast that my instructor encouraged me to get him to slow …
This is Sophie’s blogging debut (pictured below). Sophie is now 2 years old, but look at her as a puppy. There are not many dogs cuter than a springer spaniel puppy. She belongs to my parents, and Ace and I visited her last weekend. Ace and Sophie have a great time whenever they are together. …
When violence occurs between family members, pets are often victims of abuse. I read a lot of articles about pets, but one in particular struck me this week because it touched on an issue I have never thought about before – pets battered during domestic violence. The article in this month’s (June 2008) “O, The …
10 ways to get your dog to come when called such as making it a fun game and only calling your dog if you’re doing something positive.
Here are 10 commands or cues every dog owner should work to perfect with his or her dog beyond the basics. Of course, the words you decide to use are not as important as how your dog responds to the commands. Other words could be substituted for my suggestions. For example, the word “give” would work …