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Home / Archives for April 2014
1. Poor breeding practices. Choosing a good dog from a breeder starts with a thorough investigation of the breeder’s practices. Find out how the breeder chooses which dogs to mate together. He should be selecting breed pairs based on genetics, meaning that the breeder looks for dogs who carry certain genetic traits and mates them with dogs who are most likely to replicate the desired traits or to eliminate problematic traits.
For example, if the breeder is trying to end up with puppies who...
Assistance dogs are those animals who give differently-abled people the chance to be more independent in daily living. The three main classes of assistance dogs are guide dogs for the visually impaired, hearing dogs for the hearing impaired, and service dogs for those with physical or mental / cognitive limitations.
Assistance dogs can help people with mobility limitations.
Most assistance dogs are donated to a regional office of a training organization like Guide Dogs of America, Dogs for...
The weather is getting warmer, and that can mean only one thing: it’s time to take your dog to the great outdoors for some sporting activities. If you have a purebred dog, the American Kennel Club offers many options for you and your dog to show off the natural talents for which they were bred. In our next issue, we’ll look at the sports for everybody’s favorite breed, the mutt-i-gree.
The highest level of Rally, known as Excellent, may have as many as 20 stations and handlers are...
Although it would be nice if your vet could immediately spot potential problems with your dog during his or her annual check-up, the fact of the matter is that 15 minutes a year is not enough for the vet to see changes that could indicate an illness. As your dog’s guardian, you have a responsibility to spend enough time with your dog to give the vet sufficient information to keep the animal healthy.
A Veterinary Checkup
Be Your Dog’s Advocate
In her book Speaking for Spot Dr. Nancy Kay, a...
Sleep 17 hours or so, eat a few tasty morsels, play outside a little, cuddle all night in a comfy bed. How could this be stressful? You might be surprised at the things that can cause your dog anxiety, but if you don’t educate yourself about it, you’re missing out on an important way to help your dog be even more comfortable.
Confinement can be a stressor for your dog.
Spend just a few minutes thinking about life from your dog’s point of view. Every morning, his best friend gets up, throws...