Learn to recognize signs of (and then reduce) your dog’s stress.

by Pat Miller

It’s difficult to see in black and white, but what looks a bit like an icicle drooping out of this little dog’s mouth is, in fact, a long rope of drool. He had planted himself by the gate of a dog park and was clearly ready to leave, although his owner hadn’t noticed.

Recently, there was a video clip of a two-legged dog making the e-mail rounds. Faith, a gold-colored Lab mix, is missing her front legs due to a congenital deformity. Several people sent me the clip with their comments about how wonderful it was that the dog could walk and hop around on her two hind legs and lead a relatively normal life.

I watched the clip a number of times, and found the footage more disturbing than uplifting. I was concerned that every person who sent me the clip thought Faith looked “happy.” I wondered if we were watching entirely different videos! What I saw was a dog who…

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