Livestock Guardian Dogs: Characteristics, Breeds, and Roles
Livestock guardian dogs (LGDs) are an ancient class of dogs whose sole purpose is to guard livestock such as sheep and goats. (Livestock guardians are very different from herding dogs such as Border Collies and Australian Shepherds, which help herdsmen move their stock from place to place.) First brought to the U.S. by Spanish settlers in the 1500s, livestock guardian dogs were nevertheless virtually unknown by most American ranchers until the late 1970s.
Is Your Dog Aging?
A quietly shocking truth sneaks up on the luckiest dog people, and it’s this: Nothing compares to the companionship of a senior dog.
Top Calls to Animal Poison Control
The APCC received more than 451,000 calls from pet parents last year who needed immediate answers: Could what their dog gobbled down cause a life-threatening problem? The organization crunched its data and just released its annual list of the top ten toxins that pets managed to ingest the most.
Best Dog Food Toppers
Dog food toppers are an excellent way to enhance your dog’s meals, whether to add variety to mealtimes, provide additional nutrition, or support specific health conditions. When it comes to toppers, you can choose from simple, homemade additions like lightly cooked meats and vegetables to commercially available wet and freeze-dried toppers designed to provide targeted nutritional support.
How to Teach a Dog to Sit
Sit is one of the first things many people teach their dogs, and it’s a helpful trick. It’s the foundational skill for a sit-stay...
Questions to Ask When Adopting a Rescue Dog
The fun part of adopting a rescue dog is figuring out which one speaks to you. Here are some questions you should ask that will help you to figure out which rescue dog is the right one for you.
How to Get Rid of Nasal Mites in Dogs
Nasal mites in dogs are unusual mites that can be responsible for sneezing, difficulty breathing, and other hard to diagnose respiratory problems.
Why Alpha Dog Training is Outdated
Outdated practices and philosophies of dog training, such as dominance training or the need to be the “alpha” pack leader persist, despite being debunked by modern science. Let’s take a brief look into the history of dog training to understand where practices like alpha dog training originated.
Train a Dog to Ring a Bell
Although many dog parents want to train their dog to ring a bell to go outside, this is an option that dogs most frequently learn to use for alternate purposes. Especially if you combine pottying with walks or if you have a fenced yard.
Do Dogs Have a Sense of Time?
Dogs use natural circadian rhythms based on light cycles for much of their version of telling time. Dogs also tell time by the routines of humans in their lives. Waking, working, school, recreational activities, etc. all have telltale actions and accessories that help the dogs that we live with know what might happen next.
How to Spot Fleas Before They Infest Your Dog
While a few fleas are unlikely to seriously injure a dog, a severe flea infestation can lead to serious health problems, and in extreme cases, dogs can die from complications. Puppies, senior dogs, and dogs with weakened immune systems are particularly vulnerable to these complications.
How To Train a Dog to Use a Pee Pad
How you train a dog to use a peed pad changes when you are training a mature dog
How To Bond With Your Dog
Building a relationship with your dog takes time and effort. Although it’s plenty of fun to bond with a new dog, your four-legged friend might not adore you instantly.
How to Choose Flea Treatment for a Puppy
While all dogs are susceptible to flea infestations, puppies less than 8 weeks old are particularly vulnerable to fleas, which can cause intense itching, skin irritation, and even more serious health problems such as anemia due to blood loss.
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What If You Get the Wrong Dog?
It’s a sad fact (but a fact nevertheless) that sometimes people adopt a dog or buy a puppy that turns out to quite unsuited for life with those people.