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The best in health, wellness, and positive training from America’s leading dog experts

Dogs eating chocolate was the fourth most common reason for calls to Animal Poison Control.

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.
Knowing the signs of heart failure in dogs can lead to a better prognosis for an aging dog.

Signs of Heart Failure in Dogs

The first symptoms of congestive heart failure in dogs are subtle. Your dog may seem less active and not eating well. He may be coughing a bit. Don’t dismiss these signs as the dog is just getting old. These changes could indicate congestive heart failure, and the earlier it’s diagnosed the better the prognosis.
Barn hunt for dogs is an all breed sport that allows dogs to exercise their hunting and tracking instincts.

Barn Hunt for Dogs

Want a fun sport that is physically and mentally exhausting for your dog, uses your dog’s instincts, and is filled with great camaraderie? Then...
Great Pyrenees are a breed of livestock guardian dogs that also make good family dogs.

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.
Dogs do have a sense of time, and can tell when you are behind schedule.

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.
When is flea season? It can be all year round if you don't stay up to date on flea treatments.

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.
Training a puppy to use a pee pad is different from training an older dog.

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
Play and training are both how you bond with your 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.
Dog dental insurance isn't really necessary for young dogs, but many dogs develop dental issues by their 3rd year.

Does Your Dog Need Dental Insurance?

By the time they’re three years old, most American dogs have an active dental disease, and its treatment can be expensive. Dog dental insurance might save thousands of dollars in dental care.
Puppy flea treatments are important because puppies are more vulnerable to fleas, and to the diseases they carry.

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.
Medicated dog shampoos can cure a dog of skin infections and other conditions, but you should be aware of what is in them.

How to Choose the Best Medicated Shampoo for Your Dog

If you can successfully treat your dog’s skin problem with a medicated shampoo, it’s better for the dog, antibiotic resistance protocols, and for your wallet. The first step is to know what condition you’re dealing with.
Bloodshot eyes in dogs can have a number of causes from allergies to serious eye infections.

How to Treat Bloodshot Eyes in Dogs

A dog’s eyes can appear red or bloodshot for many reasons—some of which are minor and will quickly resolve, and others which are much more serious.
Training with treats is an effective means of positive reinforcement training so long the treats are not a bribe.

Positive Reinforcement Dog Training: 6 Tips for Training With Treats

Training with treats is cornerstone of positive reinforcement dog training. It’s dog-friendly, it’s fun and the basics are easy for trainers of all ages and skill levels. At its core, the concept is simple: feed behaviors you want to see happen more often.
While Doodles typically share some traits with their Poodle parent, there are no guarantees regarding which traits they will inherit. Credit: Madeline Block

Why are Doodle Dogs so Popular?

The first popularized Doodle was a Labrador Retriever and Poodle mix, bred in 1989 by Wally Conron as a guide dog prospect. He aimed to create a dog with the temperament of a Lab, but the non-shedding coat of a Standard Poodle for a woman who needed a guide dog, but whose husband had dog allergies. In a 2014 interview with Psychology Today, Conron said that he regrets popularizing Doodle breeding. "I opened a Pandora's box, that's what I did,” he said.

Latest Blog

When a Cup is Not a Cup

I’m infamous among my friends and colleagues for asking people if they are aware that their dogs are overweight. It’s because I have seen firsthand how fat dogs suffer in their senior years when they are too heavy to exercise without pain! And their burden of carrying extra pounds makes the ordinary aches and pains of arthritis even worse. AND YET, I have to give myself a stern talking-to from time to time about helping my older dog stay trim.