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A special, perfect dog food for every dog? That’s what the pet food industry would like you to believe; that’s the direction taken by most of the large pet food makers – foods for tall dogs, small dogs, fat dogs, old dogs . . . you get the picture. The tactic must work, because all the biggest companies do it, and they wouldn’t make so many foods if they weren’t selling well. Dog owners should be aware, though, that there are actually only two types of products that provide legally defined “complete and balanced nutrition” for dogs. These are “adult maintenance” products formulated for adult dogs, and “growth and reproduction” (also known as “all life stages”) products formulated to meet the increased nutritional requirements of pregnant and nursing females and puppies.

An examination of veterinarian-prescribed dog foods that purport to prevent or treat disease, and over-the-counter foods that promise to "promote" improved health. Medical diets are the ones formulated for dogs with health problems, from vexing but garden-variety conditions such as itchy skin or digestive issues, to more serious health problems such as cancer or kidney disease. Some of these foods are what we'll call veterinary diets" (available only from veterinarians); the rest are over-the-counter (OTC) products

When we first adopt that pudgy puppy, or spring that delinquent adolescent canine out of a shelter, our new dog's senior years and final days are far from our thoughts. But if we're lucky enough to enjoy a long life together, eventually, we'll spend a number of months or years caring for him as a senior dog - and sometimes, a challenging and emotionally difficult time seeing him through to a peaceful death. Fortunately, there are many resources available to help us support our beloved canine companions - even those who have been diagnosed with chronic or terminal illness - in maintaining the best possible quality of life before they die. Hospice care, or "pawspice," the term coined by Alice Villalobos, DVM, former President of the American Association of Human Animal Bond Veterinarians (AAHABV) and founding member of the Veterinary Cancer Society, is supportive assistance in evaluating and managing our pets' quality of life as they near the end of their days, a time period that can span from days to months.

Mercury, my Chihuahua-mix, turned 17 years old this year, making him (by far) the oldest dog amongst all of my friend’s dogs. When people...

The other neighbor who owns a Beagle had seen and spoken to the woman who owned the three large, powerful dogs who attacked Brando. For reasons of his own, he had apparently told her angrily that animal control was on the way and they were going to seize her dogs. By the time the officers got there, she had put her dogs in a truck and fled the scene.

You thought you were doing a good thing for your mature dog when you adopted a new puppy. She'll love him!" you assured yourself. "It will keep her young and active." Rather than loving him

I haven’t spent a day in my local shelter for six weeks or more. I’ve been super busy, and then I fostered a really cute, really unsocialized dog for a while, which took up most of any extra time I had for a few weeks. Saturdays are usually a big adoption day at the shelter, and there is only one other volunteer who helps with adoptions on Saturdays. When I heard that she wasn’t going to be at the shelter, I decided I’d better go, even though I had several invitations for fun events and a ton of work to do. I walked into the shelter at 11:30; it opens at 11 on Saturdays but I was running late -- plus I needed to buy some dog treats on the way. When I walked in, the shelter’s head veterinary technician caught my eye. “Can you go hang out with the lady with the Golden out in the outdoor runs?” she asked. “I’ll be out there in a few minutes.” No clue as to why she wants me out there, but I’m here to help.

Depending on who you talk to, “hunting dog” means very different things. The only thing in common may very well be that the human end of the leash historically toted a gun in pursuit of some type of “game.” The game in question was not after-dinner parlor entertainment, but the entree on your dinner table. That might be pheasant, duck, or squirrel. Through hundreds of years, the real-life pursuit of food for one’s family has morphed into a competitive sport for people who rely upon Safeway to meet their nutritional needs.

Only rarely does a totally new genre of dog toy appear on the market, and it almost never happens that a new genre of toys is introduced with more than just one or two representative products. This rare event was recently engineered by Sweden’s Nina Ottosson, with the introduction of her Zoo Active Games, a line of 10 novel interactive dog toys (and a few cat toys!). As a huge fan of interactive toys for dogs, I was eager to get my paws on as many of the toys as I could, and see if they were as fun for dogs as they looked! The Zoo Active toys are available in the United States from only a select few distributors, including Paw Lickers Bakery and Boutique, owned and operated by Marianne Gage and her son David in Greenfield Center, New York. Fortunately for me, when Whole Dog Journal editor Nancy Kerns contacted David to inquire whether we could test the toys, he generously offered to send me seven of the products to try out. I’ve been introducing the toys to my own dogs for a few months, so I knew they had great “fun potential,” and looked forward to an opportunity to try them out on a bunch of other dogs, too.

Old age should not be viewed as a downhill slide to inevitable suffering and death. Nor should chronic disease be perceived as part of growing old. Each year hundreds of elderly dogs are put to sleep prematurely – not because they are deathly ill, but because their guardians can’t get past their own fears of watching their companions grow old and die a natural death. Granted, it’s difficult to live in anticipation of a companion’s death, but with all things considered, this is really our problem, not theirs.

Taking your dog with you on a long car trip this summer? Then she’ll benefit from these easy acupressure techniques, which help prevent joint stiffness and muscle soreness. The ancient healing art of acupressure offers our senior friends a lot of relief from the aches and pains of aging. It is very common for a dog to suffer the same difficulties we do as their years advance.

Have you ever bought a cute but pricey item in a pet supply store, only to have it fail within days – or hours?...