Fear Free Happy Homes
Reading Time: 3 minutes Outgoing. Confident. Friendly. Those three words size up Casey, my four-year-old orange tabby. I often say that Casey has yet to meet a stranger or feel as if he is in a strange place. But even though Casey assists me in our veterinarian-approved pet first aid/CPR classes and travels nicely inside his carrier on road […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes While the pet dog is snoozing on the couch after a meal, a walk, and a game of fetch, the service dog is on duty. She is always ready to work, even in the middle of night. Because of the nature of the work — looking for something amiss, something dangerous — these working dogs […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes Many years ago, my therapist friend, Anita, agreed to take care of my dog, Dexter, while my husband and I went on a trip. Anita had a great idea. Instead of leaving Dexter home while she saw her patients, she had asked each how they would feel about having a dog in the room during […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes Tank, my Lab, and I returned from our weekly agility class and plopped down in the living room to relax. Two hours later, I noticed that Tank was still panting as if he had just exercised. That didn’t seem right. I watched him carefully the next day and saw he was panting heavily even after […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes My beautiful 12-year-old black cat Rama has always taken life seriously. We know nothing about his background prior to adopting him nine years ago, but I clearly remember the shelter staff trying to steer me away from him. Rama moved like a small panther in the wild–nervous, with a bit of insecurity, and not open […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes As soon as I sit down, my cat Natasha becomes my yoga partner. She helps me stay focused when she swishes her tail under my nose while I’m in Half Moon pose or swats my ponytail while in Downward Facing Dog. She’s a master at shavasana, the relaxation pose at the end of practice. Cat-loving […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes Lily may never earn a Master Agility Champion title, but the little Chinese Crested already has attained her championship in agility fun. The 2-year-old has always been uncertain, says owner Michelle Atkinson of Anaheim, California. “At home in her environment she’s the boss, but outside her comfort zone she’s fearful and shy.” She proved that […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes If we share a home with a beloved cat, we’ll likely have the opportunity to engage in cat-care interactions that may be a challenge, a perceived challenge, or unfamiliar. If we are giving our cat a pill for the first time, we may have preconceptions about how the pill-giving event is going to transpire. We […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes Feeling a little more tired as you age? A little out of breath? The same is likely true for your aging dog or cat. The fact is that organs change with age, and those changes can affect not only day-to-day activities, but also the way our pets respond to anesthesia. Changes related to aging can […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes We’ve all heard that exercise lowers stress, but working as a dog trainer I also observed that the combination of physical and mental exercise does the job even better. Play is the answer, engaging your dog’s mind along with his muscles. Try to avoid over the top play. Getting a dog overly excited is hardly […]