Fear Free Happy Homes
Reading Time: 3 minutes Last fall, my husband and I lost our 11-year-old German Shepherd Magical-Dawg in September, and Seren-Kitty in December just shy of her 22nd birthday. The sadness ambushed our emotions for weeks and months. It also haunted Karma-Kat, and he slept with Magic’s collar for a week between bouts of crying, increased clawing, and other attention-seeking […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes When my late Greyhound, Savanna, was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, her oncologist advised amputation of her rear leg and chemotherapy. My husband and I were anxious about how our 10-and-a-half-year-old dog would respond to losing a leg, but we decided to give surgery a chance to save her life. It was the right choice. Savanna had […]
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 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 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 […]
Reading Time: 5 minutes Anyone who spends much time on Instagram has seen them: cats in backpacks, cats hiking up trails, cats on leashes enjoying the wild outdoors with their people. There’s even a dedicated hashtag for these kitties: #adventurecat. In fact, a whole book was written about these intrepid felines. Adventure Cats: Living 9 Lives to the Fullest […]
Reading Time: < 1 minutes Noodles gets the “crazies,” the zooms-at-three-a.m. stuff. Dusk and dawn are favorite times, when the predator is on alert. She thunders up and down stairs, races down halls, or gnaws on your head, on your nose, on toes. She’s after prey, whether imaginary or just you. Cattens also knock things over, for the fun of […]