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Activities & Enrichment Dogs Fears & Anxieties Life at Home Training & Grooming Travel & Safety

Keep Calm and Kennel On

Article

Reading Time: 3 minutes Relaxing comfortably in a crate or carrier is a critical canine skill with many applications. A dog’s crate is an important management tool that assists in building better behaviors and deterring unwanted antics such as chewing furniture instead of appropriate toys or eliminating on the rug instead of outdoors. A kennel is also a protected […]

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Activities & Enrichment Cats Dogs Fears & Anxieties Life at Home Senior Pets Training & Grooming

How to Help Pets Adapt to Vision Loss

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Reading Time: 3 minutes Connecticut resident Kathye O’Brien Anstis and her family were concerned when Riley, their 5-year-old Beagle mix, started bumping into their legs – it was as if he couldn’t see. They took him to a veterinary ophthalmologist who confirmed that Riley had lost his eyesight and diagnosed him with Sudden Acquired Retinal Degeneration Syndrome (SARDS), a […]

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Dogs Fears & Anxieties Life at Home Travel & Safety Veterinary Care

Re-connecting with Your Best Friend: Understanding Canine Motion Sickness

Article

small dog pomaranian spitz in a travel bag on board plane

Reading Time: 3 minutes As the summer approaches, many of us will be traveling to fun places and hoping to bring our dogs with us. In fact, a recent study showed many pet parents travel with their pets every year!1  It turns out most of us take our dogs with us on daily errands (bank, gas station, coffee, etc), […]

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Dogs Fears & Anxieties Life at Home

5 Ways to Make Your Dog’s Fear Worse

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Reading Time: 3 minutes You realize your dog is fearful. You want her to get better, but could you also be making the problem worse? Unfortunately, this situation is all too common. Here are five ways you could accidentally be making your dog’s fear worse. Waiting to Treat It You hope your dog will “outgrow” the problem. Fear doesn’t […]

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Cats Dogs Fears & Anxieties Other Veterinary Care

Take the Panic Out of Handling a Pet Emergency

Article

Reading Time: 3 minutes Lisa Lippman, DVM, knows the value of always acquiring knowledge. That may explain why in addition to her skills in house call medicine, general practice, and emergency veterinary medicine, she made the decision to complete a two-day course to become a pet first aid/CPR instructor. Her reason is simple: “In a veterinary clinic, medicines and […]

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Cats Fears & Anxieties Life at Home

Stressed? You Might Be Stressing Your Cat as Well

Article

Reading Time: 3 minutes We all know about studies showing that sharing life with a pet has beneficial effects on human health. Even a few minutes of petting a cat or dog can lower blood pressure and release mood-enhancing endorphins. A University of Minnesota study found that cat companionship may reduce the risk of heart attack for people by […]

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Dogs Fears & Anxieties Life at Home Travel & Safety Veterinary Care

Re-Connecting with Your Best Friend: Understanding Canine Motion Sickness

Article

small dog pomaranian spitz in a travel bag on board plane

Reading Time: 3 minutes As the summer approaches, many of us will be traveling to fun and hoping to bring our dogs with us. In fact, a recent study showed many pet parents travel with their pets every year!1  It turns out most of us take our dogs with us on daily errands (bank, gas station, coffee, etc), and […]

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Cats Fears & Anxieties Life at Home

Consent to Touch? Cats Require It, Too

Article

Reading Time: 3 minutes How many times have you heard a cat person say, “Kitty likes to be touched, but only on her own terms.” They say it somewhat unkindly, as if it’s proof their cat is a diva. If we’ve learned anything from the #MeToo movement, it’s that nobody likes to be touched without consent. Yet we still […]

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Activities & Enrichment Dogs Fears & Anxieties Life at Home New Pets Training & Grooming

New Puppy? Socialization Starts Now!

Article

Reading Time: 3 minutes The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel puppy skittered into class and ducked under a chair, trembling. It was Pip’s first night of puppy kindergarten, and he was terrified. After class, I chatted with his parents. “Your puppy is really shy,” I said. “Sixteen weeks is the latest we’ll take a puppy into this class, and he’s […]

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Activities & Enrichment Dogs Fears & Anxieties Life at Home Training & Grooming

Puppy Primer: Start Your New Dog Off Right

Article

Reading Time: 4 minutes Is a puppy in your near future? Here’s how to make his transition from rescue organization or breeder to your home as easy as possible. Bringing a puppy home is a joyous time for the people in a family, and it should be for the puppy as well. Planning, play, training, and timing are all […]