While a dog’s or cat’s breath will never smell like a bed of roses, if it carries a stench that could wilt a dandelion, something’s amiss. That means it’s time for a visit to the vet. The most common cause of bad doggy or kitty breath is a losing battle with the bacteria or tartar in the mouth. In mild cases, the teeth are slightly speckled with tartar, the gums are inconspicuously inflamed and the odor is only faintly foul. In really bad cases, the gums are screaming for help and the teeth, blanketed under a calcified, yellow brown crust

I recently saw a great video  that laid out the steps for teaching a dog to identify objects that match the item you are holding. That is, if you hold up a squeaky toy in the shape of the mouse and there are 5 different-shaped toys on the floor, the dog should pick up the one that matches the toy you’re holding. This is a dog trick that KayLaurence, a member of the ClickerExpo faculty from England has been teaching to students for several years. With the steps laid out so clearly, I decided I’d train my dog, Jonesy as well as my dad’s dog, Lucy

In the last blog I summarized a research study (A comparative approach to dogs’ (Canis familiaris) and human infants’ comprehension of various forms of pointing gestures by Gabriella Lakatos, et. al.) that found dogs can use human pointing cues to infer the location of food. The dogs in the study chose the correct location 80% of the time if the human pointed with a straight arm. In fact, according to the study, dogs could even infer location if the pointing was with the leg or elbow but only somewhat (about 65% of the time). To see whether this could possibly be true,

Have you ever thought you were pretty brilliant, or at least above average at some common skill only to find out, after taking a test, that you were practically incompetent at that task? Well, that’s what I just found out about my three year old Jack Russell Terrier, Jonesy and his foster dog side-kick, Homer, a couple of years ago when I tested them on a two-choice task to see if they could understand pointing. According to a research study by Gabriella Lakatos and her colleagues at Eötvös L. University (Budapest, Hungary), dogs are able to recognize the significance of

A study found dogs have bigger brains relative to their body compared to cats. But does that mean that dogs are actually smarter? Or that cats are dumb? The study published by researchers at Oxford University charted the evolution of mammalian brains over the last 60 million years. The scientists found that mammals such as whales, dolphins, dogs and humans, tend to have larger brains relative to their body size when compared to more solitary species such as tigers and rhinos. The co-authors, Dr. Susanne Shultz and Dr. Robin Dunbar, state that these findings suggest that the cooperation and coordination

Question: We are having a debate in our city regarding our off-leash dog areas.  A person is trying to get the city to create segregated large and small dog areas because of his belief in the premise of “predatory drift”.  For years (ever since it was created), our dog park has had one big area for all dogs to socialize and play.  The owners in our park are very responsible and quick to jump in when play gets out of hand, no matter the size of the dog. Answer: Having different sections to a dog park—a general section, and one