The Holiday Season is always filled with unexpected expenses. Like monsoons in Manilla, you never know exactly when and how one’s going to hit. Will it be more gift-giving than planned or higher heating costs than last year? Well, if you’re an out-of-luck pet owner, it could be a surprise veterinary bill, because believe it or not, the season to be jolly also doubles as the season for Spot to visit the vet-on emergency. If you think about it for a second the reasoning is clear. The house, usually just a ho-hum array of couches, chairs and tables, suddenly becomes

This is a common problem that many new puppy owners have. And it’s made worse when they let the whining puppy out because then the pup quickly learns that whining works and now, can whine for hours on end. If you can get her to understand that being calm and controlling her emotions is what gives her access to you, you’ll have a puppy who can quietly sleep in her closed crate whenever you want!

Question: HELP!!! I have 2 dogs, an 8 year old purebred black lab, and a 5 year old lab mix named Bernie. We also have 2 lovely boys ages 5 and 3. Recently Bernie has demonstrated aggression toward our 3 year old, granted the actions are always ALWAYS after our 3 year old has been rolling on him, but I’m not sure what to do. Bernie is a good dog, but I’m finding myself unsure if he should stay in our house… Our 8 year old lab is the most mild mannered dog I’ve ever seen (when it comes to

“Six-Week-Old Girl Dies After Mauled By Family Dog,” the headlines blared. The LA County Sheriff’s Department reported the familiar scenario. A family member had left the baby unattended on a bed for a few minutes and returned to find her head encased in the dog’s mouth. Sounds shocking, but this isn’t the first time an infant has fallen prey to the family pet. According to the Center for Disease Control (1997), of the 279 dog bite-related fatalities in the US that occurred between 1979 and 1994, most involved children younger than ten years of age, with infants making up a

Last week when lecturing at a seminar with Sarah Kalnajs, I watched an interesting video that Sarah showed. When her friend who had a history of cluster headaches was visiting her, Sarah’s dogs performed an unusual behavior. Typically they would hang back instead of interacting with the visitor but in this case they climbed onto his lap and kept licking his face, especially in the area of his right eye. At the time her friend did not have a headache but 10 minutes later he felt one coming on. As it was starting to occur, he warned that the dogs might

What’s up with the dog that eyes people who approach his food bowl or stiffens and even growls, snaps or bites if others interrupt his meal? Don’t they understand that you’re the provider of the things they want and not a threat to them? Like many dogs that are otherwise easygoing, this type of Fido has a food fetish, and he feels it’s his duty to guard each bowl as if it holds his last meal. While this behavior may seem odd for owners who provide plentiful amounts of food for their pooches, anyone who’s watched free-roaming and stray dogs