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Thinking Outside the Shelter
By Melissa Taylor
Like many shelters, my shelter, Friends For Life Animal Shelter in Houston, Texas, relies heavily on volunteers to meet the needs of program animals. In 2019, our volunteers donated 21,046 hours – enough to replace 10 full-time employees. Every day, these generous ...
Puppy House Training 101
By Sally Bradbury
House training is all about creating good habits. Young pups have very small bladders and very little bladder control, so they need to be in the right place when nature ...
The Giveaway: On the Loss of a Beloved Pet
For the first time, I missed the writing deadline for my monthly PPG blog this month. Sadly, it was unavoidable, as I could muster neither the energy or the words to do so.
We each lose our ...
Latest Articles
Ode to a Kong
I think that there shall never be/A toy as useful as the K-O-N-G/They give our dogs stupendous joy/Who hasn't used this wonderful toy?
Have you ever used a Kong? I find creative stuffing is the key to success. So often my clients tell me they have one, but that the dog isn't interested. ...
Resource Guarding: Knowing the Signs
Daisy was a serial resource guarder. Whether this was genetics, early learning, her experiences living rough or a combination of all three, I found out about it the hard way when I walked past her one day and she was chewing on a bone in a doorway. Of course, I should have thought of it but ...
What the Nose Knows
By Bob McMillan
A whiff of cinnamon can whisk you back to that day years ago when you baked cookies with grandma on a rainy Saturday. You stroll into a florist to buy flowers for a party and the smell of the flowers floods you with memories of your father’s funeral. A single scent can ruin ...
Gun Dogs: Just a Commodity?
The other day I visited Rufus, a beautiful four-year-old chocolate Labrador. He had, until a year ago, been gun dog trained.
Whilst harsh training methods may well work in the moment, there is usually future fallout of some sort.
In my opinion, gun dogs 'used' by people solely for hunting ...
Is That “Smiling” Dog Happy?
Maybe, but maybe not!
We humans tend to get warm and fuzzy feelings when we see dogs “smile.”
It’s true that some dogs’ mouths open in a cute smile when they are relaxed and happy. But a dog with his mouth open could alternatively be panting from pain, stress or fear.
Can we tell the ...
We Are All Individuals, BSL or Not
Breed Specific Legislation (BSL) categorizes a dog as dangerous simply because of what breed he/she happens to be. This is the same as if we were to say, for example, that all people with long blond hair should be put in prison. A few people with long blond hair have indeed acted aggressively ...
Thumbs and Empathy
By Bob McMillan
I spotted it driving down a rural road in Tennessee just before dawn one morning on my way to work. At the edge of my headlights, strolling nonchalantly down a driveway, was a coyote, unperturbed by my passing car. My first thought was, “You lucky dog. You go where you want to ...
Why is Colin Growling?
Understandably we don’t like our dogs to growl and it can be embarrassing, but growling is GOOD.
Growling tells us what our dog is feeling. Growling gives us the key to open the door to the dog’s emotions. When we know what he is feeling, we then know what to do about it.
Colin is a ...
L-Bo’s Dog Blog: Making Memories
On the morning of May 24 I walked the Woodford Wag 2K in Versailles, Kentucky. The dog walk and accompanying 5K run benefit the Woodford Humane Society. My walking partners were my senior rat terrier Zip and his wire fox terrier buddy Clever Trevor. We had a good time. We did not walk the ...