Dogs in General

When Are Sidewalks and Roads Too Hot for Your Dog’s Paws?

The Seven-Second Test

There’s a simple seven-second test to check whether the pavement is too hot for your pet’s paws. Just touch the pavement with the back of your hand for seven seconds.

If you can’t hold your hand there for the full seven seconds, then it’s also too hot for your dog’s paws. Same difference, if you walk barefoot and can’t tolerate the pavement heat, neither can your … Read more

Can’t tell you how many times over the decades and decades that I’ve lived with my animals that I wished there was a stop-gap measure before having to rush off to the Emergency Vet on nights or weekends. It would have saved me thousands of dollars.

Now there is an online service and app that may just do the trick. Fuzzy is a telehealth service for pet people with 24/7 access to customized pet care and product recommendations from vet … Read more

A new study from the researchers of the Department of Ethology at Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), Hungary reveals that dogs can recognize their owner by voice alone, and they make use of some of the same voice properties as humans do. The study is published in Animal Cognition. Read the full article »

I never cease to be amazed at how many dog studies done by scientists are completely self-evident to anyone who actually lives with dogs.… Read more

Temps are in the sub-zeros for the next few days. And it feels like it!

But we’re ready! Wink’s getting good use out of his new winter coat this year. Oh, the extra rugs everywhere? Wink can’t handle wood floors anymore without his legs going out from under him. Getting old is hell.

If your dog is in need of a new coat, I just reviewed my top 5 picks for winter coats here »… Read more

Dog Is Hailed as ‘Real-Life Lassie’ After Leading Police to Truck Crash

Excerpted from The New York Times: Two men lay unconscious on a frigid Vermont night until Tinsley, a 1-year-old Shiloh shepherd, led the authorities back to the site of the wreck.

Tinsley, made sure officers following her stayed close behind as she ran back to where a truck had crashed into the woods.

At first, the officers were simply trying to catch Tinsley to get her out of … Read more

Should Your Dog Wear a Winter Coat? Short Answer—Probably Yes.

Different breeds have different tolerances to cold. Northern dogs (like Huskies and Malamutes) and Labradors have developed special physiological adaptations for coping with the cold. But many other breeds and individual dogs benefit from an extra warming layer in cold weather including: 

• Dogs with insufficient fat stores to keep them warm
• Short-haired dogs and/or breeds accustomed to warm temps
• Immune-compromised dogs
• Older dogs, especially those in poor health

In short, … Read more