Arthur is not a camper. The outdoors has no comfortable chairs, so Arthur wanders around the campsite in misery, until someone lays a blanket on the dirt. He will briefly settle there, but jump up at any indication that they might be leaving for home. His humans insist that he come with them on hikes and canoe trips. The hikes are fine, just a walk in the woods, but being on a boat makes Arthur positively distraught. He must be picked up physically and placed in the canoe. On

Five year old Beagle Carlos hates the dog next door. He can’t see Cockapoo Sheldon. An 8 foot stockade fence separates the two dogs. It doesn’t matter, though. The first thing Carlos does when he is let outside to do his business is to race the fence and skim the base of it with his nose, hunting for Sheldon. Then, let the barking begin. How the Carlos/Sheldon feud began is a mystery. Carlos’ owners moved into the neighborhood first. When Sheldon’s family arrived, it appeared

The big black Labrador meandered slowly up a Delmar street, much to the consternation of my client. She froze and clung to the leash, aware that her own dog would, at any moment, see the loose dog and go into a barking frenzy. We backed away, turned and worked on maintaining confidence and purpose so that her dog would not react negatively. In the meantime, the Lab, oblivious to cars stopping to let it pass, wandered away. A little Cairn Terrier stumbled down the busy street,

Labradors are mouths on legs. Not all Labs put everything in their mouths, and there are undeniably other dogs that will ingest anything and everything. But Labs are notorious for considering the sidewalk to be their own personal buffet. There is a scale of ingestion by Lab color: Eats 80% of stationary objects = Black Labs Eats 90% of stationary + dead objects = Yellow Labs Eats 110% of stationary + dead + moving objects = Chocolate Labs Moses is a 9 month old Chocolate Lab.

I’d heard about the street dogs of India before but never thought I would see them firsthand; but then, I visited India myself. My oldest daughter was on a fellowship in Mumbai (Bombay) for a year. That’s way too long for a mom to go without seeing her child, so I traveled to India to spend 10 days with her there. I won’t depress you by telling you all the details of the poverty, the beggars, the homeless children sleeping on the sidewalks, the garbage everywhere you look. Su

After spending some time recently at my local dog park, I have decided that there are lessons to be learned there. For example, contrast the arrival of a newcomer to a high school in any teen movie, say, Mean Girls, with the appearance of a newly arrived dog at the dog park. The new girl in school is usually scrutinized, avoided, and gossiped about. She is made into a pariah unless another teen, one who had been treated just as shabbily as she in the past, takes pity on her

ONE dog can make a lot of noise. Is there an equation that measures the increase in decibel levels when TWO dogs see the garbage truck? I’m pretty terrible at math so I won’t even attempt this one. All I know is, a pomeranian mix and a Cairn terrier, fenced in and highly indignant that a vehicle should appear and STOP in front of THEIR house, are likely to wake up the neighborhood at the bracing time of 6 AM. Consider it a community service alarm clock. Another dog – a Blac

Or thinking about moving. Or planning to move. Soon. Your dog, of course, has no idea what cataclysm you are about to inflict on his safe, routine little life. This is tumult of the most alarming kind, in his humble view. He notices that you are distracted. You neglect to walk him. You let him out in the yard and forget to bring him in. His meals are delayed or served too early or once – OMG – missed entirely. Suddenly, boxes appear in inconvenient and sometimes startling pla

I saw a car go by today with a woman driving, a small dog on her lap, his head out the open window. Dangerous and misguided as that may...

Sam is a 4 year old Terrier mix. He lives in a nice suburban development with tidy houses and wide lawns. His back yard is fenced and he...

I confess that sometimes I judge people. For example, when someone says they paid $3,000 for their purebred puppy, I imagine a well-to-do...

Sally Mae is a terrier mix with a tendency to vocalize. That is, she barks. A lot. She barks to be let outside. She barks to come back...

One of the games that Penny, a one year old Yellow Lab, loves to play is “chase me.” Also known as “keepaway.” Outside in the yard, the...

I am frequently asked my opinion about underground fences. I don’t like them. Here is my thinking… PRO 1. Cost – Invisible fencing is...

I confess there are rare moments when, after seeing the same issues played out again and again, I can’t help but add to my list of pet...

Nellie is a German Shorthaired Pointer. One of her endearing quirks is the way she surveys an expanse of grass – the cooler and greener...

Border Collie Tex lives to run. In a perfect world, Tex would have been adopted by last year’s winner of the Boston Marathon. But no. Tex...

Some of my clients have second homes. Such a lovely concept. You live here. You live there, too. No need to call in advance, or check in...

Geraldo is a four year old Weimaraner. His owners called me after a scary incident had occurred. Geraldo had wandered out of the yard...

I thought about giving this post a different title: Looks Are Deceiving. Because my dog Todd, age 9, hiked Little Porter Mountain in the...