September is National Guide Dog Month. Today, most people in North America are familiar with guide dogs, but that wasn’t always the case. In fact, early in the last century, the idea of using a dog to help a blind person get around seemed preposterous. The history of using a dog to guide someone with […]
Pets vs Service Dogs
International Assistance Dog Week (IADW) was created to recognize all the devoted, hardworking assistance dogs helping individuals mitigate their disability related limitations. This year, IADW was August 4-10, 2013. During that time, there was a considerable jump in news and questions about assistance dogs. But, Dr. B is sorry to report, there were just as […]
Questions You’re Too Embarrassed to Ask Your Vet or Dog Trainer (Answered Here!)
If you have a dog, you love him or her. Yet, as much as we like to “humanize” our beloved canine friends, they are really, really, really . . . not human (gasp!), nor are they cuddly little humans wrapped in fur (more gasps!). Thus, at some point or another, we bump up against […]
Doggie Kisses: Disgusting or Divine?
I kiss my dog. A lot. I know, I know . . . “You shouldn’t do this!” is a refrain I’ve heard all my life – from my mother when I was little to my latest vet who says that, by now, I should know better. (Note: When asked: “How old are you?” I […]
Why we choose a particular dog at a shelter
According to ASPCA statistics, 20 to 30 percent of dogs are adopted from shelters and rescues. Another 26 percent purchase their dog from a breeder, and somewhere between 2 to 10 percent purchase from pet shops. Most of the rest of our pet dogs are obtained from acquaintances and family members. Clearly, we at My […]
New Products for Dogs
There are a lot of folks who blog about dogs, but the delightfully entertaining “Dog Blog,” posted by Lisa Woody is one of my favorites. Her blog is called: FunStuffForDogs.com – The Funniest Dog Stuff on the Planet. Ms. Woody gave me permission to repost some of her work so we’ve listed some of the […]
A Dog by Any Other Name . . . (is just as sweet)
Popularity in dog names, as with those for children, change over the years. Dogs of yesteryear were often descriptive of a dog’s particular traits (e.g., Barker) or reflected some common attribute of dogs in general. For example, the name Rover, a popular name before leash laws, is rather indicative of the dogs of that era […]
Book Review: The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
David Wroblewski, author of The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, says his book is not about a dog. And, in the larger, more general sense, I guess he’s right since every book, in some way, is about the relationships between people. But, if this is not exactly a book about a dog, it nevertheless is one […]
Fun Facts About Dogs
1. According to a recent survey, the most popular name for a male dog is Max; for female it is Bella. Other popular names include Molly, Sam, Zach, and Maggie. 2. An American Animal Hospital Association poll showed that 33 percent of dog owners admit they talk to their dogs on the phone or leave […]
Definition of a Dog
On a site dedicated to the German Shorthair Pointer, we discovered a beautiful tribute to the breed, entitled “Definition of a Dog.” It was written by a woman named Yazmin Kuball about her dog, Simba. Yazmin has kindly allowed us to re-post her comments on our blog today. We encourage our readers to check out […]
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