Nutrition, health, safety, training, behavior, puppy stuff, end-of-life issues – this issue has it all!
A trainer who contributed her first article to WDJ last month (“Paddlesports Safety”) is back this month with another safety and behavior-related article. In “Peace at the Park” she offers important tips for deciding whether your dog is a good candidate for dog-park play, and then, if so, how to keep him safe while romping with other dogs.
On page 6, our Training Editor, professional trainer Pat Miller, gives us some “beyond the basics” exercises to teach our dogs. No dog’s education should end with sit, down, and come! Pat’s step-by-step instructions should help you take your dog’s training to the next level.
We reviewed car-safety harnesses in this issue, starting on page 10. My dog Woody “got to” model for all the photos for the article and served as one of the chief “test dogs” of the products we reviewed. He’s not entirely happy about any of these events; for a happy model, I use Otto (seen with me in the above photo), but for dog-wear photo shoots, Otto is just too furry! You wouldn’t be able to see the products!
It should be noted that none of the harnesses can accommodate dogs who are less than 10 pounds. We currently are in the process of evaluating some different car-safety products for the tiny guys – products that more resemble infant car seats than dog gear. We’ll bring that review to you in an upcoming issue.
Freelance writer CJ Puotinen is second only to Pat Miller in terms of contributor seniority; I’m not saying she’s old, just that she’s been writing for WDJ since nearly its inception! On page 14, CJ discusses practical solutions for nearly anything smelly that your dog may bring to your home, from bad breath to skunk smell to anal gland issues and excessive gas! If that’s not useful, I don’t own dogs! Ha!
Another recent addition to WDJ’s stable (kennel?) of writers is veterinarian and agility competitor Eileen Fatcheric. This is a good time of the year for her contribution, an article about leptospirosis (page 18), which dogs can be infected by when drinking water from puddles – or even just walking in mud – where infected wildlife carriers have urinated. Don’t think this applies just to dogs who live or hike in the country; rats and mice are carriers of leptospirosis, too.
Last but not least is an article by another veterinary contributor, Catherine Ashe, who has written about the kind of veterinary medicine she is currently practicing: palliative and hospice care. If you have an older dog, don’t miss this piece, starting on page 21.
