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When, back in March, I scheduled a week-long vacation for early July, I of course had no way of knowing a huge, dog-related story was going...

I'm fostering a one-year-old hound, Maebe, who has a minor amount of separation anxiety. The other day, I left her in a wire crate for about two hours in the house where I have my office. When I returned, I found that she had escaped from the crate and went on a bit of a rampage in the house. She went "counter-surfing" in the kitchen and ate the better part of a cube of butter and a few English muffins. She found a bag of treats on another counter and ate them, as well as half of the bag itself. She got into the trash in my office. She was on my desk - !!! - and knocked over my computer monitor!

The dog shown here is half Bloodhound, half Border Collie. I was skeptical, too. Bloodhound I can see. But I don't see a trace of Border Collie. Then I learned her story. Indy was an accident" – the product of two purebreds owned by a family who actually breeds and shows Border Collies and Bloodhounds. I wouldn't have guessed that a fan of one of those breeds would also possess the other

I do things with my dogs practically every day that would make other dog owners frown with disapproval – and my friends and neighbors...

They already know. Even before the carry-on suitcase comes out of the closet, they know. I’m leaving town for a few days. Is it the extra...

Last week, I was stressed with too many demands on my time, and trying to finish the December issue in time to travel to Florida for a dog trainer's conference (the Pet Professional Guild). But Woody (my adolescent dog) and even Otto, my 9-year-old solid (canine) citizen, were both telling me they needed a run. So, instead of taking them out for an hours-long hike, as I prefer to do, I headed for a school field I know, to throw a ball for them for a while, instead.

A friend called a little while before I left and asked if I was walking that evening. When I told her my alternative plan, she asked if she could meet me with her dogs. Sure, why not?

I love the idea of therapy dogs – that is, dogs who have a special affinity for humans, who love nothing more than to...

Two couples are both interested in a big, active dog at the shelter. One couple is older. They own their home. Property is at least several acres, but unfenced. Husband is retired and home most days, puttering in garden and with hobbies. Wife works 30 or so hours a week. They formerly owned another big, active dog, who recently died of old age. They have a 2-year-old small dog who misses having canine company. They have a trainer who they have worked with previously and plan to do so again. Second candidate couple is young, early 20s. They are renters. They also live on several acres, but their home property is fenced. They have another big, young, active dog, a female. They both work.

Many of us feel sorry for the animals" when we visit a shelter's adoption row and look upon the faces of the dogs who desperately need homes. But those are the lucky ones – the ones who have been assessed and deemed "adoptable." There are many other dogs in shelters who may not be so fortunate."

Two-year-old Woody is the one who is THRILLED with the house. Every morning when I get up and let the dogs outside, he takes off at a swift gallop into the two-acre-field behind the house, running, it seems, for the sheer joy of running. Within the first minute, he will stop and pee, and then run over to a tree in the field that has a hollow trunk. He sniffs around its base, and stands on his hind legs to sniff the inside. There must be SOME animal living in there, or going in there on a regular basis.

I read an article the other day about a pork processing plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, shutting down due to hundreds of workers becoming infected...

The potential for the loss of liability insurance is closing shelter doors to volunteers. As many of you know from personal experience, volunteers in animal...