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dog running

Does your dog have a rock solid recall?

Someone sent me a link to this news story about a Texas dog owner being caught on video (taken inadvertently by a neighbor’s Ring...
dog refusing to go with human, balking on leash

Behavior-Modifying Drugs Save Many Dogs Lives

I’ve seen some incredibly dramatic transformations when dogs were medicated for their chronic fear or anxiety.

Puppy in the house!

My son, a senior in college, has been counting the days until he can have a dog of his own. For like, the past seven years. You see, he’s one of those children of divorce, so he split his time between mom’s house and dad’s house – and when he was in high school, he said he didn’t want to make a dog move back and forth, or stay with one parent without him every other week
aisle of dry dog food

Finding the Best Dry Dog Food with Meat or Meat Meal (Or Both)

A few years ago, we added a column in our “Approved Dry Dog Foods” tables – an additional data point for people who are...

When Friends Breed Their Dogs

I’m going to have to ask for forgiveness ahead of time: This post may well offend some of my friends, neighbors, and readers. I’m sorry – and conflicted. I’ve been asked a number of times for my opinion about breeding dogs. Do I know a good male Jack Russell to mate with their female; would I suggest buying a puppy from that breeder who advertises puppies on the billboard by the highway; how long should they wait until they breed their German Shepherd Dog?

Cute Dog Photos: Never Enough

One of the funniest things is watching similarly devoted dog owners miss their dogs. Everyone today has photos and videos of their dogs on their phones, and we all try to behave well and say nice things about our friends' dogs, so they will give us equal time and admire OUR dog photos. And of course when a spouse at home sends a new photo or video of the left-behind dogs, it's acceptable to tap the person sitting next to you (even though you are in the middle of a session, and listening to a riveting speaker) and angle your phone so as to show off the cute photo. Your neighbor smiles, or mimes Cute!" and you make a little sad face

Dangerous Dogs In Your Neighborhood?

This evening I was relaxing, scrolling through the news online and checking out dog pictures and videos on social media, when I came across...

Skunks and Fireworks Are NOT a Dog’s Best Friends

My senior dog Otto has never liked fireworks, but he’s never been a total wreck around the Independence Day holiday, either. He will pant...

A Brief Vacation

I need to update everyone about Odin, my foster puppy - the last of the mange puppies. There isnt much news about his eye yet, though. Its been looking better and better, and hasnt caused him any discomfort for weeks, which is a really good sign. But its still mostly blue - filled with edema and scar tissue inside - and were only at about day 40 of a 60-day mini-trial of a medicine were hoping will help.

More on the “Bidding” War – Should Dogs Be Biddable?

In the April issue of WDJ, I wrote an editorial about an exchange I had with a trainer friend regarding the word "biddable," which a breeder had used in conversation with her about dogs from the breeder's kennel. Both my trainer friend and I were not used to hearing that word used to describe dogs, but apparently, we are in the minority.

I received a number of very thoughtful responses to the editorial, and have learned something from each. Because they would take up a lot of space in the magazine itself if I ran them as "letters to the editor," I'm going to post a few of them here, with the writers' permission.

A Good Time for Feedback from You, Our Readers!

In my editorial in the September issue, I mentioned that both my writers and I have endured some various challenging life events this summer, which delayed the appearance of a few articles. Fortunately, other terrific pieces were prepared ahead of schedule, or in a few cases, appeared out of thin air from one of my regular contributors. Despite the drama, we’ve been able to bring you a full 24 pages of information you could immediately put into practice – even if it wasn’t on the topics we hinted at in the “what’s ahead” bar that appears on page 24. Mentioning these difficulties last month accomplished one nice side effect: I received a number of notes or email messages containing suggestions for other articles. It gave me an idea: While regrouping, I should take this opportunity to formally ask all of you about what you’d like to see in WDJ. And so I’ve asked the Web guys at our publishing HQ to add a link to WDJ’s home page (whole-dog-journal.com) for a short survey. Would you please go to the survey and answer just a few questions about what you’d like to see more of, or less of, in WDJ?
Dog Sitting on Stump

Dog Trainers Save Lives

The first time I met Annie, a year-old German Shepherd Dog, it was at about 9 p.m. on February 10, 2017. I am certain...

Latest Blog

Parallels between Force-Free Training and Gentle Parenting

Both gentle parenting and force-free training emphasize empathy for the living being you're responsible for, and patience with their behavior as their core tenet.