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Halloween pet safety means keeping your dogs away from treats and costumes that can harm or discomfort them while involving them in the fun.

Halloween Pet Safety

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From choosing safe costumes to takeaways on trick or treating, the following Halloween pet safety tips will help both you and your dog have a frightfully delightful holiday.

Do The Work To Keep Your Dog Comfortable During New Experiences

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In November, I went to a seminar about dog behavior and training and, for the first time in my life, brought a dog so...

Summer Activities for Your Dog and You

Before you embark on a trip with your dog, think of her individual preferences in addition to yours. It's wonderful when your dog is easygoing and gets along with everyone. Our dog is one of those - she greets all humans and other dogs (and even cats and rabbits!) with a happy tail wag and sniff. But your dog may not be as social, so determine realistically the sort of places and times where your dog will be most comfortable. Is there a particular path or trail that is less populated at certain times? If your dog is reactive, maybe it's time to work on some counter-conditioning and desensitization before embarking.
dog gear

Whole Dog Journal’s 2022 Dog Gear of The Year

Check out the most exciting and useful dog products you can use in the new year.

Courthouse Support Dogs

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His real name is Blake, but his nickname is Batman – a handsome gentleman, ready to swoop in on a moment's notice to fight crime in his own special way. Blake is a gorgeous, three-year-old Labrador Retriever employed as a courthouse dog for the Pima County Attorney's Office in Tucson, Arizona. Trained by Assistance Dogs of the West (ADW), and partnered with victim advocate Colleen Phelan, Blake provides support to victims and witnesses of crime as they navigate the vagaries of the judicial process.
Young Caucasian man wearing a winter coat and a scarf hugging his pet dog lovingly to comfort him as they are out for a walk through a snowy forest during winter. The dog is a mixed breed and brown and black in color with a sad expression on his face.

How to Register a Dog as Emotional Support Animal

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Emotional support dogs are not registered in any database. What you do need is a letter from your licensed mental health professional that you need an emotional support animal.
Red-tailed Hawk searching for prey

Will a Hawk Attack a Dog?

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“Considering how prevalent hawks are across North America, hawk attacks on our pets are not common, and most of the claims we hear about are unsubstantiated, with only a few verified reports each year,” behavioral expert Hillary Hankey states.

Online Dog Chat Forums

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There are dozens of online groups aimed at dog owners out there, covering a wide range of topics – disabled dogs; dogs with cancer; dogs who have behavioral and training issues; and even grieving the loss of a pet. Groups range in size from a few dozen people to thousands; thanks to the Web, many include members from all over the globe. Most are free – and the criteria for membership are simply time, interest, and an Internet connection. To communicate, members “post” messages via interactive tools and can even contact each other directly through e-mail.
Dog walking in the snowy weather. A middle-aged woman wearing a yellow winter jacket is walking with a Bernese mountain dog along a snowy street.

Beware of Rock Salt and Other Ice-Melting Products

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If you live where roads and sidewalks are treated with ice-melting rock salt or other chemicals, you need to protect your dog’s paws!
A dog water bottle helps keep your hiking buddy hydrated and healthy on long hikes.

Best Dog Water Bottles for Hikes

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You need to stay hydrated while hiking, and so does your dog! Giving your dog plenty of water while hitting the trails will ensure they stay cool and avoid heatstroke, especially in the hot summer months. That’s where portable dog water bottles come in. A dedicated dog water bottle will make it easy to carry your pup’s water and make it easier to offer them a drink more frequently.

Adopting Two Dogs at Once: Twice as Nice?

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As you may know, because for months I've talked about almost nothing else, I've been on a puppy-fostering jag since November. My shelter has a hard time with keeping large litters of puppies clean, warm, dry, and healthy, particularly in the winter; I guess that's true for many if not most shelters. So I've been taking on one litter after another, starting with my first-ever foster-fail pup Woody, who was one of nine puppies; then a litter of six Chihuahua/terrier-mixes, all boys; another litter of nine cattle dog/pit-mixes, all adorably freckled; and I'm at the tail end (no pun intended) of a litter of seven German Shepherd/hound/who-knows-what-mixes. Playing with and caring for the pups has been fun, challenging, messy, expensive, and interesting! But here is the latest thing I've been fascinated with: the people who come to adopt a puppy – and end up walking out, or at least trying to walk out, with two.

Product Review: Wingaing It

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Recently, I found myself with too many dogs who needed exercise, and not enough time to put in the miles that could have worked off all that excess energy. I rooted through the dog-toy baskets in my office, looking for things I could throw for the pack to fetch. I used to have a Chuckit! tennis ball launcher, but some puppy or other chewed up the part that holds the tennis ball, so I threw it away and hadn't yet replaced it. Then I remembered that I had bought a very similar device that is used for launching small rubber discs for dogs to chase: the Winga.