Lifestyle

At a performance by The Marvelous Mutts, as the name suggests, you won't see any pedigreed dogs, but you will definitely witness focused owners and competitive dogs! Looking at a photographic gallery of The Marvelous Mutts, one could easily be confused with having found the listing for a rescue promoting their mixed-breed adoption candidates. Instead, it's an inspiring model, both for what rescue dogs can do and what highly motivated dog owners can do for shelter and rescue dogs.

The term “recovery collar” is becoming the standard term to refer to what has been called an Elizabethan collar, a pet cone, or more humorously, a lampshade, a pet radar dish, and, of course, the misnomer “cone of shame.” There is no shame in needing help! The term Elizabethan collar is still heard frequently, but because it tends to be shortened to e-collar and because that’s also a shortened version of electronic collar, the phrase is falling out of use for this application.

Most of us have seen a dog using a wheelchair to carry his paralyzed or weak back legs. But did you know there are...

Best practices for safe long-distance travel with your dog in a car.

A dog raincoat keeps your dog warm in cold, wet weather. If your dog is one of a single-coated breeds (such as Boxers, Dalmatians,...

the other to a small metal clip that fastens neatly to your belt loop or other handy ring. The clicker is still kept leashed and under control

For a dog with such a demure name, Nora was, in the words of her new owner, purely awful. “There was not a thing that she got to that she did not destroy,” remembers Donna Hess of Basking Ridge, New Jersey, of the first few weeks with her newly adopted Basenji. “She ripped any pillow she could get to shreds, and then started on the comforters and blankets. She knocked over the garbage can 50 times a day. She chewed the other dogs’ collars off their necks. Tissues, toilet paper, knickknacks, throw rugs, small objects of all kinds were stolen or destroyed. Putting stuff up high did not help; she climbed all over the tables and counters. She literally could not be left alone for a second. And the worst thing was if you tried to catch her to confine her, she bit!”

A collapsible dog crate can be a godsend. If you travel with your dog regularly and they’re used to sleeping in a crate at night, having a foldable option you can bring along makes things easier for both you and your pup.

What brings together heelwork, tricks, music, a little high school nostalgia, and takes it all to a whole new level? K9 drill, display, and demonstration teams are not new, but as more of us are looking for different ways to showcase the rewards of positive training to the larger dog community, the concept of drill and demo teams is gathering steam. The term “drill team” may evoke images of military marching routines (historically, military drill teams did occasionally include dogs), but today’s K9 drill and demo teams take many forms that involve dog/handler pairs. “I define it as a group of dog/handler teams, moving in unison to create a changing picture of shapes and lines, with or without music,” says Doris Herber, a retired dog trainer and behavior consultant who participated for several years in a drill team with her Basenji, Kodi.

Oat milk can be good for dogs. It’s a lactose-free dairy alternative for humans that dogs also can enjoy, but in moderation.

Many medications can be compounded into flavored chews or liquid suspensions, but others cannot. For these wrapping the pills in a treat or a pet piller that keeps your hands free of your dog's mouth provide an alternative.

but most will send an officer right away if the dog is contained."