Puppies

As the proud owner of a new puppy, you are faced with some big decisions in the first few months. Are ALL of those vaccinations necessary? Can my puppy start socializing by mingling at the dog park or on the street? When should I begin training, or hire a dog trainer? What may seem like obvious answers are actually quite complicated and critically important to your puppy's well being.

Does this collar make me look fat?" This is not a question your dog is likely to ever ask

I don't care what breed or mix of breeds you're talking about, puppies are inarguably, impossibly and adorably cute. You have to be pretty...

Singleton puppies miss out on opportunities to learn basic canine communication and behavioral coping skills from their littermates, sometimes setting them up for frustration and sensitivity to handling later in life.

While curiosity and the ability to learn don't have expiration dates, young puppies have an important behavioral sweet spot" between the ages of 8 and 16 weeks. During this critical period

Modern-day dog owners enjoy the comforting certainty that their puppies can and will be given a series of vaccinations, so-called “puppy shots,” to protect them from life-threatening canine diseases such as distemper, parvovirus, and rabies. Most of us were indoctrinated in early childhood to schlep Shep to the vet once a year for his annual booster shots in order to extend that vital protection year after year. We accepted without question that a failure to do so was the height of dog owner irresponsibility.

When dog lovers switch their pets from commercial food to a well-balanced, raw diet, they typically report improved health, brighter eyes, a shinier coat, calmer behavior, and easier yard cleanup chores. A puppy's first eight weeks set the stage for a lifetime of health or illness, so it isn't surprising that puppies weaned on raw food grow up to out-perform dogs weaned on kibble or canned food, even if both are fed raw food as adults. Raw-weaned puppies nearly exhaust their breeders' vocabularies, for these are the healthiest / strongest / liveliest / calmest / smartest / most wonderful pups that ever lived.

Read any good puppy contracts lately? Probably not. Health and placement guarantees, spay and neuter requirements, limited registration and other legal details are important, but they can (yawn) put you right to sleep. Well, that used to be true, but today some breeders are writing contracts that leave people rubbing their eyes in disbelief because they contradict everything mainstream veterinary medicine recommends. These contracts require puppy buyers to feed an all-raw diet, avoid routine vaccinations, and use holistic therapies instead of conventional veterinary care.

Tips for keeping your home, possessions, and self from being chewed to bits by your teething puppy.

Most puppies open their eyes at 10 to 14 days old, but that doesn’t mean they’re seeing well yet.

Last month, I mentioned how concerned my son was when he heard I had made the decision to adopt one of the bully-breed-mix puppies I had been fostering. He's accustomed to me pretending that I don't like puppies (Ew

Being the smallest puppy at birth may earn a pup the title “runt of the litter,” but that’s not necessarily a detriment. What matters is how that puppy develops.