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Ways to Have Fun in the Sun with Your Toddler

Don’t let the calendar put a damper on your summer fun. Sure, there’s only a couple weeks left until Labor Day, but that doesn’t mean you have to head indoors right now. Instead, make the most of the gorgeous summer weather by partaking in educational games with your toddler outside. Here are a few to get you started: SAND DOUGH Take some Play-Doh outside and let your child have fun with it in the sand box. He’ll love feeling the texture of the dough once the sand has been incorporated into it. Use words to describe how it feels and … Continue reading →

Fighting Like Cats and Dogs

So why do dogs and cats have this stereotypical relationship as enemies? We see it over and over in books, television, and film — think about Garfield and Odie, for example. Most dogs can learn to tolerate cats. It depends largely on the dog’s prey drive. Canines are predators. They chase and catch smaller animals for food; even thousands of years of domestic life can’t quite change that instinct to chase. Selective breeding has enhanced that trait in some dogs, and faded it in others. For instance, many terriers have high prey drives, as they were bred to be hunting … Continue reading →

How Do You Train a Deaf Dog?

Yesterday I wrote about my friend who found out her dog is deaf. She had asked me if I knew anything about training a deaf dog, so I looked into it. I searched online for resources on the topic, and I also posted a request for help in the forums. The result? A wealth of information! Training Techniques TOUCH Both the replies in the forum and the Deaf Dog Education Action Fund emphasized how important physical contact, like pats and petting, is to training deaf dogs. Which makes sense. When one sense is out of commission the others have to … Continue reading →

The Pets Blog Week in Review for Oct 1-7

How did Aimee and I usher in October in the Pets Blog? Well, if you missed it, you’re in luck. Here’s your handy dandy Week in Review to encapsulate it for you in a nutshell. Monday, October 1 Do you know what’s in your tank water? Aimee listed a number of things you should look for to keep your fish safe and healthy. Tuesday, October 2 Aimee detailed the basics of the nitrogen cycle in tropical fish tanks and why you should put your tank through this process before you add the fish. Do you know what you get when … Continue reading →

Teach Your Dog How To Shake

Once your dog knows how to sit on command, you can use that as a starting point for other tricks, like “lay down” and “shake”. Whether you want to call it “shake hands” or “give paw” or “high five”, teaching your dog to shake on command is an easy trick that will get you (and the pup) lots of oohs and aahs. Get your dog to sit. Hold his attention with a treat. Pick up one of his front paws and hold it VERY loosely in your hand. Say SHAKE (or whatever command you want him to learn). Reward him … Continue reading →

Cutest Book EVER!

Have you ever bore witness to something so incredibly cute that it made you… ovulate. I dare you to look at the unequivocally adorable illustrations that fill Charlie the Ranch Dog and not turn into a puddle of mush… or want to spawn, ASAP. I about died from the cuteness the first time I paged through the charming children’s book courtesy of HarperCollins. But then, when my 6-year-old daughter and I actually sat down to read Charlie the Ranch Dog, I discovered the story was as delightful as the pinch-your-cheek cute pictures. Continuing in our week-long series of super summer … Continue reading →

Scary Times

I remember September 11th, and I’m sure you do too. My daughter wasn’t born yet, but in a couple of months we’ll make our way to Manhattan to visit my brother, and I’m debating whether to talk with her about what happened there. I also remember listening to a discussion by attachment experts and psychologists after the fact. As teachers and parents across the United States and around the world grappled with what to say to their children about the terrorist attacks, the experts were rather unified in their opinions. Tell children that they are safe, they said. Yes, explain … Continue reading →

An Interview with Beth Terrell about Her Dancing Puppy, Luca

People who are active with their pets intrigue me. And when I say active, I mean doing things like doing agility training or enrolling in therapy dog programs. Back in February, I participated on a panel with some fellow Middle Tennessee Sister in Crime authors, one of whom was Beth Terrell. We got to talking about things outside of writing, and she told me about how much fun she’d been having with her little puppy that she got about a year ago. Specifically, she was raving about the puppy dancing classes they’d been taking. I thought that’d make a fun … Continue reading →

Pets with Noise Phobias

With the Fourth of July on the horizon, this is a good time to take another look at pets with noise phobia. Some veterinarians and behaviorists believe that as many as one out of five dogs suffers from noise phobia. For some pets, reactions to noises can be mild. Perhaps they shake or hide. For others, the reactions can approach full panic. Some pets go into total panic and can hurt themselves trying to escape. Shelters can end up with lots of pets who got spooked and took off during a thunderstorm or the Fourth of July fireworks. Storms and … Continue reading →

Throwing a Puppy Shower—Step 3: Games

What would a shower be without games? Here’s some suggestions for games you could play at your puppy shower –with both human and canine guests. Games for Human Guests • Guess Pup’s Weight: Provide pens and slips of paper for everyone to write down what they think your new puppy weighs. Closest wins! (Make sure they also include their names so you know who guessed what.) • Agility Course: This one will also be under the canine guest list, but wouldn’t it be fun to see their people run it too? Fastest time wins! (Might have to improvise on some … Continue reading →