As all owners know, walking your dog is a top priority to keep pups happy and healthy. Walks provide great low-impact exercise for dogs of all ages and their owners. It also allows dogs to explore the wide world that exists outside of their own backyards. Dogs are stimulated by sights and sounds, and they […]

You may have an incredible canine conditioning secret tucked away in your garage, closet, or kitchen. Its name—cavaletti—sounds like something that should come with marinara sauce and meatballs. In reality, it's an Italian word meaning "little horse." Equine trainers developed cavaletti exercises, such as variations of stepping over poles, for horse conditioning. This tool migrated […]

Editor’s Note: The global pandemic has sparked new research exploring whether canine noses can be trained to sniff out the deadly virus.  While we’ll have to wait until the University of Pennsylvania study is done for the answer to the COVID-19 question, in the past scientists have successfully trained dogs as infectious-disease detectives. In this […]

When your dog is showing signs of illness or injury, you become a first responder, assessing your patient and determining what type of care—if any—he requires. For a vomiting dog, ask the following questions: Does he look sick? If your dog is—on one extreme—lying down and uninterested in the surroundings as well as vomiting, it’s […]

Imagine a mild sedative before leaving home, a bandana sprayed with calming scents, a bunch of bacon snacks, and skipping the hour-long frenzy in the waiting room. From classical music wafting across the sign-in desk to licking peanut butter off the wall to act as a distraction from getting a shot, your dog’s typical freak-out […]

From the Siberian Huskies breed column in the AKC Gazette—To a longtime breeder, a setback can mean it’s time to take a step in a new direction. Successful dog breeding is part art, part science, and part good luck. Experienced breeders are well aware that even the best-laid plans do not guarantee a healthy litter. […]

The Internet is full of advice on evaluating breeders, but there is almost nothing on how breeders view potential puppy buyers. Curious, I put together a questionnaire, and eleven breeders responded. Asked how they begin to weed out buyers, breeders agreed on the basics. The most critical requirement is that a buyer has the financial […]

AKC Gazette breed column, Miniature Pinschers—It can take a little bit of patience before you can bring home that much-anticipated new puppy—but if you’ve chosen a good breeder, it’s worth the wait. Well, it’s done. You did the research by reading books and checking the American Kennel Club and the website of your chosen breed's […]

AKC Gazette breed column, Chihuahuas—Don’t be in a hurry for that great one. It is far better for a breeder to move slowly toward an eventual goal by tackling one problem at a time, collecting virtues into the genotype and breeding away from faults through careful selection.We all start at the same place, but it […]

“Most Popular Dog Names” is a common search term, with lists going out almost as regularly as your dog does. But we don’t usually come across ones that connect popular names to their specific breeds. Based on 2015 data sourced from members who included pet information in their profile settings on a social network called […]