I woke up this morning with a sense of dread — not uncommon, I admit, but this dread had a specific source. I’m planning to leave on Wednesday for San Diego to attend the surf dog festival and I’m worried about the drive with Frankie. It’s not a terribly long trip from Tucson, about 7…
Car Travel with Dogs, Part 3: Buckle Up for Safety
You’ve all seen the ads: Dogs riding in convertibles, wind in their fur, free. And in peril. But here’s an alternate image that shows doggie happiness doesn’t have to be dependent on danger: #3. Always secure your dog in the car. You’ll achieve the best dog security with a harness — never, ever, a collar…
Car Travel with Dogs, Part 2: The Governator, Paris Hilton & Stephen King
Pet-wise, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger can’t seem to get it right. Even before he threatened to cut back on the time that animals will be held in shelters before they’re killed, he vetoed a law (derided by opponents as the “Paris Hilton Bill”) that would have imposed a fine for driving with a dog in…
Would Your Dog Be a Good Driver?
The suggestion in my last post that Irish Setters are notoriously bad drivers — really, a gratuitous, baseless slur — led me to thinking: Which breeds or particular dogs would excel or fail, and why? Frankie isn’t fond of cars, for example, but that could be because he would prefer to be in the driver’s…
Car Travel with Dogs, Part 1: Don’t Be Mitt Romney
As I prepare to head off to San Diego with Frankie, car travel has been on my mind. Shameless self-promotion alert: These tips, to run in a series this week, are adapted from Chapter 8 of AM I BORING MY DOG? And 99 other things every dog wishes you knew, forthcoming from Alpha/Penguin in September.…
Great Expectations: A Tale of Two Dogs
“What’s wrong with that one?” demanded the smug-looking guy with the good-looking girlfriend, pointing at my terrier mix, Frankie. He had just rejoined the line that had formed outside El Mirasol, a popular Mexican restaurant in Palm Springs. My friend Clare had gone in to put our names on the list for the dog-friendly terrace,…
Dog Kissing, a Lexicon
Dog self-expression is a hot topic these days. Behaviorists have studied everything from the meaning of a dog’s tail wag direction (right is happier than left; see the Discovery Channel story) to the signals a yawn sends (generally stress rather than boredom). But while some signs are universal, a kind of doggie Esperanto, others are…
Dominance Theory Gone Wild: The Angry Kiss of the Papillon
One of my blog feeds yesterday turned up this letter from an advice-seeking owner. I have a 5-year-old Papillon who licks my husband’s pillow two or three times every night while we are watching TV. We play with her and she is with us most of the day. We wonder why she is doing this.…
Why Not to Tell Absolutely Everyone Your Dog Is Sick
I admit it. When Frankie was first diagnosed with diabetes I couldn’t shut up about it. Part of it was the fact that, until he got regulated, it was the only thing on my mind. When I wasn’t at the vet getting glucose curves, I was on line browsing canine diabetes sites that predicted imminent…
He’s a dog, not a disease
I really didn’t want to blog about canine diabetes. Specifically, I didn’t want to create a site where people only came to discuss illness. I was terrified of having a comments section where all the avatars wore angel wings, and where the Rainbow Bridge was the most popular travel destination. And I especially didn’t want…