Last week I gave a basic overview of vaccinations, including a discussion of why dogs need them. I made the distinction between core vaccines (those that every dog needs for public health reasons, including rabies, which is required by law) and noncore, which should be administered depending on a dog’s particular circumstances — exposure to…
Vaccinating Your Dog, Part 1: The Basics
The story of an adverse canine vaccination reaction detailed in recent weeks in my friend Roxanne Hawn’s Champion of My Heart blog inspired me to go back to a piece I wrote for Your Dog newsletter in late 2010. It’s long, so I broke it into two parts. Part 1 puts the larger issues of…
Pet Escape! How to Prevent Runaways & Raise the Odds of Return
Pets can give the term “escape” on vacation a whole new meaning. According to the California Veterinary Medical Association, 1 in 3 pets goes missing during its lifetime. Without proper ID, 90% never return home. Travel is prime time for pets to go on the lam because unfamiliar circumstances make even the calmest pets skittish.…