Pet News and Blogs

Doggy Do Right: Housetraining the older dog
Can you teach an old dog new tricks? Specifically, if you adopt or already own an older dog who isn’t housetrained, will you be able to train him not to use the house as a toilet? Gina and Dr. Marty Becker say yes, and tell you how, in this week’s Pet Connection syndicated column: (T)take heart: [...]

Home testing kit for melamine?
If the FDA won’t test food imports for melamine contamination, should we start doing it ourselves? Joy Drawdy, owner of Gainesville’s Earth Pets Natural Pet Market, thinks so, and so she developed a home melamine test kit: “Pet owners should have a way to test their food at home. People coming into Earth Pets kept saying something [...]

Ugly pet sweaters on parade
Oh, Petfinder.com how I love thee. Of course, I feel that way because you’re a wonderful resource for anyone looking to give a shelter pet a second chance, because you led the way towards elevating the profile of rescue, for your many brave stands on controversial issues. All that goes without saying. What has moved me to [...]

This week in canine science
Ever wonder why Chinese Shar-Pei have all those wrinkles? A group of Spanish scientists have come up with the answer. Like so many canine characteristics–such as the achondroplasia associated with Basset Hounds, Dachshunds and some other breeds–the wrinkles are related to a hereditary disorder. Known as mucinosis, the condition is a genetic alteration that multiplies the [...]

Is the future brighter for a no-kill nation?
Many times positive changes come out of the most trying of times. That is certainly true when it comes to animals in the post-Katrina era of disaster response. Authorities now know that helping people evacuate with their animals is a life-saver not only for animals but also for people. That’s because many people will not [...]

Gratuitous cat-blogging: Gardening edition
It’s a very rare day when I spend almost no time at all on the computer, but this was one of those days. I made some real progress on all the chores that have been piling up in the last few weeks, when I’ve been away more weekends than home. Laundry, mostly, but other things, [...]

Ford Flex fetches second looks as a K9 carrier
In this new day of desire to reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign oil, the term “flex fuel” is often tossed out as alternative to traditional gas-guzzling vehicles. A Flexible Fuel Vehicle has the ability to run on Ethanol, or E85, as well as gasoline. That’s why the name of the 2009 Ford Flex is so [...]

The great raw diet non-debate
I’ve fed raw and homemade diets to my dogs and cats for 23 years. In that time, I’ve fed around two dozen animals, as well as litters of puppies, and have never had a dog or cat suffer any form of food-borne illness, nor any disease of nutritional deficiency or excess. But according to some veterinarians, [...]

Nominations now open for most out-of-touch pet product launch of 2008
And the first nominee is: Diamond Dog New York! Fresh from the media release that dropped into the Pet Connection mailbox this very afternoon, this very important information: Announcing “must have” jewelry line for any pet lover, just in time for Holiday 2008. Diamond Dog New York (DDNY) launches its first collection of glitzy and rich but [...]

Social graces: Any petiquette experts out there?
So, we came up with this brilliant two-part series for our syndicated pet-care column: How to deal with people-pet conflicts over the holidays. You know, people who don’t like pets, are allergic, don’t understand why “it” lives in the house anyway, who mention at least a dozen times during dinner at your house that they are [...]