Animals Unfolded

It's not surprising that those who share lives with pets by and large, aren't opposed to spending money when it's related to their animal companion. When it comes to toys, food, enrichment, training for the family, paying up has increased tremendously. This holds true for the health and comfort of pets, too, and anyone who has a pet with a medical condition or issues related to aging can attest to the added costs of medications, equipment and supplies. My pooch, Gretchen — a St. Bernard/Shepherd mix — is 15 years of age and falls into the latter category. Over the past few months, there have been changes with her health that one would expect, so tweaking medication regimens, adding therapies and using products to help with her mobility has been an ongoing part of the process. While most of these things have been relatively affordable, others have been quite costly (though the benefit has far surpassed the money that has been spent; more on that at a later time) and bein...

I often use food rewards when I'm with my canine charges, and I do so for various reasons. It might seem like being a caregiver to animals is strictly a fun and carefree endeavor, but it's serious business and there's much work to be done each day to keep everyone on schedule, comfortable, and having the cooperation of my four-legged friends is essential. It's common for them to want to linger a bit longer in their backyard on visits, or not focus as well on walks when they're dealing with a slightly different schedule than they are used to. In cases like these, using treats to persuade a pooch is valuable, as most dogs (but no, not all in my experience) are quite motivated by food. Occasionally I'll be caring for a dog that is a little too focused on getting edible rewards. I find that one cause is the chronic reliance on treats by their people (as opposed to using a combination of praise, play and treats as rewards), the timing of the food reward and the v...