Animals Unfolded

From the time Gretchen was a tiny pup, she has spent time traveling in the car frequently. My desire to take road trips with her was a driving force behind that, so making even the shortest car rides a pleasurable experience was something that I worked at making happen. In the 15 years since I brought her home, we've taken many trips — and there have been car rides to other people's homes, the park, the pet store and more frequently these days, trips to a local facility for laser therapy to address her advanced arthritis, which she enjoys (more on that later). Through it all, Gretchen has enjoyed her car rides because almost always, good things happen (sometimes these days that means the two of us splitting a small order of fries from the drive-thru after laser therapy). That said, a lot of people have dogs that they have welcomed into their family that are not so fond of a vehicular outing, and it's understandable: cars can be noisy, over-stimulating and disorienting...

The way that animals interact with the world around them has long fascinated us, and most often we as pet owners are focused on behavior and ability to learn when it comes to our dogs and cats — as well as a fair share of those who have horses and birds. What may not be on our radar is that other species that are kept as pets — reptiles, like the bearded dragon, specifically — may also use a type of learning to gain new skills that only other animals were known employ: social learning . In the past, it was thought that only certain species of animals (as an example, primates and canines) were capable of using social learning. Researchers discovered that reptiles, bearded dragons, as they witnessed in a new study, likely use social learning through imitation as well — something that has not been noticed before. The study, called Social learning by imitation in a reptile (Pogona vitticeps), was recently published in the journal Animal Cognition and used 12 bearded dragons that...

What's in the food that our families eat is undoubtedly something that more of us are conscious of these days, and it's not limited to the bipeds in the tribe: what goes into the mouths of our furry and feathered friends is of concern, too. There are more choices on the market when it comes to pet food and I know all too well that there is much contention (and plenty of people willing to offer their unsolicited opinions!) about which type of food is best. Walk into any pet store and you can really see the proverbial fur fly; when I'm browsing the aisles, I usually hear at least one patron or employee soliciting unfounded, cringeworthy advice about why one brand or type is better than the other. Despite the number of recalls of all kinds that are posted on the Food and Drug Administration's website in a given month, the acerbic banter about how evil the most well-known pet food companies are is fed like a coal furnace with the help of the pet food recalls that are ...

"I am seeing that my dog doesn't do as well when we travel and aren't able to take them with us, and wanted to ask about how you might be able to help..." This is something that I often hear from those that share life with aging dogs, and for good reason: they know their pet better than anyone. Pets experience all kinds of changes throughout their lifetime, and we spend so much of our time with them that it seems easy to pick up on when they might be having trouble — or is it? The answer to that depends on a lot of things: our previous experience, the pet, the species — even our willingness to do so. With regard to the latter statement, I'm not suggesting that we're stubbornly refusing to do what is reasonably mindful for our furry friends. Rather, perhaps it's subconscious. It can be difficult to wrap our heads around the fact that a pet is changing in little ways, or more profoundly. In some respect, we've probably all done it, or will: we ...

There is one scenario that presents itself regularly in my daily adventures with dogs, and it can vary anywhere between being benign, disgusting or downright dangerous: I need to retrieve an item from the animals's possession — their mouth, more precisely — and typically in fast order. I could be on a walk with a charge and they discover a dead animal, a prescription pill enveloped in a yummy treat could inadvertently drops on the floor as I am preparing to dole it out to another pet in the family, or I might to need to get a prized chew toy away from a furry pal before they devour it whole. Ideally, a pet has been taught to "leave it" — one of the most valuable skills that a dog can have in their repertoire in my opinion —but quite honestly, the item that they have in their mouth might be of really high value to them, they might not be as reliable as we would like in giving it up (especially if there is another dog close by). In any case, grabbing the item might p...

During the cold or soggy months I joke that I feel like a kindergarten teacher because I spend much of my time bent over putting on dog booties or drying off wet paws, or putting on or removing a charge's fleece jackets. I get a few laughs from saying that, but in truth it can be a very dangerous situation for me: my face is level to a dog's body, and more easily within reach of my charge's teeth. You get the picture. The fact is, just like you, I spend a lot of time in physical contact with the dogs in my care all year whether it's putting on a collar, harness or leash, checking them over for ticks or burrs after an adventure or tending to a minor (or goodness forbid) a more serious injury. Though I am confident that my charges by and large are behaviorally safe around their bonded humans (including myself), there are times that my touching them might become uncomfortable for some reason — or be downright painful, and as you know, canines often try to hide their...

One of the most common tasks that I need to ensure gets done when caring for my charges is giving any medication. Though a few meds are dispensed as a suspension, as a transdermal gel or even by injection (something that I had to begin recently with both of my pets), pills or capsules are the most common mode of delivery. This doesn't make most animals feel especially cooperative, as many a pet owner can attest -- especially when it comes to the latter. Their size and shape can make things a bit more challenging. There's a bit of an art to making the task of taking meds stress-free for dogs and cats, and as a caregiver to many four-legged charges, I've figured out a couple of tricks to facilitate this. Dogs can be pretty easygoing when it comes to administering pills, as they are food motivated and believe me — I take full advantage of that. For most dogs, pill pockets work well, though some dogs get wise to the tactic so mixing things up a bit and employing a steal...