In these economic times things are getting scarey. Everyone is pulling back and trying their best to keep money in their wallets so what can you do with regards to spending money on your dog? - Contact your dog food company for coupons and savings. - Often online petfood suppliers offer much better deals and have regular specials. - If you feed your dog real food; check the weekly grocery store coupon and clip. I stock up every week on meat and freeze it. - Buy seasonal items like... Read Full Story

I was up in the middle of the night with Jessie lastnight; upset stomach. This seems to be something that is happening more often with my two old girls. How on earth did my girls reach 11 1/2 and 12 1/2 already? Luke turned 8 in August; hard to believe that 8 years could have passed by since that fateful day I met him. But after having him at the vets where he was official declared "a senior," I cannot believe that I have a senior pack. Luke doesn't seem like a senior; don't know if he... Read Full Story

First; it's going to be freaking hot again today. I just wanted to whine a bit about it. Okay, I want to discuss dogs and dirt. In my humble opinion dogs and dirt help to keep you healthy. I think the people who have an ultra (I mean germ free) clean house, no animals and put an increased importance on "anti bacteria" are actually much less healthy. There is good dirt and bad dirt; I'm talking about good dirt. The regular everyday stuff, actual dirt and grime. Not the gross disgusting... Read Full Story

Kids and dogs; picture perfect aren't they? They definitely can be and I believe that having dogs and children is good for both but it can also be a bad situation if certain protocols are not kept up. Often dogs and children and thrown together without a second thought and things go very wrong. Supervision is the most important factor when children and dogs are spending time together. My thought is that dogs should NEVER, EVER be alone with children without supervision. I recently met a... Read Full Story

I was puttering in the yard early yesterday morning. It was going to be a scorcher again so I got to my gardening before the worst of it hit. Luke was trailing me as he typically does. He follows me from garden to garden often slipping in a quick snuggle that knocks me into the dirt. I have to admit I love it. Once I was done with the backyard the front yard needed alot of work. My front yard is big for this area but still much too close to the road for me to feel like the dogs can... Read Full Story

We had our OC standard poodle beach walk lastnight. As I drove down the canyon road I put my window down and held out my hand to check the temp. Ahhhh, it was cooler down here; not as cool as I had hoped but cooler than the over 100 degree temps at my house. I think it is suppose to cool down today but we wait and see and hope. The tide was low which is great for wading; this allowed me to go in with my dogs without getting soaked like my last beach walk. Although the dogs must remain on... Read Full Story

Not me; no September is my least favorite month here in Southern California and this one is no exception. It's hot; too hot and especially too hot to do anything with the dogs. Yesterday I took them to a park around 9:30; I thought I was good for time but I obviously lagged too long and it was hot. Luckily there is alot of shade at this park so it wasn't too too bad. While we were there a gentleman with an overweight very tiny Chihuahua joined us. As he made his way up the hill to my... Read Full Story

My boy Luke huffs; it is the best way I can describe it. It is a greeting behavior that he displays to people he likes. I have not seen another dog that does this but I'm sure that they are out there. This huffing behavior started at a very young age as an open mouth greeting. Open mouth greetings can be disconcerting to some especially when added to a highly reactive dog. This means that not only is the mouth open but chances are that the dog is jumping a s well. Luke has nailed several... Read Full Story

I awoke this morning to what sounded like Thunder. After laying there trying to figure out what the noise was it came again; it was thunder and lightening. What? So strange; I looked out my window at the clear blue sky. Then I heard it again. My attention immediately moved to Tilley; she is intensely afraid of storms and fireworks; actually anything that makes the same booming noise. She was sitting upright listening; listening and watching me. As I have said so many times, "our dogs... Read Full Story

My daughters visited the SPCA and San Diego shelter this week. Not surprisingly it was filled with unwanted pit bulls. And after asking my daughter how many; it seems around 70% of the dogs occuping space at the shelter are pits. I understand the pit bull issues of late but where are all of these dogs coming from? In my mind the good shelters take in unwanted dogs as well as strays but so many pits? In these times of crisis; with all of the financial problems many are having some people... Read Full Story