Dogs earned the nickname “man’s best friend” in part because they’re so trusting and loyal. But one puppy’s misplaced trust almost cost him his life.
Yesterday animal control officer Sharon Norton of Brookhaven, a small city in Mississippi located about 60 miles south of Jackson, responded to a tip about a dog abandoned on the side of a remote road with a recliner chair and tossed TV. As she drove up, she told TODAY, “I felt sick to my stomach.”
(more…)Much like people, dogs change as they grow older. Perhaps the most noticeable of all changes is their temperament. Older dogs often have a lower tolerance level for rough play and they can easily be irritable at times. However, elderly dogs also become a lot calmer, which can be a welcome change for a lot of pet parents.
For example, some young dogs have a yapping problem as they needlessly vocalize for long durations. As they grow older, this annoying habit usually becomes less and less frequent to a point it goes away completely.
As a pet parent, it’s important to know what your dog likes and dislikes. Considering that senior dogs have different likes than young ones do, pet parents need to update themselves. They simply cannot follow the same pet care routine and expect the same happy reaction from their dogs.
(more…)The Food and Drug Administration identified 16 brands of dog food that had been linked to heart disease in dogs that eat them, according to a report the agency published on Thursday.
In the report, the F.D.A. named for the first time the pet food brands most frequently associated with adverse events. In descending order of most incidents of heart disease, the brands are Acana, Zignature, Taste of the Wild, 4Health, Earthborn Holistic, Blue Buffalo, Nature’s Domain, Fromm, Merrick, California Natural, Natural Balance, Orijen, Nature’s Variety, NutriSource, Nutro and Rachael Ray Nutrish.
The heart condition examined in the report, canine dilated cardiomyopathy, often results in heart failure and is believed to have a genetic component, according to the report. The disease usually affects large breeds, but the F.D.A. said it knew of smaller dogs that have been afflicted with it.
(more…)Dog owners spent close to 300 minutes each week walking with their dogs, about 200 more minutes of walking than people without dogs.
May 29, 2019
Dog owners are about four times more likely than other people to meet today’s physical activity guidelines, according to a large-scale new study of dogs and exercise.
(more…)An animal cruelty investigation of a New Jersey couple has been opened. The pair said: “This wasn’t backyard breeding. Things just went sideways.”
June 12, 2019
There was a time when the mention of the two high-end dog breeders came with a shower of praise and admiration.
The New Jersey couple at the helm of Rocky Ridge Russells kennel could proudly boast of dozens of American Kennel Club winners and a 2009 Westminster Kennel Club best in breed champion.
(more…)“Due to the overwhelming number of animals coming in and a limited staff, especially on weekends, this dog was crisscrossed with another dog scheduled to be euthanized that probably looked similar,” Assistant Davidson County Manager Casey Smith said, according to the Winston-Salem Journal. “It was an unfortunate mistake.”
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The city of Dayton is considering changing its laws to reduce the amount of time a dog can be tethered and allow law enforcement officers to seize and impound canines that are “improperly” restrained. Nearly four years ago, the Dayton City Commission approved an ordinance prohibiting dog owners from chaining or tethering their canines for more than two consecutive hours during a 12-hour period. The law was approved months after Klonda Richey was mauled to death by her neighbors’ dogs. Richey had sought protection from the dogs and her neighbors leading up to her death. (more…)
Some dogs in China carry a mixed bag of influenza viruses. The discovery raises the possibility that dogs may be able to pass the flu to people, perhaps setting off a pandemic. About 15 percent of pet dogs that went to the vet because of respiratory infections carried flu viruses often found in pigs, researchers report June 5 in mBio. Of the virus strains detected, three have recombined in dogs to form new varieties. That mixing generates genetic diversity in the viruses that makes them potentially a pandemic threat, says study coauthor Adolfo García-Sastre, a virologist who directs the Global Health and Emerging Pathogens Institute of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. (more…)
