Dog Life

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Police Officer Shot and Killed a Dog in Wheat Ridge Colorado

Monday, September 1, 2025, around 9:45 am, an officer from the Wheat Ridge Police Department in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, shot and killed a pet dog. That dog’s name was Boss. He lived near a highway exit with his owner, Dave, who is experiencing homelessness.

I learned about the case on Friday, September 5, 2025, from my veterinarian, who provided veterinary care for Boss.

I looked into the case because Boss’s life matters. He lived and died in my community, and that matters to me on both small and big scales. Unfortunately, Boss is a painful example of something that’s shockingly common. Police shoot and often kill dogs more frequently than you might think.

So, in Boss’s memory and to tell a story that, so far, no other local media has covered, I’m writing about some really difficult things. This is long, but I hope you will read it and share it.

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Hot News | Newsworthy

Heart Dog Audiobook Now Available

!! Heart Dog Audiobook Now Available !! I know everyone is busy getting ready for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, so just a quick note to let you know that the audiobook version of Heart Dog: Surviving the Loss of Your Canine Soul Mate is now available on many audiobook platforms. This was a big goal for me in 2025 to record and edit it myself (after taking an online class this spring that I purchased in 2024). A lot of people lose their dogs this time of year, so perfect timing. I hope.

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Newsworthy

New Colorado Vaccination Rules and Fallout from Rescue Group Rabies Scandal

A while back I wrote a Q & A about that puppy rabies case in Colorado. The Pet Animal Care and Facilities Act Program (PACFA) , which handles licensing, inspections, and enforcement of animal care facilities in the state, as an offshoot of the state’s Department of Agriculture, established new Colorado vaccination rules for the facilities here and for rescue groups and shelters bringing in animals from other states. There’s going to be some fallout.

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Newsworthy

How Much Do Dogs Cost Over a Lifetime ?

Some new data from Synchrony / Care Credit sheds light on how much dogs cost over a lifetime. The survey also summarizes where people now cut back due to the rising costs for everything dogs need. I always think these estimates are way, WAY low, but let’s take a look at the results of the 2025 Pet Lifetime of Care Study (with 1,541 dog owners responding to the online survey).

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Newsworthy

Hypothyroidism in Dogs and False-Positive Tests

A study published in 2024 set up blind, independent case reviews with 3 different board-certified veterinary internal medicine specialists to gauge the likelihood of dogs actually being hypothyroid based on routine blood test results that found low total T4. The premise is that overdiagnosis of hypothyroidism in dogs is possible. Here’s what those specialists thought.

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Newsworthy

Study into Common Tummy Meds for Puppies

A study published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association in June 2025 looked at the effects of giving healthy puppies a combination of metronidazole-sulfadimethoxine. This study into common tummy meds for puppies found some not great outcomes in markers of intestinal health.

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Newsworthy

Dog Urinalysis

Especially as dogs get older, I’ve always been in the camp that says, “Why not run routine tests, just to see?” Asking for a dog urinalysis is a good example. Why not check? Way better to catch anything early. Yet, with veterinary costs rising and other financial challenges for many people, including me, I (unfortunately) now take a harder look at my budget than I did earlier. I dug around in my dog files to remind myself how much a canine urinalysis test costs now versus then. Spoiler alert, the cost has nearly doubled. Honestly, it’s tempting to scale back, and I still might, but let’s look at some of the things we might miss if we skip doing urinalysis on a dog, of any age.

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5 New Breeds Added to When to Spay or Neuter Research

The research I first wrote about in 2021 that offered recommendations on when to spay or neuter 35 dog breeds has expanded to include recommendations for 5 more breeds — German Short/Wirehaired Pointer, Mastiff, Newfoundland, Rhodesian Ridgeback, and Siberian Husky. Let’s take a look at the details for these new breeds.

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Dog Gripe | Dog Rant

Terrible Advice About Affording Veterinary Care

Petsmart Charities released results of a new survey recently that shows a majority of people (52%) struggle with affording veterinary care. Everyone is talking about it, as you’ve likely seen. I will probably write about it in more detail soon, but I wanted to share my thoughts (rant) about some terrible advice I saw from an e-newsletter and website for veterinary professionals. I won’t name it here, but I will say that I, myself, would not respond well or feel good about their ideas of how veterinary teams should pre-ask about paying for veterinary care or handle times when people feel worried about paying for recommended veterinary care. It’s cringe-worthy, IMHO.

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Newsworthy

License for Rattlesnake Vaccine for Dogs Yanked

So, this is interesting. It turns out that the USDA pulled the license for the rattlesnake vaccine for dogs. That means it will soon no longer be available to veterinarians, just as rattlesnake season ramps up this spring (2025). Here’s what we know.

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