Dog Life

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    Resource guarding revisited

    Last week, I lamented about Lilly’s penchant for turning into a mean, rotten girl when other dogs get close to her darling daddy. There are certain toys that might cause a similar
    reaction in the wrong circumstances, especially if they involve food — like a rawhide or a stuffed kong. But, the other day, Lilly and Ginko enjoyed a bit of chewing fun practically side by side.
    Take a look. …

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    Lilly went missing

    Saturday afternoon winds kept me indoors when Lilly and I returned from our usual round of errands and in-town walk. It was warm, enough, however for the pups to poke around outside
    alone. I left the tailgate down and Lilly’s crate open since she enjoys sitting up high and watching the world go by in our little valley. Just before dinnertime, Ginko came to the door and asked to
    come in, but he was alone. I assumed Lilly slept happily in her crate. I was wrong. …

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    Turning dogs pink?

    I know today’s post should be about something GREEN, but a woman here in CO recently got in trouble for turning her poodle pink. The Boulder Valley Humane Society, where we adopted
    Lilly, received calls of concern about the pink dog. They made a site visit and delivered a warning. When investigators returned a month or so later, the white poodle was still pink. They issued a
    $1,000 fine. The case is going to court. …

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    Body slam!

    Way back when we were looking for a second dog, the prime concern was Ginko. His needs outranked anything. We needed a dog small enough not to re-injury Ginko’s two blown knees that
    we’d spent a small fortune to fix surgically. We also, however, needed a dog big enough for Ginko to play with without hurting. He’s a strong, muscular 68 pounds or so. It’s a good thing Lilly is
    tough as nails because last week Ginko accidently body slammed her. …

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    Rolo’s Reprieve

    A while back, I wrote about the the case of a dog named Rolo. Last week, he
    avoided a death sentence at his hearing. He was found guilty of running at large and being a dangerous dog, but a day later the judge did not feel that he is a clear and present danger to the
    community and did not uphold the euthanasia order. So after 6 months, 2 weeks and 5 days, Rolo got out of doggie jail. There are many conditions his owner must meet in the coming weeks and years,
    but it’s better than …

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    Calming Music for Dogs

    Noise of the modern world is akin to second-hand cigarette smoke. It poses a danger to us and our dogs, according to
    the authors of “Through a Dog’s Ear: How to Use Sound to Improve the Health and Behavior of Your Canine Companion.” Just released March 1, the book makes the argument that many of the behavior
    problems we now see in dogs (and possibly some health ones too) come from the stress of noise in their world. The collaboration between a psychoacoustics experts (Joshua Leeds), a veterinary
    neurologist (Susan Wagner, DVM, MS, DACVIM), and a concert pianist (Lisa Spector, …