Weekly article archive

The following questions and answers have appeared in my weekly column in the Albuquerque Journal since July, 1996. Each week a new one is added. You'll find information on the physical and behavioral maladies of dogs and cats and a few other species too. I invite you to use the search feature to find the specific answer that you and your pet need.

Dribbling Dog Needs Treatment, Not a Garage Bay

garage dog

Question: “Sage”, our female Lab mix, began to urinate on the bed during the night. She was diagnosed with a bladder infection, given antibiotics, and the problem disappeared. It reoccurred…

Read More

Circus dog? Robot dog? AI dog?

rally training

Mike is demonstrating Rally skills with “Bree”, his Pomeranian. At Sandia Dog Obedience Club in Albuquerque, Mike and Rene are instructors in the dog sport called Rally. It’s like obedience…

Read More

Baby Boomer Brains & Hitting Balls

person with dog

Are baby boomers concerned about their cognitive abilities declining? It gets my attention. I published my residency research on cognitive dysfunction syndrome in elderly pets. There’s a whole lot of…

Read More

A Happy Dog Works

dog working

My Border collie “Mick” loves to work for me because he always earns interactions and sometimes food. Dogs aren’t in the mindset of pleasing a master; they look to us…

Read More

Aggression Gone? Find Out What He Learned

Lick mat

Last in a series Fear is a miserable emotion. It happens in-the-moment, before there is time to think. And it can be dangerous. Whether a threat is real or imagined…

Read More

Anxious Dog? Visitor Aggression? Focus!

Lick mat

Fear and anxiety are miserable emotions. Whether a threat is real or imagined a freaked-out dog wants drive off a scary monster – who might retaliate. But if he could…

Read More

Stimpy Avoided his Problems. Good Stimpy

food puzzle

Third in a series Which of these statements is true? (a) Some dogs try to dominate their people and need us to keep them in line. (b) Dominance behavior among…

Read More

Plucking Peace from the Jaws of Fear

dog

Second in a series Remember what happened to Stimpy, the ankle biter? He was alpha rolled and pinned to change his behavior but, call me crazy, I’ve never known bullying…

Read More

Turkey vultures

turkey vultures

I like turkey but that’s not what comes to mind when you see a turkey vulture eat dead animals. This bunch was hanging out in the Rio Grande Bosque this…

Read More