Sit. Stay. Read.
obsessed with dogs
Quick note: This post originally appeared on my Substack a month ago. If you like this type of thoughtful inquiry into an animal welfare topic, plus some other personal updates I don’t share here, sign up for my emails! Plus, when you do, you’ll gain access to a subscribers-only folder that includes a full-length ebook …
Last week, I posed the question: Should I get a second dog? I suggested five questions to ask yourself before making a final decision. This week, I’m going to assume your answer is YES and explore how to choose a second dog for your family–because you want to make sure you find the right match! …
Are you a single-dog household but you’re thinking you might want to get a second dog? We are! Here are five questions you should consider before adopting a second dog. I’ll include our answers under each tip, in case it’s helpful to see a real-life example. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This …
October is “Adopt a Shelter Dog” month! Shelter dogs, of course, make wonderful pets, friends, companions, and family members. Unfortunately, there are quite a few misconceptions about shelter dogs. Let’s dispel some of those myths together and get more dogs into homes this month! There are a LOT of dogs needing homes. Almost 7 million …
We talk a lot about pet adoption around here, but let’s be honest… not all pets come to us from a shelter or rescue. So, in that vein, allow me to formally introduce our cats: Meet Newt and Ripley! OK, OK. If you’ve been here a while, you’ve met. 🙂 But, for those who are …
I spend an inordinate amount of time gazing at my animals and wondering things about them. Like: When they dream, and their feet and tails and ears twitch, what’s running through those little minds of theirs? And: When he digs through his toy basket searching for just the right one, does he go into it …
Several years ago, a friend of mine wanted to adopt a specific breed. She reached out to a number of breed-specific rescues who all told her the same thing: Sorry, you don’t have a fenced-in yard. So, what did she do? She contacted a reputable breeder in her state and purchased a pup. Did I …
I’ve been researching a post about adoption barriers, and I have a whole huge situation–with footnotes!–coming on that in the new year. For now, though, one thing I’ve encountered over and over again in my research: Limiting adoptions for the holidays throws up yet another adoption barrier not founded in data. I am fully aware …
Is your family thinking about growing with a furry, feathery, or scaly member? Families find pets in a bunch of different ways: online like NextDoor or craigslist, family members, breeders, animal shelters, or even on the side of the road. We believe that all animals deserve to live in a loving home with a family …
When you fall in love with a pit-bull-type dog, your life inevitably changes. Why inevitably? Well, for one thing, whether you ever intended to or not, that dog you love turns you into an advocate. You might advocate on behalf of your dog, or you might dive head-first into the world of dog-defender, but you …
Have you ever had an MRI? The sights, sounds, and that uncomfortable feeling of lying still in a noisy chamber… Shudder. Greg Berns, a scientist at Emory, trained dogs—all future assistance dogs under a year old—to withstand the stress of an MRI machine. He then used the fMRI to map dogs’ brain activities when exposed to dog …
It’s easy to love a puppy. They’re fuzzy and silly. They’re clumsy. You can’t watch a puppy dash and trip and slip and skate across a room without smiling. They play, sleep, and eat with equal aplomb. And, of course, they have those round Buddha bellies you get to rub when they wriggle around on …
There’s an easy way, and there’s a hard way. The easy way slopes upward, but gradually and the rocks form a natural staircase. The hard way follows the same path, but it’s a slick, steep rock with few toeholds. There’s a prickly bush that catches your pants and branches too thin to use for balance …
There’s an easy way, and there’s a hard way. The easy way slopes upward, but gradually and the rocks form a natural staircase. The hard way follows the same path, but it’s a slick, steep rock with few toeholds. There’s a prickly bush that catches your pants and branches too thin to use for balance …
The pit bull problem isn't a pit bull problem. It's a dog problem. An all-dog problem.
Happy December! Can you even believe it? I honestly don’t know where the year has gone… Anyway, one of my favorite things about the Tuesday after Thanksgiving is that, unlike the Saturday, Sunday, and Monday after Thanksgiving, it celebrates GIVING instead of getting! Sure, I love presents and gift guides and giveaways as much as anybody, …
It’s been a while since I climbed onto my soapbox, so lemme dust this thing off and climb on up here… In 2013, I wrote a post asking should pet adoptions be free, and the discussion on the blog and on Facebook included varied opinions, but it seemed that the general consensus opposed my opinion that, yes, …
Yesterday, I was still stewing about the TIME article as I sat in a rental car parking lot waiting for John. (RIP, Saturn Ion. You gave us 10 good years.) Anyway, I got a ding, glanced at my phone, and balked. The headline: KENTUCKY FRIED HOAX. Story of girl getting tossed from KFC bogus; ‘It never …
I know. I should be ashamed. The truth is: I don’t really know what’s going on in Syria. I mean, I have the general outline but no specifics. I don’t know the history, so I have a hard time contextualizing what I hear on NPR. So, let’s say I decide this week to get a …
Recently, I was honored to share some thoughts about animal welfare with one of my favorite blogs, Grouchy Puppy. In the first post, Take off your Judgey Pants: Let’s Discuss Pet Adoption, I tackled the idea that we need to be less judgmental about potential adopters in order to save more dogs from life and death …
This is a guest post from John, the man behind the blog. Maggie and I like to volunteer whenever we get the chance. It feels good to help causes that are important to us. Simply due to our schedules, Maggie was often more active than I was, but it was something I still liked …
Last week we had a discussion on Facebook about whether it’s a better use of your donation to sponsor an adoptable dog or to pay the adoption fee for a dog in advance. A single theme emerged: If someone adopts a dog simply because the adoption fee is free, then that person probably can’t afford to …
We had an interesting conversation on Facebook earlier in the week about whether it’s better to sponsor a pup at a shelter or pay the adoption fee for a dog. There were some strong sentiments, and it got me thinking and researching. There will be more on this in the future, but if you have …
What is the difference between a meaningful life and a happy life? Turns out, quite a bit… at least, at the biological level. In a study published last week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researches worked with a large group of people over a month to determine how people saw their lives: …
