While hiking on the Appalachian Trail with one of my dogs, I found her covered in ticks one evening. I managed to remove most of them with my fingers the first night but luckily a good samaritan working at a nearby grocery store saved our trip. Her sister was a vet and she kept a stock of Frontline just for all the backbackers with dogs that were being attacked by ticks. One dose of Frontline and all the ticks fell off within a few hours!

So what do you do when your dog gets a tick?

1. You can use tweezers, your fingers or a special tick remover tool (picture above) to pull the tick out. The key is not to twist – the head of the tick is under the skin and you don’t want it to break off.
2. Wash the infected site with soap and water or rubbing alcohol.
3. Remember that ticks carry infections, so try not to touch them or pop them. Watch for fever or inflammation and if your dog does get sick, be sure to mention the tick bite to your vet.
4. Consider applying a tick repellant like Frontline if your dog will be exposed to more ticks in the near future.

Good luck! Share your stories or your pictures with us!

Photo by Miss Chien http://www.flickr.com/photos/57734740@N00/184375291/

I used to train guide dog puppies and they would often go on business trips with me. A few tips to those traveling on planes with service dogs in training:

• Practice what a security check might be like for your dog. Often security folks will pat your dog down. Ask them not to pet or play with your dog. I took one young puppy who got super excited when the security folks played with her. It took me a good 10 minutes to calm her down so that we could walk gracefully to the gate.
• Be sure the airline knows you have a service dog in training coming along.
• Get your vet certificate. Most airlines require a vet certificate of health. It’s usually only good for 14 days so you have to plan your vet visit and trip accordingly.
• Tell them not to place you in a bulk head. Airlines love to give you the bulk head seat when you have a service dog. The problem is, there’s no where for the dog to lie down! In a regular row, the dog can partially fit underneath the seat in front of you, giving them (and your seatmates) a bit more room.
• Get there early. It may take you longer to check in and get through security.
• Plan potty breaks. Ask the airline agents for help. During one four hour delay, the agents in the Red Carpet Club actually took my puppy out on the tarmac for me. (I couldn’t go out there, but they could take her out.) On other occasions I had puppies go on paper in the bathroom floor and then cleaned it up.
• Use the chance to educate people. Many people will come up to talk to you about your dog or ask if they can pet it. Use the opportunity to explain what you are doing and what service dogs do.
• Enjoy your trip!

Any other tips you would add for people traveling with service dogs? Any questions?

Photo by seeks2dream. Licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Dogs have whiskers on their nose above the upper lip, chin, and forehead . If you trim them, it will not hurt them. However, they do use their whiskers as a sixth sense, so you might be limiting their ability to play or hunt for a while.

Dogs’ whiskers are called vibrissae. Their roots are three times as deep as ordinary hair and the whiskers themselves are twice as thick.

Whiskers are one of the ways dogs sense the world around them. They can feel air currents and dogs use that information to figure out the size and shape of nearby objects. They can also figure out how narrow or tight a hole is.

Whiskers also help protect dogs’ eyes like human eyelashes. If the whiskers are touched, they blink.

So you can safely trim your dogs whiskers (and they’ll grow back) but it might be like putting ear plugs in their ears or blinders on their eyes! There is no reason other than showing a dog to trim their whiskers.

Some common theories about why dogs chase their tails are:

• They're bored and chasing their tail is fun.
• People laugh when they chase their tails and they are looking for attention.
• The tail itches. (If your dog is scratching all over, including itching the tail, you may want to make sure they don't have fleas or a skin condition.)
• As a stress reducer. If your dog just started chasing his tail, you might want to consider what else has recently changed in his life.
• Lack of exercise.
• It's fun! (Ever watched a kid spin in circles?)

While chasing their tail is a normal dog activity, if it is excessive or causes problems (like they are actually gnawing on their tail), you may want to try to stop it. Do this by rewarding your dog when he or she is quiet, taking them for more walks and providing them with more toys or other entertainment. If it's not excessive, enjoy it!

Looking for a treat for your dog for Christmas? Instead of giving your dog people food try the following treats:

1. Blue Dog Bakery Treats. These are real bakeries you can take your dog to to buy treats. If you don’t happen to live near one, you can order their treats through Amazon.
2. Greenies. Our dogs love greenies. They have the added bonus of cleaning their teeth. Even though we have large dogs, I buy the petite sized greenies so I can give them treats more often.
3. Meat flavored treats. In a test where dogs were offered dirty baby diapers, a can of spam and gourmet dog treats, most of the dogs sniffed the baby diaper first, then ate the spam. You may like chocolate, but your dog probably prefers meaty stuff.

Get your dog a non-chocolate special treat today!

Here are seven ways to discipline your dog from the book How to Raise a Puppy You Can Live With:

1. Distract. Make a loud noise to distract your puppy from whatever they are doing. A loud yell, a slap on the table or shake a jar with a few pennies in it. This should startle him and focus his attention on you.
2. Scruff-Shake. Grab the fur under his ear on his neck and shake – a “brief but brisk shake”. This works best if you catch them in the act and the scruff-shake is a surprise.
3. Put-Down. Push the puppy over (quickly but gently) either on to his side or onto his back and lean over him. This reinforces that you are dominant.
4. Isolation. Say no and then ignore your puppy. Puppies are very social and they won’t like it that you aren’t paying attention to them.
5. Time-Out. Put the puppy outside for a few minutes and then try the same situation again. Or you can stop playing or interacting with the puppy for a few minutes, if you were part of the situation.
6. Squirt Bottles. Say “off” or “no” and squirt your dog at the same time. Water guns make this fun for you. Unfortunately many dogs (and cats) find this a fun game as well. Rutherford and Neil suggest using vinegar then, one part vinegar to six parts water.
7. Sit Command. Right after saying no, say sit. This gives your dog something else to do other than the bad thing. I’ve also found it effective to just say sit. Usually when they sit they can no longer do whatever it is you didn’t like.

My dad used to swat our puppy with an empty plastic milk jug or rolled up newspaper. It was probably the distraction that worked, not the being hit.

What methods of discipline work best for you and your dog?

Photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/chainsawpanda/ / CC BY 2.0.

Photo from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fpat/ / CC BY 2.0

Information from How to Raise a Puppy You Can Live With.

If you wait until your first dog is at least five to six months old before you get a second one, your first dog will be well bonded to you.

If you get two puppies at the same time, especially if they are from the same litter, they are likely to bond to each other and pay more attention to each other than to you. Training them will be a lot harder! That said, I know some people that have gotten two puppies from the same litter and successfully raised them to be well behaved dogs.

Photo from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulmoody/ / CC BY-NC 2.0

Information from How to Raise a Puppy You Can Live With.

Dogs do see better than humans in the dark and they are very sensitive to movement.

Photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/dshef/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Information from Dog Behavior: An Owner’s Guide to a Happy Healthy Pet.

From 3 to 5 weeks old, puppies explore everything new in their environment and show no fear. By 5 weeks of age, they start avoiding new things and situations.

Puppies are usually separated from their litter mates and placed with people between 6 and 8 weeks of age but it’s best if they get a lot of social interaction with people starting a three weeks. Puppies that are removed from their litters earlier often don’t know how to interact with other dogs! (Many of us may have know one of these dogs – does your dog think it’s human?)

Photo from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sebastian-silva/ / CC BY-NC 2.0

Information from Dog Behavior: An Owner’s Guide to a Happy Healthy Pet.