This is a tough question to really answer because there is not really a right or wrong here. For me personally, I chose to say goodbye to my dog because he was diagnosed with Cushing’s Disease and was deteriorating quite quickly, and although relatively young, was a shadow of his former self. Medication could’ve probably kept him alive for a year or two, but his quality of life would’ve been zero and I was not willing to let him live like that.

Now this was just my own personal situation, so I chose to do what I thought was in My, and my dog’s best interest and you will have to do the same. If your dog becomes very sick, you will have the same tough decision to make as I did. Personally I did not want to keep Luther alive for my own selfish reasons, meaning that I did not want to keep him alive just to make myself feel better and to also hold off the inevitable grief that would accompany saying goodbye to him.

Sometimes, when your dog gets sick, treatment may not be an option due to financial constraints. Dogs are expensive to fix up when they get sick and if money is an issue, this is also something that you need to consider. It sounds horrible to say that your dog’s life hangs in the balance of your bank account, but this is a realistic possibility for many dog owners who just do not have the money to fork over to the vet.

Saying goodbye to your dog is inevitable at some point, that is a fact of life and when that time comes, I feel for you. I’ve been there and it sucks, it really does and I do my best to remember all the good years that my dog and I shared, and how I was doing him a favor by not subjecting him to a year or two of horrible living.

For a complete list of male and female doggie names for you to check out, why not look here? Maybe you will find the perfect one for your own dog.

This is a very good question and there have been times when I have asked myself the exact same thing. Lars has a noisy tummy, meaning that I can hear sounds coming out of there even if I do not have my ear pressed up against him. Sometimes I think there are battle ships going at it in the Bar’s belly because the noises that come out of there indicate as such but fortunately for me this is not the case.

The sounds you hear from your dog’s tummy are those of his food being digested, and you have nothing to worry about. When food enters into the stomach, it gets shuffled along through the huge maze of intestine, being broken down as it goes. This is the sound you hear when you press your ear to your dog’s belly, or in my case, when I am lying in bed and Lars is on his own bed a few meters away from me!

For those of you who do not own dogs that are natural retrievers, you have a bit of work to do and I can help you out. Follow the steps here and your dog will be bringing back that ball in no time!

Lars, five, is an extention of my left arm if you will, and I rely on him to navigate along side me through life and his job is to keep me safe! In order for him to do this, he has to feel a strong bond towards me so that he will actually want to keep me safe, and I have to feel a strong bond towards him in order to make it easier for me to trust him and his ability to keep me safe. Because he is my eyes, I must trust him to make decisions on his own that sited people simply make without even thinking about, and in order to be comfortable doing this, it takes both practice, and time spent together.

Guide dogs do not work all the time, and when off the clock, are regular silly doggies! That said, Lars and I do a lot of fun things together when he is not in work mode, both to fulfill his incessent exercise requirement due to him being a very high energy dog, and also to provide him an outlet to get rid of stress accumulated from his very important j.o.b.

Any activity you do with your dog can be considered a type of bonding activity. Personally I like to take Lars on regular dog walks where he is on leash, not in harness, so he can behave like a regular dog. If he wants to sniff a tree or lift his leg on a fire hydrant he can do so. If he wants to flip out and start chasing his tail, he can do that too! These are things that he can not do when he is working, and he knows it!

If Lars could have a do over, I am pretty sure he would come back as a runner! He absolutely loves to run and I have documented his many running adventures in past posts including this one and this one.

Other things we do together are simple, but again, because we do them together can be viewed as bonding activities. I groom Lars regularly which I know he enjoys because he stands or sits patiently and lets me do it, occasionally making little grunting noises. I also massage him every so often and I know for sure he likes this because when he knows its coming, he flops onto his side and gives me the big, ‘oh this is gonna be good sigh!’ There are even times when he will simply come to me with a bone in his mouth and present it to me for me to hold for him while he gives it a good ‘ol chew, which actually I think he is about to do right now!

From my experience, introducing a dog or cat to the mix is an interesting mix of hostility on behalf of the cat, and curiosity on behalf of the dog. Cats do not take kindly to the new addition to the home, and will let you know it! They will generally opt for a vantage point out of reach of the dog, and puff up as big as they can to show that darn dog how upset they are that their territory is being invaded! Even if a new cat is added to a home with existing cats, cats will show their displeasure towards the new addition, as they really are territorial creatures and do not like change. During this time, you may or may not see your cat for days, as they only dare come out of hiding when they are certain that that darn doggie is not in their area code.

As for the doggie, he is usually very curious and just wants to sniff every inch of that darn hard to get kitty, which makes for an interesting flurry of activity! Dog approaches cat, cat puffs up and starts growling like a dog, dog sees this as an open invatation to continue approach, cat swots dog and runs like hell!

Fortunately, once kitty has had time to digest the situation, which can take days in some cases, he/she will begin to warm up to the idea of having a big smellie creature around. Your cat will be more willing to be around when your dog is ‘around’ and they may even start interacting with each other as time passes. During the initial warming up period, never leave your pets alone unsupervised!

Of course there are acceptions to every scinario, like this one, where the cat appears to be the one in charge!

So what happens if your Vet tells you they will do a payment plan for you then they call you and tell you that they won’t? What can you do? First of all if this actually happens, this is not a very nice thing for them to be doing! When your dog or cat is sick, the last thing you want to be worrying about is money and your vet is being very unprofessional!

If your vet has yet to take care of your dog, I would talk to them right away and remind them of the pre-arranged agreement to put you on a payment plan. Remind them that you have been a loyal client of theirs’ in the past and that you have always paid your bills on time. If your vet still does not want to help you out, and they have not addressed your dog’s medical needs, time to find another vet who is more understanding.

If your vet has already treated your dog and is trying to get out of the pre-arranged payment plan, once again, remind them of the agreement that was made. Be honest and upfront in stating your case. You fully intend on paying the bill upon the pre-determined conditions that were discussed. If this still does not resolve the situation then you need to read up on steps you can take to file a complaint with the state against them.

How much exercise do my dogs need? This is a subjective question and the answer will depend on who you ask. It is generally agreed upon, that certain breeds of dog need more exercise than others, with certain breeds needing a ton of exercise on a daily basis while others needing much less.

I own a Labrador Retriever and this is a breed of dog that I know, needs a lot of exercise! We go on two long walks daily and he also has a pal to play with some days also, so I know that Lars gets plenty of exercise each day. Would he benefit from more? Maybe, or then again maybe not. It is impossible to know exactly how much exercise Lars needs, but I go out of my way to make sure he gets a fair bit.

Many small dogs on the other hand, simply get the majority of their exercise from scampering around their home. This is not to say that you should not walk them daily, but less emphasis needs to be put on these walks.

One way of figuring out if your dog is getting enough exercise, is to go by trial and error. Try exercising your dog a lot and see how he reacts. Generally the more exercise a dog gets, the easier they are to handle at home because they are less likely to get into trouble because they are bored.

On the other hand, if you find that your dog is sleeping all the time when at home, and is behaving more like a cat than a dog, then try reducing their exercise a bit to see if they become more active at home!

Jasper was an awesome dog but unfortunately he was a bit too hyper and kept knocking us over as kids so my mom decided to get rid of him. I remember her telling us one day when we came home from school that from now on, Jasper would be living on the farm. That was it, Jasper was gone, and we were surprisingly ok with the fact that he would be living in the country.

We have a huge list of puppy names that have been submitted by dog owners just like you. If you want some good male and female names for dogs we have many to choose from.