DOG TRAINING AND BEHAVIOR

Guys in search of a relationship, forget spending grueling hours at the gym in an attempt to make your body more buff and therefore more attractive to women. Just get a dog. Research published in the journal Anthrozoos: a multidisciplinary journal of the interactions of people and animals, found that men with a dog have an easier time getting a womans phone number.

My new puppy is adorable, but at 12 weeks of age, he has already developed a habit of jumping on people. Its clearly a sign of affection, but not everybody likes it. Besides, hes a Lab, and I fear that as he grows, the excitement and happiness he exhibits by jumping is going to be taken with less and less good cheer by people we come across. I keep telling him Down, but it doesnt work. Any suggestions?

Most cruise lines do not allow dogs unless they are service animals, and for good reason. Theres no good place for them to play on the ships, no place to relieve themselves, strict health codes that would be hard to stick to with dogs aboard, and laws about quarantining depending on the ports of call visited by the ocean liners. One exception, and only one, is Cunard Cruise Lines Queen Mary II, which sails between New York and Southampton, England. The dogs on that boat are treated in style - with fleece blankets, a complimentary portrait with you, and a kennel master who takes care of walks, indoor play time, and clean-up.

Its well established that when a dog licks her lips, it means she is feeling nervous or anxious. (People do it, too.) Now, new research shows that they lick their lips in response to our angry faces. British and Brazilian researchers reporting in the journal Behavioural Processes made the finding when they observed 17 family dogs of various breeds looking at pictures of people with either happy/playful facial expressions or angry/aggressive ones. The dogs licked their mouths significantly more frequently when looking at the bad-mood faces (more than twice as much, on average).

Alison Murphy and Jesse Hlava were over. After six years together, there were a lot of conversations about what we both wanted, Ms. Murphy says, and we werent having the same idea of what the future would look like.

Arthritis, hip dysplasia, joint surgery, degenerative myelopathy, vestibular disease, and other causes of compromised mobility are good reasons to consider a dog mobility harness. These incorporate a sling to help support your pets front or hind legs, employing your own strength to provide a lift for your pet so she can rise to her feet, get up the stairs or into and out of the car, or have some support when she needs to relieve herself.

She lunges. She races. Worst of all, perhaps, is when she digs in her heels and slips out backward, Houdini-like, leaving you with only a leash and collar where once was your dog.

Deb Nicholas of Fremont, Ohio, is worried. Her 11-year-old yellow Lab, Racer, has run the gamut of problems with licking himself after surgeries and when he has seasonal hotspots. He also licks obsessively when something upsets him - a bee buzzing by, someone accidentally bumping into him, etc. A lot of times he just sits and licks the air.

The summer after I turned 17, I traveled cross-country to spend time with various friends I had made while working at a sleep-away camp a year earlier. One of my stops was Nederland, Colorado, a mountain road away from Boulder, where I stayed for a few days with a pal at his older brothers house.

One of the big things people worry about is drugging their dog, says Stephanie Borns-Weil, DVM, the board-certified animal behaviorist who heads the Tufts Animal Behavior Clinic. She is referring to clients reactions when she suggests that their dog could use a psychotropic medication to get them over the behavioral hump, whether for separation anxiety, fear aggression, or some other emotionally charged issue. They think that using a psychotropic medication means sedating a dog out of her troubles, the doctor says. Its sort of a holdover from One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest.

I think my cattle dog, Shorty, who is about 9 years old, has been squinting when it is very sunny out. I never used to notice this. Could he really have started squinting at this point in life, or is it something that has always gone on but I just never noticed it?

I read with interest your November editorial, which talked a little about pit bulls. Your comment about pit bulls having locking jaws is way off base and untrue. Please consider a follow-up. There is no dog that has magical locking jaws! As a pit bull owner who fights stereotypes every day, I hope you can understand that a comment like that sets us back 10 years. Thank you, and I am looking forward to your response.