EVERYDAY DOGCARE

Fully 95 percent of dog owners buy Christmas gifts for their pets, according to a survey reported on by Pet Age. On the one hand, it may seem silly. After all, dogs dont understand the holidays. They dont even understand what a holiday is. On the other hand, making sure the dog gets some attention by presenting her with a gift on a day that her routine is completely thrown off, often with people on the scene who she doesnt know or hardly knows, can be a nice way of remembering that she likes being in and also needs some focus to feel secure.

For us, daily tooth care and regular dental visits are basic things that we do to stay healthy. But did you realize that our pets require regular dental care, too? Truly bad dog breath (not normal doggy breath) is one of the most commonly ignored problems in our dogs - and a sure sign of canine dental and gum disease.

When fluffy-man Franklin was young, he would scream at our mail carrier, Pat, each time he came up the walk toward the house, which, of course, was almost every single day. Frank would rip the mail out of Pats hand as he put it through the slot, shredding bills, ads, wedding invitations - you name it. Today, 10 years later, there has been some mellowing - on Pats part. He knows Franklins schtick and is happy to throw him a biscuit if we happen to meet up during a walk.

All too few dogs engage in enough physical activity, which not only contributes to the epidemic of unhealthful excess weight in an estimated two in five of our canine companions but also leads to behavioral issues. Problems like whining, panting, barking, and aggression could be ameliorated with regular aerobic activity that gets the heart rate up and excess energy out. Some veterinary experts even put vigorous physical activity in front of training, diet, and other measures as a mood stabilizer and overall calming influence - no surprise to people habituated to using a good workout to lift their spirits and get the venom out.

Dogs have been a fixture on college campus for years as team mascots. But more and more, they are being brought to live at institutions of higher learning to relieve students often considerable stress. The University of South Carolina, for instance, has recently adopted therapy puppy Indy. Once her training is complete, she will hold office hours at the schools Student Health Services. The University of California also has a campus facility dog - Beau, a black goldendoodle who spends time ratcheting down students anxiety at the campuss health center.

Katie Helf of Chickasha, Oklahoma, is very angry about something we said in the article on big dogs attacking little dogs in the August issues lead story.

Can littermates recognize their siblings that they havent seen in a long time? My dog and his four littermates are all from Tennessee but ended up in New England and were adopted out to different families by the time they were 12 weeks old. Now they are five, and three of us owners got together for a meet-up recently. We thought the dogs would be ecstatic to see each other again, but while they certainly had a good time horsing around together, they did not appear to have an affinity for each other that was any greater than their affinity for other dogs they have come to know and get along with. At the same time, I have read about littermates so thrilled to see each other again after having been separated for a long time that youd think they were on one of those TV shows where adoptees try to find their birth families. Whats the answer?

Wolves are raised by their mothers and fathers until they are two years old. Not so, dogs. Their mothers are done with them at weaning, around the time a puppy is about 8 weeks of age. Perhaps thats why theres such a high mortality rate among pups not living as pets; more than 80 percent of dogs die in their first year of life without human care. But not to worry - there appears to be an across-species evolutionary process at work that helps helpless, newly motherless puppies get adopted into human homes. It involves a young dogs peak adorableness.

My town has a Facebook page where people go to post announcements or ask questions. When I said on it that I was writing an article on what to do if a big dog attacks a little dog and asked if anyone had stories to share, the responses started flying. A particularly dramatic one came from Todd Alvey, whose 40-pound mixed breed was attacked by two dogs who must have weighed 100 pounds each, he says.

Julie Kembels 14-pound dog Abby is a scrappy little thing. The poodle-Cavalier King Charles spaniel-golden retriever mix loves to chase squirrels (that she never catches) and is happy to run off by herself and then come back to Ms. Kembel or her husband, Bob, once she has had her fill of predatory excitement. But not if theres a big dog around.

Who among us hasnt felt at least a twinge of guilt when leaving the house to go shopping and watched the beseeching, or even forlorn, look of a dog about to be left alone? Wouldnt it be great, you might think to yourself, if stores would just loosen their policies so your well-behaved pet could come along with you?

First the bad news. The geographic distribution of ticks that can infect dogs (and people) with Lyme disease is spreading. The Northeast has had the problem from the outset, and no area of the U.S. is completely Lyme disease-free, but the Companion Animal Parasite Control Council now says theres going to be an increase this year, with Lyme disease making its way to areas that have not been of particular concern, like the Midwest and the Southeast.