features

Warriors with nightmares and other symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were described as far back as the Bronze Age in Assyrian literature. Fast forward 3,600 years to 2009, when researchers found that some military working dogs were unable to go back to their jobs as bomb sniffers following exposure to combat in Afghanistan. The researchers, a combination of PTSD experts in human psychiatry and psychology along with veterinary behaviorists, came up with a strict set of criteria for canine PTSD in those military dogs. They included escape or avoidance of work-related environments; changes in rapport with their handlers; and interference with critical tasks, including controlled aggression.

The American Animal Hospital Association has a chart listing things that get in the way of your pets weight control. The number one item: begging. Owner guilt is up there, too.

Most shelters are happy to have volunteers come and give resident dogs attention by playing with them and grooming them. Dogs warehoused in shelters need extra attention and socializing so that they will look good to potential adopters and also will adapt better to life with people once they make it to a loving home. But theres more to helping shelter dogs than interacting with them directly, and you may have just the talent required. Consider asking a local shelter if it needs help in any of these areas.

Theres no getting around it - dogs can smell pretty stinky. Some of the odor comes from bacteria and yeast in the skin that break down and oxidize oils (fats) on the skins surface. That fat breakdown releases the telltale volatile compounds that we associate with dogs un-perfume-like scent. Some of the nasty odor also comes from the waste left behind on a dogs coat by resident microorganisms, and some comes from sweat.