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People think of cats as the pets who keep their human housemates up at night. But some dogs have trouble settling down at bedtime, too. Sometimes it’s pain from an illness that doesn’t allow them to drift off. Dogs with separation anxiety might be particularly afflicted. If they’re in pain and the people in the home aren’t available to them because they’re asleep, they may feel more nervous than usual. But if a medical issue (including dementia) is ruled out, what can you do to help your pet slumber?

There are essentially two types of drugs for dogs who experience high enough levels of anxiety that behavior modification techniques alone don’t keep them feeling calm and secure. One type is often referred to as “in the moment” medication. It means the dog just needs a short-acting drug to help him in particular situations that unnerve him to the point that he becomes aggressive or shows other signs of extreme stress, like cowering or hiding. Such situations might include thunderstorms or having to be near other dogs, say, at the veterinarian’s office. The other type of medication is longer-acting, working around the clock to take the edge off a dog’s chronic anxiety. It operates “in the background,” so to speak.

We think of dogs as social creatures, and rightly so. They are a species genetically primed for social engagement with others of their kind. But if a dog gets into a frightful scrape with another dog early in life, perhaps before she came to live with you, being around other dogs can unnerve her, truly making her miserable.

Q: Can you settle whether it’s okay to have your dog go jogging with you?

• Dogs: The Ultimate Diplomats
• Short Takes: Prison Puppies; When Eye Gook is Normal; When It’s Not.
• If Your Dog Could Have the Remote
• Veterinary Chaplaincy Edges Towards the Mainstream
• Should Your Dog Get a Summer Crewcut?
• Why the Food Prescribed by the Vet Might Not Be Working
• Taking a Load Off Your Dog’s Feet, Literally
• Dear Doctor

Dogs most like to watch videos of…other dogs. So say the results of a detailed questionnaire answered by more than 1,200 people with canine pets. Second in interest to dog videos are videos of other animals, including wild animals (as in nature documentaries), cats, livestock, and squirrels. (Videos of people are way down on the list.) Reactions to what’s on the screen include dogs turning their head to the side or pricking their ears, vocalizing, approaching the screen and/or running away from it, looking behind it, and bringing toys over. The responses were collected by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine and published in Applied Animal Behaviour Science.

At a webinar put on a few years ago by the Chaplaincy Innovation Lab at Brandeis University, Robert Gierka, EdD, discussed the concept of disenfranchised grief, which is grief over the loss of a loved one that is not socially acknowledged or considered legitimate. Such losses, Dr. Gierka said, traditionally consist of miscarriage, the loss of a same-sex partner, and the loss of a loved one through capital punishment. There’s also the loss of a pet.

Giving your dog a summer buzz cut can actually make her feel warmer, not cooler. That’s because hair on a dog insulates her from the heat.  The coat creates an air chamber between the hairs that does not conduct heat easily. (It also makes it hard for cold air to get to a dog in winter.)

Did you hear the one about the dog whose veterinarian prescribed a special therapeutic diet to slow the progression of kidney disease? Turns out that even with the newly prescribed food the rate of the dog’s decline did not ease up.

The eyes may be the windows to the soul, but a dog’s feet are often the windows to her health. Liver disease, allergies, and certain autoimmune conditions are just a few of the illnesses that play out on the feet of our canine pets. Here’s a quick guide to some of the most common diseases to strike dogs on their feet, how to recognize them, and how to treat them.

Q: My 7.5-year-old cockapoo, Lila, has had epilepsy for the past five years. She is currently managed with phenobarbital, Keppra, and potassium bromide. In the early days before effective control, she would have as many as 15 seizures in three days every two weeks. Are there any studies that indicate epilepsy can resolve after a period of time?  I raise this question because her medication has not changed for a long time, and she has gone from one seizure every couple months to none in over six months. This amount of medication, while useful for warding off seizures, seems to keep her docile and relatively inactive. If there was any proof of epilepsy resolving I would consider reducing the medication under the direction of her veterinarian.

We’re not talking here about canine prisons—puppy mills where dogs are kept in deplorable conditions. We’re talking about a program called Prison Puppies in which incarcerated men and women train puppies to become guide dogs and thereby help people in need. The program currently operates in prisons in Michigan and Minnesota.