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Its no secret that former President George Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush are dog people, as evidenced by Mrs. Bushs ghostwriting of her dog Millies autobiography. So it only makes sense that the couple lives in the very dog-friendly coastal Maine town of Kennebunkport, where shops, outdoor recreation, and events are designed for the enjoyment of dogs and people alike.

The 147 homes and penthouses of Scarlett Place Condominiums on Baltimores Inner Harbor offer fabulous views, 24-hour front desk staff, a pool, fitness center, and rents for a two-bedroom unit climbing to nearly $3,000 a month. What they dont want to be offering any longer are grounds dotted with dog waste. The condo board is serious enough about the infractions that it is considering replacing surveillance cameras with DNA tests.

We all know that diabetes, whether in a person or a dog, can be treated-but what about treated with one injection that lasts for years rather than twice-daily insulin shots? Some exciting research out of Spain suggests it may be true, at least for our canine friends. The promise appears to lie in gene therapy.

Tufts professor emeritus and animal behaviorist Nicholas Dodman, BVMS, was once at a professional meeting of veterinarians and other dog professionals, when one of the speakers asked how many of the 200 or so people in the room let their dogs sleep in their bedroom with them. Every single hand went up. When the speaker went on to ask how many let their dogs onto the bed with them, 75 percent of the hands remained raised.

Sure, you can bring home a picture frame ringed by shells or some other tchotchke from the Turks and Caicos. But have you thought about a potcake?

California has become the first state that will no longer allow pet stores to sell dogs from large-scale pet breeding businesses, aka puppy mills. Instead, stores will have to get dogs (and cats and rabbits) to sell from rescue groups and animal shelters. The law will take effect January 1, 2019.

Youve no doubt heard of the Ice Bucket Challenge, in which people throw a bucket of ice and cold water over their heads (or have it thrown over them) to increase donations for research into a cure for Lou Gherigs disease, scientifically referred to as ALS. But did you know that when you make a contribution to ALS research, youre helping dogs with that paralyzing disease, too? Thats right. Dogs as well as people lose mobility because of a degradation of certain tissue in their spinal cords, eventually succumbing to the illness. And scientific investigators who are looking for effective treatments are in effect helping both species. Their findings across the animal kingdom (including us) are called comparative medicine, and they facilitate the advancement of translational medicine - the quicker translation of basic science knowledge into clinical applications that can help living beings across the world of animals.

Hmm, lets see…two small pieces of American cheese so he wouldnt feel left out when his sister Rosie got her bladder-tightening pill wrapped in cheese, another two small pieces when she got her second pill later in the day (I forget the brand of cheese just now), a dental chew (not sure which - my wife buys them), I-dont-know-how-many 5-calorie tiny Milk Bone biscuits that he demands when we take our walks or which I dispense because he has come back to me when I called, the licks of ice cream he managed to squeeze in before I pulled him away from the cup someone left outside the ice cream shop…

Are you sitting down? It turns out that Franklin, who came to us from a border collie rescue league at the age of 12 weeks and who we have been calling a border collie for the last nine years, doesnt have a drop of border collie in him. Nope. We had his DNA analyzed for kicks, and it turns out hes 25 percent golden retriever and 25 percent American Eskimo dog. Hes also 12.5 percent Labrador retriever, 12.5 percent Shetland sheepdog, and 12.5 percent a combination of so many other breeds that the analyzers could only determine a number of breed groups: terrier, hound, and sporting, for instance. What the-?

Tom Hughes, who lives with his wife, Penni, in the big yellow house with the wraparound porch at the top of our street, had a motto: One wife, one child [Katie], one dog.That dog was Daisy, a smallish (and somewhat cranky, if you ask me) chocolate Lab with whom Tom was completely besotted. He always said that when Daisy went, that was going to be it because no other dog could compare.

This past summer, while John, almost 16, ventured more than 5,000 miles east to visit the Holy Land, Constance and I flew 2,000 miles west to see my cousin Vicki in Colorado. (How do you people breathe in that high-altitude state? Its all breathtakingly beautiful, but at more than 10,000 feet up in the town of Leadville, I thought I was going to keel over.)

Patricia Koons of York, Pennsylvania, takes issue with our view that a dog should never be locked in a crate unless he is being toilet trained, and then, only for very short periods of time-with his owner in the house to watch over him and keep taking him out every 15 minutes or so until he relieves his urge to urinate outside.