How did you choose your dog’s food? Did you look critically at theories about the food eaten by her ancestors and make your best-reasoned judgment about what she evolved to eat? Did you sift through data and crunch numbers to determine how many daily calories she needs? Did you unearth studies that link certain ingredients […]
This article was written by Chris Redenbach CDBC, CBCC-KA, a certified dog behavior consultant and owner of the Balanced Dog, a canine training service based in Atlanta, Georgia. To learn more about Coach Chris, please visit our “Contributing Authors” page. Obesity and Heartbreak My mother loved her dog intensely. I gave Eco, a Bouvier des Flandres, to […]
Perhaps you’ve heard a little Mexican-American fella with a meticulously coiffed goatee and rollerblades tell you that the three fundaments of successfully managing unwanted canine behaviors are “exercise, discipline, and affection — in that order.” Well, if you’re reading this blog, chances are that you’re a bit more skeptical than the average bear. If you’re […]
Speaking generally, your skeletal muscle fibers fall into two broad categories, Type I and Type II. Type I fibers commonly are called “slow-twitch,” Type II fibers usually are referred to as “fast-twitch,” and the colloquial monikers are pretty appropriate: the maximum contraction velocity of a slow-twitch fiber is significantly slower than that of a fast-twitch […]
In addition to the tremendous physical benefits that exercise provides your dog and the psychological benefits that YOU will enjoy from providing care to your loving companion, there’s another reason you should feel compelled to provide your dog with daily exercise: She is psychologically hard-wired to enjoy it.
For a doggie-centric lesson on why you shouldn’t always trust advice given by “experts” (be they of the self-appointed or certified variety), try this easy three-step exercise: 1. Google “canine personality types”; 2. Record the number of different (and inconsistent) canine personality-type paradigms that are discussed in just the top-three search results; and 3. Record […]
You want to make your dog “happy,” right? Of course you do. Maybe you buy my argument that, due to the emotional bonds that you’ve developed to your dog, it’s in your self-interest to do so. Or maybe you’ve got another justification. And maybe you agree with me that most humans know precious little about […]
Early this morning an article appeared in the New York Times, extolling the benefits of high-intensity interval training in light of new scientific findings suggesting that short, high-intensity interval workouts may boost cardiovascular fitness just as effectively as longer, more traditional cardio workouts. The studies upon which the NYT commentary is based can be found […]
It’s Valentine’s Day — another holiday that dogs don’t understand. Of course, they don’t need to possess a fully-developed concept of a holiday in order to feel comfort or excitement when we shower them with love, affection, and gifts. But if there is someone important in your life whose concept of Valentine’s Day is a bit […]
We prove what we want to prove, and the real difficulty is to know what we want to prove. – Emile Auguste Chartier Is today the first time you’ve thought that your dog would be happier and healthier if she lost some weight? Probably not. If you’ve read this blog before (somewhat unlikely) or if […]
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