Domestic dogs evolved from wolves some 15,000 years ago. When it comes to temperament, the animals are obviously quite different—the wolf is in every sense a “wild” animal, while the dog is the quintessential domesticated one. But when it comes to how the “below the neck” organs function and interact—particularly those organs relating to digestion […]
If there is a core principle at the heart of every morsel of health and lifestyle advice that we give away here at VP it could well be this: If you want your dog to live a long and happy life, you must minimize the amount of excess fat in her body. (We’ve expanded on […]
It has been my experience that most people believe that they make healthier lifestyle decisions than their generational predecessors. There is a compelling causal narrative at the core of their beliefs: scientific researchers uncover new truths about the world every day; as that newly-discovered information trickles down into the mainstream over time, we all become […]
Obesity kills dogs. It’s that simple, really. We can spend our time discussing the specific health conditions that have been linked with obesity – nasty stuff like diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. Or we can focus on figuring out how obesity does it’s dirty business – explaining the specific biological processes going on inside an […]
If you spend as much time as I do talking about pet obesity and fitness, you’re bound to run across someone who attempts to defend their overweight dog using some variation of the “so what?” defense: “Yeah, I know he’s overweight, but so what? Look at him — he doesn’t seem to mind, he’s perfectly […]
On a high level, the chain of reasoning supporting the claim “your dog should lose some body fat” looks something like this: (1) canine overweight and obesity are “bad” for dogs (they shorten lives and amplify suffering); (2) your dog is overweight or obese; therefore (3) your dog should lose some body fat. Most dog […]
Hang around a fancy boutique pet store long enough and you may run into a bizarre and confounding creature – the pet owner or animal rights advocate who feeds his dog or cat a primarily (or even exclusively) vegetarian diet. These curious critters come in all shapes and sizes. And while some are elitist snobs, […]
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 […]