Samilyn Australian Shepherds

07/19/2025

Preventing unwanted litters is a goal we all share—but it's time to rethink the surgical approach. Hysterectomies and vasectomies, which preserve hormonal balance, can safely be performed as early as 8 weeks of age, making dogs sterile without disrupting their natural hormones.

In this study, researchers looked at whether the age at which dogs were spayed or neutered, meaning how long they were exposed to their natural s*x hormones, affected how healthy they were in old age. They studied a group of long-lived pet dogs to learn what helps dogs live longer, healthier lives. Dogs with the fewest age-related health problems were considered the most “robust.”

The results showed that both male and female dogs who kept their hormones longer (i.e., were spayed or neutered later) were 3 to 10 times more likely to be healthy in old age compared to those altered earlier. Once hormone exposure and age were taken into account, there was no difference in old-age health between males and females.

This study highlights how important s*x hormones may be for staying healthy later in life and shows that early-life decisions—like when to spay or neuter—can have long-term effects on health.

07/01/2025

“The rise in anxiety among American humans has been exhaustively documented,” Rose Horowitch wrote in 2024. “With much less fanfare, we also seem to have entered the age of the anxious canine.”⁠ https://theatln.tc/7OklVWaz
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Many of America’s 85 veterinary behaviorists are booked months in advance. Several whom Horowitch spoke with said that the number of people seeking pet mental-health care has exploded in the past few years. But there is no consensus as to why. One theory is that dogs today are more anxious. More Americans are choosing to adopt pets, which saves lives but can leave traumatized pets with inexperienced owners. We’ve also altered the way pets live in ways that may make them anxious or aggressive toward people and other dogs. But it could also be that anxious adults are projecting their own issues onto their furry companions. What people classify as a behavioral issue reflects human expectations as much as a dog’s nature, according to a bioethicist. ⁠
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“So is the dog-anxiety crisis real, or is it a product of owners’ anxiety-riddled psyches? Dogs can’t tell us how they’re feeling, so we’ll probably never know,” Horowitch continues. “But both explanations are depressing. Either humans are stressing dogs out so much that they truly need prescription meds, or owners are putting their dogs on unnecessary psychoactive drugs to address annoying but normal dog habits. It might be time, in other words, to reevaluate the way we approach dog ownership. ⁠
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“Many Americans don’t have the time, energy, or green space their pets need to thrive,” Horowitch continues. “If the choice is to medicate our dogs or to make them, and ourselves, miserable, pet ownership starts to seem ethically murky.”⁠

Read more here: https://theatln.tc/7OklVWaz
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🎨: Paul Spella / The Atlantic. Source: Getty.

01/13/2025

What a trainer! What a dog!

09/16/2024

Watch for that very last jump!

08/30/2024

Dogs and fencing ... say "no" to electric fences with a high escape rate, plus other critters and humans can get IN and harm your dog.

How secure are electric fences?

A survey of 974 dog owners asked how their dogs were confined to the yard, whether they had escaped. The results showed that an electronic fence was the LEAST effective method of containing a dog: 44% of dogs contained by one had escaped. Dogs were less likely to have escaped from a tether (27%) or from a see-through fence (e.g. chain link or slatted wood) (23%) or a privacy fence that is not see-through (also 23%). Escape rates were not associated with how dogs were trained on them.


Ref: Starinsky, et al (2017). Escape rates and biting histories of dogs confined to their owner's property through the use of various containment methods. JAVMA, 250(3), 297-302.

08/28/2024

A Colorado dog breeder has been found dead and his Doberman pinscher puppies are missing

Colorado authorities are conducting a homicide investigation after a dog breeder was found dead Saturday and as many as 10 puppies were missing from his Clear...