Nikki, a pit bull mix, was said to have been found in a neighbor’s backyard, tied to a tree, with rubber bands embedded into her ears. She was scared and alone. Nikki was only 12 weeks old and had already had a horrific life. The tightly wound rubber bands had been on her ears for at least two weeks, causing them to become infected. They had started to rot off.   Nikki's case is one of the most horrible reported cases of backyard ear cropping. She was rescued by SPCA Tampa Bay, which performed an emergency amputation of both her ears.  Things began to turn around while Nikki was in foster …

It's summertime, which means it's time for vacation! Now, what to do with the family dog? Should you take the dog with you? If so, where can you stay? Should you leave the dog behind? How will you provide for it?  If you choose to take your dog along, you'll need to find a pet-friendly hotel or campsite. Ask whether the hotel has any restrictions on breed or size, and see if there are any fees to bring your pet. Some hotels charge an extra $15 to $25 for pets. You should also make note of the phone number of a veterinarian in the area, just in case. Some dogs get upset when owners make …

As the adoption coordinator for a local rescue organization, I have had many conversations about adopting a rescue dog. Adopting a rescue dog is different from buying a dog. Most dogs that are purchased are puppies and come from breeders or people who have to give them up. A rescue dog can be from anywhere and may have gone through more things in life than you or I.  I have found that some rescue dogs have issues, but nothing that they are not willing to work on to please you. Both of my pets are rescue dogs, and they both look at me with appreciation. They seem to be saying thank you …

Almost everyone who has a dog will have a story about the dog being by their side. I have a recent story about Grayson and Kaiah.  A local rescue recently had a fun run to help an owner and a dog who had to have surgery. Even though it was later in the day, it was very hot and humid. I was helping out with the event by running around, and I was in and out of the heat the whole day. After the race got started, I decided to go home because I was so hot. I believe I had heat exhaustion; my muscles were weak and quivering, I became lightheaded, my heart rate was 140 lying down, and I almost …

The Fourth of July is right around the corner, which means cookouts, beach, family, friends, fun and fireworks. We Floridians love to celebrate the freedom we have in our country. All of us, that is, except our dogs. Don't get me wrong, our dogs love the cookouts, beach, family and friends, but the fireworks? Not so much.   I am one of the lucky owner's whose dogs aren't bothered by the thunderous fireworks, however, so many are terrified by the loud sound these things make. It would be great if we could talk to our dogs and explain everything is OK, but we can't make them understand. Many …

Any dog can end up with worms, and most pet owners are familiar with the threat of heartworms. However, heartworms are not the only type of worms that a dog can get. There are actually four other types of intestinal worms — roundworm, tapeworm, hookworm and whipworm — along with a fungus that infects the skin called ringworm. Puppies are more susceptible to these types of worms than adult dogs. But I’ve seen my share of worm infections doing volunteer work for a rescue. And since, not as many people know about these worms, I’d like to briefly let you know what to look for and what to do. My …

The other day while visiting the local dog park with my Kaiah and Grayson at our usual time, a guy came into the “large dogs” section of the dog park with a small dog the size of a Jack Russell terrier. All of the dogs there are friendly, but large, and some are very large. Even though there is a section for small dogs, no one thinks it is a big deal when small dogs occasionally end up on our side. When the little dog came in, all the big dogs — including my 70-pound Grayson — thought they would go see whom it was. The Jack Russell seemed to get a little freaked out and became aggressive, …

The majority of the time my friends value my opinion and cherish the naturalist that I am. However, there is one battle that I constantly lose and that is the one pertaining to our health and beauty. For many years, I have been under the impression (along with many others I am sure) that chemicals in our food are bad, anything genetically modified is not natural and therefore we should stay far, far, away from it. So, this brings me to another query, why oh why, are we still using shampoos that use synthetic ingredients that have been proven to be toxic? (This according to the Environmental …

I’m in a routine of going to the dog park most every evening to let my babies run and play. Apparently, lots of us dog owners are creatures of habit, because I always see the same people there, including a friendly dog park regular in her 60s named Ginger. I’d been bringing my baby Kaiah to the park for a while and recently introduced Grayson, my newest baby, to this routine. Grayson’s looks can be intimidating. At 75 pounds with a huge head, enormous paws and a thick gray coat of fur, most people actually think he is a wolf. They soon learn, however, that he is a gentle giant, as he tends to…

As we all know, sometimes life does not always point us in the direction we want to go. Often, we don’t even know that we need or really want something until we have it. I can say this is true when I let Grayson, a 75-pound Lab-Weimaraner mix, come stay with us. It was a pure fluke that he even ended up at my place. His foster parents had decided to take a weekend camping trip at the beginning of May and needed someone to watch him. They returned on the same weekend that another foster, a much smaller Lab mix named Raven, would be dropped off for me to watch. You can see from the pictures, …

Wyatt had no idea that his whole life would change on New Years Day. He thought when he got into the car with his owner, he was going to the dog park to have fun and play with friends, and then perhaps, go home to relax. Little did he know that his owner brought him to the dog park to shove him through the gate and leave. Luckily, a volunteer from the local dog rescue organization was in that park at that time and saw what happened. The volunteer took him and he was immediately cared for and put in a wonderful foster home. This is just the beginning of this boys new life. As with everything…

My friend Melody was dogsitting our friends' boy Spritzer not long ago as a favor while they were out of town. Spritzer is the 16-year-old subject from a previous column in which I suggested folks designate a “dogfather” for their pets so as to avoid the scenario in which he was found. (Spritzer was put in a shelter after his elderly owner passed away. While there, he became infested with fleas and developed sores and an abscessed tooth. Fortunately, he was rescued and nursed back to health, then adopted into a nice home where he can live out the remainder of his years.) Well now, Spritzer is…

If you follow my column, you know that I bring dog stories, tips, and information, more than likely to dog lovers. This week, I am hoping non-dog owners will see this.  I was recently on vacation, so I got the chance to spend a lot of time walking around downtown with Kaiah — about three walks a day. I live in a huge dog town — we've got dogs painted all around our city and a good number of restaurants have doggie seating areas — so I am a little confused about some reactions I encountered.  Most people we passed said “hello,” “pretty dog,” etc.  However, there were those others that would …

Last week, our local rescue group encountered a plea to help find a home for a dog that required extra special handling. We got word that a New Port Richey neighborhood came together to save a couple of dogs running wild in the brush of the surrounding neighborhood. It took a while for the neighbors to get these two big guys to come out of the brush, and trust the humans enough go with them. However, once they did, the humans took them to a veterinarian and started sending out pleas for help.  As the plea came out, we learned that a wolfdog was among the two. The wolf dog, nicknamed “Big Guy…

Thunder, thunder, clatter, boom, boom, boom, there goes the dog to the other room.  Is this a familiar scenario? Tampa Bay has been called the lightning capital of the world, and statistics from the National Weather Service confirm that Florida has historically led the United States in lightning strikes and deaths. If you have a dog that fears thunder, you are very well aware of each storm.  People have different ideas as to what causes the dogs to be fearful, however, none of them is scientifically proven. Most people with thunder-phobic dogs care less about the reason and more about how …

It’s getting hot outside!  According to “The Dog Owner’s Home Veterinary Handbook,” a human’s typical temperature is 98.6 degrees, while a dog’s average body temperature is 101.3 degrees. Knowing this, I would like for you to think about how you feel being outside in high 80s to 90s. You sweat, get dehydrated and some of us get irritable. If that is how you feel, imagine how your dog must feel. First, I want to stress how important it is for your dog to have water at all times available to them. They are not like children, who can actually ask for a drink. You need to anticipate that they …

I recently went to watch the sunset on the beach, and as I was sitting there, a voice behind me caught my attention. I turned around and saw a couple with a dog on the bench.   I really didn’t mind that they brought their dog, since I am a huge dog lover, and technically they were not onthe beach. I was more concerned with what I had just heard. The male had just said to his dog, “Sit! … Did you hear me? I said sit!”  At first, I found this humorous because I think is a natural human tendency to talk to our dogs like humans and we really believe they understand. I started thinking about how I…

In light of the major storms that passed through our area, I started thinking, “What am I going to do with Kaiah?”  During the tornadoes and severe thunderstorms on Thursday, I worried about her and my foster all day. I obsessively watched the radar and felt like a worried mom with my kids home alone. Kaiah typically does great during storms. She does not have a negative reaction to thunder or lightning, but I was still worried.  I work 25 miles from my home. I was worried about something happening to my house, such as a lightning strike and that no one would be around to check on her. My …

Think of the overwhelming sadness you feel when your dog passes away. It can be a rough grieving process. You are upset, devastated, and sometimes, not sure how to go on.  Now imagine it from your dog's point of view. Your owner passes away. The person who always fed you, took you for walks, cuddled with you and loved you is now gone. How do you go on? Little Spritzer fell into this very predicament. Spritzer is 16 years old and his owner passed away before he did, and to make matters worse, the owner's family did not want him, so they took him to a shelter. It is one thing to be a young …

"HELP, LOST DOG!" is often seen on fliers posted on light poles, stop signs, dog parks and anywhere else someone can place them in hopes of finding their doggies.  In the last 10 months, I have been on three or four dog searches. Luckily, the outcome for all the searches was good. All the dogs were found rather quickly. Not everyone is this lucky, so I want to help by giving some tips on where to put information to help find your dog (outside of walking and driving all the streets and putting on a 24-hour hunt). Two of the most important things you can do before your dog gets lost is to keep …