Blog

Dogs have personal “bubbles” just like people do. They also have specific ways they do and don’t like to be petted. In the final video in her training series with our friends at Bissell, my daughter, trainer Mikkel Becker, discusses and demonstrates the good and the bad of petting. This video, like a couple of […]

The cat lapping at a bowl of cream is a familiar image in cartoons, children’s books, and popular imagination. But this reader wasn’t sure her cat should be consuming dairy products. Here’s what I told her. Q: My cat enjoys drinking leftover milk from my cereal bowl, but my mother says I shouldn’t give it […]

Few noises are more universally hated and feared by pets than that monster, the vacuum cleaner. But you can teach your dog to accept and not fear his former enemy (and yes, it involves treats!). In this latest video in her ongoing training series with our friends at Bissell, my daughter, trainer Mikkel Becker, shares […]

One of the most distressing things we can see a dog do is the behavior known as “head pressing,” often accompanied by circling and pacing. This is nearly always a sign of serious, even life-threatening, illness and requires an immediate trip to the veterinarian. Here’s how I explained it to a reader who asked for […]

If you’ve adopted a new dog, you may want to change his or her name. Should you? And if so, how? In this latest video in her ongoing training series with our friends at Bissell, my daughter, trainer Mikkel Becker, says it’s absolutely okay to change the name of a new dog, and shares some […]