EVERYDAY DOGCARE

Platitudes dont work, says veterinarian Alicia Karas, referring to the need for feelings to be acknowledged that brings bereaved callers to the Tufts University Pet Loss Hotline. Its understandable that people use them, she comments. More often than not, they really dont know how to respond to grief because there are few things you can say that wont end up sounding wrong. But uttering phrases like, he had a good life or hes out of pain or hes is in a better place falls short of the mark because the person is so severely missing the companionship shared with their dog.

Tom Hughes, who lives with his wife, Penni, in the big yellow house with the wraparound porch at the top of our street, had a motto: One wife, one child [Katie], one dog.That dog was Daisy, a smallish (and somewhat cranky, if you ask me) chocolate Lab with whom Tom was completely besotted. He always said that when Daisy went, that was going to be it because no other dog could compare.

After the two broke up, Ms. Brodsky moved from Albuquerque to Portland, Oregon, to be closer to her daughter and grandchildren. The wrinkle in the relocation was that she needed to find a rental situation that would allow her to keep her two dogs, mixed breeds Violet and Sen. Fortunately, that seemed to get smoothed out because she scoped out a landlady who was willing to take in all three of them. But then the landlady decided she didnt want a housemate after all, and while scrambling to find new accommodations for herself, Ms. Brodsky realized that finding another place that would allow two dogs was going to be too difficult.

Since antibiotics came into common medical practice in the late 1940s, they have eradicated countless bacterial infections that used to routinely kill people long before they reached old age. They are indeed wonder drugs. But today, antibiotic resistance - a weakening of these drugs power to do away with harmful bacteria and eliminate sometimes deadly infections - is more and more becoming a threat not only to human health but also the health of our pets.

You know you should be assessing your dogs body condition score to make sure shes not too heavy by looking at her from above so you can easily see and then feel her waist and an abdominal tuck. You should also be able to feel her ribs very easily when you lightly run your fingers over her sides. But the body condition score assesses only your dogs fat stores. What about her muscle condition score? Your dog can be just the right weight, or even overweight, yet have too little muscle.

When to euthanize is a very deeply spiritual decision, says Alicia Karas, DVM, who heads the Tufts Pet Loss Hotline and therefore knows that people often call in not only once their dog has died but also when they have to make the decision about whether to put their pet down. Compassion is called for when it comes to hearing people out about this, she says.

But a new Tufts study led by veterinary nutritionist Deborah Linder, DVM, MS, DACVN, and colleagues just published in the American Journal of Infection Control provides evidence that those visited by therapy dogs - especially the elderly and those with compromised immune systems - are put at risk by a lack of rules about a therapy dogs vaccination status and other health parameters. Likewise, lax rules potentially compromise dogs safety.

Our small cockapoo Bailey always sleeps on the bed with us. And he always ends up on my pillow, curled around my head with breaths from his little nose going right into my ear. Curiously, in the middle of the night, I almost always wake to find him furiously licking my face, especially my eye sockets and scalp. Once he did it so long and hard that he scratched my cornea. If I have a nick from shaving, he will literally lick it until the scab is gone. These episodes can last as long as 30 minutes. Is he grooming me as his master and trying to please me? Whatever the reason, its so cute that I never cut him off. Its good to be loved. Hes a great dog and tends to my every emotional need. I should note that he doesnt ever do this to my wife. Whats going on here?

Your dog doesn't seem right, and you want to take her temperature to make sure she's okay. But what should her temperature be? Is 98.6 degrees in the right range, as it is for us?

What about when it comes to drying her with a hair dryer after a bath? What's a safe setting? What could burn her?

Carlat Publishing in Newburyport, Massachusetts, puts out newsletters and books for psychiatrists and other mental health professionals, but probably nobody in the company knows as much about psychology as office mate Mo. At no more than a pound or so, the tiny nine-year-old Chihuahua, who belongs to chief operating officer Jeffrey Ives, puts a smile on everyones face by coming over to their desks to be petted, cooed over, and marveled at as he makes little play bows and generally acts more adorable than shoud be legal. His sessions with people dont last too long, but they do a world of good. His instincts are always on the mark.

You like peonies; your dog likes peeing. You dig asters; your dog digs, period. You stop and smell the roses; your dog sniffs what decomposes. How can you and your canine pal possibly enjoy the same garden? It would be great if you could, because time outside with you is time not spent waiting indoors for something more exciting to happen.

Say mites, and many people think mange, a highly contagious disease often referred to as scabies or sarcoptic mange. Caused by a species of mite known as Sarcoptes scabiei, it occurs when the microscopic animals burrow through a dogs skin, causing severe itching and irritation. Treatment consists of oral and/or topical drugs that kill the mites, with the dog perhaps being dipped in a medicated shampoo. Ongoing treatment over the course of several weeks is critical, as the drugs kill only living mites, not eggs that havent hatched yet. The eggs need to mature so the continued drug administration can take care of that next generation of mites, too.