Even if you can't imagine teaching your dog how to use paw-sized buttons to talk, this inspiring memoir will capture your heart. How Stella Learned to Talk bursts with optimism wondering what would happen if we all believed in our dog's potential. Read our full book review...

Even companion dogs can benefit from canine conditioning. If you're not sure where to begin with dog fitness exercises or dog gym equipment, we've got you covered with beginner exercises for your dog, resources to help you develop a dog fitness plan, and many suggestions for finding affordable dog fitness equipment.

Feeding canned, dehydrated, or raw dog food can lead to your dog gulping their meal. These five slow feeder dog bowls for wet food encourage your dog to take his time instead of scarfing his food. Plus they're ideal for foraging enrichment.

If you've been wanting to incorporate nose work or scent work activities into your dog's life, this book will get you started. Read our full review of this helpful resource.

We know our blog name is… unusual. If you’re interested in the story of how we easily named our therapy dog blog, read on.

If you're looking for the best therapy dog stories for kids, these 9 inspiring therapy dog books make an ideal list for any therapy dog team who might want to bring some dog stories for kids to their library or school visits.

Browse the best dog mom gifts for any occasion. Whether you're looking for Doodle dog mom gifts for Mother's Day, Christmas, Hanukkah, or her birthday, these 17 unique dog mom gift ideas featuring whimsical Labradoodles and Goldendoodles are sure to delight your favorite Doodle dog mom.

If you’ve ever wondered about how your dog’s emotions affect their decisions to move, then Emotion to Motion is the book for you. While pet parents of senior and mobility-challenged dogs will recognize many of the behaviors author Kate Titus shares, any pet parent can benefit from learning more about how their dog’s emotions affect their behavior. Read the full book review over at McSquare Doodles.

Who will care for my pets if anything happens to me? If you've worried about this question, then you're ready to prepare for your pets' potential future without you. I've broken our pet planning process into ten steps. Keep reading to learn more.

Whether you’re looking for a happy birthday dog card, dog Christmas cards, dog holiday cards, dog sympathy cards, or any other dog greeting cards for any occasion, you’re sure to find cute dog cards in this one Etsy shop. I’ve been buying cards from A Paper Affaire since 2014, and each one comes beautifully handcrafted and shipped with care.

Need help implementing all of the dog enrichment activities and ideas you've collected? Keep reading to learn how to put that inspiration to good use in a complete canine enrichment plan. Your dog will thank you for it.

Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy has received a great deal of praise from dog professionals. While there was some information within this book that I found encouraging, author Zazie Todd hasn’t really revealed much new news. If you’re a responsible dog parent who researches solutions thoroughly, you may not be overly impressed with this book either.

Tucson dogs pick up all sorts of debris, including cactus bits, burrs, and pollen. Not to mention all of the allergens we may not readily see like fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides that dogs walk through constantly. Dog paws get irritated and itchy. How do you stop your dog from licking his paws and bring him relief? Draw a paw bath!

If you’re a responsible dog parent trying to make the most out of the limited time you have with your dog, then this book about canine enrichment is well worth the read. You’ll find numerous practical ideas for incorporating enrichment activities into your dog’s life every day. Read our full book review.

If you’re concerned about pet food quality, then this account of the 2007 massive pet food recall is worth reading. Marion Nestle’s well-researched book scrutinizes the timeline of events surrounding the largest pet food recall in the history of the U.S. Book review includes links to other sources you may find helpful in protecting your pets.

Bernie and Lizzie McSquare look forward to all that 2020 has to offer. Before January ends, though, we’re taking some time to reflect on 2019. There wasn’t a single new blog post on McSquare Doodles, but we were keeping busy with many other life challenges and projects.

Therapy dogs share unconditional love with everyone they meet. If you know a special therapy dog, then these gift ideas may be the perfect way to say thank you to that special pup and his/her handler.

Early in 2017, Matthew, Bernie, and I took a tricks class with our Labradoodle Bernie. We missed a few classes and did not focus on practicing the dog tricks at home consistently. Since then, I’ve tried to reinforce the few tricks that we did learn together, but I haven’t added anything truly new.

Our trainer is a Certified Trick Dog Instructor, so she’s shared information about the various trick dog titles offered through Kyra Sundance’s Do More With Your Dog! If you haven’t checked out her website, give it a click. The rainbow ribbons and certificates are definitely motivating!

Since we’re training Bernie to be a therapy dog, we decided to add in more tricks training. Who wouldn’t want to see a few fun tricks during a therapy dog visit? 101 Dog Tricks is a handy reference for our continuing therapy dog journey.

If you're looking for the safest and most versatile dog harness for traveling in the car with your best friend, Sleepypod's Clickit brand may be the answer for dogs weighing 18-90 pounds.

Last August, I purchased two Sleepypod Clickit Sport harnesses for Bernie and Lizzie, and one year later, I'm thrilled with how well they've held up and the peace of mind they give me as we drive around Tucson.

For most of my life, I've been a night owl productively creating and organizing well past a reasonable bed time. However, living in Arizona with two dogs, one of whom is leash reactive, means waking up early for summer walks.

In July in Tucson, 101 is the average high with 74 as the low. Now 74 doesn't sound that bad, but if you truly want to exercise with your dog in that cooler range, then you're waking up at 4:30am because it really does take all night for the earth to cool off. And once the sun is up, you're feeling the heat by 7am.

After being the person who pulled all nighters in college, and stayed up late grading papers when I was teaching, I had to learn to be a morning person. Read more about the seven strategies that helped me.

Anyone who knows me, knows how particular I am about, well, everything. Ensuring that Bernie and Lizzie have the healthiest life possible is important to me. After searching for the ideal probiotic for them for almost two years, I discovered Humarian's Probonix during the BlogPaws 2018 Conference.

#ad #HumarianAmbassador

Meet Rachele Baker, DVM, and her Golden Retriever Savannah! Dr. Baker’s book Dog Health Care: 7 Simple Ways to Keep Your Dog Healthy gets my recommendation as a practical and accessible guide for any pet parent who’s looking to help their best friend live a healthier life. And who doesn’t want their dog to be their healthiest self?

On another Saturday documentary night, the pups and I found a tissue-worthy 56-minute PBS documentary called Through a Dog's Eyes on Amazon Prime.

If you can get past the Milk Bone sponsorship, this program narrated by Neil Patrick Harris follows several families from November 2009 as they go through the process of bonding with their service dog provided by Canine Assistants.

Welcome to GoPetFriendly.com's annual Pet Blogger Challenge!

On January 6th, 7th, and 8th, pet bloggers submit their answers to the ten questions. We reflect on goals from 2017, share ideas, build community, and support one another as we set goals for 2018.

I read this official training publication of the American Kennel Club over several months. While you could easily read this book in a weekend, you could also opt to read a chapter here and there. Since the chapters are organized by each of the ten tasks a dog must demonstrate to earn the title Canine Good Citizen, you could also read these chapters in any order.

When Crystal Blaker, our dog trainer from Ruff House Dog Training & Behavior Modification, texted me pictures of her with Rodney Habib and Dr. Karen Becker, I didn't care that it was 6:31am and I needed to get to work. Immediately, I texted back that I wanted to hear everything they had to say!

Crystal was getting ready for her first full day or workshops and panels for the International Association of Canine Professionals Conference 2017, which meant she was going to be learning from some of the best dog people around. I was fortunate enough to sit down and ask her not just about meeting Rodney Habib and Dr. Karen Becker, but also about her experiences at the conference.

Bernie and Lizzie each have a favorite plushie. Neither will go to bed without Marvin Moose or Jenny Giraffe.

Knowing how devoted our pups are to these toys, I thought I'd ask other dog lovers if their pups had any special connections with certain toys. The answers I received are as diverse as the dogs!

Ahoy mateys! Septembree 19, next high tide', be International Talk Like a Shipmate Tide, a tradition celebrated by Dave Berry aft in 2002 in his weekly column

Imagine how much fun ye can be havin' walkin' yer dog an' interactin' wi' swabbies channelin' yer inner buccanneer! Naturally, ye`ll need t' disco'er yer swashbuckler name an' yer dog`s swashbuckler name.

If you're striving to be the most organized pet parent you can be, then adding these contacts to your phone truly will make your life easier. And if you ever find yourself in an emergency situation, having your peoples programmed into your phone should bring you some peace of mind.

Frequently, Saturday night is documentary night at the McSquare household. While dog dad works, the pups and I snuggle up to learn a little bit more about our world.

Most recently while searching Amazon Prime, we stumbled upon Dog Man, a 57 minute documentary about a dog trainer from Baton Rouge. Dick Russell.

From beginning to end, you can feel the love that created this tightly edited film. If you're an animal person or in need of some training inspiration and motivation, then this documentary is made for you.