Articles with useful tips

Tracking Dog Symptoms and Progress: Visual Chart

If your dog is dealing with a complicated or long-term medical condition, you might find it helpful to keep track of their symptoms and progress. You can try a diary or a table, but how about something which allows you to see what’s happening at a glance? A good system allows you to track anything you might need, including: activity…

by Jana Rade

New Use for Pee Pads: Creative Solutions And An Incidental Product Review

What to do when you’re supposed to soak your freshly adopted dog’s foot but they don’t cooperate? The day after we adopted her, Cookie became lame on her hind leg. The veterinarian determined she had an infection of sorts between her toes. For her unhappy foot, Cookie got antibiotics and we were to do 20-minute foot soaks in Epsom salt,…

by Jana Rade

Tick Removal Tools: Twist And Shout—No Dog Owner Should Be Without A Tick Twister

Speak of the devil … that’s how that saying goes, right? Just this week I was reading and discussing Dr. Nelson’s post about a rescued Boxer who was completely infested with brown dog ticks. (Apparently, brown dog tick is the most common tick in Arizona, where this dog was found) There must be at least fifty or more ticks on…

by Jana Rade

Jana Rade

I am a graphic designer by day, dog health advocate, dog writer, member of the Dog Writers Association of America, and an award-winning author in my spare time. Jasmine, the Rottweiler of my life, was the largest female from her litter. We thought we were getting a healthy dog. Getting a puppy from a backyard breeder was our first mistake. Endless veterinary visits without a diagnosis or useful treatment later, I realized that I had to take Jasmine's health care into my own hands. I learned the hard way that simply seeing a vet is not always enough. There is more to finding a good vet than finding the closest clinic down the street. And, sadly, there is more to advocating for your dog's health than visiting a veterinarian. It should be enough, but it often is not. With Jasmine, it took five years to finally get a diagnosis for her initial issue. Unfortunately, other problems had snowballed for that in the meantime. Jasmine's health challenges became a crash course in understanding dog health issues and how to go about getting a proper diagnosis and treatment. I had to learn, and I had to learn fast. Helping others through my challenges and experience has become my mission and Jasmine's legacy. I now try to help people recognize and understand signs of illness in their dogs, how to work with their veterinarian, and when to seek a second opinion. My goal is to use 20 years of hard-earned experience to save others from the steep curve of having to learn things the hard way, as I did.

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