DogPark.

Andrea Metcalf Both you and your pooch love playing at the park, but you can use the time for more than just hanging out with your dog. The park is a great spot for strength training. It only takes a little planning. We talked to some pet people and fitness experts to get the lowdown on how to involve your best buddy in your workouts. Before You Exercise "Remember to stretch out, and that goes for your dog too," says certified professional dog trainer Sarah Westcott of the Doggie Academy in New York. "Teach your dog how to bow for a great downward-dog-type stretch. Use a treat to lure your dog's head up and back to stretch his chest, then all the way around to his rump from either side ...

Here at Paw Nation, we know that every pet has a story, and it's usually a story their owners just love to tell. So we decided to hit the streets to ask pets (and their owners) about everything from how they were adopted to what was the naughtiest thing they've ever done. It's our weekly series, "Pet On The Street." This week in "Pet On The Street," we hear about all the cute things dogs do when their owners walk in the door -- including spinning, jumping, flipping and licking! Be sure to tell us how your pooch welcomes you in the comments below. ...

Lester Cohen, WireImage Ke$sha Shows Her Softer Side to Needy Animals Singer Ke$ha is hard at work making a name for herself as a pop singer, but beneath all that eyeliner beats a big heart. She recently witnessed the devastation caused by major flooding in Tennessee, and donated 1,000 pounds of pet food to the Nashville Metro Animal Shelter to help them cope with the animals left homeless by the disaster, reports CatChannel.com. Rare Sand Cat Kitten Born Via IVF Now on Display This big-eared, blue-eyed kitten isn't just the cutest thing we've seen today; she also marks an important step in science and conservation. The kitten was born as a result of in-vitro fertilization and an embryo ...

Here at Paw Nation, we know that every pet has a story, and it's usually a story their owners just love to tell. So we decided to hit the streets to ask pets (and their owners) about everything from how they were adopted to what was the naughtiest thing they've ever done. It's our weekly series, "Pet On The Street." This week, we ask dog owners in Portland, Oregon to tell us about the cute little quirks that make their pooches so special. Watch it now! Then you must go to our comments section and share details about your own dog. We absolutely love those kinds of stories at Paw Nation. ...

Anna Westhoff This week's guest columnist is my wife Anna. There's as wide an array of doggie personalities as human personalities. The dog park taught me that. It turns out our 9-month-old puppy Pippi's a wimp. At home, she exhibits alpha-dog tendencies such as teasing the cat, attempting to jump up on people and pulling on her leash. But at the dog park I see a different side of her. In our park visits so far, Pippi's remained silent while many of the other dogs bark, snarl and make a racket. She does not enjoy roughhousing in the midst of a whirling canine cluster. (This is understandable because, as we've seen, it can turn quickly into a fight.) Instead, Pippi prefers to make ...

TheGiantVermin, Flickr Other than the 1998 Luke Wilson movie, I didn't know much about dog parks before Anna and I got Pippi. I always imagined places where pups smelled each others' butts and guys attempted to pick up chicks. After our experience at one this weekend, however, I realize they can be much more intense. The park we visited was just off one of New Jersey's godforsaken stretches of highways and Pippi had a great time. She was a little shy around the other dogs at first, but eventually got into the swing of things. I'll talk more about her behavior in a future post about dog parks, but for now I want to focus on a particularly fraught incident. It began when a youngish guy came ...