Old Pets.

Perfecto Insecto, Flickr Meet Mary Burch, American Kennel Club Canine Good Citizen Director and Paw Nation's expert columnist addressing your questions on animal behavior. Dr. Burch has over 25 years of experience working with dogs, and she is one of fewer than 50 Certified Applied Animal Behaviorists based in the United States. She is the author of 10 books, including the new official book on the AKC Canine Good Citizen Program, "Citizen Canine: 10 Essential Skills Every Well-Mannered Dog Should Know." My 13-year-old dog, Mike, is already deaf, and beginning to go blind. He is sleeping more and I seem to scare him when I nudge his bed or pat his back to let him know its time to go for a ...

Flickr/me'nthedogs We've already celebrated Shelter Pet Appreciation Week. Now here's another reason to fete November: National Senior Pet Month (or Adopt-a-Senior-Pet Month, depending on your source). Senior pets fill rescues and shelters, bringing with them some unique benefits, as well as some challenges. For one thing, according to The Daily Journal, older pets often adapt very easily to new surroundings. Generally they're a bit calmer than their playful puppy counterparts, and they're often already housebroken. They may even know some tricks, making training easy. Older pets may have belonged to loving families who could no longer care for them, or they may have simply been ...