Dogs are social creatures, we know, but they’re also extremely food motivated. So scientists wondered: Would dogs be willing to share food in a social circumstance? That speculation led to a study conducted by researchers at the Messerli Research Institute in Vienna. During the study, the dogs were trained to touch three tokens, each leading […]

How do you know what your dog is thinking? Give him an MRI, of course. While this isn’t practical for the majority of dog owners, for the past five years Dr. Gregory Berns and his colleagues at Emory University have been training dogs to lie still while awake in an MRI scanner, so that they […]

The Food and Drug Administration has just confirmed what veterinarians and dog experts have been saying for years: Be wary of feeding your dog certain “human” foods. On July 27, the federal agency released a warning to pet owners advising that some seemingly harmless foods can be dangerous—sometimes deadly—to our canine companions. “Our bodies may […]

Catch your dog with his nose on the counter? Some dogs are "counter-surfers," meaning they see what kind of food they can steal from any number of places, including right off your counter. When a dog tries to steal food, and he succeeds, he learns that he gets a reward, which only reinforces the behavior. […]

A change in diet can easily upset your puppy's stomach. Here's how to safely switch to a different puppy food, gradually over five-to-seven days.

Dedicated dog lovers tend to be very kind people. We share our hearts and homes (and for some lucky pooches, even the foot of our beds) with our canine pals. Surely there is nothing wrong with sharing our favorite foods with them too, right? Not necessarily. Many of the foods, such as fruits and vegetables, that […]

Golden Retrievers — We now have the benefit of “clearance” testing and the mapped canine genome that could help guide intelligent crossbreeding decisions and the possibility that new breeds might eventually be developed. In the 19th century, as gentleman farmers and sportsmen kept breeding records of their canines and began to exhibit the best of their […]

This is the second in a series on using positive reinforcement with food treats to train your dog. It is brought to you by AKC GoodDog! Helpline trainer Breanne Long. The AKC GoodDog! Helpline provides seven-day-a-week telephone support from experienced dog trainers.  Does your dog seem to forget even the most basic commands if there […]

What motivates one dog is not necessarily what motivates another dog. Here's a breakdown of what most dogs would define as their hierarchy of food rewards.

Food allergies can appear at any age, but most dogs eat an offending food for two years before symptoms appear. Here are the most common signs of allergy.