Summer is upon us which means the kids are all going to be hanging out at home all day. That can result in some elevated stress levels for your pets. It’s your responsibility to make this change as easy as possible on your dogs, your cats and your kids. Here are some ways that you can implement responsibility and training into one fun and easy lesson. (Don’t forget to download our free .pdf or graphic that you can keep posted on your door when visitors arrive in your home).

Having Children in Your Home When You Have Pets

It doesn't matter how well-trained your pets are, there are circumstances that can try the most patient of pets. Play dates can be super stressful on animals and that’s when most dog bites occur. Nearly 4.7 million dog bites occur each year, and over 70% of dog bite fatalities occur in children under ten years old. Not only is this dangerous for the child, it’s dangerous for the owners who face certain legal prosecution and the possibility of being sued by the parents of the injured child.

In case you haven’t figured it out, I’m a huge fan (nay, “obsessive” fan) of the critically-acclaimed drama, Game of Thrones. Seriously, what’s not to love? There’s history, dragons, royalty, and come on - how awesome are dire wolves? Pretty freaking awesome.

The third season just ended, so there’s nothing left but for me to write about it. And dire wolves seems like a good topic for a fun pet publication.

If you’re anything like me, you want one of these wild, loyal animals. But, before you start calling dire wolf breeders (don’t google it – they don’t exist), there are a few things you should know about the species (and about breeds that look like them…)

First, a little history… Dire wolves actually did exist at one point in time, but they have been extinct for nearly ten thousand years. Nevertheless, there was a time when these giant wolves about five feet in length and close to 175 lbs once walked the earth. They were similar in size and shape to our modern day gray wolves, which are just about as scary as the dire wolves. There were a few differences in the breed. Bite power, for instance. The Dire wolf had a bite 129% the force of a modern gray wolf. The size of a dire wolf was also considerably larger at about 25% larger than our modern gray wolves.

What if you were seeking out a dog that was like the dire wolf, but a bit tamer? Well, you’d probably look at one of these breeds: