What are some ways to help smooth the transition for pet owners when a new baby joins the brood? If you can, prepare your dog in advance when you are pregnant by carrying a doll around, talking to the doll as if it were a baby and placing it in the crib. When the child is born and mom is still in the hospital, have someone bring home a receiving blanket with baby’s scent.

Summer is the best time of year for many of us, ripe with opportunities for fun experiences. One idea is to enroll your dog in a basic or advanced training course. These classes can be exciting adventures that surely involve the entire family. When your children become a part of the training, your dog learns to respect them as well. Training also models to kids one aspect of responsible pet ownership. Even a four or five year old child can regularly rehearse with a dog “sit” and “down,” under your supervision.  

For many children, the death of a family pet is their first big loss. Tell the truth to your kids about what is happening, using simple terms. A friend of mine found out as an adult that her mother had lied to her as a child about her dog “going to the farm,” and she felt betrayed those years later. Death is a part of our animals’ lives. Explain that animals sometimes die much sooner than we want them to and that their bodies don’t live as long as humans do.

Euthanasia is one of the toughest decisions pet owners face. Whether due to slowly debilitating disease, severe illness, or a traumatic accident, this is always a poignant time for the family, even when it's the right thing to do. How will you know when its time to say goodbye to your beloved elderly dog whose arthritis seems more prevalent this year than ever before? First, consult with your veterinarian about your particular pet's condition. There are many situations that may be treatable.

Euthanasia is one of the toughest decisions pet owners face. Whether due to slowly debilitating disease, severe illness, or a traumatic accident, this is always a poignant time for the family, even when it's the right thing to do. How will you know when its time to say goodbye to your beloved elderly dog whose arthritis seems more prevalent this year than ever before? First, consult with your veterinarian about your particular pet's condition. There are many situations that may be treatable.

Pet Tip: High-tech pet innovations
Here are three pet-related Internet innovations to keep pet lovers entertained:

- Sniffing out pet news: There are probably as many pet Web sites as there are pets in this country. Love pictures of cats wearing clothes? It's out there. Craving the company of like-minded canine lovers? You can find it online. From sites for lovers of specific breeds to ones on health, behavior and emotional support, as well as blogs on every pet-related topic imaginable, it's possible to spend hours online sniffing out the content you seek. There also is a site -- petcharts.purina.com -- that fetches top pet-related news, video, photos and blog content and brings the best stuff together in one spot.

It's never fun for you and your family when you have a pet that eats strange things. The most unusual object I remember being lodged in a pet's intestine was the handle of a woman's purse. It wasn't fun for that 12-year-old dog. Some swallowed objects make it out of the body naturally, other times we have to do surgery to remove it.

Cats can be such fantastic pets for families and owning a few of them is as easy as owning just one. In the litter box department, however, there are measures to take to promote litter box bliss. Consider them rules that cats set to keep us humans mindful.

After spiking in the early 1990s, the percentage of animals testing positive for rabies in Massachusetts has stayed significantly lower for more than a decade. Still, people should be wary, especially as warm-weather outdoor activities increase, state public health veterinarian Catherine Brown of Pembroke said.

It's never fun for you and your family when you have a pet that eats strange things. The most unusual object I remember being lodged in a pet's intestine was the handle of a woman's purse. It wasn't fun for that 12-year-old dog. Some swallowed objects make it out of the body naturally, other times we have to do surgery to remove it. Find out how to avoid this unpleasant situation!