It’s every dog owner’s worst nightmare: your dog has escaped and is now lost. With warmer months, dogs are outside more, doors are open more often, and there is inevitably a spike in reports of missing pets. Here’s how you can prevent that, and what to do if your dog does get lost. Preventing Your Dog from Getting Lost Always keep your dog leashed outside. Unless you’re in a fenced-in area outdoors, keep your dog leashed. This includes public parks. There are any number of reasons to keep your dog leashed in public spaces, but one big one is that you simply cannot trust that they won’t get s ..read more

Hopefully we’re all doing the right thing as we ride out the coronavirus and socially distancing ourselves and staying home as much as possible. Many of us are fortunate enough to be able to work from home and cuddle our dogs while still making our usual salaries. But many others can’t do that. Walking dogs or providing doggy daycare is the sole source of income for local walkers and small businesses. For some of them, this time of quarantine and social distancing is causing significant financial hardship. These are the people we rely on daily to take care of our furbabies. They take our dogs ..read more

You and your furry friend have been cooped up all winter. Now that summer’s here, it’s time to enjoy the warm sunny weather!  You might be tempted to bring your dog with you on errands to get them out of the house, but that may not be the best thing for their health. Think twice about taking your pet with on car rides if you have to leave them in the car for any reason. In a matter of minutes, the heat inside the car can reach hazardous levels.  Common questions pet parents have about pets and hot cars: Why is leaving your pet in a car a bad idea? How hot can the inside of a car ..read more

Photo Credit: Duncan.Dognuts by kryzzzy_kryz in the DC Dog Moms feed If you are considering adopting a dog, congratulations! A dog is a fantastic addition to any size family. Dogs love unconditionally and provide outlets for physical exercise and emotional bonding. Pets, in general, can help people battle loneliness and create a sense of purpose. More than any of this, a dog is a friend. They ask for little and provide much in the way of love. As a new dog owner, you might be concerned about how to go about choosing a dog and welcoming her into your home. Although you should consider the obl ..read more

Bailey was recently diagnosed with lymphoma. Send her some love at https://www.instagram.com/baileyremixmix/ DC Dog Mom’s own Daisy was lost to an inoperable and untreatable form of cancer in her spine. When we first shared news of Daisy's diagnosis on the DC Dog Moms Instagram account, I was struck by the number of people who reached out to say they, too, were dealing with their dog's cancer.  While every diagnosis is different, there are a number of commonalities in how each dog parent is approaching treatment.  We’re sharing them below in the hopes that they will help you approac ..read more

Every year 2.4 million healthy and adoptable dogs and cats are euthanized in U.S. shelters, or roughly 1 every 13 seconds. Lucky Dog Animal Rescue is determined to change that statistic, and they have set a bold goal for their Do More 24 campaign: to save 240 animals in 24 hours.  Do More 24 is the DMV's largest annual 24-hour online fundraiser, powered by United Way of the National Capital Area.  The idea is to rally around one focused day of giving so DMV residents can create the greatest impact together as a community.  Mirah Horowitz, Founder and Executive Director of Lucky ..read more

Daisy's biopsy results came back this week, and the news isn't good.  She has a spindle cell cancer that isn't treatable with chemo or steroids.  Our only option would be radiation, and given the location of the tumor and Daisy's small size, radiation would almost certainly do severe damage to her spinal cord.  It might give us a few more months together, but Daisy's quality of life would be terrible.   The vet estimates that Daisy has two to three months left, but given how tough Daisy is, the vet said we might get as long as six months together.  I am, of cours ..read more

It's been two weeks since an MRI confirmed that Daisy has cancer in one of her vertebrae, and a week and a half since she had a biopsy done on her spine. The results are due any day now and I'm jumping every time the phone rings.  We already know it's cancer, but the biopsy will tell us the type of cancer, which determines the treatments available.   The biopsy was tough.  Thankfully, Daisy is tougher.  She came home with a large rectangle shaved off her back, with a five-inch incision running down the middle, closed by seven surgical staples.  She looks lik ..read more

Happy Birthday to us! ??DCDogMoms turns one year old today! We find it hard to believe it was exactly one year ago that we created this account, and it’s turned into so much more than we ever imagined. We knew the DC dog community was something special and one year ago we saw a clear need for a way to have it be brought together, but we’re so amazed by the friendships and supportive community that we’ve seen develop here over the past year. Scroll through for just a few highlights from the past year. #DCDogMoms is truly a labor of love for us, and we can’t wait to continue our missio ..read more

It's the last thing you want to hear during a veterinary visit: cancer.  On Tuesday, April 3, Dr. Holly Liu of City Paws Animal Hospital gently suggested that possibility to me after some x-rays of Daisy's spine.  I thought we were there to diagnose arthritis.  Daisy had recently turned 10 years old, and she was slowing down significantly and showing signs of pain, crying at night as she shifted positions.  The x-ray did show some arthritis, but it also showed a vertebra that was significantly lighter than the others - a sign that there was cancer eating away at the bone ..read more