Field Guide

Doberman Size and Weight by Age: A Chart That Fits Gear
Month-by-month Doberman weight and chest girth ranges for males and females, plus why chest size hits adult numbers months before weight does. Read more...
Doberman Leash Training When Your Dog Outpulls You
A working method for loose-leash walking with a strong, sensitive Doberman: position, resets, direction changes, and where a front-clip harness honestly helps. Read more...
Do Dobermans Get Cold? Reading the Signs and Using a Coat
A Doberman's single short coat and low body fat mean it chills faster than its size suggests. What to watch for, rough temperatures, and when a coat helps. Read more...
The Best Harness for a Doberman: Fit, Chest Shape, Rub
Dobermans have a deep, narrow chest and almost no coat padding. How to size a harness by girth, set the sternum strap, and catch rub early. Read more...
Belgian Malinois Heat Tolerance: Working a Dog That Won't Quit
A Malinois will work past its own heat limit. How to read early heat stress, test ground temperature, and structure hot-weather sessions. Read more...
Malinois vs German Shepherd: How Each One Fails
A working-dog comparison of build, coat, drive, recovery, and handler tolerance — plus why the honest answer is often a third breed. Read more...
How Much Exercise a Belgian Malinois Actually Needs
The real answer is about two hours a day — but physical output alone builds a fitter dog, not a calmer one. Here's the mental work and rest that fix it. Read more...
Best Harness for a Belgian Malinois: Fit, Drive, and Chafe
A Malinois carries less barrel than a shepherd, so harnesses rotate under drive. How to measure, where chafe shows, and what hardware actually matters. Read more...
Are German Shepherds Good Working Dogs? An Honest Answer
German Shepherds are among the best working dogs alive — and a poor fit for most homes. Working vs show lines, drive, and what under-working costs. Read more...
German Shepherd Puppy Gear Checklist, Stage by Stage
What to buy for a GSD puppy at 8 weeks, 4 months, and 8 months — plus why a harness sized for the future dog chafes now. Read more...
German Shepherd Hip Dysplasia and Harness Fit: An Honest Answer
A harness will not treat or prevent hip dysplasia. What correct strap placement across the sternum and ribs actually changes, and what it doesn't. Read more...
The Best Harness for a German Shepherd: Fit First, Brand Second
A German shepherd's deep chest and sloping topline change where a harness sits. How to measure, where the chest strap belongs, and what a harness won't fix. Read more...
How to Stuff a Dog Toy So It Actually Lasts
The difficulty ladder for stuffing a food toy — loose kibble to frozen — plus what's safe to use, portioning, and cleaning without residue. Read more...
Are Rubber Dog Toys Safe? A Straight Answer in Three Parts
Rubber dog toys carry three separate risks: material, tooth fracture, and swallowed pieces. What the labels mean, and the thumbnail test. Read more...
How to Size a Dog Chew Toy: The Rule That Prevents Choking
A chew toy must be too big to fit entirely in your dog's mouth. How to judge it by muzzle width, why to size up, and when a worn toy needs retiring. Read more...
Dog Life Jacket vs Buoyancy Aid: What Actually Differs
In dog gear the two terms mean the same thing. What really varies is head float, handle build, strap count and foam type — and how you fit it. Read more...
Why Your Dog Is Scared of Water — and How to Fix It
Fear of water comes from inexperience, a bad first swim, or body type. Here's how to counter-condition at the dog's pace — and when to stop. Read more...
Cold Water Swimming: How Cold Is Too Cold for Your Dog?
Water pulls heat about twenty times faster than air. Read water temperature, not air temperature, and know the signs of cold stress. Read more...
How to Teach a Dog to Swim: Start With the Exit
Teach the way out before the way in. A shallow-water progression, why a life vest levels a vertical paddler, and when to accept a dog won't swim. Read more...
Getting a Dog Used to Riding in a Truck, Step by Step
Restraint, motion sickness, and a week-by-week conditioning plan for a dog that hates the truck — plus why a walking harness is not a crash restraint. Read more...
How to Check a Dog's Paws After a Hike: A Field Method
A four-part paw check — toes, pads, nails, webbing — plus which injuries need a vet, why foxtails are urgent, and how to prevent pad damage. Read more...
Relaxed German Shepherd outdoors wearing a tactical harness and goggles pushed up on its head
How to Introduce a Dog to a New Harness Without Making It a Fight
A six-step desensitization plan over several short sessions, the stress signals that mean back off, and what to do with a head-shy dog. Read more...
Why Dogs Chew Their Gear — and How to Stop It
Boredom, anxiety, teething, or attention: four reasons dogs destroy harnesses and leads, what to do about each, and why chewing is never a warranty claim. Read more...
When to Replace a Dog Harness: A Field Inspection Routine
Fraying webbing, chalky plastic, a buckle that no longer clicks — how to inspect a dog harness and know when it's done carrying load. Read more...
How to Wash a Dog Harness Without Wrecking It
Hand wash in lukewarm water with mild soap, rinse until the water runs clear, and air dry out of the sun. Why the dryer kills nylon webbing. Read more...
What to Look For in an Automatic Dog Feeder
Portion accuracy, hopper jams, battery backup, and the subscription trap — what actually matters in an automatic feeder, and when not to use one. Read more...
How to Keep a Dog Hydrated at Home (Without a Fight)
Why some dogs under-drink at home, what actually fixes it — more stations, fresher water, wet food — and the honest downside of fountains. Read more...
How to Help a Dog With Arthritis at Home: A Field Guide
Weight, traction, warmth, and controlled daily exercise do more for an arthritic dog than rest. What works at home, and what to leave to your vet. Read more...
Long Line vs Retractable Leash: Why One Trains and One Doesn't
A long line teaches recall because it lies slack. A retractable teaches pulling because it never does. Handling, materials, and where long lines fail. Read more...
AirTag vs GPS Tracker for Dogs: What Actually Works Off-Grid
Bluetooth finders need crowds; cellular GPS needs signal and a subscription. How to pick, and how to spot a relabeled tracker. Read more...
Close-up of the nylon webbing, buckle and D-ring on a dog collar and harness, the points a tracker attaches to
How to Attach an AirTag to a Dog Harness (And Its Limits)
Where to mount an AirTag on a harness, why the case matters more than the tag, and the honest limits of Bluetooth tracking on an empty trail. Read more...
German Shepherd in a Coyote Brown tactical harness and mirrored goggles, seen in profile outdoors
Working Dog Gear vs Pet Dog Gear: What Actually Differs
Duty cycle, handles, redundancy, and fit precision — what separates real working dog gear from tactical styling on pet-grade construction. Read more...
German shepherd in a black MOLLE harness sitting in open scrub at first light, backlit by low sun
Hunting Dog Field Gear: What Survives the Season
Blaze orange, brush protection, hardware that survives mud, and the post-hunt check. What actually holds up on a working dog, and what fails. Read more...
Trail Etiquette With Dogs: Yielding, Recall, and Packing It Out
Who yields to whom, what recall has to look like before off-lead, and why "he's friendly" isn't consent. Practical trail etiquette for working dogs. Read more...
Dog Camping Gear List, Organized by Problem Not Product
What a dog actually needs at camp: containment, off-ground sleeping, sealed food, night visibility. Plus the tent rehearsal most people skip. Read more...
German Shepherd resting in grass after work, wearing a tactical harness, with a tug toy beside it
How to Condition a Dog for Hiking Season
A progressive six-to-ten week plan for building trail fitness in a dog: distance first, terrain second, plus paw pad conditioning and next-day soreness checks. Read more...
Desert Hiking With a Dog: Heat, Water, Spines and Snakes
Ground temperature is the real desert hazard, not air temperature. How to plan water, pull cactus spines, and hike a dog safely in the heat. Read more...
Cold Weather Hiking With a Dog: A Field Guide
Which dogs need a coat, how to read early cold stress, and why ice balling and low winter water intake cause more trouble than temperature. Read more...
Backpacking With a Dog: What Your Dog Can Actually Carry
A conservative load range, why balance beats total weight, what belongs in a dog pack, and how to build up over weeks without rubs. Read more...
How Far Can a Dog Hike in a Day? Real Ranges by Age and Fitness
Honest mileage ranges for conditioned, young, senior and flat-faced dogs, plus how to build distance and read fatigue before it becomes an injury. Read more...
German Shepherd sitting calmly in grass holding a camo jute tug toy in its mouth
Does Playing Tug of War Make a Dog Aggressive?
No. Tug builds arousal, not aggression, and the difference is rules. The six that make it safe, when to stop, and why letting your dog win is the right call. Read more...
Hiking With Your Dog: The Checklist That Actually Matters
A real pre-trip checklist for hiking with a dog — trail rules, conditioning, ground temperature, water, first aid, and the post-hike paw and tick check. Read more...
German Shepherd wearing both a tactical collar and a harness, shown in profile outdoors
Harness or Collar for Walking Your Dog?
Clip the leash to a harness. The collar carries ID. Why collars come off, what that costs, and the one job a collar does better than anything else. Read more...
Does Your Dog Need a Life Jacket?
Not whether your dog can swim — whether the water gives them a way out. When a life jacket earns its place, when it does nothing, and how to fit one. Read more...
What a Human First Aid Kit Is Missing for Your Dog
Most of a human first aid kit works on a dog. The gaps — a muzzle, self-adhesive wrap, a tick hook — are what you reach for first, and far from help. Read more...
German Shepherd sitting on grass wearing dog goggles with smoke lenses, seen from the front
Do Dogs Need Goggles
Most dogs, most of the time, do not need goggles. Starting anywhere else would be dishonest. A dog on an ordinary walk in ordinary weather has working eyelids, a third... Read more...
Bungee Lead or Fixed Lead: What the Stretch Actually Does
A bungee lead has an elastic section in the middle. When a dog hits the end of it, the stretch absorbs the spike of force instead of sending it straight up the lead into your arm and back down into the dog's neck or chest. That is the whole mechanism. Everything good and everything bad about a bungee follows from it. What the stretch buys you Your shoulder. A sudden lunge from a large dog on a fixed lead is a shock load, and it goes into your shoulder, your... Read more...
How Much Water a Dog Needs on a Hike
There is a working baseline for a dog at rest: roughly an ounce of water per pound of body weight per day. For a 60 lb dog that is around 60 fl oz, a little under half a gallon. On a hike, plan for meaningfully more than that. How much more is not a number anyone can honestly hand you, because it moves with heat, humidity, terrain, coat and conditioning, and with how hard the dog is actually working rather than how far you walked. Treat the baseline as the... Read more...
When a Senior Dog Starts Struggling to Get Up
Start here: difficulty getting up is a symptom, not a diagnosis, and it warrants a veterinary appointment rather than a shopping list. Arthritis is the common cause and the one most people assume. It is not the only one. Hip and elbow dysplasia, spinal problems including disc disease and degenerative myelopathy, cruciate injuries, muscle wastage, thyroid disease and pain originating somewhere else entirely all show up the same way — a dog that has become slow and reluctant about standing up. Those have different treatments and different trajectories, and guessing... Read more...
Elevated Cot or Cushioned Bed: Which One and Where
The case for an elevated cot is one thing: the air gap underneath. Everything else about this decision follows from it. A cushioned bed works by putting material between the dog and the floor. A cot works by putting nothing between the dog and the floor except air. Those are opposite strategies, and which one is right depends less on the dog than on where the bed is going and what time of year it is. What the air gap actually does It carries heat away. A dog lying on... Read more...