This is the first installment of a two part article on canine brucellosis. Part one will discuss clinical issues - description, symptoms, transmission, etc. Part two will deal with the more general issues of canine brucellosis in the community at large and how it can impact pet parents and families.

Last week a friend's wife asked me about microchips and pets. Specifically, she wanted to know what happens if the pet parent moves, how would they find them? It is an interesting question and in verifying my answer, I learned a lot more about microchips and lost pets.

The weather tv personalities have cranked up the hype machine this week about a possible big snow storm on the mid-Atlantic coast. This might be a good time to think about pet snow do's and dont's.

On 12/15/15, the NY Times ran an article about flu shots for dogs It is well worth the read and gives dog parents some good background on the latest H3N2 strain as does an earlier article on canine influenza by Steve Dale. Vaccines, however, have become a hot button issue in recent years so I felt I could help pet parets out by doing a little research on the subject.