Cataracts can be relatively easy to see on most dogs. You can get a light and a certain amount of magnification and peer into the pupil area. People will sometimes see corneas glazed over the outside of the eyeball and say, "Oh, my dog has a cataract", when cataracts are really inside the eyeball. They're in the lens, behind the colored part. So we can peek in there and see if we can get the light all the way through, and you can usually see a cataract on there. Dogs can't tell you, "I saw double or triple of everything," so you've got to look for them.

There is cataract surgery for dogs. We don't do it here, but some specialists do that. That is an option, but the difference in people is that they do cataract surgery way sooner than they typically would in dogs. We can see dogs with small cataracts that aren't a big deal and never give any issues, and then you've got cataracts that are legitimately affecting their vision and their quality of life. Those are the ones that you'll get surgery for.

Yes, absolutely. We love them all, but the smashed face, buggy eye dogs are your classics. Unfortunately, they have big wide eyes and they're eyelids can't even close completely over the eyes. Those eyes are out there and exposed to injury, being poked and even getting dried out.

Those dogs are anatomically more prone to eye issues. A good number of dog breeds have genetic predispositions for eye issues, not to mention other diseases that can affect the eyes. They say the eyes are like a window into the body and the health of the body. So many dogs can have issues with their eyes.

There're a lot of things you can look for. Eye injuries can be very painful. We both had them, we've known people who've had them. So you can look for signs of pain like holding the eyes shut, squinting hard, shying away if you go to pet or touch them or touch the eye, pawing at the face, redness, and swelling are all symptoms of an injury. If a dog has something in its eye, it's going to be painful.

The big one is feeding raw food. I don't recommend it. You'll see a lot of stuff on the internet about how it's better and more natural for them. With commercial foods, we see dogs living longer and longer. These commercial pet food companies have worked hard to formulate balanced nutrition, so dogs thrive on it. The raw foods often harbor bacteria like salmonella, and the meats can have parasites and enzymes in them that can be harmful to the dog. So I don't recommend raw food because of diseases and deleterious things that it can transmit. If you're going to insist on feeding non-commercial dog food, I recommend that a nutritionist balance it and that you cook it. You're not hurting the nutritional value by cooking it.

It definitely can. Some dogs will eat and eat. We're sometimes better able to control what they eat than what we eat ourselves. I recommend measuring what they eat, whether you leave it out for them all day or time feed it. As long as you have a good grasp of what they're eating because if you want them to lose weight, for instance, the only way you can do that is by knowing how much they're eating and reducing it.

It can. It's all about calories. Four potato chips for them is like a bag for us, especially for smaller dogs. It can also facilitate pickiness, vomiting and diarrhea. I recommend that human food be kept to a minimum. If you do it, some vegetables like carrots and green beans are harmless and make the dog think they're getting some of your food. I won't condemn an occasional treat, but doggie formulated treats and kibble should be 95% of what they eat. People have difficulty with portion size. They'll give one hamburger, but dogs are really good at beating us down so next time they'll have two hamburgers.

Not necessarily. They're omnivorous, so they eat grass as part of their scavenging behavior. Some of them crave the fiber, but they're not equipped to deal with that grass as it isn't digestible for the dog, so they throw it up. Sometimes, when they're nauseated, they'll exhibit PICA behavior and eat things that they don't usually eat. Grass is a big one for that. If you're feeding good quality food, they're not missing anything.