A lot of people get a new dog and just assume he’s going to know how to behave — like staying in the yard and coming when called are natural behaviors. The most important training to most people is teaching the dog that the house is not his own giant, nicely furnished urinal. But professional trainers say it’s important to teach your dog to obey, especially to come when called. It’s a potentially life-saving behavior: Stories abound of dogs preoccupied with the thrill of chasing each other, ignoring their owners’ calls and running in front of cars.

Taking time to train your dog doesn’t have to be a chore. It can be an enjoyable bonding process. Luke Bryan works with his dog Maggie to keep her hunting skills sharp. “I’ve worked with her in the yard a bit trying to teach her a couple of things,” Bryan says. “She’s got all the sit and heel down, but if I’m dove hunting and there are some birds coming in, I don’t want her running all over the field. I just have to work with her to make sure she doesn’t break. She’s one of the sharpest dogs I’ve ever seen.”

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Miranda Lambert has a 700-acre farm full of animals, including chickens, goats and a miniature horse. She recently rescued two puppies from the side of a local road to add to the menagerie. Yep, you might call her an animal lover.

But when she adopted her dog Delilah from the Humane Society of East Texas a couple of years ago, Lambert got serious about helping animals. Now she’s organized her first benefit for the humane society, a silent auction and concert called Cause for the Paws, scheduled for April 20 in North Tyler, Texas. Joining her in concert are Blake Shelton, Kacey Musgraves and Adam Hood.

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Legendary artist Emmylou Harris was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame this year, a recognition she richly deserves for her long and lauded career in country music. But these days low-key Harris is more interested in her other calling: “Animals…that’s what I want to devote my life to now,” she told the Humane Society recently.

Harris operates an animal rescue/fostering organization, Bonaparte’s Retreat, which saves “unadoptable” dogs from the Nashville Humane Association and dogs who have run out of time at Metro Nashville Animal Control. “We don’t take puppies, we take the big black dogs and yellow dogs that to some people might seem ordinary—but those of us who know dogs know there’s no such thing as an ordinary dog,” says Harris.

Harris explains the origins Bonaparte’s Retreat, which is named not only for a famous folk tune but also her favorite canine companion. “I had this dog named Bonaparte that I adopted in ‘92,” she says. “He became my road dog — he went everywhere with me. When I lost him in 2002, I felt I’d lost my best friend, and I didn’t think I’d get another dog. But I started thinking that maybe I could foster some dogs. That way I wouldn’t be getting another dog, I’d be helping dogs, to honor the memory of my pal.”

Harris started slowly, taking in a few dogs in three dog-runs in her backyard. She now has several volunteers and works with other rescue organizations to find homes for abandoned dogs, no matter how long it takes. “We’ve had dogs for as long as a year and a half,” she says. “Sometimes there are problems with shyness. We have a dog now that has some fear aggression because he’s been hit so much. He’s coming around with a lot of training and love and regimentation. You just have to commit that however long it takes, we will find the right home.

“I would say we’ve had around three dozen dogs,” she continues. “We can’t do a lot, but we have a real good partnership with Happy Tails [rescue organization], which allows us to be kind of official, and we’re very committed to Nashville Humane and all the other wonderful organizations.

“The main thing on our agenda is to try and get mandatory spaying and neutering to cut down drastically the number of all these dogs and cats. Until we do that, it’s just going to be an endless tragedy. In 2006 there were nearly 11,000 dogs and cats euthanized, most of them just because nobody adopted them. Perfectly healthy, perfectly wonderful pets, and all they needed was a chance.

“We just encourage people, spay and neuter your pets,” she emphasizes. “And if you’re looking for a pet, please go to the shelters first. And I always feel dogs and cats are happier when they have a companion, so one is not enough!”

Miranda Lambert wasted no time in putting her country music stardom to good use. The self-described animal lover uses her celebrity to help homeless pets in her home state. “I hate to think of abused animals and animals that are uncared for,” she says Lambert. “I wish I could adopt them all, but I can’t, so I do what I can to spread the message and help raise funds for the local Humane Society of East Texas.”
 
Lambert does have a dog in this fight, so to speak. She adopted her treasured four-legged pal Delilah from a pound. “She is a white, wiry-haired mutt, and she’s a total diva,” says Lambert. “She’s always on the road with me and makes for a wonderful companion.”
 
Lambert is quick to point out the qualities that win dogs the title Man’s (and Woman’s) Best Friend. “Her best characteristic is that she loves me unconditionally,” Lambert says. “I can mess up the words to a song on stage and have a terrible show, but when I walk on the bus, she’s always waiting for me and excited to see me.”
 
Like all dogs, Lambert’s has her own particular personality traits. “One weird quirk is that Delilah won’t pee on anything other than perfect grass,” Lambert giggles. “No concrete, no wood chips, no dirt…only perfect grass. Makes for a fun time when you’re trying to walk her in downtown Chicago!”

When new artist Luke Bryan gets time off from touring to go back to his hometown, he will most likely be found outdoors. “When I go home [to Georgia], outdoor stuff is a big part of what we do. Anytime I get home I’m bee-lining it to the woods,” says Bryan, who sings about his rural upbringing in his new single, “We Rode in Trucks.”
 
And when he heads for the trees, he often takes his four-legged friend, Maggie. “She’s an English Cocker, black and white, about 25 pounds,” says Bryan. “English Cockers are a little hunting dog that’s popular down in south Georgia. They’re great little retrievers. I’d always grown up with Labs, but it’s gotten too hot in south Georgia now to go hunting with Labs, so English Cockers have gotten popular.”
 
Bryan says he and his wife got Maggie as a pet, but as an avid hunter, it didn’t take him long to put his pet’s work skills to the test. “I do hunt with her, but not as much as I’d like to,” he says. “She’s pretty incredible at retrieving. My wife’s father has trained a lot of dogs, and he says Maggie is one of the best he’s seen. She’s really smart.
 
“I think her best characteristic is that she has so much drive and energy,” he continues. “I can take something that will sink and throw it into the shallow end of a swimming pool, about four or five feet deep, she will dive to the bottom to get it. She’s like an otter. She’s just got a lot of drive, and if she sees something to retrieve she will not quit until she gets it.”

Photo credit: Angela Marie Bertrand

James Otto doesn’t have to prove he’s outlaw material. He’s a burly 6’5” singer- songwriter with a deep, booming voice who hangs out with Big & Rich. In fact, his upcoming album for Warner Bros. Nashville was produced by John Rich. So don’t give him a hard time when you see him walking his teacup Chihuahua named Isabella.
 
“Isabella Otto is four pounds of fury with lots of attitude,” says Otto. “Most of the time we call her Izzy. My wife, Amy, likes the nickname because it’s like the character in Grey’s Anatomy. I personally choose to associate it with Izzy Stradlin from Guns ‘n’ Roses.”

Otto says he and his wife contemplated getting a dog for a while, but he was thinking something along the lines of a bulldog or a mastiff. Now that Isabella’s in the picture, though, he wouldn’t have it any other way. “I wouldn’t trade her for the world,” he says. “I love that she’s small enough to travel everywhere with us, from the bus to a plane. She has a hilarious personality and is so smart. In fact, I think she might be fluent in English!
 
“For her breed, she is very social, and loves people, other dogs, and kids, too,” he continues. “I joke with friends that she’s a Great Dane-Chihuahua mix because she loves to play and rough-house. She has no idea she’s small. She also loves to sit on my shoulder while I play guitar, and she can do lots of tricks — but only for treats.”

The sight of a hulking tough guy like Otto with his petite Chihuahua has inspired many an onlooker to laugh out loud. But Otto says the jokes don’t bother him. “I think it’s hilarious,” he says. “We are an odd pair, and the neighbors love to see me out walking her. But I’m confident enough in my manhood that I don’t need my dog to make the statement for me!”

Some might say Laura Bryna sings like a bird, and if so, it might be for good reason: Since college, the Equity recording artist (whose album hits stores January 22), has lived with a “family” of three chatty feathered friends. There’s Tyler, a Congo African Grey parrot; Harmony, a Senegal parrot; and Snuggles, a Lesser Sulphur Crested cockatoo.
 
“Tyler is the big talker of the group,” Bryna explains. “At about 10 p.m., she says, “Time for bed, time for bed!” In the mornings, she says, “Good morning babies!” to wake the other birds up. Snuggles has her own MAC Makeup brush and likes to have the hair dryer blow on her when I’m drying my hair in the mornings. She sits there with the makeup brush in her beak while I’m applying my makeup. Harmony is the only male of the three, and he likes to play dead on his back with his feet in the air, and give kisses and make kissing noises. They have a shower perch so they can take a shower with me sometimes.”
 
Bryna says the birds are a constant source of entertainment. “They talk a lot. They say, “Hi,” “Good morning,” and they make the sound of a cell phone ringing, which fools me every now and then. Tyler calls my manager “Club.” He’ll come in and Tyler will say, “Hi, Club.” When he leaves. Tyler says, “Bye, Club.” She’ll only say that when my manager is there.
 
“They dance to music when I am doing vocal warm-ups and they sing harmony parts. They love music with heavy beats, and they do the head-bob and sway to the beat. Harmony was in the video for my single, ‘Make a Wish.’ It was a cameo appearance. You have to look closely on the swing set to see him.”
 
Bryna admits caring for a bird takes a special commitment. “Some birds can live for 60 to 70 years,” she says. “They want to be part of your life and spend time with you in the same room, cuddle, sit on your shoulder or lap, be petted and loved on. They need to have breakfast cooked for them, be fed snacks and dinner, have clean rooms (cages), be groomed and taken to the vet every year for checkups. I call them my babies because it’s very much like having children. They are my children.”

Photo credit: Chris Berkey

If there’s anything Jennifer Hanson loves more than songwriting, it might just be her dogs. Best known for writing “Leave the Pieces” for the Wreckers and “A Different World” for Bucky Covington, Hanson owns a Silky Terrier named Sidney, a Yorkie named Annabell and a Chihuahua named Buster Brown. And each, she says, has its own personality and place in the family dynamic. 

“Sidney is a little big for his britches, but extremely smart,” says Hanson. “Annabell is like my shadow. She follows me everywhere around the house and is always in someone’s lap. Buster Brown is very loving and affectionate. He is also excellent at fetching the ball.” 

The Universal South recording artist can’t resist dressing up her tiny family members from time to time. “I have sweaters for all the dogs and several dresses for Annabell,” she admits. 

When her new album hits stores in 2008, Jennifer will no doubt spend a lot of time on the road, so she expects to take the dogs along on the bus. But for now, when she’s out of town, she makes sure her pooches are pampered at a local kennel. “When I travel, the dogs stay at The Farm at Natchez Trace,” says Hanson. “They get the royal treatment there — lots of playtime, grooming, nature walks, etc. They get treats for good behavior. Pup-Peroni’s are their favorites!” 

Every kid wants a dog, but not every parent is sold on the idea. Aside from weighing the responsibilities involved in caring for a pet, adults sometimes fear they can’t trust their children with a new furry friend. Could the dog be dangerous? Will he be able to put up with the manhandling he’s bound to endure at the hands of his young pals?

Just like people, dogs have personalities, and some are better able to deal with children than others. There are no real hard-and-fast rules, and you can find good-tempered, patient individual dogs in every breed. But in general, experts say, if you have small children, stick with small dogs who are less active. A big, boisterous playful dog is likely to accidentally mow right over a tiny tot. And with a small dog, if he does at some point nip at a child, he can’t do as much damage as a large breed.

According to The Reader’s Digest Illustrated Book of Dogs, here are a few of the best breeds for families (especially with young children):

Beagle: Beagles are good-natured, friendly and relatively small. You rarely see one without his tail wagging.

English Cocker Spaniel: Gentle and loyal, the English Cocker makes a devoted friend.

Golden Retriever: An ideal family dog, the Golden Retriever is calm, gentle, loyal and intelligent, which makes him easy to train.

Pug: Pugs are quite even-tempered, mischievous and downright funny. Even though they’re small, they’re sturdy — almost like a big dog that’s been shrunk — so they can handle some roughhousing.

Labrador Retriever: They don’t come any smarter, gentler or more patient than a Lab, and those are prized traits when it comes to living with kids.

Cold winter weather brings new challenges for both indoor and outdoor pets. When the weather outside gets frightful, check out this checklist to keep Fido’s life delightful:

Cold weather can aggravate arthritis, which is most common in older pets but can occur at an early age, especially in overweight animals. If your dog or cat has trouble getting up, lying down or climbing stairs, talk to your veterinarian. You might consider giving your pet glucosamine, a dietary supplement that many find relieves joint pain. It’s available in some brands of pet food, and in tablet form at most supermarkets and health food stores. But never give your pet human pain medications without checking with your vet first. Acetaminophen and ibuprofen can be toxic to animals.

Be careful when you change antifreeze. Dogs and cats love the sweet taste, but it can be deadly. Consider switching to animal-friendly antifreeze, which costs a bit more but is safe for pets.

If you have an outdoor pet, make sure it has shelter and plenty of straw or warm bedding, and replace it if it gets wet. Don’t use an electric heater made for your home, which is a common cause of fires. When it snows, check your pet’s paws for ice balls or injuries. Keep hair around paw pads trimmed to prevent buildup of ice and snow.
 
Break the ice! Fresh water is crucial, even in winter, so check your outdoor pet’s water dish regularly. Not all pets know how to break through a frozen surface to get to the H20 below. Investing in a heated bowl, available at most pet supply stores, will solve the problem. If the temperature falls way below freezing, it’s too cold even for outdoor pets to stay outside, so bring them in!