When Dexter the cocker spaniel tore a ligament in his hind leg a few weeks ago, he didn't suffer in silence. Instead, his owner wrote a blog post. "The vet told me my dog needed surgery, and I thought, 'You know, there's got to be something else'," said Carol Bryant, who writes a "canine-centric online magazine" called A Fidose of Reality. Responding to her blog entries, readers told Bryant that Dexter didn't have to go under the knife. He had options, like laser therapy and a leg brace he'll be wearing for the next six months.