Animal Medical Clinic

07/07/2023

Part 2!

5138 likes, 113 comments. “Thanks Leslie Mcdivett”

07/07/2023

Nice little exercise to encourage more neutral (less excited) encounters. Try it!

02/03/2023

I read a post by a trainer the other day talking about how the cost of training often makes people hesitate to consult a trainer or put a puppy in classes, not knowing whether the benefit will be worth the money.

I can tell you that the most important money for you to spend on your dog, especially your puppy, is not on bowls, clothing, collars, harnesses, leashes, toys, grooming, or even veterinary care. It’s training. Every dollar you spend on training of any kind will come back to you in increased happiness and satisfaction with your dog for the rest of her life.

I recommend getting your young dog into some kind of training class for the first 10 months you have him or her (starting around 12 weeks and generally going up to 1 year of age or longer).

It doesn’t have to be strict obedience. Take your puppy to kindergarten, or have a trainer in for some private lessons on proper socialization (it’s not what you think) and house training when really young. Then go to the next level of puppy class, whatever is offered locally, just to keep her in the habit. Going to “manners” classes is perfect - learning impulse control, relaxing on command, walking beside you without pulling, sitting to greet people, taking food gently from hands, and more.

Once that is over, don’t stop! Figure out what you might like and what the dog might enjoy, and take an intro class on something like scentwork (finding things with your nose) (not YOUR nose, the dog’s), or agility, or lure coursing, or Rally, or anything else you think looks fun. Ask your trainer for ideas. Do some googling. I’ve had several clients start scent work with their young dogs, and they report that a 30 minute scent work class tires their dog out like a 2 hour walk. Do something that has some mental challenge as well as physical.

Will your dog be good at it? Doesn’t matter one bit, as long as it’s fun. Go for it! You will be building trust and teaching your dog that paying attention gets rewards.

Doing things like this with your young dog will pay off big time for the rest of his or her life.

27/02/2023

I’ve posted about CAM before, but for those that may have missed it, here’s a good post. If your dog is getting older, getting stiff, check out their FB feed and talk to us at your next visit.

This is one of the most useful graphics we can show you...

This is all the elements of a complete multimodal arthritis management plan.

The dark blue sections are areas where you will need vet input, and the teal sections are the areas down to you.

It may look like a lot of different areas to work on (you might not need them all), but you can start with one and build from there.

Just using painkillers alone is not enough. Just using massage is not enough. It's when you combine multiple treatments together that you start to reduce the pain and take care of the joint - and your dog's life will change for the better.

Talk to your vet about using a multimodal approach in your dogs OA care (if they are not already).

21/02/2023

A nice home made feeding “toy”. I would encourage anyone with dogs that eat really quickly to use feeding toys for most meals. They slow down intake rate, increase the feeling of fullness, and decrease the amount of air swallowed. All on all much healthier for your pooch.

This time of year can be really hard in Houston because it rains so much. Here is one way we tire out our high energy dogs when they can't go outside to exercise. 20minutes of mental stimulation= 1hr of physical exercise for dogs. High energy dogs like GSPs need 1-2hrs of exercise every day! ...

14/01/2023

This is a brief but very important concept in dog training. It’s not about sit-stay-down-come-heel. It’s more basic than that. Find a trainer that will help you with the *real* fundamentals and your life will be so much better. So will your relationship with your dog.

Shake a paw is also not a fundamental

27/11/2022

If you have an older dog, this is a great FB page to follow. There are lots of interventions that you can incorporate into your dog’s daily life that will both improve its quality and extend it.

CAM’S PYRAMID OF POSITIVE INTERVENTIONS

This pyramid is NOT a step-by-step approach to managing your dog’s condition, it is designed to highlight how important owner-led interventions are when managing arthritis.

You, the owner, can make many positive changes that are low-cost and easy to implement.
, is what we all want, and CAM hopes to help you achieve this.

CAM strongly advises that you seek veterinary support if you feel that your dog is in pain.

Read more at https://caninearthritis.co.uk/managing-arthritis/what-can-be-done/

19/11/2022

I like this method. In general we humans talk way too much to dogs. Be silent, let them think and make choices, and reward the good choices.

26/10/2022

It’s important to get your puppies out having safe, controlled, positive experiences. This is a good example of what that looks like.

ALICE IN WONDERLAND 🌳 🐦 🐶 🌊

With just a few week’s left in the critical learning phase, here’s what we’ve managed to tick off safely this week to ensure Alice’s confidence is steadily growing:

✔️ A man on a bike and a kid on a swing.
✔️ A tractor pulling a grass cutting thing.
✔️ A kelpie, a bull and a kangaroo.
✔️ The postman, the neighbour and his cattle dog too!

✔️ She’s been to Bunnings to buy paint and a screw.
✔️ She’s been on a lake in a shiny canoe.
✔️ Her paws have felt water, felt mud and felt sand.
✔️ Her ears have heard thunder and planes come to land.
✔️ Her eyes have seen playgrounds, and cafes and bars, while gnawing a kong in her crate in the car.

The first 16 weeks of your puppy’s life might be largely focused around the vaccination schedule and keeping them safe from disease, but it’s also a vital time for shaping your puppy’s long term perspective towards the world.

⭐️ Get creative.
⭐️ Be proactive.
⭐️ Build their confidence with lots of little life experiences from the beginning.

26/10/2022

We’ve had a lot of questions about food puzzle toys this month, so here’s a nice article that covers the basics. Most dogs would benefit from regular (daily) use. Definitely have more than one on hand to provide variety. And there are lots of ways to make feeding toys at home - a quick google search will give you plenty of posts and videos with ideas and instructions. Have fun!

The benefits of using food puzzle toys, how to choose them, and how to introduce them to your dog.

25/10/2022

Here’s how to save a life - if you own a dog, you should know how to do this. Rehearse it in your mind, become very familiar with the steps and the motions. It’s not hard to do, but in a high-stress atmosphere when your dog can’t breathe, it’s easy to forget. Practice and review will help you overcome the panic. Knowledge is power.

A man was playing catch with his dog Hansel, when the ball the man was throwing got lodged in the dog’s throat. Hansel was rushed to the veterinarian, but st...