Barrington Lodge Vet Clinic

10/10/2025

DON’T TOUCH MY STUFF!

We all guard our resources; it’s a very normal, natural reaction to a threat of something we value being taken away.

Animals would not survive in the wild if they didn’t guard their resources. It’s essential for survival.

Just because our dogs are domesticated and shouldn’t be concerned about these things, doesn’t mean that this innate, genetic behaviour disappears.

We also don’t get to decide what’s valuable to our dogs or what’s not – different things have different value and at different times.

Food is usually the most common, but toys, furniture, random objects, places, or even a particular person are all things that may be considered a valuable resource.

Punishing or forcing a dog to give something up is probably one of the worst things to do. Resource guarding is rooted in the emotion of fear – the fear of that resource being taken away.

Punishment and force further increase that fear, which only increases and reinforces the need to protect that resource.

When a dog is guarding something, we can change the negative emotion of fear into a positive one by swapping, trading or adding something that has a similar or higher value.

This is one of the most effective ways to address resource guarding as it works at the root cause of the behaviour by changing the emotional response.

A dog resource guarding a person is more complicated to address. A full history of the individual dog, family dynamics, attachment styles, situation and environment all have to be assessed before planning and working on a solution.

Resource guarding can usually be prevented, managed, or resolved by understanding the underlying emotion, building trust and a sense of safety, and using consistent practice coupled with positive reinforcement.

10/10/2025

09/10/2025

KNOW ABOUT MY NECK!

A dog’s neck is really not that much different to ours.

In fact, it may be even a little more sensitive, as the outermost layers of the skin are thinner than ours.

In additional to the damage that using choke collars, prong collars, slip leads or shock collars cause in a psychological and emotional way, the physical risks are also often not acknowledged or understood.

Here are just some of the physical risks these aversive tools can cause –

The Vagus nerve runs down both sides of the neck and controls so many vital functions - heart rate, breathing, digestion, emotional regulation and communication between the brain and other major organs.

Pressure on the neck can compress the trachea, making it hard to breathe properly -decreases oxygen to the brain and other organs, potentially causing long-term damage.

Pressure can also damage the thyroid gland, injure nerves and muscles and bruise soft tissue.

Compression of the neck can cause intraocular pressure which affects vision.

The neck and cervical spine contain the spinal cord, where the nerves of the front legs originate. Excessive paw licking is often misdiagnosed as allergies, when it’s actually caused by pain.

Compression of the Esophagus – the tube that carries food to the stomach, can cause digestive and gut issues.

I find it really hard to understand why these tools are still so widely used and promoted.

What could possibly be admirable or intelligent in using force, inflicting pain, causing physical and emotional harm to control another sentient being, when there are far more effective, humane, ethical ways?

"The least I can do is speak out for those who cannot speak for themselves" – Jayne Goodall

08/10/2025

Hello friends!

If you have submitted an adoption enquiry, please be assured we're working through them asap.

We're a little busy & lots of new birds are requiring our help at the moment - we're only a 2 women team & there's been a lot going on behind the scenes this summer / autumn.

Our capacity is super stretched; the number of surrender cases has sharply risen. It's been a tricky balance bringing new rescues into quarantine space, waiting & assessing needs before we can look at any adoption to you. This is for the safety of the new birds we take in, our existing flock, & supporting your adoption from us too. However, a recent increase in birds does mean we have more adoptions coming up 🏠

We understand you may cancel your adoption request if we don't move quick enough for you (just let us know so we can close your enquiry). Or, feel free to pop us a message to see where your application is up to 🦜

Thank you for your patience & supporting 🩵

08/10/2025

As of today, 7th October 2025, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) have announced that any dog being imported commercially from Romania, which includes all those brought over for rescue, must be tested, and confirmed negative, for Brucella Canis infection.

The samples must be taken and sent to the APHA lab in the U.K. by an authorised vet in Romania for both the ELISA and SAT tests.

Once negative results are received and the paperwork uploaded into the import system (the IPAFFS), dog then has 30 days from the time of the sample being taken to be transported into the country.

If either test is positive the dog cannot enter the U.K.

All dogs currently in transit or planned to arrive before the 15th October are exempt but those coming after that must be imported under this ruling.

This is excellent news and I am delighted the government has put this measure in place as it will protect the health of both humans and dogs in this country and prevent future dog owners from being faced with very difficult decisions when they discover the dog they took on from overseas is carrying the infection.

Since 2020 the numbers of dogs diagnosed with Brucella Canis has been rising, in part because of an increase in testing, but this is simply confirming what was already happening and highlighted the issue.

And with around 50% of the positive cases originating from Romania, it is a logical place to target with this legislation.

It is not easy for a dog to pass on an Brucella Canis infection but the risk is there, particularly to other dogs in close contact, human family members and veterinary staff.

This isn’t a disease we have naturally in this country and we certainly don’t want it establishing itself as it can be very serious, challenging to treat and the once infected it is more or less impossible to remove the bacteria entirely from the body.

Responsible importers were already doing this testing but this will ensure consistency across the board and discourage those not acting in the best interests of the dogs.

For more information about Brucella Canis in imported dogs, this is an excellent summary article; https://www.vetvoices.co.uk/post/brucellosis-canis-in-the-uk-an-overview

06/10/2025

From 7 October 2025, new rules will require mandatory pre-import testing for Brucella Canis for all commercial dog imports from Romania into Great Britain.

This protects both pets and people from Brucella Canis, with around 50% of all identified infections in Great Britain since 2020 coming from Romanian dog imports.

To protect you and your pet, only source your dogs from reputable breeders and rescue organisations. 🐕

Find out more: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/public-urged-to-buy-pets-from-reputable-sources

02/10/2025

🚨 Urgent Help Needed – Boiler Broken 🚨

Hi everyone, we’re in a bit of a crisis at the office. Our oil boiler has stopped working, so we currently have no heating or hot water. Unfortunately, the system has lost pressure so we’ve had to turn it off completely.

This is especially urgent because we have some tiny hand-reared kittens in our care who need to stay warm. They come into work with staff for regular feeds day and night, and without heating it’s very difficult to keep them safe and comfortable.

If anyone local is able to:

Take a look at an oil boiler with no pressure, or

Recommend a reliable engineer who could come out quickly.

…we would be hugely grateful! 🙏

Thank you so much in advance for any advice or support you can offer.