Pawsitive steps pet services

06/11/2022

So there was a lot of people asking for advise for what to do with their dogs last night due to being stressed with the fireworks 🎆
So here is my advise for next year.

❗️❗️START CONDITIONING TODAY ❗️❗️

You have now got 364 days to work on this.

I'm sure everyone has got either YouTube or an Alexa.
Start playing fireworks on a low volume. Gradually turning them up over the weeks/months.
If when you turn them up your dogs is looking worried go back a step to the volume they are comfortable with.

Play with your dog or feed them whilst the noises are being played.
Do not fuss or reassure the dog if they react. You are then reinforcing that concerned emotion. Just simply go back a step until the dog is comfortable again.

Yes it can be a slow process but it is 5 minutes out of your day. Your dogs deserve it.

My pup is 20 weeks old and we have done this process from her coming to me at 8 weeks old. She slept in her crate without any issues last night. It is so worth it 👌

06/09/2022

Walter was a lock down puppy and the owners struggled to expose him to other dogs ect.
There were no puppy classes running and so they searched the Internet for advice on raising a puppy as they were 1st time owners. They stated that the advise available was so conflicting that they got confused and didn't know which way to go. Luckily they seem to have done everything right including crate training and having good rules and boundaries at home.
The issues they were encountering however was dog reactivity to the point they actually dreaded taking walter out for a walk.
Walter was an absolute pleasure to work with and the owners worked hard on the advise they was given. Walter is now a pleasure to walk and is now happily walking past other dogs without a care in the world. Well done Walter 👏

05/07/2022

As a society, we need to adjust our way of thinking about growls. Rather than being a sign of an aggressive dog, it’s a dogs way of saying they don’t like something and that they likely need help.

Imagine you’re in a situation with someone that you’re not comfortable in. Now imagine you have verbally told the person that you are not comfortable with what they are doing. If they ignore you and continue what they were doing, you will likely escalate things by raising your voice. If that doesn’t work, you may choose to move yourself away from the situation.

Now imagine a dog in this situation. They have no human words to use and they can’t remove themselves from the situation as they are attached to their human by their lead. All they have is a growl.

A growl is a dogs way of telling us how they feel. Telling us that they don’t want to bite, but that if the situation continues they may be forced to do so. This doesn’t mean we have an aggressive dog on our hands, just a dog that feels potentially threatened by the situation

So what should we do if our dog growls at something or someone? Just move them away. Putting distance between your dog and whatever they are growling at will help your dog feel safer. You are also teaching them that you are listening to them when they ‘speak’. This strengthens your bond and gives your dog confidence that you will act in their best interests.

Don’t punish the growl!

04/06/2022

03/06/2022

20/05/2022

Dogs are not 'fur babies'. They are predatory animals. They need rules and boundaries.
It is upto you to put in that training and show the dog what behaviours are acceptable and also what is not.
Every species learn by reward and punishment. Including our children so why do we treat our dogs differently 🤔

Dear Dog Owners,

This week I have seen post after post after post on the veterinary social media pages about the struggle with larger breed dogs that are undisciplined and fearful and trying to bite at staff and veterinarians. Half of the posts stated that they, the vet, were going to stop seeing any large breed dogs, some of them said that they were going to fire all clients who had dogs that were not well controlled, others said that they were starting to refuse service to dogs that growled or tried to bite or got freaked out when they tried to examine them. Clients, this is a huge problem and it is your problem and let's be real, it is your fault.

Dogs are NOT children or humans and we need to stop treating them like they are. They are animals! They do not learn by being coddled and babied and allowed to get away with whatever they feel like doing. It does not work that way in the animal kingdom. If you are a little s**t of a dog your mom or some older dog is going to bite your head off to teach you! Once that puppy leaves its mom, you now become the teacher and trainer of what is and what is not acceptable behavior and if you don't, you and you alone are ruining your dog!

Dogs need discipline! They are like your kids! They need you to teach them, to train them, to discipline them so they learn what is and what is not acceptable. I can not tell you the number of times I have been in an exam room and a dog is growling at me and the owner does nothing. In fact, often times they pull back from the dog and they always get that sheepish look and often will say, “he doesn’t bite.” The hell he doesn’t bite! He is a dog, he bites and he is going to bite me because you have not shown him who is boss and he has no fear of humans and he has no idea that being a jerk is not allowed.

Please, if you love your dog, do your job and discipline them, train them, show them the proper way to behave and make sure they know that being a jerk gets them in trouble. If you do not, you will not be able to find a vet to help them when they are in need and that will be your fault and not the vets fault. No where in our oath does it say that we have to subject ourselves to being bitten by someones dog because they treated it like a human and felt sorry for it and never disciplined it and so it now has no respect for humans and bites. If you don’t start being a responsible pet owner, your dog is not going to be seen and you do not want that to happen.

Do not let your dog be the top dog in your house! It is not fair to them and it is not fair to us in the veterinary profession when we have to fear for our safety in order to try and help them when they are sick.

Teach them to be nice, take them to uncomfortable places, make sure they know that humans are the big dog in the relationship, that does not mean you beat them that means you show them that you are the boss by not allowing them to be jerks and get away with behaviors that they shouldn’t. Your dogs life and health depend on you being a good dog owner and raising them to be good dogs.

Sincerely,
Dr Debbie and Every Vet

19/02/2022

15/02/2022

We had our 1st session with gorgeous Vinnie.
He was pulling on the lead and as you can see in the video in true beagle style he never stopped sniffing the ground. The client had just had a baby and was struggling to walk Vinnie whilst pushing the pram which we touched on but will do more work on this.
On this session we concentrated on getting some engagement with Vinnie and setting a few boundaries. He did absolutely great and I'm looking forward to how far we can get on his 2nd session. 🐶