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Coronavirus COVID-19 has caused so much hardship to so many people that it might seem a bit trivial to talk about what it’s doing to puppies. But I’m a puppy vet and so it matters to me.
I’m afraid that the puppies of the next few months won’t grow up the same. I fear that this virus will change how they enjoy the rest of their lives. But I also think you can do something about it.
Continue reading “A Puppy Checklist For The Social Distancing Age”
Dante is an all-too-familiar story. I saw him recently for vaccination and immediately noticed the scar on his leg. What happened? He was running and broke his leg.
If this happens to your dog, here’s a quick first aid tip: carefully put the lower leg into a roughly normal position, wrap it in a t-shirt until it’s a thick roll and then sticky tape it. If you can’t do this, just keep your dog as quiet as possible. This will stop possible damage to soft tissues caused by excessive motion across the fracture site. Then go straight to a vet.
Leg fractures in Italian Greyhounds are common. If you’re looking to buy a puppy, or take out insurance you might well ask, “yes, but how common?” The answer may affect what you do next.
Continue reading “Broken Legs In Italian Greyhounds”
Puppy buying scams are everywhere. They prey on the fact that puppies are hard to get, and very expensive. I’ve showed you before my ways to spot a false puppy advertisement. Now I want to lead you through a current example.
Just try this: google “cavoodle puppies for sale” and look at the results. As of 4 Feb, 2020, the top paid ad on my first page is a scam. It’s the screenshot above.
How do I know? Let’s get dirty. You can apply what I’m doing to any site you’re suspicious of.
Continue reading “Another Cavoodle Puppy-Selling Scam”
Try looking for answers when your dog eats their own stool and you’ll quickly see the problem. All the advice is the same.
Some top sites have literally cut and pasted the content from others, and those that haven’t appear to be just rewriting what everyone else says. The reason is simple: because no-one has the answers.
A recent study (and the only good one) found that success rates with the sort of methods they discuss are only 1-4%. And it’s even worse if you try one of the many products being sold: 0-2%!
This fits exactly with my experience over 25 years. But it’s not hopeless! I’m going to use what I’ve learnt plus the evidence to give you practical, realistic advice. There’ll be a lot less promises, but also a lot less wasted effort.
Continue reading “How To Stop Your Dog Eating Poo”
I see every day how hard it is to find the right way to stop dogs pulling on the leash. There are too many traps and too little good advice.
For these dogs, an appropriate restraint needs to be more than just comfortable and secure; it has to also be effective. So I put the question out to a select group of professional dog trainers.
Continue reading “What Is The Best Way To Stop A Dog Pulling?”Everyone has an opinion about what makes a great obedience class. I’ve got a lot to say on the subject, but I’ll start here: obedience has nothing to do with it!
The evidence is clear and consistent. When measured by results, reward-based training outperforms more ‘traditional’ methods. It’s also much less likely to cause pain or anxiety.
That’s why this article is going to help you tell the difference. By the end, you should be able to choose the right class for your dog. I will go through some clues you can use, and then use an example of two very real classes.
Continue reading “How To Find A Good Dog Training Class”
If you look up the causes of eye discharge in dogs, there’s almost always one missing. That wouldn’t be such a problem if what’s missing wasn’t also the most common cause in puppies.
Continue reading “Causes Of Eye Discharge In Puppies”
If you own a Dachshund, you probably already know about IVDD.
Intervertebral Disc Disease affects around 20% of Dachies over their lives. All of them will experience severe pain. Many are permanently disabled and some even die as a result of irreversible and severe spinal damage.
Visit our page on IVDD if you want to read more. Here I want to talk about some new knowledge of a way to reduce the risk of it happening.
Continue reading “The Best Age To Neuter A Dachshund”
Have you ever wondered why vets recommend one drug over another?
We’ve usually researched it ourselves.
Or we have a wealth of first-hand experience.
However, sometimes the health claims are just too complex to easily assess. That’s when we might trust the company data. But how many vets have the time to double check what they say?
I’ve made a reputation as a ‘difficult’ customer, and I know I’m not alone. That’s because there’s often more than one way to look at the same data. Here’s just one example from the past week: a good product sold by nice people.
Just possibly pushed too far.
Continue reading “Fact Check: Do LH Levels After Desexing Affect Health?”
To be frank, a lot of the information being given about desexing is misleading or wrong. Here I hope you’ll find the guide you need to make an informed decision on the best way to neuter your dog.
I’m going to compare each of the choices you might have read about, and then at the end give you my opinion on what you should do.
Continue reading “A Comparison Of Dog Desexing Procedures”