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Not long ago I published a survey of top Australian dog trainers about their favourite harnesses. It was an eye-opener for me.
Strikingly, one particular harness stood out from the rest: the Perfect Fit®. At the time, I hadn’t heard of it, and it was hard to purchase due to the need for a custom fitting. Then, an existing Adelaide importer asked me if I could start to stock it.
Continue reading “Perfect Fit: The Custom Fitted Fleece Dog Harness”
Not long ago I saw two adult dogs in a row that had just been adopted from their breeder. The first one wasn’t perfectly normal, but he’ll be OK. However, the second one, Jethro was in real trouble. That’s him in the picture.
Right now, he’s frightened of many things in an unpredictable way. He’s frequently frozen and unwilling to move, difficult to walk, wary of strangers and not interested in food. At night he wanders the house unsettled. But he’s also showing signs of the lovely dog within.
Recently I told you that the best age to get a puppy is 7 to 8 weeks old. But there are plenty of dogs and puppies over 16 weeks old needing homes. Here are some examples:
So what happens if you get them? The answer is that they still make great pets, but not all of them and not always in the same way.
Continue reading “Adopting an Older Ex Breeder or Shelter Dog”
Emergency facts (details below):
Now dive deeper…
Continue reading “Mushroom Poisoning In Dogs”
Quick facts (details below):
Now dive deeper…
Continue reading “Help! My Dog Has An Undescended Testicle”
The age when you bring a puppy home matters. What you might be surprised by is how early that is.
The best age for a puppy to enter their new home is at seven to eight weeks old. This is what the evidence tells us, especially the best and most recent study.
Continue reading “What Is The Best Age To Get A Puppy?”
UPDATE 13 May: Limited puppy preschool places are now available at our clinic on Thursday nights. To comply with current regulations, we request that:
For puppies elsewhere in the world, 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?”