142 North East Road, Walkerville. Ph (08) 8344 2000
Emergency facts (details below):
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Continue reading “Mushroom Poisoning In Dogs”
Quick facts (details below):
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Continue reading “Undescended Testicles In Dogs”
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 “The Best Age To Get A Puppy”
Here you will find a checklist of suggested experiences for Australian puppies before 14 weeks of age. By following our advice, your puppy should grow to be a less fearful and happier adult dog.
Limited puppy preschool places are also available at our clinic on Wednesday and Thursday nights.
Continue reading “A Socialisation Checklist For The Aussie Puppy”
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”
*Note: if you’re here to check on a possible scam site, scroll down to the comments where there’s a lively discussion! Here is a quick summary of what’s been found:
This list changes quickly as sites appear and disappear so accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Remember: do not buy from any site using the word Cavapoo as this is not used in Australia.
There are also Facebook pages, which I am not able to follow. If you are scammed by one of these, contact Facebook directly to have them taken down.
Now dive deeper…
Continue reading “Cavoodle Puppy-Selling Scams”
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 all 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”
Are you thinking of getting a puppy from a pet shop?
Or do you wonder if it’s OK to buy a puppy from a pet shop.
Or does your pet store puppy have the any of following symptoms?
Then you need to read this.
Continue reading “Giardia Infections In Pet Shop Puppies”
It seems like that, doesn’t it? You search for a “dog trainer” in your area and instead of a simple answer you get all this:
It’s not even clear what the differences are. At last not yet. But you don’t want to find that out the hard way.
Continue reading “Tinker, Tailor, Whisperer, Trainer…”
Last week Fred was found after being missing for 18 months. Without any doubt he’s very lucky ever to see his home and family again. He was stolen right here in suburban Adelaide by people who never wanted him to be found.
Continue reading “How Microchipped Dogs Can Still Be Stolen”
This lovely photo by Julie Wilson shows Jack, one of our Puppy Preschool graduates. It’s the way we like to see them: making the most out of life.
Did his puppy classes help him become the dog he is now? To answer that we need to know not what puppy classes promise, but what they actually do.
You have a right to be shown the evidence behind any veterinary recommendation. Here’s what we know.
Continue reading “Puppy Preschool: The Evidence”
“They’re dogs; they don’t need coats!”
Have you ever heard people say that? Well, thirty years ago I used to say it too.
Continue reading “Do Dogs Really Need Coats?”
(Quick guide) When your dog has a cough:
Now dive deeper…
Continue reading “Help! My Dog Is Coughing & Gagging”
Some people don’t believe in Santa Claus. Others the tooth fairy. Me, I don’t believe in fussy dogs.
How is this possible? Fussy dogs are everywhere.
Continue reading “Fussy Eaters Are Made, Not Born”
The other day I took the sutures out of a vasectomy (yes, a dog vasectomy!) and said, “great, now he can get back to running.”
It turned out he hadn’t been for a run yet. The owners asked a good question: “is that OK for his growth plates?”
Continue reading “How Much To Exercise & Run A Puppy”
Anyone who’s had a car sick dog knows four things:
The good news is that most dogs can be helped if you’re prepared for a bit of effort.
Continue reading “What To Give Dogs For Motion Sickness”
I’ve been a vet for a quarter century now. Over that time I’ve seen just about everything go wrong that can.
Pet disasters tend to go along recurring themes. If you know what they are, you have an excellent chance to avoid them. Some might be upsetting, but I hope you can see the benefit in thinking about them now.
Continue reading “Causes Of Sudden Death In Australian Pets”
Trying to choose a puppy breed? There are lots of great reasons to choose certain dog breeds over others. Health should be one of these.
Of course, I would say that, wouldn’t I? I’m a vet after all.
Continue reading “21 Healthy & Long Lived Dog Breeds”
I’m deeply concerned by a fast-growing trend in puppy diets. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that puppy owners are being badly let down. It makes me angry and it should make them angry too.
New puppies at our Adelaide clinic are being set up to fail in numbers that I haven’t seen since the 1990’s. The consequences can be the permanent leg deformities you see in the picture.
Continue reading “Help! My Puppy Won’t Eat Dry Food”
Yesterday: a dog who panics whenever someone touches her feet. The day before: a dog with anxiety about her ears being touched. These dogs are everywhere, but what happened to them?
The answer is something I’ve held back a long time from writing about. It contains criticism of my own profession as well as others. God knows, I’m no saint, and like most vets, I’ve made all these mistakes too. But we’re going to keep making them, so you need to know how to stop them.
Continue reading “Preventing Stress, Fear & Scares At The Vet”
Bad dog breeding makes me fear for the future of many dog breeds. Just the other day I saw a West Highland White Terrier with severe skin disease still being used for breeding. There’s no future if decisions like this keep being made.
However there’s a second and more insidious danger that ultimately might be more important: inbreeding.
I can only hope that by understanding the problem, we can fight it. The first place to go for answers is zoos.
Continue reading “Inbreeding In Show Dogs”
The biggest change to dog and cat ownership law ever will happen on July 1st. If you live in or have moved to SA, here’s how it will affect you and what you need to do. For everyone else, I think you’ll find this unique experiment very interesting.
Continue reading “South Australia’s New Dog & Cat Laws”
If the only way you could have a certain puppy was if they were already desexed, would it be a deal-breaker for you? It would be for me.
It’s not a trivial issue. Many breeds in Australia come already desexed by the breeder before sale. I can see why they do it, but as a vet, it makes me uncomfortable. What’s the big deal?
Continue reading “Early Age Desexing and Incontinence”
‘At A Glance’ (details below)
now dive deeper…
Continue reading “Help! My Pet Has A Heart Murmur”Here is a list of dog training and obedience classes in Adelaide that use positive, reward based methods. You can read about different types of dog training here and why we recommend these classes.
Continue reading “Adelaide Positive Dog Training Classes”
Are you worried your new puppy or kitten might be deaf? Read on to find out if your pet might be affected.
For more information please also read our guide to deafness & hearing tests in dogs and cats.
Continue reading “Congenital Deafness In Puppies And Kittens”
Every seen a mangy dog? Probably not, at least not the way I mean. You have to be my age or older, or travel to disadvantaged places, to be likely to say yes these days. What passes for ‘mange’ now is nothing compared to what it looked like up to a generation ago.
Continue reading “What Causes Mange In Dogs?”
Picture this: it’s 4 o’clock on a Saturday, we’re about to close for the weekend, and a caring local resident brings in a dog they’ve just found wandering the street. We get out the scanner, all set to read the microchip and reunite a dog with his family.
Aargh! We can’t find the owners.
Continue reading “The Problem With Microchips”
This isn’t just a catalog of limping dogs. By knowing the leg problems that dogs get you have a better chance of preventing some, identifying others and taking them all seriously.
I’ve gone back through our records, found the top 20 with pictures. The list below is sorted into ‘puppy’, ‘adult’ and ‘common’ problems. Visit this page to see which problems happen in the front or back legs and how to tell which leg is sore.
Continue reading “Help! My Dog Is Limping”
Hopefully you’ve read our guides to:
Now the fun really begins. Here’s what to do and what to expect during the first 6 weeks of a litter of puppies.
Continue reading “Caring For Newborn Puppies” ‘Emergency Care (Click here for more details)’ What To Do
You need to see a vet urgently if no puppy is born after:
Know what a BYB is? That’s what some people call a ‘backyard breeder’. They see ‘BYB’s as poorly educated breeders of unhealthy pups totally motivated by money. In other words, no better than puppy farms.
I have to tell you, there are certainly people like that here in Adelaide, and the new laws on dog breeding can’t come soon enough to help get rid of them. But there’s another side to this story. Some of the best-bred dogs in Adelaide come from backyard breeders. And it’s not just me saying it; sensible dog trainers say the same thing.
Continue reading “All About Dog Breeding” Have you already read our Guide to Breeding and Dogs Getting Pregnant? Now here’s what to do for dogs from conception to birth.
So let’s say your dog has possibly been mated, it’s not a disaster and you want her to have puppies. The first thing is to see if she really will.
Continue reading “Pregnancy Testing & Counting The Puppies”
Many dogs do well on raw diets, but there are also several pitfalls to avoid. This article aims to guide dog owners into the safest choices within this sphere.
Vets have a tendency to be against raw diets, but I will do my best to be logical and unbiased. Therefore I’ll start with some benefits we see in these dogs.
Continue reading “Are Raw Diets Good For Dogs & Cats?” UPDATE: We are glad to inform you that our standard Nobivac DHP vaccine has been proven to protect against strain CPV-2c. See more below.
Every dog owner’s worst nightmare is Parvovirus. This week the detection of a new strain in Australia was announced. Although there’s no reason to panic, here’s what vets and dog owners need to know.
Continue reading “The New Parvovirus Strain In Australian Dogs”
25 years ago, in my very first week as a vet, a lovely bouncy Cocker Spaniel puppy taught me a hard lesson. Innocently enough, I asked his owner “so, how’s everything going?”
Right in front of me, without another word, his owner burst into tears. Back then I really didn’t know what was going on. I sure do now.
Toilet training, house training or potty training. Call it what you will, but it’s the greatest challenge most puppy owners will face. As vets, we might consider ourselves masters of keeping puppies healthy, but we often look on helplessly at training problems.
Continue reading “Help! My Puppy Keeps Peeing In The House”
It’s very easy to feed a puppy correctly. Do it right and you’ll have a healthy, happy eater for life. Do it wrongly and you may end up with a fussy dog eating all the wrong foods. Or worse.
Please visit our pages on Five steps to feeding puppies and adult dogs or How much should I feed my puppy? if your answer isn’t found in these common questions.
Continue reading “Feeding Your New Puppy FAQs”
Before I show you the causes of the most serious problems we see in young puppies at my clinic, there’s one thing that you have to do: know where to go.
Plan your route before you need it. This map shows your closest 24-hour veterinary emergency hospital in Adelaide.
Continue reading “Common Hazards To Puppies”
Most people will say having a new puppy in the house is a bigger shock than a new baby. With a baby you have plenty of time to get the house safe as they grow and develop. A puppy is in full-on grab-and-destroy mode from the day they arrive. Here’s a checklist to keep them safe and you sane. All of these points are covered in detail in Common Puppy Dangers.
Continue reading “How to Puppy Proof Your House”
Here’s a checklist to help you get ready for the big day your puppy arrives. It might seem like a lot to do but that’s only because you’re actually thinking about things in advance.
Continue reading “What You Need For A New Puppy”
Welcome to the exciting path to getting a new dog. Please visit all three stages:
You thought you’d done the hard part: choosing your ideal breed, then finding the right breeder or shelter, and then you get that phone call. “Please come between 9 and 12 tomorrow to choose which puppy you want”.
Continue reading “How To Pick A Puppy Or Choose A Shelter Dog”
Welcome to the exciting path to getting a new dog. Please visit all three stages:
Have you done your research and already know which breed you want? If you have your heart set on a certain dog, it’s a great start. That way, you’re almost certain to love and treasure your puppy even when things are not so easy.
If you don’t know, well done for reading this first! So many people choose the wrong dog for their home and lifestyle and by the time we see them, it’s too late.
Continue reading “Choosing A Good Dog Breed”
‘At A Glance (Details Below)’ What to do
For many dogs, the highlight of their day is a game of fetch with the ball. Who can resist? You’d have to have a heart like a stone to say no. Or, like me, to know too much.
Stay with me while I show you five ways that tennis balls were made in the devil’s workshop. Afterwards, I’ll tell you how your dog can still have that fun without the risk.
Continue reading “Why Vets Hate Tennis Balls”