Articles

Not only do I work as a full time dog behaviourist, I am a proud dad to my lovely daughter and there's my better half Sara. Our daughter is now 13, and since her birth we have become firm advocates of holidaying within the UK with our dogs.

If you were watching Keith Lemon's Lemonaid on  Saturday 28th April  you'd have seen a dog given as a competition prize. What's your reaction?  Did you just think, “Aw!”, or do you know enough about dogs to understand what a disaster the incident was for dog welfare?

Most dogs take to crate training without any problems, even though they would rather stay out of their crate, where they have fun with you. There are some dogs that just don’t want to go in their crate at all and they will bark and whine to try to get you to let them out. Fortunately, this is something that you can fix, although you’re going to need put some time and effort into it. Keeping your dog's crate in the family room may ease some of the barking.

‘Zena’

Kehala Touch of Gold

Belgian Shepherd Tervueren Bitch, Born 5 November 2007

I: Thou shalt push thy veterinarian off her pedestal.

Today, the human-animal bond is stronger than ever. It seems as though the more tumultuous the world around us becomes, the tighter we cling to our beloved dogs. They soothe us with their predictability and unconditional love, and give in excess of what they receive. Imagine, then, the heartache when it’s necessary to cut back on a dog’s health care because of financial hardship. If you’re feeling the pinch (and who isn’t these days?), here are 10 things you can do to economize while still doing a great job caring for your dog’s health.

When paying a visit to a specialist for a second opinion, here are some suggestions for serving your dog’s best interest as well as maintaining harmony between you and the rest of your dog’s health care team.

When it comes to a cancer diagnosis, one of the most common questions I'm asked is, "How did my dog get this?" It's only natural that people want to know what they could have done to prevent this dreadful diagnosis. 

You may not have realized it at the time, but when you adopted your Berner, you “signed” an unwritten contract whereby you accepted “power of attorney” to make medical decisions on his behalf. Making such decisions can be challenging. For starters, there is often the need to comprehend and sort through a good amount of technical/medical information. Secondly, we all love our dogs dearly, and the thought of making the wrong choice on their behalf is a dreadful one indeed.

The nutritional supplement industry has become big business as people are looking for more natural ways to care for the health of their pets. For example, a person might be inclined to try glucosamine or chondroitin sulfate for their dog’s arthritis pain rather than a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medication (the equivalent of doggie Advil).

Veterinary health insurance has been around for a good long time, but only recently is it achieving greater popularity with consumers. My sense is that its growth initially was stymied by inadequate, “slowpay, no-pay” reimbursement policies. This seems to be changing now that some insurance providers are willing to provide greater reimbursement amounts to policyholders, thus attracting people who want to take advantage of high-end diagnostic and therapeutic options that might otherwise be unaffordable.

’TIS THE SEASON FOR FAMILY GATHERINGS, gift giving and food galore. Veterinarians know that this is also the season for canine pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas), a painful, potentially life-threatening condition most commonly caused by overindulgence in foods that are particularly rich or fatty. And what kitchen isn’t overflowing with such foods this time of year?

Definitely the most important issue about male westies is biting. And the most dangerous if it goes on not corrected.

Every day I receive tens of various questions and requests for help with various problems and biting is the most frequent.

First, you should realise that there are no dogs that do not bite. Every dog will bite under the 'right' circumstances. So, don't believe people who tell you that their dog does not bite.

But we should differentiate between a puppy and an adult dog.

I suspect that the two things that take the most effort with a new puppy are toilet training, and choosing a name. What’s your dog called, and how long did it take you to decide? The name is important. You’re going to have to say it a lot and in public it can reveal a lot about your attitude to your dog, what you expect him to be, plus it’s got to be fairly short and snappy so he recognises it. To paraphrase Shakespeare – and to paraphrase him badly – would a dog by any other name smell as much?

The Pet Industry is thriving. The idea travelled from the United States and now Britain's pet owners are breathing a huge sigh of relief

No more wrestling Kitty into her cat box, or marching Rover into an alien environment where he may be exposed to contagious diseases, sickness or parasites. Granny would also be safe from the constant trips to empty the litter tray and water the roses and the neighbours wouldn't need to hide from the annual doorbell when next doors suitcases appear down the drive!

A team at Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine conducted several studies 1,2 to determine if vaccines can cause changes in the immune system of dogs that might lead to life-threatening immune-mediated diseases. They obviously conducted this research because concern already existed. It was sponsored by the Haywood Foundation which itself was looking for evidence that such changes in the human immune system might also be vaccine induced. It found the evidence.

I raced out to the back porch, alerted by the cacophonous barking frenzy of Blanche and Keely, my two nearly apoplectic West Highland white terriers. They were leaping and snapping at the railing that bordered the screened-in corner of the structure. It took only a second to discern what it was that was driving these natural born rodent hunters to distraction—a dastardly squirrel had deigned not only to enter their yard, but was clinging, upside down, to the screen on the outside of the porch, mere feet from the back door to their house!

All dogs benefit from regular grooming - some more so than others depending on their breed and hair length. However it can be time-consuming for their owners and confusion abounds around the best way to do it - as there is little advice given on the grooming needs and techniques for dogs. Sadly one result of this confusion can be that dogs are given up for re-homing, as owners find the task too arduous - and dogs start to experience associated problems from a lack of this essential care.

Five thousand years seems like an eternally long period of time, and it certainly is when you have a publisher breathing fire down your neck and muttering about word numbers and lack of space, but actually viewed within the context of our history, 5,000 years is relatively short. It becomes even shorter when looking at archaeological evidence of domestic dog and the earliest discovered human/canine relationships, which date back to around 14,000 years ago to a site at Bonn-Oberkassel in Germany. This leaves a considerable margin of time between evidence of human/canine co-habitation, and evidence of the first images made of the dog, which date to around 5,000 years ago. Further, despite this evidence, the actual extent of the human/canine relationship is one that doubtlessly stretches back very much further than this date.

When I began the research for a book on the dog in art I found this discrepancy fascinating, particularly in view of the work I had done on a previous book, The Horse: 30,000 Years of the Horse in Art. The horse, it seems, inspired early human to crawl deep into caves and paint magnificent images of their likeness, yet the humble dog, companion, protector and hunting ally, remained largely ignored by the artist for thousands of years. The reasons for the lack of pre-historic images of the dog have disappeared through the course of time, leaving the gates of conjecture firmly open. Stepping through these, to me a fundamental cause of this difference was based on the very reason why we love our dogs so much today, their nature. The dog aligned itself with human very early in our history and quickly became the creature that we adore, one of readily given affection, forgiveness and loyalty. They attached themselves to the pre-historic fireside, and with inherent cunning allowed themselves to be domesticated, trading their loyalty and protective spirit for human food scraps, protection and shelter. In this way the dog became a part of the fabric of everyday life, and in this sense was an entirely unremarkable addition to the extended pre-historic family. The horse on the other hand, which was not domesticated until around 6,000 years ago, remained a magical creature to early human. It was untamed, ethereal and also, a valuable source of food, factors that made it a creature of considerable importance, which could provide argument for the proliferation of pre-historic horse images.

It was with some hesitation then that the dog, our most beloved companion, first started to appear in the arts, but after an initially slow start, the dog became one of the most frequently painted animals. They appeared at first as subsidiary to the primary subject of art works, slinking into the canvas to hover up crumbs from beneath laden tables, licking clean the feet of religious figures or accompanying bold warriors on hunting expeditions. Very small ‘pet’ dogs appeared in ancient Roman and Greek works, alongside and in contrast to the sleek ‘sight’ hounds of greyhound or saluki appearance, and to the heavy framed Molossian guard dogs and hunting dogs, the precursors to breeds such as the St Bernard, Alpine Mastiff, Bernese Mountain Dog and Rottweiler. From the very first recorded images of the dog in art, the spitz-like dogs in rock paintings in the Tassili N’Ajjer, Sahara Desert, one thing has become strikingly clear, and that is the enormous proliferation of different breeds of dog.

Dogs were frequently included in paintings to convey a symbolic message, most often being representative of qualities such as fidelity, love and servitude. Though conversely the dog can also be associated with deviancy and carnal desire. In particular black dogs have traditionally been associated with Hell and ambivalent supernatural entities in the arts, and black dogs in general appear relatively infrequently in art.

Dogs first began to be treated as a subject matter in their own right during the sixteenth century, and from this time onwards there was a steady and increasing treatment of the dog as an artistic subject, culminating in the late eighteenth and nineteenth century. ‘Pure-bred’ dogs of different breeds had become prestigious and popular, with owners wishing to immortalise their pets in paint leading to a recognisable type of painting, the ‘pure-bred’ portrait. These works were designed to show off the breed’s particular qualities, and most often depict the dog standing in profile, in a stance not dissimilar to that required when showing dogs. It was during the same era that the ‘pet’ portrait also became popular. These works were intended to portray a beloved pet, regardless of breed, and were often heavily anthropomorphised. The twentieth and twenty-first century ushered in yet another interpretation of the dog, with images alluding to deeper psychological content and expressive of spiritual concepts.

The research for the book, which is barely outlined here, was extensive and amongst the most fascinating I have undertaken to date. Although I have always been an ardent dog lover, I had never really considered the importance of the human/canine relationship before in terms of its great depth and intricacies. To me as an art historian, much of the history and depth of this relationship is immortalised through the hand of the artist, providing an absorbing visual display of thousands of years of companionship. I could continue to wax lyrical, but have been warned again about ‘too many words’, so will sign off with a toast to our most beloved friends and the best hot water bottles around.

Tamsin Pickeral

Please visit www.tamsinpickeral.com for further information on the author and her books, or e mail her at writers-cramp@hotmail.co.uk

So often I find in my work that clients are falling into the same kind of ‘traps’ that make my phone ring with someone saying, “Help!”
On average, a first visit will last about three hours covering many issues, but here are a few top tips to ensure you dog sees you as ‘a leader’ and to avoid some of those traps.

As a full time dog behaviour specialist, my role is to help owners whose dogs are showing undesirable behaviour. In my work dog aggression is relatively common, falling into three broad categories: dog to dog aggression, aggressive behaviour towards people, and finally aggressive behaviour focussed upon guarding food, territory or toys etc.

Not all dogs require a daily flogging until they come back wet and exhausted. I think it's just as easy to do too much as it is to do too little.

About 18 months is in my mind the best age to start opening the throttle more and exposing the dog to longer and more strenuous exercise. By this time the muscular and skeletal systems are well established, and able to take the strain.

Firework season is a nightmare…I know I see it frequently in my work as a dog behaviourist and trainer. Maybe if it were one night you could accept it, but no, it seems to go on for weeks; creating misery for the dogs and owners alike.
There have been campaign efforts in the past to reduce the volume of fireworks, but this seems slow to take effect. There also seem to be more and more shops opening specifically to sell fireworks at peak season, with little or no control on how much people can buy, or where they are let off.

Hi I’m Nick Jones, and I run my own dog behavioural consultancy covering the West Midlands and surrounding counties. I am often asked about the subject of leadership, as it does seem to be a current ‘buzz word’ at present. So, I would like to address some of the areas you can look at with your own dog that can help if you are experiencing any difficulties.

When a dog is on the lead, it has had one option removed when under stress…. this is the chance to move away from what is concerning it. I regularly hear that the owner’s dog is ok off the lead but unsociable when on it. You may require some more detailed help from a professional trainer, but in the mean time you could try this simple procedure. In this sort of scenario it would be as well to break it down into three steps for you to try using the following simple method I have developed over time.

This is a very common issue!

Below are a few thoughts simply laid out to provoke
further thinking on this subject.

Well I’m sure that most of you know this one, but for those in a student role this is a must on every visit as far as I’m concerned. Looking at the behaviour in the dog's home, the hub of its life is essential to have the benefits in the outside world.

Although Alfie is just 9 months old, his story is already a long and amazing one.

Alfie is a Golden Retriever, born on 15th March 2008, one of a litter of 13 puppies. He reached 8 weeks and went off to a new family just like his littermates.

But Alfie was different. He was small and sickly. A trip to the vets discovered that Alfie had a heart condition, and he was referred to the University of Liverpool's Small Animal Cardiology Department. Here it was found that Alfie had a very complicated condition, one that require further investigation and maybe even surgery.

Every year dog owners everywhere, are desperate to avoid their dogs becoming distressed as a result of the noise made by fireworks. Life can be a misery as fireworks are no longer confined to one night! As a canine counsellor or trainer, who believes in a gentle holistic approach, the following article includes information to help you and your dogs in the run up to bonfire night and beyond. The information provided is to help you the owner, make an informed choice and is not intended as a substitute for appropriate veterinary attention.

Why AB 1634 is Bad

July 4, 2007

What is AB 1634?

AB 1634 is a bill introduced into the California State Assembly by Lloyd Levine, an Assembly Member from Van Nuys. It mandates that all cats and dogs be spayed or neutered—surgically sterilized—before they are six months of age. The bill purports to allow some animals to get an "intact permit" and avoid surgical sterilization, at least temporarily. Failure to comply results in a minimum $500 fine and forced sterilization of your pet.

There is much discussion in newspapers at the moment about the credit crunch "forcing" dog owners to give their pets up to rescue centres because they can no longer afford to keep them--- but what are the real costs of keeping a dog? What are the "essentials" of good dog care, and what is simply "window dressing? How much are we as dog owners influenced by the advertising industry?

In episode 8 - our Christmas episode - we will be talking to Dan Dye from the Three Dog Bakery.
As a special festive treat for your dog, Dan has provided a recipe from one of the Three Dog Bakery cook books.
Treat you dog and try it out!

This year's season's grrrrreetings (and eatings) to all the dogs on your list.
Makes 1 festive holidog cake, enough to serve 6-8 furry elves.
Santa Paws knows who's been naughty and who's been nice. And he says all the dogs in your house deserve a slice (or two) of fresh-baked holidog cheer!

Breed Specific Legislation (BSL) has infected the minds of legislators and insurance companies all across our country. This deadly dog virus targets lazy lawmakers and greedy insurance companies.