Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Behavior modification - how you should be training your dog

The Polite Puppies at Happy Paws
This past Sunday marked the sixth month of Polite Puppy classes we have held at Happy Paws.  After speaking about behavior modification with the new puppy owners I thought I would repost this article to remind everyone how they should be training their dogs.  I initially wrote this post after attending a lecture given by veterinary behavior guru Dr. Karen Overall. Though Dr. Overall is clearly an expert in behavioral medicine, what truly struck me was her obvious love of dogs and commitment to strengthening the relationship we have with our pets.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Kennel cough - oh no!!

Poppy and Lilly have been coughing like crazy for the past few days.  At first I unsuccessfully tried to ignore it but now that is hasn’t gone away, I have had to diagnose them with kennel cough.  I thought this would be a timely opportunity to review what exactly the term “kennel cough” means.

“Kennel cough” is a collective term for a highly contagious group of viruses and bacteria.  These unpleasant microbes cause irritation in the upper respiratory tract leading to coughing, sneezing, watery eyes, nasal discharge, lethargy, decreased appetite and fever.  At this point my dogs only have a nasty cough.  They do not have a fever and are otherwise eating and acting normal. 

Thursday, September 9, 2010

What you should know about anesthesia

Pet owners often become very nervous when I recommend a procedure that requires general anesthesia, be it a dental cleaning or removal of a mass. Though anesthesia can seem scary, at Friendship we make it as safe as possible. We take special care to ensure we are providing our patients the gold standard of care. I am very proud of our anesthetic protocols. If your pet needs surgery, but you're not able to come to Friendship, please use the following as a benchmark for state-of-the-art care.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Agility!


Happy September!  I apologize for my recent lack of posting but I took a little summer vacation from blogging during August.  I am very excited to report on my fall project with Poppy – agility class!


Agility is a sport in which you guide your dog over a variety of obstacles while being judged for time and accuracy.  It is a great way to strengthen the bond between you and your dog while stimulating them mentally.  Many high-energy breeds like border collies and Australian shepherds are much happier when they have a job to do.  Running around an agility course expels excess energy while looking to you for commands on where to go challenges them mentally.

So far we have been having fun at class and I think Poppy is starting to get the hang of it.  It is also entirely possible the she is tolerating the agility part so she can get an unlimited amount of cut-up hot dog bits.  We have a long way to go before we actually compete in an event but working together is what's important.