Head Pressing: Have you ever noticed your dog (or cat) sitting or standing with his head pressed against the wall? Perhaps he presses it against the floor or other solid object and stands/sits still in this very odd position? Don’t confuse the normal “head-butting” that they often do to your shins, that’s just dog stuff; […]
If like me, you will find any excuse to spend time with your dogs, then I’m sure you’ve probably considered taking up dog sports to do with them as a hobby. There are lots to choose from – all brilliant ways to keep fit, improve the bond with your dog and just generally while away the hours with your […]
Head injuries in dogs can be caused in a number of ways from road traffic accidents, falls from a height say from a cliff top, collisions perhaps during normal play or flyball activities or even infections which cause the brain to swell up. As you’d imagine, any head injury should be treated very carefully […]
How and why to introduce Muzzle Acceptance: The first thing to consider in any first aid situation is your own personal safety, be that from road traffic, electricity, fast flowing water, or particularly when dealing with animals, claws and teeth. I always tell our students that if you need to deal with a frightened dog or one […]
Today I received a message from one of our followers asking me to do a blog as a reminder about safely storing medication. She wrote that “one of my clients this week had to take their puppy to the vets because she got hold of a packet of lbuprofen. She spent the night at the […]
There have been a number of occasions where I’ve read on various forums of people (and in some cases as advised by their vets) advocating the use of Tea Tree oil when treating conditions like skin irritation or hot spots for dogs. Tea Tree oil is indeed wonderful stuff but it can, in fact, be […]
Activated Charcoal: Charcoal is amazing stuff with many uses. I’ve always used it with my dogs in the form of charcoal biscuits, as it’s great for stopping unwanted odours when your furry friend passes wind – and we all know how pungent that can be! Simply giving a couple of biscuits in the morning and […]
Sometimes a bitch may appear to be pregnant, but then not produce any puppies. This can be something that is referred to as a false or “Phantom” pregnancy. As we mentioned yesterday, a bitch’s cycle is split into four parts and a Phantom pregnancy can result after the phase where she ovulates. Hormonal changes occur […]
Bitches, their Cycle and Seasons: When you first get a female puppy, any thoughts of them reaching sexual maturity is way off in the distance but from the age of around 5-7 months of age, a female dog is generally considered to be mature. There is of course considerable variation within the different breeds with […]
I recently received this message from one of our Rhodes 2 Safety followers:- “Hi Kerry, my Greyhound Josie was recently hospitalised with haemorrhagic gastroenteritis – it was awful, we almost lost her. Thankfully she is on the mend but I’d never heard of this condition before, yet since mentioning it to people it seems its […]
Purging & Toxic Plants – so to start with, exactly WHAT IS purging? Well, according to the boffins who write the dictionaries, purging is:- a. To free from impurities; purify. b. To remove (impurities and other elements) by evacuation (of the bowels) or to vomit. . I have looked at purging in another guise in the […]
We all know that oral hygiene and keeping our teeth clean is very important, but what about your dog’s teeth? Some dog’s suffer terribly with a build up of tartar on their teeth, gum disease, tooth decay and bad breath – just as we would if our oral hygiene wasn’t up to scratch. But how […]
Why is it, whenever your dog damages his or her paw, the weather always seems to be wet, snowy or muddy? In England, we call this sod’s law! If your dog has a dressing on his paw, it is very important that we can keep a paw dressing dry and clean at all times. If the […]
What pointers might you see to indicate a bladder or urinary tract infection? Well, there are several questions you might ask yourself when considering bladder problems – the same ones your vet is likely to ask of you if you do decide you need a professional opinion. The sort of questions to consider are:- – Is […]
Having girl dogs means that unless the bitch is spayed, you will have to contend with hormones, seasons, phantom pregnancies and the like. My house is only big enough for one set of girlie hormones and I’m afraid they’re mine! For this reason, I opt to have boy dogs in my life but the boys do […]
Licking wounds/stitches: When a dog has an injury, be that an irritation, a wound or stitches after surgery, the natural thing for him to do is to try to lick the area to clean it, reduce irritation or soothe himself. Unfortunately licking can be more harm than good as the saliva may cause bacterial infection. […]
. Well, it looks like we made it …. 2014 just around the corner. To All our Customers and Followers we’ve never met (and the loonies I’ve had the pleasure of meeting on our courses!) I’d like to wish you a very Happy New Year full of success, prosperity and health. With the birth […]
Christmas Considerations: There’s lots of great advice, suggestions and reminders floating about on the net and on FB so I thought Id try to group them all together into a bit of a Canine Christmas 101. Routine: Please remember that dogs do not celebrate Christmas. They have no idea why the normal day-to-day running […]
Chemical burns come in all sorts of guises – from our dogs sticking their noses into substances in the garage or garden shed, finding “dumped” chemicals in the undergrowth on our walks, on their paws if they walk through a spilt liquid on the floor or road or may be even with something as seemingly innocent as walking […]
Cold Burns: There are 5 main categories of burn that we need to be aware of, not just the ones caused by flames or hot cups of tea and in fact, some burns are caused by the opposite of heat! The 5 include: Hot Cold Chemical Friction Electrical As we in the UK are currently […]