Posted by Judith Barnitt on Jun 28, 2010 in Uncategorized
Are you up to date with your dog’s vaccinations?
Just as with people, maintaining your dog’s vaccinations in accordance with your vet’s recommendations is essential to providing a general level of protection for all dogs in social situations.
In Australia, core vaccines for dogs (as defined by the Australian Veterinary Association) are for:
Parvovirus – a highly contagious viral gastroenteritis. Depression, loss of appetite, severe vomiting and diarrhoea containing blood are some of the symptoms. Death can occur very quickly.
Distemper – a highly contagious disease producing symptoms such as conjunctivitis, nasal discharge, convulsive seizures and spinal cord damage. Treatment is often ineffective.
Hepatitis – in puppies can cause sudden death, whilst adult dogs can experience, weakness, fever, diarrhoea, loss of appetite and bleeding.
In addition to these core vaccines, vaccination for kennel cough (also called canine cough) is recommended for dogs with a high level of socialisation. Kennel cough is a complex disease caused by bacterium and a virus. Affected dogs will have a hacking cough persisting for weeks. In puppies and old dogs the disease can be devastating
Kennel cough breakouts, in particular, are frequent. If your dog is vaccinated he will either not get it at all if exposed, or just get a minor cough.
The Humble Flea
If there are fleas about, then they will find their way onto your dog’s coat and into his bed and your home.
Flea treatment should be applied regularly – usually monthly according to the treatment type and manufacturer’s instructions.
Intestinal Worms
The most common intestinal worms affecting dogs in Australia are roundworm, hookworm, whipworm and tapeworm. Symptoms in an infected dog include loss of appetite, vomiting, diarrhoea and in severe cases even death.
Treatment for intestinal worms is usually an oral tablet or tasty chew given to your dog regularly – usually monthly, 6-weekly or 3-monthly depending on the manufacturer’s recommendation.
Heartworm
Some dog owners make an error in believing that all worming tablets provide protection against heartworm. Heartworm is not an intestinal worm, with the infestation occuring instead in the dog’s heart.
Heartworm is spread by mosquitoes who spread immature stages of heartworm when they bite dogs. Preventative treatment against heartworm may be given monthly – often a combined intestinal and heartworm treatment – or annually via injected vaccination.
If everyone takes care of their own dog it helps all the other dogs to stay healthy.
Posted by Judith Barnitt on May 7, 2010 in Uncategorized
Barking is a means of communication used by dogs. Dogs bark for a number of reasons. The main thing is that you can stop your dog barking when you are with her and that she does not bark excessively when you are not at home.
How to teach your dog to stop barking
When your dog barks at noises, dogs, people or when visitors arrive etc, you should thank her – this is rewarding her for telling you of the danger (this is her role in the pack).
If your dog does not stop barking when you say thank you, take hold of her collar calmly and put her in time out (read previous news item for the time out procedure) for 3 minutes (making sure she is quiet before you let her out), then let her out without saying anything.
Your dog will learn to follow your lead as to whether the potential danger is a threat or not. She will learn to stop barking when you tell her to so that she avoids going into time out.
If your dog barks at you for attention, when she gets over-excited, or during play ignore her until she calms down. (If she keeps barking at you put her in time out).
If she barks because she is frightened of something, move her away from what is frightening her.
If your dog barks excessively when you are not at home read the news item on Separation Anxiety.
Posted by Judith Barnitt on Mar 1, 2010 in Uncategorized
If you are looking at bringing a new dog or puppy into your family please do your research first. The dog or puppy you choose could be with you for many years. Things you should consider:
What energy level do you want in your dog? Some dogs are great couch potatoes others need an hour and a half of exercise every day.
What size of dog suits your family and your lifestyle? Some small dogs have less patience than larger dogs and are easier for children to injure. Some larger dogs may be too boisterous for young children etc.
What age of dog should you get? Puppies need a lot of time spent on their training in their first year-do you have the time and energy? It is also quite hard to judge what temperament a young puppy has. An adult dog may suit you better as you can judge its temperament, but you may also get a dog that already has a behaviour habit – check the RSPCA, SAFE & Shenton Park Dog Refuge if you are interested in adult or rescue dogs.
Read some books on owning a puppy/dog so that you know what to expect and you can start training your new dog as soon as you get it home. Ian Dunbar has a good book: Before and After getting your New Puppy.
Put the time into choosing your new dog carefully and you are more likely to make the right choice.
Do not make impulsive decisions: I have met lots of people who saw a cute puppy/dog and bought it with no preparation or planning, and a couple of months later they regret their decison and are trying to find a new home for the puppy. My rescue dog had been in 3 homes before mine and he was only about a year old! We want dogs to be in a stable environment with the same family for their whole life whenever possible.
Posted by Judith Barnitt on Nov 6, 2009 in Uncategorized
Time out is the best way of stopping your dog performing a specific behaviour. It involves putting your dog in a boring room away from where you are for 3 minutes.
The room should not be where your dog sleeps at night or spends a lot of time, it must be safe, have no toys or things your dog can have fun with, and it must be out of sight.
When your dog does the behaviour you do not like you immediately put him in time out. Ignore any behaviours he does whilst in the time out area.
After 3 minutes, open the door and let him out. Do not say anything to him, just open the door.
If he is being noisy or scratching at the door when the 3 minutes is up you must wait for 10 seconds of quiet before you let him out.
If he repeats the bad behaviour, give him another time out. You must be consistent for this to work. Your dog will learn that every time he does that behaviour he goes into time out. You will find that the number of time outs gets less and less.
Dogs like to be with the members of their pack and because you are isolating them from the pack they stop doing the behaviour that gets them there.
If your dog gets distressed in time out, walk in and pretend to do something in the room, all the while ignoring your dog. This just reassures him that you are still there without giving him attention.
We use time out at daycare when a dog does an unacceptable behaviour that we cannot stop with the normal ‘ah-ah’, it has been especially helpful to prevent dogs barking.
Posted by Judith Barnitt on Oct 6, 2009 in Uncategorized
The signs
Your dog follows you around the home. Your dog whinges when you don’t let her follow you. Your dog gets anxious when you are about to go out. Your dog may be destructive when left home alone (chewing/digging). Your dog may bark, cry or howl when left alone.
We want our dogs to be relaxed even when we are not in sight. We cannot be with them 24 hours a day and we must teach them it is OK to be on their own.
Quite a few dogs that attend daycare show signs of separation anxiety. We notice it when dogs whimper, whine or even bark when we are not in the same enclosure as them. Even though we are still in sight and in fact just the other side of the barrier! Most dogs that come do not mind when we move in and out of the enclosures, they happily carry on playing or sleeping. Usually, after just a few days with us the anxious dogs really improve and stop worrying.
Things you can do
Don’t give attention when your dog whinges
Don’t make a fuss when you leave your dog, just a quick “see you later”
Don’t make a fuss as soon as you come home; wait until your dog is settled
Don’t let your dog follow you everywhere, every now and then just shut the door behind you. When you come out of the room walk past her, don’t give her attention immediately.
Make sure your dog knows that you are the leader of the pack and not her. It is the leader’s job to protect the pack and if your dog is the leader she thinks she has to protect you and she will get stressed when she cannot see that you are OK.
In addition to these core vaccines, vaccination for kennel cough (also called canine cough) is recommended for dogs with a high level of socialisation. Kennel cough is a complex disease caused by bacterium and a virus. Affected dogs will have a hacking cough persisting for weeks. In puppies and old dogs the disease can be devastating
When your dog barks at noises, dogs, people or when visitors arrive etc, you should thank her – this is rewarding her for telling you of the danger (this is her role in the pack).
What age of dog should you get? Puppies need a lot of time spent on their training in their first year-do you have the time and energy? It is also quite hard to judge what temperament a young puppy has. An adult dog may suit you better as you can judge its temperament, but you may also get a dog that already has a behaviour habit – check the RSPCA, SAFE & Shenton Park Dog Refuge if you are interested in adult or rescue dogs.
When your dog does the behaviour you do not like you immediately put him in time out. Ignore any behaviours he does whilst in the time out area. 
Your dog follows you around the home. Your dog whinges when you don’t let her follow you. Your dog gets anxious when you are about to go out. Your dog may be destructive when left home alone (chewing/digging). Your dog may bark, cry or howl when left alone.