So today’s post is inspired by a friend’s traumatic cat carrier experience (they shall remain nameless because I am a nice friend!) Their cat (let’s call him Dave) had not eaten for over a day and they were concerned. After a chat to their vet – they got the cat carrier down to Dave in for a check up. Now Dave took one look at the cat carrier and was off!

Dave returned home after 2 days of stress, hungry but fine! (You can imagine how worried his owners were). This is a story I hear all the time. Getting a cat into their carrier can be a horrible stress for all involved and although there are loads of dog trainers around, it can be hard to find someone to help with a cat!

Why are they worried?

Think about it – when did you last put your cat in a carrier and take them somewhere nice things happen? I bet the answer is never! It is usually to the vets or maybe a cat boarding facility. The carrier can start to predict something yucky is about to happen – so they avoid. This is made worse by a cat carrier reducing the cat’s ability to control anything about their environment – they are trapped, so are left feeling more stressed.

The cat starts actively avoiding the carrier (hiding, running – even in some cases showing aggression). Whatever it takes to avoid going inside. This in itself heightens the stress of the whole experience for everyone. It also means by the time they have arrived at their destination, they are anxious, stressed and hard to handle.

I’ve had my cats from kittens and the carrier has always been a positive place for them 🙂 They will both chose to chill on or in it.

So what should we do?

The carrier needs to start predicting something good is going to happen. If your cat has an extreme reaction – like Dave’s, now might be the time to cut your losses and start again. This carrier was ‘poisoned’ for him – so I advised my friends to buy a totally different looking carrier (colour, shape) and start again.

What carrier is best?

Make sure the carrier is big enough for your cat – they should be able to stand up easily and not have to crouch down. The floor should be sturdy, comfortable and non slip (a cut up yoga mat with towel on top works well). Ensure the whole top comes off the carrier – not just the front door, so they can be lifted rather than dragged out at their destination.

How do I re-train them?

• Start with the top off the carrier, so it doesn’t ‘look’ like a carrier, just a tray.
• Surround the carrier bottom with treats, watch your cat’s body language – they shouldn’t be wary – no ears pinned back or crouching! If they are, start scattering the treats further away.
• Over time bring treats nearer, to the tray – and then inside.
• Once they are happy entering the carrier, put the lid on and start the process again.
• Once they are happy entering for treats, put the door back on.
• Then start closing the door for periods of time – ensuring they have yummy food inside to eat.

Once they are happy entering a fully re-constructed carrier, start leaving it out in the house, placing treats in every day or so. This way your cat will be rewarded for entering and it will lose its scary association. Feliway spray may also help to make the carrier a more pleasant place to be – just ensure it is sprayed 30 mins before your cat enters.

If your cat is overly worried about trips to the vet or boarding, contact me for advice – as it’s really important we address this as a separate issue.

Good luck!

Julie 🙂

Dr Julie Ashton, BSc, BVSc, MANZCVs (Veterinary Behaviour), MRCVS
Life on Four Legs

Lock down has been a crazy time for us all humans and animals alike. Most animals thrive on routine (humans included!) Since most of us are now at home, normal routine has all but gone and our dogs may be looking to us for information. They may be sniffing, jumping up, pawing at us and vocalising – all to figure out what is happening. From our perspective, our dogs may have started becoming ‘attention seeking’, annoying and most importantly disrupting for our peaceful Zoom meetings!

Here are my top tips to help them cope:

1. Make feeding fun

For most of our dogs, food appears in a bowl and is eaten within minutes. This is missing a huge opportunity! We should be using time they spend eating to add some entertainment to their lives. We are lucky with how beautiful the weather has been. Scattering  dry food in the grass is super easy and encourages dogs to use their nose to find it. Kongs and snuffle mats are great options  – and google ‘make your own puzzle feeder’ and you will find a million ways to use your recycling to your dog’s benefit!

A few kongs frozen and ready to go in the freezer are great ways to ensure you can conference call in peace (probably works for kids too – just use bananas and not meat!)

There are three caveats to this:

• If your dog has every shown aggression towards you around food, contact a behaviourist before attempting any food enrichment.
• Always start easy and work up. If your dog has no idea how to reach it’s food, it’s going to get frustrated. I mean wouldn’t you if you were hungry and someone stuck your pizza inside a rubiks cube?!
• If you have multiple dogs, it is usually safer (and less stressful for them) to separate them for food enrichment.

2. Let them sniff

Dogs and humans often see walks very differently. We want to get from A-B as quickly as we can, our dogs want to figure out what on earth has been happening outside in their absence! If we let them have a good sniff around when it is safe to do so, they will have used their brains so much more – and be more likely to be relaxed later in the day.

Sniffing on walks allows your dog to use their brain

3. Provide opportunity for play and learning

Before you start work for the day, spend 5-10 minutes playing with your dog or spend some time teaching them something new. This will use their brain, as well as providing some great bonding opportunity for you both 🙂

4. Ensure they are getting rest time and reward the calm

In ‘normal’ times, most dogs will get periods of time during the day when they have the house to themselves. Peace and quiet to relax. However, now, we around all the time. For some high energy, social dogs, they may be so interested in what’s happening (especially if kids are home) that have vastly reduced their rest. Estimates vary, but for adult dogs, most need about 14 hours of sleep a day, as well as quiet rest time. Without this, like us, some dogs can get more anxious and less relaxed.

Consider giving your dog some quiet time during the day. Use their crate (and ensure the kids stay away), or use a different room if this doesn’t cause stress. Beds may need to be moved to your office space if your dog is pacing between their bed and your office and not settling.

When they do relax, make sure you reinforce. A soft good girl or boy may be all you need, as any more might disturb their rest.

If you are worried about how your dog is coping, please contact your GP veterinarian for some advice as a first point of call.

Stay safe,

Dr Julie

Dr Julie Ashton is a behaviour veterinarian. She sees referral behaviour cases in Hertfordshire, North London and Cambridgeshire.

This week a huge number of vet colleagues and friends have contacted me for advice. We all know the importance of socialising our puppies – but now Coronavirus lock down has come along and put a stop to our best made plans. What should we be doing in these strange and worrying times to help our puppies have the best chance of developing into well balanced adults?

When reading this list – please remember to ensure your puppy is comfortable with what we are doing. Their body language should be loose and wiggly! Puppies should be allowed to move away from anything they find worrying and not lured towards something frightening with a treat. You can of course use food to reward calm behaviour.

Fun walks in the park with our dogs may be on hold for now. There are still we can help our puppies adapt to their new life.

Make being alone normal

It is important we start leaving them for short periods in the first week. These sessions should be short and positive. Consider using a Kong or similar chew proof puzzle feeder in the periods they are left. As we are on lock down, use a room where they can’t see or hear you! A top tip I give clients is to monitor them using a camera to start with (webcam / ipad / smart phone) to make sure the puppy is doing ok.

Similarly, during the day – ensure your puppy is having some rest periods. With kids at home, it is tempting to let them entertain each other constantly. But puppies do need rest. And they need to learn it’s not normal to have fun stuff happen all day every day.

Introduce ‘new’ people

Ok so this is going to be a tricky one! You should not be letting anyone not in your household to come within 2 metres of your puppy. When out on the street – reward them for walking past people calmly. Inside you are going to have to get creative and try to recreate different types of people! Raid the kid’s dressing up box and get them used to helmets, walking sticks, hats, backpacks, heavy boots, fluoro vests etc. Walk strangely, clap, laugh, dance, hug! 

Make handling fun 

Your puppy is going to need to be handled by lots of different people in their lives. Start now pairing handling of face / feet / tummy etc with something yummy for them. If you have nail clippers and hair clippers – you should be introducing puppies to these now. 

Sounds don’t need to be scary

We are lucky to have some great resources to help you do this from home. My favourite are the Sound Proof Puppy App and Sounds Scary from the Dog’s Trust 

Mix up textures

We expect our puppies to be fine walking on drain covers, slippery floors, tiles, concrete, grass etc. So look for these surfaces on your daily walk, or see what you have in your house already and use these to create fun obstacle courses for your pup in the garden to walk on.

‘Introduce’ other dogs. 

This is a hard one as play with others is going to be really restricted for the foreseeable future. If you have another dog in the house who is behaviourally appropriate – then let them have some play time each day (although make sure the adult dog can escape for periods too!) We can also reward your puppy for walking calmly past another dog when on your daily walk. We can introduce the sound of dogs via apps and online noises and the smells by letting your puppy sniff around on walks. 

In my next blog I’ll be covering some ways we can keep our dogs entertained during this time of lock down – so watch this space.

If anyone would like some 1 : 1 advice, I am offer 30 minute new puppy virtual behaviour consults for £50, or 60 minute ones for £90, contact me for more info.

And most importantly – stay safe everyone and look after each other 🙂 
Julie 

Dr Julie Ashton, BSc, BVSc, MANZCVs (Vet Behaviour) MRCVS
Behaviour Vet – Life on Four Legs

You have an active dog that enjoys walking, running, sniffing, chasing balls and generally living life to the max. Then something happens, maybe they have ruptured their cruciate, broken a limb or a multitude of other injuries and now they have to spend the next 4-6 weeks in a cage on strict cage rest. How on earth are you both going to cope?! This is something I get contacted about a lot… So here are my 7 top tips for ensuring you both end the cage rest period with your sanity in tact.

Active dogs like Lulu can find being cage rested a stress

1. Brain games

Think about how your dog would have spent their day prior to cage rest – walking, running, snuffing and using their brain in a myriad of ways. Now, they have not much to think about. Boredom can lead to stress, frustration and a general negative emotional state. So, now we have to think of fun ways to engage their brain.

Start with feeding enrichment. This could be licky mats, Kongs or more traditional puzzle feeders (some nice ones are made by Nina Ottosson, Kong and Buster to name a few). These can keep a dog interested for good periods of time. Just ensure that a) they don’t eat the puzzle (I’m watching you Mr Labrador!!) and b) the puzzle itself doesn’t cause frustration. Start easy and then make it harder over time.

For a different post, but remember cats need games too!!

2. Reward calm behaviours

When your dog offers calm – such as lying down and chilling- make sure you reinforce them. A quiet, calm ‘good dog’ might be all you can offer, as for many dogs much more can excite them and they stop relaxing.

3. Make sure the crate is comfortable!

I know this is an obvious one, but it is so important that the dog has a supportive surface to lie on, especially if they are sore after surgery. If in doubt try it out yourself. If they are used to being in the family home, please don’t put them away ‘out of the way’… This will likely cause stress. (You would be surprised how many people crate rest the family cavoodle who is used to sleeping on the bed in the garage!)

4. Do some training

Disclaimer to this one – please clear it with your vet first. Many dogs can still do training when they are being cage rest and enjoy both interacting with you and using their brains! Some simple things to train can include: ‘touch’, ‘chin holds’, face holds, leave it (not with their dinner… another thing that will cause frustration) etc.

5. Do some massage

Lots of dogs enjoy massage / touch. If your dog is one of those, they might enjoy a nice quiet massage session with them to relax.

6. Pheromones and supplements.

Adaptil is a synthetic version of dog appeasement pheromone and can help dogs feel less anxious in lots of situations. Place a diffuser by their crate, ensuring good air circulation.

There are also certain supplements or nutraceuticals which might help some dogs. Always chat to your vet first to ensure these are suitable for your pet.

Recovering from surgery can be a stress on all members of the family

7. Medication

For some dogs, crating is very stressful and the above just doesn’t help. If your dog is struggling at home, please chat to your Veterinarian. There are many effective anxiolytics that can help them through this tough time!

Good luck! If you need further help, please feel free to contact me. A phone consultation for some troubleshooting or advice may be really helpful!

Julie x

Dr Julie Ashton, BSc, BVSc (Hons), MANZCVs (Veterinary Behaviour), MRCVS

Dr Julie is a behaviour vet who is passionate about collaborative care.

I was recently asked to help contribute to an article about ways in which to keep your pet’s coat in great condition 🙂

For me, as someone who sees a lot of anxious dogs and cats, getting your pets used to grooming equipment at a young age is key! Always make the introduction positive (and below the threshold at which they get anxious) and pair it with something good (a treat, a pat etc).

Things to focus on include:
– Introducing a brush / comb.
– Introducing clippers – first just the sound from a distance and then the feel of the vibration on their skin (if you don’t have clippers, you can use the ‘Sound Proof Puppy App’.
– The feel of water on their skin
– The sound and feel of the hair dryer
– Nail clippers
– Getting your pet used to being handled all over (including tummy, face and feet).

If you have an older pet who is already anxious, it’s not too late! We can often work to reduce their anxiety and help them to realise that being groomed isn’t as stressful as they might think – so don’t dispair!

For more top tips and to see my contribution then read on 🙂

http://www.advantagepetcare.com.au/en/pet-health/keeping-pet-coat-healthy-shiny/

“I think I need to get a bark collar…”

These are words often uttered by new clients. They have been researching ways to deal with barking dogs and all too often this is the blanket solve all advice received from pet shops, dog friends, Dr Google or their own Veterinarian. Whether it be collars puffing citronella into a dog’s face when they (or another dog, trust me I’ve seen it!) bark, or those delivering an electric shock, owners look at them as an effective way to change the problem barking.

But do they really work? Will they fix the issue? Well first we should consider why dogs bark in the first place.

Why is my dog barking?

Adult wolves, the ancestors of our furry friends, hardly ever bark. It is a communication that is nearly always the sole haunt of their pups. During domestication studies have concluded we have selected for wolves with ‘baby’ like characteristics. Meaning we have selected for dogs that bark! On top of this, we have developed dogs with different barks as well as some that seem to bark with little or no stimulus!

Barking is a form of vocal communication, of which dogs have many forms – including whining, howling, whimpering and growling. It is used in a number of different situations, including:

• Being excited or playing
• When stressed or anxious
• During hunting or herding
• Sometimes it can mean there is a medical problem (such as cognitive dysfunction or doggy dementia, pain or a neurological problem)
• Attention seeking
• Because it has been reinforced in the past (e.g. when scared by someone approaching who has subsequently left).
• Territorial protection

Some dogs bark during play

So why is barking such a big problem?

Increasing urbanization has brought people into ever closer confines. With close living comes new problems, including the need for neighbourly consideration. Many people (especially neighbours it seems….) unreasonably expect dogs never to bark!

However for some dogs barking changes from something that happens every now and again to something that becomes more of a problem behaviour and can lead to distress for the dog, neighbours, family members and in severe cases council complaints.

So what can be done?

In short, usually a lot! But exactly what depends on the situation! As we have seen barking happens for a number of reasons. Therefore ‘problem barking’ is never a diagnosis only ever a symptom and so there is no one thing that can help each case – the approach needs to be individual. A bark collar (even a citronella one) placed on an already anxious or stressed dog could make matters worse not better, so please think twice before automatically reaching for it!

Using a bark collar on an already stressed dog could make them have a face as sad as Callie’s!!

Is your dog receiving enough playtime or walking? Is it bored? Would a change in location help? – for example if the dog is barking in the back garden when you are out – could you leave it somewhere else? Could your dog be in pain? Is it suffering from separation related distress? Once you figure out why the barking is occurring you will be much more successful at stopping it! For some dogs the answer may be as easy as teaching a simple ‘quiet’ command, however for others, a more complex look at it’s mental health may be in order.

If your dog is barking excessively, then please contact Dr Julie, your local veterinarian or trusted dog trainer for advice on the next steps to solving the issue.

Dr Julie Ashton is a qualified veterinarian. She runs Life on Four Legs, a Veterinary Behaviour Consultation service, based in Sydney, Australia.