Animals Unfolded

There is one scenario that presents itself regularly in my daily adventures with dogs, and it can vary anywhere between being benign, disgusting or downright dangerous: I need to retrieve an item from the animals's possession — their mouth, more precisely — and typically in fast order. I could be on a walk with a charge and they discover a dead animal, a prescription pill enveloped in a yummy treat could inadvertently drops on the floor as I am preparing to dole it out to another pet in the family, or I might to need to get a prized chew toy away from a furry pal before they devour it whole. Ideally, a pet has been taught to "leave it" — one of the most valuable skills that a dog can have in their repertoire in my opinion —but quite honestly, the item that they have in their mouth might be of really high value to them, they might not be as reliable as we would like in giving it up (especially if there is another dog close by). In any case, grabbing the item might p...

During the cold or soggy months I joke that I feel like a kindergarten teacher because I spend much of my time bent over putting on dog booties or drying off wet paws, or putting on or removing a charge's fleece jackets. I get a few laughs from saying that, but in truth it can be a very dangerous situation for me: my face is level to a dog's body, and more easily within reach of my charge's teeth. You get the picture. The fact is, just like you, I spend a lot of time in physical contact with the dogs in my care all year whether it's putting on a collar, harness or leash, checking them over for ticks or burrs after an adventure or tending to a minor (or goodness forbid) a more serious injury. Though I am confident that my charges by and large are behaviorally safe around their bonded humans (including myself), there are times that my touching them might become uncomfortable for some reason — or be downright painful, and as you know, canines often try to hide their...

One of the most common tasks that I need to ensure gets done when caring for my charges is giving any medication. Though a few meds are dispensed as a suspension, as a transdermal gel or even by injection (something that I had to begin recently with both of my pets), pills or capsules are the most common mode of delivery. This doesn't make most animals feel especially cooperative, as many a pet owner can attest -- especially when it comes to the latter. Their size and shape can make things a bit more challenging. There's a bit of an art to making the task of taking meds stress-free for dogs and cats, and as a caregiver to many four-legged charges, I've figured out a couple of tricks to facilitate this. Dogs can be pretty easygoing when it comes to administering pills, as they are food motivated and believe me — I take full advantage of that. For most dogs, pill pockets work well, though some dogs get wise to the tactic so mixing things up a bit and employing a steal...