Freya V. Locke - Dog Behaviourist | Author | Blogger. Issue 2
Co-operative Care and helping your dog to cope with vets and grooming care.
Hi Gang
This week, I heard a wonderful talk, which I have shared below, by my friend Ruby Leslie, about helping your dog when it comes to vets and grooming.
Many dogs are afraid of vets, and when you think of it, it is a scary experience for them for many reasons, and they do not understand why you are taking them there or what good it will do them.
By turning the vets or groomers into a more enjoyable place and giving them some agency in their experiences, you can completely reverse those fears and have a more cooperative dog, too.
We also discuss this in the book The Fun Not Fear® Club!
Ai Cock-up of the week
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Fun Not Fear® Journal
Surge In Searches For Cane Corsos And Rottweilers, After XL Bully Ban. - Well, that didn’t take long, did it?
Spotted and sharing.
Without sharing the actual reel and giving it more traction, these videos on social media worry me greatly.
Here is a dog, clearly displaying how annoyed he or she is; the puppy could easily bear the brunt of it. I believe there is a treat involved somewhere, so there is possibly some RG going on.
Rather than support the dog by removing the puppy or by doing some training, the idiot films it. The dog then learns nobody listens to this level of warning and will escalate in the future if they are not careful.
Then you get the wealth of total wazzocks who think it is a funny video and call people names in the comments for pointing out what is plainly obvious to those of us with a brain cell.
If ever you see things like this, if you interact with them, even to point out how dangerous their post is, the chances are you will just get laughed at, and the video will go up in the algorithms, and more people will see it. Please just report and block if necessary.
![May be an image of one or more people, dog and text that says "tell me you have an annoying little brother without telling me you have an annoying little brother 1.1M more" May be an image of one or more people, dog and text that says "tell me you have an annoying little brother without telling me you have an annoying little brother 1.1M more"](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F88dba008-da08-49bf-aac7-a2a280d4881b_368x673.jpeg)
Now lets see how we can listen to our dogs better:
🐶 Ruby Leslie talks us through Fear-free vet visits - For those of you who have Facebook, do check this talk out ⬆. It’s an incredible amount of wonderful advice regarding getting your pet to the vets, and also basic grooming and husbandry skills. Ruby’s business can be found at Welfare for Animals.
🐶 The Bucket Game, developed by Chirag Patel, is an awesome way to teach your dog some co-operative care skills.
It means they have a voice in their care, which ultimately means they can show you when it is ok to proceed with things like grooming, and vet treatment and when they need a break. This in turn makes the whole experience far less stressful and more enjoyable for all concerned
Handy links.
When your dog is scared or is showing clear signs of upset, it is always a good idea to stop what you are doing, and then to find ways to make the dog feel better about the experience, or make the experience better for your dog. This is one of the very basics of living a Fun Not Fear® Life with your dog.
If your dog has triggers or phobias and needs a bit of help, please do get in touch.
See you next week!
Warm n Fuzzies,
Freya
This is perfect for me. I just attended a cooperative care class with my dog, Shiloh, yesterday. She hates getting her toenails trimmed. I have some things to practice, but I love the idea of the bucket game. It would keep her from focusing on my hands for treats!
Loved this. Thanks so much.