Make Life Easier With Calmer Vet Trips, No-Pull Harnesses and Bungee Leads, and Gabapentin.
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Hi Gang
It’s been a bit of a week in my house, as I have been getting a few things sorted out around my health. Hopefully, I have a clear path going forward now, to feel a bit better.
But this led me to think when we go to the hospital or the doctors, we know what we are doing there and why not-so-nice things are being done to us. Our dogs generally do not have that information. So, how can we help them feel less afraid of being at the vet?
A while back, I wrote this article all about making vet trips easier on your dog:
How To Make The Vets Less Scary For Your Dog.
Twyla had her jabs today. The vet commented on what a happy girl she is, while Twyla wiggled around the vet’s room with a Bonio hanging out of her mouth, like Churchill’s cigar.
A No-Pull Harness I Like.
A while back I was sent a “Walk Your Dog With Love” no-pull dog harness, entirely for free, by the UK seller. So confident were they that I would like the product they wanted nothing in return, but if I liked it, I could have the option to either stock it or affiliate with them if I wanted to.
Her usual harness has front and back clips; we use a double-ended lead. The front clip usually means that the harness gets pulled around sideways. This doesn’t seem to be a problem so much with the “Walk Your Dog With Love” set-up.
I use shock absorber attachments with the double-ended lead if we are using her old harness so that should she do one of her famous big bounces if she sees a leaf flutter, neither of us ends up with an injury.
I have always been told that no-pull harnesses were aversive and uncomfortable for the dog, so I have always steered clear of them. I would never want to do anything to my dog that she didn’t like or make her wear something uncomfortable.
But so keen was the seller for me to give it a go, I thought we would try it just once. Just around the house and garden at first, I could immediately remove it if needed.
The harness attaches to the lead at the front and has an underarm clip to do it up. The front strap, where the lead attaches, can be adjusted to sit ABOVE the dog’s front shoulders, so there is no impeding of natural movement of the legs (another of my worries with these things) so long as it is fitted correctly.
The WYDWL harness actually does help with the pulling. Especially when used with our favourite bungee lead to minimise any force the dog creates when attempting to pull. Instead, it guides them to turn sideways, and you can reward them for coming in closer to you, leading to a dog who stops trying to pull and starts wanting to be a bit closer to you (what we reward you get more of.)
Nothing will stop pulling completely, apart from teaching a dog that it is worth staying near us and making it rewarding to do so. Twyla has gotten better and better at walking nicely due to some time and effort going into teaching her. But sometimes, it is nice to pop something on her and go for a walk, without having to always be teaching at the same time, and this harness really helps to bridge that gap.
I don’t generally recommend “no-pull” anythings, but this harness, when fitted properly, is a good one!
Spotted and sharing.
Gabapentin is often prescribed for dogs to help them with pain and anxiety. As someone who knows that a huge number of behavioural cases are pain and illness related, and routinely tells clients to take the dog to the vets for a check up BEFORE we do any training, this article is really reaffirming:
Gabapentin For Dogs: What You Should Know
My other posts - because I write about other stuff too!
Handy links.
Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!
Warm ‘n’ Fuzzies,
Freya
Freya - We have notecards with our rescue animals - would you be interested in selling them from your newsletter? I can send you some samples if you are interested. Our website is at https://www.nelsondynanart.com