Crossroads Veterinary Centre

Today is the first in our series of advice on "Co-operative Care" from our canine behavioural expert, Stacey. Cooperative Care – How to make vet visits less stressful What is it and why do it? Cooperative care is training that allows our dogs to be active, willing participants in their medical care. Vet visits can be stressful and anxiety provoking for both you and your dog. Being handled and examined by strangers with scary equipment, undergoing possibly unpleasant procedures and even routine appointments like vaccinations can mean that a lot of dogs develop negative associations with coming to the vets. Cooperative care helps your dog learn to participate in and tolerate (or even enjoy!) the most common vet and grooming procedures. By developing trust, clear communication, and lots of positive reinforcement, your dog can become comfortable doing nearly anything that is asked of them. When training your dog with cooperative care methods, the goal is to allow your dog to be a willing participant in the process and “say no” if they experience anxiety or stress. You’re training your dog not just to listen to you; you’re also training yourself to listen to your dog. A great place to start is teaching your dog A CHIN REST, this simple cue can make giving medications and performing medical examinations around the head a lot easier. How to Teach a Chin Rest 1. Hold out your hand, palm up and sideways to your dog, with your thumb pointed toward your dog. Use a treat to lure your dog’s chin to come across your palm and rest upon it. Mark the behaviour with a clicker or use a verbal marker, such as “Yes!” and give your dog a high value treat. Practice this several times a week for about 5-10 minutes each time 2. Gradually increase the length of time your dog must hold his chin on your palm before you mark and treat. Start with one second, then two, then three, etc. 3. When your dog is reliably putting his chin on your palm, it’s time to add your v

Although rabbits originate from the western Mediterranean, they’re not actually used to spending too much time in the red-hot sun. This is because in the wild, rabbits hide out in the deep burrows where it’s cool and shaded. Hot summer days can prove dangerous to our bunnies.

It’s officially National Dog Walker Appreciation Day! Share a picture of your lovely dog walker and your dog in the comments below… Here at Crossroads we really appreciate all dog walkers and their responsibilities they take on. They have huge amounts of patience, compassion and are very methodical in how they take on their day.