The Animal Inn

10/12/2023

Full set of teaching weave poles for agility 35.00. 6 poles and stands all together

10/12/2023

Regulation broad jump. 25.00

10/12/2023

Dog Pacer
For Sale
Hardly used
LF 3.1.

350.00

10/12/2023

High jump
Wood 25.00

06/13/2023

06/21/2022

Got this from my vet, be careful where you take your dogs swimming

04/25/2022

This is an easy mistake for owners to make. Your vet is the educated expert you trust your dog’s physical well-being with. And so when questions about training or behavior issues arise, it’s only natural that you turn to the very expert you most trust to keep your dog healthy and safe.

But there’s a problem. Most vets will have zero actual real world training experience, and thus will have zero trustworthy training advice. That doesn’t mean they haven’t had some superficial, and often dubious, training courses—many have—but what it does mean is that it’s the extremely rare vet who has actually gone out and trained numerous dogs with numerous training goals/issues, and found real world answers/solutions.

Think about that for a moment. You’re taking training advice from someone who almost certainly has never engaged in any deep, ongoing, varied training work. They’ve almost certainly never worked with a large sample of clients, and a large sample of dogs, and had to find training/behavioral answers for them.

What they have done is studied extremely deeply the medical side of helping animals. And that’s why the easy-to-miss overlap, and the easy-to-miss overstep, is so easy to miss. Vets are so closely tied to your dog’s well-being, and so knowledgeable in one facet of their well-being—and likely the most trusted expert you have for you dog in general—that it’s easy to assume they actually know what’s best for your dog when it comes to training and behavior issues.

And so, because of this misplaced trust, and misbegotten authority, many owners find themselves being recommended purely positive trainers, and/or tools which align with the purely positive training agenda, medications like Prozac when these approaches inevitably don’t work—and with the current ridiculously silly fad of the fear-free movement…being told (often in a condescendingly chastising tone) that they cannot use certain tools with their dogs at their facilities.

Just to be clear, this isn’t a vet-trashing post. I’ve had many cherished vets who’ve guided me through some of the most difficult, worrisome, and painful moments of life with my dogs. I’ll always be deeply thankful for their kindness and medical expertise. But I never once turned to them for training advice, and they never once were so presumptuous as to offer it…or worse, attempt to enforce some version of it.

For all of you owners out there, I urge you to step back and think about what I said above. Think about the fact that your vet has almost certainly NOT ever functioned in any real capacity as a trainer. They’ve never had to find solutions which their livelihoods and career reputations depended on. What they have been are animal medical doctors, who because of this one area of expertise have been viewed—or far worse—have placed themselves in the position of being training/behavioral experts. But the one field of expertise has nothing to do with the other.

I would never think to offer any serious medical advice, which could have serious ramifications on a dog’s health—because I have no true expertise in that field. And yet, we find many veterinarians who will happily make training/behavioral recommendations—which will be imbued with their medical expert status—which therefore owners will take as gospel, and which could, and often do have seriously deleterious effects.

Owners, it’s up to you to be the most informed consumers possible. You can’t offload the responsibility to anyone. Not your vet, not your trainer, not your friends or family. Do your own research and your own critical thinking. Then, make your own decisions about what you think is best, and who you think is best. And take anyone attempting to occupy that place of responsibility, and looking to remove your agency/ability to explore and discern and decide on your own, as someone to be highly suspicious of. Only you stand between what’s best and something possibly very different for your dog. The only defense against poor information is you becoming more knowledgeable.

PS, And don’t get me started on veterinary behaviorists. There’s very little that’s worse, or more dangerous than someone leveraging the status of medical and behavior “expert”, but who’s almost certainly been indoctrinated and consumed by the purely positive ideology which has completely indoctrinated and consumed their industry. If you can find one who has a collection of video evidence of their work with many, many serious dogs—video evidence as impressive as their credentials—then by all means dive in. But if all you find are credentials, this is one field where sadly, the credentials aren’t nearly enough to trust. In fact, if that’s all they have, I’d run the other way. This is an industry infamous for its ineptitude, exorbitant prices, and terribly disappointing results. Approach with appropriately extreme caution.

PPS, Are there exceptions to the above? Of course. There’s always exceptions. But there’s a reason they’re called exceptions.

03/18/2022

Birch Sugar sounds harmless, but it is not!
If your pet ingests anything with Xylitol in it, please call the clinic as soon as possible at 905-623-4431.

03/13/2022

Kennel Technician. Care and love of clients animals while here

02/26/2022

They aren’t called maligators for nothing. Do not get an animal because you saw it in a movie- PLEASE. The movie “Dog” with Channing Tatum is released tomorrow featuring a highly trained Belgian Malinois. We stand firm that most people should not own this type of breed and anyone interested should do an immense amount of research. This movie took THREE different Belgian Malinois and nine months of training for this movie. A highly trained Malinois is a work of art and can be amazing in the right hands- the right professional hands. We fear that we’ll see an influx of them in shelters soon and that will not go well for the breed. Due to the extreme amount of enrichment/exercise/training needed (think mini raptors), Belgian Malinois deteriorate very quickly in a shelter environment.
If you’ve made the decision to get a Belgian Malinois (and cleared your schedule for the next year of training), please remember that pure bred does not equal good breeding. Don’t help a backyard breeder line their pockets. Ethical Belgian Mal breeders won’t advertise on Facebook, road signs, or Craigslist. And they won’t sell their dogs to probably 90% of the population because not everyone is equipped to handle a dog like that.

02/06/2022

We need help!!!

12/07/2021

🛇 Use your Manners! 🛇
The Sniff test - Stop doing that!
The sniff test - a badly engrained habit that society has been taught, without a clear understanding of what they're actually doing.

🚩When you reach out towards a dog, you are using body pressure AT them, giving them no time to assess whether you are safe & whether they require further investigation to pick up your information. You are forcing an interaction of a relationship that hasn't had time to develop. To some dogs, this is quite rude & the reason a lot of dogs snap at or bite people. This can cause alot of behavioral issues because of layered stress due to forced interactions.

🚩If they are on lead, they have no where to go if they are sensitive to spacial pressure, so can end up shutting down, shying away or snapping at your hand so you back off. This is an example of how a dog is now using pressure to turn off pressure & make you back off so they aren't so stressed.

🚩People think by offering your hand it can give the dog time to sniff to know you're friendly... they can sniff without being forced to sniff your hand.Their noses are far more superior than ours & they don't need close contact forced upon them to smell you.

🚩Some dogs might not want to know you. You have no relationship with them and that's perfectly fine. They aren't your dog so you don't need to touch them or steal pats for your own satisfaction.

🤔 If you are meeting a dog, what should you do?
⚠Ask the owner if you can interact with their dog. Not all people want strangers touching their dogs. Especially strangers who you are unlikely to see again.
⚠Stand up straight & relaxed, with your hands at your side.
⚠Ignore the dog & talk to the owner.
⚠Don't stare at the dog & don't try to force an interaction by going in for a pat. If the dog wants to know you, it will come up to you & sniff around. Usually they will move away & then come back for a second sniffathon. Some dogs will bunt your hands & wag their tails, which are good signs that you're likely an accepted new friend. Give them a few slow pats down their back (NOT THEIR HEAD) & then stop. Is the dog happy? Has it accepted your interaction? This will determine whether you can give it more pats.

🐶This is a more stress free option for dogs & a reason why in consultations we can develop a good level of trust, especially with fearful dogs & aggressive dogs, without a bunch of negative side effects from forced interactions.

11/25/2021

Keep your pup intact

“These two boys are from the same parents, boy on the left was paediatric neutered and the other has stayed intact. As you can see, the development the right pup has compared to the left is undeniable, from his skull width, to his chest and shoulders.
This is the development pups will lose out on when desexing before full maturity.”
Credit - Bunny French.
You can view the full article here https://www.facebook.com/100000652508503/posts/4829274297104273/?d=n

10/10/2021

Part time position available at the Animal Inn.

Looking for a hard working individual with dependable transportation with current drivers license. Must be able to work holidays and weekends. Please do not apply if you feel you can call off at a moments notice. Please don’t apply if you seriously don’t want to work hard.

Duties include but not limited to: Record keeping, medicating pets, physically demanding must be able to lift 50lbs, be able to handle computer work. This is not a job that you “just” play with dogs! Must be able to be an team worker and work individually. You will be exercising dogs, bathing, nail trims.. Must have a high school diploma. Prefer past experience but will to train the right individual. For the final test send a resume to [email protected]

10/09/2021

https://www.facebook.com/PlanetPawsMedia/photos/a.114414471966777/883417478399802/?type=3

09/06/2021

07/27/2021

We are experiencing phone and internet outages. Please we will answer all calls once Spectrum get our service back online

07/15/2021

Help Wanted

07/06/2021

Clients if you call on your cell phone and we need to call you back Spectrum is having a issue with outgoing calls to cell numbers. Please email if you need us until they fix this

03/28/2021

Buying the right kind is important to our 4 legged family members