Aunt Rosie's Pet Care Services

04/08/2025

DO YOU KNOWS ABOUT MY NOSE?

Dogs largely perceive and interpret the world through their sense of smell, which is their strongest sense.

Their sense of smell can be powerful enough to detect substances at concentrations of one part per trillion—a single drop of liquid in 20 Olympic-size swimming pools.

Just like every person has a unique fingerprint, each dog has their own unique nose print made up of ridges and bumps that create a unique pattern.

While all dog breeds have an excellent sense of smell, brachycephalic dogs – breeds that have a short muzzle and a flat or snub-nosed face like Pugs, French Bulldogs, Boxers, Bulldogs, Boston Terriers, Pekingese, Shih Tzus etc. have been found to have the least sensitivity to scent compared to non-brachycephalic breeds

The Bloodhound and other hound breeds are thought to have the best sense of smell. Their long ears carry scents upwards from the ground and the loose skin around their head and neck trap and retain scents, which makes them excellent tracking dogs.

Providing different types of scent enrichment has huge benefits for any breed of dog, especially as it’s such a natural behaviour.

Scent games, sniffing walks, a new environment or area to explore are all simple ways to provide enrichment.

Scenting has been shown to decrease heart rate, lower blood pressure, build self-confidence, decrease stress and anxiety and help dogs feel more positive and optimistic.

Here are some links for simple scent games to play with your dog -
Indoor Scent Games for Dogs:
https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/training/indoor-scent-games-for-dogs/

A YouTube Video from K9 of Mine - 6 Nosework Games for Dogs - easy, simple scentwork
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTYZ_cenuWw

04/08/2025

RECALL ALERT!!
Petdine Issues a Voluntary Recall of Eight Zesty Paws Soft Chew Supplements Due to Potential Salmonella Contamination

See a complete list of all dog food recalls and FDA warnings since 2009, as tracked by the editors of the Dog Food Advisor.

03/05/2025

I STILL NEEDED MY MOM

THE CONSEQUENCES OF TAKING PUPS TOO YOUNG

The early life experiences of a puppy are so important and have a significant influence on how that pup develops - emotionally, mentally, socially and physically.

There are still many so-called “breeders” that allow pups to be taken away at 6 weeks.

Uninformed people just accept this without question and are often unprepared for the consequences.

Just because a puppy may no longer physically depend on mom for food doesn’t mean they are ready to cope emotionally, without the security of their family unit, in a strange new home.

A 6-week-old puppy is still very reliant on mom and their littermates to learn appropriate play behaviour, impulse control, frustration tolerance, bite inhibition, self-confidence and develop the social skills that will help them grow into well-adjusted adults.

Although 8 weeks is the bare minimum that a reputable breeder will allow their pups to leave, some will keep their puppies until 10 or 12 weeks of age, but also make sure that proper, age-appropriate socialisation and habituation is provided.

Habituation is getting a puppy used to different things in an environment in a positive way, at the right developmental time. This could look like introducing different objects, noises, sounds, smells, different textures, places etc, so the puppy learns that these things are not something to be afraid of.

However, we don’t live an in ideal world and having to care for or rescue pups much younger than 8 weeks is often unavoidable due to different circumstances.

In these cases, we need to do what we can and hope for the best.

This post is not about this kind of situation, it’s about spreading knowledge, creating awareness, understanding and encouraging people not to support unethical, irresponsible breeders that allow their pups to leave too early, with no regard for their wellbeing or development.

02/25/2025

THE FOOLISHNESS OF FLOODING

Using flooding as a behaviour modification technique involves exposing a dog to an intense amount of something they fear with the goal of eliminating that fear / anxiety / emotional response.

This approach is often recommended as a quick fix that achieves fast results.

Some examples of how flooding is used –
A dog fearful of water might be forced into a pool and prevented from escaping.

A reactive dog may be forced into a “sit” near other dogs or people and be punished for any signs of reactivity.

A dog afraid of loud noises might be forced to stay in a room while loud sounds play, with no way of escape.

In flooding theory, once a dog stops reacting, the fear has been cured, but at what cost?

Flooding is traumatic and may cause extreme stress, anxiety and even more long-term fear related problems, increasing negative associations.

Flooding often causes learned helplessness - an emotional coping mechanism that may look like a dog is completely “cured”, but in reality, they have shut down, given up, disengaged, become emotionally numb and detached. There is no other choice because no matter how hard they try there is no longer any point in trying to escape or react.

Flooding can destroy the trust our dogs should have in us. Dogs depend on us to advocate for them, protect them and keep them feeling safe from whatever they’re afraid of.

Flooding prioritises achieving quick fixes over emotional wellbeing and a safe and supportive environment.

Using modern, scientific, effective, ethical and humane modification methods like positive reinforcement, counterconditioning or desensitisation is the answer to achieving positive learning experiences, to build trust, relationship, safety and in turn, long lasting behaviour change.

The harm and negative consequences that flooding causes is certainly not worth it.

“In the soil of the quick fix is the seed to a new problem” …. Wayne Muller

02/20/2025

I NOSE HOW YOU FEEL
One of the most incredible things about dogs is their ability to recognize and respond to our emotions, but just how do they know how we’re feeling?

They may not understand the emotion we are feeling, but their brains are wired to understand whether that emotion makes them feel safe or not.

From an evolutionary perspective; for their survival, it was and still is, important for dogs to know which humans were safe to be around and which were not.

Dogs recognize the different chemical scents we produce through our skin or breath, our facial expressions or body language and our tone of voice.

Although we’re not aware of it, we emit different scents when experiencing positive emotions compared to when we experience negative emotions. Dogs have an amazing ability to recognize these different scents.

A dog's sense of smell is incredibly powerful and far superior to ours. Dogs have +/- 300 million olfactory receptors in their nose, sometimes more depending on the breed, compared to +/- 5 to 6 million in humans. In addition to this, the part of their brain that processes scent is around 40 times bigger than ours.

Dogs also recognize our facial expressions and body language. Just like we might stay well away from or not want to interact with someone who looks really angry and be more drawn and responsive to a happy, relaxed looking person.

Tone of voice – more info on this in my previous post.

Dogs can be such a comfort to us when we need emotional support or aren’t feeling well, but some of our emotions many have a negative effect on them.

Working with or interacting with a dog when we’re feeling angry, stressed, frustrated or having a bad day is not a good idea. It’s far better to wait until we feel more relaxed and calmer.

Dogs have rich emotional lives – just as we should try to be aware of their emotions, also be aware of how our emotions may affect them.

02/20/2025

WHY LOVE ALONE IS NOT ENOUGH

This is a very belated Valentine’s related post, but still falls within the month of love!

Dogs need so much more than just our love.

I would presume that we all love our dogs, but just loving them is not enough.

Love is far from just the name of an emotion or feeling – a noun.

Love is a verb – a “doing” word.
It’s the doing word of building relationship, trust, understanding, patience, acceptance, communication, consent, respect, nurturing and a commitment to ongoing wellbeing.

Love is asking – What can I do to meet my dog’s needs? Instead of asking - How do I make my dog behave? When a dog’s needs are met, behaviour problems often solve themselves.

Just like one person loving another, loving a dog is a “doing” word, not just something that we feel.

02/13/2025

ARE YOU WORTH COMING BACK TO?

I’m often horrified when I watch people trying to get their dogs to come back to them when they call.

They call and call and get increasingly angry and frustrated as their dog keeps ignoring them.

When their dog eventually comes back, or has been chased and "captured” by the now really angry person, they get screamed at, yanked about, or punished in some way for taking so long and not listening.

Why on earth would a dog want to return to someone who does this to them!

The most common reason dogs don’t come back when we call is because it’s not a positive experience.

A new environment is generally far more rewarding, stimulating and exciting than coming back to us.
An exciting scent or seeing something to chase can all override a response to recall.

Make coming back to you well worth it by always making it a rewarding experience and keep practicing this throughout a dog’s life.

Have a little patience if it takes longer than you would like, let your dog finish what they’re doing before calling them, practice in different locations and environments and never reprimand or punish them for coming back.

There is never a guarantee of a perfect recall each and every time, but making it a rewarding experience will greatly improve the rate of success.

01/30/2025

SETTING THE TONE
The tone of voice we use when speaking to a dog matters!

When someone is talking to us or asking us to do something, are we more likely to respond and want to connect with them if they’re using a specific type of tone than if their tone is harsh, shouting or domineering?

The more we use positive tones of voice with our dogs, the more they will want to connect with us and be more interested in doing what we are asking.

Some examples of why tone matters –

Calling your dog to come back to you in a happy, excited, high-pitched tone is far more likely to work than using a stern, loud, angry tone. Would you want to return to someone who sounds really angry?

Yanking on a leash and shouting at a dog for reacting to another dog or situation is far less likely to work than saying “lets go this way!” in a happy tone and creating distance to where a dog feels comfortable.

Saying “Yes!” when a dog has done what you ask will increase the behaviour you’re looking for instead of yelling “No!” in an angry tone when they don’t get it right.

Although these examples are based on positive reinforcement training, a study has also shown that dogs respond and pay more attention when we speak with a higher pitch and more variation, similar to how we would talk to a baby.

Given that a dog’s emotional capability is similar to that of a young child, this all makes sense and fits together, in my opinion.

Here’s a link to the study if you’d like more information -

https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-023-05217-y

12/12/2024

FDA warning to Mid America Pet Food

FDA warning letter to Mid America Pet Food following inspections made after three dog food recalls. See the Dog Food Advisor.

12/12/2024

Pumpkin is a popular ingredient in dog food, but why is that? Is it a cheap filler or a nutritious addition to a dog’s diet? We asked Dr. Nathan Fastinger, a PhD Animal Nutritionist, and the Director of Nutrition at 5-star-rated Jinx, whether dogs can eat pumpkin and if there are health benefits of pumpkin for dogs. You can find out what he said here: https://buff.ly/3Znwqbu

12/12/2024

DON’T GET A DOG…UNLESS YOU CAN MAKE A COMMITMENT

In an ideal world dogs would be included as a family member and we would commit to sharing our time and life with them in the relatively short time they have on earth.

In an ideal world, we would take the time to learn about how dogs communicate through their body language, their emotions, their needs and keep learning about updated, modern, force free / pain free methods to understand or modify behaviour.

In reality, dogs are so often seen as an item of property, an object, a commodity to be bred and make money from, a cheap, replaceable security system, a garden decoration, a toy to play with when the kids are bored or an accessory that looks good while out walking, running or taking selfies.

Dogs are not objects, just like us they are sentient beings with the capacity to feel a range of emotions.

Dogs are naturally social beings and need to spend time with their human family.

A life spent confined to a backyard or fenced in with little or no human companionship is not a life.

They need love and attention, exercise and mental stimulation. They need routine, consistency and predictable patterns to feel safe and secure in our world.

Having a dog requires commitment, understanding, patience and dedication.

It’s hard work, it’s sometimes messy, dirty and stinky, it costs money and requires changes to our lifestyle.

It’s a decision that shouldn’t be taken lightly or without making a long term commitment, but the rewards of forming a secure bond with another sentient being can bring so much joy and enrichment to both our lives and theirs.

11/26/2024

11/25/2024

‼️ Gaines Pet Treats voluntarily recalls Gaines Family Farmstead Chicken Chips for Dogs - for details see this article on the Dog Food Advisor: https://buff.ly/4i5qah1 (and don't forget to pass this on to any dog parents you know).

If you haven't already, you can sign up to receive our free email recall alerts here: https://buff.ly/2Tvm7yg

Dog Food Advisor, saving good dogs from bad food

11/25/2024

ARE YOU MANAGING?
Are you managing your dog’s environment to prevent or improve unwanted behaviour?

As people, we tend to prefer and look for the more complicated solutions to problems. This tendency is termed “complexity bias” - the tendency to prefer complicated explanations and solutions instead of looking for the simpler ones.

Surely a complicated, time consuming, detailed solution has to be more effective, superior, impressive, or correct?

Complexity bias is so relevant when it comes to changing a dog’s unwanted behaviour. We often get so stuck on trying to modify behaviour through counter conditioning, desensitization or detailed training plans when sometimes the simplest solution to the problem lies in simply managing the environment.

Dogs will do what dogs do – when an opportunity arises to help themselves to food left on a table, to bark at the gate at anyone passing by, to have a drink from that big water bowl at the perfect height, that we call a toilet, to running off with irresistibly smelly dirty underwear, to rummaging through bins in search of anything that may or may not be edible, to running out an opened door in search of adventure - the list is long - dogs will be dogs.

Parents of little children use management all the time without giving it much thought. Baby locks on cupboards, covers on electrical sockets, valuable or dangerous items put far out of reach, fences and locks around pools, etc.

We wouldn’t just train a toddler not to stick their fingers in an electrical socket, not to open cupboards, not to touch a hot plate – it’s far safer, simpler and logical to first manage the environment, to prevent potential incidents.

The same principle should apply to managing a dog’s environment to prevent unwanted behaviour.

The more a behaviour is practiced the more difficult it is to prevent. The more a behaviour is rehearsed the better dogs become at it.

Preventing the behaviour from happening in the first place by using management is the logical, simple and effective way to address it.

Be a good manager – it’s far less stressful, for both us and our dogs.

02/28/2024

Discover the reasons behind dogs eating grass and when pet parents should be concerned. By The Dog Food Advisor.