Kaiser Pet Care LLC

02/11/2024

We can never forget about seniors! 💛

Seniors are the best!

02/11/2024

I often get the question of what type of training I would recommend for a dog. And the answer is a large majority of cases is: None.

We often also find ourselves wondering why our dog is jumpy, anxious, perhaps whining. A lot of dogs nip, or pull on their walks. Perhaps understanding where dogs came from or what their natural habitat is may shed some light on these behaviors.

Very simply explained, dogs evolved scavenging (being productive, as we would call it) only 1 hour of the day, sleeping 14-16, and the rest is spent exploring the couple of miles of land that they claim as 'home'. They look for interesting smells, they do light exercise by walking or trotting, they observe the world and contemplate.

Dogs in the wild do not have their paws in concrete or wood all day. Their paws need the information the terrain provides and the gut bacteria for a healthy gut. Dogs also do not play fetch in the wild, nor obey anyone. They must make good decisions to survive. They become clever observers instead of simply underestimated followers.

They go through phases like we do. Teenage years are rough. Senior years have specific needs and changes. These phases will influence behavior too.

Dogs in the wild are not confined or physically restricted. They enjoy full freedom of movement, which gives them confidence and the ability to make choices for survival. They have lived this way for millions of years.

They also do not spend a lot of time alone. They are social creatures and they live surrounded by family members and friends. They rarely leave their two mile radius and their family, they feel comfortable scavenging with others. Half of dogs in the wild never actually move away from their family.

Although these are still the needs of dogs, (yes fancy poodles and fluffy bichons too) our society has evolved in a way in which they cannot access what they need. It is nobody's fault, but rather a mismatch between what their species needs are and the world we live in now. One could say, we humans have also lost some things, gained others... but we have a choice. Dogs have very little choice.
If they roam in the wild, they may be shot or taken to the pound just for existing. If they live in a home, they have the comfort and safety of modern life, with restrictions. They are now pets.

So what is a modern dog? A pet suddenly confined by all kinds of collars, and barriers, alone most of the day or in a cage, without species appropriate social contact, unable to gather their gut bacteria from scavenging, eating from an expensive yet questionable bag, evacuating on a schedule, playing fetch 10 minutes as the only means of movement (less time than a prisoner would in jail) and going on concrete walks on a tiny leash. On a schedule.

Do we see a problem here?

Where did the wild scavenging, self-sustaining canid go? It is right next to you, sitting on the couch watching tv.

Could it be that perhaps all of the terrible behaviors we are seeing may be the result of unmet needs, and inescapable stress?

We do know that dogs (like humans) cannot learn under stress. Their ability to learn is shut down by chemistry...without going into major detail, this is like asking someone to sing an opera under water. It is quite impossible. It just. Does. Not. Work.

So we must first help our dog by removing the stressors in life and looking into ways to enhance their time on earth best we can.

After all, we all want our dogs to be happy.

There are very small and powerful things we can all do to accomplish that, if we only know what is needed to improve the situation. Take for example: neighborhood walks. They need their paws on natural soil.
They may not be able to roam all day in wild terrains... but we can take a trail walk instead. Or we can try to stay off concrete and stepping on grass only. Such a simple change, but an enormous gain for your dog.

So if you are considering training for your 'problem' dog, think twice. He may or may not be ready to learn based on a variety of factors, and forcing training may not be useful.

Consider that there may be other more effective ways to help your dog, understanding their species-specific needs as well as their overall wellness. We need to step out of the behavioral training ONLY mindset and understand that 4 quadrants of conditioning will not suffice when a dog is under or overstimulated, or both.

We have other tools to help your dog with and BEYOND training.

Www.kaiserpetcare.com

31/10/2024

💛🍁The only scary thing for ZOEY is Halloween💛🍁

That's right! Grooming is no longer scary for her. When Zoey comes to our shop, we utilize fear-free protocols so she is not afraid. We take our time to ensure she is okay at all times. We have habituated her and desensitized her to all parts of grooming. We also manually dry her, so that she is not panicked inside of a cage dryer. If she needs a break she can take one. Cage dryers are too much for dogs... so scary!

Happy Halloween, everybody💛🎃🐶

31/10/2024

🎃Halloween scary bowl? 😍 Yes please: human-grade salmon, steamed sweet potato with its peel, raw purple and yellow cabbage, moringa organic powder, carrots, h**p seeds, chia seeds and spirulina organic powder.

🍁💛It's never too late to add a couple of fresh items to the bowl to make it even more appealing! 🥕🥦🍄Food has a direct impact on behavior so we really care what is in it. You do not have to be a nutritionist to improve the dog's bowl. Some leftover carrots? Sure. Green beans from the can? Why not. Even mushrooms have powerful effect on health and behavior.
Just a couple of fresh items a day will increase the diversity of the gut's microbiome, which affects brain functioning.

31/10/2024

💛Dogs understand when they are clean and groomed💛. They have a much stronger sense of smell, and they can feel the difference. We often observe the behavioral change in dogs before and after grooming.
As always, we groom dogs 1 on 1, utilizing techniques that reduce fear, stress and anxiety... and no cage dryers. Cage dryers belong in scary Halloween movie... not in grooming.

💛Sweet Bella is all clean and wishes everyone a happy Thursday 💛

www.kaiserpetcare.com

31/10/2024

🎃HALLOWEEN TIP☝️Did you know that dogs have 300 million olfactory receptors, and humans only 5 million?
This means that dogs see the world through their nose. 🐶 and providing them with the opportunity to sniff things, new things, old things, will increase their enrichment, enhance their wellbeing, and how calm they are.

🎃On halloween night is important to find a calm place for pups to be, maybe a back room with calm music and a nice licky matt so that they do not get rattled with visitors. This may be very unsettling for a dog, so it is nice to prepare this area ahead of the visits. Another thing to watch out for is dogs bolting out from the front door, and a good way to prevent that is also baby gate in front of the main door.🙏

But after all visits are over, remember there is a unique opportunity for your dog too. 😍Tonight, after the candy is given out (careful with xylitol as it is toxic), and all children have walked in front of your home... your pup may appreciate a quiet sniffy walk in the places where the visitors were. These paths will be full of interesting smells for your dog. Dogs are able to identify how long ago the steps were taken, as well as collecting information of the different people who were there. It can be a very relaxing and joyful experience for your dog to explore this area today, more than other days. 💛

www.kaiserpetcare.com

30/10/2024

💛Dogs need choices to feel confident.💛

In our shop dogs decide where to go and where to be. We have two different textures of flooring. They also decide between two choices of treats, typically salmon or liver. They can get groomed on the table or the floor, it's their choice.

🍁💛Here is beautiful SUNNY wishing everyone a happy Wednesday🍁💛

www.kaiserpetcare.com

29/10/2024

💛Her mom gave us permission to share her vet medical results with folks so that what happened to her does not happen to another dog. 🙏🐶

This is the result of years of pulling on a leash, with different devices which were not a harness. Lots of unscientific information floating on the internet, and encouraging parents of large dogs to use pinch collars, martingales and such. What is not shared is the aftermath. This particular pup wore martingales, flat collars and short leashes, as she pulled from the leash and mom could not hold her back, it was becoming scarier everytime. She is a large powerful pup of over 70lbs, so safety was a concern.

As she became more afraid of strangers she began reacting to them. The short leash did not allow her a way out to escape. Dogs become more afraid if they are confined or physically restricted without escape. So when she was afraid of something she would lunge and snap in hopes that the scary human or object would disappear.

It typically did. So that 'worked', it got her what she needed: safety.

Her furmom was very concerned, and was recommended a 'gentile leader' (head collar) to distract her and move her away from situations. So they tried it. And 'it worked'. It worked because the stressor was avoided... but the root of the issue was still there: fear.

One day she faced a scary thing and her neck was pulled away by the 'gentile leader' in order to redirect her. With the sudden movement her Atlas vertebrae was dislocated (the first one after the brain). This was the most incredibly painful thing, and from that moment there were a number of postural issues with her spine and mobility, which can be seen in the picture.

In our behavior and training consultations we make sure to inform furparents of the dangers of choke collars, martingales and 'gentile' leaders.

Thankfully for this pup, mom came to us for help and they are walking on a loose leash now with a lot less reactivity. Loose leash walking prevents a large number of issues related to overcompensation and tension in the power train of the dog (the lumbar area and hips).

☝️Please share with all furmoms, furdads, neighbors, friends so that they can prevent pain for their dogs.

And if you know someone needing to learn how to walk on a loose leash without pulling, no matter how powerful the dog is... contact us. 💛 www.kaiserpetcare.com

28/10/2024

🍁DALLAS is so handsome and smells SO good after his organic bath today!🍁

28/10/2024

🍁PANDA is in full Autumn mood, folks!🍁 look at this cutie patootie and his gorgeous suit. He had his today and is having a great day!

26/10/2024

He came to us because of biting and snapping. He is 100 lbs, and the last 2 years he was subjected to a shock collar.

His guardians absolutely love this dog, and have taken great care of him. They only want the best for him. Unfortunately though, as it often occurs, they believed the advertisement of 'off leash training', they wanted to give their dog more freedom, and they did not know the long term psychological damage these devices create. 'It worked'. 'He seemed fine until he started growling'.

It worked because the dog complied to all requests. But, at what price? At the price of chronic fear, erosion of trust, and loss of confidence. Sadly the dog became more terrified with every 'correction'. His chronic stress kicked in. His body stiffened, ears back, he was in state of complete terror waiting for the moment in which the next 'correction' came. Each time it became a little more unbearable to deal with him.
He froze in fear when the collar was anywhere close, and snapped at anything that touched him.
Such a sad state, and so much trauma. For both dog and guardians.

The guardians are now informed, and they have seen themselves how their innocent dog suddenly started to behave fearfully and aggressively as a result of this device. They asked for help, and we are so glad they did.

Lucky for this dog, he was not broken to the point of no return. He will have a chance to trust again, and to know kindness. We are working together with the guardians to make adjustments to things that matter to this pup and to ensure he will not be afraid of being harmed again.

We sincerely hope more people realized the dangers of shock collars and we stand firm in our no shock collar policy at our shop.

Www.kaiserpetcare.com

24/10/2024

💛All paws on deck for GRACIE!💛

24/10/2024

💛PICO and SOPHIE playing a little bit after their grooming session💛 it is important for dogs to associate the shop with more than just the regular monthly grooming routine... the more positive associations we create, the more likely dogs will look forward to coming back.

24/10/2024

💛Awww, PRINCE giving us his best smile after grooming💛

www.kaiserpetcare.com

24/10/2024

💛LOOFY and CHOPPER visiting us. Double fun💛

24/10/2024

Why ?
Here is why...

✨Nail Length & the Effects on your Dogs Posture✨

🤫 Are your dogs nails too long? If so, this can pose a risk to your dogs quality of life, altering posture, joint angulation, range of motion in their joints which can lead to compensatory musculoskeletal issues.

The Images on the left, illustrate well maintained nails. Whist the images in the right illustrate nails that are too long.

Notice with the nails that are too long. You can see a shift caudally (backwards) in the pad and you will often see a splayed foot, causing a lack of traction, which may lead to tendon/ligament damage, pain, and eventually osteoarthritis. This can also adversely alter posture, joint angulation, range of motion and biomechanics & the gait (how your dog moves) of your dog, leading to compensatory musculoskeletal issues.

Nail length can be checked by observing if your dogs nails are touching the ground when they stand and also by listening to your dog walking on a hard surface and if you can hear a tapping sound, then your dogs nails are likely to be too long. If you are in any doubt, or if you’re nervous about cutting your dogs nails, consider taking your dog to a professional dog groomers.

Please read a very interesting blog from Caninebodybalance - thank you
https://caninebodybalance.com.au/journal/canine-nail-length-and-the-effects-on-biomechanics

and thank you to Touch Animal Rehabilitation for the info & the photos
https://www.touchanimal.com/blogs/2020/2/7/the-importance-of-regular-nail-trimming

23/10/2024

💛JUNO came to visit us today, and as always, the dryer is a nice to have, as Miss Juno dislikes them.💛 We try to groom around every dog's preferences to provide them with a happy experience.

www.kaiserpetcare.com

23/10/2024

💛ZORA had a peaceful grooming session today💛 Gone are the days when Zora barked and growled with grooming, as she was so scared of it.
Zora now is more confident and she knows what to expect. Our grooming routine is exactly the same everytime, so that Zora knows what is coming next and there is no need to worry.

Predictability is a great tool when helping dogs overcome fear.


www.kaiserpetcare.com

23/10/2024

💛FRITO had a calm grooming session today💛 his family has been walking him on a loose leash and his stress has decreased so much! This, in combination with our fear-free grooming is proving to be helping Frito have a happy grooming experience, and also less stress everyday, which permeates into every area of his life. Such a good boy!!!


www.kaiserpetcare.com

21/10/2024

These beauties are available for adoption at this full shelter in Maryland (Charles County) Please share, so many puppies!🙏❤️

21/10/2024

💛TERRY is 16 and we love seniors like him💛

21/10/2024

🍁💛Puppies and young dogs need time to habituate to new things🍁💛 In 2 short visits we figured that OLIVER is okay with gentle , his paws, pads and tail being trimmed. He is also allowing the clipper. He is curious about the blowdryers and scissors, and we can work with that!

It is much easier to habituate a dog to new things than to rehabilitate a dog that has had trauma. The canine brain stores all trauma in a part of the brain called hippocampus, and it gets triggered every easily... much easier than the work that it takes to create new positive experiences... the brain will access the traumatic experiences first, so we need to be VERY careful to only create positive experiences for puppies early in life, including grooming.💛


www.kaiserpetcare.com

20/10/2024

💛JOY enjoying some treats before going home💛

20/10/2024

💛MUFFIN and her neverending happiness💛 We trained her from the beginning with our and she is a pro at grooming!

www.kaiserpetcare.com