Emily Savage

Christmas can be a bit crazy at the best of times, but it becomes more complicated when you have sensitive dogs to consider, so it is really important to have management strategies in place to keep everyone safe. *Have dogs safely away when guests arrive. *Give consideration to anything that might be a cause of distress to your dogs, such as more noise than usual, encountering children, elderly relatives who might carry a walking stick or move unsteadily, for example. *Use household...

SPEAK TO YOUR VET Many dogs really struggle to cope with fireworks, but there are steps you can take to help minimise the effects, including speaking to your vet about situational medications well in advance of expected events. It may take some trial and error to find the best medication or combination of medications, correct dosages, as well as working out how far in advance they need to be given to reach their full effect in time. If your dog also struggles with other noises, it is really...

When we have a fearful dog, it's essential that we work at their pace and don't try to rush them or skip steps. If they don't feel safe, then they won't be able to focus on learning new things, or gain confidence and build trust. In order to succeed in changing conditioned emotional responses, we need to go very slowly, with really small, well-orchestrated exposures; but, how do we know if we are going slow enough? This is something only your dog can determine, but what we can be sure of is...