rritated skin and ears can also cause dogs to be more agitated, or even aggressive. The chronic pain and irritation will tend to increase not only irritability, but also anxiety. When the skin improves, the behavior improves.

The first step to keeping animals calm is understanding their way of communicating with us humans. We’ve covered the important cues to dog behavior in our Body Language of Fear in Dogs poster. Now we have those same cues in poster form for cats! You can download one for free (or a donation) from our store.

Why am I writing this? It’s not about the choice of Cesar Millan, but about our response as veterinarians. When a company brings a representative that is opposite of proven science and veterinary medicine, it requires a response. Why a company chooses a spokesperson and how much attention they give to the background, integrity and relevancy of the spokesman to the product is just as important as scientific research and safety, in my opinion.

Have you ever had a patient you wanted to “flip the lip” for a dental exam, but the patient was anxious about mouth handling? Raising the upper lip, also known as “Flip the lip” can be difficult for pets’ who are wary of handling around the head. These situations are challenging, and pose a bite risk to handlers and veterinarians. I try to think of ways to get an exam done while reducing stress and aggression. In one of her lectures, Dr. Sophia Yin demonstrated using pretzel sticks to give rewards to dogs that grabbed at food. If they bit

It’s the start of a New Year and the start of some new changes here at CattleDog Publishing. We lost Dr. Yin in 2014 and a core group of her dedicated employees stayed on to manage the company. Our goal was to keep the company running after her death and ensure that projects she wanted to complete were done, as well as secure her irreplaceable legacy of Low Stress Handling™ training and her unique Learn to Earn™ program. Thanks to you and all of Dr. Yin’s supportive colleagues, we were successful in this venture. Now, it’s time for a new

Many advantages and negligible risk to feeding treats in the veterinary clinic. Veterinarians and vet technicians are often impressed when they see the effects of successful counterconditioning on fearful animals: growling dogs stop snapping, and scared animals become more manageable. But as a consultant, the skeptical comment I keep hearing is: “… unfortunately we can’t feed treats because if we need to sedate animals at any time during the examination, feeding might increase the risk of Aspiration Pneumonia…” This is a valid concern, of course. Aspiration Pneumonia (AP) is a very serious disease. But how does the risk of AP