low-stress-book-and-dvd Low Stress Handling® Restraint and Behavior Modification of Dogs & Cats Every day, pets are brought to our hospitals in this state of confusion and fear and we expect them to remain calm and cooperate for procedures. We poke them and prod them and carelessly flop them into various positions when they have no clue what we want. Then, in the name of speed, we react to the struggling pet by imposing some type of “death grip” hold instead of taking a step back and evaluating whether a more thoughtful approach might work better. What’s the

National Dog Bite Prevention Week, May 15 to May 21, 2011, is coming to a close today. I hope you’ve enjoyed the articles and downloads. Here is a listing of the resources we’ve provided this week both on this website as well as on the Huffington Post Blog and Victoria Stilwell’s Positively.com.  We will add a few more related prevention articles in the upcoming two weeks too. So stay tuned! Thirty-second animated Dog Bite Prevention PSA for adults and teens shows the precursors to bites and the result of ignoring them.  Please share this PSA. If we have enough views on youtube we will be

Download these illustrations in our “How to Greet a Dog” poster here. The consensus among animal behavior professionals is that the major cause of dog bites to humans is related to the failure of owners and dog bite victims to recognize when dogs are fearful and know how to approach and greet dogs appropriately. But what exactly is the correct approach and why do so many people fail to do it? One issue is that we humans have an instant gut reaction to the cuteness of some dogs. It’s the same reaction we had as a child when we saw a

May 15–21st is National Dog Bite Prevention Week so it’s a perfect week for a reminder. Over 4.5 million people are bitten by dogs every year and about 800,000 of those bites are severe enough to warrant a trip to the hospital. Based on my experience as a veterinarian focused on behavior, I feel safe in saying that the majority of people who are bitten think that the bite comes out of the blue or that the dog is just mean or unpredictable. The truth is that the majority of bites are actually due to fear and they occur because

For the last two decades, I’ve been telling myself that when I retire from veterinary practice, I’m going to open a fat farm for dogs. Here’s why: It all started nearly twenty years ago, during my first week in practice. I picked up my first patient’s file. “Sandy, five-year-old, female, spayed beagle,” read the medical record. “Here for a routine check-up.” I scanned her file. “Vaccines current. On heartworm prevention. Weight, 65 pounds.” Wait a sec — 65 pounds? Surely that was a mistake. No beagle could get that big. She must be a beagle cross. I entered the room.

Recently I posed a question about research to fans of my Facebook page. The question goes like this: Say you’re comparing dog-training method A for training a down-stay (using a clicker and food rewards) with method B (using a shock collar at low levels when the dog starts to get up). You want to know if one method causes more signs of fear and anxiety during the training than the other. For consistency you decide to use the same trainer for both groups.  The trainer is skilled at both training methods. You are recording the training sessions and having a