Papillon Kisses

Do consider the dog door itself. Does it have a hard flap which might be hurting your dog’s body or face (swap to a soft flap); is it high up and your dog has to leap through it like an obstacle (add a stair on either side). I’ve seen some interesting installations where it’s little wonder the dog would rather wait for their human to open the door!

I would do two things 1) create a specific area outdoors for digging and burying his prized possessions 2) teach trade/swap. Then when you’ve finished playing together, you can trade the toy for a treat or perhaps a toy he can bury and put the playing together toys away. This way he still has his toys to play with and bury since he seems to enjoy that, they’ll be in a set area if you need to find them for some reason, and there’s an assortment of special ones for playing with together. You might find that he’s already selected a spot or spots for

Vets cannot get medications for anywhere near the same prices as chemists due to (1) buying power and (2) no PBS. Most have very little markup.

Anxious Dogs of Australia Support Group was permanently archived, and Complicated Canines of Australia has taken its place. The ADOA website pages listing VBs, trainers, etc was taken down by the owner of the previous group. However, Vet Behaviourists can be found on the ANZCVS Behaviour Chapter website. ANZCVS don’t specifically list who does online consults, but you can trawl through all the links. Or just ask me for details of others who do it as I know of most of them (and also who I would personally avoid but I won’t say that here!). For trainers, Pet Professional

Which is a much bigger problem than I thought it was until a friend was trying to buy products online for family overseas and every single one on their version of Amazon was counterfeit. Do not buy cheap stuff off eBay!!

Your vet or vet nurse can recommend products suitable for your dog and circumstances. There’s no obligation to buy from them. What some of us give may not be suitable for your dog and situation, and vice versa. I wouldn’t get too caught up in the xyz will kill your dog dialogue. What happened when Nexgard and Bravecto came out was the numbers of dogs getting sick from +/- dying from ticks plummeted. Their products are contraindicated for some individuals but not most.

I know some excellent, force free trainers who do online consults. Creative Animal Solutions is both a VB and an animal trainer who does online consults and competitive in price compared to others. The pup would only be doped up if it were on the wrong medication or dose for her. Maybe show her these? The longer anxiety goes untreated or under-treated the more ingrained it becomes... treating as a pup/adolescent can mean a less anxious adult who doesn’t need to be on any medication, or at least be on lower doses of it. I understand some people get really stuck on medication myths o

Here’s another Papillon Westminster winner, 12 year old Sparkle. https://m.facebook.com/FOXSports1/videos/1136802756445178/

Yes, veterinary behaviourists suggest trialing a moderate protein diet for dogs who are hyperactive, aggressive or anxious if the current diet is high protein (which your dog’s is). I’ve read it in a number of places, but a discussion that I can recall is in an episode of The Bitey Dog Podcast where Michael Shikasio interviews Dr Chris Pachel. If it doesn’t make a difference after the trial period then go feed whatever complete and balanced diet you want, but I do think it’s worth giving a go.

Sam, I’m sharing this resource in case you need it. You might like to open it in a private tab. https://www.1800respect.org.au

I’d speak to your vet again. They might recommend a different diet or want to run more tests. You don’t have to buy food from them. They might not recommend a diet that they typically stock anyway. If you really want to home cook you could ask for a referral to a veterinary nutritionist. Then you can ensure you are feeding a diet that is complete and balanced, which is especially important for growing pups. Do we get a photo as Dog Tax?

I’m sorry to read this news. There are indeed vets with a special interest in palliative care. I don’t know if it’s a specialty. Sydney Animal Pain Clinic have many cancer patients. (I have no personal experience with them, I just know they exist). The specialty with that one is anaesthesia and critical care - these vets often do chronic pain. I think I would talk to an oncologist anyway. When a friend’s dog had cancer she elected not to do any in-hospital treatment due to her dog being anxious, but there was an at-home treatment targeted at improving QOL and increasing

Hey I hope pup is doing ok. I thought I’d mention that there are vets who do online consults. This could be a really good option for you for out of hours emergencies. The one I know of is Your Vet Online, but there are possibly other services too.

When Malcolm was at the internal med specialist recently he pointed out that one nostril is depigmented and has increased discharge. We’ve been told to watch out for sneezing and more noticeable discharge from that nostril as it could indicate a tumour, in which case they said we’d be looking at a skull X-ray. I didn’t comment previously as there was no mention of looking out for blood, but in light of the above comments I thought I would mention it.

No advice, just wishing Hugo feels well soon!