Baker House Animal Hospital

Here at Baker House we want to make sure you and your puppy get off on the right paw. From the day your precious bundle of fur enters your household, you are in a race to house train, to introduce your puppy to other pets and strange dogs, to train your puppy to be friendly with people, to teach your puppy about chew toys, and to make sure your puppy knows the strength of his or her jaw. This all must be done before fourteen weeks, or the task becomes very difficult to impossible. Training is fun with a puppy; it is hard work with an adolescent dog. For information on puppy training we recommend the following free online resources:

• Before You Get Your Puppy  by Ian Dunbar
  
• After You Get Your Puppy by Ian Dunbar 
• Dog Star Daily 
• Clicker Training 
• Training Levels by Sue Ailsby 

Until recently it was not believed that H1N1 would cross species to our domestic pets, but in October there has been reports of confirmed cases of H1N1 in two ferrets and in one indoor cat. There have been no reports of H1N1 in the domestic dog at this time. H1N1 is quite rare in domestic pets. Common sense precautions can help prevent cross transmission. If you are sick with flu like symptoms, wash your hands prior to handling your pet and try not to cough on your pet. It is probably best to not cuddle with you cat or ferret if you are ill with the flu. If your pet is sick, the same precautions apply to you. As always it is important to wash your hands. At this time there is no vaccination for H1N1 in domestic pets

At Baker House Animal Hospital, we use the Ellman radiosurgical device for many of our procedures requiring fine detail and cosmetic results. The Surgitron is a high frequency radiosurgical device that allows for precise surgery with limited bleeding and faster healing. We use radiosurgery for mass removal, declaws, surgery of the eyelids, and oral surgery. With the radiosurgery unit, your pet has faster healing and less pain.

Why Radio Surgery over Laser?

The scientific literature clearly shows that Laser Surgery causes a thermal injury to the tissue which slows healing.  The surgeons at Baker House are trained in both Laser and Radio Surgery, and it is their opinion that Radio Surgery is the superior tool for most procedures being advertised for the Laser.  One simple example is the feline declaw procedure - the radio surgery device is not only less traumatic but much faster.  Laser Surgery has its place in veterinary medicine but it is limited.

1. Spin - A spin is an easy move to teach. If your dog already knows how to touch a target or your hand, have him/her follow it in a small circle. After your dog is doing this successfully, put it on cue. For a dog who doesn’t know about targeting, this is a behavior that can be lured. Targeting is preferred and provides a more solid training base. 
2. Weave - In this move the dog weaves through your legs. Start at a stand still and lure or target your dog from your left side to the front and through your spread legs. Reward. Continue to practice until your dog goes comfortably through your legs. Some tall dogs are never comfortable with this trick. The next step is to teach your dog to go around your right leg and back to the front before proceeding  back through your legs and back to the original position. Once your dog can perform this trick at a stand still, start to do it at a slow walk. For a very fancy heeling pattern, start with your dog heeling on the left, send him/her through your legs several times, and finish with your dog heeling on the right.
3. Heeling on the Right and Left - For dance work, you dog should be comfortable on both sides. Having skills on both sides is also needed for agility. Right heeling is taught in the same way as left heeling. Make sure to use a different cue, and if competitive obedience is in your pet’s future, use different body language.
4. Switch Sides - Once your dog can heel on both sides, you need to teach him/her to move to the other side. The easiest side switch is for the handler to turn into the dog as the dog turns into the handler. This can be taught with a target or a lure.  

Sit is one of the easiest exercises to teach your dog. Start with a hungry dog. Use small, tasty treats. With your fingers closed around the treat, slowly lift your hand. Most dogs will follow the motion and sit. Open your hand, and reward your dog. After your dog will offer sit rapidly and easily from the hand signal, add the voice cue.

At Baker House Animal Hospital, we recommend all dogs have a flat collar for their tags and identification. For walking a wide variety of safe and humane choices are available. For a small or polite dog a flat collar is ample as long as your pet’s head is not more narrow than his neck. For dogs with large necks and small heads, a martingale collar is recommended. This collar is sometimes sold as a greyhound collar. It has a limited slip to prevent you from pulling it over your dog’s head if he suddenly backs up. It is not a correction collar and should only be adjusted tight enough to prevent your dog from slipping the collar.

For a boisterous of strong dog, you have several options that will make your walk more fun and enjoyable for both you and the dog. The Easy Walk Harness from Premier is a simple, no pull harness. The leash fastens in the front rather than on the back. This arrangement prevents pulling. Most dogs tolerate this harness well, and no training is necessary to accustom the dog to his new gear. At Baker House, we are happy to show you how to fit this harness.

Help My Cat’s Using the Rug.

If your cat stops using the litter box, the first step is to eliminate a possible medical condition before addressing it as a behavior problem. Sudden changes in litter box habits could be a sign of diabetes, idiopathic cystitis, urinary crystals, bladder stones, or renal disease. If your male is straining and producing little or no urine, it is a medical emergency. 

To help the veterinarian diagnose a medical condition, please either collect urine or bring you cat to the office with a full bladder. To collect urine with a cat, first empty and clean the litter box. The litter box can then be left empty or filled with Nosorb, special litter crystals that do not absorb urine. The Nosorb crystals must be placed in an empty litter box, not on top of your cat’s ordinary litter. Confine the cat with the litter box in a small room with no absorbent surfaces. Please bring the urine into the office in a clean jar.

After any medical issues have been resolved, the behavioral side of the problem can be addressed. Make the litter box as inviting as possible. For most cats, this means a large litter box with low sides in an accessible area. If your cat is using only one inappropriate area, consider putting a litter box over that location. Try different kinds of litter until you find one that suits your cat’s fancy. Most cats prefer unscented and dust free litter. Some cats will show a preference for play sand, pelleted pine, or pelleted paper litter.