News

Indie Vets is a new collective of privately-owned and operated vet clinics in New Zealand. You'd be surprised to know just how few independent clinics which are left in the country. In this NZ Dog World column, I discuss the challenges and benefits of running an independent practice.

The relationship a dog has with its owner is related to its stress level, suggests new research.

I have a growing collection of dog-related books in my home; this is one of the latest. It's a memoir by Stephen Kuusisto who was born legally blind but 'managed' his disability by pretending it didn't exist until he found himself out of a job at age 38 and with limited prospects. A guide dog named Corky changed his life. A very good read...

Research from Washington State University has found that programmes that exclusively focused on petting therapy dogs improved stressed-out students’ thinking and planning skills more effectively than programmess that included traditional stress-management information. Dogs have the super power of stress reliever!

A new survey out of America has found that dog parents rely a lot on their dogs to help them choose a next partner (68% said that their pet has the final say). I think this is great! Your dog was here first and they should have input about your partner. Trust their judgment.

Research out of the University of Helsinki helps to confirm the link between fear and aggressive behaviour in dogs. The reduction of fear is one of the main reasons why I chose Fear Free certification. Pain and discomfort are stressors and physical therapy should be a pleasant experience to help with healing and to avoid fear.

In the May edition of NZ Dog World, I interview the Marketing Manager for The Laughing Pug Coffee Company and Brenda Gordon from NZ Pug Rescue, which the company supports.

American retailer Petco has published an infographic series about the value of pets at work. This post includes them all.

When dogs started to develop acute onset vomiting, data provision and tracking helped to identify it as a canine coronavirus.

Dogs Don't Deserve Us is an independent film that is available for download through may different platforms. I've watched it and this blog post is my review of the film.