Games You Can Play With Your Older Dog For Physical & Mental Stimulation Feeding a portion of your dog’s daily food intake from your hand during games is brilliant for mental stimulation. Not just with young dogs, but for older dogs to keep them bright, alert and happy too!  1. The Cup Game  As dogs get older, their eyesight and hearing may dim but their sense of smell remains strong. All you need is three empty cups with a couple of holes poked into them (to let scent out) and a healthy dog treat, such as Ziwipeak. Place a treat under a cup, slide the rest of the cups around on the floor and then ask your dog, “Where’s the treat?”  This is a great option for dogs who have a hard time moving around. You get to spend time together, engage his interest — and he gets treats! Yay! Win for the dog!  2. Finders Keepers  This is a thrilling game for older dogs who still remember the glory of the hunt. Hide some treats, such as pieces of carrot or some Ziwipeak treats, around your house in cups or easily accessible containers. Tell your dog to “Find it!” and let them sniff around.  Don’t make the treats or toys (or even yourself) too hard to find. Remember, your dog is a senior. Try it, they’ll love it, and so will you.  3. Tug- of- War  Fun games such as tug-of-war are great for mental stimulation, balance and strength.  Don’t tug too hard and let them win the battle sometimes too! 4. Food Puzzle toys  Food puzzle toys are made to hide a portion of your dog’s food. Your dog has to work to get the food out, which motivates your dog to solve a problem. Food toys can help keep your dog moving around plus they keep your dog’s brain engaged too!  5. Adapted Agility   Low impact and low level obstacles can help keep your older dog mentally stimulated. They also help your dog maintain balance, strength and gently using his full range of joint motion. A visit to your local hardware will give you all you need to set up […]

Don’t wash the dog!! It is amazing that, after all these years of veterinary practice, I still love the 12 week old puppy vaccination appointment! Many of my colleagues are perplexed by my love of such a ‘mundane’ consultation; but it is here that I often feel I can do my best work. By putting in place good husbandry practices from this early age, I can help to prevent this pet from returning to see me time and again with chronic disease complaints. One of my biggest bug bears is to see the new puppy come in and in response to my standard question “Do you have any health concerns with Fido that you have seen over the past few weeks?” is the owner who says,  “yes, he is really itchy. I have washed him each week in the puppy shampoo recommended by the pet store and I have applied the flea treatment recommended but he is still scratching all the time”. Itchy Dog And the new owner is invariably surprised when I plead “Please stop washing the dog!”. No more baths at least until I have seen you next month! “But they were covered in poo from the breeder!” they exclaim. “He needed a bath!” That may be – but he doesn’t need more. Specialist dermatologists agree. The fastest way to predispose a pet to developing atopy (allergic skin disease) is to too frequently wash the pet in shampoo and to neglect the gut microbiome. Even pet shampoos strip the skin of vital oils, dehydrating the skin and compromising the skin barrier function. Once the skin becomes dehydrated, it suffers tiny cracks, or microfissures in the outer layer. These cracks let in allergens to the deeper layers of the skin where they stimulate receptors and interleukins to start the inflammatory cascade. The beginning of itch! What can you do to protect your puppy’s skin? The best way to protect your puppy’s skin is to avoid washing him in shampoo. Sure, if he needs a bath, you can wash him in warm water to get the dirt off. Or if […]

The month of August is upon us again and traditionally, vet clinics have touted the importance of pet dental health by promoting dental services during this month. I find this amusing since the importance of dental health is not just for the one month per year. I did a little digging.  Guess what I found? The Australian Dental Association (people, not pets this time) also promote the importance of dental health during the month of August. It seems we vets have jumped on the human dentists’ bandwagon… Dental Health Week, which takes place in the first full week of August, is the Australian Dental Association’s major annual oral health promotion event. Its aim is to educate Australians about the importance of maintaining good oral health in every aspect of their lives. The Importance of Oral Health I strongly agree that the importance of a healthy mouth cannot be overstated.  Pets are no different from people here. The beginning of poor dental health is the beginning of decline for so many of our pet cats and dogs. Sadly, many pet owners see bad breath or brown teeth as a ‘natural aging sign’ of their pets and do not treat it as the serious health issue that it is. We have always maintained that the best way to care for your pet’s teeth is to feed them a fresh food diet with raw meaty bones. The high carbohydrate content of processed dry foods actually sticks to the teeth.  This creates the perfect environment for the bacteria that cause tartar to grow and form their protective biofilm. Fresh food with a need for chewing reduces the ability of these bacteria to bind to the teeth and gums. But what to do if your dog does not tolerate raw bones? Or your cat just refuses to eat anything other than kibble. We know that not all pets happily eat the ideal diet. And although we can sit and advise you to just ‘wait it out’ or keep on trying those bones, there are just some pets who cannot and these pets need some other form of help. Our recommendations So, what products […]