If you have arrived here, it's because you love dogs and you want to provide yours with the best life that they deserve. Most pet owners do! Well, the Dissection Box stems from the idea of the final behaviours in the predation sequence that after the adrenaline rush of the hunt, it is time to 'Dissect' and 'Consume'. I realize that dogs are not wolves, contrary to some old beliefs, however, they still have a variation of the canine predation sequence. Everything up to the kill bite is within the sympathetic nervous system. So, using this knowledge, when our goal is to help our pet dogs regu ..read more

Do you know what Trauma Informed Care is? I first learnt this term from a client of mine. This is an approach by medical professionals that brings compassion as the forefront to their patients with the knowledge that 1 in 4 children in the U.S. have experienced some sort of mistreatment be it physical, sexual or emotional abuse. As this article posted by Harvard Medical School writes, you do not have to ask specific questions about their trauma. The first step is recognition. Approaching every patient as if they have experienced trauma, understanding that trauma can come in any form, and lear ..read more

Dr. Orion and I had a chat recently about an interaction that I was involved in at the local dog park. https://youtu.be/izIGigK8HDY?si=d3RfXRZ37c7A957_ If you are one of my clients, you likely have heard me say, don't take your puppy to the dog park. Dog parks are not for socialization of new puppies. You have a mixed bag of neutral dog (dogs who could care less about any other dog), aggressive dogs (ones that attack other dogs), dogs that are over-aroused (too much stimulation that they cannot regulate their emotions) and timid dogs (dogs who are fearful, avoidant, hiding behind their owners ..read more

I had this question asked of me by one of my local certified professional dog trainers, which makes me think that other folks have these same questions. Hopefully they are ok with me sharing the question, anonymously. What advice do you give your clients about being around other puppies before they are fully vaccinated? Do you feel they can have limited exposure in clean environments around others that are in good health and are vaccinated after the puppy has their first or second set or wait until they are completed? I personally let clients know that they can socialize with known adult dogs ..read more

It is a well-known fact that veterinarians have a higher rate of suicidal ideation than the general population (Canada and the U.S.A., the UK, Germany, and more...). When I was scrolling through my TikTok, another veterinarian was discussing how online complaints really contribute to compassion fatigue and mental health struggles in the veterinary community ---- and it needs to stop. Pet parents rely on their veterinarians to help them with their pet's problems, but veterinary medicine is not publicly funded and only a handful of pet parents have enrolled their pets in pet insurance. Combine t ..read more

I recently had a "discussion" on the comment section of a TikTok video I had posted, questioning my audience as to whether Cesar Millan could cross over. This discussion was stemmed from Zak George's post asking Cesar whether his new TV series would show this. Many laypeople and general practicing veterinarians would say, but Cesar Millan had that TV show on the air for a decade? Surely he is not abusing animals? Dr. T from TikTok even recommended his methods for 'curing' separation anxiety. Let's get to the core features of this discussion. #1 above all, Veterinarians should always advocate ..read more

It has been a while since I have written a blog post on my fertility journey. But I see that one of my posts has been getting a lot of views, which I can only hope that it is helping people on this journey. At least the bare minimum to say, you're not alone! So, let's chat a bit about endometrial lining. I have done endo-prep several times now. We did a fresh donor cycle last year and did a fresh embryo transfer, which didn't take. Then we did a frozen transfer and it didn't take. So you start to question, is this the right protocol for me? Is my endometrial lining not great? Well, it turned o ..read more

There have been a few times where people have asked: "How do I do this positive reinforcement thing?" "What is positive reinforcement?" "I've heard of positive reinforcement, but I don't know how to do it." Oftentimes people with an education in psychology or science in general, really struggle with taking that scientific knowledge and boiling it down to something that the general public can understand. Positive Reinforcement is part of the operant learning theory that was developed by B.F. Skinner in the early 1900's. It basically says animals (and people) operate on the environment to gain r ..read more

Separation anxiety is a common issue among pets, particularly dogs, and can lead to various behavioural problems when they're left alone. What is Separation Anxiety? Commonly we use this term to describe obvious behaviours that a dog performs when we leave the house, such as excessive barking, destruction of household items or scratching at the door, elimination inside the house, as well as pacing and panting. This is better described as abandonment anxiety, because anxiety is the thought process that something might happen. Thus far, there has never been a time that you didn't come home. But ..read more

How do you cope with the loss of a patient? I started writing this post in February of 2021, two years later, I am still haunted by a particular case. I know, if you’re out in practice long enough, it is bound to happen. This does not make it easier. We, the veterinary professionals, are perfectionists. We want everything to go perfectly. This is not a realistic view, because sadly, we cannot save them all. When I lose a patient, I question every step before that. Should I have done this? If I had done that, would it have changed the outcome? I am not talking about cases where finances were an ..read more