Fear Free Happy Homes
Reading Time: < 1 minutes Is your rat relaxed, interested, anxious, getting scared, or ready to run for the hills? You can tell a lot by reading their body language and paying attention to their vocalizations. In our handout, we offer tips on how to recognize whether your rat’s level of fear, anxiety, or stress is escalating. If you have […]
Reading Time: < 1 minutes Do you know how to tell if your dog is fearful, anxious, or stressed? Our handout, using a scale of 0 to 5, shares the signs to look for.
Reading Time: < 1 minutes Do you know how to tell if your cat is fearful, anxious, or stressed? Our handout, using a scale of 0 to 5, shares the signs to look for.
Reading Time: 4 minutes By Steve Dale Depending on where you live, you can expect high temps for at least the next couple of months. That means you need to stay vigilant about protecting pets from heat-related injuries. We tend to think most commonly of dogs in this respect, but cats are at risk of life-threatening heatstroke, too, especially […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes Puppyhood is a crucial time for physical and emotional development. However, the critical socialization window, when puppies form important impressions about their surrounding world, coincides with their vaccination schedule. You may have received conflicting recommendations about keeping unvaccinated or partially vaccinated puppies away from other dogs while their immune systems develop, and providing safe socialization […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes Pheromones play a significant role in the social behavior of many species, including dogs, cats, and possibly humans. Although our pets cannot consciously control pheromone secretion, the chemicals can influence how they feel in certain situations and with whom they form social bonds. Dogs and cats rely heavily on pheromone communication, using their refined sense […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes Have you ever felt embarrassed or concerned about your pet’s behavior at the veterinary clinic? Many pets feel fear, anxiety, and stress (FAS) at the vet because of past stressful experiences or unfamiliarity with clinic staff and routine veterinary procedures. Although it may seem obvious to you that the veterinary staff is there to help, […]
Reading Time: 5 minutes I’ve always found nature to be healing and restorative. On the first day of my journey to becoming a birder, I had headed to the woods, early, in search of peace from the anxiety that haunted me. As I stepped out of my car I was hit with a wall of harmonious chatters, various bird […]
Reading Time: 5 minutes Pet caretakers often relate to their dogs in a manner that’s most closely akin to a parent-child relationship. However, while we may view our dogs as our “fur kids,” in day-to-day living it’s likely we’ll encounter ongoing reminders of just how much “dog” they actually are. It’s there, in the contrast of who we expect […]
Reading Time: 4 minutes The concept of cooperative care is a simple one: teach pets behaviors that will allow them to willingly participate in their own health and grooming care. When they do, brushing and combing, injections, pill-giving and more are easier on everyone—especially your dog. The chin rest is one such behavior and it has many applications. Here’s […]