026 | Grace & Piper, on being a veterinarian as well as the guardian of a reactive dog

026 | Grace & Piper, on being a veterinarian as well as the guardian of a reactive dog

UK veterinarian Grace and I talk about her Romanian Rescue dog Piper and how being the guardian of a challenging dog has impacted her work as a veterinarian.
What were the advantages she had, being a vet already, in dealing with her dog?

We also talk about all the terms and certifications being thrown around that relate to animal behavior and training. Are there vet behaviorists in the UK? Who can call themselves that?

Did you know you can do a master’s level studies in animal behavior in the UK?

But also, did you know many veterinarians have not been taught about dog body language in vet school?

How does she start the conversation about behavior with dog guardians who may be oblivious to the plight of their dog?

And what about ruling out pain? Turns out that you as the guardian are the person in the best position to notice if chronic pain is an issue.

I also ask Grace what makes a good veterinarian in her view. The number one thing: “Find someone who will really listen to you and not dismiss you.”

 

Links:

Grace and Piper on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/piper_thesleepybean/

 

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021 | Ruff Around the Edges with Sara Rafai and Kiwi, this Dubai team teaches us the importance of communication

021 | Ruff Around the Edges with Sara Rafai and Kiwi, this Dubai team teaches us the importance of communication

What do most guardians of our podcast dogs have in common? They go down the dog training rabbit hole, learning all there is to learn about dogs and dog training. At some point most of them have the thought:  “I might as well become a dog trainer now!”

Sara is no different.

We talk about that, but also about the importance of communication in her journey with Kiwi, a desert mix, as Dubai’s strays are often referred to.

What made her discontinue training with the balanced trainer that had been recommended to her? What was it about how PPG accredited Dubai trainer Aimee of @pawfectbehaviourme described her services that made it easy for Sara to switch over to force free training?

Then there was COVID. The strict lockdown in Dubai was a blessing in disguise for Kiwi and for Sara and her husband too. The latter proved instrumental for the mental health of the whole human-dog family.

His understanding attitude when Sara explained how anxiety-inducing walking Kiwi had become for her and their open lines of communication helped in turning that anxiety around.

He showed up in the background during our recording and jokingly asked Sara whether she was only saying good things about him. If you listen to this episode I imagine you’ll agree with me that that’s a resounding YES.

Scroll down for all the links!

 

Links:

Find Sara here (and consider booking her services as a trainer if you’re in Dubai): @kiwiskronicles

Aimee, Sara’s trainer and mentor, a PPG accredited force-free dog trainer in Dubai: @pawfectbehaviourme

Other Instagram accounts that get a shoutout in this episode:

@dax_theangrydog

@the_toby_project

Would you like to feel less anxiety about life with you dog?

Or learn to communicate better with your loved ones about all things dog and more? Jump on a call with me to work out how thoughtwork can help you.

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