rescue dog Archives • kajsavanoverbeek.com

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?

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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/

Want to be able to enjoy life with your reactive dog more?

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023 | Megan and Luna, on the intersection of pica, food indiscrimination, and reactivity

Megan and I talk about all things complex dog:

– Labels and when to use them. Is Luna, reactive, aggressive, complex, or “simply” a dog dealing with health issues?

-What are her health issues? What’s causing her extreme pica and food indiscrimination?

-Is pica a cause or symptom of Luna’s anxiety?

-What’s behind her resource guarding of her own vomit? And what is making her vomit in the first place?

-The importance of having a great primary care veterinarian, especially a force-free one

-The magic of a muzzle

-Feeling alone in having a dog with such a peculiar and unique set of behavior problems

-The importance of doing things without your dog

Links:

Megan and Luna on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/luna_the_cur_/

The other Instagram account with a mention:

Lauren and Stella:

https://www.instagram.com/stellainthecity22/

Could you use some help with your mental health?

It’s tough and stressful to be the guardian of a complex dog. In my coaching, I teach you tools to be able to reduce the amount of stress so you feel more relaxed in the relationship with your dog.

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013 | Ruff Around the Edges with Karolina Joniec & Lou, a life-altering travel souvenir from Nicaragua

A travel souvenir from Nicaragua

Imagine falling in love with two abandoned 5 weeks old street dog puppies whilst abroad in Nicaragua. The second you lay eyes on them you know you’re in trouble because you’re not going to give these dogs up.

So you crowdfund in pre-crowdfunding days to get the money together to bring these dogs to the Netherlands. Once they get there you find out, that the vet abroad provided you with falsified papers and you lose your now-teenage dogs to 4 months of quarantine.

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After that, there’s inter-household fighting, the heartbreak of rehoming one of the siblings, and trying to find the best way to help your heart dog deal with the anxiety of living in the Dutch capital city of Amsterdam.

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On a scale of 0 to 10 how would you rate…

This is when Lou, like so many dogs on this podcast, turns Karolina’s life upside down. She puts Karolina on a completely new life path directed toward animal welfare.

Listen to Karolina talk about the importance of vet checks, nutrition, and taking a holistic approach to animal wellbeing.

Included in her story is how she learned like all of us that not everyone who has had dogs for longer than we have knows more about them, and be gobsmacked like I was about her use of a simple mental 0-10 reactivity scale as a way to track Lou’s improvement.

Lou’s a 2-3 on that scale now most days and loves man-trailing and dog-trailing.

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Links

The Facebook Group Karolina co-moderates with her friends (highly recommended for its positive non-judgemental vibe):

Expats with Dogs in Amsterdam

and her own group focusing on all things cat&dog, such as dietary choices, places to buy food, natural remedies, behavior, etc.

Undogmatic – dogs and cats in Amsterdam

If you want help shifting your mindset so you can enjoy life with your challenging dog more, then get in touch.

Schedule a Free Consult

011 | Ruff Around the Edges with Nicole den Broeder & Haley, Living Next Door to the Dog Who Attacked Your Spanish Rescue

Imagine falling in love with a rescue dog from Spain, who started life by the side of a road, and then spent some days in the vet clinic fighting for her life.

You decide to help find her a home by spreading her picture online. You then figure, why not foster her? And finally she just becomes yours, but not without overcoming many difficulties.

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And last but not least we talk about the search for that highest of high value treats. We promised you the recipe in the show notes, so here it is:

Haley’s favorite treats:

1/4 cup flour
4 eggs
2 cans of sardines in water (120grams or 4.25oz per can)
Tablespoon peanutbutter (take care there is no artificial sweetener in it)
(If you like you could add a little cheese as extra)

Mix everything in a blender and divide over a silicone mat

(just search Amazon for “silicone baking mat dog treats”

The batter will be the consistency of pancake-batter (think European, more crepe than American pancake) and is enough to fill 2 mats.

Bake for about 25minutes at 200 C / 390 F

The cookies will be soft and malleable when they’re done.

Reactive Rescue – Understanding the misunderstood

Haley’s book, or should we say Nicole’s book:

On Amazon.com (also in Kindle-version): Reactive Rescue Understanding the Misunderstood

On Amazon.co.uk (also in Kindle-version): Reactive Rescue Understanding the Misunderstood

On Amazon.de: Reactive Rescue Understanding the Misunderstood

On Amazon.fr: Reactive Rescue Understanding the Misunderstood

On Amazon.nl: Reactive Rescue Understanding the Misunderstood

Nicole, Zoe, Haley and Lacey on Instagram: @gsdlacey
Nicole’s blog: MuddyDogPaws

Nicole makes custom anti-escape dog-harnesses, which you can find here:

008 | Ruff Around the Edges with Hannah Fuqua & Keller, Iris, Capri and Domino

Hannah and left to right: Iris, Keller, Capri and Domino

I loved talking to Hannah on the podcast. She has so much experience both as the owner/guardian of a reactive dog and as a dog walker and trainer.

We discuss her move from rural Alabama to urban Richmond, Virginia. This involved shifting from the Alabama mindset of “Hey, I think it’s kinda cool you alerted me to the delivery guy, cause we are out in the middle of nowhere” (ok, I exaggerate but you get my point) to the Virginia mindset of “Mweahhhh, it might not be so great for the neighbours should that happen every time”.

Keller hanging out with her best friend Sally (left)

In Virginia, Hannah started working for the Richmond SPCA which sounds like an awesome organisation, leading the way to jobs as a dog walker and trainer.

She has worked with lots of reactive dog clients and we discuss all that is involved in “handling encounters with other dogs and their owners”, how you can get into the “you don’t owe anyone an explanation” mindset (fake it till you make it) and much much more.

Backpacking trip for Keller… carrying her own food like a boss.

Links:

Hannah’s girls on Instagram: @the__four__pack

The training business Hannah works for: Canine Adventure, Canineadventure.net, training@canineadventure.net, phone:+1-804-432-7570

The Richmond SPCA: https://richmondspca.org/

Focusing on the celebrations:
Marissa Martino’s book: Human-Canine Behavior Connection (affiliate link)

The book Hannah describes as “clicker training for humans”:
Don’t Nag… TAG!: Success the First Time with TAGteach (affiliate link)