Pets

Hip dysplasia can be diagnosed by testing the laxity of the hip joint or through x-rays to check conformation of the ball and socket joint. Signs to look out for at home include bunny hopping gait, sitting frequently on walks, unwillingness or inability to jump, limping/lame after activity or rising from a nap.
 
Transcript: "The question is how is hip dysplasia diagnosed in dogs and what should pet owners look out for as a potential symptom? There are a couple different ways to diagnose hip dysplasia. When dogs are young and there's really not a lot of changes on x-rays, the first way to diagnose hip dysplasia is by testing the laxity of the hip joint. The hip joint is a ball and socket joint and there's a ligament that connects the ball of the femur to the socket. If that ligament is lax or loose, that's going to predispose to a lot of motion, cartilage damage, arthritis, and that essentially is one reason dogs have hip dysplasia. So a sedated Ortolani exam where a veterinarian will sedate your dog and then they'll measure the laxity of that hip joint. That's kind of the first way to determine if hip dysplasia is on the horizon for your pet. The other way is that as they age, looking at hip x-rays can tell you if you have good conformation of the ball and socket joint with a socket that covers about 50% of the ball of the head of the femur. If it doesn't, that is an indication of hip dysplasia. And then over time, they develop a lot of arthritic changes on x-rays that also signal hip dysplasia. Things that you can look out for clinically at home would be that your dog has a bunny hopping gait where their back legs hop at the same time. They might sit frequently on walks. They might be unwilling or unable to jump up onto high surfaces or limping or lame periodically with activity or when they first get up from rising in the morning or afternoon after a nap. So those would be things to look out for at home and to talk to your regular family veterinarian about so that they can get some preliminary diagnostics done and get you some more information."

I decided not to include all of the training techniques in my book because it would be difficult for the general public to understand. Instead, I have a course called Puppies, Are We Teaching the Right Things? that goes over some of those areas that I think are really important for people to know. There's a free preview available.
 
Transcript: "Hello, Dale Ward here, dog trainer and behaviour consultant. The question is, were there any training techniques or advice that you considered including in your book but ultimately decided against? If so, why? There's a lot of information that I like to try and convey to new puppy owners. In my book, I selected the training pieces that went with the stories I told about my dog Wiley. I think it's pretty much impossible to include everything in a book or any other kind of platform that would be easily digestible by the regular general public. I mean, it gets pretty technical and so there's a lot of stuff like that that I think gets left out. I do have a course called Puppies, Are We Teaching the Right Things? Which goes over some of those areas that I think are really important for people to know but that often get left out of regular puppy training. So I'll put a link to the course below, you can go and take a look. There's a free preview there. So that's my best answer to this. I know it's not that clear but again, my book deals with the training that goes with the problems that I was facing as a puppy owner. Thanks, bye."
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Having 3 to 5 bowel movements on a longer walk can be normal for some dogs, but it could also suggest underlying gastrointestinal inflammation, dietary issues, or anxiety/emotional arousal. To address the issue, exploring dietary and probiotic options as well as providing slower paced walks with less emotional arousal may help.
 
Transcript: "My dog will poop 3 to 5 times on a longer walk. The last bowel movement usually is not very solid. Is that normal? I can be normal for some dogs, although having that many bowel movements in that short, a period of time, typically suggest either that we have a dog that's experiencing some loose stools chronically, which might be a dietary issue. There may be some underlying gastro intestinal inflammation, there may be other reasons for that. Or and we may also have an animal that is experiencing a bit of hyper motility or exaggerated speed of movement through the digestive tract because of excitement, arousal, anxiety. Even if we have an animal, that gets really worked up physiologically or emotionally on that walked that can create a bit more of a nervous system response that moves that stool and excrement through the gastrointestinal tract a bit more quickly. Lee. And that allows us then to see that Progressive decline in the actual consistency or form of this duel itself. So, there are a couple of things that we can do there. Definitely exploring some of the, the dietary or gastrointestinal health issues. Potentially probiotics, could be helpful here, but I would also be a little bit more. Curious about the type of exercise that we're providing for this dog. This may be a dog who's going to do better with more of a sniff walk. Where it's a little bit slower paced or on a long line in a quieter environment. For example, if that emotional arousal is more of a trigger for them or is negatively affecting the way that their gut is functioning on the walk. Hopefully that gives you some things to think about, no not completely normal, but it may not require major interventions in order to address. Good luck."

The answer is it depends on the reason for the aggressive behavior. To address the problem, you should hire a qualified dog trainer or behaviorist and may need additional help from a veterinarian or board certified veterinary behaviorist to implement additional behavior modification strategies.
 
Transcript: "All right, so the question is, can my dog's aggressive behavior challenges? Be fixed? And how long will it take? So, the short answer is, it depends. And so, the reason I say that is because there are a lot of reasons why dogs display aggressive behavior and depending on why your dog is displaying aggressive behaviors, going to depend on how long it might take to address or modify those, those behavior issues. And it's important to also keep in mind that it doesn't mean just because Because you're modifying or addressing certain Behavior challenges that you're going to be able to fix or cure those those challenges you might be able to fix those problems, 100%. But you might only be able to modify those challenges 50% 30%. It really depends on the severity of the problem and what those problems are and why your dog displays those behaviors in the first place, in order to help address those problems, you want to make sure to hire a qualified dog training or Of your professional. Preferably someone who works with aggressive behavior on a regular basis. And when dog training behavior modification isn't enough, you might need to seek additional help from your veterinarian or board certified veterinary behaviorist. As, I'll be able to help Implement some other behavior modification strategies including the use of behavior medication,"
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The best breed of dog for children depends on factors like the age and activity level of the kids, and what kind of expectations the family has for the dog. It's also important to provide a safe environment for both the kids and the dog, and teach the kids how to interact with the dog respectfully and gently.
 
Transcript: "Which is the best breed of dog for children. Couple of things to think about here, one is the age of the kids and their overall activity level. Meaning we might be making different decisions. If we're talking about adding a dog to a home with an infant versus a toddler versus a teenager or so on. I also want to know a little bit more about what the expectations are are we looking for a dog to go romping in the woods, on family outings? Or are we looking for an at-home? Sedentary companion? Those things are going to make a pretty big difference. Something else that I want to stress your when we're talking about kids and dogs is that it's not only about selecting the dog that's likely to work well with the family but also providing an environment that is safe for both of them and also working with the kids so that they're understanding how to interact with the dog. Whether that's an adult dog or a puppy respectfully and gently and learning how to read their body language. So that that's likely to be a A ship that lasts for years and years to come."

Anxiety in dogs is characterized by body language and behaviors such as cowering, avoidant postures, hyper-vigilance, exaggerated startled responses, and nervous pacing. Whereas excitement in dogs is characterized by a wiggle, bright eyes, and a forward and back movement pattern.
 
Transcript: "How can I tell the difference between when my dog is excited versus anxious? This is truthfully. One of my favorite questions to answer. Both of those two emotional states can cause an increase in arousal or basically how amped a dog happens to be in that moment, the heart rate goes up, the respiratory rate goes up there a bit more animated. And again, they're more ready to respond so we can see arousal increasing with both of those conditions. However, If we're thinking about anxiety, anxiety, is defined as an apprehensive anticipation of threat, which means that the body language were likely to see is more likely to be those that are, well, things that make, that animal look worried. So we may see why dies or a bit of a cowering or avoidant posture. We may also see the dog being hyper-vigilant or almost Twitchy with the things that are happening around them. We may also see exaggerated Startled responses again, just a nervous, Restless pacing, sort of a sort of a description of body language versus if a dog is excited and we're thinking, more about a positive anticipation of some sort of interaction or activity were more likely to see in those moments, there's going to be a wiggle, there's a brightness in the eyes, there's more likely to be sort of a forward or maybe a forward and back sort of a movement pattern from the animal. Again, the wiggle is Isn't meaning, if we're getting a bend in this spine, kind of at the base of the kind of the hips, or the waist area, we're more likely to see, sort of a loose wiggle to the body posture. That's more likely to be associated with a positive emotional state, as well. So, again, both excitement and anxiety can both cause an increase in arousal. But the emotion, that the animal is experiencing is going to be very different and their body language will likely reflect that as well."