Hi everybody,
I recently interviewed Julie Bezuidenhout from The Dog Club and wanted to
share valuable insight into our conversation.
Provide a Quiet Space
The first thing she said was that having a calm, confident approach as a pet
owner or a veterinary physiotherapist, having a quiet space to work and
repeating a behaviour that makes the patient feel safe.
High Quality Treats
Secondly, she suggested some high quality treats - always having a good quality
treat to work with and snuffle mat, or a way to get a dog distracted from
something that may make them feel uncomfortable like a snuffle mat, licky mat, a
toy - anything that will give a patient a positive drive.
How to improve patient outcomes
The discussion dove into areas of how we can better improve our patient
outcomes, either as pet owner or a vet physio by creating a safe space for our
patient or pet before we start our exercises, or our treatments. If a dog needs to
walk up a driveway that makes them feel uncomfortable or nervous, getting them
to do a behaviour like a sit repeatedly to give them a calm, safe space with a
command, would be appropriate.
She also discussed with me a type of harness or walking technique, having a
double-lead system, so having a dog on a harness where the lead attaches to the
mid-thoracic area and then a collar with a lead, gives a little bit more control
over the neck region, but also supporting the body. When walking a dog just on a
harness, you don’t have the directional support of the double-lead system. It also
gives you more control and makes the pet or patient feel more safe.
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