SPEAKER_00: 0:09

Welcome to the Absolute Dogs Text in a Squirrel podcast. I'm Lauren Langman. I'm one of the world's leading dog trainers, and it's my mission to help owners become their dog's top priority. In each episode, you'll discover how to gain trust and communicate with your dog like never before, creating unbreakable bonds that make you the most exciting part of their world. Okay, vet visits. Some people are tearing their hair out. Alice, I know you went through a fairly long rehab and some pretty stressful vet visits. I also know a lot about taking your dog to the vet and having the best vet experiences, and only recently had another one. And I'm thinking the first thing I love to do, and we're going to share some tips here, I love to take a video of my dog beforehand. So actually I can almost preempt and show the vet what I need them to see. So I'm not trying to traipse a dog up and down the corridor to show them. And I know this sounds awful, but I'll take a picture of dog sick, I'll take a picture of dog's poo, I'll take a picture of a dog limping, I'll take a picture of hopefully a dog not limping, but maybe shuffling a little. What do you think, Alice? And what have been some of your experiences?

SPEAKER_01: 1:27

Oh, definitely. And actually with video, not only can that prepare your vet if you need to be on your way and you're going in, but actually we've had it with some of Bonnie's surgery recovery where it's actually meant that she didn't need to go in because we could actually send a video of her movement, send photographs of how her wound was healing to the vet that was good enough that they didn't need to have her come in. So that's obviously much less disruption and much less stress for Bonnie and for everybody involved. Because yes, like we've we've done quite a bit sort of with our vets whilst Bonnie had a lot going on physically, and she's a naughty but nice dog and was far more naughty than nice back then. And and so one of my tips would be don't make it more challenging than it has to be. So we've got to remember that if our dog is in any pain or discomfort, then that's already going to be filling their bucket. So I just think do both of you a favour and you grab those easy wins where you can find it. So like for us, that looked like thinking, well, do we have to go into the waiting room or can we wait in our vehicle before it's time for us to be seen? And actually, do we even have to go into a consulting room or can we be seen outside? Because how we've been able to advocate for Bonnie and what's been best for her is us be able to kind of wait outside to be seen and then actually be seen either in the car park or one of the vet practices near us even has a back garden. It's fenced off and completely secure. So Bonnie could be offly rolling around in the grass whilst the vet was observing her and talking to me and Chris. So that was a far better experience and a far less bucket-filling experience for her than if we had gone the conventional route of having her cramped in the waiting room and then in a confined space with a stranger, we would have probably been looking at a bit of a different picture for her.

SPEAKER_00: 3:15

And I think right down to saying your last goodbyes to a dog, everything's personal, everything is most of all up to you and your dog. But for me, I have had my dogs um put to sleep at home, I've had them put to sleep in the arena, I've had my dogs say goodbye to them on the field, um, where they're in their daisies. For me, as as sad as it is, it's actually a happy ending when you see um how maybe people go or you you watch a traumatic death. And so for me, vet visits from your puppy's first inoculation, maybe uh depending on what route you you take, and right through to saying goodbye to a dog, you really get to have a say. And I think this is something people don't realise that you do get to have a say. And I'm thinking about one of my my late dog Tokyo, I was injecting him for, well, the vet was injecting him for an anaesthetic, and they were putting him to sleep for a scan. So he was having a scan on one of his muscles. But we did it outside, and we did it through um playing games with him standing and focusing forward on something, and they would inject him. And in that moment that they injected him, he then got to trot out of it and move forward and then go for a little wander and then go to sleep on my lap and then me take him in. And so for me, I think these are things that we don't realise. And I think that in 10, 20, 30 years' time, I really do, and I truly hope this that we will do VET better, right? Like we will be VET better and we will think about the practicalities versus maybe the comfort. And so, whilst it might be convenient to drop your dog in at 8 a.m., for my dogs, I don't want them going in and sitting for three hours at 8 a.m. I want them to go in when they're going to be an ether ties, and I want them to come home as soon as they can because I feel that I'm the best person to advocate and to look after them in those situations, and I don't want them stressed. Actually, quite often the vet will call me to take a dog home like classic. She is making a noise, and so quite quickly they're returning anyway, which I think is great because it does make me giggle. But I think there's so much that we can do to prevent unnecessary stress and also to really look after our vet too, because actually, when our dogs are calm, then our vet is going to have a better experience as well. And I'm thinking, just like you said, the video, and I'm gonna give an example of the video with an intermittent lameness, you often won't see it. The whole point is it's intermittent. And so to be able to take a video before you go to the vets and catch that dog doing that move movement or that interaction or that thing, whatever they did, I think is actually quite useful and quite good to be able to give them as much information as you can, but in a way that's very, very tangible for them to actually diagnose and use that forward. Uh, similarly, if a dog has been sick or got diarrhea, you might want to be logical again to take a sample of it, but also take a photo of it because things like mucus or blood or how much liquid or how much um I know some people are like, oh my god, she's talking about poo. Yes, she is. I think when people get to see that, you can you can do a lot with that information, whether that's sampling and testing, or whether it's actually this has blood in it, this could mean this. And I'm thinking recently I experienced a dog having a pymetra, a closed pymetra, which would mean that really you've got between 24 and 48 hours to get that dog seen and and looked after. And after that, that dog will likely die. And that's a healthy dog can go from healthy to to die in in 48 hours. And so if you do miss things like actually, this dog has thrown up and it's not it's a little bit lethargic, and you might just think, oh, she's eaten something bad, you can miss so many things if you're not really in a good space and having a good relationship with your vet, because this could be they send them home with a tummy bug. This could be they send them home with the typical like meds for like looking after probiotics, prebiotics, and off they go again. And so for me, I just think the more that we can almost stay curious to skill ourselves up as owners first, then the bet the more the better. And I'm not saying that we we become vets. What I am saying is how skilled can you be to help your vet give them all the information that that you possibly can because most vets are GPs and they also only have 10 minutes for you. And in 10 minutes, it's simply not long enough sometimes to ask all the questions, and you can miss the potential information if the dog is stressed or if the dog is barking, lunging, reacting, and maybe not doing all the things. And I I'm a massive advocate and believer in leave the dog in the car until you're ready to actually bring the dog in. Tell the vet the symptoms, tell the vet the show them the video, give them the poo sample, give them the wee sample, um, ask them if if blood's irrelevant, let them know everything you've seen, and at that point bring the dog in, or show them the video of the dog if you know the dog's gonna be stressed. And I really believe the more we stay, I suppose, educated ourselves and empowered to advocate for our dogs, I really believe the faster the outcome and the fix for the dog. And my example was my little dog was sick in the lunchtime. By the evening, we had her at the vets. That evening they went to send her home. I said, please don't send her home, scan her, ultrasound her first. They ultrasounded her. They found a closed pyme, which is very, very severe and dangerous in a dog. Uh, they operated on her three hours later, she's out of the operation. They said she'll probably be in here up to 48 hours. The next morning they rang me and said she's bright as a button, she can come home. And so for me, that's the outcome we want. Not that dog's been sent home. That dog goes home and potentially has a uterine sort of eruption and potentially will die from the toxins that are released into the body. Like that for me is is horrific. And yet it can so easily go that way if we don't have the open communication with our team effectively, because you, your vet, your physio, your friends, the people who care for your dogs, your partner, we're all part of the same team. And and I suppose for me, I really believe that on the whole, as owners, we can sometimes do better. What do you think, Alice?

SPEAKER_01: 8:56

Definitely. And and like you say, you know, we're not all gonna sort of have veterinary knowledge, but like you say, it's how we try and communicate in the best way possible to our vets to let them get the job done. And and sometimes time is of the essence, like you say, with with with the condition you've just spoken about, that I think one thing that we can think about doing is actually learning canine first aid. It's sort of a nice sort of step to take in to be a really sort of vigilant and responsible owner, to be able to kind of know what we're looking for and to know kind of some of those things that we can do to help in the immediate situation whilst getting to the vet as soon as possible and having, like say, whether it's whether it's samples or whether having kind of managed to stabilize a situation to some degree to actually get that dog to the vet in a timely and in the best way possible. So I think that's that's that's a really good thing we can do. And actually, like, because I I really like the the absolute dog's first aid course. I did that a little while ago, and it covers a lot of different topics that you kind of you hope you're never gonna need, but having that knowledge is is you know could be crucial one day. But also one of the things I've done actually, because I, you know, I'm not, I think in the moment, if you are having a bit of a panic or maybe there's a bit of a stressful situation, I don't necessarily trust myself to be able to recall all the right information in that moment. So I just I've got the booklet printed out and in the vehicle so that whether we're at home or whether we're out anywhere, it's easy to hand. And I've got a first aid kit there as well. So that whether we run into trouble with Bonnie or maybe another dog that, you know, it's another dog owner having some trouble if we're out somewhere, you know, we can at least offer some help and hopefully, you know, there'll be a better outcome than without it.

SPEAKER_00: 10:44

I love that badge. And uh for me, one of the things I love most, the first aid badge, if you haven't checked it out, it's on our Absolute Dog store. It has the most mega, mega, mega reviews. And when I say that, what I mean by that is we have had a minimum of 10 emails over, well, since since it was released saying this badge saved my dog's life. Like that for me, it gives me like a big old, like like that's impactful, that's meaningful, that's something that has had like a massive effect on dogs worldwide. It saved dogs' lives. So if you haven't checked it out, go and check it out. It's a first aid badge, it's on our website. And I really believe that there is so much we can do to help the vet experience. Now, if we think about the vet experience itself, I know that you talked about using a muzzle and how important that was, Alice, in your journey. Do you want to share a little more on the muzzle?

SPEAKER_01: 11:35

Yeah, so one of our sort of first vet experiences with Bonnie was sort of quite early after we got her, and she developed this limp. So we went to go and get that investigated. And we were sort of ushered into the consulting room, and and obviously Bonnie needed to be examined, and you know, it's clear that she was in some discomfort. And it was good that we actually had some some muzzle training, we'd done some some of that already and and had a muzzle, suitable muzzle for Bonnie to wear, because she was really not in a happy mood at all and really not feeling very good. Her bucket was well and truly full. And I think that without the muzzle, there's a very good chance that there could have been a bite incident that was certainly, you know, sort of lunging and sort of barking and sort of snapping one point where I think if the muzzle hadn't been in place, then the vet might have had a really horrible day. Um so yeah, it's it's some really, really crucial things to sort of train for the situation because ideally you don't really want the very first time your dog is asked to wear a muzzle to be in a situation where their bucket is already full and they're already having a really kind of horrid time, you know, you don't want to risk having a negative association with that item. It's much better if you can play those games in advance and you can train for a situation. And maybe your dog might never ever have to wear a muzzle, you know, but but if whether it's a veterinary situation or whether it's for, you know, sort of travel restrictions and you know whatnot, whether maybe a muzzle might be required or even sort of breed legislation. If you can create a positive association and positive games with it with a muzzle, then you're gonna be in a much better situation.

SPEAKER_00: 13:18

I love what you said about um breed legislation because we don't know when that comes in. We don't know at any point that that could change for our dogs. And the other one for me, traveling abroad with my dogs, like little blink having to wear a massive muzzle. Um, you know what? She has no need to wear a muzzle, and yet that's the legislation. So in that country, I had to wear a muzzle with her. In other places, I've had to wear muzzles where we've been in universities and we've been lecturing, we've been teaching. So there have been lots of experiences where we've needed to wear a muzzle. Now, just like you said, Alice, there are so many reasons to do that before the vet visit. You don't want to be doing that the first time at the vet visit. How did you condition a muzzle with your dog Bonnie? And then how did that first experience go when you actually needed to use it? Because you did need to use it. And like you said, uh, if you hadn't have prepped, then then it could have been the whole Henry Ford moment, fail to prepare, prepare to fail. Actually, you had prepared, it went really well, and actually it kind of saved her her opportunity of potentially life because she was about to go in for fairly major surgery. So, so yeah, what's some of your tips for training a muzzle with a dog like Bonnie?

SPEAKER_01: 14:17

Just make it fun. Like, you know, it's don't really even think about it as a muzzle or what that might be for. You know, just um think about it as like as a game of, you know, sort of when they pop their nose in here, then a good thing happens, a reward happens. Some really well-designed muzzles where you know you can actually still deliver a food reward whilst the dog is wearing the muzzle. So like definitely kind of keep keep a lookout for that sort of thing. Unless it's like an anti-scavenge muzzle, then that would be a kind of a different reason for it, I guess. But but we had one of those. So it would really just start as any kind of interest or looking at the muzzle, any kind of movement towards the muzzle, just a yes and a and a reward. And actually, you can even reward a way to release release that pressure. So then the dog is more likely to then actually kind of ping and orient back naturally. I think of it almost like orientation game a little bit, but just kind of with kind of, oh, look, this this item is interesting, this item's rewarding. And then, you know, just kind of gradually building those criteria as the dog is showing you that they're comfortable with that, so that it doesn't need to ever be forced, it doesn't ever need to be a high pressure thing. And and it's really useful, like whether it's in in the vets or or whether it's been when we actually started to introduce Bonnie to some dogs that belong to a friend of ours, you know, she's a dog that's got history with with reactivity with other dogs, it's definitely something we didn't go into lightly and we wanted to take slowly and do safely. So whether that was just you know, walking at a distance and uh, you know, having and having Bonnie with the muzzle on, you know, just meant that everybody was karma because there was sort of just minimal, minimal risk of of anything going sideways. And you know, and and it it's just it's just a good kind of thing, a good skill for your dog to have, uh, should they ever need it or should it ever be needed, just even as a safety net.

SPEAKER_00: 16:09

Absolutely agree, 100% agree. So, my final thought for vets, vet visits, dogs, and vet visits would be guys, you are amazing owners. Prepare yourselves, prepare your dogs, do the work. And the work doesn't need to be difficult, the work can certainly be fun. I know my work is on a day-to-day basis. Most of all, you are your dog's very best advocate. And I know that you can do better by them each and every day when we grow with games like this. How about yours, Alice? What would be your final tip or final thing that you'd like to share with any of our owners when it comes to vets, vet visits, and taking their dog on these experiences and I suppose adventures?

SPEAKER_01: 16:51

Um, like I say, we mentioned the canine first aid course already. I definitely do that if you can. But also, if you're in Games Club, go looking for the games that are going to help you train for the situation going to the vet. So, you know, we're looking at kind of, you know, in general, things that might build calmness, things that might build optimism, you know, and playing around with those sort of like pressure and pressure release sort of games, so that you can train for them having a physically physical inspection. You can make that into a game at home that you play with your dog first before they ever need to maybe have an inspection from a from a vet. But yeah, so I mean, I I love things like DMT, just is just a universal game for everything. Reward anything, even things like you know, some a bit of like the collag game or something like that. You can see how all of these Games Club games are transferable to a vet visit situation. And it's better to have learnt those games and learnt those skills before you need to use them in that situation.

SPEAKER_00: 17:50

Amazing, amazing stuff. So happy vet visits, and most of all, owners know that your dog is very lucky to have you talking to Alice. I feel huge gratitude that she is Bonnie's owner, and I bet Bonnie feels that too. I know that you guys, as your dog's guardians, are going to do the very, very best by them, and we're here to support you every step of the way. Share this podcast, like this podcast, love this podcast, give it to your vet, give it to a friend, give it to someone who you know needs to do more and can do more, and really just wants to share the learning. We'll see you next time.