Mondays are my days for catching up on paperwork or doing emergency consultations. It is also the day that my veterinary clients know they have a good chance of finding me in. So it was this particular Monday when the phone rang. It was Richard, head of a veterinary practice at the edge of my travelling range. He wanted to talk through one of his cases, Otto the Vizsla. Otto lived on a beautiful estate with his owners, Helen and James, and another dog, a Lurcher called Clyde. Both dogs were rescues. Nine-year-old Otto had been with Helen and James since he was a year old and they were his second owners. Helen told me later that when the previous owners arrived with him, Otto had been sick in their car and he was dragged out and hit. Helen decided then that he was not going back with them. Since Otto has been with them, Helen and James have never had any problems with him, though he is a very sensitive dog. They do travel a bit but have a housesitter who moves in while they are away or they use a friendly kennels nearby……. to read the article in full click here.

So there I was, sitting at home on the sofa, jotting down a few notes for this article, when one of my dogs looked at me with her big brown eyes, pleading to join me. How could I refuse? Up she came and we enjoyed each other’s company on the sofa. After a while, I set off towards my study, to type up my notes. I left my dog snoozing on the sofa, and walked around my other dog, who was lying in the middle of the floor, catching the last rays of sun beaming through the patio door……..to read the article in full click here.

It was a dark winter evening when I visited Susan McAvoy and Safi, a three-year-old spayed Jack Russell Terrier at their flat in central Glasgow, which they had shared since Safi was purchased at eight weeks old. She was a gift from Susan’s son and apparently a very active puppy indeed, though pretty well behaved. Housetraining was successful, she had been taken to puppy classes, and had enjoyed two walks a day in the surrounding countryside, where there were lots of rabbit burrows for her to investigate………click here to read the article in full.

Just as I sat down at the end of a busy day, the phone rang. “My vet has given me your details. You are my last hope. My husband won’t put up with it anymore and I love my dog…” After 45 minutes on the phone, we arranged a meeting. Melanie bought Florrie, a Cocker Spaniel, at 10 weeks of age. Compared with the rest of the litter, she was very timid. Despite this, Melanie and her husband, Ted, decided to take Florrie. Melanie and Ted have a very busy household with four children of their own, one of whom is very gifted musically, and two foster children, one of whom is physically disabled. Just after Florrie arrived, Melanie’s mother suffered a stroke and Melanie became her full-time carer. Plus, there’s a constant stream of visitors to the home, such as physiotherapists, speech therapists, doctors, nurses and music tutors – not the ideal home, perhaps, for a shy Cocker……….to read the article in full click here.

Sally, a 15-month-old German Shepherd Dog, was referred to me for help with two problems: aggression around food and aggression directed towards strangers visiting her home. While Sally was eating, she would tense up, growl and eat faster if someone approached her, and she had once nipped a family member who reached for her bowl. Sally enjoyed her food, but she was underweight and the vet could find no physical cause……..to read the article in full click here.