the benefits of wet prescription diets

It might not be essential to offer our pets variety but of course most of us want to be able to do so. While many people make the choice to buy a vet recommended dry food, some pet parents buy a wet food that was not recommended to top up their pet’s meal. If your pet has an established medical condition and is on a Prescription Diet™ recommended by your...

what to do if you find an orphaned joey

Australian marsupials begin rearing their pouch young in springtime. Many marsupials breed in winter with the joeys getting to a reasonable size by spring because the weather is warming up and food is preval...

the benefits of breed specific nutrition

Each breed has unique nutritional requirements with different outcomes on their health and wellbeing. So when dinner time comes around, ask yourself, are you feeding your cat or dog a food that’s made specifically just for them? Breed Specific food, such as Royal Canin’s range are made with ...

why is my dog eating grass

Most dog owners will have seen their pets eating grass from time to time and, at some stage, the majority of those dog owners will ask their vet why their ‘carnivorous’ pet is indulging in this uncharacteristic b...

should my dog sleep on my bed

Let Me Sleep on it – by Tony Knight Dog Listener Throughout my life with dogs, there have been times when I have shared my bed with them – as a child, my cocker spaniel Sandy would sleep on – or sometime under – my bed on a regular basis. As a grown-up I have on occasion slept in the same room as my dogs, either in hotels on our travels around Eur...

changing dog food the right way

During my time as a vet I’ve seen balanced fresh meat diets make a huge improvement in everyday dog health and help prevent and reduce a multitude of l...

taking control of the walk

Want to know how to stop your dog pulling on the lead? You need to take control of the walk If you can remember your first driving lesson, hopefully you weren’t taken into the middle of a busy city at rush hour. In my case, my instructor took me to some quiet roads with little or no traffic so I could begin to learn the controls and rules. Only when he felt I ...

what should i feed my senior dog

Aging is not a disease, but as dogs age they become more vulnerable to disease. Because aging is progressive, the point of time when food change should occur is arbitrary. Smaller dogs generally live a lot longer than larger dogs, so food change for a small dog maybe around 10 years , whereas a large breed dog at 5 years. Each individual though should be tr...

how to stop dogs peeing inside

TO PEE OR NOT TO PEE During a talk near Sydney man once told me about his dog peeing at home. I asked him how old his dog was. “11 weeks”, he replied. My first reaction was to advise him to calm down. Just as babies wear nappies in case of accidents, puppies should be given the benefit of the doubt. Of course, there are key times when a pup ...

healthy things to add to your dogs food

Since I first became a practicing veterinarian more than 25 years ago I have been passionate about improving pet health and longevity through the use of natural diets, treats and supplements. I suppose you could say it’...

what does chocolate do to dogs

It's hard to believe that chocolate – a delicious treat beloved by humans – is one of the most common causes of canine poisoning. That's because chocolate contains a highly toxic (to dogs) chemical compound called Theobromine, which is similar to caffeine and acts as a cardiac stimulant, causing cardiac, lung, kidney and central nervous system dysfunction disease in...

puppy biting how to nip it in the bud

Images courtesy of Kiwi NZ - Flickr If you have ever noticed pups playing, there are times when one will start to tug on the ear of another until it hears a yip. This is a sign to say "Tha...

help! my dog is not eating

One of the questions I receive most frequently from dog owners is "my dog is not eating, what can I do? Generally we tend to think of dogs as good eaters. Put anything in front of them, no matter how stinky and unpalatable-looking and they’ll wolf it down. Not everyone is fortunate enough to share their home with a ‘good eater’ however, and if your do...

how to stop dogs from stealing food

A common question I get asked, is how to stop dogs from stealing food? When I was a child there were plenty of public information films designed (it seemed) to scare the bejesus out of us. One of them showed two young children pretending that they were drinking a fizzy drink, only they were doing it out of bleach bottles. The slogan was “Keep Bleach Away from Children...

food aggression in dogs - biting the hand that feeds

We have all heard this expression, but where does it come from? Chances are – surprise surprise – it comes from our relationship with dogs. I have worked with dogs in the past with all kinds of eating disorders, but the one that causes the most distress is food aggression in dogs. Some owners have come unstuck trying to take bones from their dogs while others (in ex...

how to stop your dog from jumping up

With Christmas just around the corner, and with the iminent arrival of friends and relatives, it might be worth asking yourself, does my dog jump up on your visitors when they arrive? If your dog does display this aggressive behaviour when people come calling, check out this short clip to find out how to deal with this situation safely and calmly. ...

coprophagia - poo eating in dogs

One of the more unpleasant and off-putting habits of many dogs is coproghagia, or eating poo. Usually it is simply one of those disgusting, but relatively common, things that any dog (and many other species) may engage in. It's not abnormal for dogs to eat poo – whether it's another dog's poo, cat poo, or the faeces of another herbivore such as a possum – and this b...

can dogs eat raw eggs

There are a lot of myths and misconceptions around the dangers of feeding dogs raw eggs. When talking pet nutrition I think it's always helpful to look at what our pets' feline and canine cousins do in the wild. Dingos are just one of the species known to eat raw eggs (emu eggs in this case) in the Outback which to me suggests it's a perfectly natural feeding be...

how to get rid of fleas and ticks on dogs

Australia may have a reputation around the world for dangerous animals that cause harm e.g. spiders, sharks, snakes and Mitchell Johnson, (as an Englishman I have noticed the recent rise in attacked by the latter!). However, as the warmer wea...

how to stop your dog barking

Let me start with a quick story... Our senior Danish Dog Listener lives in Copenhagen. Down her street, every single house has been burgled, with one exception. That house is the one with Karina’s four Doberman living there. Now, I don’t know any burglars (I am not a ne’er-do-well) but I imagine that there are very, very few burglars who, upon seeing four D...

why does my dog eat poop

A poopular question I get asked as a dog listener is 'Why does my dog eat poop?'. One of the consequences of our unconscious humanising of dogs is that we forget that they have their true nature. We may have introduced them into our homes – the term "domestication" refers to this rather than any notion of taming – but they still think in the same way as th...

tony knights top 5 dog behavioural questions

As a regular on our Facebook page, Tony Knight, has been answering your questions on dog behaviour for well over a year. The participation from the entire community has been stellar, and you have collectively helped each other tackle some very difficult issues regarding dog behaviour. We have had a look through the archives where Tony has handpicked the best 5 qu...

interview with a veterinarian

Dr Joanna Paul is a small animal veterinarian from Melbourne, Australia. After graduating with honours from the University...

how often should i feed my dog

The question of 'how often should I feed my dog?' is one of the most common queries I get asked at my Vets All Natural clinic and many variables must be taken into consideration when making decisions on this aspect of your pet's care. ...

five tell-tale signs of poor pet nutrition

Pet nutrition is a hot topic in pet-owner circles and how you feed your pet effects much more than your animal's weight. Poor pet nutrition can have an impact on your pet's skin, coat, joint health and even behaviour. We all want to do the best for the pets in our lives and ...

separation anxiety in dogs tony knight

Hi folks, welcome to this, the first of a regular series of blogs in which I share the easy and calm way to solve all kinds of problem dog behaviour that you may be experiencing. In my years as a Dog Listener, I have travelled the world and met all kinds of dog with all kinds of issues. Perhaps the dog training issue that I have to deal with the most is s...

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