World Rabies Day September 28th

September 28th is World Rabies Day. This is a day set aside to promote awareness, education, and work to promote the eradication Rabies world wide.
At Royal City Animal Hospital, we are committed to informing our clients and the public about the threat of Rabies, and what to do to prevent the spread of this deadly disease.




Get the Facts about Rabies by checking out these links:
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs099/en/
http://www.cdc.gov/rabies/
http://www.wormsandgermsblog.com/articles/diseases/rabies/

10 Life-threatening Behaviour Myths in Dogs: #7

Myth # 7:  If you use treats to train a dog, you will always need them to get the dog to obey your commands.

The principles that govern the laws of learning have shown this to be completely untrue.  Treats are an excellent means of reinforcing a behavior. Clear and consistent reinforcement is necessary when you initially begin teaching any animal a new behavior.  For some animals, a vocal reward, toys, or petting may serve as good reinforcers, but food is for many animals the most salient reinforcement there is.

courtesy of Shutterstock

The rules of learning show that when first teaching a new behavior, reinforcing every single time the behavior is performed on cue will lead to the fastest rate of learning.  This is known as continuous reinforcement.  Once a behavior is learned, intermittent reinforcement is the best means of maintaining the behavior and making it most resistant to extinction.  This means you only need to use treats periodically once the behavior is learned,

People who believe that an animal is not responding because it knows there is no treat available have usually failed to use reinforcement appropriately or don’t realize that the pet has actually not learned the behavior.  It is common for pet owners to think that an animal has learned a command long before it actually has!

FACT:  When used correctly, positive reinforcement training with food rewards is far more likely to be effective and has less chance of doing harm than most other forms of training.

stay tuned....another myth coming soon

Did you Know?

Did You Know.....

On average, cats spend 2/3 of every day sleeping. 

That means a 9 year old cat has been awake for only 3 years of its life.1

Midnight - taking one of his many cat-naps

10 Life-threatening Behaviour Myths in Dogs: #6

Myth # 6: He must be angry with me.  He knows what he did wrong.

Many dogs show submissive behaviours when their owners arrive home.  These behaviours of tucking the tail, lowering the ears, avoiding eye contact, and slinking away do not mean “I am sorry” in dog language.  They mean “Stop acting angry at me.”  They mean that the dog has learned to associate the return of people to the home with the presence of feces, garbage, or other destroyed items on the floor. The dog is not angry – he is afraid because n the past when people arrived home and these things were on the floor he was yelled at or hit.  Even if the dog was not yelled at or hit, the angry body language of the human is clear to the dog and the dog still learns to feel fear when people arrive.  Punishment in these circumstances does not teach the dog anything (except to fear the arrival of people).  The dog is completely incapable of associating any punishment with the behavior he performed minutes or hours before.

FACT:  Dogs do not eliminate on the floor or destroy items out of spite.  The most likely cause of the behavior is anxiety or lack of appropriate exercise and stimulation (or incomplete house-training).  Rather than being angry at your dog, seek help from a professional.  Your dog is suffering.

                                                           STAY TUNED FOR ANOTHER MYTH....COMING SOON

Midnight has found a home

After months of searching, and waiting.....

our little man "Midnight" has finally found a family to call his own. 

We couldn't be happier for everyone. 

We know that he will be very happy with them, and they will enjoy his company as well. 

We are confident that Tucker and Midnight will become fast friends. 

Charity Dog Wash - Update

Our 3rd Annual Charity Dog wash was held this past weekend (Sunday Sept. 9th).
The Charity we chose to support this year was the Autism Dog Services.
In addition to bathing, and nail trims, we also held raffles for prizes, a photo booth, nail polishing station, as well as guess the staff pet match up games.
With the support of the community and our many sponsors, we were able to raise over $700 for the Autism Dog Services organization.  Thank you to everyone who came out.

10 Life-threatening Behaviour Myths in Dogs: #5

 Myth # 5: "Dogs that are aggressive are acting dominant."

While some dogs truly exhibit dominance aggression, they are much rarer than the popular media would have you believe.  The problem with outdated dominance theories is that they result in the recommendation of confrontational styles of training based on the erroneous belief that owners have to physically dominate their dogs.  Not only is this dangerous, but it is usually ineffective and has resulted in damage to the human - animal bond far more often than it has led to success.

FACT: Most dogs with aggression problems are anxious or afraid and are more likely to respond to reward-based training under the supervision of a qualified animal or veterinary behaviorist.

            Stay tuned for another myth....coming soon