Useful resources for common questions

[Veterinari]

Hi all hope nobody minds but I thought it might be helpful to have a link to some reputable dog info (as we all know the internet can be a bit of a minefield!) and these resources are both reputable and helpful to both prevent an treat problems.
Find a behaviourist:
www.apbc.org.uk/help/regions
Free online course about dog and cat behaviour And what your pet needs
www.coursera.org/learn/cats-and-dogs
General dog and cat behaviour:
www.apbc.org.uk/articles
Buying a puppy
puppycontract.rspca.org.uk/home
Puppy socialisation
www.thepuppyplan.com
Dog needs and Training
www.dogstrust.org.uk/help-advice/
Child-dog interactions and bite prevention:
imnotamonster.org/any-dog-can-bite/
doggonesafe.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/tip-of-day-supervise-kids-and-dogs-be.html?m=1
mobile.liamjperkfoundation.org
www.doggonesafe.com
m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMszZOQAqfuVriBrbJxQdGzeoIq0d_G22

[LumelaMme]

Great idea.

Dog food:
www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk

And perhaps slightly off-topic, but interesting for anyone finding out more about breed health:
In depth info on dog health and genetics:
www.instituteofcaninebiology.org/blog
And for dog-nerds, some of the latest dog science:
cgejournal.biomedcentral.com

Is it also worth putting together a book list?

[Frenchfemme]

Great idea. I am sure I have seen somewhere a list of plants that are harmful to dogs and cats - maybe a link to that would be useful if someone knows where it is? Sorry, not being lazy, but have limited capacity on this device.

[Veterinari]

Brilliant Lumela thanks

[LumelaMme]

My pleasure, Vet

For when the dog gets at the real Maltesers, rather than the sort the rabbits produce...
chocolate toxicity meter

Did you mean this one, French?
www.dogstrust.org.uk/help-advice/factsheets-downloads/factsheetpoisonoussubstances09.pdf
Though to be honest most dogs, even puppies, tend not to ingest too much of the garden.

[CornflakeHomunculus]

Buying a puppy/finding a breeder/responsible breeding:

Guide to buying a puppy

Questions to ask your breeder

Guide to responsible breeding - written by the AKC but it's still relevant to anyone breeding, wherever they are)

Recommended health tests by breed - good as a starting point but doesn't always have the most recently developed DNA tests, for those I'd look on Laboklin, Animal Health Trust and Antagene

UFAW - Genetic Welfare Problems in Dogs - reasonably in depth explanations of common heritable and conformation related issues in dogs

Understanding the Coefficient of Inbreeding

Novice breeder checklist

Puppy Culture - the absolute gold standard of puppy raising


New puppy owners:

Congratulations on Your New Puppy - collection of useful articles covering toilet training, crate training, socialisation, etc.


Debunking "dominance theory":

Why Won't Dominance Die?

What's Wrong with Using 'Dominance' to Explain the Behaviour of Dogs?


Nail trimming:

Cutting Your Dog's Nails: How Important is it Really? - the answer is very

Nail Maintenance for Dogs - excellent supportive FB group


Reactive dogs:

CARE for Reactive Dogs

B.A.T. 2.0 Overview


Random interesting stuff:

It's Not "All in How You Raise Them": The Role of Genetics in Behaviour - I'd recommend Dr. Jen's Blog as a whole, there are some excellent articles on there all written by a veterinary behaviourist

Dog Colour Genetics

Understanding Different Dog Tolerance Levels

[Veterinari]

Brilliant thanks Cornflake I'll have a good nosey through some of those

[BLUEsNewSpringWatch]

Are there any good links about dog body language?

[Wolfiefan]

Brilliant thread. Thanks. Having wanted a certain breed for years and years (see name!) I finally got a pup last year. Despite a couple of years of research and reading and meeting dogs and owners it has been a VERY steep learning curve!
And the number of daft comments on here about finding a pup or rescues or training. Etc etc. thanks.

[Veterinari]

Blue

The child-dog interactions links above go through body language of dogs and the coursera online course also includes on it

[Mcakes]

Just found this thread via the 'dog bit toddler' thread yesterday. Wat a great idea to put resources in one place.

I have this video to add. A clear demonstration of dog body language when interacting with humans (very informative - promise no disturbing scenes).

It is fab one to show kids. My young nieces and nephews have all watched it with me, have tried it out on my dog and taken great pride when they find they can read the communication signals correctly.

The woman has a very, ummm, distinctive voice but what she says is spot on :)

[LilCamper]

Any way we can get this thread made sticky?

[LumelaMme]

I was wondering about book recommendations too...

[Veterinari]

Thanks Mcakes - great video

Books wise I'd suggest
In Defence of Dogs, John Bradshaw
Decoding your Dog, By a number of AVMA veterinary behaviourists

[LumelaMme]

Perfect Recall by Pippa Mattinson - very clearly laid out.
Structure in Action: The Makings of a Durable Dog by Pat Hastings

[pigsDOfly]

What a brilliant thread. Sorry nothing helpful to add but just wanted to say that.

[Twooter]

www.dogstrust.org.uk/help-advice/dog-behaviour-health/sound-therapy-for-pets
For fireworks fearing animals

[Goingtobeawesome]

Great thread

[Queenofthedrivensnow]

Thank you so much for this thread loads of stuff for when I can't sleep!

I read about the all about dog food thread on mn when my spanner puppy seemed to struggle with all food - used it to identify a reasonably priced gluten free food - aatu - we have had solid poo for a year and a dog glowing with health - amazing!!

[CornflakeHomunculus]

Mental stimulation:

Canine Enrichment - FB group with endless great ideas for brain games and other types of enrichment you can give your dog at home

[CornflakeHomunculus]

Beyond the Bowl - another FB group for enrichment ideas, this one geared mostly towards finding interesting and stimulating ways of feeding dogs

[CornflakeHomunculus]

Hannibal Newfoundlands Puppy Protocols - a great breakdown of the sort of lengths an excellent breeder will go to in order to make sure they're giving their puppies the absolute best start it's possible for them to have in life

[CornflakeHomunculus]

Romanian rescue dogs:

All You Need to Know About Romanian Rescue Dogs

A Step by Step Guide to Adopting a Romanian Rescue Dog

Getting it Right for Your New Romanian Rescue Dog

A really useful little trio of articles and obviously a great deal of the information is applicable to any overseas rescue.

[CornflakeHomunculus]

Dog Walking Fields - a site that lists secure, private fields available to hire for dog walking.

[Thingvellir]

I just came onto the doghouse as we are at the very early stages of thinking of getting a dog and the very first thread is an absolute goldmine of information! I haven't read the thread or links yet but can see this is full of so many resources for me to start properly considering this - thank-you all!

Off to start my research

[CornflakeHomunculus]

I've been in touch with MNHQ as I noticed this thread had disappeared from the top of the Doghouse and apparently it can no longer be a sticky thread

Bumping it constantly is the only option for preventing it becoming lost more and more pages back so I'm going to try and keep it bumped with relevant useful and interesting links as much as possible.