7 Things Pet Owners Do That Drive Veterinarians CrazyBy Dr. Patty Khuly

It’s a tough subject to tackle. After all, veterinarians do plenty of annoying things, too. But this particular post is all about you — well, not you, but the annoying yous among you. Not that most of you deserve this, but some of you just might! So without any further hedging, let me launch into the most annoying things pet owners do.

1. Answer Their Cells
Need I say more? Is there anything more annoying and disrespectful than answering a phone call while your vet is delivering her state-of-your-pet’s-health address? OK, it might be worse if you dug out your phone to initiate a call midexam, but only by a smidge. They’re both just plain rude.
2. Bring Their Kids
I dearly love children (mine mostly, but yours can also be cool), but very young or badly behaved children are an unnecessary liability in a veterinary environment. It’s hard enough to keep pets safe — much less kids. So unless your children are old enough and/or chill enough to hang out in a vet setting, they should probably stay home.
One exception: If your pet has an emergency and you have no one to care for your kids, you are most definitely excused. We’ll understand. Call ahead and we may even assign an employee to keep tabs on them so you can concentrate on what’s wrong with your pet.
3. Let Their Dogs Run Amok
This is not the dog park. And, for the record, retractable leads should remain in the shortest, locked position for the duration of your visit. After watching an innocent human get taken down in the lobby by an overlong retractable line, I decided there should be a law against these in vet hospitals.
4. Carry Their Cat
I've never been able to fathom why some owners insist upon bringing their cats to the vet hospital without carriers. Some will use harnesses, which won’t help them when faced with a truly motivated dog. And, honestly, I’d never blame a dog for attacking a cat in a veterinary hospital environment. After all, these cats are probably giving off cornered prey vibes that some dogs can't ignore.
Remember my post on cats in carriers? Cats are more comfortable in uncertain environments when they’re enclosed.
5. Deny, Deny, Deny
It drives us crazy. These clients effectively employ us to be their experts, then they put up roadblock after roadblock: No, my pet is not fat. No, my pet’s teeth are not rotting. No, he’s too old for surgery. No, her claws are not too long. It’s exasperating!
I can understand why you might (and should!) question your veterinarian about health care issues that are important to you, but why come to the vet if you’re unwilling to have an open dialogue about what your pet needs and doesn’t need?
6. Refuse to Pay
It happens more often than you’d think. Pet owners agree to hospitalization and procedures — and later refuse to pay. Sometimes they say that they forgot their checkbooks. Other times they claim to have misunderstood the payment policy, even though there’s a sign in almost every veterinary hospital in the United States that explains payment is expected when services are rendered. I even had a client cancel her Amex payment after we saved her anemic cat’s life with a blood transfusion.
7. Don’t Follow Through
There’s no shame in admitting that you can’t medicate your difficult cat or trim your unruly dog's toenails. Veterinarians are pet owners, too. We absolutely understand why you might not be able to manage these not-so-simple tasks.

But you’ve got to let us know if you can’t, don’t or won’t do what we say. After all, we have plenty of alternatives to offer. And there are few things more frustrating to a veterinarian than failing to treat a patient who could have been helped if only the vet were able to employ some ingenuity.
Want to give your veterinarian the best holiday gift ever? Resolve to be a more honest, open, conscientious, cat box-carrying, child care-finding, cell phone-shirking client. For my part, I promise to offer you a New Year’s post on my personal mea culpa. It’s a fair trade, don’t you think? That is, as long as I do as I say and follow through.

WHAT BREED OF DOGS ARE CONSIDERED TO BE THE SMARTEST BREED?

Brought to you by Breed Finder

Defining the smartest dog breeds depends on what defines a "smart dog." Is it the ability to wrap people around her dewclaw and get her way, no matter what?
Which dog is smarter, the one that does as he's told and works hard for his supper or the one that cocks her head, looks confused and is waited on because she's obviously too challenged to find her way to her own food bowl?
It's not a simple question. Just as you have book-smart and street-smart people, you have dogs that are smart in different ways. Dogs that we consider book-smart are the ones that tend to learn commands easily--and once these commands are learned, do as they're told. By these criteria, the Border Collie is at the top of the class, and definitely should be considered one of the smartest dog breeds. As a matter of fact, scientists are currently interested in a Border Collie that is considered to be one of the world's smartest dogs.
Some of the other smartest dog breeds are:
· Australian Kelpie
· Poodle
· Beauceron
· German Shepherd Dog
· Golden Retriever
· Doberman Pinscher
· Shetland Sheepdog
· Papillon
· Belgian Malinois
· Labrador Retriever
Breeds often accused of being most likely to be held back a grade include:
· Afghan hound
· Basenji
· Bulldog
· Chow chow
· Borzoi
· Bloodhound
· Pekingese
Owners of these breeds might agree their dogs may not have college futures, but they do have street smarts, and when it comes to getting their way, they're without peer.
The reason for these differences in the smartest dog breeds and "other breeds" is all in the genes.

Or more precisely, the tendency to follow human direction depends very much on what a breed was developed to do in the first place. Of the most trainable breeds, almost all come from herding or retrieving backgrounds, jobs for which the ability to follow human cues is vital.
A good herder must be able to follow the shepherd's directions to move the sheep where they are wanted. A good retriever must be able to follow his handler's directions to locate fowl downed out of the dog's sight, or to avoid swimming into danger. Even lapdogs tend to have an obedient streak, giving them a chance at becoming some of the smartest dog breeds, since they've been selected as companions for generations.
It's easy to explain why some breeds are so obedient, but how can it be explained why some are so disobedient? Sometimes being disobedient, or at least independent, is a job requirement. Hounds and terriers, for example, were developed to trail or chase quarry without human direction; a hound or terrier that checked back with the hunter to see which way he should go would be a dismal failure on the hunt.

Other breeds tend to be disobedient simply because they're less civilized, so to speak. Breeds that DNA studies have shown to be more closely related to the wolf tend to think for themselves rather than rely on humans. These so-called progenitor breeds include the basenji, the Afghan hound, the chow chow and the Pekingese.

Domestication has selected for dogs that have an aptitude for training to a greater degree than typical wolves, which are notoriously hard to train. Yet nobody would ever think of accusing a wolf of being slow-witted. After all, is it smarter to do everything you're told or to make up your own rules?

Most people think they want a smartest dog breed, but be careful what you wish for. The smartest dog breeds need mental stimulation to keep themselves occupied.
If you can't provide it, they can undertake their own projects, which may include various home-improvement jobs, such as pulling up that old carpet, redoing the wiring or rearranging your pantry. Unfortunately, no matter how smart they are, they seldom get past the demolition stage of one project before moving on to the next.
There's something to be said for a dog that's easily entertained.

Want more dog breed info? Check out the Breeds Finder!

PET FOOD RECALL UPDATE MAY

Dear Dog Owner, At your request, I'm sending you this special alert. Late Friday, Diamond Pet Foods announced yet another recall of one of its products. To learn more, please visit the following link:Diamond Naturals Recalls Small Breed Adult Dog Lamb and RicePlease be sure to share the news of this alert with other pet owners. Mike Sagman, EditorThe Dog Food Advisor


Dear Dog Owner, At your request, I'm sending you this special alert. During the past 10 days, Diamond Pet Foods and the Food and Drug Administration have announced a number of product additions and bag code changes to the information that had been previously reported. The recall now includes 14 brands. To make it easier for you to keep up with this ever-changing recall, I've updated my summary to include links to all recall information currently available. To learn whether these changes affect you or your pet, please visit the following link:Diamond Dog Food Recall SummaryPlease be sure to share the news of this alert with other pet owners. Mike Sagman, EditorThe Dog Food Advisor P.S. Not already on our dog food recall notification list? Sign up to get critical dog food recall alerts sent to you by email.


Dear Dog Owner, At your request, I'm sending you this special alert. On May 5, 2012, Diamond Pet Foods announced it had found and corrected an error in the bag code information it originally reported in its Friday night recall announcement. The recall now includes 12 national brands. To help you keep up with this ever-changing recall, I've prepared a special summary with links to all the recall information currently available. Please bookmark this page so you'll have a central place to return to as the story continues to unfold. To learn whether this change affects you or your pet, please visit the following link:Diamond Dog Food Recall SummaryPlease be sure to share the news of this alert with other pet owners. Mike Sagman, EditorThe Dog Food Advisor P.S. Not already on our dog food recall notification list? Sign up to get critical dog food recall alerts sent to you by email.



Dear Dog Owner, At your request, I'm sending you this special alert. On May 4, 2012, Diamond Pet Foods announced it has expanded its recall to now include 9 popular brands distributed in 21 US states and Canada. To learn whether this warning affects you or your pet, please visit the following link:Diamond Dog Food Recall Expands Again Please be sure to share the news of this warning with other pet owners. Mike Sagman, EditorThe Dog Food Advisor P.S. Not already on our dog food recall notification list? Sign up to get critical dog food recall alerts sent to you by email.

PET FOOD RECALL APRIL 2012

Dear Dog Parent, At your request, I'm sending you this special alert. On April 6, 2012, Diamond Pet Foods announced a recall of one of its dry dog foods in 12 US states. To learn whether this warning affects you or your pet, please visit the following link:Diamond Naturals Dog Food Recalled for Salmonella Please be sure to share the news of this warning with other pet owners. Mike Sagman, EditorThe Dog Food Advisor P.S. Not already on our dog food recall notification list? Sign up to get critical dog food recall alerts sent to you by email.

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