Hello and welcome to Pet Chat. We have a line available right now. Steph, welcome to the show. You've phoned in from Maitland and you have a question for Dr. Kimberley Earle in regards to essential oils. Yeah, I just, obviously being this time of year, I use my diffuser a lot around the house. I always thought that eucalyptus oil in a diffuser was okay, but then I read somewhere the other day that it's possibly not. It can cause irritation for dogs and other pets also. But yeah, I just wanted to sort of find out about that. Yeah, so in a diffuser, that's going to be probably okay in most cases. We will certainly see some dogs that will still, you know,
be sensitive to it and it may come out as itchy skin or rashes, things like that. They've actually found that eucalyptus oil can be quite irritating for respiratory epithelium. And so the days of, you know, people running, rubbing eucalyptus and Vicks VapoRub and those sorts of things on baby's chest, that's not recommended at all anymore because it tends to make respiratory problems worse. So we don't certainly recommend it in that context. I think what we need to be careful of is more the pure essential oils, if it gets tipped over or something like that, if the dog drinks it or gets their hand, you know.
not their hand, but gets into it as a more pure sort of essence. I think the diffusers themselves are probably not a major drama, but just be careful about watching your own dog for any signs of irritated eyes, runny eyes, anything like that, or skin sensitivities. Yeah, okay, cool. Thanks, Steph. Thanks for the call. Thank you very much for that.
Appreciate it. 49216216. We do have a free line. If you've got a question for Kimberly, well, that's good to know because I put Vicks on everything. I was just wondering, I'm like, do they actually have Vicks Vaporub in Australia? Is that my Canadian memory? No, I love it. They don't, certainly they don't recommend it on children and babies anymore because the smells can actually, not the smells, but the vapour that they're breathing in can actually cause more harm to the respiratory epithelium. Gosh, I've been putting it on my son's chest every night. It's passed down from my nen. I know. It's like one of those old home remedies, but they don't actually recommend it. It can actually make things worse. So I used to do it or I used to have it when I was a kid. My mum used to put it on us and I like the smell of it. But yeah, apparently it makes things worse.
worse. And yeah, I think you just need to be very careful with it. Okay, very good advice there. Well, see, you learn all sorts of things here on Pet Chat, don't you, about pets? And also I take a few tips away for the kids as well. Yeah, your face, Sarah, when people say, uh-oh, I'm doing something really wrong. I know, because I use it pretty much every night because Max gets a blocked nose. And I go, here we go. Let's go to Dawn in Mayfield. How do you stop a 12-year-old dog urinating all over the house? Oh, welcome, Dawn. That's a tricky one, isn't it?
Don, have we got you? Oh, yeah, tricky. I don't know whether that's the right word. I wouldn't call it tricky. Is it a male dog or a female? Yeah, it's a male dog. A male. I know I have a female. Okay. And so the problem is he's just urinating. He's just suddenly started urinating all over the house?
Yes, I have looked after him before, and he hasn't done that. So sometimes I'm finding a large puddle, and what I've been doing is I'm wiping it up and then spraying vinegar there, thinking that would neutralise it. Yeah, no, vinegar doesn't work, unfortunately. If you've got urine in the house, you're going to have to go to the pet shop and buy an actual odour neutraliser, like a pet urine one, because vinegar will cover up the smell for you and I, but it won't get rid of the protein-based pheromones in the urine from the dog. The dog will still smell it over top of the vinegar. So you really need to get an odour, sorry, a urine neutraliser. So it's not your dog. You're looking after somebody's dog. I'm looking after him, and I'm going to be looking after him for quite a while.
while fortunately fortunately the floor that he's doing it on a timber yeah except there is one large mat in the room and he's done a few on there yeah and it's like i sort of get the impression that he's saying i'm the top dog around here would that be the case it's possible if there's another dog around i guess in in older dogs we're always concerned that there could be an underlying urinary tract infection as well but i think you know if it looks like he's urine marking like he's you know marking up on corners and and vertical surfaces things like that then it certainly might be more of a of a territory marking sort of thing um yeah it's a little bit a bit of a hard one but i would definitely start with getting an actual urine cleaner um making sure that you're taking him out to the toilet really, really frequently. And, you know, sometimes he's new to your house this time, you know, obviously you said you've looked after him before, but it is possible that he's picking up something from the other dog and just sort of trying to put some scent around. So making sure that he's going out to the toilet frequently, you know, treat him a bit like a puppy. If he hasn't gone out to the toilet, then put him somewhere where, you know, he's not going to just have free roam of the house so that he doesn't mark up, you know, more important surfaces. But yeah, if you've got the option to get him checked over by a vet, wouldn't hurt. Definitely need to get some proper urine remover.
So would I be wise to collect a bit of adherence before? Yes, if you can. Yeah, if you can. So a nice, we talked about this before, using a nice clean and dry takeaway container. Get that up underneath them if you can catch them in the act.
I'm not using a saucer. Not using a saucer. Yeah, something that's got a bit of an edge on it. And yeah, then just collect that and they can have a look at it. It's less likely in a male dog than a female dog. But in older male dogs, we will still see problems sometimes with the prostate or the bladder, things like that. So it's probably worthwhile getting checked out. And then, you know, if that all checks out, then we can always look at things like crate training and stuff like that. Even some anxiety, you know, some pheromone therapy through the house with adaptal sprays and things like that or collars to help reduce anxiety through the house. And how good of a dog minder are you, Dawn? Not even your own dog and you're going to these lengths, you know, and issues.
whilst minding, so hats off to you. I'm known as Mrs Telstra dog friend. People come to me when they find a stray dog. Dawn, do you know where this dog lives? Oh, that's beautiful. Well done. Let's go to David now. David, you're in Weston. You've got a dog with a sore claw. Yes, she's probably dislodging one of her claws on her front. Okay. And do you think is that coming from the torn nail, the one that was torn, or is that just coming from her nails generally?
That's coming from the torn nail. So is there still a bit of nail left over top of the quick, is there? Yeah, so normally with those, we need to get that nail off. They're quite painful, actually. If you can imagine having a hangnail in the side, and every time you touch it, they're quite sore. But they also will continue to bleed. It won't heal until we get that nail off. So you'll want to pop her into your local vet. They may need to sedate her, depending on how much of the nail is still attached. I had one of these last week, and it was a big dog and a big claw. And we only had about a third of the claw still attached, but we couldn't get it off without causing the dog significant pain. I couldn't get a hold of it and pull it. So we need to sometimes sedate them and then pull the rest of that nail off.
clean them up, sometimes pop a light bandage on them, and then sometimes they'll require a short course of antibiotics to prevent a nail bed infection as well. So if you can, I'd pop her up. She's not likely to have any, you know, significant life-threatening blood loss, but they can be, you know, a bit tricky and painful. Yeah, they're uncomfortable and they can lead to sort of other problems. And you've really got to prevent her from licking at it as well. So she'll probably need to wear, you know, a cone of shame bucket, something along those lines to prevent licking. All right. Thank you very much for the call, David. It's a pet chat on too when you are. We're just discussing nail kits in the break, which is Kimberly's nails are beautiful. And for a vet, because you've been using them all the time. You just don't expect them to look so good. It's my one little, like, vice.
towards real femininity is I like to have my nails done. They're short. Guilty pleasure. Because I have to be able to scrub for surgery. You do them at home. Cheryl and I hear going, oh, too hard. But they look gorgeous. I digress. Sharon, hello. Welcome to the show. You're in Picolbin. Now, you've got a question or a concern about your dog. Yeah, my little dog's only about eight months old. And she's always had this. So I just wonder whether it's something normal. She's a Westby. And on the end of her tail, she has like a small fist about two millimetres long. It just sort of fits out.
A little bit to the side of her tail, so she's got a little crooked bend on the very tip. Okay. Is it fluid-filled? Well, it's fairly hard. She doesn't like it pressing on it. But, you know, it looks like it's got a bit of a yellowy top. Okay, that's interesting. Around the edge of pink. Yeah, is she chewing on it? No. Can she reach her tail? She's a Westie. Can she reach her tail? I don't think so. No. And you said she's only how old? Eight months. Eight months. And she's always had that? I think so, yeah. Yeah, listen, I mean...
There's lots of different things that can happen on the ends of tails. We can certainly get, yeah, you can get cysts, you can get scar tissue. You can, you know, we sometimes will get dogs that will have an injury that, you know, the mother chewed off the tip of the tail and they've got a bit of scar tissue there. We can get, we certainly can get dogs that will have sort of pathological chewing on the tail and they can, you know, cause a little scabby sort of bit. If it's not sort of scabby and it's just like a little pink, you know, sort of nubbin of non-haired skin there, we could have a little defect in the tailbone, the little bone there and just the skin sort of grown over the top of it. So it sounds unusual, but probably not particularly serious unless it's bothering her or she's, you know, sort of chewing at it or.
if it's changing the appearance of it. If you're worried about it, pop her into your local vet and just have them. Nobody's mentioned anything as she's gone through her vaccinations or anything like that? No, no, no. I did hear that her breeder did mention that she broke her tail when she was being born. When I sent a photo of this to the breeder, she said, oh, no, I don't know what that is. Okay, yeah. Broke her tail when she was being born. Sideways bend on the very end of her tail.
Yeah, well, if I had to guess, I would say that she may have, like, a little either bend in the caudalmost tailbone or maybe there was a little fracture there and that maybe you've just got a little bit of, you know, skin that's had a bit of scar tissue form over top of that, something like that. Sounds a bit like it, yeah, especially if she's had some sort of a tail trauma early on in life. Okay, thanks so much. You're very welcome. Thanks, Sharon. Okay. Yeah, just wanted to get on the tail end of it, so that's very good. Thank you, Sharon. 49216216. We've got a free line for you if you've got a question for Kimberly today.
We might have a quick look at our dog of the week. We've got to introduce Noodles. Now, Noodles is a rescue dog that would be for you if you are really wanting a rescue dog to become part of the family. Now, Noodles is very sweet. She's a medium short-haired border collie kelpie cross. It's quite big. Yeah, it looks border collie size, maybe a little bit bigger. It's hard to say, but medium size for sure. Is it a sheep? She's a sheep. Oh, I'm sorry, Noodles. He looks like he's about 20.
22 kilos in that neighborhood. He's got a bit of a Jack Russell looking face. So you think he's going to be a little bit little, but no, he's not because he's not. Look, he hasn't had the best start to life. He is very timid around humans. He has come from a place where he's used to a lot of other dogs though, but he hasn't really been shown how to be a pet. So if you would like to take on noodles, he would need a family with lots of time, a lot of patience, just to show him that humans can be trusted. And I'm sure once he gets that trust, he will really come out of his fur. You can see him trying to trust his foster family. He does smile. He wags his tail, but he is one of those dogs at this point in time that he can retreat and feel a little intimidated if you get too close or he's just not sure. So he's building.
more and more trust every day. But that's something if he's one years old, so that's something that can be built, Kimberley, in a one-year-old dog once he gets settled into a home. Yeah, I think he's definitely going to take some work and some socialization to humans and human settings. But it sounds like he's really good with other dogs and he's happy and playful that way. So we just need to work on teaching him how to thrive in a human world. And trust people. Look, he loves food and treats, so that's not going to be a problem. He is learning how to walk on a lead, so he's still practicing that. So that's something that's coming. He loves playing with his foster brother, the Border Collie. So if you did have another dog, that would be fair.
Fantastic for him to play. You need a good-sized yard. Obviously, sleeping in a kennel to feel safe. However, once he's bonded with a family, he can be welcomed inside as well. So, look, he's a very sweet, lovable boy. He is ready to go to a family that wants a dog and is ready to give him some love. So, if you're in that situation and you might be able to give Noodles a forever home, please head to our website, tunurfm.com.au, and click on Dog of the Week. Now, Cheryl, today we've got a chance to get to your topic. You've got a fabulous brooch on, a gorgeous lady with a gorgeous dress, but she's got her head up in the air, and behind her is a puppy dog that seems to be jumping up on her. It is. Now, look, when we get a puppy, we need to make sure that we're fitting that puppy with a dog.
a good little collar. The first collar has got to be lightweight, not too heavy because when you put that collar on the puppy, it's going to protest. It's not going to like it at all. So it's going to be scratching at its neck, maybe rolling on the ground, doing all sorts of things. So when you fit that collar, don't expect that you're going to put the lead on it and go for a walk because we have to acclimatise the puppy to the collar before we add the lead. Now, another thing when you've got the puppy, the puppy's going to grow. So make sure that the collar is lightweight and that the collar also has its details on it. So the pet's collar on the collar, it could be embroidered, its number for contact or a little tag, but make sure that hardware is not too heavy.
want to get the puppy used to the collar first up and then doing that after say a couple of days you can start introducing the lead. Now the lead also needs to be lightweight at first, nothing with heavy hardware that's going to pull that dog's head down and a lot of books and on the internet will say put the lead on the collar and let the puppy run around with the lead on to get it used to it. And I think that's an absolute no-no because it can actually traumatise the dog. Often puppies will run around chairs and tables and things like that. And if the lead gets wrapped around the chair legs, the chair is going to fall and it's really going to frighten the puppy. So it's something that we need to be really mindful about. When we are fitting that collar in the beginning, also we need to make sure that we're doing it in a positive way, that we're not sort of being clumsy and trying to fit it and freaking the dog out because quite often the dog is feeling a little bit anxious as you're trying to put this clip on. So just making sure that it's all done in a positive way, that you're giving treats, you're talking with a nice high pitch, that the puppy's feeling really happy about it. It is something around the neck. When you stop and think about it, it's not a comfortable thing to have any...
thing around your neck when you're not used to it. And the other thing is with a puppy, you want to make sure you can get one finger down in behind that collar. You don't want it too tight and not restricting. So the puppy does have to be comfortable with it. It is going to be a little bit, you know, sort of foreign to the puppy to begin with. So it is going to be acting up a bit about what is this thing on my neck and it'll be scratching at it. But once we get the dog over that, that's accepted the collar, we can then start going for a walk.
With my brooch, it sort of says this lady is not paying attention to her puppy. This is something that we need to do. When we're first introducing the lead, we need to be watching our puppy. Now, sometimes we put the lead on and the puppy has no idea what it is. You know what you want it to do. You know you want to go walking, but the puppy's going, what's she got this on? Don't drag the puppy along. If it's not walking, you need to get down lower with maybe a little squeaky toy or some treats and encourage the puppy to walk forward. Don't have that resistance that the puppy's not understanding. So those first outings, it's not time for you to catch up with the friends and have a coffee and walk. It is really work for you and the puppy to get to know each other and training.
Full attention on that dog. Very much so, Sarah. And even if you don't, it's not the intention of going walking. It's just getting the puppy used to the lead, to that tension that's there. Also, when you're walking your puppy, you need to get the puppy into that happy moment. Like, you know, we are walking and we are doing this. But that high tone of your voice, plus the little squeaker or the treat. So making it all a really positive experience. Yeah, sure. Also, when you've got your puppy, you want to make sure your leash is going to be the control measure that you have when you start going out and about. You don't want your puppy pulling ahead of you and racing out. You want the puppy alongside of your leg. So on your left-hand side is the correct side for you to walk your dog on.
Very good to know. If you're going out to go to obedience or if you're going to start showing your dog or anything you do when you come to see your groom or your vet, usually your dog is taken on the left-hand side because that's considered the correct side to walk your puppy. So when we're walking our dog, if we have the dog on our left side, it's very quickly going to pick up how we walk and what we do. So the minute we step off, the dog's going to learn, oh, when she moves that leg, I go forward. But you don't want your puppy going across in front of your legs because that becomes a trip hazard for you and you're not in control. You need that control, paying attention to where your puppy is. So if you get your puppy to sit with a nice food reward and then tap the side of your leg to move off, it's going to get the puppy's, oh, she's...
moved her hand, there's a noise, and she's moved her leg. So that's that early training, which is really important. And Cheryl, you'd want to be doing that to begin with in a non-high volume traffic area, because you don't want all the other distractions which are then to come, which are quite confronting as well for the puppy when there's other dogs, noises, people on bikes, you know. Yeah, absolutely. Well, you do want them to be experienced to that, but in the beginning, just in a yard is fine to do this, just little walks. It doesn't have to be something that, just a short session, upbeat, all happy, so that the puppy's understanding that the leash is something good. But when we have the leash on, sure, you're in control, but something positive is happening. But a lightweight leash to begin with, and then you can move on as the puppy gets old.
because quite often people buy really heavy leads and collars, and that's not good for the puppy. You know, they get these studded collars. You've seen this, obviously, Kimberley. You see this from time to time. It's really important to get an age-appropriate collar and leash for your puppy.
get something cheap. And then when they're older, get something fancy and big and heavy if you want once they're adults. So do we put the lead around the collar? I thought the harness was the way to go now. Or is there still debate about that? Listen, I don't usually recommend harnesses for puppies. It is better if you can teach a puppy to walk on a leash. Oh, okay. So the collar around the neck. There's not that there's anything wrong with the harness, but you don't have the same level of control. And what a lot of people do is they default to the harness when they don't have good control of the dog on a leash. And they feel that, well, the dog is pulling and therefore if I put him in a harness, I can pull back harder. And that's true. But what do we do with horses and oxen back in the day? We put them onto big harnesses so that they can put all...
weight of their body and all the weight of their muscles of their shoulders into that to push or to pull a wagon so if you're going to put your puppy in a harness they're going to have all that extra body strength so it's actually the wrong thing to do for a dog who's really strong at pulling is to put them into a harness because it just means you're going to have to you know hold on to them and they're going to be a lot stronger moving forward now there are some exceptions there are front attachment harnesses there are no pull harnesses and we certainly do recommend those in certain cases but I think if we're talking about you know you've just brought home your new puppy let's look to try to get them used to having a collar on and walking on a leash and what you know what Cheryl is saying is start really small in fact I wouldn't even take them out in the backyard to start i would start can you get them to walk from point a to point b down your hallway or from you know the entrance of your door into your kitchen you know just start really really small positively encouraging them every little step you might for some reluctant puppies you might have to like treat them every second or third step to encourage them to teach them that actually walking on this leash you know having this thing dangling beside me or you know attached to me is a really good thing so it's it's definitely work leash training um is don't expect your puppy to know how to do it we know yeah we haven't got the message through to them the other thing is on the harness i find that puppies in harnesses there's no actual um they tend to roll the harness rolls on the door
So there's no direct connection. So I think that using a collar is much better. And when you think of show dogs, there's no show dogs being shown with a harness on. They're all just with their slip lead over their neck and they've been run around the ring. So all that gets back to is early training. So you need to get that training in straight away and don't develop that habit of letting them pull you on lead, stopping all of the time, restarting, but making it positive, just giving a good verbal and rewards. Some great points there. And would you believe that's it for Pet Chat today?
It went by fast. It did go very fast. Thank you for everyone that's given us a call. Just a reminder as well, you can always email in questions if you don't get a chance to call. You can do that at 2NURFM.com.au. Click on the Pet Chat page. Cheryl Shaw, Kimberley Earle, thank you both so much. Thank you. Pet Chat, it is back same time next week. Thanks for listening to this podcast from 2NURFM at the University of Newcastle. You'll find them all at 2NURFM.com.