What am I doing in the near future?
Wellness programmes at the workplace are now common. Research shows that the wellbeing of employees improves productivity, reduces absenteeism and presenteeism.
Workplace wellbeing also increases employee loyalty and retention. Furthermore, employees value a caring employer and so it benefits recruitment.
Dogs are part of the family and caring employers are introducing pet benefits such as Paw-ternity leave, pet bereavement leave, flexible use of compassionate leave, and ‘bring your dog to work’ days.
I am in discussions with organisations that want to go the extra mile about offering dog problem related behaviour webinars for employees. The initiative also guarantees access to me within 7 days of instructions with some organisations helping employees meet the costs of a behavioural consult.
It’s a wonderful perk for all those working at these organisations and well done for having such pet friendly wellbeing initiatives.
If you feel your organisation might be interested, please do reach out to me.
Case of the month
I was approached by a gentleman (C) regarding various behaviours exhibited by his dog, a Border Collie (BD) aged 9 years – a relatively shy dog.
C wanted three behaviours modified. Firstly, BD was ignoring C whereas previously she used to listen to him. C attributed this to BD having become stubborn. Secondly, BD was increasingly becoming regularly startled in the home. C felt she might be scared of him.
My suspicion was that BD was suffering from congenital deafness. . A Brainstem Auditory Evoked Response (BAER) Evaluation confirmed the veterinarian opinion. It was a relief to C that in the veterinarian’s opinion BD was not suffering from cognitive dysfunction. This deafness was the chief reason for BD ignoring C – she simply couldn’t hear him. The deafness was also the chief reason for BD being more readily startled. She often couldn’t hear C’s approach.
Other Dog News
DOG INJURIES
Dog owners injured while walking their pets could be costing the UK NHS about £23m a year, new research reveals.
Researchers found women made up three-quarters of the injuries and 31% of the cases were in over-65s.
In addition, the researchers – writing in the journal Injury Prevention – found that broken fingers were the most common injury.
The researchers said: “While finger fractures were the most frequently reported injury, the cost analysis in this review focused on wrist fractures due to their substantial economic impact. We estimated the potential annual cost of dog walking-related wrist fractures in the UK to exceed £23m.”
The researchers added: “Preventative measures, including safer leash practices and public safety guidance, should be implemented to reduce injury risk.”
They also recommended enforcing proper dog training to minimise the chances of pets hurting their human companions, as well as teaching “optimal dog walking practices”.
DOG LAW
There are over 20 pieces of legislation that apply to dog ownership in Britain. The breadth of the legislation and litigious nature of society that a whole industry of specialist ‘dog law’ lawyers has arisen.
The legal industry does not merely restrict itself to incidents involving a bite but ventures to advise on a whole host of potential matters including the law on abandonment of dogs, breeding contract issues, boarding kennels and day care issues, failing to pick up dog excrement, noise nuisance from barking claims and legal issues involving dog walkers, groomers trainers. As an overview, the legislation covers the following areas:
1. Animal Welfare
2. Control of your dog at home, someone else’s home or private property.
3. Control of your dog in public spaces including around livestock
4. Dogs and Roads / traffic accidents
5. Identification dealing with microchipping and ID tags
6. Lost and Found and Stray Dogs.
7. Dog breeding and selling.
8. Dog Kennels and boarding. This area of dog care covers Dog kennels, Home boarding, Day care for dogs and Professional dog walkers.
9. Banned Dogs for example, XL Bullies