Exchanging with other professionals for your dog

To help your dog in his/her development, I appreciate teamwork, you, me, the other professionals who take care of your dog. At times, some refuse to share with me; and they have the right not to. At times, I myself am uncomfortable talking to some; I will take it upon myself each time because I put the interest of the dog and his/her home before my ego. I won't lie : there are individuals that really bite in the dog world. They gossip, they stab each other in the back, they despise each other, they speak ill of each other.

Still, in my eyes, it is essential to communicate with each other. You don't just call on one professional; very often, several types of professionals take care of your dog: trainer, veterinarian, walker, boarder, breeder, groomer, shelter carer, specialist in a particular activity (agility, mantrailing, etc.). Depending on the context, each person observes your dog differently.

It was important for me to get educated and understand each person's occupation so that I did not encroach on theirs, so that I did not risk causing bias when I ask them questions or share my observations with them.

Let's consider the veterinarian

Even though I have some knowledge about the influence of health on behavior, and vice versa, I do my best to remain objective and only share information that falls within my own expertise. Recognizing my limitations is for me a pledge of integrity and humility towards the professionals I speak to and who place their trust in me. My suspicions and doubts are not medical certainties.

Let's imagine your dog suffers from asthenia

What I would convey for example: demonstrates lower energy than usual; increased latency to respond to known requests; pauses in both requests and sitting every x minutes; owners have observed increased sleep time; growls at mealtimes.

If I were to pass this information on to the veterinarian (with the owners in CC), I would expect him to investigate a possible health issue.

If I were to pass this information on to the care boarder, I would expect him to adjust the daily life in his place and let me know as to how the dos is.

I refuse to direct observations and investigations, each professional having knowledge of their field, their own experience and therefore their own skills. It is the work of the team, the collaboration of all professionals together, which assists the home at best.

If I compare with asthenia in humans, it can be caused by :

a lack of vacation, a bad management of the timetable, an emotional overload, insomnia, pregnancy, low blood pressure, auto-immune disease, depression, anemia, etc. The list could be very long.

However, if I dare to say to a human "You are suffering from that" while his situation does not come within my skills, while I do not refer an appropriate professional, I am likely to tip him badly.

It is likewise for dogs.