It’s that time of year again. The sun is starting to shine, flowers blooming and spiked helmets have been dusted off to prepare for yet another magpie swooping season. Here’s all you need to know to get through the season unscathed! 

Despite what many people may think, magpies aren’t monsters put on this earth solely to terrify the lives of South Australians! They are just using their body language to warn others to keep away from their eggs or newly hatched chicks.

It’s only natural to protect the things we love. Magpies feel the same way, particularly when it comes to their babies. Due to common breeding behaviours, we tend to see a huge spike in magpie swooping from August through October when their protective instincts are in full force. 

It’s actually the male magpies that guard their nests, and they will attack anything they deem to be a threat from the time the eggs are laid until the young birds are ready to take on the world themselves.

So what can you do to get through magpie swooping season in one piece? 

The best thing you can do is to avoid problematic areas altogether. If you have suspicions of a magpie nesting area, try taking another route to get to your destination. Magpies tend to nest in the same spots, so if you were swooped during a previous season, it’s likely it could happen again in the very same location this year.

If avoidance isn’t an option, here are some other tactics you can try to keep yourself safe:

• Swooping birds usually only target individuals, so try to travel in groups
• Carry an open umbrella above your head
• Wear sunglasses and a broad-brimmed hat
• If you ride a bike, walk it through magpie territory or have a flag on the back of the bike that is higher than your head
• Do not act aggressively. If you wave your arms about or shout, the magpies will see you as a threat to the nest – and not just this year, but for up to five years to come
• Walk, don’t run
• Avoid making eye contact with the birds.
• If you know of an area that has swooping magpies, put a sign up to warn passers-by.

Do you have any precautionary tips you’d like to share to help others avoid being swooped this season? Let us know in the comments below! 

Be sure to keep track of recent South Australian attacks, as well as record your own on Magpie Alert.

At Pet Doctor, we pride ourselves on our Puppy Pre-School program and are certain you and your puppy will love it too!

Held within our Woodville clinic, you can rest assured that your puppy will undergo training in a safe, disease free, and professional environment. We use the training methods and techniques developed by Adelaide’s only Veterinary Behaviour Specialists, Australian Veterinary Behaviour Services’ (AVBS) program, to ensure you are provided with the latest and most current resources and information for your puppy.

Held weekly on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, our four week program aims to:

• educate owners on socially responsible pet ownership;

• teach owners about normal and abnormal puppy behaviour;

• teach owners a humane training method to assist them in training their puppies;

• allow puppies to socialise in a safe and controlled environment;

• allow puppies to accept gentle handling by humans other than their owners;

• teach puppies good manners;

• assist owners in solving issues such as housetraining (toileting), mouthing (biting), jumping up and chewing;

• encourage further training such as dog obedience; and

• encourage the puppy to be confident, happy and comfortable at the veterinary clinic.

On top of these positive outcomes and a bunch of freebies, you will also receive a recorded presentation and digital training handbook to provide you with the tools needed to continue teaching your puppy these valuable skills in your home both during and after the course has finished.

Puppy Pre-School at Pet Doctor costs $100 for the four week program. Puppies must be between 8 – 14 weeks of age and up-to-date with vaccinations, worming and flea treatments in order to attend. Due to Covid-19 distancing regulations, class sizes are limited to five puppies per class with only one owner able to attend.

For more information or to book your puppy into Puppy Pre-School, please contact our clinic on (08) 8268 6777 and speak with one of our friendly Nurses today!

During the late Spring/early Summer season grass seeds are rampantly on the loose. They can cause extensive and very frustrating problems to you and your pooch. Grass seeds can lodge themselves into your dog’s paws, ears, eyes, genital areas and noses causing major discomfort and inflammation and the longer they’re left untreated the worse they can get!

Due to the sharp tips of grass seeds, they can easily penetrate into your pet’s bodies very quickly. This means the grass seeds are near impossible to fall out or remove themselves once they have become stuck. In fact, they continue to burrow making what we call “sinus tracks” which form surrounding abscesses. These infections through the body can cause pain, swelling and usually lead to your pet requiring exploratory surgery in attempt to find and remove the seed!

1. Paws/Feet/Toes: swelling on the foot, often with a ‘weeping’ hole, excessive licking or chewing, pet being severely irritated by this area.
2. Ears: shaking head or scratching ear, painful to touch ear, yelping, usually an acute onset.
3. Eyes: squinting or rubbing eye, swollen eye with or without discharge, sometimes the eye will stay closed to maintain some form of comfort.

Grass seeds can usually be easily removed depending on their location and how deep they’ve penetrated the skin. Many dogs however, will require sedation or a general anaesthetic to allow exploration of the seed, especially if the area is painful. If the grass seed is left for a long period of time it can cause greater complications, such as travelling up your dog’s leg between tendons and ligaments, even up to the shoulder or the groin!

The most critical thing to do is get your pet to the Vet ASAP!!!

How to prevent grass seeds from harming your pets:
• Keep your grass and weeds under control at home with regular maintenance
• Avoid long grass when on walks
• Keep long haired/fluffy dogs groomed, especially around their feet and ears.
• Inspect your dog all over after each walk, making sure you check in between and under all toes and underneath the ears

A clean pet is a happy and healthy pet! If you suspect however that your dog has been a victim of a grass seed, please don’t hesitate to contact us for a check up and further help!

Every year dogs all around the country suffer from heatstroke and in some cases can even die by being left alone in the car during our Summer months.

Though it may seem like the easy option to leave your pet inside your vehicle while you quickly duck into the shops, you can put your dog at serious risk and even cause a horrible death.

Dogs are only able to cool themselves down by panting, which can cause them to overheat and exert themselves leading to sustaining possible irreversible brain damage and deadly heatstroke.

Again, while you may be tempted to take your dog to quickly run errands, we would like to spread awareness about the potential dangers involved in leaving animals in your car for even a very short period of time. Even with windows open, it doesn’t take much for your pet to overheat.

It’s always best to leave them at home inside where there is sufficient air flow and even better, air conditioning.

If you have any questions or concerns please contact us at Woodville on 08 8268 6777 or West Lakes on 08 8353 3600, or visit www.petdoctorvet.com.au.

Just like how humans catch the flu, dogs can very easily catch a highly contagious infection known as ‘kennel cough’ otherwise known as Canine Cough.

Canine Cough causes a dry, repetitive, choking cough and fever which can be followed by sneezing, runny eyes and nose. In some cases, bringing up clear phlegm and sometimes mimicking a choking motion.

It is extremely contagious and can have long periods of incubation.

The most common places for dogs to contract kennel cough are places like doggy daycares and parks.

The team at Pet Doctor have seen a rapid increase in patients coming into our clinic with kennel cough over the past month and we would like to spread the awareness to ensure your pet is safe and vaccinated. We can reduce the risk to your pet by making sure you’re up to date with vaccinations.

Vaccination is the key, however, your dog can still contract it if there is a known outbreak.

Is your pet up to date with their vaccinations?

Contact us to book an appointment.