Mutt Matters

17/10/2026

03/10/2026

It's finally out after months of iterations and hard work (though more from the AVS secretariat than us haha).

Hope this brings a new wave of changes and uplifting of standards in our dog training industry in Singapore.

But psst... when will we see the light of licensing huh? (I was so tempted to ask the Minister just now). Even our real estate agents need a licence to practise, u know? 😉

03/10/2026

Media coverage of AVS' launch today of the new Code of Animal Welfare for Dog Trainers.

Happy to be part of the Workgroup in making this possible.

Hope this helps to uplift the standards of dog training industry in Singapore.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1NErg2GcVG/

从业不足一年的训犬师，在训练客户的狗儿或与客户沟通相关事宜时，须由至少有一年经验的训犬师监督。

25/06/2026

Rex after his sedation today for the CT scans.

We trained very hard for his consensual blood-draw, but no training in the world prepared us for this amount of distress an animal goes through with the confusion and loss of control of their own body during sedation 💔 (another reason I adamantly refuse to have our fearful dogs on Acepromazine at the vet; but that's another story for another day 😪)

Follow along to see the journey of Rex and how I trained him as a Professional Dog Trainer to regain trust in strangers, male vets and being in the consultation room again, and to consent to blood-draws without physical restraint!

Yes you heard me right.

You do NOT need to hold your dog down at the vet, even to do something so aversive as a BLOOD DRAW. Even if your dog is aggressive towards strangers or have had a bad experience before at the vet.

Just ask Rex!
...
Dog training at the vet.
Training a dog to consent to blood draws without physical restraint.
Cooperative care for dogs.
Force-free dog training
Stress-free vet handling

25/06/2026

Because of him having diarrhoea, I decided to postpone his GA and procedure last week, hence today we are coming back to the vet again for the BIG DAY.

Today's Rex's day of Examinations (I reckon this level of difficulty is akin to PhD lor) after the past 10 sessions of training for this procedure.

Scroll through the videos to watch the entire procedure of Rex at the vet doing the multiple blood-draws, sedation and how he handled the unexpected stressors that came his way during the process.

It's possible to do blood-draws WITHOUT physical restraint on our nervous and bitey dogs with past negative associations with vets, strangers and being in the clinic.

Rex is here to tell you so!!

Scroll to our past FB posts to see the journey of Rex and how I trained him to learn to trust strangers, male vets and being in the consultation room again, and to consent to blood-draws without physical restraint.
...
Dog training at the vet.
Training a dog to consent to blood draws without physical restraint.
Cooperative care for dogs.
Force-free dog training
Stress-free vet handling