Vet Pet Handbooks: Canine Companion Handbook

Hello! And thank you so much for finding your way to my website. My name is Jessica Barker. I graduated as a veterinarian from the University of Calgary in 2016. Since then, I have been practicing veterinary medicine as a general practitioner. I love helping pet owners with their pets – whether it’s a brand-new kitten or a complicated medical problem with a beloved senior companion. I feel very fortunate that I get to be a trusted person who gets to help take care of people’s beloved pets.

I wrote these handbooks so that my clients could access helpful information whenever it was needed. I saw the amount of misinformation and information designed to cause undue stress to pet owners and I wanted to make something that was reliable and factual. The amount of pressure that some people feel when doing something as simple as picking out a bag of pet food is completely unnecessary. I wanted to make a practical guide to help pet owners with every day decisions and health challenges that come up with their pets.

What kind of information is in the handbook?

1. Advice about food – I’ve come up with some basic questions to consider when you’re thinking about what food to buy for your pet. I want you to be able to feel confident in your choice of food for your pet with unbiased and expert advice.

2. How to house train your puppy in a positive and gentle way. This is my section on my advice for the best way to train your puppy house manners in an efficient and gentle manner.

3. What kind of vaccinations and preventative care does my dog need? There is a lot of approachable information about the kinds of diseases that we vaccinate against along with the risks of vaccinating your pup.  Also, what kinds of internal and external parasites you need to worry about.

4. What kinds of activities can I do with my puppy, adult dog, and senior dog? There are a ton of activities you can do with your dog, no matter their age! From snuffle mats to dog parks, I go over which activities are most appropriate for your dog.

5. Scared of nail trims? Don’t know what kind of brush to use? The section on grooming will help you with some of the most common questions I get about how to groom your dog.

6. Basic canine first aid – what do you do if your dog eats something they shouldn’t? What do you do if your dog is choking? Can I put a bandage on my dog? I answer all of these questions and more in the first aid section.

7. If possible, I want to keep you out of the clinic and handle some simple problems at home. And I want to help you recognize serious problems so that you know when it’s time to come in to the clinic for a sick pet appointment.