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Going To The Dogs

By |2013-10-08T05:00:16-04:00October 8th, 2013|Categories: Dog training, Helping fearful dogs|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

Theories abound on what dogs need in order to be happy and successful pet dogs. Happy may be subjective but successful means they remain in the home they find themselves. Some will suggest they need love, leadership, dominance, training, etc., and definitions of each will vary from person to person. But the one thing we know about dogs is that they are social animals who ...

Tipping the Scales

By |2013-10-06T16:54:03-04:00October 6th, 2013|Categories: Dog training, Helping fearful dogs|Tags: , , , , |

For dogs without fear-based challenges it may only take one introduction for the dog to feel safe with you. For others it might require a dozen, and for another hundreds. This is likely the reason many fearful dogs are able to be ok with their primary caregiver(s). There are enough repetitions of positive interactions to tip the scale in their favor. We can't know how ...

Take It When You Can Get It

By |2013-09-29T14:12:12-04:00September 29th, 2013|Categories: Dog training, Helping fearful dogs|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

In November Sunny will have lived with us for 8 years. He has remained wary and afraid of my husband for those 8 years. There are likely a variety of reasons for this. John is a man, dogs tend to be more afraid of men than they are of women. Early on in their relationship there were several events that scared Sunny, quite literally sh**less ...

Packing Up Their Toys

By |2013-09-24T10:01:27-04:00September 24th, 2013|Categories: Dog training, Helping fearful dogs|Tags: , , , , , , , |

There was a blog post going around recently that could have easily been parody as serious. It was written by a volunteer trainer at a shelter who was declaring he was never going to volunteer at an animal shelter again because of his recent experience at one. The reason for his defection? Were dogs being mistreated? Were the conditions gross and unsanitary? Were too many ...

Fostering Success: Do No Harm

By |2013-09-21T12:16:37-04:00September 21st, 2013|Categories: Dog training, Fostering Dogs, Helping fearful dogs|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

Food toys are a great way to show a dog a good time The most important role a foster caregiver can play in the life of a dog in transition is to ensure that the dog, at the very minimum, does not develop new fears, concerns or reasons to distrust people. Every dog in the rescue system would have a unique tale to ...

Fostering Success

By |2013-09-18T12:10:36-04:00September 18th, 2013|Categories: Dog training, Fostering Dogs, Helping fearful dogs|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

Giving a dog an interim home while they are in the rescue system is a kind and generous act. Few who do it seem to realize how important the role they play is. It goes beyond providing a safe and comfortable place for a dog to reside while a permanent home is sought for them. Though they are not pack animals, dogs are social animals. ...

Wasting a Good System

By |2013-09-07T11:09:26-04:00September 7th, 2013|Categories: Dog training, Helping fearful dogs|Tags: , , , , , |

Every organism on the planet needs to behave in particular ways in order to survive. For some the behavior is more complex, for others it might be moving in one direction with their mouth (or whatever it is they have that allows nutrients in) open. Even microscopic organisms will change their behavior based on whether or not they are reinforced for a particular behavior. They ...

Is Food Really the Problem?

By |2013-08-25T15:40:00-04:00August 25th, 2013|Categories: Dog training, Helping fearful dogs|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

Guess what these dogs are looking forward to getting? From the comments I've been hearing and the stuff I've been reading on the internet one would be inclined to think that the use of food in training poses great problems or risks. I cannot think of one conversation I've had with a trainer who laments that their clients reinforce behaviors with food too ...

Assume They Bite

By |2013-08-22T08:27:53-04:00August 22nd, 2013|Categories: Dog training, Helping fearful dogs|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

Even a "good" dog has teeth. During his early time with us Sunny never growled or lifted a lip toward me or my husband. No one was more surprised than I was when he landed a bite on my neighbor's calf when she was walking in front of our house. I soon learned  from other, more experienced fearful dog owners, that there was ...

Fixing What Ails You

By |2013-08-09T07:59:59-04:00August 9th, 2013|Categories: Dog training, Helping fearful dogs|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

It seems that many of us go through our lives trying to make something better or fix something that we hold responsible for our troubles. Years ago I was traveling with a couple of friends. One an ex-housemate who I enjoyed and laughed with, the other, his girlfriend was a friend only the most superficial of ways. We worked at the same place and we ...

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