Helping fearful dogs

This post is being written in conjunction with the Never Shock A Puppy Campaign. When I got out of university and participated in a year long outdoor leadership program playing New Games was all the rage. The motto of New Games is 'Play hard, play fair, nobody hurt'. Games are designed so that people play with each other, not against each other. There is still ...

When Julie Andrews sailed into the lives of the banker's children as Mary Poppins I was so impressed that I practiced leaping off the top bunk with my own umbrella in preparation for more daring heights (luckily no hospital visits were required). And the idea that a 'spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down' had me wishing that I had to take castor oil ...

Changing how we think about our relationship with dogs can be one of the hardest leaps for many people to make. The whole 'pack leader', 'alpha dog', 'I'm the boss of you', mentality has been around long enough to have permeated many of our thoughts about why dogs behave the way they do and how we should respond to them. And although we will never ...

As humans, despite the incredible ability to think about more than the obvious, we tend to focus on what we see. In the case of our dogs it's their behavior. We are able to accept that there are some behaviors performed by humans, many which cross the line and are crimes, which if not forgivable, at least we understand and offer a degree of leniency ...

In my P.E.T. (play, exercise, training) triad for working with fearful dogs, training is not third on the list because it is any less important than play and exercise. But I think that it shouldn't necessarily be the primary focus when working with a dog, especially a new, fearful one. Besides the fact that E.P.T or T.E.P don't have the same ring to them, I ...

Keep an eye on this blog for regular updates of Mary in New Hampshire working with her foster dog Aaron. Mary's Dogs Blog

People are usually surprised, if for some reason it comes up in conversation, to learn that I was a timid child, afraid to be away from my home until I was an older teenager. They're surprised because for the past 25 years I have organized and led travel adventures for women and students. Prior to earning a living this way, I traveled by myself to ...

On Mondays nights at 9:15 a fabulous group of dog lovers moderate an exchange of ideas on twitter using Tweetchat. Called '#dogtalk' the topics vary as professionals, specialists and enthusiasts are invited to be guest tweeters. Last Monday's was about dog rescue featuring Kyla Duffy of @happytailsbooks. The conversation drifted to fostering a dog as people shared their experiences of caring for dogs that were ...

I hear them often, sad stories. Dogs that cower, shake, hide, run or attack, because they're afraid. Owners who are not sure what to do, believe they've tried everything, wonder if there's any hope for their fearful dog. I share what I can about the concepts of triggers, thresholds, counter conditioning and desensitization, and how emotional responses cause behavioral responses, and if handlers address the ...

It's assumed that dog trainers have the interest to work with their dogs. Whether or not the people we live with or come in contact with share our interest is another story. Years ago I made the decision that maintaining the relationship I had with my husband trumped attempting to turn him into a dog trainer or force him to share my enthusiasm ...