The subject of using medications to treat dogs with fear and anxiety issues is a controversial one among pet owners and trainers, and one I frequently feel inclined to address in regard to working with fearful dogs. Drugs have been a blessing and curse for humans. They can both save and destroy lives. Deciding to give a scared dog medications is often a struggle for ...
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 ...
We are familiar with the experience of living with an aging creature and being caught by surprise when we realize how much they have changed before our eyes. This routinely happens to me when I look in the mirror, "When the heck did THAT happen?!"Â The same thing can happen with our fearful dogs. Their progress can be so slow that it's difficult to notice until ...
Childhood milestones in my life could be measured by learning how to swim. There are grainy, black and white home movies showing me leaping up, wiping the hair out of my eyes after demonstrating the newly gained skill of putting my face in the water at our lakeside cottage. I remember learning the "deadman's float" and pretending to swim in the shallow water, my hands ...
It wouldn’t be the first time someone has used my discomfort with something they said or did, to turn the tables and make it my problem, but it was happening and for some reason I couldn’t let it go. One of the skills we all need to practice in this day and age of instant communication is to push ourselves away from the keyboard. Just ...
I should start this post with a disclaimer that I am not advocating against the use of the pieces equipment I am going to mention, rather that we should take a good long look at how and why we are using them. Routinely a post will make the rounds of the social media circuit about a dog who while playing with a dog, ended up ...
There is so much progress that needs to be made in regard to how people "think" about animal behavior and training that it can seem overwhelming. But seven years ago I had to seek out and search for information regarding the most humane and effective ways to help dogs with fear based behavior challenges, whereas today it streams on my Facebook page and twitter account. ...
Every now and then a Cesar Millan fan will find my blog and do their darndest to convince me of the error of my ways and assessment of his. I have to give them credit for their efforts. They are right to accuse me of moderating many of their comments. I didn't always but I decided that he has gotten enough airtime without my blog ...
One of the striking things for me at the recent BlogPaws conference was not only the number of people willing to go out on limbs for animals (or swing from dangling fabric), but how young many of them were. When the pre-teen took the stage and shared her dream of helping animals I wanted to hug her mother. After passing the half century mark I ...
In a blog about fearful dogs you wouldn't think that I'd pay so much attention to this whole dominance virus that has infected the health of our relationships with our dogs, but it's major. I run an in-home boarding business for dogs. It's a nice set-up for the dogs and the owners that use my services are conscientious pet owners. It's not a scene that ...
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