Fearful Dogs Logo
Fearful Dogs Logo

Between A Rock & A Hard Place

By |2018-05-04T07:50:35-04:00May 4th, 2018|Categories: Dog training, Fostering Dogs, Helping fearful dogs|Tags: , , , , , , |

Sometimes we have to do something because it needs to be done. If we grab someone about to fall off a cliff we can worry about having to apologize later for having touched them without their permission. But we need to be careful not to use the excuse that needing to get something done absolves us from understanding what it is we are doing. If ever ...

Clean-up On Aisle Dog

By |2018-01-30T08:57:28-05:00January 30th, 2018|Categories: Alternative treatments for fearful dogs, Dog training, Fostering Dogs, Helping fearful dogs|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

Photo courtesy of Olathe Animal Hospital If you happen to be privy to the chatter that goes on between dog trainers, what I am going to say will not be new to you. Daily, dog trainers are contacted to help an owner with a dog, a normal, healthy, fully functioning dog, whose behavior has become untenable or even dangerous. Sometimes we're contacted within ...

Dog Owners Should Stand Up For Their Rights

By |2015-03-10T09:34:40-04:00March 10th, 2015|Categories: Dog training, Helping fearful dogs|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

Dog trainers are a notoriously passionate bunch, and I will not deny that I am among them. However what is going on in the dog training industry extends beyond personal passion for the subject and crosses over into what pet owners should expect when they pay for a service. What they should expect is solid advice and guidance based on the best information available to ...

Doing What Comes Naturally

By |2015-01-28T08:49:53-05:00January 28th, 2015|Categories: Dog training, Fostering Dogs, Helping fearful dogs, Puppy mills|Tags: , , , , , , , |

We live with animals and it's easy to lose sight of the fact. When it comes to dogs we are living with animals who are designed with varying degrees of proficiency or intensity to; hunt, chase, catch, kill, chew, shred, mark and bark. They also breed and poop, and often at times and places we'd rather they didn't. We've brought these animals into our homes ...

Should This Dog Be Up For Adoption?

By |2014-11-23T09:57:15-05:00November 23rd, 2014|Categories: Dog training, Fostering Dogs, Helping fearful dogs|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

drawing by Leslie Swieck all copyrights apply The compassion that people show for dogs with fear-based behavior challenges is commendable. Rescue groups pull them from shelters by the thousands and well-intentioned people adopt them. Given the number of people joining online groups looking for support and advice about how to help these dogs the reality that it requires more than time and love should ...

Aggression in Fearful Dogs- No Surprise Here

By |2014-08-15T08:18:45-04:00August 15th, 2014|Categories: Dog training, Fostering Dogs|Tags: , , , , , , |

The older one gets the less in life seems to surprise us. One of the things that should be no surprise to any of us is for a fearful dog to behave aggressively. Aggression is a normal and predictable response to see in animal who is afraid, often terrified, for their life. Brains are designed so that if an animal is experiencing fear, behaving aggressively--as ...

Just Say “I’ll Think About It”

By |2014-07-20T08:48:28-04:00July 20th, 2014|Categories: Alternative treatments for fearful dogs, Dog training, Fostering Dogs, Medications for fearful dogs|Tags: , , , , , , |

Concern about the use of drugs is not new In the 80's there was a campaign to keep kids off of drugs and the mantra was "just say no to drugs."  I thought the better advice to give kids about what they should or shouldn't do when it came to their physical and mental health was "just say I'll think about it." I would ...

Getting To Yes With Your Dog

By |2014-06-11T14:06:36-04:00June 11th, 2014|Categories: Dog training, Fostering Dogs, Helping fearful dogs|Tags: , , , , |

Dogs who grow up in a home have dozens of opportunities a day to approach people and be reinforced for it. This means it's a good thing from the pup's perspective. They might get a treat, a cuddle, a scratch or the chance to tug on your shoelaces. Dogs, like my dog Sunny who spend their first months or years kenneled with little positive human ...

Good Enough?

By |2013-06-05T21:47:30-04:00June 5th, 2013|Categories: Dog training, Helping fearful dogs|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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 ...

Go to Top