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Yes Your Dog Probably Does Need Obedience Training

By |2022-01-17T22:28:47-05:00February 1st, 2019|Categories: Training|Tags: , , , , , |

There is a backlash among some in the dog training community to what is commonly called obedience training. There's a good reason for the backlash. Obedience training in many minds brings up images of dogs being physically manipulated, verbal corrections & leash pops abound. There is a do it or else mentality to the process. On the flip side there are trainers who after discovering ...

The 3 Steps To Helping Fearful Dogs

By |2018-05-15T13:10:06-04:00May 15th, 2018|Categories: Dog training, Fostering Dogs, Helping fearful dogs, Medications for fearful dogs|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

It has been over a decade since my fearful dog Sunny came to live with us from a rescue camp set up to help care for the animals impacted by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. I met him at Camp Katrina where I went to volunteer several weeks after the hurricanes hit. As much as I thought I knew about dogs and dog behavior, training and ...

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 ...

The Bad News About Fearful Dogs

By |2017-03-11T11:23:48-05:00March 11th, 2017|Categories: Fostering Dogs, Helping fearful dogs|Tags: , , , , , , , |

I am contacted regularly by people who have found themselves living with a fearful dog and looking for help. They are to a person, kind, compassionate, caring folks looking for answers. And I have them. But I routinely have to tell people things they do not want to hear. When I mention that veterinarians and vet behaviorists can prescribe medications to help dogs who are ...

High Risk Activities

By |2019-02-20T11:09:31-05:00March 2nd, 2017|Categories: Dog training, Fostering Dogs, Helping fearful dogs|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

"I'd rather not." "So?" One of the primary goals I have for this blog, the seminars and webinars, and consults I do for folks living or working with fearful dogs is to help them understand how to think about fear based behaviors. When I am contracted to help someone train their dog I can directly and specifically tell them what to do. But that's just ...

The Real Reason You Should Never Hit Your Dog

By |2016-10-17T17:10:17-04:00October 17th, 2016|Categories: Dog training, Fostering Dogs, Helping fearful dogs|Tags: , , , , , , |

What is that hand going to do to me? Hitting a dog is a bad idea. Even one of those "Oh it didn't hurt them," swats is a bad idea. And here's why. Dogs notice what things predict. If a hand has ever predicted getting grabbed, scruffed, swatted or worse, the dog learns that sometimes hands do unpleasant things to them. Puppies will ...

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 ...

You’ve Got The Ball: Dogs in the 21st Century

By |2014-04-07T10:00:45-04:00April 7th, 2014|Categories: Dog training, Fostering Dogs, Helping fearful dogs|Tags: , , , , , , , |

I suspect that those of us who work with dogs in any capacity, love them, respect them and want them to have the best lives possible. Yet I can't help but be surprised and disappointed when I hear and read information about dogs being shared that does more harm than good, or opportunities to educate the pet owning population are missed. Research on the social ...