Combativeness, anger, hostility, cruelty and a lack of empathy & compassion plague our society. This negativity has given me a purpose behind sharing a story of love, grit and a whole lot of luck. I know many of you have an emotional connection to animals and nature. E.O. Wilson describes Biophilia as the human attraction to animals as an innate tendency to focus on nature and life. He believed that humans have an emotional connection or fascination with other forms of life and nature, a sense of phylogenic relationship with all life on Earth. I am hopeful that this story reminds you of th ..read more

Aggression between familiar dogs in the same household is a common occurrence. It is the problem that leads to more surrendered, rehomed, and euthanized dogs than any other behavioral issue. Interdog aggression is often rooted in underlying anxiety or a lack of appropriate social skills in one or both dogs. It is important to look at each dog individually and work toward decreasing the fear and anxiety levels. When fights occur, damage to the relationship between the dogs can be difficult to mend. It is much easier to avoid or prevent situations that lead to interdog aggression than to break u ..read more

Most of us remember the stories of Lassie saving Timmy from falling in the well or Toto barking at the tornado and the Wicked Witch warning Dorothy of danger in “The Wizard of Oz.” People love to hear a feel-good story about an animal saving someone. Is the need to rescue humans instinctive for dogs? Living in the country with many animals, a large pond, and three outdoor-loving sisters had its challenges and life lessons for my family. We had many English Setters over the years, but Spot and Chips were our trusty Setter duo for most of my childhood. My sisters Connie and Kellie and I did ever ..read more

When asked to write about shock collars, I hesitated, contemplating how many feathers I just might ruffle and thought, okay, I’m in. I don’t normally enjoy confrontations, but in this instance, I felt a sense of obligation to provide the truth behind shocking your dog. I have directly observed the pain, distress, and inhumane treatment from use of a shock collar and how it can transform perfectly great puppies and dogs into fearful, anxious, physically injured and behaviorally damaged animals. To the extreme condition that euthanasia is necessary. Many of my clients reported to have paid to ha ..read more

Published by Oklahoma Horses Magazine Written by Casie Bazay Photo Credit to Derek Young Growing up in the countryside of the once small town of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, Karen Holman developed a deep fondness for animals, especially since her parents and grandparents were animal lovers too. As a child, Holman, along with her two sisters, participated in 4-H where they learned a great deal about horses, and early on, she enjoyed observing animals and how they communicated with one another and humans. Holman went on to become an educator, teaching subjects related to science and health, but she e ..read more

Growing up in rural Broken Arrow, Fourth of July celebrations were full of life lessons and lasting memories. I not only learned from my mother how to prepare a meal for fifty people with love and joy, my father also instilled in me the hard work and dedication necessary to accomplish anything worthwhile. But things can still go wrong, and animals and fireworks are not a good combination. All year long, my cousins, sisters, and myself brainstormed to devise a plan to spend our “chore” money on the greatest fireworks spectacle imaginable. We invited family and friends, and worked hard to set up ..read more

I am an animal lover, a dog person, a “dog is not just a dog” kind of gal, but I am also a scientist. I diligently work to not anthropomorphize my animals. After all, they are not human, having only the thoughts of their species. When we anthropomorphize animals, we are attributing to them feelings, desires, fears and expectations that we might use to describe ourselves. I have always been fascinated with animal behavior, specializing in the ethology or normal behavior of each species. It was not until I brought a very large, lovable Labrador Retriever into my home that I began to fully unders ..read more

by Sarah Rogers I reached out to Karen when I was at the end of my rope. My dog, Murphy, is so sweet and so attached but it was starting to cause a lot of problems. He was extremely anxious and would tear up any bedding in his kennel. Getting him to stop barking at a bicycle, skateboard, stroller, or anything with wheels was like moving mountains. His energy was through the roof and I couldn’t take the attached anxious hyper dog every night when I would get home. Karen taught us some great tricks and techniques to help get Murphy to a place of much less anxiety. Today Murphy sleeps in his kenn ..read more

As the holidays approach, our own childhood Christmas memories, no matter how old we are or far away from home we may have roamed, there is a small part of us that longs to return to those happy days we spent in Broken Arrow. This story, full of life lessons, is a Christmas memory shared by my Mother, Gretta Dugan. Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, circa 1950-ish, in the words of my Mother: I lived on a dairy farm out Lynn Lane Rd. This was a great environment for Snowball, my large white Persian cat and I to grow up and explore. The road to the farm was barely a gravel road and our driveway was packed ..read more

Scrunch scrunch, jingle jingle, click clack. These were the sounds that grew familiar to me while growing up in my family’s 1960’s rambling ranch-style home. I was hearing heavy canvas rubbing together, zippered compartments, and the boots of my dad’s flight suit as he walked down the long hall to my bedroom. I dreaded these sounds, as I knew it meant Dad, who flew with the Air National Guard, was leaving. He might be gone for the morning, or for weeks and sometimes months, depending on his orders. Each time he left to fly, it was very early in the morning and we would be deep in our dreams. H ..read more