As a canine behavior specialist, I have helped many owners who were at the end of their proverbial ropes. In some cases, the cumulative stress of dealing with things like constant chewing and destruction had taken its toll. In others, issues such as separation anxiety or aggression had become challenging to deal with long-term. Still, rather than giving up, those people called a professional trainer. Of course, there are also those who instead either rehome their dog, or surrender him to a rescue or shelter. Then there’s South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem. In an excerpt from Noem’s upcoming ..read more

My Facebook feed is normally a fairly happy place, filled with photos of people’s dogs and wildlife. There are ads too, of course, but they’re easy enough to ignore; that is, until one like the one that came across my newsfeed today appears. It featured a wary Cavalier King Charles Spaniel having a large shock collar strapped around his neck, and boasted, “Tired of struggling with your dog pulling on their leash? Say goodbye to frustrating walks and hello to a well-behaved companion.”   Hoping that the collar was somehow not what it appeared to be, I clicked through to the website. Th ..read more

I recently came across a social media post from someone who had been trying to adopt a dog from a rescue. She’d dutifully filled out the application, but when the response came, she learned that she’d been rejected on the grounds that the dog would be alone for four hours a day. Four hours! A long list of comments highlighted other reasons potential adopters had been rejected by rescue groups, including one where the rescue had insisted on the dog being in a pen rather than a crate for the two hours the person would be away daily. While there may have been more to some of those stories, on th ..read more

In many situations, I am not a patient person. Just ask my husband. I hate waiting in lines, and being stuck in rush hour traffic can cause me to spontaneously combust. But when it comes to behavior modification for dogs, I have a lot more patience. Maybe it’s because the emotion that is being modified is often fear, and I empathize. We can’t explain to dogs that there’s nothing to be afraid of, so we’re left with the choice of forcing them to confront their fears, or exposing them slowly and gradually so they feel comfortable at each step along the way. The first choice can easily backfire a ..read more

Last week I wrote a post that included Sage’s fear of the car. Many of you wanted to know more about what we’re doing and how to handle the issue in general. Here you go! Sage’s Protocol We have a carport but no garage. At first, my car (actually a Toyota 4Runner SUV) had been positioned directly in front of the house. Unfortunately, Sage would bolt immediately upon seeing it. So, I moved it to where there would still be room to open the side and back doors, but it wouldn’t be the first thing she saw when leaving the house. We practiced a lot of loose leash walking, touches, and other trainin ..read more

I love smart dogs. I mean, who doesn’t? But sometimes having a dog who can not only put two and two together but keep right on going with their calculations can be challenging. Let me explain. All dogs make associative predictions. The leash means we’re going for a walk. The food bowl means yummy stuff is coming. Some dogs, though, take it even further, chaining together an entire series of events. The classic example of backchaining happens with separation anxiety. A dog who is distressed when his owners leave observes that before the actual departure, the owner picks up her keys. Before tha ..read more

It’s not uncommon in a conversation about training to hear, “My dog is aggressive with other dogs” or, “My dog is aggressive toward people.” In the first case, the dog most likely lunges and barks at others who pass by on walks. In the second, the dog may threaten or bite visitors, unfamiliar people in public, or even family members. Still, is it really fair to label those dogs as “aggressive”? There are dogs out there who are truly aggressive. I’ve met them. Those dogs really, truly want to hurt other dogs or people, and there is no underlying component of fear. But thankfully, for the vast ..read more

As many of you know, I lost my girl Sierra at the end of July. It was already a rough year with Bodhi passing in February, but Sierra’s death about did me in. That’s not an exaggeration; the deep pit of grief I was in was actually affecting my heart. My husband was worried about me to the point that he, who would have gladly lived without dog hair and all the rest that having a dog entails, kept encouraging me to get another dog. I would normally not start looking this soon after such a devastating loss, but I couldn’t go on the way things were. I became addicted to scrolling through Petfinde ..read more

A woman contacted me recently about training. She and her husband have four Yorkies, and recently brought an 8-month-old pit bull into the home. Two of the Yorkies are seniors, aged 8 and 10. The pit bull, who weighs 90 lbs. already, has attacked the 10-year-old Yorkie who, fortunately, did not sustain serious damage, thanks to the fight being broken up. Although the caller was out of my service area, I spent some time talking with her. Her husband jumped on the call as well, to tell me the dog was not actually a pit bull, but a “Bullie,” apparently a newer breed where “the violence has been ..read more

On a recent walk at a local park, I rounded a corner and surprised a bunny who was sitting right in the middle of the path. I was only a few feet away, and yet he remained in place. I spoke to him softly, explaining that the walking path was no safe place for little bunnies. But before you go calling me the Bunny Whisperer, you should know that when bunnies and rabbits are scared, they freeze in place. This one wasn’t mesmerized by my soothing voice; he was afraid. I finally took a step forward and he darted off into the brush. Naturally, the encounter made me think of dogs. Just as many peop ..read more