While traditional veterinary care is crucial, many dog owners are turning to natural remedies like essential oils to help support their dog’s health and well-being. Essential oils are highly concentrated plant extracts that can be used to help reduce pain, improve behavior, and even boost overall health. Here are some of the benefits of essential oils for dogs: 1. Reducing Pain and Inflammation: Essential oils can help reduce pain and inflammation. These oils can be applied topically to areas of discomfort, or diffused in the air to help your dog breathe in the oils. Be sure to properly dilute ..read more

Is your dog hyperactive? Sluggish? Do they suffer from allergies, arthritis, seizures, inflammation, urine leaking, ear infections or digestive disorders? All may be caused (at least in part) by the same thing: the high amount of carbohydrates in kibble. As authors Jonna Anne, Mary Straus & Dr. Shawn Messonnier explain in their book “The Healthy Dog Cookbook” feeding a low-carb diet to your dog may significantly improve how they feel and therefore, affect how they behave. Increasing the amount of high-quality protein & fat in your dog’s food can calm the hyperactive dog and perk up the ..read more

Hello, fellow animal enthusiasts and pet lovers! Today, I'm excited to share some fantastic news that marks the beginning of a new chapter in my life. I've enrolled in a Clinical Pet Nutrition Program, and I couldn't be more thrilled about this decision. This journey promises to be both personally rewarding and filled with opportunities to make a positive impact on the lives of my furry clients. Proper nutrition can have a huge impact on animal behavior. It's not just about ensuring they have full bellies; it's about helping them lead healthier, happier lives. Over the years I found myself div ..read more

I recently completed a 17-hour course called Advanced Animal Training. This course took a deep dive into the science of behavior, and taught students the intricacies of behavior even better than we already knew it. The course focused on encouraging, communicating and motivating the animal to exhibit desired behavior, which is a key part of the way I work with my canine and human clients. I am always striving to do more to learn & grow, so I can help dogs and their caregivers live their best lives together. Next up, the Aggression in Dogs Conference at the end of this month ..read more

Check out my new podcast on Spotify, the Dog Training Book Club! In this podcast I’ll be talking about my thoughts, views and insights of popular books about dog training, dog behavior & even dog nutrition. Episode 1 is about Don’t Shoot the Dog by Karen Pryor. Please subscribe so you don’t miss an episode and give me a 5 star review if you like it ..read more

Welcome to Part 1 of a 3-part series where I share all my favorites! In Part 1 you’ll find my favorite books, podcasts, social media channels, websites, and publications about dog training & behavior. Check back soon for Parts 2 & 3! Dog Star Daily from Dr. Ian Dunbar (website) Aggressivedog.com (website) Dr. Jen's Blog (blog) The Whole Dog Journal (publication) The Culture Clash by Jean Donaldson (book) On Talking Terms with Dogs by Turid Rugaas (book) Control Unleashed By Leslie McDevitt (book) Canine Enrichment for the Real World by Allie Bender & Emily Strong (b ..read more

This is what my dogs previous owner said when surrendering her to a rescue group. What they didn’t realize was…she’s deaf! And that’s why she wasn’t responding to much of anything they would say. Luckily, teaching a dog to behave better doesn’t require them hearing well, or at all actually. Dogs are masters at observing & responding to human body movements. So zip your lips, talk less, and move more to help your dog understand you better! I have found that giving dogs less verbal cues and instead focusing on communicating through hand signals, body gestures and tactile communication (touch ..read more

A= Antecedent. This is the signal that an opportunity to do a behavior is there. It’s mainly the environment giving these signals (dad coming home signals it’s time for your dog to do jumping behavior) and since we are a part of the environment, it can also be the cues we give (“sit”, “come”) to our dog. B= Behavior. This is the observable action of the animal that happens after the “A” gives it’s signal. C= Consequence. This is the part of the equation that drives the behavior to happen again (or not). What happens after the behavior, it’s consequence, will increase or decrease the likelihood ..read more

Many of our pets perform behaviors that are natural & normal for their species but we find them problematic in our human world. Example include digging, jumping, barking & scratching. Problem behaviors can usually be improved rather easily with an appropriate plan in place and a commitment on the part of the guardian (that’s you!) to make some changes. A common cause of problem behaviors is boredom! As pet guardians we have the responsibility to provide our pets with everything they need- focusing most on nutrition, exercise, training, mental & physical stimulation. Being a Certifi ..read more

12/28/21: I am proud to announce I have completed the Aggression in Dogs Master Course, The most comprehensive course on dog aggression for trainers and behavior consultants available anywhere in the world. The course consists of 23 modules led by world-renowned aggression experts. Also included is lifetime access to these professionals for help with aggression cases I work with. When you hire Taking the Lead Dog Training LLC, you can feel confident your trainer has the knowledge, resources expertise and skills to help. While aggression is a completely normal form of communication, it can be u ..read more