With some exception to this last handful of years, there is quite a lot to love about the direction companion animal culture has moved in recent decades. In many ways, we’ve become kinder, more empathetic, and more driven to ensure the animals in our care are living happy lives. There is still A LOT of misinformation out there and it can be hard for the average dog owner to navigate. But most of the people we meet love their dogs and want to do right by them. The “patio dog” phenomenon is likely driven in part by some of that positive shift. We love spending time with our dogs and want to bri ..read more

It would seem that the answer to this question is a no brainer. Of course shelter dogs do not deserve less. But as the shelter and rescue world struggles under the weight of the last few years and cracks in the system that were never truly filled widen, a lot of old ideas that had largely fallen out of favor for good reason are looking to some like a means of relief and hard won progress on behavioral care is losing ground. If we wish to change this and prevent a pendulum swing away from progressive sheltering, we need a foundational shift in mindset. Behavioral care must be considered a basi ..read more

With intake closed or heavily restricted at Austin’s city shelter since 2020, local good samaritans are finding themselves navigating a sometimes piecemeal safety net when they encounter a lost or stray dog. And as the number of dogs on the streets seems to be increasing, more and more households have found themselves taking in dogs with nowhere else to go.  As frustrated as we are by the animal welfare situation in our city, we are inspired by and so appreciative of everyone who is stepping up to help in so many ways. But we are also hearing more and more cases where without appropriate ..read more

If we could change just one thing to positively impact the lives of dogs in homes and housed in shelters, it would be this: provide regular, varied, species appropriate enrichment. While enrichment is not the same as behavior modification, it can do wonders to prevent behavior issues from developing and/or escalating due to boredom, stress, and frustration. Enrichment in all its many forms is, at heart, about quality of life. A dog who is happy, relaxed, and has his/her needs met is typically less likely to act out and more receptive to behavior modification when it's needed. Enrichment done w ..read more

Reactivity is one of the single most common behavior issues faced by dogs and their people. In fact, many of us need only glance a few inches down the couch to see our very own much loved leash gremlins. Rather than just define what reactivity is, we wanted to focus on effective support strategies with this post. Before we begin, there are two very big points we'd like to make about so-called reactive dogs: 1. They are good dogs with rich personalities who don't deserve to be defined by a label. 2. Reactivity is a problem that responds well to behavior modification. Cupcake is serving as ..read more

There is an ever growing amount of scientific evidence demonstrating that non human animals experience rich cognitive and emotional lives. Those from ethologists, to behaviorists, to training and behavior consultants, to canine cognition experts and renowned authors are coming to increasing agreement on the subject. Scientists are exploring emotions and cognition in near every species you can think of including primates, elephants, birds, fish and of course, in dogs. Historically, this has not always been something humans have wanted to acknowledge, to the po ..read more

You will hear us and our fellow trainers often explaining that behavior change requires consistency over time. It’s true! But… That’s not the same as stressing yourself and your dog out trying to work at every day, all the time. Behavior change has to be sustainable and stress is an ingredient we want to minimize, not pile on. Try to integrate your dog’s behavior modification into your daily routine in as natural (and enjoyable) a way as possible, take breaks when you need them, and reach out to your trainer for help. Want more on finding a smoother training journey with your dog? Read on ..read more

In dog training terms, generalization means a dog is able to perform a behavior and/or to experience an associated emotional response across different contexts. In some cases, this is something we are working to get a dog to be able to do successfully and in other cases, it’s something we are trying to prevent. Whichever of those is true, it’s important to understand how generalization works if we want our training to be successful. For example, maybe we want a dog to feel less afraid of people and to have the skills to navigate social situations more successfully. If that’s true, it means we ..read more

If you opened this post for the adorable photo of Austin pulling dinosaurs out of a volcano along with some vague curiosity about why we’re trying to make you read about brain stuff, we hope you’ll stay and read on! If you’re wondering whether neuroplasticity really is important to dog training, it absolutely is. And taking a minute to give this post a read might help you better understand a big part of the why behind your dog’s training plan. Neuroplasticity refers to the brain’s ability to form and reorganize neural connections. These new or reorganized connections occur in response to expe ..read more

For a lot of us, dog training is our dream job. A passion since childhood turned into a livelihood. Sometimes it’s even the job we left that other more stressful job to do! Many of us are our own bosses. We make our own schedules. We get to hang out with dogs all day. So how in the heck could this be stressful?! Well, we’re pretty sure any fellow trainers or pet pros reading this are already listing out the many ways in which even our chosen dream job can put us at risk for things like burnout and compassion fatigue. That doesn’t mean we’d trade it for the world. But it does mean we need to m ..read more