Fear Free Happy Homes
Reading Time: 3 minutes “Stop copying me!” I’d yell at my sister, next to me in the car backseat. “Stop copying me!” she’d whine, then stick her tongue out at me. Mercy, she was aggravating. My father would tell us both to be quiet. We’d glare at each other across the imaginary demarcation line in the middle of the […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes In the article “Walk or Sniff? How You and Your Dog Can Have a Meeting of the Minds” I explained how enrichment walks are important for dogs. Dogs live the world through their noses. Giving them a chance to sniff and enjoy some “shenanigans” is healthy for them. It’s not going to be fun for […]
Reading Time: 4 minutes The doorbell rang. We usually get our dogs out of the way before letting people in, so my husband, Tim, called out “Rosie, Place!” as he headed to the front door. Rosie sped to the bedroom, whipped around and held position at the open doorway. As Tim greeted our guests, Rosie waited until she heard […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes The Beagle came bounding into class, dragging a 7-year-old girl desperately trying to maintain a grip on the leash. “Ms. Teoti,” the little girl whined, “Bonnie doesn’t want to go for walks. She wants to go for sniffs!” Bonnie’s not alone. Dogs have more than 100 million sensory receptor sites in their nasal cavities. In […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes When you got your dog, you had visions of the two of you walking together, in perfect harmony. You may have picked out a sporty collar and matching leash as the perfect ensemble to make your dream a reality. It can be a bitter disappointment when your dog has other ideas. Dogs aren’t born knowing […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes It had been a long day, working with cases back to back of dogs displaying significant fear. One client was angry. Two were in tears. And one couple bickered constantly about the severity of the dog’s problem. As a professional dog trainer, I help dogs overcome fear. But it’s not just the dogs dealing with […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes You realize your dog is fearful. You want her to get better, but could you also be making the problem worse? Unfortunately, this situation is all too common. Here are five ways you could accidentally be making your dog’s fear worse. Waiting to Treat It You hope your dog will “outgrow” the problem. Fear doesn’t […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel puppy skittered into class and ducked under a chair, trembling. It was Pip’s first night of puppy kindergarten, and he was terrified. After class, I chatted with his parents. “Your puppy is really shy,” I said. “Sixteen weeks is the latest we’ll take a puppy into this class, and he’s […]
Reading Time: 2 minutes Sometimes you need to catch your puppy by the collar if he’s eating something dangerous or about to take a flying leap and you need to stop him quick. Here’s how to successfully teach him to like having his collar handled so he doesn’t respond aggressively during these incidents. “Time out!” I called. Seven people […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes Socialization can go wrong when people don’t recognize a puppy’s signs of fear. Here’s what to look for and how to avoid problems. “We don’t understand where this aggression came from,” the woman said, tears in her eyes. “We took her everywhere as a puppy like you’re supposed to do. She went with us to […]