I recently had an inquiry from a potential client that needed to leave her newly acquired dog in good care while she traveled. I met with her and her dog, and based on what I learned during the Initial consult I was on the fence regarding her dog and mine being a good match. There…
I am having a phone conversation and this is the question that is being posed to me. Well, I said: “I am bias to rescuing dogs versus getting a dog from a breeder.” In my mind, the only exception to my bias is when for whatever reason a person is really keen on a particular…
Few of us have the forethought of getting ready in the event of a natural disaster. Here in the Santa Fe area, our biggest concern are fires. With summer days here and temperatures on the rise, the risk of a forest fire also increases. Yet, how many of us have a plan in place for…
Cutting-edge research in psychology has helped us understand the importance of play in general and social play, particularly for the rehabilitation of timid and fearful dogs. I define social play as the engagement between a person and their dog that is voluntary and with no purpose other than to have a “good” time and “connect”…
A dog barking is one of the most (normal) dog behaviors for most people. Part of it is because of how stressful noise is in general and in part frankly because we fail to understand what barking is all about. Barking is not simply just noise coming from our dogs or embedded with one significance….
It is unfortunate that the idea that we can reinforce fear in our pets is still so prevalent. Frankly, nothing can be further from the truth. Think about this: Fear is an emotion, involuntary for the subject feeling it, so how then can we make a dent on it by consoling our pet? This is…
Dogs notoriously make sense of their environment by predominantly using their sense of smell and sight. Their top priority always being the one of safety – of being safe. Their world is basically divided into two categories: safe and unsafe. After the dog has decided that a certain thing, person, etc. is safe, their next…
A while back I was working with a couple and their very aggressive dog. His displays of fear and aggression which constitutes barking, growling, and lunging are quite sobering, and I really take them seriously. De-escalating the situation is part of what I need to do as well as making sure I don’t get bitten….
When we’re slowing down, it has many benefits. It permits us to enjoy what is in front of us- begging for our undivided attention. It allows us to make better decisions, it calms frail nerves and it splendidly reminds us that while the clock is ticking we can choose to show up to live our…
The dogs and I are playing outside with the beloved “orange ball”. Deuce is running to get the ball while Rio is tugging with gusto with me. I see Deuce running past me holding the big ball tightly in his mouth. He is dashing towards the house literally ignoring me as I call him to…