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…
As promised, the conversation as to if punishment works continues. Before I dive into the explanation and exploration of this topic, I want to make my position clear: I DO NOT ENCOURAGE OWNERS TO PUNISH THEIR DOGS. INSTEAD, I ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO LEARN HOW TO USE EFFECTIVE AND HUMANE METHODS TO GET TO THE SAME…
There is a lot of confusion about the definition of punishment as the term has a different connotation in everyday parlance and the behavioral sciences. The behavioral sciences define punishment as the presentation of an aversive. An aversive, just to refresh some folks’ memory, is the presentation of anything an animal wants to avoid. As…
We constantly want our dogs to do stuff for us. And that is not really a problem. One could argue that any relationship is to a greater extent built on what the individuals in the relationship do for one another. While, of course, our relationship with our dog(s) is precious, I am not saying that…
A client of mine tells me that her little dog did not want to go for a walk last week. She cannot understand why her dog refuses to walk on a lead and basically popped her bottom on the ground in protest. I am not very familiar with this dog as I have only seen…
Have you ever seen a dog with “raised-hackles”? I bet you have. The technical term is piloerection and it means just that – the hair standing up. What you probably don’t know is that piloerection is NOT aggression, as many folks believe. It is actually arousal. The best way for me to describe arousal is…