by Kate LaSala | Jul 12, 2021 | Dog Training, Dog Training Regulation, Fear, Aggression and Reactivity, Rescue Dogs
Often clients will tell me all about their dog’s issues and then say something like “But, he’s fine at the vet. He doesn’t try to bite or growl or do anything. He just stands there.” Thinking the dog is “fine” in those...
by Kate LaSala | Jul 5, 2021 | Dog Training, Dog Training Regulation, Fear, Aggression and Reactivity, Rescue Dogs
It can be exhausting and emotional living with a fearful dog. Whether your dog is struggling with stranger danger, separation anxiety, resource guarding or any other fear based behavioral issue, as much as you love your dog, on some days I’m sure...
by Kate LaSala | Jun 28, 2021 | Dog Training, Fear, Aggression and Reactivity, Rescue Dogs
I have a request and it may seem weird, but please stop having people try to hand feed your fearful dog. Nearly every client that comes to me with a dog who is afraid of strangers tells me at one point they’ve tried to get people to hand feed their dog. ...
by Kate LaSala | Jun 21, 2021 | Dog Training, Fear, Aggression and Reactivity, Rescue Dogs
There’s a lot of euphemisms in dog training, mostly trying to smooth over things that don’t sit well with us. Aversive trainers and electric fence companies will tell you the shock collar is “just a vibration like your cell phone.”...
by Kate LaSala | Jun 3, 2021 | Dog Training, Fear, Aggression and Reactivity, Rescue Dogs, Resource Guarding
Last night I did a free Facebook and YouTube Q&A on Resource Guarding as a supplement to my Resource Guarding Series. Here is the video in case you missed it. There’s also lots of great resources referenced and linked in the comments of the Facebook...
by Kate LaSala | May 31, 2021 | Dog Training, Dog Training Regulation, Fear, Aggression and Reactivity, Rescue Dogs, Resource Guarding
Behavior suppression is NOT the same as behavior modification. What do I mean? Well, here’s a good analogy I use with clients. If you break your arm and are crying, I might be able to slap you around enough to get you to stop crying. Just stopping the...
by Kate LaSala | May 24, 2021 | Dog Training, Fear, Aggression and Reactivity, Rescue Dogs
As someone who specializes in fear and aggression cases, I get a lot of people trying to communicate their dog’s issue and use very colorful language. Over time I’ve learned to temper their interpretations and try to get them to focus on...
by Kate LaSala | Apr 26, 2021 | Dog Training, Fear, Aggression and Reactivity, Resource Guarding
This is the last installment of my Resource Guarding Series.(click the link if you’ve missed any of the previous posts) but tomorrow right here I’ll be releasing a special infographic about resource guarding so be sure to check back here. ...
by Kate LaSala | Jan 18, 2021 | Dog Training, Fear, Aggression and Reactivity
With the horrible events in our nation’s Capitol recently, I’ve been struggling a bit with how to appropriately provide relevant, but sensitive content for this week, so it seemed fitting to broach the topic of racism, or at least racism in dogs. ...
by Kate LaSala | Dec 21, 2020 | Dog Training, Fear, Aggression and Reactivity, Puppy Training
This is the fourth and final installment in my Fear in Dogs series discussing all the various ways dogs can acquire fear. Last week I released this helpful, downloadable infographic that you can download on my Free Downloads page. This week, I’m...
