by Kate LaSala | May 22, 2023 | Dog Training, Resource Guarding
Over the years I’ve had clients come to me sheepishly asking for help because their dog doesn’t like when they are getting intimate or showing affection like handshakes, hugging or kissing with other humans. And kudos for them being brave enough to...
by Kate LaSala | May 16, 2023 | Dog Training, Fear, Aggression and Reactivity
I’ve written about the importance of enrichment how giving your dog outlets for normal dog behavior like sniffing is important and how enrichment isn’t optional. But, let’s face it. We all have busy lives. And sometimes the weather may not...
by Kate LaSala | May 15, 2023 | Dog Training, Fear, Aggression and Reactivity
I’ve written about the importance of enrichment how giving your dog outlets for normal dog behavior like sniffing is important and how enrichment isn’t optional. Often we overlook social interaction as part of our enrichment plan. Remember, dogs are...
by Kate LaSala | May 8, 2023 | Dog Training, Fear, Aggression and Reactivity, Rescue Dogs
People mean well. I know they do, but there’s many old ways of interacting with dogs that we were once thought to be the right way, but aren’t. One of these myths is that when we meet a dog we should present our hand “for them to sniff.”...
by Kate LaSala | May 1, 2023 | Dog Training, Fear, Aggression and Reactivity, Rescue Dogs
Full disclosure, I have a strong bias against big dogs playing with and living with small dogs. There, I said it. Sure, many big and small dogs successfully do play or live together, but for me, the risk of something going wrong, just isn’t worth it. Many...
by Kate LaSala | Apr 24, 2023 | Dog Training, Puppy Training, Rescue Dogs
This is my next installment in my Back To Basics series. The first post on housetraining can be found here. Did you know that puppy biting and mouthing is completely normal dog behavior? Puppies explore their worlds with their mouths (and noses) so picking...
by Kate LaSala | Apr 17, 2023 | Dog Training, Puppy Training, Rescue Dogs, Separation Anxiety
As someone who focuses on fear cases, I have a disproportionate amount of people who view their dog’s fear issues as behavior “problems” that need “fixing” instead of recognizing that fear is not disobedience. The more I was...
by Kate LaSala | Apr 10, 2023 | Dog Training, Rescue Dogs, Separation Anxiety
Discovering your dog has separation anxiety can cut to your soul. Even more than so many other behavioral issues, the inability to leave your dog alone without the dog panicking has grave quality of life issues, both for the dog and the human. It’s is a behavior...
by Kate LaSala | Apr 3, 2023 | Dog Training, Dog Training Regulation, Puppy Training, Rescue Dogs
Much like the lack of transparency in dog training, there’s also a lack of transparency in sheltering and rescue organizations. In 2018 eight prominent animal welfare organizations and foundations released a joint mission statement regarding...
by Kate LaSala | Mar 27, 2023 | Dog Training, Puppy Training, Separation Anxiety
While crate training has its place in some areas of dog training – house training, management and medical recovery come to the top of my mind, crating for separation anxiety is not one of those applications. This does get complicated if we have a dog who...
