When you're caring for a sick, senior, or end-of-life dog, it's easy to get so immersed in their daily needs that you push your own entirely aside. Every decision, every schedule, every outing gets filtered through the lens of what your dog needs right now,...
Every single day, we ask our dogs to be something they were never designed to be. We ask them to be less dog. Walk on a leash and don't pull, even though dogs naturally cover far more ground than any human. Don't bark, even though barking is one of the primary ways...
A certified behavior consultant shares five common things that raise red flags, from prong collars to kids kissing dogs.
Anticipatory grief is the mourning that begins before your dog dies. If you're loving a dog through illness or decline, read this.
If you share your life with a hard dog, whether they're reactive, fearful, anxious, aging, or struggling to with strangers or your child, there's a version of your life you've quietly let go of. Maybe you stopped having people over because your dog can't handle it,...
As a trainer who specializes in fear and aggression cases, I'm regularly asked by private clients and rescue organizations about sending dogs off to a "sanctuary," and I want to be clear about how I'm using that term here. I'm referring specifically to facilities...
As a behavior consultant who specializes in fear, aggression, reactivity, and separation anxiety, my primary goal is to help families work through their dog's behavior challenges. I've helped thousands of dogs and their people navigate issues that felt...
When people think about separation anxiety, they usually picture a young dog, maybe a newly adopted rescue still decompressing, or a pandemic puppy who never learned to be alone. Separation anxiety as a senior dog problem doesn't come up nearly as often. But...
When your pet dies, you don't just lose them. You lose your routine, your identity, and your community too. These secondary losses are real.
It's that time of year again. School is out, kids want to earn a little money and community social media groups are filling with posts from parents offering their child as a dog walker. It makes me cringe honestly. So it's a great time to revisit this post. During...
One of the most common things I hear from new clients is some version of this: "My dog has separation anxiety. He freaks out every time I put him in his crate." I understand why those two things feel connected. In many homes, confinement and being left alone...
Feeling relieved after a behavioral euthanasia doesn't mean you didn't love your dog. It means you carried something heavy for a long time.