by Kate LaSala | Jul 26, 2021 | Dog Training, Fear, Aggression and Reactivity, Resource Guarding
I commonly have clients write on their intake form or tell me during our initial consult that they think their dog is “protecting them.” Maybe their dog barks at, growls or bites strangers so people jump to the conclusion their dog is guarding...
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 14, 2021 | Dog Training
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about how important the words we use to describe our dogs and their behavior are in this post. As a follow up to that, today I’m talking about the words we using during training. Sometimes it can be confusing for owners...
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 19, 2021 | Dog Training, Resource Guarding
In my continuing Resource Guarding Series, I’ve already covered prevention, what not to do and some myths. Today I’m talking about some of the training options available. It’s important to note here that all this training here was done by a...
by Kate LaSala | Apr 6, 2021 | Dog Training
There is no substitute for quality training and behavior modification but there are a lot of management strategies to manage or overcome unexpected situations when they occur so your dog isn’t practicing doing the wrong thing. Sometimes having the right...
by Kate LaSala | Feb 22, 2021 | Dog Training, Dogs and Babies and Kids
This is the first in my series, Bringing Home Baby. For the next several weeks, I’ll be discussing some common topics on the blog about preparing your dog for you bringing home a human baby. This week I’m starting with probably the most commonly...
