by Kate LaSala | Mar 9, 2026 | Dog Training, Dog Training Regulation, Fear, Aggression and Reactivity, Rescue Dogs, Resource Guarding, Separation Anxiety
Professional licensure is not required to call yourself a dog trainer nor is there any industry specific government regulation. Anyone can wake up tomorrow, print business cards, make an Instagram account, and call themselves a trainer or “behaviorist.”...
by Kate LaSala | Mar 2, 2026 | Dog Training, Pet Loss & Grieving, Rescue Dogs
Over the holidays I watched a new movie, whose premise was a couple that had broken up and were sharing custody of their dog. But when the dog was only with one of them, he was “depressed” as the vet diagnosed him. I’ll spare you the whole...
by Kate LaSala | Feb 16, 2026 | Dog Training, Puppy Training, Rescue Dogs
One of the trickiest parts (and best parts!) of dog training is that dogs are excellent at connecting dots. It’s one of the ways dogs learn. Sometimes they connect dots that we don’t want them to connect and that’s where clients can run into...
by Kate LaSala | Feb 2, 2026 | Dog Training, Fear, Aggression and Reactivity, Rescue Dogs
As a dog trainer and active foster, I have introduced a lot of dogs to a lot of other dogs. Clients’ dogs, foster dogs, resident dogs, dogs who have a long learning history of struggling with other dogs, dogs who want to play, dogs who are asocial but don’t want...
by Kate LaSala | Jan 26, 2026 | Dog Training, Separation Anxiety
With the New Year often comes transition, and for many people that includes moving. A large number of my clients relocated during Covid, and over time I noticed several common challenges that came up when moving to a new home with a dog. Personally we’ve moved 5...
by Kate LaSala | Jan 19, 2026 | Dog Training, Rescue Dogs
Let’s start by getting this out of the way: dog humping is completely normal behavior. It’s also one of the behaviors that tends to make people the most uncomfortable and embarrassed. I suspect that has more to do with our own cultural weirdness around sex than...
by Kate LaSala | Jan 11, 2026 | Dog Training, Fear, Aggression and Reactivity, Pet Loss & Grieving, Rescue Dogs
I was recently honored to be a guest on the Pet Parent Hotline podcast, talking about dogs and grief. This was my second appearance on Amy’s show. You can watch my last appearance talking about Trauma In Rescue Dogs here. Amy is a rescuer, educator and a really...
by Kate LaSala | Jan 5, 2026 | Dog Training, Puppy Training, Rescue Dogs
Barking is completely normal dog behavior. Barking is completely normal dog behavior. Barking is completely normal dog behavior. While it may be annoying, barking is your dog’s way of communicating something. There are many reasons why a dog might bark...
by Kate LaSala | Dec 29, 2025 | Dog Training, Fear, Aggression and Reactivity, Rescue Dogs, Separation Anxiety
Happy New Year! With the start of the new year, I thought it would be a good reminder to help get you started off with some things to implement for 2026 to set your dog (and you!) up for success. Stop using punishment based methods and aversive tools like...
by Kate LaSala | Dec 15, 2025 | Dog Training, Pet Loss & Grieving, Rescue Dogs
This will be our second Christmas without my sweet BooBoo. Last year we knew as hard as it was to not have Boo here that we didn’t want to have Christmas without a dog in the house, since our Christmases are always about the dogs and having them tear open...
