by Kate LaSala | Jul 20, 2026 | Dog Training, Fear, Aggression and Reactivity, Rescue Dogs, Separation Anxiety
First, let me start by saying this post comes from a place of care and education, not judgment. Most people doing the things I’m about to describe love their dogs deeply but they may not know better. As I’ve written about before, love isn’t...
by Kate LaSala | Jul 13, 2026 | Dog Training, Pet Loss & Grieving, Rescue Dogs
If you’ve ever sat with your aging or ill dog and felt a wave of sadness wash over you while they were still right there beside you, still breathing, still warm, still yours, you were experiencing anticipatory grief. I did it. When Barbo and Boo were both...
by Kate LaSala | Jul 6, 2026 | Dog Training, Fear, Aggression and Reactivity, Pet Loss & Grieving, Separation Anxiety
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...
by Kate LaSala | Jun 22, 2026 | Dog Training, Fear, Aggression and Reactivity, Rescue Dogs
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...
by Kate LaSala | Jun 8, 2026 | Pet Loss & Grieving
Everyone expects you to grieve your pet. Even the people who don’t fully understand it will acknowledge, at least on some level, that losing an animal you loved is hard. But what nobody prepares you for are all the other losses that come with it. These...
by Kate LaSala | Jun 1, 2026 | Dog Training, Dogs and Babies and Kids, Fear, Aggression and Reactivity, Rescue Dogs
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...
by Kate LaSala | May 18, 2026 | Dog Training, Pet Loss & Grieving, Rescue Dogs
When Relief and Grief Live in the Same Breath: The Guilt Nobody Talks About After Behavioral Euthanasia If you’ve recently said goodbye to a dog through behavioral euthanasia, you already know how complicated the grief is. You’ve been told, maybe,...
by Kate LaSala | May 11, 2026 | Dog Training, Dog Training Regulation, Fear, Aggression and Reactivity, Rescue Dogs
Three thousand clients. I’ve been eyeing that 3000 number for a while and when I updated my master client log earlier last month I sat trying to figure out how to write about it and commemorate it without it sounding like a humble brag. It’s something...
by Kate LaSala | May 4, 2026 | Dog Training
Let me tell you about one of the most humbling (embarrassing?) moments of my dog training career. It involved a Halloween costume, a jack o’lantern, and Gertie making a break for it while I stood there in my front yard yelling something I thought...
by Kate LaSala | Apr 27, 2026 | Dog Training, Fear, Aggression and Reactivity, Puppy Training, Rescue Dogs, Separation Anxiety
We have a tendency to give puppies a pass. They’re young, cute, still learning and “just being a puppy.” And yes, some puppy behavior is completely normal and does settle with age, consistent training, and appropriate socialization. But some...
