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Human Enrichment

Bag of Tricks: How Learning About Enrichment Taught Me Self-Care

Bag of Tricks: How Learning About Enrichment Taught Me Self-Care It doesn’t matter how good your relationship with your vet is, if your dog displays aggressive behavior toward humans, vet trips are not something you look forward to. Regardless of the measures you take to decrease your dog’s fear, anxiety and stress around vet trips, chances are the humans involved in the planning and execution of vet visits feel some stress. This stressful situation is a good setting to discuss where enrichment for pets AND humans is applied in real life. Taking Petey to the vet is a beautifully orchestrated

October 13, 2025 No Comments

Essential Skills

Vet Visits Don’t Have to Be Scary: Tricks and Treats for Anxious Pets

Vet visits are hard. For most families and pets, I’m comfortable saying that vet visits are challenging. Whether it is the stress of transport, the worries about financial strain, the stress of the visit itself, or the concern of bad news, it can feel like the worst possible haunted house. Because we work with families living with pets that have fear, anxiety, aggression, and other behavioral challenges, we often need to loop in collaborative veterinary support. Health and behavior are intertwined, and as we tell clients, we can’t train away a medical condition. I tried to help Griffey feel safe

October 6, 2025 No Comments

Human End of the Leash

School Pictures: Tricks, Tips, and Treats for Insta-Worthy Pet Shots

Before we get started: This blog isn’t a how-to. Just some silly little ideas about what might help you get some cute pictures so your dog’s Meemaw and Peepaw can carry them in their wallets. Some of the cues discussed are not appropriate for dogs with joint issues or resource guarding tendencies. Safety first! Additionally, I am making the following assumptions: your dog is used to training with treats, they can follow a food lure, and can take food on cue. Remember when Pee-wee Herman, in drag and riding along with a fugitive who had picked him up hitchhiking, said

September 29, 2025 No Comments

Essential Skills

Every Mistake a Lesson: What Pets Teach Us About Getting It Wrong

There are many, many things I love about being an animal trainer and behavior consultant, but my absolute favorite part is that I am constantly learning. Working with pets is one surprise after another, both good and bad. But there are hard emotional parts, too. One of the things that breaks my heart the most in this profession is when meeting with pet parents whose pet is struggling, and they ask “Is this because I did *insert thing here*?” Is my dog leash reactive because I let them greet too many dogs/not enough dogs/the wrong dogs? Does my pup have

September 22, 2025 No Comments

Essential Skills

Curiosity Educated the Cat: Applying Lessons Across Species

Note: This blog is for pros or enthusiasts with training experience. Although there are lessons here for anyone who approaches life with other species with curiosity and a growth mindset, there are many concepts here that require some additional background and knowledge. They say curiosity killed the cat, but in my experience, curiosity hasn’t killed anything—if anything, curiosity is one of the best ways we can improve our lives. This is true in many ways and for many different reasons, but since this is a blog about enrichment for different species, let’s focus on how curiosity can help us take

September 15, 2025 No Comments

Enrichment

Old Dogs, New Tricks: Why Learning Never Stops

If you want me to get on a soap box, just say “You can’t teach old dogs new tricks,” step aside, and hold your britches. Excuse me? What’s that you said? You said, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks?!?!?!” Well then, you can explain why, earlier this year, my 9 year old pup was standing on top of our dinner table when I emerged from putting the kids down to bed. Am I proud of that? No. (Well kinda, he’s such a problem solver and helpful hand!) Am I embarrassed that I’m a certified dog trainer whose dog

September 8, 2025 No Comments

A fluffy brown and white dog looking up at his person who is holding a cup of coffee. There is a giant game of chess in the background.

Essential Skills

Back to School, Not Back to Stress: Helping Your Pet Adjust to a New Routine

New Season, New Schedule—Same Sweet Pet It’s back to school season for many locations and that means the lazy, relaxed days of summer are coming to a close. Even though my kids are adults now, I remember the hustle and bustle of preparing for back to school well. There was an excited anticipation and maybe some trepidation in the air as we planned for the new school year. Right about now, parents are most likely busy planning new schedules, routines, lunches, and after school activities while the kids might be busy planning their first day of school outfits and organizing

September 1, 2025 No Comments

A scruffy white and dark grey dog wearing a muzzle looking at the base of a tree. Text reads: Hot Topic: Preventing Dog Bites

Behavior Problems

Hot Topic: Preventing Dog Bites

When we work with a client who has dealt with or is concerned about their dog biting, safety is our top priority, so the start of our plan will be loaded with activities related to: Helping the humans learn how to spot the behaviors that indicate their pet is closer to escalation toward a bite, and those that indicate they are de-escalating, moving toward regulation and self-soothing. In other words, learning body language. Developing management strategies that work for the household. Beginning the work of meeting needs! We’re rounding out the dog days of August with a hot topic: a

August 25, 2025 No Comments

Enrichment

Too Hot to Handle? Enrichment Ideas for Scorching Summer Days

Summer, for me, is often a double edged sword. We are finally getting some sunny, warm days to enjoy out and about, but it doesn’t take much for the days to tip over into high heat. Days so swampy and humid that the next polar vortex suddenly seems appealing. When you don’t stop sweating from the moment you wake up until the moment you go to bed, even in your most minimal clothing, you can imagine what that heat can do to our furry friends. That’s why keeping dogs entertained indoors can be so vital to your routine during these

August 18, 2025 No Comments

A brown dog drinking water that is falling from a spout. Text reads: Cool down, paws up: creating heat-safe spaces for your pet

Enrichment

Cool Down, Paws Up: Creating Heat-Safe Spaces for Your Pet

Not Every Day Is a Walk in the Park Y’all. It. Is. Hot. I’ve been watching heat advisories crop up all over the country, some of which are lasting a week or more. I’m lucky because both my dogs and I love the heat. When it is 80 out, we’re living our best lives. In fact, my dogs will bully me to go outside whenever they see that I’m not fully focused when the summer weather is in full effect. But as I said, we’re lucky. Many of my clients and their pets struggle this time of year. Depending on

August 11, 2025 No Comments

A scruffy white and dark grey dog in a harness with a long line biting water coming out of an in-ground sprinkler. Text reads: Don’t Sweat It!? Your Dog Can’t: The Dangers of Canine Heatstroke

Essential Skills

Don’t Sweat It!? Your Dog Can’t: The Dangers of Canine Heatstroke

Special thanks to Dr. Colleen Quinn of Quinn Veterinary Clinic & Behavior Center! Content warning: Discussions of serious medical conditions that can result in death. Disclaimer: This blog is not medical advice. Read that again. If your dog exhibits behaviors that are out of the ordinary after being in the heat, it is best to err on the side of caution and contact a veterinarian. It seems like every summer we see an unfortunate article about a dog stuck inside a hot car. But this isn’t the only way pets can end up in dire circumstances due to heat. As

August 4, 2025 No Comments

Humans and dogs walking on a trail. Text reads: Things we wish our clients would tell us

Essential Skills

Things We Wish Clients Would Tell Us

You know how there’s a ton of different fireworks and each of them shoot up and explode a little differently? Some shoot up in a massive steady stream, but then just fizzle out. Some shoot up with a faint jagged line, then explode in a massive flower, a boom whose impact resonates in our chests. Others explode in a canopy, the golden willow branches hanging forever in the sky, resisting decay. If you’ll indulge me and my band director-style analogies, these fireworks are a lot like behavior. The events leading up to the impact may or may not match the

July 28, 2025 No Comments

Bag of Tricks: How Learning About Enrichment Taught Me Self-Care

Vet Visits Don’t Have to Be Scary: Tricks and Treats for Anxious Pets

School Pictures: Tricks, Tips, and Treats for Insta-Worthy Pet Shots

Every Mistake a Lesson: What Pets Teach Us About Getting It Wrong

Curiosity Educated the Cat: Applying Lessons Across Species

Old Dogs, New Tricks: Why Learning Never Stops

Back to School, Not Back to Stress: Helping Your Pet Adjust to a New Routine

Hot Topic: Preventing Dog Bites

Too Hot to Handle? Enrichment Ideas for Scorching Summer Days

Cool Down, Paws Up: Creating Heat-Safe Spaces for Your Pet

Don’t Sweat It!? Your Dog Can’t: The Dangers of Canine Heatstroke

Things We Wish Clients Would Tell Us

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