Blog

Image of woman holding a cat in a bowtie with a dog standing next to them on a couch,. Text reads: Recognizing Your Limits: How Pet Parents and Pros Know It’s Time to Refer Out

Behavior Problems

Recognizing Your Limits: How Pet Parents and Pros Know It’s Time to Refer Out

Learning when and how to ask for help is hard. It’s not a skill that comes naturally to most people. And in an emotionally charged context like animal welfare, it can be even harder. This is especially true when dealing with intense behaviors like sound phobias around fireworks or when you’re in a busy season where you’re overwhelmed with travel plans, kids on summer break, and lots of summer activities. But whether you’re a pet parent doing everything you can or a pro trying to help your clients, there will always come a time to say, “I need help.” Several

July 21, 2025 No Comments

A picture of a human hand holding a dog paw. Text reads: Cautious But Committed: Managing Risk When the Human is Risk Averse

Essential Skills

Cautious But Committed: Managing Risk When the Human is Risk Averse

It’s Okay to Be a Little (or a Lot) Scared Ok, I’m just going to come right out and ask. Do you identify with any, some, most, or all of these statements: Your pet is exhibiting behavior that is impacting their and your quality of life.You’ve started to work with a behavior professional and they have discussed the strategies that will help you work toward your goals. You’re excited and ready to get started! You start the plan. At some point you become terrified and have the following thoughts: What if I get it wrong? What if my mistakes have

July 14, 2025 No Comments

Brown dog laying down with face on paws, looking up. Text reads: Fireworks and Fright: How to Support Your Sound-Sensitive Pet Year-Round

Behavior Problems

Fireworks and Fright: How to Support Your Sound-Sensitive Pet Year-Round

Hi, hello. How are you doing? If you’re in the US, we just had the 4th of July, and if you’re like many of my clients, you had a rough one. And realistically, it may not be over depending on where you live and the culture around fireworks. So, seriously, I’m asking, how are you and your pets doing? There are a couple of times of year where I consider myself on “standby.” I’m checking in on clients, even if they graduated years ago, to make sure that they are still feeling like they have a handle on the seasons,

July 7, 2025 No Comments

A brindle dog looking at a fish tank. Text reads: Is Your Safe Space Actually Safe?

Behavior Problems

Is Your Safe Space Actually Safe?

Zorro the red eared slider’s former tank in front of the window. When we first adopted Oso, we knew we were bringing home a dog who was reactive to both people and other dogs. Not long after, he became reactive to loud and/or large vehicles, too. (I talk more about how I caused that in this podcast episode.) We were prepared for that and got to work right away—especially because we lived in a townhome complex with no yard, which meant potty walks weren’t optional. Inside, our setup seemed ideal. Zorro’s tank lived in front of the front window,

June 30, 2025 No Comments

A fluffy cat resting inside of a cardboard box.

Enrichment

Why Your Cat Needs a Safe Space (and How to Build One That Works)

Why Your Cat Needs a Safe Space (and How to Build One That Works) Cats, like other sentient beings, can get anxious and/or overwhelmed by their environment and the other beings in it from time to time. And like other sentient beings, if they don’t have a way to escape that chronic stress, it can impact both their physical health and their behavioral health. When I worked with clients I used to tell them that the sustained pressure of living with chronic stress will eventually come out somehow: through explosion, implosion, sublimation, or learned helplessness. Explosion looks like conflict-seeking behaviors–like

June 23, 2025 No Comments

Photo of a dog in a muzzle standing on a bridge with greenery in the background. Image text reads: Muzzles Aren't Mean: Rethinking Muzzles as Mobile Safe Spaces for Dogs

Essential Skills

Muzzles Aren’t Mean: Rethinking Muzzles as Mobile Safe Spaces for Dogs

“Wait, You Want Me to What?” “How do you feel about the idea of muzzle training?” This is a question I ask my clients a lot. And as you can imagine, because of the dog muzzle stigma that plagues us, the responses I get can vary a lot. Some families: feel that good ol’ pet parent guilt, you know the one I’m talking about, about the fact that their dog needs a muzzle. are worried that people will think that their dog is “aggressive.” struggle with the idea that muzzles don’t address why he feels the need to bite, so

June 16, 2025 No Comments

A brown dog next to a kneeling person, looking at each other, sharing a calm moment

Essential Skills

Learning to Listen: Recognizing Your Dog’s Signals in Real Time

It was a lovely, warm sunny day and I couldn’t wait to get my girl, Olivia, outside for a walk! She’s a big fan of being in the sunshine, and I thought it would be the perfect day for it.

For those unfamiliar with Olivia and her life, she is a very leash reactive, noise phobic pup living in Chicago. (And yes, we cannot wait to move somewhere quiet with a yard). We do not rely on leash walks as Olivia’s main form of “entertainment” as the stress of them often outweighs the benefits for her. We balance how

June 9, 2025 No Comments

White and dark grey dog stretches in front of a baby gate. Text reads: Protected Contact at Home: Creating Safe Spaces for Pets and People

Behavior Problems

Protected Contact at Home: Creating Safe Spaces for Pets and People

Content warning: This blog includes brief discussions of aggressive behavior toward humans. When I was a young intern during my undergrad years, my cubicle neighbor and I joked about “the walls between us.” Even though they didn’t go all the way to the ceiling, they were high and thick enough to cause deeply silly misunderstandings when we’d try to talk, or enough of an obstacle that when we’d toss things over they’d go rogue and bonk somebody on the head or end up in their coffee. I think about that sometimes as I’m attempting to hurl a pizza crust

June 2, 2025 No Comments

Enrichment

Trash to Treasure: How We Use Recycled Enrichment to Support Natural Pet Behaviors

It’s a beautiful spring day and I’m sitting at the Firefly Coffee House finishing my house-made bagel with peach spice cream cheese schmear (yes, it was good). As I finish scraping the cream cheese out of the small plastic container, I think to myself “I wish Petey was here…” You see, one of my dog’s most important roles in our home is cleaning out items bound for the recycling bin. My next thought was…how unhinged of me would it be to put this in my car so I can take it home to Peter? In this week’s episode of Enrichment

May 26, 2025 No Comments

Enrichment

What My Clients Taught Me About Enrichment: Lessons from the Human Side

I love animals, but that’s not why I’m a behavior consultant. Now, don’t get me wrong, I delight in the furry besties I meet and am fulfilled by seeing their growth (and, let’s be honest, when a pup with stranger danger cuddles up on me, I’m on top of the world). But in all honesty, one of the most fulfilling things for me as a consultant is to make connections with the humans and to see how everyone’s behavior contributes to a household. Enrichment is for Everyone When we say “enrichment” means “meeting needs”, of course we’re talking, in

May 19, 2025 No Comments

Enrichment

When Kids Are Part of the Plan: Crafting Enrichment Plans for Families

By this point in time, I imagine that many pet parents have heard the term “enrichment” being bandied about, especially if you are one of the pet parents that happen to be frequent visitors around these parts. I can offer no apologies for being as passionate about enrichment as we are here at Pet Harmony. After all, the way we define enrichment should help you to understand why. Enrichment is all about meeting ALL of an individual’s needs which is, you know, kinda important for survival and well being. I one hundred percent acknowledge that defining things can be much

May 12, 2025 2 Comments

Scruffy white and grey dog in a purple harness standing in the snow.

Behavior Problems

A Day in the Life of Petey the Wondermutt: Enrichment That Works for All of Us

If you’ve been around for long enough, you’ll already know that enrichment is about outcomes. And if you don’t already know that, hi, welcome! When we observe the outcomes of an activity, we’re watching for what our pets do after it’s over. You may have also met Petey the Wondermutt on the blog or podcast. This practice has gained me a useful set of skills. Based on my observations of Petey’s behavior, I can pretty accurately reverse-engineer what he needs and pull out an activity from our enrichment menu. On my menu are go-to activities that I can easily slide

May 5, 2025 No Comments

Recognizing Your Limits: How Pet Parents and Pros Know It’s Time to Refer Out

Cautious But Committed: Managing Risk When the Human is Risk Averse

Fireworks and Fright: How to Support Your Sound-Sensitive Pet Year-Round

Is Your Safe Space Actually Safe?

Why Your Cat Needs a Safe Space (and How to Build One That Works)

Muzzles Aren’t Mean: Rethinking Muzzles as Mobile Safe Spaces for Dogs

Learning to Listen: Recognizing Your Dog’s Signals in Real Time

Protected Contact at Home: Creating Safe Spaces for Pets and People

Trash to Treasure: How We Use Recycled Enrichment to Support Natural Pet Behaviors

What My Clients Taught Me About Enrichment: Lessons from the Human Side

When Kids Are Part of the Plan: Crafting Enrichment Plans for Families

A Day in the Life of Petey the Wondermutt: Enrichment That Works for All of Us

Beat the Heat Flash Sale

Save with our Dog Days of Summer Promo!