Fearful Dogs Blog

White water rafting is often described as organized chaos. No matter how much we plan, no matter how many times we practice running certain rapids, every time we get into a boat with a group of people we can only be sure of the outcome we want, not the outcome we're going to get. Not ...

Over the past 30 years I have taken numerous first aid classes to complement my work leading recreational, outdoor travel groups. One of the texts, The Outward Bound Wilderness First Aid Handbook, in its first chapter called General Principles in Wilderness Medicine, includes this statement: Anticipating and controlling the development of swelling is one of ...

It's easy to think that the fear we see our dogs display is just a veneer that needs to be stripped away to expose the solid oak dog. Certainly there are dogs for whom life has tossed a curve ball and they struggle to for a bit as they sort out their new life, but ...

When people call me to ask about boarding their dogs or for information regarding working with a timid dog, early on in the conversation I will ask what kind of dog it is. It helps me to have a picture of the dog, in the case of boarding it may determine whether the conversation needs ...

One of the most useful behaviors any dog owner can teach their dog is to look at them. Trainers teach this checking-in behavior differently. I'll share my favorite. Like any behavior, the more a dog practices it and gets rewarded for it, the better they'll get at it. If I want my dog ...

Words are pretty cool things. You can be driving along with a friend and shout out 'PIZZA!' and barring the fact that you might be prone to random, nonsensical outbursts, your friend will understand, "I'm hungry. I'd like to eat pizza. You willing to stop and eat pizza with me? Pull into that pizzeria please." ...

I often feel an affinity toward 'dog' people. No offense to you 'cat' people, it's definitely not because we're any smarter. In the never ending debate over whether or not it is efficacious or humane to use training techniques or devices that hurt or intimate a dog to get behaviors we want, we seem to ...

I'm actually an open-minded trainer and dog owner who has looked at and considered the merits of a variety of different training techniques. If a handling or training technique works I am curious to see why it does, or to assess whether what we are seeing in regard to the dog's behavior is actually success. ...

I board dogs in my home. When people call for information about my services I will ask them to tell me about their dog. It is not uncommon for me to hear, "He's not an alpha dog," or, "She's not a dominant dog." For years I have lived with 3-4 dogs of my own. Used ...