Subscriber Archive
More than miserable, blistering summer days can bring dangerous hot spots and a failure of normal panting to release body heat. Keeping our dogs safe and comfortable is about more than ventilation and air conditioning. It’s not hard if you understand the problems.
A great friendship can go bad. Aggression between family dogs is common. And the person in-charge doing their best to break it up and make it work can make it worse and get hurt. We can help most of these angry dogs but not with reprimands and punishment.
COVID19 doesn’t scare our cats but they might get wiggy when we return to work. They thought we were home for good. Finding themselves without us all day could trigger some rather stressful and messy separation behaviors.
When dog people return to work some pets will wig-out. Anxious before stay-at-home orders they’ve now become accustomed to our secure presence. Your returning to work may cause a dog with separation distress to destabilize and lose control. You can get ahead of this now. It isn’t hard to do.
Cats can be cranky, pesky, and a bit snarky with other pets. Scolding and water spraying doesn’t teach them better behavior. Instead of reacting badly, kitties can have fun with their people by working for clicks and food.
Out-of-control lunging, barking, and growling! OMG! You’re doing your best to control the mayhem but nothing changes. And besides, punishment is no fun for anybody. Dogs need to do something else instead – like working for their leader. They can change. And we can make it fun.
A dog who obeys fast and reliably can overcome the urge to lunge and bark and lose its mind on leash walks. What if your dog automatically looked to you – instead of reacting aggressively to people and other dogs? Let’s get you both educated.
The leash walk – you’re only way of getting the heck out of the house – can be maddening and maybe even unsafe. Just seeing another creature causes your dog to growl and lurch, risking a human face plant. Jerk the leash and yell? There’s no future in it. You’re miserable, your dog is stressed, and your neighbors treat you like a pariah.
You and I are stressed by the collective anxiety of a serious epidemic. Winston Churchill was prime minister of Great Britain while his country was getting bombed by Nazi Germany. He felt a lot of pressure. His cat Nelson was by his side.