C.A.R.E Focused Education for Dogs & Their People
Inspiring Curiosity, Agency, Reflection, & Empathy
 5 Essential Questions to Ask When Choosing a Vet for your Family Pet TeamChoosing the right vet is not just about medical expertise—it’s about finding someone who understands and prioritizes your dog's emotional well-being, especially if they’re prone to anxiety. While vets and vet techs do their best with the resources and tools they have, they don’t always get the full picture or see what happens behind the scenes at home. That's why it’s so important to remain curious, empathetic, and respectful while advocating for your dog’s needs. Here are five essential questions to ask when selecting a vet for your anxious pet. These will help ensure that the clinic not only takes care of your dog’s physical health but also makes them feel comfortable and safe during every visit. Keep reading...
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3/20/2024 0 Comments Getting to know your... Gun Dog Get to know your dogThese enthusiastic, outgoing, and sometimes impulsive breeds are known for their intelligence, affection, and strong drive to learn. They were selectively bred during the middle ages for specific traits to assist in hunting. Nowadays, their primary function is to work alongside people and in cooperation with them, often making them an ideal family dog. Gun Dogs include but are not limited to breeds such as: American Water Spaniel, Boykin Spaniel, Brittany Spaniel, Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Clumber Spaniel, Cocker Spaniel, English Pointer, English Setter, English Springer Spaniel, Field Spaniel, Flat-Coated Retriever, German Shorthair Pointer, German Wirehair Pointer, Golden Retriever, Irish Setter, Gordon Setter, Labrador Retriever, Munsterlander, Portuguese Water Dog, Spinone Italiano, Standard Poodle, Sussex Spaniel, Vizsla, Weimaraner, Welsh Springer Spaniel, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, and more!
If your dog struggles with guests, having multiple people over for a family meal can be really exciting or really terrifying for them. Here are a some quick tips to help your dog TODAY, tomorrow, or in the future  A Thank You letter to Dog Moms/Dad raising shy & worried pups  Raising me probably hasn’t been easy. I want to let you know that I understand how much you give up for me on a regular basis. I recognize your efforts and how you stick up for me.
10/11/2023 0 Comments Heading down the Vet Prep Path
Preparing your nervous pet for a visit to the vet can be a daunting and overwhelming task.
Sometimes it feels like an all or nothing situation. "Well, if my dog is never going to love the Vet, we should just get it over with".
With a bit of understanding and some home-taught skills, you can make the next Vet visit a little happier. You'll turn this potentially stressful situation into a smoother and more comfortable experience for both you and your pup. Here is a overview to help you understand how I recommend navigating down the Vet Prep Path. 7/24/2023 0 Comments Foundations of Better BehaviorStruggling with your dog's behavior?
I'm going to share my 5 Relationship-Focused Building Blocks to Better Behavior with you to help you figure out where you might be getting stuck and how to re-establish your foundation.
When it comes to training and behavior change in your living, breathing, 4 legged family member, there can be a lot of behavior problems that come into play. Whether you're dealing with fear of people, leash reactivity, fear of new places, separation anxiety, poor manners, barking, biting, noise phobia, fear of the vet, or are starting with a new puppy or dog... your relationship with your dog and with the behavior process is where it all begins. All behavior needs a solid foundation, built in trust, safety, and agency. Punishment Based Training - Is it worth the risk? There are many reasons why I choose positive training methods.
In my opinion, there is far too much risk associated with punishment-based/coercive/aversive methods. I am not here to judge choices. I am here to teach. To learn. To grow. And to follow my own personal principles. Look, punishment based methods wouldn't be around if they didn't work. When they do work, there is a lot of reinforcement for the one who applied it, so they stick. The animal listened and isn't that the ultimate goal? Maybe I am here today to tell you about the risks that I often see around training methods that include physical corrections, alpha rolls, verbal corrections, prong collar corrections, coercion, and the like. 3/2/2022 0 Comments The Power of Trick TrainingImproved attention, a better relationship, and a bigger vocabulary for your dog. What other type of training can do all that?  10/26/2021 2 Comments There are no blank slatesIf we want to live with our dogs successfully, we can't ignore the gene pool. The truth is - no puppy is born as a clean slate. There are thousands of years of reinforcement history in their genes. Looking at genetics is just as important as looking at your dog's learning history, their environment, health, age, etc. Inspired by Kim Brophey's LEGS model in Meet Your Dog and her Family Dog Mediator Course, I would encourage you to spend some time getting to know your dog so you can set realistic expectations and stop trying to fight an uphill battle. Sometimes the best thing we can do for our dogs is get to know them as they are.  If you aren't sure which of these groups your dog belongs to, I would encourage you to head over to The Dog Key to enter your breed or take the quiz to help narrow it down!
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