Fear Free Happy Homes
Reading Time: 3 minutes The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel puppy skittered into class and ducked under a chair, trembling. It was Pip’s first night of puppy kindergarten, and he was terrified. After class, I chatted with his parents. “Your puppy is really shy,” I said. “Sixteen weeks is the latest we’ll take a puppy into this class, and he’s […]
Reading Time: 4 minutes Is a puppy in your near future? Here’s how to make his transition from rescue organization or breeder to your home as easy as possible. Bringing a puppy home is a joyous time for the people in a family, and it should be for the puppy as well. Planning, play, training, and timing are all […]
Reading Time: 4 minutes Making therapy visits can be great enrichment for the right dog and make you feel good about giving back to the community. But it’s important that therapy pets love their work, and for some dogs it may be too stressful. If you’re considering getting into this, make sure your dog will be an enthusiastic partner. […]
Reading Time: 4 minutes Fear is a powerful emotion. It takes a lot to overcome it, in dogs and cats as well as humans, but there are some techniques that can help. I am afraid of spiders. Granted, there are species of spiders than can pose some danger in certain situations, but I live in a big city with […]
Reading Time: 2 minutes Sometimes you need to catch your puppy by the collar if he’s eating something dangerous or about to take a flying leap and you need to stop him quick. Here’s how to successfully teach him to like having his collar handled so he doesn’t respond aggressively during these incidents. “Time out!” I called. Seven people […]
Reading Time: 4 minutes If you were to go by all the talk about “dog people” versus “cat people,” you’d think that everyone had to choose one and stick to it. They don’t, of course; plenty of us have both cats and dogs and despite their differences, it seems to work out. If you want to ensure a good […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes If your dog is terrified of riding in the car, it doesn’t have to be that way. With careful planning and patient training, you can teach him to relax and enjoy the ride. Here are my favorite tactics for building canine confidence in the car. Riding in the car. Isn’t that something that all dogs […]