Blog — Holistic Healing
Handler Self-Care Part One: Your Oxygen Mask
We all know the drill: you put on your own oxygen mask first, THEN you help others. But this doesn't just hold true in emergencies, we need to make this a practice in every day life! I've noticed that when I let myself get super stressed and run down, I'm not a very good caretaker to my animals. I end up walking around like a zombie and don't have energy to give them the time, attention, and exercise they deserve. So let's do something about that! Taking time for yourself should be a daily practice. Today I took time for...
Your Dog's Mouth is His Hand
The Non-Duality of Dog Training
What I've learned so far in my dog training career, is that everything we do with dogs, at least everything that actually works, is counter-intuitive. Do you want your dog to stop barking? Teach him to bark on command. Want your dog to stop jumping on strangers? Encourage him jump on you. Want your dog to be social as opposed to aggressive? Let him play aggressively, even let him WIN the tug toy (a dog who feels good in his natural drive state will not display unnecessary aggression). Want your dog to be soft? Encourage him to bite hard. Want your dog to bite...
Why You Should Never Shock Your Dog
E-Collar training is sweeping the nation! It looks like it works miracles, but what it really does is ruin dogs. In this article I will explain why. What happens when you shock your dog? A jolt of energy is literally injected into your dog's nervous system. But from where? Of course we know it comes from pushing a button and transmitting a signal to the collar (or perhaps the signal comes from an electric fence). But what does your dog know about remote controls and invisible fences? Not too much. What your dog experiences is a force acting on him,...
The Truth About Cats and Dogs
Freya came home in August of 2015 with huge dog aggression issues and very intense prey drive directed towards my cat. A big project, for sure. The focus of this article is to address the cat issues. At first, meaning for the first few months, I basically kept Freya in my office and only gave her housetime when she was on a leash. Here's a quick run-down of her first few encounters with my cat, Pasca: 1. We pass by kitty, who is sitting on a desk, on our way out to the backyard. Freya puts her whole mouth over...