Not all naughty behavior stemming from your absence means a dog is suffering from separation anxiety. And suffering is what a dog with true separation anxiety does. To put a sep anx dog’s feelings and reactions into perspective, imagine this. While on a walk alone in the wilderness, you trip and slip into an abandon shaft and land on your rump 20 feet further into the ground than where you’d started. Except for the light at the shaft’s opening, which {Read More}
Hyper Dogs
February 17, 2014 by
Hyper dogs are a lot of fun, but you may get frustrated when looking for the switch that turns them off. That’s because hyper dogs wake up with a certain amount of fuel in their tanks each day and need to spend that fuel some way. Their fuel tanks are bigger than other dogs’. The best ways to help them spend that energy are through training and activities that will keep them occupied both mentally and physically. Otherwise, they’ll find {Read More}
Counter Surfing
February 1, 2014 by
Surfing is great for those who love to do it and it involves the ocean and a surf board. A dog who surfs the counter for food, though, may be having a great time, but rarely is such behavior appreciated. Even if it’s a Kong on the counter that is destined for his dinner bowl, a dog’s paws should be off the kitchen counter at all times. This is not only for the convenience of having a civilized dog in {Read More}
Barking Dogs
January 27, 2014 by
Dogs bark. It’s in their genetic make-up. Sometimes, though, dogs bark too much or at inappropriate times. Demand barking, for example, is when a dog wants to get attention, a treat, or something else that he’s been given before when he tried barking to get his way. Dogs learn fast when things work for them, and demand barking is a prime example of dogs doing what works. Watch dog barking is another type of dog barking that we love, but {Read More}
Approach-Avoidance Conflict From Low Grade Fear
January 19, 2014 by
Dobermann Luna resolves her sudden low-grade fear of a Nylabone through an approach-avoidance dance. What is approach-avoidance? Approach-avoidance is “a motivational conflict resulting from the presence of a single goal or desire that is both desirable and undesirable.” So the conflict causes someone to be simultaneously attracted and repelled to carry out an act. If you’ve ever been on a diet, and had something in the fridge that was calling out to you, a brownie, for example, you know the {Read More}
