The Exit Strategy As thrilling as it is when your shy dog takes a tentative step towards confidence, it can be equally as nerve-wracking. You’ve worked long hours, sometimes over many months, to help your dog develop coping mechanisms and to counter-condition more productive behaviors. You know your dog’s triggers, train below his threshold and […]
3 Great Ways To Trim Your Dog’s Nails
The Art of Clipping Dogs’ Nails My first fearful dog, Gracie, had the black and tan markings typical of Rottweilers, including coal black toe nails. She was touch sensitive and really, REALLY did not like her paws handled. Add my inexperience, a pair of cheap guillotine nail clippers and a dollop of fear (mine and […]
Training Shy and Fearful Dogs Using The “Personal Best” Technique
Rather than measure progress against another athlete or as an arbitrary time chosen by a coach, swimmers often focus on achieving Personal Best times. PB’s measure an athlete against her best and toughest opponent: herself. Personal Bests represent achievable goals that translate over time into significant drops in time and significant boosts in confidence. […]
Attitude Matters When Working With Your Shy and Fearful Dog
Your attitude is critical to successfully interacting with your fearful dog. It can be very easy to feel sorry for her, imagining the circumstances that caused her fearfulness, but unless you know for a fact what your dog’s history is, you are doing her no favors by assigning her a past that she may not […]
You’re Creeping Me Out!
Humans respond much the same way as dogs when stared at. They look away, take a step back, or challenge the “starer” with a question or comment, “You’re staring at me funny.” “Why are you looking at me that way?” “You’re creeping me out!” To confirm the already accepted theory that staring is uncomfortable at […]
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