As I walk through the city of Toronto on a daily basis, I am still shocked to see how many people still tie their dogs up outside outside stores and leave them for a stretch of time. I'll admit to doing it up until last year when we had a series of dog-nappings in the city and my eyes were opened to the dangers. It was…

Continue

Does your dog make an embarrassing display at the end of her leash? Does she bark, snark and lunge?

”Reactivity” and “Aggression” are generally misunderstood and misused.

Just because your dog is grumbly on leash, doesn’t mean she’s aggressive. There is an important difference between the two terms and it’s key to know this before labeling your dog.

Aggression is reactivity on a higher scale with the intent finally to injure if all the other communication…

Continue

This was a question asked of me this week and it struck a chord. I can rant all day about the dangers of using leash-corrections, alpha-rolling a dog, hissing and jabbing a dog in the neck or the haunches, or forcing a dog into submission in a fearful situation...but will my words make a difference if people don't know why they do what they do? Likely not.



This is that hardest part of my job – watching people do the above to their so-called "best friend". Would you put a prong…

Continue

Does your dog snarl and growl if another dog approaches her when she's eating or gnawing on a tasty chew? Does she freeze and look sideways when her canine friends try to join her on the bed or couch? How about starting fights at the dog park when there's a ball in play?



If you answered 'yes' to any of these questions, you're not alone. When a dog acts possessively over an item, place or person we call it "resource guarding" and it's more common than you think.



What you may… Continue