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

"My dog refuses to sit when we are outside on our walks – he knows what I'm asking but he's being stubborn."

 

The truth of the matter is that dogs aren't stubborn; they don't do things out of spite or to drive us crazy. If they are failing to comply with our request, we need to look a little deeper. We need to understand how dogs learn and how we can best set them up to succeed long term. 

There are four stages of…

Continue

As part of Dog Bite Prevention Week, I wanted to jot down a few ideas on how we can prevent dog bites in our homes and communities.

Early Socialization

When bringing your puppy home, be sure to start socializing them right away - people, dogs, cats, puppies, children, vehicles, noises, wheelchairs, everything. Don't miss a thing - these…

Continue

Choosing a Trainer is not as easy as it looks. There are so many out there, but there are also many methods to choose from. It's always ideal to enlist the help of a trainer before bringing your dog home, but if you've "missed the boat", don't worry; better late than never!

Do some research online and get out and talk to other dog owners. Ask them for a training reference and take notes so that you have a list of five trainers in your area that you would like to call. Schedule…

Continue

HEY LESLIEVILLERS!

                                       Not only do we want to say HI! to everyone in the neighbourhood (that we haven't met yet!) but we also want to give you an idea of what we are all about. energyXchange is the un-gym! We offer Yoga, Pilates, TRX, Bootcamp and Gravity classes. Haven't heard of half of those things? COME IN AND CHECK US OUT! We have an…

Continue

Hey Rockers,

Continue

Fitting a great walk in for your pooch AND getting to the gym? How often does that actually happen?



Fetching is here to help. We combine exercise for YOU with obedience and agility for your dog, all in 1 session. A few details:



- Located in Kew Gardens in the Beach.

- Classes for all ages / fitness levels.

- First 2 classes are completely FREE!

- Sessions run Tuesday & Thursday evenings.

- Visit… Continue

Hi Folks,



Over on the Yahoo forum there was a thread regarding computer repair. As lady Luck would have it we needed a system repaired quickly.



From the Yahoo group someone mentioned the new store "CONTEMPORARY COMPUTERS". The store is walking distance from our house so I took it over. The owner is Phil Hudson, a young energetic guy who knows computers very well and also the neighborhood.



We had the option of having the system back the same day if needed. He… Continue