Blog — Alternative Medicine for Dogs
Top Four Traits of a Great Dog Trainer
Calm: Gives you mental fortitude. If you are not calm, you can’t learn, and training is as much, if not more, founded in learning about your dog as it is teaching him anything. Calmness creates space for observation. Your calmness also helps your dog feel safe. Neutral: Unattached to outcomes. If you remain emotionally neutral, you can remain present with what’s happening right here, right now. Observe your dog and ask yourself questions. Asking questions is a great way to to train yourself to be responsive to the dog. Just think: if I want my dog to respond to me, I...
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...
Holistic Care for Your Canine Companion
If you're leaning towards a more holistic approach to your dog's health and wellness routine, here are some things I suggest. To be clear: I am in no way an expert in this area, and always suggest seeking medical advice from a (holistic) veterinarian. This is simply a list of personal decisions I have made for my own dogs, the results of which have been positive for me and my fur-family. 1. Feed a raw diet. Yes, this is important. I'm vegan, and I don't like handling dead animal parts, but buying kibble is a total cop-out in this area. I...
The Attention Diet: 7 Reasons to Ignore Your Dog
I currently have my dogs on an "attention diet." That means "no touch, no talk, no eye contact," as Cesar Millan would say (and I promise you, this is both the first and last time I will ever quote Cesar!). Why do my dogs need an attention diet? Well, they've received way too much attention indoors, been completely anthropomorphized, overstimulated, over-pet, overly coo-ed to, and in a fairly co-dependent relationship with me for most of their lives. It's only day two and so far, so good. I've been able to practically go "cold turkey" and my dogs are snoring soundly while...