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Why Chewing Matters for Dogs Many thanks to Joy Eriksen for sharing this article with me. Joy is a CSAN (Certified Species Appropriate Nutritionist) and a great resource if you need guidance with raw feeding. The article highlights something simple—but incredibly important: Chewing isn’t just a pastime for dogs. It’s a biological need. More Than Just a Habit We often think of chewing as something to manage or redirect—especially when it shows up as unwanted behavior. But when we look deeper, chewing serves essential functions for both physical and emotional health. Denying dogs appropriate outlets to chew doesn’t just create...

What Is Leash Reactivity, Really? Leash reactivity is one of the most commonly discussed behavior challenges in dogs, but it is also one of the most misunderstood. People often use the term as a diagnosis or label for barking, lunging, growling, or over-excited behavior on leash. While these are the visible expressions, they are not the root of the issue. Leash reactivity is not a single behavior pattern, and it is not a personality trait. It is a nervous system response that emerges under specific conditions. To understand leash reactivity, we have to look beyond what the dog is doing...

  Why Temperament Matters and How It Shapes Personality When we talk about dog behavior, we often default to describing what we can see: whether a dog is friendly, reactive, confident, sensitive, or anxious. These descriptions are usually grouped under the idea of “personality.” But personality does not emerge randomly. It is built on a deeper biological foundation: temperament. Temperament is the underlying template that shapes how a dog is likely to respond to the world. It influences thresholds for arousal, sensitivity to threat, intensity of drive, and the speed at which the nervous system activates or recovers. Personality then...

  When the Student is Ready, the Teacher Appears It’s worth asking an honest question: Does your dog ever push your buttons? Do you find yourself having reactions that feel bigger than the situation calls for—frustration that escalates quickly, or moments where you feel unexpectedly overwhelmed or triggered? If so, you’re not alone. When Behavior Feels Personal Living closely with a dog creates a constant feedback loop. Your dog is responding to your cues, your energy, your patterns—and at the same time, their behavior can bring things to the surface for you. Reactions that feel immediate or intense are often...

The Reality of Loose-Lead Walking Loose-lead walking is often treated as a basic skill—but when you really break it down, it’s anything but simple. At its core, loose-lead walking asks a dog to move in a way that is not natural to them. Dogs are built to explore, to follow scent, to change pace, to orient toward movement in the environment. A leash, by definition, limits those instincts. So when we ask for a loose leash, we are asking the dog to suppress some of their natural behaviors. That doesn’t mean it’s wrong—but it does mean we need to approach...