Still An Easy Pill To Swallow

This entry is part 4 of 4 in the series An Easy Pill to Swallow

I’ve written before about training my dogs to take undisguised pills on cue. There’s a host of benefits to this: I don’t have to worry about hiding the pills I don’t have to worry about coming up with ever better tricks as my dogs get better at finding hidden pills… Continue reading

Fear and Fun: A Behavioral Approach to Vacationing

Laura in red helmet and black wetsuit, abseiling into narrow gap, smiling.

“As I mentioned before, I work in behavior, and my specialty is managing fear and aggression, so all my professionalism is coming to bear right now.” I have newly returned from a dream trip I’d been planning for fully ten years, a visit to New Zealand and then a cruise… Continue reading

Puppy Socialization: the Physical

Doberman puppy on trampoline

I have been a terrible pet parent, and I have not been spamming the blog with puppy photos and puppy stories. I apologize, I’ve been crazy busy, and in the end it’s more important to spend those extra minutes with the puppy rather than writing about her. But today I’m… Continue reading

Recall Roundup

Black Labrador Mindy sits and watches deer eating across a wide, rocky creek
This entry is part 22 of 25 in the series Service Dog Training

Last November — yes, I’m more than a little behind on posting — Mindy took a trip with me down to my aunt’s ranch in Texas. I knew this would be an exciting trip for her for a variety of reasons, not least of which that the ranch is a… Continue reading

Training & Gaming at Gen Con

This entry is part 19 of 25 in the series Service Dog Training

Mindy joined me at Gen Con this year. Because you can’t buy that kind of socialization experience. What is Gen Con, you may ask? Well, “Gen Con, LLC produces the largest consumer hobby, fantasy, science fiction and adventure game convention in North America. Gen Con, The Best Four Days In… Continue reading

Fireworks Without the Freak-Out

This entry is part 18 of 25 in the series Service Dog Training

So it was the Fourth of July this past weekend, Independence Day, with all the challenges that brings for pets and their people. I was traveling with Mindy, the guide dog in training, and we did fireworks. With flying colors (terrible pun intended). Continue reading

Puppy Goes Hiking

This entry is part 17 of 25 in the series Service Dog Training

Just a fun post of a day out with Mindy! We went hiking at Turkey Run State Park. Mindy wore her Gentle Leader, which we don’t generally use but which she’s supposed to be desensitized to, just in case it’s ever needed in the future. I figured the best way… Continue reading

Puppy Training on a FitPAWS Donut

This entry is part 16 of 25 in the series Service Dog Training

So apparently I forgot to publish this blog post — sorry! Set the Wayback Machine for a few months ago, when Mindy was small enough to use this size FitPAWS Donut. The weather was too bad (sub-zero Fahrenheit) for puppies to play outdoors for long, and this was not only… Continue reading

Toronto Training – a service dog in training hits the road

This entry is part 15 of 25 in the series Service Dog Training

So I just made a short trip to Toronto with Mindy the Guide Dogs for the Blind puppy, and she was amazing. So if you don’t want to hear puppy bragging, you might want to move on — but if you want to hear about new challenges and how we met… Continue reading