Halloween is a fun holiday – for you humans. But from a dog’s perspective, however, it can be a little scary for us. Not only are our humans dressing strangely, but there are strangers at the door or in the house, and according to dog logic, that’s a good reason to start barking. It’s a natural reaction to stimuli, but not one the humans want, especially if they’re having visitors in the home. Here’s a step by step method our humans can use to train us on how to be calm when visitors are at the door.

Even before I learned less stressful handling techniques and created a more animal friendly clinic environment, I was always aware of what my technician needed to do to hold an animal, what equipment to gather for a procedure, and I tried not to interfere with them delivering care. The Low Stress Handling™ Certification program solidified this knowledge of communicating with the technician about what tests, exams, or procedures I needed to do before jumping into it. A plan for handling based on reducing stress and pain was determined by both of us, with either the technician or myself leading the process.

I can assure you that we here at CattleDog Publishing are following Dr. Yin’s mission and wishes for taking her legacy forward into the future of animal behavior training.

rritated skin and ears can also cause dogs to be more agitated, or even aggressive. The chronic pain and irritation will tend to increase not only irritability, but also anxiety. When the skin improves, the behavior improves.

Have you ever had a patient you wanted to “flip the lip” for a dental exam, but the patient was anxious about mouth handling? Raising the upper lip, also known as “Flip the lip” can be difficult for pets’ who are wary of handling around the head. These situations are challenging, and pose a bite risk to handlers and veterinarians. I try to think of ways to get an exam done while reducing stress and aggression. In one of her lectures, Dr. Sophia Yin demonstrated using pretzel sticks to give rewards to dogs that grabbed at food. If they bit

It’s the start of a New Year and the start of some new changes here at CattleDog Publishing. We lost Dr. Yin in 2014 and a core group of her dedicated employees stayed on to manage the company. Our goal was to keep the company running after her death and ensure that projects she wanted to complete were done, as well as secure her irreplaceable legacy of Low Stress Handling™ training and her unique Learn to Earn™ program. Thanks to you and all of Dr. Yin’s supportive colleagues, we were successful in this venture. Now, it’s time for a new