Anyone who frequents the dog park and knows about dog behavior probably has a few horror stories to share and I am no exception. A couple of years ago, I was at my neighborhood park, which is a private multi-use park for dogs and people. It was an off-hour so it was just me, my dog, Jonesy, and my foster dog, a little Corgi with a history of some fear and reactivity to unfamiliar dogs. Jonesy was off-leash and the Corgi was on a long line. Generally, when I’m just with Jonesy, who is reactive towards unfamiliar dogs, especially those

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Every time I give a lecture on behavior modification, someone asks me, “But what if my dog’s not motivated for food?” This always makes me wonder if we live on the same planet. For one, if a dog were truly not motivated for food, he would dead. What the attendee really should be asking is “Why won’t my dog eat when I want to train him? Could it have anything to do with the fact that I leave his food out all day or give him table scraps and treats for free out of guilt whenever he looks at me?”

Thursdays are always the worst day for little dogs to play fetch at my local park. That’s because mowing is Fridays and on Thursdays the grass is often over one-tennis ball tall. It was on one such Thursday after having to search for my dog’s ball for the third time, that I exclaimed, “It sure would be useful if, instead of being green, this tennis ball were blue and yellow. Then, Jonesy could more easily find it himself.” Well, a passing pet owner quickly corrected me. “That wouldn’t help. Dogs are color blind.” For a second I thought, Duh, that’s

“Ring! Ring!” whined the phone, “Ring! Ring!” followed by a polite, “Hello? How can I help you?” A minute of silence followed, then my assistant popped her head into my office and said, “The caller says she has a dog who needs rehabilitation and wants to know if you can help her.” “Tell her no,” I said, which took my assistant slightly aback. “I don’t deal with criminals, drug addicts, or alcoholics. But, if by chance, she wants behavior modification for a dog with some behavioral issues, then send her my way.” Okay, I know this reply sounds odd, given

(based on an article published in the Bark in 2008) Seizures in Dog Few events are as terrifying as witnessing your pet in the throes of a full seizure. One second, he looks perfectly normal, and the next, he’s on his side, eyes glazed, muscles twitching frenetically. He may even lose control of his bladder or bowels. A result of abnormal electrical activity in the brain, this event may last only seconds, but when it happens, time seems to move in slow motion. For some dogs, this is a one-time experience, but in most cases, seizures recur. If so, and