Pet Pursuits Dog Training

30/04/2025

We all want what’s best for our dogs — but what if the advice we’ve followed for years might actually be doing more harm than good?

Desexing has long been considered routine, even responsible. But new research is telling us it’s not so simple. Early spay/neuter, in particular, may have lifelong impacts on a dog’s health, behaviour, and emotional wellbeing.

I’d love to hear your thoughts after reading this.

If we truly care about the individual dog in front of us — their body, their genetics, their experiences — then it’s time we take a more thoughtful approach.

Dr. Karen Becker’s article is a powerful, evidence-based call to reconsider what’s best for our dogs, not just what’s easiest or most familiar for us.

NO UNWANTED LITTERS, we all agree with that goal; it's the surgical technique that should be reevaluated. Hysterectomy and vasectomy can be performed as early as 8 weeks of age with no negative side effects, rendering dogs sterile AND hormonally balanced.

"Early studies suggested that intact dogs displayed more problematic behaviors, and neutering was thought to improve certain behaviors, such as roaming, mounting, urinary marking, and intermale aggression [48,49,50,51]. These early conclusions likely contributed to the widespread belief that neutering is a reliable solution for unwanted behaviors. However, more recent studies have raised concerns about the potential for neutering to increase fear, anxiety, and aggression-related behaviors in both male and female dogs. Neutered dogs have been reported to exhibit more fear, nervousness, panic, social withdrawal, and even heightened aggression [44,52,53,54,55,56,57]. Therefore, caution must be exercised when considering neutering as a solution for behavioral issues.
Studies have reported higher risks for developing reproductive, urinary, metabolic, and musculoskeletal disorders in neutered dogs. Additionally, some studies suggest increases in stress, fear, anxiety, and even certain types of aggression following neutering.

The decision to neuter pet dogs remains a significant and ongoing debate from ethical, animal health, and animal welfare perspectives. Millions of dogs worldwide are considered integral family members, and their behavior, as well as the bond they form with their owners, play a key role in the decision to keep them as pets. When behavioral problems arise, neutering is often viewed as a potential solution. However, by removing the source of sexual hormones, neutering creates the potential for both beneficial and harmful effects on a dog’s health and behavior."

25/08/2024

Hello lovely people, get in touch for all your training and behavioural needs now. I am a certified Family Dog Mediator and a force free trainer. I will teach you how to build trust and cooperation between you and your dog. If you haven’t already, please read my google reviews for my success at dealing with all ages, stages and breeds, including any anxieties/reactivity/aggression: https://shorturl.at/jPpRf
These are my Belgian Shepherds, Phoenix and Boo.😍

14/04/2024

So happy to see that things are changing in dog-human relationships. 🥰
As a I am a certified Family Dog Mediator® and a force free trainer, I can give you practical guidance on what this looks like.

A new framework for "a dog-indexed definition of consent."

23/03/2024

How fascinating! We’ve known for some time that dogs have emotions similar to ours…and now tears have been measured!

Research is first to demonstrate positive emotion provoking tears in a non-human

18/05/2023

Great article on the social and emotional intelligence of dogs! 😍

The rapidly growing field of "canine cognition" is revealing new insights about the often-enigmatic behaviors of our fabulous furry four-legged friends.

18/04/2023

Great demonstration of what we should not do to dogs!

17/03/2023

I guess it’s no real surprise given dog’s experience the same emotions we do, and in the same parts of the brain.
Thank God the brain is plastic and we can help rehabilitate most dogs.

Dog ownership is a lot of furry companionship, tail wags and chasing balls, and ample unconditional love.

17/10/2022

Hi lovely people, get in touch for all your training and behavioural needs NOW. I am a certified Family Dog Mediator and a force free trainer. I will teach you how to build trust and cooperation between you and your dog. If you haven’t already, please read my google reviews for my success at dealing with all ages, stages and breeds, including any anxieties/reactivity/aggression: https://bit.ly/36xOnYA
This is Boo, my Belgian Tervuren, enjoying the sunshine. 🥰

16/09/2022

So important to recognise the sentience of dogs and allow them to make choices! Happiness is more important than obedience!

THE CHOICE TO CHOOSE
WHY DOGS SHOULD BE ALLOWED CHOICE
Imagine that every little detail of your life is controlled - what and when you eat, where you sleep, when you’re allowed inside or outside, when you’re allowed to go out for a walk and if you’re allowed to stop and explore, who you’re allowed or forced to interact with, what activities (if any) you’re allowed to participate in, when you’re shown affection or receive attention, where you’re allowed to be touched etc., etc.…. This situation would create stress and anxiety, a feeling of helplessness, apathy, a lack of confidence and many other negative emotions. The same is true for dogs.
Dogs live in a world where just about everything is controlled by us. Allowing choice, no matter how simple that choice may be, provides many benefits. The context in which we allow choice is obviously relevant. Safety, boundaries, environmental factors, other people or animals always need to be taken into account.
Dogs that are allowed some control over their environment and how they respond to situations are more confident, more emotionally balanced, better able to cope with stressful situations, less anxious, less stressed and have fewer behaviour problems.
Allowing simple choices like which direction to take on a walk, which tree to wee on, how long to sniff that fascinating blade of grass or which toy to play with, which treat to choose, what game to play or allowing your dog to choose to interact or be touched by someone are all simple ways that we can provide choice for our dogs and help them to cope in a world that controls them.

12/09/2022

Love this!

In the last few years, I’ve watched “dog culture” explode into a phenomenon I’d never seen as an early dog trainer. When I first started training dogs, people didn’t come to me with requests for their dogs to be able to handle things and expectations we put on them so heavily today. Nowadays, it’s amazing what we ask of our dogs because of this culture that emerged. And then we wonder why dogs are going downhill behaviorally so quickly.

1. Dog “groups” where people get together with dogs on leash and do activities and social events. Including birthday parties, Halloween parties, etc etc

2. Dog daycares where dogs are kept in large groups to play

3. Dog parks where humans AND dogs interact in groups

4. Behaviors like perfect heel on leash, sit stays on beds, ignoring environmental enticement in the name of “training”

Then there’s dog sports, dog classes, therapy dog work, service dog work, dog shows, trail walks, public outings, restaurants, breweries, and farmers markets and parades and town days and family over (with their dog) for every holiday and apartment complexes and car rides and pet stores and all these places we’ve been made to believe dogs SHOULD go and should WANT to go to and if they don’t then you need to do more and more work with them and help them like it and if you don’t then you aren’t fulfilling them or meeting their needs and your dog isn’t happy and you are failing or they just haven’t been raised right.

Please. Take a breath.

For 20,000 years dogs existed beside us doing none of that. For 9,000 years they were created for purpose and work, not for pets (with the exception of a few toy breeds) We didn’t expect ANY OF THIS during that time unless they were designed and created for it: now it’s what we want all the time. From all dogs. That’s not fair.

Our culture has changed SO much and dogs haven’t had a chance to catch up. We want all this new stuff because it’s part of OUR new culture, but we need to pause and realize it’s not a part of most of theirs. People coming over? Not really what most dogs were created to enjoy. Going new places all the time? Not what most dogs were created to handle. Hanging out in groups and put in costumes and having their pictures taken? Not normal to a dog. Riding calmly in a glass box going past all these distractions at 35mph? Not part of their DNA either.

We would NEVER expect this of any of our other animals either. Why are dogs taking the brunt of this. Because dogs are extremely adaptable and truthfully, they love us so much they will try so so hard to make us happy and do what we ask of them. But, can we for a second stop and think that maybe it’s too much sometimes? Can we please take some accountability for their stress and mental health as part of OUR unrealistic expectations that we’ve been led to believe make for a good dog vs a bad dog? I’m not talking about not working with them and helping them learn to live in todays world. That’s important. I’m talking about taking a step back and having respect for who they are and why they originally ended up with us. I do this all the time before I put any of my dogs in a situation, and that means sometimes I don’t bring them.

If the culture is changing; let’s add human education and understanding of basic canine ethology, body language and respect into it too. It’s only fair to honor the animals who have stood beside us for so so long.

Helen St. Pierre

09/09/2022

What positive socialisation really looks like!

"Puppy Socialization"....what is it, really? 🧐
Let's start by reviewing what it ISN'T....
Socialization is NOT:
🚫 throwing your puppy into puppy kindergarten group classes
🚫meeting and playing with as many dogs and puppies as possible
🚫 meeting and letting as many people as possible hold and interact with your puppy.
If this is the picture you have - you, like many other people, could be setting your puppy and yourself up for a lifetime of stress.😬
👉There is certainly a right way and a wrong way to "socialize" your puppy and honestly, most people are doing it the wrong way.👈
"Socialization" is like this puzzle🧩 ; where each component plays a role in the complete picture.
It's about exposing your puppy to novel experiences in a gentle way, so your puppy leaves that experience feeling good, feeling calm, feeling safe - and thus feeling good about doing it again!🥳
My students learn how to expose their puppies systematically to the world around them to build positive associations. My favorite game, "watching the world go by", cultivates opportunities for their puppies to experience the world in a low-stress, positive way. Our only goal- letting our puppies learn about the world around them! The sounds, surfaces, the environments, the people, the animals, etc. and that in fact, the world is not a scary place.✅️
This needs to be done gently, considering your puppy's feelings. If you're thrusting your puppy into different situations in the name of "socialization" and your puppy is leaving feeling stressed, exhausted, or overwhelmed😨 - you're doing more harm than good. The world will become overwhelming and scary, not fun and positive at all. This can create a lifetime of problems and stress for your dog and for you.
And there isn't one specific "recipe" for properly exposing our puppies to the world. Why is this?
Because puppies are NOT blank slates.
Every puppy is an individual, a sentient being with his/her own personality traits, inherited traits, and genetic make-up. So socialization cannot be a "one-size-fits-all" process. It's about understanding YOUR puppy's needs and setting YOUR puppy up for success as he/she begins to learn about this new world.
And if you'll notice, interactions with other dogs and people (though important) are not top priority and instead, only play a minor role in the full socialization puzzle.
So be thoughtful and comprehensive in your socialization approach with your puppy, Focus on building neutral and positive experiences to the world around you and your puppy, cultivating ample opportunities for your puppy to learn what the world is all about.
There are so many pieces to the socialization puzzle... if you'd like help setting your puppy up for success with a proper socialization plan, reach out!
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Send me a message 👇 to set up a time for us to chat about your puppy 🙂

21/07/2022

How amazing! 😃

Cornell University researchers have provided the first documentation that dogs' sense of smell is integrated with their vision and other unique parts of the brain, shedding new light on how dogs experience and navigate the world.