Kindred Creatures Inc.

05/31/2026

Tonight I ended up trying to help a friend whose puppy ate a kid's vitamin containing xylitol. Simple accident: kid dropped vitamin, puppy scarfed it down. (Note: this household is knowledgeable and is xylitol free, but a relative bought the vitamins, unaware of the risk to the dogs.)

The puppy only ate *one* vitamin. Which turned out to contain 1500 mg of xylitol.

100 mg/kg is the threshold for hypoglycemia which can be fatal. At 500 mg/kg, hepatic necrosis occurs -- destruction of liver tissue.

So just ONE chewable vitamin ended up creating a serious problem for a 30 pound pup (which is not quite 14 kg).

The emergency vet induced vomiting. Thankfully, the puppy had had a meal and so there was food in her stomach. In the vomit was the orange tablet, identifiable though dissolved.

Quick thinking on the owner's part (including grabbing the bottle of vitamins) and fortunately a nearby 24/7 emergency vet hospital meant that this pup received prompt treatment, and should make a full recovery.

Check your medications, vitamins, gum, candy, toothpaste, mouthwash, peanut butter and more for xylitol, also known as birch sugar.

This is useful information to have on hand:
https://www.calculatorsfordogs.com/health-nutrition-calculators/xylitol-toxicity-calculator

ALWAYS contact vet and ASPCA Animal Poison Control center immediately!

As for everyone (the non-vets) recommending the use of hydrogen peroxide, please update your understanding:
https://www.gsvs.org/woodbridge-nj/blog/hydrogen-peroxide-for-dogs-emergency/

Pass this along. I hope you never have to use it.

05/15/2026

What happens when we stop assuming animals should obey us?
(Short answer: a lot more magic than chaos.)

For generations, the story was simple:
Animals listen, humans lead.
That was the rule.
Or at least… the expectation.

But more and more, people are starting to question that old script.
Not because they’ve gone “soft,”
but because they’ve noticed something honest:

Obedience is not the same as trust.
Compliance is not the same as connection.
And an animal doing what they’re told isn’t the same as an animal who wants to be with you.

So what actually happens when we let go of the idea that animals exist to follow orders?

You start to see their personalities.
Their opinions.
Their sense of humor.
Their boundaries.
Their brilliance.

A horse who used to shut down when pressured begins to show curiosity.
A dog who was always scolded for “disobedience” suddenly feels safe enough to learn.
A cat who seemed aloof reveals they’re actually sensitive — just tired of being misunderstood.

When we stop demanding obedience,
we make room for relationship.

And here’s the part most people don’t expect:
Animals become more willing, not less.
Because now the pressure is gone.
The fear is gone.
The tightness in their body is gone.
And what’s left is real partnership — the kind you can’t force even if you tried.

Dropping outdated norms doesn’t make animals wild or unruly.
It makes them authentic.
It makes them expressive.
It makes them feel like participants instead of possessions.

And honestly?
It makes us better, too.

So the next time an animal doesn’t “obey,”
try swapping the thought “they won’t listen”
for the question,
“What are they telling me?”

You might just discover a whole new world hiding in their “no.”

05/14/2026

This simple habit can be a game changer—for our relationship with our own dogs, and when introduced to a new dog:

Ever wonder if your dog is actually enjoying those scratches or just “tolerating” them?

The Pet-Pet-Pause technique is a game-changer for bite prevention with both kids as well as adults!

It’s as simple as Pet, Pet, PAUSE ✋

Always use one hand while doing the consent test! One hand is enough, two hands is too rough!

By stopping for a few seconds, you give your dog the space to tell you how they feel. This “consent check” ensures affection is a mutual choice.

Watch for the Response:

✅ Green Light: They lean in or nudge your hand. Resume petting!

❌ Red Light: They turn away, look away, or move their body back. Respect the space and stop.

Consent can change at any point, so remember to do multiple consent checks during an interaction!

Let’s advocate for our dogs by listening to what they don’t say out loud ❤️

04/13/2026

The best approach? None.
None at all.

I want a dog to feel safe.
Secure.
To understand, clearly, that I am no threat.

And the quickest way to do that?
Take the pressure right off.

No reaching. No leaning in and no stepping into their space.

Because the moment you move toward them, or bend down in an attempt to connect with them, you’ve already changed how it feels for them.

Dogs don’t need us to prove we’re friendly.
They need us to be non-threatening.

There’s a big difference.

And this isn’t just about them.
It’s about you too.

You may know nothing about this dog. That matters.

If you crouch down right in front of them, you’ve just put yourself in a compromised position.

Your centre of gravity is now off.
Your movement will then be slower.
Your ability to step away quickly is reduced.

If this dog reacts?
You’ve lost those crucial seconds and your face is right there directly in front of theirs.

So, try this instead

Turn your body.
Stay upright.
Give lots of space.

Let them decide if they want to come closer.

Because the clearest and best message you can send a dog is this:
I’m not here to pressure you.

04/13/2026

The Canadian Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA) has taken a strong and clear position on dog training in Canada.

They support the development of a national certifying body to establish consistent standards for dog trainers—standards based on humane, evidence-based, reward-based methods.

Why is this important? Read the article
https://conta.cc/40xoBku

03/30/2026

Everything changes with the wind...

02/09/2026

We determine if our animals are curious and looking for the good, or vigilant, watching for what to avoid.

If a whip, wand, carrot stick, flag, bamboo, stick, branch, training “aid” or whatever you want to call it, works in the way you want it to, then it doesn’t matter what YOU think of it or what you call it or what stories you tell yourself about it.

It’s what the horse/animal thinks and feels about the tool and how they behave around it that’s important and relevant.

If you’re using it as a way to get the horse to do a behaviour, you have to consider how the horse feels about the tool as well.

If you want personal space, boundaries, not to get run over, etc and the tool is giving you that, you have to think about what the tool represents to the horse.

When your training program involves the escape and avoidance behaviours of Negative Reinforcement ("pressure and release"), your horse is more likely to be looking for stimuli that they need to avoid and escape from, because of their overall training experience.

That can mean that when you are using certain tools like whips, they interpret them a certain way and a very different way to a horse trained with Positive Reinforcement, where they’re looking for opportunities to gain things they like such as food.

You don’t need to whip a horse or even touch them to trigger avoidance behaviours that cause the horse to move.

When I watch people training with whips, I see horses driven forwards, moved sideways, forward movement blocked with whips, without them having to be touched. The horse is continually avoiding the whip, dancing left and right, forwards and backwards and even rearing upwards!

Gosh, it’s so easy to train like that!

When you train a horse with Positive Reinforcement training, you’ve spent a lot of time figuring out how to train behaviours without causing the horse escape and avoidance behaviours, without aversive “pressure”. In this way you may have trained your horse to love training, to love being with you and to look and listen for R+ trained cues or prompts. It means they’re not vigilant in order to avoid tools or whips or watch the way you move for them to move in a certain way.

Positive Reinforcement training creates curious and confident horses, rather than wary and vigilant horses. They tell us when they’re not comfortable about things and we can change what we are doing and plan our training to help them feel better. This means they are less likely to be reactive or looking to escape and avoid something.

I don’t need to use whips to elicit behaviour or use them as a cue or a command.

I don’t need to try to convince myself:

“I only have to carry the whip, I don’t use it!”

“The whip is just an extension of my arm!”

“The whip is just communication!”

I hear these statements all the time in the horse world and I'm sure there are dog equivalents! But what is really happening??

From Eileen Anderson:

"Another easy place to see it is in traditional horse videos. Horses are so attractive and look so beautiful being put through their paces that we dog people can often be fooled. There will be some nice verbiage about the natural method or the “think” method or what neuroscience proves. But look for the appetitive. Look for the yummy treat or the butt scratches. Something the horse enjoys, not the relief of something uncomfortable stopping. If you don’t see the fun stuff, the good stuff, you are probably seeing aversive control. The horse is performing because of discomfort or the threat of it: avoidance."

Read her fantastic blog about how avoidance works, whether it's whips, a flag or a bag on a stick, spray bottles, shock or prong collars.

I love the title:

"I Just Show Him the Water Bottle and He Behaves—I Don’t Have to Sq**rt Him!"

The link is in the comments.

02/02/2026

Boundaries Aren’t Mean. They’re Necessary.

One of the biggest misconceptions about reinforcement-based dog training is that our relationships with our dogs are built on passivity.
That we float through life asking politely, negotiating endlessly, and obliging every single behaviour our dogs choose to offer.

You know…
“Would you like to recall today, darling, or shall we discuss your feelings about it first?”

Yeah. No.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

I have a lot of dogs. And because I have a lot of dogs, it’s absolutely imperative that I have control, connection, and clarity. My dogs do what I ask, when I ask, and sometimes that request is not up for a democratic vote.

Is that very nice to hear?
Is that soft and fluffy?
Is that a democracy?

No. And that’s okay.

Sometimes my dogs need to do something immediately because I’ve asked them to — regardless of distractions, regardless of whether they’re enjoying themselves, and regardless of whether they’d rather be doing literally anything else. I’m not particularly concerned in that moment about whether they like it or not. It’s a mandatory behaviour.

And that’s often down to safety.

Safety for my dogs.
Safety for other dogs.
Safety for people who don’t want my dogs near them — which they are absolutely entitled to.

Being a responsible dog owner isn’t just about advocating for your own dog. It’s about being a respectful member of society and understanding the balance between your dog’s behaviour and other people’s rights.

If you have a reactive or insecure dog and you saw me walking all of mine, you’d probably have a minor heart attack. But here’s the difference: because I have control, I can call my dogs back, and they understand that recall is instantaneous. It’s not optional. It’s a mandatory requirement. That reliability allows me to live my life harmoniously — with my dogs and with the world around us.

Now here’s the irony that people often miss.

Although these behaviours are mandatory, although my dogs are expected to do them when I ask, the reality is they actually want to. They want to be focused. They want to be engaged. They want to be “obedient” (yes, I said it). That willingness doesn’t come from force or fear — it comes from the foundation work.

That’s the secret sauce.

When the groundwork is right, compliance isn’t a battle. It’s a by-product.

So the question that usually follows is:
“How do you square that with being a trainer and dog owner who doesn’t use physical correction or punishment?”

Two words.

Consistency and clarity.

Consistency means being honest about what I actually care about enforcing — and letting go of the things I’m not consistent about.
Clarity means educating my dogs first, properly, and then being very clear about what behaviour works and what doesn’t.

And yes, sometimes there are consequences.

Is that punishment? Possibly.
But is it information? Definitely.

And here’s the crucial part — the information I provide is clear.

It’s not just about telling my dogs what I don’t want. It’s also about teaching them exactly what I do want in every situation I put them in. My dogs aren’t left guessing. They’re not navigating the world on hope and trial-and-error alone.

I actively look at the world from their perspective and educate them about it.

What they want.
What I want from them.
What I need from them.
And what I expect from them.

That education happens before I ask for reliability, before I raise criteria, and long before I expect instantaneous responses in high-distraction, high-stakes environments. Consequences — whether that’s removal of reinforcement, blocked access, or loss of opportunity — only exist within that framework of understanding.

This isn’t accidental.
It isn’t vibes.
And it definitely isn’t luck.

It’s an intentional approach to rearing dogs. To raising them. And to living with them.

There’s this odd idea that reinforcement-based training involves aligning your chakras, burning incense, and making sure you’re deeply connected to your dog’s inner child or inner puppy.

In reality?
It’s deeply practical.

It’s about education.
It’s about meeting needs.
It’s about emotional stability.
And it’s about structure.

Which brings me to what I call the Five Es:
• Emotional stability
• Education
• Enrichment
• Entertainment
• Exercise

If I want the level of control, focus, and harmony I have with my dogs, those boxes get ticked every single day. Not occasionally. Not when it’s convenient. Daily.

Because when a dog’s needs are met, boundaries don’t feel oppressive — they feel safe.

When information is clear, consistency becomes fair.
When consistency is fair, boundaries stop feeling harsh.
And when boundaries are understood, dogs don’t resist them — they lean into them.

So no — positive training is not permissive.
It’s not chaotic.
And it’s certainly not hands-off.

It’s clear.
It’s fair.
And it creates dogs who can exist confidently, safely, and respectfully in the real world.

And honestly?
That’s kind of the point.

01/30/2026

Ultrasound practice position #2. If lying down (relaxing in the vet office) is too hard, for backup we have this to try🤞

01/30/2026

Practicing for tomorrow’s ultrasound. Odie pushes through some stress, especially in the second video of the sitting position, as I push him (we’re cramming) so that hopefully it’s more manageable for him in the vet office in the morning.🤞 What a great effort and tons of trust he brought to this practice session.