The Dog Nerd

The Dog Nerd Behavioral dog training and canine nutrition... based in VA, but I can help people anywhere 🤓

Maaany moons ago, when I was just a crazy cat lady, rescuing and rehabbing ferals for fun 😹 I made some friends at anima...
07/23/2025

Maaany moons ago, when I was just a crazy cat lady, rescuing and rehabbing ferals for fun 😹 I made some friends at animal control, and the city used to call me when they couldn't catch stray dogs.

That's how it all started, and I learned on my feet in life/death situations how to read body language and become a safe and trustworthy human to dogs in fight/flight. No catch poles. Rarely food. Lots of patience, problem solving, and a leash if I was lucky. I have probably secured hundreds of dogs over the past 12 years.

I don't spend much time catching loose dogs anymore, but every now and then, an opportunity presents itself.

Still got it 💪 little miss stinker is home safe and sound after making me carry her out of the woods and across acres of farmland in the midday heat.

(Negative comments will be deleted-- accidents happen to the best of us.)

🎶 Started from the bottom, now we here 🎉Dog trainers have to train our own dogs too, and anyone who knows me, knows fluf...
07/21/2025

🎶 Started from the bottom, now we here 🎉

Dog trainers have to train our own dogs too, and anyone who knows me, knows fluffy boy Boone keeps me on my toes... bringing Smiles into the pack was no exception.

Boone's Great Pyrenees genetics make him suspicious and resistant to newcomers 👀 and Smiles' presence made him very uncomfortable at first. I've been managing and creating small positive interactions for months, gradually integrating them more and more.

The past few weeks, we've really turned the corner, and Boone has been making all good choices and hasn't tried to eat her once 😎

My general approach with clients is starting with the basics: guiding the dog to make the right choice in the easiest situations first. When everything is easy and smooth sailing for a period of time without reversion to old unwanted behaviors, we increase the difficulty slowly and give the dog more autonomy over time.

This is how true long term behavioral change happens in the brain. 🧠 It does not happen overnight and cannot be forced, as that's just not how habits work or how neural pathways function on a biological level. If you've ever broken a bad habit, you get it ;) It takes time to learn things a new way and for that new way to override the old.

Yes, it takes longer this way. Yes, it requires the humans to change too. But the results are undeniable and long lasting when we spend the time needed to actually change the brain and dogs learn to make different choices on their own. It just gets easier over time.

Here's the choice Boone made this morning. All by himself-- I didn't put him here or tell him to lay down, and there are other beds he could've chosen. He has now accepted Smiles as a pack mate, and they will be friends for life 👯🐾💖

Digging is good for your dog! Maggie taught all her puppies to dig in the dirt, and not just because it's fun. 😉Healthy ...
07/20/2025

Digging is good for your dog!

Maggie taught all her puppies to dig in the dirt, and not just because it's fun. 😉

Healthy soil is full of beneficial microbes called Soil Based Organisms (SBOs) that have tons of health benefits, including:

🥕 Balancing the microbiome and improving digestion

🦠 Regulating the immune system

🌾 Reducing allergies and inflammation

🥰 Mood/behavior benefits via the gut brain axis

➕️ and many others!

No tools necessary-- correcting an aggressive dog with energyYou don't need complicated systems or gadgets or fancy comm...
07/13/2025

No tools necessary-- correcting an aggressive dog with energy

You don't need complicated systems or gadgets or fancy commands to train dogs when you have the right relationship, energy, and body language.

Yes, even aggressive dogs 🤯

I love seeing examples of a dog making different behavioral choices as a result of the human changing the dog's state of mind. 🖤 This is the fundamental principle behind how I approach dog training and why I put as little physical pressure on dogs as possible... proper leadership through energy and body language (the way dogs naturally communicate) is far more powerful.

Wanna learn how? 🤓

"Wow it must be crazy having so many dogs!" 🤪Not really... when dogs are fulfilled, they spend most of their time sleepi...
07/07/2025

"Wow it must be crazy having so many dogs!" 🤪

Not really... when dogs are fulfilled, they spend most of their time sleeping 💤

There are certainly excited moments, but this is our default state in the house more often than not.

07/04/2025

❤️🤍💙

There are some shockingly horrific dog training videos circulating that I couldn't fully watch, let alone post. One in p...
06/25/2025

There are some shockingly horrific dog training videos circulating that I couldn't fully watch, let alone post. One in particular is an absolutely terrified dog being brutalized while the trainer brags she has fixed his resource guarding while violently yanking him around on leash and smacking him in the face with his food bowl. The dog is so scared, I literally started crying and had to turn it off.

Resource guarding is rooted in insecurity. 99% of the time, it is defensive behavior, NOT forward behavior. You cannot punish a dog out of being afraid. Using force and punishment for resource guarding is a recipe for disaster and almost always makes it worse, bc you are just confirming the fears the dog already has.

There is no educational requirement or certification process or any sort of checks and balances for dog trainers. Anyone can wake up and decide they're a dog trainer, and as a result, many dog trainers sadly have little to no idea what they're doing and cause a lot of harm.

We have to stand up and speak for the dogs we care for so deeply and cannot speak for themselves. We have to be the ones to hold each other accountable and demand professional standards and call out irresponsible practices where we see them.

And provide education so trainers who want to learn can access meaningful opportunities to add strategies to their tool kits to meet the needs of different types of dogs. Which is why I design customized advanced education programs for trainers and travel to work with them on location with their own cases, especially for pack work. (If you're interested in this, I'm booking now for Fall workshops and would love to chat about how I can help you enhance your skills.)

"If the only way you know to get a dog to comply is through complete force, especially for resource guarder, then stop training dogs."

06/23/2025

This heat is no joke! 🥵 Keep your dogs safe and cool in the AC except for short potty breaks, avoid anything strenuous in the hottest parts of the day, and always make sure they have access to fresh clean water. 😎

🎀 Work with me in the keystone state! 🎀I'll be in PA this weekend and can squeeze an appointment or two if anyone around...
06/23/2025

🎀 Work with me in the keystone state! 🎀

I'll be in PA this weekend and can squeeze an appointment or two if anyone around my old stomping grounds is looking for support 🤗

We would meet for a couple hours: I provide an in depth evaluation of your dog's temperament, explain the why's behind their behaviors, work with you hands on right away to start resolving things, and lay out a path to reach your goals.

Sometimes this is all you need to get to a better place! If you need follow up support, we discuss options for that as well... I can do a lot remotely and also travel to PA a fair amount to see my family 🫶 or I've got room for a board and train project if you've got more intensive needs.

I also consult dog trainers and provide a fresh perspective on those cases you just can't quite seem to crack 🤓

A happier, more peaceful life with your dog is possible! Let's figure it out together 🩵 my inbox is always open.

06/22/2025

✴️ Is dog behavior genetic? ✴️

If behavior wasn't genetic, we couldn't have created dog breeds by selecting dogs for specific jobs

There's a reason retrievers retrieve, border collies herd, great pyrenees alert, pointers point, bloodhounds track, huskies pull, greyhounds run fast, terriers hunt, etc... and it isn't dumb luck ;)🧬

Understanding genetic temperament in dogs is like seeing the future 🔮 because when you recognize who a dog truly is and what their motivations are, you can predict how they will behave in even brand new situations.

Helping dogs make better choices is a lot easier when you are tuned into why they do the things they do and, as a result, can give them exactly what they need in order to satisfy their genetics and teach them new behaviors at the same time 🫶🐾

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Bowling Green, VA
22427

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