In Stride Pet Dog Training LLC

08/04/2026

Great info 💖🐶🐶😉

08/04/2026

So important 💖🐾🐶🙌

❌ MYTH: "If my dog is on daily pain medication for osteoarthritis, it will mask their symptoms and cause them to overexert themselves, leading to more joint damage."

FACT:
Pain management is essential for breaking the cycle of chronic pain and inflammation. When a dog's pain is unmanaged, they tend to move less, leading to muscle wasting (atrophy) and stiffness. Unmanaged pain can also cause central sensitisation- where the nervous system becomes hypersensitive to pain signals over time.

Properly managed pain allows dogs to comfortably engage in controlled, low-impact exercise (like gentle walking or hydrotherapy), which builds supporting muscle tissue and preserves joint mobility. Rather than masking a problem, targeted pain relief helps maintain physical health and improves quality of life.

08/04/2026

So important 🐾🐶🤔

Acute pain has a purpose. It protects the body while tissues heal. Chronic pain is different. When pain persists, inflammatory chemicals continually stimulate pain receptors.

Over time this creates two important changes:

Peripheral sensitisation – pain receptors become easier to activate.

Central sensitisation – the spinal cord and brain begin amplifying pain signals.

The result is that the dog's "volume control" for pain has effectively been turned up.

Two important phenomena occur:

Hyperalgesia - Painful events become far more painful than they should be.

Allodynia - Things that shouldn't hurt being stroked, wearing a harness, handling or climbing onto furniture may suddenly become painful.

One of the most important findings is that behavioural changes are often the earliest indicator of chronic pain. Many owners notice personality changes long before they notice orthopaedic changes. If pain is contributing to behaviour, training alone cannot remove the underlying cause. A dog cannot learn effectively while its nervous system remains in a heightened state of discomfort.

One challenge is that chronic pain is difficult to recognise. Unlike acute pain, dogs often show subtle behavioural changes rather than obvious distress.

Several validated tools now help veterinarians monitor chronic pain, including:

- Helsinki Chronic Pain Index
- Canine Brief Pain Inventory (CBPI)
- Liverpool Osteoarthritis in Dogs (LOAD)
- Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) assessments
- VetMetrica Quality of Life questionnaire.

Chronic pain is not simply a physical problem it is a neurological, behavioural and welfare problem. Many behavioural issues that appear to be training problems are, at least in part, manifestations of discomfort.

***Hernández-Avalos et al. (2026) reviewed the neurobiology of chronic pain in dogs, its effects on behaviour and quality of life, and the current methods used to assess chronic pain.

08/04/2026

Love play, and tug is one of my favorites 💖🐶🐾🤗

08/04/2026

So important to understand 🐶🐾🙌

FLOOD WARNING!

For those of you who may not have come across it before, “flooding” is the term used in dog training for fully exposing our dogs to the things which frighten them. It is throwing them in at the deep end so that they “face their fear” and will hopefully just "get over it". It may be used deliberately, with the aim of suppressing certain behaviours, or it may happen accidentally, with the best of intentions in trying to help the dog.

Despite the common belief that this approach will result in habituation (the dog becomes used to something over time), repeated over-exposure will not help a dog become comfortable with something they fear. In fact, it is more likely that he will sensitise to it further, reacting increasingly to a specific stimulus and becoming *more* fearful. This fear can also generalise to other things which may not have previously concerned him.

Flooding is a technique which is sometimes used in human exposure therapy to help overcome fears, a practice for which the patient gives their consent, fully understanding what is involved. However, when applied to dogs, who cannot give consent, and have no understanding or rationale regarding the process, it becomes unethical. By removing his ability to escape and/or presenting the trigger while they are beyond their coping threshold, he will either shut down emotionally, or he will opt for the fight response.

To avoid flooding, the dog should always be given the choice to move away from a trigger and have a clear escape route to help him feel safe. Exposure should always be very carefully managed and controlled at a neutral level, which will allow him to think clearly enough to process the situation and facilitate learning. If the dog is reacting with growling, barking and lunging etc, no positive learning will be possible. However, on the other hand, a lack of an obvious response doesn't necessarily mean that they are coping; they may be too overwhelmed to feel able to communicate their discomfort.

Sadly, flooding often appears to be effective to those unfamiliar with canine body language. The behaviour may disappear, albeit temporarily, but the dog will still feel the same way about that trigger, and worse, undoubtedly. He will have learned that when he feels scared, the people he should be able to trust are going to ignore his attempts at asking for help, leaving him to flounder in the deep end, so to speak. He will learn that his feelings and communications don't matter, which can lead to emotional shutdown and Learned Helplessness.

Flooding only serves to suppress the emotions driving the behaviour, and it is just a matter of time before the fallout of these actions becomes apparent. This type of "training" will result in irreparable damage to the bond we share with our dogs, as well as to their physical and psychological well-being.

Management is a major component of helping our dogs to feel safe. They need time to decompress, so protection from exposure to triggers before they are able to cope with them and when not actively training is vital. Management could mean cutting out walks completely for a while, or changing routes to avoid triggering situations, using child safety gates as barriers at home, having a choice of bunkers/safe spaces to prevent access to triggers, putting up window film to reduce access to visual triggers, using household appliances to mask other sounds, and so on.

Fear needs to be addressed carefully, ideally with a knowledgeable and skilled qualified professional on board. A thorough veterinary check is always warranted in order to check for anything medical which may be contributing to fearful behaviours, and to ensure any necessary medication is given time to take effect before attempting to modify behaviour.

We must avoid "throwing our dogs in at the deep end" at all costs, because the most likely outcome is that they will sink, rather than swim. We also need to be aware that whether or not the act of flooding is intended, it can still occur, all the same.

For information on ethical behaviour modification and addressing fear by changing emotional responses with positive reinforcement, why not check out my blog:

https://www.trailiepawsforthought.com/post/part-one-a-guide-to-counterconditioning-it-s-both-magic-and-science

Spotting the signs of stress:

https://www.trailiepawsforthought.com/post/the-science-of-stress-part-two-spotting-the-signs

Tips on management:

https://www.trailiepawsforthought.com/post/management-matters

Helping your dog to feel safe:

https://www.trailiepawsforthought.com/post/safety-first-five-ways-to-help-your-dog-feel-safe

©️ Trailie Paws For Thought
www.trailiepawsforthought.com

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08/04/2026

Great info 💖🐶🐾😉

"IS MY DOG PROTECTING ME?"

In 99% of my cases, the answer is "mmhhhh no".

Many guardians often tell me that their dog is protecting them when they bark, growl or lunge at other dogs or people who approach them and their family at home or at coffee shops, parks and restaurants. Others react this way on a walk while being leashed. But off lead, they seem to not be "protective". While this behaviour can occasionally be guarding in nature due to typical behaviours of some guarding type/breed dogs, it is far more common for this behaviour to be driven by emotional responses such as fear, anxiety, vulnerability and insecurity.

Your dog may have learned that adopting threat behaviours causes the other dog or person to move away, which can reinforce the behaviour over time...distance creating behaviour brings safety. Some dogs are uncomfortable with unfamiliar people or dogs entering their personal space, while others become stressed when they feel vulnerable and restricted by a lead and therefore to control the interaction.

In some cases, dogs may become possessive of a guardian and attempt to keep other dogs or people away. However, even this behaviour is often rooted in underlying emotional states such as anxiety, insecurity or a lack of confidence rather than a conscious desire to "protect" the guardians.

What are some of the feelings associated with this behaviour?
• Fear or apprehension about the approaching dog or person.
• Anxiety about an uncertain social interaction, liked being petted by an unfamiliar person or sniffed by another dog.
• Vulnerability due to lead restraint.
• Over-arousal, frustration or excitement.
• Insecurity and a need for increased distance.
• Concern about losing access to a valued resource, such as their guardian...resource guarding.

These behaviours can be rooted in poor socialisation, previous negative experiences, lack of choice when on a lead or possible pain.

The key message is that behaviour is communication. Rather than asking, "How do I stop my dog reacting?", it is often more helpful to ask, "What is my dog feeling and why?"

Understanding the emotion behind the behaviour is the first step towards creating lasting behaviour change.

Remember that behaviour is not simply what animals do; it is a reflection of how they are coping with their health, environment, unmet needs and emotional experiences.








📷 PetMD

08/03/2026

Amy’s Tuesday Structured Play program (part 8) 💖🐶 Peter, June, Onyx, Faith, Frankie, Allston, Molly, Neil, Teddy, Zeke, Lois, Otis, Sydney Bear, Giorgio, JR, Finley, Bodie, Kevin, Bailey & Lexi

08/03/2026

Amy’s Tuesday Structured Play program (part 7) 💖🐶 Peter, June, Onyx, Faith, Frankie, Allston, Molly, Neil, Teddy, Zeke, Lois, Otis, Sydney Bear, Giorgio, JR, Finley, Bodie, Kevin, Bailey & Lexi