North Pittsburgh Animal Behavior

12/12/2025

For all of you thinking about getting puppies this Christmas please avoid the urge to get a second one; EVEN IF the last one left was your puppy’s best friend, EVEN IF you can’t decide which one; EVEN IF it’s a buy one get 1/2 off; getting littermates is generally a fu***ng disaster to put it mildly. While yes, sometimes it can work out OK, more often than not clients are incredibly overwhelmed with the amount of work that it takes raising one puppy let alone multiples. And it is not twice to work having two puppies. It is at least three times the work because you have to socialize each individually and then together. You have to train each individually and then together. you have to walk each individually and together.

And if you’re thinking of getting another dog as a friend for your resident dog, consider the worst habit that your dog has and now multiply it by two. If there’s nothing concerning to you; great! But if you’ve got a dog who is already displaying some troubled behaviors, another dog is not going to fix it; and likely you’ll end up with two dogs who are displaying reactivity, countersurfing, jumping all over guests, etc. So you’ve decided to add in that second dog? Do yourself a favor and get the opposite s*x and make sure there are at least 18 (preferably 24) months between their ages and acquisition periods.

Half the time the struggle is getting the right dog under the right circumstances that will make your life easier.

12/11/2025

Yes!! Reward your dog for NOT reacting!
I see so many folks with reactive dogs who, in turn, become reactive when their dog does.
Instead, be PROACTIVE! Your dog just looked at that dog then chose to look away? YES! Great fluffing job! Rewards that choice; ALWAYS!

"But everyone says to reward looking?"
Strap in, it's both!😮
It's not your fault, it's just not talked about enough. If you're only concentrating on rewarding active/calm looking at a trigger there's a very good chance a perfect opportunity has been missed.

They're making a choice that helps regulation!
They're choosing not to have their eyes locked on that trigger.
They are learning that at that distance, their trigger is not a threat.
They're actively choosing not to escalate.

All of that is exactly what we want more of, so why aren't we talking about this more and rewarding it?

Little bit of caution with this though, it can be tricky to tell if this is actively choosing to turn away or complete avoidance.
If they're not looking at all in the direction of that trigger, actually avoiding even a small glimpse, that's a big clue.
There's a fine line too between a highly cautious/flighty glance and a calm disengage.
We need to find that balance, distance and environment so we can encourage them to safely make that choice.
It's a choice covered in sparkles and it shines through!

We reward looking and not looking.
Both are true.
Both are gold🌟

12/10/2025

Our very patient, dog loving Santa is back at it this year!
He will be seeing your pups from 12-3 on Saturday December 13th at North Pittsburgh Animal Behavior.
This is a free event with non-professional photos taken and posted to our social media account.
First come, first served. Dogs should be human and dog friendly. If your dog requires more space, please message me to see how we can best accommodate you.
First 50 dogs will receive a treat bag from Santa.
If your dog is on the nice list, you can also grab them some treats or toys while you’re here.
If they’re on the naughty list, we’d be happy to help guide you towards the appropriate training to try to switch them to that nice list for next year 🤣
Don’t forget, we have our gifting station so that you can donate food/toys to our friends at West Deer Dog Shelter, Humane Animal Rescue or Grey Paws Sanctuary.

12/10/2025

THIS. I’ve been saying for YEARS that these tools cause more problems than what they solve. I’ve been in court as an expert witness (both for prosecution and defense) MANY times and only 5% (yes 5%) of those instances had the dog had no known history of being on a ln invisible fence/shock collar/prong.

WHICH MEANS 95% of the time, the dog had been exposed to one or more of those tools.
While I do believe correlation does not mean causation, that number of pretty conclusive; don’t ya think?

12/09/2025

End of the year Monday night graduates!!!!

12/05/2025

Chippy and Bruce are new BFFs!
We have been working with Bruce to stay calm around distractions and small animals and Chip (sort of) volunteered.
Bruce did a great job and took appropriate corrections from Chip really well.
At almost 18 years old, he can still hang with the young pups!

12/04/2025

Legit concern.
What would you be on the naughty list for (according to your dogs)?

12/01/2025

January is Train Your Dog month!
We are also always enrolling for private training. You can schedule those lessons via the same link.

11/30/2025

Our winner of the $50 gift card was King Louis!
Congrats Louie!

11/30/2025

Thank you all so much for showing us your love and support yesterday! We had over 30 dog friends and 70 human families come support us! Poor Phoebe was exhausted from her greeting duties. Some photos of the shenanigans attached 🤣

11/29/2025

Don’t end up on the naughty list like our cat Leonard!
Make sure you support all of your favorite small businesses tomorrow on Small Business Saturday, Nov 29th!
We are open 12-4 and it’s our favorite day of the year. Over the last 48 hours the training center has turned into a winter wonderland.
We’ve got Christmas presents galore for your favorite relatives (the 4 legged ones, of course!)