Holtz K9 Dog Training

06/26/2026

And this is why I love what I do

06/18/2026

This is excellent info!

There's an uncomfortable part to this.

We like certainty.

See the signal.
Name the signal.
Understand the dog.

A lip lick.
A yawn.
Looking away.

Most people want one meaning for each.

One signal.
One answer.
One reason.
Done and dusted.

Dogs rarely offer us that luxury.

The same behaviour can be a calming signal, an appeasement gesture or a displacement behaviour.

The signal may be identical.
The meaning may not be.

Certainty is so tempting.

But to read dogs well, we need to stay curious.
We need to look at the context.

We need to question our first conclusion and even our second and third.

And sometimes we need to admit that what we're seeing doesn't fit neatly into what we thought we knew at all.

That's the uncomfortable part.

03/04/2026

Today is a great time to talk about dogs, anxiety and fear of thunderstorms. As humans all we want to do is comfort our furry babies but this can actually cause more harm than good. Dogs dont understand English but they do read body language. When we are trying to calm them by petting and speaking sweetly to comfort them they take it as reinforcement that their fear is needed.

If you have a dog that is afraid of storms the best way to handle it is turn up music or the TV, give them a safe place and let them be. If mom and dad ignore it then it gives them more comfort and confidence that this noise is nothing to worry about. With puppies it can be prevented if we ignore it all together so they never see it as something that they need to worry about.
Today is Gimli's first big storm and we are hanging out with a window open and the TV turned up watching some good ol ghost shows!