DogRelations

07/24/2026

Before I ever trained a dog, I was a violinist.

On the "Dog Save The People" podcast I talked with John Bartlett about how those two lives came together: my first client was Lou Reed's dog, I've taught dogs to play music, and somewhere along the way dogs moved to the center of my life.

Music and training have more in common than you might think. Both depend on listening, timing, and clear communication and on the joy of learning something together.

Listen to the full conversation:

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/classical-companions-w-elisabeth-weiss/id1448576464?i=1000447330571

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4Rqplm9lTrgGVvnJu4Nl1E

07/23/2026

😇🤩🥰🐾

07/05/2026

Clearly marking first, then rewarding 🐾🌸

06/28/2026

Inspired by the

06/21/2026

Life of a service dog in crowded elevator to blocking/ protecting for unknown spaces/riding on floor of car/ restaurant manners/ walking on loose leash going to play ball🤩🐾

06/19/2026

06/16/2026

Things you've been told are dog "problems" that are actually just… dog behavior:

- Pulling on leash (we walk slow, they have four legs and a lot of feelings)
- Jumping when guests arrive (they want to greet faces, which are way up there)
- Sniffing every patch of grass (it's their internet)
- Barking at the doorbell: (a stranger announced themselves loudly)
- Eating something disgusting on the sidewalk (offered. for free. why wouldn't they)
None of these mean your dog is broken. They mean your dog is a dog.

We can absolutely teach alternatives, that's the whole job. But step one is smiling knowingly and thinking: "good to know my dog is predictable and normal 😀"

https://dogrelationsnewyorkcity.com

06/13/2026

I've been enthusiastic about cooperative care protocols for years, start buttons, opt-out signals, incremental reinforcement for handling. But I'll be honest: I didn't fully understand the emotional experience of the animal until recently.

No enticing reward would make me volunteer for something I could just as easily walk away from. I said this to myself often.

Then I had eye surgery.

I'd been putting it off for months. And then one evening, squinting at my phone, unable to find my glasses, I suddenly felt ready. Not because I had to. Because I chose to, when I was ready, and I already had a list of dates in my pocket.

Once on the table, the surgeon walked me through every step in real time. Invited feedback. Let me actively help by following each instruction. I wasn't just tolerating the procedure, I was participating in it. Contributing to its success. And it made all the difference.

That's exactly what we hope to give dogs through cooperative care. Not just tolerance, genuine participation. The ability to say "I'm ready" and know that the situation is safe because the reinforcement history has proven it to be.

Choice and control are primal needs. For every species.

Read the full post: https://loom.ly/b4eD5XE

06/09/2026

"Nothing I do works!" Sound familiar? 🐾
There's no magic wand when it comes to dog behavior. But here's what does work: understanding.

When you learn how behavior actually functions, the needs behind it, the environment shaping it, something shifts. You stop feeling frustrated and start feeling purposeful. And your dog? They start to feel understood. 🐶

The more you know, the more you can help. And that change? You'll feel it together.

New blog post is up: https://dogrelations.substack.com/p/the-myth-of-the-magic-wand

06/03/2026

A reactive dog is not an aggressive dog.

"Reactive" is a catch-all for behavior that looks inappropriate or exaggerated but makes complete sense once you understand what's driving it. Reactivity = a big emotional response. It can look like barking, lunging, freezing, hiding, spinning, or shutting down. (Cringing in fear counts too.)
Underneath almost every reactive moment is one of three feelings: fear, frustration, or over-arousal. Not malice. Not dominance. Not "a bad dog."

Here's what often happens on leash: a dog passes another dog too closely for their comfort. They're already uneasy and physically stuck. Barking and lunging? It works. The other dog moves away. The behavior gets reinforced. Konrad Lorenz noted decades ago that aggressive behaviors increase with lack of space. It's not a character flaw. It's information.

When arousal crosses a certain threshold, neither dogs nor humans have meaningful control over their actions. You cannot learn anything new in that state ask anyone to memorize a poem while jumping out of a plane.

The practical move: stop trying to correct the reaction. Start managing the distance. Under threshold, learning begins.
That's where the real work happens, movement maneuvers, desensitization, counter-conditioning. Teaching dogs and their humans that triggers are survivable, and eventually ignorable.

https://dogrelations.eu