Brightstar Canine Academy

05/12/2026

04/01/2026

DON’T BLAME THE HARNESS

Some people believe that harnesses cause or encourage dogs to pull.

This belief probably comes from comparing our dogs to sled dogs. Sled dogs are specifically bred and trained to pull and are reinforced for it. They pull on a specially designed harness because that’s what they’ve been conditioned to do, not because a dog wearing a harness magically switches on a pulling instinct.

Pulling is a behaviour and not a harness problem. Dogs don’t pull more in harnesses, but they have far less stress and risk of injury and damage if they do pull.

It’s natural for dogs to need to pull ahead, run, stop, choose direction, create distance, sniff and explore. Being restrained on a leash is not something that dogs are born knowing how to cope with.

It’s up to us to guide them through teaching loose lead walking, using a long line where it’s safe to do so, allowing time to stop, sniff and explore. Allowing dogs more freedom of movement on walks can actually reduce pulling, stress, anxiety or reactivity.

Our dogs are not being “disobedient’’ or difficult. Dogs are just trying to meet their needs in the only way they know how.

Don’t blame the harness. Understand the “why” of the behaviour and endeavor to meet their needs.

03/31/2026

Official 2026 Community Voting Awards Platform for Peoria, IL. Where the community votes for their favorites every year.

02/03/2026

02/03/2026

DO YOU KNOW HOW TO DO "NO”!?

It’s natural to automatically correct our dogs for unwanted behaviour by saying — “No,” “Stop it,” “Be quiet”, without giving it much thought.

It’s easy to tell dogs what not to do, but how can they possibly know what we want them to do instead, if we don’t show them and teach them how to succeed?

When we replace corrections with wanted alternatives, dogs begin to understand what works, feel less confused and frustrated, build trust and confidence in us, start to work it out for themselves and make better choices.

Sometimes the best option to prevent unwanted behaviour is by simply managing or making changes to the environment.

Baby gates or barriers to prevent access, visual barriers, clearing counter tops, not leaving food around, putting objects out of reach or providing more enrichment activities.

This isn’t about letting dogs do whatever they want, it’s about setting them up to get it right.

When we teach alternatives instead of just stopping behaviour, dogs begin to understand what works. When wanted behaviour is rewarded it’s far more likely to be repeated.

When we are about to say “No!” … stop and ask - what would I prefer my dog to do instead and focus on teaching that behaviour.

This is where real and lasting behaviour change begins.

02/03/2026

There’s always more to this.
Fast, busy, and all over the place.

When a dog jumps up and down or throws their whole body into the moment, it often gets read as excitement or friendliness.
And sometimes that’s true.

But the problem is that other reasons can look exactly the same on the outside.

High energy doesn’t all come from one place.

What those moments tend to have in common isn’t the dog’s emotion, those are vast and varied for each dog.
It’s what the behaviour does in the situation.

Jumping shifts the dynamic.
It pulls people in, or makes them back away.
It creates contact, or a controlled retreat from the person being jumped on.
It can also get a lot of attention.

Whether the dog is social and seeking interaction or uncertain and needing an outlet, the end result is often identical.

People respond.
They talk, reach out, make eye contact, use their hands.
They might pat, try to guide the dog back down, or step away to create space.

The behaviour achieves an outcome.

Same jumping.
Different reasons.
It all worked.

02/02/2026

BENEATH THE BARK
In a very literal sense, dogs do have a voice – their bark. It’s just one that we often don’t understand, appreciate or easily tolerate.

It’s important to see barking not as a behaviour problem that needs to be fixed or stopped, but as one of the few ways a dog can communicate and provide us with information as to how they are feeling.

Seeing barking as communication that has a function, transforms it from what may be a disruptive, irritating noise into meaningful information that reflects an underlying emotional state or purpose.

When we understand the reason behind the bark, we can work on improving emotional wellbeing, looking at unmet needs, making changes to the environment, using management, reducing stress and ultimately changing unwanted behavior.

To begin understanding what barking might mean, take note of:
The sound - pitch, tone, speed, rhythm
Body language - relaxed or tense, moving forward or pulling away
The environment - what just happened, what’s nearby, what’s predictable

Solutions to unwanted barking will be different for each dog and the individual circumstances.

Barking is telling a story. Take the time to really listen and understand before looking at ways to address it.

02/02/2026

02/02/2026

Why?
Because there is no blank slate.

A rescued dog doesn’t arrive empty or neutral. They arrive already carrying history and recently they’ve had a lot of “new”. New for many rescued dogs is a lot to process and when every single sense they have is full trying to take in everything around them, feeling safe is very difficult to find.

New environment, new smells, new rules, new rhythms, new people. Even kindness can be totally unfamiliar to them and unfamiliar can be like a big ole hole in the “safety” bucket. We can fill it all we want with what we have read “helps”.
That security and safety is still leaking out, it doesn’t have time to sit and settle and yep, I suppose there is a safety sediment.

When we ask a dog to cope before they’ve even had a chance to settle, all they are doing is coping.
There is no settling.
Safety is what allows everything else to come later.

Safety looks like routines that don’t change, space that isn’t invaded and time where nothing is required of them.
Nothing at all.
It looks like letting a dog observe without participating and just "be" without performing.

And yes, it can feel slow. Unproductive.

It can also feel awkward.

I read a thread on a post in a rescue group and people that suggested keeping them quiet for a few days were often shut down.
“Do people do this? Why, that’s so boring for them”.
That’s the point, boring is safe and allows for stress levels to drop instead of being “topped” up.

“No way could I do that, she’s had months of living in that shelter”
That’s exactly why.
You want a dog to become part of your family, you’ve opened your heart and your home and now more hurdles are all around her. Climbing them can take a big toll.

Every single one of those people commenting had previous posts about the real difficulties they are facing and have been facing for a while.
All of those new experiences in the first few days can delay feeling safe.

You can’t rush settling.
But you can interrupt it.
Over and over again.