Play To Behave Pet Behavior Counseling

30/10/2026

When you have a shark for a puppy, realize, it might not be teething. Here are 3 common reasons puppies bite your clothes, ankles, hands, furniture and more.

Let me know your puppy’s age and breed in the comments!

28/10/2026

If only people knew how much fun you can both have when you find the right activity or sport to share. Your dog’s life grows and you make new friends.

Some dogs are tethered to a kennel.
Others are tethered to our expectations.
And that tether is much harder to see.

They live inside our homes now.
They sleep on orthopaedic beds.
A few toys to play with. A wardrobe full of coats.
They are loved. Oh, how they are loved.

But a loved life is not always a lived life.

We shrink their world for convenience.
We want a dog that fits into our life,
not a life that stretches to fit a dog.

So before they even arrive, the plan is made.
They will be calm when people come over.
They will be fine with 10 minutes around the same block.
They won't complain when we skip it.
Five minutes of fetch while dinner cooks.
And they will be my loyal companion.

But what if who they are doesn't fit the plan?
What if they were bred to run for miles and we give them a block?
What if they were bred to use their nose, and we never give them anything worth sniffing?

So the cracks show.
The chewed rug.
The paint scratched off the wall.
Whining at the door.
Jumping all over guests because it's the most excitement they've had in 8 days.

And we call it misbehaviour.

So we train them harder.
Not to understand them better-
but to make them fit neatly again.
Calmer.
Quieter.
They need to accept this is the life we decided they should have.

After all, dogs are meant to be loyal companions.
We never stop to ask if we are being a loyal companion to them.

We look at photos of dogs chained to kennels and feel angry.
We all agree, that's no life for a dog.
We give ours a bed instead of a rag on the ground.
A beautiful home instead of a chain.
A couple of toys instead of dirt and twigs.
We just don't see that the chain can still be there

20/10/2026

Business mastermind in Florida this week and then when I return… this 🥰… “might as well take a look”

And now, we need a name! I had a couple beautiful litters in mind but it would’ve meant waiting a few months with no guarantee I’d get one or one that one in those litters would suit me.

Then my private agility trainer, Angie, told me about two pups that still needed homes from an “oops” litter and well, I fell in love.

I miss my Aussie, Rae who we last last year, more than I can say. It hurts and then Violet, who we’ve had a year, was ready to return to my daughter. She’s good on a leash now and they belong together.

We felt a void and Mickey, our border collie, does too. So here we go.

On to sleepless nights and potty training. Follow along for more about puppies and training!

12/09/2026

There are so many stories from this day 25 years ago. I have my own. Everything that happened is a vivid memory, watching the tragedy as it happened on TV, calling David at work telling him we are now in a war, Flight 93 flying over us, frantically picking up my kids from school, everything. Very little in my memory of over six decades of my life is as visual and emotional.

So many stories are incredible and moving. This is one.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Bzqenjqyo/?mibextid=wwXIfr

🦮 Roselle was asleep beneath a desk on the 78th floor when the North Tower suddenly shook.
Minutes later, she began a journey of 1,463 stairs with one person depending on her every step of the way.
Her owner, Michael Hingson, had been blind since birth.
On September 11, 2001, Michael was working at the World Trade Center when Flight 11 struck the North Tower above them.
People were frightened. The building had shifted. The smell of jet fuel reached the stairwell.
Roselle remained calm.
Michael trusted what her behavior was telling him, and together they joined the evacuation.
Floor after floor, Roselle guided him through the stairwell as firefighters moved in the opposite direction, climbing upward with their equipment.
The descent took about an hour.
When Michael and Roselle finally reached the street, their danger wasn't over.
The South Tower began to come down nearby.
People started running, and Michael heard what he later described as an enormous metal and concrete waterfall.
Roselle stayed focused.
She helped guide Michael toward a subway entrance for shelter. There, they also assisted another woman who was having difficulty seeing after being caught in the chaos outside.
Eventually, Roselle led Michael roughly 40 blocks through Manhattan until they reached a friend's apartment. 🏙️
The North Tower they had escaped came down about half an hour after they got out.
Roselle later received major recognition for what she had done, including the PDSA Dickin Medal in 2002 alongside another 9/11 guide dog named Salty.
She passed away in 2011, with Michael and his wife beside her.
Michael has often described their survival not simply as the story of a heroic dog, but as a story of trust.
Roselle trusted him to give the commands.
Michael trusted her to find the way.
And on a morning when almost everything around them had become uncertain, that partnership never changed.
Could you place that much trust in another living being when you couldn't see what was happening around you?

28/08/2026

The impact of our love for a dog can be astounding, as it was for Carl and Dolly. I have always adored and been inspired by Dolly Parton, particularly her business success, her kindness and her spirituality. But I hadn’t known about Popeye. This makes me love her even more.

Thank you Debbie Rich Lively for sharing this with me.

Did you know that one Dolly Parton had a Boston Terrier named Popeye?

Popeye was a gift from Dolly to her husband, Carl. Dolly chose a Boston because Carl had one when he was a boy. He named the little dog Popeye because of his big, prominent eyes. Popeye quickly became much more than a pet. Dolly described him as being like a new child in their home, and Carl would cuddle and hold him like a baby.

In the early 1980s, Dolly went through an intensely difficult period. She was struggling with her health and depression as well as the painful end of what she later described as an “affair of the heart.” At one of her darkest moments, Dolly was sitting alone in her bedroom when she noticed the gun she kept in her nightstand for protection. She looked at it for a long time and picked it up.

And then she heard Popeye.

Her little Boston came running up the stairs, and the sound of his paws jolted her back to reality. Dolly put the gun down and prayed. She later said she believed Popeye had been a “spiritual messenger from God.” She was careful to say she didn’t know whether she actually would have taken her life, but acknowledged that she had been in enough pain to understand how someone could reach that point.

Popeye remained deeply loved by both Dolly and Carl. When he became seriously ill, they pursued treatment with a new drug being tested at Auburn University, which gave them several more years with him. Popeye died peacefully in his sleep in Carl’s chair.

Carl was devastated. Dolly recalled that she had never seen a man so grief-stricken. He built Popeye a little coffin himself, wrapped him in one of Dolly’s robes that Popeye loved sleeping on, and buried him in their front yard beneath their bedroom window.

Dolly later enclosed Popeye’s grave with a fence and added a stone marker in the shape of a Boston Terrier. She said Carl grieved uncontrollably for a year and that it took him three years to get over losing Popeye. He couldn’t even bear to look at Popeye’s toys or pictures for a time and put them away.

Rest well, Dolly. We hope Carl – and one very special little Boston named Popeye – were there waiting for you. ❤️🐾

08/08/2026

Muddy paws? This worked 😊😊😊

29/07/2026

Why "Disrespect" is Usually Just Confusion...

For years, I was told my first Australian Shepherd, Pepper, didn't respect me when she jumped and barked when I ran in agility. But it wasn't about respect at all. Pepper was moving fast and I wasn't giving her direction in time. She needed to know where to go next.

Every dog has a default when they're overwhelmed and for her, it was jumping up and biting.

Yikes! I know.

But once I learned to guide her and got my timing down,everything clicked.

Maybe what you think is disrespect actually… isn’t.

Can you recognize when your dog is acting out when they are confused? Unclear? Need better direction?

Want help understanding your dog? Link in bio to join my community!

14/07/2026

Violet is just having fun here. She loves Jill and gets so excited to work with her. Violet doesn’t realize she is building self-control, confidence, and connection that makes her “listen” better on a leash.

Want to get better leash behavior with your dog? Join the Listen On Leash community. Link in bio!

Loads of credit to Jill Zidonis-Golgosky, RVT, CCRP and owner or Acu-Wellness. She has helped me with four of my dogs and has magical hands. In this video, she is helping me with Violet on core strength and to get her physically fit and injury-proof for agility.

11/07/2026

Fighting over the dog?

09/07/2026

High energy dogs + fence running = muddy mess! So I’m experimenting with a couple solutions. Do you have any ideas if this doesn’t work?