The Woodland Wag

07/30/2025

Just like you, your dog may tear up when you're reunited, a 2022 study found. 🥺 In an experiment with dogs and their owners, researchers found that dogs produced tears when they saw their owners after spending hours apart.

The research suggests that “dogs may have a greater attachment to their owners than we previously thought they did,” said Dr. Katherine Houpt, an emeritus professor of animal behavior at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine.

Other research suggests that dogs parted from their owners behave very much like children separated from their mothers, Houpt said.

📸: Getty Images

06/22/2025

Support your dog. Connection over correction. It’s time we move past fear based training methods and embrace gentle, ethical, and effective teaching. Support your fearful dog by giving comfort, helping them create space as needed, and meet their needs. Reactive, and often fearful dogs, don’t need chokes, prongs, or e-collars. They need understanding, support, and guidance on how to make better decisions to help them feel safe. I’ve lived with a fearful dog for 12 years this July. I ignored the bad advice and all the noise, and looked to Abbie for guidance. She’s never let me down. Build the relationship with your dog and the training will follow ✨

03/28/2025

Wonderful post about what all dogs really want from us. The list is quite simple and adds so much quality to their lives ✨🐾
Enjoy those energetic puppies and young dogs. Meet their breed specific needs and allow yourself to sit back and enjoy watching your dog be a dog. So much unwanted behavior is resolved when we simply meet their needs. 🐕 🐕‍🦺

A lot of dogs want you to know this -

Instead of a fancy collar and bed? They’d rather have a fenced in yard - even if it has to be small and home made - so they can have off leash time to dog and dig.

Instead of daily neighborhood walks? They’d rather you drive to a dirt road and put them on a 30ft line and let them zig zag and smell as long as they like

Instead of twice daily meals in a bowl? They’d rather have food through enrichment activities that stimulates their brain and their nose.

Instead of basic obedience training? They’d rather have purpose driven training that feeds their genetic make up and needs AND helps them survive and thrive in todays world.

Instead of a human wanting something from them? They’d love a human wanting to understand them better.

Instead of focusing on perfect “heels” and “stays”? They’d love to learn how to be resilient and less stressed and cope with the outside world and our expectations.

Instead of harsh punishments and corrections? They’d prefer proactive management and rewards for good decisions.

We can’t change everything about the lives our dogs are forced to live with us in, but we can make these kinds of changes and see a huge improvement in their quality of life and wellbeing.

-Helen St. Pierre

03/06/2025

Lately 🤍

06/14/2024

What exactly is a sniff walk?

🐾 Stopping and sniffing as much or as little as the dog chooses to do so.

🐾 Changing directions and walking sideways (seeking behavior).

🐾 Walking in a quiet environment with limited interruptions.

Notice I only talk to Abbie once and it’s to fix her leash. Notice she stops, goes back to investigate the same spot, crosses over the path, and takes her time. I don’t cue her to stop, I don’t cue her to keep going, I don’t expect her to heel, and I don’t pull on her leash. I don’t correct her. I don’t do much of anything except hold the leash to keep her safe.

Dogs need to be allowed to be dogs.
Dogs need to decompress and get out in nature. Dogs need to feel safe in our company.

This was a 35 minute sniff walk ahead of the heat and my busy day. The more we let our dogs stop and sniff, the less they pull on leash. The more relaxed our walks are, the more relaxed our dogs are after. The more we provide opportunities for our dogs to be dogs, the less we have to work on unwanted behavior in the home. Reach out if you want to work on more peaceful walks and return home with a tired, content, and happy dog. Enjoy the adventures with your dog. ✨ 🌳 🍃

05/22/2024

I’ve worked with some wonderful dog duos recently who get along so well, have incredible communication, and want to learn more from their humans. Thank you for the referrals and recommendations. 🐾✨

04/06/2024

I’m so lucky I get to teach dogs like Gus and Odie. They are such wonderful students, eager to learn new cues and understand their humans. Training should be fun for you and your dog. ✨ 🤍🐾

03/28/2024

Mateo has come a long way in four short months. He has the absolute best humans committed to giving him the best life. I’m honored to be trusted with such a sensitive and sweet dog.

03/21/2024

Absolutely loved working with this good boy and his human. Looking forward to our next visit 🐾

02/10/2024

Article on living with and trying to navigate the world with a reactive dog. If you have a reactive dog, I see you, and I understand your experience. Some of the most rewarding work I’ve done is helping people see their dog is struggling and providing strategies and techniques to help them work together as a team. Giving these dogs extra space and time to process the world around them goes a very long way.

https://www.companionanimalpsychology.com/2024/02/having-reactive-dog-is-difficult-and.html?fbclid=IwAR0N_NYOQpcAFKZywuRCbuWXz4U8LNdZMSj0OHnLV5VJsyxj1TIpcvlGivo_aem_AXu7QYoOE_SmDMNA29LGnerPRHAiRr7H9F27aardwSLrHxJ66bJ7xPJ-iW9I2uyIRSU&m=1

This week's blog post is getting a lot of attention. I wrote about new research on the difficulties of living with a reactive dog. Dr. Carla Hart of Waltham Petcare Science Institute, first author of the study, told me "To me, the most striking finding from this research was how problematic off lead dogs are to reactive dogs and their owners, but it also highlights an opportunity for positive change. Future efforts should be made to disseminate the message that not all dogs can be approached, and to suspend judgement because their owners are often working on complex behavioural problems.”
Read more in the post on my blog. What do you wish other people knew about reactive dogs?

12/09/2023