My Sensitive Tyke, LLC

08/06/2025

Meet Reba the red head❤️. This cute little pup has come a long way. Lots of love and support is just what this little gal needed!! Looking forward to our next session!! Great job 👏.

04/06/2025

Meet Lucinda ❤️. This perfect little tri-pup won my heart today!! She is amazing!! We are working on getting more confident on walks and she did great!’ Lucinda loves treats and playing, so this made walking around so much fun. Can’t wait for our next session!!!

24/05/2025

Meet Lexi! She is the sweetest little gal ever. Smart and just plan wonderful. Got to meet her and her wonderful parents yesterday. Looking forward to seeing you all again soon.

23/05/2025

Mabel and Dianne graduate from their Puppy One class with honors today!! This team is ready for Puppy Two! Can’t wait! Congratulations you two, great team work!

02/05/2025

Meet cute little Mable! This cutie started her four week puppy class today. Such a smarty!! She’s got down, find it & drop it just about perfect in only one session!! Can’t wait until next week!! Great job Dianne!!

17/04/2025

My handsome friend Ben 🥰This sweet and shy pup is doing amazing and so is his dad!! Very proud of both of them. Going slowly and at Ben’s pace has been a game changer for both of them. Can’t wait for our next appointment!!!

19/03/2025

Not misbehaving, not being stubborn, not being bad. No one can learn in moments of distress. This includes our dogs. Learn ways to help your dog when they are feeling anxious. Not by training them, let’s help them 🩷

WHEN TRAINING WON’T WORK

There is a common misconception that reactivity, anxiety or fear related behaviour can be “fixed” through training alone.

Barking, lunging, reactivity, aggression, constant hypervigilance - as though danger is waiting behind every corner, hiding or cowering away at the slightest trigger or sometimes shutting down completely are all signs of a nervous system that’s in overdrive and is unregulated.

This behaviour is not a training issue - it’s not bad behaviour, disobedience, stubbornness or some other type of negative label, - it’s a nervous system issue.

Although dogs and people have remarkably similar social and emotional brains, this doesn’t mean that dogs are able to think like we do, or have the words or means to process what is causing their stress or trauma.

When stress is not released, it remains stuck, keeping the nervous system in overdrive or in survival mode.

When a dog or a person is stuck in this state, the brain isn’t able to learn new things or learn to behave in a different way.

This is why trying to “train away” anxiety, fear or reactive type behaviour does not work. We first have to work on the nervous system.

Here are some links related to this subject that provide more information on how to help dogs that are struggling -

How to identify and remove triggers that keep a dog stuck in a cycle of stress and anxiety - Annie Phenix
https://phenix-dogs-canine-behavior-experts-llc.kit.com/7-steps

Creating a healing environment - podcast by Dr Laura Donaldson
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dr-laura-donaldson-compliance-is-not-cooperation/id1708279785?i=1000693042973

Trauma Informed Dog Training – Book by Sally Gutteridge
https://www.amazon.com/Trauma-Informed-Dog-Training-Professionals/dp/B0DS4T1W8M

What does it mean to be Trauma Informed - Dr Laura Donaldson
https://www.icbdogs.com/product-page/laura-donaldson-what-does-it-mean-to-be-trauma-informed

Ace Free Work – helps the nervous system relax, reset and rebalance
https://www.allpetseducationandtraining.com.au/ace-free-work.html

08/03/2025

Meet Joe! He is a new pal of mine. Sooooo cute and funny! 😁 He is a smart little guy, working with him and his dad is such a pleasure. See you both again soon!!

07/03/2025

My Sensitive Tyke is now offering four different in home four week classes. Puppy, Puppy Two, The Basics and “all new” Field Trip Class. This is a great option for those who prefer more personalized instruction. These classes will help you navigate your dog’s progress and development, build confidence, and help prevent common behavior problems.
Lessons are 60 minutes in length, once a week, for 4 weeks.
Training sessions are designed to take place in the client’s home or at an outdoor location of the client and trainer’s choosing. For more information and details please visit https://mysensitivetyke.com/classes

07/03/2025

A very interesting article… Something I talk with students about a lot lately.

Not long ago, dogs were valued primarily for the jobs they performed, such as hunting, herding livestock, and guarding property, all of which required boundless energy and a wariness of strangers. But “as more city dwellers adopt pets, and cultural shifts have led dogs and people to spend more time inside, some behaviors that made dogs appealing to our ancestors have become maladaptive,” Brian Hare and Vanessa Woods wrote in 2024. A dog wary of strangers is tough to take for a walk, for instance, and gets consigned to a fenced-in yard where it can’t spend its energy. https://theatln.tc/YWRfWeSv

“Dogs have gone from working all day and sleeping outside to relaxing on the couch and sleeping in our beds,” the authors write. “Thousands of years of domestication couldn’t prepare dogs for this abrupt transition.”

Dog owners have attempted to correct for this by picking a hypoallergenic breed, a smart breed, a breed that is supposedly good with children—but the main thing a breed usually tells you is what your dog will look like.

“Service dogs are the exception and the answer to the domestication puzzle,” Hare and Woods write. “For more than a century, service dogs have had to sit quietly in a café, calmly negotiate the stress and noise of urban life, and interact gently with children. They can do this not because they are smarter than pet dogs, but because ... service dogs are uniquely friendly. Unlike most pet dogs, service dogs are attracted to strangers, even as puppies. And increasing friendliness seems to have changed these dogs’ biology, just as it did thousands of years ago.”

“We believe these changes are the early signs of a third wave in dog domestication,” the authors continue. “If dog lovers shift their demand from a dog’s hair color and tail length to their comfort with strangers and new places, this friendliness could quickly ripple through the population and become amplified with each successive generation … A breeding program that prioritizes a friendly temperament could show results within just a few decades.”

In the meantime, as the third wave of domestication gets under way, humans must continue caring for the pets they have now.

🎨: Fine Art Images / Heritage Images / Getty

19/01/2025

Meet Giorgi! Giorgi started his four week puppy class and is doing great 😊. Giorgi decided that when class was over a game of tug with the teacher bag would be a fun way to end the day! 😂. He is a fun little fella ❤️ oh puppies!

18/01/2025

FRANNIE!! This pup might be the happiest dog I know!! Fran and her mom have been working hard and WOW have things improved🤩 So proud of you and your wonderful mom!! See you soon! Can’t wait!!