Author Archives: jmlacosse411

Tango and I worked on something new tonight. Middle. Middle is something you would use if you wanted to do agility with your dog, and I would love to get Tango into that eventually but you can also do this with a dog that needs some confidence and security. I haven’t actually introduced the wordContinue reading “Middle”

While my dogs do not wear muzzles, I have had fosters who have needed them and I have friends who have needed them. Muzzles should not be looked at like some barbaric tool. They are necessary in some cases and should be treated with respect. If you have a reactive dog and are actively workingContinue reading “Muzzles”

Hide and seek! A fun way to train with your dog on recall. You can do this alone like I did with a long lead or you can include a friend or family member to hold the line while you go hide and then call your dog. Once they find you, love em up! IfContinue reading “Hide And Seek”

BO!!❤ This handsome fella was my first Regional foster and I got to see him tonight! His mom would love to take him through therapy dog training but before he can do that, he needs to become a Canine Good Citizen. After the holidays we will begin working on fine tuning his skills so he canContinue reading “Bo”

I found this article while doing a little research on resource guarding and really liked how they explained it and gave some helpful tips on how to 1) prevent it from happening and 2) things you can do to work through it once it appears. This is something I still struggle with with my ownContinue reading “Resource Guarding”

If you follow my personal page, you know we had a rough rough week. Turned out Athena didn’t just have a stomach bug but rather a blockage that required emergency surgery Wednesday. However. Because you can find a teachable moment in just about everything, I’m going to spin this negative into a positive. With aContinue reading “A Stressful Day”

I saw this posted in a group I follow and just had to share it here. Putting it semi-bluntly, this is exactly the stuff we do that ruins our dogs. Some people do it knowingly, some people don’t. We really do coddle and humanize our dogs far too much and it tends to do moreContinue reading “7 Easy Ways To Make Your Dog Crazy”

So today kind of sucked… both dogs ended up at the vet on an emergency basis. To make this negative into a positive, both of my dogs behaved beautifully despite neither feeling well (Athena – stomach bug. Tango – swollen face). We promote calm, a lot, in our household between place and box and changingContinue reading “Behaving At The Vet”

Body language is so important when dogs are interacting and figuring each other out, including during play. If you don’t know how to read your dog, you may miss key signals of when play is about to become something more, something more dangerous. Regional’s adoptable beagle mix Reese came over for a photo shoot andContinue reading “Body Language”

Preach Place!! You have no idea what you can accomplish using “place” until you put the work in and test it. This was last Saturday morning. All 3 of these dogs are dog reactive yet all 3 are completely relaxed in the presence of each other. No tethering. No walls. I’m able to test theseContinue reading “Preach Place!”