The Academy Blog
Predation and Dogs-Normalizing Behavior
One gorgeous summer morning, I watched from across the pool as a small grey bird fluttered down out of a tree and hovered just a few feet in front of my foster dog, Quinn. Quinn tilted her head to the side and froze for a brief moment before lunging forward and...
Puppy Socialization and Vaccination – A Balancing Act
You've just picked up your beautiful, wriggling, sweet-smelling little puppy, and you are loving every second of it. You've got everything ready: chew toys, that perfect tiny collar, and of course, your pup's first ever trip to the vet scheduled. First puppy visits to...
Socialisation et vaccination des chiots – Une question d’équilibre
Vous venez d’aller chercher votre adorable petit chiot, tout frétillant et qui sent bon, et appréciez chacune des secondes passées en sa compagnie. Vous avez tout ce qu'il vous faut: des jouets à mâcher, un parfait petit collier, et bien sûr, son premier voyage chez...
Our Responsibility To Dogs: Fear, Self-Knowledge, and Puffs of Air
Have you ever had that test at the eye doctor, the one where they puff air against your eye? If not, just imagine it. Air in a puff right into your eye. “Don’t blink”, the doctor may tell you. Because typically, if a puff of air hits you in the eye, you blink. It’s a...
Preparing Our Dogs to be Comfortable at the Vet’s Office: the Academy’s Husbandry Project
We used to accept it as a given that dogs just didn’t like going to the vet, and that there wasn’t much to be done about it. However, things are really changing in today’s more patient-centric veterinary care models. No longer is it considered acceptable to frighten...
Academy Vet Talk: Resource Guarding in Dogs
As a veterinarian and dog trainer, I often get asked, “How can I stop my dog from snarling at me when he's eating? It is so disrespectful. No matter how much I yell at him or take his food away when he does it, he still seems to forget that I'm the one who feeds him.”...