CommuniCanine

10/19/2026

Oswald developed a sensitivity to having his ears touched after having them cleaned (two separate occasions, done by two different people more than a month apart).

Sensitivities can happen that easily and quickly. It doesn’t have to be something traumatic, just something the dog finds unpleasant enough that they get upset if they’re faced with experiencing it again and try to avoid it.

What you see in the first part of the video was the result of those two experiences. He refused to even let me pet his head near his ears, even if I had no intention of cleaning or looking inside them. He said “Absolutely the eff not, lady. Hands off my ears.”

I’ve gradually been working on desensitization and building comfort back up with him since I first noticed the sensitivity. I started by quickly touching only his ear flaps immediately followed by throwing food for him to chase and have gradually built up to what you see here - asking for a chin rest while I touch and examine his ears, even putting my fingers inside and feeling around and then using the empty syringe.

You’ll see from the video that he gets to opt out at any time. If he lifts his head up, I stop. Once he lowers his head back down, we start again.

I keep our practice sessions quite short and only work on this when I think of it, which isn’t every day. But as you can see, we’re still making progress. Stay tuned for more updates!

10/13/2026

Oswald has had issues with a chronic cough, so the vet put him on an inhaler. We are using a nebulizer to get him to breathe in the medication. He has to use it twice a day and take 7 breaths each time.

I wasn’t able to take my time getting him comfortable with it, so I taught it on the fly, as you sometimes have to when it comes to medical issues.

This is our very first training session, start to finish, no edits, of how I introduced it to him. He already knew a chin rest and a sustained nose touch (where he holds his nose still against my hand for 5 seconds), so we utilized those skills here. Because he’s a young puppy, he wanted to play with it, so I worked him through that as well as taught him to hold his nose in it for gradually increasing lengths of time.

If you’ve ever thought that teaching your dogs tricks was silly or demeaning to them in some way, this is a great example of how some of them can be incredibly useful in day to day life.

10/11/2026

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at CommuniCanine. Wishing you a wonderful weekend however you choose to spend it. 🦃🍂

10/10/2026

Anyone who’s lived with multiple dogs can attest to the fact that some are simply more difficult than others. 🥴

That’s why it’s important to never compare your dog or your training journey to anyone else’s. Everyone’s walking a different path.

09/21/2026

I often get asked what kind of service dog Oswald will be. Woofability Service Dog Training's dogs can be trained to do a wide variety of support tasks. They could be medical support and alert, they could be emotional support, they could be both and much more. (They are not, however, hearing ear or seeing eye dogs.)

Sarah's story outlined in the GoFundMe is a prime example of one of the many roles these service dogs can play and how life changing they can be (be sure to read the GoFundMe updates for that part).

Sarah and Mitch also happen to be wonderful people and clients who I've known for many years, so I'm especially heartbroken for the unimaginable tragedy they're navigating. If you feel compelled to support them, you can do so through either the GoFundMe or by etransferring Woofability directly at [email protected], referencing 'Esty/Sarah'.

Hi, my name is Jess, and I am organizing this fundraiser, with permissi… Jessica Gallant needs your support for Help Sarah Heal: A PTSD Service Dog Fundraiser