Dog NERDs Behavior : Nurturing Elevated Resilience in Dogs

06/04/2026

Come learn about how trigger contexts and their sub modalities control reactivity in dogs at the Sammie's foster event.

FREE COMMUNITY EDUCATION EVENT - Saturday June 6th, 2-4 p.m. BriarPatch Community Room. General questions about fostering for Sammie's Friends will be answered from 1-2 p.m.
This event is FREE

🐾 New Class Alert: Understanding & Managing Dog Reactivity 🐾

Whether you’re a current foster, thinking about fostering, or simply part of our amazing dog‑loving community, this 2‑hour class is for you.

Reactivity is not “bad behavior”—it’s an emotional response. In this class, we’ll break down what reactivity really is, why it happens, and how we can support dogs with compassion, safety, and practical tools.

What we’ll cover:
• Reading early stress signals & body language
• Understanding thresholds and the reactivity cycle
• Types of reactivity (fear, frustration, territorial, predatory)
• Real‑life management strategies you can use immediately
• Pattern games, U‑turns, “Find It,” and other force‑free tools
• How DS/CC (desensitization & counterconditioning) actually works
• Troubleshooting common scenarios
• When to call in a professional

This class is designed to empower fosters, adopters, and community members with skills that make life easier—and safer—for both dogs and humans.

Please reach out to [email protected] with questions or to reserve a spot
sammiesfriends.org
530-471-5041

05/16/2026

Spots are filling up quickly...

04/17/2026

FEEDBACK FRIDAY!!!!

Little dogs have big feelings too. 🐾
I LOOOOOOVE little dogs and I live with several. Helping owners support their small dogs in developing agency as a way to reduce anxiety? Honestly, one of my life’s greatest guilty pleasures. 🤭
Have a small dog with big feelings? I’d love to learn more about them. Let’s connect for a free phone consultation, message me below! 💛🐶

04/10/2026

FEEDBACK FRIDAY!!!

Relaxation isn't something dogs either have or don't — it's a skill which can be developed. 🧠✨ And when dogs build a foundation of trust, agency, and predictability, those changes ripple into every corner of their lives — including places as stressful as the vet's office. 🏥🐕

We don't specifically cover cooperative care in group class, but this kind of feedback isn't rare. When dogs feel safe, they show up differently everywhere. 💛

🎉 Group class enrollment just opened this week — and spots are already moving! 🏃‍♀️💨

If you've been thinking about it, now's the time. 📬 Reach out and I'll help you figure out which group is the right fit for you and your dog. 🐶🐾

04/05/2026

Group classes are baaaaaaaack.

❌ What this series is NOT about:
**"Fixing" your dog's behaviors

✅ What this series IS about:
**Understanding the function of unwanted behaviors and learning how to modify them by meeting those needs through alternative cooperative choices.

❌ What this series is NOT about:
**Over-facing your dog to environments and conditions which include elements your dog has a history of struggling to navigate without reactivity.
**Using outdated, inefficient and risky training methods that require the use of slip, prong, or electronic collars of ANY kind.

✅ What this series IS about:
**Creating safe set-ups which allow your dog to learn peaceful coping strategies when in the presence of triggers they have a history of struggling to navigate without reactivity.
**Using skills like timing, placement, reward strategies, movement, position and an accurate understanding of your dog's body language to support them in effectively BOTH changing behaviors in the moment AND reducing the number of instances that the behavior is produced.

❌ What this series is NOT about:
**Being your dog's "pack leader."
**Providing punitive consequences to address unwanted behaviors.
**Keeping your reactive dog from ever experiencing the world.

✅ What this series IS about:
**Decentralizing control in your relationship with your dog and focusing on working with your dog as a teammate; sometimes , providing cues for them, other times taking and responding to their cues.
**Reducing unwanted behaviors by meeting needs and providing preference tested alternative coping strategies.
**Comfortably expanding your dog's world into environments which include their triggers.

Each Saturday morning we will meet for a sixty minute practical activity learning experience like nothing you have ever experienced. 🐕

This class is a product of my graduate work in clinical animal behavior and combines several of the most current approaches that create remarkable results specifically for reactive dogs, adolescents, and dogs with a history of trauma.

You can expect safe set-ups, ample space, and an enrollment cap of 6 dogs or less for levels I and II and 4 dogs or less for level III

Over the four weeks we will introduce fun and easy ways to improve your dog's resilience and reduce reactive behaviors by focusing on three areas:

1 - Meeting your dog's genetic needs especially in those areas of the predation chain they are optimized to perform.
2 - Learning about environmental shaping to create experiences which support your dog making cooperative choices over reactive ones
3 - Introducing the techniques you can practice with your dog to change the way your dog feels about their current triggers and the associated behaviors those emotions reinforce.
Space is limited 🔥 and is open to dogs over 8 months.

Class starts upon enrollment where you will be sent a fun game you will need to play with your dog 15 times for 3 min. each time.

A video of you playing the game with your dog is required to be sent in BEFORE the first class meets, but don't worry, it's actually really fun and easy to play.

All students will be learning a clinically informed behavioral approach rooted in ethology and shaped by the groundbreaking advancements taking place in canine sciences. 🧬🐾

Level 1 🐶 is accessible to all levels of experience and is effective at both impacting unwanted behaviors in-the-moment AND reducing the number of instances the unwanted behaviors are produced. 💪✨

Level 2 🧠 is available for graduates of Level 1 and advances the skills captured during Level 1 and applies them to increasingly sophisticated environments and conditions. 🔬🌍

Level 3 🌟 is only available to students who have graduated from both previous levels as we increase social pressure, expand our environments to public locations and where appropriate develop socialized play. 🏙️🐕‍🦺🎉

Current graduates may retake Levels 1 or 2 for just $99. 🎓 Please message me for the graduate discount code.

Not sure which class is right for you? 🤔
Follow this link for a detailed breakdown on the curriculum for each. 👇
https://assets.cdn.filesafe.space/ZVDTVaI3tLy0NrV5V1gP/media/69d2bbdefa2dde974257f04c.pdf

Ready to secure your spot? 🙋
Select the class right for you from the links below. 🔗

Level 1: https://link.digiwoof.com/widget/form/Id9OtjGcDNH9bjbXkaLR

Level 2: https://link.digiwoof.com/widget/form/EnVAsomM8GjN69u87Snj

Level 3:
https://link.digiwoof.com/widget/form/zWPkLCvsc3XpBVjHOT74

01/29/2026

What do you think it means for a shelter to be "no-kill" ? Please comment below.

01/16/2026

Feedback Friday!!!!

Need help with physiologically driven behaviors like eliminating indoors when you’ve tried everything but nothing seems to work???

01/14/2026

Honored to be featured on a podcast with Tom Candy a teacher, leader, and voice that shaped how I understand shelter behavior and animal welfare. This work exists because of the people who taught us how to see animals more clearly and Tom has certainly helped to shape my path. Enjoy!

01/10/2026

The Netherlands just banned Sphynx and Scottish Fold Cats.

But this isn’t the only way they are leading the world in animal welfare.

When it comes to dogs they are equally as strong.

In 2019 they banned the breeding of extremely flat faced dogs, only allowing those with a decent nose length, and other characteristics of health, to reproduce.

In order to breed in The Netherlands, dogs must have;

* A muzzle at least one third of the length of the skull

* No noisy breathing when they are resting

* At least moderately open nostrils

* If they have a nasal fold, it cannot be causing eye irritation

* Eyelids that can close easily over the eyes

All fairly basic standards of a reasonable life, you would assume, but the fact is many breeds of dog have these abnormalities written into their pedigree standards and it has taken a change in the law to force breeders to make these changes for the good of their dogs.

However, the Dutch Kennel Club had other ideas, and continued to issue pedigrees to dogs with extreme features, giving these dogs a legitimacy that they didn't sadly didn't deserve. This was stopped in 2025, another indicator of the Dutch commitment to the health of the pets in their country.

Learn more about these laws here;

https://zoek.officielebekendmakingen.nl/stcrt-2023-23619.html

https://www.dierenrecht.nl/nieuws/2025/06/rechtbank-verbiedt-misleidende-stamboomhandel/

01/09/2026

FEEDBACK FRIDAY! 🎉

This rescue girl and her dedicated owner remind me of the great privilege it is to live my life's purpose. 💜🐕

When the local pet-shop obedience classes weren't helping with leash pulling the trainer recommended a prong collar. While it reduced pulling in some situations, it actually made things worse when they mattered most. 😟

Here's what was really happening: 🧠
This sweet dog wasn't being stubborn or disobedient—she was experiencing anxiety and fear in her environment. Her pulling was an attempt to escape what felt threatening. When the prong collar tightened around her neck, reducing her air flow and placing pressure on sensitive areas like her trachea and thyroid during her most anxious moments, it added physical discomfort to an already frightening experience, reinforcing her panic rather than resolving it. 💔

Her owner knew something wasn't right and reached out. 📞✨

In just two sessions, we: 🌟

Switched to a comfortable, escape-resistant harness 🦺

Introduced relaxation exercises at home 🧘‍♀️🐾

Optimized nutrition with calming nutraceuticals 💊

Built reward strategies that encourage peaceful emotional regulation.

Taught patterns and sequences 🎯

Focused on developing massive amounts of predictability on her walks to inform security and trust🎮

Structured our learning around her choices with heavy agency to foster safety 💪

Managed her environment to prevent overwhelm and panic 🛡️

It's truly one of my life's greatest privileges to help a scared shepherd and their owner to learn about some of the most efficient, effective and skillful applications of reward-based training.

There are levels to this stuff.

It's a LOT more than pushing cookies but food and other things all dogs are hardwired to understand are often part of it. 🍪

If you're struggling with your dog's behavior and have resorted for any reason to using shock, prong, choke, grot, or any other form of compulsion and you're interested in improving the results those tools are marketed to address while simultaneously improving the bond you share with your animal, I'm here. 🧬

I've been practicing and studying this stuff at the highest levels available for over 15 years now. 📚

You DO NOT need to use pain, discomfort, intimidation or fear in your learning process.

The transformation has been remarkable because we addressed the underlying anxiety driving the behavior. 🏆