Your Inner Dog

05/28/2026

🐾 "A tired dog is a good dog."

It's the most common advice given to owners of reactive, restless, hard-to-settle dogs. And for a lot of us - it just doesn't work.

Here's why: exercise activates the nervous system. The wrong kind, in the wrong amount, can actually keep your dog running hot long after the walk is over. A tired body is not the same thing as a calm nervous system.

If your dog:
✗ Can't settle even after a long walk or big play session
✗ Reacts to other dogs, sounds, movement, or guests
✗ Barks, pulls, jumps, or seems to always be switched on
..there's a lot more going on than just needing more exercise. And that's exactly what we talk about in my new 4-week course.

🐕 Help! My Dog Can't Calm Down
Starting June 11th · 6:30 PM Central · Live + replay access

We'll look at what's actually keeping your dog's nervous system activated — and build a real plan to help, week by week.

Spaces are limited. Link to register 👇

Overexcited, just can't settle, barking, pulling, jumping - do you have a dog who can't calm down?

05/22/2026

🎊🎈 SALE this weekend!

If you've been wanting to watch my webinar series about blind dogs or to dive into my enrichment course, this is your chance to do so and save money ... win, win, win!

💥The Understanding Blind Dogs webinar series was created specifically for anyone whose dog is going or has gone blind that wants tips, tools, and techniques for helping their dog best navigate their environment and adjust their daily activities to blindness. This is the webinar series that I want everyone to have access to when their dog loses vision. It answers all the common questions and concerns, so your heart and mind will be at ease, and you will have practical strategies to put into place right away.
https://yourinnerdog.learnworlds.com/course/understanding-blind-dogs

💥Enriching Every Sense is a self-paced course full of fun enrichment and game activities suited to dogs with different sensory abilities. Each activity is demonstrated by dogs who are blind, deaf, or both blind and deaf. Any dog will have fun with these activities - and you'll find out how to adapt activities so your dog can be successful.
https://yourinnerdog.learnworlds.com/course/enrichment

💟Please do share! My goal is that everyone and their dogs who can benefit from this information has access to it! I see posts every day from people who have a dog going blind - and they are feeling desperate for support. Let's make sure they can find it.

Have a safe Memorial Day weekend everyone.

05/20/2026

An on-demand course specifically created to give you many enrichment and game ideas for dogs with sensory differences such as visual challenges/blindness! All dogs can benefit from the variety of enrichment activities in the course, but you'll find ideas specific to dogs with unique needs.

I hear daily from people who wonder why sorts of things they can offer their blind dogs as enrichment, play activities and fun bonding together. This course is created just for them.

If this sparks your curiosity, or you know someone and their dog who could benefit from it, please check it out - or share.

https://yourinnerdog.learnworlds.com/course/enrichment

05/16/2026

Something fun to do this weekend!

Make a snuffle mat for your dog ... and if your dog already has some, make some snuffle mats for your favorite rescue or shelter! Let's make sure all dogs get the joy and benefits of sniffing!

🐾❤️

Have you heard about snuffle mats for your dog? Does your dog have one? There are fancy ones you can purchase, but they are also fairly easy to make at home. And you can customize the colors you use for your dog, holidays, or other preferences.

👉 If you’d like to make your own snuffle mat, follow along:

You will need scraps of fleece (or other fabric) in various colors of your choice. The strips I use are about 3/4 inch wide and 12 inches long, but yours don’t need to be exactly measured. It’s easiest to cut a lot of these before you get started.

You will need a mat with many holes that are large enough to poke the fabric strips through. Some people like to use a rubber mat with holes, which will be sturdy for very large dogs. I like to use sink mats as shown for my dogs and they work well. You can attach more than one sink mat together if you want to create a larger mat.

Tie a fabric strip onto the mat by pushing it through one hole and feeding the other end up through the next hole. Tie in a secure knot so it can’t be pulled out. Continue until you’ve tied a fabric piece in each direction around the hole - you can see from the bottom view of the mat that there will be a strip tied to the left, right, top and bottom of each square.

Finish by tying strips through the outer holes and around the outside edges of the mat to give a fuller appearance.

To use a snuffle mat, show your dog some tasty treats and let them eat some from on top of the mat at first. As they get the idea and are eager to eat from the mat, begin to push the treats down into and between those longer pieces of fabric on the top of the mat. Your dog will need to snuffle (sniff) with their nose between the pieces of fleece to find and eat their treats.

Snuffle mats can be cleaned by shaking out excessive crumbs. When they need more cleaning, they can be hand-washed or placed in a garment bag in the washing machine on a cold gentle cycle. Allow to drip/air dry.

Share so your friends can make some too!

05/12/2026

This is an amazing enrichment activity for those dogs that love to use their noses and can't ever seem to get enough of the good smells!

It's for ALL dogs, young and old and in between, blind and deaf or seeing and hearing.

And it's a non-food enrichment activity for those of our dogs on special or restricted diets and eating schedules.

Check it out! Share it with your friends. Let me know what your dog thinks!

When we walk our dogs, are they getting the chance to sniff? I mean, REALLY sniff?

05/10/2026

One of Vinny's favorite tricks is playing basketball where he puts his basketball into a hoop. He usually puts the ball in a lower, more lightweight hoop that we can take with us easily when we do demos and shows.

The hoop in this video is heavier and has a higher basket than his other one. I want to practice with him moving at a distance away from me to get his ball and find the basket, so we needed a heavier basket that Vinny won't knock over if he bumps it.

Because Vinny is blind and deaf, he has to touch the basket in order to locate it and find the opening of the basket to put his ball down into. So we started practicing again with this taller basketball hoop. He's getting the idea of lifting his chin up higher over the rim.

Next step will be to add more distance as he's ready. If you have questions about teaching dogs who are blind, deaf. or both blind and deaf, please reach out anytime. It's my specialty and I'm always happy to help. :)

05/05/2026

It’s sometimes challenging and frustrating to live with a dog with a lot of care and management needs. Delight wasn’t the puppy I had envisioned bringing home and so many things were hard for her to deal with. I hated that her world seemed so small and felt she was missing out on a lot of things.

Delight is an amazing little girl. She’s also been dealt a challenging hand - blind, deaf, shows some compulsive type behaviors, deals with chronic pain from a very young age, and displays sensory processing challenges/sensitivities, along with some other behaviors that may or may not be related.

And … She loves to play, to learn new things, to give kisses and to cuddle. She adores anything related to sniffing! She truly is a delight!

She also needs her quiet time to recharge, lots of time to process, and she has good days and not so good days.

She has grown up to be so very special to me and the times we spend together one to one are also very special as they remind me what a lovely girl she is. We both need this connection time to renew the love and gratitude we have for each other - it helps even on those not so good days.

If you sometimes feel frustrated or stressed when caring for your dog’s care and management needs, please know that you are not alone. This doesn’t mean that you love your dog any less. Don’t forget to take some time to focus on all the wonderful things about your dog that you love. It really can help on those harder days.

For Delight, sensitivity often shows up as overwhelm. Sometimes that overwhelm looks quiet - she may freeze, pause, or seem unresponsive, as if she’s shut down or “checked out.” Other times, it looks like the opposite: she becomes overstimulated, overly excited, mouthy, and unable to settle. T...

04/27/2026

My Brinks -

When I was doing my Practitioner trainings for Tellington TTouch, my dog Brinks was already a great agility partner.

Fast, driven, talented. I wasn’t looking to fix anything.

But what I discovered surprised me. Did you know that our dogs often move through life quickly when they aren't feeling fully balanced and grounded?

After incorporating TTouch into his routine, I was amazed to see his performance improve even more.

His focus improved dramatically. His coordination and balance skyrocketed. He became calmer and more thoughtful. That “edgy,” over-aroused feeling… softened.

Even in high-energy environments, he could stay connected and responsive. His new awareness of his body and movements made a huge impact.

And it didn’t stop there.

TTouch gave me tools to help Brinks with things in life that were hard for him … waiting in the vet’s waiting room, car rides which he found stressful, and those dreaded thunderstorms that normally caused him to panic.

In these stressful situations, I saw his confidence and ability to bounce back grow. He looked to me to support him, trusting me to know how to help him feel better.

TTouch is about helping dogs feel safe, balanced, and supported.

And that changes everything.

If you’re interested in learning how TTouch can make a difference for your own dogs, or dogs you care for, please join me for this upcoming workshop series.

👉 Join us here: https://yourinnerdog.learnworlds.com/course/tellington-ttouch-workshop-series

04/24/2026

This morning, Nigel and I had a really big win. 🐾

He’s been struggling with the dog next door. When he sees her, he starts running the fence line, barking, completely locked in. In those moments, nothing works. No food, no calling him, no redirection. It’s just full intensity.

But this morning was different.

When the neighbor’s dog came out, Nigel ran to the fence barking. I walked over, picked up his leash, and started doing some quiet TTouch with him.

Within less than a minute…
He stopped barking.
Stopped running.
His body softened.

We stood there together, calmly watching the other dog. No chaos. No frustration. Just calm awareness.

And when it was over, he simply moved on and went back to exploring happily.

This is why I love TTouch. It gives me a way to help my dogs actually feel calmer - not just try to manage the behavior.

I use this every day, in real life moments just like this.

If you’d like to learn how to do this with your own dog, I’ll be teaching it in my upcoming 4-week workshop starting May 7.

👉 https://yourinnerdog.learnworlds.com/course/tellington-ttouch-workshop-series

It’s simple, gentle, and incredibly effective. 💛