Canine Behavior Conversations

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Canine Behavior Conversations Practical dog behavior tips and real-life advice to help you better understand your dog and make life together easier. My goal is simple:
Calmer days.

For coaching and support: https://canineacademybehavior.com Teresa Loya • Dog Behavior Specialist & Fear-Free Trainer

Hi, I’m Teresa—an applied canine behaviorist, Certified Dog Behavior Consultant, and Fear Free® Certified Training Professional with 30+ years of experience helping dogs and their humans feel calmer and more connected. I specialize in real-world training for real-life dogs—from curious puppies and chaos-prone adolescents to worried, fearful, and reactive dogs who are struggling to cope with our busy human world. Easier walks. A dog who can listen—even when life is loud. How I Work

Modern, reward-based methods
I use fear-free, science-backed training that focuses on rewarding the behaviors we want and lowering stress for both ends of the leash. No intimidation, no pain-based tools. Behavior as communication
Barking, growling, hiding, or lunging aren’t “stubborn” or “dominant” behaviors—they’re communication. I help you understand what your dog is telling you and how to respond in ways that help them feel safer. Tailored to your dog & your life
Every dog and every household is different. I create individualized training and behavior plans that fit your dog, your environment, and your bandwidth—not a one-size-fits-all program. Real-life practice, not just theory
We work where it matters most: your home, your neighborhood, your favorite walking spots, and (when helpful) online. The goal is behavior that holds up in everyday life, not just in a training hall. Who I Help

Puppy parents who want to start off right

Families needing better manners & life skills at home and on walks

Guardians of fearful, anxious, or reactive dogs who feel overwhelmed or unsure what to do next

If you look at your dog and think, “They’re not being bad—they’re struggling,” you’re in the right place. Stay Connected

Follow along for practical tips, real-world training help, and occasional updates on ways to work with me.

📧 Email: [email protected]

🌐 Website: https://canineacademybehavior.com

Your dog can be physically safe—and still feel stressed or anxious.You may have created distance, secured the leash, clo...
08/31/2026

Your dog can be physically safe—and still feel stressed or anxious.

You may have created distance, secured the leash, closed the window, or separated your dog from a visitor. You know nothing bad is going to happen.

But your dog may not experience the situation that way yet.

Their emotional system may already be activated. You might notice scanning, staring, body tension, panting, pacing, or difficulty responding to familiar cues—even before barking, lunging, or trying to escape.
These quieter changes matter.

When we recognize them early, we can adjust the situation and support the dog before stress escalates.

Progress isn’t only the absence of a reaction. It can also look like less stress, earlier disengagement, faster recovery, and a greater ability to cope.

Comment 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗚𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗦 and I’ll send you the free Reactive Dog Progress Checklist & Tracker.

Your dog is barking, lunging, straining at the end of the leash.That is not the moment to teach a new skill.We don't wai...
08/21/2026

Your dog is barking, lunging, straining at the end of the leash.

That is not the moment to teach a new skill.

We don't wait until a building is filling with smoke to teach someone what to do in a fire. We practice the plan beforehand, when everyone feels calm enough to listen, think, and learn.

Training works the same way.

When your dog is already overwhelmed, their nervous system isn't available for learning. The job in that moment is support: create distance, take the pressure off, and help them recover.

The teaching happens earlier.

Skills like U-turns, check-ins, settling, and calmly moving away are built in the quiet moments, before they're needed. So when a hard moment arrives, the skill is already there.

Practice before you need it. A dog who feels calm and supported can learn.

If your walks have started to feel like something you brace for, Teresa can look at what's driving your dog's reactions and build a practical plan for the situations you're actually living with. Visit https://canineacademybehavior.com/ to find your path forward. 💛

Your dog lunges at another dog on a walk. You give a hard correction—and for a moment, it looks like it worked.The barki...
08/07/2026

Your dog lunges at another dog on a walk. You give a hard correction—and for a moment, it looks like it worked.

The barking stops. The leash goes quiet.

But stopping the behavior in that moment isn’t the same as changing what caused it.

When you’re exhausted from difficult walks, a correction can feel like the only thing left to try. Most dog parents aren’t trying to frighten or hurt their dogs. They’re trying to regain control of a situation that feels overwhelming.

But research has repeatedly linked punishment-based and aversive training methods with increased stress, fear, and aggression—especially in dogs already struggling with fear, anxiety, or reactivity.

A reactive dog isn’t simply choosing to misbehave. Their nervous system is responding to something they believe they cannot safely handle. Adding a painful or frightening correction may stop the outward behavior while making the emotion underneath it even stronger.

Suppressing the reaction does not resolve the reason for it.
At Canine Academy Behavior & Training, we look at 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘳, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, and 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶 and your dog navigate difficult situations more successfully.
If walks have become something you dread, you don’t have to keep struggling through them alone.

Visit https://canineacademybehavior.com/ to explore behavior support and find your path forward. 💛

"Can you actually help our reactive dog over video?"That's the question we hear most often from families outside the Den...
08/06/2026

"Can you actually help our reactive dog over video?"

That's the question we hear most often from families outside the Denver foothills. It's a fair one to ask.

Here's the honest answer: online and in-person coaching both deliver individualized guidance. The real difference is logistics.

In-person works best when hands-on observation in your home or on your regular walking route matters. Teresa can watch how your dog moves through their actual environment, see the doorway a visitor walks through, and notice the corner where the neighbor dog appears.

Online works best when flexibility, location, or schedule is the constraint. Video sessions and written plans let Teresa coach you through what's happening in your own space.

Either way, coaching starts the same. An Introductory Session, where Teresa looks at your dog's behavior, history, environment, household routines, and what your family wants everyday life to feel like. From there, she recommends an individualized path forward for your dog.

The right fit depends on where you live and what your dog needs. If you're unsure which makes sense for your situation, reach out and we'll help you figure it out. 💛

Two dogs on the same sidewalk. Both barking. Both lunging. From the outside, it looks like the same problem.It usually i...
08/05/2026

Two dogs on the same sidewalk. Both barking. Both lunging. From the outside, it looks like the same problem.

It usually isn't.

One dog is barking because he's scared. His nervous system is saying "get that away from me." The other is barking because he's frustrated he can't get to the thing he wants. Same bark, different story underneath.

Here's a clue you can watch for at home: notice what your dog does the second the trigger disappears around the corner.

A fear-based barker tends to deflate. The body lowers, tension drains, sometimes there's a full-body shake.

A frustration-based barker often keeps going. Spinning, scanning, redirecting onto the leash or the person next to them, still hunting for the thing that left.

Why this matters: the plan for one dog can quietly make things harder for the other. Distance and decompression that soothe a fearful dog can build more frustration in a dog who wanted access. Skills that help a frustrated dog wait calmly can overwhelm a dog who is actually afraid.

So we look at the individual dog, the household, and what is actually happening in those big moments, then build a plan from there.

If you're unsure which one you're living with, reach out and we'll take a closer look at your dog together. 🐾

Your dog spots another dog across the street and suddenly you're holding a 60-pound kite. Barking. Lunging. Zero listeni...
07/27/2026

Your dog spots another dog across the street and suddenly you're holding a 60-pound kite. Barking. Lunging. Zero listening. 🐾

If you've ever walked away from that moment wondering what is wrong with your dog, we want to gently offer another possibility: your dog isn't being stubborn or "bad." They're reactive.

Reactivity is a stress response, not a personality flaw. It's a nervous system that's overwhelmed and doesn't know what else to do.

Swipe through for 3 signs reactivity might be what's really going on, including one that looks nothing like the bark-and-lunge most people picture.

Once you can name what your dog is feeling, you can finally start helping them through it instead of just managing the chaos. 💛

Jax my assistant asking why I am stopping him from working!
01/20/2026

Jax my assistant asking why I am stopping him from working!

11/09/2025

Of course our actions often have an impact on the way our dogs behave. But just because they act differently with a friend, family, dog walker, day care, does not mean it’s a reflection on you.

More often than not we are seeing suppression, the same way we might see children behave better around someone they don’t know well or even us as adults. It takes confidence and a feeling of safety to truly be ourselves. So once we are comfortable we are seeing our dogs feel safe enough to show us their true behaviours, then we can address them if necessary.

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