Dog Speak Services

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Durham, NC
Dog Speak Services

Reward-based, in-home dog training and behavior helping overwhelmed dog guardians. Real life. Real help. Right at home.
📍 Durham, NC + online
Want to feel relief?

Contact me!
💬 Text at 919-642-1258
📧 Email at [email protected]

10/26/2026

Maggie started to take me to the park today, but as we were crossing the highway, she stopped on a dime and was locked into a scent in the middle of the crosswalk. I could see that 100% of her brain was on this and she wouldn’t register a cue — like someone getting sucked into a book and they don’t hear you. I opted to make a bunch of noise and use informal cues to get her across. She got a jackpot — which unfortunately for her was kibble, because I accidentally flung all of her high value treats out onto the ground and she ate them. Whoops. But! I made the kibble fun.

She was still invested, so for 4 rounds, I would cue “wait”, hit the pedestrian crosswalk button, and when it turned green, release her into the crosswalk. When there was 5-7 seconds left, I’d do an enthusiastic “let’s walk” + finish with a recall to the curb. Jackpot. Then, a wait cue, hit the button again, and repeat, releasing her to the scent for about 15 seconds. On the 5th round, she opted to sniff while she crossed it fully, going back home.

WHY DID THIS WORK?
1. History of releasing back. I have a history of releasing her back to whatever she wants to do after a recall FREQUENTLY. And in this case, each recall kept getting better because she knew that she could keep sniffing.
2. History of crazy high value food on return. ESPECIALLY when I can’t release back, but even when I can, she always gets something really nice. Even here, when all I had was low value, she got a LOT of it, and it was fun. Recall is not something to skimp on the reward!
3. History of a crazy strong relationship. Maggie loves to be with me. Full stop. She likes spending time with me, looking at me, cuddling with me, training with me, playing with me, existing with me. And, she has the independence that she doesn’t need to. This is an element of recalls that’s often forgotten- does your dog find you fun to be with?
4. It didn’t become a fight — she has the freedom to do what she needs to be a dog, and I don’t fight that. I give her that freedom. She had the agency to tell me what she wants out of a walk. And I listen. That is what makes the walk a peaceful time together, and not a fight.

10/04/2026

We’ve also got some Handsome Hound Treats for your pup!

10/04/2026

We’re (almost) all set! (There was a crack in my easel sign! So my task rabbit helper has gone to get me a new one to create). We’ve got human snacks, dog snacks of all flavors, activities for humans (can you beat the record holder for toss your cookies?), activities for dogs (fitness class! Loose leash walking!), and activities for kids (draw your favorite dog with sidewalk chalk!).

My dog will join me for as long as she has endurance for, which is not anywhere close to the whole thing. But you might be able to steal a glance of her!

Come see me in front of Duke Corporate Education and across from diamond view lounge (between DPAC and Moe’s).

10/03/2026

OKAY I AM OBSESSED. In preparation for tomorrow’s Move-A-Bull City: Open Streets event, I got some of the pumpkin on a stick eggplants from Trader Joe’s (fun fact, I tried growing these several years ago but my ADHD sucks at growing eggplant from seed and they died as seedlings). Then I went to Durham Farmers' Market andDurham Farmers' Market me wSlow Burn Farmand built up this STUNNING bouquet of dahlia, celosia, and amaranth, then I went to Matt and Renee Clayton forMatt and Renee Claytonery. When I was building it up, it needed some bulk to stay upright so I cut off some leaves from my fig tree and wrapped it.

So grateful to live with the son of a florist!

And I am SO EXCITED to see y’all tomorrow! This photo really does not do this bouquet justice so come revel in its glory tomorrow!

09/24/2026

September is Pain Awareness Month, and this is one of the topics I wish I knew more about sooner.

When I bring up the topic of pain causing behavior, by far the most common response I get is a variation of…
My dog’s not in pain.
But they’re only 2 years old.
The vet said he’s in good heath.
I said the same thing.

In reality, dogs are phenomenal at masking pain from us, in part because we don’t know what to look for. That’s not a judgement on us humans — we don’t know what we don’t know! A general practice vet isn’t going to do exams without cause, so they likely won’t find anything on a general exam

Mills et al, 2020 in Pain and Problem Behavior in Cats and Dogs reviewed 100 dogs being seen for behavioral problems. They made a *conservative* estimate that 1 in 3 of these dogs involved pain, and the figure may be as high as a whopping nearly 80%.

Let that sink in.

Maggie was a behavioral euthanasia case for aggression towards her family. Whe I got her, I knew that they had used punishment. I assumed all of her behavior stemmed from that and anxiety. Pain never crossed my mind. It wasn’t until a coach mentioned that she doesn’t stand square. “That’s just how she always stands,” I replied. Then I started reading about the subtle signs of pain.
Then she started opting out of training.
Then I went down a black hole of research.
I collected data. So much data.
I thought I was being paranoid. Thinking zebras instead of horses. Overreacting. My dog’s not in pain!! I wanted to be *sure* before I went to the vet because I was afraid of being thought of as overly protective or alarmist.

We did a pain med trial, and everything got better. So we went for a formal diagnosis. And things kept getting better.

Until they got worse.

That was when we started the nerve-targeting pain med, and it was like she was replaced with a different dog overnight.

ALL. AGGRESSION. STOPPED.

Let me repeat that.

ALL. AGGRESSION. STOPPED.

Our lives are so much more relaxed now that we paid attention to Maggie’s pain signals and our wonderful Veterinary Behaviorist found the right type of pain meds.

09/23/2026

Unfortunately, my client’s dog’s nervous system can’t tell the difference between that dog sniffing in their yard 50 feet away and a mama grizzling with her cubs.

That dog is a real perceived threat to her, and her nervous system is going to react accordingly, by triggering her fight-flight-freeze-fawn system. In this case, she’s going into fight mode — barking, weight shifted forward, lunging — doing what she feels comfortable doing to try to scare the threat away.

She doesn’t know that this dog isn’t going to attack, but because of her trauma history, she thinks she’d better scare him away than be sorry.

This reaction is common, but not normal.

This is an abnormal, exaggerated response to a completely normal activity.

So what can you do about it? Ultimately, what to do about it comes down to the “why”? What’s the Function of the behavior?

Using a combination of a Functional Assessment (the same ones used for children!) and assessing your dog’s Enrichment Framework to identify where there are needs or skills gaps, we can implement management to prevent it from happening, short-term training plans with quick wins, and longer-term training plans to help the behavior overall.

We’ve been working in conjunction with the vet to get a good medication stack on board to help this sweet girl navigate our training while we work through helping her feel supported, complete her stress response cycle, and teach her the skills necessary to feel safe navigating the world without going into fight mode.

Often medication - for the brain, nervous system, anti-inflammatories, or gut difficulties - are necessary to help the therapies work. Just like if you do all of your gardening chores (weeding, watering, pruning) but you don’t ensure there are enough nutrients and ecology in the soil you’ll have a disappointing harvest, if we don’t address the dog’s physiology the training will be disappointing (thanks Emily Strong for this analogy!).

This is a screenshot from a video I took to help with body language skills. We needed to work on observation in order to implement learned skills at the right time — before the reaction happened.

09/23/2026

Unfortunately, my dog’s nervous system can’t tell the difference between a new friend coming over and an armed burglar.

That friend coming inside is a real perceived threat to her, and her nervous system is going to react accordingly, by triggering her fight-flight-freeze-fawn system. In this case, she’s going into fight mode — barking, weight shifted forward, lunging, jumping — doing what she feels comfortable doing to try to scare the threat away.

She doesn’t know that this is a friend we invited into our home. All she sees is outsider. Intruding. INVASION!!!!

This reaction is common, but not normal.

This is an abnormal, exaggerated response to a completely normal activity.

So what can you do about it? Ultimately, what to do about it comes down to the “why”? What’s the Function of the behavior? Why has this Function developed? What’s happened in the past?

Using a combination of a Functional Assessment (the same ones used for children!) and assessing your dog’s Enrichment Framework to identify where there are needs or skills gaps, we can implement management to prevent it from happening, short-term training plans with quick wins, and longer-term training plans to help the behavior overall.

In this case, Maggie has a history of trauma associated with strangers, and doesn’t feel safe around them. So we’re working through a plan to help her feel safer and gradually building her experiences towards having people in the home. This includes not just training skills, but listening to her requests, giving her agency, and - most importantly - addressing her physical health needs. Pain has been a major contributing factor in her reactivity!

Video is us playing Super Bowls in a hotel while she was having huge feelings about the strangers in the hallway and uncertainty of what was happening. It was her first hotel with us!

09/21/2026

I found this in my photos today. I don’t remember taking it (but thats ‘s me recording!) and I don’t remember giving this to her. But something told me to give it to her. Maybe she asked. Maybe she “stole” it from the trash. I don’t know, but it was already empty and she continued being the garbage goblin she is and provided both of us with long-term calming enrichment.

Enrichment doesn’t need to be fancy or expensive. Sometimes… just give them your garbage!

Address

Durham, NC
27701, 27702, 27703, 27704, 27705, 27706, 27707, 27708, 27709, 27710, 27711, 277

Website

https://www.dogspeakservices.com/

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