08/18/2026
Niko is in the home stretch. He will go home in a few days.
He plays some and retrieves a little. I wanted more play out of him and am still trying. He just has a tough time opening up to it. Tomorrow, if not this evening (depending on delivery), I am going to attempt to get him to chase a remote control car. He will chase rabbits.
He is in a smaller crate now, getting used to the accommodations he will have at home. They’ve never been able to successfully crate him. At home, he shakes, drools, whines, and acts like an idiot. For other people who have had this issue, I don’t know if it ever occurred to you to just tell them “No!” Or “down” and correct the other BS but….here’s a video of him sleeping behind me after breakfast.
It takes a little time. It takes patience. It sometimes requires teaching them “no” when behavior is purely wrong and not okay. By stopping the escalations, you are teaching them to manage stress better until they learn to relax.
Force free weirdos call it learned helplessness and say it’s awful. “You are harming your dog!” I have heard it all before. They are so far off base that I have earned a pretty decent living fixing the dogs they have failed, repairing the damage they have done, and bringing dogs back from death row for biting to get their way when they got treats to trade for things.
Being “kind” indirectly rewarded that horrible behavior over and over - act like an ass, threaten everyone, bite, and ultimately get a treat to give a shoe back. Rinse and repeat. Soon, they are controlling anything by guarding it and snarling. Aggressive behaviors become reinforced. I’ve dealt with this, with the other type if dogs that whine, cry, and meltdown in anxiety. Its all the same reason.
I call it what it is: understanding consequences and how to handle a little stress. That’s what WE learn as children. Why wouldn’t it be good enough to teach your dog if we teach out kids that fit throwing doesn’t get them out of going to school? Taking a bath? Sitting at the table to eat? Going to bed at bedtime?
For some reason, nobody wants to teach their dog how to handle stress until they learn how to get through it in a healthy way. We all have big emotions. Humans and animals alike! The difference is that somewhere along the line in the last twenty years, humans decided that stress for their pets was totally unhealthy and something to be avoided at all costs.
“Don’t push them over threshold!” “Remove the stress or them from the stress.” “Never tell your sog no! You’ll ruin your relationship with them!” If I roll my eyes any harder, they’ll roll right outta m head!
You know what’s cruel? Never teaching them how to handle life by understanding that sometimes things aren’t fair. Sometimes life is loud. Sometimes we need to go in a crate, stay in place, listen when called, and we do not always have someone with us…and that is totally okay! Because CONFIDENCE is the opposite of anxiety. You build the dog you desire by teaching it what “no” means, and also what “yes” means. You give them confidence through clear communication and through experiencing things.
Sometimes those experiences ate scary and stressful. Remember something you did that was scary but filled you with exhilaration when you did it? You gained confidence, and you grew! Robbing your dog of that growth is exactly what happens when you listen to no sense about never causing stress or putting them in difficult situations!
Marketing geniuses have hopped on this trend of treating them like babies and suddenly you have every type of toy, treat, food, supplement, anxiety medication, leash and collar designed to prevent pulling (they don’t), that have you draining your wallet, rearranging your life, and being miserable with naughty dogs!
I say bu****it! Stress is what happens when you are learning. Stress is necessary. Life is stressful. Coping skills need to be taught in the midst of stress. Instead, everyone wants to run out and get the tramadol or the prozac and drug their dog, hire a house sitter so they can grocery shop, and let the dog run their life and schedule.
And you’re letting a generation of young adults with shelves filled with participation trophies feed you this BS. Gentle pet parenting—never tell them no, lest they lose trust in you! Never stress them ou, this will be damaging to their well-being! Meanwhile, you watch your dog tremble at every sound and seemingly get worse over years of you steadfastly protecting them from everything. You are doing it all wrong, with the wrong mindset, taught to you by the wrong people.
Dogs are resilient. They are smart. They are survivors. Stop treating them like helpless little whimps that can’t handle consequences.
This is a dog that had his family convinced he needed a pen in the kitchen with a top on it, and that one of them needed to be where he could see them all the time. Wanna know what causes separation anxiety? Never leaving. Always being available. Not teaching them that leaving leads to returning—something wild animals learn as babies so mom can leave then to hunt or forage. Fears are conquered early on.
Protecting your dog from fear is unhealthy and unrealistic. Trying to shield them ALL THE TIME robs them of the opportunity to develop necessary coping skills. And then you medicate them for behavioral issues YOU caused or or actively causing. And the side effects of those medications are exacerbating the very things you medicate them for. Prozac causes anorexia in dogs. They won’t eat. I have seen dogs come to me as walking skeletons. THAT is abuse, not telling them NO.
Call me. Let’s fix it. Here is Niko. Coping. Developing healthy skills to handle a little stress. Niko is corrected for whining in the crate. He is taught to be calm by forcing him to learn how. He is told YES when he gets things right. We clearly communicate. He relaxes. He learns. So can your dog.
Choose training that makes SENSE. That helps your dog grow and expand their world and their mind, not shrink the length of the leash, the distance they go from home until it’s only a backyard that feels like a prison to an animal bred to explore, run, chase rabbits, and use their noses. Not a management program that constantly restricts them. Choose freedom, growth, and PLAY.
Call me. No dog turned away. Human aggressive dogs are trained here. Reactive dogs are rehabilitated here. Drugged dogs get clean and clear minds here. Old dogs, young dogs, big dogs, little dogs, pure breeds, mixed breeds, ANY dog can be helped. ALL dogs deserve the chance.
