Speak Canine

09/04/2026

"You shouldn't have a dog if...."

These conversations bother me. They often become classist, ableist, etc, and they're rarely helpful to dogs. Of course there are things every dog owner should know beforehand such as budgeting and time allotment, but in my entire career I have rarely seen a home that was perfect for a dog. I think that's a good thing, and here's why.

Let me tell you a little about the pet situation where I live. Fair warning, it is pretty alarming.

One of the most common ways to acquire a pet in my community is to just stumble upon one. Almost hitting them with your car, having them show up on your property, or generally just finding one somewhere. I can't tell you how many of my client dogs adopted their owners without the humans' consent! My own first dog was a puppy who followed me home.

If you call Animal Welfare about a stray dog, they will usually ask you two questions: Is it aggressive? Is it seriously hurt or sick? If not, they literally do not have time. It's not that they don't want to help that dog, it's just that they are so busy and so understaffed that they can't come for every call. They'll ask if you can take the dog home with you, or at least get them scanned for a chip. If you can't, they will probably advise you to let the dog go so that they can (hopefully) make their way back home. Even if you can transport the dog to the shelter, they're often stuffed to the gills already.

Just recently, our local SPCA assisted a woman on a rural property with over 100 dogs, many of them former strays. This was a situation where genuine human kindness got out of hand. She knew every dog by name, and adored them all, but couldn't afford spay and neuter for everybody. The team altered the dogs, took many in, and left some in the loving home they had always known.

I won't even try to cover our puppy mill/pet store problem. You would be astonished.

All across our state, several wonderful programs take adoptable dogs out of our shelters and transport them to places with more adopters and fewer dogs.

SO! When people say things like "You shouldn't have a dog if you work 8 hours a day," my brain does a spit take. I cannot imagine how many dogs would lose their lives if no one adopted them because an otherwise wonderful adopter.... had a job? I PRAY for the day that I can judge someone for crating their dog for an extended period of time, or for not having a yard, or for not being able to afford training or large, unexpected vet bills. But today is not that day. Not here.

*PLEASE NOTE* I am not promoting lower standards for dog stewardship. There is no such thing as perfect, but we owe our dogs progress. My whole job is to help humans make progress in order to improve their dogs' welfare. I sincerely long to go out of business due to lack of demand.

But there are faaaaaar more dogs here than "only the best" homes, and poverty is rampant. Always keep that in mind before you say "You shouldn't have a dog if...."

Besides, you'd be surprised at how perfect an imperfect home can be when real love is involved. I've seen so many dogs flourish in a less-than-we-would-have-it environment JUST because they are loved by someone whom they can love in return.

Is your dog safe? Healthy? Happy? Loved? Fed & watered? Sheltered? Fulfilled? If yes, your dog is better off than most by leaps and bounds. There is no shame in being less than perfect. It can always get better though, so never stop learning, and get professional help with behavior if you can. 💙

Please donate, volunteer, foster, adopt, and for heaven's sake....

SPAY AND NEUTER!
(Ask your vet about ovary-sparing spay/vasectomy!)

07/01/2026

Prove them wrong, if you can. 🤣

06/11/2026

Often, when people defend aversive or "dominant" training techniques in any species, they say "Dogs/horses/whatever creatures do this to each other!"

For me, that raises the following quandary (among others):
Do you want your animal to treat *you* like *you're* the same species? Because even IF it were possible (it's not) for us to behave toward them exactly the way they behave toward each other, isn't that the only option you leave them to communicate back to you?

Sorry if I'm the first to tell you this, but human bodies are squishy, fragile things, so we cannot handle a whole lot of conspecific communication. We have no fur or excess skin to protect us from a nominal warning bite from a dog, for example. We sustain major injuries every day due to perfectly natural, not-even-that-aggressive animal communication.

And on that note, here's a personal story illustrating the affect of everyday Critter Talk on our pathetic meat-suits.

When I was a teenager, I had a beautiful grey horse named Levi. He was the most magical creature who ever lived, and I adored him. Yeah, I'm a horse girl. Deal with it! 😁

One day while we were all out riding, Levi bumped into his friend Buttercup's rear end. She was justifiably upset, and gave him a warning kick in the middle of his chest. Keep in mind that this gesture, in the Equine language, is commonplace. She wasn't actually all that angry, she just intended to tell him "Hey, quit that!" The maximum force recorded from a horse kick is something like 2,000 PSI, so if Buttercup had wanted to hurt Levi, she easily could have. He was fine.

Of course, as horses do, Levi turned away to add space and diffuse the situation. This put my left shin in the direct path of Buttercup's second warning.

Again, keep in mind that she didn't intend anyone any real harm. She moderated her response to the situation, and Levi walked away without injury, as is the case in most agonistic horse-horse interactions.

I, on the other hand, with my tiny human bones, got a tibia/fibula fracture and pretty major nerve damage. It landed me in a cast for 3 months. 20 years later, the pain is still awful some days.

Animals' bodies are made to withstand their social behavior. Ours (clearly) are not. If we treat them like they treat each other, it gives them no choice but to reciprocate, and that rarely ends well for us. Buttercup accidentally treated me like a horse for half a second, and the hoofprint above my ankle serves as a lifelong reminder of why I don't want that from any animal. Horses are way better at being horses than we are. I think we ought to leave their behavior to them.

The real advantage of being human is that we got big ol' brains. Use that big brain to LISTEN to what they're telling you, and respond like a rational being. It'll help protect your frail human body!

Follow Speak for all things Canine. 🐾💙💚
(Or, in this case, Equine! 🐴😉)

06/06/2026

People talk about how these are appropriate "in the right hands", but I prefer to recommend equipment that any idiot could use. 😅

𝙉𝙊𝙏𝙀: 𝙄 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙞𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄'𝙡𝙡 𝙨𝙖𝙮 𝙞𝙩 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣. 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙥𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖 𝙙𝙚𝙗𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙪𝙢. 𝙄𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙥𝙪𝙧𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙨. 𝙄𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙤 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙, 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩'𝙨 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙚, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙗𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙥𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩. 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙥𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣 𝙖 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙮, 𝙖 𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙮, 𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙙𝙤𝙜.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀

I just returned from a consultation with a large breed dog that is reactive to other dogs. As a puppy she was happy and friendly around other dogs, but after being attacked by a dog at the dog park at 8-months of age her fear and anxiety about unknown dogs began.

Yes, fear and anxiety. Not because she is dominant. Not because she is protecting the owners. Not because she is a jerk. Because she is scared.

Most reactivity is driven by fear (an immediate, automatic emotional and physical response to a known, present, or definite threat) or anxiety (a lingering feeling of nervousness or worry about a potential, unknown, or imagined threat). The displays of barking, lunging, and growling are attempts to keep the other dog (or stranger/child/trash truck/etc.) away from them. The owners have watched TV shows, videos, and read articles about how to “fix” their dog, and over the past several months have accumulated quite the collection of dog training “tools” that have not worked. In fact, her behavior has gotten worse. Why?

These tools (choke, prong, and shock collars) work through pain and fear rather than learning. Pain and fear create anxiety, causing dogs to associate walks, training sessions, their owner, or other people or dogs with that pain, creating a never-ending loop of lasting fear and anxiety.

Beyond the physical and emotional harm, these tools share a deeper problem: they suppress behavior without addressing the underlying cause. This leads to:

Redirected aggression — a dog startled or hurt by a correction may lash out at nearby animals or people - even the owner - since it can't identify the true source of pain

Learned helplessness — some dogs become shut down and stop engaging with the world, which looks like "calm" but is actually distress

Relationship damage — the dog may learn to distrust the person applying corrections

A dog that’s not “fixed” — suppressed behaviors will resurface because they are never actually eliminated, only temporarily hidden, until the dog’s internal stress threshold is crossed, often manifesting as sudden, explosive reactions or escalating into aggression because the dog’s emotional state was never truly resolved

The research is consistent when it comes to aversive training methods, with studies having found that dogs trained with aversive tools show more stress behaviors during and after training, correlating with higher rates of aggression, anxiety, and fear compared to reward-based (positive reinforcement) training. Organizations like the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior, the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists, and the ASPCA all recommend against their use.

The cost of aversive training tools? To a dog, it can be astronomical. To us, it was $140. Through our Swap & Save program we discount the training package fee by $20 for every device traded in. So yes, in this instance we are out $140, but assuring the dogs under our care and supervision are trained with humane, ethical, and effective methods is worth every penny.



https://www.dentlersdogtraining.com/blog/cost-of-aversive-training-tools

09/09/2025

Blunt, but true. The rescue world calls these unicorn homes. It's VERY rare that anyone goes looking for a dog with behavioral issues, but especially a farmer. They cannot afford the risk to their livestock.

This is a PSA

There is no magic farm that wants your neurotic Border Collie.

I have seen one too many posts lately saying ‘I need to rehome my Border Collie because he has behavioural issues and I don’t have time or space to fix them’ and honestly? That is fine. I am a big fan of rehoming a dog you can’t commit to or the fit isn’t right for everyone. I don’t think rehoming a dog is an inherently bad thing in many cases.

However I have also seen one too many posts asking if a local farmer wants to take them on.

This may be a little blunt, but your local farmer does not want your undersocialised, car chasing, space guarding, dog reactive, neurotic collie. A collie for a farmer is a tool for the job, and if that tool isn’t functioning well, then it ain’t gonna do the job to a standard that’s needed.

The most problematic thing about this thought process is the notion that there’s a magical farm that the dog you bought, with access to all the information in the world on the internet, with no knowledge or understanding of what these breeds need in order to live happy and functional lives as a pet. The reality is, you bought a cute farm puppy because it’s cheaper than a ‘pedigree’ or designer mixed breed, or because your uncle had one once and he was very obedient, and that hasn’t happened for your dog. You have this whimsical idea that your beloved mistake can go and live happily on a farm and spend his days skipping through fields, herding sheep and being someone else’s loyal sidekick. Absolving you of all guilt in the process.

The hard truth is, the magical farm DOES NOT EXIST. The kind farmer with a sprig of straw in his mouth and rosy cheeks who is just WAITING to take on your problem dog DOES NOT EXIST.

What does exist though is training. Making time for the dog. Realising your commitment and following through on it because the dog didn’t choose to live in a sixth floor flat in a city and it’s your job to make sure his needs are met despite not living on a farm. Failing that, it’s rescue through proper avenues.

If you’ve got a Border Collie with issues, you simply need to step up. It’s a hard truth and one many won’t want to hear. Meet the dog where they are at. They can be truly WONDERFUL pets but they aren’t for the faint hearted. They are beautiful, clever, goofy, driven and easy to train because of how intelligent they are, but that intelligence and drive needs to go somewhere, and you, the owner, need to be the one to direct it in the right way! If you don’t know how to do this, then find yourself a trainer who is experienced with these dogs as a first step.

- Kahla

📸 Emma Bryden (Via the Border Collie who is an absolute gem and living in an agility home that meets all her needs)

07/28/2025

I LOVE dogs who growl! They're so easy! It's the ones who don't that worry me.

We need our dogs to growl so we know when they are close to their limit. That they really need us to listen and things are getting serious.

They are never a warning we should seek to remove but one we should be glad to hear. Because that’s what’s going to prevent things from escalating further.

06/12/2025

We NEVER use generative AI. It steals from artists and kills the environment. If you're talking to us, you're talking to a person.

05/27/2025

So true!! Get to work on that right now!

05/20/2025

I've been asked before why I don't DNA test my dogs. Well, here's your answer! 😅

Marketplace sent the DNA of two mixed-breed dogs, one purebred dog and one human to four different dog DNA companies. Nearly all the results were different.