Moon Dog Consulting and Services

08/07/2026

08/05/2026

THE PLAY BOW

Dogs are constantly communicating with their body language and the play bow is one that is very easy to see, but despite its name, it doesn’t always mean “I want to play with you!”

Yes, in general, it means – I’m friendly and I have no aggressive intent, although context and the individual dog always need to be taken into account.

Some time ago, one of my little dogs was attacked by a bigger dog while we were out waking. She has never completely recovered from the trauma and ever since then, immediately play bows if a bigger dog comes anywhere near her.

I believe what she is communicating is – a calming signal to show the other dog she is not a threat, a position in which she can quickly escape if need be and the most likely explanation is to prevent any conflict and reduce any potential tension.

She has absolutely no desire or intention of playing or interacting with the other dog, in fact, she'd much rather avoid the interaction altogether, but she is trying to communicate her non-threatening intent.
This may be a more unusual use of the play bow, but the purpose of this story is that context and the individual dog really does matter.

Some dogs also use play bows to reset an interaction that is getting too much or perhaps to say “I’m sorry!”, in an attempt to reduce social tension or initiate conflict resolution after being too rough.

A prayer bow, which looks very similar to a play bow may indicate discomfort.
A prayer bow is a more lengthened, longer stretch, where a dog extends the front paws further forward and the chest area is very close to or on the ground.

This could indicate abdominal pain, gastrointestinal discomfort, bloating, gas, or it’s simply an effective stretch to loosen up stiff muscles or joints and get ready for movement.

The play bow is often described as a metacommunication signal—a signal that helps explain the meaning of the behaviour around it.

It's almost as if dogs are saying:
"Whatever I'm about to do—or whatever just happened—please understand that my intentions are friendly."

08/05/2026

Rainy weather Tuesday.

I thought I would post a video of today's work with Hazel, the newest conservation dog for moondog. She loves our game of "go find", which is our scent work portion of being a conservation dog. Today we are just using anise packets. She still has some issues with wanting to pick up the mark, but we're somewhat getting better. When we are working with actual s**t samples, she does not pick up the marks.

Although we are working on training in this video, this is also a good representation of what a small space can look like while doing something with your dog for enrichment. If you notice what I have on the floor is just random stuff in the building. She goes into the crate while I hide the items, and then we give her the cue to go find. Small space training can be fun. It's all about using your imagination and not being afraid to make a mess. 😁

08/03/2026

I have a client that is in need to rehome her little girl. This little girl is a very young malinois/Akita mix. She is just proving to be too much of a handful for my client's health needs.

Gracie is a loving, very sociable and confident little girl. She has been good around kids, she is good with other dogs, loves to play, and is very interested in scenting everything. She needs a more active home than she currently has.

If you are interested, reach out and I will put you in contact with the owner.

08/03/2026

Dog safety!

Did you know that the majority of dog bites are with kids 5 years old and younger and more than over 50% of all dog bites are children?

Did you know that over 77% of all reported dog bites come from dogs that are known to the victim?

A lot of times understanding canines communication can reduce or eliminate bite risks.

If you are interested in canine communication, please reach out to us. We have classes, I have been doing a seminar on canine communication at the Big Lake library, and I am more than happy to come and do a class for an organization or just hold private classes for you.

07/30/2026

The discussion has come up recently on ways to keep your dog cool. Not so much up here in Alaska, although we are experiencing some warmer temperatures lately, but in the lower 48 where the temperatures are soaring right now.

We need to remember that dogs cool themselves by their underbelly. What this means is that to cool a dog. Their underside needs to be cool to regulate their body temperature correctly. Putting on air conditioning, either in a house or a car, is not enough to cool your dog down. It's the surfaces that they are standing on and laying on that need to be cool and stay cool.

Our conservation dogs train year round, and in all temperatures. We need to be extra vigilant on our extremely cold days and on days that the dogs are telling us they are extremely hot. One way that we have here at the Moon Dog facility to cool down is this watering trough. In this short video you could see Hazel using the trough to run through, this is because she is very hot. She is self-regulating her body temperature. Having areas like this to provide cooling to the dogs, plus keeping training sessions short help with the health of the dog.

So even for pet dogs, having a pool or water area to help them cool the underside of their body off (stomach, groin, paws) will help them regulate their temperature better. Stay safe in the heat.

07/28/2026

just a quick blurb about conservation dogs and what Moon Dog does in the conservation dog world.

https://youtu.be/LcnNAia3p9w

07/21/2026

One of my best reviews...

07/12/2026

https://www.instagram.com/p/DatRRQzy7pv0bPjVDWptScNYvpZY4s9IuXrPpE0/?igsh=MWxsOXk2MjlrNzQyNw==

07/12/2026

So what do we do when we don't have a job with our conservation dogs? Besides continuous training, we take on some little training opportunities with our community. A reoccurring ask is to help find tortoises. 🐢 These reptiles are faster than people realize and tend to take off and explore on their own. With Alaska's climate being what it is, these guys do not do well if they're out in the wild for an extended period of time.

We do not charge for services like this as it provides needed training for the dogs. It takes on average 10 days or so to train a dog on a scent to be reliable enough to start searching. The dogs are searching for not only s**t along paths that the tortoise is making, they are also looking for the musk from the tortoises scent glands.

Weather plays a huge role in scent detection. Humidity, wind, rain, and the lack thereof changes how the scent stays in the area and where it tends to pool.

Unfortunately, this morning we did not actually find the tortoise we were looking for, but we were able to get the direction that she headed and find a very promising area that she could be staying close to with this rain.

Photo: Fhern, the dog detecting today, photobombing my picture of an actively used burrow. She was showing interest in this borough which makes it a good prospect.