When we talk about stress "sticking around" in an animal’s system, we are referring to glucocorticoids—the stress hormone most commonly known as cortisol. To truly understand how stress affects our dogs, let's look at the science behind the stress response. We define stress as a natural, physiological, and psychological response to perceived challenges or threats to an animal's normal state. Not every challenge is harmful! According to researcher Bruce McEwen, stress can be broken down into...

Halloween is fun for humans—but for many dogs it’s a perfect storm of triggers: strange costumes, masks that hide faces, unpredictable movement and noise, and a doorbell that never stops.  If your dog already struggles with reactivity, stranger danger, or sound sensitivity, the night can quickly tip from exciting to overwhelming. Let’s think about it from the dogs perspective. For our dogs Halloween involves Novel & uncanny sights:  masks, capes, bulky silhouettes, wheels (wagons, strollers),...

Lately, I’ve been diving into the sport of nose work with my dog, Winslow—and it’s completely changed the way I think about how our dogs...