Enrichment for the Real World

Does your dog barking make you jump out of your skin? Or send you down a shame spiral? Or have your dog’s triggers become your triggers? You are very much not alone. In this episode, we flip the script, and instead of asking, “How do I help my reactive dog?” we ask, “How can I help me, the reactive human?” 
Join Emily and Ellen for a chat about when your dog’s (or bird’s, or donkey’s, or cat’s) noises don’t just annoy you, but send a startling jolt straight to your lizard brain. Because yes, vocalizations are normal, but finding harmony with your pet isn’t about suffering while they thrive.

 TLDL (too long, didn’t listen): 3 Key Takeaways 
1️⃣ Stop the bleeding first – Start with your right-now plan. What’s one thing you can do to make barking less painful for you?
2️⃣ Barking doesn’t automatically mean “over threshold” – We have to look at the whole picture and learn to observe body language with all our senses. 
3️⃣ Find empathy for the reactivity – We can find tremendous empathy for reactive dogs. Let’s give ourselves the same grace.
For the full episode show notes, including the resources mentioned in this episode, go here.

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More from Pet Harmony

Pet Parents: enrichment ideas and practical behavior tips
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Pet Pros: relatable moments and support for your work with pets and their people
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If this episode resonated with you, please take a moment to subscribe and review. It helps more pet parents and pros find us. Thanks for being here! 💛
You don't have to watch your dog slow down. You can be the reason they light up.
Enrichment for Senior Dogs: Strategies for Aging Gracefully is a step-by-step course for the pet parent who's watching their dog change and is worried they're missing something important.
Give your dog great golden years: http://petharmonytraining.com/senior
Find some of Pet Harmony's ride or die brands, gear, and fitness equipment through our affiliate partner Paw Prosper. 
And yes, we promise we actually use this gear with our own pets. 💗
Check out Blue-9, FitPaws, Help 'Em Up Harness, and more at http://petharmonytraining.com/fitness
As an affiliate, we earn a small commission based on purchases from this link.

If you’ve been struggling to help your dog rest or relax, despite following protocols and trying your dangest, it’s time to zoom out and look at the environment. 
This week, Emily and Veronica dig into the three common ways the environment gets in the way, and why the classroom we’re teaching in matters just as much as what we’re teaching. 

TLDL (too long, didn’t listen): 3 Key Takeaways 
1️⃣ Environment is the classroom – Predictability, safe space, and routine are what make relaxation possible in the first place. 
2️⃣ Your dog's body is part of their environment – Pain, allergies, and temperature sensitivity all affect their capacity to relax. 
3️⃣ One thing at a time – Don’t overhaul everything at once.
For the full episode show notes, including the resources mentioned in this episode, go here.

Amazon Affiliate Storefront
Find products we recommend at the Pet Harmony Amazon Storefront.
As an Amazon Associate, Pet Harmony earns from qualifying purchases.

More from Pet Harmony
Pet Parents: enrichment ideas and practical behavior tips
📸 Instagram & Facebook: @petharmonytraining
Pet Pros: relatable moments and support for your work with pets and their people
📸 Instagram & TikTok: @petharmonypro

📬 Sign up for our weekly newsletter: https://petharmonytraining.com/join/

Subscribe & Review
If this episode resonated with you, please take a moment to subscribe and review. It helps more pet parents and pros find us. Thanks for being here! 💛
You don't have to watch your dog slow down. You can be the reason they light up.
Enrichment for Senior Dogs: Strategies for Aging Gracefully is a step-by-step course for the pet parent who's watching their dog change and is worried they're missing something important.
Give your dog great golden years: http://petharmonytraining.com/senior
Find some of Pet Harmony's ride or die brands, gear, and fitness equipment through our affiliate partner Paw Prosper. 
And yes, we promise we actually use this gear with our own pets. 💗
Check out Blue-9, FitPaws, Help 'Em Up Harness, and more at http://petharmonytraining.com/fitness
As an affiliate, we earn a small commission based on purchases from this link.

Y’all, we gotta give a little warning with this one, it may get a little spicy. To prep for this episode, we turned to the internet to see what advice pet parents are likely to find, and boy, oh, boy… We don’t even know how to end this sentence. 
In this episode, Emily and Tiffany are getting into why the things that come up when you search “How to calm down a hyper dog” aren’t bad, just… You know, overly simplistic, prescriptive management techniques that aren’t actually addressing the issue. We’re breaking down the small kernels of truth we can take away from this advice, why it isn’t working for you, and what it actually means to teach a lifelong skill, not shift the blame onto pet parents for not being “chill” enough. 
Calm isn't a personality trait. It's not breed destiny. It's a skill that can be built through repetition, in the right conditions, with the right feedback. We promise, and if you don’t believe us, you can ask our clients. 

TLDL (too long, didn’t listen): 3 Key Takeaways 
1️⃣ Down-regulation is a skill – Skills can be taught through repetition, in the right conditions, with the right feedback.
2️⃣ Rest and relaxation aren't the same thing – A dog can rest while totally wound up, and be completely relaxed while wide awake. Conflating the two sends us chasing the wrong metric. 
3️⃣ It’s not wrong, just incomplete – There’s a kernel of truth in the common advice, but there’s also a lot missing. If it hasn’t worked, it doesn’t mean it won’t; it means we need to tweak.
For the full episode show notes, including the resources mentioned in this episode, go here.

Amazon Affiliate Storefront
Find products we recommend at the Pet Harmony Amazon Storefront.
As an Amazon Associate, Pet Harmony earns from qualifying purchases.
More from Pet Harmony
Pet Parents: enrichment ideas and practical behavior tips
📸 Instagram & Facebook: @petharmonytraining
Pet Pros: relatable moments and support for your work with pets and their people
📸 Instagram & TikTok: @petharmonypro

📬 Sign up for our weekly newsletter: https://petharmonytraining.com/join/

Subscribe & Review
If this episode resonated with you, please take a moment to subscribe and review. It helps more pet parents and pros find us. Thanks for being here! 💛
You don't have to watch your dog slow down. You can be the reason they light up.
Enrichment for Senior Dogs: Strategies for Aging Gracefully is a step-by-step course for the pet parent who's watching their dog change and is worried they're missing something important.
Give your dog great golden years: http://petharmonytraining.com/senior
Find some of Pet Harmony's ride or die brands, gear, and fitness equipment through our affiliate partner Paw Prosper. 
And yes, we promise we actually use this gear with our own pets. 💗
Check out Blue-9, FitPaws, Help 'Em Up Harness, and more at http://petharmonytraining.com/fitness
As an affiliate, we earn a small commission based on purchases from this link.

Dealing with leash reactivity can really be a drag (only moderate pun intended 😂). Jokes aside, if you have a dog that does the whole barky, bitey, lungey thing on leash, to dogs, to people, or to the leaf that blew across the neighbor's roof, and you’ve been feeling like a failure, or are just really freaking tired of still working on this, grab a chair and join Ellen and Emily for today’s episode. 
We’re talking about 5 ways we see leash reactivity plans get f*cked up, and no, it’s not because anyone is bad at this. It’s because we’re complex humans, with complex lives, complex pets, and complex environments. We help clients be human and help their pets every day, and today, we’re sharing what we’ve learned. 

TLDL (too long, didn’t listen): 3 Key Takeaways 
1️⃣ You’re interrupting more than reinforcing – If you’re doing more interrupting of the eruption than reinforcing chill beforehand, you might be teaching your pet that exploding is part of the sequence. 
2️⃣ Sessions need to be short – Probably even shorter than you expect. Triggers stacking IS happening, so keep it short, and use your escape routes liberally. 
3️⃣ You don’t know how or when to get out – Before making things hard, get really skilled in easier environments, and that means practicing knowing how and when to get out of Dodge. 
For the full episode show notes, including the resources mentioned in this episode, go here.

Amazon Affiliate Storefront
Find products we recommend at the Pet Harmony Amazon Storefront.
As an Amazon Associate, Pet Harmony earns from qualifying purchases.

More from Pet Harmony
Pet Parents: enrichment ideas and practical behavior tips
📸 Instagram & Facebook: @petharmonytraining
Pet Pros: relatable moments and support for your work with pets and their people
📸 Instagram & TikTok: @petharmonypro

📬 Sign up for our weekly newsletter: https://petharmonytraining.com/join/

Subscribe & Review
If this episode resonated with you, please take a moment to subscribe and review. It helps more pet parents and pros find us—and makes our tails wag every time. Thanks for being here! 💛
You don't have to watch your dog slow down. You can be the reason they light up.
Enrichment for Senior Dogs: Strategies for Aging Gracefully is a step-by-step course for the pet parent who's watching their dog change and is worried they're missing something important.
Give your dog great golden years: http://petharmonytraining.com/senior
Find some of Pet Harmony's ride or die brands, gear, and fitness equipment through our affiliate partner Paw Prosper. 
And yes, we promise we actually use this gear with our own pets. 💗
Check out Blue-9, FitPaws, Help 'Em Up Harness, and more at http://petharmonytraining.com/fitness
As an affiliate, we earn a small commission based on purchases from this link.

You bought the “good” treats, you know, the all-natural, human-grade, $14-a-bag ones. You've got the *perfect* dedicated pouch after hours of research. You’ve studied your protocol. Shoot, at this point, you could probably coach your friends through it. 
And you have followed it with the devotion of a formerly gifted child who has to do everything right the first time, or the world will come crashing down. 
And your dog is still screaming at every dog, jogger, and suspicious mailbox on the block. 
In this episode, Allie and Emily see your perfectionism and your frustration, and meet you with empathy, compassion, a little sass, and at least 2 rambling, but important soapboxes. 
We’ll talk about why treats stall and walk you through some of the things we troubleshoot when things get stuck: threshold, treat value, timing, session length, and your own anxiety. Because addressing reactivity isn’t about a single moment; it’s about the whole picture.

TLDL (too long, didn’t listen): 3 Key Takeaways 
1️⃣ Treats are only a part of the plan – If a pet is already too stressed, treats aren’t what they need; they need relief. 
2️⃣ Go back to basics before you panic – Threshold, treat value, timing, session length, and your own anxiety are places to reflect on.
3️⃣ Reactivity is a symptom – Not a character flaw, or even the primary issue. Look deeper.
For the full episode show notes, including the resources mentioned in this episode, go here.

More from Pet Harmony

Pet Parents: enrichment ideas and practical behavior tips
📸 Instagram & Facebook: @petharmonytraining
Pet Pros: relatable moments and support for your work with pets and their people
📸 Instagram & TikTok: @petharmonypro

📬 Sign up for our weekly newsletter: https://petharmonytraining.com/join/

Subscribe & Review
If this episode resonated with you, please take a moment to subscribe and review. It helps more pet parents and pros find us—and makes our tails wag every time. Thanks for being here! 💛
You don't have to watch your dog slow down. You can be the reason they light up.
Enrichment for Senior Dogs: Strategies for Aging Gracefully is a step-by-step course for the pet parent who's watching their dog change and is worried they're missing something important.
Give your dog great golden years: http://petharmonytraining.com/senior
Find some of Pet Harmony's ride or die brands, gear, and fitness equipment through our affiliate partner Paw Prosper. 
And yes, we promise we actually use this gear with our own pets. 💗
Check out Blue-9, FitPaws, Help 'Em Up Harness, and more at http://petharmonytraining.com/fitness
As an affiliate, we earn a small commission based on purchases from this link.