Author Archives: Cathy Bruce, CPDT

My rabbit sprayed urine in my face this morning. Now what on earth does this have to do with dog training you may ask?  Hear me out.  So after cleaning my face, swallowing my frustration that while I was reaching in to feed my rabbits their beloved pellet breakfast, Smokey decided to spray me in Read More

Do dogs suffer from re-entry issues after having been separated from their owners or been boarded?  I have been pondering this question recently due to several calls and interesting conversations with clients recently regarding their dog’s behavior after coming home from a trip. One such conversation took place with a client whose rescue dog had Read More

I was at home ill in bed the last few days and one of my only comforts as I sat feeling sorry for myself was that my three dogs had been really good about keeping the bed warm for me all weekend!  They are wonderful companions when I am sick.  It’s like “they know….” We Read More

There are not a lot of things that “scare” me, but falling trees are one of the things that I worry about.  As I write this, I am sitting in a pitch dark room at 2am in the morning listening to the sound of roaring wind gusts outside.  We just had tornado producing storms with Read More

I’m baffled sometimes by the fact that we don’t let our dogs “think.”  If it rings true that whatever our dogs are allowed to practice that that is what they will get good at, why don’t we let them practice “thinking!” It is a concept that I always try and instill in my students, but Read More

I am always on the hunt for good life similarities to dog training.  This week I stumbled upon more as my son is wrapping up his first week at kindergarten.  At his orientation last week prior to the first day of school, we were walked through some simple ways to help our children develop a Read More

After a terrible and restless night of trying to sleep and my analyzing thoughts about a work situation keeping me awake, I rolled over in bed to stroke my two senior dogs lying curled up beside me.  Part of what had kept me awake was my blood pressure was up and I realized as I Read More

I was driving home from the store the other morning on a back country road and was following this little suburban with a beautiful yellow lab head sticking out the hatchback window.  I could not help but wonder what he was thinking.  Occasionally he would crane his head and neck upwards, scenting the cool morning Read More

With the holiday season in full throttle at the moment, it is natural to start thinking about how our dogs feel about the impact of the season and effect it has on them.