I thought the word trust would be one of those vague labels that is tough to pin down. You know, hard to define but you know it when you see it. But when I checked the dictionary, I was intrigued to find two simple ideas that hit the nail on the head. Under the word trust it said,“the confident expectation of something” and “implies a feeling of security.” – Susan G. Friedman, Ph.D. 

Earlier this week, I took a fearful training client of mine to the beach. The fact that joyful trips to the beach are now a regular occurrence for her is a beautiful one because one year ago, these trips were not possible. Despite excellent socialization and dedicated dog parents, this dog entered a severe fear period, developing several phobias and generalizing her fear to previously safe environments, one of those being the beach. Through dedicated work desensitizing and…

A woman I sometimes chat with during my morning dog outings asked my opinion about an encounter she recently had. She’d been been walking her four-year-old mixed breed dog around a local park when she crossed paths with a man whose dog was off leash. As the owners walked toward each other on the narrow trail, the foot loose and fancy-free puppy ran up to the adult dog. With the usual lack of canine cluelessness that accompanies early dogdom, the pup leaped at the dog relentlessly in an attempt to initiate play. The woman’s dog, while not aggressive, did not want to be bothered. He growled. The puppy didn’t back off, and again tried to engage the older dog. The dog growled louder. The man made no attempt to put his dog on leash. The woman, feeling embarrassed that her dog had growled, ended up apologizing to the man and…