There is a little known secret amongst most dog trainers: as a rule, we don’t touch dogs. When we see dogs in class, on the street, or even at a friend’s house, we DON’T touch them. This obviously comes from a “safety first” perspective. We’re taught that all dogs have the ability to bite and […]

Continue Reading     |     March 4, 2014

I did something massively stupid this Christmas. I should preface this by saying that Santa always asks me to pick up all the stocking stuffers, as he needs to spend more time delivering to children than to us. He makes sure that I buy things for my husband and vice versa, but he never mentions […]

Continue Reading     |     January 15, 2014

As you might have read in my last blog, I recently went to the national dog training conference put on by the Association of Professional Dog Trainers. It left me wanting to try lots of new things, one of them being a clicker. I have never been one for clicker training, as I think it […]

Continue Reading     |     December 6, 2013

A few weeks ago, I attended the Association of Professional Dog Trainers conference in Spokane, Washington. I have been a dog trainer for about four years now, but have not had the opportunity to go to this annual conference before. I was so excited to finally see what it is all about, meet some of […]

Continue Reading     |     November 14, 2013

I work for an education company called CanineLink when I’m not training for AnimalSense, and I spend at least two nights a week listening to lectures on dog behavior. We are constantly getting new students, and it’s amazing to see their reactions as they learn. After our Canine Communication class, students always say to me […]

Continue Reading     |     October 11, 2013

My mentor once told me, “You can never really know a dog unless you live with him.” I believe this is true. You know when your dog is comfortable, stressed, hungry and everything in between, even without knowing anything about dog behavior. You live with this creature and you begin to create a “common language”. […]

Continue Reading     |     September 12, 2013

This is my dog Eddy laying next to me while I go for a run on my treadmill. I know this doesn’t sound like anything amazing, but actually, it is. You see, Eddy, was my husband David’s dog. The two of them lived without me for almost six years before I moved in, and Eddy […]

Continue Reading     |     August 8, 2013

Summer is hot, and I don’t like the heat. There is not an air conditioner in the world that makes me feel comfortable enough. If I had my way, I would wear a sweatshirt at all times and it would snow most of the year. But I will just have to suck it up and […]

Continue Reading     |     July 1, 2013

Welcome to another in my series of dog-sitting blogs. I love to share my adventures with you in hopes that you will be entertained and maybe even learn something. Over Memorial Day weekend, I dog sat this puppy. He is young, but so wonderful. He’s a well-bred Golden Retriever, and his mom has done tons […]

Continue Reading     |     June 6, 2013

My dog does not get along with other dogs. It’s just a fact of life. He has spent the last nine years not liking other dogs. It doesn’t matter to me or to him frankly; we just live around it. It honestly doesn’t even dawn on me to think about it. I had a conversation […]

Continue Reading     |     May 7, 2013

My mother and I recently had a conversation about self-esteem. My mother believes a woman can do anything in life if she has high self-esteem, and I agreed with her. We talked about how so many women feel they aren’t pretty enough or smart enough and how if they just built their confidence, they might […]

Continue Reading     |     April 11, 2013

My dog has 5 recall words or commands. I know this sounds excessive, but I love recall. In fact, my dog knows pretty much nothing else except this important command. “Come” is the obvious word. He’s pretty good with this one, but I felt like I used it too often. For example, when he was […]

Continue Reading     |     March 5, 2013

I graduated with my Master’s degree in Business Administration two years ago. I remember walking out of my very last class and thinking: I will never have to go to school again in my life. It was one of the greatest feelings in the world. Little did I know, I was totally wrong. The one […]

Continue Reading     |     February 6, 2013

In my family, my dog’s nickname is “Psycho Dog”. That’s because Eddy is not good with other dogs. In fact, if given the opportunity he could seriously harm any dog that crossed his path. In order to manage this, I don’t take Eddy on walks very often. We have a huge yard, so he gets […]

Continue Reading     |     January 7, 2013

When I was little, we had an Old English Sheepdog. Whenever I was sick, my mother would tell me that Lindsay (our dog) would take care of me. As a kid, this was a great comfort to me, and she would lay by my side the whole time I was sick. Now that I’m an […]

Continue Reading     |     December 5, 2012

About a month ago, I was sitting for my parents’ one-year-old puppy, Sophie. She doesn’t really like to walk outside. The main issue is her love of the house. They live across the street from a park and often walk all the way around it. When you make it about half way around the park, […]

Continue Reading     |     November 7, 2012

The only kind of dog I like is one that is lying down and sleeping. I imagine that most mothers feel this way about their toddlers or teenagers. I feel like I’m always hearing “Look at how cute he/she looks when he/she is sleeping.” Would you like to know why? Because they aren’t annoying you! […]

Continue Reading     |     October 16, 2012

Do you know what the easiest job in the world is? Dog sitting. I don’t do this as a profession or anything, but my friends seem to go out of town a lot. I have nothing else to do, and I can generally live my life from other people’s houses with no problem. The other […]

Continue Reading     |     September 7, 2012

My mother is going on a cruise next week. Her and my step father will be gone 10 days, leaving the house, their plants and, most importantly, their dogs for me to babysit. To be perfectly honest, I’m sure the house will be fine. I WILL kill at least one of the plants accidentally, but […]

Continue Reading     |     August 3, 2012

We use Relaxation Protocol in dog training. Basically, this means that the dog stays in a sit or down position for a prolonged period of time while the person does a multitude of things. At first, all you do is count while your dog holds a sit or down position. Then you walk around a […]

Continue Reading     |     July 4, 2012

I got married about 8 months ago. When I married my husband I inherited a lot of things, but the most important was a dog in my bed. I’ve always allowed our family dogs to sleep with me. I’m all about the cuddling. However, I’m used to large fuzzy dogs who get hot easily, so […]

Continue Reading     |     June 4, 2012

I do some occasional pet sitting. I’m not a professional by any means, but people ask me for one reason or another to watch their dogs when they go out of town. I have a hard time saying no, so here I am. In fact, literally, that is where I am. I’m sitting in a […]

Continue Reading     |     May 4, 2012

My husband and I don’t agree on much. In fact, we don’t really have anything in common at all. He’s into sports, I love me some cheese puffs and a good TV show. He’s into hipster music, and I’m more into classic 70’s rock. He likes all things colorful and artistic; gray is my favorite […]

Continue Reading     |     April 12, 2012

My stepfather and I are very close. We agree on most things, but there is one topic on which we do not agree: the retractable leash. You might have seen my parent’s dog Sitka featured in previous blogs or in our bio pictures. He’s a big dog, and he was one of those dogs that didn’t […]

Continue Reading     |     March 14, 2012

As some of you may know, I not only work for AnimalSense, but I also work for CanineLink (formerly AnimalSense Academy). CanineLink is a new company founded by Jamie Damato Migdal, who founded AnimalSense. We teach people to become dog trainers. Being a new business, we got new everything: new name, new website, new collateral […]

Continue Reading     |     February 10, 2012

Some of you may already know this, but I am the Office Assistant at AnimalSense. I’m a bit of an organization freak, so files and spreadsheets are basically my domain, and I love it! However, one of my favorite things about this job has nothing to do with the job itself: we can bring our […]

Continue Reading     |     January 19, 2012

I have the most annoying dog in the world. At night he has to either sleep on my head or under the covers between my legs. He’s always begging for food, and he lays on every piece of furniture in the house, including the coffee table, when I’m not looking. Even at this very moment, […]

Continue Reading     |     December 29, 2011

I am officially a married woman. On October 15, 2011,I became a wife. Everyone keeps asking me if anything has changed. “How does it feel to be a married woman?” The answer: exactly the same, except for one small thing. My house is now filled with lots of new STUFF. I have new dishes stacked […]

Continue Reading     |     December 13, 2011