Meet Dogs Halfway

01/12/2025

Santa Monica animal guardians!

If you are in the city of Santa Monica and need help evacuating your pets please call the City of Santa Monica - Government dispatch ☎️(310) 458-8491

Please stay safe🙏

Santa Monica Police Department
Santa Monica Daily Press

12/31/2024

Never forget.

11/27/2024

The adults who’re failing to educate that child abut dog interactions are setting that dog up to fail.

10/07/2024

This is why trainers are successful. We follow through. However long it takes we do not give in nod give up. We want dogs to succeed and we know for CERTAIN that requires human patience.

09/20/2024

Excellent thoughts

09/18/2024

Food for thought.

08/21/2024

Informative!

08/21/2024

Great ideas!

08/20/2024

Puppies and aging adults can easily learn to eliminate outdoors, even if you don’t have a yard!

“The greatest house training benefit of a patio or balcony potty is proximity to an exit. Puppies need instantaneous reinforcement for learning, and they need the environment to be calm to avoid being distracted.”

I’ve had great results coaching puppy guardians on using real or artificial grass pads for house training.

08/09/2024

Excellent summer advice!

Did you know?

Conduction takes place when heat is transferred from one object to another.

Rover didn't have to take a special class to learn what's best for him when you find him lying down flat, on a cool tiled floor during those dog days of summer.

Since most dogs have sparsely distributed hairs on their tummies, direct tummy contact is a fast way to effectively cool down.

Here's a summer tip if you want to make your dog extra happy: provide him access to a tiled area such as the bathroom or kitchen, or if your dog loves the outdoors, let him dig a cool spot under the shade to sleep in.

07/12/2024

Dogs die from heat-related injuries every day.

Working in ER this past week: We had four heat injuries each day for two days straight. Four of these were French Bulldogs, which happens to be the most common US breed these days. The others were three Rottweilers (brachycephalic by exam) and one Pit X.

Only ONE survived. NOT a Frenchie. Not a brachycepahlix breed. The Pit X.

Why? He happened to be playing in a pond. He ran and played with kids on land and then in the shallow pond water in 95 F 85% humidity weather until he collapsed. The humidity at his breathing level was probably a lot more, since it was approx 12 inches above water level.

They recognized a problem and brought him in… from one hour away.

On arrival
he was HYPOTHERMIC. Low body temp. Typical of heat injury. We warmed him up, treated his other abnormalities and within a
few hours he waa normal. Like NORMAL. No kidney failure. No coagulopahty. NO PROBLEMS.

Why is this? Probably because this dog reached critical heat injury when he happened to be in the best environement for treatment… IMMEDIATE cooling in water that was colder than him.

RAPID cooling with the coldest source available is what saves dogs with heat injury.

It’s time ro let go of the old wive’s tales of how ice water causes vasoconstriction or that rapid cooling is bad. HEAT is what causes death in heat inrjury, not the coolong method.

07/12/2024

Dogs communicate all the time. Are you “listening?”

Such a great infographic from The Sophisticated Dog.

Our canine companions are constantly showing us how they feel in so many ways, and it’s our job to listen.

If their whispers don’t work, then of course they have to ‘speak’ louder. Wouldn’t you if you weren’t comfortable in a situation?

Learn to listen to your dog

07/12/2024

Enrichment doesn’t have to last 20 minutes to help improve the quality of any dog’s life.

Just because an activity keeps a dog busy for a long time doesn't mean it's enriching if it doesn't meet their needs.

Enrichment is about providing experiences that engage a dog's senses, stimulate their mind, and provide opportunities to express their species-typical behaviors in ways that improve their welfare and well-being.

Keeping the dog busy for a long time can make them feel frustrated or overstimulated, negating the positive effects of enrichment.

If you truly want your dog to feel calm and relaxed after an activity, you need to observe how they respond afterward.

If they're sleepy or chilling, it means their needs have been met. If they're still energetic and bouncing off the walls, then the activity by itself has not met all of that dog's needs, and it's a signal to find out what you can change about their environment and routine to help them complete their stress response cycle.

To learn more about enrichment, check out our following resources:
🐾 Canine Enrichment For The Real World Book & Workbook by Allie Bender and Emily Strong
🐾 Enrichment For The Real World Podcast available on major listening platforms
🐾 Our Weekly Blog here: https://petharmonytraining.com/blog/

07/03/2024

The quality of the mental and physical exercise makes a huge difference.