Pawrenting Point of View

I am off for Diwali. Every year, we chose to spend Diwali in the lap of nature and pass up on the revelry in the city. This suits us and our dogs best. But for those of you who are going to be in the thick of all the celebrations, it is time to remember that Diwali is potentially a very stressful time for dogs. In my last two posts I wrote about the effects of stress on your dogs and how your dog may express it. Today, before I take off, I want to leave you with some tips…

I am off for Diwali. Every year, we chose to spend Diwali in the lap of nature and pass up on the revelry in the city. This suits us and our dogs best. But for those of you who are going to be in the thick of all the celebrations, it is time to remember that Diwali is potentially a very stressful time for dogs. In my last two posts I wrote about the effects of stress on your dogs and how your dog may express it. Today, before I take off, I want to leave you with some tips…

In my last post I spoke of what stress is. In this post I want to describe how a dog could react under stress. We have often heard of the “flight or fight” response to fear or stress. In dogs there are actually, at least 4 responses to fear – Fight, Flight, Freeze and Fiddle. In this blog I want to describe each of these. Flight: This is the easiest response to recognise as fear. We see a dog running away, with it’s tail tucked between it’s legs and we know it’s fear. During Diwali, it’s not unheard of for…

In my last post I spoke of what stress is. In this post I want to describe how a dog could react under stress. We have often heard of the “flight or fight” response to fear or stress. In dogs there are actually, at least 4 responses to fear – Fight, Flight, Freeze and Fiddle. In this blog I want to describe each of these. Flight: This is the easiest response to recognise as fear. We see a dog running away, with it’s tail tucked between it’s legs and we know it’s fear. During Diwali, it’s not unheard of for…

Diwali is almost upon us and as most of us are aware, dogs’ stress levels shoot through the roof during this period. So this month I am going to dig deep into all my education that had to do with stress in dogs and put forth every bit of information that might help you help your dogs. To handle stress, we first need to understand stress. Obviously, the first question is “What is stress?” In very simple terms, it’s the body’s mechanism to cope with danger. This mechanism is activated either when danger is perceived or even anticipated. Hence, even…

Diwali is almost upon us and as most of us are aware, dogs’ stress levels shoot through the roof during this period. So this month I am going to dig deep into all my education that had to do with stress in dogs and put forth every bit of information that might help you help your dogs. To handle stress, we first need to understand stress. Obviously, the first question is “What is stress?” In very simple terms, it’s the body’s mechanism to cope with danger. This mechanism is activated either when danger is perceived or even anticipated. Hence, even…

In my previous post I wrote about sleep. So I think it makes sense that this blog is about the things a dog does during her waking hours. Like last week, I am reaching out to some good ol’ wisdom “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”. Well, frankly all play and no work does not, in most cases, do Jack too much good either. When it comes to our Fido, it’s pretty much the same. So is there a concept of “work” for dogs. Well…I am not talking about finding an income source using our dogs.…

In my previous post I wrote about sleep. So I think it makes sense that this blog is about the things a dog does during her waking hours. Like last week, I am reaching out to some good ol’ wisdom “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”. Well, frankly all play and no work does not, in most cases, do Jack too much good either. When it comes to our Fido, it’s pretty much the same. So is there a concept of “work” for dogs. Well…I am not talking about finding an income source using our dogs.…

Last night, I lay in bed, unable to fall asleep. Nishi and Tigger, my dogs, were curled up with me. I had been away for a month, getting my dog training education in Norway, from one of the leading experts in canine communication – Turid Rugaas. Ever since I got back from Norway, they are sticking close to me. As Nishi’s head pushed against my neck, I could feel her twitching and making tiny whimpering noises. She sounded afraid. I wondered what she was dreaming of. I went through all the things she had done during the day and wondered…

Last night, I lay in bed, unable to fall asleep. Nishi and Tigger, my dogs, were curled up with me. I had been away for a month, getting my dog training education in Norway, from one of the leading experts in canine communication – Turid Rugaas. Ever since I got back from Norway, they are sticking close to me. As Nishi’s head pushed against my neck, I could feel her twitching and making tiny whimpering noises. She sounded afraid. I wondered what she was dreaming of. I went through all the things she had done during the day and wondered…