Harvey The Rescue

day 2 with Mindy!! i have quickly learned she is obsessed with meeting new people and requires that everyone in her presence greets her. 🥹

we got her some good meds for her eyes, ears, and skin. it’s only up from here. 🤎

these dogs deserve better. 🤎

i will die on the hill that one of the best things a dog parent can do is learn about dog body language & stress signals. being able to identify when our dog is stressed, and actually listening to their stress signals is SO important.

we can then easily identify at what point they become stressed when a trigger is around. or if our training methods are causing them stress. we can prevent escalation & bites if we are able to identify warning signs.

don’t just expect your dog to learn your language. learn their language also!

Meet Mindy 🤎

i’m already so in love with her, even with how stinky smelly she is right now!!! harvey and azula have not met her yet, we’re keeping them separate until we get her to the vet at least, and will take intro very slow so she has time to decompress and heal. right now, the priority is just getting her skin healthy again. she’s so itchy 💔

p.s., pls stop buying frenchies from breeders.

meet Mindy, our newest foster pup. she was found as a stray in really bad condition. she is still the sweetest girl i’ve ever met. i can’t wait to shower her with all the love, and teach her how amazing life should be. you deserve the world, sweet girl 🩷

letting your dog do more of the things they like to do is the first step towards having a dog who is happy and choosing to engage with you. 🤎

our dogs are constantly offering smaller versions of behaviors we’re looking for, so instead of focusing on the “naughty” things, keep an eye out for behaviors you can reinforce, like giving them treats for moving along with you after sniffing!!

your dog probably doesnt love their face being grabbed, and instead of reinforcing the behavior you’re just teaching them that something unpleasant follows the treat.

pay attention to how often you do this because you’d be shocked how many people do it without even realizing!!!



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the key isn’t reinforcing your dog for engaging with you, the key is teaching your dog their trigger predicts good things!

a marker is crucial, but if your dog is not disengaging from their trigger when you mark, it means they are over threshold (usually meaning too close to the trigger) and we need to get more space and adjust the environment before we expect them to be able to learn and disengage.

i regularly see people make the mistake of waiting too long to reinforce their dog, then their dog reacts and they start trying to get them to sit or focus on them. it’s so well intention to attempt this, but one small tweak and you’ll start seeing so much progress 👏

i want to start my own dog treat station SO bad, but for now i’m living vicariously through my neighbors 🥹😭

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