Stride Canine Rehabilitation & Fitness Center

07/09/2025

Read about how a teaching your dog a silly snorkel trick could save their life!!!!

Summer brings long days of sunshine and outdoor adventure and for many dogs, that means backyard play, long hikes, training sessions, or athletic competitions. But with rising temperatures comes a real danger: heat injury. Just as you might crave air conditioning and ice water after time outside, yo...

07/02/2025

Malakai is enjoying his frozen pupcicle during an acupuncture visit.

06/30/2025

A classic and fun event in Bend!!!

06/29/2025

It's that time of year! Blog post in comments

06/29/2025

Dogs simply respond better to positive reinforcement and our patients can testify to that. They LOVE coming in to see us!!!

As “gentle parenting” has become a popular method of raising kids punishment-free, a parallel shift is happening in the world of dog training.

06/22/2025

We think this may be the only good AI on social media right now 🤣

06/20/2025

The Alder Springs Fire burning in Jefferson and Deschutes Counties, Oregon has grown to over 3,000 acres and currently has zero containment. AKC Reunite has donated $5,000.00 to the Pet Evacuation Team -Pet in Bend, Oregon to help as they care for the 169 displaced pets, they have already taken in. We are thinking of everyone in the impacted areas and are praying for a quick containment.

06/18/2025

If your dog is displaying abnormal social behavior, or has had a sudden change in behavior and is not responding to training efforts- keep digging. Keep trying to peel the layers back and try not to assume your dog’s behavior is just ‘bad’ behavior that needs to be corrected.

Pain has a huge impact on behavior - dog AND human!

‼️ If an “aggression expert” isn’t advocating for thorough investigation into possible pain as part of their work with you… they are NOT ethical! ‼️

This is a sensitive story, and as such names have been changed to protect my clients’ privacy and identity. The dog pictured below is mine.

Over the last couple of months I’ve been working with a family and their dog (we’ll call him “Benny”). A year ago, Benny turned from a loving family pet to suddenly guarding the lounge; anytime that someone made an unexpected move in the room or entered it, Benny would begin posturing and barking at them, which eventually escalated into jumping and grabbing at their clothes, and then bites that punctured the skin.

A physical examination at the vet didn’t yield any results, and Benny was taking multiple types of anxiety medication that didn’t touch his behaviour.

We started working together, and I asked them to have some scans done to further investigate pain. Behaviour changes are one of the first indicators of pain, but otherwise dogs are REALLY good at hiding pain and it can be easily missed, even in a vet exam.

Because they had already been to see the vet, I was met with some resistance. We did implement safety measures and some training strategies to try to help Benny feel more at ease in the lounge, but his behaviour wasn’t improving.

Eventually, Benny did have an MRI, and it was revealed that he has a chiari malformation in his brain - that is, part of his brain was pushing down into the spinal canal. We could have done all the training in the world but it wouldn’t have mattered, because this wasn’t a behaviour issue.

How many trainers would have slapped a shock collar on this poor dog, who was already suffering? How many would have simply said that he needed to learn boundaries or hear the word “no” and not looked any further? How many would say that it’s all well and good to use positive reinforcement, until it “doesn’t work” and then you need punishment?

It’s estimated that up to 80% of aggression cases have some kind of underlying medical issue. You NEED a behaviour expert who can liaise with your vet and who will advocate for *thorough* examination, not just a quick check over to tick a box.

It’s an unregulated industry. Be careful who you trust with your dog, even if they call themselves an expert or have tons of followers. And if your dog’s behaviour suddenly changes, they’re probably in pain.