So Much PETential

So Much PETential Lisa Desatnik, CPDT-KA, FFCP, FDM, CPBC, is a certified dog trainer and parrot behavior consultant. Additionally, she is a certified parrot behavior consultant.

Lisa Desatnik, CPDT-KA, FFCP, CPBC, incorporates compassion, kindness and fun into teaching and learning. She is a certified professional dog trainer through the internationally recognized Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers, a certified Fear Free Dog Training Professional, and a certified dog bite prevention educator. She is also a licensed Family Paws Parent Educator, helping pa

rents of infants and toddlers anticipate, prepare and establish guidelines that lead to increased safety and decreased stress for all family members. An animal lover her entire life, she began studying Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) as it relates to helping pets and their people succeed over 19 years ago; and continually takes courses from leading positive trainers and behaviorists. Lisa is committed to using and teaching the most positive, least intrusive and minimally aversive (LIMA) training methods for preventing and solving dog and puppy behavior issues. Lisa offers individualized coaching on dog and puppy training, as well as one-on-one training for pets, using and teaching the most positive strategies for manners behaviors as well as solving and preventing pet problem behaviors. She also offers training for kids through her My Dog, My Best Buddy curriculums. She was a presenter at an online Summit on dog health and behavior with other featured guests such as Dr. Ian Dunbar. You can see Lisa often in local media. She is a behavior columnist for Hyde Park and Indian Hill Living magazines, and CincyPet Magazine; and is interviewed on WCPO’s Cincy Lifestyle regularly.

Yesterday was our last lesson for Lucky’s puppy training package. I am so going to miss all of them…but I know we’ll see...
07/03/2025

Yesterday was our last lesson for Lucky’s puppy training package. I am so going to miss all of them…but I know we’ll see each other again! What a fun loving sweet girl she is, and so is her family. I love how Lucky’s human sister has enjoyed being part of training. Dear girl has been in pain and will soon be treated by the awesome Karl C. Maritato, DVM, DACVS so she can have even more fun in life. I can’t wait to see her feeling her best!

Hi everyone! For those living in the United States, as we move close to our July 4 holiday, please keep in mind, many of...
06/30/2025

Hi everyone!

For those living in the United States, as we move close to our July 4 holiday, please keep in mind, many of our dogs will need our support. Now is the time to think ahead…

Please DO NOT take your dog to fireworks displays or even other outdoor gatherings. It could be stressful for your dog to be in a hot, busy environment. Those additional stressors can accumulate and make the unpredictable loud pops of fireworks that much more difficult.

Feed your dog early and take him out for the last time before sunset if possible. When you do take your dog outside, keep it as brief as possible, and have your dog on a leash.

Don’t wait. Talk to your veterinarian now about situational anti-anxiety medication for your dog if you think your dog will be stressed by the fireworks. Test the medication in advance to make sure your dog does not have an adverse reaction to it.

Give your dog access to a space that is isolated from windows and minimizes outside noise.

Be safe!

Parents, I want to caution you. Babies grow and change quickly. And that can create discomfort in your dog, and safety r...
06/26/2025

Parents, I want to caution you.

Babies grow and change quickly. And that can create discomfort in your dog, and safety risks for both your baby AND your dog.

These stock images show scenes that could be any other home that is shared by a dog and a baby or toddler. When a baby crawls into a dog's space as an unwelcome intruder, that can create stress. It is really unpredictable from the standpoint of the dog, as to what will happen next. In this scenario, the baby climbs on top of the dog.

Dogs often do not like having little bodies encroaching on them this way. Eventually that dog may need to escalate his body language to communicate his discomfort. And that baby's face and body parts are very close to that dog's face.

Trouble, can be prevented.

Parents, pro-active management in the form of success stations such as gates to prevent access is so very important. Your active, adult, awake supervision is also imperative as you can take steps to intercept BEFORE it becomes a problem. Please do not allow your baby or toddler to move into your dog's space.

Need help? Please reach out to me (a licensed Family Paws Parent Education parent educator) or another licensed FP educator.

I've got to share another one of my stories of training with purpose. This past weekend, when I visited Violet (a rescu...
06/24/2025

I've got to share another one of my stories of training with purpose.

This past weekend, when I visited Violet (a rescue Pitbull mix) and her family, I realized how blown away I am by the transformation I have seen in her over the past year, since we first met. To say I am proud of not only her but even more of her human parents is quite an understatement.

I remember that first meeting. When they adopted her, they lived in a second-floor apartment of a complex that included many other companion dogs. It was way beyond any kind of environment where Violet could cope - thriving was out of the question.

Barking with deep emotion, lunging and charging at the end of her leash, causing her front feet to leave the ground. These were occurrences that happened when she would leave the comfort of their apartment. And her reaction time was explosive.

It was not ideal for an adolescent pit mix girl who had big feelings around her world. She was a lot more than her humans expected when they brought her home. But they love her. They were and continue to be committed to giving her, her best quality of life.

I am truly in awe of the extent to which they pursued, never giving up hope, committed to learning, growing and teaching. They followed through on everything we talked about.

I share their story because they are such a fantastic example of how – with support from a qualified trainer, and the commitment to
learn and follow through,
address physiological needs,
address biological enrichment needs,
manage, create structure, and modify the environment as needed,
be open to making life changes,
training their dog in fun ways –

THERE IS HOPE.

I have more details in my blog post: https://rebrand.ly/Violet-hope

~ ❤ Lisa

Having problems with your dog's recall? Here are some dog training tips for teaching your dog NOT to come when called. 🙂
06/21/2025

Having problems with your dog's recall? Here are some dog training tips for teaching your dog NOT to come when called.

🙂

My puppy work goes in waves. I am riding a wave now and having lots of fun! This is Tucci. He is a 9 week old mini berna...
06/19/2025

My puppy work goes in waves. I am riding a wave now and having lots of fun! This is Tucci. He is a 9 week old mini bernadoodle. When puppies first join their new families, a very important first lesson is to teach them this new, foreign place is safe and that their people are fun. Many other lessons but this is a big one.

If you have been following me, you may have seen my previous posts about Grizzly and his family. They are one of the rea...
06/17/2025

If you have been following me, you may have seen my previous posts about Grizzly and his family. They are one of the reasons that give me pause, and cause me to reflect on why I take on sometimes complicated, very challenging dog behavior cases. The fulfillment that comes from seeing such positive change in quality of life for both humans and non-humans is why.

Grizzly’s family reached out to be because one of their dogs has a bite history to people and to their other dog. They allowed me to share their story in hopes that it would offer hope to other families.

I saw so many different contributors to Grizzly’s ‘aggressive’ (meaning growling, lunging, biting) behaviors. Sudden environmental change, good possibility of pain and possibly other physiological issues, resource guarding, fear of unfamiliar people/noises, chronic stress – as both dogs show fear and anxiety around each other. (They are also addressing the anxiety of their other dog.)

When I began helping them, Grizzly was very quick to growl, steal from and go after their other dogs. He had low tolerance for humans too – of their hands coming close, sudden movement, getting too close to a resource.

We had a lot to work through. Due to the complexities of this case, I brought on board Dr. Jill Sackman, DVM, PhD, a veterinary behaviorist , to be part of our team.

It gives me such joy to share that Grizzly is doing phenomenal now. He has learned behaviors that help with lowering stress and increasing safety (and joy). His family has learned to be excellent at recognizing when Grizzly is feeling stressed, and have been carefully managing his environment and interactions.

Recently I saw this Google review from Karen and wanted to share it. I am so glad to have had this opportunity to be on their team!

“We reached out to Lisa primarily to help our lab-shepherd mix’s reactivity. He’s a very sweet boy but is very wary of people outside of the immediate family. Lisa has taken a wonderful, holistic approach - seeing the whole dog, the whole family (including our other pups) and household dynamics to address the issues. Through positive reinforcement and changes to environmental triggers, Grizzly is now much less reactive, is better able to regulate his own responses to stimuli, and can actually interact with guests in our home without us worrying about safety. We’re still on the journey but incredibly grateful!”

~Karen Hills-Skipper

It was great to be back in the FOX19 studio again this morning with Caroline Gerhart! Our topic:: the importance of man...
06/14/2025

It was great to be back in the FOX19 studio again this morning with Caroline Gerhart! Our topic:: the importance of management in pet behavior change. If you can not manage it, you can not change it. It helps to prevent practice of unwanted behaviors and emotions so that we can work on building value for the acceptable behaviors.

What are some ways that you implement management with your own pet?

My view. What is your view right now?
06/11/2025

My view. What is your view right now?

Whenever I see an online photo posted, of a dog who has been 'naughty', I see a dog who has made a choice to get a need,...
06/11/2025

Whenever I see an online photo posted, of a dog who has been 'naughty', I see a dog who has made a choice to get a need, want or challenge met. Dogs do not do things to be naughty, but they do have a reason for behavior. There is always a reason.

A more productive and supportive way of looking at this, is to ask YOURSELF how you can better support your dog's needs, wants and challenges in human approved ways.

If you would like to read more about 'guilty' dogs, please read one of my blog posts here: https://somuchpetential.com/is-your-dog-really-a-guilty-dog/

So much to love about this sweet girl! She is just beginning to go through her changes into adolescence so helping her t...
06/09/2025

So much to love about this sweet girl! She is just beginning to go through her changes into adolescence so helping her to continue having positive behavioral growth is also changing.

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Hi - I am Lisa Desatnik and I am all about seeing So Much PETential in dogs, parrots, other pets and their people. When it comes to dog training (and parrot training) and behavior modification, I use the most positive strategies for teaching the behaviors I want to see more of while reducing, eliminating or preventing potential unwanted behaviors. I like to put the fun in learning and that is what I want to pass along to others. Serving Greater Cincinnati including Deer Park, Sycamore Township, Blue Ash, Montgomery, Oakley Hyde Park, Indian Hill, and surrounding areas You can find my pet behavior column in Hyde Park Living...and also on my website blog at http://www.SoMuchPETential.com. Don't forget to check out my other page - Good Things Going Around.