Choose to Train Humane with Annie Phenix

06/30/2025

Can you help Larry? Even $10 helps him!!

EMERGENCY — LARRY NEEDS US Larry is the kind of dog who wins everyone over. G… Sydney Lyons needs your support for Keep Larry Smiling: Support His Surgery

06/29/2025

Ad-hoc counter-conditioning and relaxation training work, say owners, but many other treatments don’t.

06/28/2025

06/27/2025

Imagine living in discomfort every day without the ability to tell anyone. That’s the reality many dogs face. They may not cry out, limp, or yelp, but that doesn’t mean they’re not hurting. Because of how stoic dogs can be, the only clue we often get is a change in behaviour and that’s where so many people go wrong.

Behavioural issues like aggression, reactivity, withdrawal, or anxiety are assumed to be purely emotional or psychological. But what if it's pain?

This is your wake-up call.

A pain trial involves a veterinary professional prescribing pain relief for a set period to assess whether there is a behavioural or physical improvement. It's a diagnostic tool, not a final answer. If your dog has had a behavioural issue for a long time, the pain trial should last at least 6 to 8 weeks to give enough time to observe any meaningful changes

Critically, it’s often used when there are no overt signs of lameness or injury, but the dog’s BEHAVIOUR suggests possible pain, think sudden reluctance to be touched, changes in posture, agitation, growling, or even withdrawal. Dogs don’t dramatize. They cope.

Let’s be brutally honest. If you don’t do a pain trial and the dog is, in fact, in pain, you risk:

- Prolonged suffering: Dogs endure silently. Pain can cause constant distress that no behaviourist or training technique will resolve.

- Worsening behaviour: Pain-induced behaviours can become ingrained and more extreme, including biting or phobia-like shutdowns.

- Misdiagnosis: Your dog may be labelled “anxious,” “aggressive,” or “stubborn” when in reality, they’re simply hurting.

- Unnecessary euthanasia: Tragically, some dogs are put down because their behaviour was misattributed to temperament or training failure, when the true cause was untreated pain.

The most common objections: “I don’t want to medicate my dog unnecessarily” or “I can't see any pain”

Here’s the reality: A properly managed pain trial is safe. A short-term use of analgesics is extremely unlikely to cause harm. The risk of side effects is minimal compared to the risk of ongoing undetected pain.

The danger of a pain trial? Almost none.

06/26/2025

NOW BOOKING FOR AUGUST !!!
LOCAL AND VIRTUAL TRAINING!!
Need help with your puppy or adult dog?

I can help!

www.ChoosetoTrainHumane.com
Annie Phenix, Dog Pro
970-442-1222

I offer:

* Certified, Professional, Humane Canine Training and Behavior Help
* Trauma-informed Practitioner
* Heber Puppy Club (find safe play date puppies and new friends!)
* Canine Trauma Clinic
* Force free with ALL dogs
* Relationship-focused
* Quick, efficient and FAIR solutions
* 25 years of experience
* Best selling canine behavior book author
* Fostered more than 400 dogs
* I care about you and your dog

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06/26/2025

THIS IS BIG!!

In the doghouse, we *all* fam

06/21/2025

Remember to watch the dog.