Aunt Rosie's Pet Care Services

09/30/2025

DON’T TOUCH MY STUFF!

We all guard our resources; it’s a very normal, natural reaction to a threat of something we value being taken away.

Animals would not survive in the wild if they didn’t guard their resources. It’s essential for survival.

Just because our dogs are domesticated and shouldn’t be concerned about these things, doesn’t mean that this innate, genetic behaviour disappears.

We also don’t get to decide what’s valuable to our dogs or what’s not – different things have different value and at different times.

Food is usually the most common, but toys, furniture, random objects, places, or even a particular person are all things that may be considered a valuable resource.

Punishing or forcing a dog to give something up is probably one of the worst things to do. Resource guarding is rooted in the emotion of fear – the fear of that resource being taken away.

Punishment and force further increase that fear, which only increases and reinforces the need to protect that resource.

When a dog is guarding something, we can change the negative emotion of fear into a positive one by swapping, trading or adding something that has a similar or higher value.

This is one of the most effective ways to address resource guarding as it works at the root cause of the behaviour by changing the emotional response.

A dog resource guarding a person is more complicated to address. A full history of the individual dog, family dynamics, attachment styles, situation and environment all have to be assessed before planning and working on a solution.

Resource guarding can usually be prevented, managed, or resolved by understanding the underlying emotion, building trust and a sense of safety, and using consistent practice coupled with positive reinforcement.

09/21/2025

When I see people crossing the street to give other dogs space, even if THEIR DOG isn't reactive?!

Ughhhh. YES PLEASE. 😍😍😍😍
So considerate, so kind, so respectful.

09/02/2025

No, they can't. Here's why

Grapes are a healthy snack for people, but can dogs eat grapes too? Unfortunately, they cannot—here’s why.

09/02/2025

I NEED TO FEEL SAFE!

Like all living creatures, ourselves included, dogs need to feel safe – it’s a basic need for survival.

It’s hard wired into our brains to keep asking and checking – “Am I safe?” or “Is this safe?”

When we think about feeling safe it’s natural to just think about not being harmed or being in danger, but it’s not just about physical safety - feeling emotionally or psychologically safe is just as important.

While physical safety may be obvious and simpler to address, emotional safety is far more complex and not always easy to recognise or identify.

The same applies to our dogs – they are sentient beings whose behaviour is triggered and driven by emotions.

So many behaviour problems that we see in dogs stem from the brain saying– “I don’t feel safe!”

A dog that lunges and barks or behaves aggressively with another dog or person is very likely doing so because they feel unsafe. They are trying to make the scary thing go away.

A dog that is guarding resources is doing so because they are afraid that the resource will be taken away – they don’t feel safe when another animal or person approaches that resource.

A dog that is reacting to fireworks or thunderstorms or other noises is doing so because they don’t feel safe.

The same can be said for separation distress – the feeling of intense panic when left alone – “I am not safe!”

Some dogs may never get over a specific fear, but doing all we can to help dogs feel safe in our world is one of the most important gifts we can give them.

Our first responsibility should not be about training, obedience or trying to change behaviour, but to focus first and foremost on building trust, self-confidence, resilience, creating a safe and secure base and being the person that our dogs can rely on and trust.

In the words of Dr. Gabor Maté - "Feeling safe is the treatment and creating safety is the work".

In my words (as it pertains to dogs) – It is our responsibility to put in the work to enable our dogs to feel safe and when they feel safe, this will be part of the treatment or the solution to the problem.

08/18/2025

07/29/2025

THE EXIT STRATEGY

An exit strategy is a practiced, planned way to create sufficient distance or remove a reactive dog from a trigger or situation.

Having this plan in place is so beneficial for dogs that react to triggers in the environment.

An exit strategy could look like quickly increasing distance when a trigger appears, practicing quick U turns to change direction, or waiting behind a tree, car or similar object until the trigger is far enough away.

This strategy decreases stress levels, gives our dogs an opportunity to process information and helps them learn to respond in a different way from a space where they feel safe.

Think about how we may use exit strategies to help us cope and how they make us feel better.

Some time ago I suffered from debilitating panic attacks after a series of traumatic events. I couldn’t drive on a highway or be in an enclosed space.

My daughter was graduating from university and I could not miss this event, but what if I had a panic attack in the auditorium, couldn’t get out and embarrassed her and myself?

A therapist that I was seeing at the time helped me to develop an exit strategy. I arrived early and found a seat right next to the exit.
If I started panicking, I could just leave through the door. Just knowing that this option was there made such a difference to my state of mind and I ended up being able to make it through the entire ceremony.

The same strategy helped me cope on highways. I just had to drive to the next exit and then the next and the next if I felt up to it.

Sometimes we all need an exit strategy, our dogs included.

It’s not about running away from, or not facing a problem, but developing a plan to help our dogs cope in situations that they struggle with.

06/27/2025

Please share this important information with your friends and be sure to contact your veterinarian prior to July 4th to discuss options to keep your pet safe and comfortable during fireworks.

06/24/2025

DON’T GET A DOG!
Unless you can make a commitment.

In an ideal world dogs would be included as a member of our family and we would share our time and life with them in the relatively short time they have with us.

In an ideal world, we would take the time to learn about how dogs communicate through body language, be aware that there are emotions beneath behaviours – we would meet their needs and keep learning about updated, modern, force free, pain free methods to understand or modify unwanted behaviour.

In reality, dogs are often seen as just another item of property, an object, a commodity to be bred and make money from, a cheap, replaceable security system, a garden decoration, a toy to play with when the kids are bored or an accessory that looks good while out walking, running or taking selfies.

Just like us, dogs are sentient beings with the capacity to feel a wide range of emotions. They are naturally social beings that need to spend time with their humans.

A life spent confined and isolated with little or no human companionship, with nothing to do, is not a life.
Dogs need love, attention, mental stimulation and exercise. They need routine, consistency and predictable patterns. Dogs need us to meet their needs and they need to feel safe and secure in our world.

Having a dog requires commitment, understanding, patience and dedication.

It’s hard work, it’s sometimes messy, dirty and stinky, it’s often expensive and requires that we make changes to our lifestyle.

It’s a decision that shouldn’t be taken lightly and without making a long-term commitment, but the rewards of forming a secure bond with another sentient being can bring so much joy and enrichment to both our lives and theirs.

06/22/2025

Article link in comments.

"Dogs are highly sensitive animals who experience emotional contagion and “catch” the feelings of other individuals, including humans. Dogs have been shown to experience increases in stress both behaviorally and physiologically when their owner experiences a rise in stress, or when hearing a human cry.

On a chronic level, pet dogs have displayed signs of synchronization with their owners’ stress levels, showing stress coping capabilities that relate to their owner’s personality (as measured by salivary cortisol variability) and alignment between their own stress level and their owner’s (as measured by hair cortisol concentration)."

06/09/2025

Explore effective reactive dog training tips to calm your pet, manage triggers, and improve behavior with practical advice and proven strategies.

06/07/2025

Find Your Future

06/04/2025

JUST SHAKE IT OFF

A “shake off” is one of many types of body language and is one of the easiest ones to notice.

The shake off can provide us with important insight as to how our dogs are feeling.

Besides being a very effective way to get rid of dirt, bugs or water - dogs can remove up to 70% of water in one single shake off - the shake off is often seen just after something that a dog needs a mental reset from.

It’s a way to flush out adrenaline and could be compared to us taking a deep breath to reset our nervous system and calm ourselves down.

Dogs instinctively know they feel better when they just shake it all off!

It’s their way of saying “Phew, I’m glad that’s over, now I can put it behind me and move on”.

Shaking off is a positive way to calm down, reset and cope with stress – be that negative or positive stress.

It’s a healthy way of transitioning from one emotional state to another.

It’s important to be aware that shake offs may sometimes be caused by an underlying medical issue like an ear infection, allergies, itching or pain.

If you notice a shake off, look at what has just happened beforehand. This will provide a good clue as to what it is that your dog feels they need to reset from.