Telltail Dog Training

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Telltail Dog Training Compassionate, communication-focused training offered in the Little Rock area.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from Macey! 🐾
23/12/2024

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from Macey! 🐾

April, a Pyrenees mix and the biggest sweetheart who isn’t afraid to throw down if the situation requires. 🐾
23/12/2024

April, a Pyrenees mix and the biggest sweetheart who isn’t afraid to throw down if the situation requires. 🐾

A little gift certificate bundle with an assist from . I love being able to work with other local businesses to add a li...
23/12/2024

A little gift certificate bundle with an assist from . I love being able to work with other local businesses to add a little something special. 🐾

Hugo the happy boy. 🐾
13/12/2024

Hugo the happy boy. 🐾

I'll never forget the 11-year-old large breed dog whose owner asked for leash manners because she was having sudden chan...
12/12/2024

I'll never forget the 11-year-old large breed dog whose owner asked for leash manners because she was having sudden changes in behavior and refusing to walk... she had a tumor in her spine and passed a few months later. I also think a lot about dogs with heartworms ... while they have heartworms and while in recovery, their behavior is very different because they don't feel well. Heartworms is a prevalent issue in the south.

At this point in time, most folks understand the link between pain and behavior. It’s logical: you don’t feel well, you have less patience and tolerance, you lash out or shut down or otherwise are not the best version of yourself. It makes sense that the same would be true for dogs.

But how do we know there is pain with animals who cannot verbalize that pain?

The short answer: we can’t know.

The longer answer: we also can’t know there ISN’T pain.

Meet Malus.

From puppyhood, he’s been a little spicy. But he’s a terrier, so that’s normal, right? He didn’t like having his feet handled. No biggie. And as he got older, he got a little reactive to other dogs - again, see “terrier” in the dictionary. And after he got neutered at 2.5 years old, his behavior spiraled - going after his housemates, aggression directed at his owners, even less tolerance for handling, increased fence fighting. But there’s some evidence of increased aggression after neutering, so maybe he just got unlucky.

For many folks, that explanation would’ve been enough. They would’ve worked on behavior modification, or just accepted a crate and rotate household, or managed the heck out of all of his triggers… or, honestly, would’ve ended up euthanizing him for his dangerous behavior.

Luckily, Malus’s mom is Katrina, who is essentially a terrier in a human body. She dug in.

Training, a veterinary behaviorist, consulting with other behavior experts, expensive testing - and then we got our first physical explanation: low zinc.

But even with a zinc supplement, his aggressive episodes remained unpredictable. Katrina had noticed some very, very intermittent lameness, foot chewing, butt/tail biting, so off they went to the first orthopedic specialist - one who cleared him orthopedically for all activities.

So they did physical therapy, and pain meds, and kept working on training.

But the weird, mild lameness continued, and so did visits to specialists. A neurologist who recommended an MRI, then more physical therapy for a possible psoas strain, different meds, another orthopedic/rehab specialist consultation, adjustments to physical therapy, a PEMF bed for home use, adjustments to behavior meds, consults with nationally respected trainers and behavior specialists, and finally - FINALLY - a recommendation to see a pain management specialist.

“I think he may have Tethered Cord Syndrome. I’m going to try different pain meds, but there’s a specialist in Massachusetts you should get in touch with.”

With the new meds on board, his behavior improved. He was brighter, happier, had fewer episodes of lameness, self mutilation, and aggression.

Yesterday, Malus had a dynamic MRI at Tufts, where Tethered Cord Syndrome was confirmed.

Today, he had surgery to relieve the adhesions to his spinal cord that have been causing him pain.

He was never “just being a terrier.” He was not acting out for no good reason. He didn’t need harsher training methods. He wasn’t aggressing for no reason.

He was in pain.

There are no words to adequately describe how thrilled I am for Katrina and Malus to have this diagnosis and surgery in their rear view mirror - it has been a long time coming. The strain on Katrina and Kevin’s emotions, time, resources, finances, and household over the last 5 years cannot be overstated. Most folks wouldn’t - and couldn’t - go to the lengths they did.

We can’t rule out pain. We can only rule out specific issues and diagnoses. For Malus, it took finding the right vet who had heard about this rarely diagnosed issue to connect them with the vet who could help.

To my clients I encourage to work with their veterinarian to try to find any physical explanations: Katrina and Malus are the reason why I will push you more if your primary care vet shrugs you off. It’s why I will push and push and push, especially if your commitment to training and management is excellent but we still are struggling to make progress. Malus is on my shoulder (sometimes literally), poking me with his nose, screeching in my ear to look harder.

If you’ve ever heard him, you know how hard that ✨ delightful ✨ noise is to ignore.

(PS - Here’s your sign to sign up for pet insurance.)

To learn more about Tethered Cord Syndrome:
https://vet.tufts.edu/news-events/news/breakthrough-surgical-procedure-relieves-dogs-chronic-pain

Boomer and all of his graduation photos, minus one or two. I love how proud he is in every photo. 😍 Check out his client...
03/12/2024

Boomer and all of his graduation photos, minus one or two. I love how proud he is in every photo. 😍 Check out his client spotlight via the links in the comments. 🐾

Catch the article and video on Boomer and Lizzy via the links in the comments! I am so proud of how far he’s come and al...
03/12/2024

Catch the article and video on Boomer and Lizzy via the links in the comments! I am so proud of how far he’s come and all of the skills he’s learned. 🐾

When dogs get a chance to use their brains and make choices, we also see them make better choices in challenging situati...
03/12/2024

When dogs get a chance to use their brains and make choices, we also see them make better choices in challenging situations. The ability to use a brain is a wonderful thing.

22/11/2024

It's not just the snacks! While snacks do help, the humans set up training Emmett and Digger could understand what they were being asked to do and why, and then they could opt in.

Send a message to learn more

Hugo’s season has always been fall. 🍂
18/11/2024

Hugo’s season has always been fall. 🍂

Norman is the most attentive pup in class, and the bow tie adds a bit of sophistication. 🐾
18/11/2024

Norman is the most attentive pup in class, and the bow tie adds a bit of sophistication. 🐾

We still have some spots left for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s for boarding (includes training, exercise, and...
15/11/2024

We still have some spots left for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s for boarding (includes training, exercise, and enrichment) or day drop off (includes training, exercise, and enrichment). If your dog will not have a good time with a full house, consider bringing them out for the day to get some training and fun. It is $75 for the day, $100 for overnight.

Location: Telltail at the Vale
10925 Germania Road, Mabelvale AR
501-475-8481
[email protected]

Telltail Dog Training provides group classes, private lessons (in-home, at the facility in Mabelvale, and virtually), along with boarding and day training drop off.

Gorgeous gorgeous girls practice their place cue in different levels to be able to bring those skills to a home setting ...
12/11/2024

Gorgeous gorgeous girls practice their place cue in different levels to be able to bring those skills to a home setting more easily. I’ve absolutely loved watching how hard Layla’s people are working to make sure she’s comfortable and has good skills to revert to, especially around interactions with her sister, Roxie. 🐾

When Sadie wants to say hello, she very gently reaches out a paw and pats your hand. 🐾
12/11/2024

When Sadie wants to say hello, she very gently reaches out a paw and pats your hand. 🐾

Nickie being an absolute rockstar during a leash walking session. She pulls her owner and barks at all people and all do...
12/11/2024

Nickie being an absolute rockstar during a leash walking session. She pulls her owner and barks at all people and all dogs, but didn’t here, while I was handling her. Why not? Well, in an attempt to get her not to bark and not to pull, her owner was holding onto the leash pretty tightly, which was sending the wrong message to Nickie on how concerned she should be about the other dogs and people. We’re now working on appropriate leash tension and proper reinforcement so she can respond more calmly. 🐾

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