Katelynn’s Critter Kare

11/11/2024

Coming soon- an obstacle course!

11/11/2024

If there is only one thing everyone should know about dogs, it's how to greet them.

🐾 We humans have around 6 million scent receptors.
Dogs have an average of 300 million.
You do not need to reach your hand out for a dog to smell you. They smelled you before you even saw them.
🐾 Hands going over the head feels scary for dogs, most generally do not like it, especially from people they don't know or trust yet.
🐾 Hugging or grabbing with two hands is exceptionally confrontational for a dog. Just don't do it. If it is your own dog, make sure you have their consent. If you want to learn more about consent in dogs, let me know, I can help you learn!
🐾 Direct eye contact is such a simple thing that can trigger a big emotional response. You know how dogs always greet each other by going around the side to smell the hind end? It's partially because of the information they get from those hind end scents, but it is also greatly in part because face to face, eye to eye, physical communication is usually aggressive.
🐾 Kind of like with children, they will be calmer if you are calmer. If you are high pitched and high energy, their energy will match yours. Dogs are similar, except that when their energy gets high, it ca. Easily lead to over excitement, barking, nips, jumping, and full contact bites. It's also really scary for a dog who isn't used to that person's high energy. So just be slow, calm, and neutral.
🐾 Again, this goes back to the face-to-face = conflict or confrontation. What is a loving, sweet gesture for humans, is a major invasion of space for our dogs, and they may be very quick to ask for space the only way they know how: a bite.

Thank you, Doggie Drawings by Lili Chin, for another wonderfully informative drawing.

10/28/2024

Zoey and Darcy are working on sit, stand, place, recall and loose leash walking! They started with boarding, and they will be back for a visit next weekend while Mom and Dad celebrate their anniversary!

10/28/2024

Happy National First Responder’s Day! Thank you to all those that risk their lives especially our Police K9s!

Connecticut State Police K9 Lambo to get donation of body armor

Connecticut State Police, CT, K9 Lambo will receive a bullet and stab protective vest thanks to a charitable donation from non-profit organization Vested Interest in K9s, Inc. K9 Lambo’s vest is sponsored by Vested Interest in K9s, Inc. and will be embroidered with the sentiment “In memory of TFC Aaron Pelletier, CSP - EOW 5/30/24”. Delivery is expected within ten weeks.

Vested Interest in K9s, Inc., established in 2009, is a 501(c)(3) charity whose mission is to provide bullet and stab protective vests and other assistance to dogs of law enforcement and related agencies throughout the United States. This potentially lifesaving body armor for four-legged K9 officers is U.S. made, custom fitted, and NIJ certified. Since its inception, Vested Interest in K9s, Inc. has provided over 5,794 vests to K9s in all 50 states at a value of $6.9 million, made possible by both private and corporate donations.

The program is open to U.S. dogs that are at least 20 months old and actively employed and certified with law enforcement or related agencies. K9s with expired vests are also eligible to participate. There are an estimated 30,000 law enforcement K9s throughout the United States.

Vested Interest in K9s, Inc. accepts tax-deductible contributions in any amount, while a single donation of $985 will sponsor one vest. Each vest has a value of $1800.00, weighs an average of 4-5 lb., and comes with a five-year warranty. For more information, or to learn about volunteer opportunities, please call 508-824-6978. Vested Interest in K9s, Inc. provides information, lists events, and accepts donations at www.vik9s.org, or you may mail your contribution to P.O. Box 9, East Taunton, MA 02718.

10/18/2024

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/tv2utMQrc2re9ezM/?mibextid=WC7FNe

10/12/2024

A wagging tail does NOT always mean they are happy!

10/11/2024

10/11/2024

Whenever you feel guilty about not giving your dog the best life, whenever you feel like you are working too late while your dog is at home, whenever you think about surrendering your dog because you “can’t give them the life they deserve”,
just look at this picture of kennel manager Trevor Denham and the team at getting ready for dinner time.
You can see one dog with his paw out waiting for his food❣️🐾❣️
For these dogs locked in their kennels, this is the highlight of their day, they have absolutely nothing. Your dog would much prefer being on your sofa waiting for you to come home, rather than being stuck in here, I promise you are doing just fine….❤️🐾❤️

10/04/2024

Holidays are fast approaching!

Order your custom bowls now to make sure they're ready in time.

✨️✨️✨️✨️Support the arts and small businesses this holiday season ✨️✨️✨️✨️

09/30/2024

Controversy surrounds the efficacy and welfare implications of different forms of dog training with several studies asserting that electronic shock collars have negative welfare impacts while not being more effective than non-aversive methods. However, these studies did not specify the schedule and....

09/30/2024

It would be tragic for your dog to be saved from a flood and brought to safety only to suffer equally as much because they can’t accept peace and boundaries in a crate.

This photo bring to the forefront a tremendous issue that’s quietly haunting dogs in homes across the country everyday. Dogs need crates like babies need cribs. For safety. For peace. For schedule and routine. For trust and boundaries.

The main reason dog owners get rid of the crate is because their dog fights them getting in, barks and whines while they’re crated and destroys any blanket or bed - sometimes the plastic tray on the bottom. This isn’t a crate issue. This is relationship issue.

Barrier frustration is directly connected to lack of boundaries in a dogs owners relationship with their dog outside the crate. The crate just exacerbates the imbalance and mistrust.

The vast majority of a dogs life is spent under foot, following their owners around, moving from couch to couch to bed to chair to couch to under the table to kitchen mat where your cooking to under your desk to couch etc etc. dogs learn what they practice (associative learners) Separation anxiety isn’t real. What most people call separation anxiety is the dog expressing their inability to cope with the lie you’ve told when they’re forced to discover the truth. Humans are not toys nor their entertainment. This is the hit the dogs takes when you leave. Or have company. Or go to sleep.

Dog owners think that freedom is love. But not if they’re drowning in it.

If your idea of a good life for your dog is freedom you need to go to step two and be honest about how your dog uses that freedom.

There’s a time and place for everything. Today may not be the day your dog is mature enough and confident enough and independent enough to be free roaming the house all day. When is a good day for that ideal? The day you’ve created a healthy relationship with your dog and they don’t use freedom to be possessive and manipulative and struggle.

I don’t teach problem solving possessiveness because it offends me or I find it annoying. It’s no way for the dog to live. Affected by your every move. Anxious about what move will be next. Spending all this time trying to change us and rearrange our day. It isn’t love. It’s panic.

Why do most dog owners allow so much struggle and continue to pretend their dog is living their best life?

Lazy.

Lazy has ruined a ridiculous amount of human experience and relationships. Dogs aren’t safe from this.

This brings us back to getting rid of the crate too soon. It’s lazy. It’s a cop out. You don’t wanna hear the dog bark. You don’t wanna replace the torn up blanket. You don’t wanna hire a trainer. You don’t wanna pay for a trainer. You don’t wanna pay for an ecollar. You don’t want to “shock” the dog. You don’t want to be their parent. But they don’t need a friend. They need a parent.

I put shock in parenthesis because we don’t “shock” a dog for barking or growling or biting or lunging or digging or pulling or jumping. We create a boundary for it with matched pressure limiting their access to struggle and anxiety and negative experiences.

The commitment to never making your dog uncomfortable is imprisoning them in the discomfort and a completely inorganic experience void of help and guidance.

Crates do an amazing job of creating limited access to hardship with no conflict between the human and the dog.

Sure they don’t love it when you’ve given them an unhealthy level of control over the home, constant access to arousal, every room couch bed chair in the house. But that’s you giving far too much credit to freedom and not enough to peace.

If your dog can accept boundaries, they trust you. If they trust you they’re willing to learn from you. If they’ll learn from you, you can teach them how to be peaceful and successful in our culture.

Majority of humans struggle to find peace in our chaotic world. How many people do you know suffering from anxiety or depression? This is directly connected to the sheer amount of stimulation in our world today. If we created this culture and were struggling with it, what makes you think a dog, who you take from its mother, after taking its ancestors from the woods, is going to find a sliver of peace in this life without you helping to keep them safe from those struggles?

Crates keep the dog safe from thousands of unhealthy experiences in a human world.

Crate train your dog. There’s love in peace. Not freedom.

09/26/2024

Limited availability for the upcoming holidays! I know it is ONLY September (almost October!)but I have already started receiving bookings. If you need holiday pet care- NOW is the time to plan! 🦃 🎄 🎅