LeashStar

29/06/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/193n7yfDsi/?mibextid=xfxF2i

“The rise in anxiety among American humans has been exhaustively documented,” Rose Horowitch wrote in 2024. “With much less fanfare, we also seem to have entered the age of the anxious canine.”⁠ https://theatln.tc/7OklVWaz
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Many of America’s 85 veterinary behaviorists are booked months in advance. Several whom Horowitch spoke with said that the number of people seeking pet mental-health care has exploded in the past few years. But there is no consensus as to why. One theory is that dogs today are more anxious. More Americans are choosing to adopt pets, which saves lives but can leave traumatized pets with inexperienced owners. We’ve also altered the way pets live in ways that may make them anxious or aggressive toward people and other dogs. But it could also be that anxious adults are projecting their own issues onto their furry companions. What people classify as a behavioral issue reflects human expectations as much as a dog’s nature, according to a bioethicist. ⁠
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“So is the dog-anxiety crisis real, or is it a product of owners’ anxiety-riddled psyches? Dogs can’t tell us how they’re feeling, so we’ll probably never know,” Horowitch continues. “But both explanations are depressing. Either humans are stressing dogs out so much that they truly need prescription meds, or owners are putting their dogs on unnecessary psychoactive drugs to address annoying but normal dog habits. It might be time, in other words, to reevaluate the way we approach dog ownership. ⁠
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“Many Americans don’t have the time, energy, or green space their pets need to thrive,” Horowitch continues. “If the choice is to medicate our dogs or to make them, and ourselves, miserable, pet ownership starts to seem ethically murky.”⁠

Read more here: https://theatln.tc/7OklVWaz
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🎨: Paul Spella / The Atlantic. Source: Getty.

20/06/2025

🌅 The Power of Predictability – For Cece, It's Everything 🐾

For our rescue girl Cece, healing hasn’t come from grand gestures or flashy training sessions.
It’s come from the quiet, predictable rhythm of everyday life.

🕰️ Waking up at the same time each day
🍽️ Meals served in the same spot
🚶‍♀️ Calm routines, familiar voices, no surprises
🛏️ A safe space that’s hers—always available

Because for a dog who’s known uncertainty, consistency is safety.

Routine tells her:
“You’re safe here.”
“You can relax.”
“The world isn’t going to change without warning anymore.”

Every day we show up the same way, Cece grows just a little more confident.
A little more trusting.
A little more herself.

Rescue dogs don’t need perfection.
They need predictability, patience, and people who show up with the same gentle energy—again and again.

Because healing happens in the quiet. And routine is love in action. 💛

13/06/2025

🐾 Let Dogs Be Dogs – Just Like Cece!
Here’s Cece, our gorgeous rescue girl, doing something so many dogs need to do... DIG! 🕳️🐶
She’s not being naughty. She’s not being “disobedient.”
She’s being brilliantly, instinctively, wonderfully dog.
Digging is more than just a hole in the garden—
It’s sensory exploration.
It’s stress relief.
It’s confidence-building.
It’s joy.
Especially for a rescue dog like Cece, every time she digs, she’s also telling us:
“I feel safe enough to play.”
“I’m starting to be me.”
Too often we rush to stop natural behaviours before asking why they’re happening—and what need they’re meeting. Sometimes, the best training is just watching, celebrating, and saying, “Yes, girl, dig that dirt!”
Cece’s digging journey is part of her healing. And we are here for it. 🌱🐾

01/06/2025

Having personal time with George the Groodle is heavy going...

31/05/2025

Our happy and so photogenic dogs 🐕

15/12/2023

Massive congratulations to our LeashStar Puppy Preschoolers for graduating from our special Christmas preschool class on Wednesday. Such amazing puppies and wonderful owners, these guys have certainly started their journey to becoming Bowlingual. Getting the communication right with your puppy when they are this age is so, so important to help them develop into confident dogs. We'll be running more classes in the New Year, so check out the website over the Christmas holidays for availabilities.
Bowlingual

20/11/2023

What motivates your dog to get up in the morning? Is it treats, their ball, or is it you?
We'd love to think it's us, but in reality it probably isn't. But it could be so easily. What if you could transfer all that value your dog has built up for their ball or treats to you? Isnt that what everyone wants? After a while you would certainly be the reason why your dog wakes up!! And it's nothing about being their boss!!!

Try this simple yet effective technique.

***When you ask your dog for a behaviour like a sit or a down for example, make sure they can't see the treat or the ball. It's as simple as that. This way your dogs starts to do things for you, not because you are bribing them with a reward. The reward is then shown / given after the exercise is completed. ***

Hey presto, the giver of the reward becomes valued by their dog.

The simplest things are ways the best...

18/11/2023

✨Congratulations to our Loose-LeashStar handlers!✨

You and your puppies have survived the first two lessons with Carla, and we are so proud of your efforts to master our lead activities and learning to look deeper into your puppies lead walking behaviors.

With that being said, its important for our handlers to reflective about where they started, how they have progressing and what their end goals are.... but make sure to celebrate all your small successes you achieve.

These successes could be as simple or small as:
🎉'My puppy was less distracted in class tonight!'
🎉'My puppy is paying more attention to me!'

The Leashstar team (Carla especially) are so proud of the hard work and dedication, our handlers are putting into to the class, and we love being able to see the progress you and your puppy achieve. Keep up the hard work and enjoy the last two fun and action packed lessons!

For anyone looking to do extra training before Christmas, we have a handful of spots left in our upcoming Loose-LeashStar course starting 27 November at 7.30pm. Book your spot below at:
https://train.mindfulness4dogs.com/user-information/loose-leashstars-lead-walking-courses/

Leashstar work in conjuction with Mindfulness4Dogs

18/11/2023

📣 Calling all Pre-Christmas Puppy Parents!📣

Do you have a new furry friend joining you before Christmas? That must be super exciting but maybe... also a be a bit overwhelming? especially when you add in the chaos of Christmas ✨🎄

To the new puppy parents, here is our call to you: Give your puppy the best start to life and the holiday period by enrolling in our Puppy Preschool. On the 11th and 13th of December, we are running a 2 part immersion Puppy Preschool LeashStar course in conjuction with Mindfulness4Dogs, to help new parents before the Christmas Holidays.

Our classes are behavioral based and specifically tailored to meet the needs of new puppy parents! In these classes we teach parents and puppies about:

🐾 Appropriate socialization and desensitization
🐾 Physical and emotional management
🐾 How to build a loving and trust relationship
🐾 Read and understand puppy's behavior and how to respond appropriately
🐾 Learn fun and stimulating brain games for puppy
For more information or to book on of the limited spots, go to:
https://train.mindfulness4dogs.com/dog-training-with-us/puppy-preschool-classes/

13/11/2023

🐾 Unleashing Pawesome Training Hacks! 🐾

Hey there, LeashStars! 🐶 Ever thought about the saying, 'Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is kinda nuts'? Guilty as charged, especially when it comes to training our four-legged buddies.

So, we've all been there, blaming our furballs for not being mind-readers, right? But what if we flipped the script a bit? Dogs, like us, have these triggers – sneaky behaviors we might not even notice we're encouraging. The game-changer? Switch up those triggers, change up the whole paw-spective!

Picture this: the usual chaos when you grab your car keys – it's walk time, yay! 🚶‍♂️🐕 But what if we threw in a curveball?

Grab those keys, but instead of the door dash, make it a chill move, like whipping up a cup of tea. ☕ After a while, your pup might start thinking keys mean chill vibes, not a marathon to the front door. Change up your moves, and watch them follow suit. It's like a tail-wagging victory dance! 🔄

Let's team up, break the same old cycle, and keep our pet-parent sanity intact. Who's in for the fun ride? Drop your tips and tales below! 🎉🌈