Play Hard Work Hard K9

21/12/2024

I know the year isn’t over yet, so there will be more brags to celebrate before January, but here we go…
Too many to hold back 🤩🤩🤩

Happy Winter Solstice 🌞🌝

19/12/2024

And so the blog is born.
If you’re curious about my dog studies and learning about other less common ways of understanding your furry friend - check out my blog. More to come as I’m learning about sensory processing, sensory integration, self-regulation in dogs.

This is a melting pot of my 20+ years in human somatics, anatomy and physiology, neurology, biomechanics and pain management meeting dog training and behavior.

First topic: Sensory needs and thresholds!

08/12/2024

New mantrailers who completed their introduction yesterday!
Welcome everyone and we look forward to your many happy trails 🐾🐾🐾

Teams Obi, Oliver, Cody, Molly Mae, and Tempo 👏👏👏

10/11/2024

Diving into sensory processing exercises before next weekend’s seminar.
Sensory integration works for dogs as well as for humans. Guess what, our nerves systems are organized very similarly.
Ask me about it, if it spikes your curiosity 🙂

OA Text is an independent open-access scientific publisher showcases innovative research and ideas aimed at improving health by linking research and practice to the benefit of society.

02/11/2024

And now… Time for some brags!

End of the month is time to reflect and set new goals. These Mantrailing teams have worked extra hard in the past month to progress their game, and they deserve a shout out!

Master of disguise sticker was earned by
Team Lily the Chesapeake
Team Matrix
Team Grim
Team Bogey
Team Woodford and Team Macallan
Team Dixie
Team Dodger and
Team Wiley!

Congrats!

Scent Hawk sticker was earned by
Team Winnie
Team Woodford

Congrats!

The Scent Hawk badge was earned by
Team Lily the Chesapeake
Team Matrix
Team Bogey
Team Grim
Team Wyley
Team Macallan
Team Mintabie

🎉

First Night Hawk sticker was earned by
Team Dodger!
And there are a few close contenders for this sticker…

Great job everyone 🌟🌟🌟

Ann Yeager
Chelsea King
Ilana Zarour
Tamara Aunapu
Landyn Williams
Alex Vicini
Kenny Crosby
Ilona Meeks
Samantha Anne
Sharon Everson

02/11/2024

Our new instructors are ready to fly 🦅

After 5 days of assisting Lisa Gorenflo at Florida’s first Mantrailing Global instructor course I’m back to normal life and our mantrailing progression class will resume tomorrow!

29/10/2024

This week in Gainesville FL…
First Mantrailing Global instructor course in the SE 🇺🇸!

26/10/2024

Dogs communicate at different “volumes.” Noticing and listening to the more subtle signs (low volume) enables us to intervene and help dogs feel more comfortable so they don’t resort to the more overt signs (high volume).

Get your copy here:
https://rescuedbytraining.com/dog-communication-infographic/

24/10/2024

Driving home from exercising dogs this morning I got to put my WFA to work. I took my re-cert in Wilderness First Aid just last month and I intend to keep it current, because...
People get hurt in more or less (un)expected ways all the time. This morning was the second time I stopped for a hurt cyclist on the side of the road.
I made a difference.
If you ever considered upping your first aid knowledge and practical application of it, go find a well organized WFA course near you. I can highly recommend The FOLC Farm in Gainesville FL. Thanks Catherine! Your teaching makes a difference 💜

17/10/2024

Last weekend in Georgia 👏🐾
Great teams and fab community. Couldn’t have had a better time.

29/09/2024

This lovely cartoon reminds me of an approach I learned recently from Laura Donaldson. Nonviolent Social Processing, part of her Somatic Self-resilience for Worried and Traumatized Dogs course.
This approach can be applied to each of our senses including visual, olfactory, auditory, tactile, vestibular, gustatory, proprioceptive, and interoceptive.

Just like humans, dogs’ 🧠 also require processing time.
Time required for processing sensory information differs between individuals.
Allowing self disengagement in safe processing experiences is essential for broad integration of the brain and healthy responses to our everyday stimuli.

What may this look like in practice?
We’re on a walk with our dog when we see another dog on the street. Our dog stops and orients to the dog. What happens next is important, because our dog is pausing to observe and evaluate situation. Is it safe to stay? How safe?

What would you do in this situation?
Usher the dog on?
Allow for observation?
How long?
Would you interfere?
How?
All these questions are relevant because you will either help or hinder sensory processing of the dog and affect their perception.
And perception is what drives behavior.

Want to change unwanted behavior? One very effective strategy is to facilitate sensory processing in nonviolent safe space that allows for more functional, situation appropriate responses to environment and situations.

If you’re curious, ask me more about how sensory processing could help your dog.

You may have seen this image floating around the internet before. It’s a truly lovely look at why transitions from one thing to another can be so hard for some people. (Not even necessarily “transitions” as in “major life transitions”, but simply switching tasks!)

Many people identify to this comic, although the creator, Erin Human, drew it specifically about autistic hyperfixation on one task and the executive functioning challenges that it took to switch from one task to another. Despite originally being for neurodivergent people, it is an experience with which lots of people of lots of different neurotypes are able to identify.

I often see adults not recognizing “processing speed” or, as we sometimes call it in my family, “Loading: Please wait…” in kids’ brains and even on their faces. Adults will just keep making demands, change the demand, change the tone with which they’re demanding, or keep asking questions and the child still hasn’t even processed the first one yet! Slowing waaayyyyyyyyy down is almost always good advice with children, again, regardless of neurotype.

https://eisforerin.com/2015/08/10/tendril-theory/

[Image description:
This is an image made by Erin Human. It is a comic with labels next to each of the pictures. There are 24 panels in 12 pairs; each pair has one panel filled with words, and one image.

The title is “Why it’s hard to switch tasks (Let’s call it Tendril Theory).”
It reads as follows.

“When I’m focused on something,” (with an image of a person with closed eyes, smiling, no hair, and a shining spark over their head)

“My mind sends out a million tendrils of thought” (with an image of the smiling person, now with curly spirals that look sort of like hair emerging from their head. There are only 7 tendrils.)

“Expands into all of the thoughts and feelings” (with the same image of the person, now with many more, curlier spirals — dozens of them.)

“When I need to switch tasks” (a new person has entered the image, and the person with the tendrils has their eyes open to notice the new person.)

“I must retract all of the tendrils of my mind” (the person has their eyes closed and is pulling back the tendrils, as evidenced by there are fewer visible now.)

“This takes some time” (the person has a much smaller smile, open eyes, and only the tips of curly tendrils emerging anymore, like they have pulled them all back in.)

“Eventually I can shift to the new task” (the two people are both there, both open eyed and smiling at one another, with a new shining spark over their heads together.)

“But when I am interrupted or must switch abruptly,” (now the image reverts to when the person had all their tendrils fully out and coiled everywhere, with the 2nd person entering the image by shouting an exclamation point at them rather than entering gently)

“It feels like all of the tendrils are being ripped out” (the person with tendrils has had them all ripped away by the shouting person, and is showing a frown instead of a smile)

“That’s why I don’t react well” (now the person with all their tendrils ripped away is speaking with an upset little cloud or question mark above their head, and their mouth open in a frown shape)

“Please just give me time” (the person with the tendrils is working on retracting them)

“To switch tasks when I’m ready” (the person has no tendrils out, and a shining spark over their head, and a smile again)
End description.]

20/09/2024

Most effective way to cool down a dog in high temps has been put to test.

New research published in the JAVMA reveals that teaching dogs to voluntarily dunk their heads in water is the most effective method for rapidly cooling them down after exercise.

16/09/2024

What does Dorsal Column Medial Lemniscal pathway 😍 have to do with dogs or people or anything?
Loads! Did you know that when a dog (or human) isn’t processing sensory input from skin, muscles and joints effectively (and it travels up this beautiful pathway), they can be overreacting to their surroundings by lashing out inappropriately relative to the stimulus they’re encountering?
Or they may refuse to engage in a fun activity, jump away from being touched, avoid certain surfaces… all because it makes them feel insecure. They are not stubborn. They are not being difficult, disrespectful, silly, a chicken. Lots has to go right in the nervous system for a critter to be brave. To be at ease in a variety of situations. Sensory integration exercises can make a big difference that will last. Because it doesn’t suppress or distract, sensory integration connects the brain in functional ways and builds stronger connections along these pathways. For safety and functionality inside.

22/08/2024

Stay tuned for the announcement of October workshop with Lisa Gorenflo of Mantrailing Global!
Working spots and audit spots will be available.

09/08/2024

The phase of my dog training school I was looking forward to the most was Behavior Modification. It’s the largest phase and largest study load of them all 📚📚📚📚
I couldn’t wait to get here because surely I’ll learn all the secrets the profession holds must be contained within.

I live with dogs who are reactive with high arousal, shy and fearful, have big feelings, and can behave like they have zero manners and cares for societal norms.

Half way through the behavior modification module I finally broke down and told my program director I expected to learn something else. I expected to learn how to help my complex dogs, not dogs that already have social skills and can THINK. My dogs can’t think when their emotions take over. Behavior modification tools are absolutely useless for MY dogs. I had wrong expectations.

As a trauma informed human therapist I am not giving up on my dogs or my studies. When I complete my CPDT-KA it looks like there’s a new gospel to preach: trauma informed canine processing.

I know tools for healing complex emotions exist and I wouldn’t be me if I didnt dig some names up already. But DARN this was not easy! Laura Donaldson is one of them. She is a trauma informed therapist for humans and dogs and she’s got fantastic webinars available on her website (I’ll post link in comments).
FreeDogz is another enlightened therapist in Belgium whose experience in human physical rehabilitation has informed her work with dogs whom she’s now helping with sensory integration. I am relieved to find light and hope that I can after all learn enough to make a lasting difference and transformation.

If you haven’t heard of trauma informed concept, or sensory integration, or Polyvagal theory, well, you can keep checking back here periodically or go listen to Laura Donaldson’s free Trauma Informed webinar.
If you work with complex dogs, rescue dogs, or training behavior modification… you should expand your horizons.
You’ll be glad.