canine relaxation protocol demo photo - b/w border collie on orange floor mat, looking at person standing next to her
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Canine Relaxation Protocol Demo

One of the things we’re most famous for are FREE audio/video files that make the canine relaxation protocol easier to do. It might look like simply a way to teach dogs to stay, but the RP is much more complicated than that. It’s meant to teach dogs prone to fear, stress, or over-arousal to defer to you and relax no matter what weird stimuli happens (noises, movements, etc.) Hard to believe I never made a canine relaxation protocol demo video before, but here you go. Below is a video of what it looks like when I do it with a behaviorally normal dog. In this case, first Clover and then a short snippet with Mr. Stix.

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Relaxation Protocol Questions Answered

Years after we tackled the Relaxation Protocol ourselves (both the one by Dr. Karen Overall and the one our own behaviorist prescribed), it remains one of the top reasons people come to Champion of My Heart. Pretty neat, huh? So, I decided to revisit a couple of the common questions I get about our Relaxation…

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Great Radio Interview: Temple Grandin

There is a debate over at Dolitter today about dominance-based training. I personally oppose it not just for fearful dogs but all dogs. Fans of people like Milan won’t convice me, and I won’t convince them. So, let’s not go there. BUT, I came across another comment with a link to this recent Public Radio interview with Temple Grandin that’s in part about her new book, Animals Make Us Human: Creating the Best Life for Animals. If this works, the audio embed will appear below. If not, here’s a link to the

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Calming Music for Dogs

Noise of the modern world is akin to second-hand cigarette smoke. It poses a danger to us and our dogs, according to
the authors of “Through a Dog’s Ear: How to Use Sound to Improve the Health and Behavior of Your Canine Companion.” Just released March 1, the book makes the argument that many of the behavior
problems we now see in dogs (and possibly some health ones too) come from the stress of noise in their world. The collaboration between a psychoacoustics experts (Joshua Leeds), a veterinary
neurologist (Susan Wagner, DVM, MS, DACVIM), and a concert pianist (Lisa Spector, …

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The Relaxation Protocol

You found the right place to learn more about the Relaxation Protocol for Dogs! When I first read about Dr. Karen Overall’s Protocol for Relaxation in Leslie McDevitt’s book “Control Unleashed,” I had NO idea what it was about. None. Never heard of it. It’s considered baseline work for serious behavior modification training, like what I’m doing with Lilly. That much I got from the book, but it wasn’t until I saw the whole thing in print that a sinking feeling sunk me. I’m feeling better about it now, but here’s a bit about my journey so far …

Flood

It’s been a wet summer here, which is somewhat unusual in the high,
often dry Rocky Mountains. Other places in the country easily get
2, even 4 inches of rain regularly, but around here, that’s a BIG
deal. Last week, for the first time in our nearly 6 years in this
house, we had a full-blown flash flood in the creek that cuts
through our property. My husband was gone and had the camera at the
time, but I went out after the storm passed and recorded this.

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Agility theme song (audio)

Thanks to the iPod nano that Lilly and I received as a prize for raising money last summer for the Humane Society of Boulder Valley I have a new appreciation for music lyrics. There’s something about being audibly cocooned with songs that allows me to hear the lyrics in a way I don’t if music just plays in the background. Here’s a song that struck me as a good agility road trip theme. So, in honor of all of you who will be traveling to big trials all over the country heading into Independence Day “weekend,” here’s a little tune.