Hello, Fellow Dog Lovers!

It's officially fall! This might be my favorite time of the year. The leaves are changing, there's a crispness to the morning air, and pumpkins are popping up everywhere you look. But I also love this season because it's typically a time that I head back home to the UK for a few weeks. While there, I'll be teaching at one of my Victoria Stilwell Academy's Dog Trainer Courses, followed by presenting at this year's IMPACT Working Dog Conference. It will be lovely to be home for a few weeks! 

In this edition of the Positively Newsletter, you'll find an amazing story of a puppy mill survivor I helped rescue, some insight into what dog trainers wish their clients would know, and more.  

As always, throughout this newsletter you'll find exclusive content and training tips that you won't find anywhere else. Hope you enjoy!

P.S. Don't forget to check out my blog for more articles from me! 

Positively Contributor Debby McMullen gives insight into some things dog trainers want pet parents to know.

Those of us who work professionally with dog behavior cannot turn off our skills. There is no shut off switch. So when we are simply living our daily lives, and we see you with your dog, we cannot control what we think. Most of the times, those thoughts are full of warm and fuzzies, because we love dogs. But it is also precisely because we love dogs, that sometimes the things that we see make us twitch and want to intervene where we have no business doing so.

1. We LOVE when we see a dog parent walking their beloved dog on a front clip harness. Kudos to you! You have made the best choice for your dog as well as yourself. But for your dog’s comfort sake and prevention of skeletal issues in the future, PLEASE make sure that you have a skilled professional fit that front clip harness so that it is not dipping and sagging below their shoulder blades on their chest. I see joint issues and leg fracture possibilities with every sagging front clip harness that crosses my path. It takes every ounce of impulse control that I possess to not approach you.

Victoria took a trip to Lancaster, Pennsylvania to witness firsthand the abundance of cruel, neglectful puppy mills that operate legally there. She was led through the mill countryside by rescuers from Finding Shelter Animal Rescue and Adopt-a-Pet, Inc. During their day at the mills, Victoria and fellow rescuers were able to convince several of the millers to surrender dogs to them. By the end of the day, rescues included a Corgi, an Irish Setter, two Cane Corsos, and a Husky.

But the most special case of all was Violet, a severely ill English Bulldog who would not likely have lived another week without intervention. Victoria's live video documenting the moments after Violet's rescue went viral, reaching over a million concerned viewers. 

Thanks to Victoria and the wonderful rescuers at Finding Rescue, Violet is now recovering in a foster home. You can follow her progress here. 

"She's a rescue." I found myself wanting to say the words out loud as Daisy, my Labradoodle, and I passed a girl walking her mixed-breed dog. She had looked disapprovingly at my fluffy little nugget and then shot me a judgmental glare.

Let me tell you my story. I have a highly reactive, anxious boxer mix that I adopted from a shelter about six years ago. When looking for a companion for her, I wanted to find a highly social, confident dog that could complement my other dog's challenges. I happened to find an adult Labradoodle who was being surrendered by her owners and who was the perfect fit for my household. I do understand people's frustration with the flood of "designer dogs" these days, but I chose Daisy based on her temperament, not her breed. And while "doodles" are technically mixed-breed dogs, I'm lumping them into the "purebred" category as they have become such popular breed mixes.

So why did I feel the need to justify anything to this complete stranger? (And technically, to you all right now!) Why have "purebred" dogs become so vilified?

Positively Contributor Maureen Backman gives pet parents and trainers tips on a better approach to working with fearful dogs. 

Training mindfully is a concept I’ve been cultivating for the past year. When I say training mindfully, I mean paying attention on purpose, and being acutely aware of what’s happening during the training session: Your mechanics, your timing, your location, as well as the dog’s internal state.

Paying attention on purpose takes practice, predictability and protocols. When we train mindfully, we:

• Train consciously and intelligently
• Are aware of the interaction of the environment, the dog, and ourselves
• Listen to the dog so the training session is a conversation
• Teach and train with intention
• Incorporate the human client’s needs and abilities into a dog’s functional assessment