What's a dog trainer doing talking about health?

Welcome to The Whole Picture. A bit about me and what to expect here.

When Larkin was diagnosed with bilateral elbow dysplasia (ED) I had no idea what it meant.

He’d been limping on and off for a few months, something we chalked up to him being an overactive puppy. After all, he was only 10 months old.

Larkin discovering his love of sticks during our first weeks together

Turns out he had what’s known as a fragmented medial coronoid process where a bone fragment breaks off in the elbow joint. It’s a common type of ED and is treated with an arthroscopic surgery to remove the fragment.

So that’s what we did. The surgery was successful, he recovered and resumed full activity.

Something we never thought about (or were told about) was how his condition and the resulting discomfort, likely impacted his behavior.

Larkin was always a sensitive puppy who was overwhelmed by the bustle of the city. He startled easily and tried to escape when he heard loud noises on walks, in particular fire sirens. I shared some of our story here.

Helping him navigate the world while parsing through the wild wild west of dog training info is what got me on my path to becoming a trainer.

Yet, I never connected his sound sensitivity and fearfulness to pain. Neither did a single person who worked with him, vet or trainer alike.

It would be years until I’d see the whole picture of his behavior and wellness.

I knew his condition was lifelong and degenerative, so my main priority was to keep him as mobile as possible for as long as possible.

As years went by and more resources became available to me, I absorbed what I could:

• I worked 1:1 with canine fitness professionals for years and took a course on canine movement and fitness

• I followed Canine Arthritis Management and took their course for dog professionals

• I took a gait and posture analysis course to better understand what I was seeing when it came to Larkin’s mobility

• With the help of physical therapists and massage therapists I learned at-home massage and myofascial release techniques

• I invested in continuing education to learn more about the intersection of pain and behavior, pain medication, and pain trials

That latter was first brought to my attention by our veterinary behaviorist whose help we sought after Larkin became sensitized to the sound of a revving engine.

She mentioned that dogs with musculoskeletal conditions are more likely to develop sound sensitivity and suggested a pain trial before starting behavioral medication.

Sadly, our first pain trial was a dud, but we’d revisit it a year later with a lot of success.

In the winter of 2023, Larkin was diagnosed with bilateral hip dysplasia (HD), a condition that much like ED is also lifelong and degenerative.

This diagnosis was possible, because I was able to notice slight changes in his mobility and advocated for next steps with his vet.

Most importantly, I was able to put together a pain management plan for him which included pain medication and supportive modalities.

Within the next year Larkin’s sound sensitivity decreased so significantly that not only did he cope far better with revving engine sounds, his reactions to firetruck sirens also decreased. I was stunned.

That’s when I knew that effectively addressing his health needs and managing his pain was the most important piece of the puzzle all along.

I also knew that I could no longer do my work in the same way again. I knew that I had to bring the same level of care to the dogs I worked with.

I couldn’t jump into behavior modification without better assessing and understanding each individual dog’s health and mobility. I couldn’t pretend that how each dog felt in their body and moved through their environment wasn’t a critical piece to their entire welfare.

In November of 2024 I graduated from the Dynamic Dog program, a program designed to give training and behavior professionals the tools to assess the posture, gait, and functional wellness of dogs in order to identify signs of discomfort.

I’m now able to offer a Behavior and Health Assessment as a standalone service to help people identify potential discomfort in their dogs and map out next steps of care.

And here we are.

Larkin today. A playful, silly, life-loving goober.

I created this space to share what I’ve learned (and will continue to learn) about the intersection of pain and behavior with you so you can help your dog sooner rather than later.

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Here’s what you can expect here:

• Deep dives into how health impacts behavior and how to be a savvy observer of your dog

• Actionable tools to better support your dog (everything from small day-to-day changes that make a big difference to training approaches that center your dog’s mobility)

• Resources you can trust. If there’s one thing I know about myself it’s that I’m a discerning dog professional and guardian. If I share a resource, it means I vetted it and likely used it myself. I will share everything I’ve found helpful and ways you can find support for your dog.

• Community connection through discussion space on each post and monthly live chat on a specific subject with Q&A

As a paid subscriber you’ll get:

• Weekly posts in you inbox with an 🎧 audio version you can take on the road. Comment ask questions, connect with others.

• Subscriber Q&A - submit questions and I answer them on a monthly basis

• The weekly clicks, a semi-weekly email you’ll get on Fridays where I roundup internet stuff I’ve found helpful that’s worth sharing with you. This can be anything from relevant posts, to studies, to events, to memes.

• A live monthly chat where we discuss a pre-selected topic. Get your questions answered and connect with other dog guardians who care about the same things you do.

Here’s what I won’t offer here:

• Individual training or medical advice. First, I’m not a veterinary professional and I’ll always stay in my lane. Second, I want to empower you with information and resources, but I can’t ethically provide training or behavior advice for dogs I’m not actively working with.

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Thank you for joining this space. I’m so glad you’re here ❤️

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