About Laura Butler
My name is Laura Butler and I am a graduate of the Karen Pryor Academy of Animal Behavior and Training. I’m also a member of the Association of Professional Dog Trainers and Pet Sitters International.
Karen Pryor strictly relies on positive reinforcement and firmly believes punishment (as determined by the dog, not the owner) degrades the human-canine bond. Additionally, I hold the belief that punishing a scared dog only increases his fear. That’s why I train dogs in my care with lots of kindness, compassion, and good food.
Early Experiences
My first scaredy dog was a friendly lab with a nasty habit of jumping the wall of her backyard and taking herself for a walk. The owner, who was worried about their dog getting run over or lost, remedied this by installing an “invisible fence” and putting a collar on her that shocked the dog when she crossed the line of the invisible fence. It worked, but it did make the dog nervous about going in the backyard.
I felt awful for this poor happy-go-lucky lab. She was reduced to nervously peeing on her patio and then bolting back into her house in fear. So I took some ham and cheese, and lured her into the backyard one pawstep at a time until she was confident enough to do her business in the grass. She healed herself after that, exploring a little farther each day until she was confidently moving around her backyard with ease. It was such a rewarding feeling seeing the transformation back to happy-go-lucky lab.
Repeated Patterns
My second scaredy dog was another lab. She was young but past her vital socialization puppy period. As she wasn’t socialized as a puppy, she was terrified of everything and when she was surrendered to an animal shelter, she shut down completely and sat huddled in the back corner unmoving.
Well, she was never going to get adopted that way, so she was fostered out to me in the hopes that she would do better in a home environment. She spent her first week huddled under my desk unmoving. She would only move to eat when she was alone with the door shut. Since taking her outside clearly wasn’t an option, she did her business on the floor. After a week of talking softly, moving slowly, and giving her a wide berth, she made eye contact with me. It was just for a second, but I left the room and had a (very quiet) celebration.
She made great strides after that. She would eat with me in the room; she’d look up at my dogs instead of shutting down and ignoring them; she’d let me touch her. It may not sound very impressive, but each tiny accomplishment was a big victory for her, and a cause of celebration for me. The day my dogs got excited for a walk, started running from room to room, and she actually joined in the fun, I nearly cried. In that moment, I knew I was going to rehabilitate scared dogs for the rest of my life. Because I wasn’t a trainer at the time, I only had her for about a month. The owner of the rescue that fostered her out to me decided she needed professional help. I have to say though, that that was the most enlightening month of my life.
I had found my calling, and I’ve been working to that end ever since.
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