Teaching Manners, Behaviors, and Relationships
Lisa Davis MPH generously invited me to talk with her about A Dog Named Boo, How One Dog and One Woman Rescued Each Other – and the Lives They Transformed Along the Way
Lisa Davis brings her twenty-five years of health experience and her love of dogs together in her PodCast “Dog-Eared” to interview authors of dog related books, memoirs like A Dog Named Boo and other advice and inspirational dog-related titles.
Check out Dog-Eared and enjoy.
Using D.A.P. can really help in addressing common, low-level behavior issues in dogs – especially when used with positive reinforcement.
It comes up frequently during my behavioral consultations and I’ve mentioned it before here on the blog, but I can’t say enough good things about D.A.P. (Dog Appeasing Pheromone).
I won’t say that it’s the Holy Grail of resolving commonplace behavior problems but it’s no sippy cup, either.
Natural appeasing pheromones are produced by lactating females shortly after birthing a litter and give the young puppies a feeling of well-being and security when they’re near mom.
D.A.P. works by mimicking those natural pheromones and helps to give adult dogs a similar sense of calm and relaxation to what they would have felt as nursing puppies.
Many clinical trials of D.A.P. both in home and shelter situations have shown that it can help as a relaxing treatment when used in conjunction with positive reinforcement desensitizing and counter-conditioning (DS/CC). My own anecdotal experience in the field has shown the same.
It really can help and – best of all – doesn’t have any of the negative side effects seen in many anti-anxiety pharmaceuticals such as deinhibition and others.
Additionally, D.A.P. can be used in concert with many psycho-pharmaceuticals (but please double-check with your veterinary behaviorist first.)
Keep in mind that D.A.P.’s effects are not dramatic and most folks know it’s working when the collar expires and the anxious behaviors return or the diffuser runs out and they wonder why the dog is pacing again – then they check the diffuser and experience a “D’oh!” moment. It is designed to simply take the edge off gently and inconspicuously. This allows us to better do our DS/CC work with your dog.
We can simply stop without the step-downs necessary with many anti-anxiety medications.
If your dog is a re-homed dog new to your home this can help them settle in faster. If your dog is not fully comfortable with everyone in their home this can help them be a bit more at ease. And, if it doesn’t work for your dog we can simply stop without the step-downs necessary with many anti-anxiety medications.
For our part, at home we plug in the D.A.P. diffuser. Porthos is a pretty anxious dog and when he’s stressed it affects his diabetes so it is just a precaution to keep him on an even keel.
D.A.P.’s not meant to address out-of-control anxiety issues and like psycho-pharmaceuticals it needs to be used in conjunction with behavior modification. So, if you’ve got a dog that exhibits low-level, occasional fears and anxiety related issues you might want to give a D.A.P. diffuser or D.A.P. collar more than just a look while you are contacting a behavioral professional.
It can be in candy, gum (a lot of gum), chewable vitamins, supplements, peanut butter, substitutes for sugar, and even sold in a container that looks like honey as a honey substitute.
Read every one of the ingredients in the products you have around the house AND especially items you will be giving you dog.
Remember ingredients are listed in descending order by weight. In other words – biggest first. Xylitol is very high on the list for this product.
Preventive Vet’s article “My Dog Ate Xylitol,” includes some of these warnings:
Dogs rapidly and almost completely absorb xylitol.
Ingestion of greater than 0.1g/kg can result in hypoglycemia (low blood sugar)…greater than 0.5 g/kg may result in acute liver failure.
Xylitol can cause low blood sugar within thirty minutes after ingestion… but may not show initial symptoms for twelve hours…
Preventive Vet, Dr. Beth Turner
Twelve hours is a long time to wait for symptoms to appear for a poison that acts this quickly.
VCA Animal Hospitals article “Xylitol Poisoning in Dogs,” includes some of these warnings:
The most common source of xylitol poisoning that Pet Poison Helpline gets calls about comes from sugar-free gum, although cases of xylitol poisoning from other sources such as supplements and baked goods are on the rise. In 2020, Pet Poison Helpline had 5,846 calls involving dogs ingesting xylitol!
VCA Animal Hospitals, Dr,’s Renee Schmid and Ahna Brutlag
Xylitol is too dangerous, too quickly toxic, and too easy to miss.
Then… research online ahead of time so you know who to call if you suspect your dog has ingested xylitol. Don’t wait until time is running out.
Here is the website and phone number (888) 426-4435) for the ASPCA Poison Control. There may be a charge.
The toxicity of chocolate is relative to the size of your dog and the type and amount of chocolate ingested.
Because it’s Valentine’s Day, I thought it might be good to remind everyone that chocolate is not safe for dogs.
PetMD has a great calculator to help you determine when it is time to get your dog to the veterinarian if your dog has had some chocolate. The toxicity of chocolate is relative to the size of your dog and the type and amount of chocolate ingested.
For example my favorite candies are Reese’s Dark Chocolate Mini Peanut Butter cups. I did a little science experiment on them and one of these candies has about 1/4 oz of dark chocolate.
My dog Pinball is about 35 pounds. Like so many dogs he loves peanut butter and will not be bothered by the fact that there are wrappers and even some dark chocolate to get through in order to find the coveted peanut butter.
Based on the PetMD chocolate calculator, if Pinball got one of these candies, I would not have to worry. I would watch him closely because at his weight with the amount of dark chocolate in one small dark chocolate peanut butter cup, there would be no symptoms expected. But, because every body is a little different, I would keep an eye on him, AND make sure he got NO MORE.
By the way, it is the compound theobromine that is the culprit here. Theobromine can also be found in things other than chocolate. A few of them are: tea, coffee, cola products, acai berries, coco mulch for the yard, and probably others.
If Pinball were to get 1 oz of baker’s chocolate, I would call the poison control hotline if my veterinarian were not available, and probably take him in to see the veterinarian or emergency veterinarian right away.
There are a number of pet poison hotlines, some charge a fee, and others don’t. Look online to see what works best for you, and here are a couple:
– ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center
For Pinball’s 1 oz of baker’s chocolate, mild to moderate symptoms would be:
2 oz of baker’s chocolate would cause moderate to severe symptoms:
3 oz of bakers chocolate would cause severe symptoms:
When we compare this to 3 oz of milk chocolate which would be expected to cause mild to no symptoms, it is dramatic the difference the type of chocolate can make in terms of toxicity – so – Remember if you have to call the veterinarian, he or she will need to know:
– Dog’s weight,
– Amount of chocolate,
– What type of chocolate
In short – no chocolate is good for your dog, but the darker the chocolate the less your dog will need to ingest to become very sick and potentially lose their lives to a simple piece of candy.
On Valentine’s Day, show your dog you love him or her with a great wild walk in the snow for those of you in the north, 
or a peanut butter kong, or both. But keep your chocolate up and away.
And for those of you with young kids, send the dog out of the room until the kids are done with their chocolate – save everyone the anguish and let your kids enjoy their treat without worry.
This cooperative care workshop starting April 11, 2026 is for anyone who wants to help their dog tolerate and even enjoy the kind of physical care that often makes dogs uncomfortable and even aggressive. IAABC outlines cooperative care in this article.
We care for our dogs to keep them happy and healthy. Sometimes they don’t tolerate that care easily or comfortably. We can help them be more at ease with this care.
Pax’e stands calmly waiting for her treat while I wash the muck from her feet. No restraint and no struggle!
You can enroll in the cooperative care workshop to prevent your dog from developing handling issues, or you can enroll to fix handling issues your dog has (see limitations below).
This cooperative care workshop will teach you how to desensitize and counter condition your dog to accept and be comfortable with non-preferred body handling activities. These can be –
Yes – you might see the bucket game in this class. Thanks Chirag!
Enrollment is limited to the following:
The workshop fee is $280 for dog/handler teams and $250 for human-only auditors.
This class meets for an hour and attendees will bring their own supplies.
For more information or to enroll click these links.
