Northern Virginia-based certified canine separation anxiety trainer and honors graduate of Jean Donaldson's prestigious Academy for Dog Trainers, Tracy Krulik, CTC, CSAT is the founder and managing editor of iSpeakDog--a website and public awareness campaign to teach dog body language and behavior. Krulik trains dogs with separation anxiety for the Humane Rescue Alliance in Washington, D.C., and she is rapidly becoming the leading separation anxiety specialist in the D.C. area. Her writing can be found in publications including The Bark magazine, The Washington Post, and The Chronicle of the Dog.
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Krulik was a 2017 finalist for woman of the year through the Women in the Pet Industry Network, as well as a finalist in the 2017 Dog Writers Association of America competition for her website, ispeakdog.org, and her Bark Magazine article "Eager to Please." She is honored to be included in Companion Animal Psychology's Pet People to Follow in 2018.
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Krulik is an advocate for force-free dog training and loves helping fearful dogs discover confidence and joy--just as she did for her once "fraidy" pup, Emma the Beagle, who overcame her own battle with separation anxiety.
She is represented by the Allen O'Shea Literary Agency. |
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Training Philosophy
Like the words "there, their, and they're," mean different things but sound the same, so do different dog behaviors.
Sometimes dogs growl to say, "Back off!" -- they're scared, and they are asking someone or something to give them space. Other times they growl when they're playing and having fun.
Sometimes dogs growl to say, "Back off!" -- they're scared, and they are asking someone or something to give them space. Other times they growl when they're playing and having fun.
Sometimes dogs chew things because they are... well... dogs, and dogs enjoy chewing things. Other times dogs chew stuff like door frames when they have been left home alone and they are terrified. Sometimes dogs pull on-leash to get somewhere fun as quickly as possible. Other times they pull on-leash to escape something scary.
Why does this matter? Well, we use different training techniques depending on the dog's emotional state. If, for example, a dog is chewing the doorframe and having accidents on the rug because she is scared to be left home alone, we need to address the underlying anxiety in order to change the behavior. Once she feels safe, the chewing and accidents can go away.
This is the heart of my training philosophy.
I sleuth out the dog's emotional state to determine which force-free training method will work best to keep dogs happy, fix behavior problems, and help dogs feel better about things that might scare them.
Visit iSpeakDog to learn more.
Why does this matter? Well, we use different training techniques depending on the dog's emotional state. If, for example, a dog is chewing the doorframe and having accidents on the rug because she is scared to be left home alone, we need to address the underlying anxiety in order to change the behavior. Once she feels safe, the chewing and accidents can go away.
This is the heart of my training philosophy.
I sleuth out the dog's emotional state to determine which force-free training method will work best to keep dogs happy, fix behavior problems, and help dogs feel better about things that might scare them.
Visit iSpeakDog to learn more.
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Tracy Krulik, CTC, CSAT
tracy@ispeakdog.org
tracy@ispeakdog.org
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