In life and in D&D, Goodberries won’t solve all the challenges in front of you.
What they will do is give you a small dose of practical help, enough to keep you moving forward on whatever quests and adventures you and your companions pursue.
Goodberry
1st-level transmutation
The spell creates up to ten berries imbued with magic — each one heals 1 hit point when eaten, and a single berry is enough to sustain a creature for a day. They last 24 hours before losing their potency.
Vet Visit Prep
For a lot of dogs, the vet is one of the most stressful environments they encounter. It’s an unavoidable stressor in their lives, and as much agency as you want to give your dog in their life, vet visits are truly “no choice” moments for all of us. The good news is that you can make vet visits much more palatable by practicing simple things at home and setting up your visit for success.
Why vet visits are hard
Vet offices are a lot to process — unfamiliar smells, sounds, surfaces, handling from strangers, and usually some amount of discomfort, depending on how sensitive they are and why they are there. Most dog’s aren’t truly bad at the vet, they’re overwhelmed and feeling shut down, defensive, or frightened. When we understand it that way, the goal shifts from getting through the visit to building a dog who can actually cope with it.
Things you can practice at home:
Handling exercises: touching ears, paws, mouth, belly — pairing each with something good
Getting on and off different surfaces (scales, exam tables, ramps)
Short car trips that don't end at the vet
Practice visits: stopping in just to get weighed or say hi (and eat treats!), then leaving
Start earlier than you think you need to.
A dog who has never practiced being handled is harder to prep right before a procedure - things are inevitably about to get scary for them. Now is the right time to practice these things with your pet.
At the appointment:
Do something with your dog! Timing doesn’t always make this possible, but try to arrange visits after your dog has gotten to do something they truly enjoy - a game of fetch, a lengthy sniff walk, or just a good nap on the couch with their favorite human. Bring them fulfilled.
Bring high-value food your dog hasn’t had recently (double check they aren’t having a procedure where fasting is required!)
If your dog will amp up in the waiting area, ask to wait in your car or in an exam room
Play games with your dog in the exam room while you wait for your tech and/or veterinarian
Let them know - keep your vet team posted about things you know your dog does or doesn’t like so they can adjust their approach.
Worth bringing up with your vet: If your dog is genuinely distressed at appointments — not just a little nervous, but struggling to cope — medication for vet visits is a real and underused option. A lot of dogs do much better with pre-visit support, and it can make a meaningful difference in what's possible during an exam. It's a reasonable thing to ask about.
Build a dog who can handle it
If your dog has a hard time at the vet, or you're prepping for something specific coming up, a Guidance consult call is a good place to start - we'll build a realistic plan based on where your dog actually is.
If you’d like to learn more about cooperative care for low stress husbandry, handling, and vet care, subscribe to my newsletter below to be the first to know when Aid and Armor, my self-led cooperative care series, is being released.
Activity Restriction
Whether your dog is recovering from surgery, an injury, or just needs to slow down, crate rest and activity restrictions are hard on everyone. Here’s how to make it more manageable.
Why dogs struggle with restriction
Dogs who are used to moving freely have a harder time settling when suddenly confined. This isn't a behavior problem — it's a mismatch between what their body is used to and what's being asked. Some dogs also experience frustration, anxiety, or redirected energy as pain-related behavior. Managing the mental side of recovery is just as important as managing the physical side. Fortunately, most dogs can lean on higher mental engagement, problem solving, and skill building as energy burners for a short time during lower activity.
Low Impact Mental Activities:
Lick mats and food stuffed chews, scatter feeding and foraging for meals
Calm sniff sessions in a low stimulation area
Nosework - searching for hidden treats using scent, not movement
Shaping and problem solving- challenging your dog to use their whole brain
About Nosework specifically:
Scent work is one of the best tools for crate rest dogs. It's mentally exhausting in a good way, keeps the dog engaged without physical strain, and builds a calm, focused working relationship with their handler. Many dogs find it genuinely settling and it’s something I found myself recommending so often, I went ahead and got myself certified to teach it!
Helping your dog settle in the crate:
If your dog isn't used to the crate, or has started resisting it during recovery, a few things that help:
Feed all meals in or near the crate during restriction
Cover it to reduce visual stimulation (if your dog is comfortable with that) - you also may find that white noise or a podcast/audio book can help them cope with FOMO
Use a consistent wind-down routine before crating — a lick mat, then the crate, then a quiet settle
Avoid making a big deal of departures and returns
Worth bringing up with your vet: If your dog is struggling to settle, seems distressed, or has had a significant change in behavior since their injury or procedure, that's worth a conversation. Pain and anxiety during recovery are underreported and treatable — your vet can help figure out what's driving it and whether medication makes sense.
Support through recovery:
If your dog is struggling behaviorally during crate rest, or you want to get a nosework practice started during restriction, there are a few ways to work together — from one on one training and guidance, to an enrichment and fulfillment membership with a library of things to try with your pet, to ongoing Nosework classes and community.
Leash Pulling
One of the most common complaints, and one of the most fixable…but only once you understand what’s driving it.
Why dogs pull
Dogs pull because it works. Forward movement is reinforcing, and most dogs have spent years learning that pulling gets them where they want to go. It's not defiance or dominance, just a very well-practiced habit. Walking politely on leash, on the other hand, is a genuinely boring activity for most of our dogs. Changing it means teaching the dog that staying near you (or not pulling) also predicts good things.
What actually helps:
Staying consistent - reward frequently when your dog is near you, especially starting out. Stop when the leash goes tight and only restart if they are able to keep the leash loose
Keeping walks varied. Neighborhood walks or walks where your dog wants to pull should be in the minority of the adventures you take them on. Opportunities to run, hike, sniff, and explore should far exceed the polite, close lap around the block.
Meeting their needs. A dog who is amped up and full of energy is not going to have their brain turned on well enough to walk politely. The walk comes after the exercise - it’s not the exercise itself.
Practicing where distraction is low. This may mean some boring walks for you for a while. Think low traffic parking lots, circles around the nearby school sports field. Back and forth in front of your house.
If you’re not seeing improvement:
Persistent pulling sometimes has more going on underneath — high arousal, reactivity, anxiety about the environment, or just a long reinforcement history that needs a more systematic approach. If you're not seeing progress, it's worth getting an outside eye on it.
Make walks actually enjoyable
If walks are a daily struggle, a Guidance call can help you figure out where the breakdown is and what a realistic training plan looks like for your dog. For structured support and enrichment, Skill Tree membership focuses on building your relationship and fulfilling your dog’s needs first, then layering manners on second.
New Puppy
The first few months shape a lot. Here's what's worth focusing on early — and what can wait.
What matters most right now
There is SO much puppy advice out there, and a lot of it is about managing behavior rather than building a relationship. Management is vitally important for curious puppies and boundary-testing adolescents, but the things that matter most are how the two of you connect. That means focusing on:
Socialization: Safe, positive exposure to people, animals, environments, sounds, surfaces, and handling- ideally before 16 weeks.
Handling and restraint practice, teaching your puppy that touch predicts good things.
Calmness and neutrality - and permission to go nuts. Dogs don’t always come pre-programmed with an off switch, and even the ones that do can struggle to find it when they’re excited. Practice getting amped and then calming down alongside them.
Your own consistency. Puppies learn fast what actually works to get them what they want. Sometimes that’s what you meant them to learn, and frequently it’s the exact opposite. Make sure they are learning what you intend to teach.
Common early mistakes:
Waiting until bad behaviors appear to start training
Letting puppies practice behaviors that you won’t want when they’re bigger and stronger (jumping, biting)
Skipping socialization out of vaccination concerns - ask your vet about safe options, review the AVSAB position statement on puppy socialization, and if needed consult a trainer for alternative approaches that feel safe to you.
Overcorrecting normal puppy behavior rather than redirecting it.
What can actually wait:
You’ll notice there aren’t a lot of cues listed above, or in the videos below. Building specific behaviors based on what you’re asking for verbally or with your body (like “sit” “down” “shake”) can be great mental exercise and a good way to bond, but their precision here isn’t urgent. Relationship, engagement, confidence, and the ability to settle will give you a strong foundation to build on as they grow.
Start on solid footing
A Guidance consult call early in puppyhood is one of the highest-leverage things you can do. We'll figure out what your specific puppy needs and where to focus your energy. If you’re in need of ideas but don’t need custom planning, Skill Tree enrichment membership focuses on all things communication and relationship building - a great low pressure way to start your training journey together.
A Teen Terror
You got a puppy, did everything right, and now you have a completely different dog. Congratulations - you've made it to adolescence.
What happened to my wonderful puppy?
Adolescence is a real neurological event, not a personality defect. Dogs go through a period beginning around 5-6 months of age, and ending around 2 years (or even up to 3 years, depending on the dog) where the impulse control and arousal regulation they were starting to develop goes offline while their brain rewires itself. The cues they knew, the focus they were building, the relationship you were establishing: it's all still in there. They just temporarily can't access it as reliably. What you're seeing isn't regression, it's reorganization.
Think of yourself as a teenager - all the physical capability in the world, all the hormones imaginable, and absolutely none of the developed prefrontal cortex. It’s a rough time.
What makes this stage hard:
The gap between what they know and what they can do in the moment gets wide. They’re not intentionally ignoring you or defying you - their body just has a lot going on right now.
They have real physical needs now. An adolescent dog who isn't getting enough outlets will find their own. Their energy needs will never be greater than they are right now.
Their opinions are forming. Things that didn't bother them as a puppy might bother them now. Reactivity, resource guarding, and social selectivity often first appear here. Even if they did as a puppy, they may not like every dog they meet. Think again of Kindergarteners versus Highschoolers.
They're big enough that the behaviors you let slide when they were small are now a problem.
What will help (other than knowing it will end):
Lower your expectations for precision, raise your expectations for management. This is not the time to test the skills you've been building. It’s the time to protect them when our dog’s capacity isn’t there.
Outlets come first. Sniff walks, running, play with appropriate dogs, Nosework — whatever genuinely tires this dog out. Manners come after the needs are met. This is always true, but a million times more true with a teenager.
Keep training sessions short and easy. End on a win. You're maintaining the relationship, not pushing the curriculum. The ideal training session is <5 minutes.
Notice what's changing. Adolescence is when you start to really see who your dog is. What makes them light up? What genuinely worries them?
When to get help:
If you're seeing new aggression, significant fear responses, or behavior that feels genuinely unsafe, don't wait it out. Adolescence can be when underlying issues surface for the first time, and early support is a lot easier than addressing something that's had months to practice. Even things that may start out as a phase can become habitual here- if you’re not sure, check in!
Surviving adolescence together
Adolescence is the stage where a lot of dogs get rehomed, and a lot of handlers lose confidence. A Guidance consult call can help you figure out what's normal, what needs attention, and how to get through this stretch without torching the relationship you've built. Skill Tree membership is also a good fit here — low-pressure, relationship-first, with enough variety to keep an adolescent brain engaged.
New Adult Dog
Adult dogs don’t get enough credit or attention. They’re often misunderstood in the first few months following arriving in their new home - here’s what might be going on.
The 3-3-3 Framework
You may have heard that dogs take about 3 days to decompress, 3 weeks to learn the routine, and 3 months to feel at home. The timeline varies, but the underlying idea holds: the dog you see in the first weeks is not the dog you're getting. A lot of behavior in that window is normal adjustment, not a permanent personality trait. That behavior might look like extra anxiety, frustration, or testing limits. That behavior might also look like a model citizen- shut down and suppressed into their best behavior. What emerges over the next few months with your pup might look like slow and steady evening out, or the sudden release of the beast! Both are normal, both can benefit from help - and neither predict problems on their own.
What helps during transition:
Predictable routine - same schedule, same rules, same people. As their circle gets bigger, help them by introducing new people, dogs, environments in predictable ways every time.
Less pressure, not more. You’ve got time - this is a period of time where management shines. Prevent the behaviors you don’t want to see and try not to stress about bonding or training yet.
Give them ways to succeed early. Note the things they like, and provide reinforcement for the behaviors and choices you like.
Watch how they communicate: what are their stress signals? What do they gravitate towards?
Adult dogs can absolutely learn new things. Like humans, dogs are lifelong learners. The “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks” idea is just wrong. What adults are bringing to the table is a longer learning history. The habits they have are more ingrained. The opinions they’ve come to have settled. What comes quickly to a puppy may be more challenging for them. It’s not impossible: it’s just relatable.
When to get help:
If you're seeing aggression, significant anxiety, reactivity, or resource guarding — especially in the first few weeks — get support sooner rather than later. Early intervention is easier than undoing a pattern that's had time to establish.
Figure out who you’re working with
Every adult dog brings a different history. A Guidance consult call is a good way to get a clear read on your dog, understand what you're actually dealing with, and build a plan that fits.
Cast Guidance: Book a Consultation
You can learn more about Guidance consultation calls and my one-on-one programs here.