ABOUT FRAN
Passionate About Inspiring Others to Have a Better Relationship with Their Pets.
I love animals, particularly dogs and cats, and have since childhood. Animal behavior, especially canine and feline, has always been of interest to me. It's why I became not just an obedience trainer years ago but dove into the behavior aspect of training with both feet, so to speak, especially after I learned about positive training.
I couldn’t believe the difference it made in my own dogs. After that, I never looked back to the “old” ways, and that’s been over 23 years. Before then, I was a correction/reward trainer with 19 years of hands-on veterinary experience working side-by-side with a large number of veterinarians (especially those interested in behavior) and with all kinds of dogs and cats, particularly those with attitudes. It was those attitudes that really got my attention.
Today, I look at each individual dog and its caregivers, as well as the needs of the family to determine what course to follow to remedy and reshape undesirable behaviors.
But there is an about you in this, as well. Yes, you have to do your part. It’s not just me. You are living with Phydo 24/7. It's you who are giving the right or wrong cues and reinforcements for what your dog is currently doing, good or bad.
There are no shortcuts. Ever. Don't let anyone tell you differently. Suppression is not fixing. There is no kindergarten to college speed method, no grades skipped in the animal world. No prong or shock collar will ever truly "fix" a problem. It merely suppresses the problem, which will erupt some time in the future, even years down the road.
About Our Furry Crew . . .
All of our four-legged friends at home are rescues and members of the family.
FREYA, an abuse/neglect case pulled out of Philly, she came to us as a foster rescue hating her crate, men and brooms as well as the occasional cell phone. Her former owners kept this Border Collie pup very long hours in a crate with no relief. It was no wonder she acted out and hated her kennel. (Freya has several videos on YouTube, some under Freya & Friends, and several "How To" videos. (More coming.)
FRED, seventeen and the mellowest cat I have ever had, he's twenty pounds and has never been impressed by any of our dogs and has been the best cat ever to teach our dogs how to get along with the feline division. (RIP, dear friend)
TARZAN, eight years, was found as a feral kitten and less than four weeks of age. He’s the aloof gentleman of the crowd, and mom’s baby.
CINDERS, aged one year, was dumped in a driveway in West Virginia near a friend's home. Being a dog person, my friend called me, and we now have a new girl in our house. (It's been interesting.)
And then there's ALI CAT . . . found at four days of age and raised with a houseful of dogs, where he was befriended by a large Australian Cattle Dog mix. This boy is truly a handful. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending how you look at it) he was returned at seven months to his foster family. He was just too much cat for them, and I believe it.
As we had just lost our Sprout, we decided, “Sure, we’ll take him." Little did we know what we were getting into, but we do love him. He is now going on three years of age and already has seven videos to his name for you to enjoy. He’s a mischief maker, but his antics are such fun (most of the time). You can check out his videos here.
