What is Fear Free and how does it apply to being a pet sitter or dog walker? Mikkel Becker, from Fear Free and Fear Free Happy Homes, discusses how following the Fear Free philosophy impacts our ability to build trust with the pets in our care. It not only makes our job easier, but also sets up the pet and owner for success. Mikkel shares how fear manifests itself in dogs and cats, and what we can do to help them in those moments. You may encounter client's who don't see eye to eye on these methods, and we discuss ways to talk through Fear Free with them.

Topics on this episode:

• What is Fear Free?
• How do you define 'fear'?
• Preparing before you walk through the door
• Communicating with clients
• Overcoming our own bad habits

Main take away: Going 'Fear Free' means acknowledging that pets have emotional needs that must be addressed in addition to their physical needs.

About our guest:

Mikkel Becker is the lead animal trainer for Fear Free Pets. She specializes in reward based training and behavior modification with dogs, cats and occasional other species, including horses, pigs and orangutans.

Mikkel is a Karen Pryor Certified Training Partner (KPA CTP), a graduate of the rigorous San Francisco SPCA Dog Training Academy with Jean Donaldson with a certificate in training and counseling (CTC), a Certified Behavior Consultant Canine (CBCC-KA), a Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT-KA) and a Certified Dog Behavior Counselor (CDBC). Mikkel also majored in communications and minored in sociology at Washington State University.

Mikkel is regularly featured in publications that include USA Today, today.com, Woman's Day, Real Simple and a nationally syndicated newspaper pet column. She was the resident trainer at vetstreet.com and now is the lead animal trainer at fearfreehappyhomes.com and fearfreepets.com Mikkel has coauthored six books, including the most recent release, From Fearful to Fear Free.

Mikkel lives in Spokane, WA with her daughter, Reagan and the love of her life- a Puggle named Indiana Bones. The rest of the critter crew includes an adorably naughty rescue pug mix, Otis, a rescued stray cat- Mylo, and a cuddly, teddy bear of a horse, Chili.

Links:

10% off the Fear Free Pet Sitter Certification Program with promo code PSC10.

Fear Free: https://fearfreepets.com

Fear Free Happy Homes: https://www.fearfreehappyhomes.com

Mikkel on Facebook: Facebook.com/Mikkelbecker

Instagram: Instagram.com/Mikkelbecker

Her email: [email protected]

Give us a call! (636) 364-8260

Follow us on: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter

Email us at: [email protected]

Full show notes and transcript

Sponsored By:

• Pet Perennials Promo Code: Use 'PSC' when registering for a $2 off coupon on any purchases in the 1st 90 days
• Time to Pet Promo Code: 50% off first 3 months

Support Pet Sitter Confessional