What is human canine collaborative?

human canine collaborative (HCCO) is a community of humans and dogs who work together in practice of reciprocity and in pursuit of improved wellbeing and quality of life. HCCO seeks to support humans and dogs in cultivating embodied attunement so that they are able to engage in meaningful activities together, communicate effectively, and mutually flourish.

HCCO offers coaching, consulting, and classes to support healthy communication and meaningful activity engagement between people and dogs. By employing knowledge and skills from occupational therapy, somatic consent, decolonized nonviolent communication, and nervous system regulation, HCCO provides humane, force-free, practical long-term solutions to overcoming behavior challenges, cultivating partnership, and transforming the bond between humans and dogs.

What services do you provide?

Services include:

• 1:1 coaching supports skill building for nervous system regulation, clarity in communication, and collaborative dog-led care.

• consulting focused on educating, supporting, and problem solving with: people interested in adopting an emotional support or assistance dog; health and human service providers who are building animal assisted interventions, and professionals working in the dog care and training industry.

• group classes focused on education and skill development in co-regulation, collaborative care (consent-based interactions) with dogs, and trauma-informed professional practices.

Where do you provide these services?

All services are provided virtually via Zoom, and are available worldwide. Services are also provided in-person, via house calls, in the capital region surrounding Albany, NY.

Virtual services have many benefits, including:

• we focus on your ability to interact with your dog and support you in making adjustments and building skills so you can teach skills to your dog, communicate effectively with your dog and others, and know exactly how to adjust the environment to regulate the nervous system and improve connection with your dog (and with yourself!)

• we can use digital images, videos, and other visual graphics to support your education

• we can record sessions so you have a resource to play back later and share with family members who can’t make the session

• your dog’s behavior will not change during the session just because another person is in your home

• no one needs to drive, cutting back on carbon emissions and saving time

• if you live with a reactive dog, you CAN take a group class to experience community and social support in navigating this transformational process

• increased accessibility for folks living in rural areas

• increased feelings of safety that allow for deeper vulnerability and authenticity because we are each in our own environment and have more control over what we experience

There are also limitations to virtual services, including:

• technical difficulties may disrupt our ability to see and/or hear each other

• other people could potentially hear our conversation if you are not in a private place during the session

• Sharon cannot fully see you, your environment, or your dog to comprehensively assess what is occurring during the session

There are specific situations in which Sharon will NOT work virtually, and will instead conduct an in-home session, including:

• when the human(s) do not feel comfortable interacting with their own dog due to the dog displaying aggression or having bitten,

• the dog’s behavior provides a significant safety concern that cannot be remedied through phone or video consultation

• when the environment cannot be adequately assessed via interview, video calls, or photo/video submissions

• when the dog’s behavior cannot be assessed effectively via interview, standardized or observational assessments, and video/photo submissions

• when lack of access to technology becomes a barrier to accessing support that HCCO can otherwise provide

What are your prices?

Pricing is structured on a sliding scale to ensure that finances are not a barrier to accessing support for your and your dog’s relationship. You can read more here.

How do you accept payment?

HCCO accepts all major credit cards, as well as PayPal, Venmo, Apple Pay, and Cash App. Cash is also accepted for clients local to NYS. All payments are made through the website when purchasing, or alternative arrangements can be made with Sharon directly. All payments must be completed prior to receiving services.

Who are your services for?

HCCO services are for:

• humans who: share HCCO values of reciprocity, community, diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice; have experienced trauma and anxiety; identify as hypersensitive; value force-free, humane, consent-based, trauma-informed interactions with dogs; are recovering people-pleasers; enjoy introspection; want to deepen their lifestyle consent practice; are interested in empowering themselves to speak more clearly; and who desire to preserve the autonomy of others.

• dogs who: have experienced trauma and anxiety, behave with aggression or reactivity, react in big ways to everyday stimulation, work as therapy dogs, emotional support dogs or assistance dogs, and who are yearning for empowerment and full expression of their "dogness".

Humans who will benefit from COACHING or CLASS services include those who:

• live with a dog who behaves with reactivity, anxiety, or aggression

• live with a dog who has experienced trauma

• live with an emotional support dog or assistance dog

• value force-free, humane, consent-based trauma-informed interactions with dogs

• are interested in building skills to cultivate a deeper awareness of themselves and their impact on others

• are interested in preserving their dog’s autonomy and empowering them to be an active partner in their own care

Humans who will benefit from COACHING, CONSULTING, or CLASS services include:

• humans who work professionally with dogs (ie. dog trainers, groomers, dog walkers, veterinarians, animal communicators, and pet sitters)

• health and human service professionals who want to incorporate or enhance animal assisted interventions in their workplace

• humans who work in an office setting and want to incorporate dogs into their workplace

What are the values that inform your work?

HCCO was born out of a recognition that dogs are sentient beings who have gifted humans with many benefits by being in relationship with us. HCCO acknowledges the harms experienced by both humans and dogs as a result of colonization, capitalism, white supremacy, and the many systems of oppression that are upheld by western Eurocentric cis-hetero-normative society.

HCCO rejects the practices of value hierarchies and domination within current canine behavior modification and human mental healthcare systems and actively seeks to create innovative services that are more accessible, inclusive, relational, and effective.

These values include:

• Reciprocity and Community as the foundation for sustainability

• Diversity as an essential characteristic of a healthy ecosystem

• Equity as integral to full participation

• Inclusion as a foundational component of engagement

• Justice and Accountability as ongoing practices leading to forward progress and promotion of healing

HCCO is committed to creating diverse, equitable, and inclusive environments by:

• providing low-cost and sliding scale options for all services

• ongoing self-education about systemic racism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, inclusion, and social justice in formal and informal ways

• developing services that are relevant and accessible to diverse communities

• offering accommodations in ways that are confidential, nonjudgmental, ableist, or othering, and that recognize that accommodations are unique to each individual

• engaging in diversity/equity/inclusion/justice business building with support from colleagues, mentors, and guides

• seeking out partnerships with diverse professionals who share my values for public events and projects

• meeting weekly with an empathy and anti-racism partner to engage in processing grief, education, accountability, and skill building

HCCO is committed to justice and accountability through the following practices:

• establishing ongoing intentional lifestyle practices of consent, trauma recovery, embodiment and attunement cultivation, and relational community building

• implementing a non-tolerance policy within my services for behavior that is racist, homophobic, transphobic, misogynistic, bullying, dominant, punitive, or otherwise hateful or harmful

• including an accountability page on my website to make it easy for people to give feedback and address harm that I have caused

• actively establishing procedures and practices to empower others to say "no" to me (i.e. acknowledging the power dynamic between myself and others, highlighting alternative options, not asking ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions, etc)

What is occupational therapy?

Occupational therapy (OT) is a holistic health profession that supports humans in developing or regaining skills for engagement in daily activities. Occupational therapists utilize engagement in meaningful activities to support habilitation, rehabilitation, and therapeutic transformation. OT is traditionally offered in physical rehabilitation settings, schools, and mental health facilities.

What is somatic consent?

Somatic refers to the physical body. Consent is a lifestyle practice of listening to your body, naming what you feel and need, recognizing the body responses of others, and acknowledging your impact on the world around you. Through learning to practice consent, you will develop a foundational vocabulary and skills to structure your interactions in ways that empower you and others to be fully present, authentic, and able to say “no” to things that do not serve you. To engage in learning more specific to somatic consent with humans, I recommend Mia Schacter and any of these humans.

Here is an example of what consent looks like with a dog:

I want to trim Muggins’s nails. I notice that I feel a little hungry, and Muggins is sleeping on the couch. I am going to eat a snack and wait for Muggins to wake up before I ask them to do this activity.

Ok, now I am fed and ready to interact socially, and Muggins is awake and sitting near me.

I sit down on a mat with the nail clippers and some favorite treats, telling Muggins what I would like to do. My back is to the wall and I am leaning against it, breathing deeply, signaling that there is no rush. If Muggins wants to join me, that would be great. If not, that is fine too.

Muggins lays on the mat in front of me, offering one paw while tucking the other in. They are willing to let me trim the left paw, but not the right. I give them a few treats to get started.

Muggins puts their chin on the mat, next to their paw, signaling that they are ready for me to trim a nail.

I clip one nail and give a treat. Muggins chews it and repeats the chin rest; I trim another nail.

Muggins puts their chin down over their paw, signaling they do not want any more nails trimmed. I say “thank you” and give another treat.

What is decolonized nonviolent communication?

Nonviolent communication (NVC) is a modality that provides structure for communication through building empathy and compassion, developing language for identifying underlying feelings and needs, and recognizing strategies (behaviors) that we use to get our needs met. “A decolonial lens seeks to explore and deconstruct the ways we have internalized messages of scarcity and “other” such that we can re-engage with wildly open-hearted care for one another along with healthy and appropriate boundaries”. Meenadchi is the author of this quote, and the human I recommend if you would like to engage in learning specific to NVC.