HELP! My Puppy is JUMPING!

How cute are puppies? And let’s be honest, we love that they love us, and want to see us, and want to see our friends and family. But, when that comes with jumping, it gets less adorable as they grow older, and bigger. But we have to acknowledge why your puppy is jumping. They areContinue reading “HELP! My Puppy is JUMPING!”

HELP! My Puppy is PULLING!

Let’s be honest, when puppies are little leash manners are not always a priority. They are small, it doesn’t hurt that much when they tug, they are easy to control and who wants to distract them when they need to pee. But, the fact is puppies do not come knowing how to walk on leash,Continue reading “HELP! My Puppy is PULLING!”

HELP! My Puppy is BITING!

The worst part of puppy hood is the little needle sharp teeth. I cannot wait for them to fall out and for their adult teeth to come in – except during that transition the puppies become little baby sharks who are seemingly out for blood. It is so frustrating. But for puppies, the biting isContinue reading “HELP! My Puppy is BITING!”

HELP! My Puppy is CHEWING!

I am going to let you in on a little secret – puppies chew, a lot. It helps with teething, it soothes them, it entertains them, it is a part of puppy development. The way human children explore their environment by sticking their hands in everything, puppies explore their environment by putting things in theirContinue reading “HELP! My Puppy is CHEWING!”

Relaxed or Hostage?

I recently saw a video of a trainer teaching relaxation, the dog was tethered to the ground, muzzled, and in both a prong and shock collar. The dog was trembling, any experienced dog person would recognize the tenseness, the stressed eyes, the trembling – it was the farthest thing from relaxed. Was the dog down? Yes. But was it relaxed? No.

Giving Thanks for a Prepared Dog

Thanksgiving is coming – it is my favorite holiday! Mainly because of the stuffing, but also because we get to gather with family, friends, and relax and enjoy some great food. Thanksgiving for the dogs can be tricky for the same reasons though: lots of temptation and not a lot of supervision, and sometimes wellContinue reading “Giving Thanks for a Prepared Dog”

Preparing for Halloween and Dogs

I love Halloween! I currently live in the country and no longer get trick or treaters and I miss it, I love seeing the costumes and talking to the kids and prepping fun things to hand out (pencils, slime, candy, etc!). When I lived in Albany it used to be a steady stream of kidsContinue reading “Preparing for Halloween and Dogs”

“But e-collars aren’t shock collars!”

Petco announced they would no longer sell remote shock collars, a huge step forward for the dog training industry, and I join the many voices applauding that change and their #StopTheShock Movement. You can read more about it here. But as I read the posts what is jumping out is the amount of people inContinue reading ““But e-collars aren’t shock collars!””

Socialization and Social Distancing

With puppy classes on hold, and people practicing social distancing I have had a few clients reach out and ask what they can do to keep their puppy socialized, and to expose them to new things. I did my best to put together some things to do, this is not a definitive list, it isContinue reading “Socialization and Social Distancing”

Daisie!

Daisie came into our lives when her life turned upside down, and we were happy to have a spot for her.  Daisie arrived a little stressed and unsure, which translated into an easily excitable dog, which meant there were lots and lots of walks that first day helping her burn some of that excitement off. Continue reading “Daisie!”