Author Archives: astoffel

Patriot is helping me demonstrate how to ask for more eye contact from your dog. This is a great skill to have that can translate into so many other areas of your training. You want your dog to focus on you, so start them young if you can and teach them that giving you their attention will earn them a reward! This is a great exercise to work on with your puppy to encourage themContinue reading “Puppy Training: teaching eye contact”

Puppy training takes patience, so I love that I captured this moment in Patriot’s training that was all about waiting for him to problem solve. In this video you’ll see a really cool learning moment in Patriot’s training. He knows place, and he knows down. So now we’re pairing them together, the end goal being that he will get on place and down automatically. So we start by telling him “Place, down, break. Place, down,Continue reading “Puppy Training: Teaching a puppy to down on place automatically”

Ren is a sweet girl that LOVES people and thinks that everyone is here for her. That gets her into the wrong mindset and leads to her jumping on people, breaking command, and pulling on the leash. We need to work through that so that she can be exposed to new environments and people, but still be respectful of their space and the rules we have in place.

Let’s talk about this incredibly simple but useful tool. Don’t have one? We’ll show you how to make one in a pinch so that you can safely leash your dog anytime, anywhere.

We hope you’ll never need this, but it’s always better to be prepared. Do you have plans in place for your pet in case you become ill? Check out this article from DCHS for what you’ll need (and what we as boarders need) to keep your dog safe, healthy, and happy. “The most important thing you can do today is come up with two potential pet plans and talk directly with those people so they’reContinue reading “Planning for your pet during COVID”

Do you have a dog-shaped shadow? You know, a dog that follows you all over the house, into the bathroom, so close that you trip over him when you turn around? Some people think it’s cute. I hope that I can change their minds. Sometimes your dog follows you because you’re being silly and he wants to play. Sometimes he follows you because you have his favorite toy or snack. Sometimes he follows you becauseContinue reading “Do you have a dog-shaped shadow?”

“I’m not opposed to using training tools. I just never felt confident enough to try them on my own.” We love when our clients see the value in training tools, even if they don’t know how to use them yet. Tools are a great way to communicate with your dog, to guide your dog, to create a bond and trust that will eventually lead to off-leash freedom. But you do need to spend the timeContinue reading “Training tools”

Copper turns 7(ish) today! He came into our lives five years ago today, and little did I know how unprepared I was to help him. He had separation anxiety, couldn’t walk on a leash, didn’t know how to socialize with other dogs, hated cats, couldn’t be left alone, wasn’t house trained… Our first year together was very difficult as I realized that loving a dog wasn’t enough to give him the life that he deserved.Continue reading “Happy birthday, Copper!”