The Companion Coach

The Companion Coach The Companion Coach was created with one goal in mind: to help humans and their furbest friends communicate better

That quote “to be loved is to be seen” really hits me in the feels as a fellow weirdo who just wants to be seen for who ...
12/02/2025

That quote “to be loved is to be seen” really hits me in the feels as a fellow weirdo who just wants to be seen for who she is and loved for that exact reason. I thought it was the perfect quote to include for our dogs as well.

Dogs don’t try to change who we are. They love us for us. And while humans often want to shape behaviours and teach dogs how to navigate our world, I’m a firm believer in honoring our dogs’ personalities. After all, we were drawn to them for a reason.

I hope you enjoy these reflective thoughts on this snowy Tuesday. I’d love to hear what little rituals or moments you share with your dog. Feel free to share in the comments, save this post, or follow for more kindness for humans and dogs alike.

12/02/2025

Tip Tuesday! Capturing Behaviour :)

Capturing your dog’s behaviour is one of the easiest ways to train without added stress. All you need is your eyes, some treats or praise, and a bit of observation.

Let’s say your dog is lying quietly near you and you both hear a noise outside. Their ears activate. You activate your eyes and notice what your dog does.
Maybe they turn their head and look at you.
Maybe their ears perk up.
Maybe you get a couple seconds of quiet before the barking starts.

You’re annoyed with your dog’s barking and wish they wouldn’t alert bark at every little thing. Enter capturing. That little moment of quiet? That’s your passive training window.

You hear the noise, you notice the quiet, and you implement something called SMART training — See, Mark, and Reward Training (shoutout to Kathy Sdao!).

The behaviour chain is simple:
noise → dog is alert and quiet → you mark and reward the quiet.
“OMG yes good puppy! Great quiet!”

This helps you notice all the small things your dog does “right,” and it helps your dog understand that some of their calmer choices pay off with praise and treats.

Simple, gentle, effective.

Happy Training!

11/29/2025

Christmas time! 🎄🎅🐶

Decided to take a whack at this vlogging thing today lol, so hopefully you enjoy.

My husband will be taking care of the cords and such. I was getting frustrated 😂

I’d describe myself as a minimalist, which is why there’s a little tree. I’d also like to get more lights and get the window lights working again 😊❤️🐾

11/28/2025

Read any marketing book or tips and tricks, and it’ll tell you to profit by hitting people’s pain points. And listen… I get it. Humans respond to that. I do it too. Basic psychology.

But sometimes it’s just too much. That’s when you have to turn off the noise and look at the dog in front of you.

If you look at my page, you’ll notice I talk a lot about balanced training and am biased toward positive, food-based methods—because I’ve seen how effective they are, both for behaviour changes and for keeping the relationship intact.

At the end of the day, the bond comes first. Without it, effective training just won’t happen.

So it’s very important to sometimes turn your ears off to the marketing. Stressing over every little detail? That will just drive you insane.

11/24/2025

Are you even a dog trainer if you don’t practice on your own dog sometimes?

Please enjoy this little reenactment of what my prep looks like from time to time.

Positive reinforcement has more moving parts than just feeding a dog — timing is a big one. And I’m human, which means sometimes I’m a bit slow and need the reps too.

Dog trainers also live with dogs who may or may not have the same behaviour goals as your dog (which is completely fine — I’m here to help, not judge). But that doesn’t stop me from practicing my timing, my language, and the protocols so I can show up as the best trainer for my clients.

Private personalized sessions are available in-person or virtually. Comment your dog’s name to start the conversation — DM’s are open and links are in my bio :)

11/12/2025

Dude, why are we getting physical trying to show an animal we have more power? I’m pretty sure everyone — aka the dog — already knows the power dynamics between humans and dogs.

Honestly, if another animal walked up to me, towered over me, alpha-rolled me, and yelled in my face because I didn’t listen the first time… I know the judgment I’d feel. That’s me thinking from a human perspective, not a dog’s. But it’s safe to say: dogs trust us less the more force we use.

You’re also setting your dog up to use their mouth to defend themselves — which, really, why?

How you speak and act around your dog actually gives me insight into your relationship — and ultimately, how you feel about yourself.

Patricia McConnell said it best in her book The Other End of the Leash — which inspired this reel:

“Any individual who truly has a lot of social status has enough power that he or she doesn’t need to use force. You could argue that force actually reflects the absence of real power, because if you have pure power, you don’t need force.”

🐾❤️

11/10/2025

Learning our dogs’ body language and communication is like learning a second language. I observe dogs every day and I’m still learning from them years later.

Tail, mouth, ears, eyes, teeth, where they lean their body — each tells a story on its own, and together they paint the full picture.

And then there’s context…

Why was Cosmo’s tail tucked even while she was having fun playing with Blue?
Why did the young puppies stay on their feet, but the adult dog with the stick rolled over?

We share videos of our dogs and instantly get comments, assumptions, even accusations. While there’s a general consensus on body language, every dog also has their own unique patterns.

Here’s a secret: I don’t always get it right as a trainer either. But what matters is staying curious, open, and willing to adjust our observations and trying really hard not to project our human thoughts and feelings onto them. (I have to watch my language too.)

Anyways… let’s nerd out about tails 🐾

Isn’t it interesting the people you meet because you have a dog?Let me explain.I walk Ellie in my neighbourhood, and bec...
11/07/2025

Isn’t it interesting the people you meet because you have a dog?

Let me explain.

I walk Ellie in my neighbourhood, and because of her, I end up chatting with people I probably never would’ve spoken to otherwise. Sometimes it’s just a smile or a quick “She’s so cute!” Other times, it turns into full conversations or even friendships.

It’s interesting when you think about it — dogs really do become our social bridge.

They bring people together. Small talk? Let’s just gush about our dogs. The awkwardness of approaching someone? Dogs soften that and create a common ground where there wouldn’t have been any.

I was literally making dinner tonight and thinking about all the conversations I’ve had with people from all walks of life. Some of those chats turned into sharing memes (one of my favourite pastimes), and it’s all because we bonded over our dogs. Without that shared connection, I’m not sure I’d talk to the people in my community as much as I do (I’m introverted, lol — it’s hard).

Anyways, this is my mushy post on how much I love dogs. 🥺

The Window of Tolerance (as we see in the first slide) was created for humans by Dr. Dan Siegel — but did you know we ca...
11/05/2025

The Window of Tolerance (as we see in the first slide) was created for humans by Dr. Dan Siegel — but did you know we can adapt this concept to dogs too?

Our dogs’ window of tolerance is very similar to ours. When both humans and dogs feel safe enough to learn, explore, and engage, they can respond to cues, process their environment, and recover from mild stress. Within this window, we stay calm, connected, and able to think clearly.

Slide 2 explains the window of tolerance from a dog’s perspective.
Slides 3 and 4 go deeper into body language — exploring hyperarousal and hypoarousal, what you might see, and why it happens.

It’s important to note that hyperarousal can occur from both excitement and stress. Understanding a dog’s emotional driver and context is key.

A dog who’s jumping up, barking, spinning, or lunging may look happy or playful — but they’re still over threshold. Whether it’s excitement, frustration, anticipation, or fear, their arousal level is simply too high to think clearly or self-regulate.

Slide 5 is my call to action — work with me! Comment your dog’s name, send me a DM, or visit the link in my bio. Talk soon 🐾

Ellie says she’s too old for Halloween shenanigans this year. All she needs is a good book, some treats, and her melaton...
10/31/2025

Ellie says she’s too old for Halloween shenanigans this year. All she needs is a good book, some treats, and her melatonin. 😉

(No melatonin was consumed by Ellie. Prop use only.)

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