Canine Community Corner

22/08/2025

One of the best things to hear from a client?
“This is the first time he’s been this close to another dog in a very long time.” ❤️

This week Winston and Alda started the first ever session of our Calm Canines group class! I love this little group so much, because I have worked with both clients in the past and know how hard they work with their dogs.

Winston (the hairy one) just completed a 3 session private package for reactivity, and has made leaps and bounds over this short period of time! At the end of class, the two got a chance to say hello, and were instant buddies.

The most magical part about this moment was seeing his mom’s face as she told us this was the first time in a long time he was willing and excited to interact with another dog outside of his housemate since being stepped on by a larger dog.

These are the moments I live for - not for the client with the perfectly trained dog, but those who have found relief from the anxiety associated with addressing behaviour challenges. Winston and his mom still has some work to do, but I’m confident they will achieve their goals in no time!

21/08/2025

Fern here with your period reminder that, despite our store name (which he strongly voted against), we also sell a selection of cat products!

Our professional catnip tester was hard at work checking all the Piggy Pantry Sewing Co’s catnip toys, and has confirmed the product is in fact genuine catnip 🐱 what’s even better is that they’re only $5 and hand made locally!

18/08/2025

Ready to bring out the best in your dog?
Whether it's brushing up on foundational life skills or solving frustrating behaviour concerns, Canine Community Corner offers an inclusive educational experience that supports clients on both ends of the leash.
What We Offer:
🐾 Relationship-Based Training
🐾 Flexible Scheduling
🐾 Supportive Learning Environment
🐾 Real World Practice
🐾 Skills that Last a Lifetime
Book your private training session today, and let us help you on your journey towards a happier and healthier home ❤ Sessions are available in your home, online, or at our facility.
📧[email protected]
📸
📫96 Huron Street, New Hamburg, Ontario

18/08/2025

18/08/2025

September is almost here, and the kids aren't the only ones going back to school! Come out and visit us at 96 Huron Street in New Hamburg for our Back to School open house event on September 6th and 7th to learn more about our business and training programs, check out the products we have available in store, get to know our small business vendors, and have a great time with your dog!

We have a ton of fun events planned, including:
- Raffles prizes, with funds going towards our building renovation plans for a sound proof wall
- A presentation about our training programs and why we train the way we do
- Meet and greet with our staff and some of our amazing small business vendors
- Sniffari enrichment station
- Goody bags
- Free informational resources
- Discounts on training programs
- And more!

I will have a Facebook event made for this event soon, so make sure to join for updates on the open house schedule and more information on what to expect.

See you there!

16/08/2025

15/08/2025

Poppy and Winston enjoyed their first Cruise Night ❤️ making lots of new friends and practicing our people skills while enjoying good music and food

Public events are a great opportunity to practice calm, neutral behaviour in exciting areas, as well as socialization around things they may not be as likely to encounter in every day life. There are so many new signs, sounds, and smells, and you’ll end up with a tired dog when you get home!

For my dogs, I used today to work on two different skills. For Win, our focus was being calm and not barking at everyone out of excitement, while Poppy practiced her dog neutrality skills and handler focus. They both did a great job, and we had a great time getting to meet everyone who stopped by to stay hi!

11/08/2025

Ready to bring out the best in your dog?

Whether it's brushing up on foundational life skills or solving frustrating behaviour concerns, Canine Community Corner offers an inclusive educational experience that supports clients on both ends of the leash.

What We Offer:
🐾 Relationship-Based Training
🐾 Flexible Scheduling
🐾 Supportive Learning Environment
🐾 Real World Practice
🐾 Skills that Last a Lifetime

Book your private training session today, and let us help you on your journey towards a happier and healthier home ❤ Sessions are available in your home, online, or at our facility.

📧[email protected]
📸
📫96 Huron Street, New Hamburg, Ontario

11/08/2025

We had a surprise guest today, and Win made his first big boy friend 😂 I always find it funny when we meet a dog that makes my 95lb boy look regular sized!

Zeppelin is the first dog Winston has gotten to meet who not only matches his age and size, but also his play style as well. It can be challenging for dogs who have “rude” play styles to find another dog who will tolerate pushy behaviour, but these two were a weird little match made in heaven 😅 dick licking and all. It was weird, but they both had a great time.

That being said, just because they were a “good fit” doesn’t mean they got a free for all play date. In fact, despite Zep being here all day, the boys only got to play for about 5 minutes. Especially with rude/pushy play, it’s really easy for two young, overly excited dogs to go from best friends to duking it out, meaning they need to be supervised by someone willing to step in before things get out of hand. Add in some breed elements (huskies/shepherds are weirdos and tend to be very intense when playing, and LSGs tend to be independent/more likely to ignore their handler), and unchecked play is an accident waiting to happen. This becomes especially challenging when both dogs are almost 100lbs each, because if they became over tired and started getting snippy with each other, there wouldn’t be much I could do to step in without getting hurt.

The key takeaway: it’s all about balance. As great as it is that Win and Zep found they play time soul mates, it’s more important that they were given an opportunity to learn when to tell that they and the other dog have had enough, and how to make the decision to walk away.

Thanks for a fun day, Zeppelin! We hope to see you soon ❤️

10/08/2025

(Pssst! I know this is a long one, but make sure to read to the bottom for info about prizes!)

If you've been to our storefront, you know that things can sometimes get a little...loud 😅 with so many dogs and people in and out of the building, things can get a little exciting at times. Add to that client dogs who may be experiencing some stress from being away from home while waiting for pick up, and you've basically got yourself the less enjoyable dog version of a rock concert.

To help with reducing noise and improving client/customer experience, we are planning on building a partition wall between the main storefront and the kennel room, and are looking for support with the cost of materials. This project is estimated to cost $1,550, which includes the purchase of wood for framing, drywall, molding, sound proof paneling, and a door. This project will also help with allowing me to keep the store door unlocked while working with daycare/day training, boarding, and grooming clients, as they will be secured in the back grooming space and out of sight of the retail area. As I expand services and (eventually) add staff to my team, this separate space will have endless benefits to our storefront and your experience.

Donations can be sent to us by email at [email protected] or through our GoFundMe link - https://gofund.me/09d85a51
If you are not able to donate, please consider sharing our post to help support this project ❤

As a thank you to anyone who is able to contribute, I will be hosting a raffle for 4 prize packs on October 1st. If you win a prize that doesn't fit your needs, I am also willing to exchange it for something of similar value within reason.

Prize Pack #1 - 6 Session Private Training Package
Includes 6 private training sessions, which can be done in our facility, at your home, online, or in an outdoor public space. Sessions are typically between 45 minutes and an hour long, depending on what we are working on and the needs of your dog. My service area for in-person sessions is anywhere within a half hour of New Hamburg, and I may be able to make accommodations for clients outside of this area depending on distance. Online sessions are accessible worldwide !

Prize Pack #2 - 3 Session Private Training Package
This prize pack includes 3 private training sessions, which can be done in our facility, at your home, online, or in an outdoor public space. Sessions are typically between 45 minutes and an hour long, depending on what we are working on and the needs of your dog. My service area for in-person sessions is anywhere within a half hour of New Hamburg, and I may be able to make accommodations for clients outside of this area depending on distance. Online sessions are accessible worldwide!

Prize Pack #3 - 1 Free Group Class
This prize includes free registration for 1 dog in one of our in-person group classes. This includes the Canine Citizen Jr., Canine Citizen, Reactive Boot Camp series, Calm Canines, or Outdoor Distractions classes. If you win this prize but would benefit more from private sessions, it can be exchanged for a 3 session private package.

Prize Pack #4 - 1 Year of Free Nail Trims
This prize includes free nail trims for 1 household, and is valid for up to 12 months after the day of the draw. Nail trims can be done at your home or in our facility, and are eligible for cats, dogs, rabbits, and other small animals. If you are unsure if your pet would qualify, please send us an email and we can confirm based on the type of nails. Our service area for in-home nail trims is anywhere within a half hour from New Hamburg.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you so much for all the love and support you have shown us over the last 9 months! We are looking forward to all the improvements and growth that the future will bring!If

10/08/2025

✨Dog Socialization Preferences✨

If you’ve followed me for a bit or crept my posts, you’ve probably seen me talk about how dogs - like people - have their own socialization preference. Some dogs want ALL the friends, some want NONE of the friends, and some exist in a weird in between space.

But did you know these preferences can change over time?

Typically, as dogs mature, you will notice that they want to directly interact with other dogs less and less. While your new puppy wants to be everyone’s best friend, there’s a good chance once they hit the senior years they’ll have a preference for calm co-existence or no other dogs at all. Their preferences can also be heavily impacted by their experiences with other dogs. For example, a dog who has an increasing number of negative socialization experiences (e.g something as harmless as being rushed by another friendly dog off leash, up to something as serious as multiple attacks or fights) is most likely going to start disliking interactions with other dogs for obvious reasons. While one or two negative experiences may not have a huge impact, as soon as your dog starts associating other dogs with being unsafe/stressful, their preferences are going to start changing. Breed can sometimes impact this as well, but that’s a more complicated topic for another day. This is why it becomes so important for us to pay close attention to our dog’s behaviour and body language around other dogs. Often times I hear people claim their dog’s preferences change “out of nowhere,” but more often than not there are signs. Subtle signs, but signs nonetheless.

Let me use my dog, Poppy as an example. Despite coming from a home where the other dog attacked her multiple times, when I first got her she absolutely loved every single dog we met. Everyone was her best friend, no matter if they wanted to be or not. The above picture is of her doing one of her favourite things as a puppy - staring down the neighbour’s house in hopes that her best friend, Zeppelin, would come out for a wrestle or to share a stick 😂

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