Pooch Partners

06/25/2025

Last session in our new reactivity program went very well - the dogs made great progress as did their guardians.

06/24/2025

time is running out to get in on this amazing 1-year puppy program!

I am adding a new puppy to my pack in a few weeks so have a very special offer for guardians of puppies that will be 9-16 weeks of age on July 5.....

💥💥AN EXCLUSIVE OPPORTUNITY TO TRAIN ALONGSIDE A PRO AS SHE RAISES HER PUPPY!💥💥

Imagine learning directly from an expert as she navigates the real-time journey of training her own puppy to build essential life skills.

Common puppy challenges like potty training accidents, nipping, destructive chewing, or the embarrassment of an unruly leash-puller can leave you frustrated, exhausted and feeling completely overwhelmed and unsure how to tackle these issues effectively.

Join her on this unique, year-long immersion where you'll gain unparalleled insight and hands-on experience in shaping a well-adjusted dog, ready to deal with anything the world throws at them.

This comprehensive program is designed to transform those early puppy struggles into confidence and joy, leaving you feeling empowered, connected, and proud of your well-behaved companion. You'll move from feeling helpless to celebrating every milestone, knowing you have the tools and ongoing support to raise a truly exceptional dog.

What the Exclusive Program Offers:

🐶Intensive In-Person Start & Finish: Kick off and wrap up the year with five weekly in-person group sessions at the beginning and end of the program, setting you up for success and solidifying key learnings.

🐶Comprehensive Online Learning & Live Support: Unlock a treasure trove of knowledge with access to the Pooch Partners Academy, featuring over 250 videos that detail our fun, positive games-based concept training methods for puppy life skills and advanced programs. You'll learn how to proactively address challenges like impulse control, recall, appropriate greeting behaviors, and calm household manners. Plus, stay connected and get your questions answered with two monthly group Zoom sessions, and an additional monthly session dedicated exclusively to puppy program participants, ensuring continuous guidance.

🐶Real-World Application: Enjoy growing the bond with your dog during weekly adventures all year long, designed to build confidence and reinforce learning in diverse environments through engaging, real-world games, ensuring your puppy generalizes their skills beyond your home.

This is more than just a training program; it's a chance to witness, learn, and apply effective life skills training as it unfolds while building an unbreakable bond.

Sessions start July 5th and are open to puppies between 9 and 16 weeks of age on that date.

Space is extremely limited, so don't delay – start the journey with your puppy now!

Setup a discovery call to learn more by private messaging me or register now to secure your spot: https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=17932403&appointmentType=79476529

06/24/2025

Was a very foggy morning for our 9km canicross

06/23/2025

Sila is a centrefold model today

06/23/2025

Starting the day with a couple rounds of scent detection outside.

06/23/2025

It can be all too easy to look at a behaviour, particularly one that we find problematic, as an isolated thing that just occurs, or is put down to false and outdated ideas like 'dominance' or 'stubbornness'.

Think of behaviour as a symptom - underlying that behaviour there is an emotion driving that behaviour. Behaviours don't happen just 'because', there is always a reason for them and so it's up to us to learn how to understand what they are trying to tell us so we can work out what that emotion is.

And at the root of it all there will be a need. Something that is causing the dog to feel that particular emotion and so lead them to show the behaviour that we are seeing. Once we have discovered the emotion the dog is feeling, we can work out what the dog needs and help them to get whatever that may be.

The three pictures here give an example:

Behaviour: the dog is barking at something. If you look at their posture and body language the body is leaning back, away from what they are barking at. The ears are back, whiskers flared, and eyes fixed on something. The front paw is slightly lifted and there is a back paw in the air, and the back end of the dog may be lowered towards the ground a little.

Emotion: what the overall picture of the body language is telling us is that the dog is scared of the thing they are barking at, so the emotion they are feeling is fear.

Need: What this dog needs is immediate space from the thing that is bothering them, so they can feel relief from that fear and feel safer again. What they need going on is an increased feeling of safety and security, more trust in us to help them if they need it or get them out of a situation if it's too much for them.

When we can understand the need and emotion driving the behaviour we can understand our dogs far better and see where they need our help.

06/21/2025

Foggy, wet morning - didn’t rain until near the end of our 2.3 mile pull so we just did a .7 mile cool down walk and headed home.

06/21/2025