Keep It Simple Dog Training

08/09/2025

So many of my students say that their dog would just pick up puzzles to get the treats or flip them over or push them around. Looks like Tessa has come up with a guide to help you turn crazy puzzle sessions into calm puzzle sessions.🧘‍♀️🧘🐶

If puzzle time feels more like a struggle than quality time, this is for you!

Lots of dog owners tell me they want to connect with their dog during puzzles,but it ends up being messy, frantic, or confusing.

So I made a free guide to help.

The Calm Puzzle Kickstarter will show you how to create enriching, connected puzzle sessions without frustration (for you or your dog).

Ready to feel more in sync with your dog?
Click the link in the comments to download the guide!

07/09/2025

Tessa from Puzzle Dog and Mel from Keep It Simple are excited to offer two more PUZZLE NIGHTS in September and October.

Please email [email protected] for more information or to register

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 17TH - 7:00PM - SOFT SNIFF PUZZLES - $35.00
ONLY TWO SPACES AVAILABLE
The World of Fabric Puzzles 🧩🐾
This evening we’ll dive into the wonderful variety of fabric puzzles!
When you think of fabric puzzles, the first thing that comes to mind is usually the snuffle mat, but there’s so much more. With a little creativity, fabric puzzles can include several different techniques and offer different levels of challenge.
From sniffing, pushing, pulling, unrolling, to nosing in: fabric puzzles have it all.
Tessa will bring along a collection of Puck’s fabric puzzles for you and your dog to explore.
Come join us for a fun and enriching evening!

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 15TH - 7:00PM - SHARE YOUR FAVOURITE PUZZLES - $35.00
ONLY THREE SPACES AVAILABLE
Puzzle Night: Share & Swap! 🐾✨
This evening is all about sharing puzzle fun. Please bring two puzzles your dog loves, homemade or store-bought, everything is welcome!
We’ll place all the puzzles on the table, and you’ll get the chance to try out puzzles from other participants. It’s a great way to discover new favourites and see what sparks your dog’s curiosity.
And don’t worry; Puck is sending along some extra puzzles with Tessa, so even if we have a few doubles, everyone will still get to explore something new.
Come for the puzzles, stay for the fun!

07/09/2025

WEEKLY TOPICS – CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE
SUNDAYS @ 7:00PM – MEL – $35.00/WEEK
Preregistration is appreciated for all classes. If there is space, I will advertise the week prior for possible drop-in options.

SEPTEMBER 14TH: SNIFFY GAMES - Sniffy games for dogs are fantastic for mental stimulation, confidence-building, and fulfilling their natural instinct to sniff. These games are suitable for dogs of all ages and energy levels—and they're especially great for rainy days or limited mobility.

07/09/2025

I have been toying around with this idea for awhile, but for now I am just putting out some feelers to see if there would be any interest. With the school year gearing up I thought it might be a good time to try it out as many puppies might be left at home for longer periods of time.

Most day cares do not accept puppies until they are at least six months old for many very good reasons. It is difficult to separate puppies and adult dogs who may not play together well. Puppies require a lot more rest time than adult dogs. Puppies also require a lot more attention and clean up 🤣

If there is enough interest I would offer this service two days a week, Monday and Thursday. 8:00am- 5:30pm.

Small group of between four and six puppies.

Puppies will have the opportunity to play with each other but will also get some foundation training from me including crate training and boundary training for calmness, value for proximity games, disengagement games, sensory enrichment through sniffy games and proprioceptive activities and some confidence/optimism games.

The extra attention, cleaning, etc for this service will be reflected in the price.

If you are interested in learning more about this opportunity please email [email protected] for more information.

06/09/2025

THREE OPPORTUNITIES TO ATTEND THIS WORKSHOP!!!

LOOSE-LEASH WALKING -No prerequisite. Any age. Must be comfortable in a setting with other dogs and people.

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 14TH: 12:00 – 1:30PM
SUNDAY OCTOBER 5TH: 10:00 – 11:30AM
SATURDAY OCTOBER 11TH: 10:00 – 11:30AM

Did you know that there are basically three components to LOOSE-LEASH WALKING?

1) Engagement with the handler
2) Disengagement from distractions
3) Calmness

Did you also know that all three of these components can be grown through game play with your dog?

This workshop will help you and your dog to grow skills to help you deal with the environment you find yourselves in when you are out for a walk.

06/09/2025

THREE OPPORTUNITIES TO ATTEND THIS WORKSHOP!!!!

RECALLS
Why do we want an amazing recall?
-keeps dogs safe
-keeps owners happy
-keeps other dogs safe
-prevents conflicts

A non-existent recall is frustrating for sure but we have to remember that our dogs are just being dogs. Not coming back when called is not an abnormal behavior. The things that lead to their not returning are in fact very normal dog behaviors . . .sniffing, friendly, chase, etc.
This workshop will boost your dog’s ability to disengage from the environment and increase their value for being close to you.

Here is what previous attendees have said about this workshop.

We all had a great time So worth it ! A wonderful and much needed work shop ! Kenji sure was pooped...in a good way Thank you so much Mel!

Happy and I had a wonderful time participating in the recall workshop! And we learnt a lot! Thank you so much!

It was awesome!! Rosie and I had a great time and learned so much!!
Thank you Mel!!

Josephine and I really enjoyed our workshop. It’s always a fun time to play games and keep building our relationship! Thank you for holding these, obviously they were a hit!

"Had the best day at a recall workshop at Keep It Simple Dog Training . So much fun. I highly recommend this to anyone.... the games we learned were a lot of fun...The dogs all did so good.”

"We had a great time today at Keep It Simple Dog Training for a recall workshop. Lots of fun games to use to help increase your value to your dog. Mel Lunn did a fantastic job. I highly recommend whether your dog is old or young."

PLEASE EMAIL [email protected] FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO REGISTER

05/09/2025

Tessa from Puzzle Dog and Mel from Keep It Simple are excited to offer two more PUZZLE NIGHTS in September and October.

Please email [email protected] for more information or to register

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 17TH - 7:00PM - SOFT SNIFF PUZZLES - $35.00
The World of Fabric Puzzles 🧩🐾
This evening we’ll dive into the wonderful variety of fabric puzzles!
When you think of fabric puzzles, the first thing that comes to mind is usually the snuffle mat, but there’s so much more. With a little creativity, fabric puzzles can include several different techniques and offer different levels of challenge.
From sniffing, pushing, pulling, unrolling, to nosing in: fabric puzzles have it all.
Tessa will bring along a collection of Puck’s fabric puzzles for you and your dog to explore.
Come join us for a fun and enriching evening!

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 15TH - 7:00PM - SHARE YOUR FAVOURITE PUZZLES - $35.00
Puzzle Night: Share & Swap! 🐾✨
This evening is all about sharing puzzle fun. Please bring two puzzles your dog loves, homemade or store-bought, everything is welcome!
We’ll place all the puzzles on the table, and you’ll get the chance to try out puzzles from other participants. It’s a great way to discover new favourites and see what sparks your dog’s curiosity.
And don’t worry; Puck is sending along some extra puzzles with Tessa, so even if we have a few doubles, everyone will still get to explore something new.
Come for the puzzles, stay for the fun!

05/09/2025

SOMEONE BROUGHT IT TO MY ATTENTION THAT THE DATES WERE INCORRECT IN THE PREVIOUS POSTS FOR THE PUPPY PLAY GROUPS. MY APOLOGIES FOR ANY CONFUSION. THESE DATES SHOULD BE CORRECT.

Did you just get a puppy and missed out on our current session of classes? Why not bring your puppy out to the PUPPY PLAY GROUPS in August while you wait for the September session of classes to start?
These small, supervised play groups will take place outside in a fully fenced-in area. Puppies will have the opportunity to interact with age-appropriate peers as well as have some time to engage with their guardians. The best of both worlds.
There will be a balance of free play time and some fun game play to promote value for being with their with guardians.
I had a great question this week asking why I needed a specific number of puppies to hold these groups. Well as much as I love playing with puppies, money is obviously a factor, but it is also important to have a good mix of puppies in a group. If there are only a few puppies then you run the risk of personalities being incompatible. With a slightly larger group, four to six, chances are that each puppy will find a friend with whom they are a good match play-wise.
Please email and let me know which dates you would like to attend. [email protected]
Please note that a decision will be made on the Friday prior to the sessions as to whether or not there is enough interest to hold the group so please reach out before the end of the week!

05/09/2025

Hey students and followers. Trust me when I say you do not want to miss out on this opportunity. The Avonport sessions usually fill up very quickly. Who is going to grab the last three spots?🤔