Canine Companion, LLC- Abbie Volpone

Canine Companion, LLC- Abbie Volpone Certified, insured, and experienced, science based trainer for dogs and their people.

A really touching for my friend Tooty. Tooty has a pretty intense case of stranger danger, and doesn’t enjoy sharing s...
07/15/2025

A really touching for my friend Tooty.
Tooty has a pretty intense case of stranger danger, and doesn’t enjoy sharing space with anyone but her humans, ESPECIALLY in her own home. I became Tooty’s first new friend when we started training together a couple years ago. And what a journey that has been!

Muzzle training, some remedial socialization, lots of consent based practices and confidence building, and this girl has come so so far. A dog that couldn’t see a stranger from across a big parking lot without losing her mind can now happily walk through stores past strangers and even sometimes give a passing sniff or accept a little pat.

But her true social circle of accepted people is still small. She’s tolerant of a handful of people, but not fully comfortable. Just me, mom, and dad are the only ones that can handle her and enter the house without her muzzled. Our current journey has been building a good relationship with another person, expanding her social circle to 4. And it’s taken many months of small steps, but we’ve done it!

A huge thanks to her new friend Keegan for being such a patient and understanding new friend for our sweet Tooty. We promise, her love is worth the time it takes to gain her trust 💕

Registration is open for my group classes at the Humane Society of Huron Valley! You can reserve your spot through their...
07/14/2025

Registration is open for my group classes at the Humane Society of Huron Valley! You can reserve your spot through their website here:
https://www.hshv.org/dogtraining/

‼️This week’s is a DOUBLE win!! Both of these dogs are students of mine, and I’m so proud of them both. 🐶💕The little b...
07/09/2025

‼️This week’s is a DOUBLE win!!
Both of these dogs are students of mine, and I’m so proud of them both.
🐶💕The little brindle lady is Valerie. Valerie is a rescue, and she’s terrified of other dogs. She’s reactive when she sees them on leash, and in the few instances she’s actually interacted, she cowers in fear the whole time. But we’ve been working on it with structured parallel walks to help her feel safe with other dogs around. And today she had her first ever new friend. She was so confident and brave!

🌹🐕And that new friend, was a young black lab named Rosie! I’ve known Rosie, well, since before her people got her! That’s right, her awesome parents were so prepared that they had a consult and had a trainer on board before even CHOOSING their puppy. And because of their research, dedication, and consistent training, they have a dog that’s SO well rounded that she can help even nervous dogs feel safe.
Very proud of both of these dogs and their people!

Often, when working with a client and discussing their dog’s behaviors, I ask what behavior they WANT from their dogs, o...
07/04/2025

Often, when working with a client and discussing their dog’s behaviors, I ask what behavior they WANT from their dogs, or I ask WHY they feel a certain way about behavior. Typically, what happens is, they say something along the lines of “well I don’t know what’s best! That’s why I hired you! What would you do? Just teach me whatever you’d do if they were your dog!”

And I get it. I get all the pressure from society and family and whoever else to have a dog that behaves a certain way. But there are SO many reasons why I can’t just tell you what I do with my dogs. I’d be doing you and your dog a huge disservice if I did. Why?

Well, first of all, we’re all individuals. We all have our own factors at play. My dogs are NOT your dogs and have different breed and personality traits. Your dog deserves to be seen for who THEY are and what suits them. And I am not YOU. We have different life styles, different housing arrangements, different personal preferences and tolerances, and different abilities, strengths, and weaknesses.

And there isn’t a right or wrong answer here. What I do is foster a relationship and communication between you and your dog. There isn’t one ideal dog, just like there isn’t one ideal husband/wife/friend/partner, it’s all in how you operate together. Different living creatures with their own thoughts and feelings, making compromises to thrive together and coexist happily. I mean, how boring would it be if all dogs were the same?

My job is to help you understand each other and build the skills needed for a safe and happy life together. A life that’s tailored to YOUR needs and goals.

Besides…who says my dogs are a very good example of “perfect” dogs? Certainly not me! But they’re perfect enough for me, and at the end of the day, I’m the one that lives life with them, so that’s all that matters.

Yooper was a little puppy with big feelings when she was adopted, but in a short time she has become such a confident ma...
07/01/2025

Yooper was a little puppy with big feelings when she was adopted, but in a short time she has become such a confident maturing girl.

She and her awesome and committed parents have worked hard on her feeling calm and safe in the world, while also learning to understand and love what a sensitive and goofy dog she can be.

Today she tackled a new downtown area that was busy with people, kids, dogs, traffic, smells…and she did it all beautifully, and most importantly, happily.

This week’s goes to my sweet friend Ryia, who has spent the past few months going on field trips with me to help her f...
06/21/2025

This week’s goes to my sweet friend Ryia, who has spent the past few months going on field trips with me to help her feel more relaxed and confident in the world, and be a bit more manageable on leash when excited, in preparation for a family road trip this summer. I met Ryia first when she was just a little pup, but I’ve so enjoyed spending time with her again and building on her skills. Plus I just love when families think ahead about how best to prepare their dog!

This week’s feature is therapy dog in training Acey! She works for Hulsing Elementary and has spent this whole year le...
06/07/2025

This week’s feature is therapy dog in training Acey! She works for Hulsing Elementary and has spent this whole year learning how to be a therapy dog for an awesome group of kids. We’ve ended the school year on a great note, with so much growth and new experiences under her belt. She’s got a little more to do to become the perfect school therapy dog, she’s still young and learning about the world herself after all! But we’re so excited to see what she’ll accomplish next year.

This week’s feature is little miss Luna, who confidently tackled one of the busiest parks in our area, choosing to che...
05/31/2025

This week’s feature is little miss Luna, who confidently tackled one of the busiest parks in our area, choosing to check-in with her human for a treat rather than barking and lunging at all the moving things. In this photo alone there’s kids, dogs, and cars! She’s a nervous little lady whose Sheltie instincts take over when she sees exciting moving objects, so her homework involves getting out in the world more, taking lots of space, and learning to sniff and enjoy her environment rather than try to control it.

If you’re at Rolling Hills park today, come check out HSHV’s Walk n Wag! I’ll be here doing dog caricature drawings!
05/17/2025

If you’re at Rolling Hills park today, come check out HSHV’s Walk n Wag! I’ll be here doing dog caricature drawings!

This week for our I’d like to feature Finn and Bo, two dogs who lived together for 3.5 years, and then began having in...
05/16/2025

This week for our I’d like to feature Finn and Bo, two dogs who lived together for 3.5 years, and then began having intense fights. Their incredibly loving and dedicated owners couldn’t bear to lose either of them, and have committed fully to the huge lifestyle change of owning two dogs that need to be kept separate.

But we’ve also began the delicate process of rebuilding some of their relationship. The theme of our training lately has been “putting a deposit in the bank.” We are just adding to their relationship in little, structured, low-pressure, positive interactions. So even if they do accidentally get access to each other, we won’t be as likely to “overdraw the account.”

Here’s a photo from their fun little longline walk together, if you look closely you’ll notice they’re both muzzled as a safety precaution, though we watch carefully for any signs of stress and prevent any stressful interactions before they happen. It’s hard work, but it’s worth it when you see them feel so relaxed in each other’s presence!

I’ve got a lot of client pups in adolescence right now, and it’s hard on everyone. Here’s some great info on why your ad...
02/15/2025

I’ve got a lot of client pups in adolescence right now, and it’s hard on everyone. Here’s some great info on why your adolescent dog seems to be struggling so much, and a reminder that this is just a phase.

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