Creating Companions

11/02/2026

I love seeing all my boarding dogs running around in the yard. The weather is beautiful and I only have regulars here. We’ve all been spending downtime watching the leaves fall and taking turns chasing the ball.

10/29/2026

10/23/2026

I love my lessons with Brooke. Charlie was a champ and a true testament to how important homework completion is.

10/21/2026

I forgot to post the pictures of our meet up! I’m so glad I got to see you all and walk our dogs together for such a good cause. I didn’t snag a picture of team Lena but they were there too! Deja, Piper, Daisy, Kaydo, Zara, Waffles, Lincoln, and Rover all came!

10/01/2026

Recently I referred one of my clients to a fellow trainer for boarding. I called the trainer to check in while the dog was there and she said “I can tell you trained her because of how she enters a heel, it’s a signature”. To me that was a big compliment. A trainer I respect can recognize when I was the one that trained a dog based off of the dog’s demeanor and accuracy. That’s my standard. That’s what I put my company name on.

In the video is Finley and her owner. Finley is a roughly one year old mix. She has struggled with reactivity, lack of confidence, overstimulation, and overall manners.

09/29/2026

Yesterday I did a lesson that truly warmed my heart.
Charlie got booted out of the grooming salon until she could become safer to groom. Before calling me, her owner had reached out to another trainer in the area. Without meeting Charlie, the trainer recommended euthanasia…
I was appalled to hear that.
Charlie panics when touched. She panics and bites… hard. The bite gloves saved my hands numerous times throughout her previous lessons. I couldn’t pet her, touch her, brush her, and neither could her owner.
After weeks of grooming practice and training she was finally ready to generalize her new skills to an applicable environment. Yesterday her owner and I did a lesson at Sommer Dog Salon where we made her training round more realistic. Her owner and I had such a great moment reflecting on how far she has come. Charlie was happy, willing to explore, and play in the environment she used to be so scared of. Her owner said “ya know, she used to growl when I would try to tell her by before heading off to work in the morning. She hasn’t done that in two weeks.” Watching Charlie allow us to grab her face and brush her tail, and trim her, all without a single bite warmed my heart. It also deeply bothered me that another trainer recommended euthanizing her. I truly enjoy Charlie. She is an extremely motivated dog that has a lot of trust in her owner and has an owner that is willing to do the work.
I’m so grateful for Sommer Dog Salon for letting me use the salon for training rounds, but also for Brooke recognizing when a dog needs some help and referring to her training connections in the area. I am thankful that Charlie’s owner found me instead of taking such crude and misplaced advice. I’m thankful for the opportunity to help people and their dogs.

09/22/2026

These pictures are from an artist named Briton Riviere.

I have been a bit under the weather the last week and my own dogs have been cuddling me through it. This reminded me of an artist I love. There are few artists who have as honestly captured canines as well as Briton Riviere. I figured I would share some of my favorites with you all. I love the way he captures the relationship between man and dog, and the honest expressions of our canine companions. As dog lovers, I think we can all relate to at least one of these photos.

These are not my paintings or photos, and I have cropped them to size, I encourage you to check out his work.