Speak Dog K9 Training

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Beaufort, SC
Speak Dog K9 Training

Helping owners understand their dog’s language to improve their relationship.

09/10/2025

To current clients, potential clients, and friends:

The time has come for me to stop in person dog training classes and sessions temporarily. Speak Dog K9 Training will be on hiatus for all dog training sessions/classes as we wait for our baby to make her arrival into the world! I may still be able to conduct virtual/online dog training, or in person evaluations or tests (AKC tests like CGC, Trick Dog, etc. and Therapy Dog evaluations) on a case by case basis as it doesn’t involve me being as hands on and is more of an observation role. Please message me directly if you have a need for testing/evaluations or virtual/remote dog training. 📝

I will then be going on maternity leave and spending time with our baby, as well as preparing for more upcoming life changes (to be announced!). Thank you for your support and understanding as I take a much needed break to spend time with my growing family.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any training questions or help reinforcing training work we have already done. I am always happy to help remotely/virtually, former, current, and potential clients.

Vanessa
Speak Dog K9 Training

09/09/2025

Thank you for letting me work with Frida and Zeus!✨

09/01/2025

Researchers from Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany found through pain studies that “Having a friend in the room helped deal with the pain, but the presence of their pet dog was better. Participants who were accompanied by their dog reported less pain and had a higher tolerance for the discomfort caused by the cold-pressor task. They showed fewer facial expressions of pain, felt less helpless, and showed less intense physiological responses when their dog was in the room.” In a second study, researchers used therapy dogs unfamiliar with the patient that the patient could also pet. In this second study, “the results were virtually identical to the first study. Having a person in the room reduced the experience of pain, but having a dog in the room produced an even better outcome.” Researchers think the hormone oxytocin is released when people interact with loved ones, including dogs. Dogs are also non judgmental of people and can result in a direct reduction of how people experience and tolerate pain at the physiological source.

Source: Department of Psychology at Humboldt University

Pictured: My therapy dog Pensy.

08/26/2025

Trigger stacking is when your dog gets increasingly stressed out due to the little triggers or experiences they have throughout the day until they seemingly lash out out of nowhere. It happens when these little moments where they’re triggered adds up.

If your dog is prone or sensitive to this, you can help your dog avoid trigger stacking by spacing out stressful events or encounters, letting your dog relax and decompress throughout the day, and being aware and proactive if they’re showing signs of stress. If your dog is showing signs of being overstimulated and over their threshold, look not just to the last thing that pushed them over the edge but also the whole days events.

08/23/2025

I had the pleasure of evaluating a Therapy Dogs International therapy dog test today. Congratulations on passing the Therapy Dogs International test, handlers and Hazel and Sarah! You all should be so proud! 🐕‍🦺🐕‍🦺

08/18/2025

How to muzzle train your dog 🐕

1.Let your dog investigate the muzzle
2. Have high value treats ready
3. Place the muzzle in your hand. Turn the muzzle opening towards your dog. Place a treat on the other side so your dog can see it.
4. Push the treat through the bars/holes of the muzzle so your dog can get the treat by barely putting their head in
5. Keep repeating this
6. Once your dog starts anticipating and getting excited for the treat, you can make the duration longer between your dog sticking their nose into the muzzle and getting a treat
7. Keep repeating this with different length of durations while stationary
8. Get some peanut butter and put it on the inside of the muzzle
9. When your dog inserts their nose through the muzzle to lick the peanut butter while you’re holding the muzzle in your hand, take a step backwards and keep encouraging your dog to follow the muzzle and keep their nose in
10. Keep repeating this
11. You can now try clipping the muzzle on so you don’t need to support it with your hand
12. Start with your dog leaving the muzzle on for a few seconds (while still feeding treats), then increase the duration your dog has the muzzle on
13. Let your dog practice eating treats with their muzzle on in different environments and situations until they’re as comfortable with the muzzle as putting on a collar or a leash

08/11/2025

Last call!!

Therapy Dogs International (TDI) Beaufort chapter is conducting therapy dog testing and certification on August 23. The test will be held at the Disabilities and Special Needs Building on Clearwater Way in Beaufort. Testing is $10 cash. Please review the criteria in the link below before registering.

Please call or email to register: [email protected] or 843-476-5462.

I am a TDI evaluator and will be conducting screening for all registered testees in the coming days so please register now if you’re interested in testing you and your dog.

https://tdi-dog.org/HowToJoin.aspx?Page=Testing+Requirements

08/10/2025

Congratulations on earning your AKC Canine Good Citizen title, Hazel and owner Madison!🏅Excellent job!

08/04/2025

Dogs can be muzzled to prevent biting, HOWEVER, that is not the only reason for a dog to wear a muzzle. Good dogs can be muzzled for a variety of reasons including:

- Preventing ingestion and destruction of objects
- For dog sports
- To create a sense of security for your dog
- To comply with local regulations and laws
- To give a sense of safety during grooming, vet, and other stressful situations
- Preventing scavenging
- To help fearful or injured dogs

07/28/2025

Do:
- ☑️Make it fun! Turn it into a game especially if your dog is playful. The fun shouldn’t end when your dog comes to you.
- ☑️Practice with a long leash or long line. Especially if your dog is a runner.
- ☑️Keep recall training sessions short.
- ☑️Start using the word “Come” or whatever word you are using for recall when your dog naturally comes to you at meal times or when they greet you after coming home. This adds the command to every day activities and helps your dog associate the command in settings outside of formal training.
- ☑️Reward your dog every time they recall with what they find valuable: treats, toy/play, affection, or praise.

Don’t:
- 🚫Have a negative tone when giving the recall command.
- 🚫Repeat the command multiple times.
- 🚫Punish your dog when they come to you.
- 🚫 Practice recall in a high distraction setting when your dog is not reliable in a low distraction setting.
- 🚫 Lose patience. Recall takes a lot of repetition and practice to master!

07/21/2025

Did you know?! Dogs seem to have a favorite color. Next time you pick out a toy for your dog, consider picking a yellow one! Dogs are not completely colorblind and can see a range of shades in gray, blue and yellow. In studies from India, dogs seem to prefer the color yellow or colors that appear in shades of yellow to them (in our eyes, colors that could be red, green or yellow) because it is the color of their typical food sources. 💛🎾🌼

Source: Indian Institute of Science Education and Research

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Beaufort, SC

Website

https://speakdogk9training.wixsite.com/speakdogk9training

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