Shelly Wood Dog Training and Behavior

11/14/2025

“Wait a minute….what do you mean we were just putting the harness on for practice and we aren’t going for another walk?!?” I promise, sweet Beau did get a very nice walk! He was also a rock star 🌟 with his calm harnessing skills today!

11/13/2025

This short article shares several ways that you can expand your dog’s world by honoring their amazing sense of smell.

What are your favorite ways to provide sniffing opportunities to the dogs in your life?

Sniffing is a low-impact, low-cost and very valuable mental workout for dogs.

11/12/2025

Thanks to One Smart Dog for this fantastic post about how the language we choose shapes the relationships we build! ❤️ 🐾

11/07/2025

That’s a wrap! Sweet Beau has just completed his first week of Day Training and he says, “That was a lot of learning. I will now be doing some processing.” 😊

Day Training is a weekly routine where I work with your dog to build skills, and then we meet to transfer those skills to you. This provides support for your busy schedule and gives your dog calm, welfare-based learning that fits their needs.

I have a couple of open Day Training spots for winter. If you would like support in a way that feels good for both you and your dog, send me a message and we can chat!

11/07/2025

🎧 New episode of the Animal Training Academy (ATA) Making Ripples Podcast is out!

This is the podcast where I have the pleasure of interviewing the amazing individuals who make up the ATA membership.

For this episode, I talked with Caitlin Cohn - trainer, cooperative care advocate, and human to Elvis the Maine C**n. 🐱

If you’ve ever lived with an animal who was scared of storms or loud noises, you won’t want to miss this episode! Caitlin shares the thoughtful, step by step approach she used to support Elvis to overcome storm anxiety.

Thank you, Caitlin, for sharing your work! It was an absolute pleasure to have you on the show. 😊 🙏And thank you to Ryan Cartlidge for making ATA and this podcast possible. 💚

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6E5rwXX5LnaO4F1U1SOxa9?si=Tl-PzRw-TH-SoHqVukO70w

10/23/2025

This is a challenge I hear often when working with people and their companion dogs - “he does great at home, but he doesn’t listen to me when we are on a walk!”.

If this is something you have struggled with, check out the link in the shared post.

10/22/2025

I often get questions about training service dogs. My biggest piece of advice - reach out to a reputable service dog organization *before* you get a dog. Not all dogs are suited for service work, and if the work isn’t a good fit, the dog may not be able to perform the necessary tasks, and even if they are able, they may not enjoy the work, making it unfair to ask them to do it. Organizations like SIT Service Dogs breed, and carefully hand select, dogs for the specific jobs they will be asked to do, and they specialize in training them for those jobs.

I love this video of Queenie - this is a dog who knows exactly what to do and when to do it, and who appears more than happy to be doing this work. Great job Queenie and SIT Service Dogs! ❤️ 😊 🐾

10/21/2025

10/17/2025

❤️ 🐾 👇
“Show patience. Structure the environment for success. Accept that inconvenience will happen. Remember that what you do now is going to determine the type of relationship you will have into the future.”

It's a Puppy, Not a Problem.

In the past, I trained pet dogs. The first session would almost always go something like this:

Student would pull a list of problem behaviors out of their pocket. Meanwhile, their four month old puppy chewed on the leash and pulled various directions, causing the student to express obvious irritation. The student would then lay out all of the problems that they wanted to fix.

"We're having problems with barking, wanting to play all the time, running through the house with dirty feet, jumping on people, chewing stuff up, excessive interest in human food, constant pulling on the leash to get to things, and digging holes in the garden. Oh yeah – could you teach a reliable recall, off leash, so that when I'm ready to leave the park we can go without me having to chase my dog?"

In short, could I make their young puppy behave like a grown up dog?

Think of puppies as pre-verbal children. Show patience. Structure the environment for success. Accept that inconvenience will happen. Remember that what you do now is going to determine the type of relationship you will have into the future. What are you looking for? Do you want to be seen as an accommodating person who creates opportunities to do interesting things, or as a domineering tyrant that is best avoided? When you ask your dog or child to come see you, do you want them to come running with enthusiasm, or to experience worry and anxiety about your presence?

But start by understanding that there is nothing wrong – there is no problem. There is only a puppy, and training to be done. What happens now is up to you.

Excerpted from the 2019 article, "It's a Puppy, Not a Problem," written by . https://www.fenzidogsportsacademy.com/blog/it-s-a-puppy-not-a-problem

10/10/2025

Thank you so much to Stacy Busch-Heisserer for taking time out of your morning to share with the EPIC Pals students from Cape Central Academy about your businesses including Busch Pet Products & Care and Deer Creek Doggie Day Camp and related career opportunities! Thanks to Ms. Buehrle for bringing the students today and to thank you to the students for all of your insightful questions!