Clovis Paws for Play Dog Training

05/11/2026

As I mentioned last week, we had multiple encounters with untrained pets in places they don’t belong. As consumers, it’s important to insist that businesses follow the law.

Hopefully things will start to change. Walmart recently had two pet dogs fighting in the store with human injuries, and removed a woman and her emotional support possum. Emotional support animals have no public access, and possums do not qualify as ESAs.

In the mean time, we need to insist that misbehaving animals are removed from environments that aren’t pet friendly.

Image Description: Nick wearing his mobility harness.

05/10/2026

Nick has been long overdue for grooming, so today I took him down with a 10 blade. Monday and Tuesday are supposed to be 100° F + , and even though we have a/c, it helps to have less hair. You can’t tell from this picture, but his cords are forming enough to get the ends trimmed off.







Image Description: Nick, a blue Standard Poodle resting his head on a pillow.

05/05/2026

Taking a pet to non pet friendly spaces hurts EVERYONE! Last week, on three separate outings Nick was lunged at by three different pets. Their handlers did NOTHING to stop the dog’s behavior. Once, I was between Nick and the dog, so we sped up. The other two times, we were waiting in line and Nick was helping me stabilize by sitting between my legs. Both handlers for Fluffy went into temper tantrum mode when their behavior (bringing Fluffy to a nonpet friendly venue).

Fortunately, Nick has had extensive training to deal with this type of assault. We, me, Nick, and every other legitimate service dog team out there, should NOT have to put up with Fluffy because it’s hot, Fluffy gets bored, or lonely, or whatever.

If you are NOT disabled and Fluffy is NOT task trained and trained for public access, Fluffy needs to stay home!

Your dog may be cute, cuddly, and emotionally attached to your Target run, but that does not automatically make them a service dog.

Under the ADA, a service dog is a dog that is individually trained to perform a specific task directly related to a person’s disability. That task might be guiding a blind person, alerting someone who is deaf, detecting a seizure, retrieving items, interrupting harmful behaviors, or helping with another disability-related need.

And no, service dogs are not required to wear special gear or have a certification card. The key is task training.

So no, you cannot just bring Fluffy to the grocery store because she “likes people,” “gets anxious at home,” or “is basically family.”

Fluffy may be adorable. Fluffy may be emotionally supportive. Fluffy may even have better manners than half the people in aisle seven.

But unless Fluffy is trained to perform a disability-related task, Fluffy is not a service dog.

04/28/2026

01:30 am, I’m sound asleep, Nick behind me on the bed. His chin pounds hard on my side. I don’t move, I want to sleep. He repeats this 3-4 times. He then gets up and comes to my face and does a chin rest on the bed, near my face. Begrudgingly, I turn on the light and sit up. I look at my CGM and my blood sugar has dropped over the last hour. It’s now in the “I’d better do a finger stick” range because I don’t feel low. I check twice, it’s definitely dropping. Nick gets his string cheese. (He gets an entire stick of cheese for accurate lows.) I take some glucose tablets, then eat a stick of string cheese, and drink some protein shake. Finally, I can go back to sleep.

I’m thankful that Nick has picked up this task and I’ve been able to work with my doctor to find a way to decrease these episodes. Nick’s alerts are more reliable and earlier than my CGM. I have learned how to manage my lows, yesterday was an off day, I didn’t eat, I slept most of the day, didn’t take the medication to keep my blood sugars stable, and ate food for dinner that caused spikes and drops in my blood sugar.

Discussion Question: Does your service dog perform medical alerts?







Image description: Nick, a blue Standard Poodle, lying on hid back.

04/24/2026

Mom is still under the weather with her migraine, and not getting any help from her providers. It’s a good thing she’s got me, Mini Me, and Mini Joker to help her.

Photo description: a gray stuffed horse and black stuffed Poodle sitting on a bed.

04/23/2026

Mom’s had a migraine for the week. I’m taking it easy, sleeping on the job.






Image Description: Nick, a blue Standard Poodle, sleeping on his back.

04/14/2026

Settle looks like sleeping on the job, and it should. We want our service dogs to be unobtrusive, as much as possible. They still get noticed, even in hiding. Today, Nick was un service dog like and tried to crawl out from his hidey hole to see an MD in an appointment today. I wasn’t pleased, and was able to bring him back where he belonged quickly.

Discussion Question: Does your dog settle well.

04/09/2026

I haven’t posted about this for a while, it’s an important part of HOW Nick gained confidence. When it’s practical, and appropriate, I’ll have him jump up on odd things, often in public. Basically anything a goose can p**p on is fair game. The post Nick sitting on is just wide enough for him to get his body on. The rock is on a 45° angle, something a bit challenging for some dogs. If you’ve been following Nick for any time, you’ll know that this rock is an easy 45° angle compared to the xylophone he and Earl have jumped up on.

Discussion Question:
What do you do to help your dog build confidence?







Image Descriptions: Nick sitting on a concrete base for a support post and Nick standing on a rock that’s at a 45° angle.

04/06/2026

04/05/2026

Nick wants to wish everyone a Happy Easter!

Photo Description: Nick with the Easter Bunny.