https://exploringk9s.mypixieset.com/

Exploring K9 Training, Dayton, OH (2026)

09/03/2026

Please welcome Truman to Exploring K9 Training!

Truman was found in some unfortunate circumstances and never really had the opportunity to learn how to be a dog or what it means to live in a home. Thankfully, he was rescued by a lovely family who want to give him the life every dog deserves!

Despite not having the best start, Truman is the sweetest boy. He absolutely loves people and has really taken to having a dog sibling to play and spend time with!

His family wanted some extra guidance in helping Truman learn what it means to be a house dog, while also helping him become safe and trustworthy around children and others. He sure does love jumping up when he gets excited!

Right now, one of our biggest priorities is helping Truman learn that even when he’s REALLY excited, all four paws can stay on the ground.

We’re also working on him learning his new name, coming when called, and becoming more trustworthy outside since his yard isn’t fenced. We’re using an extra-long leash to safely work on this while giving Truman room to explore and learn. His new name is also intentional, giving him a fresh start without any previous baggage or history attached to it.

Our goal is to help Truman learn the basics, become reliable with the things that keep him safe, and ultimately learn what it means to be a happy and enjoyable companion.

And Truman did absolutely fantastic for his first private! He showed us just how smart and eager to learn he is. Right now, he’s learning how fun it can be to work for food, so we’re using some extra-enticing treats to help him understand the game. He picked up on our exercises quickly and was already learning how to transfer that new skill over to his dog mom.

We’re so excited to be a part of Truman’s journey and cannot wait to watch this sweet boy blossom into the dog he’s meant to be. Good job, Truman!

09/02/2026

Mr. Odie has been LOVING his Enrich & Explore walks and is always eager to hop right in!

These walks are so much more than just a traditional dog walk. They’re centered around not only a dog’s physical needs, but their mental welfare too.

We look for shade, variety in terrain, water access, and plenty of trees and bushes to sniff and explore. We want every walk to be as safe and valuable as possible while giving dogs the opportunity to actually enjoy being outside.

The goal isn’t just to come home physically tired. We want dogs to come home feeling content, fulfilled, and like they got something meaningful out of their time outside. Unfortunately, not all walks are created equal. We really strive to give your dog an experience they’ll genuinely look forward to and fall in love with.

And Odie is a very special Enrich & Explore client because this sweet boy is 10 years old, going on 11! For our senior dogs, staying active and maintaining muscle is incredibly important. As dogs age, muscle loss can contribute to physical decline, so continuing to safely move their bodies and keep them using that muscle can be such an important part of supporting their quality of life.

We love being able to meet dogs where they are and give them an outing that is valuable for their body, mind, and needs. We’re so happy to be able to provide these walks for our pups, and especially for sweet old souls like Odie. He deserves all the sniffy adventures! ☺️

08/31/2026

A regulated nervous system is often our missing piece for behaviorial work.

Pepper has a pretty strong stranger-danger response, which can make having guests over difficult. She doesn’t warm up quickly to people and she doesn’t recover quickly once she’s having a big response, so it can be a lot for everyone.

We’ve been building a routine with Pepper and, within minutes of being there for our 3rd session, she was able to diffuse from her barking and initial startle and recognize that her familiar friend was here.

When helping a dog become more comfortable with people, there is so much value in starting with the same person and allowing familiarity and predictability to build. Then we can slowly add another person and work toward generalizing guests without overwhelming the dog and setting them back.

Pepper has already started showing us that this is working. She has been able to go outside to potty and pass guests without excessive big feelings. When it isn’t a training opportunity, she gets put up so everyone can succeed, and that has worked really well for us so far.

This lesson, we increased the difficulty by having me move around more, open and close the front door for re-entry, and make some louder movements and footsteps. Pepper was relatively unphased! She did so well that we’re bringing a new person into the picture next time.

We also head outside together once Pepper settles down. Having more space and getting to forage for treats in the grass gives her an opportunity to decompress while we work on recall and coming when called. This helps give Pepper some direction when guests are around and practice responding when she needs to go where asked.

And her recall has come SUCH a long way. Our first private looked pretty rough. Pepper struggled to listen and had a hard time disengaging. By our third, we couldn’t keep her away! Even with distractions, she was happily running over and choosing to come to her dog mom. If anything, we were having a hard time getting her to refrain from doing it! What we’ve seen with Pepper so far is incredibly promising. Good job, Pepper!

08/26/2026

Welcoming a new face to Exploring K9 Training, Meet Eris!

Eris is an Australian Shepherd who can have some big feelings about other dogs. His mom is currently recovering from surgery, and we’re so thankful she was able to lean on us during a time when she needed a little extra help meeting his needs.

Eris is a dog who really benefits from getting out of the house to move, sniff, explore, and simply enjoy being outside. He loves taking his time to be part of the environment around him, get some fresh air, and experience all the good things that come with having the freedom to explore.

That’s exactly what our Enrich & Explore service is designed for. It’s not just about taking a dog for a walk. It’s about giving them time to decompress, engage their senses, move their body, and enjoy an outing that is built around them.

Because Eris is sensitive to other dogs, it isn’t always as simple as having just anyone take him out. Having someone who understands him, knows what to look for, and knows how to handle those moments when another dog is around can make or break the whole outing. It allows him to actually enjoy getting out instead of spending the entire time worried about what might happen next.

We’re so happy to be helping Eris get out and about while his mom focuses on recovering. He is such a sweet boy, and was a joy to take out and about! All the work his mom has poured into him showed.

08/24/2026

Sometimes we want or need to enjoy time away from our pets, and what makes that possible is knowing you can truly trust who you’re leaving them with and that their time away from you can be as low-stress as possible.

We recently had the pleasure of pet sitting Lucy and her brother, Gibson, while their family traveled for the weekend to celebrate one of their son’s weddings! 🥹

Lucy is a fearful rescue who has worked hard to build trust and familiarity with Trainer Shelby, and we’ve been so happy to become one of her few safe people. That relationship meant her family could be present for such a special weekend and make memories without worrying about how Lucy and Gibson were doing at home.

That’s something we take so much pride in with our pet sitting service. Your dogs get to stay in their own space, keep their routines, receive their medications and supplements properly and on time, and of course get plenty of special time with the treat lady. ☺️

Lucy is also a flight risk when scared or determined, so she wears a special donut anytime she goes outside to help prevent her from slipping through the fence. Happy rubs occasionally mean it comes off, though, so we made sure to put it right back on!

This weekend sadly did have a lot of storms. Lucy can become extremely frightened during storms, wanting to shake and hide. Thankfully, we already knew her routine which was calming music, access to the quieter basement, and support until the storm passed.

In between storms, we enjoyed time outside, relaxed together, and of course had plenty of chews and enrichment. Lucy and Gibson were such a treat to spend time with, and we hope to see them again! 🥰

Pet sitting isn’t just about keeping your dog fed and safe. It’s about giving you the freedom to live life, attend the big moments, and make memories while knowing your pets are cared for by someone who knows them and genuinely cares about them.

08/19/2026

Training is all about being able to assess, adjust, and pivot as you navigate your sessions. This is something your trainer should be teaching you how to do! For Nami and Kuma, we’ve been able to step away from the inner dynamics of raising a puppy and focus on big-girl things!

For Kuma, we’ve been setting up scenarios to build his confidence and comfort with strangers. This work can be a lot for both a puppy and an adult dog with complex feelings, so we never want to work past their limits. Splitting sessions in half, with each getting roughly 30 minutes, lets us focus individually without adding too much fuel to the fire.

A hard trigger for Kuma is people walking by the home and activity outside his windows and front yard. For Nami, this is simply new, and we want to grow her confidence. Dogs are social learners, and we don’t want her accidentally learning there’s something to worry about. Another goal is to introduce her to more dogs, starting with our neutral dog used for lessons. During lessons, neighbors are living their normal lives so we set our pace, making things as easy as possible. We bring them out to work, then take breaks in their safe zone to help prevent trigger stacking.

We don’t want to push dogs toward threshold, because that can trigger fight or flight and lead to hitting their limit. Though we perceive something as safe, that doesn’t mean our dogs do. Trying to prove it’s safe by pushing them can reinforce that it isn’t. Training is about honoring our dog’s perception instead of ours.

This was only our second lesson, and both made significant progress! Nami’s confidence was night and day, and Kuma rocked it. He was okay with neighbors directly in the yard, as well as our neutral person and dog walking directly in front of him across the street.

Learning how to listen to our dogs is magic, and it’s what makes progress so possible. We are SO proud of both of them and were absolutely blown away! Our work continues to prove that with the right approach, you can choose getting results and still being kind to your dog. This is the value of finding the right trainers!

08/14/2026

The rain couldn’t keep us away! 💛 This has been a very rainy week, and we do have limits on the amount of rain we’ll walk a dog in based on a few different factors. Thankfully, the rain didn’t stop us for Dottie!

For Dottie’s Enrich & Explore walk this week, we found a pocket of time that gave us mostly clear weather for the majority of our walk. With the stormy weather, we had the park mostly to ourselves! Dottie doesn’t mind walking in wet weather, and neither do we, as long as it’s not pouring or storming. Her family was also okay with her getting wet so she could still get her needs met.

She had a fantastic time despite the weather! There was plenty of sniffing, exploring, running, and all the things dogs typically love to do. We enjoyed not sharing the walking paths and stayed clear of certain trails to avoid the mud as much as we could.

Dottie has also been utilizing our Private Lessons for training with her family, and we really got to see their hard work shine during this walk! Dottie was able to adjust to the environment 20–30 minutes quicker than when we first started walking together. She was offering frequent check-ins, enthusiastic to take her treats, and naturally slowing down more to get good quality sniffs. Her confidence is growing quite a bit!

Dottie is your typical stable, friendly, outgoing dog, and not many would have thought she was overstimulated or overwhelmed in newer spaces. By paying close attention to her behavior and body language, we were able to recognize this and create an ideal training plan for her and her family.

Because the plan is practical and realistic for their day to day life, we can adjust it as needed to keep both Dottie and her family set up for success. This has allowed them to fit training into their schedule naturally and make it something they can realistically maintain!

We did get hit with a storm during the second half of this walk. We attempted to wait it out under shelter, then drove her back home, where we played a little bit in the backyard before finishing up!

08/13/2026

Our services are sometimes utilized just to add some extra enrichment to a dog’s life, and we adore that!

Luna has been doing weekly day training with us for a long time now. These sessions have become a pretty special part of her week if we say so ourselves. ☺️ It is time for Luna to hang out with her favorite treat lady, have some fun, and work on whatever goals her mom has for her at the time!

Lately, we have been working on repairing Luna’s relationship with the agility equipment they have at home. Over time, Luna had gotten a little overwhelmed by it due to some history of unintentional pressure surrounding the equipment. Now that her mom has a better understanding of what Luna was communicating and can be more mindful of that, we have been able to take a step back and rebuild that relationship.

And she has been LOVING it! She works so hard she requests belly rubs and sun bathing after. It has been so fun watching her start to enjoy the equipment again and regain that confidence she had with it before!

On top of that, Luna has been hard at work learning some incredibly cute tricks, including crossing her paws. Her cue for this is “be a lady!” which we find quite adorable!

We love this kind of training because it is not always about fixing a problem or working toward some huge end goal. Sometimes it is just about giving a dog something fun to think about, letting them problem solve, building their relationship with their person, and giving them opportunities to use their brain! Which typically is great for the dog and the human.

Keeping our dogs mentally engaged is so valuable throughout their lives, especially for their cognitive ability. Luna is certainly keeping us busy because she has built quite the impressive little trick repertoire!

We would definitely say these sessions are some of her favorite times of the week. ☺️💛 Until next time Luna!

08/10/2026

Griffin is the sweetest boy, and we’ve been so happy watching him fall in love with this park. 🥰

Griffin has been a longterm Enrich & Explore client, and after his last few adventures here, it’s become so clear just how much he enjoys this spot. He loves getting to sniff all the trees and bushes, move around, explore at his own pace, and simply hang out and take in his surroundings.

For a sensitive dog like Griffin, these outings are such a wonderful opportunity to build confidence, decompress, and fill his cup while doing things he genuinely enjoys.

And you can definitely tell when he’s had a full, fulfilling adventure! Some of these photos capture those moments where his little legs are starting to get tired after all that exploring and his face is ready for a nap. We love seeing Griffin head home happy and ready for a well earned nap.

We’re so thankful Griffin’s family can lean on us when life gets busy and they need some extra help getting him out and about, knowing he’s in good hands and having a wonderful time with his magical treat lady.

Until next time, Griffin!

08/07/2026

We walked into this lesson expecting to adjust our plans. We walked out celebrating their biggest win yet!

We’ve now been working with Lily, Annie, and their brother Oscar for a few weeks, helping them navigate their big feelings when guests come into the home. Since they naturally react off one another’s barking, helping three dogs learn to regulate together is no small task. Their mom has been incredibly dedicated to putting in the work between lessons, and it is truly showing.

Before this lesson, the pups had a rough morning with several unavoidable situations that left them pretty trigger stacked. We fully expected we’d need to slow things down or even call the lesson early if they weren’t in a place to learn. Sometimes that’s exactly what the dog in front of us needs.

Instead, they blew us away, this was easily their best lesson yet!

When we first arrived, the barking settled in under two minutes, compared to the significantly longer, more intense responses we saw just four lessons ago. Watching their ability to regulate and recover improve this quickly was incredibly encouraging.

Lily, who once struggled to observe a trigger without immediately reacting, paused, processed what she was feeling, and checked back in for support instead. Annie quickly chose to disengage, deciding her pupsicle was far more important than worrying about the guest. Oscar calmly observed everything without escalating alongside the girls.

We’re also seeing all three dogs become much more comfortable with our arrival routine. Rather than rushing interactions, we’ve focused on giving them time to observe, gather information, and choose to engage at their own pace. Those choices are becoming easier because they’re genuinely feeling better.

We’re so proud of these three, but we’re equally proud of their mom. Her consistency between lessons has been invaluable. Seeing them show up this well after such a difficult morning tells us these lessons have become a positive experience, and that gives us so much hope for what’s ahead!

Exploring K9 Training

09/03/2026

09/02/2026

08/31/2026

08/26/2026

08/24/2026

08/19/2026

08/14/2026

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08/07/2026

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