Limerick Hill Canines

05/26/2026

We’re out of the office!
Classes and consults will resume on June 8th.

Please allow extra time for emails, phone, and text responses.
Thanks for your patience!

05/21/2026

Puppy Play and Learn was in full swing this week!
Did you miss this round? Don’t worry, there’s another class on June 24th. All puppies 8-17 weeks welcome!
Register at LimerickHillCanines.com

05/19/2026

Sometimes it’s not about finding all the hides. It’s always about showing up to support your teammate.
This video is from a recent Elite K9 Nose Work trial. It doesn’t show me and my dog finding all the hides. It was a search in which I knew there were 5 hides and only called 3.
Yet the judge gave us a Pronounced mark for this search. Why? Because of a moment about 1/2 way into the search and what happened after.
After finding 3 hides, my dog was working odor across the back wall and her nose triggered a hand sanitizer dispenser. The device made noise, lit-up and dispensed, causing Holly to leap away and stare at the offending item.
We didn’t find any more hides after that, at least not that I was able to call, but Holly was able to recover and continued to search the area.
Our team got a Pronounced because we were able to shake it off and keep working the space; because I didn’t force her back into the area, but was able to cheer her on and support her decision to begin searching again on her own.
If you have an environmentally sensitive dog, then you understand what a win this is. Holly was a dog who was nervous about things like changes in flooring and walking down narrow hallways. Here you can see her strutting up metal ramps around a hockey rink with fans blasting while she works these scent puzzles. An incredible amount of her confidence has come from her joy of searching! We have nose work to thank for so much and it has bonded us together as a team like nothing else as we work toward a common goal.
Show up, work with the dog in front of you, and be on their team no matter what surprises you encounter along the way!

05/10/2026

I can’t say thank you enough to all who came out to my mini-mock K9 Nose Work trial event, yesterday. Having so many happy faces there to play with their dogs is one of the many reasons nose work has drawn me in more and more over the years, both personally and professionally.
Thanks to everyone’s generosity, I’m told we raised a healthy donation for the church which was our “trial site” and I am another step closer to completing my CO training for NACSW! I’ll be holding another event soon to gather more videos, so keep an eye on your email.
I didn’t take a single picture, so here’s a one from Holly’s recent trial
- Photo credit to Back the Bark Photography

05/06/2026

Sometimes your dog’s bonus reward for a well done search is getting to flirt with all the humans ❤️

04/21/2026

The Intro to K9 Nose Work class series might be my favorite ❤️
Getting to see dogs open up and gain confidence while they unpack this game we’re setting up for them is a true gift. Watching as the dogs learn to hone in on the search while choosing to ignore the rest of the world allows us humans to take a small peak into their world of scent and the true joy, enrichment, stimulation, and satisfaction it brings them.

I started instructing this sport years ago as a way to support my amazingly dedicated students and their wonderful dogs, but I could not have imagined all that it would give back to me over the years.

04/17/2026

It’s officially Spring - and Holly has found her first bunny nest of the season on our property. Which means her humans had to build a quick fort that’s accessible to momma bunny while still keeping out our resident predator🐰🐕

04/12/2026

Off-leash adventure skills require practice. And some dogs pick it up faster than others.

Rewarding check-ins from your dog will help them learn to keep track of you and teach them to check-in with you as a default behavior.

Calling your dog to come, rewarding them, and then allowing them to go back out and explore helps create a solid recall.

A long drag line can give your dog autonomy and choice, while also setting up some safety perimeters in new locations or with a dog who’s still learning these skills.

So get out there and adventure together!

04/06/2026

Rethinking heat injury - a free webinar from the Veterinary Tactical Group.
As we move into the warmer months, it’s worth a watch!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=P3WvBN11QcU&pp=iggCQAE%3D&fbclid=IwVERDUAQ_JJFleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEe4bIbhqjzEPU7gqSG5gDW4gboNWJnfT3COTBDZxGQvLvV_U62nA3zjXa0mx4_aem_umZE62Czf6TKpsqTjTUssA

Heat injury (aka "Heat Stroke") remains the number one preventable cause of illness or death in working dogs, and there are a lot of conflicting guidelines o...

04/06/2026