Hand in Paw

08/23/2025

🐾Shelter Spotlight 🐾

This big b***y boy is back on the hunt for a couch to his potato~

Bingo came to SHS after a long stay at another shelter. He stayed with us with high hopes for six months before being adopted... 6 months later, Bingo was back due to no fault of his own.

Why Bingo:
✅Loves Long Naps on the couch💤
✅Spontaneous Zoomies 🏃
✅Walks nicely on the leash 🐾
✅Cuddles on the first date🤗
✅Easy for nail trims and baths!🛁
✅Heart as big as his head 💖

Adopt Bingo at Shiawassee Humane Society!

08/21/2025

🐾 Trainer Talk Thursday! 🐾

Did you know one of the top reasons dogs are surrendered to shelters is because of unwanted behavior? And most of those behaviors are not only treatable but preventable!

When is the right time to start training? BEFORE a behavior problem occurs! This doesn’t have to look like strict or long training sessions. Just positive feedback on the behaviors they are nailing and gentle redirection for behavior you don’t want to continue!

🦴 It’s much easier to build good habits before bad ones are developed
🦴 Training helps establish clear communication and builds trust
🦴 It sets dogs up for success in their forever homes for life!

⚠️ Be cautious of outdated advice online. Look for trainers who use gentle, fear-free methods—no fear, no pain, just kindness backed by science. 🐶💕

🐾If you feel overwhelmed by your dogs behavior, please reach out! - we want to help get you on the right track to keeping your dog in your home!

Let’s keep pets in homes and out of shelters. 💛

08/20/2025

We offer in-home dog training & virtual options for your convenience.

🐶 Don’t worry about the drive - we come to you!🚗

📩 September openings are filling fast - Send us a message today to grab your spot!

08/15/2025

🐕August is National Dog Month! 🐕

We want to see your summer fun!

📸 Share your favorite summer photo of your dog in the comments!

08/15/2025

It’s National Relaxation Day😌💤 — let’s talk relaxation and your dog!

Do you have a dog that just won't lay down?🐶 Maybe they jump up at your every move or every sound they hear. Do you think you just don't have the time to provide your high energy dog with enough exercise and activity? Your dog may actually need help learning to relax. That's right — not all dogs are born with the natural ability to just chill.

Too much of a good thing — high-energy exercise, endless play, and constant enrichment — can actually harm your dog’s well-being. We LOVE keeping dogs active and enriched, but balance is key for both your dog and YOU.

Teaching your dog how to settle in different situations helps lower stress, boost confidence, and create a calmer, happier pup.

Need help teaching your dog to find some peace? Send us a message — we’ll create a plan tailored just for them! 🐶💤

08/14/2025

Friendly doesn’t mean bite-proof. Teach your kids how to safely share space with your dog.

🐾🐶 Trainer Talk Thursday 🐶🐾

Let’s talk dogs & kids!

It’s important to take safety measures any time children interact with dogs, even if they know each other well and have always done well in the past!

🐾 Supervision is key to preventing accidents
🐾 Even the sweetest, most loving dog can become overwhelmed or startled

Teach children to respect a dog’s space and body:
❌ No hugging, rough play, or pulling ears and tails – dogs may feel trapped or hurt
❌ No faces in faces! – this can feel threatening to a dog
❌ Avoid disturbing a dog that's eating, sleeping, or chewing on a toy or bone

✅ Encourage gentle petting, calm voices, and safe interactions
✅Always respect your dogs warnings!
✅Always monitor and teach children how to understand a dog’s communication

Dogs aren’t toys! They are living beings with their own feelings and boundaries. With proper safety considerations dogs and children can live together successfully! 🐾🐶👶💞

08/13/2025

We’ve talked about my first reactive dog and my newest rescue. Both taught me the same truth: training isn’t just about teaching cues—it’s about growing the dog.

That means building trust before asking for focus. Creating safety before adding challenges. Meeting their needs first, so they can actually meet yours later.

You can slap obedience cues on a stressed, undernourished, scared dog but you’re building on sand. When you slow down and do it right, you’re building on bedrock.

I’ve seen dogs transform when you give them time, space, and compassion. I’ve seen fear turn into confidence, chaos into calm, and avoidance into trust.

That's building a dog up. That's Cooperative Dog Training 🐾

08/12/2025

My most recent addition came to the shelter with a “behavior problem” label.

When I met him, he was:
🐾 Covered in fleas
🐾 Very underweight
🐾 Nails curling into his paw pads
🐾 Barking nonstop

Our medical team could barely get his vaccines in. He wouldn’t eat. He was stressed to the max.

I took him into foster to get him healthy — and he hasn’t left my side since.

Contrary to what people assume, I didn’t start with obedience drills. I started with:
🍲 Food
🛏 Rest
⏰ Routine
🏡 Safety

I focused on his gut and skin health and gave him the rest he so badly needed.

It took weeks before we could even start training games. At first, we stuck to simple tricks and recall — anything more overwhelmed him. But we kept going. Kept building our relationship. Kept figuring out what worked for us.

Now people say, “I want a dog like him.” But he didn’t come preprogrammed this way.

I built the relationship I wanted.
I built his confidence.
I built our trust.
I rewarded the behaviors I wanted.
I put in the work.

Don’t just train the dog — build the dog up.

08/11/2025

My first reactive dog taught me more than any “obedience” class ever could. I’d had dogs my whole life, but he was the first real challenge. Sweet, goofy, playful… and terrified of the world.

I could have done what so many trainers push—shock collars, choke chains, yanking, yelling. Sure, it might have shut him up in the moment. But it also would have shut him down, damaged our trust, and crushed his spirit. Hard pass.

Instead, we built something better. We worked on trust, communication, and choice. He learned to look to me for comfort, to face his triggers at safe distances, and—my favorite—to decide on his own to walk away instead of lunging toward them.

Years later, I still get goosebumps every time he sees a trigger and chooses peace over panic. That’s not magic. That’s cooperative training. And it works—for every dog.

Punishment breaks dogs down. Trust builds them up.