Doggy Dojo: Train, Play, Rescue

08/02/2026

55 Seconds of peak "Distraction Class Comedy". 🤣😅😂.

My man Logan, Charcoal's Big Brother, has been killlinnnn' it as my Officially Official Distraction Action Assistant.

The Dude has got his timing and his enthusiasm on the cowbell down to a science. Today when I pulled out the walker, his eyes lit up with a twinkle of mayhem.
So when he asked if he could try the walker...?
Well, who am I to deny a kid a walker...?

Comedy ensued.
I'd like to say that we take ourselves seriously at The Doggy Dojo, but the only thing we take seriously is our dogs well being.

** The strategy behind our lightheartedness is that we're applying eustress to our one year olds.
We're intentionally exposing them to distraction, and even a little bit of confusion, while they practice "place".
Simply put, it builds their emotional resilience to the stress of life as well as fosters their courage and their faith in their handlers while we are in a contained and premeditated environment so that when "life happens" out in a public environment, they've already "been there and done that" with Mom or Dad at Distraction Class.

Logan's enthusiam has been a brilliant add to our distraction toolbox.
Thanks, Bro! I wish you a lifetime of and

07/17/2026

Sooooooo....
We "Graduated" out our 9th and 10th grade friends from the Vinal Tech Veterinary Science Department a few weeks ago. While they still got a couple of years before they actually graduate Vinal and twelfth grade, they all passed their Doggy Dojo Final Exam for the year with flying colors and High Honors.
😉😉🙃🙃😂😂

I know... these amazing, wonderful, bright and talented young people are out there enjoying their summer and 4th of July and I'm just getting around to posting our wrap-up for them.
I know... I really hope to stay on top of this Social Media stuff in the future, but I just love training and Rescuin' and would, frankly, rather concentrate on that and even on helping these brilliant young folks start a career in the dog and pet world.

Soooo... with that said... what an amazing experience Sharon, Sue, Chris and I all had with these young Vet Techs-To-Be.
We are looking forward to seeing them next academic year and developing new lesson plans with them and for them while we apply the lessons they went through this year to next year's incoming class.

Have a Safe and Happy Summer, to all my friends at Vinal and all of the Doggy Dojo Members near and far!
Go make some memories and some !

06/16/2026

Sharon and I did a thing today, A Rescue Thing.

Clifford is gonna come live with us, Train with us, Play with us and maybe even Rescue with us.

Clifford's time in the shelter was starting to run out. He'd been there too long, around seven months, and was compressing.
They had started playing Sarah Maclachlan music on his FB posts.

I hadn't met him yet, but I'd had my eye on Clifford since he hit Middletown Animal Control.
In one of the cruelest twists of irony The Universe has ever handed us, we had lost one of the most unique and wonderful human souls I have ever encountered only a few days before Clifford had hit the pound.
His name was Clifford... Cliff, as well.
Someday, I'll share his and my friend Justin's stories and exactly why loosing them was as tragic as their lives were spectacular. However, today just isn't that day. I don't have that kind of emotional wherewithal

I knew it was a sign, that this was kismet talking to me.
I wasn't anywhere near being able to take in a Board and Train case, especially one with the same name as one of my friends I'd just lost.
So I kept my eye on Clifford, from a distance.

Sharon and I will be traveling this weekend to Cliff's memorial.
Kismet wasn't just speaking to me anymore, it was screaming.
The dog that I didn't have the guts to Rescue the week my friends passed, was getting ready to implode the same week we were getting ready to celebrate Cliff's life with his other friends and families.

So, in Rescue parlance, I "pulled" Clifford from the Shelter Life today and under the name "Doggy Dojo".
Clifford isn't my first Rescue, he isn't the Dojo's first act of charity. He is, however, the first dog we've pulled on our own and under our name.

Other than decompressing him and Board and Training him back to emotional health and competency... I don't know where we're going, but we'll get there together. I do know this, the moment I put a slip leash over his head... he spoke to me, his energy hit me and his entire training plan flashed into my head and my heart in split second.

Time may show us the perfect family for Clifford, The Universe may speak to us again and show us a different path for him. For right now, we're just gonna concentrate on showing him "The world's only a scary place, IF ya let it scare ya".

Justin, Cliff... this one's for you guys.
Everything you two shared with me is gonna go into this one.
Thank You, I Love You.

06/02/2026

Hey Dojo Fam!
This little girl doesn't happen to be a member of the Doggy Dojo Community, but she does happen to be lost from her home a few miles from The Dojo.

Keep an eye out for her if ya' can?

Thanks, and

Missing in Cromwell. She is friendly but very scared. If you see her please do not chase or call out to her. She will run What you can do to help: If you see her, call the owner immediately with the exact location, direction of travel, and what the dog is doing. Call the number immediately so we can get her family out to the area. Please share and help bring her home.

05/18/2026

Having all the young adults from the Vinal Tech Veterinary Science Department program into our little Doggy Dojo has meant sooooo much to all of us.
Sophie and Judah, and even the Dojo's humans, can feel the enthusiam and energy that the students bring and we are so grateful for it.
The oppourtunity to be able to have an impact on the lives of a family and their rescue dog is why we started this place, the chance to help shape young people seeking a profession parallel to ours is spectacular to us.

Miss Frawley, Miss Yargeau...Thank You, Thank You, THANK YOU for allowing us to be a part of their journey and their "Adventures in Do***ng".
Your commitment to these students and our local community is as exceptional as it is wonderful.

😉☺️🙃🙃😉😉

04/01/2026

We got invaded today!
By the Vinal Tech Veterinary Science Department 9th Grade crew.
Actually, they were welcomed into the Dojo by Sophie and Juda with open paws and love, lol.

This was their first visit to the Dojo, Sharon and I have visited their classrooms and working spaces at the High School but I finally got to get them out to The Dojo for some intro to Leash Ninja skills... and we all made sure that each and every student got to lead either Juda or Sophie over our scaling wall.

The Smiles and Fun were off the hook, even by Dojo standards.
We are sooooooo looking forward to repeating this lesson with the 10th graders and developing new lessons on things like Canine Body Language, Command Communication and especially helping them identify things like Canine Stress Patterns in their medical patients and even grooming clients.

We'll have more posts coming as our involvement with the program expands and some day we'll share the backstory of how all this came to be and most importantly, how YOU as a Dojo Member, local Rescue Advocate or just plain old Good Person can get involved and help these young folks persue an eventual profession in the pet world/Veterinarian Sciences.

03/30/2026

Sunday Funday at The Dojo for our Fireman's Club kiddo's.
Outside and in the sunshine and fresh air for the first time this year.

This is one of my favorite sides of The Dojo. It's not one that I get to advertise, celebrate or even brag and boast about as often as I'd like... but its one of the parts of The Dojo that brings me the most pride and satisfaction down deep in my soul.

These are our Dog Reactive kids.
Other dogs unsettle them, for a variety of reasons. Sometimes the emotional root of the kids anxiety around other dogs is downright existential in nature, sometimes it's as simple as being the equivalent to a kindergarteners entitled little temper tantrum.
Most other trainers or facilities call this the Reactive Dog class. I refuse to let our kids accumulate labels or diagnoses. Sometimes people seem to take comfort in those labels and then limit their potential quality of life to inside the bounds and boundaries of those lables; they grow to live inside the snowglobe of the confines of their labels because its easier than growing beyond them.

Perhaps another day I'll explain the inside joke behind the name "Fireman's Club", for right now thats an IYKYK for the folks that are out here every weekend helping their kids unload their baggage.

I apologize for being a little hoarse in the narration. We had already done 4 Socials and 2 Distraction Classes that weekend.

02/16/2026

Alumni Check-In: Winter Edition.

It seems that my buddy Apollo is out there rockin' it in his new position as Big Brother. Long line/loose leash strolling next to the stroller.

Apollo is A Stone’s Throw Dog Rescue alumni as well as a Doggy Dojo Alumni.
We helped him and his Mom unpack some anxiety about humans, especially ones around his home. He's out there loving that Best Life these days.
Even though the picture itself may be Cooooold... it makes my heart warm. Lol.
🙃🙃😉😉

01/21/2026

I mean, Espresso and Puppies are two of MY favorite things.
☺️😉🙃🙃😉😉🙃🙃

Tala and I did some comedic decorating at The Dojo today in between some Frisbee Fetch/Train & Play.

**Hey, EveryBody and EveryDoggy, keep an eye out here on our FB page for SNOW UPDATES this weekend***