Hillary's Hound House - Jumpstart Puppy Training Program

04/24/2026

A Day in the Life of a Puppy Coach at Hillary's Hound House.

Work with Puppies. Build Real Skill. Grow Into Leadership.

At Hillary’s Hound House, training happens all day. Every interaction is calm, kind and intentional - designed to create calm, thoughtful, and responsive puppies.

Who We’re Looking For;
We are building a team of future leaders.

This role is for someone who wants more than a job—it’s an opportunity to develop real skill, take ownership, and grow into a leadership role within a structured training environment.

If you are passionate about dogs, driven to improve, and motivated by doing work that makes a difference in the lives of people and puppies, you will thrive here.

What You’ll Do;
- Lead playgroups, enrichment activities, and field trips to forest, mall, and stores for enhanced socialization
- Lead structured playgroups with awareness and control
- Support puppies in developing confidence and regulation
- Participate in training throughout the day
- Work closely with our team to support daily flow

Who Excels Here;
- You enjoy a supportive, collegial environment
- You enjoy working with puppies and would like to build a future working with dogs
- You want to grow and take on more responsibility

Growth Opportunity;
Puppy Coaches are in a prime position to take on increasing responsibility play a pivotal role in our training and daycare programs.

Salary: $24-25/hour DOE
Hours: Mon - Thurs 8:30am to 3:00pm

Please send your resume and tell us about your experience with puppies or dogs.

Thanks so much to Puppy Coach Heather! And Stinson, you have my heart.

03/25/2026

Interoception and Puppies: Teaching Puppies Listen to Their Bodies
There’s something underneath many common puppy challenges—overexcitement, poor impulse control, difficulty settling, even potty training—that most people don’t think about.

It’s called interoception.

Interoception is the ability to sense what’s happening inside the body—fatigue, stress, hunger, the need to go out. It’s what allows us to pause, adjust, and make better decisions. Puppies aren’t born with this skill. It develops over time, and without guidance, it often doesn’t develop well.

Puppies are wired to notice the outside world—movement, sound, other dogs, people. What they don’t naturally notice is what’s happening inside. A puppy can be exhausted, overstimulated, or need to go potty and still keep going. Not because he’s being difficult, but because he doesn’t recognize those signals yet.

If a puppy can’t feel what’s happening in his body, he can’t regulate it.

That’s why so many behavior issues are actually awareness issues. A puppy who is escalating, jumping, or unable to settle isn’t choosing poorly—he’s overwhelmed. A puppy who has an accident didn’t ignore training—he didn’t feel the signal early enough.

We don’t teach interoception with commands. We teach it by creating moments where the puppy can notice himself.

This is why interrupting play matters. When puppies are in motion, everything happens too fast for awareness. But when we interrupt—when they stop, look, and take a breath—they have a moment to feel what’s going on inside. That moment is where learning begins.
Over time, those pauses start to add up. Puppies begin to recognize their own state. They hesitate before escalating. They recover more quickly. They start to regulate themselves.

One of the biggest obstacles to this is exhaustion. A tired puppy is not a well-regulated puppy. When puppies are pushed too far, their internal awareness shuts down. Instead of learning to stop, they learn to push past their limits.

The same is true in play. Without interruption, puppies don’t learn when they’re getting overwhelmed—they just keep going until something breaks. With thoughtful pauses, they begin to understand the difference between up and down, excitement and calm.

Even potty training depends on this. A puppy who is developing awareness starts to notice internal pressure sooner and respond to it. A puppy without that awareness simply goes when it’s too late.
When you start to see puppies this way, behavior makes more sense. The puppy who “loses it” isn’t random. The puppy who “won’t settle” isn’t stubborn. He’s disconnected from what’s happening inside his own body.

Our job is to change that.

We slow things down. We interrupt early. We create space between impulse and action. And in that space, puppies begin to notice, and eventually, to choose.

We’re not just teaching behavior.
We’re teaching awareness.
And once a puppy can feel what’s happening inside, everything else—calm, focus, control—has somewhere to begin.

If you are struggling with potty training, grab my Oops-Free Potty Training guide here; https://hillaryshoundhouse.com/free-potty-training-guide/

03/25/2026

Do Dogs Understand Us Better Than Chimpanzees?

Researchers have long been curious about how animals understand human communication - especially something as simple as pointing. This study, “Dogs (Canis familiaris), but Not Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), Understand Imperative Pointing,” set out to explore that question in a new way.

At first glance, chimpanzees seem like they should be great at this. They can follow where humans are looking and even understand some goals and intentions. But when it comes to interpreting a human pointing gesture—like when someone points to an object they want—chimpanzees often struggle.

Dogs, on the other hand, are generally very good at using human gestures to find food. However, it hasn’t been as clear whether they can use these cues in situations that don’t involve food.

In this study, researchers directly compared chimpanzees (20 individuals) and dogs (32 individuals). The animals were shown two visible objects placed behind them. A human pointed to one object they wanted, and the animal’s task was to pick it up and hand it over. If they chose correctly, they were rewarded.

To test this, scientists gave both chimpanzees and dogs a simple task. Two objects were placed behind each animal, and a person pointed to the one they wanted. The animal’s job was to pick up the correct object and hand it over in exchange for a reward.

The results told a clear story. Dogs were surprisingly good at understanding the pointing gesture and choosing the right object—even from the very first try. Chimpanzees, however, didn’t perform better than random guessing. Even though they were motivated and understood the basic task (they would hand over objects), they didn’t seem to grasp what the pointing gesture meant.

This suggests something interesting: it’s not just about intelligence. Chimpanzees are highly intelligent, but they may not naturally interpret human communication the same way dogs do. Dogs, having evolved alongside humans, appear especially tuned in to our signals—almost as if they expect us to be communicating with them.

In other words, understanding what someone wants is different from understanding what someone is trying to tell you. Dogs seem to get both. Chimpanzees, at least in this context, do not.

“While dogs performed well on this task, chimpanzees failed to identify the referent.”

Kirchhofer, K. C., Zimmermann, F., Kaminski, J., & Tomasello, M. (2012). Dogs (Canis familiaris), but not chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), understand imperative pointing. PLOS ONE, 7(2), e30913. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0030913

03/20/2026

I love this.
I’m tired of drama.
My nursery is the one place I can escape it.

02/13/2026

Aalto and the Potty Bells

02/09/2026

Puppy recall on the bay

We have brand new Beau, an 11 week old Maltese puppy and Rex, a four month old doodle.

02/05/2026

02/05/2026

01/31/2026

Recall isn’t static - and neither are our dogs. This spring, we’re excited to offer Renewal Recall for longtime clients ready to reconnect, and Beginning Recall classes for puppies, adolescents, and adult dogs at every stage of development.

Whether your dog’s recall has quietly slipped, become selective with age, or is just beginning to take shape, these classes focus on choice, clarity, and connection—not pressure. We work outdoors, in real environments, with thoughtful setups that help dogs want to come back.

🐾 Renewal Recall – a three-week return to responsiveness for dogs with training history

🐾 Beginning Recall – four-week foundations for Puppies (10w–6m), Adolescents (6–18m), and Adult Dogs (18m+)

This isn’t about starting over.
It’s about remembering who you are together.

01/30/2026

Tunnel zoomies and puppy giggles 🐶💨

Malibu, Ollie, and Nola are having the best time playing together at Hillary’s Hound House in San Rafael, CA. This is what happy socialization looks like 💛