Good Dawg Training LLC

08/31/2026

Yesterdays Pet CPR & First Aid class was fully booked and worthwhile. Facilitated by Peter Pay. If you are interested in attending a class, please join the waitlist by emailing [email protected]

08/26/2026

Today isn’t just about celebrating dogs. It’s about celebrating who they are.

The sniffers. The diggers. The chasers. The watchers. The cuddlers. The dogs who need space. The dogs who want to investigate everything. The dogs who find the world exciting, and the dogs who sometimes find it overwhelming.

Our job isn’t simply to teach dogs how to fit into our world.

It’s to understand them well enough to give them opportunities to be dogs in it.

Here’s to more sniffing, exploring, choosing, playing, resting, learning and understanding.

Happy National Dog Day from Good Dawg Training. 🐕🧡

08/25/2026

Enrichment isn’t an extra. It’s an essential part of your dog’s physical, emotional, and behavioral wellbeing.

Join Colette Edwards of Good Dawg Training for a practical, interactive 2-hour workshop exploring what enrichment really means and how to use it in everyday life.

Drawing on 30+ years of experience training animals across multiple species, Colette will show you how the same principles used to understand and enrich the lives of animals in zoos and aquariums can help us better understand the dogs who share our homes.

You’ll learn:

* Why dogs do some of the things they do
* The difference between enrichment and simply keeping a dog busy
* The 6 Categories of Enrichment
* What natural needs different activities can fulfil
* How breed, personality, age and individual preferences matter
* How enrichment can support confidence, choice and agency
* How to choose enrichment for your individual dog
* Simple enrichment ideas you can use at home without spending a fortune

🐾 2-hour, in-person workshop
🎟️ $40 per person
📍 Good Dawg Training, 2700 Yulupa Ave, Suite 12, Santa Rosa, CA
⏹️ Limited seats available

FREE Lickmat or pupsicle for each partipant

Come away with a better understanding of your dog, practical ideas you can actually use, and a new way of looking at enrichment.

Secure tour seat by clicking the link below ⬇️

https://pay.good-dawg.com/enrichmentworkshop

08/24/2026

08/24/2026

Looking for a gift? Stop by for adorable pet-centric mugs and bowls. There are also urns and heart shaped mementos of your fur baby that has passed over the rainbow bridge. All made by local artists Camille Hoffman & Jean Decker.

08/15/2026

* Adult supervision should be hands-on and close, not watching from a distance.
* Ideally use two or more balls. The dog can drop one and chase another rather than the child trying to take a ball from the dog.
* Teach the child “hands off the dog’s ball.” An adult should retrieve it if necessary.
* Don’t encourage the toddler to chase the dog, and don’t let the dog chase or body-check the toddler.
* Keep sessions very short.
* Give the dog an easy way to leave the game. If the dog walks away, let them.
* Avoid playing in tight spaces where the dog or child could feel trapped.
* Consider the dog’s individual play style. A gentle retriever may be very different from a dog who becomes intensely focused, possessive, or highly aroused around balls.
* Teach the dog to “drop it”

Stop or pause if you see the dog becoming increasingly fast or frantic, jumping toward the child, grabbing near hands or clothing, barking repeatedly, unable to disengage, guarding the ball, freezing/stiffening, hovering over the toy, hard staring, repeatedly snatching, or ignoring attempts to interrupt the game.

Also watch for quieter signs that the dog has had enough: turning away, moving away, lip licking, suddenly sniffing, avoiding the child, ears changing position, becoming still, or repeatedly trying to create distance.

And watch the toddler’s behavior too. If they start chasing, hugging, climbing on the dog, taking toys directly from the dog’s mouth, falling onto the dog, squealing close to the dog’s face, or becoming too excited to follow the simple rules, the game is finished for now.

08/13/2026

Car Confidence Starts Before the Car Moves 🚗🐾

If your dog is worried about the car, the goal isn’t simply to get them in and start driving. Confidence can be built in tiny, successful steps.

Start with the car parked safely in the garage or driveway.

1. Approach the car
Reward your dog for calmly approaching, looking at, or investigating the car. They don’t have to get in yet.
2. Let them enter by choice
Whenever safely and physically possible, teach dogs to get in and out independently. For little dogs, consider a secure ramp or steps rather than automatically picking them up and placing them inside.
3. Car off. No driving.
Spend a little time simply being in the parked car. Keep sessions short and easy. Let your dog sniff, explore, eat treats, or simply hang out.
4. Watch for subtle stress
A dog doesn’t have to whine, bark, pant, or try to escape to be uncomfortable. Look for changes in body posture, reluctance to approach, freezing, lowered body position, scanning, difficulty taking food, or rushing to get out.
5. Add one small change at a time
Comfortable getting in? Great. Next might be closing a door briefly. Then sitting with the doors closed. Then turning the engine on. Driving comes later.
6. Start with very short trips
A drive around the block may be plenty at first. Build duration gradually rather than jumping straight into a long journey.
7. Make the destination worth the ride 🌳👃
Take short trips to places your dog enjoys: a quiet park, a favorite walking spot, a Sniffspot, or somewhere they can enjoy a good sniffari.

If the car mostly predicts the vet, groomer, boarding, or other experiences your dog finds difficult, getting into the car can start predicting those things too.

Aim for enjoyable car trips to heavily outweigh the scary or stressful ones.

Don’t wait for your dog to panic before you start helping them. Reward the small wins.

Confidence isn’t built by making the dog do more.
It’s built by giving them lots of opportunities to discover:
“I can do this, and good things happen here.”

08/10/2026

Thank you American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior - AVSAB

08/10/2026

We hosted a small Dachshund Sniffari today. Oliver, Winnie and Sadie went home thoroughly exhausted after their adventure which met all their enrichment needs. A tired dog is a mentally and physically fulfilled dog!

08/06/2026

Tonight at Yappy Hour we had two sibling puppies (Little Bear & Splash), now living in separate homes, enjoying time together again with another familiar puppy, Obi. The brothers are rescues from

Socialization is about so much more than play. It’s about building confidence, learning social skills, and practicing emotional regulation in a safe, enriching environment. Hidden treats in the box is always a favorite!

🐶 4 free Yappy Hours are included in my Puppy Start Right program, or you can book Yappy Hour as a standalone activity online. Santa Rosa dog training