Canine Kismet LLC

23/07/2025

It had been awhile since we got a chance to see Diesel.
He’s had quite a few life changes recently, including a new neighborhood to adjust to.
We worked on acclimating him to appropriate skills for moving around in a busier area, including leash skills on sidewalks.
Pretty safe to say he was tuckered out at the end.

Picture Description:
A German Shepherd Dog lays on his side sleeping on a grey rug with a water bowl by his feet.

22/07/2025

We introduced some new tasks for Findley so that meant going back to home base.
Here Finn relaxes on his “place” while we discuss training plans.
Finn learned how to use pull ropes on doors and began scent training!

Image Description: A Black Lab Mix Dog lays on a light green blanket in a kitchen.

16/07/2025

Pepper hasn’t missed a step with her training.
One of our first sessions back with her and she’s acting like an old pro.

Here Pepper demonstrates ducking under a middle table in the Starbucks Cafe for 4 minutes.
This table generally has more traffic passing and thus, is a higher distraction point.

In the second image Pepper practices a block, laying horizontally in front of the feet of her Handler, which offers additional space between her Handler and the public.
In this exercise we have Pepper’s Handler work to keep her in position and focused while WE try to distract her.

The last image Pepper remains in a down-stay position under a table with books on top so that her Handler can shop from a nearby area which is a tight space.

17/06/2025

Just a reminder that our Field Trip Classes start on Sunday!
If you’d like to participate give us a call today!

We're excited to announce our yearly Field Trip Frolic Class!

Class will begin on June 22nd this year and run to October 19th.
Field Trip Frolic will take place at 10am and run for one hour.
Locations will vary each week as they have in the past (so long as weather cooperates).

Once again, you may purchase a package or pay per class.

Class sizes are limited to 7 dogs per date.
Preference for class date sign-ups will be given to those purchasing packages.

Prerequities:
*Must have attended prior class(es), or private lessons with us, or have a referral from one of our recommended trainers (if you're not sure, just ask)
*Must be non-dog or child reactive.

For more questions or to sign up, please call or email us.

Thank you!

25/04/2025

We're excited to announce our yearly Field Trip Frolic Class!

Class will begin on June 22nd this year and run to October 19th.
Field Trip Frolic will take place at 10am and run for one hour.
Locations will vary each week as they have in the past (so long as weather cooperates).

Once again, you may purchase a package or pay per class.

Class sizes are limited to 7 dogs per date.
Preference for class date sign-ups will be given to those purchasing packages.

Prerequities:
*Must have attended prior class(es), or private lessons with us, or have a referral from one of our recommended trainers (if you're not sure, just ask)
*Must be non-dog or child reactive.

For more questions or to sign up, please call or email us.

Thank you!

15/03/2025

Due to personal health issues, we will be unavailable for all appointments (in person and via Zoom) starting March 20th for at least 4 weeks.
Following the four week mark we may be able to open some availability for Zoom lessons.
For all other in-person inquiries our availability is likely to not resume until April.
We apologize for any potential inconvenience this may cause.
Thank you to you all for your support and we look forward to working with you in the future!

12/03/2025

Findley was so proud practice and show off his retrieval and carry skills 🥰

24/02/2025

Meet one of our newest friends.
Formerly named “Baloo”, his Handler is still test driving names to ensure the proper fit, but check out this cutie!

His Handler reached out to us as their elder dog suffers from doggy dementia and they will require a new Service Dog to take over in the near future.
We’ve had extensive phone consultations and lengthy emails to help his Handler try and find the best possible prospect for service work and we think we hit it out of the park.
This little guy came from a rescue in Rochester.
His former foster was a college professor who would take him to classes with them for socialization.
When he walked into his new home he immediately bonded with his new canine brother and potential new Handler.

Just four short days after his arrival in Buffalo we met for our assessment for suitability.
This little guy walked in with such confidence it was incredible!
He greeted us for petting by politely and immediately sitting in front of us and remained in position while we gave him attention.

We are so excited to work with this team!

16/01/2025

Apollo is such an awesome boy.
Because of all of the distractions Galleria offers it’s always a fun training experience; truly a great way to work on both planned and unplanned distractions.

Enjoy a few photos of Apollo offering uncued “check-ins” with his Handler Nicki.
In the last photo, one of our Animal Behavior College students is tasked with trying to distraction Apollo while his Handler works on her skills.

Often times things fall apart in real-life situations because we haven’t practiced for them.
A common thing we see is that Handlers get flustered or overwhelmed when people try to interact with their dogs, and while they’re worrying about communicating with the strangers the dog is often unsure as to what they’re supposed to be doing.

We encourage our Handlers to ignore the humans and focus on getting their dogs in desired position, focused on them, and THEN concerning themselves with the interactions with the strangers.

After all, we can train for how our dogs will respond when strangers approach and/or try to interact but we aren’t in control of strangers.
By getting our dogs in position and focused into us, we are able to maintain composure and be ready to exit if need arises.

29/12/2024

Meet our new friend Molly!
Molly was rescued almost a year ago from a hoarding situation on the Reservation.
She was fostered by one of our clients and adopted successfully into a wonderful home.

We received the call that Molly becomes distraught when left at home on her own, often becoming destructive.
Molly’s separation anxiety had gotten so bad that she had destroyed her crate in her haste to escape.
Working with her humans we’ve set up a success plan to help make her feel more comfortable and confident in them leaving her.

Molly has two favorite areas in the house, the chair ottoman and her donut bed.
By turning the ottoman into “place”, adding more value to it utilizing anchoring enrichment toy like a snuffle mat, we can help Molly to cope with her humans leaving.

With a solid plan in place we’re looking forward to helping Molly and her humans live their best lives together 🥰

29/11/2024

You’ll probably recall Diesel from our page and maybe even his cousin Bella.
Here’s a check in on their progress with one another.

We’ve been working with Diesel and Bella on getting comfortable in one another’s space.
Bella is a senior dog and though she was raised with other dogs, it’s been a long time since she was exposed to puppy/adolescent dog energy.
Younger dogs move fast and often unpredictably and it makes sense when older dogs don’t want to put up with it.

As holidays approach we’ve been getting these guys used to being around one another INDOORS and changing different facets of our meetings to train and account for every situation.
Tight quarters? ✅
Family relaxing on the couch? ✅
Feeding time? ✅
Leash drop? ✅
Here is the first time Diesel has “freedom” with his leash being dropped while Bella is on the opposite side of a make-shift barrier.

*It’s important to note one of the things we’ve been working with Diesel on is acclimating him to a head halter over a prong collar.
As much as we want to get him on the new equipment we have to MEET HIM WHERE HE IS.
Training falls apart often because we take the training wheels off before they’re ready.
We cannot be utilizing a head halter that we’ve been very slowly conditioning while also asking SO much from him in another facet of his life.

20/11/2024

Check out Karma learning what a head halter is all about!
It’s important when introducing new items to our dogs, whether it’s a brush, ear cleaning solution, or a collar that we SHOW the show the item and create a positive association with it.
Contrary to popular belief, just because it may be FOR a dog does not mean a dog will like or enjoy it.
As a result, creating a value to these items is not only beneficial but important.
Remember, in training, slow is fast.

Great job!