Canine Aspirations

26/11/2025

My dogs love eating dinner this way.

27/09/2024

In memory of Orion.

26/09/2024

My collie Amber running at an agility trial back in July. We had fun!

Check out Jenn’s video.

18/03/2024

Who is interested in a Monday rally class and/or rally run thrus in Northborough, MA?

Potential rally class time slots are 12-1 pm, 4-5 pm, and/or 7:30-8:30 pm.

Drop me a note below if you'd like to join us and let me know which time you prefer!

17/02/2024

Amber's floofers was pretty outstanding at competition obedience class tonight. 🤣🤣🤣

13/11/2023

I am so happy I got to foster this sweet girl and get her into an awesome home with clients of mine. I can't wait to see how much more Lola blossoms now that she has a forever family.

07/09/2023

Happy birthday 🎂 🥳 🎉 🎈 🎁 to Sadie!!! She turned 11 this past weekend. I can't believe she has been part of the Canine Aspirations family for a decade! I love knowing my clients for their entire lifetimes. 💜💜💜
♥️♥️♥️

We offer playgroups on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and are currently accepting new dogs weighing 50lbs and under. We pick up your pup and they get to come play in a large fenced yard with their favorite friends and then we drive them home.

02/09/2023

Happy to have this little cutie join us for some training. Meet Winnie the Cavalier King Charles spaniel. She will be learning how to greet dogs and humans without yelling about how excited she is to say "hi", loose-leash walking, and recalls primarily. We had our first session yesterday, and both Mom and Winnie were eager participants who caught on quickly.

02/09/2023

🧐 What’s wrong with describing dogs as pack animals?

A couple of things...
🔸dogs are not wolves. They are so far removed from wolf ancestors. Dogs are their own species. Dogs do not form packs.
🔹referring to dogs as pack animal lends people to believe there is some sort of alpha/dominance factor in play when living with humans.

⚠️The incorrect information doesn't help our dogs when trying to live with us. Everything gets blamed on the dog trying to be alpha or asserting dominance.

🟨 A dog growling when a person tries to pick up their bone is mislabeled as trying to assert dominance when the dog is actually trying to communicate they are stressed over losing their important resource.

🟨 A dog who growls for being pushed off the couch to make room for their human is viewed as trying to take over some alpha position when in fact the dog is communicating being pushed off the couch is stressful.

🔴 What is a pack? A pack of wolves is a breeding pair & their offspring. Offspring will eventually go out and create their own pack. These family units live together, cooperatively. Wolf research shows us these family units/packs do not live in a state of conflict, trying to assert dominance over one another.

👉🏻 Very early research was wrong and has since been debunked. This early, incorrect research was modeled after captive wolves forced to live together. There was conflict, but these were not natural family units/packs.

✅ We need to help our canine companions- do them a big favor and stop calling them pack animals. When we understand they are not pack animals, we can realize the things our dogs are doing are NOT coming from alpha/dominance.

✳️ You are already the ‘alpha’.

🐶 Your dog is totally, completely, 100% dependent on you.

✳️ You dictate when your dog:
🐶 gets breakfast & dinner
🐶 goes out to potty
🐶 goes on walks
🐶 gets to play
🐶 has a tasty treat.

‼️If your dog is displaying an undesirable behavior, there is a reason... but it's not because of pack theory/alpha/dominance.