Wintegrity K9

10/30/2026

Some dogs are tethered to a kennel.
Others are tethered to our expectations.
And that tether is much harder to see.

They live inside our homes now.
They sleep on orthopaedic beds.
A few toys to play with. A wardrobe full of coats.
They are loved. Oh, how they are loved.

But a loved life is not always a lived life.

We shrink their world for convenience.
We want a dog that fits into our life,
not a life that stretches to fit a dog.

So before they even arrive, the plan is made.
They will be calm when people come over.
They will be fine with 10 minutes around the same block.
They won't complain when we skip it.
Five minutes of fetch while dinner cooks.
And they will be my loyal companion.

But what if who they are doesn't fit the plan?
What if they were bred to run for miles and we give them a block?
What if they were bred to use their nose, and we never give them anything worth sniffing?

So the cracks show.
The chewed rug.
The paint scratched off the wall.
Whining at the door.
Jumping all over guests because it's the most excitement they've had in 8 days.

And we call it misbehaviour.

So we train them harder.
Not to understand them better-
but to make them fit neatly again.
Calmer.
Quieter.
They need to accept this is the life we decided they should have.

After all, dogs are meant to be loyal companions.
We never stop to ask if we are being a loyal companion to them.

We look at photos of dogs chained to kennels and feel angry.
We all agree, that's no life for a dog.
We give ours a bed instead of a rag on the ground.
A beautiful home instead of a chain.
A couple of toys instead of dirt and twigs.
We just don't see that the chain can still be there

10/30/2026

Happy Vet Visits.
Sadly, sometimes dogs experience things that aren’t joyful at a vet clinic.

It happens to all of us when we go to the doctor. Sometimes it’s just going to hurt.

Beau is a dog that does not enjoy going to the vet. In fact, he’s afraid. We are working to change his emotional response to the trigger of walking into the clinic by doing Happy visits.

What is a happy vet visit?

It’s a visit that is all about the dog being comfortable.

It can look many different ways.

Sometimes I have a dog that we walked up to the door, get some cookies and turn around and leave without ever touching the door. Tell the dog can be happy outside we’re not going to try to go inside.
As the dog gets more confident, and we rebuild trust we go inside and it might be a walk-in turnaround walk out. The dog guides our choices.

Knowing your dog’s body language is super helpful in these situations. If as we’re walking up to the vet clinic, a dog’s eyes get really round, their tail drops, their mouth closes, and their ears go back. I’ve had four really clear signals that they are not comfortable. By responding to those communications, the dog never has to growl. The amazing thing that happens in these situations is when the dog realizes you’re listening to the body language, they start feeling safe with you.

Our goal is to always work below threshold, so the dog never reaches an elevated level of anxiety or fear.

As you can see in these pictures, we hung out, relaxed, and let Beau settle in and experience the clinic in an exam room. This is one of the clinics I work with on a regular basis, and they are incredibly gracious with letting us reserve a room to go in and practice.

If your dog is having challenges at the vet, ask if you can come in and do Happy visits. It truly makes a difference for the better.

10/30/2026

I am super late on posting this, but guess who turned one years old and had a birthday party?

Judge Franks.

I love seeing my clients celebrate their dogs.

Judge says he loved all the presents lol

09/10/2026

I am often asked about rattlesnake training, and this would be an excellent opportunity for you to work with your dog in a humane manner.

Rattlesnake season isn’t over just because summer is coming to an end!

Rattlesnakes can still be active through October and even later if the weather stays warm, so it’s important to continue being aware when you’re out and about with your dog.

In our 6-week Rattlesnake Avoidance Class, we teach you how to use positive reinforcement to help your dog recognize rattlesnakes by sight, sound, and scent and choose to stay far away.

Sign up today!
https://www.marysangelsdogtraining.com/specialty-classes.html

Prerequisite: Orientation

08/19/2026

All appointments are full!! Please remember only 2 per person!
Here are the details.
* Cat spays or neuters feral or friendly $10 each.

**********BY APPOINTMENT ONLY.*************

*SCAN THE QR CODE ON THE BOTTOM OF THE FLYER TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT.
*CATS MUST WEIGH 2LBS AT THE TIME OF SURGERY.
*Must be a Solano County resident (proof required)
* 2 cats per person ( spaces are limited to 30 females / 70 males)

07/27/2026

Trigger warning
Abuse Control
I want to talk about a challenging subject.
Recently, there was a post on social media discussing a dog that was living in an environment that was unacceptable. It appeared there was not any food or water, the dog was living on concrete with multiple piles of f***s readily seen in the photo.
According to the original poster, they had called animal control multiple times and it was taking too long for the situation to be resolved. They also stated a year ago Animal Control gave the dog back to this particular Home.
As happens on these emotional posts, many people made comments about the poor dog needs to be picked up right away, those people should rot in hell, etc.
One person asked for the address, and according to their comments, went and picked up the dog. This is also called theft.
That person then posted photos and videos of the dog with them stating "it would never go back to the owner. They were making sure of it and would work with animal control. That they were going to give the evidence they collected."
Don’t we all wish it was that easy.
Don’t you wish that in every case of animal neglect/abuse, child neglect/abuse, senior neglect/abuse you could just go in ,take the animal, child or senior, walk out, tell the police what happened and have everybody just decide that’s the truth. Woohoo that is enough evidence to bring charges, convict, and impose sentencing on somebody.
Maybe we all wish that’s how it worked, but it’s not.
We need people who are trained and understand how to take care of the animal, child or senior. We need people who understand the laws, how to build a case, how to collect evidence, and how to make sure the people who perpetrate the neglect or abuse are not put in a position to do it again.
When we step in front of law-enforcement, in our own form of vigilante justice, we prevent that from happening.
We prevent the possibility of collecting evidence by interferring in the investigation.
Without the evidence law enforcement, which includes animal control, cannot bring up charges.
Without charges, there’s no conviction.
Without a conviction, the perpetrator gets to commit the same abuse or neglect again and again on countless future victims.
I am not animal control. I am not an expert on the law.
I am a person who’s been a Pet professional for over 40 years and has worked through countless cases in a variety of situations. I have had to work with animal control to build a case against my own neighbors more than once. It’s hard. It’s damn hard. But if we want to stop the abuse and the neglect, we have to be part of the solution. We cannot block the collection of evidence, the potential prosecution and conviction, and a complete stopping of the behavior of the humans to do these things. We cannot be the obstacle, When we choose vigilante type behavior, we are the obstacle.
In this particular case, the “rescuer” did not have the knowledge necessary to work with this dog. They gave tthe dog the wrong nutritional support which caused bloat, which is a life-threatening situation.
They surrendered the dog to a local emergency hospital who had to reach out to the organization responsible for animal control in that city. Now the taxpayers are paying for additional medical care rather than that money going to animals that were already needing financial support. The city animal control organization reached out to the county shelter organization, they now have possession of the dog.
Despite the person who stole the dogs claims "that the dog would never end up in that family’s possession again", they actually set the dog up to go right back to them. Legally, the owners have to be notified their dog is at the shelter. They will have three days to claim this dog. The person who thought they saved the dog, not only caused severe medical challenges, but set the dog up to go right back to the people and sabotaged the investigation to stop the abuse and neglect from happening.
How can you make a difference?
If you find yourself in a situation like this, start a log. Each day write down when the dog is fed, when the dog is watered, and if it does not happen, whether or not the dog has shelter. If you can do video, add video. If where the dog is kept is unsanitary take pictures with date and time stamps.
Call animal control repeatedly. Understand they receive far more calls than they can give adequate time to. We have far more animals in the shelter then we can give adequate care and support too.
If that upsets you start being part of the solution.
If you want animal control to have the ability to do more then we have to change the legislation that ties their hands. We have to increase funding. When we ask you to vote, get out and vote with us to increase humane treatment of animals.
Lastly, I want to touch on some comments that were made about our animal control officers and support staff.
There are very few jobs in the world that are harder than working with the innocent against neglect and abuse.
The people that take these jobs, are for the most part there, because they care. They face the horrors every single day. Despite typically low pay, they come back every day to do it again.
Unless you have stood there, in the gap, supporting the animals, the children and the seniors who are suffering abuse and neglect. It is not OK to speak derogatory about the people who are. I can already hear you saying, but there was this one person who was not doing a good job. If you know of something like that report it, because it’s not ok.
I can tell you, I know a large percentage of our local shelter workers, SPCA workers, volunteers, Humane Animal Aervices employees, and Animal Control Officers. I don’t know a single one that does not care deeply.
Please use the comment section of this post to give a shout out to somebody working in the Animal Shelter or Rescue community that has done something you appreciated. Big or small doesn’t matter. Let’s take the time to let them know that what they do matters to us.
Thank you for reading,
Becca Hintz
www.beccahintz.com
Wintegrity K9
Animal Community Alliance -ACA See less

Becca Hintz Start where you are. Find what you need. This site is a place for dog lovers, animal professionals, and anyone working to make life better for people and the animals they care about. Whether you are looking for effective dog training in Vacaville or nearby, or seeking guidance through th...