Patrick's Pet Care

05/06/2022

Considering A Career As A Dog Trainer? Find Out What A Career in Dog Training Looks Like At PPC. - Patrick's Pet Care

Considering a career in dog training? Patrick’s Pet Care is unlike any other dog training provider in the DMV. How do we retain our trainers? Patrick’s Pet Care is an awesome place to work.

Learn more about what a career in dog training looks like and what career pathways exist at Patrick's Pet Care. 👇

Considering a career in dog training? Patrick’s Pet Care (PPC) is unlike any other dog training provider in the DMV. How do we retain our trainers? Patrick’s Pet Care is an awesome place to work. Learn more about our dog training career opportunities.

05/03/2022

Bella is an elderly Chihuahua with arthritis in her hip. As part of our TLC Walks, we take things at Bella’s pace. Sometimes that means a few unboarded elevators go by before one comes along that Bella’s ready to board. Sometimes it means she’s not in the mood for an actual walk. That’s ok! We’re here to offer plenty of neck rubs, and follow her lead.

04/29/2022

Today, we are excited to announce the launch of a new, annual Dog Montessori School Calendar. The calendar is a supplement to our daily curriculum and will give parents more opportunities to interact with their dog's learning, on top of the virtual Q&A's, staff communication, and detailed daily report cards we provide. 🎉

We are excited to bring the learning-based environment we provide at our Dog Montessori School to the forefront with this new calendar of events.

Check out the calendar on our website: https://patrickspetcare.com/dog-montessori-details/

04/28/2022

Super detailed reports are our jam. We take our report cards *very* seriously. For every grooming visit, we provide a detailed report of how your dog's day went, and how our staff worked with your dog, at their pace, to achieve a common goal.

“I’ve taken my dog, Lily, here twice for grooming. Seriously the best service in DC! We receive a super detailed report of her day and tons of pictures. They put so much care into each dog that walks through their doors. I’ve taken her to another groomer closer to my house, and it is disappointing to pick her up and have absolutely no idea of how the day went. I expected my dog to be nervous with the tools they use because she doesn’t love when I groom her at home, but they are so skilled in gentle, force free practices that she is able to relax and even enjoy the process.
Pricing is also fair; pretty comparable to other groomers in DC for a million times better of an experience. My dog is a golden retriever, so she doesn’t have super complex grooming needs like a poodle would, but we have also been very satisfied with the quality of the groom. Highly, highly recommend!” - Emma

04/20/2022

If you're a regular at Patrick's Pet Care, you may be wondering why you haven't seen Patrick around lately. At the end of last month, after weeks of migraines that he thought were due to his Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, he discovered that he had a brain bleed as a result of a tumble he took back in February when shoveling snow. The discovery required immediate emergency brain surgery.

His surgery went well and he's on the path to recovery. But it will take some time before he's fully recovered.

Patrick would like to sincerely thank all the doctors, residents, nurses, and techs of MedStar Georgetown University Hospital who cared for him. And all of his incredible family and friends for their support, and care for Daisy and Yuki in his absence. The outpouring has been touching.

Patrick is grateful that his brain bleed was discovered in time, and wants to urge anyone who experiences a head injury to take the possibility of head trauma seriously and be on the lookout for the symptoms below. These symptoms can occur right away, or days after the injury:

Headaches or migraines
Memory problems
Nausea and vomiting
Difficulty moving
Weakness and numbness
Difficulty speaking

04/14/2022

Our new Montessori teacher, Emily, recently taught targeting to Zoey (Corgi), Cuddles (Cavapoo), and Bruce (Whoodle). Targeting is a cue that tells the dog to touch an object or body part with their nose or paw. While it may seem rudimentary, it’s the foundation for many “fancy” tricks. Targeting is also an excellent way to help dogs focus in the moment and use their minds.

Targeting is especially effective for dogs who struggle with impulse control. In situations or environments where the dog is becoming overstimulated, cueing the dog to target will give them a stabilizing, alternate behavior to focus on in the moment.

Bruce (on the right) LOVED this lesson and turned out to be a rockstar targeter!

04/14/2022

There was definitely a 𝒔𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 in Kiki’s step during her Enrichment 1:1 field trip! Yep, you read that right: our 1:1 pups often get to take field trips around the city! Kiki loved her trip to the National Arboretum 🌸

Give your dog the opportunity to explore by enrolling in Enrichment 1:1 or our Enrichment Walks today: PatricksPetCare.com

04/11/2022

Today is National Pet Day! We wanted to do something a little different today, and share our team's pets with you. Check out our short video slideshow to see some photos of our staff's adorable furry companions! ❤

04/07/2022

Emergency Vet Instructs: Learn to Perform CPR on a Dog in 5 minutes

April is Pet First Aid Awareness Month! Many of us have a basic knowledge of human first aid, but do you know what to do if an accident occurs and your pet needs immediate medical care?

Take a minute to watch this video on how to perform pet CPR!

CPR tutorial video demonstrated by Dr. Erica W. Tinson BSc, BVSc(Hons), MVSc.This five-minute video follows current CPR guidelines as recommended by the Amer...

04/07/2022

We're excited to announce that we are launching tiny & small dog fear-free grooming at our Columbia Heights facility starting this Friday, April 8th. For now, only morning appointments will be available and we will initially only be offering the BASICS.

The basics package includes: shampoo, conditioning, brushing, drying nail trim, gland expression (if requested), and an overall wellness check.

We also have some incredible add-ons available, such as our blueberry facial (excellent for getting rid of tear stains), fresh breath treatment, a serotonin and dopamine massage, and more!

Visit our website to book your appointment: www.PatricksPetCare.com.

04/06/2022

We want to extend a huge THANK YOU to Jackie Moyano, co-founder of Behavior United Dog Training and Separation Anxiety, for coming out to Brookland to teach our staff about scent training yesterday!

Jackie took our staff and our Enrichment 1:1 dogs through a series of activities that established a positive connection to the target odor and reinforced the desired behavior through trial and error. The final activity of the training involved setting up a "trail" of sorts with empty bowls, and one bowl containing the target odor. As the dogs built confidence in their ability to find the target odor, more empty bowls were added.

A key takeaway from this activity is just how complex of an exercise this is for the dogs. Jackie reminded our staff that, "20 minutes of mental stimulation tires out a dog as much as a 1 hour walk." Our Enrichment 1:1 pups did great, and welcomed their scheduled downtime in the nap condos after class.

04/05/2022

We commend Juniper’s mom for picking up on Juniper’s physical cues of stress at her old groomer. In a recent review, Juniper’s mom said, “She started to show signs of extreme stress just walking up to the store when usually excited to sniff treats and play with toys… Patrick’s has been amazing!”

To give Juniper extra support during her grooming visit, we used games and friends to create a stress-free environment. Four of our team members assisted Juniper including three of our expert fear-free grooming technicians, and Melissa, one of our Montessori Teachers and Dog Trainers.

Juniper was a trooper and was comfortable with most aspects of the grooming process. Melissa wrote in Juniper’s report card, “We mainly focused on helping her get much-needed rest in between grooming stages.” During her breaks, Juniper played with fellow pup Ahava, worked on puzzles, and earned treats. (Turkey hearts, anyone?)

Overall, with frequent breaks to potty and drink water, interspersed with positive reinforcement and enrichment, Juniper had a positive, fear-free grooming experience. Juniper 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙙 our freeze-dried turkey treats, her towel massage, and all the praise and cuddles she received from our staff.

04/01/2022

Introducing: Dog Psychic Services

Our very own force-free trainer Ian just completed his pet psychic certification. We are beyond excited announce that we are adding Dog Psychic Services to our programming!

Check out our video to learn more: https://youtu.be/gnJNmdylbas

Have you heard about our latest service?

04/01/2022

What does Dakota love about his current position as an Enrichment Dog Walking Specialist and Apprentice Dog Trainer? The FUN!

Want to join our team? Learn more about becoming an Enrichment Dog Walking Specialist: https://patrickspetcare.com/enrichment-dog-walking-specialist/

03/31/2022

Go, go, go Joe! We're proud of Joe, our General Manager of Enrichment and Training, for being named to the Washington, DC Sniffspot Top Dog Trainer List for 2022!

This is some really great positive reinforcement for him today. 😂 💙 Thanks to everyone who voted!

This is a list of the top positive reinforcement dog trainers in DC based on votes from the Sniffspot community and the general public. Over 45,000 votes were cast!

03/30/2022

Such a beautiful review from our customer Michon! Michon and her pup, Kori, joined us at Patrick’s Pet Care one year ago. Kori currently attends Dog Montessori School at our Columbia Heights location and is also a regular at our grooming services. ❤️

From Michon:

“From my first meeting with Emma (Montessori School and Grooming General Manager) to discuss goals for Kori, initial assessment and her acceptance to Montessori School, I knew PPC was special. Kori dancing into the doors of PPC is only enhanced by the report cards, pictures and videos I receive at the end of the day.

[Since] April of 2022 when Kori started at PPC, Emma has been Kori’s favorite person. Emma’s transition from teacher to general manager has been seamless. She is always an e-mail or phone call away.

Most recently, Emma assisted me with choosing a better nylon leash for Kori and educated me on the pitfalls of retractable leashes. Bradley, Kori’s new teacher, stepped in wonderfully and greets Kori with a “Hey Baby!” each time I drop her off.

I would remiss if I didn’t also mention the groomers at Brookland. The fear free grooming technique used is so loving and thoughtful and Kori always is so calm and cute after her session.
Thank you PPC! I appreciate you more than you know as you have equipped me with the tools to be the best dog mom to my Sweet Girl Kori.”