The Little Doghouse on the Prairie

08/06/2024

How to eat berries with cheesy dog slime on your hands.

08/02/2024

https://www.facebook.com/share/GWXidJ9EskYCzvDv/?mibextid=xfxF2i

07/23/2024

She is great at what she does, if you need some nutritional guidance for your pets, definitely go talk to her.

07/15/2024

Are you struggling with your high energy dog in this perpetual heat?

So many people think the only way to a calm, satisfied dog is to walk them and I see a lot of people are lost when walking becomes less of an option.

Sure your dog needs exercise but, there are other ways we can create a contented dog like training new tricks and behaviors, challenging their beautiful little brains.

Reach out if you need some guidance amd support in learning some ways to enrich your dogs' lives while it's so hot outside.

Ruby and Norm would like you to see how chill they are after holding place in a shady spot at Henderson for a half hour yesterday afternoon.

07/15/2024

https://youtube.com/?si=eSDWya_j6UV9c3Ai

If you want to see my completely unedited training and dog handling style, here is my YouTube channel.

Hopefully there is also some useful info for dog guardians! I'm happy to clarify if anything you see resonates with you and you want a better understanding.

🥰

Adventures in mastering the art of training dogs.

07/11/2024

https://www.thelittledoghouseontheprairie.ca/

Finally got myself a website! Update to services and rates.

Please share.

🥰

07/09/2024

Kipper, why do you sit like this? Haha. Such a beautiful lil weirdo.

06/17/2024

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/NgFqTDdgRTN9KUKJ/?mibextid=xfxF2i

06/07/2024

Oooh! It appears I have been nominated in Community Votes!

How exciting, I'm honored!

Here's the link if you want to vote for me, there are a few categories.

https://lethbridge.communityvotes.com/2024/06/pet-and-pet-care/pet-sitter

05/27/2024

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/DLG5Fm3x8UuyFN3F/?mibextid=oFDknk

05/06/2024

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/koZVGsVT6PTXJmUz/?mibextid=xfxF2i

04/17/2024

Awwww Benjen, we love you already! What a beautiful little weirdo 😍.

04/16/2024

I did a thing!

04/14/2024

I am very excited to get to know this funny little guy better! My teenage bff had a sharpei. She was a weird and wonderful little dog.

04/14/2024

Rex has his listening ears ready. I'm a huge fan of taking a skill that we have worked on in the safety of home and using it in harder places. This is a great way to take the focus off all the hubbub and noise in the environment. We had a GREAT place training session by a busy street, but of course, my camera stopped filming.

Note to self, clear your old videos and turn on airplane mode before filming.

04/13/2024

Haha! Pretty epic video. Thanks Cookie Crimes for involving me in this fun day!

04/09/2024

It was quite an adventure! I love this little city.

04/09/2024

I feel so honored to have this perfect old gal here for a couple days. She is old and wise and an absolute perfect angel of a dog. It's hard to stop kissing her perfect grey snout.

04/04/2024

Some barkour with Miss Charlee, taking a break from practicing surprises coming around corners so we can translate this into handling surprise dogs in the neighborhood.

03/20/2024

It's nice to see Josie let herself have some peace.

02/29/2024

02/25/2024

6 pounds of cute. Nicholas is here with me for a month of another board and train.

02/22/2024

02/22/2024

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/RvCy3xs7hiLE9iAA/?mibextid=xfxF2i

Big feels! A love song for a dog.

02/21/2024

Let’s talk about crates for a second!

There are tons of options when it comes to what kind of crates are available to buy! The challenge is figuring out which one you need.

Option 1
Wire Crate
Pros- lots of air flow, easy to be able to play various crate games with. Collapsible so great for travel. Cheap price point.
Cons- has lots of “give” so if a dog wants out they will keep trying until they are successful! I strongly recommend reinforcing the front with zip ties and clips on the door mechanisms.
Also dogs learn really quick how to pull things into the crate. Not suitable for vehicle travel.

Option 2
Hard Sided Crate
Pros- good air flow, sturdy design, den like for dogs who like that, suitable for vehicle travel. Price point goes from cheap to expensive
(petmate to ruffland)
Cons- some weak points for dogs who want out of a crate (door and windows), hard to take apart.

Option 3
Aluminum/Metal Crate (Impact Crate)
Pros- suitable for travel and crash tested! Strong and Sturdy design. Suitable for high anxiety dogs or dogs who destroy crates.
Cons- price point. These are not cheap. They don’t come apart so cleaning is a pain.

In a perfect world we all crate train our puppies and things are easy! My dogs love their crates and often curl up in them for naps even when they could be on the couch. But it’s not always easy!

There is a crate for every dog- and honestly for most dogs who are crate trained as puppies a wire crate is going to be just fine. The challenge is crate training adult dogs or dogs who have separation/confinement anxiety. That’s when you need to be proactive and start with something pretty sturdy.

Every time your dog is successful at popping open a door or getting out of a crate it’ll make them try all the harder next time! Crate training should always be done slowly but consistently for those high anxiety dogs. There is no magic unfortunately!

02/21/2024

A bunch of mentally satiated dogs, resting on their mats while I work in the kitchen.