The Little Doghouse on the Prairie

03/10/2025

Dolly has had some scary encounters that have led to her not trusting new dogs. Look at where we were yesterday. 🥰

03/01/2025

Love this gal so much, she is one of my first ever Lethbridge client dogs. We had an extra special outing today where she got a million pets and even more treats.

03/01/2025

My job is so hard.

02/21/2025

Seymour struggles with settling in new environments, especially when new friends are near. We went to yesterday to practice making it a familiar environment because she has an important event there this summer.

Copper was very excited to make a fellow orange friend. Cutest training session ever. I'm definitely taking kitty friendly treats next time we go!

02/20/2025

Some action shots from a game I like to call "snow in the face!" With my pal yesterday.

01/29/2025

01/15/2025

That's my dog. Such a beautiful fool.

01/15/2025

Another board and train. Duke came to work on his over exuberance in everything he does, and his exuberance is over the top. He's made big strides in not trying to eat my fingers, calming down about his kibble and finding something that resembles stillness.

01/15/2025

and his sister Annie are here for a stay. Annie is pretty much petrified of humans, but man, is she a good friend to the awkward dogs.

She's my pal now, too. It only took a solid 8 or so months of weekly visits to my house for her to learn that I'm her treat dispenser and friend.

01/13/2025

Thank you, Jaymie, for putting in the effort to write this.

I personally don't do puppy socials, I don't need to because we have Paws On Training doing a great job at it.

If you want to socialize your large dog, group settings are not the ideal.

I am often asked, why I only run puppy socials, and nothing for older dogs.

The risk with running socials for older dogs is they are less tolerable of certain situations. Puppies typically have not had a negative experience, so socialization for them is often really easy.

Our dogs don't need friends, yes I do know some dogs are very social, and thrive with other dogs, but often dog body language is missed or misunderstood, which in turn can cause a negative encounter or outcome.

Sorta like a dog park, there's always risks going there, and there has been attacks ect, because you are hopeful that all dogs will just get along, but that's not always the case.

My dog use to go to the dog park and daycare well before I was a trainer, once I learned more about her body language, I quickly realized she was happiest to stay home alone. She's had a small handful of dog friends in her lifetime. but she is not deprived, or missing out.

I'm not saying your dog doesn't need socialization, but be aware of their body language, signs of stress, ect.
You can only trust and understand your own dog, so be vigilant and aware.
Sometimes all it takes is one dog disagreement to alter your dogs outlook.

I run puppy socials because puppies should have positive experiences to build trust, and learn to communicate with each other.

If you are seeking more for your older dogs there are options, daycare has paperwork and staff to supervise, day training and group classes.

01/03/2025

This old guy is such a champ. I can tether him to ANYTHING, and he accepts that he can't move. This is a skill we worked super hard on as a puppy. He is also highly amenable to being crated when needed, but in this instance, he gets so dizzy that it's hard to get him back out.

Practice now on cone wearing and assistive devices, holding place while tethered to something. Get creative, and make it fun. We didn't need to use these skills much in his lifetime, with the exception of the last few years of aging. It's so low stress for him now to be carried in his sling or tied to a table or a lawn chair or an empty suitcase, which makes watching him not feel well way less harder than it could be.

Also, that cat, Leroy, has not left his side. My magical beasts 🥹

01/01/2025

Bandit likes to rush the door on his human when she gets home. We are doing some place training with him. Cats are amazing and learn way faster than dogs. It's a lot of fun!

I'm available for both virtual and in person cat training sessions. I will decide on my rate in the next few days, unlike dogs. This is new to me as a marketable skill.

Kitty was my first word and my first special interest. Not new to cats or their behaviors at all. My kitty Klaus can attest to how fun training cats is.

01/01/2025

See you next year, folks! Thanks for a wonderful 2024! Give your pups a midnight kiss for me.

11/21/2024

https://www.facebook.com/100063660848753/posts/1098903598908325/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v

Our Taproom and Patio have always been pet-friendly! Keep your lovely humans on leash so they don't go for a wander, and only humans on the furniture please!

10/02/2024

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/DX5ET8Gfu2futgyU/?mibextid=xfxF2i

Training! A nice quote from one of the greatest dog mushers ever ❄️

09/28/2024

Miss Rosa is a bit apprehensive about the crate, but we have to be able to safely secure her in it for feeding times and pup rotation.

So, I decided to take a different approach with the help of Mantou and my little buddy Odie.

Note: Mantou thought sitting in his favorite crate with me was the best thing ever.

In the end, Risa climbed in with me, had a snuggle, and some locks from her Kong.