Camp Pawsible (2025)

04/09/2024

I will put off starting anything new if it feels like I’m not physically and mentally able to do it “right” (aka perfectly).

My default assumption is that, left to it’s own devices, my brain will crash through an article, podcast or webinar, and if not properly corralled it will miss important things, misunderstand key concepts or just toss everything I’ve learned out one ear.

Which often means I never even start. I’m rarely feeling “perfect” about anything.

And annoyingly, it turns out that doing something perfectly the first time isn’t actually realistic or even the best way to learn 😅💀

It turns out what I typically need is repetition. Learning how something connects to multiple other concepts over time.

Learning a new concept, trying to apply the concept, going back to the source with new questions and repeat.

Taking perfect notes isn’t actually apart of my process, at least not til much, much later 😅

This means that I also don’t expect you to learn “perfectly” after one session or repetition. I expect you to have questions, and to be a little messy the first time you try something and to say “wait, what?” as part of the learning process.

Image description. Teal text, What’s a key ingredient for folks learning new skills with their dogs?

Capitalized, Repetition!

Teal text, It’s my job to repeat the key info multiple ways over multiple sessions in relation to multiple scenarios and concepts.

Capitalized, It’s not your job to perfect something new after hearing it once.

Camp Pawsible logo, three cartoon chihuahuas in front of evergreen trees.

04/09/2024

If you’d like some help narrowing down the problem, or just deciding what step to move on next, we can help!

Image descriptions. A background image of a paw pad with clipped white fur.

White block text, Cooperative nail trims, could you be missing a piece?

Second slide text, opting out means missing out. You’ve probably heard that choice is really important for our dogs welfare. But how do you provide chioices (like opting out) without your dog missing out on quality time and snacks?

Third slide text, trimming technique. What’s the safest way to trim a nail? Are dremels really fool proof? How do you safely and comfortably cut through a big overgrown nail? What does ACL mean?

Fourth text, assuming tolerance is everlasting. Just because your dog has tolerated nail trims in the past, doesn’t mean that they are guaranteed to in the future without some help. Tomorrow’s behaviour is a reflection of today’s experiences!

Fifth slide, pain. Yep, we’re still talking about this one. The negative impacts of missing pain cannot be overstated. If every nail trim session is painful, it’s going to impact your progress!

Sixth slide, misunderstanding how learning works. You really don’t need to be a perfect trainer with perfect timing to help your dog feel more comfortable with nail trims. But there are some important pieces we need to get right in order to make progress if your dog is nervous about nail trims.

Last slide, want to make nail trims a little easier? Me too! Check out our new program, cooperative nail trims.

A white arrow points to a phone open to our nail trim program instagram post.

31/08/2024

This might sound extreme, but I promise the more you learn about pain and it’s relation to behaviour the more all of the pieces come together.

Pain feels like a scary topic, but information is what gives you options and empowers you to make decisions that you feel more confident in!

Image description. Capitalized text alternating teal and dark teal, the more I learn about pain in relation to dogs and behaviour, the more this: it’s hard to tell when dogs might be in pain. Sounds exactly like this: it’s hard to tell when dogs might be scared.

The camp pawsible logo, three cartoon chihuahuas in front of evergreen trees.

22/08/2024

Image descriptions. A close up of a brown paw with a black paw pad and nails is the background for every slide.

White text outlined in black, why are nail trims so hard?

Second slide, black text, Human feelings. Smaller text below, Being a dog guardian is often stressful. Add in a task that requires consistency, skill and patience? Well, the odds are stacked against us. In a society primed to shame, this is a perfect storm.

Third slide, black text, nobody told you about pain. Smaller text below, It makes perfect sense that sore joints or a chronically unhappy belly or a hypersensitivity to touch would make paw handling harder. But nobody ever taught us how to recognize or prevent pain when we brought our dogs home. (Or went for a vet check up or to puppy class or anywhere else...)

Fourth slide, black text, awful but common advice. Smaller text below, Who hasn’t heard some variation of “you need to just tell your dog no” or “if you just get it over with, they’ll get used to it”. Or, “I’m a groomer and the dog’s behave better with me”. Yikes, yikes and big yikes.

Fifth slide, black text, what is best anyway? Smaller text below, How short should nails be? How short is too short? Do some breeds just have naturally long, and impossible to shorten, nails? Do they need long nails for grip? Are black nails harder to trim? Can you tell from the outside of a nail where the quick is?

Sixth slide, black text, want to make nail trims a little easier? Smaller text below, me to! Check out our new program, Cooperative Nail Trims.

A black arrow points to a phone screen showing our post about the cooperative nail trim challenge.

20/08/2024

Trying a new thing!

Image description. A background photo of a hand gently holding a tan dog paw with a grassy background for all three slides.

White block text reads, cooperative nail trims. Smaller text below, 4 month group program swipe for details. Then a small tan arrow.

Text on the second slide, Program goals. Learn how to trim or file your dog’s nails. Understand how pain affects nail trims. Learn about and practice observing your dog’s body language during training. How to sustainable add new skills and knowledge to training sessions, one piece at at time.

Text on the third slide, Want more info? Get to know me and my training style by signing up for the free One Thing Challenge! (Link in bio). Learn more about Cooperative Nail Trims on my website! Dates, cost and details: www.CampPawsible.com/Cooperative-Nail-Trims

A black arrow points to an iphone open to my One Thing Challenge instagram post.

16/08/2024

Recently a client and friend of mine ( ) mentioned the guilt she felt when she heard the phrase “your dog isn’t giving you a hard time, they’re having a hard time”.

She felt deeply that her dog was struggling and had so much compassion and was doing so much to help her, but there didn’t seem to be room for her own human feelings and stress.

The saying didn’t seem to leave room for both:

We humans are responsible for our dogs, environment, routine and enrichment AND

Our dogs perfectly reasonable big feelings can be huge stressors that affect our own quality of life.

Caring for our dogs with a force and fear free mindset requires us to be compassionate to ourselves, otherwise we’ll burn out!

Image description. Two dachshunds, one brown and one black and tan, stand on tree stumps. Both are stressed, the black and tan dog barks at the camera.

Large white block text reads, “your dog isn’t, insert symbol, intentionally giving you a hard time. Your dog is having a hard time.”

The word intentionally is in red.

The Camp Pawsible logo is it in the bottom right corner.

13/08/2024

Hey everyone! Long time no post 🤷🏼‍♀️

But I’m back and starting strong with a free challenge!

Details are in the post, but if you have any questions please drop them in the comments 🙏🏻

20/02/2024

I got a few follow up questions on my last post, so here’s part 2!

If you want more examples of how to help build your dog’s repertoire of coping skills stay tuned. I have a free webinar coming soon.

And if you’re super keen, check out our Big Feelings Club program for even more help specific to you and your dog. Comment “big feelings” and I’ll DM you the info link!

Image descriptions. The first image reads, so what do choices look like for dogs who are often using barky, lunge-y, growly behaviours? There is a simple drawing of a dog barking, steam coming from his head.

The second image reads, They might look like, having the freedom to move. How short is their leash? Is there a history of enforcing stillness? Can they express normal body language?

The third image reads, they might look like, knowing how to initiate familiar training games. There is magic in the difference between nagging our dogs to participate and them opting in.

The fourth image reads, they might look like opting in or out of the walk in the first place. There is no need that can’t be met with an alternative to their “business as usual” walk.

Both images are on an off white background with black and capitalized, dark red text. At the bottom are the three cartoon chihuahuas from our logo.

13/02/2024

A lot of people struggle to understand that a dog who “looks fine”, actually only looks that way because of a lot of careful planning and advocacy.

It used to bother me so much when folks didn’t really believe where our training journey started. When they would look at my chi mixes and dismiss us, because they don’t look like a dog that would have big feelings.

It bothered me because it meant they wouldn’t give us the space we still need.

But mostly it bothered me because I was so conditioned to seek approval 🤦🏼‍♀️ (With the fun twist of seeking approval from folks who were never going to give it anyway)

But other people’s approval didn’t get us to where we are now, and it’s not going to be the thing that keeps my dog feeling secure in the world.

In fact, waiting on the approval of strangers was causing us harm. So many worries about what strangers would think led me to make rushed, often poor, choices. I prioritized strangers’ expectations of how dogs should behave over my dog’s emotional well being.

My dog’s big feelings haven’t disappeared because people gave us a gold star, they haven’t actually disappeared at all. Bear will never want to say hi to your excited puppy or large dog.

The big feelings show up way less frequently because of the environments we choose to be in and the much larger range of skills we have to cope.

And while I don’t try to take up more space than we need, I am willing (and privileged enough) to make the busy body’s uncomfortable before I let them make my dog uncomfortable.

ID in pinned comment.

25/01/2024

It’s not often that I get to offer generalized yet effective advice, but today’s tip is both of those things!

The hardest part about adding nonslip flooring to your dog’s daily routine, enrichment and training sessions is being willing to change your own human behaviour.

Image descriptions. Two images of a brown, cartoon chihuahua standing on a hardwood floor. Large block letters across the top read, how to instantly improve your training.

In the second image the text reads, provide your dog with non-slip flooring. In the second image the chihuahua is standing on a half unrolled, pink yoga mat.

Hashtags:

22/01/2024

There is no such thing as a perfect decision.

No perfect paths. No amount of worrying will reveal what the future will definitely hold for you or your dog.

Trust me, I’ve tried.

We can learn more and become better informed. We can think critically about what we’re being taught and by who.

We can work on understanding our own motivations and fears and how they shape our decisions.

But pre-confirmed perfection still isn’t an option, doing our best with the information we have at the time is.

Some things are better aligned with your values or more accessible, but no choice, method or teacher is perfect.

And anyone who tells you they have the one and only true path is probably scamming you.

Image description. White irregularly shaped letters read, there is no perfect decision. The three cartoon chihuahuas sit on top of the text. A cartoon Jack Russell terrier sits in the bottom half of the image. The background is dark teal with several lighter teal boxes scattered around. Each box contains a question mark, and dotted lines connect different boxes to each other.

21/01/2024

I don’t know about you, but lately I’ve been getting a lot of ads for big name workshops and conferences in my feed.

None of which are aligned with the values important to me, and most of which are ignoring the continued existence of covid.

Luckily, there are a ton of other ways to learn and become a better dog guardian for my own dogs and for clients, without relying on industry elites.

Unregulated industries have a lot of downsides, but being able to choose who your time, energy and money supports is certainly not one of them.

If you have any suggestions for learning opportunities that meet the criteria I’ve listed, I’d be grateful if you dropped them in the comments!

Image descriptions in pinned comment.

17/01/2024

I could spend all the time and money in the world looking for the perfect gear and snacks for my dogs, and yet I still feel weird about doing the same for myself.

Do I really need new hiking boots this season? Or does my dog need a third, slightly different but potentially better harness?

I have gotten better about this for myself, a few years spent dog walking full time broke me down pretty quickly.

Now I’m the dork with a backpack, waist belt for my leash and walking stick.

But I’m curious, what do you do to make walks more comfortable or enjoyable for yourself? What are you thinking about doing?

Image description. Large, white text on a dark teal background reads, Don’t forget. At the bottom, smaller white text reads, to set yourself up for a successful walk too!

A variety of cartoon objects fill the middle space. They include a water bottle, a pill bottle, a colourful f***y pack, a pre-packaged snack, running shoes, an old ipod and wired headphones, green gloves, and a person hugging another person.

16/01/2024

One of the things that I love about building choice into the foundations of training is the power it gives my dog.

The power to opt out of a training session without repercussions (or even losing out on snacks) if they feel nervous or conflicted.

The power to use their behaviour to communicate a wider and wider variety of messages. To say, that hurts or I want that thing or I want to go here.

The power to tell me when they’re uncomfortable without being pushed into a big reaction.

The power to tell me, yes start that pattern and do the thing.

It’s lovely to feel confident that my dog is participating enthusiastically. And to know that if I make a small mistake, my dog has the skills to let me know.

Image description. A cartoon of a large woman, wearing a flowy pink dress and blue shoes, walking a small purple dog. The woman is also in cool, purple and pink tones.

Black text fits around the image and says, building your training on choice & curiosity builds confidence for your and for your dog.

The three cartoon chihuahuas from our logo is in the bottom right corner.

12/01/2024

When working with a new client it’s very important to me to get specific about our goals.

These goals don’t have to be (and often aren’t) expressed in terms of traditional training.

For example,

To see a decrease in stressed and fearful body language in a specific context.

To create an enriching environment and see a reduction in concerning behaviour and an increase in variety of behaviour and quality rest.

To incorporate choice and consent into our nail trim routine.

To enthusiastically participate in cues that we can use on walks.

Because if we don’t choose specific goals, it’s hard to track progress. It’s hard to see the differences that your hard work is making.

If you don’t choose specific, realistic goals, it’s too easy to forever be beating yourself up with your vision of perfection.

Image descriptions. The upper half of a cartoon person with brown hair in a high bun. They hug their dog while both are facing forward. The dog is a light colour, with a brown patch over one eye and upright ears. A red heart sits over the person’s shoulder.

The three cartoon chihuahuas from our logo are in the top right corner.

Text floats around them, each line connecting to the person with thought bubbles. From top to bottom, left to right, the text reads, I messed up again. It’s not perfect. It’s not fixed. It’s too slow. It’s not enough.

The second image is the same, except with different text. These read, x behaviour occurs less often. It’s progress. I’m more prepared. The body language is shifting. Y behaviour occurs more.

11/01/2024

New blog post!

Go say hello to my new imaginary friends, Buddy and Alex.

You can find it at the link in my bio. Or depending on your phone take a screenshot of this caption to copy and paste the URL.

https://camppawsible.com/blog/joining-the-big-feelings-club

Image description. A closeup of a scruffy, white and gray terrier mix sitting outside. The dog’s ears are back, mouth closed and eyes averted. Irregular, quirky white text outlined in black reads, what might it be like to join the big feelings club?

10/01/2024

The last piece of the program, the 1 to 1 sessions!

Community and group programs are so beneficial, but sometimes you need the focus of a one to one session.

Whether we’re working on practicing skills with real time feedback, answering a bunch of super specific (maybe nerdy) questions or just venting.

It’s nice to know that someone is really invested in you, your dog and your progress.

Image descriptions. Both images share a background photo of a white, fluffy dog barking and side eyeing the camera. Both have the three cartoon chihuahuas from our logo.

Blocky, white text on the first image reads, 1 to 1 coaching. On the second image it reads, big feelings club.

09/01/2024

Management is planning ahead to avoid exposing your dog to their trigger at an intensity that will cause stress or fear.

It’s about setting up your environment, and setting yourself up with strategies in a way that works for you and your dog.

It’s not about trying to micromanage your dog’s behaviour and emotions.

Management is not second best to training, or a sign of failure, or a syndrome.

Management is not reactionary, it is proactive.

If you’d like a little help figuring out ways that work for you and your dog, check out our program, Big Feelings Club.

Image descriptions. A blonde, short haired chihuahua sits in the grass and squints at the camera. To the left, irregular quirky text reads, your reactive dog needs you to. Along the bottom of each image are the three cartoon chihuahuas from our logo.

The second image is a chocolate brown, long haired chihuahua sitting in the grass and staring intently into the camera. The fur around his ruff and ears fluffs out in a glorious mane. The text reads, manage the environment.

The third image is a white and tan chihuahua with black markings along his tail, neck and ears. He is wearing a green sweater and barking at something off camera. The text reads, not micromanage them.

Camp Pawsible

04/09/2024

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31/08/2024

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16/08/2024

13/08/2024

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25/01/2024

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21/01/2024

17/01/2024

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