Creating Connections

29/08/2024

This local business is fabulous! Many of the dogs I work with go on regular adventures with GP Pet pros! I highly recommend them!

New Clients!

For a limited time, we are accepting applications. This is a rare opportunity.

We are looking for:

➡️Dogs. Requiring private walks/hikes/runs.

If you have a dog who loves to run, please consider our Canine Fun Runs and Cardio options. Details for all of our services can be found on our website.

➡️Dogs. Social, winter loving dogs to join off-leash group hikes. *With winter fast approaching we will only accept dogs for group hikes who are able to withstand up to at least -30°C.

➡️Cats & Dogs. Needing drop-ins. Enrichment, medication or strictly business 💩

✅️ALL services require regular, monthly bookings. Long term, consistent services leading to great relationships eliminating stress for all involved. One time or infrequent services are not an option.

Applications will be open until spots are filled.

New clients; IF you meet the requirements, you can expect to start services 1.5 - 2 months from the date that your application is submitted.

🤚The application and on-boarding process are not immediate. Applications will be reviewed within 1 month of being submitted IF your application appears that we are a good fit, you will recieve a phone call to answer any questions and proceed. From there a meet and greet / the first service will be scheduled!

Our clients are everything to us.

We look forward to building some new relationships (with you and your pet/s) in the near future!

⚠️Apply to become a client by clicking the 'New Client' button on our website⚠️

28/08/2024

Do you have a dog who's ready to explore the community with you? 🐕 Or maybe you're interested in doing pet therapy with your dog? 🐾

Community Canines is a class for teams looking for a greater challenge and some extra training fun! 🎉 In this class, we'll focus on mastering skills with added distractions, duration, and distance – building upon what we've learned in our manners class. 🧡👏

These skills are not only essential for a well-behaved dog but are also the perfect foundation for those who want their pups to be polite and confident when out and about! 🌟

Spread the word and tag a friend who'd love to join! 📣

Class starts Tuesday, September 10th
https://www.creating-connections.ca/schedule-registration

27/08/2024

🐶 Enroll in Our Manner's Classes! 🐶

Our expert trainers will guide you through effective techniques to improve your dog's manners and behavior.

When:
Tuesday or. Wednesday evening in September!

Message us for more information or register at ating-connections.ca/schedule-registration

27/08/2024

Congratulations!! We absolutely love the ladies at What The Pup Pet Spa and are thrilled to help them celebrate their first birthday!

September for some means back to school, pumpkin spice lattes and the coming of Autumn.🍂 To us it means CELEBRATE! Why? Cause it’s our birthday!! 🎉

We are so excited to be officially in business for one year this September! To celebrate we are offering another amazing giveaway, over $1000 value to spoil you and your furbaby!

Giveaway includes;
$400 photoshoot by Give a Dog a Bone Photography
Years worth of BarkBox subscription
Training session from Creating Connections
Goodies by Dominique Furever - Stay True Artistry
Goodies by Parks & Barks All Natural Dog Treats
Custom made collar set by handmades
Over $200 in treats and toys hand picked by What the pup.

Enter by sharing this post, liking our page and tagging a friend! for an extra entry leave us a review on Google and Facebook. ✨ giveaway will end at the end of September. Date TBA

This month we will be posting about our groomers and who we are, what “What The Pup” means to us and our updated policies/procedures.

We appreciate your continued support and can’t be wait for another trip around the sun with you guys!!

Don’t forget we won’t comment on this post for the winner! Do not respond or click any links posted by fake pages. Just report.

22/08/2024

Do you have a puppy? We have puppy classes! We are so excited to have group classes starting up again this fall! Check out our schedule! https://www.creating-connections.ca/schedule-registration.

19/08/2024

I hope everyone is enjoying their last few weeks of summer! I am finishing up the September schedule- registration should be open early this week- send me a message if you would like more info!

12/08/2024

It is hard to believe we are almost half way through August!

Group puppy classes are back in full swing again and I have some openings for private classes before the start of the school year.

I am working on the Fall schedule- what are you wanting to register in with your dog this fall?

11/08/2024

Bone & Biscuit has a great sale on! These Kong packs are regularly $40 but they are 50% off! I regularly stuff Kong’s and freeze them for my dogs and they enjoy them!

09/08/2024

We are delighted to see Casey and Nicky recognized for their hard work in the community! It truly takes a village, and we're honored to be a part of their journey! 🐾 🎖️ 🚒

It's Casey's Birthday!!! Stop by and have a hotDOG, get a PAW-do-graph and a PUP cake :) He's also going to be presented with his County of Grande Prairie Regional Fire Service Badge!

08/08/2024

Thank you so much to Ruby’s humans for the treats for Fern and Sadie! 🐾 The treats are from Parks & Barks, a wonderful local small business. You can find their products at The Glow Collective and What The Pup Pet Spa. Support local, and treat your pups to something special!"

07/08/2024

Best tip I can give you if you want a reliable recall with your dog?

Stop giving him reasons to NOT want to come back to you.

So often we call our dogs and do the following -

- bring them inside
- crate them
- put them back on leash
- physically pet them and hug them (a lot of dogs reaallllly don't like this even though WE do!)
- take something from them
- check them for ticks
- wipe their eye boogers
- remove them from the fun

If you've done one or any of these, you've taken a huge deduction out of your dogs "recall account" balance. YES, EVEN IF YOU USED FOOD WHEN THEY CAME BACK! Food - even though very rewarding - is rarely as reinforcing as freedom to dog!

There are many other factors to help you have a reliable recall with your dog, but this is the most important one of them all. STOP calling your dog and then doing something they don't find reinforcing, even if you treat them anyway. Often times, the food very quickly becomes not worth it to your dog, and you find yourself at 5am on your porch in your bathrobe screaming "COME!" rattling a bag of treats just to up the ante more and more, only to have your dog look at you like "Yeah, no, I've been there before human - see ya!"

Build your recall account by calling your dog, rewarding them, and then letting them GO BACK to whatever they were doing before, and do that many more times than times that you actually do have to stop their fun. Walk over while they are chewing on a stick, toss them a treat and tell them what a great find it is, and then walk away. Teach your dog that coming to you, having cool stuff around you (water logged stick, a soggy ball they just found etc) doesn’t always mean their fun is over and you’re going to remove them or the item.

While doing all this, if you’re not sure that your dog is safe to be off leash or reliable DONT let them off leash. Use a long dragline, even in the yard, so you can just bring them to you rather than chase them around or run the risk of them taking off.

Reliable recall doesn’t just happen. It takes time and patience and lots of repetitions. Keep treating, keep letting them have fun, keep your sense of humor!

-Helen St. Pierre

05/08/2024

We have an August Group Puppy Class starting Wednesday! 🐶✨
Open to new and returning clients! If your puppy is between 8 and 20 weeks old and has had their first set of vaccinations for at least 7 days, we’d love for you to join us! It’s the perfect opportunity to start your pup off on the right paw and ensure they get the best start in life. 🐾 We have also added a second class to accomodate families with slightly older puppies (5 to 9 months)!

📩 Message us for more info and to secure your spot!

31/07/2024

Due to the overwhelming number of requests and our regular clients welcoming adorable new puppies, we’re thrilled to announce a VIP Group Puppy Class starting next Wednesday! 🐶✨

Open to new and returning clients! If your puppy is between 8 and 20 weeks old and has had their first set of vaccinations for at least 7 days, we’d love for you to join us! It’s the perfect opportunity to start your pup off on the right paw and ensure they get the best start in life. 🐾

📩 Message us for more info and to secure your spot!

31/07/2024

We still have space available for our drop-in classes tomorrow for all past and current Creating Connections teams! 🎉 Whether you’re looking to brush up on your skills or just want to join the fun, we’d love to see you there! Please be sure to send me a message so we know to expect you!

Please note that our private training sessions are fully booked for tomorrow, but we’re busy working on our schedule for next week. If you’re interested in reserving a spot for next week, just shoot us a message and we’ll get you sorted!

30/07/2024

Here is our schedule for this week!
Message us for more info and to register!

Wednesday July 31st
2:00 Booked
3:30 Booked
4:45 Booked
Service & Therapy Skills 6pm
Leash Walking 7pm
Pond Party 8pm

Thursday August 1st
5pm Agility
6:30 Out & About

28/07/2024

Travel Tip! 🚗

Did you know that licking, sniffing, and chewing are calming activities for dogs? 🐶

Here are some simple ideas (approved by Sadie and Fern!) to help keep your dog calm and relaxed during your travels:

🌀Pack a few Kongs to stuff!
🌀Scatter their kibble in the grass.
🌀Bring along easy to pack chews such as bully sticks and beef cheek rolls

23/07/2024

22/07/2024

I hope everyone is staying cool with this heat!! ☀️
I plan to have drop in classes this week… I’m just waiting to see which day I’m hauling hay for my horses🐴

What sort of drop in classes would you like to see more of this summer?

Thanks to Silje with Wyldwood Photography for capturing this photo of Sadie. Her favorite place is most definitely the water 💦

22/07/2024

A fun (and free!) course to do this summer to help keep your dogs brain engaged while staying indoors during the heat of the day!

The party has started, jump in for free masterclass videos and eBooks

16/07/2024

Sadie and I had a great time reading with children at Grande Prairie Reading University today! Thank you so much to all of the Pet Partners of Northern Alberta teams who have taken time to volunteer at this wonderful community program!

16/07/2024

It is going to be a hot day today! We have a few spaces in our paddle board session in today at 6pm! If you have taken classes with us we would love to have you join! We have one board left to borrow for this session if you don't have your own!

15/07/2024

It’s supposed to be hot again this week so we have a great line up of summer activities 💦 ☀️

If you have previously taken classes with us we’d love to have you join us for drop in classes this week! Message us for more information and to register!

Tuesday Evening (July 16th)

6pm Paddle Boarding
7pm Paddle Boarding
8pm Pond Party

Wednesday Morning (July 17th)

9am Leash Walking
10am Service & Therapy Skills
11am Paddle Boarding

Thanks so much to Silje with Wyldwood Photography for the awesome picture from last weeks pond party!

10/07/2024

Practicing skills in our service and therapy dog class this morning 💕

10/07/2024

It was a lovely evening for a pond party! 💦
We had so much fun! Thanks so much to everyone who joined tonight!

08/07/2024

🌞 Drop In Summer Classes Start This Week! 🌞

All current and previous Creating Connections teams are welcome! Please message us to let us know if you’d like to come! I will be getting back to everyone who’s inquired about private classes this week!

We're shaking things up to beat the heat with some fun activities, including paddle boarding and a pond party!

Tuesday Evening (July 9th)
- 6pm: Life Manners
- 7pm: Pond Party
- 8pm: Agility

Wednesday Morning (July 10th)
- 9am: Agility
- 10am: Service & Therapy Dog Skills
- 11am: Paddle Boarding Skills

Class Details:

Agility! Come practice your skills!

Service & Therapy: Build on skills valuable for therapy visits or task training your service dog.

Life Manners: Apply your manners class skills to real-life situations!

Pond Party: For dogs that play politely with others. (Private pond sessions available upon request.)

Paddle Boarding:
Introduce your dog to water adventures and practice paddle boarding! (A few paddle boards are available upon request.)

Can't wait to see you and your pups there! 🐾

02/07/2024

🇨🇦 Happy Canada Day 🇨🇦

30/06/2024

Sadie is pretty happy about her new chuck it bucket from Costco!

26/06/2024

🌟 Last Day of School! 🌟

Today was the last day of school (I'm an elementary school teacher!), and tonight is the final night for our June dog training classes.

While regular group classes will resume in September, I’m excited to offer a variety of drop-in style classes this summer. I know many of you will be traveling so this will provide flexibility in registration. I will also be available for private classes. Keep an eye out for the July/August schedule over the next few days!

Looking forward to connecting with you this summer! ☀️📚✨

20/06/2024

Thank you so much to Give a Dog a Bone Photography for the lovely treat pouch!!

It’s silicone, easily washable, comes with a great waist band… and most importantly it’s 💙 🩵

17/06/2024

🎨✨ Join Our Tie-Dye Workshop! ✨🎨

Last chance to register! Join us on June 20th at 6:30pm! Everyone is welcome—this event is open to all, not just past or current training clients.

Come and create some colorful magic with us! 🌈

Don't miss out—register now!

https://forms.gle/qxNc4xczeaQ2Vx8o9