Julie Stockton - Canine Coach

11/07/2025

Winters coming! ❄️🧤🧣

We had a bit of rain this week with cooler temps & wind on Thursday & Friday, but the weather is still beautiful for November. Frankie is not a fan of winter coats, but having short fur and being a small breed, she'll feel the cold more! So we did some fun stuff to keep her distracted, moving & warm with some training thrown in. 🙌

Benny tagged along for a short walk and some social time for Frankie. She enjoys his company and he offers support being a calm, confident, bigger dog. 💞🐾

Frankie continues to do really great on our walks and she's doing well at home with the new baby. She gets a little bored sometimes not being top dog currently, but it's great that Frankie's mom recognises this and provides an outlet for her. 🤱🏻🐕

Hope everyone has a great weekend 🤗

11/07/2025

That Friday feeling! 🤩

11/06/2025

11/04/2025

Ducks, especially when they start flapping & quacking get our dog's attention and can trigger excitement, prey drive & stress!

Frankie has only ever shown curiosity around squirrels, birds & ducks in the past, but never wanted to chase them! She got a little triggered by the ducks because of all the noise they were making, but I waited allowing her to make the right choice and look at me instead of getting excited or wanting to chase them! 👀👍

By allowing our dogs to calmly observe things from a safe distance helps them to process the information they need to learn about their environment in a low stress way.

10/29/2025

A rainy start to the week which Frankie isn't a fan of, so I added a few scent games to distract her to make the rainy walk a bit more fun & exciting! Food is always a good distraction & a great motivator! 😋🥩

The pumpkin people festival is on currently, which are dotted around the towns. Frankie displays curiosity when she's seen them previously from a distance. So we decided to greet some of them in person. I think Frankie was dissappointed by their lack of attention to her & found them to be quite rude...but she did get to Hollywood!! ✨️🎃😄

My boy, Benny tagged along to provide a 'buddy walk' for Frankie. Having a calm, confident dog join a walk with a lesser confident dog can offer support & reassurance, putting them more at ease. Frankie follows my dog everywhere and where Benny sniffs, Frankie sniffs. He always finds the best smells! 👃🧠

Wishing everyone a safe & fun Halloween 👻👹👿

10/24/2025

I plan our daily walks & training each day, but sometimes things present themselves as training opportunities, so it was one of those weeks! 🙌

I introduced Frankie to a skateboard! I think it would be a great outlet for her, so we started off by practicing cues for ‘paws on’ & ‘paws off’ to be continued…! 🛹🐕

[When teaching dogs anything new, it’s best to break down the exercise into small steps so that they understand each step fully before putting the whole exercise together. It’s also important to make learning fun and not overload your dog with too much, otherwise they can switch off, become frustrated, stressed or anxious].

It was Frankie’s 2nd birthday on Thursday, so after our walk & training we visited Starbucks to get her a pupcup to celebrate. 🎉🐾🎈2️⃣

We did a street walk around town with lots of distractions and Frankie met a few people and their dogs. There were also lots of loud & noisy roadworks happening (putting in a sidewalk), so Frankie watched a big digger at work (probably inspecting their work knowing Frankie! 🚧🛑🤭).

We also visited a few stores and went through a car wash! 💦🛻 Frankie handled this very well for her first visit.

We also practiced different variations of recall. We visited an off leash trail where Frankie greeted some people & several dogs and enjoyed some playtime with three ‘suitable’ dogs. She was really good at reading the room and took a break when the other dog displayed ‘cut off’ signals; i.e. needed a break.

Frankie received a few compliments this week on her calm & polite greetings! Always a proud moment for a trainer! 👏❤️

It’s been a gorgeous sunny week for October, which we are enjoying. The Fall colors are beautiful with all the different colored leaves. Fallen leaves on the ground provide a leafy snuffle mat for your dog…toss down a small handful of treats and watch their noses at work! 👃🧠🥩

Great job Frankie, you did awesome this week with all the new stimulus! 👏🩷

10/23/2025

Happy Birthday to this cute little lady. Frankie celebrates her 2nd birthday today! 🎉🎈🎂🥩

10/17/2025

Frankie continues to do so awesome on her walks. She is much more confident around unfamilar dogs and calmly greets them. She is self regulating during play and checks in when she needs a break or reassurance from me. 👍🩷

We had some much needed rain this week, which Frankie isn't a big fan of, so we shortened her walk and she hung out with my dog, Benny and they did some brain games & enrichment with some yard play; tossing treats in the leaf piles for the dogs to sniff out. Frankie soon forgot about the rain as she was distracted by how much fun she was having! 🌧

Frankie's recalls are super fast and she understands what it means, so I'm adding different variations of recall to keep it fun & exciting for her! 🤩🐕💨

Good job Frankie 👏🩷

10/09/2025

Poor Frankie was a bit tired this week, most likely due to a newborn baby at home and the family aren't getting much sleep! 😔

When picking up Frankie for her walk I can tell right away if she's feeling a bit stressed, so I adjust her walks taking this into account. I never want to add more stress to an already stressed out dog! Instead I want to try and relieve it, so I also added some massage therapy to Frankie's walks this week. 🧘‍♀️💆‍♀️💝 My walks are tailored to the dog's needs.

Frankie continues to do great on our walks and she often gets compliments on how calm and well behaved she is, which is always lovely to hear.🥰

Good job Frankie girl 💞👏

10/03/2025

Congratulations to Frankie’s pawrents on the birth of their beautiful baby girl. 💝🎉🎈

Frankie seems to be handling the new arrival very well so far! Although it’s not uncommon for puppies/dogs to feel a bit anxious with a new arrival in the home, or when hearing baby cries. This should pass once Frankie gets used to the baby sounds and the different scent.

This week we touched on a little bit of training to keep it ‘topped up!’, but I wanted walks to be primarily about Frankie having lots of fun, and positive experiences to boost her confidence and lift her spirits. Frankie’s been a little tired this week, but it’s to be expected with a new baby on the scene and changes to her usual routine. Things will settle down as the baby settles in and a new routine is established. Dogs are pretty good at adapting to new situations if kept positive for them.

Frankie greeted and played with a few dogs this week and greeted several people at a local market as we sat and observed what was going on. The ‘pumpkin people festival' has started this week, so we saw a few pumpkin people dotted around town! Frankie was curious and wanted to check them out!

We also visited a café with Benny in tow. He still likes little trips out and getting treats from a coffee shop! Benny & Frankie shared a bacon & cheese frittata. Frankie waited patiently whilst I broke it up for her without jumping up to help herself!

Good job Frankie and congratulations again to your pawrents. 🤗👶💖

09/12/2025

I was off last week with family visiting us from England, which was lovely and their first visit to Canada! 🇨🇦

Whenever I take time off I like to just refresh a dog's training to see what they remember. It was just one week so Frankie hadn’t forgotten anything! When I’ve been away in the past for longer periods sometimes dogs can forget some of their training! This can sometimes be due to clients not having the time to work on training (summers months always seem to bethe busiest!), or they may forget to add training exercises to their dog’s daily walks or routine.

[I just want to add here; that Frankie’s pawrents are very consistent with Frankie’s training and they have a lot going on at the moment with a baby due any day now!!].

Unfortunately trails, parks & forests are still closed even though the weather is much cooler, so we are still limited on walks for now!

So Frankie & I have been doing street, town & beach walks this week. Frankie is also boarding with us just while her mom’s in hospital waiting for their new baby to arrive!...

You are going to be amazing parents…a dog is good practice and you have tons of patience with Frankie! 😄🤗🩷

Exciting!!! 🎉🎈👶💝