We are so moved by the work Arts For Life does in our community, and we recently learned that their Heartbeat Sessions are starting again! A Heartbeat Session turns a digital recording of a terminal pediatric patient’s heartbeat into the rhythm for a song selected or created by the patient and their family. The song and the heartbeat are recorded together live, with local musicians, at Echo Mountain Recording Studio in Asheville, NC.
For Arts For Life’s budding young musicians and their families, a Heartbeat Session is a one-of-a-kind musical memento; a living legacy inspired by the steady rhythm of a heartbeat. Check out this session and listen carefully for Jesse's Heartbeat. The gifts they give to the patients and their families are so special and it is our privilege to try to use our network to make more of these sessions possible.
Please consider donating to this beautiful project if you are as moved as all of us are.
https://heartbeatsessions.org/
@porkyandpals Pork Roll rocking Family Dog Mediation for the win!!
Best day ever! Not only did Kim have back to back golden puppy appointments, but they were actually from the same breeder! It made for a very sweet play time for these half siblings 💗💗💗
#thedogdoor #doglegs #beyonddogtraining #ashevillenc #ashevilledogs #dogsofasheville #downtownasheville #dogcityusa #meetyourdog #avl #828isgreat #dogsofinstagram
Here is a sweet moment between behavior consultant Angie with her son Jasper and dog Izzy! 🥰🥰🥰
#thedogdoor #doglegs #asheville #ashevillenc #dogsofasheville #ashevilledogs #wnc #downtownasheville #beyonddogtraining
Shy puppy class! Watch Buffy’s body language change (tan puppy) as Luke starts investigating her and then pursuing her. Angie steps in as she starts retreating to Mom for protection. Seemingly subtle efforts like these make all the difference in your shy puppy’s socialization experiences. #thedogdoor #shypuppy #puppyclass #puppysocialization #forcefree #fearfree #dogbodylanguage #dogbehavior #ashevilledog #ashevilledogtrainer #asheville #828isgreat #downtownasheville #dogcityusa
In #dogcityusa, also #beercityusa, many people want to take their dogs with them to all the #dogfriendly #ashevillebreweries and #ashevillerestaurants. Miska the #huskypuppy has been going with her #dogfamily to #ashevillebeer joints since the day they got her. And while she's already a pretty rocking girl, well socialized to the scene, she needed a few extra skills under her belt to be a welcome addition to a night on the town. Her family had been unsuccessful teaching her "down" and "wait". Also her #dogmom was sure she was doing something wrong in her timing of rewarding her since she was basically begging for treats and or totally disengaging and doing whatever she wanted if the treat flow stopped. So I showed her the new skills and then immediately transitioned to their intended application (#huskies and other #natutaldogs are super pragmatic and often get really annoyed with arbitrary repetition so I like to show them where we're going with it right away). I then sat in my chair and chatted with her #dogmom and just ignored her completely (which is what would happen at the bar as she hung out with friends) and clicked (marked) and rewarded her for staying in the "down"/"wait" and NOT looking at me but rather just chilling out. Many people think that a well behaved dog should be staring at their person constantly. This is unnatural, unrealistic, and super awkward and creepy. What makes sense is to parent them in a sense and just show them contextually appropriate patterns of behavior. In this case, just hang out and enjoy the scenery and night life by my side while I'm doing the same. It's not #obedience. It's common sense. They are #notaminion. My phone died but in the last few minutes she totally hammed it up and laid flat out on the ground in uber-chill mode. She was sure she was training me. Brilliant. All these #doglifeskills. 10 mins of #dogtraining. #dogbehavior #dogscience #petsbehavingwell #iaabcpets #cdbc #avldogs #ashevillebrewerydogs #avlbrew
YOU DO NOT NEED HARSH TRAINING TO GET FAST TRAINING. Britain the #germanshepherdpuppy and his #dogmom #servicedog handler Mary have just set a new record at #thedogdoor #dogbehaviorcenter!
They accomplished 6 to 9 months worth of training in just under three months time. We started with his #servicedogtraining in May when he was 8 weeks old. Mary thought she would have a year to train him with us. She found out she was moving in August. She couldn't find a trainer in her new town who met her standards. We decided to work hard. I never imagined they could have accomplished so much in so little time. We met multiple times a week and Mary simply dove in and practiced everything we showed her, and took Britain out daily for real life practice in #downtownasheville #dogcityusa. Her commitment and skills were incredible. His were too. Their relationship is remarkable. He clearly will have important stages of development to go through, and some growing up and additional learning to do, but it's so impressive to see how much we can accomplish with our #dogpartners when we have the motivation, the right information, and right tools to build such a profound relationship with clear communication. Our dogs are all capable of so much more than we give them credit for. They have so many questions waiting to be answered and so much interest and wonder waiting to be engaged. They have much to give and teach.
Please please remember that this level of reliable good public behavior is not out of anyone's reach. Please remember it NEVER requires pain, intimidation, force, yelling, pushing, prongs or vibrations or shocks, cans of pennies or water bottles. Those things amount to poor advice and popular myths that might indeed change behavior but can have serious consequences. This is just #baconandboundaires. Good #dogparenting with #dogscience. #communication and #cooperation with #nopain #nofear. #dogbehavior #dogscience #dogtraining #ashevilledogbehavior #ashevilledogtrainin
How to teach DPT (Deep Pressure Therapy) to a #servicedog . Teaching this to the sweetest darn #goldenretriever #servicedogintraining Winston as an important task to respond to serious episodes of panic attacks for his #dogmom is indeed one of the perks of my job! So hard to have this doll in my lap first thing this morning, right?? #dogcityusa #ashevilledog #wncpets #blueridgedogs #gundog #dogtraining #dogwin #thedogdoor #ashevilledogweirdos #servicedogtasks
Picking out our raffle winner! Thank you to everyone who has helped us raise over $2900 for the Akins family of Weaverville! We so appreciate you!