Mills Holistic Dog Training

Meet Blondie. We have had her for a total of 4 days and 22 hours. She captures the heart of everyone she meets and we have BIG plans for her. We’ve got some fun things to work on with her over the next few weeks however she fits with our family so well. She pull be seeing more of her 🥰

New set up to introduce pups!

As we bring the pup in, it’s important that we have a good set up so introductions can go really well.

We’re Back!!! With a new little assistant which is more like a little liability… but join us as we start our training journey in Birmingham!! We are starting off with a dog we plan to foster to adopt.

A little entertainment for your viewing pleasure ☺️☺️ Holland is a fan of Prince doing tricks!

For all of your viewing pleasure 🥰 Prince meeting his little brother for the first time.. extremely slowly.. 😉

Moose gets a little “me time” with his ball after a good day at work ☺️

After walking 20 minutes during session and getting corrections for staring! Much better reactions!! So proud! Moose also was phenomenal. He was a true work dog today 😉

Starting a session with Chaos around reactivity due to excitement.. Moose was able to be my little helper today! 🥰

One year ago today we pulled up to our new house in Dothan Alabama. I was quite nervous about continuing my dog training business here as I know the lifestyles are quite different. -in California you don’t have your own space so have to be out in public with your dog a lot. In Alabama I expected most people have the space for their dog to live comfortably without really having to leave the house.. I had several people tell me the need is here and I was welcomed into the dog world almost immediately by other trainers and rescues. This year has been such a fun experience getting to know you all and your furry friends.. thank you for such a wonderful first year in the Wiregrass!

Lowes Outing!

One of Moose’s boarding needs is public outings as he lives with a college age person who wants to be able to take him anywhere she can. So we take him with us on our errands for practice! **Also because he’s SOO cute, people come into our space and talk to him and almost demand to touch him… so we fix that by adding this cute little bandana ☺️.. this SHOULD help with people wanting to interact with him so we can keep him calm and teach him the right way to be in public.. aka ignore everything unless given the command to do otherwise.. 👍🏼👍🏼

Walking Session with Moose!!

How to meet other dogs if your pup is nervous, timid, etc! It is SO IMPORTANT to advocate for your dog in all situations especially when they are timid or nervous.. we put her on a leash because it forces her to get moving and not sit by the door and cower.. her body language is so cautious and fearful (curvature of her rounded back and literal tail between her legs) we want her to know she’s safe and how brave she is for trusting us… when done correctly this should build her confidence “I went out and met dogs and nothing bad happened!” What a wonderful thing to take from an outing instead of “I was so scared and no one listened to me.. I feel violated… that was terrible!!”

This is Fawn.. a 4 month old puppy just needing a tune up.. he was so sweet and so adorable 🥰

Part of me wishes my dogs would have such dependency to just follow me wherever I go regardless of distraction.. the other part of me already gets annoyed that I can’t go to the bathroom alone..

I love watching them play.. Prince pulls out a side of Liam that keeps him young.. many people get nervous when they hear (Liam especially) dogs play this loudly.. how can I tell this is play? 1) they are both very bouncy.. and even playing “clash of the titans” (Liam is a wrestler while prince loves the zoomies) 2) other than prince rolling on the ground liam never really closes his mouth on prince, it’s all just noise. 3) when liam is done prince listens and settles down before encouraging him to play again.. (pauses are good in play.. it allows for a check in) 4) prince sneezes a few times which can mean excited, happy, or submissive.. lovely socialization skills.. 🥰🥰

Chunk it for the win!!!!

Roxie loves playing with dogs.. she might even be a little obsessed at times.. one thing we’re trying to learn while being here is when other dogs tell you to chill or back off be respectful of their space and listen… again very human toddler-esk.. teaching puppies to learn social cues is very important!!

Roxie Treat video 3

This is a long video fyi. However there are some great things happening here.. 1) she has learned she gets something really tasty if she listens to commands and she ends up getting her bone back so it’s a win win as long as she doesn’t try to fight me. 2) she doesn’t try to kill my idiot of a cat when he jumps the fence to get to Roxie’s food, bone, etc. (some dogs who are possessive over their stuff will go after anything that’s in the area.. hence why we are using the fence to kee prince and Liam from bothering her. ) 3) biggest change of all - her body language!! She’s more engaged/ focused on me and what I’m asking of her, she’s learned the game and has gained some confidence around what I’m doing and even prances around with her wagging tail 🥰.. she is no longer getting small, being rigid, or holding her attention on her bone as long!! Way to go Roxie..

Roxie Treats video 2

This video is a bit more boring.. she has one little flench when Chris walks by her or even touches her paw. (This is major progress from the first time we tried this) now one thing that Roxie’s parents have said is if you move past her she has gone after you and tried to attack you.. this video shows us moving about the kitchen as if we are cooking, washing dishes, using the dishwasher, etc. Her body language is still closed off which is hilarious because she’s the one who keeps putting herself right in the action! I believe towards the end you see her tense up and think about what she should do and I call her name in a high pitch voice to help get her out of that state of mind.. you’re voice is a wonderful tool to change the mood of the room or activity!