Golden Touch Dogs

09/07/2022

Home from a successful training session with Corby. We are still at a fifteen minute limit before he says “enough” but it’s a good fifteen minutes. Today’s challenges were unfamiliar noises like doors slamming and a bag of trash being dragged down the hall. But he walked onto the elevator like a champ!

08/24/2022

Look at that sleepy face. Today Corby began his official training for therapy work. He’s done well with his obedience work and is ready to take it on the road. We were able to visit a facility and practice, thanks to the generosity and patience of the staff.
He lasted 15 minutes before he felt overwhelmed. I’ll take that.
Proud of my boy.

12/26/2021

Every morning I walk the three dogs, and they are great. Today I thought I would take Corby alone. What a surprise! His intent was to drag me up the driveway. I could have switched his harness to the front clip, but what I saw was that he was not comfortable without Scarlett. So we will work on just walking up the driveway like a big boy without his buddies. Looks like our foundation was a little weak.

06/17/2021

I’m not always a fan of dressing my dogs up. But this…❤️

Where is he? I’m stumped. 👀🌳🪵🍃

06/16/2021

To all my Angels who have taught me so much.

The animal family members no longer with us will live forever in our hearts. ❤️

05/21/2021

04/26/2021

Sometimes what we think is best for our dogs is not the same as what they think.

12/11/2020

A big THANKS to Queen City Dog Training Club for hosting me and giving me a chance to share my insights on bringing a new dog into your home. There’s no doubt that I love to talk about dogs, but it’s especially nice to have such a receptive audience.

11/13/2020

We are a pack of three now. Our bright star, Gabby, crossed the Rainbow Bridge in July. I miss her so much but I have to celebrate a life well lived. Godspeed my friend.
Bella, Scarlett, Corby and I are now ready to move ahead into new adventures. I know we are all a little better for having known the Gabbers.

07/29/2020

Here is Corby at 10 months and Gabby at 12+ years. They are the “bookends” of our pack. At this point I don’t know which one is more work but it doesn’t matter. They are both worth it.

07/23/2020

So where have we been these past few months? Take a look at this fellow. What started out as a “temporary training situation” developed into a forever home here for Corby when he joined our pack.
Corby came to us with some behavior challenges typical of an adolescent Golden Retriever. However, when you add adult teeth and a strong body, this can get out of hand. I am happy to report that our boy is doing well with us.
I have learned so much from this and now consider myself fluent in understanding adolescent canine behavior.

04/23/2020

I absolutely love this.

03/19/2020

Day 2 of reframing Scarlett's Down Stay. We had an impromptu session in the basement because of the rain. No pics, the phone was upstairs. Scarlett loves the basement because we play down there, but she was not happy when I asked for the Down, no matter how upbeat I was. She wanted to do the "fun" things. So for every Down she gave me, I let her do one of her fun tricks. It didn't take long for her to realize a Down means you get to do something fun. You know, like when you were a kid and you could have ice cream if you ate your broccoli. It's called the Premack Principle in training nerdspeak.

03/18/2020

I did a little training with Scarlett yesterday. In the first picture she’s doing an exercise we learned in agility, called 2 on 2 off. In the second, a down stay. I think you can tell how she feels about each. I’m taking responsibility for this. I pushed her too far too fast training the stay. The 2on 2off was a fun activity. We’re going back to “kindergarten” on the down stay and giving her a better feeling about it. I’ll keep you posted.

03/17/2020

Are your training classes cancelled? You can keep the training going while you’re home with your dog. I’ve started a group to allow you to ask training questions or get ideas on working with your dog. Join me at Anne Hodapp Golden Touch Dogs and we’ll get a conversation started!

02/25/2020

PUPPIES! I will be teaching Puppy Kindergarten at Queen City Dog Training Club next month! Classes start March 19 at 6:30 PM. Go to qcdtc.org for more details and information on registration. Classes are filling up!

02/14/2020

I'll take that 🥰