PupDOGS Training, LLC

10/24/2025

Shock collar malfunctions. Happens too often.
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10/09/2025

Voodoo and me at the state park that's currently up in flames. I took this pic BEFORE hitting a section that made me question my sanity and challenged us to the brink of our experience. One misplaced paw would have been a disaster, so I was too nervous to pull out the camera. But damn, I wish I had video of his awe-inspiring grace and confidence. He literally laughed at my anxiety! (Days later when I told a local guide about it..."Oh, yeah. That hike's a bitch!")

09/03/2025

It was a sneak attack kiss 🤣

08/25/2025

Voodoo and I are on our annual hiking trip to celebrate his birthday (8.23.2017). Today we went from the mouth of the Cascade River to the top of Lookout Mountain. Beautiful Day!!!

08/11/2025

Just got the latest Nosework trial videos. This is what our 1st Place Interior search looked like. 9 seconds to find the hide underneath the tear in a chair seat!!! So smiley and laser-focused 🥰

07/20/2025

Game Face - Moments before entering a cabin for Voodoo’s 1st place, 9 second, search: In competition circles, there’s talk of the “space between,” all the stuff that happens before & after the actual search, run, ring, dive… Of the 5 hours spent at yesterday’s competition, only 127 seconds were spent competing, and 83 of those were in a single search (vehicles). So, what about the other 4 hours and 58 minutes??? We walked, explored, watched cute dogs and fun people, played and rested. TOGETHER. Sure, the highlights for Voodoo included the 'searches', but they also included 'sharing Mama's sandwich' while we hung out in the jeep! (He offered to share some delicious grass he found, but I passed 😁) ALL of it matters to Voodoo and to me. It’s another five hours, not just 127 seconds, added to our life of cherished time spent as companions.

And I would suggest that this isn’t isolated to competitions. Most of our dog’s lives are spent in the Space Between. What's their experience like before their walks, playtime, training, meals…? What happens when we’re done? If we take advantage of it, there is a lot of great stuff happening in those times, too.

07/19/2025

Voodoo was ON FIRE at his Scent Work trial today. 3rd Place Overall, 1st place Interiors (found the hide in a cabin in 9 seconds!). 2nd place Exteriors (found an outside hide in 10 seconds!). And earned his "NW 1" Title. Most importantly he was smiley, excited, and eager to work. I'm so proud of him and our teamwork ❤️🩷🧡

07/19/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19H9oABQFD/

Please be kind to your animal professions - trainers, groomers, veterinarians, vet techs, shelter and rescue workers etc.

Although from the outside our job may seem like a “dream career” to most, the majority of us in this profession carry an immense burden on our backs every day. It is amazing to do what you love every day, but what we love also can come with a cost. We spend our days as a counselor, a mediator, a translator, a teacher, a caregiver, a cheerleader and so much more. We wear so many hats just in one day.

To be a good animal handler and worker you have to have been blessed with extreme empathy, hyper vigilance and at times be infuriatingly compassionate. We need to feel deeply, be constantly aware of body language and signals and always helpful. We often times put others needs well above our own and can push ourselves to the point of emotional exhaustion if not careful. We truly take our work home with us a lot, sometimes literally but almost always in our hearts and minds too. We can’t just punch out at the end of the day and forget what we’ve seen, heard, tried to fix etc. Compassion fatigue, depression and anxiety are very common in this field and it’s one of the reasons i am so grateful for my group of fellow colleagues who know to check in when needed.

This doesn’t mean we don’t WANT to help. It means that there are things you can do to help your animal professionals each day.

- Update us with good news when you can. We get panicked, hysterical, tense and terrible emails and calls every day. It truly breaks it up for us when we get an update telling us things are going well.

- Respect our family and down time. Calling 3 times in a row then emailing then texting then calling again at 8pm at night can send us into a tailspin of guilt and panic. Guilt at not being able to answer OR leaving family to answer or panic at what could possibly have happened/gone wrong. We will always get back at a timely manner, but we need to take a breath too.

- support our causes. Share our events, celebrate our victories, and donate when you can to things that you can. Knowing we aren’t alone in the battles we fight makes a huge difference sometimes.

- forgive our strangeness. We are people too, and yes we have lots of animals and may make strange jokes or wear weird t-shirts but it’s all what makes us unique and special in the community. Everyone needs at least one crazy dog friend. Forgive us for being the one who always has dog hair on our clothes no matter what the occasion.

- when you see us outside of work, talk to us about something - ANYTHING - but our work, unless we ask first. We love our job but we also love to talk about things apart from the consistency of your pets last bowel movement or a new leash you found online in a sale. Ask us about our family, the weather, anything! It shows us that you value us as a person not just as a service.

- laugh and cry with us. Understand that your victories are our victories. We truly feel that attached to your animals and you. Many of my clients become like family to me and I have laughed and cried right along with them as they went on their journey together.

- remember we may get things wrong sometimes. We may not always know. We are human and still very capable of mistakes, even small ones. Life is too short to sweat the small stuff, so forgive us if we mess up sometimes.

- and of course, lastly, refer friends to us. Knowing you trust us with people and animals you love is the biggest compliment you can give us, on top of letting us help you. It also shows us you enjoyed your experience enough to send others and that is a huge accomplishment.

Thanks for reading. ❤️
- Helen St. Pierre

07/13/2025

Mojoe just graduated from his canine conditioning class. Pictured here with his gear. There weren't any grades given, but I'm sure he was at the top of his class! (Voodoo "thought" he took the class, too, so I told him he tied for 1st 😉)