Whole Dog Camp

11/18/2025

UPDATE: Belle has been adopted!

If you're searching for the Belle of the ball, look no further than the lady herself!

Belle is a gorgeous, intelligent and fun-loving girl - the total package! She's well-trained and recognizes a handful of commands, walks well on a leash and rides great in the car.

Belle can be a little unsure about new people and places, but we've also discovered her unabashed love for STICKS and know nothing would make her happier than new friends to play fetch with. While her beautiful coat may be built for winter, Belle is more of a "cozy on the couch" hibernator than sled dog (relatable).

For a partner that's no beast and all beauty, come meet Belle today!

11/18/2025

11/17/2025

Drop
it/get it! Drag toys are so valuable training and managing puppies

11/15/2025

This lays out the debate! I am in the "all kindness, no punishment " camp partly because if someone is having a difficult time understanding how to control reinforcement, or how to time the delivery of reinforcement, how to communicate with their dog with kindness and understanding , then they are not going do better with punishment.

Typically someone who is unable to control and manage reinforcement is also already delivering unintentional punishments, accidentally punishing the very behaviors they want to grow! 

if you are not being effective in using positive reinforcement training, that's not a dog problem. Its a you problem. You are making mistakes, maybe with management, maybe with training, maybe with you.  Maybe you are unconsciously reinforcing behaviors you don't like. maybe you are focused on the things. The dog is doing wrong and not noticing (not reinforcing ) the things the dog is doing right Maybe you don't have reinforcement. Maybe you are frustrating your dog by sometimes punishing, and sometimes reinforcing the same behavior. Adding punishers when you have proven to
be unsuccessful with reinforcement is only adding to your risk of creating a more aggressive, frustrated or depressed dog.

Training with reinforcement is the easiest most effective, most reliable way to train. If you don't know how to use reinforcement, using punishment is not going to be easier. when pet owners make mistakes with punishers, risk of damages are high. Applied punishers like ecollars, leash pops etc require the same conscious focus, observation skills, and timing required in reinforcement training -- except that the handler is focused on mistakes rather than little successes.

If you haven't got it right with the click or the treat, you're not gonna get it right with the button push and the zap. Quick results are not the only results that matter. When handlers use punishment, the impact of punishers grow and spread over time and while a dog might hide how they really feel about you the first time you jerk on the leash if you do that frequently you may be creating long lasting irreparable damage to your relationship with your dog.

Does San Francisco coddle its dogs? Meet the dog trainer who thinks so—and the others who think he’s gone too far.

11/15/2025

11/09/2025

11/08/2025

11/08/2025

So I hear, barking barking barking, an unusual bark and I look none of my dogs are barking, and I look all around and try to figure out where it's coming from oh up in the trees! And then I hear, quack, quack, quack! Squeaky toy, squeaky toy!

It's crazy bird !