Roben Kennedy Reward The Calm Dog Training & Pet Concierge

10/23/2025

Cooper’s (16 months old) title run for his Barn Hunt Novice Title! 40 seconds (novice gets 1:30), First Place and High in Class!!!🎊

Caelus Von Den Eichen Berg, VHMA, RATI, RATN

10/23/2025

Dogs do not feel guilt— they do read our body language and know we are unhappy and will react to social pressure (ie “you bad dog! )

10/22/2025

Last weekend Cooper and I were supposed to be at the local obedience trial but after a couple of practices resulting in tears of frustration last week, I conceded we just weren’t ready.

Cooper is huge at 16 months old, 😁 but still 90% puppy and I was putting much too much pressure on him and myself. We need MUCH more practice & proofing— and his puppy brain needs to grow more before we can hit the obedience ring. 😁 Instead, I just chalked up my entry fees as a “donation” to the club.

…Rewind to a couple of weekends ago— we attended a barn hunt practice and boy did THAT switch click on— FINALLY— for Cooper! (No more peeing in the ring! 🤣🤞🏻Hallelujah! 🎊)

SOOO instead of obedience this past weekend, we were able to attend a local barn hunt trial. HE ROCKED IT and completed his title in one weekend—Two 1st places and a High In Class! One of his runs was 40 seconds! (Novice gets 1:30)

Cooper is a force of nature so this is going to be a VERY fun ride! I cannot wait to see how far this happy, fun loving boy will go!

COOPER
Caelus Von Den Eichen Berg, VHMA, RATI, RATN

10/21/2025

Most dogs do not instantly like every dog or person. Heck most people are the same 😁

DON’T FORCE ME TO BE SOCIAL!

It may be really disappointing or frustrating when our dogs are not the social beings we expected them to be.

Many people assume dogs should just naturally get along with other dogs, after all they’re the same species.

Some believe the “unsociable” dog has a behaviour problem that needs to be “fixed”.

Early, appropriately timed and proper socialisation is really important, but sometimes despite all of this, some dogs are just not that sociable or socially selective to varying degrees.

Sometimes this can be improved, especially if the cause is from a negative experience, but genetics, breed tendencies, individual personalities, health and age all contribute to tolerance and sociability, which also change throughout a dog’s lifetime.

If we, as a human species, don’t get along with everyone we meet, how can we expect our dogs to?

Do we label or try to fix every person that has an argument; doesn’t make friends with everyone they meet, dislikes some people, or just prefers not to be social as having a problem that needs to be fixed?

Why is it so easy to accept that every individual person is different than to accept that every individual dog is different?

When we have done what we can to improve our dogs’ social skills, we need to accept and acknowledge our dogs for the individuals they are, allow and respect their choice of whether to be sociable or not and never force interactions that dogs are not comfortable with.

10/20/2025

10/11/2025

Congratulations to Team Bella Rose for graduating from Beginner Class! Bella’s such a SmArT, fuzzy & fun husky puppy! Her humans are quite exceptional as well!!! Cannot wait to see them grow from here!

10/09/2025

Always have new friends toss the treat AWAY from them when meeting your nervous dog.