Trust Your Mutt

03/09/2025

When you’re worn out from your last training session but the lady with the treats is still at the front door, you find a way to get pretty bendy while staying on your place!

02/09/2025

Look familiar?

Although Finnigan has grown since we saw him last, he has not gotten any less cute, and has developed one of the best head tilts we’ve ever seen.

When things just click between owners and their dog, it makes our job so rewarding. (Doesn’t hurt either when the owners have kiddos at home who act like you’re their bestie the second you walk through the door 😆)

Can’t wait to see how this little man progresses over the next couple of months through practice and repetition. He’s in great hands to become an even more amazing dog! 🩵

02/07/2025

There are so many amazing breeds out there. Loving and admiring them versus believing you can live with them with ease are SO different.

There are many breeds we know we would never choose to own. Why? Our lifestyle. Our location. Our time away from home. Our work schedules. Our personalities.

Be honest with yourself.

And if you’re adopting? Amazing. Proud of you. But don’t just choose a dog because of a picture on the internet. Learn about them. Ask questions. Meet them and interact with them. You are NOT making a short term decision.

Choose a dog with THEIR best interest in mind, always.

Here is a hard truth.

Breed matters.

Anyone that tells you otherwise is either: a) not a knowledgable resource or b) has a reason they want to keep the truth from you.

Being 💯 honest with yourself about the time you can devote to training, and exercise is a crucial first step in finding a dog that is right for you.

If you are a in poor health, fairly sedentary, or want a dog to be your "emotional support"...there are a LOT of breeds that are not going to work out for you.

Prioritize the dog's quality of life in your decision making process.

Weigh your choice carefully by making characteristics like activity level, sociability and potential for guardian "watchdog" behaviors more important than how "cool" "cute" or "trainable" the dog is.

12/25/2024

11/28/2024

We hope your day is filled with cold walks with your dogs, way too much food, and so much love from family and friends!

How many dogs do you get to share your Thanksgiving Day with? We have 5 in attendance this year! 🫶🏽

11/20/2024

Finnigan has us thinking maybe a 3rd dog in the house wouldn’t be so bad… 🤔😍

This little babe is brand new to his family but already has a puppy consultation under his belt because that’s how much his owners understand the importance of getting him started off on the right paw! He has two young human sisters who are so excited to be able to play with him and love on him, so its important all family members understand what boundaries are needed while he’s learning how to adapt to what we need from him as a pet!

Puppy consults are best suited for dogs under 5 months of age, and include any and all things puppy raising. If this is something you’d like to set up let us know! They also make a great Christmas gift for someone you know who has or will be getting a puppy soon! 🎄

10/24/2024

Don’t let the calm eyes deceive you, Chip has a lot of puppy left in him! 😍

His owners know the life he deserves, and are determined to give it to him. Baseball games, duck hunting, and making other dog friends are a few things Chip has to look forward to, so it’s important he knows how to handle any distractions thrown at him while behaving nicely for Mom & Dad. After all, at only 6 months old he’s not going to be getting any smaller!

The three of them are off to a great start building the foundation of a well socialized pup! We love clients who put in the time and work that their dog deserves! 🩵

09/07/2024

When a thoughtful client gives you homemade treats, you call on the official taste tester.
Opal approved. ☑️

09/02/2024

Doggy do list created by 5-year-old Lucy.

Let the dog sleep ☑️
Playin with its favorite toy ☑️
Runnin around ☑️
Teachin it to sit ☑️
Lettin it to eat ☑️
Walkin a dog ☑️
Let the dog swim ☑️
Give it water to drink ☑️
Brush the dogs teeth ☑️
Brush the dogs fur ☑️
Givin it a bath ☑️
Cut their toenails ☑️
Rollin in the grass ☑️

Hope your pups had as many of these checked off as Opal and Kiwi did this weekend! 🩵

08/24/2024

Which version of Junie’s ears are your favorite? 😍

I can’t pick, because a week ago I hardly got to see these beautiful ears showing at all. Adopting a dog from a shelter is such a selfless act, and it’s cases like these where it really shows.

Junie went home with the most lovely couple at roughly 3 months of age. The love they have for her is undeniable. They’re a phenomenal trio, but very quickly they started to see how underdeveloped she was socially. There are not many things she doesn’t have some sort of fear towards, including people and moving objects. They have been tousled around by various trainers/behavioralists that just weren’t the right match. Not only were they misreading what Junie was feeling, but they were giving downright bad advice for how to get though it and teach her how to “dog” in this world.

However bad the advice, I’m grateful because it landed them with me through a very kind referral by an old friend. They went from fearing they wouldn’t be able to safely keep her, to feeling hopeful for the life they WILL get to enjoy with her.

Believe it or not this isn’t a plug for myself. I know there are so many amazing trainers in this world who would have been able to help them. This is a plug for Junie’s owners. They were in over their head and I don’t blame them for knowing where their limit was. I’m incredibly proud of them for not giving up when they had every reason to. They made one final call, to a total stranger, and are putting their total trust in me to help her live the life she deserves, slowly combating the things that terrify her.

We still have a long way to go, but for only two sessions under her belt, I’m beyond obsessed with the ears and personality I got to see out of little miss Junie today. 🩵

08/22/2024

We had a chance to meet everyone at Natural Carnivore today at their new storefront located in Johnson Creek. Talk about our kind of people. 🙌🏽

If the amazing products they sell alone won’t get you through their doors, I sure hope sweet little Rain will!