Whole Dog University, LLC

07/17/2025

Ayla is making great progress as we are moving through week 2 of her program. She is doing great for this point in her program.

We are at the point where we are practicing her obedience skills in public places (neighborhoods, various dog-friendly stores - here at TJ Maxx, a park, eventually we’ll go downtown Lebanon, weather permitting).

She can be a little shy socially in unfamiliar settings but she is getting better with each venture into those kinds of places. As she is getting more comfortable, now it’s to get her to understand you can’t break command to go greet someone or say Hi to another dog in public.

Overall, I’m really pleased with what I’m seeing in terms of her progress. Isn’t she such a pretty girl?!

07/09/2025

This happy girl is Ayla…a 1 yr old German Shepherd x Husky mix. Ayla has come in for on-leash basic obedience training and sone off-leash recall training through our longer Residential Day-Training program. You can’t tell it here, but she is a big girl! For those who know my Madison, she makes Madison look tiny. She is very tall and solid.

Ayla is a very friendly, social dog who is learning her way / finding her place in this domesticated world of humans. Her owner got her off to a good start and she is just here for a little refinement and to take things to the next level.

I’m sure you’ll see us out and about. As you do, be sure to wave and say hello.

07/04/2025

So sad to announce that I had to say goodbye to training helper cat, Milo, this morning. He helped lots of young puppies and adult dogs with socialization and their behavior around cats for about 12 of the 14 years I’ve been in business. Milo was 16 and had been battling a type of skin cancer for the past 16 months. This week he began to show signs & symptoms that his time with us was drawing short. In consultation with his veterinarian this morning, we were in agreement it was time to let him go.

Milo was a very special cat. He was so good with dogs and never met a stranger when it came to people. He loved to have visitors at home and often greeted people with the dogs at the door. He had quite a personality…and will be greatly missed. My heart is heavy…this is the 3rd loss (dogs and cat) in 18 months…it’s hard. It doesn’t get any easier as most of you know.

07/02/2025

It’s that time of year again for big fireworks displays, firecrackers and neighborhood amateurs shooting off fireworks. Is your dog afraid of fireworks? Hopefully not, but if so, hopefully you have your plan in place for the next several evenings / nights and maybe even next weekend.

Here are some helpful tips:
1) If your dog had major fears of this kind of thing, hopefully by now you have talked to your vet about medication to help them through.

2) Exercise and potty your dog for the night an hour before sunset and have them on a leash attached to a snug fitting collar or harness (with ID tag or air tag in the collar) whenever out with them.

3) Once dark, consider keeping the blinds / curtains closed to help muffle the sound and keep them from seeing the fireworks if that is a trigger for them. Turn up the TV some for some background noise.

4) Play with or engage them inside with fun activities while the fireworks are taking place. Use a basement if that helps

5) Consider playing through a good Bluetooth speaker, a sound track on YouTube with calming music like this one. (Link below). I’ve used this with great success with my anxious dogs and cat through the years. https://youtu.be/6shjAYiD8fc?si=L5NsW1bCHCN2cHfJ

5) Stay calm yourself and don’t pour lots of physical affection and cuddle your dog if they are afraid…that only makes things worse in the long run. Let them hang out with you inside, lay by your feet, and if necessary, crate them in a quiet place in the home. Some dogs feel safest in a crate during fireworks. If you aren’t going to be home, provide a safe place like a crate for them to be until you return.

Lastly, be careful around doors… terrified dogs can dart out doors or garages, or open windows in attempt to flee what is scaring them without realizing the noise is coming from outside and sadly this is when some dogs get lost and never return or are killed from being hit by cats as they run in panic.

If you need help desensitizing your puppy / dog to fireworks in preparation for next year’s Independence Day (or News Years), give us a call.

06/12/2025

This cutie is 7 month old Rose (aka Rosie) who is a French Bulldog x Boston Terrier mix. She is doing our 2 week Day-Training Program at the moment and soon her person will start their training on how to work with her going forward.

She is doing great! She is quite sharp and once we worked through a little initial stubbornness (not uncommon in the breed), she has been doing fantastic. I’m really proud of her! She is the sweetest little dog who is very affectionate and of course, has quite a personality as both Frenchie’s and Boston’s can have.

06/12/2025

Excellent video of a Momma dog correcting her puppy for what she found to be unacceptable behavior (video from another country) and video commentary afterwards by an American Canine Professional who was 100% spot on in his assessment and makes some excellent points in the written part of the post also. Please read that and watch then listen to the analysis.

Canine / Pack Leadership training for humans to aid in raising and living with their dogs is something we at Whole Dog University provide extensive education and training in. It starts at 8 weeks of age!

06/10/2025

Amazing dog facts!

Scientists have been researching the ability of dogs to detect cancer in someone’s body using their olfactory system.

Dogs have approximately 300 million olfactory receptors, which is 50 times more than a human. They can detect and discriminate odors that are present in the air at ultra low concentrations. Unlike humans, their sense of smell is divided into left and right nostrils separately, and this stereoscopic processing of odor information enables them to form a 3 dimensional map of where odors are coming from.

In scientific studies, dogs have been trained to detect cancer by smelling someone’s skin, urine, blood, or breath. They have proven to be able to accomplish this accurately and consistently.

Cancer cells emit certain volatile compounds that are not released by healthy cells, and it is these cancer-specific compounds that dogs are sensing.

Scientists are still trying to figure out how to copy the dogs' sensing mechanisms, which certainly are not a product of chance, but an Ultimate Designer.

05/11/2025

Happy Mother’s Day to all Mom’s of people — and pups (cats, too!)!!! Have a wonderful day!!

03/17/2025

I got busy last week and forgot to introduce beautiful little Miss Kara…she is a 18 week old mini Newfie-poo (Newfoundland x Miniature poodle mix…. And maybe has some Aussie mixed in, too). She is with me through the end of this week for a 10 Day Residential - Training Program.

She is doing very well with learning her obedience commands and an added bonus she is has become good friends with my Madison (11). This week we start putting into practice in public (added distractions) all she has learned so far, so maybe we’ll bump into you in the process of training.

Even though you don’t see a lot of posts here, don’t assume we aren’t open or busy. In addition to Day-Training clients, I’m working with several weekly private lesson obedience clients and their dogs in addition to doing behavioral consultations / training sessions. Our Early Puppy Development program is still going on…. Looking for puppies under 16 weeks and their owners who are ready to get their pups off to a good start in life by learning proper and adequate socialization of all kinds, confidence building, teaching rules and boundaries and of course help with housebreaking and other puppy issues (play-biting, jumping up, etc). If you know of anyone who has a new puppy, this is the place to come for this caring, unique education and hands on puppy program.

02/24/2025

Magnus and I made a training trip to the new TSC store in Lebanon. So excited to have them here now…they have some opening specials going on there right now (crates, beds, some foods)… check them out! (They also carry several brands of dog food, including some premium brands like Acana; in addition to their premium store brand called 4Health. If are looking for a good quality dog food at a reasonable price / on a budget in today’s economy, check that one out… they carry non-GMO grain inclusive foods as well as grain-free options in the 4Health line. They have everything from small, regular, and large breed puppy to adult, to sport dog lines of food.

Friendly, helpful staff there and lots of good products of all kinds including clothing, some outdoor furniture, decor, as well a whole bunch of other items for home or farm.

Magnus was working on his down - stay as I was looking at various dog beds away from where was. He did great holding his stay!! He also practiced calm greetings today…getting better every day! Proud of him!

02/15/2025

Good video showing how a confident, balanced, more dominant dog (the male husky) corrects and keeps in check the male GSD who is bullying some other dogs in what I think is dog park. The husky actually prevents a fight or perhaps one of the other dogs from being hurt by the GSD.

The GSD attempts to show dominance over the Husky in the beginning and the Husky basically says, via body language, you better get off me / stop right now (He does) and you better stop bullying and play nice with these other dogs (corrects the GSD and advocates for the more submissive, younger and/or smaller dogs in the group).

Excellent “study” or lesson in canine body language / social interactions in all the dogs in view. Note the body language displays of dominance by the GSD, how the other dogs react to the GSD and how the confident, balanced, more dominant Husky reacts to the inappropriate dominant behavior by the Husky (watch his initial body language) and then the body language of correction - the Husky isn’t looking for a fight but is letting the GSD know his behavior is unacceptable.