Cabot K9 Academy LLC

08/25/2023

The face of a mature dog that’s being patient with a puppy!

08/19/2023

Say hi to Tux he’s the latest student at CKA

08/06/2023

Squirrel is taking a break from training!

03/31/2023

Rascal’s exit bath he goes home tomorrow!

03/25/2023

This don’t look like training to me. 🤪

03/23/2023

Rascal is learning fast here!

03/18/2023

Good Morning 🌞 1st day of semester with Rascal!

02/14/2023

Happy Valentine’s Day!!

02/05/2023

Mija is a great student! Learning fast

02/04/2023

01/08/2023

CKA Welcomes Hutch and Lennox for the week for some puppy 101!

10/31/2022

10/23/2022

10/23/2022

Strategizing the next lesson! Group classes are the best😃

09/04/2022

08/13/2022

Mia our latest guest @ CKA is sharing some lovings!

07/31/2022

Exit baths for this crew they leave tomorrow!

06/19/2022

Judge’s training is nearing its end and he’s worn out!

06/12/2022

Judge is ferocious!

06/08/2022

A big CKA Welcome to our new student “Judge” classes have begun.

05/30/2022

Buster and Biscuit are going home tomorrow!
Exit bath time! They’ve learned a lot!

05/21/2022

This is a post about honoring your dog for who they are- and doing the same for yourself!

Most of us have some strong ideas about who our dog will be: what they will be able to do, what we’ll do together, how great we’ll feel about it.

It turns out, a lot of my job is helping dog guardians grieve the loss of that idea, that “white picket fence” dog life, and learn to accept their dog for who they are. It’s not easy.

BUT- it’s also freeing. People tell me how relieved they are that they don’t have to keep trying to get their dog to like the dog park. They don’t have to go to patio bars with their dog. They don’t have to feel guilty leaving their dog happy at home in order to go to the patio bar on their own!!

So what does that mean for us, as dog trainers? We struggle with the same dang thing. Last night, I took Nina to her very first group class: an informal tricks class. Nina tends toward frustration-based reactivity toward other dogs, so I had no idea how this might go.

It was obvious pretty quickly that we weren’t going to make it into the class area. So we set up waaaay back in the lobby, and practiced our Feet Up and Bow just like the other dogs- but from a distance!

She was mostly able to hold it together and have some fun eating snacks and doing her favorite cues. But when another dog left to take a potty break midway through the class, Nina started doing the “pittie scream” and had a tough time calming down.

So we left! We went home, she took a nap, and I thought about it a lot.

There’s grief there- I would love to have a dog that can go enjoy group classes! There’s guilt and shame and frustration- surely, as a dog behavior professional, I should be able to make my dog successful in that environment! There’s pride, in setting her up for success, not trying to push too hard, and leaving the situation when she was clearly done. There’s relief, in knowing we can do things she will enjoy, taking them at her pace.

For allllll the dog people out there making choices to support their individual dogs- we see you. We know it’s hard to let go of ideas about who your dog SHOULD be, but we’re so glad you’re seeing who your dog is!