The Substitute - In Home Pet Care and Training

08/20/2024

Cash came here struggling to coexist with his family. He refused to listen to his humans, he would counter surf, dig up the yard, would bark incessantly when guests came over (or whenever he felt like it, tbh.). Craziness.

He wasn't an easy guy to train. He's got genetic "stuff" working against him, he's acting like a 4 month old puppy in a 1 year old body. I'm sure you can imagine how that might be problematic with a family with children. It's dangerous for everyone, especially for Cash.

It took WEEKS of repetition and trusting the process, and now look at him... doing great work in public in an unfamiliar place. He's come SO far. We can't wait to show off to his parents at his go home sessions this weekend!!

(In the comments I'll post the link to a video of Cash when he first got here. If you want a little comparison...🫣🥴🫠.)

08/14/2024

The Arthritis Games are brought to you by:

The School of I Don't Want To Get Up and But It Hurts University met again today for their annual Lazy Wrastlin Competition. Where nobody wins, nobody's loses, and they pretend too be THE BADDEST of boys (nobody believes them) while also trying to use as little energy as possible.

Today's bout is between Old Man Ace - Metairie's finest - and his newest challenger. A younger, and very beautiful, gentleman visiting this month from the great *Mid-City* of New Orleans.

Let the battle commence!

Enjoy!

If you're looking for somebody to watch your fury family members when you leave town, or are away for the day, get stuck at work, etc. Reach out!! We can help!!

07/07/2024

May all our dogs be as smart and obedient as these.

07/01/2024

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/izonSb5CPrcF74Pg/?mibextid=xfxF2i

Please share, or better, consider DONATING! There are $5 and $10 dollar items that are still on this list. 🫶🫶🫶 🤜🤛

05/24/2024

01/11/2024

Santa has decided no more stuffed toys because Santa gets all the praise and Mom just gets to pick up all the stuffing. 😒🎅

12/14/2023

Boarding spaces are filling up quickly. Be sure to get in your reservation now while you still can!!! We ALWAYS get last minute emergency boarders so there will not be room much longer. Happy holidays everyone!!!

12/13/2023

Boarding spaces are filling up quick. Be sure to get in your reservation now while you still can!!! We ALWAYS get last minute emergency boarders so there will not be room much longer. Happy holidays everyone!!!

09/28/2023

Found in Kenner

09/20/2023

Great advice!!!

09/20/2023

Are your dogs fence fighting with the neighbors? Are they constantly barking at each other?? Are YOU tired of it???

IT IS possible to change the relationship your dogs have with their four legged neighbors!!!

Contact us today to find out how we can help you help your dogs live with a little less crazy.

09/09/2023

Try something different the next time you leave town....

Train your pup while you're away!!! Talk to us about our board and train services during your next getaway.

If there are behaviors you would like us to focus on or skills you'd like your pups to learn during their boarding time, let us know so we can help!!!

There are so many benefits to having a personal trainer and boarding options for your dogs.

Besides working on basic obedience, and providing specific care for dogs with special needs, we are able to pickup on not only behavior changes but also health changes that you may not be aware of.

Just ONE example from this week... I was able to notify an owner that her dog had a slight drag on his rear right paw on walks that I had never seen before. They were able to medically intervene sooner than they would have, simply by having a professional in their lives with deep relationships to their pets.

This is just the latest example. There are many others.

Don't get me wrong, Camp Bow Wow and the like have their place in the pet care ecosystem. But nothing tops what we're doing over here.

Space is always limited so reach out ASAP and learn about the value we can bring to your whole family.

08/02/2023

06/19/2023

🤣😂🤣😂🤣

4.1M likes, 50K comments. “Good morning to him i guess”

06/09/2023

Hurry, spots are filling quickly! Limited space with limited availability!!

Let us help you.

10/21/2022

08/23/2022

There are added benefits to having a consistent sitter/boarding provider for your family.

Today I alerted owners to their dogs drop in weight and other physical changes that owners are sometimes too close up to see.

Looking forward to getting the update from the vet to see what's up with Mr. Handsome, tomorrow.

08/10/2022

Amazing. Good girl!

05/26/2022

Time to tell the tough truth. Debate welcome, hate will be removed.

To bring everyone up to speed, there is a toxic, social war going on between the Pure Positive/Force Free movement and Balanced Training. One of these bodies is massively funded and out to dictate how you train your dog. But don’t get fooled by the pretty language and perfectly-placed buzz words..

“Animals have never learned through punishment or consequences”
“Don’t train with pain”
“Reward what you like, ignore what you don’t”
“Dominance and force in dog training creates stress and fear”
“This dog just needs medication”

I’ll be honest, “Positive-only” sounds pretty great on paper, but practically? Not so much.

News flash: “Purely Positive” anything doesn’t exist. Life, parenting, career, school, nature, it all has consequences and it all has pressure. And if you want to talk about the quadrants of consequences, There’s FOUR. Yep, PP/FF peeps pick and choose which quadrants they want to train with. Balanced trainers use what works. We implement a holistic approach.

Rewards = information
Punishment = information

Information and communication are how dogs (and humans) learn. Punishment is NOT abuse.

If I’ve lost you in all of this chaos, allow me to break it down: Rewarding a behavior will encourage repeating, punishing a behavior will deter. These PP/FF folks are trying to change that.

The ban on these tools is coming. The ability to train how you want is being argued. The ability to use certain tools is being argued. The ability to say “no” to your dog is being argued.

So this post is to raise awareness as to what’s going on out there. I’m sharing my thoughts and stories because spreading the truth, sharing content and success is how I bring value to this community. My clients and followers are my motivation. I believe in these tools because I’ve seen them work, time and time again. Believe me, we were there one day. Stuck, stressed and struggling feeling like everything we tried with our dog wasn’t working. Trainers had failed us and it was incredibly crippling.

These tools and training methods have saved my dogs lives along with so many others, and I don’t want that to be taken from us. This current debate has really taken away from the dogs (and the training). Have we forgotten our mission? To help dogs, to clear shelters and empower owners to succeed.

Myself and all other balanced trainers have to deal with the constant hate, negativity and criticism from the PP/FF body. “Death before discomfort” is especially unsettling to me, and this idea is the reason so many dogs are being killed for no reason.

It’s time we stand up and share our success. Our rights are being stripped and our dogs are suffering.

P.S. Any hate or bashing will not be deleted, rather exposed. So watch your words :)

08/16/2021

Alex contacted us about Beans shortly after his behavior began to deteriorate. We've agreed to work with them at a discounted rate and share their fundraising page in hopes that we can get Beans in our program and, quite literally, save his life.

I very rarely ask for donations, but this is a special case. Please consider chipping in if you can. I know many of you can relate to their heartbreaking situation.

You can read more about Beans and his story below.

Thank you so so much for supporting the work we do and the animals we work so hard to rehabilitate.
🙏🙏🙏🤗🤗🤗🙏🙏🙏

Back in February I found a dog tied up to an abandoned house. She was very skinny and very scared. I… Alex Boekbinder needs your support for Save My Dogs Life

05/29/2021

👏👏👏👏👏

It really doesn’t matter if your dog is friendly or not.

What matters is that you don’t take the choice away from another owner (and their dog) as to who they interact with.

There can be so many reasons why a dog and their owner need space from you and your dog.

Please allow them that choice 💙