Alma's Balanced Canines LLC

04/22/2023

GRANDBABIES EVERYWHERE!!!! Please meet Jackson (2 weeks) and Credence (1 month), the two little humans that now and forever have my whole heart.

Please forgive me if I do not respond to inquiries promptly, I'm a bit distracted.

I love dogs but guys... these are even better! 🥰❤️😍

11/09/2022

This derpy boy brought me so much joy at his class today. 90% absolutely amazing and 10% complete dork. He was so much fun!

08/23/2022

Little Lionel has been monopolizing my time, but it's worth it. 🥰

Alma's Balanced Canines shared a post on Instagram: "". Follow their account to see 177 posts.

07/18/2022

Little Lionel is finally finding his voice! He has improved leaps and bounds in the last few weeks. Though I questioned myself in pushing him outside his comfort zones the results have proved nearly miraculous. This video shows him interacting with my dogs and bark an alarm when someone enters the house. Since moving him in the living room he comes out of his safe space on his own throughout the day to explore, interact and chill. Watching him lay on the dining room rug and looking out the French doors nearly brings me to tears. His joy is beginning to show up at times that don't include food. He seeks out interactions with the other dogs and follows all of us around the house, especially when in the kitchen where food and special treats are a plenty. I like to think that he knows he's finally found a real home and a real pack and that's why he so suddenly began to trust but as I look back on all the ups and downs and all the positive conditioning we've all put in I realize the work it took to get him here. Pushing his boundaries, forcing him outside his comfort zone, tons of positive reinforcement, and plain ole patience got us here. I can't wait to see who this little fella is once he's past his trauma and onto his new confident self. I'm so thankful to have the privilege of being part of his journey and being able to watch him flourish. He brings so much joy to anyone he interacts with, our little trauma recovery dynamo, he's an ambassador for rescue dogs and just how resilient they can actually be. 😊❤️🐾

07/11/2022

All Hail Cheese!!!!

07/08/2022

Happy Friday!! We're celebrating Lionel graduating from being somewhat isolated in our bedroom, to joining us all in the living room. I picked this particular spot for a few reasons. First, it's where my boyfriend sits and Lionel feels most comfortable with him. Second, he's partly hidden and not too easily gotten to or accidentally run into. And third he has an escape route behind the chair that he can use at anytime. Now that he's housebroken and follows us without a leash we want to integrate him into our living space to further our bond and trust and to expose him to more overall activity. I'm pretty proud of this little nugget, he's pushing past his fear and his distrust and learning to just be okay around all of us. He's actually learning to relax. We hope that the playful bouts we've seen lately will increase the more he's around us and the dogs and as he gets more comfortable overall.
Cheers little Lionel!! ☺️👏👏🍻

07/06/2022

It's been a minute, I know. I just had to update you guys on Lionel. We've been pushing his boundaries slowly over the past few weeks and it's made a huge difference. He now walks outside BY HIS SELF to potty without the aid of a leash. He also comes in by his self and waits in the kitchen, again no leash at all, for his breakfast and dinner. He eats both with the other dogs and then on his own goes back to his bed. He's began exploring the house a little bit more every day and we're encouraging him with a leash and his bed to hang out with us in the living room of an evening until we go to bed and he's goes back to his safe spot the bedroom. I was SO shocked when he followed me all on his own this evening that I couldn't record it but I was able to snap a pic of him eating beside Titus. I'll try to get some videos in the coming days to share with y'all! I'm so tickled in how far he's coming, he's such a brave little chi. ☺️💗🐾

06/09/2022

Hello everyone! I have an exciting Lionel update that I wanted to share. For those who don't know Lionel is pretty much 100% housebroken. He is still very nervous overall, isn't a fan of hands coming near him and he absolutely hates being picked up. We carry him out to potty and have him walk back in on his own and he's been doing really well. Since he's been given 2 outside bathroom breaks a day he hasn't gone at all in the house and seems to recognize that outback is where potty happens. He isn't keen on hanging out there so he does his business and makes his way to the door to go back in. From there he'll follow me back to his bed where he gets treats and I unhook his leash.
Today I decided to try to encourage him to also walk out by himself instead of me picking him up. Using queue words, verbal encouragement and slight leash pressure he actually managed to walk outside and walk back in all on his own without my picking him up at all!
Now that we know he can do both on his own that will be our new standard and I'm so thrilled about it. Being picked up absolutely terrifies him so him walking all on his own will hopefully build more trust between us.
He still isn't interested in engagement but he has come to tolerate it better. He definitely perks up at meal time and is genuinely happy when he sees me coming with his food dish.
I'm not sure how far Lionel will get in his rehabilitation. How comfortable he will be around humans. I don't know if he'll ever want to interact with me. I don't know if eventually he'll actually be playful with my other dogs. But, I know he's brave. I know he has a spark of happy inside. I know he can learn. I know he tries. I know he's traumatized. I know he's terrified. I know he hasn't had the best life. I know he isn't well bred. I know he will never be like a regular dog. And I know it'll up to his humans to make accommodations for him probably forever.
I also know that because of all listed above there is absolutely no way I can give him up on him, so yesterday we officially adopted him.
Though he may never be a regular dog, he will always be warm, he will always be fed and he will always be loved.
Welcome home little guy, forever.
❤️🐾

05/05/2022

Hi Everyone!! Some of you may know that I do a bunch of volunteering for a rescue down south in Tennessee. Wags and Walks works so hard to help as many dogs in need as they can and when the call came out for help with a rural shelter that was shut down they gathered a group of dedicated people and set out to help. Though they knew it was a bad situation, they had NO idea just how bad. They worked tirelessly to get dogs to safety and were able to pull half the dogs there and are making plans to get more. If you can help this Rescue with any amount it would go a long way to helping these dogs get the help they need with vet care, foster support and transport. Sharing helps to get the word out so please share and donate if you're able.

Thank you!!!!!!

04/28/2022

The journey with this little fella has been a learning experience for us both. We've been working on him leaving his safe place (his bed) to get his food. At first we cared only for him to eat food from our hand and over time we've bumped that up to actively leaving his bed to get the reward. From here we can begin getting him further and further away from his bed so he's more comfortable in the house overall. ☺️🤞🐾❤️

04/26/2022

Thinking outside the box ❤️🐾

Alma's Balanced Canines () added a video to their Instagram account: “As the weeks went by with little to no change, my instinct kicked in and I realized that Lionel…”

04/15/2022

Hey Guys, it's time for a Lionel update!

I'm going to lay out the issues he's experiencing and what we've done about them. He is so traumatized and fearful, he's a tricky guy to try to motivate. One wrong movement and he begins to shake and withdraw. Because of this I have been taking things exceptionally slow. The pic with this post shows him hiding under the table. He went there because I moved his bed to get the pad from under it to throw in the wash. That was 3 hours ago.

To help integrate him with us he is now in our bedroom. He no longer has any type of pen to keep him separate from the other dogs. They for the most part leave him alone except Mylee who tries to get him to play.

I wish I could say that he is completely transformed but that's not the case. In fact, the longer he is here the more of his quirks show themselves.

He's taken to going to the bathroom in his bed at times and he'll miss his p*e pads entirely. To correct this we've put down more p*e pads and reward him with cheese when he hits the mark. When he misses or p*es in his bed, we clean it up right away and sanitize to try to help him like having a clean fresh bed.

He hasn't made friends with any of the dogs yet nor myself or my boyfriend really. We've begun pushing his boundaries a little bit. We've moved his bed to our bedroom. Our dogs spend a lot of time in there lounging on our bed watching the world go by. My boyfriend and I both speak to him often as we walk around, sometimes giving him bits of cheese or some quick head scratches. He still shakes and backs up but once he realizes it's just petting he gives into it and enjoys it.

He's been eating his p*e pads at night which is worrisome so we've started picking them up at night, so far he has not had any accidents while we're sleeping. But just in case, we have a whelping pad over the carpet and under the pads which makes clean up easier and keeps my carpets from getting ruined.

A really weird habit he is is he'll eat his own hair that has fallen out on his bed, he'll eat strings that have come loose on his bed, and he'll eat string from blankets. To help him learn to not do that we bought him different types of bones as well as some new soft toys. We also changed the blanket we leave in his bed which has no tassels or loose strings and I check for loose strings often.

I remind myself to focus on the small positive steps with him. At times he seems to relaxed and happy and other times he is in his dark headspace where everything wants to hurt him. Sometimes he shuts down for hours, laying in bed or under the table decompressing because I changed his p*e pad, or am filling his water dish. I can't help but wonder what this poor guy endured before he came to the rescue that's made him this way. What life must have been like to make him so distrustful of ppl and dogs and the world. So, we go slow. We're slowly desensitizing him to be touched in a positive manner. Being talked to and look at in a positive way. It's heartbreaking that he is so mentally broken and so confused. I still have hope for the little guy, I think he needs what most traumatized dogs do, a safe space, kindness, compassion, patience and love.

😊❤️🐾

03/14/2022

Meet Sugar! This 7 year old gal is looking for a new home. Her owner is moving and unfortunately can't take Sugar with her. Sugar is just as sweet as her name suggests. She loves ppl and would love to have some dog friends. At this time she has some issues with her eyes that is treated with eye drops and she isn't a fan. I'll help anyone who adopts her for free to help her adjust to this without being so worried. She's totally housebroken, is learning to not pull on leash, and is social with the right intro. If you're interested in adopting Sugar or have any questions, please message me. Thanks guys and feel free to share. ☺️❤️🐾

03/09/2022

Time for a Lionel update!!!

For the past two weeks all of our interactions with Lionel have been brief. We didn't try to pet him or talk to him or interact with him much besides food, treats and changing potty pads. The 2 Week Shut Down is to acclimate him to the humans and dogs in our home as well as set the behaviors expected from my dogs, which is calmness and polite interactions.

Now that everyone is more relaxed I've decided to start pushing this little guy more with human interactions. My reasoning is in order to fully house train him, I need him to trust us as well as the dogs in the home. Once that's achieved I can begin taking him out with my crew and the house breaking can begin.

Forced interactions have now begun to help us achieve that goal. First is getting him to just be comfortable with my hand close to him. Once he's more relaxed I start introducing other small stimulus like moving my fingers, hands and arms and making small sounds.

I've found that he likes a tougher kinda scratch so I adjust my touch accordingly and he relaxed so much he nearly fell asleep.

Once he was completely relaxed I got up and moved away and left the room. I gave him about 5 minutes and walked back into the room and got his bag of treats. I walked over and laid a few on his blanket then scattered them around the sunroom to encourage him to leave his little corner and left again. I returned 5 minutes later and he had eaten them all but one. I went and picked it up and placed it on his blanket and again left.

We'll continue to repeat this process until I notice consistent behavior change, then we'll move on to pushing his boundaries a wee bit more.

For now though, not running away, cowering and shaking in fear when a human is in close vicinity is enough. We'll let him learn to relax with just pets for now.

Small step for most canines, huge step for little Lionel.

😊❤️🐾

02/22/2022

New set up!! Now that Lionel is feeling a bit better and braver he has started venturing out of his crate more. This movement has put both Mylee and Twitch on high alert causing them to rush his space and him to flee back to the safety of his crate. (So annoying) So, because I have a bigger brain, I made his space even bigger by using two x-pens, one larger than the other. Now as he moves he won't feel as threatened because his bubble is 2x as big. I've also added a whelping pad to mimic carpet, so I can begin his micromanaged housebreaking. It's also worth nothing that we humans are NOT forcing any interactions with him unless we're cleaning his space, bringing him food, water, toys or treats. This will help build trust. ❤️🐾

02/08/2022

You guys!!!! Meet Lionel! He's a 2yr old chi mix who is coming to stay with me for a while.

This highly traumatized little guy wasn't progressing in his numerous foster homes so I asked if he could come stay with me so I could try to help him. Like Twitch, if I can help this delicate guy progress he will be staying with us forever.

Here's hoping we can help him build trust and confidence with people, as well as break his nasty non existent housetraining issues.

🤞🤞❤️

02/01/2022

Dogs that constantly bark drive me a little batty. Titus here has learned to growl, grumble, huff and low bark instead. Mind you if it's deer or wandering horses in our yard or someone approaching the door he barks and he barks big!

I love this big white floof!!
😊❤️🐾

10/22/2021

I love observing dogs being dogs. Today when relaxing outside I watched Twitch take in all the smells the wind was blowing by. My trainer brain thought of how still her body was but how fast her little brain was moving, processing all the smells of rural living. That thought progressed when I glanced at Titus, whose nose was still but his eyes and ears were darting all over following sounds and movement.

2 dogs taking in their environment in totally different ways.

I've watched Twitch hunt out critters, her nose and ears going a mile a minute, tracking like it's her job. Then I watch Titus as he scans the horizon, ears perked then finds a target and off he goes, barely using his nose at all, as opposed to Twitch who gets lost in her nose and nearly wanders into an adjoining cornfield.

Animal behavior is such a fascinating thing to me. I'll never tire of simply watching dogs be dogs trying to get a better understanding of how they tick, what drives them, and what makes them happy.

For Twitch and Titus, sometimes it's simply sunning themselves watching, listening and smelling the world roll by just like we humans do and I'm incredibly lucky to be able to do it with them.

😊❤️🐕

10/04/2021

The delicate stubborn ones.

Wiley is very appropriately named. A smart high energy anxious pup is causing angst, grief and stress with his owners and his housemates. After some talking via phone I decided I needed to meet this little nugget. I wanted to test him with my boy Titus and try to unlock his noggin as to why he is being such a stinker overall.

My evaluation begins the moment you and your dog step out of the car. I watch as the owner and dog walk around my property. My brain takes it all in, both your behavior and your dogs behavior, looking for cause and effect. Then I take the leash, and I begin to direct the dog using basic pressure, a language the dog understands generally within minutes. At some point my instinct takes over, guiding me through the yes/no conversation and belaying to the dog exactly what it is I want from and for them. Usually this happens within the first 30 minutes.

Wiley learned pretty quickly that I was in charge of everything. He learned that if he listens to me he will feel so much better about life. We practiced impulse control, focus, obedience and leash pressure.

What became increasingly clear was this little fella was super smart, highly stressed, and very confused. But, with work on the things above, all those things ceased to exist and he was able to obediently lay down and finally roll over and just relax. No pulling, no whining, no pacing, no anxiety.

His owners had fallen into a place that many owners of really smart dogs fall into. Forced obedience to combat perceived stubbornness. When he was presented with a much gentler guiding technique, he was far more willing to listen and be patient and obedient.

When we try to force dogs to do things sometimes the result is more of the bad behavior. As you and your dog get into power struggles, the dog opposition reflex kicks into high gear making the dog that much more defiant to force of any kind. Little Wiley here proved that point perfectly. When I applied a more gentle approach to obedience, he listened pretty quickly. When his owners tried to force the same behavior, he dug in his heels and the circle continued.

To better understand the vast array of behavior problems and all the reasons that may exist goes a long way when trying to help dogs and their owners.

I tell everyone that each dog is unique in its behavior issues and Wiley is a great example. With a little less force and a more empathetic approach Wiley should get over his issues in a short amount of time. More than anything he wants to feel better and not be so anxious and thankfully I was able to help him communicate that to his owners. Now they can help him feel better at home too and restore a sense of control and peace to the household.

I have high hopes for this little guy, he really is a diamond in the rough and should make a great companion in the years to come.

😊❤️🐕

09/05/2021

If I had a dollar for everytime someone called me a dog whisperer, I'd be training dogs on an island somewhere by now. 😉❤️

I taught these two a thing or two about rules, boundaries and leadership, they were both much calmer and more obedient and respectful by the time I left.

When you know how to speak the same language they do, you can get your points across calmly and effectively. It's like magic to confused owners, stunned that you achieved in 2hrs what they haven't been able to achieve in weeks, months or years.

It's a pretty awesome skill to have and I'm thankful to be able to teach it to others so they too can be a dog whisperer to their own dogs.

☺️❤️🐕

08/27/2021

Yesterday I met with a confused lab named Rebel. Rebel recently lost his pack leader who happened to have some behavior issues with ppl as well.

It was pretty clear from the moment he got out of the car that he was really nervous. His whole body shrank as he walked around, nervous about this new environment. When he finally saw me he gave me a couple big boy barks, retreated and started sniffing the ground again. (Don't look at me, I'm busy!)

Out came the salami and bite by bite we started to trust each other. "He never sits on leash" they told me. I asked him to sit, and he did, because salami. We worked a little on taking treats gently.

Now I had his attention.

We then started to push him a bit with things he reacted to so I could study him and them more closely when both were triggered.

As we talked and discussed his short life and what it was like, we learned that he learned a lot of bad habits from his old leader. These habits were not who Rebel truly was, but who he thought he needed to be.

We spent hours together talking about behaviors and why they happen. (I love my job!) And what we need to do to teach him his new normal, instead of the scary world that he has created in his own noggin.

By the end of the class we all felt better. He finally relaxed, which took him A LONG time. He realized pretty quickly that I wasn't a threat and actually came to me when he was nervous about a garden statue that he was sure would kill us all. I laughed out loud considering he wanted to scare me away only 30 minutes earlier.

After a few hours we had Rebel all figured out. We had a solid training plan moving forward and we are all really hopeful that with a few changes he will be a much happier and a much less nervous guy overall.

The work was tiring for all of us, mostly for Rebel though. All of the things that used to work to get him what he wanted were not working anymore and he had to think of other ways to make himself feel better that we decided we're good choices for him to make.

By the end he and I were friends. I even got tail wags and kisses. ( I teared up, I'm such a softie)

Today Rebel starts his new normal with his new leaders to show him the way. I am forever thankful to have been able to help yet another reactive scared dog find his inner peace.

Good luck, boy, it was a pleasure to get to know you and help you along your journey.

🥰❤️🐕

08/26/2021

Meeting with a 100lb dog for the very first time today who acts like he wants to bite ppl. These are the tools I'll use if/as needed.

I'll also need all my courage, calmness, patience, muscle memory, experience, ninja mind tricks and sense of humor.

These sorts of dogs always make me hyper aware and focused and I rely highly on my intuition and a good sense of safety. I really do like this kind of dog, they're complicated puzzles with behaviors caused by many factors and I get to be the one figuring it all out.

The coffee is most important though because I am definitely NOT a morning person.

😆❤️🐕

07/14/2021

Inside the home. In the backyard. In the front yard. On your block. The WORLD!

These are the steps I use when working a dog past its issues. Going too far too fast is a sure fire way for your dog to fail. Going at your pace instead of your dogs pace is a sure fire way for your dog to fail. Pushing them past the point of no return will absolutely cause your dog to fail.

Far too often we decide when enough time is enough time for something to happen. Whether waiting in line at the bank or waiting for the waitress to take our order, in our heads we decide when enough time has passed for these things to happen.

But a dogs change doesn't happen that way. A dogs issues can't be defined by your linear expectations, it has to be defined by them. Our job is to pay attention to what they do and when they do it. To try our best to set them up for success by allowing them the time to process their new world, their new rules and their new safety.

Oftentimes when I train people to train their dogs the change happens really fast. Because of this their owners think the dog is ready for more, when in fact it isn't. I remind them they need to allow the dog to settle into its new "normal" before moving onto more challenging circumstances. I tell them they'll know they've pushed too far when their dog acts a fool. I advise them to take note, and go back some steps and try again next month.

By thinking of a dogs trauma and anxiety the way I think of my own, its easy to understand when dogs behave the way they do when pushed past their limits. I've had anxious explosions and paralyzing fear in my life too, and no matter how many people to tell me to "calm down" or to "get over it" I can't until MY body allows me too. Chemical stress responses happen in both man and beast, to allow a dog time for its body to handle these stress responses helps them lessen and hopefully over time go away entirely.

Please keep this in mind as you help your dog move past its fear or anxiety. Allow it time to take it all in and learn that life is not the same and those reactions no longer serve them. That those reactions are no longer needed. This isn't to say they stop right away, but with enough time and consistency they levels of their chemical stress responses will gradually decline until they can walk past that jogger without losing their mind, or see another dog without lunging and barking.

Be patient, folks. They're truly doing the best they can.

😊❤️🐾

06/24/2021

I posted recently about wanting to reconnect with some of my old and older clientele.
It's been YEARS since I've seen Cody (top L) Scarlett (top R) and Cena (bottom) and we were all very happy to see one another again.
They may not be my dogs, but they have pieces of my heart and they know it. Each so special to me in its own unique and sweet way.

😊❤️🐾

06/09/2021

Not a dog, but...

This little fawn found and followed me as I walked through the fields around the house.

Animals just know. ❤️🥰

05/22/2021

I miss my old client dogs so much. I called this guy's owners and asked if he could have a sleepover with me and they said yes!

I want to put the call out here to all my old clients whose pups loved their Auntie Alma and invite them to come visit me and let me love on their pups. I will always regret not saying goodbye to sweet Charlie and I want to ensure I see as many as possible now that Covid is on the way out. So please, bring me your pups, I bet they miss me as much as I miss them.

I'm totally serious btw, text or message me here and let's find time to get together, I'll even come to you if that's the only option.

I TRULY MISS YOUR DOGS AND WOULD LOVE TO LOVE ON THEM WHILE I STILL CAN!!!

☺️❤️🐾

05/21/2021

Twitch says Hi in her own special way ❤️

Brave little muffin. She approaches from behind because it's the least offensive, then slowly moves forward then allows a small pet and she's off again.

05/20/2021

Happy National Rescue Dog Day!!

My happy pack, an owner surrender, one slated for the shelter and one rescued from a shelter, all loved immensely.



😊❤️🐾

05/16/2021

It isn't spring unless you post dogs and flowers pics. 🥰🌺🐾