Best Friends Kids Summer Workshops

06/24/2024

First Day of Week 1 of our Kids Workshop!

06/10/2024

Confirmation Letters with Checklists in Mail to Week 1 Attendees!

05/05/2024

04/26/2024

04/09/2024

A member asks, "Sometimes when we visit our local school, we are requested to visit classrooms for a short visit. Does anyone have suggestions on ways to make the most of these small visits?"

Note: Please remember that these are volunteer visits, meaning teams must abide by the ATD rules at all times. Please make sure your suggestions follow the ATD Rules and Regulations in your ATD Handbook. Teams that work in the school should carry the additional insurance policy, but are still required to make their one volunteer visit every three months to continue being an ATD team.

02/12/2024

2024 Workshop Dates Set:
Week 1: 6/24- 6/28
Week 2: 8/5- 8/9
Registration info available soon!

07/28/2023

Workshop Day 4!

07/27/2023

Workshop Day 3!

07/27/2023

I want a name
😂

07/26/2023

Reminder! Tomorrow (Thursday) is Water Games Day!
Bring a towel and wear a bathing suit under your clothes@!!

07/26/2023

Fun at our Kidz Workshop this week!

07/26/2023

Day 2!

07/25/2023

Hahaha! 😂🤣🤣

07/18/2023

Letters for our Workshop next were mailed last week. If you haven’t received yours, please contact us right away!

07/05/2023

20 days and counting until our Kids Summer Workshop 2023! Getting excited!🐶🐶

06/19/2023

Our 2023 Best Friends Kids Summer Workshop is a month away! Final call for registrations- we have just a few remaining spaces available- register now!

05/27/2023

There are a few spaces remaining in our Workshop 7/24- 7/28 for kids who HAVE a dog to train.

All dogs available to be borrowed are spoken for at this time.

05/16/2023

As of today, 5/16/23, there are only spaces left in our July Kidz Workshop for those able to attend with a dog. Ours are all spoken for!

03/26/2023

Looking forward to this Summer’s Workshop!!

03/24/2023

✋salon owner here. This week I have:
-Had my glasses slapped off my face by a cat
-strained a muscle in my back holding up the rear end of a lead-ass golden
-been pooped on THREE times
-a**l glands to the chest by a cat
-bursitis in my shoulder flared up from a cocker mix that has never been to a salon before, fighting for everything
-had two clients complain about the integrity of a haircut THEY asked for
-interruped 3x outside of business hours/ during family time for someone to complain about something that wasn't even our fault
- someone showed up early to collect, and got cranky that I wasn't done. You would think after a decade of grooming their dogs they would have an ounce of compassion when I say I am moving slowly today as my arthritis is in high gear and I'm HURTING but still want to do a good job.
-my pipe that ALL my tubs drain into sprung a leak, because of a thrashing dog ripped my tub away from the wall, on one of my busiest days (and it's not the first time my husband has had to drop everything he is doing on his day off to come repair something an unruly dog busted: train your pets people)
-I've had 2 people complain about pricing even though it was the same as last time. They wanted to pay prices from 8 years ago... at that rate we would make more working at McDonalds
- three different dogs s*** in the crate and played in it. One of them was clean... the clean one did it no less than three times, so six poopy crates total
- twice I worked through lunch because I was falling behind schedule, because we work with live animals predicting how much time we will spend working on them is nearly impossible. I don't eat breakfast so that's basically 24 hours with no food, all because I fear the repercussions of an angry Customer because they think I took too long.

And it's only Wednesday 🥴
Check on your groomer friends, we are not okay: Full moons are not kind to us, it makes the animals act weird and the humans even weirder. And I know, I KNOW: "tips are always appreciated and never to be expected" 🙄 but if you can whip out a $20 for your waitress at the fancy steakhouse, why not 20% for your groomer, even every now and then? We get s*** on and bit every single day. We sweat just as much as people in the restaurant industry: we never sit down and hardly get breaks, we are wet and covered in itchy hair splinters and we try to keep a positive attitude while moving sharp objects over a moving Target for people with unrealistic expectations that like to tell us we charge too much...but sometimes...when the whole world seems to be dumping on you at once, it would just be nice to feel like the hard work we do is appreciated.

Eta: I'm not looking down upon clients that can't afford to tip well... Usually it's the people that CAN afford it that don't. Most of my well tippers are regular middle-class people like myself: And the people that can't afford to show their appreciation with money always find other ways to do so (like a nice review or a hot cup of coffee or some homemade cookies). This post is geared toward those who complain about the price even though they are driving brand new cars and have a purse that costs more than my mortgage. You know who I'm talking about.

03/22/2023

Looking forward to our Workshop this Summer!! Final Registration happening now!!

03/15/2023

Registration limited!

03/05/2023

02/27/2023

Dog trainers often get messages about aggressive dogs people want to rehome, hoping we can take their dog or maybe we have some magic place for aggressive dogs to go and live happily ever after.

We don't.

I have often heard "this dog needs to live on a farm". No it doesn't. There is not a farmer in their right mind that wants your aggressive dog on their farm to terrorize their animals and their very slim profit margin.

None.

I have also heard, "he needs to be a police or personal protection dog". No he doesn't. Working K9s shouldn't be aggressive toward everything that moves. That would be a huge liability. There isn't a municipality that wants that.

At all.

Then there's the guilt trip.... "I think he would thrive with someone like you or if you know another trainer that wants a dog... he's really smart"... no thank you. Been there, done that, got the shirt, and so have most of my trainer friends.

At the end of the day we want to enjoy our own dogs just as much as you do. We work all day with dogs with various issues and we don't necessarily want to always have to manage our own dogs in a way that keeps them and everyone else safe... it's not easy and it certainly isn't fun.

It's one reason I no longer take large human aggressive dogs even for training. Because I know how hard it is to have that lifestyle and most people will slip up at some point and I don't want my name on a dog that mauls someone or kills someone's child.

The good news is that if you start training and proper socialization early, and continue to build the relationship with your dog as they go through adolescence and early adulthood, you have a much better chance at preventing aggression (barring genetics).

02/27/2023

They are ready!! 2023 Best Friends Brochures and Registration Information now available!!! Limited Enrollment and ONE big week this year!!