Nathan Woods Dog Trainer

02/15/2024

Check out my new business card!

Blinq card for employee at Dog Trainer

02/08/2024

Popular Breed of the Week – The Labrador Retriever

This is Leo Labrador. He is a 1 year old English Chocolate male that is happy to engage in any activity. He is always up for an adventure and loves playing with other dogs. I have been working with him in efforts to get an obedience title or two.
AKC Parent organization for the breed – www.thelabradorclub.com This is an excellent resource for the breed. They have so much education, health articles, breeder referrals, and setup rescue groups throughout the United States.

Fun facts and Opinions–
Labradors are by far the most popular pure breed that I get for training. I could probably write a book on Labs at this point but I will keep it short.

A Labrador with a lot of drive can be a handful without proper training. I think of them as an athlete, they need a good coach to bring out their best.
I often like to say the only difference between a Marley dog (Marley and Me movie) and a Seeing Eye dog is that one is used to cooperating around distractions and one isn’t. They are both in fact Labradors.

01/24/2024

Rare Breed of the Week – Cirneco dell’ Etna

This is Enzo. This is officially the first Cirneco I have worked with, so I don’t have a lot of comparisons like most other breeds. A couple things about Enzo that he is a dog that can make just about any dog play with him. He is very sweet and affectionate.

Years ago, I had the privilege to work with and put AKC Championships on two Pharaoh Hounds for the same family that own Enzo. After the Pharaohs, they wanted similar but smaller, so they found the Cirneco.

Fun facts –
The Cirneco joined the AKC in 2000. The Parent organization for the breed – www.cirneco.org

Cirnecos have a single coat and require little grooming. A baby wipe would shine them up in minutes.

They have little health issues mainly because they are so rare, they are sight hounds which means they are bred to hunt by vision.

01/12/2024

Mix Breed of the week – Albino Doberman mix

This is Roscoe. He was adopted from a Weimaraner rescue and told he was that mix which was probably an honest mistake. Come to find out after a DNA test that he is 92% Albino Doberman Pincher. He has to wear sun glasses during the day, otherwise he is completely blinded by the light.

Fun facts –
Mix Breed dog come in an endless array of shapes and sizes. Some look like obvious blends and others not at all.
The majority of dogs I get for training are mix breeds. The majority of mix breeds are from rescues. I still find it incredible how many amazing dogs come from rescues.

DNA testing is a great way to verify what breed make up your mix breed. With that info you can be aware of personality traits, health concerns, and other insights.
Looking to adopt a dog – Check out Pet Finder! www.petfinder.com
Petfinder is an online, searchable database of animals who need homes. It is also a directory of nearly 11,000 animal shelters and adoption organizations across the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Organizations maintain their own home pages and available-pet databases.
Breed specific rescues often times have mixes of that breed.

01/05/2024

Happy New Year!
I thought I would kick this off by talking about the Boxer. My original mentor, Ben Johns, had a Champion Boxer that he bred and gave me pick of the litter for my 13th birthday. I soon bred her to a top 10 Boxer at the time and that is where my first AKC Champion came from, Michaela. I have worked with hundreds since then and will always have a soft spot for the breed. This is Camelot the white Boxer. He is full of personality and always ready to play.

Fun facts –
Boxers often balance on their hind legs and appear to box when they play. That’s how they got their name.
Legend has it that when the breed originated, the only came in plain Fawn and Brindle with little to no white markings. One day, a white Boxer was randomly produced and people starting using it in their breeding program and that is where the flash Boxer comes from which is what you see mostly in Breed shows today.
Fawn is a dominant color and when you breed to fawns together, they can only produce fawn or white with fawn markings.

AKC Parent organization for the breed - https://americanboxerclub.org/
This is an excellent resource for the breed. They have so much education, health articles, breeder referrals, and setup rescue groups throughout the United States.
Breed specific rescues specialize in a certain breed. They often have mixes of the breed and even puppies. They let all the shelters in the area know to contact them if they ever get that breed.

01/04/2024

My New Year resolution is to post more on Social media! I have so many photos of amazing dogs that I get to work with everyday that I would like to write about. Please make sure to like, share, comment, and ask me any questions.

12/21/2023

Happy Holidays from Nathan and son, Jack (4 years old)

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