Start Your Journey Dog Training

08/12/2023

I'm BACK! You might very noticed it's been a little quiet around here. This is because me and my human family went on a two and a half week vacation where we visited my family, and then my husband's family all back to back. There was a lot of driving involved and my three furry companions didn't get to come with me. It was a lot of fun but I missed my dogs and cat tremendously, so I'm very happy to be home!

Huge shout out to and for watching my sweet Waddles for such a long time. If you need boarding these ladies are amazing!

05/18/2023

New Blog post! I've been getting some questions about crate training lately and figured I'd share my favorite tips and tricks. Check out the end of the post for a fun infographic as well!

Crate training brings peace of mind, but how to do it? Follow these four easy steps to find out!

04/09/2023

Happy Easter from our family to yours!

03/21/2023

Every tool needs to be used correctly, and the ecollar is no exception. Practice and knowledge are vital, but also the understanding of dog psychology and why something works, as well as signs of distress or confusion. Get a trainer who knows how and when to use an ecollar correctly and is willing to advocate for your dog when they need it.

03/17/2023

I promised more explanation didn't I? Well here it is. A deeper dive on why I say don't use ecollars on puppies.

03/10/2023

Time to talk about ecollars! I'll go more in-depth about some of these rules next week, but here's some quick, important DON'Ts if you're thinking about ecollar use.

03/06/2023

Let's talk about tone of voice! As humans, it's natural for us to want to coo and speak in a high pitch when small, cute things are acting scared, but remember that dogs and people are different! Don't communicate in a way that makes sense to YOU. Communicate in a way that makes sense to your dog.

03/03/2023

Now for my favorite category of dog. I know that may seem weird, but behavior dogs are way too often not given the chance to thrive. They are often given up on or confined to a very limiting life. Behavior dogs deserve good lives too. Behavior dogs deserve to be taught. Behavior dogs are loved dogs, and it is my personal mission to save as many of them as I possibly can. If your dog is having issues and you feel like giving up, please send me a message so we can talk about it first. They can do this, and so can you.

03/02/2023

You think this definition would be obvious, but it is important to note since some people will claim a family pet is an emotional support animal when they have not been approved as such. Being a family pet is important too! But if your dog does not have the proper training or credentials for the job, don't claim that they do. The increase in "fake" ESAs and service dogs has caused an uptick in discrimination against people who need their dog as an accessibility tool.

02/27/2023

Alright, this is the big, controversial one. Emotional support animals can be AMAZING supports, but they are not legally allowed access to all public areas. If your dog does not have at least two active tasks that they perform to assist with any given disability, but they do help you feel better when they're around, then that is an ESA and should be respected as such. ESA's and service dogs are different, and it is important not to get them confused.

02/24/2023

Therapy and service dogs are different. Can you tell them apart?

02/23/2023

What's the difference between a Therapy dog and a Service dog? A family pet that needs obedience training or a behavior dog that needs additional help? Well! I've made some infographics that will hopefully help you parse through the differences. First lets start off with the big one: What's a Service Dog?

02/21/2023

There are so many different reasons why a dog bites, but the most important thing they are saying is that they need help. They need someone who can figure out why they chose to bite, someone who can teach you how to communicate to them that there's a better way, and a plan for enacting that communication. Don't wait until your dog has bit someone to get help. Don't put yourself or your dog in that position. Get them help now, so they can be the very best they can be.

02/17/2023

Dog comic Friday! People will try to convince you that having a dog means living around all of their little inconveniences, but dogs should bring joy into your life, not frustration. Train your dog to make both of your lives more comfortable and stress-free. You can and should work together!

02/16/2023

Does this make me cringe now?
Www.startyourjourneydogtraining.com

02/14/2023

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you show your pups some extra love today, as well as all the beautiful people in your life ❤️ Humans and dogs might be on different intellectual levels, but don't let anyone try to claim your dog doesn't love you. In the end, we all have the same chemicals in our brains, and when your pup looks at you, it sparks joy 💖

02/10/2023

Be clear with your dogs! It's confusing when you change the rules on them. Everything is either the best thing ever or the worst thing ever, so if there is something you don't want them to do, don't act like it's not a big deal if they do it! Be over the top proud when they do what you say and be absolutely clear when they cross the line, but no matter what, don't be lukewarm.

02/07/2023

I can't stress how important this is. As someone who had a reactive dog, one of my biggest fears was seeing an off-leash dog running around with a handler who had no control (the other one was an excited child rushing forward, but that's another post).

Having your dog off-leash can be a wonderful freedom, but it's a privilege that you and your dog need to earn. If you don't put in the work, then you'll have to deal with your dog needing to be tied to you while out on that trail or running along the canal. But if you do the work, I promise it'll be worth it.

startyourjourneydogtraining.com

💯 We need more of these signs! Please leash your pets for the safety of everyone.

02/07/2023

Worked on these all day to make "graphic design graphics" (because who uses unsplash amirite?) (Smart people. Smart people use unsplash. Smart people that don't wanna tear out their hair at the end of a single infographic.) But at least that infographic is gonna look GREAT!

02/06/2023

Get a dog, they said, it'll be fun, they said, but what can you reasonably expect from a dog at any given stage? Well, lucky you asked . . . https://www.startyourjourneydogtraining.com/journal/izwnd2pxigaoru9hxqvz3lyax05usf

02/03/2023

Tried to make an Instagram video and this punk kept demanding pets. What am I supposed to do, not love on him? I can't work in these conditions.

02/02/2023

Dogs have hung around with us for an awful long time, but how many of these have you believed?

Dogs have been a part of human civilization for 30,000 years. That’s a long time for us to get to know our favorite animal companions, but somehow in all that time, there are still a lot of misconceptions about canines and the way they behave.

02/02/2023

Welcome to Start Your Journey Dog Training! The goal of this page is to talk about dogs and maybe even share some silly comics. If you have any questions about dogs or training, please let me know!