Good Dog Enrichment and Training

Good Dog Enrichment and Training We use Positive Behavior methods that both you and your dog will love!

2024 has been a year of growth, challenges, and gratitude. 🌟 From juggling life as a new mom to running a business and w...
12/31/2024

2024 has been a year of growth, challenges, and gratitude. 🌟 From juggling life as a new mom to running a business and working with amazing dogs and their people, this year has been unforgettable.

Hi, I’m Cait, head certified trainer and owner of Good Dog Enrichment & Training. After some time away on maternity leave, I’m officially back! I’m endlessly thankful to my incredible team for keeping everything running so smoothly while I was gone—you all are the best. 💕

This year has been full of ups and downs, with moments of pure joy, total exhaustion, and everything in between. I’m sharing 5 lessons I’ve learned this year as a trainer, business owner, and new mom. Swipe through for a mix of reflection and inspiration!

I’m back and eager to talk to you about your dog’s goals for 2025. To kick things off, I’m offering FREE chats to share ideas and start creating a plan just for you and your dog. Comment below or send me a DM to schedule yours—I’m so excited to connect! 🐾

We’re ready to be a part of your team as you take on the wild and wonderful world of dog parenthood!

#2025

🐾 Think Like a Dog Trainer Challenge! 🐾Why would your dog trainer want to know if my leash reactive dog likes to sit by ...
12/05/2024

🐾 Think Like a Dog Trainer Challenge! 🐾

Why would your dog trainer want to know if my leash reactive dog likes to sit by the window? 🤔

We’ve been talking a lot about reinforcers lately—how they work and how they shape your pup’s behavior. But here’s a twist: what if a behavior is being reinforced unintentionally?

🔍 Why could your dog’s window watching turn into a problematic behavior?
🔍 What might be reinforcing it without you even realizing?
🔍 How could this impact their overall behavior?

Take a guess in the comments! We’ll unravel the mystery and share the answers in our next post.

Small Business Saturday: No Sass, Just Support! 🐾It’s Shop Small Business Saturday, and today, we’re showing love to the...
11/30/2024

Small Business Saturday: No Sass, Just Support! 🐾

It’s Shop Small Business Saturday, and today, we’re showing love to the amazing small, women-owned businesses that keep our community thriving (and tails wagging). As a proud women-owned company, we know firsthand how much heart and hustle goes into creating something special.

When you shop small, you’re not just buying products or services—you’re supporting dreams, empowering women, and building a stronger community.

Here are a few of our favorite local, women-owned spots to check out:
🐾 – Treats your pups will drool over with all things treats, toys, health & wellness your pup will love! Bonus- a portion of their sales will go to support another local woman run rescue !
🐾 – Our favorite dog friendly coffee and retail shop! Bonus- owner and photographer will be doing photos with Santa with proceeds benefiting !
🐾 – the cutest hand crafted, rescue supporting pop up shop in town!

And don’t forget to shop our small business too! 🐕 This weekend only, we’re offering 40% off all upcoming classes to help you and your pup kick off the new year with wagging tails and new skills. Plus, schedule a call today to secure your best deal on training services, packages, and more!

Shop small. Support women. Treat your pups. There’s nothing more paw-some than that!

🎉🐾 Black Friday Flash Sale Alert! 🐾🎉It’s the most PAWSome time of the year! 🎁✨ Take advantage of our Black Friday Deals ...
11/27/2024

🎉🐾 Black Friday Flash Sale Alert! 🐾🎉

It’s the most PAWSome time of the year! 🎁✨ Take advantage of our Black Friday Deals and give your dog the gift of training they’ll love (and you’ll appreciate)! Whether your pup needs to master their social skills or conquer fears with our specialized training packages, we’ve got you covered with unbeatable deals:

Hurry—these offers won’t last long! 🐶💨 Tap the link in our bio to secure your spot and give your dog the gift of growth and confidence.

📅 Sale ends 12/1/24, so don’t miss out!

🏆Our costume contest winner is…. SHERMAN! His costume was so good that we can’t tell which is him or the worm! Congrats ...
10/25/2024

🏆Our costume contest winner is…. SHERMAN!

His costume was so good that we can’t tell which is him or the worm!

Congrats on winning a $50 gift card Sherman, and thank you to all who entered.

🎃 Happy Halloween!!








Fear Periods are complicated, and every dog is different! 😥 During this young phase, the brain can be more susceptible t...
10/18/2024

Fear Periods are complicated, and every dog is different!

😥 During this young phase, the brain can be more susceptible to stress & anxiety.

New experiences, people, sounds, or things might be scary, so it’s important to create positive associations, be able to ready dog body language, and to avoid chronic stress & reactivity.

Allow your pup to bounce back from a small fright without making it a big deal, and praise their confidence. While also teaching your dog that they can WALK AWAY from something scary.

A flight cue will help create a pattern of walking away from scary things, instead of going into fight mode.

Don’t be afraid to console your scared dog. You cannot reinforce an emotion!








😨 Anyone else terrified?? 😱 What have you seen, heard, or experienced that scares you?
10/12/2024

😨 Anyone else terrified??

😱 What have you seen, heard, or experienced that scares you?








😳 The Teen Phase may be the scariest part of having a dog! But it doesn’t have to be! Many issues we see with teen dogs ...
10/09/2024

😳 The Teen Phase may be the scariest part of having a dog! But it doesn’t have to be!

Many issues we see with teen dogs include behaviors like reactivity, hyperactivity, lack of impulse control, & lack of food motivation.

Most of these issues are caused by frustration, stress, & trigger-stacking.

And we often make the mistake of throwing “everything but the kitchen sink” at our teen dogs to tire them out. But we could be contributing to the problems listed above.

Teen Tips-

✅ Rather than going on several neighborhood walks to “tire out” your dog, try doing 1-2 slow long-leash walks in the park, focused on sniffing and engaging with the environment and yourself.

✅ Rather than taking your dog to a dog park or dog bar, take them to large a Sniffspot to allow safe, off leash freedom to frolic & sniff around. You can even use these spots for a play date with another dog pal, which is healthier than dog parks.

✅ Indoor Enrichment & Play. Try doing scent work games inside the house or in the backyard. Don’t forget to play & be goofy with your pup to keep your bond strong.

✅ Management helps set up your dog’s environment for them to be more successful. Things like baby-gates, crates, x-pens, etc can help prevent your dog from rehearsing unwanted behaviors, or even prevent trigger-stacking.

✅ REINFORCEMENT DRIVES BEHAVIOR!
Increase rewards during this phase, and possibly the value of your rewards too.
They’re not intentionally giving you a hard time, these teens are having a hard time! So be sure to reward the behaviors you want to see more of.

It’s a tricky phase, so we highly recommend working with a certified trainer to help avoid issues from getting worse.









👻 Donate or Swap your dog’s old costumes! Bring in old costumes and give them a second life. This is financially & envir...
10/04/2024

👻 Donate or Swap your dog’s old costumes!

Bring in old costumes and give them a second life. This is financially & environmentally conscious!

If you’re planning on doing a costume for your dog this Halloween, be sure to start desensitizing them to it now! And be kind and thoughtful about the comfortability of the costume and your dog.








😀 The Stress Smile!!! This one is tricky! Stress Smiles can be easily misinterpreted as the dog being happy. However, in...
09/30/2024

😀 The Stress Smile!!! This one is tricky!

Stress Smiles can be easily misinterpreted as the dog being happy. However, in the case of a “Stress Smile” the dog’s mouth is tightly drawn back, often with more ridges on the side of their face.

Always look at the context of the situation and consider other body language cues. Dogs who are stress smiling may also have whale-eye, spatulate tongue, tense eyebrows/ridges on their forehead, & ears back.

The more we are able to listen to the whispers of our dog’s body language, the less likely they will feel the need to escalate their communication.









🫣Showing the Belly is often misunderstood for a dog wanting belly rubs. That is not often the case! Many dogs show their...
09/27/2024

🫣Showing the Belly is often misunderstood for a dog wanting belly rubs. That is not often the case!

Many dogs show their belly as an appeasement gesture to try to communicate that they are uncomfortable & want space. In this case a dog’s body & facial muscles are tense, & they might also be displaying other subtle stress signs like a whale eye or a lip lick.

A dog that DOES want belly rubs has a loose body, wiggling around, with a relaxed face & mouth.








New Puppy Parents! Get ahead of training now, so you & your pup can start building a strong foundation together! The “Cr...
09/25/2024

New Puppy Parents! Get ahead of training now, so you & your pup can start building a strong foundation together!

The “Critical Socialization Period” for dogs is from 3-16 weeks old, and is THE most important phase of a dog’s life! This phase can help set the dog up to be a well rounded adult dog.

And you only get one chance at it! Let us help!








😗 Kiss to Dismiss is one of the most misunderstood communication behaviors! 😳 We often mistake this type of kiss as affe...
09/23/2024

😗 Kiss to Dismiss is one of the most misunderstood communication behaviors!

😳 We often mistake this type of kiss as affection from the dog and find it very cute! However, it isn’t cute, it’s as if your dog saying “no thank you” as kindly as they can.

🔎 Look at other signals in the dog’s body language, and look at the context of the situation. You may see the dog turn their head away, or even try to leave the interaction.

But many dogs don’t know that leaving the interaction is an option! So be sure to advocate for your dog’s space & comfortability so they don’t feel the need to escalate their communication.









Ears Back & Flat can be signs of fear, stress, & nervousness. 🧐 It is always important to look for other body language s...
09/18/2024

Ears Back & Flat can be signs of fear, stress, & nervousness.

🧐 It is always important to look for other body language signs, and the context of the situation. Other subtle stress signals may include turns head away, stiffness in the body, and tense face & mouth.

🛑Quickly & calmly intervene to help advocate for your dog so they don’t feel the need to escalate their communication.

🧷 Understanding dog’s body language can help dogs feel more comfortable & confident around people, and it ensure the safety of everyone!









🥱 Yawning could be caused by sleepiness , boredom, or STRESS!We must pay attention to the context of the situation, and ...
09/09/2024

🥱 Yawning could be caused by sleepiness , boredom, or STRESS!

We must pay attention to the context of the situation, and other body language signals.

If your dog is Yawning in a stressful or new situation, we might also see other stress signals like a lip lick or panting.

Subtle stress signals are often misunderstood, or missed completely. If we can identify these signals we can advocate for our dog’s comfortability & space to make sure they don’t feel the need to escalate their communication.









👀 “Whale Eye” is when the white (sclera) of the dog’s eye is exposed, looking similar to a crescent moon. Whale eye coul...
09/06/2024

👀 “Whale Eye” is when the white (sclera) of the dog’s eye is exposed, looking similar to a crescent moon.

Whale eye could happen from Fear or Anxiety, Excitement, Pain, or Surprise.

We must pay attention to the context of the situation, and other body language signals.

If Whale Eye is caused by fear, anxiety or stress, we might also see signals like a lip lick, the dog freeze, turn their head away, or hard stare.

If this is the case, we recommend intervening immediately, and advocating for your dog’s comfortability & space to make sure they don’t feel the need to escalate their communication.









This month we really want to focus on Body Language & Dog Safety to help educate & reduce harm. If we can learn what our...
09/05/2024

This month we really want to focus on Body Language & Dog Safety to help educate & reduce harm.

If we can learn what our dog is saying we can have a stronger relationship & know when to advocate for them, so they don’t have to escalate communication!

🗓️We have two events coming up regarding Child & Dog safety.

🧒🐶Gentle Hounds & Hands:
Child & Dog Safety Class
Saturday, September 7, 10am.
$10/family

👶🐶 Bringing Home Baby:
Dog Prep Workshop
Saturday, September 21, 11am.
$20









Address

3801 Wyoming Street
St. Louis, MO
63116

Opening Hours

Monday 7am - 6pm
Tuesday 7am - 6pm
Wednesday 7am - 6pm
Thursday 7am - 6pm
Friday 7am - 6pm

Telephone

+13142793949

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Our Philosophy

We are Wandermutts. We adventure and explore every inch of nature alongside our dogs. We do so by using products that don’t punish our dogs for doing what they were meant to do, but reward them for adventuring instead. This means being picky about products and explaining how to use them appropriately. We’re striving to be nature’s best friend and helping you adventure safely and successfully.