The Puppy Ladies

11/22/2024

Is it safe and humane to use a choke collar or prong collar on a dog? Can they make a dog more reactive or cause physical injury? Find out why positive dog trainers recommend other options.

11/17/2024

Although they are sold as dog chews deer, elk, and moose antlers aren't safe for dogs. They can break teeth and damage a dog's GI tract.

11/11/2024

10/29/2024

Your dog has the right to peace and privacy when they're out with you. It can be scary for most dogs to have strangers reaching out to touch them. Advocate for your dog and politely protect that space. What are you go-to phrases for saying "give us space"?

10/22/2024

Do you have kids and dogs? Do you have kids and are thinking of getting a dog or puppy? Are you pregnant and have dogs?
We’re here to help! Give us a call to schedule a session!
786-327-9899

Children represent a massive proportion of reported dog bite cases.

These pictures, selected from a massive library of similar stock photos of children with dogs, show some of the reasons for this.

Humans like physical contact. We're generally huggers, particularly with a gorgeous animal like a dog - that soft coat and gorgeous faces just look perfect for a hug, especially to a child.

Dogs are definitely not like us in this way. True, there are some dogs who may enjoy cuddling up with their people, and even like or don't mind hugs. One of my dogs is very much in favour of physical contact. Importantly, however, it is only with the people he chooses. The ones he knows and trusts.

Kids often cannot read canine body language. The signs are here in the photographs used of a tense and unhappy dog, but the children in these pictures can't see and interpret them.

It's up to us as adults, whether parents, dog caregivers, or both, to make sure that we are educated on canine body language and can see the signs of stress.

That we make sure to advocate for the dogs so that they are not put in this position.

To make sure that the children around us are educated and taught about the likes and dislikes of dogs.

To stop putting children and dogs into potentially dangerous situations for the cute photo or video (the videos of babies propped up against dogs make most behaviour professionals shudder because that is so not fair on either species!)

Let's be fair to both dogs and children and use education and understanding to keep children and dogs happy and safe together.

10/14/2024

They can be–just ask an emergency doctor or veterinarian how many retractable leash injuries they see every year.

10/11/2024

Two spots open in the Beginners Agility class starting this Monday!
4 weeks for $75

10/02/2024

There are a couple of spots open in the Basic Manners class starting Sunday at 11:30 or Monday at 11:30
If you’d like a spot, please let us know asap! 🐾🐕

09/05/2024

Who remembers that old adage, let sleeping dogs lie?

It's absolutely spot on accurate.

Don't be alarmed if your sleeping, or resting dog growls, snaps or bites if it gets disturbed. How would you like it?

Children need education on this. And just because a dog was ok being disturbed previously but has started grumbling, it doesn't mean the dog is in the wrong.

It's not acceptable to disturb any animal unnecessarily. Just leave them be.

If you really must wake the dog for something, clap hands and say it's name so it's fully awake, before you go anywhere near it.

Note, if I got woken up for something other than an emergency I will bite!

09/04/2024

Effective immediately!
Contact us at:
786-327-9899
850-567-2239

09/03/2024

What are shock collars and why are they so ineffective (and unsafe) to use on dogs?

08/22/2024

Great Dane pups looking for a home! Call Amanda at 850-339-5956

08/16/2024

So you’re at an outing, standing next to your spouse or friend. Someone approaches you with a tray filled with hors d’oeuvres, and offers one to you. You look at the tray, but then say “no, thank you.” The waiter moves away.

Now, imagine if after saying “no, thank you” the waiter didn’t go away. Imagine if the waiter continued to push you to take one, and even your spouse started saying “come on, take one!” So you uncomfortably took and ate one, even though it wasn’t what you wanted. You’d probably be pretty aggravated with your spouse too. But you think it’s a one off and you carry on with the evening.

A few minutes later another waiter approaches with another tray, and the same thing happens. This time you feel yourself get more upset, especially after saying “no” multiple times. But your spouse insists also, even going so far as to take the snack off the tray and try to put it in your mouth. By the end of the interaction, you’re really on edge.

The third or fourth time you see a waiter approach you, you’re feeling either stressed, angry, or both. The waiter hasn’t even gotten all the way over to you yet and you’re ready to yell “no!” You look around for a place to escape to but your spouse/friend has their arm around you and you can’t back away. You end up physically snatching the tray from the waiter and throwing it on the ground, yelling obscenities and getting as quickly out of the room as possible. The guests look at you while your spouse simply says “I don’t know why she’s being so aggressive! They were just wanted to give her a snack!” I’m guessing you would be pretty angry at your spouse/friend by this point too. They aren’t helping support you at all. You can’t trust them OR the waiter.

You see where I’m going with this don’t you?
Try to imagine if your “no thank yous” were ignored. How many times would it take being ignored for you to get angry, get physical, or try to escape, or worse, just shut down completely. Everyone would handle it differently, but we’d all hate it.

Dogs deal with this EVERY DAY. They say “no, thank you” all the time. And we often times are guilty of ignoring that request and trying to convince them otherwise, sometimes even going so far as to force them through something because WE don’t understand. And then we wonder why dogs reach a point of aggressing or avoiding. Whether we are the waiter; trying to push something onto the dog like an interaction, or the spouse/friend not supporting the dog and backing up their request of “no, thank you” we are doing serious harm to the dogs confidence and even more harm to our relationship with them.

Your dog can only use his body language to tell you what he wants, so pay attention. If your dog says no thank you, listen. If they don’t want a stranger to touch them, support them. If they don’t want to meet a strange dog, let it go. If they want to take their time trying something different, let them take their time. I can tell you the more choice they feel they have the more likely they are to actually decide to try when they are ready. Just like you may finally get hungry enough to want a snack from the tray, but on your terms, and one that you get to pick.

Choice and consent matters in ALL species. Respect your dogs “no, thank you” and you’ll get a lot of respect back.

- Helen St. Pierre, No Monkey Business Dog Training. Please if you share give credit.

08/13/2024

At the Puppy Ladies we help you help your puppy learn. We never hurt or punished dogs. We never create fear. What we always want our puppies to think is when they’re with their people they are safe. Always remember the number one thing you teach your dog is “you are safe with me”.

When dogs do things we don't like it is never personal. Dogs don't do things deliberately to spite us. They are just doing what dogs do - being dogs. If something our dogs are doing is something we cannot live with it's up to us to manage the situation and show them what they can do instead.

• Make sure the shoes are out of reach and redirect the dog onto something they can chew.
• Reward them for having all four paws on the floor when you come in rather than jumping up.
• Consider the possibility that something is wrong with their health or in their environment if they suddenly lose their toilet training.

Most of all, don't punish them. There is always a reason why behaviour occurs, but it is never one that should result in a dog feeling fear or pain.