Horizon Dog Behavior

Horizon Dog Behavior We help families go beyond traditional dog training to find true connection.

Cocoa the noticed Bea’s walk was starting to feel a little rushed—and decided it was time to slow things down.Dogs exp...
12/22/2025

Cocoa the noticed Bea’s walk was starting to feel a little rushed—and decided it was time to slow things down.

Dogs experience the world primarily through their nose. Sniffing is how they gather information, make sense of their environment, and regulate themselves emotionally. When dogs are allowed to sniff, they’re not being “distracted”—they’re doing important work.

Sniffy walks don’t need to be long or structured. Using a slightly longer leash or a long line can give your dog more freedom to explore while still keeping things safe and connected.

Letting your dog choose where to sniff, pausing often, and allowing for curiosity can turn an ordinary walk into meaningful enrichment.

When you remember that a dog’s nose knows what it needs, it just makes scents.

Cocoa’s Tip:
Sniffing counts as exercise, too!

🥳Looks like Cocoa, the invited everyone over today… but Bea reminded us that social plans don’t have to be a free-for-...
12/21/2025

🥳Looks like Cocoa, the invited everyone over today… but Bea reminded us that social plans don’t have to be a free-for-all.

Socialization isn’t about dogs being pushed into interactions or expected to “say hi” to everything all at once. It’s about helping them feel safe, curious, and comfortable—at their own pace.

And that pace can look different for different dogs.

Some dogs are happy meeting one or two elves at a time. Others prefer to just hang out nearby and observe. And some dogs are perfectly content sharing space without interacting at all.

Dogs don’t need to be friends with everyone to be well-socialized.

For Bea, success today looked like calmly coexisting with the elves—not engaging, not overwhelmed, just relaxed and present.

Cocoa’s Tip:
Good socialization builds confidence and choice. Slow is not a setback—it’s the plan.

💌Meet Bea the Golden - Cocoa’s official postal assistant! Cocoa the just recruited Bea to help with the rush of import...
12/20/2025

💌Meet Bea the Golden - Cocoa’s official postal assistant! Cocoa the just recruited Bea to help with the rush of important holiday mail deliveries.

Many dogs want to be helpful. When they don’t have a clear outlet for that drive, it can show up as nuisance behaviors like pacing, barking, grabbing things, or getting into trouble around the house.

📬Giving dogs small, purposeful “jobs” (like carrying the mail or acting as the “Door Greeter” - sitting on a mat when someone enters the home) is a simple but powerful form of enrichment. It builds confidence and meets their need for purpose.

📮Bea takes her postal duties very seriously — and Cocoa thinks with her help they will be able to get all the deliveries done just in the nick of time for Christmas!

Cocoa’s Tip:
A “job” doesn’t need to be fancy. If your dog enjoys it and knows what’s expected, you’re already doing it right.

🪨Today, Hana found doing some rock climbing!🐕Did you know that you can build your dog’s confidence by encouraging them...
12/19/2025

🪨Today, Hana found doing some rock climbing!

🐕Did you know that you can build your dog’s confidence by encouraging them to interact with their environment in different ways? You can teach them to jump onto things, put their paws up, or balance on something.

Cocoa’s tip: Doggie parkour offers great exercise and enrichment for dogs! Be careful if your dog has any hip/joint issues or arthritis and ask your vet if you have any concerns. Otherwise have fun exploring the environment in different ways!

showed up to visit Kina and Brian this week with her nail trimmers and says that it is that time again 😱💅Luckily Kina ...
12/18/2025

showed up to visit Kina and Brian this week with her nail trimmers and says that it is that time again 😱

💅Luckily Kina isn’t too worried since Brian had been practicing pairing nail trims with some of her favorite activities like getting reinforcement through play right after she is done!

Cocoa’s tip: slow down and break nail trims into smaller steps! Don’t feel pressured to trim them all at once. Pair the experience with treats or toys and desensitize your pup to grooming tools gradually.

Follow along for more fun with

And if your pup needs help with training cooperatively for grooming, visit canine-cohesion.com!



12/13/2025

🌴Pooch arrived in Florida this morning with Service Dog Bear!

He took him on a decompression walk in nature 🐾

These walks can be slow, purposeful, and great for both you and your pup.

We love to use a 8ft+ leash for these walks- they allow your dog to move more freely & explore.

These slow and calm walks are an integral part of Bear’s training & routine as a Service Animal: they allow him to be more focused and regulated in his job! Do you think your dog would enjoy this?

This morning, showed up to share one of our favorite behavior hacks: the Cookie Jar Ritual. It’s simple- pick a specia...
12/11/2025

This morning, showed up to share one of our favorite behavior hacks: the Cookie Jar Ritual.

It’s simple- pick a special cookie jar, pick a special treat, and build a fun, over-the-top, predictable ritual around getting that cookie. The magic? Dogs learn to love the whole experience so much that becomes your secret weapon for:

- getting them inside
- trading for stolen treasures
- recall
- rewarding amazing behavior when you don’t have treats on you

The cookie isn’t the power, the ritual is. The excitement, the surprise, the shared moment. Build it up before you need it, make it fun, and you’ll have a joyful, relationship first tool your dog will drop anything for.

Have more questions? Think this would be useful for your household? Schedule a session with one of our trainers! Canine-cohesion.com

12/11/2025

made a visit to Pacha today!

Pooch brought a reminder that your cardboard items can be re-used to make fun enrichment for your pup!

Follow along for more fun enrichment ideas!!

12/09/2025

was found in the sand box today!

🪏If your dog loves to dig, build them a digging box and teach them to use it!

It is a great outlet for a very natural behavior that many dogs love to engage in!

Pippa also FINALLY ripped off Cocoa the pooch’s tongue! It probably still smelled like peanut butter from the licki mats 👅 😆

12/08/2025

was found playing dress up this morning in Opie’s therapy dog clothes! 😱

Did you know that therapy dogs are different than service dogs?

Therapy dogs are trained to bring smiles and joy to others at facilities such as hospitals, nursing homes and schools!

They do not have full public access rights which means, they should not be visiting grocery stores or flying on an airplane in the cabin, but they should have good public access skills since the facilities that invite them to visit are often highly distracting!

Opie has passed his test and became a member this past summer.

He has visited nursing homes and attended large events for kids. Soon he will be visiting hospitals since he recently became a volunteer!

If you are interested in training your dog as a therapy dog, you can learn more about our programs by visiting canine-cohesion.com!

12/07/2025

👅Licki mats are one of our favorite enrichment items especially for puppies and dogs who need time to decompress.

😋Licking is a calming behavior for many dogs and preparing licki mats is easy!

This is a great enrichment activity for children to prepare for their family dogs as well.

While food based enrichment should not replace other activities such as exercise, walks, and getting outside, adding it into your pup’s day can increase calm behavior and good welfare!

Follow along for more fun!

Address

Taylors, SC
29690

Website

https://guidetosouthcarolina.com/greenville/pets-animals/canine-cohesion

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