Zen Acres Dog Training

11/01/2025

Dog friends- Toby needs a shepherd savvy home asap.

“Toby is a 3.5 year old German Shepherd / Cane Corso mix, 90 pounds. Fixed, healthy, up to date on all vaccinations. He’s incredibly beautiful, smart, loving, playful, and very obedient. We adore him, but he is extremely anxious around our children’s friends, and we feel it’s no longer safe for him to live with us. He should be in a home without children, in a quiet area, with an owner who knows shepherds and can dedicate time to ongoing training. He is a rewarding dog if his individual needs are respected. We live in upstate NY.

Here’s why he’s great:
Highly receptive to training
Loves to learn. Would be great at rally and scent-work
House-trained, crate-trained, stays off furniture, doesn’t beg
Good in cars
Likes fetch, tug, toys, bones
Loving and loyal

Here are some of his ongoing issues:
He had two separate incidents where he nipped an adult while outside on a walk; both times, the adult got close to our children and we believe he was being protective of them. He nipped and immediately retreated.
Still building confidence in new situations
Doesn’t like kids outside of family

Neutral:
Not into agility
Limited dog socialization (but does well when introduced properly)
No experience with cats”

26/12/2024

Handsome little Shepherd. 🥰
…
Or goatherd?

01/12/2024

Just a snowy holiday weekend

15/09/2024

Sassy little Panda

02/09/2024

Sent to the German Shorthaired pointer’s owner… after describing that my dogs are tired, and her GSP Colby is great for previously met Portuguese water Dog friend (Olive) because my dogs are spent after summer vacation season (busiest boarding season).
If I pick up a long line (woods walk indicator) my dogs become much more animated) but at the end of busy season, I appreciate known guests who can safely up the activity level around here.

All dogs are skillfully supervised, and this is deemed as active play. Breaks will be initiated and the fact that both the “wrestling” dogs here have been here several times, have met each other, but also know my cues, makes this much more safe. DO NOT just put 2 active dogs in a yard to play/wrestle together.

25/08/2024

24/08/2024

Pack pictures are not easy to get! Had a 5 berner (+ 3 other breed friends) pack on Thursday!

We don’t pose pristinely, but we have fun!

30/07/2024

Happy Birthday Boomer!!!

06/07/2024

It’s hot out!

For those of us with active dogs, coated dogs, or like my pack, active but super coated dogs, it’s time to practice enrichment over activity to get our dogs happy and tired.

I personally have been doing short stints outside from about 11 am til 6 pm, enough to potty, but heavily supervised and no more than 10-15 minutes outside… unless I have a dog who’s obsessed with the puppy pools I have available. I do not play chase/catch/fetch during these hours, and do not encourage packs to play by themselves in this way. Then, we come inside and play training games like go to place or stay work. The dogs get frozen kongs or lickmats, and we utilize some of the puzzle toys I have. Interactive without enticing heat issues, as we play these games in the air conditioned house.

Though right now 7 am and 7 pm are still pretty hot and humid, the angle of the sun makes cement/concrete/stone/my wood deck not so hot against delicate paws, so we try to enjoy more outside time then, even if the temperature and humidity are still uncomfortable. These hours are good times to take walks (in the shaded woods around here) or to play a bit more high energy games such as fetch… still with lots of breaks and keeping track of the dog’s panting, and other signs of discomfort. It’s better, but still hot…

Keep clean, fresh water available to your dog, especially this time of year, but discourage your dog from drinking a ton right after coming inside. A bit at a time is safer for potentially overheated, over exerted systems. Place cooling mats on beds for them to rest on, if they’ll use them…. And for those of you with water loving dogs, plan trips to the lake/pond/dock pool/ or sprinkler system of your choice.

I frequently will wear a hoodie when I walk coated dogs with a goal in mind or some sort of distraction, so I don’t forget how much harder it is to deal with the heat and humidity when you have a fur coat. Do whatever you need to do to keep your pups safe, but please note, a mentally tired dog who has worked with a bit of training and was granted a soothing frozen Kong is often just as if not more contentedly tired as a dog who’s chasing a thrown toy for a half hour. This time of year, it’s really important that we don’t give our dogs excuses to overheat.:: because many of our loyal friends will continue to race after the toy as long as you’re willing to throw it.

30/06/2024

26/06/2024

📅 We're thrilled to announce UPDATED dates for our Rabies Vaccination Clinics! Please take a moment to view the attached flyer for all the latest details.

🐾 Pre-registration IS REQUIRED, so please do not forget to secure your spot. Remember, kindly refrain from arriving more than 15 minutes prior to your scheduled appointment to ensure a smooth process for everyone.

🐾 Thank you for your patience and helping us keep our community and our pets safe and healthy! You may register at: www.health.ny.gov/gotoclinic

23/06/2024

So I shot this video to show someone how Zen Acres’ newest resident (Guillermo del Capra) was doing cute little snorts when the dogs were loud or too close. I was with Guillermo, and Lugger was FOMO barking from the main dog yard, maybe 50 feet away.

When I reviewed this video, Guillermo’s snorts weren’t all that impressive, but Lugger’s quiet command “that’s enough!” Was beautifully responded to from 50 feet away. I’m used to my dog and didn’t see this in the moment, but THIS is what training can do…

20/06/2024

Love this. And shepherds have a very prominent communication type… the foster shepherd Daisy is nearly ready for acclimations to other animals, but I know Lugger gets nervous about, Kassie gets her back up at such pushy, albeit natural for them introductions.

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/6KziT5Sy8QMG3bAi/?mibextid=0VwfS7

09/06/2024

Why yes, that IS a chicken in a tutu.

Happy Pride!

27/05/2024

I kinda like the tough dogs.

Not the dogs that think they’re tough as much as the dogs who have been through hell and back and are legitimately “tough.”

Fierce. “Aggressive.” “Dominating/Defensive.”

Are these the dogs I want in my household, or in yours? Maybe not… but there’s a reason for that toughness, a need that hasn’t been met, a way to help the crazies through their overabundant emotions.

Often, something is wrong physically… a chronic pain or dietary issue… some sort of parasite or infection that makes the dog feel vulnerable, and for some dogs, elicits scary behaviors… and that should always be the absolute first step- full vet check… but sometimes it’s also mental trauma.

Roaming the streets of Georgia or Tennessee for months, finding/killing your food until the dog catcher throws you in a cement and metal cage you’ve no idea how to deal with.

Living with a family, never leaving their property at all, never seeing visitors as you’re big and scary… then someone dies and they need to rehome you.

Thankfully, most dogs are fairly adaptable and never show aggressive behaviors as they go through these huge changes, but many dogs do.

Tough dogs… the healthy ones with trauma, the resource guarding, leash reactive, the crazy/difficult to control behaviors dogs… they just haven’t gotten the memo that life isn’t always something to battle, but rather, something to experience openly.

I like tough dogs… I like working with tough dogs, because they remind me to be perhaps a little less tough, less reactive, in my own world. Because I know this dog had a hard day walking past other dogs and going into a new environment today, and it wasn’t seemless, but it was far more than I could have reasonably asked from her a month ago. I was very happy in my interactions with her, even though the burns from my poor choice of leash still sting hours later. Progress is key, for her, and all the other 2 or 4 legged tough dogs out there. Next time will be easier.

It’s about dedication, loyalty, showing those tough dogs they have the right to be tough and independent as long as they don’t lash out, but also that you’ll be by their side, even knowing they could. Some neck scritches can be life altering for some of these dogs.

Daisy isn’t even my big tough dog win today, but I had a better picture of her, and no need to confirm with owners they’re okay sharing the story. Daisy has no owners, she has me. And this little tough dog is making her way, slowly, into the realm of self confidence… and it’s beautiful…

19/05/2024

This weekend we held our last class of this session for Real World Obedience. We took everyone to Green Wolf Brewing Co. And worked on arguably one of the hardest tasks we ask from our dogs, which is learning to just chill and the art of doing nothing. These guys did great and it was such a fun time. Thank you to all the wonderful handlers and dogs who made this session so enjoyable 🙂 looking forward to setting up our next training session!

14/05/2024

So dog parents… why do I love this video so? What do you see in the 3 dogs’ body language?