Star Dog Training

14/12/2024

02/12/2024

Tomorrow is GivingTuesday and all donations to Stray Hearts are being matched by a generous donor! Help us take care of and find loving forever homes for our furbabies! donations(at)strayhearts.org

01/12/2024

Check out my newest column in Taos News!

https://www.taosnews.com/opinion/columns/making-the-holidays-bright-for-pets-and-people/article_ca6c1f0c-749c-57e8-967b-12ae044dfe8e.html

taosnewsTaos News

02/11/2024

Fostering has been proven to lower cortisol (stress hormone) levels in dogs significantly. Even if you can’t take in a dog permanently, doing a day or overnight foster allows the animal the opportunity to relax, lower stress, and take a well deserved breather.

01/11/2024

Such a feel good adoption! Madelyn is going to thrive in their care and love ❤️ People often ask me how I can I can work in shelters and rescue. It is hard and heartbreaking a lot of the time, but this is why. Adoptions like this make it all worth it.

HAPPY TAILS!

Our sweet girl Madelyn has been a staff and volunteer favorite for her entire 1.5 year stay at the shelter while she patiently awaited her forever home. She struggled to stand out due to her sensitive and shy nature, but we poured all the love we had into her to help Madelyn gain confidence and make friends.

Today her angels came to the shelter and took her home! Even better, her new Mom and Dad have signed up to become volunteers to keep helping all of her friends here at the shelter find their happy ending ❤️🐾❤️

Congratulations Madelyn, we will miss kissing your velvety soft nose but couldn’t be more proud of you!

30/10/2024

Meet Solo! Solo is a sweet Boxer/Husky/Heeler mix that was adopted from Stray Hearts Animal Shelter - Taos, NM almost a year ago. We are working on leash manners, general enrichment and basic manners. Always so good to see the pups from the shelter thriving in their home.

I think he looks like Falkor from the Never Ending Story. Did I just age myself? 😜

30/10/2024

Such a well written way to think about Behavior Modification, helping dogs through anxiety and fear.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/HvojZRURLg1eHE6W/?mibextid=WC7FNe

Happy Tuesday to everyone except trainers who prioritize their impatience over the dog's emotional experience as a business model.

28/10/2024

Check out my latest article in the Taos News about the importance of spaying and neutering. It’s not just an overpopulation issue!

taosnews

https://www.taosnews.com/opinion/columns/why-spay-or-neuter-your-animal/article_07925d22-e760-518f-9d10-899b71d064f7.html

25/10/2024

Did you see my post on Wednesday about jumping dogs at the shelter? Here is an example of doing the same thing with a multi-dog household here in Taos. These dogs like to swarm and jump on visitors. Look at how good these kiddos are doing practicing sits at the front door as a favorite visitor enters their home!

Dogs do what works for dogs! Let’s teach them alternative behaviors to jumping and everyone wins!

23/10/2024

When our dogs jump or mouth it can be quite overwhelming and intimidating. Here you can see the work we do with the bouncy, excited kiddos at Stray Hearts Animal Shelter - Taos, NM. Notice how I remove myself by walking away, turning my back, or exiting his kennel when he no longer has 4 paws on the ground? When I re-engage I cue a sit with a hand signal. This technique is also useful for your dogs at home! You can turn your back, exit a room, or step over a baby gate for example.

Dogs do what works for them. If a behavior gets them something they want (food, attention, access, etc.) they do it again. If a behavior takes away something they want they quickly realize it doesn’t work and offer up another behavior. You can see this in Buddy’s response in the video. I am giving him no verbal cues. Cool right?

Does your dog jump on you or guests? I can help! Reach out to schedule your Initial Consultation today!

Side note: this is Buddy from my post about his adoption on Sunday.

22/10/2024

The school I graduated from The Academy for Dog Trainers does a silly competition every fall called the Academy Awards. It’s a silly competition where we compete for categories like Funniest Training Fail, Best Toofs, Best Dog Haircut and more. It’s a way for us to shake off the intensity of our role as trainers, let loose and have fun. Check out my submission for this years Best Toofs! 😂😂😂 That’s my girl Stella Bean. She’s a rescue from the Wind River Reservation where she was found pregnant and living at the dump.

20/10/2024

Some of you may know that I am the Certified Dog Trainer and Behavior Counselor for Stray Hearts in addition to my private work with Star Dog Training. Though I am only there for a few hours a week, it is impactful. Rescue and shelter work is emotionally difficult, heart wrenching, and all around exhausting. However, it is also so worth it for moments when beautiful pups like Buddy find incredible homes.

Buddy came in as an owner surrender. Sweet with all people and dogs he was a sure fire quick adoption. However, due to the overpopulation crisis here in Taos County (and the country) people just don’t have room to take in animals that frequently. Buddy sat for longer than expected. Being a young, active dog, many times these kiddos start to falter, going a bit kennel stir crazy and jumping and mouthing develop. We had been working on calm leashing skills, increasing mental enrichment, sit-stays, and dog play.

This lovely human saw the amazing joy that Buddy brings to the table and chose to bring him into his home. Thank you!! Buddy now gets to live on 20 acres and go on daily hikes with his guardians. Congratulations Buddy!

When thinking of bringing home a dog, please consider adoption! You can change their lives!

Stray Hearts Animal Shelter - Taos, NM

19/10/2024

Allowing animals to engage in species specific behavior is so important to their confidence building, lowering of cortisol levels and general happiness and stress relief! Dogs are social creatures and need time with others to maintain that social skill, release stress and build confidence. So proud of Stray Hearts and our team (staff and volunteers!) for helping make days like this happen!

16/10/2024

Hondo!! Look at his adorable feet ❤️ Hondo joined Star Dog Training to work on his extra exuberance and joy meeting new people and his need to velcro to his adoptive mom. We LOVE when dogs are so social and happy in their environment. We also need to make sure his exuberance doesn’t knock people over and to give his mom some occasional breathing room. He loves to learn, well really, he loves everything. Is your dog jumping on people when they come to the home or pulling you across the street to greet his friends? We love happy, social dogs but we can also help them learn when that exuberance can come out full force and when, sometimes, it’s nice to be a bit calmer in his greetings.

14/10/2024

Meet Joey! Joey was found at a mere 7 weeks in a field next to a bag of food. A lovely couple opened their hearts and home to this seeet boy and are giving him the lovely life he deserves. Rescuing is hard work and requires patience, dedication and understanding. So thankful for people like Joey’s guardians who have all of that and more! Joey is working on continuing his confidence building and basic manners. Isn’t he cute??

11/10/2024

I apologize for the delay in sharing this. Check out my article in Taos News about our companion animal’s body language and what it means. Our dogs communicate through body language. It’s our job as their caretakers to understand what they are saying. Communication leads to understanding and empowerment. Do you know what your dog is saying to you?

04/10/2024

https://www.facebook.com/stories/182509116747316/UzpfSVNDOjEwODEyNzM2MzAyNzg5MzY=/?view_single=1&source=shared_permalink&mibextid=W9rl1R

13/08/2024