Heal Cove Dog Training

22/12/2025

21/12/2025

🐶Did you know that petting a dog actually increases the "love hormone," oxytocin, in both you and the dog? It’s true! Petting feels good to some dogs, but they have preferences about where and when they like to be touched.
🛑 Safety First: ALWAYS Get Permission
• Always ask the dog's owner for permission before approaching or petting their dog.
• Never go up to or touch a dog you don't know.
• When approaching, do so slowly from the side (this is less threatening than coming straight at them).
• Wait for the dog to approach you first. If they don't come to you or they turn away, do not approach or pet them.
✅ Best Petting Spots (For Trusted Friends)
• Under the chin, on the front of the neck
• The lower back near the base of the tail, the sides of the thighs
• The back or side (gentle pets or scratches for a few seconds are often enjoyable).

Remember the "Consent Test": Pet them for a few seconds, then stop. If they lean in, nudge you, or paw toward your hand, they are asking for more! If they move away, stop.
❌ Places to Avoid
• Reaching over the top of their head. A hand coming directly at their face or leaning over them can feel intimidating.
• Hugging, squeezing, or kissing. Many dogs dislike or merely tolerate hugging.
• The face, tail, feet, and legs.
⚠️ Watch for Stress Signals (Red Flags)
• Lip licking or flicking their tongue out (when not eating).
• Yawning (when they aren't tired).
• Turning their head or body away, stiff body, or freezing.
• Whale eye (when you can see the whites on the outer edges of their eyes).
• Growling: This is a clear warning sign. Stop what you are doing and walk away slowly.


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Understanding dog body language is like learning a new language. When a dog shows stress signals, they are telling you they are worried and need space—just like if someone uses an emergency hand signal to tell you they need help, you heed the warning!

02/12/2025

21/11/2025

Relationships are not linear. They breathe. They stretch. They wobble. They evolve.

We often talk about relationships — with our dogs, our students, our partners — as if they’re built only through the “good moments.” The tidy sessions. The breakthroughs. The wins that look great on camera and feel even better in our chest.

But the truth is: the highs don’t create the relationship. They simply reflect the foundation you’ve already built.

The real work — the real connection — is formed in the lows.

When everything is smooth, it’s easy to be patient. It’s easy to be kind. It’s easy to feel like the relationship is solid.

But who are you when the dog shuts down?
Who are you when a student hits a wall and doubts themselves?
Who are you when your own motivation dips or life feels like pressure from every angle?

These are the moments that test your identity inside the relationship. And more importantly, they’re the moments that shape the identity of the relationship itself.

Because lows aren’t failures. They are information. They are invitations. They are the places where trust is either strengthened or weakened.

And honestly — it’s a privilege to experience the full spectrum of a relationship. To walk beside dogs who bring you both joy and challenge. To coach students who trust you enough to show you their strength and their vulnerability. To love people who gift you their whole selves, not just the polished parts. The fullness of relationship — the high peaks and the gritty lows — is where life feels the most real. Don’t shy away from it. Don’t try to tidy it. Embrace it. It’s a gift not everyone gets to experience.

The low moments ask you to slow down rather than push harder. To listen rather than correct. To support rather than judge. To hold space instead of filling it with pressure. To choose compassion over convenience.

Anyone can celebrate the highs. But it takes awareness, humility, and commitment to show up fully during the challenges — especially in dog training, where emotions run high on both ends of the lead.

A dog who struggles, a student who feels lost, a human who is overwhelmed… these moments don’t ruin relationships. They deepen them — if you stay present.

Every high gives confidence. Every low gives clarity. Both are essential.

And the more we embrace this ebb and flow, the more resilient, honest, and connected our relationships become. In dog training. In coaching. In partnership. In life.

Show up in the highs.
Show up in the lows.
Show up as the same person in both — steady, grounded, and compassionate. That’s where unshakeable relationships live.

16/11/2025

Definitely this!!! 👇👇👇

14/11/2025

I *might* be sending this video to students and clients… 🤣🤣

12/11/2025

By the time that reactive dog sees another dog across the parking lot, his arousal is already climbing. His nervous system is already hijacked. And you're asking him to make good choices with the part of his brain that's least available in that moment.

Think about what we're asking: "In your most aroused, stressed, triggered state, I need you to access self-regulation that you've never practiced when aroused."

It's like asking someone to perform surgery during their first code blue. The skills need to be established first, practiced extensively in lower-pressure situations, until the neural pathways are strong enough to access under stress.

🔗 Read more at the blog:
➡ https://suzanneclothier.com/self-regulation-at-home-first/

07/11/2025

❄️ Gates near the doors can be an easy problem solver, especially with guests or kids around.

🐕 But did you know that many dogs need to learn how to live with gates?

🎄 Gates can help make busy holidays a bit more stress free if your dog learns how to live with gates.

👑 Gates are an easy management win especially if you can't watch the doors all the time which you can't.

🚂 Baby gates on kid bedrooms can save a lot of socks and Legos.

🩲 Baby gates on spare bedrooms can help relieve worry and embarrassment. No one wants their dog running around the house throwing the guest's underwear in the air but it does happen.

Thinking you might need a gate or two for the holidays?
Get the gates now

25/10/2025

I tell my students/clients - without focus you cannot teach skills. That eye contact is soooooo important and not enough folks jackpot the heck out of that super essential behavior… 🤦‍♀️

Mr. Dog Training Walk your Dog Challenge, Day 24....To Sit or not to Sit?

Sit is one of those behaviors that people seem to be obsessed with getting their dog to do, so much so that it is often detrimental to their training goals.
I see people, both in classes and out walking their dogs in the real world, who ignore all sorts of AMAZING behaviors just to get that “ever important” Sit.

Dog is distracted, human says their name, dog looks at them (oh my god, so much YESSSSSS) and they ask the dog to sit. They ignore the MOST important thing and that is that their dog chose them over the distraction just to get that stupid sit. 🤯

In this example jackpot that engagement and if you must ask them to sit they go for it but it’s not important there, the eye contact/engagement is.

This is just one tiny example of how sit is overused and abused and I can go on and on but I just wanted to get you thinking about if that sit is really the behavior that you should be asking for the next time you ask for it.

What are the three behaviors I feel are most important to have in your toolbox???
Hand Target, engagement/eye contact/check in, and Settle and all three are useful and important when walking your dog!

Speaking of walking, how are we doing? I hope that you are loving the challenge and looking forward to your daily walks!