Playful Pups & Performance Training

04/22/2023

04/21/2023

April 29 is the first day of this session, which offers Puppy Manners, Intro to Force-Free Obedience, Basic Obedience, Intermediate Obedience, and Therapy Dog/Canine Good Citizen Prep. And I’ve left space for a Tricks class, if you’re interested in putting a Novice Trick Dog title on your dog!

Go to playfulpupstraining.com to get more information and to enroll!

01/15/2023

Thanks for all the prayers and good wishes! It was 10 days in the hospital, getting a couple of transfusions and the beginning of physical therapy. Now I’m in a rehab facility and am working hard to get mobile! They say a couple of weeks…but no weight on my right leg for four months. Wheelchair, here I come!

01/04/2023

I’m so glad Chris Pierce found/rescued my Playful Pups page! I’d forgotten how wonderfully kind people can be! I needed a boost, too: they couldn’t free up an operating room today, so I won’t have surgery until tomorrow. But at least they finally found a room to put me: I don’t recommend spending the night sleeping on a gurney in a hallway!

Thanks so much for all the good thoughts sent my way❤️

01/04/2023

Well…just as I was finally recovering from my broken shoulder, finally starting classes again, I was bowled over from behind at the dog park. Soooooo of course I broke my femur, right at my knee.

Still waiting for my for surgery, but it may not be until tomorrow. VB General is overwhelmed with patients and have nowhere to put us all! So the ER hallways are lined with patients staring at the bright lights of the ceiling.

Obviously classes are postponed for a week or two. But I’m supposed to be active immediately, so I’ll just teach from my trusty wheelchair.

I miss you and your dogs! But I’ll heal quickly, I promise!



01/02/2023

Hello again!
After a long absence from Face book (was hacked), I have my page back! But Playful Pups is still here...and it's our 13th year of using science-based, force-free methods to train your puppies and dogs!
A new session is starting soon, so go to tour website www.playfulpupstraining.com to the list of classes and their start dates. We are still in the same office park, right off the 17A exit from 264.

The address is 412 Investors Place, suite 103, Virginia Beach Virginia. Easy to find; fun place to train!

NOTICE: TDI/CGC Testing will be held at Playful Pups at 1:00 pm on December 18. Be sure to register NOW with the evaluator, Jean Nohle: [email protected]

11/11/2020

06/14/2020

Well, I'm finally posting something, mostly because everything has changed (and still is changing)! Of course Covid restrictions have shut us down, but we would still not be open because we are waiting to move into our new site, in the same office park. For multiple reasons, the contractor has not yet reconfigured the space, but at least we're on his list.
When the day comes that we have moved in and can restart classes, be sure to check out the offerings. We plan to offer not only our regular evening classes but also some daytime classes, one-day seminars, and even an occasional doggy playdate! So keep checking the website for updates and the announcement of our Grand Reopening Open House!

08/26/2019

Well, I hope Miss Bonnie approves of Snowbelt's I'm Amazing Two, "Maizie." All I can say is that getting an 8 week old puppy is like childbirth: we forget what it was like, so sign up for it again! This one is a Wild Child...'nuff said!

05/06/2019

So...I guess it's not just dogs that are billiant!

04/22/2019

Watc this heart melting video of a golden retriever guarding and playing with this child who was born with down syndrome for a warm feeling that will accompany you today.

04/18/2019

A recent large study of dog parents suggests that like humans, dogs’ personalities change — and significantly — over time
Among the most important findings is that dogs’ responsiveness to training increases steadily from puppyhood, peaks at 6 to 8 years of age and then begins a gradual decline during which it’s still possible to “teach an old dog new tricks”
The researchers also found that positive reinforcement obedience classes are associated with more positive personality traits throughout a dog’s life
It’s important that dog parents be aware of and prepare for not only the physical changes that come with aging, but also potential behavioral changes

02/27/2019

(Should've sent this on February 14...!)

Man’s best friend is dog, but dog’s best friend is definitely dog.

02/08/2019

02/07/2019

Yeah, it’s long...but take a moment to skim it!

Studies keep finding evidence of the extraordinary bond between dogs and people; here's a two-minute trick that can boost your health as well as the bond.

01/15/2019

I cannot begin to thank you ALL for the incredibly kind and understanding words of condolence. I'm not handling her loss very well, but when I read (and reread) all these posts, I know that SO many othes remember things about her that made her a special dog. In fact, I'll be using some of your words as we bury her on Friday, afternoon, at Garden of the Pines. Again, thank you!

01/09/2019

Vee-Bee Acey's Out-On-Bond
CDX RAE AX AXJ OAP OJP OF NFP CGC TKA

My sweet Bonnie left me in the middle of the night, January 7. She would have been 17 this May, so it was not unexpected. But I hated the concept of choosing when to have someone come out and put her to sleep. So, always the perfect girl, she left on her own, with my arms around her.
She’ll be joining little Einstein out at Garden of the Pines…and I know it will be a happy reunion. I look forward to happy reunion with her as well.

01/08/2019

Deborah Lankford
1 min ·
Breeder is remaining adamant that the Jack be returned to her...for no refund. And I guess resale? She's aware I have several wonderful options for him here, but hasn't budged yet. and I haven't been able to get her phone number (I think she's; in Richmond) so I can try to persuade her (or even find out if she'd sell him for a reasonable fee..don't know what the owner paid). sorry to have jumped the gun in sending out an all-call; didn't realize owner had signed a "return" contract.

01/07/2019

I've been working with a perfectly adorable mini-Goldendoodle puppy, Jack, who is both calm enough to learn (he's really smart) and already clicker trained, yet he's outgoing and happy enough to engage in appropriate play. He's just 10 weeks old and is having to be returned to breeder because of the health of the owner: his mental and physical health is perfect.
Message me, if you know someone who would continue his no force, no pain, no fear training!

12/17/2018

Hilarious and adorable video showing some person's opinion of the big difference between cats and dogs, and they think it's...the education.

12/06/2018

Dogs are using their noses to help humans in a number of ways, from detecting cancer and malaria to alerting people with life-threatening medical conditions.

12/05/2018

No, don't give a puppy as a surprise gift on Christmas morning! BUT...if you know someone who is going to get a puppy over the holidays, you might want to give them a Playful Pups Training Gift Certificate for Puppy Manners classes! Write to [email protected] for more information...

10/30/2018

If you know someone who still finds Cesar Millan's methods defensible, have him read this article from the New York Times... (and help me figure out why he is called a "whisperer" and why he is still promoted by Nat Geo on TV!)

The “Dog Whisperer” training method flies in the face of what professional animal behaviorists have learned about normal and abnormal behavior in dogs.

09/19/2018

How many of these dog breeds do you think you can recognize?

09/17/2018

A big, shaggy dog rescues a little girl tumbling in waves by the ocean, but she's giggling with glee as he drags her to safety by the shoulder of her T-shirt.

08/30/2018

Hooray for the UK!

Electronic training collars for dogs and cats to be banned under new legislation announced today

08/24/2018

08/13/2018

Yeah, the dogs are amazing ...but how about his whistled directions?

07/31/2018

After an article about the use of shock collars in dog training appears, the same questions inevitably come up. Usually, the person asking the question is not really seeking an answer. Instead, they are posing the question as a rebuttal to our position, which is that shock has no place in dog traini...

07/29/2018

So...no signs of stress in these dog/baby encounters: of course, that’s because the dog’s can choose to interact or not!