The Heeling Shepherd

11/05/2025

✨New Service Drop; Just in Time for the Holidays!✨

You asked, and I listened!

I’m now offering Drop-In Visits for pets in Grand Rapids, MI and surrounding areas 🐕🐈

Whether you’re working late, traveling, or just need an extra hand during the busy season, you can now book a trusted, professional drop-in with The Heeling Shepherd.

💛 Because when your pets are in my care, you’re not just getting a sitter. You’re getting a trainer’s mindful touch.
That means calm, compassionate handling so your pet feels safe, understood, and cared for.

These are open to current clients AND new faces.

Choose from:
• 15 minute visits
• 30 minute visits
• 45 minute visits
• 60 minute visits

Each visit can include:
🐾 Walks
🐾 Playtime
🐾 Feeding or potty breaks
🐾 Cat or small pet care

🌟 Meet & Greet required prior to booking.
📩 DM or send me an email to book your visit today!

Let’s make sure your pets feel right at home, even when you’re not. 💛

11/03/2025

Moose’s story might resonate with you if you’re a retriever parent…

Moose is a very handsome, young, field bred Golden who happens to adore sticks. Like, he has a passion for sticks.

Like, he couldn’t be walked without consuming full sticks or having them physically pried out of his mouth.

Moose is one of those dogs that really hits home the notion that a little paper certificate that says “congrats, you’re a dog trainer!” Is never going to cut it.

Because then you run into a dog that is obsessively consuming sticks on every walk. He was a bowel obstruction waiting to happen. There is NO certificate that walks you through approaching this random of an issue 😂

Structured walks wouldn’t cut it. Moose lives in an apartment, and has to get his much of his fulfillment and potty breaks on leash, on walks.

Building value in other items helped — but only if there were no sticks around 😉

He’s not the first retriever to obsessively fixate on collecting items like this, but he was VERY dedicated to his craft.

He was.

About a month and a half of dedication from Moose’s people, and some honest trial and error (and pulling in some fabulous professionals from our community to support), and Moose and his family are actually enjoying walks again!

Sticks will always have a soft spot in this golden boy’s heart, but he can now see reason and can now walk right past sticks, drop sticks on cue, and re-engage with his people and reward ball.

Moose is a great example of why it’s essential as a pet professional to be able to pull from a large bag of tricks, and to think on your feet.

Oh yeah, and we did it all VIRTUALLY!

Drop a 👏🏻👏🏻 in the comments if you’re as proud of Moose as I am!

10/31/2025

Don’t forget these essentials for navigating Halloween with your pet!

Happy Howl-o-ween Heeling Shepherd friends!

Remember, when you’re out enjoying the night, that:

- dogs don’t like to be scared with costumes or jump scares.
- if your dog is shy or reactive around visitors, have a game plan in place to give them a calm space to relax for the night!
- give your dog a treat too! But make sure it’s pet-safe, as there’s plenty floating around this time of year that can be harmful for our pets.

Hope you have a great one!

10/16/2025

This is the first time in a long time that Bear has been so close to another dog without losing his sh*t

Demo dog Isa came out to provide a neutral distraction for Bear to improve his skills. He’s made so many strides throughout our training program, and teaching him how to trust his person and not launch into hysterics at the sight of another dog is a HUGE win for Bear and his people.

This little guy is still a work in progress, and we need to add more challenges than cool, calm grandma shepherd to really solidify these skills. All in due time.

But remember, your reactive dog is capable too ❤️

10/13/2025

The snake eats his own tail in this one.

Your dog is reactive, so you do less with them.

You do less with them, your dog becomes more reactive.

This is a common cycle I see with my reactive dog clients. After all, it can be embarrassing, overwhelming, and isolating to have a reactive dog.

But here’s the thing. We can build new skills in your dog; that’s part of breaking the cycle. But then, you have to go put those skills to the test in the real world.

Again, and again. New places. New smells, new stimuli.

That is the other piece of the puzzle in breaking the reactivity cycle. Yes, your dog is reactive, but no it doesn’t mean they have to stay home the rest of their days.

And FWIW, the majority of dog owners are bringing their lunging, barking dogs out in the world shamelessly, totally unaware that it may affect others.

✨At least you care, and you’re working on it✨

This is the part of training your dog where you have to give more for them. Sometimes that means including them on adventures even when it will definitely be more work. (But still take those moments to relax on your own!)

The more your dog sees the world, the more you’ll see all the best parts of your dog too.

10/10/2025

What are you excited about doing with your dog this weekend?

My pack is going CAMPING!

10/08/2025

Remote collar training consistently empowers dog owners and unleashes a whole new level of freedom for dogs and their humans.

However, there is a lot of confusion and misconception around the tool.

So I ask you, what questions do you have about e-collar training?

10/06/2025

Before you unfollow me, let me explain 😂

It’s a human that hires me to help them get more from their dog. But there are actually SO many ways we can get more from dogs.

My bitework friends would take that dog and make it a sassy, bitey fiend with lots of intensity.

My service dog friends would make it an obedient, incredibly human-focused, medically aware little being.

Your friend that loves the dog park is going to prioritize sociability with dogs, and make it a dog that craves social connection freely and often with other dogs.

In a world where your dog can be almost anything, it’s the pet owner’s desires and goals that guide us as trainers. We can make your dog anything, but how do we make it the dog that *YOU* want?

Dog training is so connected to the human end of the leash.

Instead of prioritizing dogs in my practice, I tend to lean human-centric in my approach.

Yes, your dog may have unique needs and limitations that we fulfill and respect, but we should always be working toward the goals that you actually have for your dog.

If we have the skills built in for life with our dogs, whatever that looks like for you, then your dog will ultimately have more freedom, safety, and companionship in the long term.

That’s always my focus when taking a human-centric approach to working with dogs.