Adventure Paws

Oh the teenage phase 😂😂😂 I personally LOVE the puppy phase. The teenage phase is where things become a bit more challenging lol! But with the proper support, and getting a real understanding of where your dog is at developmentally it can help this transition phase into adulthood! Positive reinforcement training is definitely the way to go, and if you’re looking for one I’ve got your back! 💛

Epic Explorers is nailing it! I’m so proud of them for showing up for their dogs! It’s been a really beautiful thing to watch!

Prior to my career in dog training and positive reinforcement training I was pursuing a career in medicine, at the end focusing on PT and nutrition work. Long story short I’m a huge nerd! And that’s one of my ultimate super powers. I have so many different lenses that I look through not just dog training sit, down, stay, come. So when I hear the silly little trick comment it tells me comment it tells me it’s a very small dog training lens they are looking through! Canine conditioning is an amazing skill set to work with your dogs to build muscle mass, helping bone and joint support/stabilization, which then leads to injury prevention, core strength, increased endurance and stamina for things like harder hikes! Plus if you’ve ever taken a dog through PT…. Well welcome to your foundations of a ton of work they do in pt! You’re way ahead of the game if your dog has a lot of these skills! The lymphatic system which helps remove toxins, and support our immune system requires physical manipulation to move it. And exercise is the number one way to do that. And spoiler alert no your walks on a head halter in a heel position actually aren’t enough more on that later! These tricks allow for specific muscles to be engaged, plus add on the running involved in agility, treibball etc and you’ve got a great foundation for supporting the lymphatic system and on track for one of the CORE pillars of this business which is the health, longevity, and quality of life of a dog!

Silly little tricks part 3! There are so many ways to teach tricks and utilize them this function! We do this a lot with cooperative care training! Here we are working a head rest, and an offered paw for nail trims! What was a bite response is now a beautiful settle cue! We love trick training!

If you guys have taken classes with me for a while you know that @westpawus toppls have been a favorite of mine since 2017 at my first super zoo retailer expo show. I recommend them during all my puppy classes! They released the new XL size and then they had to go and release the lavender color and I just couldn’t help myself 😂 These are great enrichment toys and perfect for firework season! I stuff and freeze mine! With the new XL size I’ve got the perfect size for each of my girls! Seal and Lady get the small. Belle the large. Mango the XL! I’m lucky that because of my puppy socialization protocol none of my girls have issues with fireworks, but they get the good stuff regardless!

Off leash, leave it, moving by pizza, all positive reinforcement….. Every puppy class! Lol It’s real life application we train for. How many times have you walked by trash and it was game over for your walk? You’re pulling something disgusting out of your dogs mouth? Or how many of you would like to never experience that at all because you’re leave it is so on point? 😂🙋🏻‍♀️ That’s why I created the curriculum to get my puppies here! I want training for real life! Real adventures! If you want a curriculum that specializes in raising adventure puppies, that is completely unique to any other class offered I’ve still got room in my puppy class! Come sign up!

Harmonious Hounds Tackles Wheeler Farm! These two teams worked so so hard! We had a couple of moments where they definitely hit threshold but they are recovering from it so nicely even when they have those moments! Those moments are becoming less and less frequent as they practice! Reactivity is a unique journey that will look completely different from each team to navigate through! What I want handlers to know is it’s completely normal to have walks that don’t go as planned, to still have reactions, especially when you go out to work your harder triggers! Take notes on where you started and where you currently are! Take the time to celebrate your wins no matter how small they may seem, they are huge steps in the right direction!

When I tell you that Grace and myself gave everything we had to give to these dogs I genuinely can’t begin to tell you how deep I mean that. We are a small rescue, and have taken a lot of hard cases! It’s because of our expertise as professional trainers we’ve gotten them to where they all are! A good chunk of our kids either were on the X list, or would have been without our training protocols. Sometimes they stay with us a lot longer because trauma cases usually need more time, and I refuse to send these dogs out to the wrong home and perpetuate more trauma. These dogs have been through enough. But these are the moments. The moments that shine through the trauma, the tears, and all the hard moments that make it all worth it. I can’t tell you how much the support of our community means to us, and what it did for these behavioral cases! Nugget is still alive experiencing this today because of your support, your donations. I hope one day someone can look past his flaws for a forever home. Until then he’s safe here with us as long as he needs because he’s worth that! This made it worth it! 🩵

These three little besties off on an adventure together! More updates later! 🩵 Find besties to adventure with! Or just come hang out with us!

This sweet golden retriever is going through a second puppy stage, and I couldn’t be happier! He did a boarding for 3 MONTHS. During that time he had one of the worst ear infections I’ve ever seen. He went to the vet, got everything he needed, and came back to the house. After further contact with his mom we found out he had MULTIPLE ear infections that just kept coming back on a regular basis. I immediately knew it was a food allergy! We chatted with his mom, and she agreed to immediately change his food. We saw huge results! The ear infection hasn’t come back…. And as long as she keeps the allergy out of his system it won’t. He’s lost weight and now is in perfect range! Hes playing with toys, bouncing around! Living his best life! Your training isn’t going to do ANY good if you’ve got a nutritional issue as the root! Your training is going to be harder if your dog is eating crap as their primary diet. Nutrition impacts behavior. So if you don’t understand that as their number one basic need, I just don’t believe you have any business being in the dog training industry. My oldest had some of the worst symptoms due to allergies. I cried in puppy class. She wouldn’t work, wouldn’t eat. She wasn’t food motivated working positive reinforcement training. Well she wasn’t food motivated because the treats and food I was giving her was making her sick. The dog I couldn’t get to eat on a regular basis is now the first to ask for her meals, she takes treats, and loves to work. She motivated me to work with some amazing veterinarians who supported me through her condition as well as following through with more education to support my clients! And I’m so thankful for that! I never thought all those tears would be worth it! But I can spot allergies from a mile away! I’ve done countless amount of nutrition work alongside the training and it WORKS! And I preach about longevity within our dogs! Of course nutrition will be a factor in that!

If my puppies default decision when everything goes wrong is to run straight to me, then I feel like I did everything in our training right! I was sick, didn’t have my treats, I put her on belles collar which was too big and was the reason she was able to slip out. Just wasn’t my best day 🤣 And that’s okay! Im actually really proud of the choice she made. I wish I had supported her more originally on if she was okay with who I was leaving her with, and giving her more practice so she didn’t feel stressed to where she wanted to slip her collar! But that’s all on me and not my dog! Obviously this was a great learning opportunity for me, and we put things in place to work on that month. Shes coming out of her fear imprint period beautifully! In a push comes to shove moment, when life isn’t perfect and things go sideways, what choices will your puppies make? And that’s actually the beauty in giving our dogs choices rather than forcing our own narrative, agenda and demands onto them all the time. My training is for these exact moments. So that my dogs are safe! So that I can enjoy the world with them and find peace when we are on our adventures. My training is not to create a robot that doesn’t get to make choices, and have boundaries! Mango knows I always have her back, so when she felt insecure she looked for me, and came to me outside of any “cue or command”. There might be some people that miss the point of this video all together and fixate on the fact that she slipped her collar in the first place but I’m human, and this was my real life oopsie! It happens even to the best trainers, and my puppy was 7 months old! We got to add more to our training plans so we can both do better in the future! 🩵

Treibball or urban herding quickly became one of my favorite sports! I’m so excited to offer such a fun class to my clients, especially for dogs who naturally want a herding job, but aren’t ready or don’t have access to livestock! We are getting ready to post this class so make sure you’re on the waitlist!