Dog Eared Training & Behavior

09/12/2024

Puppies in the Park!

Our Tiny & Mighty puppy class went to the park for our first field trip class yesterday and got to enjoy the beautiful weather! We worked on focus & attention in new places, how to handle distractions, coming when called, and a little loose leash walking practice.

But even more importantly, they confidently navigated a new place! On our long line walk through the woods, they smelled many a smell, saw people and dogs randomly appear (and practiced pulling over and eating snacks to let them pass), how to use their bodies by climbing on logs, going up and down hills, and exploring with friends.

Socialization isn’t about interaction with people & dogs - it’s learning to confidently exist in our weird little world, practicing skills and training in those environments, and learning how to access reinforcement. For the humans, learning how to best support their puppies in a variety of situations is the biggest take away in puppy class!

Super proud of these two cutie patooties & their humans - hopefully they got to enjoy a post-puppy class nap, too! 😴

08/12/2024

Santa not your style - or your dog’s? Are most photo ops a nightmare for your reactive, sensitive, fearful, or aggressive pup? Meghan has this fabulous set up at the Canine Lifestyle Academy SniffSpot! Let your pup run and play in her securely fenced, secluded play yard, and get some Christmas card photos at the same time!

Come to our Sniffspot in December and get pics with the tree! (It's best on cloudy days, or in the morning and evening, to reduce shadows).
Canine Lifestyle Farm Play & Sniff
https://www.sniffspot.com/to/wgtnr

06/12/2024

When the Treat Lady comes for your day training session, and it’s so windy your beard might just fly off, what’s a Wirehaired Pointing Griffon to do?

🎄 MAYZIE TRIES TRICKMAS! 🎄

To keep things fair, we alternated between / .dogs & , but she had a blast showing off her skills!

I believe this will be a weekly challenge for the rest of the month - though we definitely won’t have fully formed tricks for all of the days of the month. We just happened to have all of the first 5 days already trained. 😅

Good girlie, Crazy Mayzie!

(Unnecessary picture of Mayzie’s reaction to spotting these Very Suspicious Reindeer in a neighbors yard on our very quick, very cold walk to keep Facebook from doing the annnoying auto-play thing. 🙄)

01/12/2024

Say hello to Wellington! 🥹

This delicious little morsel started today with Only One Woof - a combo of 4 private lessons plus enrollment in a session of a group class (either puppy or adolescent manners). Since he came home between class sessions, we’re starting with private lessons to make sure he and his mom get a solid foundation and avoid any unnecessary errors or stressors!

Some folks do it the other way - group classes then private lessons - to help refine the skills learned in class and apply them to their household specifically.

Either way works for me!

I can’t wait to spend more time with this itty bitty little dude and his big personality. 🌶️

30/11/2024

Support doesn’t always (or often!) mean spending your hard earned money - here are a few ways you can support your favorite small businesses without leaving the comfort of your couch this Small Business Saturday.

❤️ Like pictures & posts on social media! Easy peasy, boosts posts for in the algorithm, and is a tiny click/treat for your trainer.
💬 Comment and contribute! This can be as simple as a quick emoji, asking questions, chatting with other commenters, or sharing pictures. The Algorithm loves comments!
⏰ Respect your trainer’s time & energy. While we love helping dogs, this is actually how we make a living! If you wouldn’t ask a similar favor of your mechanic or doctor, you might be asking for a paid service.
🗣️ Share with your friends - because small businesses rely on word of mouth! Share verbally, but also share posts on social media!
💰 Don’t ask for freebies - while there are many free resources available (hello, social media!), handouts, articles, and videos available to help you & your pup, sometimes, things are more complicated. Don’t expect customized help for freebie price tags.

and finally…

⭐️ LEAVE A REVIEW! ⭐️

Google, Facebook, NextDoor - wherever you live on the internet, share a little love! Word of mouth goes a long way, and in saturated markets like dog training, more reviews are likely to get viewed more!

Plus - you might make your trainer cry happy tears. We love positive reinforcement for dogs AND humans, and some of us (🙋🏼‍♀️) keep a photo album made entirely of kind comments, reviews, emails, and thank yous for the days when we start to question if the madness of running a small business is worth it. These little glimmers fuel us on the hard days and mean more to us than you can imagine.

We are so thankful for all of you this holiday season - whether you’re spending money with us or not. Our little corner of positivity, joy, laughter, and support is a magical place, and I am so glad to have you here.

💜🩵

29/11/2024

🎁 Know you’re going to want to get back to work with your pup after the craziness of the holiday season?
🎁 Want to give the gift of training to a friend or family member?
🎁 Ready to put that holiday bonus to good use?

… maybe you just want to support your favorite local trainer during the holiday season? 😘

⭐️ Take advantage of our Black Friday/Small Business Saturday/Cyber Monday/Holiday Sale! ⭐️

Good now through New Years, get 15% off all gift certificates! From an initial consult to a 10 private lesson package, we’ve got you covered. Use the coupon code BF2024 at check out!

🦃 🛒 🐾 🎁 🎄 🪩 🎉

https://app.acuityscheduling.com/catalog/741e2305/?categories=Gift%20Certificates

05/11/2024

To the humans, Huxley wants to encourage everyone to get out and vote if you haven’t yet!

To the dogs, Huxley sends solidarity, as all of the humans are being a little weird and stressed lately, and he knows it’s his job to make the humans smile, which he takes very seriously. He also suggests taking advantage of any emotional eating that may be occurring in your households and really ramping up those puppy dog eyes to 110% for maximum snack sharing.

24/10/2024

📞 CALLING ALL PUPPIES!

We still have room in our next session of puppy class starting ✨ THIS WEEK ✨- the last session of the year!

Quick Facts:
⭐️ Starting Sunday, October 27th at 1:45 pm
⭐️ Hybrid Format (2 virtual + 2 indoors + 3 field trips!)
⭐️ for puppies 8 - 18 weeks old
⭐️ no class November 10th (last class December 15th)

❓Does your puppy not come home for another week or two? That’s fine! First class is orientation (for humans only!) to ensure you start your puppy off on the right paw.
❓Worried about vaccinations? Don’t be! Due to our hybrid format, our puppies have a couple extra weeks of safe learning at home before switching to a safe indoor (sanitized) classroom, and then carefully planned field trips. If you wait to start until your puppy has had all of their shots, you’ll have waited too long to get all of the benefits of socialization!
❓Is it too early to start training? NEVER!

Sign up today!

https://dogearedtraining.com/brave-new-world/

(Questions or concerns? Message us!)

20/10/2024

What happens when you take three equally adorable, social pups to Local Homestead Products LLC on a beautiful Sunday afternoon in October?

You have a PERFECT opportunity to practice your loose leash walking, polite greetings, default settling, and posing skills for your class graduation!

I can’t adequately describe how proud I was of these three today, but the standout moments for each?

🎃 …when Mac (the Samoyed) LAID DOWN! 🎉 when we practiced settling!
🍁 …when Scout (the pit bull) nailed every! single! greeting! with humans of all ages, with the wiggly joy only a three legged pit bull can offer.
🍂 …when a small child semi-tripped directly on to Alfie’s (the Newfoundland) face, before using said face to balance himself, and Alfie took it all with a shrug and looked back to his momma for a snack. 😂

They all did such a great job navigating the distractions of such a busy day (kids! dogs! adults! weird playground items! food!), and offered a great way to wrap up this session of Lord of the Flies.

Fabulous work, guys! 💜🩵

13/10/2024

A BIG congratulations to these big boys for graduating Brave New World with a field trip to The Last Word, and Liquidity Aleworks!

They showed how committing to putting the work in with your puppy sets you both up to succeed as you enter the troubling, tiresome months ahead as your sweet puppy enters adolescence… and how training can make your puppy’s world bigger & better!

SO proud of these rockstar teams, and I can’t wait to continue working with them in Lord of the Flies!

Hoping to have a go anywhere, do anything dog? Start working from Day 1! Our next session of Brave New World starts in just ⭐️ TWO WEEKS ⭐️- sign up now!

(Many thanks to The Last Word & Liquidity for welcoming us and helping both classes practice polite greetings today!)

20/09/2024

Hank is a dude who has some Big Feelings about people coming in to his house. And then (gasp!) if they DO THINGS in his house, like standing up from the couch or coming out of the bathroom or coming downstairs.

(Sound familiar?)

We’ve been working hard on giving him some healthier coping mechanisms, increasing management in the household to keep everyone safe and calm, and working with his veterinary team over at Kingsbrook Animal Hospital to be sure that Hank is his best self, from the inside out.

I think it’s safe to say we’re seeing definite progress! 😍

Hanging out and chewing while the humans chat? Got it. 👍🏻

Flail around on his back when the humans are STILL talking, to return full attention back towards Hank? 👍🏻👍🏻

We’ve still got stuff to work on, but we LOVED seeing him able to access those skills we’ve been installing, actually relax, and respond to cues easily and happily.

Gooood boy, Hank!

15/09/2024

VERY IMPORTANT!!!

LOOK AT THIS ADORABLE PUPPY.

Okay, that’s all. Carry on with your evening.

(This is Penny, who just joined a wonderful family that includes our reactive dog class graduate, Elliott! She’ll be joining our October group class, but we had a session today to talk All The Puppy Stuff. It was obviously quite the hardship.)

12/09/2024

👋🏻 hello to our Lord of the Flies pups!

💜 Mac, the 11 month old Samoyed
🩵 Darby, the 11 month old Golden Retriever
💚 Scout, the 1 1/2 y/o three legged pit bull mix

Our fourth pup couldn’t attend this week, but we’ll be sure to share a picture after next week’s class. Let’s just say… a B I G part of the class was missing on Sunday! 😅

These three were rockstars, and I’ll never get tired of seeing how setting the dogs AND humans up for success leads to more confidence, less frustration, and more joy for both ends of the leash.

Unrelated - I will be appreciating everyone’s understanding over the next few weeks to months as I hobble around in a boot. 😩 Doctor’s visit today says we’re looking at ✨ twelve weeks ✨ of physical therapy for peroneal tendonitis in my left ankle. Ya girl will be walking EXTRA slow for a bit!

07/09/2024

🚨 UPDATE! 🚨

Due to the predicted forecast today, this event has been rescheduled to tomorrow, Sunday, September 8th!

While Bethany will be busy teaching classes, Dog Eared WILL have a table there! Be sure to stop by, grab some treats, let your pup enjoy a Pup Cup, and say thank you to our friends at Tangled Terrier who will be keeping an eye on our table!

(If you get a pup cup, be sure to share a picture or video of it with us! Comment or message. 🥰)

04/09/2024

☀️👙 Come join us for one last summer splash! 🍉⛱️

This Saturday, September 7th from 11 am - 4 pm, Waterside Community Pool in Frederick is opening the pool to the dogs and raising some money for the Frederick County Animal Shelter!

Let them enjoy a clean swim, socialize, and play before the pool is cleaned and emptied for the season. There will be vendors for humans and dogs - Dog Eared will be there serving pup cups and giving out goodie bags!

As always, we want to make sure your dog will ENJOY such an outing before throwing them in the deep end, so evaluate your dog before coming out. Does your dog…
✅ Enjoys groups of unknown dogs, physically healthy, confident, social with people and dogs and kids, unfazed by a little chaos, has a solid recall? Let’s do it!
⚠️ Never been to an event like this? Not sure how they’ll do? Try coming early in the day before it gets busy and be ready to bail if your pup says it’s too much!
🛑 Not a fan of crowds, your dog needs careful introductions to be okay with other dogs, afraid of people, has shown signs of aggression to unknown dogs, kids, or adults, startles at loud noises? Leave the pup at home for this one - but humans are still welcome to come say hi & support a good cause!

(Of my 3 dogs in adulthood, only one would be okay at an event like this. There’s no shame in knowing your dog wouldn’t be one of these rare social butterflies! In fact, most dogs wouldn’t love it. That’s okay! I’m an introvert too, y’all.)

Bring a donation, proof of your pup’s rabies vaccination, and come hang out! Sorry - no humans allowed in the water.

(🌧️ date is Sunday, September 8 - we wouldn’t be able to attend, but you might.)

Waterside Community Pool
8001 Lighthouse Landing
Frederick, MD 21701

03/09/2024

📚 Brave New World was back at school this week! 📚

We’ve been working together virtually for two weeks, building foundation skills and setting our puppies up for success at home - but this week, we got to enjoy puppy breath in real life!

Say hello 👋🏻 to…
💜 Joey the Bearded Collie
💙 Sterling the Cocker Spaniel
🩵 Riggs the Lab (or whatever) mix
💚 Panzer the German Shepherd

Yup, it’s a boys club this session! 👯

Who would you like to smuggle home with you? I’m a sucker for a head tilt, so Riggs’ mom better watch out… 👀

22/08/2024

In celebration of our next round of classes starting this week… say hello to the Summer 2024 Lord of the Flies graduates! 🎓

Our last class brought it all together at two of our favorite dog friendly local spots!

We started by practicing polite greetings, loose leash walking, and sit/stays (while their humans were tasked with finding a book that applied to their dog 😂) at The Last Word, fka Books With A Past.

Then over to Liquidity Aleworks to practice settling in new environments, leave it, and minding your own business… and a celebratory drink for the humans.

Pierogi, Alice, and Reid were all rockstars - I’m EXTRA proud of Reid only barking once!!! in each place, and Alice being SO BRAVE when there were scary kids running past, and Pierogi for holding a stay even when his Favorite Treat Lady knelt down to try to take his picture. 😂

Fabulous work everyone! 🎉

✉️ 🔜 This fall, we’ll be offering drop in field trips for students who have previously taken classes or private lessons with Dog Eared (or with prior approval from the instructor). Interested in joining the fun? Shoot us an email, and we’ll notify you when new field trips are posted!

14/08/2024

We are SO excited for our friends at Foley's Dog Training as they take the next step to being able to welcome more dogs & humans to the wonderful world of dog sports with ✨ an indoor facility! ✨

E specializes in ensuring dog sports are accessible to all: whatever breed, ability, age, fears or anxieties, or level of bananas for you OR your dog, you’re welcome to train with her!

Be sure to follow along for updates, sponsor to get fun perks, or share the word. If you’ve been thinking about trying agility, be sure to check her stuff out! Maxwell and Huxley will each have their own personalized cones in the new building. 😁

We’re so proud of you, E!!

At Foley’s Dog Training, every dog and every person is welcome! 🌟

Whether your dog is a nervous nellie, reactive rover, or teenage hooligan, my training programs, my current outdoor space, and my new indoor facility in Laurel, MD are designed to be inclusive and supportive for all. Every pup deserves a chance to shine. 🐾

Click the link to learn more about my new indoor space and how we can work together to help your dog thrive!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/efoley/beginner-dog-agility-classes-in-silver-spring-maryland