Pawsitive Pups Academy

24/10/2025

Pawsitive Pups Academy is hosting our first ever Howl-O-Ween themed enrichment party at our home in Prattsburgh, NY!

Date: Sunday, November 2nd
Time: 1PM to 5PM
(After party with food and drinks for humans from 5PM to 8PM)

We will have:

🎃Instructed, beginner and intermediate friendly scent work (introduction to scent and searching, exterior search, container search, vehicle search — using competition scents)

🎃Introduction to NASDA lost item recovery (we will potentially have shed hunt and trailing and locating, TBD)

🎃A beginner friendly, graveyard rally course

🎃A self guided, spooky walking trail and obstacle course

🎃Fun, dog friendly party games like bobbing for apples, fall foliage snuffle mats and more

🎃Themed snacks and drinks for dogs and people!

Check-in: 1-1:30
Guided/instructed dog events: 1:30-5PM
After party (with snacks and drinks for humans): 5PM-8PM

Sign up fee: $35/dog
All activities, food and drinks are included!

This event is being held at a private residence. The address will be provided upon sign up.

Dogs must be crated from your car.

To sign up:

Email: [email protected]

Subject: Halloween

Include in the text:

Your full name,

Your dog’s name, age and breed

Your level of scent work knowledge (complete beginner, novice, intermediate, advanced)

A copy of your dog’s vaccination records

Preferred payment method (PayPal or Venmo) and your PayPal/venmo username/email/phone number.

Please reach out to Ash at [email protected] with any questions.

11/10/2025

I love this dog

05/10/2025

Did I drive 90 minutes to the nearest urgent vet clinic only for my dog, who had previously been acting like he was in intense pain, to jump out of the car and greet the vet like they were old friends, beg for treats and then lay at the door waiting for them to come back and tell me I would be paying $700 but they couldn’t find anything other than what I already knew (that his liver enzymes are high, as they have been for years)?

Yes!

Does that mean he was faking, looking for attention, or just being dramatic?

NO!

It means we didn’t find what was wrong. Which may mean that his previously asymptomatic liver dysfunction is now symptomatic. Or that he has an entirely separate injury. Or that he had an acute moment of illness and/or pain that has since passed.

It can be frustrating when we spend a lot of money to be told that nothing is apparently wrong with our dogs, but that’s just the nature of medicine. It doesn’t actually mean nothing is or was wrong, and it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t continue to take their behavior seriously.

02/10/2025

29/09/2025

Pretzel is on rest for an injury and has to stay in the camper outside of scent work sessions and leash walks.

Pretzel does not acknowledge injuries or pain as valid and does not believe in rest. He has a very toxic gym bro mindset. I think he has been listening to podcasts behind my back.

So he has spent the day figuring out how to remove the screen from the emergency exit window while I was training my client dogs without him.

To be fair, it does say emergency exit and in his head, this is an emergency of the highest order (he’s bored and someone else is having fun without him!!)

29/09/2025

My little bonus chow earned his championship today!

26/09/2025

Took my board and train for some advanced socialization at the finger lakes wine country dog show today! She encountered TONS of new dogs and people and did incredible the entire time. She even started offering me her chin rest down automatically, a skill I just introduced yesterday!

Dollie’s owners did a great job with her training before ever even meeting me, but were struggling with the typical adolescent lab stuff. Dollie was bitey and jumpy and developing some reactivity.

She didn’t need obedience training. She has that! She needed strategic enrichment, exercise and help regulating her arousal.

Dollie has been with me for about two weeks now and the vast majority of that has been spent letting her wrestle her heart out with some well matched dog playmates, off leash romping in the woods and learning how to slow down and sniff (AFTER receiving adequate exercise, an important and often missed step for high energy adolescents).

Now that her brain is in a better place, we are branching out into new environments to practice her skills. I am focusing on behaviors she can offer on her own, like the default chin rest down shown in the first picture, so that all her owners have to do is continue to reinforce her for what she is already well rehearsed in throwing out unprompted.

Dollie finishes up her program in October and I will have space for another pup for my November-December session! DM me for info.

19/09/2025

Please note: I only take a maximum of two dogs at a time so if you want a spot, reach out sooner than later!

Your dog must be healthy, up to date on vaccinations including lepto and bordetella, current on HW and flea and tick prevention (even in the winter) and comfortably in a crate.

Being shy or timid with people and dogs is fine, but this spot isn’t suitable for dogs that struggle with aggression (mild reactivity is okay. If you’re unsure if your dog would be suited, please reach out.)

Payment plans are flexible.

15/08/2024

Playing in the pool at the park with Rex and Mako!

I like to take our enrichment activities out to different public spaces to work on building confidence and decreasing arousal around distractions. I am using low value treats in the pool (apple, watermelon and some charlee bear crackers). That way, they are able to move back and forth between the environment and the game. They can explore when they’re feeling curious, and return to the game to cool off (physically and emotionally) when they get overwhelmed.

I can also use high value treats to prompt them back to the pool as needed if I see they need help but aren’t capable of making a good decision.

15/08/2024

Morning field trip enrichment with Aspen and Gambit 🩷

We did some pool games, practiced our fetch skills (using food today! We will work on toy motivation in future sessions) and took a little walk!

14/08/2024

FIELD TRIP OPENING!

I have ONE spot left for field trips starting in September! This spot is with my Thursday morning group (approximately 10AM to 12PM).

Must be located in the Papillion/La Vista area for drop off/pick up.

Field trips are an enrichment based service focused on providing dogs with fun and fulfilling experiences through a variety of different activities in a variety of different environments.

We will also work on basic training and social skills during these outings and field trip clients receive a discount on additional training services, as needed.

Cost $75/trip for the first 3 months. Long term clients (3 or more months of consecutive field trip bookings) pay a lower rate of $65/trip.

Email [email protected] if you are interested!

14/08/2024

Assistant trainer Pretzel demonstrating this week’s field trip enrichment activity! We are having a little pool party with slices of watermelon, apples and some toys for the pups to fish out of the water.