Kayla Hull dog trainer

08/04/2024

Our site is down until further notice 🚧
as we gear up to offer better resources and services (especially for my AuDHD dog friends) 😉
For now, you can always message here with dog training inquiries 💬
Or for an up to date calendar to schedule a call to discuss you and your dog's needs 📞

I have selective one to one slots available including Confident Walk packages that address common concerns such as:

🐾 Loose Leash Walking
🐾 Recall (come when called)
🐾 Ignoring distractions
🐾 Basic obedience / creating more collaboration between you and your dog
🐾 Reactivity (barking, lunging, etc at other dogs)
🐾 And more, let's chat 💬

All services are free of judgement, and geared towards you and your dog's needs 🌟

Neurodivergent focused 🧠
+ Inclusive
❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜🤎🖤🩶🤍

28/02/2024

I do these things because that's what I think good people do.
It's okay if they can't, though.
I also happen to think there are enough good people that we can take turns taking rest.
Yes, even in today's world.
And yes, even YOU 💛

18/01/2024

Safety is synonymous 🐾 with love IMO 🐾
If you strive to make your dog feel safe with you, you are winning.

16/01/2024

How do you bust your dogs boredom or regulate their excess energy ? 💭

I let my dog, Mabel, make quite the mess this weekend...
for her mental health (and mine). 👈

It was well below freezing out so I knew I had to put some activities together to keep Mabel from going too stir crazy,

And therefore driving me crazy 🫨

One of the activities was to stuff a fairly large cheese balls container with strips of fabric, rags, and old toys I keep around just for days like these ⛈️

I took her regular meal and sprinkled it throughout the fabric, rolling it in rags, and sprinkling the rest loosely into the container.

You can do this with any (safe for your dog) container like a bin, box, basket or bucket 🧺

Then watch your dog light up with some of those feel good chemicals AND burn some of that excess energy while they get to be a dog and forage and scavenge for their food 🫘

Mabel was occupied for about 20 minutes per variation of this activity we did 😉

Yes, there may be some clean up after.
But what's a bad weather day home if it doesn't look like you've had a good time with your loved ones 💁‍♀️
And you can say you did it for your dogs mental health 😉

08/01/2024

Looking forward to a good week with my dog and person 💜 helping other dogs and their people 😌

05/01/2024

Spot on 💛

I can perfectly imagine a perfect dog guardian.

At least on the surface, I can imagine all the ways I could be better. All the things I should be doing to not let my dogs down.

The perfect response in every tricky moment.

The perfect diet.

The perfect training routine.

The perfect grooming and care routine.

The perfect choices in training methods and strategies.

Never making a “bad” choice and experiencing shame and guilt again.

Never looking at my dog and thinking, you deserve better.

Perfection says, it’s better to try nothing than to try something.

Perfection says, you don’t have inherent value if you aren’t infallible. (And also here is what is socially, politically and historically perfect. Do not deviate. ).

Perfection says, protecting the fantasy it’s more important than your reality.

But if you could ask your dog what would make you perfect, what would they say?

That you spend quality time together? (doing whatever makes them happy)

That they are free to express their full range of emotions? To engage in their full range of normal behaviour?

That they will be safe with you?

That you will always share your (safe) snacks?

I think that is a much better measure than any traditional training goals.

Image description. A cartoon white woman hugs a tan coloured dog with floppy orange ears. She wears a green sweater and has brown hair. Large, irregularly sized text reads, there is no perfect dog guardian. The no is underlined. The three cartoon chihuahuas from our logo are standing in the text.

22/12/2023

The last thing I want to do when my stress levels are high around the holidays paired with cramps from hell is move my body.

But I never regret a good stretch or nature walk 🍃🧘‍♀️

Plus Mabel needs it for her aging body 💜

I'm also finding myself grateful to have had some heartfelt conversations on the podcast this week
And look forward to so many more coming in this new year 🌠

One of the things we talked about was how to care for yourself in accessible yet profound ways that simultaneously gives western patriarchal capitalism the middle finger 😏

Youre going to want to stay tuned for their release over the next couple of weeks 💯
(See 💬)

In the mean time, how do you plan to care for yourself over the holidays / rest of the year ?

21/12/2023

I might just see things entirely differently
as a neurodivergent person with ADHD 💁‍♀️

But there are three main reasons I believe that
Getting distracted,
Forgetting things,
Or needing things repeated
Might actually help your dog training 💯
(Or anything you're trying to learn)

Hear me out 🙌

So often I'll have clients or colleagues respond to something I said with, "oh, that reminds me,"
or, "sorry, this is off topic,"
And we might both get a little distracted 😅

And while I'll gently steer things back to the dog training things or what we're trying to accomplish,
I will never make you feel bad for getting distracted or needing something repeated because

👉 For one, it's a human thing.

👉 For two, I believe it can enhance the learning process.

Here's why.

1️⃣ Getting off topic allows our brains to rest for a moment and to really let the information I've just given you soak in.
I'm all for self growth and continuously learning but we all need time to let all the things settle 🧘‍♀️

2️⃣ Whether you have ADHD or not, it's hard to stay focused on one topic or activity for an extended amount of time.
Switching things up helps the brain stay engaged ✅

3️⃣ If I've just covered some dog training concept or skill with you and we get off topic, I'm probably going to repeat what I said in a slightly different way when we come back to it.
Which starts to build that repetition we need in the learning process.
It takes at least 7 times of repetition before our brain can really say it understands something new 💁‍♀️

That's also why we create repetition or routine with our dog, especially when they're first learning in the beginning 💡

Getting distracted, forgetting things, or needing something repeated can make learning feel harder.
But maybe it's more about the expectation that we should get it perfectly right the first time, which is very rarely how it actually works 🙌

Ive been lucky enough in my life to have people hold space for me
And I want to be a supportive space where learning can happen in a natural, normal, and neurodivergent way 💜

16/12/2023

Relatable, compassionate, and TRUE 👈💛

One of my posts from 2022 that spoke to so many and deserves a re-post. ❤

For many dogs, the world is a fun and engaging place.👍 We take our dogs with us to restaurants, pet stores, crowded parks, and gatherings - in an attempt to give our dogs a life of experiences and have them with us enjoying life by our side.

But for just as many dogs, the world and those activities, is overwhelming, chaotic, and confusing.🥺 There is a common belief that in order for a dog to have a "full life", they need to be social with other people and dogs, they should be comfortable and able to be in public spaces, and they need to get out and explore the 🌏. And if you're not doing these things, you are doing your dog a disservice.

Now, I'm not saying these things should be discouraged or that dogs don't enjoy such situations. But what I am saying, is 👉NOT ALL DOGS WILL! 👈

If your dog is overwhelmed by the chaos of crowded spaces, if they don't enjoy the company of other dogs or strange people, and if you find they are most happy in quiet and familiar spaces, I'm here to tell you that's okay!

Dogs can live a full and complete life without needing to be thrusted into these situations. And I'll take it one step further that forcing a stressed dog into these situations is doing them a greater disservice. 🙁

By creating safe opportunities for enrichment at home and in private spaces where your dog feels safe, you are allowing your dog the ability to be him/herself and fully enjoy life without constantly feeling on edge. You are NOT doing your dog an injustice by keeping him/her away from those things that may be overwhelming for him.

👉You do NOT have to take your dog to that "dog friendly" cafe downtown just because other people do.

👉You do NOT need to take your dog to the dog park to "be social" and "meet new friends" if this isn't something your dog enjoys

👉You do NOT need to take your dog for walks in that crowded park where he consistently feels on edge with all of the activity around

👉And you certainly do NOT need to take your dog into stores or other public spaces so he can meet new people (who he has no interest in meeting).

I'm here to take that burden off of your shoulders. To recommend focusing on providing your dog with enriching activities, novel experiences, and opportunities to do the things that bring you both joy in the spaces that fit your dog's needs and preferences.

Our dog's worlds don't have to be big, they just have to be full. Full of enrichment, love, safety, and joy.❤️🐾

14/12/2023

It's understandable if you aren't feeling festive this year, whatever holiday or tradition you celebrate.

(And if you are, I love that for you - happy holidays) ❤️

But for many of us, dogs included, the holidays come with stress.

Routines get interrupted,
There's lots of sensory overload,
Obligations and expectations,
World events like what's happening to Palestine,
Personal events including grief and loss,
and the list goes on ✍

So take care of yourself,
be mindful of other's experiences,
and if there's enough interest I would love to share tips around navigating the holidays with your dog whether you're having guests over or traveling 💡

13/12/2023

How often do you try something new and expect to be good at it like, yesterday ? 👈🤔
Yeah, we know that most things will take practice to get good at 💁‍♀️
And that well probably suck at first 😅

But you're probably also like me, who just wants to be instantly good at whatever I do
and gets really uncomfortable when I'm new and awkward and having to fumble my way through the process of learning 🥴

Sometimes even with simple things like the multiple attempted hobbies where I thought I was going to be able to walk away with something at least worth hanging on the wall, like my recent endeavor with wood burning...
And how disappointed I was when my first session was nothing more than some lines and awkward shapes !
🔊 *Whomp whomp whooomp* 🔊

But that's where we all start, right ?
The basic lines and shapes.

So where might that be in your dog training ? 🤔

Well, one way to ease yourself into it is to start training yourself !
Train yourself to start looking for even the brief moments your dog is doing what you want..
Whether it's just a few seconds of a loose leash
or
acknowledging your existence while out on an adventure 👀
Even just glancing at you is a step in the right direction that we can build off of with more strategic training 😉

It also helps gets you out of the slump of focusing on everything that's not going right 😮‍💨

We all start somewhere and the small steps count 💯

If you'd like some guidance and encouragement along the way don't hesitate to reach out 💬

Message me "confident walks" and I will send you a free guide to bring some ease into you and your dogs walks, no questions asked (unless you're asking them) 🙌