The Happy Hound

11/02/2025

Heading to Miami for the week the soak up some much needed sun!! I’ll be available as needed but otherwise I will respond to messages when I’m back!!

27/07/2024

Winston wrapped up his 3 week program today! It has been so rewarding to watch him grow from a nervous little shadow into a more confident and independent dog. The adjustment back home will be some work for mom in order to help him settle into a new routine in an old environment. But through several training sessions they should feel confident together in the skills they’ve learned to maintain his new behaviors. I’m so excited to watch them explore more of the world together with less stress and can’t wait to hear updates as he transitions home. Forever grateful for the opportunity to help people live their best lives with their dogs.

24/07/2024

Portraits from this months pack walk ❤️❤️❤️ I love capturing these moments with you guys. (Still figuring out how to use a real camera lol)

29/03/2024

07/02/2024

Don’t forget to check your calendars for training this week!!!! As always, even though I’ll be on vacation I will still be reachable through email for all of your training needs!!! I’m always happy to answer your questions in order to be sure you guys have as productive of a week as possible!!

03/02/2024

and I talk every single day, all day and we have the tea on each other’s clients. So generally when you get one, you are actually getting two trainers without even knowing it. 😉
I figured it was time to start sharing some of our insider tea. ☕️

05/11/2023

Had some new followers lately and I figured it was time to reintroduce myself! My name is Sami and I am the sole owner and trainer of the Happy Hound. You’ve also likely met my awesome helpers Nola, Juneau, and Frankie. I couldn’t do what I do without them.

I stumbled into the world of dog training by chance almost 8 years ago now and I’ve never looked back. My journey started with a degree in animal behavior, which had been the key to opening a lot of doors for me. Once I took that first step into dog training, I knew that this was what I was meant to be doing. I fell head over heels for the holistic approach I learned from watching my peers and became obsessed with seeing the progress that could be made with a dog from start to “finish.” There’s no better feeling than when an owner sees the results and realizes that they no longer need to struggle the way they have been for years. Their lives changed forever, for the better. Watching people finally enjoy their dog for who they are for the first time in YEARS sometimes, is a joy that will never grow old for me.

Every new dog is a new and exciting opportunity that I get to be a part of. Picking apart each situation and getting down to the root of the problem and figuring out how to approach it. It’s the world’s most rewarding puzzle and I’m thankful everyday that this is what I get to do for a living. You guys have made that possible for me and I don’t think I could ever show how grateful I am for each and every one of you.

Thank you to all my Happy Hounds!!!!

28/10/2023

I know winter sucks but we get it for half of the year here and I hear from so many people “I’ll reach out when the weather gets nicer.” DONT do this!!! Our dogs need guidance and training all year round and if you spend half of the year not training, you’re going to set yourself up for a really challenging summer. Despite the cold, the winter is one of the BEST times to train your dog. There are fewer distractions out in the world and you’ll be set up for a much less stressful holiday season if you get the jumpstart beforehand!

So don’t wait!! Get started training today. Your dog will thank you.

21/09/2023

Parker is now officially halfway into his board and train program! This week he has made some awesome progress with his walking and obedience. This coming week will focus on cleaning those things up as much as possible and proofing them around distractions. He’s been such a fun dog to work with so far and I’m really excited for his family to see how far he’s come in such a short time!

05/08/2023

Scout has officially wrapped up lessons….. I’m not crying you are!!! 😭 scout is such a fun quirky dude who LOVES to work. He has accomplished so much since starting lessons. He has gotten over severe crate anxiety, he’s mastered his place command, his walking looks better everyday, and he’s becoming more reliable off leash and out in the world! He’s a special little dude and him and his family are moving away next month (rude!!), but I can’t wait to hear about his tropical adventures!!!! Good luck buddy, you got this!!!

23/07/2023

Echo had his go home lesson today for his two week board and train. Having already completed private lessons, his owner felt that they needed more in order to help echo live a better life. He has dealt with reactivity and dog aggression for most of his life and living in a two dog household made this really stressful. By teaching his owners how to more accurately read and understand his body language, advocate for his needs, and more appropriately use their training tools they can all become a more well oiled machine with less conflict. It was so fun helping echo over the past couple of weeks and I can’t wait to hear how his transition back home goes in the coming weeks.

13/07/2023

I get it. When you don’t know what to do, training can feel really overwhelming and frustrating. But when you take a step back to look at the situation, don’t you think that’s exactly how your dog is feeling too? The expectations we tend to put on our dogs can be really confusing and stressful for them if we don’t know how to properly communicate and motivate them. To expect full compliance on their end without first taking the time to understand how our own behavior affects them is truly unfair and a recipe for disaster. If you want to see change from your dog, you need to first change your own behavior. Take the time to learn about your dog or reach out to a professional trainer to find where your gaps are. Don’t put the full responsibility on your dog. Balance out your relationship and everyone will thrive.

23/06/2023

We didn’t let a little rain stop us today!!! Beans finished his final lesson of his 6 pack today. Boy am I proud of this little dude. Beans struggles with extreme fear and anxiety. He was a nightmare on leash and too stressed for food even outside of his own home. In his final lesson we were able to walk around the park and do so many different confidence building exercises and he was like a different dog! It’s so exciting and will open up a whole new world of opportunities for him as he continues on. Everyone say GO BEANS!!!!

12/05/2023

Going out of town for some much needed R&R for my birthday. I will get back to any texts or emails when I return, unless it is an emergency! See you guys soon!!

21/04/2023

I’m always excited for clients to graduate from their training package, but the endings are always a little bittersweet. Oscar wrapped up his 10 pack of lessons today. I can’t even begin to say how proud I am of the progress that he and his owners have made together. Oscar is a challenging, fearful, reactive, resource guarding dog and on top of it his owners are also new human parents as well. They didn’t let any of that stop them though. Over the past couple of months they have put in the time and effort and have left their package with a significantly stronger and healthier relationship with their little dude. They plan to continue on with lessons, so we’ll be seeing him again, but for now…. CONGRATS OSCAR!!! 🥳🎓

20/04/2023

Do you know why almost every dog trainer will teach you and your dog the place command? I often find that, at first, people have a really hard time finding real uses for this command and end up letting it degrade with time. Here are just a few real life reasons of when you might use the command:

🔸 if you have an anxious dog! It will help them to gain some healthy independence and the ability to self sooth
🔸it is great for a dog who begs for your food during dinner time
🔸 if you have a dog who jumps when company comes over
🔸if you have a dog who constantly paces the house or follows you like a shadow
🔸 even if you have a dog who loves to chase squirrels

Using the command for these types of activities/scenarios will help to create a more relaxed, confident, and less impulsive pup!

12/04/2023

Bentley wrapped up his 10 pack of private lessons today. I am so proud of the progress that he and his mom have made together over the past couple of months. Their relationship is stronger and they’re able to do more together. I can’t wait to see where their training takes them over the years!!

30/03/2023

These two are Rudy and Jeffery! Their owner contacted us because of some pretty intense aggression towards each other in the home. During their evaluation, it became obvious right away how much they needed help. The excitement of a new person coming into the house caused a pretty intense scuffle between the two. Unfortunately, this is a common occurrence and their owner is at her wits end. Over the next few weeks we will be adding some extra structure and boundaries around the house to help mitigate these moments of aggression. Follow along to see their progress!