Salty Dogs Obedience and Adventure

19/12/2024

Some beautiful weather this week to be in the woods. Where have you been walking?

16/12/2024

Today at Maine Canine Academy we welcome new boy Sailor, worked on door manners, played, trained (and trained and trained and trained) walked, rested, and most importantly: took good group photos ✅

Featuring Jacques, Nora, Sedge, Maple, Monkey, Maya, and Sailor!

16/12/2024

Blix has been in the shelter too long and needs a home. Can you spread the word?

🌟 PET OF THE WEEK: Blix 🌟

Blix is still here at the SPCA-HC, so we’re breaking out THE picture - how could you possibly resist? Blix is a sweet, playful 2 year old pup looking for a home where he can spend lots of time with his people, and play to get all of his energy out! Blix gets SO excited when he gets to spend time with humans at the shelter. He loves to go for walks, play fetch, and snuggle with warm blankets. Treats are this pup’s best friend and work wonders in redirecting his excited, young dog energy. Blix has successfully socialized with other animals before his time at the SPCA-HC and while in our care. He is a big boy, so his playmates and companions must be comfortable with his size and energy levels. He is neutered, up to date on all vaccinations, is treated for fleas and ticks, and 4DX tested. He has gained over 10 pounds since being in our care and has now reached a healthy weight that he is maintaining. This pup has muscles and loves to use them for running, playing, and adventuring! There aren’t enough words to express how hopeful we are that someone will come along and finally give this baby the life he deserves. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to the SPCA-HC with any questions!

13/12/2024

We had another great staff and volunteer training at the SPCA of Hancock County this week! We were also fortunate enough to meet this sweet love Bowie! Available for adoption (he is SO fun!)

10/12/2024

It’s been a while since we’ve shared what our day training dogs are up to so here’s an update on training with Ursa, Monkey, Sedge, Nora, Hamish, Maple, lab Maple 😉, Jacques, Nellie, Maya, Maggie, Nellie, Ryder, Emma, Jamie, Rupert, Seamus, and Tilda!

Want your dog to get the most training AND the most fun? We have 2 spots open to join for adult dogs and 3 spots for puppies!

Send us a message if interested!

07/12/2024

Meet EMMA: the newest sweet girl to Maine Puppy Academy. We are thrilled to have Emma with us learning to feel safe in the world, building confidence and bravery. One thing I’m seeing more and more these days is people waiting. They want to wait until their puppy is 6-12 months to start training, to start socializing. Please, please, please, for the sake of your puppy please do not wait.

This early period in their life and the experiences they have during it are critical to teaching your puppy about the world. You cannot afford to wait (literally and figuratively). Because of the importance of this period we have two options to help with your pups:

FREEEEEEE puppy class every Saturday! This is a drop in class, so you and your pup under 4 months can join whenever. Shelby, our puppy master, will help you understand the intricacies surrounding socialization and help you troubleshoot the problems you’re facing at home.

This Fall we started Maine Puppy Academy as a way to expand on the work of puppy class. Twice a week puppies like Emma (under 5 months) are dropped off and spend the day working hands on with our trainers, learning how to interact with others, the rules of this weird world they find themselves in, how to be brave when encountering new strange things, and new skills like being comfortable in a crate and separate from you, how to be on a leash, and to wait for access to things, how to play without biting you, and how to safely be off leash in the world.

We have spots open for both weekly puppy class and Maine Puppy Academy. Send us a message for more info!

03/12/2024

My dogs are good at getting me out of my head and into the woods.

What are your dogs good at?

02/12/2024

01/12/2024

LAST CHANCE!

Today’s the day Salty Dogs! Join Jasmine, our Pulling Sports Expert™️, to learn all about dog-powered sports. 1:00 in Surry. Message us for a spot!

28/11/2024

Thankful for a lot this year: a new pretty perfect training studio, great dogs, fun humans. So thankful to get to work every day with this amazing group of trainers. Thankful for Mackenzie, Jasmine, Shelby, Cole, and Violet. Thankful for their kindness and compassion to each other, to the dogs we work with, to the folks we help. Thankful for my team. Thankful for Salty Dogs ❤️

25/11/2024

New girl Maya, a recent adoption from our friends at the SPCA of Hancock County, joined Maine Canine Academy today 🥰🥰 She had a blast playing and training with new friends!

24/11/2024

ALERT!!!

We had a last minute spot open up in a Level 1 (basic obedience) class starting tomorrow (Sunday) at 11:30! Message us to snag the spot, this is our last opening of the year!

23/11/2024

JOIN US! A seminar with everything you need to know about the sports of Bikejoring and Canicross. Lead by Jasmine Pratt CBATI-KA, CPDT-KA, who has trained dogs in sledding, biking, and running and is so excited to share her knowledge with folks looking to get started.

We’ll give you the basics on each of these fun sports and discuss what equipment to use, safety considerations, and how to train your dog to pull you! These sports are about connection, fun and exercise for both you and your dog!

Send a message to reserve your spot! (Humans only!)

21/11/2024

New dogs to our training school Maine Canine Academy! Jamie and Rupert are with us for some confident building around other dogs and out in the world, while Maple has joined our group to work on her basic skills and manners like leash walking, greetings, and recall. Three great new additions!

17/11/2024

UPCOMING SEMINARS!

We have so many opportunities for you to expand your knowledge of living with dogs! Starting with Intro to Bikejoring and Canicross:

We’ll give you the basics on each of these fun sports, what equipment to use, safety considerations, and how to train your dog to pull you! These sports are about connection, fun and exercise for both you and your dog! Perfect for high energy dogs, canicross is a fun way to exercise your dog in any environment, city streets, forest trails, climbing mountains. With your dog safety attached by a bungee leash to a waist belt, you get that added momentum of them pulling to carry you forward! This can be done while hiking, walking, jogging or running. Bikejoring is an exhilarating way to exercise your dog and move faster! With your dog attached to the front of your bike, they are powering your way forward through the trail. This sport is suitable for biking trails, not pavement or uneven terrain.

Get all the info and handouts to take home with our Pulling Sports Expert, Jasmine!

Send us a message to sign up!

17/11/2024

Salty Dogs. You’ve gotta get your dogs out. Your home and the immediate area around it are not enough. All the food puzzles and lickimats in the world won’t cut it if your dog spends all day alone waiting for you and then gets a 15 minute walk around the block. It’s causing more problems than you know, and more importantly: it’s not fair to your dog.

This is probably offending some, and I try really hard to avoid that online, but I’m worried about these trends that I see where our beloved dogs, who are living in captivity (and yes, no matter how much we don’t like that word it is appropriate), have no outlets to be dogs. No time in the woods, no time to dig or practice social behaviors or run or learn or sniff or just be in nature.

Start small. Get a long lead and find a new quiet area to walk your dog. If you need help handling a long lead, if you’ve been afraid to let your dog off leash, if you haven’t trained them, we are here to help.

13/11/2024

This week we started Maine Puppy Academy with Maggie, Nellie, and Ryder! Our MPA pups spend their days training, socializing, playing, learning about all the weird rules in human world (no biting?? no jumping?? p*e where??)

This early time in each dogs life is so. precious. Associations and perceptions they form now can last a lifetime. We can help set your pup up to be their best, and teach how to move through the world at your side as your best friend.

We have more spots open at Maine Puppy Academy. Send us a message for more info!

10/11/2024

NOW IS NOT THE TIME: It’s definitely not the right time to stop rewarding that recall. Colder temps, falling leaves, animals moving, new smells. That’s a recipe for a half learned recall to fall apart. Remember that when you reward your dog for coming back to you (hint: use something other than just praise) you’re not just rewarding that singular repetition, you’re building a *reinforcement history* so that when you really need it, you’re gonna get it. Don’t stop rewarding. Definitely not now, and I would say, even better if you reward it forever.