APAW - Poodle Pups Bred for Working Roles

10/03/2025

Quill and his partner have just completed the classroom portion of their training as a therapy dog team with Bright Spot Therapy Dogs! 💖🐾

Congratulations Quill, I know you'll bring lots of smiles to lots of faces! 😊

DASH APAW's Legendary Outlaw CGC ATD ADP-L1 Total Dog

Q litter, Locket x Ideal

https://www.facebook.com/100064366194589/posts/1059474532874743/

This great group of handlers and dogs finished up their Bright Spot Therapy Dog classroom portion of their certification journey. We are excited for them to move on to their on-site nursing home evaluations. They will surely bring lots of joy and comfort to those who need it most.

Interested in starting your journey to becoming a certified Bright Spot Therapy Dog team? Visit our website for more info. www.bright-spot.org/certify

09/03/2025

Neptune just keeps on growing! 😃 He towers over his sire Kindle 🤗

Size of parents does not always predict size of puppies, but if you look at the broader pedigree you'll usually find that pups are within the range of other relatives.

V litter, Kindle x Galaxy
K litter, Hercules x Dawn

08/03/2025

Velour and his partner recently passed their Odor Recognition Test too!

APAW's Trusty Tracksuit ORT

V litter, Kindle x Galaxy

06/03/2025

And just like that...! Lyric is in heat 🤩 Dyno has his recheck this weekend, so hopefully all is clear for mating late next week/weekend! Everyone cross your fingers!! 🤞🤞

05/03/2025

On Sunday our upcoming dams Lyric and Orchid had their eyes re-examined - both had previously passed their eye exams but it's a test that is recommended to be repeated within a year of breeding, or ideally every year. Both girls as well as 3 APAW boys passed their exams 🥰🥳

Pictured left to right, Marty, Quill, Lyric, Orchid and Happy.

Quill is now fully health tested and available at stud to approved females! I'll be making a web page with his details soon (he is owned by his partner Mary).
Marty is young and just starting his health testing, also owned by Mary.
Happy has his next tests scheduled, owned by his partner Maureen.

Thank you to Tails Pet Salon in Athol, MA for hosting the eye clinic!

04/03/2025

Here is service dog Genesis, brother to Glacier (posted a few days ago). Genesis helps his partner in a variety of ways - one example was a night that his partner's Cpap line came loose, and Genesis nudged him persistently until he woke up 💖

URO2 U-CH APAW's Follow Me Follow You ATD SPOT-ON

G litter, Nikolai x Denali
Sire of youngster Harry

03/03/2025

Burban and his partner passed their Odor Recognition Test last week, demonstrating that Burban can find and alert his partner to the presence of birch, anise and clove. They are enjoying learning the game of nosework!

APAW's Road Trip ORT

R litter, Thunder x Haven

01/03/2025

Service dog Glacier taking a nap with his tennis ball 🥰

APAW's Frosty Pinnacle

G litter, Nikolai x Denali

28/02/2025

Saffron's cords are coming along 🤗

S litter, Clue x Hope

20/02/2025

Happy 8th birthday to the H litter! Hercules, Hope, Henna, Harvest, Horizon, Helios, Heidi, Haven, Lacee and Penny! 🥳

Here's my girl, Haven 🥰

No one ever guesses her age - most people are surprised to hear she is not still a youngster... She's got lots of happy energy, enthusiasm for every adventure and opportunity, and loves to add in little "ballerina twirls" to her happy displays 💃

Haven is retired from breeding (dam of the R and U litters), and we are training for continued fun in various performance sports.

URO1 U-CH APAW's Over The Rainbow FDC CGC TKN SPOT-ON

Pics coming soon for littermates ☺️

20/02/2025

My newest blog article describes the typical daily roles for a service dog trainer, from kennel duties to training, public access outings and client communications... and keeping records of it all!

Here are a few excerpts:
"Trainers are assigned a ‘string’ of dogs which they are responsible for training until placed in their working role. Depending on the organization this might be 4-12 dogs or so, though around 6-8 is most common. The dogs are generally young adults, either raised by a puppy program and taught basics and having received a lot of socialization already, or they are recent recruits from shelters having passed initial temperament and health screening. Generally a trainer works with dogs in a 3-4 month cycle, receiving new dogs and working through the same stages of training together. Depending on the organization the trainer might also be responsible for grooming and any other care needs of each of their dogs, or there may be other support staff for those roles."..
"After lunch trainers generally focus on task training and whatever obedience or other skills each of their dogs need to work on to progress towards readiness to be placed with a client. This training is generally done “on campus”, in a training room equipped for teaching the many tasks a dog needs to master before placement, or wherever is best for the trainer to work on other needed skills. Again the trainer may have multiple dogs with them practicing a long down-stay while they work individual dogs on the skills they want to focus on that day/for that dog."..
"A trainer working with a string of dogs early in their training is likely to collect each dog individually from the kennel and give the dog their full focus throughout – taking the dog out to potty on cue, then into the training room or low-distraction environment to work. They may start with a massage or play session if they are still establishing a bond with the dog, then shift into basic obedience run-throughs and foundation skills for tasks. They may let the dog play on their own, practice waiting in a crate, or learn to hold a down-stay while the trainer fills out the record for the day’s training session and jots down any notes to be sure to practice certain situations (such as holding a stay while tennis balls are rolling around, getting more comfortable wearing their vest, or a note that the dog seems ready for the next level of a skill). After training the dog is given another opportunity to potty on-cue, then returned to their kennel or play group."

Find the full article on my website, or click the link in the comments ☺️

Please share with the aspiring dog trainers you know 🐾

19/02/2025

I finally got to my '24 year-end recap! 🥰🐾

Link is in the comments!

18/02/2025

Neptune got all spiffy for Valentine's Day 🥰

V litter, Kindle x Galaxy

16/02/2025

Stormie's owner shared this adorable photo of her after a beautiful snowy day ❄️🌞 Share your snowy pup pics in the comments!

Today is not so beautiful here in Massachusetts! Stay safe and warm! 🌬🌨🥶

T litter, Zorro x Ideal

16/02/2025

Lyric came for a short visit this weekend - she is my other planned mom for this Spring.

She and Orchid are signed-up for updated eye exams but the clinic has to be postponed to a future date due to weather. Lyric's guardian home was able to come pick her up just as the snow started falling ☃️

U-CH APAW's Song Of The Wild CGC

L litter, Rudy x Denali

15/02/2025

Congratulations to Quill and little Marty and their partner for each earning their Advanced Trick Dog titles! 🤩
This title is from Do More With Your Dog, and requires a demonstration of 5 tricks which are considered of Advanced level or more challenging.

Quill performed: place, spin on a small platform, tap light, rear foot target, and tidy up toys.

Marty performed: teeter, tap light, rear foot target, place and 3 behaviors at a distance (spin, sit, down).

DASH APAW's Legendary Outlaw CGC ATD ADP L1 Total Dog
Quill is from the Q litter, Locket x Ideal

APAW's 1.21 Gigawatts ATD ADP L1
Marty is from the T litter, Zorro x Ideal

Links to their trick videos are in the comments! 🐾

14/02/2025

Beautiful Starlight is one of the service dogs I trained and placed about 10 years ago. At 12 years old Starlight is still healthy and only just starting to slow down a bit with her maturity, still enthusiastic to help her partner 🥰

She is not closely related to other dogs here. Bred and donated by Crabapple Downs 🐾