Maine Trail Dogs

20/11/2024

I had my last session of Remy and Sparky’s program this morning - so much has changed for these two in the last month. If I had a picture of my first meeting with Remy and Sparky, it would have showed Sparky climbing my body and holding my arm in his mouth and Remy wouldn’t be pictured because he was growling at me from multiple rooms away. These two have learned a bunch in the last month - Sparky has a reliable recall, doesn’t greet people feet first 😅, and doesn’t try to chase bikes or big trucks anymore! Remy no longer pulls like a freight train on the leash, he had a successful happy visit at the vet this morning, he consistently wants to make friends with people he meets, and both he and Sparky don’t lose their minds when they see dogs. I will miss spending my mornings these two and I can’t wait for our follow up session after my trip!

31/10/2024

Happy Halloween from our crew!

31/10/2024

It’s not the plane, it’s the pilot

Shoutout to for being a photoshop wizard 🧡

14/10/2024

Meet Remy and Sparky! They just started their homeschool programs - Remy (the golden) is a fearful dog who struggles with both stranger danger and dog reactivity. During our evaluation, Remy spent a solid hour growling at me from 3 rooms away. We have had two lessons since to become friends and I’m happy to report about 10 minutes into our first lesson, he realized my intentions were good and we’ve been buddies ever since. Sparky (the mixed breed) is a wild child with no boundaries - he is super fun and gets into all sorts of trouble. Sparky also is a big time jumper and has taken a liking to try to chase big trucks and motorcycles. We’ve got a lot of work to do with these boys, but we’ve already hit the ground running, starting with teaching Sparky the out and both dogs learning recall today.

20/09/2024

This is my bestie Vatsi - he is owned by my wonderful friend Julia from and I absolutely adore him. We’ve shared some magical moments through play together ✨🧡

10/09/2024

Meet Saylor, the Newfoundland, and Kenzie, the lab. Saylor and Kenzie started their homeschool program this week. These two are quite the pair - they’re very sweet and friendly with a healthy serving of chaos. They’re wild when it comes to playing games together, fetch turns into Saylor trying to retrieve the retriever by the neck. We’ve got several goals to accomplish for their program, from greeting guests without newf hugs and cooperating for nail trims to reliable recall. It’s going to be a fun month with these two! Swipe for some bonus goofy newf photos

15/08/2024

I love hearing updates from my clients on how they are doing with their dogs! I recently got this email from Ghost and Arya's owner - I trained Ghost and Arya, two husky littermates back in January. When their owners reached out, their main goal was to be able to walk the dogs on leash without them pulling. I also suggested getting them offleash reliable and their owner was skeptical at first that it would be possible to have the huskies offleash safely, especially with all the wildlife around their home. I'm so happy that they trusted me to train the dogs because they now get to enjoy long walks with the dogs offleash daily. Ghost and Arya have reliable recall, tested regularly with all the wildlife in their
neighborhood! I will note that I trained them to recall by voice command and also to recall when they hear the tone on the ecollar - it was quite handy when I lost my voice for a few days during their program! They can also walk them on leash without pulling (their original goal of their training program). These two girls are living their best life out in Husky Heaven on MDI!

10/07/2024

Meet Baylee! Baylee is a 1 year old cattle dog joining our homeschool program this month. She is a very sweet young dog with some big feelings about the world. She has a lot of fear about the world outside her home - she will not willing leave her yard and she will go into flight or freeze on walks when cars pass. She also has major explosive reactions when she sees other dogs. Baylee is incredibly sweet and friendly with people, she really likes to play, and her owners have built a solid foundation for her obedience. Baylee and I are becoming fast friends - I’m really enjoying working with this spicy little girl!

30/06/2024

Rooster is from Elroy x Alaska’s first litter and Alaska is about to give birth any day now to her second litter, a repeat of the same breeding. These will be super wonderful puppies - Rooster and his siblings have all grown in beautiful dogs with great temperaments!

22/06/2024

We are out of office June 22 - July 8! I will respond to emails and phone calls starting July 8th. We’re looking forward to some down time, birthday celebrations, camping, and family time!

13/06/2024

I’m happy to recommend Firefly Kennel in Dixmont - Rooster loves boarding there! Julie does a wonderful job with daycare and boarding, the dogs are happy, safe, and fulfilled. She pairs dogs for daycare very thoughtfully - this is the only daycare that I recommend! They’re hosting an open house June 29th so you can get a chance to tour their beautiful facility and grounds and meet Julie!

10/06/2024

This weekend, I visited my parents and helped them start to introduce their dogs, Chester and Pocket, to our cousin’s new dog who has some big feelings about other dogs. Chester (pictured here) brought the most relaxed energy to their greeting, spending the majority of the interaction rolling around in the grass. They’ve since been able to enjoy a walk together without the new dog barking and growling at him. Everyone needs Chester in their life, but there is only one Chester.

04/06/2024

Meet Maya, a 1 year old bully mix rescue - she is very sweet and adores people. She has big feelings about seeing dogs, but was very happy to make friends with my pack during her evaluation. She’s been battling some health issues and required quarantine from other dogs, but thankfully she is finally at a place where we can start to build a foundation for her training. We started with possession games and teaching her the out today - she rocked it 💪

24/05/2024

MTD album dropping this summer

18/05/2024

Rooster and I will be there!

Only a few spots left!! OTAC’s Beginners and Beyond Beginners Tracking Workshop on June 15 in Augusta, ME is filling fast. If you want to learn to track with your dog, this workshop is the best – taught by AKC Tracking Judge, Carolyn Fuhrer, it will give you the very best start .
Don’t miss it – call Kathy at 207-691-2332 or e-mail [email protected] to reserve your spot!

17/05/2024

Zeke is coming to the end of his program - he’s come so far from the nervy, growly dog that he was back in February when I met him for his evaluation. He is happy, he has a purpose, he is settled and chill in the house, he is thriving! He and Graham are getting along swimmingly and their family is enjoying regular offleash hikes with the dogs together! We have a few more pieces to put together as we wrap up his program. I’m going to miss hanging with this guy!

09/05/2024

Zeke befriended the mail person today! He was so happy to realize the person walking up to the door that he’d been barking at for 2 years is actually a friend. He had this big goofy grin on his face after, I zoomed in on it 😂
We have about two weeks left in Zeke & Graham’s program. They’re both doing so well and integrating them back together inside is going very smoothly. Today, a neighbor’s dog showed up in their driveway when we had the boys loose together inside. Their owner brought the dog into the mud room to leash him and bring him home - both Zeke and Graham had some grumbling feelings about that, understandably, but Zeke had no issue when Graham walked up to him while that was going on. To note, they’ve been neutral together on walks and outside, it’s only been inside the house that Zeke attacked Graham in the past. I’ve been focusing on that inside work since their owner can safely walk them together outside. We’ve got some more work to do to fully integrate them, but they are well on their way!

03/05/2024

Check out this opportunity to learn about tracking!

Saturday, May 11, 9:00 until 11:00 am at North Star in Somerville - "I want to try tracking with my dog but don’t know what it’s all about!!"
Special 2-hour introduction to tracking – see if your dog likes it! Fun tracking exercises and instruction from an AKC Tracking Judge.
Come and see what it’s all about – it may open up a whole new world for you and your dog.
$50 dog/handler team (OTAC members $35)
Questions? Want to register? Call Kathy at 207-619-2332 or e-mail [email protected]. This is a perfect time of year to start tracking - don't miss this!