MUTTS-Mongrels Under Talented Teaching Skills

29/08/2024

My last day of work before a vacation break. Relaxing on the porch with Goose.

29/08/2024

Goose sure has settled down and become a much calmer and better-behaved boy. He was pretty anxious in his crate when he first came and would bark incessantly and run around his crate like a hamster on a wheel. I stuffed an enclosed crate full of straw for him and that was a game changer. He was able to get cozy and rest and learn to settle down. Proud of the improvements this little guy has made!

29/08/2024

Copper doodle went home with his people yesterday. I wish I had gotten pics of his field trip at M & D where he was was a very good boy. Happy with all the progress he made and I hope he is a good boy for his humans.

14/08/2024

Enjoying some porch time with Goose, one of my current board & trains. This kid is super anxious in his crate but relaxed really quickly out here on the porch. Gonna try stuffing his crate with straw to get rid of that anxiety and I think we will see a big difference.

14/08/2024

Shadow and Chance, whom I nicknamed "Thing 1" and "Thing 2" went home to their family after staying for board & train. These little fellas were pretty wild when they arrived. Lexy and I were digging them out of all sorts of places where they would climb, crawl, and explore that no other dog had tried to.
I joked that they had "no chill" when we would try to get them to relax, but I am really happy with the progress they made. They learned how to relate to other dogs, how to walk nicely on leash, and how to calm down and watch the world go by. Their mom sent a message that they are so much improved in their behavior at home and on their walks. I miss the little cuties and look forward to seeing them back for boarding. 🐾

12/08/2024

I love getting updates from folks after they have put their homework into practice! I was called to work with Molly a few weeks ago because she was snapping at family members. When I visited, I could see that we needed to build better relationships between her and her humans as well as getting more exercise and mental stimulation for her. The family has been working hard and they are getting great results from the work they have put in!

11/08/2024

I should have taken better photos, but wanted to show how nicely Zayde (Lab) did on his go-home session yesterday. These two dogs and another (not pictured) are his housemates, but because he was recently adopted before coming to board & train he had not really gotten to know them well. The family had mostly kept them separated for fear that they wouldn't all get along. Zayde has gotten exposure to so many sizes and ages of dogs at my place and has learned to respect them. So he was very respectful of his new sisters, as well as his humans. They served us supper while we were there and Zayde laid down quietly and was super well-behaved the whole evening. He is an amazing dog and he is going to have a great life in his wonderful home.

11/08/2024

This dog was available at BAC a couple of months ago and I shared him on my personal page because there was something about him that reminded me of Chili. After his adoption, BAC removed the pic so I deleted my share and kind of forgot about him. I was called to come do a private session with this family and it didn't hit me right away but when I took this pic I realized that he is the dog I had shared. I love that I was given the opportunity to meet him and help his family with training. Such a cool little "God wink."

10/08/2024

I never know what kind of training adventures I will get into. 😂
Today's assignment. Get a halter on this young jack donkey and teach him to walk on it. Mission accomplished. He learned super quickly! My neighbor has the cutest collection of farm animals and just added this guy. Hopefully this will make it easier for them to work with this little fella.

06/08/2024

I have been remiss in not posting over the past month. We have been inundated with boarding dogs for July and it's finally settling down now that August has arrived. Here's a few snippets of training dogs and adventures lately.

09/07/2024

Gorgeous Athena will be going home to her humans tomorrow. She is super cool and I sure don’t want to part with her. I am proud of her progress and I hope she is a good girl for her family.

27/06/2024

Seeing a dog choose relaxation makes me so happy, especially a dog so full of energy as this one.
I could command her to SIT, DOWN and STAY. But giving commands probably won’t change her excited state of mind.
I relax, you relax. That’s what I am looking for. This is a product of building a relationship of trust with the dog. The more we practice and add distractions, the calmer her state of mind will be with the whole world. We have more work to do, but I am really pleased with how far she has come.

24/06/2024

The heat and humidity is turned up this morning but I have a cute puppy to play with.

22/06/2024

Sweet little Nova went home with her people today. She was a bouncy little Tigger when she first arrived for board & train and it seemed she would never settle down, but she made such great progress and was such a good girl on our field trips. I am going to miss having her around. 🐾

18/06/2024

Sweet Jazz went home from board & train today. I wish I had taken pics of her walking with one of her boys down their street. While I was there we also worked on her behavior while the boys were splashing around in their pool, so now the family knows what to do when she gets excited. I am so happy with the progress this girl made and how well she got along with all the dogs. I am going to miss her for sure. 🐾

17/06/2024

Another outing for Hunter the service dog to work on his random reactions to strangers. We went all over the courthouse and sat at the cafe tables for a good while. Every time someone would approach us and he was calm and didn’t show any reaction, I rewarded him. I even got one of the employees to bring him a treat. We had all kinds of folks in all kinds of clothing, uniforms, hats, jail stripes, whatever and he didn’t make a peep. Then we went to Brookshire Bros and sat at the cafe tables there as well. Once again I rewarded him for calm and he laid down and went to sleep. 💤
Then we picked up some groceries and waited in the checkout line. He was perfect until Mayor Williams said hello to us while I was making payment and then Hunter barked at him. Oops! 😬😳

13/06/2024

If you have called me and I couldn’t offer you board & train before September, my fellow trainer SETX Dog Trainer (Aaron Williams) has some spots open.

13/06/2024

Our board & trains are all coming along nicely

13/06/2024

Hunter has been a working service dog for four years, and has been very reliable at alerting on his human’s medical spells and giving her independence to drive. But his human has become a mom and hasn’t been working him in public so much recently. He also has an occasional issue of barking when a stranger approaches him. She thought it would benefit him to come and spend some time with me. I have taken him to the grocery store and to Walmart with no issues, so yesterday I took him to a restaurant. He went right under the table and was being a very good boy, when suddenly one of the waitstaff surprised him and he barked from under the table. I apologized to her and explained that is why the dog is with me, so we can figure this behavior out. I was actually glad i was able to catch him doing this so i have a better picture of what is happening. I have a number of possible fixes in mind for this behavior, so will just have to do a lot of eating out with him…maybe at pet-friendly restaurants for the time being so that his conduct isn’t judged unbecoming of a service dog. This is a good place to remind folks that service dogs are not robots. They are living beings with emotions, needs, and worries. Even when beautifully trained, they can develop issues and we want to help them work through those things so they can be the best helper to their human handler.

10/06/2024

I’m kinda seeing double today 😂
Mille and Jazz are twinkies and best friends.

06/06/2024

More progess updates, see pics

06/06/2024

Sweet little Bulma went home with her people yesterday. She was pretty easy training-wise, just mainly needed to learn how to relate to other dogs. She was an aggressive player and wanted to be too rough with other dogs. I am so glad she came to stay and get a good social foundation so that she will be able to enjoy the company of other dogs and not be reactive towards them. 🐾🐾

06/06/2024

I am so proud of this girlie. She might still be a spazz at moments but she sure has learned so much. She walked beautifully beside me all over town and sat calmly watching people walk in and out of the store. She even rode in the car quietly with no anxiety. I finally got her to accept being in a crate thanks to Marc Goldberg’s straw trick. I am finally comfortable sending her back to her family and I feel they will be very pleased with her progress. 🙌🏼🐾

02/06/2024

Sweet Tucker will be going home with his people. He is a very good boy, just has moments of excitement which could be a bit much for his humans, jumping on people and getting excited about things he saw on walks. He has been doing very well on his walks here as well as on field trips and hopefully he will show his people his new good manners when he gets home.

02/06/2024

Copper is finishing up his stay and is doing so well. He came with a lot of worry and reactivity about people in the environment, and while he is worlds better, he will still need some confidence building activities with his humans so he can trust them and not worry so much. He was fantastic at M & D Hardware. Our next field trip was the Lumberton park, where we watched pickleballers, joggers, and skaters. He didn’t bark at anyone and often looked at me to check in. Good Boy, Copper.

26/05/2024

I have had some folks wanting board & train but didn’t want to wait until July or August for the next openings. This is a rare chance to snag a spot as Ashleigh stays booked and she is amazing. She has competed at the national level in obedience and has top-level dogs.

26/05/2024

Indie is staying with me while her people travel. She is excellently trained and obedient for her humans, but totally distrustful of anyone else in their absence. So I have had to be creative in how I exercise her. I learned that I can’t just turn her out in the dog yard because she doesn’t want to be caught. But we have come to agreement that if she will allow me to leash her (with a nylon slip collar so I don’t lose her), we will go for a nice long walk through the pastures. We are becoming friends and I am happy about that. 🥰
P.S. Her humans speak to her in French, so my lacking French skills might be part of the problem. About all the French I know is OUI, so I say that when I agree with what she is doing. 😂

26/05/2024

Jazz is the newest board & train. Her family had some concerns about how she would relate to other dogs. With careful guidance and showing her that I would protect her from the others, she first trusted me and is now trusting the playmates I have picked for her. I am so happy to see her engage in play. 🥰

26/05/2024

Awww, had to share this memory of Baby Usti from three years ago. Usti spends every Thursday with me and she is the best girl. Her people started training and socializing her from the very beginning and they have done such a great job with her! 🥰

This little cutie is Usty. I went to visit her parents and help them map out a plan to get her potty trained and do some early training