Social Tailwaggers, LLC

  • Home
  • Social Tailwaggers, LLC

Social Tailwaggers, LLC Social Tailwaggers, LLC provides dog training and Behavior Consultation for puppies to adult dogs. We provide in-home training and group classes.
(11)

Social Tailwaggers, LLC offers In-Home Dog Training, Puppy Socialization Classes, and Basic Training Classes. We teach using Positive Reinforcement methods only. We are located in Laurel, MD and service Northern Prince Georges, Montgomery, Howard, and Anne Arundel Counties.

2024 FALL CLASSES ARE STARTING SOON!! -
29/08/2024

2024 FALL CLASSES ARE STARTING SOON!! -

Our Advanced Basic Manners Class is designed to help your dog become more confident with their basic manners skills in an outside environment where distractions make it more difficult for dogs. This class will help strengthen their basic skills around other dogs, people and natural distractions....

Congratulations!!!Please help us congratulate our most recent Basic Manners Class Graduates!!  Fritz, and Charlie were b...
23/08/2024

Congratulations!!!

Please help us congratulate our most recent Basic Manners Class Graduates!! Fritz, and Charlie were both A+ students!! They even became great friends during class and were rewarded after each class with some play.

Our Fall Class Schedule is now up on our website. We are offering Basic Manners, Building A Closer Relationship With Your Dog, Advanced Basic Manners, Barkour For Dogs, and Walk This Way classes for our Fall session. Classes are filling up fast!

If you are interested in registering, email us at [email protected]. We are looking forward to meeting you in one of our fun classes!!

19/08/2024

Our Advanced Basic Manners Class is designed to help your dog become more confident with their basic manners skills in an outside environment where distractions make it more difficult for dogs. This class will help strengthen their basic skills around other dogs, people and natural distractions....

19/08/2024

We have been "taught" to believe that when a dog is wagging her tail it means she is a happy dog. However, this is not always true. Check out this great information by Animal Positive Coalition Then, start observing your dog in different situations. Watch her tail as she responds to different things in her environment (greeting people, seeing animals and inanimate objects, vehicles passing by, etc.) so you can start to learn what your dog's tail is telling you.

Good information on keeping dogs safe when playing.
12/08/2024

Good information on keeping dogs safe when playing.

Sweet 14-week-old Golden Retriever puppy Percy is on the road to recovery after spending some time in our ICU over the weekend! He was an excellent patient and feels better already thanks to some time in our state-of-the-art oxygen kennel. In this photo he had popped his little head out to say hello to our staff during one of his treatments, and we don’t think he could get any cuter!

How Percy ended up spending the weekend with us is an important story that his caring owners allowed us to share to help keep other pets safe. Percy and his big brother were rough-housing, when Percy’s collar got stuck on his brother’s mouth. Percy panicked when he was suddenly stuck, and while twisting around trying to escape he caused his collar to become even tighter around his neck! Thankfully their owner noticed quickly that something was wrong and freed Percy before he lost consciousness. When his owners rushed him to see our ER team, Percy was struggling to breathe, drooling profusely, and very distressed. Radiographs showed that Percy had fluid in his lungs (non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema) caused by the time he spent struggling to breathe. Pain medications and oxygen support quickly helped Percy breathe more comfortably as his body worked to heal from the experience.

The strangulation hazard of dogs playing while wearing collars is a hidden danger that many pet owners don’t know about, but a story we hear with some frequency in the ER. Thankfully Percy’s story has a happy ending, but if his owners hadn’t been there to intervene it could have been tragic. Please, get your pups microchipped so they have a permanent form of identification, and then take those collars off when they’re playing with or interacting with other dogs!

It can be dangerous when a dog eats their food fast.  There can also be some underlying health reasons for eating fast. ...
24/07/2024

It can be dangerous when a dog eats their food fast. There can also be some underlying health reasons for eating fast. This article has some good advice on these topics and more.

Discover why dogs eat so quickly and when to be concerned about your dog's fast eating habits. By The Dog Food Advisor.

20/07/2024

The LARS Open is quickly approaching and we are excited to announce that Social Tailwaggers, LLC has graciously signed on as a Hole Sponsor. We are grateful for our community sponsors who are helping to make this inaugural event a success.

There's still time to purchase tickets to join us as the event on July 31st and sponsorship opportunities are still available. https://ow.ly/HC1R50SG8g6

17/07/2024
Last Call!!!  We still have a few spots left in our Tricks class which starts this Thursday, 7/18, at 6:30pm and our Bas...
16/07/2024

Last Call!!! We still have a few spots left in our Tricks class which starts this Thursday, 7/18, at 6:30pm and our Basic Manners Class starting Tuesday, July 23, at 8:00 pm.

We also have openings in our Puppy Socialization Class which is held Saturday mornings at 10am.

Email us at [email protected] for more information.

Our Advanced Basic Manners Class is designed to help your dog become more confident with their basic manners skills in an outside environment where distractions make it more difficult for dogs. This class will help strengthen their basic skills around other dogs, people and natural distractions....

Do you have a shy/fearful dog?  The first step to helping a shy/fearful dog is to not ask your dog to "face their fears"...
15/07/2024

Do you have a shy/fearful dog? The first step to helping a shy/fearful dog is to not ask your dog to "face their fears". This will not help your dog. Take a look at this post from Good Guardianship. They did an excellent job of explaining why.

If you have a shy/fearful dog, Social Tailwaggers can help you. Send us an email at [email protected]. We are looking forward to helping you and your dog.

"He needs to get over it!"

"Leave her, she'll get used to it."

We so often hear these words used when talking about dogs who are scared of something. That it's just something they have to get used to and, if we make them stay close to it for long enough, that they will realise there is no danger and learn to accept it.

There is a logic there - after all, this is how immersion therapy for phobias works with people. In a controlled setting the person is exposed to the source of their fear while the therapist helps them to remain as calm and grounded as possible. And so, with exposure, they come to be less terrified, less likely to have that immediate instinctive reaction that screams at them 'Danger, RUN!'

Here's the thing - that doesn't work with dogs. They will not just get over it, or suddenly realise that they are safe. Rather than helping, forcing a dog to stay in proximity of something that scares them can make things a whole lot worse.

This technique of making the dog stay close to the source of their fear is called flooding. And yes, it can work well with people in certain cases and used carefully. So why not with dogs?

Humans have a much more developed pre-frontal cortex in the brain than dogs, and this is where reasoning takes place. Dogs simply are not equipped to carry out the same level of reasoning as humans. Much more of their brain proportionally is involved in processing instinctive responses including fear responses when they feel they are in danger.

This means they are not capable of the thought processes that exposure therapy relies on because they cannot reason that they are in a controlled environment and nothing bad is going to happen to them.

What flooding is far more likely to do in dogs is lead to them shutting down. They can’t escape from the thing that is causing their fear and, especially when they have tried to get away in the past but have been prevented, they give up and just wait for it to be over.

This is truly an awful situation to contemplate, a dog who feels all they can do is shut down and wait for the trigger of their terror to go away. Even worse, this can be mistaken for calm and good behaviour by people who are unaware of what flooding does.

A lot of what I do involves ‘reactive’ dogs who are reacting to something in their environment due to fear or anxiety. Some trainers, who either don’t know better or do not care about the emotional state of the dog, may put aversive equipment on the dog such as prong or shock collars. The dog learns that, if they react, it hurts and so they stop reacting.

This leads the ignorant or unscrupulous trainer to claim the dog is ‘fixed’ when in fact the dog knows they cannot escape and, if they try, it will hurt, and so they shut down and wait. It’s heartbreaking when you realise what is actually going on in these situations. There is also the massive damage that is done to the bond and trust between the dog and their people.

When a dog is scared of something they need distance from that thing and, if it’s something that we need them to be more comfortable with, a careful programme of helping them to feel better about that thing.

And, if your dog is scared, it’s absolutely fine to comfort them – you will not make their fear worse. What you will do is reinforce to your dog that, if they are scared and they come to you they will get comfort and help to feel safer in that moment.

How could that ever be a bad thing?

Good information regarding dog play!
15/07/2024

Good information regarding dog play!

Are there bullies in the dog world❓ Absolutely ✅
Is all play good play❓Absolutely not ✅
Running full speed into play and not assessing or waiting for social cues is a big issue with dogs.
It can cause an immediate change in energy. Sometimes the high energy may be matched, sometimes it causes an immediate stillness and stiffening in the other dog.
THAT can become a very big issue.
While the focus is on the dog that has the highest energy, people can often forget about the other dog involved....BOTH dogs need read and not just the dog that has that extreme energy.
Don't forget who that energy is targeted at.
That quietness/stiffness and stillness from the other dog needs noticed...and intervene if necessary.

Play can turn in an instant...so it is important to advocate even when they are playing.
I am all for dogs communicating together and letting each other know what is appropriate and what is not, but unfortunately many dogs do have inappropriate play styles and are unable to read social cues. They have gone from 0 to 10 even before the lead is taken off to let play commence.
Dogs may react badly to pushy play styles or behaviour they may see as inappropriate.
Over excited/hyper dogs often have very little emotional self regulation.
They don't wait for those important social cues and some don't know how to read them when they are given.
They charge in with an immediate intensity that dogs can react very badly to.

Watch for sudden changes.
Read BOTH dogs and not just yours.
Advocate.

Unmarked graphics are available for $ 1.20 USD or $ 2 NZD each (approx), these are then able to be used off Facebook for client handouts, posters etc. Please visit ABC Dogs Patreon Shop for our collections of graphics.
Everyone is free to share these posts on social media, however off social media use is protected.
Screen shots are a violation of copyright.
Please respect that these graphics take time and effort to make . All graphics belong to ABC Dogs NZ and are under copyright.



















14/07/2024

Wow!

14/07/2024

Training is simple but not easy. Take breaks as needed and keep it fun!

Please keep your dog off the hot pavement during this crazy hot weather!!  Take very short walks and walk on the grass i...
10/07/2024

Please keep your dog off the hot pavement during this crazy hot weather!! Take very short walks and walk on the grass instead of the pavement.

Tuesday Tip!
KEEP YOUR PUPS COOL & SAFE ❤️ 🐾

CONGRATULATIONS Princess Nadia!  Princess graduated from our Puppy Socialization Class on Saturday.  Princess learned ho...
09/07/2024

CONGRATULATIONS Princess Nadia! Princess graduated from our Puppy Socialization Class on Saturday. Princess learned how to sit, lie down and come when called. She did great with learning that it was ok to be touched all over her body, had fun going through the obstacles courses, and had a great time playing with the other puppies....she is a Star!

Puppy Socialization Class is the most important class for puppies. Contact us for more information: [email protected].

08/07/2024

Please spread the word so we can reunite this found dog with its family! FOUND on July 7, 2024 in Laurel, MD 20707 near At river between Rt 216 and Main

Message from Finder: Pet was found with blue collar and black leash. Friendly but scared. Likes people.

Description: Brown possibly German shepard

Do you have information? Contact finder here: https://www.pawboost.com/p/70513275

Lost or found a pet? Report it to PawBoost here: https://www.pawboost.com/l/rpf

Last night was our final inside class for Barkour For Dogs....on Sunday we head to the park for our last class.  This is...
03/07/2024

Last night was our final inside class for Barkour For Dogs....on Sunday we head to the park for our last class. This is always such a fun class for dogs and humans! It is not only a great way to help build confidence in your dog and build a fun relationship with your dog, but also a great way for the dogs to make friends in a fun and safe environment.

Maggie and Moose hit it off from the first class. If they had it their way, they would just play during class! They and their humans are good friends now and will be having playdates outside of class. Cordi was happy to have fun with her "mom" during class and observe Maggie and Moose from the sidelines!

If you are interested in attending our next Barkour For Dogs class in the Fall, send us an email to be put on the wait list. If you are interested in our current classes, we have several starting this month: Basic Manners, Intermediate Basic Manners, Advanced Basic Manners, and Tricks Class. Hurry, the dates are quickly coming up but we do still have a few spaces open! Email us at [email protected].

01/07/2024

PLEASE WE REALLY NEED YOUR SHARES....
15 pound Juliet has been waiting now for over 8 months for her family to find her-she is super sweet and loving, a cuddler to people, dogs and cats. We can't know what life was like for Juliet before she arrived to make her careful with trusting but she is likely to be timid for just a few days once adopted, for this reason, we are hoping for a fenced yard and another dog (she takes comfort in being around another dog). It doesn't take long and she becomes just the best girl. Housebroken, playful and an all around fun dog.
Corgi mix? Maybe, Ellicott City, Md
Apply at almosthomedogs.org

30/06/2024

Always wonderful and amazing to watch the zoos teach cooperative care to the animals!!

29/06/2024

Join LARS staff at the Laurel Golf Center on Wednesday July 31st from 5-8 PM for a range of family fun opportunities. Tickets are limited and we can't wait to see you putting on the range.

https://ow.ly/ZarM50SombB

27/06/2024

It's amazing how smart animals are!

Address


Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Social Tailwaggers, LLC posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Social Tailwaggers, LLC:

Videos

Shortcuts

  • Address
  • Telephone
  • Alerts
  • Contact The Business
  • Videos
  • Claim ownership or report listing
  • Want your business to be the top-listed Pet Store/pet Service?

Share