Suburban Paws

lockdown we started working with Maggie on her puppy basics but she also found her harness and the process of putting the harness on very aversive. . . Important! Our dogs are not born knowing what wearing a collar , harness or leash feels like! Having someone hold you still and man-handle your legs and neck can be super scary! Go easy on your new puppy and if they are showing signs of fear or discomfort get some help for them. .... . With the help of counter conditioning and strategic desensitization , Maggie is feeling much better about having her harness put on and now her amazing family will slowly add the leash and she will be ready for her walks in no time . . Video of where Maggie is now in the comments! See more

Remember! Just because we are in lockdown shouldn’t mean your training goals need to be put on hold! We are able to successfully train virtually during this lockdown . . This week we get to welcome May, Bailey, Maggie, Bentley and Bella to our family !! Not sure how long I will be living after this . Honestly. Look at those FACES .... . No matter your training goal , we can help you get there and May I add I am LOVING all of these new puppy guardians choosing positive reinforcement training??? Great way to start the year . . Welcome, gang! See more

There’s not much I can say about 2020 that hasn’t already been said. . . I took my dog training exam on the very first day of lockdown. I had worked so hard for so long to get to this point and had big plans for myself and this business. .... . What was supposed to be a new and exciting business evolution turned into looming doubt, fear and confusion while I tried to navigate this new world. I was trying to build a new training business, maintain an existing clientele and now mom it like I had never mom’d it before. What. The. Actual. Fuck. . . To say I’m glad 2020 is done is an understatement but I can’t help but recognize what this year has brought as well. . . . I am so incredibly thankful for the clients who have stuck with this business from the beginning. You kept me afloat in the roughest waters. Your understanding, flexibility and concern for my well being reminded me that good humans do exist. . . To my new training family. Your commitment to training your dog with kindness and compassion is why I started this journey in the first place. I am so proud of all of your progress and am so humbled you have chosen me as your coach. . . To 2020 - you can actually go fuck yourself. You tried to kick us all down but we have persevered into better, stronger and more resilient humans and for that we should be grateful. . . Happy New Years to my little social media family. Cheers to only bigger and better things to come See more

Winston joined our family to work on his puppy basics! Can you tell this little man is ready to work?? Welcome to the fam, Winston

So proud of this team right here !! . . . When we started with Perchi she had had a pretty stressful vet visit and mom didn’t want Perchi to experience that again. Perchi is very timid and skittish so we had our work cut out for us. .... . This is a break down of our plan : 1. Management- muzzle training. 2. Confidence building and comfort - @adaptildog collar , go to place ( her safety mat will accompany her to all vet visits ) 3. Giving Perchi a voice ! Watch tells mom Perchi is ok with what is happening and breaking that means we stop. . . Clear communication is key throughout this process. Perchi let’s mom know what she’s comfortable with and mom then let’s the vet to know when to stop and go. . . We will continue to practice this set up to smooth out any blips and Perchi should be ready for a fearfree vet visit in no time! . . Please don’t ever think your dog ( or cat) doesn’t have any other choice but to have stressful vet visits. There is so much that can be done to help them through this very necessary part of their life . . Amazing work Miss P and mama ! See more

I was actually prompted to make this post after I watched Naya struggle learning to read this year. . . . Her teacher taught in a way that had been successful in previous years with lots of children but it didn’t work for Naya. I watched her struggle, become frustrated , lose confidence and eventually give up even trying. This lead to defeat on my end; not being a (human) teacher I had no idea where to even start. Homework was becoming a battle and I knew she would ...never catch up without help. I spoke to her teacher a few times and tried to implement her advice to no avail. I had a child that couldn’t read and now would avoid trying at all costs. . . It wasn’t until we found a tutor that taught Naya in a way that SHE would understand and she started to SUCCEED. This built her confidence and I now have a little lady that loves to read and , more importantly, isn’t afraid to try. . . This reminded me of how important it is to always be willing to adjust my way of teaching based on the dog I have in front of me in order to set them up for success. If our dogs are not progressing, we need to brainstorm and strategize in order to find what works for THEM. Are they distracted? Tired? Stressed? Motivated? Am I asking too much too soon? There are so many variables that can affect our learning. BUT! It is never up to the learner to adjust to our way of teaching . . A good teacher wants our dogs ( and kids!) to succeed. We want learning to be fun and stress free. We always want a WILLING PARTICIPANT. Most importantly, our learners deserve to have someone QUALIFIED to teach them using the most humane and ethical standards. We owe it to our dogs to help them navigate this human world with kindness, patience and with the understanding that the learning process is as important as the outcome. . . Side note : does anyone know what day it is . #thedaysbetweenchristmasandnewyear See more

Period. Your 25 years of harming dogs doesn’t impress me. .. . Dog Owners! Be careful who you pay. Ask for certification information! What school did you go to, what governing body are you a member of. When was the last time you took a continuing education course. It’s so easy these days to make sure whoever is working with your dog is being held to standards that put your dog’s well-being first. Would you let a nanny work with your kids if you knew she was tormenting them to make them behave? I guess some would but, fuck, we need to do better when we are responsible for living beings. Enough is enough. We need regulation in this industry. Happy Friday

Whenever I start a new case I try not to set any expectations for progress. There’s far too many variables that affect how fast a dog can learn a new skill. But this one blew me away. 2 weeks ago, Perchi was too afraid to approach me, she had just been introduced to the muzzle and we started go to place. This video was only our second session! Perchi’s mom has put in WORK and it shows. We added an @adaptildog collar to help with Perchi’s anxiety and slowly we are building up to our new vet visit protocol. I think we will be there in no time. So proud of this team. Hard work pays off

Koby is afraid of water and the bath and everything that goes into getting into the tub. We broke down the bath situation into steps and are going to work on each one individually : 1. Going into the bathroom 2. Stepping onto a stool to get into the tub 3. Getting into the tub 4.Turning the water on ... 5. The Bath . . In our first session we got through steps 1 and 2 ! . . . Koby’s amazing mama is committed to making sure Koby is comfortable with the bathing process rather than rushing through it just to get it done which is really what our dogs deserve. . . Amazing work with this gentle giant See more

A month ago Jasper was dragging his dad everywhere on their walks to the point that when I met him he said I don’t think you can fix this one but I’ll give it a shot . Thanks for giving it a shot. Look at this team now

Our little Blossom loves to go in her crate on her own but when asked to, she becomes hesitant. So we started working on a go to crate cue which will help make going into the crate fun and rewarding for Blossom. Smarty pants got this one so quick!

Little Gizmo joined our fam for help with resource guarding when he’s resting ( I feel ya, buddy), building a positive association with basic husbandry and loose leash walking. He’s super lucky to have a family dedicated to his success and we are so happy to help them reach their goals ! . . Side note - the teeth. He had me with those teeth . Welcome, Gizmo!