Yooper Paws of Love is dedicated to providing training with love to you and your 4-legged friend!
My mission as a trainer is to EDUCATE owners to ENGAGE better with their dogs to EMPOWER them to function as an effective team together. As a trainer, I help families & their dogs learn to enjoy each other’s company by developing a teamwork and games based approach to dog training that is as individualized as the family I’m helping!
While humans either do or do not believe in Santa, Christmas Spirit, or Holiday Miracles, these are not really concepts that dogs understand. So the idea of writing a letter to Santa Paws may not be enticing for everyone. That's totally OK if this is not the holiday tradition for you! For me this is more of a special time where I try to place myself in my dog's place and think about what they really want. Instead of approaching Christmas for my dogs as what I might buy for them and put in their stockings and under the tree, I try to think about what my dogs would ask for if they could have anything.
Azul's Wish List
Azul is a dog of strong opinions and he never hesitates to share his opinion with those around him. His big smile and high wagging tail tells others he is happy to see them. His stare that beams directly into my sole with quick glances towards the door tells me he's ready to go outside for sniffs and/or fun.
If Azul could ask for anything in the world it would be to have snow on the ground. He loves to go when it's snowing hard and come in almost completely white. As a Husky mix he was bred for winter weather. Azul is way more active in the winter months and there is nothing more appealing to him that a great sniff-a-bout in a new place or someplace he hasn't been in awhile. We haven't been doing this as much as we used to since it hard to do with 2 dogs on slippery surfaces. But I do hope to get Azul out and at least a few sniff-a-bouts each week since they make him so happy. Often on sniff-a-bouts through woods and fields, Azul will come across some type of remains left behind by the coyotes and other wildlife. His favorite find is deer legs or any bones with fur. Azul will gladly carry these items back home or to the car, even if it's a mile or more. Once home he will enjoy it for awhile, then leave it on the porch or edge of the driveway where he could find it again later. This becomes the gift that keeps on giving for a very long time.
Those are his top 3 list items, but this year I think I've found a few other things that he will love. Since it gets dark so early in the winter, Azul learned to get his zoomies out chasing a green laser around the yard. But his old one is not working very well. This year he is getting a new one to share with Belle. He will also be getting a new tug toy or two and some fun food puzzles. But most of all, he will be getting lots of belly rubs and cuddles this holiday season.
Belle's Wishlist
Belle's biggest desires are easy...More than anything she wants to be so close to her people that she is always touching someone. She also loves treats. All treats! The more the merrier! Last year we pretty much got Belle just before Christmas and she received a large Lamby (Lambchop toy). Daddy likes to give the dogs special treasures each night that contain some type of meat jerky and a few other smaller treats. Belle's treasure is always in the form of a puzzle or challenge and her Lamby was always laid on the top. Over the last few months, Azul & Belle have been playing tug with Lamby so it torn to shreds. She is getting a new for Christmas and I can't wait to see her face when her torn shreds turn into a new Lamby. I'm curious if she will recognize the stuffed animal or not care at all. Belle also would ask to play with her people doing most anything, but her favorite thing is ball. Recently I accidently broke both of our chuck-it flingers and my throwing arm only sends balls 10-15 ft. She wants to chase those balls and I want to watch her enjoy catching them so a new ball flinger as well as lots of new balls is on the top of the list for both of us.
In addition to those top 3, Belle also loves food toys, especially things that can be flung around to make kibble fall out. There will be a few of these in her stocking for sure and that will go really good with all the treats she is hoping to get. She also found a stuffed animal ram that has really long fur that she fell in love with on one of shopping trips. Bottom line is that no matter what Belle gets for Christmas, she is going to love ripping the wrapping paper and finding new things to enjoy.
In our house Christmas morning is very low key now that everyone is adults so the dogs will open presents one at a time throughout the day. Whenever they seem to be bored or needing a new adventure they will get another present to unwrap. We will likely start the morning with a special snuffle box filled with holiday goodies.
Template Help
If you would like to use my template to write a letter to Santa Paws, there are several formats for you to use:
And if you are not tech savey, you can email the info you would like placed in your Letter to Santa Paws and I'll fill out for and send it back as picture you print or share on social media. Please send your info via email to yooperpaws@gmail.com for assistance.
December Theme of the Month Things to Do With Your Dog in December
We all tend to get busy during the holidays and sometimes that means we leave our dogs out. I want to encourage all our Yooper Paws friends to think about ways to include their dog in the holiday season.
Pause and Reflect About the Past Year With Your Dog
Dance with Your Dog
Read a Book to Your Dog
Play in the Snow (We went sledding, but I didn't get any picts. I'll repeat this if we get enough snow!)
Dress Up Together
Have a Gift Exchange with Another Dog Owner
Donate Dog Food
Wrap a Present For Your Dog
Make Cookies for Santa Paws
Take Photo in Front of the Christmas Tree
Make a Training List/Plan
Prepare Treat Bags for Puppy Friends
Throughout the month, there were will be additional posts on as many of these items as we can get to with directions on how to do these things with your dog. BOLD means we've done it and pictures will be posted if we were able to take some. You can also check out the posts from Decembers 2023 & 2022 to see what we accomplished on this list in previous years.
Please be smart and do all the things you and your dog can have fun doing together as a team!
It's important that you consider your dog's individual needs when you look at this list! If your dog doesn't like to dress up, skip list items that suggest that or keep it really simple like a new holiday collar. If your dog doesn't like crowds, you wouldn't take them to a Christmas tree lighting or parade.
If you want to share pictures of your activities with your dogs, email them to yooperpaws@gmail.com or send them to via messenger and I will post them on the Yooper Paws Facebook page and possibly even include them in a blog on that list item.
Christmas time can be crazy for us humans and our pets!
We fill our homes with decorations that might seem unsettling to our dogs, especially the Christmas tree.
Our schedule or routine often changes with some extra time off work/school plus extra time home with family.
We are more likely to travel to see family we haven't been able to see since last Christmas.
We often have people come to stay with us.
There is extra time spent in stores which adds stress to us all! Christmas shopping, longer than normal lines, bigger crowds, etc. Often our dogs feel this stress in us when we get home!
Fearful, sensitive, and overly-excited and real young dogs tend to struggle with the changes that happen at Christmas more then confident, social dogs that are used to changing routines. Often I take emergency calls from people that have been going to Grandma's (insert any name here) house every year, but now they have a new puppy and either A- Owners don't know where to find a good puppy sitter OR B- Owners think taking their puppy with them will be real easy, then get a rude awakening when it's hard.
We will have 3 Christmas promotions this year! The first 2 are totally FREE!
Here ion my blog we have the "December List of Holidays Activities!" This is a list of 30+ activities to do with dog during the holidays. The list gets posted Dec 1st, then it gets updated with links to photos, videos, or blogs as I work through the list with my dogs. You're encouraged to copy the list and do as many activities as you can!
The last one is super low cost virtual session to help your pup have a peaceful holiday despite all the chaos we often add to our daily routines. I'll be offering 30 minutes for $30 and 60 minutes for $50 available for Zoom sessions and video calls only.
Day 1: Plan for Success Day 2: Create a Safe Space Day 3: A Present for Your Dog Day 4: Creating Calm Introductions with People Day 5: Creating Safety Around Other Animals Day 6: Taking a Sniff-a-bout Day 7: Packing for Calm Day 8: Set Up for Successful Traveling Day 9: Special Holiday Treats Day 10: Set Up for Success Day 11: The Big Day Day 12: Safe Holiday Exits
One of the problems with lists of this nature is that they often cater to the most common needs that dog trainers experience with their clients. You may find that all 12 tips can easily be implemented into your holiday routine or you might find that only 2 really apply to your dog. Each dog if a unique individual, just like each family is different, each holiday gathering is different. So if you like the Top 12 Tips, but feel like you need a bit more, check out the next discount on Virtual Planning!
Creating a Calm Christmas Virtual Planning Sessions
From December 1st to 20th, I'll be offering a discounted rate on individual sessions based on reviewing the changes that your dog will face during the holidays and creating a plan for success. This might include some training you can do before the craziness happens, some enrichment you can add or other ways to help meet your dog's needs, and tips for making sure all the pets in the house and visiting pets can share space successfully. You can schedule your 30 min Virtual Session for just $30 or your 60 min Virtual Session for $50. (My normal rate with be $75 for any session up to 60 min long.)
This is one-on-one time to look at your holiday plans and your dog's individual needs and brainstorm ways to meet your dog's needs in an attempt to prevent or reduce the challenging behaviors that happen when your dog becomes stressed.
I look forward to hearing about you and your dog plan to spend the holidays with as much peaceful feelings as possible and reducing stress as much as we can for everyone!
This year I have 3 big promotions for local & virtual clients!
All specials must be purchased by December 6th and may take place in December or January. Gift Certificates are available if you are wanting to give the gift of dog training to a loved one!
The Challenging Behaviors Support Package
The Challenging Behaviors Support Package is a mix of our most popular packages!
This starts with a 6 Session Package that can be in-person or virtual sessions for $300.
You will automatically receive a free Challenging Behaviors Plan as follow up to your first session and 2 free workshops from our Challenging Behaviors Series
Plus you will receive additional resources based on the top 3 behaviors that are driving you the craziest. That's $600 Value for the one time fee of $300.
Send an email to yooperpaws@gmail.com to confirm your desire to participate in this special and you'll receive a link to schedule your first Private Session and you'll be able to pick the 2 workshops you would like to have.
The Give Back Special for Online Clients & Referrals
If you don't live in the Yooper Paws local area and need virtual training support, you can try out Yooper Paws with the Buy One Get One Free Gift Certificates. These are available to current clients and those referred by current clients.
Common gift certificates include:
Buy 1 Session for $75 and receive a 2nd gift certificate free.
Buy a Challenging Behaviors Package including one 60 min session & 2 follow up 30 min sessions for $150 & receive a 2nd gift certificate free.
Buy a 6 Session Package for $300 and receive a 2nd gift certificate free.
You can keep the 2nd gift certificate and use it yourself or you can gift it to another person needing help. Gift certificates must be purchased by December 6th to receive the 2nd gift certificate of equal value for free.
Reach out to yooperpaws@gmail.com and I'll help you find the perfect Buy One Get One Free Gift Certificate that fits your spending budget!
New Client Private Session Package
Purchase the first session Behavior Evaluation for $150 and then you are eligible to purchase the 6 Session Package for $150 instead of $300. This package allows you to split your payment in half, paying for the Behavior Evaluation ($150) before December 6th to take place any time in December then paying for your 6 Session package ($150) in January when you schedule your first session.
You are more then welcome to pay for the whole package when you schedule your Behavior Evaluation! This is especially helpful if you are giving this to a friend or family member as a gift!
This package is great for new in-person and virtual clients!
Please email yooperpaws@gmail.com to request this package. I will then send you a scheduling link for your first session and a gift certificate for your 6 Session Package.
Totally FREE Special on Creating a Calm Christmas!
The Creating a Calm Christmas Collection is a FREE resource to our Yooper Paws Friends & Family! All you have to do is sign up for a FREE Patreon Membership.
I have 12 Tips to Creating a Calm Christmas that will be released December 1st thru 12th! These posts will go out to free and paid members on patreon. These are the best of the best tips I have from years of taking dogs with me to family gatherings and holiday activities.
New this year I've added an E-Book that with these tips in an easy to download PDF E-Book. You can support Yooper Paws Holiday Activities by purchasing the Creating a Calm Christmas E-Book in the Patreon Store.
If something in one of these tips sparks an interest and you want additional help with planning or setting your dog up for success at holiday events, I do have a special rate available for online sessions dedicated to planning and preparing for the holidays. You can purchase a 30 min Coaching Session for $30 or a 60 min Coaching Session for $60. I'd love to help you create the perfect plan or set up for your pup during this crazy holiday season. Just email me at yooperpaws@gmail.com to set up your Creating Calm Session.
Also be sure to check out my Canine Christmas List for some ideas of activities you can do with your dog this holiday season!
It's that time of year and Halloween is rapidly approaching!
Whether you are training a service dog or a pet dog, you don't want them to be scared on Halloween night by all the spooky decorations. You can do some training now to help you have a more successful Halloween. The first thing you need to determine is what are plans for Halloween as that will change your approach to training before the activities start.
Trick-or-Treating or Walking the Neighborhood
If you plan to take your dog out on the town on Halloween night doing some trick-or-treating with friends and family, be sure to some training sessions around decorations before the day of fun. Training before the need allows you to slow down and let the dog explore the decorations at their pace and comfort level. If you are going out with kids or attending a costume contest, you will want to desensitize the dog to costumes before the big event too.
Azul has been around these types of decorations since he was a pup so he's pretty comfortable but in this video he is mildly stressed. Can you see it in this video?
The whole idea of desensitizing & counterconditioning (DS/CC) is to start at a distance where your dog can be comfortable and follow your directions. You will slowly move closer based on how your dog acts. If they are calm you move more quickly. If they start showing mild signs of stress you might be able to stay at that distance a bit, then if they relax you move forward more and if not you move back and the end the session there for the day. You want to use a high value reinforcement, most often high value food, for these types of sessions as this conditioning will help to change your dog's emotions from one of fear to one of happy. The dog thinks "This ghost decoration shows up and out comes the chicken. Hey, I like this ghost decoration!"
You also want to make sure your dog has the choice to move closer or move farther away. If you're visiting neighborhood decorations you may not want your dog to actually touch the decorations or let them get close enough to nip or pee on the decorations. Your neighbors will thank you for staying back far enough to not allow for damage.
During the training you have to be careful not to push your dog too far too fast! If your dog barks, lunges or otherwise reacts to the decoration you moved too close too fast and you hinder the efforts of counterconditioning because now that decoration is even more scary. Some dogs will curiously go up and sniff or touch a decoration(when appropriate), then be totally fine with it. If your dog is willing to do so, they shouldn't have a problem ignoring them on Halloween.
Outside I suggest doing these sessions in your neighborhood during the day when there are few people around. Often these decorations are less scary in the day time. Then do a few evening walks after dark before Halloween so that your dog is used to walking past the decorations in the dark as well.
Staying Home, Passing Out Candy, Avoiding People
If you're staying home on Halloween you may not focus as much on training sessions around outdoor decorations. Instead you may need to desensitize to common sights, sounds, and smells.
Door Safety
If you will pass out candy to trick-or-treaters you need to consider safety first. Is your dog friendly with strangers? What happens when someone knocks on the door? Does your dog run out the door the moment it's opened? First think of your dog's safety first!
If they are not friendly or like to bolt out the door you will want to either use a crate or baby gate to prevent your dog from getting too close to the door. If your dog is friendly and will participate in activities, you should consider having the dog drag a leash attached to a collar just incase you need some management to assist with overexcitement behaviors.
From this safe place you can work on creating calm behaviors before the big night. Will you leave your front door open, using only a screen door that night? If so, practice this by putting the dog in their safe space with a long lasting food reward such as a chew, stuffed kong, or lickmat. Then open the door and relax nearby. This will help your dog get used to the night sights, sounds, and smells in the neighborhood.
Then add in someone walking up to the door. You will probably want to practice having someone approach and knock plus approach and say Trick or Treat. When this happens drop and extra high value reward into your dog's safe space before you approach the door. If you have a family of kids nearby, invite them over to practice a few times during the day. Set up your house and safe space before they come. Ask them to approach slowly stopping if they hear barking and just stay there a moment, Once the barking stops they can approach more, knock, or say trick-or-treat. Once all is calm in the house, move out and give them a treat. Have them walk back away from the door a few feet while you remain at the door and have them approach again. If you have a neighborhood parent with a toddler, they will probably love the opportunity to practice!
By having a few dry runs or practice sessions during the day leading up to the big event, your dog can get used to the activity and you can look at your management resources to determine if you need to add another layer of safety or if your current set up will work for the big night.
If you are avoiding people that night, you may experience knocks on the door and shouts of trick-or-treat coming from the neighborhood so you may want to desensitize to those sounds before the event. If you don't want to set up a practice session as described above, watch some Halloween movies on TV while cuddled with your dog and reward your dog every time you hear someone knock or shout in the movie. It may seem like you are not even training but you are pairing good things with the sounds heard. Use movies or sound effects apps you can control the volume starting slow and gradually turning the volume up to replicate what it would be at your front door. With today's video tech, you can easily reply the same scene of someone knocking over and over again until your dog starts to realize that the sound will predict something awesome is coming.
Attending Trunk & Treats
It seems that there is less safety in going door to door so many people take their children (and dogs) to truck & treat outings at trusted locations; businesses, churches, police/fire depts, etc. These can be very challenging outings for dogs! With all the kids in costumes running & yelling, sometimes games, lots of adults laughing and moving around, our dogs can quickly be overcome. The amount of stressed out dogs that I see in this environment is outrageous!
PLEASE! Only take your dog to these events if they are social and confident around distractions!
PLEASE Listen to your dog! If they are scared, take them out of the environment. And if you can't because you are there with your kids, leave your dog at home.
Last year Azul attended a few of these with me; some big and some small, some pet friendly & some not. One was much bigger than we expected with well over 1000+ people and lots of stressed dogs. I was hoping to walk with my grandkids, but my daughter was supervising them so Azul was my only responsibility. We got in the first very long line for an activity and Azul started to show signs of stress, not wanting to move closer to the event. Instead of staying with my grandkids, Azul and I took a walk in the neighborhood surrounding the event and walked the edge of the event before eventually just getting back in the car. When my grandkids were doing an activity close to the car, I was able to jump out leaving Azul in the car for a short time.
I've heavily conditioned my vehicle to be a safe place for my dogs to hangout, with or without me!
This year will be Belle's first year going to a Trunk & Treat! Here are the steps I'm taking to provide a safe space for both Azul and Belle.
We are setting up a trunk so that my dogs can hang out in their safe space of the car. This way they get to see all the kids, but only interact with those that the dogs choose to.
My SUV allows for me to set up multiple sections. If a dog does not want to interact with kids, they can hang out in the backseat.
My dogs will allows be attacked to either the car or me if I take one out of the car for a bit. This prevents them from jumping out of the car when I'm busy with passing out candy. I use a seatbelt leash to secure both dogs.
My dogs have a new bone that they can chew on during the event. Licking, chewing & sniffing help to reduce stress.
I also have a treat container with both high and low value treats that will be passed out liberally.to reinforce calm.
The dogs will be set up in this same fashion for Bark & Treat, the event at the Yooper Paws Training Center. The big difference is Azul may spend more time out of the car at the children's event because he loves kids & might spend more time in the car at the dog event because he doesn't love new dogs in his face. Belle on the other hand, might spend more time in the car at the kids event because sometimes kids can be overwhelming, and more time out of the car at the dog event because she loves to greet new dogs.
It's important that you listen to your dogs! You can help them overcome a fear or two, but of they are just totally overwhelmed and afraid of lots of things, please be kind and take them to a safe space; the car, home, anywhere away from the event. Our goal is to set up for success, but if our pre-planning doesn't work we should always have an exit plan.
And please, don't dress your dog up if they don't like wearing clothing!
Azul is shy when it comes to new gear. His Halloween costume involves his Service Dog Harness that he knows and is comfortable in with a hi-vis cape that he is also comfortable with. He is my Service Worker!
Belle hasn't had much exposure to costumes, so her she-devil costume also involves her Service Dog harness and cape with a set of devil horns that she can wear for cute pictures then take off for calm settle time.
If your dog loves getting dressed, then by all means have fun with a big costume. But if your dog doesn't love it, they shouldn't have to wear it.
With Fall weather changes and winter rapidly approaching, it's a perfect time to look at our dog's needs and our abilities to meet those needs as best we can. In a perfect world, our dogs would be totally content to simply be with us and do what we were doing when we wanted to do that. Yet everyone knows we do not live in a perfect world.
Perhaps we have to work at a job where our dog can't go with us and must stay home...
Perhaps we have a dog that is fearful and doesn't enjoy going out to new places or around strangers...
Perhaps we have a medical issue that is preventing us for doing our regular exercise routine with our dogs...
Perhaps we live in an area that really harsh winters making walking or other outdoor activities harder...
When we do not live in a perfect world and perhaps can't do the things we want to do with our dogs, we need to look at what do our dogs really need vs what can we really provide them to find a balance that helps everyone to stay as happy and healthy as possible.
What does your dog need?
I think we can all agree that dogs have physical, social, mental, and emotional needs. Dogs are unique individuals and their needs are just as individualized. I discussed this in another blog specifically on Understanding Your Dog's Needs. And you can learn about the Hierarchy of Canine Needs if you want to know more! For this post I want to focus on how needs may change with age, health, weather, environment, and other factors then take a look at how we can change our plan to better meet the needs of our individual dog.
Age, Health, & Physical Needs
As many of you know, Azul recently went through his neuter surgery at 3.5 yrs old. Generally Azul is a pretty laid back, calmer dog who is happy if he gets 30-60 minutes of sniff-a-bout time and 4-10 minutes of zoomies or play time in a day. Post surgery requirements called for 10 days of slow leash walks up to 20 minute walks. As with many dog owners, this was tough because Azul did not want to take things this slow and let his body heel! Plus we had a few additional hurdles of Azul's a Service Dog, used to going with me when I leave the house and we had to avoid stairs and jumps such as getting in/out of the car.
Finding Balance is all about meeting the dog where they are and adjusting the plan based on their individual needs. This means that I basically cleared my schedule so that I could stay home and sit on the couch with Azul as long as he needed that down time. Sure I could leave him home with dad, but Azul would have wanted to move a whole lot more without me home, so I made the commitment to stay home as long as Azul needed. (Thankfully I can do that since I work for myself!)
Day 1 Azul was still impacted by anesthesia and struggled to walk up right. This means if he stood up, so did I and I pretty much followed him to get a drink, to go outside, etc. We spent most of the time resting on his bed near the couch, but he also wanted to spend time outside so I put a bed on the porch for him too where we could sit and soak in fresh air. The walk down into the backyard was exhausting so once he went potty, he laid down to take a nap in the backyard which had me sitting in the grass beside him while he snoozed, then we went back inside when Azul was ready.
After Day 1 was when it really started to get tough to meet Azul's needs. Day 2 he wanted to live in the backyard although he still wasn't moving real fast. However, with his stitches, I really didn't want him laying on the ground, which means we had to find ways to meet Azul's needs indoors. Thankful his appetite was returning so we fed all his means in fun enrichment ways; his topples, find it games, lickmats, etc. By Day 3, Azul wanted to run and a certain chipmunk enemy was trying to hangout in the backyard. Instead we took multiple longline walks up around the barn, in the front yard, around the apple orchard, all places on our property or neighboring properties where Azul likes to go slow and sniff every blade of grass. We did 20 min sniff-a-bouts and rest for about 2-3 hrs on repeat all day.
On Day 4 I let Azul have about 10 min to run in the backyard to check for his chippy enemy along with some short sniff-a-bouts. At this point Azul was pulling more on the leash and so I had to weigh the risk of what would potentially hurt his stitches more, a leash walk with pulling or a few minutes of free run in his quiet backyard. Sure Azul has great leash manners most of the time, but if his other needs are not being met or if his environment is too distracting, those manners struggle a bit. I knew by Azul's pulling that he needed a bit more movement in his day.
Don't get me wrong! I'm not telling you to go against your Veterinarian's advice when it comes to health related issues! I'm saying you have to find a balance between the general advice given to all dogs based on a health issue with your dog's specific needs based on their breed, age, and speed of recovery. Different ailments might require you to stick to the bed rest, leash walks only plan and also require additional Veterinary monitoring. But in Azul's case I was able to slowly increase his exercise needs based on the improvement he was showing me, the environment we had to work with, and my ability to add in distractions slowly. By day 7 Azul was back to his normal routines for exercise with just some mile adjustments to prevent jumping, pulling, and over-excitement.
Depending on where you live, climate often plays a role in being able to meet your dog's physical needs. For my clients in the south, they really struggle in the summer with intense heat so often find it most challenging to meet their dog's physical needs in the summer without risk of heatstroke. For those in north, like Azul and I, winter becomes much more challenging. Snow sometimes prevents us from getting in/out of the driveway, icy sidewalks and parking lots can reduce our ability to go on walks and many of our sniff-a-bout spots are inaccessible in the winter. This can make it really challenging to meet Azul's physical needs. To help, we change up where we walk! Sometimes it's easier to walk in town where we can walk down the center of slower roads. We also have access to snowmobile trails and frozen lakes that can make for nice sniff-a-bouts. With walks being more challenging and dangerous for people with balance issues, like me, we search out lots of fenced in areas for off leash time. Our backyard is great for off leash time, but it tends to get boring for Azul because the scents simply don't change enough therefore we try to find a few extra fenced in areas that can be off leash sniff zones.
Emotional & Social Needs
This is something that varies so much based your individual dog! Some dogs need to play with friends or desire to make new friends more often, while some dogs would prefer to avoid making new friends or being in areas with unknown dogs. Most dogs need some social time with their owners and some emotional support from their owners every day. If your changing environments for your physical exercise based on weather related challenges, your dog might need a bit more emotional support to adapt. If your exercise abilities are decreasing due to weather, your dog might have an increase in social needs during this time.
Azul has pretty low emotional and social needs for a dog. I believe this is due to his husky traits of independence and contentment with watching the world go by. Azul's emotional needs are met with lots of praise, belly rubs, and silly games. And Azul's social needs are met mostly by changing scenery; some time spent at home, some time at the office, with occasional trips to a store or other business. Azul doesn't need to directly interact with lots of people or dogs, but he needs to observe them from a distance or enough that he can "watch the world go by!" We throw in an occasional playdate with one of his doggie friends and Azul is a pretty happy boy. However, if I'm extra busy with other dogs or spending extra time with one dog, Azul has a bit of a low emotionally and may need some extra cuddle time to make up for absence. Thankfully, with the Training Center, Azul can hang out in the office while I work with other dogs and I can sneak in and cuddle him a bit throughout the day so his social needs can be more regulated without going super low.
Dogs that spend a lot of time home alone, would more likely have greater social needs in the evening or when family is home because they've spent so much time alone. I was lucky enough to have Oy, one of my GSD clients for a whole day and since he is typically used to being alone while his parents work and then being the star of the show when his parents are home, he struggles a bit when full attention is not him. This is when you see behaviors such as counter surfing, raiding the trash, dumping the water bowl, and other challenging behaviors begin. When dog's social needs are not being met, they will take negative attention vs no attention in an attempt to get the interaction they so greatly desire. This is where we need to find a balance of giving the dog as much positive attention when we can and teaching the dog to calmly settle when we can't be giving them attention.
Mental Needs
To me this is one of the most important, yet often last to consider needs for dogs! When we think about our dog's mental needs, we have to remember that dogs are basically hardwired to explore, learn about things in their environment, learn how to get the things they want and need. This can include a need to explore new scents, scavenge for food, build on skills, and perhaps even become better at their job.
There is a new philosophy going around in the dog trainer communities about "not training" your dog. The basic premise is teaching your dog how to exist in their world, learning the rules of social etiquette for your family, but not teaching them to follow human cues/commands or do silly tricks. While I'm all about teaching the dog how to exist in their world and the rules of co-existence with human families, I also think spending time in training sessions is imperative to meeting the dog's needs. I don't really care what cues a human wants to teach their dog, but the act of developing the skills of teamwork that happen with training using positive reinforcement methods is a top priority for me.
Perhaps clients want to focus on competitive sports such as agility, scentwork, flyball, barn hunts.
Perhaps clients want to focus on having fun with confidence building skills like canine parkour, performing silly parlor tricks, or doing some freestyle movements together.
Perhaps clients that want to train for a specific job such as service dog or therapy dog training.
Of course some dogs find certain activities more enjoyable than others making it important to look at the individual dog's desire to participate in training. But my philosophy is any training based on teamwork that encourages the dog and owner to work together to accomplish a goal should be a priority in meeting that dog's mental needs.
Here is a fun training session I had with Oy!
Then there are other ways to meet additional mental needs. For dogs that really struggle with needing attention all the time when owners are present, adding in some mental challenges or doggie puzzles can really help meet their mental needs of that day while giving owners a few minutes to focus on something else while their dog is enjoying the challenge. It's my experience though, that I tend to sit back and watch my dog enjoying the puzzle I've game them because that is filling my emotional and social needs to see my dog be happy. I do have a ton of information in this blog about enrichment and puzzles if you want to learn how to build some puzzles at home.
Fall Special!
Since many owners are facing a change in routine due to weather I'm holding a Fall Special based on helping owners Find Balance in Meeting Your Dog's Needs. This special package includes one 60 minute planning session where we will look at your individual needs and your dog's individual needs to create a plan to help you restore balance in home where everyone's needs are being met. Then 2-4 weeks after your planning session we will do 30 min follow up session to look for areas where your plan may need to be adjusted.
This package is open to virtual clients! Sessions will take place via Zoom.
This special package will be available through Oct. 31st at a cost of $150 which covers both sessions. Additional review sessions can be purchased for $45 if needed.
If you are not sure whether virtual dog training will work for you or not, check out this blog post from last October that covers some of the benefits of virtual training via zoom and online classes.
This month we are tackling common struggles for family pets and service dog teams. I'll be expanding on previous blogs written over the last few Septembers.
All of these classes will be $150 for 4 sessions. (A discount is available for those who are already on a private session package or currently in the SD Support Package!) All classes will be tweaked to provide specific strategies for the dogs who sign up. Email or text us to sign up for any of these classes.
Service Dog Classes
Advanced Final Eval Prep Class
Monday’s at 4pm
This class is for clients that are in the final stages of training and putting the finishing touches to achieve their goals. We will be giving the C2C SD Evaluation & the Alliance of Therapy Dog Test in this class.
Intermediate Positive to PA Experiences Class
Monday's at 6pm.
This class is a mid-level class for Service Dogs & Therapy Dogs. We will be traveling to multiple environments, mostly outside, to practice basic teamwork skills around distractions. We will be doing lots of walking to practiceleash manners and settle.
Beginners SD Foundations Class
Saturday’s at 4pm
This is for teams that are just starting their Service Dog journey. We will be working on basic skills including tuck, settle, stay, wait, leash manners and basic task foundations.
FAD Family Pets Classes
Advanced Environments
Wednesday’s at 11am
This class is for current clients who want to do more with their dogs in challenging environments including pet friendly public places and events. Being an advanced class, this is only open to those who have done extensive training with me and have dogs that are ready to work around strangers and other dogs.
Group Games & Walks
Wednesday’s at 7pm
In this group we will be mixing walks with games designed to help teams be successful in real life situations. This class is perfect for anyone wanting to work on leash manners with fearful, fizzy & adolescent dogs. All teams must have attended at least 3 sessions prior to participating & at least 1 longline management session.
Small Dogs Group
Thursday’s at 5pm
This class is perfect for small dogs (under 40 lbs.) needing to practice basic skills in distracting environments. The skills we practice will be determined by the needs of those who sign up.
Helping Fearful Dogs Walk
Thursday's at 6pm
This class is perfect for large dogs needing to practice basic skills in distracting environments. We will be focusing on skills needed to figure out safe distancing from other teams, utilizing exit strategies, and lots of LATTE (Look At That, Then Enrichment!) to help dogs & owners learn to cope better when distractions enter the environment.
YP Nosework Club
Nosework Club is going to resume next Tuesday, Sept 10th from 6-8pm. Beginners beginning at 6pm and searches will become more challenging as the night goes on.
The cost to new clients is $125 for 4 sessions. Club members pay just $10 per session! Members with fearful dogs can schedule a private practice session from 4-6pm.
This is a special package designed to give you and your dog all the support you need to become a successful team.
The highlight of this package, starts with one 4 hour session that allows us to evaluate needs, train needed skills and create individualized training exercises to practice skills in a safe environment then transfer those skills to a real life environment.
New clients will attend with their dog for all sessions.
Returning clients can choose to drop their dog off for most of the session and come back at the end to see what we learned and how to do the training at home.
That sounds like A LOT and it might be overwhelming, doesn't it?
But don't worry! This is achieved by moving back and forth between calm restful periods and higher energy periods specifically geared towards your easily distractible dog.
One of the key struggles with easily distracted dogs is their inability to self regulate their arousal level. Once they get excited or amped up, they simply can't come back down to a calm level on their own. Your dog is not alone in this struggle! The good news is that we can help them learn how to settle back down!
After your half day session (4hrs), we will do 2 follow up sessions (up to 2 hours each) spread out over the next 60 days. That's up to 8 hours of Day Session Training for your dog!
You'll also receive up to 4 Hrs of pre-recorded webinar that you can view on your own time OR access to 1 online class. During your 60 Dog Days Package, you'll basically have a Trainer in your back pocket with unlimited text/message support to get rapid answers to your questions.
You won't find a more complete package out there! Message us for more details and to schedule your 4 Hr Dog Day Session!
How do you create patterns to speed up your dog training?
Before reading this post about patterns & pattern games, be sure to review the post on Understanding Routines that I wrote a few months ago. Routines & Patterns are very similar yet have different applications so I want to start with defining what I mean for both of those words.
Routines - Ongoing behaviors that often apply to daily activities such as meals, going out to potty, bedtime, etc. In a routine the dog may perform multiple behaviors in response to changes happening in the environment that are practiced every day or every time that event happens.
Patterns - Short repetitive behaviors that are used in the training phase of a new behavior that will often be modified to increase the difficulty of the behavior or phased out once the dog actually learns the behavior.
Think of this way, we use routines to teach our dog what is expected in specific situations in order to receive the reinforcement they are seeking and we use patterns to teach our dogs a specific behavior that will earn reinforcement which later will be put on a cue once the dog has learned the specific behavior.
The first example of a pattern game that I teach in all my classes is the Up/Down Game. Check out this video of Henney playing the game for the first time.
The directions for teaching the game can be found in the description of this video!
When playing a pattern game, I like to start with 10-12 small, easy to swallow treats in my hand so I can rapidly reinforce the desired behavior. Typically the game will last less than a minute. All my clients are taught how to use a pattern game to teach hand targets, then told to add that activity into something they do every day such as going to the coffee pot. I suggest they put a treat container at the place of their daily activity and pull out the 10-12 treats doing a 30-60 second hand target game before they fill their coffee cup, or whatever activity they are about to do.
Clients are instructed to play the Pattern Game exactly as we did in the session for 1 week. Then we tweak the game to make the behavior slightly more challenging. Week 1 they practice simple hand targets, Week 2 they play the Moving Target game, & Week 3 they play the Hand Target Heelzone Game. By doing this they are heavily reinforceing the hand target but slowly using that hand target to teach the behaviors they want the dog to do such as stand up, switch sides, heel, wait, etc.
When to use patterns and when to avoid patterns!
Those who continue training learn how to use Pattern Games to encourage behavior such as eye contact, heel, and recall. Since teaching heel is a struggle for many dog owners I'm going to use that as an example with 2 of my favorite games. Starting with the Finding Heel Game that I play.
Puppy Level
Adolescent Level
When you play lots of pattern games with your dog, at some point they typically start predicting what your next move is, often trying to get there before you even ask for it. At this point they know the behavior and if we repeat the patterns much longer without increasing difficulty or adding in new distractions, the dog will get board and decide to do their own game. Ideally we want to recognize this before it actually happens and make changes to keep the dog involved and learning.
To explain this a little better, I'm going to continue with the "heel" example and move on to the Bucket Game. By design the Bucket Game is geared to breaking patterns and routine habits, instead encouraging the dog to focus more on the handler for direction. If Belle sees my red buckets set up in pretty much any environment she easily jumps in heel ready to play the game because she loves it so much.
See the video description for details!
In real life, I'm not about to carry my red buckets everywhere! As a Service Dog in Training, I need Belle to learn to heel in very distracting environments which requires a great deal of focus. To teach that level of focus, I need to keep changing the games and patterns in a way that makes her focus on me even without specific resources that I use for pattern games. To phase out the props and move more into real life situations, I need a game that makes it easy to always change the criteria. Sometimes this means blending different pattern games together to make a new pattern. Other times this means creating a brand new game with lots of direction changes such as working in a wide open space like a yard, field or parking lot and frequently changing directions.
There is a lot more games when it comes to teaching a solid heel and a many more things you need to consider about leash manners in general before you can figure out what will work best for you and your dog. The Leash Manners E-Book that will soon be released is designed to walk you through some of the challenges with leash manners and provide you with helpful resources to teach the behaviors you love using reinforcement the dog loves by playing games vs using corrections and telling your dog what not to do. Watch this blog for more info about the Leash Manners E-book!
We are starting with an altered scheduled for July 1st -3rd
Monday, July 1st, all of our Group Walkers are invited to attend a special group walk at 7PM, starting at the Yooper Paws Training Center. This is good for Fearful & Fizzy Dogs that need to stay 20+ feet away from other dogs in order to remain calm.
Tuesday, July 2nd, we have private sessions during the day and 2 evening activities. Our young Service Dogs in Training (SDiT's) that are working on SD Foundations are invited to attend a group session at 6PM at the Training Center with the possibility of a road trip to TSC.
Then also on July 2nd at 7PM the YP Nosework Club will be hosting a Searching For Scents practice session. All members are invited to join in the fun. If you're not a member yet, reach out to Penny or Tammy to find out how you can join.
Wednesday, July 3rd, the Group Trail Walkers will be adding a picnic to our adventures. This is designed for dogs who can greet other dogs after walking together and are able to settle down at a table with other dogs nearby. We will have a few private sessions after the walk before closing our doors at 2PM.
From July 3rd @ 2PM to July 8th at 10AM, Yooper Paws of Love will officially be closed and Emergency Pricing will be in effect. Emergency Pricing includes:
Phone calls for current clients of 30 minutes or less will be $50.
In-person sessions for current of 60 minutes or less will be $75
New clients in need of an emergency session during this time will be expected to pay for a package including the Behavior Evaluation and 6 Session package for $450 + $50 emergency session fee.
On July 8th we open back up for our July Summer Sessions Specials
Instead of having classes that require a 6 week commitment during summer vacation session we are going to be hosting a series of low cost private party sessions! Who doesn't love a good summer party? Each party will be a bit different allowing you and your dog to pick what's best for you. All parties will take place on the air conditioned Training Center allowing you and your puppy to be at the heat!
The Private Session Special for these Summer Parties is $30 for a 30 min Session.
Monday Movement Puzzles
Our favorite movement puzzles will be set up for you to enjoy! These typically include a combination of basic skills that can be linked together to do more challenging behavior chains in a fun pattern that uses movement as the main reinforcement. Movement puzzles are great to build teamwork while using mental and physical energy at the same time. Plus you can do this in our air conditioned building on days where walking might be a bit challenging.
Tuesday YP Nosework Club
The YP Nosework Club will continue to meet at 7PM on Tuesdays, but you can also schedule your 30 Min Private Session to practice on your own (or with Belle & Azul). This is great for those super sniffers that are not quite ready to be indoors with the large group. Fearful & Fizzy dogs do really well with nosework! Once they learn to love the game, nosework often helps to build their confidence enough to play the games around other people and dogs.
If you've been wanting to give Nosework a try, this is the perfect opportunity.
Wednesday Group Sessions
With the heat that typically hits in July and August, we will be suspending most of our Group Walks unless weather is fantastic. Instead we will be doing small group indoor sessions. Each group will be designed specifically for the dogs that will be attending.
The current Wednesday AM Trail Walking Group will be meeting at 10AM and will either go for a walk if weather allows or work in the classroom.
Additional Groups will be formed based on interested participants. If you know you have a few friends that have been training with Yooper Paws, this is the perfect opportunity for you to work together with the supervision of a trainer!
Thursday Playdates
This will be similar to Wednesday's small group, with the exception that the focus will be on play more than training. Of course play includes training and all our training sessions include play. You can schedule a playdate with Belle or schedule a playdate for a few friends.
The Positively Puppy Class will continue to meet for class from 1-2PM with the option of a 15 min playdate before or after for puppies.
Obstacle Course Fridays
Each Friday the Yooper Paws Training Center will be set up with a different obstacle course. You'll recieve guided direction from a Canine Coach to show you how to do work through the obstacles, then the remainder of your session to play on your own. You'll have 30 minutes on the main obstacle course, then a Get Moving Puzzle/Activity will be set up in the Paws & Relax Room for you to enjoy.
Private Sessions
We are still scheduling Private Training Sessions this Summer! Private Sessions are 1-on-1 sessions with a Canine Coach that last 1 hour designed to work on your training plan. These cost $75 per session or a package of 6 sessions for $300. Schedule Your Next Private Session Here!
Are you tired of feeling like your dog is ignoring you?
As dog owners , most of us think in verbal cues. Think of "sit" for example. This is one of the first things we teach a puppy. But do we just say the verbal cue and hope our puppy responds?
No way, not at first! We use body language to lure the puppy into a sitting position & reward. Now most of us probably say the verbal cue as the pup sits and rewards when the action is complete. Thus teaching the pup to do the action. It doesn't take long to teach a hand signal and verbal cue to this action because puppies are sponges soaking it all up quickly.
But what varies from that point is what does your pup learn first, the verbal cue or the hand signal, AND which is more important for that particular action?
In one of my classes, students are asked to make a list of all their cues used to communicate with their dog including verbal and body language cues, then do a simple test. Holding perfectly still, hands at their sides and give the verbal cues watching to see how many their dog gets right without any body language for context. Then they do another test where they are to get their dog to do as many behaviors as possible without speaking a single word.
The results are always the same! Dogs often seem confused when we take human movement out of the equation and simply use words. Then when not using words, and only using movements we almost always see that the dog is more engaged and responding better.
There's a lot hype in the world about "animal communicators" or people who "speak dog!" I often get asked if I "speak dog!" And a way, I sort of do, but not in the way psychics claim to.
I often know what your dog is saying or feelings because I'm trained to read canine body language and I understand canine behavior. I also have 30 yrs of learning to think about my movements and what might work to encourage a dog to do the behavior I want.
Have you ever taken your dog to a training session and see that your dog does better with the trainer than they do with you?
Why? Clear communication!
I work hard to understand your dog, using what I know about their individual personality, their needs, and their desires and then I use that ask them for behaviors that are easy for the dog to understand. Then the best thing about training with me, is that I teach dog owners how to do that too! We start with building clear communication using body language first, then adding in verbal cues after the behavior becomes easy for both owner & dog. It doesn't matter what behavior(s) you're struggling with, I can help you find the clear communication that will help you and your dog both be successful!
As dog owners, we use reinforcement to reward our dogs for the behaviors we like. Enrichment is often confused as being an extra great or jackpot style reward for dogs, but it's way more than feeding something special to your dog!
By definition, Enrichment should provide of a way to meet our dog's natural instinct needs in a way that adds value to their day to day life. Behavior Consultants from around the world have pretty much agreed that enrichment activities should into these criteria.
Enrichment should...
--be an activity that has interaction between the participants. (Dog & Human for us)
--effect the response a dog has to a particular action.
--lead to evidence based, behavior changes.
--be changing constantly.
--differ from animal to animal based on their needs.
--reliant on the evolution of learning experiences of the dog and human together.
Let's break each one of those down individually.
Enrichment is an activity that brings 2 or more participants together.
This is often the most forgotten part of enrichment! We think tossing our dog a bone or toy puzzle on our way out the door is enriching, but instead that's more of a pacifier to help our dogs be calm. If you do this, please keep doing it! But realize it's not having an enriching effect on your dog unless you condition this habit in a way that includes you. I often scatter kibble in a snuffle box before I leave the dogs in my office at work. This is meant to distract my dogs while I get out the door, but it doesn't really add much value to their lives. It's more of a pacifier.
Occasionally I'll toss some kibble in a snuffle box and sit with my dog encouraging them to enjoy it. Not that they need much encouragement, but by being their with them and letting them feel my joy for watching them enjoy the treasures they are hunting can make this a group activity.
I very much see a difference in Azul when we are out on a sniff-a-bout between when I'm enjoying nature with him or getting distracted by my phone. He enjoys it more when we can enjoy it together.
Enrichment should effect the response a dog has.
You could argue that my scatterfeeding before I leave the dogs in my office meets this criteria for Belle as it reduces barking, but it doesn't change anything for Azul. Does that mean it isn't enriching for Azul? At one time Azul struggled with being in the office away from me. Prior to opening the Training Center, Azul was almost always at my side or home with Dad if I was working with another dog team. But at the Training Center he had to learn to be behind a gate or shut in the office for safety. I used this feeding technique to help him get used to me being on the other side of a barrier. So this method already changed his behavior and now to works to keep him in an happy emotional state so I would argue that this is still enrichment.
Enrichment should always be changing.
Dogs seem to get bored if they do the same puzzle over and over every day. Once they've solved it, the fun goes away and it becomes a chore to get the food out. But if we can change what we do to slowly increase the difficulty level or add new things to the puzzle, our dogs continue to enjoy the activity. That's why I'm a huge fun of low budget do it yourself puzzles that you make at home. I have a "kitchen puzzle box" that cost me less than $3 to make at the store and the first time Roz ate dinner that way it took her 12+ minutes to eat instead of the 5 seconds it would in a bowl.
The store bought puzzles can be fun if you don't use them every day and pull them out once in awhile on that rainy day or something when you need just a bit of extra enrichment. We also offer a puzzle exchange box at the Training Center where you can bring in a puzzle your dogs are bored with and exchange it for one that is here.
Enrichment is going to differ from dog to dog!
While Azul and Belle both love chewing on sticks and digging in their dig spots, they also have very different needs. Azul loves to explore any area that has wildlife scents making a slow sniff-a-bout one of his favorite enrichment activities. Belle on the other hand likes to go fast on walks sniffing as she runs. Some of this is due to age, but it shows their current needs. Azul has explored most of the environments around our area and recognizes where there and what is there, so he would rather keep his nose to the ground sniffing everything. Belle is mostly walking in new environments and doesn't have any of the memorized except perhaps the road by our house and the field we train in near the Training Center. Belle spends her walk looking and listening to everything in the environment. Her brain is trying to process so much that sniffing the ground isn't even on her radar unless she sees Azul sniffing a specific spot for a longer time. She loves to push her nose under his nose, but I'm not sure she is really thinking much about what she is smelling yet. At 8 months old, Belle is really in tune to all sounds and sounds hold more value, therefore the faster she goes and the farther she goes, the more she gets to hear!
Watch your dog and find out what they love to do the most and do what you can to add more of that in their day to day life! Sometimes this might be breed specific and go towards behaviors your dog's breed was designed for such as swimming, hunting, guarding livestock, etc. Sometimes dogs don't really care for those breed specific activities and they like something else. Let them tell you what they enjoy.
Enrichment should include elements of previous learning experiences and engagement with their human.
This is the enrichment rule that doesn't always get followed as owners tend to get stuck in a pattern of always doing the same thing. It's easy to drop a stuffed kong or a ball in our dog's safe space and walk away to do something else while they enjoy the food toy. This idea is often promoted by sellers of such toys. And if that's all you can do to add some enrichment to your dog's day, then please KEEP doing it! But there are also simple ways that don't take up much more time!
If I'm preparing a food toy that I'm going to give my dogs, I'll try to build in some engagement while I prepare it. I could ask my dogs to stay on a mat and keep them out of my way while I prepare it. Instead I like to engage my dogs in the act of preparing the treat. Since they are trained to retrieve, we can go together the box that food toys are stored in and I can ask each of my dogs to pick an empty toy and hand it to me. Building some choice into the activity helps to build that engagement while also relying on their previous experience. Some dogs will just grab the toy on top because it's easy, while other dogs will dig to find a specific one. This is based on previous learning history and what they have enjoyed most in the past. If I have multiple dogs and I want them all to have the same type of toy, I might not give them a choice of toys and offer a choice of treats to add instead. Adding choice to fun activities helps dogs by increasing their feeling of agency.
By building in choices and other forms of interaction as we prepare enrichment activities or during activities, we make the activity far more enriching for our dogs. My husband sets up a puzzle challenge every night for Belle and each night it gets harder and hard. Sometimes it involves something that is slightly impossible such as the treat might be inside a locked container that Belle can't open. However Belle knows that when she finds any part of the challenge too hard she can ask for help by taking the object to a human in the room or going to get a human and leading them to the challenge. This might frustrate some dogs, but Belle loves to interact with humans so it's a great thing for her. Azul on the other hand, prefers to eat his treats and treasures in private and he prefers to bury them and same the for later, even if later is a minute later. His evening enrichment happens in the bedroom where he has to search his bed, Belle's bed and our bed to see where the goodies are tonight. He typically determines this in the first 2 seconds in the room! Then his treat might be hidden under a blanket or wrapped in a towel, or scattered in multiple places in the room. He always rushes in the room and comes trotting out all proud when he is done.
How do you add all this enrichment into you day?
This is easier that it sounds. Watch your dog and see what they love!
If it's sniffing, find lots of good places or items to sniff. In the fall when there are leaves all over the ground, I'll pick up a small back full and when I'm making new snuffle boxes, occasionally I through some leaves in. This brings some outside smells inside on the days that I use a nature snuffle box.
If your dog loves digging, you can prepare a specific dig spot area in your yard. I have a natural spot for my dogs since we live in the country, but I know several others who have created a dig spot using a kiddy pool, sand or dirt, and buried some fun things inside. My dogs love when I drop something in their holes and lightly cover it up with dirt. Sometimes it's food, toys, a stick, pine cones...pretty much anything in the yard works for my pups.
You get the idea! Give your dog what they love in a way that impacts their behavior, either reducing behaviors you want to go away or increasing the behaviors your love.
.png)
_20250507_102709_0005.png)
